Food variety

juanitacarlos

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When I first started looking into Peat, and seeing certain foods recommended over and over, I was really put off by the limited number of foods I felt I could choose from (limited to me - that's my subjective opinion :) ).

I haven't been "Peating" long, but am actually finding the repititiveness (again, my opinion only) of the diet is actually working in my favour. These foods make up the bulk of my diet:

Milk
OJ
Some fruits
Cheese
Eggs
Coconut Oil
Coffee w. milk or cream and sugar
Gelatin
Carrot
Bit of sourdough bread

I then eat oysters, prawns, pate etc every other day. Some potatoes in coconut oil. Maybe some parsnip soup (with cream and molasses).

A short time ago, I would have said "I can't eat like this all the time"! But I'm actually finding that having this foundation of eating is so much easier than preparing different meals each day. And I love looking into the pantry and seeing the shelves getting emptier and emptier bar the gelatin, sugar, coffee etc standing front and centre. I feel less stressed in many ways. I never realised how full my fridge and cupboards were of foods and spices and condiments that I never really eat. And I used throw a lot of food out, which I don't do now. That used to do my head in.

I also realised after cooking some lamb the other day that I hate cooking. I have better things to do with my time.

I believe too the more 'perfunctory' nature of my diet is helping with some of my more habitual negative eating patterns. I just get on a roll with the milk and coffee and OJ and eggs and fruit etc and there really is no room for junk. This has all been a pleasant surprise, along with the small increase in energy and less brain fog.

And sugar. My old friend sugar. We meet again. And...........I love you. :thumbup:

Have other people found the trasition harder? Or easier? Or neutral?
 

4peatssake

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ttramone said:
When I first started looking into Peat, and seeing certain foods recommended over and over, I was really put off by the limited number of foods I felt I could choose from (limited to me - that's my subjective opinion :) ).

I haven't been "Peating" long, but am actually finding the repititiveness (again, my opinion only) of the diet is actually working in my favour. These foods make up the bulk of my diet:

Milk
OJ
Some fruits
Cheese
Eggs
Coconut Oil
Coffee w. milk or cream and sugar
Gelatin
Carrot
Bit of sourdough bread

I then eat oysters, prawns, pate etc every other day. Some potatoes in coconut oil. Maybe some parsnip soup (with cream and molasses).

A short time ago, I would have said "I can't eat like this all the time"! But I'm actually finding that having this foundation of eating is so much easier than preparing different meals each day. And I love looking into the pantry and seeing the shelves getting emptier and emptier bar the gelatin, sugar, coffee etc standing front and centre. I feel less stressed in many ways. I never realised how full my fridge and cupboards were of foods and spices and condiments that I never really eat. And I used throw a lot of food out, which I don't do now. That used to do my head in.

I also realised after cooking some lamb the other day that I hate cooking. I have better things to do with my time.

I believe too the more 'perfunctory' nature of my diet is helping with some of my more habitual negative eating patterns. I just get on a roll with the milk and coffee and OJ and eggs and fruit etc and there really is no room for junk. This has all been a pleasant surprise, along with the small increase in energy and less brain fog.

And sugar. My old friend sugar. We meet again. And...........I love you. :thumbup:

Have other people found the trasition harder? Or easier? Or neutral?


What a great post!

I couldn't agree with you more. I feel and think much the same way, although I didn't have the sense at first that there wasn't enough variety. I was just so happy to have a list of foods that I really love to eat!

And sugar - Oh how I had deprived myself - and now I go through bags of it! It is quite fun.

I love to drink OJ and milk together, it is my favorite "staple" food. Coffee with milk, gelatin and sugar (or chocolate syrup) is my second go to meal. This forms the foundation of my diet.

I also love eggs in coconut oil and I use copious amounts of salt on everything - especially heavenly pototoes! I tolerate potatoes well and it's a real comfort food, especially with lots of butter and salt! YUM

So the food - at least for me - has been a God send. I don't like to cook either and never was much good at it.

And yet, I've made panna cotta, learned how to sear scallops like a pro (it's easy, HA) and make my own chocolate syrup and gummy bears! ;)
 

pboy

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I agree...the more other stuff that slowly gets displaced by the stuff that I don't even think about, I just feel like and want to consume, the better it is.
The less it fights back, the better! Kinda like fung shui I guess
 

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charlie

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Excellent post.

For me, it's a God send. All the food is delicious and I love it. Except for maybe oysters but I am working on that. Even liver is no problem for me to eat now. Milk and orange juice are my favorite since I was a little kid. I just made some strawberry juice and orange juice gummy bears that are the most incredibly tasty things I ever ate. Being able to make these sweet treats for myself, really helps with state of mind. Milk and orange juice are the base of my diet right now and I love it!

And like you said, there isn't a great huge selection so preparing and eating gets streamlined. So the makes even less stress in the overall picture.
 

narouz

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This is an interesting thread.

Since this site's inception I've been quite the contrarian.
You may be able to still find some of my related threads:
-"Is the Peat diet a difficult diet?"
-"The Peat Mostly Liquid Diet?"
-"Why are PUFA's delicious?"
-"Is a Peat diet instinctual?"
-etc

After about a year of Peating I have to say I am more at peace with the diet.
Now: Is that because I'm "Getting Back in Touch with My True Food Instincts"?
Or is it simply that I've trained/habituated myself?

I only argue that we should be honest with ourselves about these matters of taste and appetite.
It is very easy to
1. Find Peat
2. Eat a Peat diet
3. Declare that a Peat diet is The Most Delicious of All Possible Diets

Why is that easy?
Because it gets involved with our egos.

If we assert that we know and are eating the most delicious diet on Earth,
aren't we rather plainly patting ourselves on the back
and insinuating that we know better than everybody else
and are going to be healthier than everybody else?
Also: it is quite pleasant to grant to oneself the possession of Certainty:
I KNOW The Best and Most Delicious Diet.
And too: it is quite pleasant to find all facets of one's life in wonderful Harmony:
The Healthiest Diet just, serendipitously, turns out to also be The Most Delicious!
Everybody must envy us!!


I think it is good to have some self-suspicion in this regard.
How many here have had the experience, surveying back over your various dietary gambits,
of feeling exactly the same ultra-positive way about Other diets--
diets that turned out to be very unhealthy?
Didn't we, at those times, also want to declare to all the world
that our diet was The Most Delicious and Healthy?
Isn't that impulse part of human nature?

The thread is a bit more specific: it notes food Variety.

Here I think, if we are being objective,
we will have to judge that a good, strict-ish Ray Peat diet,
is possibly one of the Least varied amongst all known diets.

And based upon that lack of variety, I also feel it is quite clear that--
for by far most people in developed countries living on planet Earth--
a strict Peat diet should not even be mentioned as amongst the most delicious.

This is easily proveable.
Survey the most popular and well regarded cook books and cooking shows.
It is laughable to try to assert that a mostly orange and milk diet
is even faintly in the running for Most Delicious.

I think we as Peatians should have that objectivity and clarity about ourselves and our Peat diets.
To do otherwise is just to slap ourselves on the back and tell ourselves how superior we are
(not that I'm saying anybody in this thread is doing that).

Now...I know many will quickly add:
"Yeah, but all those 99% have f**ked up tastes and appetites!"

Okay...you can go that route, but you're radically changing the nature of the question.
People's tastes/appetites/desires/cravings/cookbooks/cooking shows may indeed be all screwed to hell.
But that shouldn't be the question.

The question should be:
For most people in the developed world
is the Peat diet the most varied and most delicious?

And I maintain that, for something like 99%, the answer will be--inarguably--"no".

Perform a test:
Assemble a thousand random people from all over the developed world.
Ask them to choose between
-any diet they want taken from any of the most popular, esteemed cookbooks
-a Ray Peat diet.

I guarantee you close to 100% will not choose the Ray Peat diet.

Note: I've been pretty strictly on a Ray Peat diet for about a year now.
I am very convinced about its health benefits.
I just cannot honestly say it is the most delicious.
It is possible that I will come to believe that, I suppose.
I just don't feel that now.
 
J

j.

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narouz said:
The question should be:
For most people in the developed world
is the Peat diet the most varied and most delicious?

No, that should not be the question. We are not "most people" and I don't give a **** about what they do or eat.
 

Beebop

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Jan 27, 2013
Messages
289
Narouz, I think you've made a good point that we shouldn't delude ourselves into thinking we are eating our favourite, most tasty diet when we may in fact miss other foods - or miss not having any restrictions more to the point. Plus we should always be open to the idea that we may be wrong!

I think in any ordinary diet there are restrictions - but mostly based on laziness, lack of imagination, lack of adventurous spirit (brains anyone?), routine, familiarity and nostalgia. Most people eat for such reasons as comfort, guilt, being 'normal' and fitting in, ease of use, cost etc.

I think by the time I have finely tuned my own Peat inspired diet it will have a similar number of foods as I used to eat, just different ones.

In actual fact, if I was eating the ripest of ripe, home-grown fruit, and fresh locally/home-reared animal products all year, then that truly would be delicious. As it is, any Peat inspired diet is a supermarket version of a lost time, when the planet wasn't full of plastic and environmental toxins.
 
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juanitacarlos

juanitacarlos

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You may be able to still find some of my related threads:
-"Is the Peat diet a difficult diet?"
-"The Peat Mostly Liquid Diet?"
-"Why are PUFA's delicious?"
-"Is a Peat diet instinctual?"
-etc

I've read some of those posts Narouz - they are great and good questions to ask.
I only argue that we should be honest with ourselves about these matters of taste and appetite.
It is very easy to
1. Find Peat
2. Eat a Peat diet
3. Declare that a Peat diet is The Most Delicious of All Possible Diets

Why is that easy?
Because it gets involved with our egos.

I disagree with that somewhat. I found it incredibly hard to want to eat Peatish. I stumbled on Peat about 18 months ago and really liked his articles and the science behind it, but when I saw a lot of the recommended foods, and the foods that I should mostly steer clear of - starches - I just said to myself no way. But the seed was planted and the more I read the more I wanted those health advantages, so I started drinking a bit of juice again, bit more milk, a little less starch, more salt etc. And then it became easier to incorporate more of the Peaty foods, and less of the ones I believe may be doing me harm, even if they taste good and I've been used to eating them. It's definitely a process.

I think it is good to have some self-suspicion in this regard.
How many here have had the experience, surveying back over your various dietary gambits,
of feeling exactly the same ultra-positive way about Other diets--
diets that turned out to be very unhealthy?
Didn't we, at those times, also want to declare to all the world
that our diet was The Most Delicious and Healthy?
Isn't that impulse part of human nature?

Yes, I've been guilty of that.

Here I think, if we are being objective,
we will have to judge that a good, strict-ish Ray Peat diet,
is possibly one of the Least varied amongst all known diets.

Yes agreed.

And based upon that lack of variety, I also feel it is quite clear that--
for by far most people in developed countries living on planet Earth--
a strict Peat diet should not even be mentioned as amongst the most delicious.

This is easily proveable.
Survey the most popular and well regarded cook books and cooking shows.
It is laughable to try to assert that a mostly orange and milk diet
is even faintly in the running for Most Delicious.

It's not the most delicious diet in the world to me. Although it's pretty tasty! But I'm not here because I was looking for the most delicious diet. I was eating the most delicious diet in the world (to me) and I got really fat, and really sick (cancer and bucketload of other stuff). I'm here because I believe Peat offers me a chance out of my sickness and to better health. That is the number one reason. If I was really happy and healthy, I absolutely guarantee you that I would not know who Ray Peat is, I would not be on this forum, and I would be blissfully getting on with my life, oblivious to all of this....

Note: I've been pretty strictly on a Ray Peat diet for about a year now.
I am very convinced about its health benefits.
I just cannot honestly say it is the most delicious.
It is possible that I will come to believe that, I suppose.
I just don't feel that now.
[/quote]

I'm glad its working for your health. It sucks though when you cannot be 100% on board with the taste of a diet. I've had that experience eating brocolli, lean meat, spinach smoothies etc. Thanks for your response Narouz, it's much appreciated.
 
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juanitacarlos

juanitacarlos

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Messages
417
What a great post!

I couldn't agree with you more. I feel and think much the same way, although I didn't have the sense at first that there wasn't enough variety. I was just so happy to have a list of foods that I really love to eat!

And sugar - Oh how I had deprived myself - and now I go through bags of it! It is quite fun.

I love to drink OJ and milk together, it is my favorite "staple" food. Coffee with milk, gelatin and sugar (or chocolate syrup) is my second go to meal. This forms the foundation of my diet.

I also love eggs in coconut oil and I use copious amounts of salt on everything - especially heavenly pototoes! I tolerate potatoes well and it's a real comfort food, especially with lots of butter and salt! YUM

So the food - at least for me - has been a God send. I don't like to cook either and never was much good at it.

And yet, I've made panna cotta, learned how to sear scallops like a pro (it's easy, HA) and make my own chocolate syrup and gummy bears! ;)

Yeah its been interesting for me, because the enjoyment has come after incorporating some of these foods, not before. It's been really unexpected. And what relief to just say "I don't like cooking". Being female I've always felt pressured to cook well, but I've never really enjoyed it. So for now, it's really simple stuff that takes no time. Yay!

Thanks for the ideas - scallops and panna cotta. I'm so going there this week!
 
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juanitacarlos

juanitacarlos

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j. said:
narouz said:
The question should be:
For most people in the developed world
is the Peat diet the most varied and most delicious?

No, that should not be the question. We are not "most people" and I don't give a f*** about what they do or eat.

Lol - fair point.
 
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juanitacarlos

juanitacarlos

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Messages
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Charlie said:
Excellent post.

For me, it's a God send. All the food is delicious and I love it. Except for maybe oysters but I am working on that. Even liver is no problem for me to eat now. Milk and orange juice are my favorite since I was a little kid. I just made some strawberry juice and orange juice gummy bears that are the most incredibly tasty things I ever ate. Being able to make these sweet treats for myself, really helps with state of mind. Milk and orange juice are the base of my diet right now and I love it!

And like you said, there isn't a great huge selection so preparing and eating gets streamlined. So the makes even less stress in the overall picture.

Thanks Charlie. I love oysters (particulary fresh) but liver is not my fave, so the pate is working for now.

As someone who has struggled with their weight, their is a particular appeal for me to have less enjoyment from food. Enjoyment is probably not the right word, just less 'highs' off food. I of course want to like what I'm eating, but I want it to have less power over me. So I think maybe just having this small list of foods I eat with some variety here and there might bring me a bit closer to the food is fuel paradigm. Not everyone is after that though...
 

4peatssake

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ttramone said:
As someone who has struggled with their weight, their is a particular appeal for me to have less enjoyment from food. Enjoyment is probably not the right word, just less 'highs' off food. I of course want to like what I'm eating, but I want it to have less power over me. So I think maybe just having this small list of foods I eat with some variety here and there might bring me a bit closer to the food is fuel paradigm. Not everyone is after that though...

Wow, this is food for thought for me. ;)

I long to operate from the paradigm that "food is fuel" - know this to be true and would so love to fully live this way. Food has been problematic for me my entire life and I too have struggled with weight issues. As I've gotten older this has become less of a concern due to wanting to feel good being of greater concern than looking good.

Our food supply is widely contaminated and we have been given wrong information on what is healthy to eat. Many of us have used our own bodies as a guinea pig. I often say I am a lab rat! :?

One of the main reasons I took immediately to a Peat inspired diet, beside the soundness of the science and an intuitive knowing he is correct (not saying he doesn't make mistakes), is to welcome and embrace sugar back into my life. The land of Milk 'N Honey, how I've missed you so. I was sugar starved - no wonder my body was in such a horrific state.

Perhaps there is a way of achieving balance here. As we regain our health we can also enjoy the optimum fuel we power our physical bodies with.

One can be a Dreamer, right?

[media]http://youtu.be/2w1g-idt-8U[/media]
 
J

j.

Guest
4peatssake said:
For the life of me Naroux, I cannot understand why you keep harping about this. I find it offensive to continuously be called a liar or coming from a place of ego because I happen to like the foods suggested by Ray Peat for achieving optimal health.

Narouz likes vegetables. Seriously. The stuff most kids hate and people eat because they've been brainwashed into believing is healthy. His taste is very messed up.
 
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juanitacarlos

juanitacarlos

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Yes! Dream away!!

I long to operate from the paradigm that "food is fuel" - know this to be true and would so love to fully live this way. Food has been problematic for me my entire life and I too have struggled with weight issues. As I've gotten older this has become less of a concern due to wanting to feel good being of greater concern than looking good.

I totally understand that. I want to feel good. Looking good would be a bonus, but that's not why we're here right?

Our food supply is widely contaminated and we have been given wrong information on what is healthy to eat. Many of us have used our own bodies as a guinea pig. I often say I am a lab rat! :?

Yes!!

One of the main reasons I took immediately to a Peat inspired diet, beside the soundness of the science and an intuitive knowing he is correct (not saying he doesn't make mistakes), is to welcome and embrace sugar back into my life. The land of Milk 'N Honey, how I've missed you so. I was sugar starved - no wonder my body was in such a horrific state.

Isn't it great?? Sugar has been a demon for me for about 15 years. How wrong can I get it lol? Mmmm, milk and honey...

Perhaps there is a way of achieving balance here. As we regain our health we can also enjoy the optimum fuel we power our physical bodies with.

One can be a Dreamer, right?

That would be the holy grail, wouldn't it? "As we regain our health we can also enjoy the optimum fuel we power our physical bodies with". That is something to live by...

[media]http://youtu.be/2w1g-idt-8U[/media][/quote]
 

4peatssake

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j. said:
Narouz likes vegetables. Seriously. The stuff most kids hate and people eat because they've been brainwashed into believing is healthy. His taste is very messed up.

:shock:
 

jyb

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In Narouz's defense, some veggies do taste good. Like well cooked brusell sprouts with butter and grated cheese. I don't think it's more of an acquired taste than say cheese.

Bitterness can taste good. Naturally grown vegetable can have varied and strong flavors. I agree that industrially grown lettuce for example doesn't have much to it and maybe no one would it eat if they didn't think it was healthy, which it probably isn't.

That said I'm equally happy with sugar, and after a year on a RP diet, I never got sick of sugar, milk etc.
 

4peatssake

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jyb said:
In Narouz's defense, some veggies do taste good. Like well cooked brusell sprouts with butter and grated cheese. I don't think it's more of an acquired taste than say cheese. Bitterness can taste good.

That said I'm equally happy with sugar, and after a year on a RP diet, I never got sick of sugar, milk etc.

I have actually found this to be true; that veggies could - if prepared a certain way - taste good. Like, if I roasted the brussel sprouts in the oven drizzled in a ton of olive oil, they ended up being sweet - not bitter. And I could tolerate that - even "think" they were yummy even though I was only eating them because they were so "good" for me.

When I was raw vegan, I pretty much lived on smoothies and made the green ones with tons of banana to make them sweet. I tried savoury smoothies and they made me :sick:

That was pre-Peat - now I don't bother with veggies at all, except for potatoes and occasional grilled mushrooms with steak, and I'm quite thrilled about that. ;)

I can certainly appreciate that veggie lovers may have a tougher time making a transition to all things Peat and mostly very sweet! :lol:
 

Jenn

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I eat whatever I want. Currently living on chocolate milk. When I had a craving for peas, yeah, seriously, a craving for peas, I just cooked them up and slathered them with butter and coconut oil and lots of salt and ate them right up. We also mixed them with mashed potatoes....I blame the Stooges for that one. No, I did not eat them with a knife.<L>

People really don't eat as much variety as the cook books would have you believing. A ravioli is a potsticker with different spices. I have become a MUCH better cook since the change in diet.
 

4peatssake

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Jenn said:
I eat whatever I want. Currently living on chocolate milk. When I had a craving for peas, yeah, seriously, a craving for peas, I just cooked them up and slathered them with butter and coconut oil and lots of salt and ate them right up. We also mixed them with mashed potatoes....I blame the Stooges for that one. No, I did not eat them with a knife.<L>

People really don't eat as much variety as the cook books would have you believing. A ravioli is a potsticker with different spices. I have become a MUCH better cook since the change in diet.

Me too! Go figure. I've also become more willing to try new things, like I'm on some sort of adventure. ;)

I'm of the mind that as things progress I will also eat what I want and let my body guide me. :D
 
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juanitacarlos

juanitacarlos

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Jenn said:
People really don't eat as much variety as the cook books would have you believing. A ravioli is a potsticker with different spices. I have become a MUCH better cook since the change in diet.

Yeah I was thinking about that recently. I probably ate the same meals over and over and there wasn't as much variety as I thought. But still more than I have right now, which I'm not complaining about. It's making life easier at the moment.
 

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