The simple answer is yes and no!
I did a bit of a stupid thing recently, I forgot to pay my gas bill so ended up with no gas to my stove and oven for four days. Don’t ask me how I forgot, but I did… Four days, that’s how long it takes in Florida for the gas company to show up and let the gas flow again, great!
Back to the story at hand. I’ve meant to write my thoughts on this subject for a while, mostly because I want to educate as many people as possible on restaurant food, and because a number of my clients tend to dine out almost all the time. I’m always advising them to cook organically at home more often, but it’s hard to get them to change their habits.
Why Yes and No?
Well, eating or dining out is trickier than a lot of keto people think. If you believe you are staying keto and healthy by ordering meat and vegetables or fish and vegetables, or eggs and bacon for every meal at a restaurant, not so fast.
Where is your restaurant food coming from is the first thing you should be thinking. A big part of my coaching program is getting clients to understand how vital eating 100% natural and organic really is. Any and all produce that’s not organic has been conventionally farmed or grown.
Conventionally grown Vegetables .
These are sprayed with pesticides by guys dressed in a full protective body suit and gas mask. That should make you think. The pesticides (thank you Monsanto) are severely poisonous. No, and washing the vegetables does not remove these toxic chemicals.
Adding to that fun fact, many or most, heck let’s say almost all vegetables and fruits in the USA and Europe are treated with GMO (Genetically Modified Organisms), which makes them grow larger, have more color and have a longer shelf life. It’s well
So to all you vegans out there eating this stuff every day, good luck and good luck to the latest vegan hype www.beyondmeat.com which contains both objectionable ingredients and
Conventionally Farmed Animals.
This is part quite nasty, so be ready. You can read more about Conventional Farming here.
These animals are raised in terrible unethical conditions, with no room to move, essentially hooked up to the factory that’s feeding them to get fat and
Cows are supposed to eat grass only, cows are grazing animals. But, just like us humans, cows are fed grains because they are cheap and filling, to fatten them up. Included in their feed are growth hormones, antibiotics, and pesticides.
Synthetic Steroid Growth Hormones have been FDA approved in the US since 1954 (and still are) and banned in Europe since 1988 as they are known to be damaging to humans. Antibiotics are given to keep the animals from getting too sick, due to the poor living conditions and food, and pesticides to keep the bugs off them as much as possible. All of this is of course poison and ends up in the meat you are eating out in every restaurant, no matter how expensive.
The same process applies to all animal meats conventionally raised, such as pigs and chickens. Your best bet may be lamb, as the poor things only live a few months. But lamb and the ethics of that whole process is another story
Consuming these “factory” produced meats and vegetables is not Keto in my book. All of the mentioned chemicals are actually pro-inflammatory for one, meaning this food can cause water retention and inflammation of organs and gut area. That’s the opposite of what we want to achieve with Keto.
Food is supposed to heal and grow our body and mind not load it with hazardous toxins, that can cause several illnesses beyond inflammation. Real natural and clean food is where the magic is, and the healing can take place. If you are eating the factory foods every day, you are not helping yourself much.
A List of the Factory Producing Culprits damaging your Health and, poisoning your Food and Abusing Animals :
Please click each one and read a little about what these companies do to your food, body and how they harm the environment. It’s frightening and all legal!
What to do then?
I know what you are thinking now! Fish is good right, as fish are from the ocean and consume natural healthy foods from the ocean. That used to be the case, but sadly it isn’t anymore. Our oceans are so polluted with plastic which is broken down into Microplastics, which enters plankton, and in turn, fish.
We know that fish are ingesting microplastics, we just don’t know yet how much it is and how harmful this is to our bodies when consuming fish. You can catch up on more details about this problem here.
So where does that leave us Keto people who want to eat out here and there? I get it, we have to eat out sometimes as cooking all the time gets boring and we want to socialize, go out and have fun.
First of all, I limit my dining out to about two times per week. I can still go out for a Happy Hour drink of wine once in a while, socialize and then go back home to my organic homemade food. That’s one way, limit the number of times you eat out per week.
Healthy Dining out Options.
Seafood:
Lobster, mussels, clams and shrimp and mostly bottom feeders, which means, they are less likely to be ingesting microplastic. As long as the seafood is natural and wild caught, not farmed, it’s a good option.
Cheese:
Cheese has been fermented (the harder the more fermentation). The fermentation process kills most of the bacteria and harmful toxins that may have been in the cows’ milk.
Prosciutto or Iberian Ham:
I tend to trust these meats more than regular meats for a few reasons. They come from Italy and Spain, are a specialty, and I believe that the farmers making these meats in these countries are taking better care of their animals. Lastly, well, it’s just yummy, especially in combination with cheese!
Four Days of Dining out for me!
As I mentioned, I forgot to pay my gas bill. That led to me having to eat out for four days in a row, which made me write this article. Thankfully I only eat twice a day, so that’s eight meals out.
What I noticed was that after the second full day (four meals), my stomach started to feel a little upset. After day three, diarrhea started, and my belly started to feel a little worse off again. My gas is back on now, and hopefully, I will have less gas soon myself once I start cooking my organic food again!
Final Thoughts.
Try your best to limit the number of times you eat out. Buy everything you can organic. Your health will thank you for it, plus you will support local farmers and the organic food industry, helping it grow, lower prices and hopefully, one day make organic food available to everyone!
Organic food is a little more expensive, but it’s worth every penny. My desire is to help make organic food available to everyone who wants it at reasonable prices and educate people about conventional “factory” foods.
As always, thanks for reading. Please let me know if you have any comments or questions.
Rob Hourmont
I’m now offering remote online Meal Planning and Keto Coaching worldwide. So if you want to learn how to heal your body and eat healthily, contact me here, and I’ll send you your custom made Meal Plan. Email Rob@Aprimallifestyle.com
“I want to show people how to lose weight effectively, how to build a healthy strong heart, a strong body and mind supporting a longer life. I do this by showing how you should eat in the most natural way and by teaching you my natural fitness and movement methods. I’ll be talking and writing about how you can achieve your best possible health no matter what age, as my absolute passion today is to help as many people in the world regain health!”
Please visit my Website here for more Information.
E-Mail me with Questions: Rob@APrimallifestyle.com
