I saw Gary Taubes at the Long Beach, CA conference in March. It was probably pretty difficult for him to be sandwiched between charismatic and quirky David Wolfe and hunky paleo man, Mark Sisson. I also saw him on Dr. Oz, I felt kind of bad for him...he was on his defense because Dr. Oz was after him for some of the things he includes in his diet. He looked very uncomfortable, but he was brave to be on the show. I am particularly interested in what he has to say because Gary is a physicist. My son is a physicist too...and although he works in nuclear detection research...he still has a lot of strong opinions on diet and they all make perfect sense. Gary has written a book and promotes a diet based on his scientific theory. The information he presents is well thought out and backed up. He says his diet doesn't really make you lose weight, it corrects your weight. That sounds nice. His diet is a restricted carbohydrate diet. He isn't restricting the good green stuff, he is restricting the things we know we should not eat too much of...the bad carbs and limit the fruit. He doesn't say no fruit...just like David Wolfe doesn't say no nuts...just...if you need to correct your weight...that isn't what you should be shoveling down.
Gary says "This diet is focused on providing your body with the nutrition it needs, while eliminating foods that your body does not require, namely, nutritionally empty carbohydrates." For WEIGHT LOSS, you will need to keep the total number of grams to less than 20 grams per day.
His diet is definitely a meat eater's diet. He says when you are hungry you should eat... (that is a good concept in itself)..."when you are hungry you should eat"...anyway...this is what he says you should eat;
Meat, poultry, fish, eggs: He says that you should not need to avoid fat. This may be true as far as weight loss goes, but in reality we have to look at something as, if not more important than weight loss...and that is health. We know that animal fat is not good for us...so, even though Gary says we can eat it and lose weight...it does not mean we can eat it and be free of heart disease or stroke. Cut the fat off.
Salad Greens. Must be eaten every day...2 cups a day! He says ALL varieties!
Vegetables. Must be eaten every day...1 cup per day. I saw no exclusions.
Bouillion: Must be eaten every day...2 cups daily. He says for sodium replenishment. I don't agree with this one. He did exclude people with hypertension or heart failure...but I think most of us could use a little sea salt and do not need to make an effort to add MORE salt into our diets.
Cheese: up to 4oz a day...thank goodness, no processed cheese like Velveeta...or those spray cans.
Cream: up to 4 tbsp a day...full cream not half and half.
Mayonnaise: Low carb...not agreeing with this one either.
Olives: Up to 6 a day
Avocado: Up to 1/2 a day (Yay!)
Lemon/Lime Juice: Up to 4 tsp a day
Soy Sauce: Up to 4 tbsp a day...(definitely won't be needing the bouillion)
Pickles, Dill or sugar free: up to 2 svgs a day
Snacks: (OMG) pork rinds/skins; pepperoni slices; ham, beef, turkey and other meat roll ups; deviled eggs. May help you lose weight on his diet but it isn't going to do your health any good.
He promotes sugar substitutes. These sugar substitutes have been proven to be unhealthy. Pass on the aspartame and sucralose. Stevia (sorry Dr. Hyman)...is a good substitute if you need sweet.
He says drink water! YAY! He says that caffeine has messed with peoples' blood sugar but allows 3 cups in a day. He also has you stay off alcohol at first, but since this is a lifestyle...allows it back in later.
Fruit: is nowhere in his meal plan...it is on the restricted list. He does say in the book that fruit was seasonal in early civilization and was not like the fruit that is available in the supermarket. People ate it infrequently. This is something that I would agree with, but think it should be added in sparingly. Although the fruit is healthy, it is full of sugar and will not help people who are trying to correct their weight.
If you want to check him out, I am including his web site! The book was very educational and interesting and worth the read. http://garytaubes.com/
~Cathy
http://www.thehealthcoach.net
https://www.facebook.com/Thehealthcoach.net
cathy@thehealthcoach.net
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Thank you for commenting on my blog. I appreciate the time you took to read it and to offer your remarks. ~Cathy