Post: #1

Not sure if you guys saw this, but a study came out in Cell where they measured the insulin response in a group of 800 people.

Quote:Each member of the sample population was connected to a continuous glucose monitor that measured their interstitial glucose levels every 5 min for a full week (using subcutaneous sensors). They collected more than 2,000 measurements per participant, for a total of more than 1.6 million measurements for the entire population.

Their observations were, in many cases, surprising.

Quote:When the researchers analyzed their collected results, their findings varied from the expected, to those that were truly startling. As expected, the researchers were able to validate known associations of PPGRs with risk factors such as BMI, glycated hemoglobin, morning glucose levels, and age. The scientists did make some surprising observations, noting that these associations were not limited to extreme values; associations between these known risk factors occurred over the entire phenotypic spectrum, indicating that incremental differences in the glucose response may be clinically relevant for some risk factors.

Nutrition is personal. A high degree of variability exists in the responses of different people to the same food.

For example:

Quote:Participant A maintained a stable blood glucose level after eating a cookie but responded with elevated glucose levels after eating a banana. Conversely, participant B experienced an increase in blood glucose level after eating a cookie, but not after consuming a banana.

a middle-aged woman who was obese and pre diabetic learned that her “healthy” eating habits may have actually been unhealthy for her. The researchers found that in her case, eating tomatoes resulted in an “unhealthy” blood sugar spike, as the woman ate tomatoes frequently over the course of the week long monitoring period, this “healthy” habit may have been undermining her health.

I think these results are definitely not intuitive, which just goes to show that everyone needs to figure out their diet on their own. Maybe this is why diets in general seem to have so much variability (in addition to compliance issues), some people just do not respond in the "normal" way.

Link to article analyzing paper.

Post: #2

This is spot on, but most people want to believe we can all eat the same foods and have the same results.

I know for me eating dairy and too much meat doesn't work for my system.

Post: #3

I think it might have to do with what you were raised on. I've tried a few different diets but when I was a kid I was incredibly fortunate enough to have a mom who cooked and put time and effort into making sure I ate healthier foods.

I would come in from playing outside to a lot of soups like split pea, or chicken. And lentils (which i used to hate but now I really enjoy), meat pies and beef stew, and occasional baked fish dishes.

I started making that stuff now, modified with ingredients that contain nutrients I want and it seems to keep me more full and less likely to snack or order pizza.

I don't really get enough out of random salads and stuff or really low fat diets. There might be a decent amount of fat in what I eat but it seems to suit me better.

Post: #4

I think the point of the study is that there are genetic differences between people, and maybe more than we think. It does seem like most people will respond similarly, but I don't really know what "most" actually means. You just have to eat and see what happens to your body, because that is ultimately the truth. Not what someone wrote.

Post: #5

That is Bang on! For some reason, if I want to stay lean, I've to to limit my fat intake to almost 0. Even the good fats such as almonds and scrambled eggs slowly lead me to not be as lean as I'd like to be (that's around 12-15% Bodyfat) Cheating with Ice cream 1x a week would keep me leaner than eating barely 3x scambled eggs everyday, even through the scambled eggs are a better health choice. Same thing happens with Almonds!

Post: #6

As we push ourselves to physical limits beyond the lifestyle of an average sedentary person in the West, we unlock new levels of awareness when it comes to nutrition. Our body puts more demands on our nutritional intake in terms of quality and balance and we start to become more aware of reactions to certain foods.

Each type of food induces different chemical responses in certain people and it is down to the actual individual. One has to experiment with exercises that work for them in the gym and the same thing applies for nutrition.

For instance, some people cannot do well with garri which is a common Naija carb ingested with stews infused with protein like bushmeat, chicken, goat, beef etc. Garri works very well for me and I usually consume a few fistfuls before physical endeavours.

I fcuked the shyt out of a blonde Italian American lizard in Boston one night after a robust plate of garri and egusi. She wondered what on earth pushed me to such feats and I told her 'Power of Garri'.

Bottom line is, be aware of your body and responses to different foods as per the OP's observation.

Post: #7

Insulin response is also skewed in other ways.

For instance, if anybody spends any time watching people eat, you can see that fatasses generally inhale their food, while skinnier people tend to eat slowly. No doubt this has an influence on insulin spikes.

Post: #8

Other than trial and error with diet, is there anything a guy can do (blood tests?) that can point him in the right direction for an ideal diet to eat? I recently went to an anti-aging clinic and the Doctor ran blood tests (Testosterone, glucose levels, etc) and she recommended the Mediterranean diet.

Post: #9

You could do some genetic testing on your ancestry, figure out where the majority of your ancestors came from, then do research on what the primordial diet was.

It's probably a crap shoot but it'll give you something to work with.

Post: #10

(12-06-2015 09:45 PM)scotian Wrote:  Other than trial and error with diet, is there anything a guy can do (blood tests?) that can point him in the right direction for an ideal diet to eat? I recently went to an anti-aging clinic and the Doctor ran blood tests (Testosterone, glucose levels, etc) and she recommended the Mediterranean diet.

I'm also curious about this.

I've recently found a service called DNA Fit, that is supposed to do exactly that - you send them your DNA sample, they test it and tell you which diets/training suits you better genetically. I've never done it, but it could be worth a try.

Reviews: Mark's Daily Apple, Men's Fitness.

Post: #11

Good find.

Somewhat related is this caveat of the Paleo Diet: that cavemen ate different food due to location and era. NACALT, not all cavemen are like that. Just because it isn't processed doesn't mean it's good for you. Our ancestors have literally been eating for centuries, and these trends have huge effects on how we manage food. My ancestors are not your ancestors.

On my end I eat high fat...and have almost eliminated fruit from my diet, replacing it with green vegetables. Does this mean that my ancestors were carnivore hunters who stuck to spinach and potatoes? I don't know...but I do know that if I stuck to the "paleo" recommendation of fruits, berries, potatoes, and steak, I would not be as lean.