Good Calories, Bad Calories

EVERYTHING IN MODERATION

I just finished the book ”Good Calories, Bad Calories” by Gary Taubes and it’s one of the best books I’ve read this year. Like many of you may already know, I consume books primarily in audio format because it saves me a lot of time. I can listen while doing exercise, household chores or other physical activities. Besides, I’m an incredibly slow reader, so it helps me actually finish books on time. I do read some paper books, or on my iPad, but those are usually books I’m in no hurry to finish and it usually takes me weeks, sometimes months, to complete those.

Reading, apart from being a pleasurable activity, is such an agent of mental growth. In fact, I’d say reading about very broad subjects and travel are the two things that have grown my mind the most. More than anything else. More than even my university postgrad education. I have met many people that I consider to be much more educated than I, but didn’t got to uni.

I’m currently in the process of getting back on track with my health and fitness; wellness generally. Nutrition is a major aspect of this and the more I learn about it, the easier it gets to implement into my own life. Simply understanding the science behind how we gain weight, how our body deals with what we put in our digestive system, really helps to make the right choices. It helps to understand that, while there are some general rules of thumb, we are all unique. What works for Jack may not work for Jane. It also helps to recognise the bs when you see it.

Being educated on a subject makes it less likely to fall for propaganda and lies, of which there is plenty, especially in these days of the Internet and social media.

This may seem odd, but I love finding out that I was wrong about a particular thing I’ve believed for so long. I quite enjoy the cognitive dissonance, and sometimes the freedom, that ensues. It turns out that scientists also find more satisfaction in disproving a long standing theory, and coming up with alternatives, than confirming them. Case in point, Einstein’s “E=MC2”, and him demonstrating that it isn’t time that is constant but rather the velocity of light. It gives me cognitive dissonance even until now even though the equation was already well understood be the time I was born and learnt Physics. The problem was that we were taught the old Newtonian laws that treat time and distance as constants. I do understand why though. In our reality, and at the speed we move, we never experience anything outside Newton’s laws so distance and time do behave as constants.

I was already aware of this, but it still excites me to learn more intricate details of why. The book tells the history of scientific progress, discoveries and politics surrounding the calorie. The congnitive dissonance, which many still suffer from today, is that body fat is wrongly associated with fatty food, rather than carbohydrates (sugar). Once you understand the biochemical process, it becomes clear. Like anything with the human body, of course, it’s not that simple. There is a myriad of other factors such as genetics, hormones, stress, sleep, hydration, pathology, and so on, that influence the process.

Anyhow, the more one learns about this stuff, the more informed decisions one can make. I can’t remember the last time I ate cereals. I mean like cornflakes. It must have been years now. Apart from the fact that I stopped drinking milk (due to allergies), I learnt about refined carbs and high fructose corn syrup years ago. Those two things are probably the main reason why the general population, especially in the United States, is getting more and more obese. I used to believe, prior to my realisation of the above, that cereals were “heart healthy” and more nutritious than eggs fried in butter. I used to believe that lard would “clog your arteries” when in fact it’s “Rice Crispies” that will do that very quickly. I fell for the bs propagated by the big sugar corporations who are, by the way, owned by the same people that own big pharma! I know, shocking.

For me, I’ve learnt to drop as much as possible of the refined carbs; flour, sugar (both sucrose and hfcs), white rice and fried or refined potatoes. I eat things with as little as possible chemicals; preservatives, colours, e.t.c. I eat green veggies, organic if I can find them, as close to raw as possible. I also consume a good portion of good fats and protein. Overall, most importantly, everything in moderation.

Peace & Love,

Adé