So today is the day. I have been thinking, fearing and delaying this moment for the past many months. Today, March the 1st 2018, I will go zero sugars, carbs, and trans fats for the next 3 months.
Many times I came close to zero sugars and zero carbs consumption in the past and the results were impressive. But then I became over-confident and slipped back into eating ice cream and cookies and soon lost some of the benefits. I do have a sweet tooth and sometimes pay the price for it.
Knowing full well almost every processed food has lots of sugar in them, I won’t be eating anything that I can’t cook myself or my chef can cook at my restaurant, The Missing Burro -I will be eating food of the regular menu minus the tortillas -.
This give me another great opportunity, to go zero trans fats and to not ingest vegetable oils which are so damaging to health.
My Physical State as Today
I am 45 years old in immaculate health. I don’t take any pharmaceutical drugs for any disease known to man.
I practice my movement method everyday, as well as Qigong. I work most days from 7 in the morning till midnight. I rarely have days off.
Having traveled extensively for work the last month I find myself at my heaviest weight in over 2 years at 80.3 kilograms. Last time I was this heavy I was on my way down from 84 kg to 77 kg which ended up being the weight I usually fluctuate around comfortably. My height is 1.80 meters.
My body fat at this moment stands at around 16%. At my lowest I had been 9.8%. I will make sure to measure it in the next day or so.
Because of the traveling I was forced to reintroduce carbs to my diet, in the form of grains, vegetables, nuts and fruits. As a result, I am bloated and I can see signs of inflammation. My stomach feels heavy and somehow “full” all the time. It ain’t happy.
My Foods for the Next 3 Months
After 12 years of studying and experimenting with many different ways of nutrition I have become a carnivore mostly.
Yes, against all medical advice I have seen my health and energy to be at its peak when eating mostly animal proteins and the fats that naturally come with them.
There is in fact a growing number of people that are choosing to avoid eating simple and complex carbs in favor of proteins and fats.
Low-Carb, Ketogenic and Carnivore are some of these diets and those who follow them are achieving outstanding results. Results go from feeling energized and clear-headed all the way to reversing diabetes, degenerative diseases, improving body composition and even superior athletic performance.
So beef will be primed, but pork, bacon, sardines, liver, bone marrow, and eggs will be permitted in liberal amounts. I will snack on insects too. Some milk for my coffee will be allowed, as well as cheese in small quantities.
I will usually slow cook beef brisket in my slow cooker. When in The Missing Burro my food will be grilled using pork lard. Brisket is organic and grass fed.
After the first few days I will try to replace the milk in my coffee for unsalted, organic butter and coconut oil. This way I will limit further sugar intake in this case, in the form of lactose.
To add flavor to my meals, I will cook with onions and garlic. Mexican sauces made at The Missing Burro will be consumed only in the evenings. They are all made from scratch, so I know no sugar nor chemicals have being added. Lime juice will be consumed plentifully. Lime juice and spice sauces are things no Mexican should ever give up!
I will also make sure to make and consume copious amounts of broth to make sure I have plenty of collagen in my diet. Collagen should help my skin to not look too saggy for the weight loss that I expect.
3 Simple Hacks to Succeed the Zero Sugars, Carbs, Trans Fats Adventure
I will use simple strategies to maximize the benefits of zero sugars, carbs and trans fats from my diet.
- Since I expect getting well below the 10% body fat mark, I will not see myself naked during this 3 months. With the exception of one time at the end of every month to take the “before and after” pictures, I will avoid seeing the results daily. Curious about the benefits of such simple trick? You may want to read this blog.
- My minerals intake will be of primordial importance to maintain good health. Of special importance is Magnesium and Potassium. Since the quality of coconut water in Thailand this year isn't good due to the misuse of pesticides, I will be drinking my own drink.
- Every day I'll drink one glass of either red wine, Tequila or Mezcal as it has many proven benefits for health and longevity. Since I will have so much control over so little variables, I will be able to confirm or dismiss this to be true in my experience. One alcoholic drink a day and one cup of coffee should allow me to have some kind of social interaction.
Are there any dangers to the Zero Sugars, Carbs and Trans Fats Diet?
Since I will cut all carbs, vegetables and fruits included, some people believe I won't have enough supplies of micronutrients such as vitamins and minerals.
In reality this is debatable for a number of reasons: First, we don't know how many micronutrients our veggies and fruits truly have. Soils have been depleted of organic matter for many decades, thanks to monocultives and the usage of fertilizers. Therefore produce now grows without the micronutrients they used to pack.
Second, even some micronutrients are there, it is debatable how much of them the body can really absorb. Our digestive tract isn't designed to break cellulose cells, - yes, that is wood cells - where the micronutrients reside.
Third, people forget that organic organs, bones and meats pack most of the micronutrients we need, in quantities unmatched by their veggies and fruits. Plus they are bully absorbable by our digestive system.
For some people trying to attempt going zero sugars, zero carbs could be an uncomfortable experience, since their cells aren't adapted to feed on fats. So going zero carbs mean forcing the cells to switch from glucose to fat, a process that is very uncomfortable at first. If you succeed getting there though, your body will be efficient at burning cleaner fuel: your own stored fat.
This process doesn't require oxygen, so it results on less free radicals produced. Free radicals are the main reason of aging and disease.
So to me there is only one real danger, and that is not eating enough calories everyday. If I can’t get enough calories to sustain health, my immune system may be weakened, something I am not willing to compromise.
A danger of not reaching a minimum caloric intake, is to fall prey to binging. Binging is the almost uncontrollable need to eat as much as possible, usually carbs and sugars, as the body is attempting to rebalance its energy requirements.
That would destroy my commitment to not intake these “foods” for 3 months.
While most people will be afraid of cholesterol, I am not. After studying diligently the subject, I have come to believe, like many doctors and scientist whose voices aren’t being taken into account by mainstream media and science, that there is nothing wrong with high cholesterol counts. In fact, low cholesterol and the “Statin” drugs, who interfere with natural cholesterol production, are the real danger for health.
The problems of heart disease seems to be rooted in trans fats and sugars, not healthy fats. An easy way to check on this fact is that the amounts of obesity and heart related diseases are at an all time high, even though we have been following low fat dietary recommendations for the last 30 years.
The Opportunities of a Zero Sugars, Carbs, Trans fats diet
Some of the main improvements that I have experienced in the past when cutting sugars, carbs and trans fats are:
- More energy during the day. Feeling energetic all day without up and downs after meals.
- Better digestion. Usually feeling satisfied after eating but never heavy. Waste elimination easy and efficient.
- Improved testosterone. Yes, you can guess how I noticed that one, and it was a massive difference from normal.
- Reduce inflammation in the body and brain. No more chronic pain. Easy recovery after extraneous exercise. Keep Diabetes type 3 - Alzheimer's disease - far, far away from my life.
- Reverse aging signs. Skin usually is without flaws and wrinkles soften up. Hair re-growth, true miracle in a baldy like me.
- Reduce body fat. In the absence of sugars and fats, metabolism is optimized to use the fat stored in the body.
- Emotional balance. Mood usually experiences improvement when there is no sugar intake.
- Mind clarity. Instead of feeding the brain with glucose it will be fed with Ketones, which is brain's most favorite food.
- Increase of high quality muscular density. Without the water bloating that follows carb intake, the muscle is lean and becomes denser with exercise.
- Control my addiction to sweets and carbs. Eating sugars is OK when you decide to, not when you resort emotionally to them "to feel good".
- Reduce expenses from eating and drinking out. Eating out and going for dessert and coffee is costly. I am curious of how much money I will end up saving!
- Learn more about my body. As mentioned before, less variables, more opportunity to see and understand my body responses to different inputs.
- Possible reversal of any hardening of the arteries. There is a growing body of evidence that points to the fact that frequent and excessive release of Insulin is the main reason behind heart disease.
- Free lots of time that otherwise is allocated to eat for “fun”. Same as when I fast for more than a couple of days, I realize how much time we waste thinking about what to eat, where to eat, who to eat with, etc.
The Grocery
Organic, pasture fed beef isn’t cheap. One such steak in Thailand starts at around 300 baht for 250 grams. So instead I’ll buy organic, pasture fed brisket, which is both tasty - albeit tough cut -, and cheap. To go around the toughness of the meat I'll sear it and then cook it on my Slow Cooker. You can get great Slow Cookers at Emporium.
I will get the beef, the bones for the broth, liver and sardines from Paleo Robbie website. They deliver everything to your footstep in Bangkok. I can't recommend them enough. No, I am not getting a commission from them :)
Himalayan salt and organic, grass fed butter can be bought with Paleo Robbie too or in any other high-end supermarket in Bangkok. Just look for the brand "Anchor".
To supplement my Potassium needs I usually buy Cream of Tartar from Tops Supermarket. You can find it in the baking area.
For Magnesium which is probably the most important mineral to achieve mineral balance in your cells, I use a BWT filter AND mineralizer from Germany that I bought in Bangkok, which ads magnesium to raw water while filtering impurities and chlorine.
I will write a blog reviewing this mineralizer in the near future. So far I am loving it!
Weekly and Monthly Reporting
Every week I will make a video and a blog with a quick summary of how I feel with this diet, both physically and emotionally.
A podcast will be released after the first month. Soon I will let you guys know where to download the podcasts from.
Every month, as mentioned above, I will release before and after pictures of my body to see the results clearly.
If there are rants or some specific information I want to share quickly, I will be sharing them on my Facebook page.
Inviting you to go zero sugars with me
Every time I have done similar experiments, people get curious and want to join me.
If you want to do something similar, you don’t have to drop vegetables, fruits and nuts. This experiment is mainly about eating zero sugars. I am happy that I am in the position to eat zero carbs and trans fats, because my lifestyle allows it. But you don’t have to.
I encourage you to share this article with people you love. You never know what life you could be changing with something as simple as sharing an article.
If you decide to do this experiment together, all you need is to measure your weight, and take a front, back and side picture of yourself shirtless for men and with a small top for women.
Then to submit your photograph, weight and height in my page and start the adventure together.
Will you dare to go zero sugars? Zero sugars and simple carbs? Or even zero sugars, zero carbs and zero trans fats?
If you have any questions, send them over. I will be happy to answer you personally and to include the question and my answer in a future Video in my Facebook page.