Sapient
Stews

Generally, we should consume about 15% of our total calories from protein to optimize our anabolism–that is, our potential for growth, maintenance and repair of our tissues.

If consuming more than this, we usually cannot use the excess protein, so our liver converts the amino acids into glucose and ketones–which does not provide any advantages. We might need more protein if we are pumping some serious iron or something similar. If we are sedentary, we probably need less.

 

Complete proteins are best utilized by our bodies for our muscles, our organs and basic functions. We provide these proteins through meat as well as combinations of grains and legumes. Collagen proteins support our bones, hair, tendons, ligaments, fascia and skin, as well as parts of our nervous and cardiovascular tissues. We provide this protein through broth. Various forms of evidence suggest we best utilize these proteins at about 80% complete and 20% collagen proteins.  

Generally we need somewhere between 30 to 60 percent of our calories from carbs, primarily to provide glucose for our brain and red blood cells.

But around 45% is likely best for most people. If eating more than this, we probably are not receiving any benefits and possibly even detriments–unless you are an athlete doing sustained, high-intensity exercise.

We mix carbohydrates together in our stews because that helps us balance our blood sugar. Some carbs like potatoes raise blood sugar faster and others, like barley and legumes, slower. But when combined together, they create more even and sustained blood sugar–which helps with our mental performance.

All of our carbs come from whole plants with their fibers intact–which provides enormous advantages which I address in the next section.

 

The fiber in our stews comes from our whole plants, like potatoes, yams, barley, rice, legumes and vegetables. Most of this fiber is soluble, meaning that it ferments inside our colon.

Fiber provides the following benefits:

–Prevents us from overeating food, especially carbohydrates, by making us feel full faster.

–Helps us optimize the flow of food through our guts.

–Helps us regulate our blood sugar.

Once fermenting in our colon, fiber releases or generates these additional nutrients into our own body.

–B vitamins.

–Electrolytes.

–Phytonutrients.

–Antioxidants, especially from hydrogen gas.

–And three short chain fatty acids, which provide additional benefits to our health.

–Some scientists are tracing correlations between fiber and our mental mood and performance.

 

We mostly utilize fats as energy for our muscles and organs while we are sleeping, resting, standing, studying, walking or cleaning the house.

We provide 40% fat of total calories for this purpose, but not any more, to prevent weight-gain.

We provide 30% of these calories from saturated fat, but not enough to risk any association between these fats and heart disease.

We provide 45% from monounsaturated, mostly from olive oil, because of the greater benefits of these types of fats, especially as associated with the Mediterranean Diet.

We provide plenty of polyunsaturates, at 25% because they are deemed “essential,” meaning our body cannot make them and, otherwise, they are correlated with many benefits.

We provide the polyunsaturates in ratios of 6 parts omega six to 1 part omega three because multiple lines of evidence suggest this ratio is probably the best for various functions in our body.

 

Because our stews contain more than ten plants per serving, they are abundant in phytonutrients.

Phytonutrients are molecules in plants that provide benefits to our health, and include plant pigments like chlorophylls, carotenes, anthocyanin and many others; phytonutrients also includes organic acids, like citric and malic acids, and many other compounds such as phenols, saponins and resveratrol. Collectively these compounds provide multiple benefits to our health by reducing inflammation and enhancing immunity, metabolism, cognition, antioxidants as well as protection from the sun.

Plants produce compounds to protect themselves from their predators, called secondary compounds, otherwise known as anti-nutrients, toxins and even storage proteins. Anti-nutrients block the digestion and uptake of various macronutrients; toxins poison our tissues to one degree or another; and storage proteins, such as gluten, are difficult to digest and otherwise agitate our guts.

We reduce the effects of these compounds by, first of all, not using too much of any one plant to avoid too much of any of these compounds. Secondly, we soak in acidic liquids all our grains and legumes before cooking–which deactivates many of these compounds. And finally, our stews are slow cooked at low temperatures, which further reduces these compounds while not damaging any of the actual nutrients. Ultimately, while abundant in nutrients, our stews are probably lower in anti-nutrients than any other natural foods that we consume.

 

Believe it or not, humans use nutrients in mostly the same ways. We also vary from each other in slight ways based on our genetics, body types and environments. And we vary from each other considerably based on the intensity and duration of our exercise (known as exercise metabolism.)

When exercising more, we increase our need for all nutrients because our body is working and metabolizing more. At the same time, however, even at higher levels of exercise metabolism, we only slightly increase our need for protein while radically increasing our need for carbs and/or fats.

General rules are:

• Moderate forms of exercise do not increase our need for protein by more than one to three percentage points. More intense forms of exercise, such as resistance training, tennis or basketball, increase our protein needs by maybe five percent because these activities break down more protein and thus we need more protein to replenish our tissues.
• These meals are designed for moderate levels of exercise. If you are doing high intensity exercise, you might need slightly more protein.  If sedentary, possibly less.
• If you are doing low intensity exercise, your muscles burn more fat relative to carbs and thus you need more fat.
• If you are doing more high intensity exercise, your muscles burn more carbs and thus you need more carbs but not all that many: per one hour of this type of exercise, you possibly need about sixty more grams of carbs, about the equivalent of two or three pieces of bread.
• In all of these cases, you can add either more protein, carbs or fats to the stews as needed. But we also recommend that you listen to your body and trust your instincts—and eat until you are satiated. When you are surrounded by good foods, you will probably know, instinctually, how to eat them.