Myths, Misconceptions and Things I've Learned
None of us start out with perfect knowledge, and we may be more on the gullible side before we've learned about all the misinformation out there and before we've picked up better critical thinking skills. It's important to be able to learn new information, even if that means having to accept that something we've come to believe in, perhaps even wholeheartedly, is wrong. This only makes us better and more in line with the facts. Below I cover some of the things I've learned over the years.
First, it's important to understand that just because a diet produces improvements in health, doesn't mean it's ideal or safe. People experience improvements on all kinds of diets, from raw animal food to plant based. The reason of course is that any change in diet can lead to improvement simply due to reducing or cutting out nutritionally void processed foods and replacing them with whole foods. Often times people pair dietary changes with healthy lifestyle changes, such as exercise. Determining the healthiness of a diet over the long term is more of a challenge. And even if a diet continues to grant improved health, it doesn't prove that the diet is ideal, just that it's better than the previous one (also, don't forget other confounding variables like exercise, stress management, etc.).
Second, and something that may surprise you if you're a veteran of the low carb or paleo diet, is that prehistoric humans didn't have grain free diets. Their diets were more varied than many people think. And of course, as many non-low carbers wrongly believe, they didn't just eat lean foods either. Why would ancient humans turn their noses up at a flavorful and calorie-rich soft tissue like fat? Even lean animals have some fat around organs, and there were species of animals that stored large amounts of fat-some of which were hunted to extinction. And if they could derive calories from other sources, i.e., various plants, why wouldn't they? So they had meat, organs, fat, some wild grains/grasses, some tubers, some wild berries, honey, insects, and anything else they could get their hands on. What we don't know for sure is what proportion these foods made up in their diet. However, I think it's reasonable to assume that large quantities of processed carbs and vegetable oils were not dietary staples.
Third, and counter to what many in the raw diet sphere believe, humans cooked their food as early as 200k years ago. In fact, it's one of the things that contributed to our larger brain, and smaller gut and jaw size. Cooking allowed our ancestors to derive calories from otherwise inedible foods like tubers and grains. It also made both meat and plant foods easier to eat and digest. Destroying pathogens was another benefit.
Fourth, no diet is perfect, especially in the modern era with environmental toxins and deficient soils. Don't like organ meats? You need some plant foods and dairy as well as a variety of muscle meats (not just poultry, not just beef for example). Plant foods and dairy come along with some issues: lactose, lectins, anti-nutrients, inflammatory compounds, environmental toxins. Don't want the not-so-good fat ratio of factory farmed meat? Better shell out lots of money for grass fed and grass finished beef, free range chicken, etc. And even then, environmental toxins will likely be unavoidable. We need to accept that we live in a very flawed world, and we don't have control over everything. A difficult thing for many people to come to grips with, no doubt. But I believe that acceptance of this will help us in the long run. Unrealistic expectations ultimately do more harm than good. The best we can do is find a sustainable balance. So forget being perfect and just do your best!
Fifth, and kind of following from the last point, is that you can still succumb to health problems and disease even with an excellent diet (and even fitness regimen), though your risk may be greatly reduced. This is another one of those things we may not have as much control over as we'd like, and it can be a really bitter pill to swallow. Neither nature nor our bodies are perfect. Flaws are an inescapable part of nature and sooner or later we may very well have to deal with some of these flaws-from mild to deadly, even if we do everything right (or think we are). So, once again, forget about being guaranteed a perfect outcome and just do and hope for the best while being prepared for anything!
Sixth, there really is no one-size-fits-all diet. While there may be certain principles that remain consistently true (for example, maximizing whole foods and minimizing processed foods that mainly only provide empty calories, or simply limiting sugar), what's right for one person may not be right for someone else. This can depend on a number of factors which can include preference, sustainability, and individual biology. So, it's important to customize your diet to fit your needs and preferences. The goal should be a lifestyle that lasts.
Misc in progress:
The diets of animals in the wild (including humans) is not as exclusive as people believe. That is, animals thought to be fruitarians or vegetarians may get small amounts of other kinds of food (such as insects or scavenged meat).
