The healthiest diet, according to your genes

[MooniePetul]

Written for Gemini by Hege J. Tunstad
Sep 19, 2011

The genes have spoken: your dinner plate should be divided into three, and you should eat six times a day

If you could ask your genes to say what kinds of foods are best for your health, they would have a simple answer: one-third protein, one-third fat and one-third carbohydrates.
That’s what recent genetic research shows is the best recipe to limit your risk of most lifestyle-related diseases.

Researchers Ingerid Arbo and Hans-Richard Brattbakk at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) have fed slightly overweight people different diets, and studied the effect of this on gene expression. Gene expression refers to the process where information from a gene’s DNA sequence is translated into a substance, like a protein, that is used in a cell’s structure or function.

Read more at http://earthsky.org/health/the-healthiest-diet-according-to-your-genes

[Reesacat]

I disagree with the author that low carb diets are bad — I have to stay on a more low-carb diet or my blood sugar crashes. I don't eat potatoes or grains, and get my carbs from fruit and veggies. I need coconut oil and olive oil.

[Islander]

It's still true: one size does not fit all!

[mellowsong]

I agree that this is overly simplistic and that one size will never fit all! People need to learn to read their bodies and do what fits YOU best...not what your doctor wants, not what the latest diet guru says etc. While I often say that lab tests are lacking because they are nothing more than a snapshot of that moment in time, in the case of diabetes, this ability to take snapshots is a good thing. Also with the advent of a test called Hemoglobin A1C (HgA1C) you get a look at how your blood sugar is doing over an extended period of time. HgA1C tells you your average blood sugar over the past 3 months but the result is weighted for the past 2 to 3 weeks.

This might be a bit off topic but it goes with what Reesacat was saying. I added ONE brown rice tortilla/day back to my diet last year with occasional quinoa after 3 years of being pretty much grain and starchy veggie free. In 6 months my HgA1C (a measure of average blood glucose over about 3 months) rose from 5.2 to 5.6. These figures equate to a blood glucose of 103 and 114 respectively. While most people (and doctors) think 5.6 is great, research is now showing that organ and vascular damage occurs as low as 5.8 (120) and damage could be occurring as low as 5.5(110). Diabetes isn't even diagnosed until the HgA1C is over 6 or FASTING blood glucose over 120. The supposed "goals" for diabetics leave them at very high risk of heart attack, stroke, neuropathy and other organ damage. When my HgA1C jumped, I got a meter and made a surprising discovery. Eating any grains at all including quinoa, even with plenty of protein and fat with the meal, caused a dramatic rise in blood sugar. 1 cup of cooked quinoa raised my blood sugar to 155. 2 pieces of pizza raised it to 199 where it stayed for at least 4 hours. Eating a very low carb diet as I do now, my fasting blood sugar has dropped from about 97 to 82 and and the highest it has gone 1 and 2 hours after eating is 107. Surprisingly, I'm finding that, after avoiding almost all fruit for 4 years, that eating apples and berries is having no effect on my blood sugar. I realize a lot of the sugar in fruit is fructose, not glucose and hence, can't be measured.

Both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes are rampant in my family and it is a problem I don't want to deal with. Not long before making the lifestyle changes I made in 2007, I was diagnosed as "pre-diabetic", getting very close to diabetic. I never thought, after 3 years of low carb, that adding a small amount of complex carbs back in my diet could have such a dramatic effect. I can't handle many carbs and this advice would probably make me diabetic within 6 months.

[mellowsong]

@malinamartis: First of all, welcome! You need to look around this site and you'll find that your advice is very misguided when it comes to saturated fats. That is poor science that has been espoused as fact for decades. If the animal fat is from pastured animals and/or organic, it is good for us, not harmful.

[Islander]

And I'd add, about the fish, avoid farmed fish. Buy wild, and limit to once a week because of high mercury...especially fish at the top of the food chain, like tuna. Go for little herrings and sardines!

[Katee]

I could be wrong, but strongly suspect malinamartis is a plant. Nothing is said in profile, but if you click on "homepage" it takes you to a pharma-ad page.

[Islander]

Innocent until she/he posts spam. The Team is ever on the alert, and we rely on all of you alert members to alert us when we are not being as alert as we ought to be. Thank you for your continued alertness.

[highlander]

People need to learn to read their bodies and do what fits YOU best...not what your doctor wants, not what the latest diet guru says etc.

Also, what seems to work at one stage of life might not work at another. A diet that led to steady weight loss in my 30s would lead to weight gain now (along with feeling worse -- cravings, crashes, etc.).

[Islander]

Ban Hammer applied to spammer today. Just FTR.