Diet defined as – “the planned selection of foods and drink we as humans routinely eat” – is an extremely complex subject. There are literally dozens of “diets” to choose from and health, fitness and weight loss advocates are constantly flooding the market with best “diet”  advice and why. It can be extremely confusing to pick what is the right “diet” and what to eat. To name a few diets – there is the carnivore diet, the Mediterranean diet, the Keto diet, the Vegan diet, the Vegetarian diet and the list goes on…

It can be difficult to navigate these “diet waters” and quite frankly it is daunting with new “science” constantly inundating us.  It is not an easy topic to discuss as every diet “camp” has their own unique experiences, opinions and supporting evidence.  Each “diet” has its pros and cons and we will delve into the 5 most popular diets.

Our opinion at FreezeWellness is that there is no one best diet for the masses (and we often get asked this – what is the best diet?).  However, we may be able to point you in the right direction with our years of experience and reliance on lab work, food sensitivity testing, stool analysis, GI health markers and other testing in order to find our what is happening in your body when you eat a particular diet.

Lets begin by discussing 5 of the most popular diets in our North American culture today.

Mediteranean Diet

The Mediterranean Diet is probably one of the most popular “diets” out there and we really like it for its overarching health benefits.  It offers a balanced and non-restrictive approach to nutrition with a wide range of food choices.  It emphasizes fruits and vegetables, whole grains, nuts, seeds, beans, poultry, seafood, fish and reds meats on occasion.  It also focuses on healthy fats such as olive oil, avocado and coconut oils while eliminating processed foods, salts and sugars and limiting saturated fats and dairy products.  Physical activity and exercise are promoted and encouraged for its added benefits.  Additional benefits include reducing the risk of diabetes, inflammation, cancers, reduced blood cholesterol and triglyceride levels, blood pressure and heart disease.  To be frank – there are NOT a lot of cons with the Mediterranean diet.  Overall, it offers the easiest and most sustainable way to approach diet and eating for  health.

Vegetarian/Vegan Diets

Vegetarian diets are ones that involve primarily plant based (botanicals) products like vegetables, fruits, grains, beans, nuts and seeds.  They may include some dairy such as milk, eggs, cheese, yogurt etc but limit or exclude fish, seafood and chicken (and more often exclude all meats such as beef and pork).

A Vegan diet is all plant based and excludes all animal products.  Vegans may often extend this further into a “lifestyle” and ideology that is protective of all animals.  Therefore there is NO eating of any form of an animal and partaking in its demise or treatment which may include utilizing leather products, wool and cosmetics tested on animals etc.

The benefits of a Vegetarian/Vegan diet is that it is low in saturated fats and for those who are watching cholesterol, it can have a significant impact on decreasing cholesterol levels.  Because it is high in fruits, vegetables, grains, beans, nuts and seeds, it can offer many nutritional benefits that botanical products often do.  Botanicals (as discussed in previous blog posts) are packed with vitamins, minerals and anti-inflammatory biochemicals that rejuvenate the body in so many ways!  Botanical heavy diets reduce insulin spikes (when done properly), leading to improving the following: blood sugars levels, triglyceride levels, diabetes, heart disease and possibly even cancers.

The possible draw backs of these diets is that they may not be able to provide enough complete protein that is essential for repairing and strengthening the body.  Most plants do not have complete proteins that meats, poultry, seafood, fish, eggs and dairy do.  Complete proteins are made up of 9 essential amino acids and usually only come from animals.   Most Plants contain incomplete proteins and therefore NOT the complete compliment of amino acids necessary for cellular  repair. There are a few exceptions to the rule.  Very few plants contain complete proteins but some of the ones that do include complete protein are soy, quinoa, some seeds and spirulinna. Iron deficiency or anemia can be a problem for some vegans as plants may interfere with it’s absorption in the GI tract and iron from plants is less bio-available than from animals.

Vegans must usually eat a variety of plants in order to get this complete protein so the body can repair.  Pairing of different plant foods must be done to achieve this goal of getting all 9 essential amino acids ( complete protein) – which is why it is important to eat a “rainbow” of plants, as it is called, that offers different colors and varieties of plants to ensure a full complement of amino acids and other nutritional components.

There may be some evidence ( for some people) that they do not absorb the nutrients from plants very well.  Their GI system cannot process botanicals and they may even be toxic to them.  Plants have natural defense biochemicals that protect them from being consumed by humans, animals, insect and other pests.  There are many of these biochemicals in plants and usually they are NOT in any significant amount to cause most of us a problem. These  biochemicals include:  Oxylates, Lectins, Glycoalkaloids and Glucosinates just to name a few.

Nutritional absorption of vitamins, minerals and other beneficial plant and botanical compounds may be improved by cooking them first….just don’t overdue it and don’t throw out the water as it contains many nutrients!

Keto Diet

The Ketogenic (Keto) diet is a very popular diet and as the name suggests, it promotes  the burning of fat (ketones) for fuel.  It greatly restricts carbohydrate intake while promoting a high amount of fat, moderate proteins and limited carbohydrates.  It is a restrictive diet that may be difficult for some people, however, there are some definitive health benefits from this diet – with the added benefits of weight loss.

The Keto diet includes fatty meats, fish, chicken, avocados, seeds, nuts and lots of healthy fats and oils like avocados and olive oils.  It severely limits all sugars, carbohydrates from fruits and dairy, beans, rice and other starchy plants to 25-50 grams per day.  This limited carbohydrate intake combined with high fats forces the body to burn fat for energy.  Since fat is burned for fuel, it is not stored, which can reduced blood sugar levels, heart disease and diabetes.   General “inflammation” is reduced and there can be significant weight loss.  There are some studies that suggest that the Keto diet may starve some cancer cells.  Cancer cells often use glucose for fuel – and in the absence of glucose – they starve and die.  While this is a basic theory, it may have some traction and worth looking into for some cancers.

The Keto diet “con” is that it is fairly restrictive for most people, however, many people who try the diet swear by their improved energy, sleep, appetite control and positive mood.

Carnivore Diet

The Carnivore Diet is one of the newer diets in the mainstream diet culture today.  It’s advocates proclaim its roots are in “ancient man” who survived on strictly an animal based diet.  Thousand of years ago,  mankind hunted game and animals and therefore the human body genome developed with primarily animal fats, organs and proteins.  The proponents of this diet claim that eating strictly animals is what our body was genetically designed to eat for nutrition, energy and life.  Many carnivores believe that plants are evil.  As discussed in the vegan/vegetarian section above, carnivores believe the biochemicals in plants are mostly toxic and were never intended for human consumption way back a few thousand years ago and even today.

This diet is very restrictive and only includes the meat/organs and fat of animals in a 2:1 ratio (2 grams of fat per 1 gram of protein).  Some carnivores may modify this diet to include a limited amount of fruit, vegetable or dairy.  The pros of the diet include fat used as fuel  – which decreases utilization of glucose  – meaning less insulin production and more balanced insulin levels.  Balanced insulin levels lead to decreased diabetes and cellular inflammation.  Many carnivores report losing weight easily and have better energy and health.

Some of the research on the carnivore diet is very provocative as well as dramatic in terms of improving some health conditions.  It has been reported that many diseases including autoimmune ones have been reversed with this type of diet. The cons of this type of diet include its restrictive nature and eating mostly animal products.  As well, the carnivore diet requires one to eat animal organs such as heart, kidney, liver  etc that may be off-putting for some.  Although, organ “capsules” can easily replace the practice of consuming actual animal organs.

A complete breakdown of cholesterol into its micro components is necessary to determine if this type of diet is OK for you. It can significantly elevate cholesterol levels which may concern some patients and their physicians.  Elevated cholesterol levels are just one component of the blood lab values that are reviewed. And , as we have mentioned in other blog posts, high cholesterol in the absence of high triglycerides is generally not concerning…its complicated!

A good knowledgeable practitioner will look at these factors including triglyceride levels, inflammatory markers and other cardiovascular markers to ensure it is safe for you.

Conclusion

We have briefly touched on several mainstream “diets” that may give you some insight if a particular diet may be right for you.  How to go about a “diet” really should have the guidance of a knowledgeable practitioner.  At FreezeWellness, Dr. Karen Freeze can recommend what diet may be best suited for you so that it is sustainable and offers you the best strategy for health, nutrition and lifestyle.  Call or email us today for an appointment.