The main principles are:
- The most important marker of health is a good metabolism
- To raise your metabolism eat lots of food, beyond what you may normally eat
- Eat a lot of whole starches (and lately sugars)
- Low in omega 6, high in saturated fat (re: coconut oil )
- Go easy on animal protein
- Relax and Enjoy The Food
Although it was fun to think things like more "more carbohydrates will improve insulin sensitivity", or that ice cream was "metabolically stimulating" (insert obligatory face palm), it finally became obvious to me that these ideas can safely be filed away among the long list of failed wonder-diets.
The diet started off, as all bizarre diets do, wonderfully. I was eating whatever I wanted, as long as it was low omega-6, with plenty of starches, fruits, sweets, etc. The idea that this was all good for you because you were "raising your metabolism" was very appealing coming from 1 1/2 years of restrictive paleo eating. After 5 weeks, despite a worsening in digestive symptoms, bad bloating, 8 pounds of weight gain and a small gut, saggy face with dark circles, white tongue, a crash in whatever remaining sex drive I had, limp boner, poor energy levels, sleepiness, and worsening blood sugar control, I was ready to declare the experiment relatively successful because my thyroid levels had risen. Like all diets that I know of, the negative effects can be easily explained away as a "transition" or "detox" from your old dietary habits. The fact that this was more like an anti-transformation didn't cross my mind.
The diet didn't really manifest into any higher body temperature readings, or an improved quality of life (beyond a more relaxed attitude towards food), but I decided to keep at it for another couple months with a more moderate caloric intake. Over the past 6 months or so, while not formally following RRARF, I would, digestive problems permitting, occasionally incorporate the over-feeding ideas or latest ray peat fad for a couple weeks at a time. Each attempt failed again and again to produce any real improvement in health, although in all honesty it tended to be fun.
I believe it wasn't until this past week where I woke up every day with a fasting blood glucose in the range of 95-101 that I realized something needed to change. My latest starch/sugar/ice cream 3 week binge was paying it's dividends. Although my postprandial readings had continued to get worse gorging on carbohydrates, my fasting BG always had remained in the 68-82 range. That no longer the case, and a hard reversal of digestive health, forced me to move back towards the higher protein paleo-ish approach that has always worked well for me.
Typical day for me now:
Breafast: no breakfast! I hate eating when not hungry. FU RRARF!
Late brunch/lunch: Good amount of fruit, raw eggs, lettuce, raw carrots, rice cakes
Dinner: large piece of fish or red meat, some safe starch (rice, sweet potatoes), lots of vegetables, coconut oil
Most of important of all is I only eat when I am hungry and I eat as much as I like. No more forcing myself to eat more than I want, forcing meals, or forcing certain macro nutrients. Incidentally my morning temperatures have perked up (97.7f) after eating meat/fish with tons of spinach for dinner. I recall the winter of 2009 when I was very meat heavy being warm all the time. I would be warm in a tee-shirt while everyone else was wrapped in a coat. If I didn't know any better I would say protein has the superior thermal effect..
Thanks for the post.. the RRARF sounded crazy... and you just confirmed it for me and put my doubts to rest, thanks for blogging about it.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment. I've never heard of a diet that didn't work someway for someone out there. You can read about diets that are the complete opposite of each other and someone will claim it's the secret to health. RRARF is probably appropriate for people who suffer from psychological eating disorders, as that seems to be the group that benefits from this diet.
ReplyDeleteFor most other people this diet will only 'work' by shear accident like avoiding high-pufa foods that cause problems. Approaching metabolism and health in a more holistic way ( i.e. digestion, infections, deficiencies, hormones, etc.) is more intelligent than just shoveling mass quantities of food down your gullet and hope it works its magic.
hi, how has this been going for you lately?
ReplyDeleteWhat changes have you since made? health issues?
It looks like this would be about 1200-1500 calories per day, depending on what you mean by a "good amount" of fruit.
Eg 1 whole pineapple is only 400-450 calories (which is a lot to eat in one sitting). 2 eggs 120-150 calories.
200g of fish (a large size filet) is 250 calories, piece of red meat maybe 400 cals (?)