The Clean Foods Paradox

Chief_Rocka

http://fitterhappierblog.wordpress.com/tag/clean-eating/

This is the best article I've seen in a while. It's a short article, nonetheless here are some snippets for the ADD crowd:

The subjects in our study were exclusively consuming “Paleo-approved” foods, which tended to be packed with micronutrients. Virtually all sources of “empty” calories were off limits. This is where the paradox part comes into play. As I entered their dietary information into nutrition analysis software, I noticed a rather counterintuitive trend: These subjects, eating a diet almost exclusively composed of micronutrient-dense foods, were coming far short of the RDI for a number of micronutrients.

I feel as if there are two ways to approach dieting— as you might have guessed from the bolded heading above, they are inclusion dieting and exclusion dieting. These approaches are characterized by distinctly different mindsets.

The inclusion dieter approaches food selection with the following mindset: “I will include food X in my diet, because it provides me with nutrients Y and Z.”

The exclusion dieter approaches food selection with a markedly different mindset: “I will exclude food X from my diet, because it hurts my dieting by providing Y and Z.”

In my opinion, the Paleo diet, and diets focused on “clean” food sources in general, are inherently flawed. While there is certainly nothing wrong with the food sources they promote, their primary shortcoming is that they are predicated on exclusion dieting. Rather than selecting food choices that contribute the nutrients they need, these dieters focus more on avoiding things they perceive to be “bad.” The result is often superfluous intakes of some micronutrients, along with deficient intakes of others. This explains “The Clean Foods Paradox,” and why our subjects were eating micronutrient-dense foods all day and still falling short of recommended intakes for certain nutrients.

So the take home point is to set appropriate macronutrient targets and use whatever foods you want to hit those targets, as long as daily micronutrient and fiber needs are met. For most people, satisfying these micronutrient and fiber requirements will demand that the majority of food choices will be “cleaner” food sources by default. Once micronutrient and fiber needs are met, knock yourselves out with the elaborate (and very impressive) ice cream and pastry-laden concoctions. And share the recipe.

Sarauk2sf

Good article. The first quote is something that is very on point imo. When you have a diet that is restrictive as it makes a lot of foods 'off limits' you are limiting where you get your micronutrients from. Just because you are eating 'clean', whatever that actually means, does not mean that it is a balanced diet, even though some people seem to automatically assume it will be. It's not the diet itself that is an issue, it's the exclusionary aspect of it.

I like the fact that this actually address micronutrients. Layne Norton's BioLayne Log #12 addressed IIFYM v clean and I liked his take on it but made no mention of them.

n0ob

does that link a peer reviewed article? I got some paleo homers on another forum I'd like to bomb with it if so. Reguardless i agree with what they say, I would just like to know what micronutrients in particular the subjects fell short while eating paleo.

WendyTerry420

Great post! I can't wait to get home and share this on my Facebook, start some crap with my paleo friends. (lol)

Yanicka1

Bump

Chief_Rocka

does that link a peer reviewed article? I got some paleo homers on another forum I'd like to bomb with it if so. Reguardless i agree with what they say, I would just like to know what micronutrients in particular the subjects fell short while eating paleo.

Looks like it's something that's kinda still in the works:

The project involved having subjects follow the guidelines that many Paleo dieters follow (food choices were restricted to meat, fish, fruits, vegetables, eggs, and nuts, with no cereal grains, dairy, or legumes allowed). I will hold off on discussing the details of that project until our data finds a home in a peer-reviewed journal. I will, however, discuss the aforementioned “paradox” that I stumbled upon, since it does not divulge any details pertinent to our hypothesis or conclusions. If you really want a sneak peak at our data, come check out my poster at the ACSM Annual Meeting this year.[/img]

Martucha123

I would love to read the study when the are done! I would bet that they were deficient in calcium, can't think of anything else though

Chief_Rocka

I would love to read the study when the are done! I would bet that they were deficient in calcium, can't think of anything else though

Potassium would be my guess.

n0ob

if you're eating fruits, veggies, and meats, you got plenty of potassium. MFP is woeful for adding correct K amounts in foods.

I use nutritiondata.com to get an accurate check of K periodically.

I'm ALWAYS over 3500mg.

I would suspect calcium/vitamin D first myself.

SideSteel

I would love to read the study when the are done! I would bet that they were deficient in calcium, can't think of anything else though

Potassium would be my guess.

I'm guessing they also have acute happiness deficiency and might be approaching toxic levels of vitamin Derp12.


Thanks for sharing the article, Rock.

mmapags

I would love to read the study when the are done! I would bet that they were deficient in calcium, can't think of anything else though

Potassium would be my guess.

I'm guessing they also have acute happiness deficiency and might be approaching toxic levels of vitamin Derp12.


Thanks for sharing the article, Rock.

Totally agree!! Great article!

sjohnny

So, what you're saying is that I can eat nothing but ice cream and burritos and still lose weight and be healthy?

That's what all you IIFYM people claim, right?

Sarauk2sf

So, what you're saying is that I can eat nothing but ice cream and burritos and still lose weight and be healthy?

That's what all you IIFYM people claim, right?

That miiiiiight fall into the exclusionary category being discussed!

mmapags

So, what you're saying is that I can eat nothing but ice cream and burritos and still lose weight and be healthy?

That's what all you IIFYM people claim, right?

Depends. What kind of burritos??

sjohnny

Probably Taco Bell burritos supremes just for argument sake.

sjohnny

So, what you're saying is that I can eat nothing but ice cream and burritos and still lose weight and be healthy?

That's what all you IIFYM people claim, right?

That miiiiiight fall into the exclusionary category being discussed!

I purposely discounted any information that didn't fit into my agenda..



Oh wait.....I forgot which group this was for a minute.

mmapags

Probably Taco Bell burritos supremes just for argument sake.

Then your good!

WendyTerry420

I would love to read the study when the are done! I would bet that they were deficient in calcium, can't think of anything else though

Potassium would be my guess.

I'm guessing they also have acute happiness deficiency and might be approaching toxic levels of vitamin Derp12.


Thanks for sharing the article, Rock.

:laugh: :laugh:

macdiver

So, what you're saying is that I can eat nothing but ice cream and burritos and still lose weight and be healthy?

That's what all you IIFYM people claim, right?

You need to have a daily triple baconator cheeseburger with super sized fries and DIET soda as well. (insert sarcasm smiley here)

LoraF83

Nice article! Thanks for sharing

heatherloveslifting

Thanks for posting this!