When under stress you should choose foods that provide the most nutrition.Current dietary thinking puts considerable emphasis on eating plenty of whole grains, pasta, rice, and potatoes – foods that contain complex carbohydrates.Also include lots of fiber rich fresh fruits and vegetables.Meat, fish, and poultry should be eaten in moderation, as should dairy products.Fats such as butter and oil should be eaten only sparingly, except in the case of children.Such a diet supplies most people with all the vitamins and minerals they need, as well as enough energy to deal with life’s challenges.
(Source:“Health & Healing The Natural Way – The Stress Factor”
I agree, everyone is different. Some diets and foods work for some and not others. I do believe genetics plays a big part in my weight and healthy eating. However several years ago I drastically cut my carbs. I sat at my computer, did no exercise (which I used to do regularly) and lost about 20-25 pounds in three months. I was very strict in the first couple years about keeping my carbs down to 60 net carbs/day. (net carbs: carbs/serving minus fiber count/serving.) I think I've been on this lifestyle for the past 6 or 7 years or so. I'm not as low a carb count and I kept the weight off and in the past few months my metabolism has changed and my weight dropped more. Now I eat a few more carbs but my weigh it staying low. What I have found in general is that I have felt better since I started this diet and stuck to it. At the time the Atkins diet was in, now it is harder to find low carb foods especially as far as thinks like lo carb ice cream or lo carb deserts. But in general I eat the items I like and don't need to worry about gaining weight... eggs, mayonnaise, meats, butter, and most proteins. I can go out to eat at a restaurant and just stay away from the bread and pasta and not worry about the carbs. For me it has worked. I do now eat DREAMFIELDS PASTA, which claims to be very low carb. I'm not sure it is, but I think the glycemic effect is delayed on it. I do know that It doesn't bloat me like most pastas do. It takes GREAT. It is more filling and hearty that most pastas I find so I pretty much stick to the serving amounts. I rarely drink OJ or when I do I cut the serving down to cut the carbs. I do take capsules and supplements just to make sure I get what I need. It is true that by bypassing the pancreas and not invoking insulin all the time, I feel much less hungry. I sometimes forget to eat, which believe me I never used to do. My cholesterol dropped in the beginning when I lost weight, but my cholesterol problem is genetic. Growing up we only ate margarine and safflower oil and lower cholesterol foods because my mother had a very high cholesterol, but now I see it doesn't matter if I stay away from high cholesterol foods or not, although I do try to somewhat. So for me this has been a healthy diet and can live with. In the days of counting calories, it was such a pain and I was constantly cheating big time. I did lose weight once by cutting my calorie count to about 800/day. Hungry all the time. Low carbs totally made it easier. After All how many eggs can one eat? I'm older now so I don't eat as much of anything, but with 0 carb foods like fish, eggs and lo carb vegetables amounts are not a worry and in time amounts become much less. For snacks I eat nuts (low carb ones) popcorn (I don't count the carbs because I find it never really impacted the scale, but I put on it lots of butter or better yet Orville Redenbach oil that has no carbs, no cholesterol); strawberries, blueberries, lo carb ice cream bars (hard to find now) but most ice cream is not that high in carbs if you watch the serving amounts. I use half n half in my coffee... never milk. I know eat one brand of Kellogs flakes lower in carbs than most. I check the labels on Yogurt. Some say lite..don't believe it. Lite could be 33 grams which is more than half for me. Some cottage cheese also is very low and others are very high. The lower fat in food, the more carbs are in the food!
The paleo diet is basically to eat like a caveman—no refined sugars or salt or processed foods, processed grains and so forth. The theory, if I remember correctly, is that our digestive systems and nutritional needs have not changed genetically since the paleolithic period. The problem I see with it is that the lifespan of cavemen is believed to be relatively short. I came across a very upscale restaurant in Tucson which included paleo dishes on the menu. I took a pass on it.
My wife and I have been on a reduced carb diet for about 8 years and it does work good for us. We feel better overall, have less trouble maintaining our desired weights, and so forth, and my wife’s blood-sugar issues immediately subsided and now are almost non-existent. But there was another benefit which I had not expected. Prior to cutting carbs I had recurring bouts of constipation and hemorrhoids associated with that. I can honestly count on three fingers the number of times I have had a problem with either condition since I cut the carbs. Each time, it was while on a long road trip (8k to 11k miles) during which time my carb intake increased and I spent many hours a day driving.
My cholesterol level has not been negatively impacted. However, I do take cod-liver oil every day, which in addition to the purpose I started taking it for (to control bursitis) I am told it also helps to balance the good-carb bad-carb ratio.
BTW, beer is an excellent low-carb beverage. I usually drink micro-brewed pale ales or ambers. The net carbs in each is about four or five (about 20 calories). The calories in the alcohol content of the beer have no nutritional impact (won't make ya fat) but do impact your sobriety and perhaps your appitite.
