Yeah, that was clickbait. 

There is no best diet for everyone but there are lots of worst diets. The worst diets include lots of fast food, processed food, and industrial food products. 

My diet evolved with age. As I kid I ate all kinds of processed food along with whatever my mom made for dinner. Breakfast was usually cereal and orange juice followed by a lunch of cold cuts and a Little Debbie snack. We were a meat and potatoes kind of family. When I was a kid the only thing better than meat and potatoes was meat and meat.

In college, I ate cafeteria food,  pizza, and ramen noodles. Need I say more?

After college came medical school and residency and full time ER work in the hospital. I basically lived in the hospital for 7 years straight and ate whatever they served in cafeteria. Yeah, I ate hospital food for seven years and by the end of that time I was overweight and out of shape. To remedy this situation I started doing triathlons and working out everyday. I followed the advice of fellow athletes and transitioned to a diet rich in whole grains, vegetable and high quality meats. I figured an expensive diet and tons of exercise should cover any dietary indiscretions.

I figured wrong. 

I went for a physical two years into my triathlon career and was shocked to find that my liver enzymes were elevated due to a fatty liver, I still had too much abdominal fat which put me at risk of developing diabetes. I was floored. How could that be? As a doctor I thought I knew a thing or two about health. I was eating a 'balanced' diet with plenty of whole grains, fruit, vegetables and the occasional meat. 

How could I have fatty liver? I was doing everything right, or so I thought. I had cut out saturated fats, cooked with canola and olive oils and was buying whole wheat bread and skim milk. What was I doing wrong?

It turns out, I was doing everything wrong. I won't go into it but I will say that over the past 10 years I've only begun to appreciate the complexity of nutrition and the myriad effects food has on our bodies. My experience showed me there is no one size fits all approach to nutrition. Optimal nutrition must take into account age, body type, genetic factors, seasons, health status, gut health, activity levels, and personal goals. When it comes to diet, one size fits one.

Therefore, I will not dictate a diet to you, but rather I will share some principles I've learned that may help you in discovering what works for you.

I consider the following statements as my personal opinion. There are medical facts to back them up but since this is a blog and not a dissertation, I'll skip the references and get to the point.

Doc Evenhouse's Nutrition Guidelines.

1. Food is medicine. What I eat affects my health and I can change my body by changing my diet. The corollary is also true which holds that as my body changes, my diet may need to change. It's a constant process of observing the effects various foods have on my body. I follow my body's advice as to what it needs. If my body hurts after I eat something, I don't eat that thing again.

2. Sugar kills. Carbohydrates (simple and complex sugars) are the only non-essential nutrients. Our bodies can make the sugars it needs from protein and fat. We don't need nearly as much carbohydrate as we've been told. Fiber from plant-based foods promote a healthy gut but sucrose and high fructose corn syrup are death. Sadly, the standard american diet promotes the consumption of large amounts of carbohydrates, much of which is delivered in the form of genetically modified wheat and additives such as dextrose (glucose), maltodextrin (which is dextrose) corn syrup and high fructose corn syrups present in a multitude of processed foods. 

3. My body needs fat. I need fat for energy and building things like nerves and brain tissue. I get my fat from multiple sources including fish, meat, cheese, butter, eggs, coconut oil and nuts. Avocado's are another example of healthy sources of fat. I avoid cooking oils as a general rule but will use butter, lard, olive oil and the occasional avocado oil as the situation requires. I absolutely never use or eat anything that contains soybean oil, canola oil (what's a canola, anyway?) and anything to do with vegetable oil. Sadly, this means I don't eat out much since restaurants use lots of cheap industrial oils in their food.

4. Seasons Matter.  I used to buy whatever fruit looked good whether it was local and in season or from somewhere 4000 miles away. Over time I learned about things called Lectins, and decided I'd cut out the foreign stuff and focus on eating locally grown fruit in season. Same with veggies. Local is great. Frozen is the next best thing. I stay away from canned veggies unless they're pickled in season.

5. Nutritionism is a religion and useless for planning a meal. Nutritionism is the practice of viewing food as the sum of its parts. Nutritionism-ists focus on individual nutrients and micro elements to the nth degree. They promote endless lists of vitamins and micro nutrients, supplements and macro diets without considering the value of real food. Excessive focus on individual nutrients distracts people from the reality that we (us humans) don't know as much about food as we think we do. Natural foods contain all sorts of good things we've only just begun to understand. The stuff in natural food works together with your gut bacteria and your digestion to bring your body the nutrition it deserves. Pills and powders and superfood elixers have their purpose but can never replace the benefits of eating real food.

6. You cannot supplement a shitty diet into a healthy diet. That's it. You just can't.

7. There are three categories of food: food, non-food, and anti-food. Food is something that helps your body do work, grow and heal. Non-foods represent stuff the body has to process without any real net gain. Anti-food harms the body. Examples are easy to find. Fresh picked apples in season are food. Cold cuts from the deli counter are non-food because the net benefit of the protein is cancelled out by the processing, fillers and preservatives. Most candy and bakery items are anti-food due to the high levels of sucrose, high fructose corn syrup and genetically modified white flour used in their production. The body can't use most of that stuff and the overload of fructose goes straight to the liver where it raises all kinds of holy hell. 

8. Alcohol is anti-food. Ethanol is a source of calories, not nutrition. Use it as you like but that alcohol (a sugar) is going straight to your liver and your gut. The benefits of wine notwithstanding, ethanol has no nutritional value whatsoever.

9. Microwave ovens turn food and non-food into anti-food. The frequencies put out by the microwave heat water and also disrupt the chemical bonds in other molecules in the food. There's no telling what you're eating after its been 'nuked'. 

10. Food is life. Enjoy it. I gotta live. I gotta have fun. I gotta take part in the social aspects of eating and sharing a meal. Worrying about food makes it suck so I don't worry. I eat what I want when I want within the framework of what I know works best for me.

11. Gratitude makes the food better. I am grateful for the food I get to eat. I am grateful for the blessings I have been given. I pray for my food and I thank the Lord that I have food for the day. I have a suspicion that praying over food actually improves the quality of the food and it's interaction with my body. That's just my opinion but it's based on centuries of wisdom passed down in both eastern and western traditions. 

12. Fasting lets my body heal. I engage in intermittent fasting nearly every day. I eat during the afternoons and do not eat the rest of the day. Occasionally, I'll go 36 hours or more without food. It feels good and I don't have any trouble with cravings. Check out the benefits of nutritional ketosis and intermittent fasting. It may help you find what you are looking for. 

Thanks for reading. Feel free to leave comments. I'll follow up. 

Regards

​Doc Evenhouse. 

The following posts are personal opinion informed by decades of experience as an emergency physician. These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA, the CDC, or the IRS. It is, however, very likely they've been recorded by the CIA and NSA, because that's what they do.

Do I care, nope. It's just the world we live in.

Now, the next disclaimer arises from the need to clarify what this blog is about. When I first started, it was a place for me to mess around. No one read it and I didn't mind. Now, I'm getting traffic and I have to step up my game. So here it is.  The first blog posts were fun but people want more information on what to do about healthcare so I'm putting some thought into it and start writing it down.

What's my mission?

Common sense solutions. That's it. Nothing crazy, no big conspiracy (although I love them), just a simple strategy to transform our experience of health and how we take care of ourselves and each other. One size fits one and since everything is medicine there's no need for a middle man.

What's my role?

I'm just a guide. I show the way. I combine old and new ideas to bring something useful to the fore. I demonstrate solutions to complex problems. I do this in the ER, I do it in the clinic and I do it at home anytime someone asks for my opinion. There may never be a single right answer, but there are many good ones. 

My medical career has brought me full circle. I've been a doctor, a patient, an administrator, a superstar and persona non grata. I've worked in helicopters, ER's, ambulances, clinics, tertiary centers and small town hospitals. I've delivered babies in bathrooms, waiting room, back seats and OR's. I've treated more gunshots and heart attacks than I can count. All that is to say, I know a thing or two about where we've been and I have some pretty good ideas on where we're going.

Where are we going?

Right now it looks like we're going to hell in a hand-basket. And that's okay. Breakdowns always feel bad because we have to let go of old habits of thought, word and deed. It feels like we're losing something. There's grief. There's sadness. There's anger. Lots of anger, and that's normal. It only lasts long enough to get you to the breakthrough.

Ok, we're not going to hell, but where are we going? 

Some people think we're on our way to a communist utopia. Others see a revolution of one kind or another. Many defend the status quo because why change something that's served so many, so well, for so long?

Me? I'm pushing for one on one accountability between doctors and patients. I'm pushing for individualized care and individual control over healthcare spending. I'm pushing direct primary care, individual coverage and medical cost sharing accounts. Imagine what would happen if your doctor was suddenly on the hook for getting paid directly by you? Would they treat you better? You bet. Doctors respond to incentives like anyone else. Align the incentives for them and they'll jump in line. It's all about the money. Buy what works and reject what doesn't. It will go away fast.

How do we get there? 

Simple, we change how we pay. We cut out the middle man. Give the power and the money back to the people and let them decide how to spend it. At the same time, we put in place some common sense solutions to help people get through the rough spots. It's being done right now and it works. This isn't socialism, it's extreme conscientious individualism because how you treat one person is how you treat them all. 

Thanks for reading.