As a nutritionist, during the last 10-15 years I've been looking for the most optimal way to eat and live.
Throughout my adult life, I've tried to eat in a healthy way. For me this means buying and cooking real food and never using packaged and processed products. My diet has evolved over the years, it was always based on my best knowledge and common sense.
I have been on a low-carbohydrate diet for quite a long time and on the ketogenic diet for a few years now. My diet has slowly transitioned from a more plant-based type to a mostly animal-based way of eating, following the principles of the Paleolithic Ketogenic Diet (PKD - developed by Paleomedicina, Hungary) - a whole food based ketogenic diet.
I check my blood glucose and ketone levels from time to time. It is great to see but especially to feel the benefits of a stable blood sugar and the state of a nutritional ketosis. I still remember how it was to be “hangry” in the past while feeling weak, irritated, dizzy and having headaches. This never happens anymore. I can be hungry but if I don’t have the time or the possibility to eat real good quality food, I can easily skip a meal and eat later. The hunger goes away thanks to ketosis.
So what do I eat?
Most of the time I eat two meals a day: breakfast and late lunch, without snacks. My diet consists of different types of meats, mostly beef, lamb and pork, some liver, a fair amount of bone marrow, animal fats, eggs, sometimes duck, chicken, fish or seafood, and a small amount of seasonal or fermented vegetables. I rarely eat fruit, and if I do, I prefer berries seasonally in small portions. I don't use sweeteners, apart from occasionally a small amount of honey.
I avoid dairy, I do not consume any grains, cereals, seed and plant oils, added sugars and sweeteners, legumes, nightshades, nuts and seeds. This way I avoid most plant toxins, such as oxalates, lectins, saponins, protease inhibitors and phytic acid.
I drink water to my thirst, a couple of espressos a day and occasionally a small amount of dry wine.
My usual breakfast can be anything of the following ingredients in different combinations: eggs, fresh or leftover meat, lard, bacon, bone marrow, fresh or dried sausages and pork cracklings. I might eat wild caught fish, shrimps or scallops. Fried liver or liver pancakes are good options as well. I make sure that I keep the ideal fat to protein ratio in order to stay in ketosis.
About 6-7 hours later, or when I get hungry, I have my lunch/dinner. It can be any kind of meat, liver, rarely wild caught fish with different fats, like lard, tallow, bacon or bone marrow. When I am with my family or friends, I also eat certain vegetables such as carrots, cabbage, cauliflower, zucchini, parsley root, Sauerkraut or mushrooms.
What are the advantages of this diet?
As I mentioned before, I feel the benefits of a stable blood sugar. I also have had a steady weight without any difficulties or counting calories. I feel energetic and happy, I rarely have a cold and I have no chronic pain or physical discomfort. My digestive issues disappeared long time ago and they come back rarely, only if I overeat certain vegetables, such as cauliflower.
I could get rid of all my food addictions and cravings when I stopped eating sugar, sweeteners, grains and too much fruit. Fat, especially animal fat is extremely satiating which means that most days two meals are perfectly enough and there is rarely a need for snacks in between. My mind is clear, my brain fog disappeared years ago when I eliminated gluten from my diet. It is great not to feel sleepy and tired after lunch and during the day in general.
I am lucky not to have any chronic disease, so I don't measure or restrict my food intake but I eat according to my hunger. I am physically active, I do weight training every second day and a cardio workout every other day - so I do some sort of sport every day. I place a strong emphasis on both my sleep quality and my social life and I strive to focus on the positive aspects of life as much as possible.
I am very happy with all the foods I eat and I don't feel at all that this diet is in any way restricitve. I am convinced that this eating- and lifestyle are the best disease prevention and "anti-aging therapies" I can do.
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