Debunking Michael Greger

[CHEF AJ]

Not Mark, but I did exactly what you described for a year. Carefully weighed and measured my nuts and seeds and consumed 1-2 ounces per day. When I stopped all nuts and seeds the weight fell off. I believed that I had to eat them for excellent health but my weight would not budge even when I went down to as little as 4 teaspoons of nut butter per day. Frankly, now I am afraid to eat them again in any amount,

http://www.vegsource.com/news/2012/07/h ... -nuts.html

[secdroid]

When I stopped all nuts and seeds the weight fell off.

Thanks for sharing, here and on VegSource. How is the new book coming?

[CHEF AJ]

The book part is written, the recipe section, not so much!

[patty]

Not Mark, but I did exactly what you described for a year. Carefully weighed and measured my nuts and seeds and consumed 1-2 ounces per day. When I stopped all nuts and seeds the weight fell off. I believed that I had to eat them for excellent health but my weight would not budge even when I went down to as little as 4 teaspoons of nut butter per day. Frankly, now I am afraid to eat them again in any amount,

http://www.vegsource.com/news/2012/07/h ... -nuts.html

I started to add nut recipes.. salad dressings, mock tuna... I began to gain.. in essence within a couple of months 10 lbs. And of course taking it back off is difficult because I am close to my goal weight. Potato's are my best confident now:) I too believed prior, when ETL I had to eat them for excellent health and was caught in a lot of justified anger for a long time. Only after watching Jeff dvds, did I relax and really began to understand satiety from starch.

Aloha, patty

[CHEF AJ]

I have a very naturally thin friend who is undergoing food challenge and allergy testing now. She was told not to eat any nuts or seeds for 3 weeks and as thin as she is, she too lost weight by omitting them.

[AlwaysAgnes]

Question for you guys, specifically for Mark

Let's say my calorie requirement to maintain BMI of 23 is 2000 calories. If I consumed 1-2 oz of nuts and seeds but maintained the overall calorie intake of 2000 calories, Will I gain weight or maintain weight?

Now leave aside, who eats 1-2 oz of nuts anyway. I know nuts can be very addictive and one must be mindful of them. In similar vein, to some people even flesh can be very addictive, yet they do 100% vegetarian diet.

So how does mindful nut consumption automatically equals weight gain is what I don't understand.

If I'm not mistaken in Dr Gregor's U-tube video, he talks about just 2 handful of nuts that would be 3-4 oz per week offered cardio vascular benefits.

It doesn't. Mindful is the operative word. But even "non-mindful" nut consumption doesn't automatically equal weight gain for everyone across the board. Can one control the hypothalamus? Or do those with weight issues have to learn to outsmart it? Why would Jeff Novick teach and focus so much on calorie density if it wasn't a key concept to keep in mind? But it's not the only concept. The primary concept with McDougall is to focus on eating a starch-based diet. When it comes to assessing individual diet, there's a big picture. Some of us may have wiggle room in our picture. Some may not. For someone who doesn't want to gain weight to incorporate nuts into his diet he might have to remove other foods so the calories remain the same. With SAD, those foods could be anything. With McDougall, those foods might be starch. This will lower the percent of the calories from starch and raise the percent of calories from fat. How drastic those percent changes are depends on how drastic the substitutions are. Eating too many nuts on a daily basis could throw off the "starch-based" calorie percentage, while a small amount of nuts or seeds might not. Think of those who eat a small amount of flax seed daily but who are still able to lose or maintain weight. Another concept is satiety or fullness factor, which fits in well with calorie density. Then there's the fat receptor thing, which is going to vary by individual. If you have less fat receptors, you may be inclined to eat a little more fat (and more calories from fat) because the fat you eat isn't registering. For some that little bit adds up gradually over time. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xAdqLB6bTuQ

Can one eat nuts and seeds and gain weight? Yes.
Can one eat nuts and seeds and lose weight? Yes.
Can one eat nuts and seeds and maintain weight? Yes.

Which "one" are you?

Remember, we're not clones. Thank Goodness. Who'd want to live in a world where everybody is Agnes?

Have a great day, people, 'cause it ain't over 'til it's over.

[CHEF AJ]

That's me in that video introducing Doug.

[Acura]

AlwaysAgnes

Great post !!!!

[patty]

Jeff's clarification in _Calorie Density_  is it is the fiber and water  that creates the bulk in the stomach for the message to the brain it is full.  Volume eating is then no longer a issue because of the presence of satiety.  Dr. McDougall's free online MS video explains the fat/oil wraps itself around the cell where they begin to stick together creating a sludge breaking the brain barrier.  Time and money isn't a issue where relationships become authentic because the component of the feedback loop of the fractal. We feed off each other. This is why I think Dr. McDougall will be remembered world wide. Truth always follows. Satiety allows for kindness which creates happiness.

Aloha patty

[Madhava Das]

Chef AJ et al,

I had a somewhat similar experience. Without eating nuts my lab tested total cholesterol was 127 mg/dL. Then the only thing I did was add 1.5 oz of nuts per day.

In three weeks I had another test and my total cholesterol was 175 mg/dL.

Eliminating nuts in three more weeks it went back down to 128 mg/dL.

Anecdotal on a population of one I know - but I'm more than convinced.

[VegMommy]

I think Dr. Greger is doing a great service and I love watching his videos.

[Acura]

Chef AJ et al,

I had a somewhat similar experience. Without eating nuts my lab tested total cholesterol was 127 mg/dL. Then the only thing I did was add 1.5 oz of nuts per day.

In three weeks I had another test and my total cholesterol was 175 mg/dL.

Eliminating nuts in three more weeks it went back down to 128 mg/dL.

Anecdotal on a population of one I know - but I'm more than convinced.

Total cholesterol could be misleading. I know a fellow who added 2 oz of nuts to his daily routine and his HDL and so did TC increased while keeping LDL about the same. What happened to your LDL and HDL?

[Acura]

Can one eat nuts and seeds and gain weight? Yes.
Can one eat nuts and seeds and lose weight? Yes.
Can one eat nuts and seeds and maintain weight? Yes.

The above sounds very good except when we talk about health it has to be talked in terms of statistically significant outcome. In the example I had given, significant outcome will be weight stays the same.

[AlwaysAgnes]

Can one eat nuts and seeds and gain weight? Yes.
Can one eat nuts and seeds and lose weight? Yes.
Can one eat nuts and seeds and maintain weight? Yes.

The above sounds very good except when we talk about health it has to be talked in terms of statistically significant outcome. In the example I had given, significant outcome will be weight stays the same.

I might be the exception to your we, but whatever.

So what's wrong with this one?: http://www.ajcn.org/content/78/3/647S.full
"the current data do not indicate that free-living people on self-selected diets including nuts frequently have a higher BMI or increased body weight."

Free-living. I love that.

[CHEF AJ]

In today's video Dr. Greger claims that nuts are more satiating, have you guys found that to be true for you? After eating the recommended amount of nuts for years I find them to be the exact opposite of satiating, I was always hungry when I ate nuts, unless of course I would eat a half a pound, which I wouldn't do, I find beans and lentils and sweet potatoes so much more satisfying and satiating. Dr. Lisle in his lecture "Losing Weigth Without Losing Your Mind" how oil slips under the radar and doesn't activate the calorie, nutrient or stretch receptors, it seems to me a handful of nuts would do the same. They certainly don't fill you up. Everything I've read from Dr. Fuhrman says that seeds are way healthier than nuts, so why aren't we being encouraged to eat more seeds instead? I could actually see how some seeds, like chia seeds could be filling. They swell when dissolved in liquids, like psyllium husk, so they are filling, I add a tablespoon to my overnight muesli. Not because of their magical properties, but from a culinary one, they absorb the liquids and create a pudding.