The nutrition world is about to get interesting. Not that it wasn’t interesting before, but I think we’re going to see some pretty good battles in 2o11.
I’m writing this because I just finished watching the trailer for “Forks over Knives“. Another nutrition documentary that’s along the lines of Food Inc.
I’ll be honest, I kind of enjoy watching our never ending search for the ‘Darth Vader’ of Nutrition. That one ultimate bad guy we can blame all of our woes on.
Saturated Fat, Sugar, Carbs, Milk…heck even protein spent it’s time in the dog house in the early 1900′s.
So Forks over Knives seems to be the Vegan response to the Paleo movement (Disclosure – I’ve only seen the trailer)
Basically this looks like the ‘meat bad’ response to the ‘meat good’ argument.
I doubt we’ll ever admit that it is our rampant out-of-control consumerism that leads to obesity and disease. Or that a large part of the success of our media-driven food economy is based on the absolute need to exploit the human body’s amazing ability to consume far more than it should without breaking down (in the short term anyways).
So while Paleo people will espouse the benefits of Meat and Fat, Vegetarians will espouse the benefits of Fruits and Vegetables (and grains sometimes), and still others will espouse all the other crazy diet beliefs in between, it is kind of cool that we can sit back and watch with an understanding that they are all ‘mostly right’ and have a lot to share to advance Nutrition as a science.
In fact, in my opinion the dividing line between them is only really visible at the extreme ends – when they start pointing fingers at what they believe to be the End-All-Be-All of dietary evils.
In other words, while everyone battles it out, I’ll be right here, not stressing, and sticking with the same mantra that has been in Eat Stop Eat since it’s first draft in 2006:
Eat less, while enjoying the foods you eat. Eat lots of fruits and vegetables, and lots of herbs and spices. And maybe most importantly, spend less time stressing over the types of food you are eating.
Of course, ‘lots’ is a pretty subjective word, so it could be expanded to be “choose fruits and vegetables when possible” and “experiment with herbs and spices”.
Other than that just apply a little common sense. A donut a day is fine in my books. A box of donuts – not so much.
BP
PS- You can watch the trailer here ==> www.forksoverknives.com
PPS- The perfect human diet might just be a meat eating vegan who knows how to cook and prepare food and likes to have the occasional chocolate, pastry, coffee, beer, wine and sometimes scotch, and rarely ever stresses about what or why he or she eats. 
Tags: Forks Over Knives
A box of donuts a few times a year can’t be all that bad you would agree?
I’ve never done an entire box to myself…a dozen in a day? that’s intense.
But once or twice a year, as long as your lean and not at risk of a heartattack..again, you’ll probably be sick, but it’s not going to kill you
Not that I will likely change my mind about enjoying lots of food on occation. I’ve just assumed that you think that eating too much in one day isn’t much of a problem if you over the course of months and years a person manages their food intake.
Hey Brad, first I want to thank you for being direct, and I appreciate your non-bullsh*t approach to nutrition and fitness!
I have a question.
Do you think that, just by fasting 2-3 times a week, and eating a variety of foods from broccoli to a donut once in a while, one can hit really low body fat levels(5-6%)?
Thanks man, I really appreciate your effort!
That’s me, under your pps….the perfect human diet. I do exactly that! And I really attribute my results to ESE (which upsets everyone I know…they just think I starve myself!). I’m the leanest I’ve ever been and never feel like I’m missing anything. Thanks for being honest putting forward great information!
I laugh at the extremism now, but I’ve been there done that! I thank you, Brad, and the others that have helped me find my way to moderation, sanity, common sense, and stress free eating with room for the occasional over-indulgence of food. I just wish more people could see that the problem of too much is more important than the what.
when you are on your stop eat day (fast) you can drink water right?
I’ve always like your intelligent-practical philosophy
Short answer yes… long answer no.
In essence yes because I think you mean ‘get really, really lean’ but a true 5-6% is actually basically contest ready, dehydrated depleted, and (in my opinion) unhealthy Lean..in which case you’d have to fast twice a week and ONLY eat some broccoli and a donut every once in a while
Oh yeah, water…lots of it.
Yep, I meant really really lean.
I thought that 5-6% bodyfat was OK. Martin Berkhan from LeanGains says that he stays 5-6% bodyfat all the year.
But yeah this was my question!
Again thanks a lot man. I appreciate your work.
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i have noticed in myself that the more i focus on food/dieting the worse i do. i like the mini-fast . eat b-fast and eat nothing then till 5pm or later if possible and then eat everything in site but in moderation and you will sleep well.
One fitness guy said that most meat-eaters should eat more veggies and that most vegetarians should eat some meat [or eggs or whatever]. Another guy recommended taking vegetarian cooking classes and then adding meat when you cook for yourself. I guess vegetarian cooking is very nutritious, except lacking meat-type nutrients.
This was connected to another comment, but i guess it was too big that way.
I saw a story, I think in Reader’s Digest, that a wife didn’t understand why her hubbie was so fat. He didn’t eat breakfast and didn’t eat much for supper. One day he got into an accident trying to catch a chocolate-covered donut that was rolling away from him. It turns out that he’d been eating a dozen chocolate-covered donuts every day on his way to work.
Everything in moderation, nothing in excess.
You should see the entire movie before criticizing it. A whole food plant based diet has been shown to prevent and reverse heart disease and many other chronic illnesses. Given the state of health of Americans, many should be stressed out about what they eat…too much meat, dairy, refined sugar and processed foods. It is far better to be cautious about what we eat, then be stressed out by being obese, having diabetes or suffering with heart disease.
Howard, in my defense I do not need a movie to educate me on the pro’s and con’s of any particular diet.
I will check out the movie soon.
B
Hey brad I have a question. How old should you be to do eat stop eat. My sister wants to do it but she’s 14 is that too young?
Brad, you ever seen the movie “Fat Heads” at the very least it is quite enjoyable.
Dear Brad,
This is once again about knowing the mechanism and just living by the rules of weight management.. while dieting you can swap highl caloricly dense food(such as cheese) for low caloricly dense(such as greens)to reduce that icky feeling when you are dieting and once again someone is running with it.
By the way enjoyed your Podcast on Rates last week,it ties in so easy with this.. Regards Dan
Agreed Fruits and Veggies are awesome because they are potent combo of being low calorie and great tasting.
Glad you liked that last podcast, it was a hard concept to get across!
Hi Brad – Definitely check out the movie, lots of staggering facts and real life stories! No one fasts, though. Maybe that’s in the sequel. (I wrote a review of the film here on my blog: http://ow.ly/4QNSr.)
If you don’t feel that hubgary can you fast for more than one day?
I think the stress over what to eat leads to bad choices, not to mention the hormone imbalance it causes. They all compound each other and feed off each other. It becomes a downward spiral most are powerless to overcome. I have recommended ESE to quite few people and will continue to do so. Plus, the diea of personal responsibility is at an all-time low in my opinion. Just a pet peeve. Thanks Brad.
Dear Brad, how many calories shall one consume in the ESE diet? thanks xxx
Depends on height, age and gender.
Anyone been able to ESE while breastfeeding? I haven’t been able to… too hungry but then again I’ve only gieven birth a month and 1 week ago… I guess I’ll keep on trying until I can because Brad seriously I’ve had an eating disorde since i’m twelve and the only “diet” that works fo me is ESE… I guess because no food can bring me guilt? ANYWAYS really glad you put ESE out there… still have trouble pitching it to my clients as a personal and group trainer though
You can, but it gets tedious.
Hi Brad, I have the old version probably 2007-2008 version of Eat Stop Eat and have been using it ever since with great results. I’ve lost so much weight and it’s incredible because I do not stress about what I eat.
Where I’m from, we’re pretty big on rice (carbs), something that a lot of diets tell people to cut when you want to lean down. I’m glad I don’t have to.
Hey Brad, thank you so much for ESE. Finally it makes sense.Eat less and move more. All this lies about slowed metabolism and loss of muscle. All the confusion that calories don’t count and what you eat does and that not all calories created equal.I love one day fasts. At the end of the day you feel that you accomplish something.I feel victory and being in control of my body.
Hi, Brad
I read your comment above about being at 5-6% bodyfat may not be healthy. What do you consider to be a healthy low BF level?
I ask you that because I’m about 8% year around.
Also, is this 8% a level that may turn gaining muscle a more difficult task (your body doesn’t have that much calories from fat to use, so it could use muscle mass instead)?
Thanks!
i think there is some truth but incomplet. Every product feed is benefit
for health but the key is how, when in which way you consume.
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