My Big Fat Diet is a Paleolithic Diet, buy the DVD, follow the study

A Dr. Jay Wortman helps convince the whole town of the Namgis First Nation of Alert Bay to revert back to the traditional diet of their indian ancestors, before the europeans arrived.  This means no grains, no rice, no wheat, no corn, no sugar, no potatoes, no bread, no cookies, no pasta, etc.  The town is encouraged to eat fatty meats, local vegetables and local fruit. Just so happens this is a paleolithic diet… a version that allows cooking.

They are selling a DVD of the television show for $35. Might be worth it, see the DVD introduction.

Check out the diet recommendations in the handout:

The traditional or pre-contact diet of First Nations peoples consisted of fish, meat, wild plants and berries. The Traditional Diet Program uses selected modern foods in groupings similar to what people ate before contact. It is designed to treat overweight and obesity, metabolic syndrome and diabetes.

Caution: If you are taking insulin or any other medication for diabetes, blood pressure or cholesterol your need for these medications will drop rapidly and you may become ill if you continue to take them after starting the diet.

IF YOU ARE TAKING THESE KINDS OF MEDICATIONS YOU SHOULD SEEK THE SUPERVISION OF A PHYSICIAN BEFORE STARTING THIS DIET SO THAT YOUR MEDICATIONS CAN BE WITHDRAWN AS YOUR NEED FOR THEM DIMINISHES.

EAT AS MUCH AS YOU WISH OF THE FOLLOWING FOODS:

Meat: beef, lamb, veal, pork, ham, bacon or any
game meat (rabbit, moose, venison)

Poultry: chicken, turkey, duck, pheasant or other
game birds

Seafood: any fish or shellfish including but not
limited to salmon, halibut, cod, oolichan,
crab, prawns, clams, oysters, mussels, squid,
octopus, any smoked, dried or plain canned
fish or seafood (not cured with sugar), roe
and roe-on-kelp

Eggs: whole eggs (do not eat whites without yolks)
LIMIT THESE FOODS UNTIL THE DIABETES IS IMPROVED OR ELIMINATED:

Salad Greens: 2 cups a day.
Any leafy vegetable including lettuce or other salad greens, parsley, spinach, the tops of green onions, sprouts, fiddleheads, seaweed. (If it is a leaf—you can eat it.)

Vegetables: 1 cup (measured uncooked) a day.

Vegetables that grow above the ground, including asparagus, beet greens, bokchoy, broccoli, brussel sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, celery, chard, Chinese cabbage, cucumber, eggplant, green beans, kale, leeks, mushrooms, peppers, spinach, string beans, squash, tomatoes, turnips, wax beans and zucchini.

YOU MUST EAT VEGETABLES EVERY DAY.

Cheese: 4 ounces a day.
Includes hard, aged cheeses such as Swiss, cheddar, mozzarella, Monterey jack, Gruyere, goat cheese, bleu, feta and soft cheeses such as cream cheese, brie and camembert. Avoid processed cheeses, cheese spreads or cheese foods such as Velveeta.

Fresh cheese: 0 ounces a day (while on induction phase).
Includes cottage cheese, farmers cheese, ricotta and tofu.

Dr. Wortman’s Diet

The study diet is based on the traditional diet (wild salmon, oolichan grease) but also includes modern market foods, (bacon, eggs). i.e. foods that have protein and fat but no starch or sugar.

Permitted foods include; beef, pork, chicken, fish or seafood, cauliflower, broccoli, all the salad greens, eggs, cream, but not milk. Milk contains lactose, which is sugar.

Not permitted are starches like pasta, rice, potatoes, bread and sugar. Dr. Jay Wortman believes that it was the introduction of these by Europeans over a hundred and fifty years ago that caused the rise of diabetes and obesity.

And so the key to this diet is the avoidance of starch and sugar because those were not common components of a traditional diet.

An interesting component is oolichan grease. It’s a very healthy fat and in the fact it was a big part of the diet in the past, was one of the reasons it was such a healthy diet.

This poster (.pdf file) presents an interim analysis of results from study at Alert Bay. A final analysis will be done soon, once collecting data on everyone has been finished.

See Dr. Wortman’s blog to see discussions about the Big Fat Diet of the First Nations people.

http://www.drjaywortman.com/blog/wordpress/

The poster http://www.cbc.ca/thelens/bigfatdiet/Poster.pdf presents an interim analysis of results from study at Alert Bay. A final analysis will be done soon, once collecting data on everyone has been finished.