Hi,
I've been mostly reading the forum for a while as its quite interesting to hear peats views and I'm interested in getting your perspectives on a whole foods plant based diet. It seems to fit some of the things that peat recommends or certain foods that peat recommends to balance the imbalance that exists when you eat a lot of meat products.
My goals is probably eat maybe 80-90% plant based and add any meat based products if necessary. Currently, I eat dairy, some seafood (I like shrimp but don't like oysters) and some meat (mostly chicken, I don't like beef/pork/etc.. and I don't like liver meat) so it isn't too hard more me to give up meat. No diet is perfect, I think its about balance and maybe eating things that are less bad for you, even if you can't completely avoid it.
Plant based diet is based on fruits, vegetables, tubers, whole grains, and legumes; and it excludes or minimizes meat (including chicken and fish), dairy products, and eggs, as well as highly refined foods like bleached flour, refined sugar, and oil.
Based on my understanding of what ray peat says:
1. Sugar is an important nutrient. Its pretty much a high carb diet with fruits eg oranges, we should be covered here.
2. Starches are not as desirable as sugars for optimal energy production. Peat doesn't recommend no starch diet, recommends things like potatoes. Potatoes/Sweet potatoes is quite nutrient dense and is part of the diet
3. Excess estrogen is a very bad thing. Yes, there is phytoestrogen in vegetables/legumes, but Milk has higher levels for estrogen that could be used by body. Same in eggs and meat. Although, I try to avoid soy and processed soy processed, because it not currently part of my diet. But I do eat other legumes (black beans, etc). There is also IGF-1 and hormones that naturally occurs in meat products even in grass fed, wild caught animal products. I think the estrogen in meat products would be closer to human estrogen compared to weaker phytoestrogen, although jury is still out on this.
4. Thyroid health is essential for nearly every function in the body. You can avoid goitrogen by cooking most of your vegetables, but you also lose some of the nutrients, maybe a balance of raw and cooked vegetables. The biggest dietary sources of PUFA is Oil. All oils are eliminated here is this should drastically reduce the PUFA in your diet. Although limited nuts and seeds are allowed, but I think these whole foods have protective mechanisms in themselves such as almond which has Vitamin E. Limited Nuts as garnish is suggested as they are also calorie dense.
5. Iron is potentially toxic, and dietary iron should be minimized or avoided as much as possible. There is more iron in meat than vegetables, also from what I have read, it seems like heme-iron in meat is what is more harmful. This would be greatly reduced so you don't need to drink excess amount of coffee to block excessive iron that your consuming in meat.
6. Dr. Peat believes that coffee is an important food because it is protects the liver, protects the thyroid, improves glucose metabolism, blocks iron absorption, and provides important nutrients not found in many other foods. I've read some studies that state coffee is better at blocking iron in vegetables better, so even if you're concerned about iron in spinach or something, it would help. Coffee has other benefits too and is part of the diet.
7. Adequate protein is important. It does take a bit of planning to get enough protein plants but you can get the recommended amount and also plant based diet is low is tryptophan and methionine so you don't really need the gelatin.
8. Seratonin and melatonin are harmful stress chemicals and should be minimized. Dr. Peat recommends reducing tryptophan in the diet in order to reduce seratonin production since tryptophan is the precursor to seratonin. Plant based protein is naturally lower in tryptophan so it shouldn't be too much of concern.
9. The dietary calcium to phosphate ratio should be high. Protein from plant based food are closer to what peat recommends than meats or milk.
I've been experimenting with plant based diet even since I saw Fork over knives and thinking about the whole peataterian view and some of the points seems to fit in with what peat says so I wanted to get your opinion on this. I also look forward to hearing from people who follow a whole food plant based diet in peaterian community as to how they eat to supplements any deficiencies (with other food or supplements) on plant based diet. I know you must supplement with B12.
Thanks,
Darren
I've been mostly reading the forum for a while as its quite interesting to hear peats views and I'm interested in getting your perspectives on a whole foods plant based diet. It seems to fit some of the things that peat recommends or certain foods that peat recommends to balance the imbalance that exists when you eat a lot of meat products.
My goals is probably eat maybe 80-90% plant based and add any meat based products if necessary. Currently, I eat dairy, some seafood (I like shrimp but don't like oysters) and some meat (mostly chicken, I don't like beef/pork/etc.. and I don't like liver meat) so it isn't too hard more me to give up meat. No diet is perfect, I think its about balance and maybe eating things that are less bad for you, even if you can't completely avoid it.
Plant based diet is based on fruits, vegetables, tubers, whole grains, and legumes; and it excludes or minimizes meat (including chicken and fish), dairy products, and eggs, as well as highly refined foods like bleached flour, refined sugar, and oil.
Based on my understanding of what ray peat says:
1. Sugar is an important nutrient. Its pretty much a high carb diet with fruits eg oranges, we should be covered here.
2. Starches are not as desirable as sugars for optimal energy production. Peat doesn't recommend no starch diet, recommends things like potatoes. Potatoes/Sweet potatoes is quite nutrient dense and is part of the diet
3. Excess estrogen is a very bad thing. Yes, there is phytoestrogen in vegetables/legumes, but Milk has higher levels for estrogen that could be used by body. Same in eggs and meat. Although, I try to avoid soy and processed soy processed, because it not currently part of my diet. But I do eat other legumes (black beans, etc). There is also IGF-1 and hormones that naturally occurs in meat products even in grass fed, wild caught animal products. I think the estrogen in meat products would be closer to human estrogen compared to weaker phytoestrogen, although jury is still out on this.
4. Thyroid health is essential for nearly every function in the body. You can avoid goitrogen by cooking most of your vegetables, but you also lose some of the nutrients, maybe a balance of raw and cooked vegetables. The biggest dietary sources of PUFA is Oil. All oils are eliminated here is this should drastically reduce the PUFA in your diet. Although limited nuts and seeds are allowed, but I think these whole foods have protective mechanisms in themselves such as almond which has Vitamin E. Limited Nuts as garnish is suggested as they are also calorie dense.
5. Iron is potentially toxic, and dietary iron should be minimized or avoided as much as possible. There is more iron in meat than vegetables, also from what I have read, it seems like heme-iron in meat is what is more harmful. This would be greatly reduced so you don't need to drink excess amount of coffee to block excessive iron that your consuming in meat.
6. Dr. Peat believes that coffee is an important food because it is protects the liver, protects the thyroid, improves glucose metabolism, blocks iron absorption, and provides important nutrients not found in many other foods. I've read some studies that state coffee is better at blocking iron in vegetables better, so even if you're concerned about iron in spinach or something, it would help. Coffee has other benefits too and is part of the diet.
7. Adequate protein is important. It does take a bit of planning to get enough protein plants but you can get the recommended amount and also plant based diet is low is tryptophan and methionine so you don't really need the gelatin.
8. Seratonin and melatonin are harmful stress chemicals and should be minimized. Dr. Peat recommends reducing tryptophan in the diet in order to reduce seratonin production since tryptophan is the precursor to seratonin. Plant based protein is naturally lower in tryptophan so it shouldn't be too much of concern.
9. The dietary calcium to phosphate ratio should be high. Protein from plant based food are closer to what peat recommends than meats or milk.
I've been experimenting with plant based diet even since I saw Fork over knives and thinking about the whole peataterian view and some of the points seems to fit in with what peat says so I wanted to get your opinion on this. I also look forward to hearing from people who follow a whole food plant based diet in peaterian community as to how they eat to supplements any deficiencies (with other food or supplements) on plant based diet. I know you must supplement with B12.
Thanks,
Darren
