Is this a healthy diet (no fruit, little meat, tiny amount of fat)

eilo1

Hi guys,
Im just wondering on people opinions on the following diet. Any Doctors or nutritionist, especially keen to hear your opinion.

Breakfast - quoina porridge,(made with rice milk)
lunch - spelt bread, beat root, lettuce (although I think she will now be eliminating the beat root)
dinner - mackerel, peppers, tomatoes, rice (stir fry basically)

meat maybe once a week

snacks through the day oat cakes or rice cakes

This is house mates diet. Its basically no dairy, no wheat, no sugar. She was eating lots of dates and stewed fruit but has now decided to cut out sugar so that includes eliminating fruit!

Im worried this is turning into an obsession, please tell me this is ok!!
She is thin, not underweight but i am worried that she will loose weight now that she isnt eating as many carbs (from cutting out fruit)

EileenG

That's not a good diet, far too little protein or fat, and even the vegetables are not great. Lettuce is probably your worst choice when it comes to leafy greens.

Please tell me she seriously doesn't believe bread and lettuce is a meal!

eilo1

EileenG wrote: »

That's not a good diet, far too little protein or fat, and even the vegetables are not great. Lettuce is probably your worst choice when it comes to leafy greens.

Please tell me she seriously doesn't believe bread and lettuce is a meal!

Ah no to be fair, the bread and lettuce is normally with beetroot, but now that she is cutting out sugar, I dont know what she is going to replace that with, probably some vegetables, she said she will try and eat more veg in place of fruit.

But i totally agree that there is way too little fat and protein.
BTW she was showing me blood blisters that had come up on her skin from ex foliating and talking about how thin her shin is that she bruises so easily. Could this be related? (she is also very cold blooded, low energy and has regular nose bleeds) anyone know if this could all be tied in or am I way off the mark?????

Jumpy

eilo1 wrote: »

Hi guys,
Im just wondering on people opinions on the following diet. Any Doctors or nutritionist, especially keen to hear your opinion.

Breakfast - quoina porridge,(made with rice milk)
lunch - spelt bread, beat root, lettuce (although I think she will now be eliminating the beat root)
dinner - mackerel, peppers, tomatoes, rice (stir fry basically)

meat maybe once a week

snacks through the day oat cakes or rice cakes

This is house mates diet. Its basically no dairy, no wheat, no sugar. She was eating lots of dates and stewed fruit but has now decided to cut out sugar so that includes eliminating fruit!

Im worried this is turning into an obsession, please tell me this is ok!!
She is thin, not underweight but i am worried that she will loose weight now that she isnt eating as many carbs (from cutting out fruit)

That diet has loads of carbs in it. She is only cutting out what she perceives as sugar. In reality there is a load in that diet.

Darkginger

She's eating that little and wants to cut down even more? Alarm bells are ringing in my head. Could she not add some legumes at least? Mackerel's great, but why not have some other fish too? She eats meat 'maybe once a week' - could she not try to have a bit more? What about adding in some nuts?

As far as the carbs go, she eats more than I do - BUT I eat a lot of fat and a moderate amount of protein too. Perhaps adding some avocado would help? Also other veg like cauliflower, broccoli, courgettes, aubergines etc.

Will she eat eggs? They aren't dairy, despite being stuck in that section in a lot of food guides. If she insists on eating such a restricted diet, perhaps she should look into supplements - that is NOT what I would call a healthy diet - what's her motivation for being on it? Does she have allergies?

I think - as a concerned friend - you could perhaps ask her why she's eating in such a peculiar way, and what she's trying to achieve. Ask her if her lack of energy concerns her. I don't like the sound of the easy bruising, either - I'm no expert but that screams to me that she's lacking in something or other!

Let us know how she responds?

EileenG

eilo1 wrote: »

Ah no to be fair, the bread and lettuce is normally with beetroot, but now that she is cutting out sugar, I dont know what she is going to replace that with, probably some vegetables, she said she will try and eat more veg in place of fruit.

But i totally agree that there is way too little fat and protein.
BTW she was showing me blood blisters that had come up on her skin from ex foliating and talking about how thin her shin is that she bruises so easily. Could this be related? (she is also very cold blooded, low energy and has regular nose bleeds) anyone know if this could all be tied in or am I way off the mark?????

It's still an incredibly restricted diet as it is. And a good measure of a diet is how you feel on it. Any diet where you are bursting with energy and looking good, is working, no matter how odd it looks. If she is feeling cold, tired and is bleeding a lot, then her diet is not working.

El_Dangeroso

Spelt is wheat, just a more ancient form of wheat, but wheat nonetheless.

Agree with other posters, protein (not even that much necessarily) should be present at every meal, that lunch wouldn't fill a mouse.

Bruising easily is a sign of vitamin deficiency, namely; B12, C, K, and folic acid.

By eyeballing that menu I can tell it's probably deficient in potassium, magnesium, iron, vitamin C, vitamin K, choline and more than likely others too.

I'd be adding things into that diet rather than cutting them out tbh. Virgin olive oil, avocados, eggs, spinach and some chicken or other meat would all be good additions.

eilo1

I agree with all of you.

I did speak to her a little today and said that I thought her diet was lacking in a lot of things esp essential fatty acids, calories and protein.

She isnt too keen on listening to me, (although she does bring it up a lot)

She is studying herbal medicine and has very alternative thoughts regarding health, for instance she takes a lot of different herbs for different complaints like being cold and having low energy.
She basically is very opposed to main stream medicine or conventional thinking regarding diet and health.
I am studying a health science (physiotherapy) so basically she just thinks I dont understand where she is coming from.

its a difficult situation, we are good friends and I am very worried that this is harming her and could lead to serious health problems.

Any advice appreciated. (the holy grail of answers would be "dont worry I am a DR and think this is fine" LOL)

El_Dangeroso

Herbal medicine can have it's uses but no amount of tonics, however effective, is going to substitute a good diet.

If she's intrigued by things that go against 'conventional wisdom' then she'd like the paleo side of nutrition which goes against the grain. (forgive the pun)

Don Matesz is a herbalist/acupunturist that eats a paleo diet.

http://donmatesz.blogspot.com/

Maybe you could refer her to that blog? If you click on the 'my meals' tag, she'll see all the tasty, healthy things she can eat. Don includes a nutritional breakdown on his meals showing that it provides all the adequate amounts of vitamins and minerals.

Other than that, and this is probably a bit manipulative, but could you cook up some healthy food like a stew and tempt her with it? If she's not eating enough she'll probably cave and eat it.

Good luck and tread carefully, people tend to be quite attached to their particular choice of diet, it might alienate her if the subject is broached too forcefully.

ETA: Don't worry about this diet affecting her immediately. It takes years and years for the full effects of a bad diet to appear. In the interim she'll have low energy, might feel a bit down and catch infections/colds a little more easily.

dxhound2005

eilo1 wrote: »

Ah no to be fair, the bread and lettuce is normally with beetroot, but now that she is cutting out sugar, I dont know what she is going to replace that with, probably some vegetables, she said she will try and eat more veg in place of fruit.

But i totally agree that there is way too little fat and protein.
BTW she was showing me blood blisters that had come up on her skin from ex foliating and talking about how thin her shin is that she bruises so easily. Could this be related? (she is also very cold blooded, low energy and has regular nose bleeds) anyone know if this could all be tied in or am I way off the mark?????

Maybe these symptoms are not diet related and your friend needs medical advice. You say they dont believe in doctors so I don't know what can be done but just to remind you what the Charter says:

Bear in mind we are not professional nutritionists and we are not doctors, so don't look for medical advice. Please seek advice from your Dr. or a Nutritionist before embarking on any major overhaul of your eating habits. If you have any pre-exisitng condition that requires specific nutritional needs please note that the N&D forum is NOT a substitute for a qualified dietician. We cannot advise on the best diet for these circumstances and any posts doing so will be edited/ deleted as necessary.

El_Dangeroso

dxhound2005 wrote: »

Maybe these symptoms are not diet related and your friend needs medical advice. You say they dont believe in doctors so I don't know what can be done but just to remind you what the Charter says:

Bear in mind we are not professional nutritionists and we are not doctors, so don't look for medical advice. Please seek advice from your Dr. or a Nutritionist before embarking on any major overhaul of your eating habits. If you have any pre-exisitng condition that requires specific nutritional needs please note that the N&D forum is NOT a substitute for a qualified dietician. We cannot advise on the best diet for these circumstances and any posts doing so will be edited/ deleted as necessary.

Completely agreed, didn't actually see the bit about recurrent nose-bleeds, that's really concerning.

eilo1

Im not asking for a diagnosis, just peoples opinions on the said diet, The other things she complains of could easily be coincidental. We are just discussing her diet although now that I think about it people think its bad enough to warrant medical investigation any advice on how to get her to see a DR would be most appreciated!!!?!?!!

I dont want to fall out with her or insult her, but on the other hand its hard not to worry!

EileenG

Maybe get her to join here?

Anyone who reads my posts will know I'm not a slave to conventional medicine, or conventional dietary advice. But I'm a huge believer in seeing the results. If your diet does not leave you feeling energetic, well and healthy, it's look to review it.

I know someone with anaphylactic allergies to wheat, dairy, eggs, fish, soy, nuts and a few other things, and her diet is more varied than that one.

Sapsorrow

eilo1 wrote: »

Hi guys,
Im just wondering on people opinions on the following diet. Any Doctors or nutritionist, especially keen to hear your opinion.

Breakfast - quoina porridge,(made with rice milk)
lunch - spelt bread, beat root, lettuce (although I think she will now be eliminating the beat root)
dinner - mackerel, peppers, tomatoes, rice (stir fry basically)

meat maybe once a week

snacks through the day oat cakes or rice cakes

This is house mates diet. Its basically no dairy, no wheat, no sugar. She was eating lots of dates and stewed fruit but has now decided to cut out sugar so that includes eliminating fruit!

Im worried this is turning into an obsession, please tell me this is ok!!
She is thin, not underweight but i am worried that she will loose weight now that she isnt eating as many carbs (from cutting out fruit)

In fairness it could be a LOT worse. 'Normal' diets are a lot worse than that in many many ways. IMO I know you care about her and everything but it's not really any of your business and I can't see what us telling you her diet isn't good enough will achieve. Like Temple said its not going to lead to a disaster anytime soon and if shes into health and nutrition she'll probably dabble with a few diets until she finds one that makes her feel good anyway. Quinoa is a good source of vegetable protein anyway and with the mackeral aswell she's not doing too bad on the protein really. What condiments does she use? Does she add olive oil, hummous, pesto etc to anything? What does she have on the oatcakes? Does she vary her veg at all or is it only ever peppers, tomatos, beetroot and lettuce? At least it isn't comprised of rice crispies, white bread, cheese, processed meat and simple sugars like a lot of peoples diets are.