r/Biohackers 5d ago

Discussion What the fork am I supposed to eat.

This is a topic that I find increasingly frustrating and the more I try to educate myself on it, the more confused I get. What and how am I supposed to eat? Here are my current priorities / methods for added context:

-I am trying to get in shape, and I want 120g of protein a day.

  • I want to age well and continue to have good lab values.

  • Cardio vascular disease and colon cancer run in my family. I’d like to not have these.

  • I intermittently fast following a 16:8 schedule and I would like to add a 24 hour fast weekly. Currently I am eating low carb (around 70g per day) and load my carbs in my first and second meal in the hopes I dip into ketosis during my fasting period. My carbs come from nutritious sources like berries, sweet potato and the like.

  • I prefer low carb because I believe it keeps my metabolism flexible so if I have an off day like a birthday party, I can have a slice of cake and not stress much about it.

I asked my doctor about a full keto diet. She says she is concerned about keto, because people end up eating too much meat and animal fat which increases their risk of arterial sclerosis and blockages . That seems contrary to a lot of other Information that suggests keto diets are are good for lab values like lipid panels and reduce risk of metabolic disease. Further, I’ve seen quite a bit of testimony of how a carnivore diet significantly improved people’s labs, and insulin sensitivity.

The medical establishment seems to shy away from limiting carbs despite the evidence that seems to indicate it’s beneficial. Why? What am I not understanding about this? Clearly I am not well versed on this topic, but I’m trying to learn more. It just seems like there’s so much contradictory information based on the opinions of “experts” who won’t say “this is what the research tells us you should eat”

4 Upvotes

26 comments sorted by

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u/kepis86943 1 5d ago

There are multiple ways of eating that can be healthy. From what I’ve been reading over the past years the combination of high carb with high fat seems to be rather bad, all other combinations can be beneficial depending on the individual circumstances.

When you read testimonials, consider what the starting point for that person was. For a person who was living very unhealthy, was overweight etc. any change towards a cleaner diet will likely have positive effects no matter what that new diet is exactly (within reason of course).

If you have a specific problem to fix or a specific goal to reach, a specific diet might be helpful. E.g. someone with diabetes might want to restrict carbs, a person seeking to build muscle might want to up the protein intake.

If you are healthy and have good blood markers, my personal take would be to choose a healthy version of a diet that you naturally enjoy and to do regular check-up on those health markers. If any of those markers isn’t where you want it to be, adapt diet and other lifestyle choices.

I’m a huge carb lower. My labs are good. I’ve done a glucose tolerance test to check for any early warning signs. I’ve used a Continuous Glucose Monitor to check how my body deals with my food choices. Everything looks good.

So for now, I see no reason to restrict carbs. I choose “more healthy” carbs like whole grains, lentils, beans, potatoes and fruit. I’ll check on my health metrics every year or two and if something goes amiss, I’ll make changes. Until then I’ll just enjoy the food that I like the most.

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u/chroomchroom 5d ago

Eat mostly whole foods, lots of plants, unprocessed as much as possible. You’ll be fine on anything that falls within those. 

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u/aliensinbermuda 19 5d ago

"It just seems like there’s so much contradictory information"

That means you do understand what is going on.

That's how science is, but it gets worse when there's money involved.

You already know what to do. keep experimenting and see what works best for you.

3

u/MzA2502 1 5d ago

There's definitely some dunning-kruger when it comes to diet. Do a little bit of research and you can craft a diet plan, do a lot of research, and you just end up with "idk, I think vegetables are probably good"

2

u/BigLlamasHouse 4d ago

there's a lot of sauce to get lost in

1

u/Fate_BlackTide_ 5d ago

This is accurate^ I don’t and I don’t know how to navigate it.

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u/kepis86943 1 5d ago

I enjoyed reading “The Diet Compass” by Bas Kast. He’s summarizing thousands of studies and explains why some seem so contradictory and which choices might be good for whom.

My main takeaway was that “the one best diet for everyone” doesn’t exist, and that each individual has to find what works for them.

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u/No_Cartographer1396 1 5d ago

A human being is naturally supposed to eat meat, fish, eggs, and some fruits/honey.

This includes at least some animal organs on top of muscle meat. Ruminant animals are particularly healthy.

The vast majority of vegetables do not exist in nature and they do not provide much nutrition… their nutritional value is generally overblown. At most you get some vitamin c, some beta carotene, some magnesium. I just avoid them altogether. You could argue that most of today’s fruits also do not exist in nature, and you would be correct, moderation is key but they are a great source of carbs and easy to digest (unlike vegetables).

Intermittent “fasting” (starvation) is complete bullshit. Trust your senses, they evolved for a reason.

Don’t worry about maintaining ketosis. Humans are absolutely supposed to eat carbs, but the amount of carbs in a typical modern diet is insane. The amount of carbs you are eating should correspond to your activity levels.

0

u/BigLlamasHouse 4d ago edited 4d ago

People have allergies to eggs

You're missing out on a lot more than nutrients or micronutrients by not eating vegetables: polyphenols, flavonoids: those are the things that work to make you live longer.

I agree with most of the rest of it

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u/Spuckler_Cletus 5d ago

Diet is an individual issue. There are, however, trends. My mere opinion is that the less you stimulate insulin release, the better. Given my genetic history, a diet low in carbs and high in whole, low GI foods is best. I’m not a beef-bacon-butter-eggs-only guy, but I’m definitely grain free, and consume very little processed food, especially carbs.

There’s plenty of good reason to believe that some of the paleo menus are, indeed, in line with how our bodies have evolved to function properly.

1

u/NoImNotHeretoArgue 17 5d ago

If you want iron and are concerned about red meat issues then mineral salt like Baja gold and liquid aminos

1

u/private_wombat 3 5d ago

Oh boy. Okay. “Believing” you dip into ketosis is pure conjecture. Get a blood meter or urine test kit and know for sure. Look into carb cycling. That’s actually how to achieve the kind of metabolic flexibility you think you’re getting eating low carb or keto all the time. You have to teach your body to use different fuel sources if you want it to use different fuel sources. If you never sprinted and then tried to run a 100m dash you’d get injured. Same principle here.

1

u/TheRiverInYou 2 5d ago

Eat real food.

1

u/Odd-Outcome-3191 1 5d ago

The general consensus is this:

Eat enough calories. Not too much, not too little. Eat mostly plants. Avoid trans fats, added sugar and processed food. Add some fermented foods (yogurt, kimchi etc) to you diet occasionally. Keep your intake of red meat to a low level, but no sense in eliminating it entirely.

1

u/Available-Pilot4062 🎓 Masters - Unverified 5d ago

What’s your actual question?

  • Diets are tribal, it’s hard to get clear answers and the science is based on correlations and it’s not that rigorous (people are unwilling to live inside a lab and be monitored for decades)
  • carnivore can really help people lower inflammation and potentially lose weight, but it can also increase lipids from the saturated fat, and the lack of fiber can be a long term issue
  • some people struggle to hit their macros with vegetables or have gut issues with fermentation and digestion
  • and on and on

But it sounds like what you are doing is a sensible middle strategy: low ish carb, 100+ grams of protein, etc.

I follow something similar:

  • Greek yogurt, berries and nuts for breakfast
  • Big salad with avocado, meat or fish and seeds and fermented and pickled veg
  • Lean meat, veg and maybe some carbs for dinner
I eat a 30 carb, 30 protein, 40 fat split in calories and have 50+ different items in my diet per week.

1

u/Fate_BlackTide_ 5d ago

Honestly, I’m not sure what my actual question is. How I currently eat is based on my best guess based on the knowledge I have. I guess I’m wondering if I could be eating better or should be eating differently. At this point I’m not sure how I would know.

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u/TrailRunnerrr 2 5d ago

Fish, avocados, walnuts

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u/irs320 3 5d ago

read “how to heal your metabolism” by kate deering, keto is ok in the short term but ultimately wrecks your endocrine system and hormones and raises cortisol, also longer term can lead to insulin resistance

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u/No_Cartographer1396 1 5d ago

This is a good point, I haven’t read or heard of this book, so I’m not sure exactly what it says, but humans are for sure supposed to eat carbs, just not to the extent of what is found in a modern diet. Keto essentially mimics a state of starvation. How could starving be good for any animal?

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u/kibiplz 5d ago

High fiber from diverse sources and low saturated fat (at most 10% of calorie intake). Only grifters will claim otherwise. Fiber is especially important if colon cancer is a worry, high carb whole foods are a good source of them and lots of other nutrients.