Saturday, March 20, 2010

Matt Stone's HED Rules

High Everything Diet:
a metabolic healing program
http://180degreehealth.blogspot.com/
  1. At each meal, try to eat a complete assortment of all the macronutrients: fat, protein, and carbohydrate. This means eating complete "squares" every time you eat. The Schwarzbein "Square," I find to be the best approach, as each corner represents a different food group. Those 4 food groups are Protein (meat), Fat, Starch, and Vegetable. Combine these 4 elements at each feeding to the best of your ability, but don't stress too much over it.
  2. Eat only starchy, unrefined carbohydrates and plenty of them. Eventually some fruit can be injected into the diet, but now I believe it's best to limit fructose to the bare minimum for at least a few months. Potatoes, corn, beans, brown rice, oatmeal, and sweet potatoes/yams are the most common choices although any root vegetable will do. Breads are acceptable but not preferable and should be whole grain with no sweetener added (i.e. – homemade, as you are unlikely to find that in stores). Refined sugars from dehydrated cane juice, white sugar, high-fructose corn syrup, honey, maple syrup, crystalline fructose, and all other highly-sweet foods must be strictly kept to a minimum.
  3. Eat saturated fats while keeping polyunsaturated fat to a minimum. Expeller-pressed "refined" coconut oil is the best for cooking. Beef, grain or grassfed, is the best animal protein source along with cheese. Dairy fats are excellent. Leaner cuts of pork and skinless poultry are also acceptable, as are fish (although you can certainly overdo it on fatty fish). Nuts, seeds, peanuts, and avocado are NOT preferable fat sources – with the exception of macadamia nuts, which contain very little polyunsaturated fat. If you need a liquid oil to use for salads and what not, macadamia nut oil is the best. A little olive oil can be used, but is not ideal. Whole eggs and organ meats are excellent nutritional powerhouses and should be eaten on occasion, but in reasonable quantites (no more than once daily). This has nothing to do with cholesterol, and everything to do with the metabolically-stimulating nature of a diet with very little polyunsaturated fat. Vegetable oils are strictly forbidden.
  4. Consume lots of nutritious non-starchy vegetables, from homemade salads, cooked spinach, cabbage, broccoli, and bell peppers to onions, carrots, celery, squash, and cucumber. The micronutrients in vegetables are a great asset to any health program, including this one.
  5. Do not exercise! The ultimate would be bed rest during the first several weeks to 30 days. At the very least keep physical exertion to household chores, cooking, easy walks to get fresh air (sunbathing is better), and light stretching. Avoid stress as much as is feasible, including avoiding too much reading or television watching. Not too much sex either Tiger.
  6. Go to bed early and sleep as late as you want. Bedtime should be, at the very minimum, 8 hours before the sun rises unless you live in like Greenland or something and are trying this in June.
  7. Avoid caffeine, alcohol, artificial sweeteners, and anything else impure and overly stimulating. This is a great time to stop smoking and drop medications with the green light of your doc (unlikely).
  8. Enjoy it! Restoring your health can be a very nurturing and satisfying experience. This is not a no pain no gain escapade. You are deeply nourishing yourself in ways that you, and maybe even your predecessors, never allowed themselves to do. The whole experience should be as tranquil and meditative as possible.
  9. Do not watch the scale. Some people lose and some people gain following this advice. Generally, the more overweight you are the more you tend to lose. The thinner you are, the more you tend to gain. Neither is a sign of anything of relevance to your healing, and your health must improve to be able to achieve any other health goal, weight loss included. For example, I gained 13.5 pounds in a few short weeks while dropping my fasting glucose by 26%. The scale is often very misleading. When we see it drop we think we are doing something good for us. When it goes up we think we are doing something bad for us. It is often the opposite, especially from the standpoint of the metabolism, so don't pay much attention.
  10. Intentionally eat as much food as you can each and every day. If you are hungry despite just eating, eat again. Do not argue with appetite. Obey it more fully than you ever have in your life. You and your body are playing on the same team now. Eat to fullness. You don't have to stuff yourself, but forget that "eat 80% of what's on your plate" crap.