You no longer crave these foods.

It's true!  We've done it.  My husband and I stopped eating all grains and sugar in February.  At this point, we really don't miss them any more.  It was a huge change, but it's worth the effort.  I've lost over 20 pounds (10 to go)and my husband has lost 45 pounds (20 to go).  On top of it, our body shapes have changed drastically. It is really amazing.   I've got my waist back (and a whole wardrobe of clothes) - I'm thrilled.

I'm also very happy to be eating foods that I always loved like eggs, avocados, and meats - without feeling guilty that they're not good for me.

With the extremely hot weather this week in our area, we thought we'd "treat" ourselves to small ice cream cones.  To our surprise, it wasn't  that much of a treat. Didn't even taste as good as we'd anticipated. I know I would have been much more satisfied with a snack of smoked salmon with fresh dill, capers, chopped onion and drizzled with lemon juice.

Aside from weight changes, we both feel so much better in general - feel much more alert and move around with much greater flexibility, sleep well, never have any indigestion.  We're really enjoying this.  It's like feeling younger.  

It's not a diet for us.  This will be the way we eat from now on.  Actually, we think our food has become more interesting and varied since giving up all the "white stuff". I guess we felt compelled to get a little more creative.  

Eating out (or at other peoples' places) has probably been the hardest part of this adjustment.  But now we're getting pretty comfortable saying what we won't eat.  I'm starting to enjoy the reactions it produces.

Just wanted to share our experience with your readers.

BTW, Dr. Davis, we got the Carlson Vitamin D3 softgel caps and are each taking 4000 units a day.

That's fabulous!

Your post was so interesting that I read it to my two teenagers, who are both encountering great skepticism from their friends and grandparents and other relatives when they bring up this topic.

I hope it helps give them some perspective!  

One of my husband's favorite comments to people is "Grains are for birds". That slows them down a bit.  

I also just remembered a conversation I had a few months ago  with a neighbor who had invited us to dinner.  She asked if we had any food allergies or things we couldn't eat. She knew we were on some kind of diet.  I told her no food allergies to worry about and the diet is really simple: no grains, no potatoes and no sugars.  She was quiet for a minute and then replied "My goodness, that's just about our whole diet!"  It was hilarious.

It really is interesting that tobacco companies Phillip Morris & RJ Reynolds also sell processed foods that are responsible for so many life style disease problems effecting western society. My grandfather passed away undoubtedly by his life time of smoking.  Even after he had a heart attack he couldn't stop smoking for any length of time.  As soon as a stressful situation occurred, he was back using his pacifier, as we called his pipe.  I'm guessing the same reaction occurs with high glycemic, processed food.  

Another addiction that is worth mentioning is convenience.  In sales there is a saying that simply says "people are lazy."  It means, the more work a salesman does for a customer the less likely he/she will say no.  Fast, processed, food sellers are master salesmen at promoting their products such that it is hard to say no.  

I'm doing my part to promote healthy eating when outside the house.  A relative owns an award winning restaurant in St. Louis.  Talking to him about my new heart healthy diet, he mentioned that next time I'm in town he would like me to meet the chef.  The two of us will then create a couple heart healthy, TYP inspired, meals to be placed onto the menu.  I’m looking forward to this.  It will not only be fun to work in the kitchen with an accomplished chef but to also  have an easy place to visit for a healthy meal.

I agree.

Howeever, I do believe that we can maintain the convenience factor to some degree without too much sacrifice of health.

My kids and I were in a hurry recently to make a movie time. There wasn't enough time to squeeze in a healthy lunch, so we ended up at Trader Joe's and bought a bag of unsalted, dry roasted pistachios and mixed nuts (not roasted in oils). Not a perfectly well rounded meal, but lacking many of the negative effects of the overly processed, addictive foods.

Keep us posted on how your St. Louis menu turns out!

BarbaraW,

Keep it up, it's worth it and you won't look back!  I and my wife   went low carb high animal fat  (the "Optimal Diet") 8 years ago and we never felt better!

  Many things will improve, not just weight reduction:  you will think clearer, your reflexes will improve, your breathing rate will go down, your blood pressure will normalize.  You will never or rarely have a fever or viral infections like cold or flu.  You will become more resistant to cold temperature and you will rarely feel tired, ever!

Great results, Stan.

But let me make clear that I do NOT advocate high animal fat.

In my view, despite the results you've enjoyed, there are adverse health--and social--consequences of high intake of animal fat, including dramatic escalation of cancer risk.

There is no doubt that carbohydrate reduction alone achieves dramatic improvement in health and weight reduction. We've witnessed that on the Atkins' diet, for instance, a diet that is eminently effective for weight loss but is without question an unhealthy approach if followed for any more than a few weeks. (Bladder infections, constipation, higher colon cancer and other cancer risk, etc.)

So, in my view, please do not follow an unlimited animal fat approach.

Hi Stan and Dr. Davis,

We've been following the Eades' Protein Power plan for the most part and I don't think they advocate high fat. But we're not trying to go low fat, either. In any case, we've gravitated lately to eating more poultry and fish instead of red meats.  I think that has helped our weight loss a bit, along with cutting down on nuts and cheese.  We love red meat and do have it a couple of times a week, since we're fortunate to be in an area where we can easily get locally raised (grass-fed) beef and lamb, as well as free-range chickens and wonderful eggs. Quite different from what's typically sold in the grocery stores. Tastes much better.

On another note, over the last 6 months, we've noticed our meal portions have become somewhat smaller.  We're not consciously trying to cut them down, it's just happened.  I think because we're eating more satisfying food we don't need quite as much. We find a less frequent urge to snack in between meals, too.

We've already experienced a number of changes you mention, Stan, like blood pressure magically settling into perfect range and no colds/flu this past winter.

It's all quite amazing, isn't it!

Barbara

Man-boobs: Another reason to lay off the Doritos.

I'm usually the first to say, "Hoooray for boobies!" Maybe not this time though.

I've known about man-boobs for a while and I have noticed many thinner guys having them too. It makes me wonder how much fat is inside that that slimmer body.

What does a man do with their own boobs though?  Hmm... a new potential market!

--

not just grains.. also too much fruits and fruit juices.

off topic Q: 47y male, very busy, but otherwise fit and lean, on paleo since a few months, has CRP=0, A1c=5.5, homocysteine=11, TSH=3.4, cholesterin 4.1mmol. low vitamin D (about to be remedied). his father has some bypasses. do you think to stay low-carb'ish paleo is sufficient here, or should he do something about his TSH and homocysteine (it's my brother). can this be caused by drinking 8-10 coffees a day lol? thanks!

Soy also contains a lot of phytoestrogens. Another thing to get rid of.

Ditch flax, too.  

Hmmm, is the rate of male breast cancer rising, too I wonder?

not just for men
heaps of my female patients want breast reduction surgery
I tell them to start eating green veges and more fish, and kill the carbs, but most would prefer the surgery because the healthy option is too hard!  go figure

the sad thing is for some of us even when we lose the weight, or the vast majority of the weight, the male breasts still don't go away. I have my gynecomastia surgery schedule for november....it's been a dream of mine for several years and i've been saving for it for a long time.

I read that drinking milk can cause a substantial insulin response even greater than that of a snickers bar?  There are a whole lot of people out there addicted to milk.  Telling them they shouldn't eat bread and pasta mortifies but adding dairy to the equation puts them right over the top

Not to split hairs, but glycemic load, which is what raises blood insulin,  is an entirely dose-dependent variable.

According  to Nutritiondata. com, a Snickers bar comes in three sizes.

"Fun size" (15g) GL of 5
I bar (2 oz)  GL of  57
I king size bar (4 oz) GL of 113

Whole wheat bread, commercially prepared
1 slice: GL of 5

So, yes if you had two slices of WW bread, you've doubled the amount of a fun-size Snicker.  But eat the big Snickers and you are way, way over that.

The devil is in the details.

Great post.  I'm sorry it wasn't there 2 years ago when I was working with a male client who was in despair about the man boobs.

Nina

Could low Testosterone blood levels in the male population be the cause of this ?
There's a detailed article on this matter in the June 2010 LEF magazine.
The article shows that this deficiency is in epidemic numbers.

Hi, Me--

Absolutely correct.

However, you will find that, of the foods listed, ALL increase blood glucose not a little, but a lot. Drawing distinctions among them and declaring one is better is like telling people that Marlboros are bad for you and Salems are better. Therefore, smoke more Salems.

It's that bad.

I'm curious about your statement that visceral fat converts testosterone to estrogen --> the man boobies.

There's the implication then that visceral fat leads to low testosterone.

This study would indicate that the direction of causation may be the other way around.  Visceral and total fat were measured in 110 Japanese-American men and measured again 7.5 years later.  Those with low testosterone levels at the beginning of the study had increased visceral fat.  

Visceral fat produces estrogen and that can lead to man boobies.

So lowT --> belly --> boobs seems a more likely scenario.  

I'm not sure we can look to a booming plastic surgery business for male breast reduction as being indicative of some sort of dietary induced increase in the incidence of man boobs.  Undergoing the knife has become increasingly popular for all sorts of procedures for men.

I would also add anecdotal evidence that many of the overweight men I know with this problem also happen to carry more weight in their butts, legs and subQ belly rather than sporting the "pot-belly".

After being diagnosed with BPH I specifically looked for a remedy other than 5-alpha reductase inhibitors.  I found and used beta-sitosterol for nearly a year.  Eventually I noticed nipple sensitivity.  I read it's an early symtom of gynecomastia.  Then I found that beta-sitosterol acts as a 5-alpha reductase inhibitor.  I quit using the medication about six weeks ago and now have significantly less sensitivity.  But the tradeoff is now I'm back to nocturia.  

kevin

It really looks awful for a man to have boobies and that's one that turns me off. I don't want to be with a man be with bigger boobs than I am. Is soya included in the list of food to be avoided?

And soy, soy, soy.  It is being promoted as a "health food" but most of it is genetically modified (unless organic) & all of it is high in plant estrogens.  NOT good for anyone:  women, men, developing children. (Unless it is fermented, not typical.) What is the formula most commonly used for babies?  Soy & lots of sugar.  

Bad, bad stuff.

Very interesting Blog.



Smith Alancli

I too would add soy to the list.  All these "healthy" foods aren't so healthy.  They are being promoted as "healthy" because they make $$$$ for big processed food.

I once saw an ad from PCRM telling men to go veg to reduce man boobs.  However, going veg would just mean more soy and insulin-dirupting foods, which would make the problem worse.

Thank you so much for this info. My family has been gluten free for several years, but I still react to GF breads. Most of our dietary decisions have come about through observing how we react to particular foods, even when we don't understand *why*. I've been avoiding "GF" breads because I react so badly to them . . . and now I know why. Thanks for the verification.

Men who are taking the BP med sprionolactone (trade name Aldactone) can sometimes experience gynecomastia. It's an uncommon, but well-known side effect of some drugs, and not always just a function of food intake or exercise (or lack thereof).

You forgot one VERY important thing on your list:

ALCOHOL!

Ethanol promotes aromatase converting testosterone to estrogen. Also, lupulin in hops is a potent phytoestrogen making beer a double whammy.

I would also like to add that brassica vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower, kale, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, etc) are rich in indole-3-carbinol and diindoylemethane which are wonderfully potent anti-estrogenic molecules.

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