writingwyo's Journal, 29 May 2023

Have a great holiday! 

suzelite -- go to the It Doesn't Taste Like Chicken website and look up her seitan meatball recipe. Uses walnuts, lentils, vital wheat gluten, and oil packed sun dried tomatoes as the base. I've crunched the numbers, and they have about as much protein as a beef meatball  

You, too, Morticia! 😃 Sorry, suzelite! I've never had any ill effects from gluten, but I know not everyone can eat it 

I’ve heard animal based foods can help w IBS. And many other things. 

Maybe I'll mix in a little more, StormsGirl. I don't avoid it 100%, but keep it pretty minimal. Although, when I was at my most veganish last year, I was having no troubles whatsoever, so I don't think that's the issue. Fortunately, it finally seems to have settled down the last few days.  

I would love to see a link to whatever research was published claiming animal foods help IBS -- and all the other things. The only research I've seen is that animal products cause colon cancer, kidney disease, high cholesterol, heart disease, etc. IBS is about avoiding foods that cause intestinal distress, rather than adding foods. Wheat and dairy are popular allergens to avoid if you suffer from IBS.  

There is evidence that a low FODMAPs diet, which is pretty restrictive on plant foods, can provide IBS relief in many. It can be done plant-based, but it's a lot easier with animal foods. That said, it's supposed to be a temporary elimination diet where the goal is to add foods back in to determine which are problematic. For long-term health, JB, you and I concur. I'm not experiencing enough symptoms to go as restrictive as low FODMAP. I suspect it's mostly stress. Wheat and dairy are on my suspect list, but I've had enough experience with this to think on the food front it's likely I need to up soluble fiber foods. I might eat fish once or twice a week and break out a pound of grass fed beef once a month or so, but I have no intention of making meat a staple, because it really doesn't fit with the diet that I love to eat and makes me feel healthiest.  

@Just Bananas… I think we’ve been misinformed about saturated fats for sure! Red meat, eggs, butter…all excellent for us and, to me, necessary for our bodies nutritional needs. I have found testimonies from carnivores All over YouTube that tell how they’ve been healed from all sorts of autoimmune diseases, tummy issues, severe acne, reversed diabetes 2, IBS, weight loss, and sleep apnea. It sounds like most people initially started the diet as an ELIMINATION diet, desperately seeking relief from illness, but kept on it because it did heal them!! Many say their lab work is good too, just the opposite of what people think might happen. I, for one, eat primarily whole foods like meat, fruit, vegetables, healthy fats like olive oil, avocado oil, coconut oil and certain dairy products 90% of the time then 10% processed foods like the occasional LC wrap or avocado fried chips, or my Milton’s crackers, or SF chocolate chips!! I cook 95% of my meals as well. I simply find it truly amazing how every PERSON IS different and seems to need different food sources to heal themselves. Good luck finding testimonies. “Research articles” may NOT be valid. Just internet hype.  

StormsGirl -- the preponderance of evidence I've seen from authoritative sources does not support heavy consumption of saturated fat. This is stuff from nutrition researchers at Stanford, etc. A lot of the pro-meat hype I've seen has come from people with fewer credentials and sometimes dubious motives. There is more evidence than not, when looking at long-term health outcomes, that replacing sat fat with unsaturated and upping fiber intake has long term health benefits. In fact, there's a direct correlation between increased fiber intake and reduced mortality risk. Improvements to metabolic markers, I believe come from two things. First, anything that gets people off SAD and onto whole foods is an improvement (and I commend you on home cooking). Second, any weight loss is going to improve those markers, regardless of how you got there. That said, the best diet for you is the one you can stick to, and I'm not going to tell anyone what to put in their mouth. If it works for you, you do you. 😉 With heart disease in my family, I won't go that route. Plus, this is the WOE I can stick to, because I love the food.  

Should have clarified I meant improvement to markers for those going on heavily meat based diets. 

And BTW - I deleted my initial, unnecessarily testy comment. If it shows up for anyone, I truly apologize. Was having a bad moment on a morning when I woke up way too early  

Writingwyo…I definitely am not trying to tell people what to eat. I just find it fascinating there’s so many choices, evidence for pros and cons for ALL. For myself, my body craves meat, I’m sure for it’s valuable complete proteins and saturated fat.  

I didn't think you were, StormsGirl. My apologies for coming across that way. 🤗 I'll have to disagree with you on whether sat fat is healthy, though. At best, it's benign. And the big question with any WOE is "Instead of what?" In the 80s, they said low fat, with dieticians thinking lean protein, veg, fruit and whole grains. The food industry responded with Snackwells. You can totally eat a completely unhealthy diet on everything from keto to vegan, thanks to the food industry. On a different note, have you heard of the DIETFITS study from Stanford? They randomized people to either a low fat or a low carb diet and got nearly identical results. So yes, you're right -- it really is individualized. And I'll say it again and again -- it's only the right diet for you if you can stick to it. Have a great day! 😃 

WYO I agree.  

Morticia-- somehow missed your comment. Thanks! It was wonderful. Felt like a test drive for retirement. Hope yours was good too. honeebuns -- thnk you! 😃 

Still waiting for a link from a reputable source (medical university or journal) supporting meat helping IBS, or touting saturated fat as healthy. YouTube is not a reputable source. 

@Wyo: you did give me a good laugh on citing www.diva-portal. That's not a reputable source, though I would possibly consider the Swedish University's study if you can find it. Vegetarians usually consume beans and dairy, both which can be difficult to digest, and some people would call it IBS. But I was looking for individual foods, not WOE's. As far as the Harvard study on replacing saturated fat with simple carbs (soda, candy), I don't know why anyone would choose to make that substitution other than someone looking for an excuse to eat junk food.😏  

That link should have gone straight to the study, but I can't vouch for its veracity. Wasn't familiar that that site was a bad one, so appreciate the heads up. Sorry about that. Regardless...I found nothing that would support meat for IBS, other than perhaps substituting lean meats for high FODMAPS foods during initial phase of treatment. And as for subbing simple carbs for saturated fat...that's kinda what the entire country did back in the 80s 

Edited comment to remove the unreliable source: You got me curious, JB, and curious + librarian = dive down the rabbit hole, so I went searching PubMed, Google Scholar, and the Harvard Public School of Health, as well as doing a little Googling. I didn't find anything correlating increased meat consumption with reduced IBS symptoms. I did find some correlation with IBS and high consumption of processed and fatty meats, so Lompoc Valley Medical Center recommended sticking to lean meats https://www.lompocvmc.com/blogs/2022/april/the-best-and-worst-foods-to-eat-when-you-have-ib/. Did find plenty of references to meat consumption correlating with colon cancer and all-cause mortality in PubMed. As for sat fat, Harvard School of Public Health says if you replace it with unsaturated, there are benefits, but if you replace it with simple carbs, not so much https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/what-should-you-eat/fats-and-cholesterol/types-of-fat/. I didn't find anything to indicate a benefit to eating meat for IBS. If you're in the elimination phase of a low FODMAPs diet and substitute meat for beans, could offer some relief, but that really needs to be a temporary test, not a long-term solution. And you could always sub low-FODMAPs tofu and tempeh for the beans. Interesting topic!  

Until I see a (large) study that follows participants for 5+ years showing that meat has no negative effect on cholesterol, I will choose to believe all the other large published findings showing that meat only drastically increases LDL. Not to mention my own lab results, which show a dramatic reduction when saturated fat consumption was reduced to <6g/day (without any meds).