The "You are What you Eat" Show.

Anyone else watch it? I do..like a trainwreck, I just can't help myself.

The host is mostly a self-proclaimed expert who was forced to drop "Dr" from her title recently. Basically, she visits overweight people who have reallllly bad diets..nothing but fried foods, sugar, lots of alcohol, etc.

Then, she puts them on this all rabbit food plan for 6-8 weeks. Healthy, yet..very bland and even icky looking foods/drinks that seem to require hours of preparation. She analyzes their poo..sends them for colonics..judges their health by looking at their tongues, and kind of goes for the humiliation and fear tactics.

Sure, they lose weight, but they would probably lose just as much eating a variety of foods (She cuts out all dairy, white flour/sugar and most meat)

It's not a calorie-counting plan because they eat pretty much nothing but vegetables, fruit and few grains.

Anyway, a lot of people dislike her for the bullying tactics and think her diets are insane.

The show is on BBC America.

Anyone love her? hate her? tried her plan?

Here is her site:

http://www.gillianmckeith.info/

Original Post by melkor:

  Humans evolved as carnivorous cursorial hunters, we compete with wolves and wolf-analogues for out ecological niches and most homo sapiens species got at least 50% of their calories from meat.

 

 

I thought we evolved as omnivores? Isn't that why we have molars as well as incisors? Plus if 50% of calories were from meat, the other 50% must therefore have been from something else...

ETA: I think I've really got this maths thing down pat

I watch it all the time, and I'm always a little skeptical at the new diet. I'm open to all sorts of new-agey health foods (although quinoa is terrible) and I get that it's a detox ting, but I just think her diet is completely unrealistic, even for an 8-week diet. But what I think is really over the line is the opening scene in which they shoot the people from underneath in their underwear with pounding drums and the narrator saying things like "breaking the scale at 34 stone" or "tub of goo Tina packs away...." They know it going in, but every time I see it I wince a little.

I love the show and it just flat out works to both lose weight and feel terrific.

After about a year of watching I bought one of the books (recipes) and though I cheated and didn't do the detox and drink those dreadful celery juice concoctions, I did change my eating habits. Red meat was out for a while, though chicken is allowed and fish, all you want of that. Any and all whole grains, veg and fruit and I found I really don't mind soya milk, though I will still have my coffee (2 cups) in the morning with regular skim milk.

Even without being strict, the changes were amazing. After 4 months I have lost 40 pounds but the reason I tried it was for the health benifits. Not only did I truely FEEL better, more energy, even happier, there were physical signs too. My skin went from old lady dry to much smoother. My nails, which used to split and almost peel away got as hard as.... well, nails. Best of all,  my high blood pressure, which has been treated with meds for over 20 years now and still wouldn't come down even on the highest doses, is normal (as of last week) for the first time in 30 years!

My daughter (an adult) had been having stomach pain, so bad she would often have to leave work. I lent her my book and after about 2 weeks, the pain just disapeared. I realize this sound ridiculous but, all makes perfect sense.

Not true that humans got 50% of their nutrients from meat. Humans did copy wolves in that they realized they would need to hunt in packs to ever take down an animal large enough to feed the village BUT even then, the success of the hunt was hit or miss (mostly miss) I mean, think about it, a sharp stone tied to a stick?

Also, there was the problem of storage. Iron most likely came from the few successful hunts but Iron can be stored in the body, so if more then a week went by without red meat, not a problem.

Fish was probably the most likely meat source for early man, easy to catch and to this day, fish is promoted as the most healthy of the meats.

Most of man's diet had to be supplemented by the gatherers, so greens, berries, fruits, seeds, nuts, grains filled the bill.

Now, I'm no saint, I always loved a good steak every once in a while, in fact I found I literally would crave it and so I still will have one every once in a while. What I do now though, is reduce the portion of the red meat. I also still love the flavour of butter.... so every so often I add a pat of it to the olive oil.

I think it just boils down to common sense and moderation. Sadly, it takes a crazy Scottish woman to drive that home.

Lastly, (as for the show being over the line at times and Gillian calling fat, fat, American's have to keep in mind that the Brits pull no punches. They do not skirt around things, they don't say "you could stand to lose a few pounds". Think Jamie Oliver, think Gordon Ramsey. At least Gillian doesn't say, "Your F------ fat!":)

I love the show and it just flat out works to both lose weight and feel terrific.

After about a year of watching I bought one of the books (recipes) and though I cheated and didn't do the detox and drink those dreadful celery juice concoctions, I did change my eating habits. Red meat was out for a while, though chicken is allowed and fish, all you want of that. Any and all whole grains, veg and fruit and I found I really don't mind soya milk, though I will still have my coffee (2 cups) in the morning with regular skim milk.

Even without being strict, the changes were amazing. After 4 months I have lost 40 pounds but the reason I tried it was for the health benifits. Not only did I truely FEEL better, more energy, even happier, there were physical signs too. My skin went from old lady dry to much smoother. My nails, which used to split and almost peel away got as hard as.... well, nails. Best of all,  my high blood pressure, which has been treated with meds for over 20 years now and still wouldn't come down even on the highest doses, is normal (as of last week) for the first time in 30 years!

My daughter (an adult) had been having stomach pain, so bad she would often have to leave work. I lent her my book and after about 2 weeks, the pain just disapeared. I realize this sound ridiculous but, all makes perfect sense.

Not true that humans got 50% of their nutrients from meat. Humans did copy wolves in that they realized they would need to hunt in packs to ever take down an animal large enough to feed the village BUT even then, the success of the hunt was hit or miss (mostly miss) I mean, think about it, a sharp stone tied to a stick?

Also, there was the problem of storage. Iron most likely came from the few successful hunts but Iron can be stored in the body, so if more then a week went by without red meat, not a problem.

Fish was probably the most likely meat source for early man, easy to catch and to this day, fish is promoted as the most healthy of the meats.

Most of man's diet had to be supplemented by the gatherers, so greens, berries, fruits, seeds, nuts, grains filled the bill.

Now, I'm no saint, I always loved a good steak every once in a while, in fact I found I literally would crave it and so I still will have one every once in a while. What I do now though, is reduce the portion of the red meat. I also still love the flavour of butter.... so every so often I add a pat of it to the olive oil.

I think it just boils down to common sense and moderation. Sadly, it takes a crazy Scottish woman to drive that home.

Lastly, (as for the show being over the line at times and Gillian calling fat, fat, American's have to keep in mind that the Brits pull no punches. They do not skirt around things, they don't say "you could stand to lose a few pounds". Think Jamie Oliver, think Gordon Ramsey. At least Gillian doesn't say, "Your F------ fat!":)