CR-Diet Staple Foods

[FrederickSebastian]

Hi,

 

Can anyone tell me what would be some good CRON-Diet "staple foods"... I love green leafy vegetables, nuts and berries, so are these good for a CRON-Diet?... My favorite greens are: Romaine Lettuce, Arugula, and Canned Spinach... How healthy are these?

 

Thanks,

 

Fred

[BrianMDelaney]

Welcome, Fred!

 

Please see the topic "Staple Food" for some discussion about this. It's an important question indeed!

 

Best,

Brian

[James Cain]

Fred, staple foods can be just about anything depending on what your dietary preferences are. CRON is about restricting calories while obtaining optimum (or at least adequate) nutrition, especially vitamins and minerals. Different cronies achieve this with various carb/fat/protein ratios, various degrees of fruit or vegetable consumption, more or less meat/beans/nuts/anything.

 

To more directly answer your question, I think any food could be a CR staple as long as it is 1) enjoyable, affordable, readily available, and probably easy to prepare, and 2) relatively low in calories while high in micronutrients (low calorie density, high nutrient density).

 

My personal dietary preference is a vegan mostly whole-foods/minimally-processed diet in which many of my meals are built on mixing 1) a dense carbohydrate source such as starch or fruit, 2) non-starchy vegetables, and usually 3) a higher-protein component such as beans, legumes, or protein powder, and 4) a source of fat such as flaxseed, nuts, or avocado (sometimes olive oil) to meet my fatty acid and calorie preferences.

 

Staples include:

1) Assorted potatoes, corn tortillas, oats for starch; bananas and apples for non-starchy carb-dense items

2) Assorted lettuces, cauliflower, broccoli, brussels sprouts, tomatoes, mushrooms, and carrots (though carrots are sort of between #1 and #2)

3) Black or pinto beans, red lentils, tempeh (also a decent source of fat), or pea protein powder

4) Flaxseed, walnuts, avocado

 

These are of course staples and make up the bulk of what I eat, perhaps 70%. The other 30% (or more depending on the week) is filled in with random purchases and what I find in the fridge.

[James Cain]

I love green leafy vegetables, nuts and berries, so are these good for a CRON-Diet?... My favorite greens are: Romaine Lettuce, Arugula, and Canned Spinach... How healthy are these?

These are fantastic options. The canned spinach may have a lot of salt, which may or not be a concern for you. Leaves, nuts, and berries can form a solid foundation, but you probably need more calories unless you're packing away a lot of these each day. I make it a point to include all three on most days if I can.

[Saul]

Hi Fred!

 

I agree with James -- what you're eating is great.  The list of foods that James gave you is great, in general, as well -- but I should point out that the large majority of CRONnies do not eat potatoes: potatoes are not nutrient dense, and are high in easily digestible starch -- the opposite of what is desirable for successful calorie restriction.  (Of course, a very small amount of almost anything [that isn't poisonous :)] is OK.  Probably, if one were to eat some potatoe, the best way would be to eat the skin raw.) I personally never eat any potatoe or potatoe products.

 

  -- Saul

[FrederickSebastian]

OK... cool... glad lettuce, nuts and berries are good foods for the diet... Another thing I wanted to ask: Is white rice with red beans okay to eat while on the diet? I do know that white rice has A LOT of calories (200 per cup)... Back in 2009 when I attempted to switch to a cr diet I always had a cup of white rice, red beans and a slice of cheese for nearly every meal (if I didn't have rice I had a protein bar)... Is it unsafe to practice a cr diet while eating rice?

 

Thanks!

 

Fred.

[James Cain]

potatoes are not nutrient dense, and are high in easily digestible starch -- the opposite of what is desirable for successful calorie restriction.

Potatoes are actually quite nutrient dense compared to most foods. Going to Cronometer (or equivalent software) and checking 1500-2000 kcal worth of potatoes (sweet and/or white) shows >100% of almost every micronutrient, as well as being high fiber. Eating say 1000-1200 kcal worth of potatoes (2-3 pounds cooked) in addition to even 1 pound of broccoli or another veggie will fill in the gaps, all at around 1200-1500 kcal, leaving ample room for most people to add in more veggies, some fats, or even other starches or fruit.

 

I agree that many cronies probably don't eat any/many potatoes, at least as a staple, but they can certainly be included as a regular item without worry for most people. Regarding health, look to the Andean people or the Irish for examples of how a potato-based diet can sustain health.

 

If the quickly digestible starch bothers you then I recommend cooling the potatoes before eating. I cook up 10-15 pound of assorted potatoes on the weekend and eat them out of the fridge cold (sometimes reheated) and it doesn't negatively affect my blood glucose. Besides, looking at the GI of individual foods is almost pointless because mixed meals are processed far differently, meaning the GI of the entire meal could be quite low if the potatoes are consumed with veggies, some protein (especially beans!), some fats, etc.

[James Cain]

OK... cool... glad lettuce, nuts and berries are good foods for the diet... Another thing I wanted to ask: Is white rice with red beans okay to eat while on the diet? I do know that white rice has A LOT of calories (200 per cup)... Back in 2009 when I attempted to switch to a cr diet I always had a cup of white rice, red beans and a slice of cheese for nearly every meal (if I didn't have rice I had a protein bar)... Is it unsafe to practice a cr diet while eating rice?

 

Thanks!

 

Fred.

White rice is most certainly not nutrient-dense (even compared to potatoes... see above B)), but it can have a place in an otherwise balanced diet. If you load up on low-calorie nutrient-dense veggies/similar then you may have some spare calories that can be used on more nutrient-poor foods such as rice.

 

Don't think that every single food item in your diet has to be super nutrient-dense or low-calorie, but rather at the end of the day you should achieve all of your macro- and micro-nutrient goals. Beyond micronutrients you'll want to make sure the meals you consume don't excessively spike blood glucose or lipids after meals.

 

Rice, beans, and cheese are fine as long as you make up the nutrients with other foods either in the same or another meal. I think Saul is suggesting something closer to CR perfection, which may have its merits, but the research suggests the vast majority of the benefits come from a balanced approach over time rather than super strict "perfect" meals at every occasion. If you find yourself succeeding on a more balanced, perhaps laid-back approach and you want that extra bit of benefit then you might do well to push it to more extreme or strict CRON at that time.

[FrederickSebastian]

Oh alright... Good to hear I can still have my rice... It is one of my favorite foods and I just don't know why. I was thinking about having the rice with Zucchini and Summer squash... Are these two good options? Do they have a lot of nutrients? I am lead to believe that vegetables, in general, are good for a CR-Diet... So glad romaine lettuce is a good choice because I really like green leafy veggies... 

[James Cain]

Oh alright... Good to hear I can still have my rice... It is one of my favorite foods and I just don't know why. I was thinking about having the rice with Zucchini and Summer squash... Are these two good options? Do they have a lot of nutrients? I am lead to believe that vegetables, in general, are good for a CR-Diet... So glad romaine lettuce is a good choice because I really like green leafy veggies... 

Check out cronometer.com or another nutrition tracking service and plug in some foods to get an idea of their nutrient density, and which foods to consume to fill in any micronutrient gaps. Non-starchy vegetables are almost universally very nutrient dense with low calories. The problem is that you may need to eat a lot of them, but that's not such a bad thing if you're cutting back calories. Most cronies base the bulk of their diets, by volume and often by calories, on vegetables. Add more concentrated sources of carbohydrates, fats, and some protein as necessary or desired to fill up your calorie budget after the veggies take care of most vitamin and mineral requirements.

[FrederickSebastian]

Oh ok, I'll try out the cron-o-meter... still haven't figured it out yet... I really want to check out coffee and oats which are two more foods (and drink) that I enjoy...

[BrianMDelaney]

Most [CR practitioners] base the bulk of their diets, by volume and often by calories, on vegetables. Add more concentrated sources of carbohydrates, fats, and some protein as necessary or desired to fill up your calorie budget after the veggies take care of most vitamin and mineral requirements.

 

 

One of the best summaries of the strategies of CR practitioners I've seen!

 

And where we differ is mostly in how we fill up the missing calories: some choose more fat (avocados, nuts, olive oil), some choose more carbs (usually whole grains but sometimes starchier things like potatoes or sweet potatoes).

 

- Brian