Authors: Travis Stork
The Doctor's Diet: Dr. Travis Stork's STAT Program to Help You Lose Weight & Restore Your Health (22 page)
The Doctor’s Diet is different from a lot of the other eating plans out there because it includes a healthy assortment of complex carbohydrates. Not just vegetables, but beans and whole grains, such as a variety of whole-grain breads, cereals and pastas. That’s because I believe—based on my reading of the medical literature and all of the study and analysis I’ve done in the area of dietary science—that cutting out a whole tribe of foods just because a few members of the family are troublemakers makes no sense whatsoever.
Yeah, there are a lot of unhealthy carbohydrates. But there are some pretty great ones, too. I just don’t believe that avoiding all carbohydrates is the way to go for enjoying long-term health, not to mention the enjoyment of eating. And I think they should be a part of your diet, so I give them an important role in The Doctor’s Diet.
One of the arguments made by the anti-carbohydrate camp is that cutting out carbs speeds up weight loss. There’s some truth to that. But like so many things in life, it’s not as simple as it sounds. Yes, cutting out
simple
carbs helps rev up weight loss. But it’s not necessary to push
complex
carbs off your plate. You can lose weight and burn fat while still enjoying the many health benefits of fruits, vegetables, legumes, and whole grains. You just have to make smart choices about which carbs you
eat and how they balance out with the protein and fat in your diet.
Follow The Doctor’s Diet and your meals will contain the best combination of high-fiber carbohydrates, fat-burning protein, and appetite-satisfying fat.
SHOULD YOU GO GLUTEN-FREE?
Unless you have celiac disease (a condition in which the gluten in wheat, rye, and barley actually causes physical damage to your intestines) or an intolerance to gluten (which can cause bloating, nausea, or other symptoms), there’s no reason to cut out gluten-containing grains from your diet.
Eating gluten-free is a fad right now, with lots of so-called nutrition experts telling people that everyone should avoid it. But despite what you may have heard, there’s simply no evidence to suggest that a wholesale banishment of gluten from your diet is a good idea.
In fact, eating gluten-free breads, cereals, and other grain-based foods instead of whole-wheat versions is likely to lower the quality of your diet rather than raise it. Many gluten-free products are made with rice flour, potato flour, tapioca, and other simple carbohydrates rather than whole grains. Often, manufacturers use excess sugar and fat to cover up the less-than-appetizing tastes of the gluten-free ingredients, which lowers their nutritional value even more.
And don’t get me started on rice milk, which is basically made from boiled white rice and sugar—nothing good in there.
I find it ironic that people who go gluten-free without really thinking it through often end up worsening their diets rather than improving them, because they are unknowingly taking healthy whole grains out of their diet and replacing them with simple carbs.
If your doctor has advised you to follow a gluten-free diet, by all means, follow that advice. I’ve included plenty of gluten-free options in The Doctor’s Diet, because millions of Americans do better without having gluten in their system. But remember, eating gluten-free isn’t an excuse to fill up on sugary carbohydrates, white breads, white rice, and lots of refined grain products. There are plenty of gluten-free whole grains available, including quinoa, gluten-free oats, millet, and amaranth. (Oats contain no gluten, but
they are often stored and shipped with other grains and can become contaminated with gluten. To avoid cross-contamination, choose oats with “gluten-free” on the label.)
Q: WHAT IS FOOD INTOLERANCE, AND HOW DO I KNOW IF I CAN’T TOLERATE SPECIFIC TYPES OF FOODS?
A:
People with food intolerances notice various kinds of symptoms after eating a certain food or foods. They may have gastrointestinal reactions (gas, bloating, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, cramps, stomach pain, heartburn) or a change in how they feel overall—irritable, tired, or just “off.” To determine whether you have an intolerance to a food, don’t eat it for a while; then introduce it back into your diet and notice how it makes you feel. If symptoms occur, you may want to avoid eating it. Food intolerances are different from food allergies, which can be life threatening. Food allergies can cause some of the same symptoms as food intolerance, but allergic reactions tend to occur soon after the food has been eaten. An allergic reaction may include difficulty breathing or swallowing, skin rash or hives, rapidly beating heart, swelling of the eyes and throat, and other scary reactions. If this happens, go to the hospital or call 911.
Your body uses the carbohydrates in food for energy. It breaks carbohydrates down into glucose, which is the fuel your cells need to function.
There are two kinds of carbohydrates: complex and simple. In a nutshell, you’re best off cutting back on simple carbohydrates and focusing on complex carbohydrates. Here’s why:
Complex carbohydrates are, as their name implies, complex. They provide a more gradual energy source than simple carbohydrates and are more likely to come from whole, natural foods that have not been processed and stripped of their God-given, nutrient-rich components. Foods that contain healthy amounts of complex carbohydrates include vegetables, legumes, and whole grains.
Complex carbohydrates can boost your health by providing vitamins, minerals, and a range of phytonutrients, as well as fiber.
Your body does convert the complex carbohydrates in food into glucose for fuel, but it takes longer than it does for simple carbs. As a result, when you eat foods with complex carbohydrates, glucose enters your bloodstream slowly and gradually, rather than with a sudden, near-instantaneous spike.
Simple carbohydrates are exactly what their name suggests: simple. Often they are refined, which means their complexity has been stripped away by food manufacturers and processing. The most famous example of a simple carbohydrate is table sugar, but simple carbohydrates are also found in white bread, white rice, white pasta, cakes, cookies, pastries, sugar-sweetened soft drinks, and candy. Simple carbohydrates from processed foods and sugar make weight gain easier and weight loss more difficult. They also raise the risk of heart disease and diabetes.
When you eat simple carbohydrates, your body converts them to glucose very quickly. That glucose gets dumped into your bloodstream rapidly, causing a quick rise in blood sugar and insulin.
Simple carbohydrates also include natural sugars found in plant foods (fruits and, in small amounts, some vegetables) and dairy products. Although these carbohydrates are simple, they are in a different category than simple sugars such as white sugar, brown sugar, corn syrup, and others that are added to foods. That’s because they contain other components (vitamins, proteins and minerals in dairy, and an abundance of phytochemicals and fiber in fruit) that make them way more valuable than sugary, processed foods.
Fiber is a type of carbohydrate that can’t be digested by your body. It passes through your body without being broken down into glucose.
There are two kinds of fiber: soluble and insoluble. Plant foods can have one or both kinds of fiber, and both are important for your health. Soluble fiber is found in oatmeal, oat bran, nuts, seeds, most fruits, and legumes. Insoluble fiber comes from whole-wheat bread, barley, brown rice, bulgur, whole-grain cereals, wheat bran, seeds, and most fruits and vegetables.
Fiber is crucial for a few reasons. For one, it actually helps get rid of fat in your digestive system—think of it as a scrub brush that travels through your intestines clearing away some of the excess fat and cholesterol that’s floating around. It also helps move things along as they should in your intestines, which helps prevent constipation and promotes good bowel health. Eating foods that are high in fiber helps you feel full longer, keeping hunger pangs at bay and helping you lose weight and keep it off. And because fiber slows down the digestion of carbohydrates, it helps keep blood sugar stable.
Studies show that people who eat a high-fiber diet are less likely to develop type 2 diabetes than those who don’t. High-fiber foods also seem to lower the risk of heart disease.
Q: HOW MUCH FIBER SHOULD I GET EACH DAY?
A:
The Institute of Medicine guidelines for dietary fiber are:
Men 50 and younger - 38g/day
Men 51 and older - 30g/day
Women 50 and younger - 25g/day
Women 51 and older - 21g/day
FIBER IN FOODS
FIBER SOURCE | GRAMS OF FIBER |
1 medium apple, with peel | 3 |
1 medium banana | 3 |
1 cup blueberries | 4 |
½ medium grapefruit | 4 |
1 cup melon | 1 |
1 medium pear, with peel | 4-5 |
1 cup raspberries or blackberries | 8 |
1 cup strawberries | 3 |
½ cup most cooked vegetables (asparagus, green beans, broccoli, cauliflower, eggplant, greens, squash, tomato) | 1-3 |
½ cup cooked beans (black, kidney, pinto, etc.) | 5-8 |
1 medium sweet potato | 3 |
1 slice whole-grain bread | 2-3 |
½ cup bran and other very high-fiber cereals | 10-14 |
½ cup oatmeal | 2 |
1 ounce nuts or 2 tablespoons nut butter | 2-4 |
½ cup cooked barley | 3 |
½ cup brown rice | 2 |
2 tablespoons toasted wheat germ | 3 |