Don’t Go Getting Too Healthy On Me!
How many times have you heard the statement, “You can’t be too healthy”? Although I can appreciate the intention behind this assertion, I happen to disagree with it wholeheartedly. In fact, I believe that trying to be too healthy can actually be unhealthy. Sound counterintuitive? Let me explain…
For over 20 years now, I have read, discussed and experimented with just about every nutritional protocol out there. When I say “every”, I mean everything from the popular, mainstream nutritional plans to the most obscure and underground dietary theories.
While my clients often become my very brave test subjects, I always begin every experiment on yours truly. I have literally studied, dissected and applied all of the “best of the best” nutritional protocols to myself. Given my obsession with uncovering every possible way to be “healthy”, you would think that I would be superman by now.
Hey Alvino, what are you in here for? Uh, I ate too much spinach?
Unfortunately, that’s not the case. Trying to be “too healthy” actually landed me in the emergency room recently. Even worse, my dreadful visit to the E.R. involved getting two surgeries, both of which involved the insertion of a large catheter into a very sensitive part of my anatomy. (Guys, you may now cringe)
Much to my disbelief, my quest for ideal health resulted in my developing a kidney stone. Here’s how:
For the past year or so I was extra motivated to focus more on health and less on performance alone. So I began eating large quantities of what the experts tout to be the most nutrient dense foods available. A few of my A-list of daily foods included:
Organic spinach- I added 3 cups of spinach to my morning smoothie everyday.
Organic sweet potatoes- I ate two of them as my post-workout carb source.
Organic nuts- This was my go-to snack food. I had two servings a day (and thoroughly enjoyed both of them)
Organic berries- My low sugar/high anti oxidant quest led me to eat two servings of a variety of berries everyday.
From now on, these are the only stones I'm interested in
Looks like a great list, right? Well I thought so too, but unfortunately, each and every one of the “health foods” listed above contains a very high amount of oxalate. For those of you who don’t know, oxalate (an ester of oxalic acid) is a substance found in many of the healthiest foods out there.
And can you guess what 75% of all kidney stones are made of? You got it—oxalate (along with some calcium). So here I am going out of my way to ingest some beloved health foods at just about every meal, and I end up getting two very painful surgeries for my efforts.
In retrospect, I would have fared much better with some dietary variety and food rotation. Now I’m not suggesting that you never consume any of the foods I listed above; in fact, I think they are a great addition to a healthy diet. But there is a take home message here:
Don’t always search for the “best” vegetables, carbs, proteins, fats, etc. and eat them excessively. Instead, loosen up a bit, use a less rigid approach and rotate your foods, even if that means occasionally eating some foods that the “experts” would consider to be “less healthy” options.
In the next post, I will share with you another (perhaps even more important) reason why you shouldn’t take your health quest to the extreme. I’ll also give you some simple tools to free yourself from dietary dogma while optimizing your health and fitness results. Stay tuned…
Dedicated to your success,
John Alvino
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Comments on Don’t Go Getting Too Healthy On Me!
Interesting article John—thanks!
Oh by the way, I know all too well about the catheter….had one in high school.
I still don’t know how it’s possible to have that done and still live!?!?!?
OUCH, That’s fantastic Info. I wasn’t aware of the Oxalate and resulting Kidney Stones. I’m sorry that your Education had to come so painfully but it surely will save some others(who may be of very Modest means) from the Same fate.
It’s all about Balance….eh. Even people who don’t have specific Personality traits like OCD can become Obcessed with Diet and/or Excercise and hurt themselves.
Genuine Thanks
Wow John,
I regularly eat all the foods you mentioned in significant quantities!
Are there any signs or symptoms that appeared before you started having problems that I could watch out for?
Or perhaps is there a way to counteract the oxylates you consume?
Thanks for another great post,
-Chris
Hey John, really killer post. I eat that stuff all day!!! What is the max I should eat of those foods? Please help!
Thanks man
Thought provoking post for sure.
The healthiest guy I’d ever met was a raw food vegan. He did hours of yoga and meditation every week. The guy looked like George St Pierre and lifted a lot of weight. For cardio he skipped rope and did hill sprints. He fasted at least 40 days every year. He was a sun gazer (he actually stared at the sun an hour a day for “cosmic nutrition” or something like that). The list goes on and on… But it seems like it worked for him, people often guessed he was in his 20s when he was in his 50s. But, at our X-mas party one year, he decided to cut loose and have one glass of organic red wine. Not a good idea. Within minutes he was projectile vomiting and then started dry heaving when there was nothing left. These dry heaves actually went on for 2 weeks. Was he too healthy? Was he too “pure”? I don’t know, but it did leave me wondering if you can be too healthy.
I was curious John, are you a vegan? Can’t remember if I read that about you. Great post, as usual.
Way to keep it real. Another reason to do things in moderation. thanks for sharing! I hope you’re recovered from surgery
@Kevin: Hey Kevin, I feel your pain. That procedure sucked!
@RyanC: Hey Ryan, I hope everyone can learn from my mistakes. In some ways, that’s why I started this blog.
Balance is definitely the key. You’re welcome
@Chris S: Oh no, be careful brother! Unfortunately, once you have a symptom, it’s too late. The only symptom I had was blood in the urine but that symptom came just a few hours before the searing back pain kicked in.
Here’s my advice: Drink one gallon of water per day and rotate the foods in your diet. Good luck!
@Tony: Hey Tony, your question is really hard to accurately answer but I would keep those foods to 2 servings per day
Wow John sorry to hear about that procedure, I was in the Hospital early this past summer with a 106 degree fever and the guy next to me in the room had that done to him and it sounded awful. I gotta say though this is a really good and useful post. Alot of people don’t know too much of anything even if it is healthy can still be bad. But Great Post I gotta say you and Jason Ferruggia are my favorite sites to read on Nutrition. I don’t know the guy personally but I think he has experimented with every nutrition protocol out there also haha. Great Post looking forward to the next one.
I know about that catheter! Other reasons, but I didn’t like it much either.
Personally, I supplement my healthy diet with whatever it takes to get me up off the floor after a few days of intense workouts. That usually means chocolate chip cookies and/or a root beer float. It makes a world of difference to my recovery, and that can’t be all bad. And it makes me wonder if healthy eating really is so healthy.
Very sorry to hear about your surgeries John. Good to know that you are better now, please do take care.
@Steve: Hey Steve, great story, thanks for sharing. It’s great that your friend had the type of dedication and discipline to follow a rigid protocol like that. But I would still rather see him do that 90% of the time and allow for some variants.
I was a vegan for 6 months. I did it to prove that you don’t need all of the animal protein that most experts recommend. During my experiment, I lost no strength or muscle. In fact, I shot my 2nd montage video right at the end of the 6 months. Here it is:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GIrPpGoI6lI
Currently, I’m a vegetarian.
@Gina: Thanks Gina, I’m definitely feeling better!
@Greg Teeter: Hey Greg, glad to see you are recovered from your summer illness.
Jay is a long time personal friend of mine. I can say that for the past 20 years, it would be difficult to find anyone who has experimented more than we have.
@Bob: Done occasionally and in moderation, eating foods off of your diet is a healthy thing. The only time I demand rigidity are when a specific short-term goal is to be achieved. Then after achieving, the maintenance plan would be far more flexible.
@Arnav Sarkar: Thanks Arnav, much appreciated
Great article John. Spinach is one of my favorite foods and I would not think you can have too much of it! Would you suggest that ppl who eat a decent amount of food high in oxalates get checked to see if their bodies have a high chance of producing kidney stones?
Sorry to hear about this John! Reminds me of right after my appendectomy I couldn’t go pee lying down in the bed with the bottle and it hurt really bad to try to stand up. The Dr. said they could bring in a catheter. I was like… what’s a catheter, and so he told me. I said… let me try one more time! I was definitely able to stand up and pee then. Just needed a lil motivation.
Great post and good to know. I eat all of those foods and will have to rotate them from now on. Thanks for sharing the experience and wisdom learned. Wishin you a speedy recovery!
Love this post. Thanks for sharing great info once again.
@jess: Hey Jess, the only way to know if you’re at risk is to take a 24 hour urine test. Since I know most people won’t do this, I would just recommend eating spinach in moderation and drinking a lot of water. This should be enough to prevent any problems
@Brandon Cook: Hey Brandon, I’m sure you you jumped out of bed when you heard what the alternative was. I unfortunately wasn’t so lucky
Definitely rotate your foods and thanks for the get well wishes.
@Amanda: You’re welcome Amanda
I hope you are well now, my brother had the same problem caused by supplements over 15 years ago he was in hospital for days.He had this big blue and white box some kind of steriod replacement with powders and vials , digestive enzymes etc.
Does this mean
1.) Cheat days or meals are good for you (both for the extra calories with the glycogen benefits and the lack of oxalates?)
2.) Old school eating plans may need a revisit.
Hey John!
Great post! I will cut down my spinach intake. Just was curious because I I thought you didn’t eat / drink any breakfast anymore. Or do you do breakfast on special days?
Would love to hear!
Greets Marc
@Andrew Morris: Hey Andrew, before I can tell you if cheat meals are good or bad, we need to qualify what your idea of a cheat meal is. Having a cheat meal consisting of 5 Big Macs, fries and soda is probably not a good idea. But going off of your diet at times is healthy, both mentally and physically.
Old school meal plans are fine for a short period of time. As a lifestyle however, variety and flexibility are far more important.
@Marc: Hey Marc, I would definitely recommend that you rotate your vegetable sources. As for me, I don’t eat breakfast. Instead, I start everyday with super-hydration.
On training days, I was having a mid morning shake after my workout. Spinach, berries and sweet potatoes were all part of that meal. Talk about the perfect storm!
Hey John,
Will you outline your current diet in a future post? Always helpful to hear what your doing and I really respect what you have to say given all the experimentation you have done.
Best,
-Chris
@Chris S: Hey Chris, I can do that in a future post. No problem
Thanks John,
Super hydration, interesting, also a nice topic for a future blog post maybe! I start every morning with drinking a liter of water with msm powder (methylsulfonylmethane).
Half an hour after that I make a super shake with fruits, veggies, superfoods and protein. If I don’t do that I cheat a lot because when I’m going to the train I cross by a lot of little shops with donuts and other delicious smelling stuff, and that’s pretty hard to resist when I didn’t ate anything.
Anyway, thanks again for your comment. When is your program launch?
@Marc: Hey Marc, in your case, I would suggest that you did eat breakfast so it sounds like you’re following the right plan for you.
Trying to decide on launch date. Everything is done but I may wait till January. I’ll keep you posted.
hey John, other than protein, is there any product you think i should take to get stronger?
@Miguel: Hi Miguel, I’m happy to help you out and answer your questions but I need the questions to be related to the blog topic. If I don’t enforce this policy, the comment section becomes a random mess. In the future, feel free to ask a question but please keep it on topic. Thanks
Glad I read this post,,, thanks John. Have just started to have a few servings of spinach every day, along with my several snack servings of nuts and goji berries. Will do the rotation more. Plus, I’m sure all have heard soooo often about having breakfast, when most of the time my body craves water when I first wake up, and then nothing else for hours. Sorry to hear about your pain,,, would have sent well wishes had I known. The added pain,,, well, I couldn’t imagine
Glad you are well now 
@Robyn: Rotation is definitely a good idea. Stay with the hydration plan. Thanks for the get well wishes!
@John Alvino:
Anyhows, May I now add my present experience about being too healthy. As my ‘diet’ has been gradually getting ‘cleaner’, I am finding that more foods are affecting me. The present situation is that I had a couple of glasses of red wine today, and within a few hours, my left thumb joint and my right hip were becoming very painful, with the pain increasing throughout the night. It seems to happen every time I include sugar in my diet. NOT FAIR,,, JUST NOT FAIR!!! 
You are most welcome John. Next time you need some TLC or sympathy,,, just holla
@Robyn: yes another reason to cut out that garbage…maybe a blessing in disguise
So from this I think
1.) Vary your diet- veggies in particular
2.) Drink more water starting in the morning and on through out the day.
3.) Go off your eating plan once in a while but don’t go nuts
4.) Be careful what sups you take , excessive calcium and possibly High amounts of Vitamin C can also be problem.
@Andrew Morris: Hey Andrew, that is a great assessment