Friday, May 27, 2011

N=1 – The Importance of Self-Experimentation


N=1 – The Importance of Self-Experimentation



Sorry that I haven’t posted in a while.  I was having trouble logging into Blogger.  It’s nice to be back.



What’s all this about Optimality?


So, lately there’s been some buzz on the blogs I read regarding the concept of optimal nutrition.  What is optimal?   Many diet gurus present ideas for the optimal diet.  Some people will tell you low carb is optimal.  Others will tell you a raw vegan diet is optimal.  Yet others will stress low fat diets as the best.

The following links are to blog posts discussing the concepts of optimality and n=1/self-experimentation:

http://freetheanimal.com/2011/05/optimality-a-fools-errand.html

http://freetheanimal.com/2010/12/self-experiementation-doesnt-trump-science-it-is-science.html

J.E.R.F.


As I stressed in a previous post, the path to an optimal diet is grounded in real food.  The reason we want to eat real food and avoid industrial processed food is because the latter usually contains food toxins (mainly, industrial seed oils, excessive fructose, chemical additives, most grains, and genetically modified crops).  By eating toxins, we jeopardize our health.  Obviously, an optimal diet would be non-toxic, so therefore real-foods based (and ideally including organic produce and grass-fed/pastured animals, if one eats animals).



Every Body Is Different


Aside from real food, there’s little that can be definitive regarding the perfect diet for everyone.  Every body is different.  We all have different genetic and epi-genetic make-ups.   We all have had different personal histories regarding our health and wellness that impact how our bodies react to different foods and exercises.



N=1


Because everyone is different, there really isn’t a one-size-fits-all dietary or exercise approach.  Different things are going to work for different people.  What we need to do is try different dietary and exercise approaches to find what works for us.  For me, thus far, eating a low-carb, real food diet has led to tremendous health gains (40 lbs. of fat loss, improvements in blood pressure and blood-lipid profile, reduction in allergy symptoms, and more energy/vitality, etc.).  For others, however, a low-fat, vegetarian diet might lead to similar health improvements.



Taking Adventures


Self-experimentation is critical to finding optimality in your life.  We all most consistently seek out approaches that work for us.  Clearly, it’s important to carefully make choices that will affect our health.  The most prudent action is to combine anthropological data (i.e. the evolutionary approach), anecdotal data from people like you, scientific data (always discerning the validity of the results) and personal experimentation to develop a dietary approach that is optimal for you.  This approach can probably be applied to all areas of health.



So, with this in mind, I’m feeling a little adventurous.  If this blog is called Adventures in Wellness, than I best get on with taking some actual adventures.  The idea is that these adventures will be n=1/self-experimentation.  I will used the knowledge I’ve gained over the past year to inform my choices regarding the experiments, or adventures, I choose to take. 



My First Adventure – Going Paleo


I’m finally going to take the plunge.  I’ve had tons of excuses to not try going full-Paleo, but I’m going to give it a go for 30 days.  I’ve read Robb Wolf’s The Paleo Solution, and I know I can do this.  So, for the next 30 days (I actually started this on Wednesday), I will be living my life without eating grains, legumes and dairy.



Prior to this adventure, I’ve basically given up grains (except for white rice and organic corn) and legumes (which I don’t really care for anyway).  So, my biggest challenge in the coming weeks will be to give up dairy.  I still plan on eating butter, though.  I’ll be giving updates, included a recount of what I’ve been eating.



Paleo Food Diary – Days 1 - 3



Day 1


Breakfast

Eggs and Sausage

Supplement – Cod liver/Butter Oil; Selenium; L-Glutamine



Lunch

Salad – with bacon, olive oil and apple cider vinegar

Chicken broth

Chicken in reduction sauce



Dinner

Sausage with sauce

Buttered, steamed asparagus



Day 2


Breakfast

Eggs and Bacon

Supplement – Probiotic



Lunch

Salad – with bacon, olive oil and apple cider vinegar

Chicken broth

Leftover sausage in sauce



Dinner

Meatballs with sauce

Salad – with bacon, olive oil and apple cider vinegar

Desert – almond macaroons (I slipped and binged a little on this tastey treat.  Normally, I would just would have a few squares of dark chocolate)



Day 3 (this is today, so this is my plan as of now)

Breakfast

Nothing – fasting



Lunch

Salad – with bacon, olive oil and apple cider vinegar

Chicken broth

2 Hard-boiled eggs

Coconut milk smoothie (if necessary – not sure I’ll be hungry enough to have it)



Dinner

2 Hamburgers

Fermented Pickle or Sauerkraut
Salad – with bacon, olive oil and apple cider vinegar 
 

4 comments:

  1. Spacewoman,
    Great going with Paleo. I officially went Paleo for a 30 day challenge myself yesterday - the diet is achievable, the exercise part I'm probably messing up as I strength train at the gym, but I'm sure I'm not doing it right for effectiveness. I want to build bone strength as the med I am on reduces that (I'm trying to recover from cancer). Proper exercise is going to be a learning process. I must study Sisson's posts on MDA. I've often wondered if anyone out there besides me is trying to do Paleo with cancer. None of my Drs care what I eat - all just say "balanced diet with some protein". I freaked out the nutritionist at the hospital when I was having chemo when I told her I eat less than 100 carbs a day - "But you need carbs for energy!!!!" Her reaction to cooking with butter and coconut oil was priceless (OMG -saturated fat)! Aside, where does one get enough calcium without dairy? I know veggies have some, but it looks like you have to eat A LOT to get the RDA. Thanks.

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  2. Hi Johanna! Nice to hear from you again. Bone broth is a great source of calcium. Do you have access to pastured animals? Their bones make the best stock/broth. I save all chicken and beef bones from meals and freeze them. I also buy beef marrow bones from my meat farmer. Sometimes they are called dog bones. They're fairly cheap. I also buy chicken feet for my stock. If you don't have access to a farm that sells pastured meat, search for a good butcher. They can sell you bones, too. Another option is buying a black chicken from an Asian grocer (I haven't tried this but have heard they make a great stock).

    Stock is super easy to make (lots of recipes online) and full of nutrients. In essence you will be consuming the bones and cartlidge of other animals, which are made of the same raw materials.

    I commend you for taking control of your health. As for info on Paleo and cancer recovery, I'd check out Robb Wolf's website and podcast. You can even submit you own questions for the podcast.

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  3. Spacewoman,
    I'm working on locating a grassfed beef. We bought a 1/4 last year. Seems the butcher was very stingy with giving out bones. I will have to instruct him to leave them in this time around! I do make bone broths, and I love soup, so yes, thanks for pointing that out.

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  4. Another thought - I believe I read that eating sardines, anchovies and other small fish with the bones is a good, natural source of calcium. Sardines are also a great source of omega-3 fatty acids.

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