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Episode 2927:
Tynan explores the benefits of exposing yourself to germs by practicing "eating dirty,” deliberately consuming food that has touched unclean surfaces. He argues that controlled exposure strengthens the immune system, reduces anxiety about cleanliness, and makes life more convenient. By shifting perspective on hygiene, we can cultivate resilience and embrace a more adaptable lifestyle.
Read along with the original article(s) here: http://tynan.com/eatingdirty
Quotes to ponder:
"People are scared of germs, and I think that's a shame. Exposure to germs is what builds our immune systems and makes us stronger."
"When you eat dirty food, you realize that your body is strong and that you don’t need to be scared of every little speck of dirt."
"Ironically, people who are more concerned about germs tend to get sick more often, because they never let their immune systems build up a strong resistance."
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[00:00:00] Have you ever noticed how a calm mind can really set the stage for a good night's sleep? That's the idea behind our new podcast, Good Sleep. Greg, our host from Optimal Relationships Daily, is here to help ease you into a peaceful night's rest with some positive affirmations. And these affirmations aren't just comforting, they can help ease anxiety and nurture positive thoughts, setting you up for true good sleep.
[00:00:24] So, press play on Good Sleep tonight because a good tomorrow starts with a good night's sleep. Just search for Good Sleep in your podcast app and be sure to pick the one from Optimal Living Daily. This is Optimal Health Daily, Eating Dirty Food as a Clean Eater by Tynan of Tynan.com and I'm Dr. Neal.
[00:00:46] Hey, happy Sunday and welcome back to the show where I act as your very own personal narrator and read to you from some of the most popular health and fitness blogs online. I'm going to keep this intro nice and short, so let's get right to it as we optimize your life. Eating Dirty Food as a Clean Eater by Tynan of Tynan.com I'm sitting outside the Viking Museum in Oslo, Norway.
[00:01:16] The museum is closed, but the little ice cream stand in the otherwise empty parking lot is still open. I want my third ice cream. Eating ice cream in Norway is about as nonsensical as it gets. The ice creams are the kind you find in freezer chests at truck stops. Norway is the most expensive country on the Big Mac Index and easily the most expensive country I've ever visited. So, each ice cream costs around 4 US dollars. It's not really warm here. Oh, and I don't usually eat ice cream.
[00:01:46] When I travel in new countries for short periods of time, say under a week, I allow myself to eat anything and everything. I do poorly with gray areas, so my diet is either 100% on or 100% off. Although some things like soda and margarine are so offensive that I never eat them. It's usually 100% on, but I recognize that with 2 or 3 days in a country, my time may not be best spent scouting around for a decently healthy restaurant.
[00:02:13] Also, I'm pragmatic enough to know that a few days of eating crap food probably won't affect my long-term health. What I like most about these quote-unquote cheat days is how predictably they remind me that I like eating healthy. Because of my perceptions before beginning to eat healthy, I imagine that most people would find this hard to believe. I remember exactly what I thought when I realized that certain foods, sugar and flour, needed to be eliminated from my diet. Quote,
[00:02:40] I have to do this, but it's going to be a big sacrifice. I was willing to make that sacrifice, but the reality of the situation turned out to be quite different than expected. So, for people interested in understanding what it's objectively like to eat healthy, or for those trudging through the acclimatization process, I figured I'd offer a few paragraphs describing what it's actually like. There are sacrifices to be sure, although they aren't what I initially expected. The biggest downside is convenience.
[00:03:09] Your restaurant options go from roughly every restaurant in the city to less than 5. You usually just can't get a meal on the go. You have to go out of your way. For example, when going skiing, there's no food on the mountain that I can eat. So, I have to make sure that I eat before skiing, and then drive 10 minutes away from the mountain afterwards to the one healthy restaurant in Tahoe. This isn't normally a big deal, but I'll admit that when pressed for time, I think back to how convenient it was to just grab a burger and keep moving.
[00:03:38] The other notable downside is that you become an inconvenience to your friends. If they want to eat with you, they have to go out of their way to one of your restaurants. Luckily, these healthy restaurants tend to be good enough that even unhealthy eaters will enjoy them. But you still extend the inconvenience of limited selection to your friends. Enjoyment of food isn't the liability I thought it would be. After my five days of eating garbage in Oslo, with the greatly appreciated exception of delicious Arabic food prepared by our friend Noor,
[00:04:06] we took the train to Stockholm, where Todd found a vegetarian buffet. The best analog for the feeling of eating healthy food after a period of eating dirty is to say that it's like getting into bed after a long day of running around. Just as you don't realize how tired you are until you hit the pillow, you don't realize how much you love healthy food until you take that first bite of spinach lentil soup.
[00:04:29] Our whole meal of beans, vegetables, and little else was punctuated with us vocalizing how good the food was almost involuntarily. The first bite of junk food tastes good, even to someone accustomed to healthy food. The second is okay. By the end of the meal, it's a little bit gross and my stomach feels full in a way that feels natural, only if you've never eaten healthily for a significant period of time. Half an hour after the meal, I'm craving more junk food, even though my stomach feels a bit sloshy.
[00:04:57] I feel tired and usually think to myself, that meal was so dumb. Eating healthy food is different. The first bite is good, so is the second. As the meal progresses, the food continues to taste as good as it did initially. After eating, I'm full, but could still jog without feeling gross. Transforming into a healthy eater isn't a process of self-deprivation or sacrifice, at least in the long term, but rather an acclimatization to a better perspective on food.
[00:05:25] You can still stomach normal food if you have to, but it no longer takes willpower to stay away from it. All it takes is eating it occasionally. You just listened to the post titled, Eating Dirty Food as a Clean Eater by Tynan of Tynan.com and I'll be right back with my commentary. Dr. Neil here for my commentary. Now, it's a known fact that as we get older, our taste buds change.
[00:05:53] Salt doesn't hit our taste buds as strongly as we get older. And so you'll often see folks beyond the age of 50 or so, maybe adding more salt to their foods. And again, it's simply because we're not as sensitive to that taste anymore. Our dehydration signals aren't as strong. And so we often are dehydrated as we get older. But something that I think we need to study a little bit more is this idea of our diets changing our taste buds.
[00:06:19] So Tynan makes a strong case, anecdotally, meaning in his own experience, of eating, quote unquote, clean foods and how that changes how he feels, how the food tastes, how his body responds to eating more clean foods as opposed to some of these more junk foods. In my experience, when I treat patients, they've also said the same thing to me, that once they get off, let's say, sugar for long enough, when they go back to it, things taste almost too sweet.
[00:06:49] When they follow a vegetarian or a vegan diet for so long, the taste and smell of animal foods actually makes them physically nauseated. Is this all in their heads? Possibly. And that's why I think we need more research to know. But if simply adding more whole, unprocessed foods to your diet makes it less likely that you're going to consume more processed foods, more fast foods, then I would say there's no harm.
[00:07:16] There's no harm in thinking that maybe your taste buds have changed for the better. That junk food doesn't taste as good anymore. All right, that'll do it for another edition of Optimal Health Daily. Thank you, as always, for listening. And I'll see you back here tomorrow where your optimal life awaits.