I have a rather quacky chat for you this month – it’s the “Good Doctor” part of me… and depending on your response, I might return to this subject again in future articles. It was inspired by a musician colleague mentioning just the other day, “Ooh I look so fat in that video!” My ears pricked up as being healthy has become a little of an obsession with me of late. Some minor health issues a couple of years ago drove me to begin researching and I read widely from who I believe are the best medical thinkers writing on the subject of diet and health, including Drs Jason Fung, Mark Hyman, Joseph Mercola, Nora Gedgaudas, Michael Mosely, Carole Hungerford and Dr Eric Berg’s YouTube channel amongst others that I follow. We have learnt so much new about good health in these last 20 years. Much written before the 2000s can be taken with a grain of salt – so much of it about marketing of industry products (Food, Pharmaceutical etc), that have since been caught out.
Here are some tips that might work for my overweight colleague and perhaps for you too:
1. Intermittent fasting is good for you. A sensible approach is to fast for 16 hours most days. Have your dinner at 7pm for example and your next meal at 11am the following day. If you want to break that some days with an early breakfast it’s OK as it’s only important to be able to stick to your program most days. Begin the day with water – adding lemon or lime juice is good, and later having a coffee or tea. (Coffee time is also reward time for me so I sit with a musical instrument for 30 minutes, doubling the pleasure of this break. There, I snuck in some musical reference…) Google “Why intermittent fasting is good for you” and perhaps you can get started on your own health research! The popular press will try to sell you on snacking so beware. Rather than causing a lack of energy, short term fasting has quite the opposite effect. For most the mind and body work exceptionally well without food in the morning!
2. Only have 3 meals a day. Eating at roughly 11am, 3 and 7pm works for many. Not snacking between meals might disappoint some but that 4 hour break allows your body to do a lot of its important work. If you eat within 2 hours of finishing a meal you are interfering with your body’s job. Don’t do it! Have a glass of water or tea instead.
3. Drink more water. Most of us err on this one. Try to drink 2 litres a day!
4. Reduce sugar and carbs (also sugar). We used to think that eating a lot of fruit was good for us. Much of it is but a lot of it isn’t and that lot’s the sugar (the fructose) part. Similarly cut the carbs – breakfast cereals, pastries, potato chips, white breads and pasta dishes might be tasty but they are largely bad for you…
5. Fat is an important part of your diet. Google “why good fats are good for you” if you’d like to learn a little more. To get started here is a few healthy high fat foods: Fatty fish (eg salmon), Eggs, Avocado, Flaxseed, Nuts.
6. Eat as much unprocessed, organic and grass fed foods as you can.
Enough already! Have a superb, healthy and musical month.
Michael has a recording studio in Peachester. If you would like to find out more contact him on 0419 026 895 or E: mwhitick@bigpond.net.au
Glasshouse Musos at Beerwah Hotel: second Tuesday of the month, 6 – 9pm http://www.facebook.com/groups/musosclub/
Muzika, Maleny at Maleny RSL: first Thursday of the month 6.30 – 9pm https://www.facebook.com/MuzikaMaleny/