Experiments in nutrition

Or: how I learned to stop worrying and live without sugar

Three and a half years ago, I saw Food, Inc.: a wonderfully difficult-to-watch documentary about all the foods you shouldn’t be eating.

Immediately after finishing the film, I decided I didn’t want to be part of that factory-farming system anymore. So I gave up the typical American omnivorous diet that I was eating and instead ate vegan.

My vegan experiment was short-lived. One month in and I felt great. Two months in and it just wasn’t as great; I attributed the decline to a loss of novelty. Six months in, and I couldn’t eat fried tofu or french fries because the fat would throw my stomach in loops.

After a doctor visit, I decided to add fish and dairy to provide more protein and fat in my diet, as my body was clearly not satisfied with the nutrients it had been receiving. And so I became pescetarian.

This isn’t a knock on veganism, per se. I think very ambitious folks are capable of acquiring the right nutrition via plant matter exclusively, but I am not one of them.

My dietary choices need to be sustainable within my lifestyle.

I continued with pescetarianism for almost a year. I even added a regular probiotic supplement so I wouldn’t suffer from significant digestive issues from all the beans and grains I was gobbling down. My nutrition during this period was merely “adequate”. I slept adequately, I felt adequate, and my energy levels were adequate. But I most certainly was not satisfied with the types of food I got to eat.

By the time I moved to Seattle in 2011, a year and a half since watching Food, Inc., I was drifting further toward flexitarianism. That’s a long word that basically means: eat mostly vegetarian. I even felt morally justified after I saw Graham Hill’s TED Talk describing how he only eats meat on the weekends.

All this really meant was that I gave myself a pass when eating Korean barbecue at my girlfriend’s house and Dick’s Burgers on weekends. Healthy stuff, right?

This continued through winter in early 2013, and I had been sick approximately a googol times since the previous summer. And not just “stuffy nose and sneezing” kind of sick. I was laid up three different times in 6 months with both bacterial and viral strep throat. And I was constantly tired. I tried to contrast what was different about when I was 18 or 19 and why I never felt any issues then, but just felt like crap now. Something really needed to change.

By chance, my neighbor Kasey introduced me to the Whole30 nutrition plan in March. Like so many fortuitous things, the timing was pefect for my personal exploration. It happened that I was, again,sick with a cold, and I was looking to try something different right now. Having had my vegan experience, I opted to visit my doctor to discuss it first as a longer-term solution, and I started eating this way almost immediately.

Whole30 and you

So what is this Whole30 plan all about? It can be summarized by a few key points:

• No added sugar
• No grains
• No legumes
• No dairy
• No alcohol
• Any other whole foods are fair game

Vegetables, meat, fruits, nuts, in that order.

I dislike starting with a prescriptive list of stuff not to eat, but it is the most succinct explanation.

Veganism, for me, was constantly about following the rules. I grew to hate eating food that wasn’t mentally satisfying. But this time was different.

Look at that food pyramid. Do you omnivores see anything that doesn’t actually look really tasty?

Whole30 is named so because the creators of the plan, Dallas and Melissa Hartwig, wanted a sustainable way to try out this healthier way of eating. They advise adhering strictly to the rules for 30 days, and then evaluating how you feel. Have you noticed any changes in that time, and were they worth it?

Hint: they’re worth it.

My Experience

I started my Whole30 at the beginning of March 2013. One week in, and all my cramping and bloating after meals had disappeared. Two weeks in, and I was sleeping better than I had since college. Three weeks in, and I felt physically invincible and more content and happy than I had in years.

During the third week, I was working at a client site to support our software launch on the other side of the country. This meant being in the office at 4:30am and working until 12am for a couple days. Before my Whole30, I would have nodded off to sleep after lunch, but this time I worked with alacrity all through the day.

By the end of the fourth week, I decided I had accomplished what I set out to, and reintroduced foods to establish a more sustainable diet in the long-term. I began with alcohol, then rice (exclusively for sushi), then bread.

I found that alcohol affects my sleep and makes it more difficult to wake in the mornings. It’s all right sometimes. Rice didn’t seem to do much. Bread = bloat. I don’t eat bread anymore.

A typical day

My overall focus is on protein, healthy fats (coconut oil, olive oil, clarified butter), and as many diverse vegetables as I can eat.

After each of these meals, I find myself content and happy! I feel satiated, confident, and mentally satisfied with what I just ate.

Breakfast

• 4 whole eggs (the yolk and it’s high amounts of protein and fat is what I’m after, so I don’t bother with just whites)
• 2 bananas (I mash them up, then whip in the eggs with salt, cinnamon, and a splash of vanilla for a noatmeal skillet dish, cooked in clarified butter)
• 3 chicken sausage links
• Handful carrots
• Handful snap peas
• Handful blueberries

Lunch

• Leftovers. See Dinner. Or,
• Grilled chicken breast
• Mixed greens
• Avocado
• Pistachios
• Berries
• Carrots
• Dressing (low in vegetable oil. Ideally, you want a ratio of omega-6:omega-3 fats of 1. Typical American diets range from 15:1 all the way to 40:1. This causes inflammation and is exactly what I’m trying to avoid with this diet. Vegetable oils are extremely high in omega-6.)

Dinner

• 1/2lb grass-fed beef burger
• Guacamole
• Grilled onions
• Mustard
• Mixed greens
• Grilled broccoli
• Grilled asparagus

I didn’t include snacks in there because, ideally, I’m getting all my nutrition via the major meals, but I will snack on fruit and nuts occasionally.

Do I think that I’ll still be on mostly this diet in a year or two from now? You betcha. I’m confident because of a subtle mental shift I underwent while completing a successful Whole30: I can always do another Whole30, Whole15 or even Whole3 to get back on track. When I notice that I’m not feeling as great as I could, I take a break from indulgences and return to the basic food groups in the plan. Soon enough, I feel great again. And feeling that great is not something I ever want to give up.