Towards the end, this article has a bunch of random suggestions you could try. I will caution readers that randomly trying stuff is about the worst way to do this.
If you want to self experiment, at a minimum, start a food diary. Record what you eat, when you eat it and track any health metrics you hope to change, whether sleep or something else. Establish a baseline for your current normal. Then try no more than one new thing every week or two to establish whether it does anything and, if so, what effect it seems to have.
Supplements are easier to work with at the start because it is the best way to try to isolate a factor. Dietary changes are much harder to understand because they always involve at least two changes: the new food you are adding and the discontinuation of whatever you used to eat. This always leaves the question "Is the new food helping? Or is the effect from removing the old food?"
That's before getting into the issue that most things you eat are complicated products containing multiple ingredients.
Exactly. It's further complicated by the fact that you really need to stick to a change for 2 months or more to notice any lasting effects.
From what I've seen with folks struggling with SIBO and Candida among other things was that cutting out sugar completely is probably the first and easiest place to start. No sugar at all, especially added sugar like you might find in a pasta sauce or other store-bought foods. Do that for 3 months straight and then eat something with sugar after that. You'll probably feel sick.
> cutting out sugar completely is probably the first and easiest place to start
This would represent a radical and complete change in diet in me and probably many other people. Since it would mean having to change from most cheap preprepared versions of common foods such as pasta sauce, like you mentioned, and even regular store-bought bread. These foods would either more considerably more expensive or time-intensive versions that don't include sugar, or replacing them with completely unlike foods.
It's in no way an "easy" change, and involves so much alteration that I doubt the significance of the "no sugar" component matters as much as the other collateral changes.
> Since it would mean having to change from most cheap preprepared versions of common foods such as pasta sauce, like you mentioned, and even regular store-bought bread
Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good. If you can just start by reducing the added sugars, you can monitor any changes as you go along. If it seems helpful, you can then take more expensive/drastic measures.
It's actually pretty easy, from both a time and financial commitment. Check out the sidebar links on https://www.reddit.com/r/keto/
If you don't want to do food prep, or you don't care for traditional high fat, moderate protein, low carb food options, you can get meal replacement shakes.
I prefer KetoChow, rotate through several different flavors, and it costs me ~$3/meal. It take 5-10 minutes of prep every 2-3 days (fill blender bottles with heavy whipping cream, ketochow powder, water, shake, toss in fridge). At 5' 6", I went from ~180 lbs to ~155 lbs. I don't need to work out, I maintain a healthy weight, and it's both affordable and non-time intensive.
Otherwise, cut breads, sugars, and liquid calories (regular soda & beer) out of your diet. I know people who eat primarily meats, cheeses, and green veggies, and they feel better than they ever have and quickly shed any excess fat without exercise.
I agree that this is one of the best things you can do for yourself and your body. But it’s NOT easy. When eating out, sure, you can eat only meat and salad, but your friends will tease you with their high carb, sugary dishes. Or you end up at a conference where they don’t provide anything sugar free. Or you miss out at work where your colleagues take turns of cooking meals for everyone, making you feel a bit isolated.
I quit most sugar consumption a few years ago and can recommend it. I think it can also be beneficial to cut out all refined grains.
I reduced salt intake to a couple hundred milligrams per day last week, and I've barely noticed.
My main staples are lots of steamed vegetables, legumes, nuts and seeds, fruit, and a little fish and brown rice. I also do some calorie restriction, and water fasting for 2-5 days at a time. I cook almost everything from scratch and do meal prep a couple of times per week to have quick access to healthy foods. Two years in, and I'm 65 pounds lighter and feeling satisfied with the meals.
Great, I’d love to be in that position. You might want to reconsider brown rice though as it’s high in lectines, potentially causing damage to the gut lining and boosting autoimmune processes.
It's not that difficult to do if you focus on arranging your life around it. You can make a meal around raw vegetables (broccoli, cabbage) if there is nothing else healthy available while away from home. Most people think that they can't skip meals, but calorie restriction and water fasting can be healthy, so I don't worry if I go a day without much food.
I'm not sure if lectins are a problem to worry about. Most results that I see in Google are blogs by self-described health experts who are selling products and personal brands. There's also this:
I‘m not that versed in reading dietologic papers, but this review (or whatever you wanna call it) found some concerns that I‘d not dismiss immediately: http://www.krispin.com/lectin.html
I don’t know if the WaPo is a good resource to debunk anything ;)
Nah, fruits in their natural form are fine. Obviously, if you get most of your calories from sugary fruits, that's not the best, but it's not horrible either.
I meant purified sugar, like cane sugar or high-fructose corn syrup
People who'll tell you to avoid some fruit and glowingly recommend you use supplements and ketomadness are sure to find themselves on the wrong track a few enlightened years from now.. don't follow their lead. Unless your goal is short-term weight loss dieting.
Yep, that's what I thought. What works best for me is keeping it as natural as possible most of the time - lots of fruits and vegs, legumes, full-grain bread, rice, sometimes a bit of meat. Pretty much balances out the once-in-a-blue-moon junk food or sweets binges. Never understood those insanely restrictive diets.
Cutting out dairy after I found out I'm lactose intolerant probably had the biggest effect on my quality of life - I'd urge anyone with digestive problems to get tested for it, it's a lot more prevalent than one would think.
If you want to self experiment, at a minimum, start a food diary. Record what you eat, when you eat it and track any health metrics you hope to change, whether sleep or something else. Establish a baseline for your current normal. Then try no more than one new thing every week or two to establish whether it does anything and, if so, what effect it seems to have.
Supplements are easier to work with at the start because it is the best way to try to isolate a factor. Dietary changes are much harder to understand because they always involve at least two changes: the new food you are adding and the discontinuation of whatever you used to eat. This always leaves the question "Is the new food helping? Or is the effect from removing the old food?"
That's before getting into the issue that most things you eat are complicated products containing multiple ingredients.