On 31 Oct, 13:23, Justin <
justinlewis...@gmail.com> wrote/quotes:
> by Josh Horowitz
>
> First, I want to thank everyone for sending me their goals. They
> are now posted at LiquidFitness.com. OK, on to the Pistachio diet, and
> a different way of looking at nutrition labels, eating, and weight
> control based on glycemic index.
I've been aware of that for quite a number of years and how the GI
attached to a particular food is modified in the presence of other
foods, specifically fats and protein, whether soluble or insoluble.
>
> Pistachios are only one part of this diet but I chose the name because
> pistachios have in them all of the major components of the foods that
> I will be recommending. Pistachios have one of the highest dietary
> FIBER counts of any nut. Pistachios are stacked with PROTEIN,
> specifically the amino acid arganine, a pre-curser to nitric oxide, a
> vasodilator which may mean better blood flow during exercise.
> Pistachios are loaded with heart healthy unsaturated FAT which has
> been proven to reduce blood cholesterol levels and lower the risk of
> heart disease.
Lowered cholesterol levels seems to indicate a higher risk from
injury.
> Pistachios also have about half the CALORIES of other
> nuts. Perhaps most importantly to this particular diet, they are
> extremely low on the GLYCEMIC INDEX.
Yeah but whole fruits contain soluble protein and goodly amounts of
good carbohydrate and water and minerals.
> Finally, pistachios usually come
> with the shell on so which discourages you from eating too many and
> the empty shells serve as a visual reminder of how much you have
> eaten. To top it all off you even burn some calories in the process of
> un-shelling!
When my belly is full I stop eating fruit. It worked when I was a
child and it's been working this last 8 weeks for me.
>
> And did I mention they taste really good?
Fruit is really tasty, there are so many varieties.
>
> For those of you who have been reading my articles the last 7 years,
> you might have noticed that diet is not a subject I have approached.
> Up until a few years ago, diet was not much of a concern to me. No
> matter what I ate, how much I ate or when I ate it, I noticed little
> or no effect on my weight or energy level.
Yep I was like that at least up to 24yo
> Since I never like to write
> on a subject unless I can add at least some small unique personal
> perspective to what is commonly known, I have since abstained.
same here
>
> Then around age 30, I experienced a sudden shift in body chemistry. I
> gained 10 lbs seemingly overnight and no matter what I ate or how few
> calories I consumed, the dial on the scale would not budge. Still
> extremely lean by civilian standards, the excess weight pretty much
> took me out of the running for pro level racing.
I put on 14lbs and was upset about it because I knew it signified a
disturbance to health but I could not place the cause.
>
> After two full seasons of struggle, trying different types of diets
> with no success, I figured out the big mystery. I changed my diet and
> lost the weight in a matter of two weeks. It was amazing. I had
> perhaps discovered the perfect cyclists diet! I did not significantly
> reduce my caloric intake. I did not lose significant muscle mass. I
> had improved energy levels and endurance. Perfect right? A great diet
> for weight loss but also effective for anyone striving to improve
> their cycling performance.
>
> And yet I was still reluctant to write about it. Without the
> credentials to back me up, I knew the physician portion of my
> readership with the red pens would be after me with a vengeance for
> anything I said that flew in the face of established scientific data.
Oh deary me, lets not upset them on suits and white coats they might
spill their rain-forest coffee-lattes and then where would we be
without a cleaner to hand?.
> So I had to do something that I absolutely hate to do. Research! I
> quickly found that there is some science to back up my concepts. Other
> diets such as Atkins, Sugar Busters and even the diet recommended for
> diabetics have a lot of the tenants of the program that had worked so
> well for me. What I will do now is take the elements of these diets
> that would work for a cyclist and create one master plan that would be
> simple and easy for you to follow. Hence, The Pistachio Diet.
Only what's one man's meat is another's poison.
>
> Here we go. Doctors, get out your red pens!
>
> The idea that cutting out 500 calories a day for one week will result
> in the loss of one pound does not work for a serious athlete like a
> cyclist.
I only ever gained weight as an athletic cyclist, but this was muscle
mass.
>
> I looked for data to back me up on this statement but to tell the
> truth there is none except for what most of my clients and probably
> many of you reading can attest to. Ask any doctor, dietician or
> nutritionist around the world and they will tell you that this formula
> is hard scientific fact. There are 3500 calories in a pound and 500
> calories times 7 days equals one pound. However, many of you have
> discovered that weight loss, especially while training seriously, is
> not always that easy.
Caloric type is important. non-soluble fibre not only kicks in an
immune response should it pass through the gut wall which diverts
energy, it provides no useful calories despite it's calorific content.
>
> The Pistachio Diet is not so much about how much you consume but about
> how your body reacts to the types of food you eat. A finely tuned
> cyclists’ body has a very different ways of processing 500 calories of
> sugar than 500 calories of protein. If you were to consume 500
> calories of table sugar or a simple carbohydrate such as white rice,
> white potato or white bread, the insulin response is triggered. Any
Eat whole fruits not refined sugar and flour.
> sugar that is not immediately used will be stored as fat. However
Also like alcohol, refined sugar is taxing on one's liver. The
metabolic pathways to process sugar are the same as to process
alcohol. It is generally a poor energy source although there are
exceptions for racing.
> foods like pistachios which are high in fiber, protein and fat trigger
Fibre is protein.
> almost no insulin response, therefore excess calories are less likely
> to be converted into fat. In addition, cyclists’ bodies are finely
> tuned and tend to adjust quickly to adjustments in caloric intake.
> Reduce calories by 500 and the body slows down its metabolism and
> burns 550 less calories. A pre-historic safety valve for preventing
> starvation.
With good foods, I agree.
>
> Gotta get those carbs
> Pistachios, nuts and other protein rich foods are an important part of
> this plan but the thing I found lacking in the other diets was a good
> recommendation for carbohydrates. Cyclists need to eat lots of carbs
Yes, so eat whole fruit, there's protein in there too.
> and in general, they should not deprive themselves in this department.
> By choosing the right carbohydrates you can actually consume less
> calories and have more energy and even lose weight if that is your
> goal.
it's generally termed bio-availability IIRC
>
> I am recommending you stick to carbohydrates that are very low on the
> Glycemic Index. The Glycemic index (GI) is a scale used to measure the
> body’s insulin response to different types of food. In the above
> example, white bread or sugar would have a very high Glycemic value
> whereas the Glycemic value of a pistachio is almost non existent.
Forget the book, just eat raw whole fruit when available plus some
fats for when one cannot manage on a belly-full of fruit.
>
> Foods that are low on the GI have the added advantage of serving as
> long lasting energy sources. We’ve all experienced the post sugar-rush
> bonk after eating a bowl of white rice or a gel.
Not here, but then I've not eaten rice alone and I've not gone in for
gels. They have their place, in racing.
>You get that quick
> burst of energy, but very shortly the sugar is used up and the fuel
> gauge goes to empty.
I have however seen it in others during high power training rides.
They would have the burst of power for perhaps 20 minutes then be
wiped out at the roadside.
> Quick burning simple carbohydrates are important
> for short efforts but for a longer lasting source of energy, choose
> foods that are low on the GI
Whole fruits are good.
>
> Foods that have a low GI are generally higher in protein, fiber and
> even fat because these things slows down digestion.
Whole fruits are good.
>
> Fiber - Look for foods that are high in dietary fiber. Fiber slows
> down the absorption rate. Usually, the higher the fiber content of a
> food, the lower it ranks on the GI. Not only is this important for
> digestion and energy but fiber is also very filling so you can eat
> less and still feel full. It has also been shown to reduce the risks
> of some types of cancer.
Whole fruits are good.
>
> Protein – You will also be looking for foods high in protein. I wish I
> could make the claim that you could eat protein till the cows come
> home (and then eat the cows) without gaining weight but the doctors
> out there won’t let me.
There is not an unlimited ability to process protein, it is correct
IME to limit it.
> However, it is my experience that if you are
> striving to lose weight and you really need to eat something to feed
> your grumbling tummy, you are much better off eating a protein than a
> carbohydrate, especially if it is replacing a simple, high GI
> carbohydrate.
Grumbling tummy? - drink spring-water and have a pooh. Eat fruit to
make the onset of bowel evacuation expeditious. Eat mire fruit and
veg to combat the acidosis, which could well be in part caused by this
recommended high protein diet.
>
> Fat – Eat lots of healthy unsaturated fat! Fats are more calorically
Animal fats are good as are nut oils and butter, ignore this
unsaturated fats mumbo-jumbo, it leads to the consumption of dangerous
hot pressed grain and seed oils which require de-odourising to
disguise their rancidity IIRC.
> dense than carbs or protein so they are the first thing to get knocked
> out of most weight loss diet plans. However, since fat does not
> trigger the insulin response, it seems logical that eating fat does
> not necessarily make you fat.
Don't eat rancid fats.
>
> Fat can also be used for energy. Although you will want a simple
> carbohydrate for those short intense efforts, on your next long
> endurance ride, try replacing your energy gel with a bag of
> pistachios. It takes some getting used to but you can actually train
> your body to burn fat for energy efficiently.
Rich (butter,almond fllour and eggs) fruit cake has long been a staple
food for the nature-loving (outdoorsy) Briton.
>
> I mentioned above that I tried a number of diets before I arrived at
> this one. The least effective diet I tried was one extremely low in
> fat.
Ill-advisable fir anything much over 2 hours.
> Not only was I hungry all the time but I was constantly bonking
> on my rides and even with a significant calorie reduction for several
> weeks I actually ended up gaining weight. Unless you have a heart
> condition or your doctor recommends it, I don’t suggest a diet low in
> healthy fats.
bread/wheat is generally bad for those with heart failure.
>
> The rules
> Obviously you want to avoid eating high GI foods. I like to keep to
> foods under 30 if possible. This means avoiding potatoes, rice, white
> bread, white pasta and bagels.
My dogs all loved to eat potato skins. It's the only good part in
them.
> You can find a good data base atwww.GlycemicIndex.combut since not every food is listed, use these
> guidelines for choosing the foods you eat on the pistachio diet. It
> may be difficult but if you look hard enough, you can find breads,
> pastas and chips that adhere to these rules.
I wouldn't bother with any processed food. Man has flourished on God-
given foods, don't spoil it by messing with grains which have to be
ground and tarted up to imitate real food. Some seeds/grains should
only be consumed after a natural fermentation. If you cannot eat it
au naturel, should you really be eating it? Given the choice I eat
fruit.
>
> Count your sugar
> My rule of thumb is that I don’t eat anything that has more than 2
> grams of sugar per serving. By this I don’t mean all carbohydrates,
> just simple sugars like glucose, sucrose, corn syrup, etc.. Since
Sometimes I just need my cup of coffee in the morning to get me
started, today was one such day and there is probably at least 2 tsp
of demerera goes into that with double cream. This is the only time I
have sugar and seems acceptable as it is folliowing a 12 hour fast,
typically. This drink stimulates bile release and warms me up when
required. I'll be glad when I can go without it for a couple of
weeks.
> serving sizes vary so I usually look at in terms of a ratio. Taking
> 100 calories as the jumping off point for a serving size, this means
> that the number of calories from sugar should equal 8 in that serving
> (each gram of sugar = 4 calories). So if a serving is 200 calories,
> then there should be a ceiling of 16 calories from simple sugars.
Duh, I'm not up to this part of thinking, thinking is overated. It's
odd as I scored 100% for arithmetic tests and 92% and over for
mathematics at school and college. I was well-trained and was
certainly getting pushed into commerce at least up to 20. I resisted
because I found value in art, nature and practical work. I enjioyed
riding my bike and eating too.
>
> This is probably the toughest part of the diet simply because there is
> sugar added to so many foods that would otherwise be healthy. What
I believe the author is still confused between God-given foods and
commercial products designed to extract as much wealth from one with
little outlay. I buy food, not card and pretty pictures (or
advertising). If they need TV to sell a lifestyle, it isn't a worthy
food.
> makes it even more difficult is the fact that foods with a high fiber
> content often have even more sugar added to them to compensate for the
> change in taste and texture. Items like whole grain breads and healthy
> natural cereals often have ludicrous amounts of sugar added to them.
Absolutely stay away from whole-grain wheat products, the flecks in
the flour mix undergo no fermentation in commercial practice. These
flecks puncture the gut wall and lead to debilitating illness with
wheat allergy.
> My best advice is to ignore packaging that says things like whole
> grains, high in fiber or heart healthy and go straight to the
> nutrition label to see for yourself.
Duh, if it needs a label, it's a commercial product dressed up with
lies to make it appear as if it is food. See the label, it's a
warning, "THIS IS A PRODUCT OF COMMERCE - here are the toxins that
legislation insists we list and some are hidden which are under the
threshold we set". It gives the producer a legislative loophole
should later, some individual or group decide they want compensation
for injuries caused. The seller, producer and distributor can all
claim they acted within official guidelines and feel absolved from
responsibility.
>
> Count the fiber
> It’s not enough to avoid sugar because as you will see from the GI,
Eat whole fruits, eat while vegetables, there is enough fibre, there
is enough protein from soluble fibre.
> many foods that don’t technically have sugar in them have a high GI.
> For instance, pure glucose which represents the ultimate value of 100
> on the scale is only 3 points higher than a white potato. Since
It's white, there's your warning. Eat the skin and leave the flesh.
> protein and fiber effectively lowers the GI of otherwise simple
> carbohydrates, these are the next two things I look for. My goal with
> fiber is a minimum of 5 grams per 100 calories. It’s a somewhat
> arbitrary number but it was the best I could realistically find in off
> the shelf foods.
I prefer my foods out of the ground or off the tree.
>
> Count the protein
Accountancy is at the core of commerce and taxation. It should bear
no relevance to eating food. Eat real food, stuff that you can pull
from the ground or tree. FFS a man with a bicycle can go to the
woods and find food, its not an ad-mans imagery.
> OK, the last step of the process is to look for foods high in protein.
> Besides the above mentioned effect protein has on absorption, it is
> also essential to recovery and muscle building. I look for foods that
> have at least 5 grams of protein for every 100 calories.
>
> Head to the market
> Now you are ready to go shopping! Stockpile a couple weeks worth of
> these kinds of foods and get into a new eating habit.
Huh, ripe fruit rarely lasts more than 3 days. Fresh raw fruit needs
replenishing at least 3 times a fortnight. I find it difficult to
manage to work a full week of ripe fruit. Remember it should be tree-
ripened, not never-ripen at home bollocks.
> What you should
> find is that you can eat less while feeling fuller and having plenty
> of energy to ride. If weight loss is your goal, very slowly reduce the
> calories you consume until you start to notice an impact on your
> training. Then bump it back up just a bit.
Health is my goal. I'm eating as much fruit as I desire, I'm eating
offal, pork rind, cream and butter. and the scales are certainly not
rising despite loads of fruit and fat. I'm eating no rancid oils and
no wheat and little meat flesh or other cereals. My body is cleansing
itself of deposited protein and minerals in my flesh. There is pain
at the healing sites, twitching along my lymphatic ducts and pain and
gurgling in my belly as the process cycles through the day. when this
healing occurs I assist with water.
>
> And while all you doctors are marking up my work with your red pens,
> the rest of you, enjoy your weight loss!