Day 2: the mysterious Syndrome X
Day: 2 of 42
Last recorded weight: 78.4kg
How I'm feeling today: I have a headache, which is unusual for me. I doubt it's because I've given up coffee as I only have one a day, but maybe?
I'm going well on the shakes. Amazingly you don't even notice the raw egg. If I find myself getting a bit squeamish about it, I remind myself that I drink cocktails with raw egg in them and nip that squeamishness in the bud before it can get to me. I'm not missing solid meals really. It's a bit of a weird feeling. You feel lighter, and kind of like you're missing something (the chewing?), but not hungry.
The reason the first two weeks of the diet is structured like it is because Mary and Michael Eades believe that the average western diet contains way too much sugar, which causes the liver to begin to malfunction. These first two weeks are formulated to specifically give the liver a rest, and clear the fat that has accumulated around your internal organs, in preparation for Weeks 3 and 4, in which the carbohydrates are reduced even further in order to increase your metabolism while your insulin is low (so the fat is used as fuel instead of stored).
A couple of times I've done a (really good) detox programme - Jane Scrivner's Detox Yourself - which is also designed to take the stress off your liver, by not eating meat, so we'll see if I feel as good after two weeks of meat as I did after two weeks of detox...
I have to say I agree about the whole sugar thing. If you think about it, the small amount of fruit we would harvest in a natural environment would be smaller and less sweet than the blown up gargantuan we are able to grow commercially these days. And even these titans contain only 6-7gm of fructose in comparison to other things we consume, such as a can of soft drink which contain approximately 22g in one hit. According to the Eades the amount of fructose (sugar you find in fruit) we consume on average is equivalent to "45 apricots, or 1 kg of carrots" per day. And they go into a great amount of technical detail to explain the relationship between the breakdown of sugars, fats, protein and the effect of too much sugar in the mix.
What it boils down to is this:
Interestingly insulin resistance is thought to be the root cause of a series of disorders known as Syndrome X:
All of this results in a diet plan that is pretty surprising. It's full of chicken with the skin left on, cream, butter for frying, big steaks, bacon and eggs.
Can this really work? It's been years since I cooked with fat.
If you make this recipe, do not put the amount of chili powder in it that they specific. Whee-hee. I could eat it if I imagined it was a dry vindaloo but it was too much for my dinner companion.
Berries in New Zealand are fairly expensive to buy fresh (even blackberries which grow wild all over the place), so I'm using frozen berries. Defrosted blackberries are pretty good, but don't try heating them in the microwave, it does something quite horrid to their taste.
Now I'm not completely one eyed. One of my friends forcefully instructed me that diets don't work, "it's energy in / energy out". I agreed, but that simple equation means nothing if your liver's blocked up with fat and creating a hormone imbalance. So the diet was a must. But I today I also joined up to a local gym and will go get my first assessment on Wednesday. Yay.
Last recorded weight: 78.4kg
How I'm feeling today: I have a headache, which is unusual for me. I doubt it's because I've given up coffee as I only have one a day, but maybe?
I'm going well on the shakes. Amazingly you don't even notice the raw egg. If I find myself getting a bit squeamish about it, I remind myself that I drink cocktails with raw egg in them and nip that squeamishness in the bud before it can get to me. I'm not missing solid meals really. It's a bit of a weird feeling. You feel lighter, and kind of like you're missing something (the chewing?), but not hungry.
The reason the first two weeks of the diet is structured like it is because Mary and Michael Eades believe that the average western diet contains way too much sugar, which causes the liver to begin to malfunction. These first two weeks are formulated to specifically give the liver a rest, and clear the fat that has accumulated around your internal organs, in preparation for Weeks 3 and 4, in which the carbohydrates are reduced even further in order to increase your metabolism while your insulin is low (so the fat is used as fuel instead of stored).
I have to say I agree about the whole sugar thing. If you think about it, the small amount of fruit we would harvest in a natural environment would be smaller and less sweet than the blown up gargantuan we are able to grow commercially these days. And even these titans contain only 6-7gm of fructose in comparison to other things we consume, such as a can of soft drink which contain approximately 22g in one hit. According to the Eades the amount of fructose (sugar you find in fruit) we consume on average is equivalent to "45 apricots, or 1 kg of carrots" per day. And they go into a great amount of technical detail to explain the relationship between the breakdown of sugars, fats, protein and the effect of too much sugar in the mix.
What it boils down to is this:
- Insulin sends nutrients into the cells to be stored as fat or burned as energy
- You get a rush of it after eating, particularly after eating food that creates glucose as insulin is what keeps your blood sugar down
- If you eat a diet high in carbohydrates, as dictated by the currently fashionable "healthy food pyramid," you'll need correspondingly high insulin levels. When it depletes you lose energy (hence the 3pm slump after lunch). Diets high in protein also trigger insulin release, but protein also releases glycogen, which cleans up excess insulin
- And if you regularly eat a diet high in carbohydrates (or drink it!), your body is constantly dealing with a chronic excess of insulin, and as your liver becomes overwhelmed you get "insulin resistance", which means it's not being cleaned up as efficiently as it should be. And this is where the trouble starts
- Insulin resistance means it is not degraded as it should be, stays in your system too long and pushes more and more nutrients into your liver, which exacerbates the deterioration of liver function, leading to a fatty liver and fat around your tummy
- A fatty liver caused by diet is indistinguishable from that of a long term alcoholic. And if you continue to eat a high carb diet you have now set up the perfect fat generation mechanism - all storage (insulin) and no burning (glycogen)
Syndrome X
Interestingly insulin resistance is thought to be the root cause of a series of disorders known as Syndrome X:
- Reflux
- Severe heartburn
- Sleep apnoea
- Central obesity
- High triglycerides
- Elevated cholesterol
- Low HDL cholesterol (the good cholesterol)
- High blood pressure
- Diabetes
Breakfast: protein and carbs
Lunch: protein, carbs and veg
Dinner: protein and vegAll of this results in a diet plan that is pretty surprising. It's full of chicken with the skin left on, cream, butter for frying, big steaks, bacon and eggs.
Can this really work? It's been years since I cooked with fat.
Today's Meal: Grilled spice-rubbed steak with spinach sauteed in olive oil and garlic, a medium tomato with balsamic and olive oil, followed by blackberries and cream.
If you make this recipe, do not put the amount of chili powder in it that they specific. Whee-hee. I could eat it if I imagined it was a dry vindaloo but it was too much for my dinner companion.
Berries in New Zealand are fairly expensive to buy fresh (even blackberries which grow wild all over the place), so I'm using frozen berries. Defrosted blackberries are pretty good, but don't try heating them in the microwave, it does something quite horrid to their taste.
Okay, Okay, I'll Get Some Exercise Too
Now I'm not completely one eyed. One of my friends forcefully instructed me that diets don't work, "it's energy in / energy out". I agreed, but that simple equation means nothing if your liver's blocked up with fat and creating a hormone imbalance. So the diet was a must. But I today I also joined up to a local gym and will go get my first assessment on Wednesday. Yay.
Comments