Traveling Across Europe
I've been traveling a lot over the past three weeks across Europe. One thing that stood out during my journey was how common it's become to see the effects of the modern Western diet – whether in airports, at tourist attractions, or even among friends.
Highly processed foods, excess carbohydrates, seed oils, and artificial additives are now everyday staples in many people's diets. Over time, these dietary habits take a toll on physical and metabolic health, leading to weight gain, inflammation, and even skin sensitivity to sun exposure.
The Consequences of Unhealthy Diets
Watching people in public spaces, you can easily see the consequences of unhealthy diets when you realize how this works. Seed oils make the fat tissue more soft than normal and the reduced health of the mitochondria means that hunger increases. Some individuals show clear signs of this effect, and often this phenotype has red skin which is likely an effect of a reduced ability to process sunlight by the poly unsaturated fat filled cells.
The good news is that these effects are not permanent. With gentle and manageable lifestyle changes, it's possible to make meaningful improvements to energy levels, body composition, and overall health.
Habits That Make a Real Difference
Stop drinking calories. Water is your best friend here. If you're not a fan of the taste due to chlorine, fluoride or other additives, try a water filter – it can significantly improve the flavor. A squeeze of lemon can also help.
Avoid food fried in seed oils. These oils are common in almost all fried foods at restaurants. French fries are particularly bad as they absorb a lot of oils and seed oils often have an increasing component of trans fat when heated. Restaurants even pan fry steaks and fish in seed oils. It is ok to ask restaurants to fry your steak in healthy butter which is a stable natural fat.
Watch out for sauces and dressings. Mayonnaise-based sauces are mostly made with seed oils and packed with artificial flavorings. Mayonnaise consists of 60-70% seed oil normally! Even at high-end restaurants, many sauces use seed oil by default.
Cut back on sweets and snacks. Cakes, desserts, and packaged treats are typically just sugar combined with refined starches and low-quality ingredients and contain close to no nutrients.
Avoid artificial sweeteners. While they technically reduce calorie content, they may have other negative effects on your body that aren't fully understood yet.
Focus on Natural Foods
Build your meals around ingredients like fish, meat, eggs, dairy, vegetables, and salads. These are nutrient-dense and satisfying – and will make you feel full and satiated.
Reduce starches. Pasta, rice, bread, and even potatoes offer little nutrition relative to their energy content. If you do eat potatoes, try boiling them a bit less – firmer potatoes have a lower glycemic impact.
Choose organic when you can. Organic dairy, meat, and vegetables contain less pesticides and other chemicals.
Moderate fruit intake. Fruit tastes great and contains nutrients, but it's also relatively high in natural sugar, especially fructose. Some research suggests fructose may have adverse metabolic effects, so fruit might be best enjoyed as a treat rather than a staple, for example, after dinner.
Let the community know what works for you!