A friend asked me what kind of allergy testing I would recommend recently.
When I asked a few more questions, I learned she’s not having any issues with food, with her environment, nothing, no skin problems, no symptoms of any kind.
Curious, I asked, “Why do you want to do allergy testing?” “Well, I’m in my early 40’s, I’m concerned about aging and I know our bodies change in all sorts of ways. I just thought it makes sense to see if there are things I should exclude because there could be undiagnosed problems.”
I explained to her that many forms of allergy testing can yield long restrictive lists and many false positives. Then I realized this was another case of folks getting lost in the weeds about their health while potentially missing the bigger picture.
People ask me daily, “Should I stop eating X, Y, or Z?”
It’s amazing that the questions seldom include well-documented hazards. Processed sugar, vegetable oils, fast food, processed meats and ultra-processed foods are proven hazards. Most Americans continue to eat these and look for other answers.
The gurus have long lists of things you should avoid. Some so long, the only foods that remain are organic grass-fed meats, some vegetables, and ghee, olive oil & coconut oil. These fats are the favorites but there’s little evidence of their benefit.
I read of health gurus concerned about everything from the oxalates in spinach to the lectins that are present in almost ALL plants. Lectins, by the way, get destroyed by cooking. They are the reason you can’t eat raw potatoes or undercooked beans. And there is little evidence that the amount we get in raw foods is of concern. In fact, some experts are calling for them to be considered nutrients.
My basic answer to all of it is “Don’t get lost in the weeds.”
What do we know and how do we know it?
Our bodies evolved through the eons and adapted to the foods available. Those that didn’t adapt, didn’t survive. Just the fact that you’re here shows how adaptable humans are. That doesn’t mean eating anything you can is ok. The question is: how do we figure out what’s optimal?
What if we look around the world?
Not at the gurus; but at the people that live healthfully to 100 or more. When we look, we find the Okinawans, 7th Day Adventists of Loma Linda, CA, and some Mediterraneans (Ikarians, Sardinians) meet the criteria. (These regions are often referred to as Blue Zones after Dan Buettner’s book and research). Their diets were about 90% whole food plant-based.
The gurus will tell you don’t eat starches but the Okinawans live healthfully into their 90’s and beyond eating 60-70% sweet potatoes and gourds!
I had a discussion with one such self-declared guru recently who went so far as to say you shouldn’t eat quinoa. Quinoa is technically a seed, high in protein not a grain. But according to people like him, coconut oil and ghee are healthy. There are no Blue Zone regions where people eat large amounts of animal foods, coconut oil, ghee and cheeses. And none that don’t eat whole-food starches, by the way; just saying.
Personally, I think it’s more important to stick with healthy habits we can keep for a lifetime. Habits like lots of fresh fruits & vegetables, whole unpulverized grains, legumes and small amounts of animal protein if you want it. How long can you or I REALLY go without eating starch-based foods, minimally processed like rice, quinoa, rye without starving? This is especially true if you’re an athlete. And, I have still NOT seen adequate evidence that these foods are harmful.
The truth here is that the endurance athlete will often use complex sugars made in a lab or fill up on white flour pastry while training.
Once again, I’ll say ‘get back to the basics of the whole foods humans have been eating for hundreds of thousands of years.’
. . and stay out of the weeds.
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