The Superfoods Diet

 Much to the delight of all you loving friends and family who were looking forward to us getting fat in America-
We have officially gotten pudgy.
We looked at the pics taken just before we left Australia and were shocked to see the difference.  Well, shocked is probably not the right word.... we did spend a few months of reckless abandonment where we ate our way through every good thing in the US- much like the hungry caterpillar.
For me though,  it was less about the button on my jeans flying off, and more about the fact that I felt terrible. My sugar levels were like a roller coaster and I was cranky, tired and irritable.
Fasting made me physically sick, every time. So in the vain of my mum-who has a google MD- (what? you didn't know  you could become an honory dr, via google? Well, you don't know my mum) I googled everything I could about my hyperglycemic problem.
I came across a lot of "low GI diets" and thought that therein lay my solution. We went to our local library to find some appropriate books. They had none of the Low GI type that I was after but I did find a book about "Superfoods". Only half interested I took it home and started reading. I was completely hooked 5 minutes in.
None of it was new, I had seen the list of "superfoods" published in the past, -foods that were the best of the best foods, nutritionally paked with goodies. The list was published by researchers some years ago.
This book suggested that much of our cravings for junk food comes from a lack of good nutrition. When we eat really really good foods our body is satisfied, full and of course healthy.
A lot of the low GI diets seemed to be aimed at just reducing the sugar/ carbohydrates in our food to a mathematical equation rather than looking at high nutrition. So I decided to try eating foods almost exclusively from this 'superfoods' list and see how I felt.  If it didn't work I'd go find a low GI book and try something different.
Here is the official list, the first words, in bold are the 'Superfoods' and next to them are the "sidekicks"- foods that have similar benefits but are not exactly equal. They are great for adding variety and are good alternatives.
In addition to this list you must drink 6-8 glasses of water a day. Seriously. Drink the water. We often mistake thirst with hunger. 


BEANS - green beans, peas, kidney, navy, lentils, refried beans, baked beans etc-

BLUEBERRIES - red grapes, cranberries, strawberries, raspberries- basically any berries

BROCCOLI - brussel sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower

OATS - Wheat germ, flax seed, brown rice, quinoa and other good grains

ORANGES -lemon, grapefruit, limes, tangerines

PUMPKIN - carrots, sweet potato, orange capsicums (or orange bell peppers if your a American)

SALMON - Alaskan Halibut, tuna, sardines, bass trout

SOY - soy nuts, or milk (I might add that I have not eaten anything from this group, instead I prefer normal milk and natural/plain yoghurt)

SPINACH - romaine lettuce (which is Cos lettuce for the Aussies)- I will add that I buy the packs of baby spinach and a cos lettuce at the start of each week and combine the two to make my salads at least once a day.

TOMATOES - watermelon, pink grapefruit

TURKEY - skinless chicken breast ( although we are eating a lot more turkey we do have red meat twice a week)


WALNUTS - almonds, pistachios, pumpkin seeds, sesame and sunflower seeds, macadamias, hazelnuts, cashews.

NATURAL YOGHURT- (plain yogurt in the US) Greek yoghurt is the best, with the most protein but you have to look for the low fat variety in Australia.

APPLES- pears

AVOCADO-

DRIED SUPER FRUITS - raisins, prunes, figs, apricots, blueberries, cranberries, cherries

OLIVE OIL - Canola oil. There are also some better alternatives in the oil range like grapeseed oil, flaxseed oil, avocado oil etc.

HONEY-

KIWI FRUIT- pineapple

ONIONS:  garlic, leek, chives

POMEGRANATES- Plums 


The only things we add to this list are: BANANAS, MANGOES, RED MEAT, MILK, EGGS.
Other than those additions it provides a very complete list that you can eat everyday and make a huge variety of meals with. The one side note is that the book suggests eating two meals a day 'with grains' and one without. Breakfast is always some form of oats- either porridge, homemade granola, bircher museli or yoghurt parfait (strawberries, layer of greek yoghurt then topped with granola).
The idea is to incorporate as many of the above list in a day.
Below is an example of a normal day:

 Breakfast: Oats (as mentioned above)
Morning Snack: Fruit smoothie using 1 cup frozen blueberries,  1 banana, 1 cup of frozen cherries, a dash of either apple or orange juice, milk or water. If no frozen berries are available we use crushed ice and any fruit we have (apples, mangos, kiwifruit etc). A dash of flaxseed or wheat germ makes it good too. Wizz it all up in a blender (we use a magic bullet)
Lunch: Sliced turkey on a baby spinach salad with tomatoes, carrots, cucumber, grapes, capsicum with raspberry / pomegranate salad dressing.  OR all the above things in a whole grain pita pocket.
Afternoon snack:  A handful of almonds, walnuts and pistachios. A bowl of  greek yoghurt topped with a little granola or fruit.
Dinner:
Maybe a good mexican meal (lean beef, kidney, baked and refried beans with taco seasoning cooked up then added to a bowl of baby spinach, tomato, cheese, avocado, natural yoghurt and salsa or wrapped in homemade wholemeal tortillas (very very yummy and worth making).
OR
chicken breast with a side of pumpkin and broccoli and maybe some quinoa or brown rice.

The results:

As I mentioned I was feeling out of control with my insulin levels but since doing this I have felt better than I have ever felt.  I can go hours between meals without even thinking about food- a remarkable change for me who could not go 2 hours without eating, and the more often I ate, the more I felt bad an hour or so later and had to eat again. I realise now that it was an excess of carbohydrate foods that were high  GI foods, producing excess insulin and producing more of the hormone that makes you hungry.
Now that I am only eating oats (as a grain in the morning) and either lunch or dinner with whole grains I find that I am off the roller coaster of constant carbs. It's very freeing.  We went to the zoo last week and I packed a picnic lunch with white rolls with turkey and salad, rice crackers, fruit and nuts. Sounds fine right? By the end of that day I felt dreadful, and once you feel bad it only gets worse because you want food to feel better again. On the way home we went to a fast food restaurant . I scoffed two burgers and a whole truck load of fries. Needless to say, that day I felt like I'd been hit by a bus. After living free of that feeling it was a stark reminder of how I used to feel.


The other remarkable thing happened Sunday. I was starting to think I would never be able to fast. Normally it leaves me sick and with a hangover for days. Sunday came and I felt fine, I didn't feel like my brain was imploding, or that there were rats scratching at my skull. I didn't even think about food, or yell like a maniac at the kids. I didn't have to sleep the day away so that I could will away the time. At 5 pm we were getting ready for a family potluck dinner and I was surrounded by food... and I felt quite normal. And there was no headache plaguing me that night.

So that was it, I was sold. This way of eating is ideal for me, whether we never lose any weight it will still be worth it. Hope someone else out there finds it helpful. Oh and the other major point to this diet is: Print out the list, stick it on the fridge. Take a copy shopping with you, and whenever you contemplate eating look at the list and pick foods from there. You also need another page stuck to the fridge with a water tally. Each day mark off each glass of water you drink, until you have 8 little marks on your paper.  Then start again the next day. Win gets a bit competitive over this, and sometimes things get nasty, when he accuses me of cheating (a really big tall glass counts as two glasses right?).
I am also going to post the granola recipe that I make, it makes a lot of granola, so I store it in a big airtight cereal container.
NOTE; most ingredients are optional, if you can't get it, don't like it, want something different change it up, mine changes every time I make it.

Granola

7 cups rolled oats

1 cup flaked unsweetened coconut (optional)

1 cup stabilized wheat germ ( I also add 1 cup of wheat bran)

1 cup sliced almonds

1 cup diced walnuts or pecans

1 tablespoons cinnamon (optional, to taste)

1 cup whole flaxseeds (I have used meal but it is too powdery)

Some sesames seeds, sunflower seeds are also optional.

MIX ALL  ABOVE INGREDIENTS IN A LARGE BOWL

IN A SMALL BOWL MIX THE FOLLOWING:

1/3 Cup canola oil
1/2 tsp salt
2/3 cup PURE maple syrup OR  I use 1/3 cup pure maple syrup and 1/3 cup Blue Agave Syrup 
( a naturally low GI, sweet syrup made from the agave plant)
If you use the imitation maple syrup you need to use 1 1/2 cups to get the same flavour
1 tbl vanilla extract/ essence

(Dice the following but set aside for later)
5 cups dried fruit (sultanas, dried apple, apricots, cherries, blueberries, cranberries, dates etc)- I use a little less and add fresh bananas or strawberries on my granola.


COMBINE THE TWO BOWLS AND MIX WELL. BAKE AT 250F (120C) for 2 1/2 hours.
It needs 2- 3 large baking trays. Trays with a high side are best so that you can move it around throughout the cooking without it spilling over the sides. Spread it out on the trays, bake it long and slow and ever so often move the outer granola to the middle of the tray so that it cooks evenly.
Cool, add dried fruit, mix.

When cool store in an airtight container.
 
Makes wonderful strawberry parfait: layered strawberries, yoghurt and granola in a glass