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.

Forget About Diets

Forget About Diets... Low-Carb, Low-Fat, High-Carb, High-Fat, Paleo, Drs. Atkins, Eades, Ornish, Fuhrman, Vegetarian, Vegan, Sally Fallon, Weston A. Price Foundation (WAPF), Raw Food, Instincto, Aajonus Vonderplanitz (The Primal Diet), Jan Kwasniewski, South Beach, Carb-Cycling, Mediterranean, Mercola, etc. DIETS DON'T WORK! All they do is weaken your metabolism and pin you down like a bug wriggling on the wall. Diets cut the wrong things or limit you too much. There's a simpler, better way.

Eat REAL FOODS freely. Enjoy life and enjoy your body. Be grateful for any opportunity to share your special gift(s) and give of yourself to others, so you can become one with them. This is our true hunger, and it's why we become obese and dis-eased, because we hold-on instead of giving back the energy that passes through us. There's more to life than food.

We welcome everyone willing to discuss things open-mindedly. Our focus is on total health, not just food. What comes out of the mouth reflects what is in the heart and the mind. So that is as important, if not more important, than what you eat. We want to help each other become healthier through respectful debate and sharing information. Please don't hesitate to speak out if you feel these goals are not being upheld by others.

BMI - Big Mis-Interpretation

By: Matt Stone

I was just reflecting once again on how silly the BMI, or Body Mass Index concept is.  It's is an absolute abomination that there is not a separate chart for men and women.  For example, my girlfriend and I have similar body compositions - not excessively lean and not excessively fat.  Our waist measurements are both about 8 inches below the official "danger zone" for men and women respectively.  Yet, her BMI is 21 - on the low side of normal, and mine is just under 27 - right in the middle of what is considered the overweight range. 

It's ridiculous.  My weight is heavy for my appearance and body fat content precisely because of the health enhancements I've had over the years.  I have very dense bones, well-nourished and vibrant organs, dense muscles, and my cells are very well-hydrated - all signs of someone with a flourishing metabolism.  Yet, the BMI says I'm overweight, and that at 128 pounds I am in the "normal range."  This is nuts.  I have less than 5% body fat at 160-165, and 128 is supposed to be normal?  You've gotta be kidding me. 

Ignore the BMI.  Do as Bruce suggests:

EAT FREELY OF HIGH-QUALITY FOODS!

With persistence, metabolic healing is destined to take place - the end result is a well-nourished and smoothly-functioning version of YOU.

See the Good in All Diets

Many different diet strategies or combinations of strategies can provide benefits. Devoting yourself to one is counter-productive. You should take the best ideas from every approach and discard what doesn't work. Approach things from a holistic perspective, not being tied down to any one-size-fits-all scheme. No diet works for everyone. There is a potential for healing with all kinds of different diets. There are many paths to recovery and healing, so we should remain open-minded to maximize our chance of success.

Extreme diets have a very poor record of success. Sometimes they provide good initial results, but in the long run they cause various intractable problems. For example, people stop losing weight on a diet (the plateau effect) or they begin having "detox" more often (one of the more common rationalizations for raw diet failures). We need to see through diet dogma and get to the root of the problem (like hormones). No diet can succeed if it messes up your body's hormones over time, but many diets do that.

Most diets will provide short-term results, but we really should be thinking long-term and asking ourselves how the diet works and whether it will keep working. When you deprive yourself of calories (by restricting macro-nutrients or calories), the body eventually adapts by slowing down its metabolism. You lose muscle, for example. This causes the plateau effect and will make your body composition worse over time. But people fall for the lure of crash diets, rather than eating freely of high-quality foods.

We should try to see the good in all diets, rather than looking for the "best" diet, which probably doesn't exist. Different diets work for different people, but the underlying issue of metabolism can't be ignored. The more you try to restrict calories, the more chance of your metabolism slowing down (or entering starvation mode). You can lose weight on a high-calorie or unlimited-calorie diet of fresh and natural foods.

High Everything Diet Guidelines

HEALTHY PEOPLE DON'T DIET.

Eating saturated and mono-unsaturated fats with unlimited starches and/or unrefined sugars is totally healthy - even occasional burgers, pizza, tacos, burritos, pasta, hot dogs, etc. Refined sugar can be healthy, as long as you don't eat it often. Comfort foods can be more healing than "high quality" foods. The greatest dietary villains in fast food are refined sugars, artificial sweeteners, PUFA oils, and trans fats, i.e. sodas, fries, ketchup, mayo, and desserts. The best way to maintain a healthy body is not by restricting calories or foods or macro-nutrients, but rather by eating all you want and sometimes much more than you want - emphasizing nutritious foods, not refined sugars and processed vegetable oils.

Forget About Diets (FAD).

Eat a High-Everything Diet (HED).

No Limitation of Carbs, Fats, or Calories.

1. 
   Eat all the fat you want, esp saturated fat - coconut oil, butter, cream, whole milk, half and half, cheese, beef, lamb, goat, buffalo, etc. Other good fats - pork leaf fat, macadamia oil, foie gras, occasional olive oil, and avocados. Poly Unsaturated Fats (PUFAs) and Trans Fats are best avoided - they are present in most commercial mayonnaise, salad dressing, chicken fat, turkey fat, fried food, hydrogenated oil, etc. Use normal pork, lard, duck, and goose fats in moderation. Have fish occasionally, but don't eat just fatty fish - salmon, sardines, mackerel, and tuna. Eat a variety - cod, haddock, pollock, etc. Eating too much PUFAs from fatty fish (or fish oils) can deplete Vitamin E. Beware of mercury content in certain fish, like albacore tuna and swordfish. If you can't digest fat well, eat less fat for a while and build up. Beware of low-fat foods which are high in protein, like lean meat, egg whites, cottage cheese, and protein powders. Eat plenty of fat so you stay full and satisfied.
   
   
   
2. 
   Eat all the starch you want. If you eat refined starches, unbleached and unenriched would be best - sprouted breads, good sourdough, rice, potatoes, beans, pasta, corn, vegetables, etc. Consider soaking grains and beans in water over-night to reduce their cooking time and improve digestion. Don't fear starches, whether refined or unrefined. They can help you to heal. There is no reason to avoid starches.  Do try to avoid any bread or starch with the wrong kind of oils in it - like corn, soybean, sunflower, safflower, cottonseed, canola, rapeseed, or hydrogenated oils. Eat all the vegetables you like, preferably cooked, esp when you are healing. Raw veggies can be hard on digestion. Vegetable juices can be used, either raw or cooked. A person with a good metabolism can handle natural fiber and starch without gas, bloating, or other problems. Many people don't have a good metabolism, so they may need to limit fiber (whole grains, beans, fruit peels, nuts, and seeds).
   
   
   
3. 
   Eliminate refined sugars from your daily diet. Preferably avoid food with HFCS in general, like most packaged foods in the USA. A small amount of sugar in breads may be OK, but don't eat food high in refined sugar (like more than 10% of its calories or with sugar in the first few ingredients). Beware of refined sugars hiding in many foods. The less of that you eat, the better. Eat unrefined sugars if you can tolerate them - fruits, 100% juices (preferably "not from concentrate" or fresh), as well as some maple syrup or honey (possibly "unheated" honey). Starches can be better for healing, but you should try to improve your health to where you can eat natural sugars. Avoid sugars if they cause hypo-glycemia (low energy) or food cravings. In time, you may be able to eat them without a reaction. Don't use artificial sweeteners or diet sodas.
   
   
4. 
   Eat modest amounts of protein, animal or vegetable. The three legs of the HED tripod will spare protein (namely high-carbs, high-fat, and high-calories). The more fat on meat, the better, so that protein is not excessive. Egg yolks would be better if you eat a lot of eggs. Cottage cheese is high in protein, even full-fat. Ricotta might be safer. Don't use protein powders, protein shakes, or protein bars. Excess protein can damage your metabolism. Protein should come from natural foods. Listen to your body. Find the right amount of protein. Avoid soy protein and vegan diets. Fermented soy can be used in moderation - natto, tempeh, miso, tamari, shoyu, etc.
   
   
5. 
   Don't count calories or restrict them. Eat all you want and occasionally much more than you want to keep your metabolism high, reduce weight loss plateaus, and minimize potential weight gain. Aim for at least 3 meals a day with a mix of natural carbs, fats, and proteins. Once you have healed some, you can have desserts occasionally - but only if you can eat them infrequently without cravings. It is best to stick with natural foods, like fruit, fruit juice, honey, or maple syrup (on pancakes with lots of butter). If you choose to expand your diet with occasional desserts (once or twice a week), it would be best to choose desserts with the most saturated fat and the least "junk" fat. Good dessert choices might be cheesecake, tiramisu, butter cookies, high-cream ice cream, premium chocolate, organic cream pies, macaroons, etc. High fat is better, so look for ice cream with cream as the first ingredient. Don't eat food if it makes you feel bad or causes any cravings. If you can't eat junk sporadically, do not eat it at all.
   
   
6. 
   Don't believe in quick fixes. A healthy person loses weight by following the HED, if they have weight to lose. The unhealthy person might gain weight temporarily, because of previous dieting and starvation. Dr. Diana Schwarzbein says: "You have to get healthy to lose weight - not the other way around." So, give your body a chance to heal. Another good quote from Dr. Schwarzbein: "If eating well (high-everything) causes you to gain weight, then you have a damaged metabolism." If you have a damaged metabolism, you need to heal. Don't let anything (or anybody) discourage you. Things can get worse before they get better. Remain patient and optimistic. You did not damage your metabolism in a day and you may not repair it overnight. Also, you should exercise when you feel like it, not in an attempt to lose weight. Excessive exercise is a form of starvation. Make it fun and spontaneous, like playing and short intense bursts of activity. Lift weights to build muscle and strength, but allow yourself several days to recover between work-outs. Just walking is fine to begin. Remember, you're nourishing yourself, rather than starving. Work with your body, not against it.
   
   
7. 
   These guidelines are simply a frame-work for getting started. In the long run, you should try to become more flexible. The goal is a total freedom from diet dogma, including any dogma that you think the HED may contain. Experiment with varying the amount of carbs and fats in your meals over an extreme range. Experiment with mixing large amounts of foods together in meals. Eventually try to eat foods that you were previously allergic or intolerant to, like wheat, whole grains, beans, fiber, starches, sugars, dairy, fruits, juices, vegetables, fish, nuts, etc. The goal is to be able to eat natural foods freely, not restrict yourself to a few foods. The HED encourages you to overcome all dietary rules, dogma, fears, and limitations. You must find your own way. By starting with a high degree of dietary freedom, you may eventually attain more.
   

STOP DIETING, EAT WELL, FEEL GOOD.

DEATH TO DIETING. EAT EVERYTHING.

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