PB Noobie Questions page

[ckayy]

Sorry if these questions have previously been answered, I tried my best to search the site and forums.

1) How many meals a day should I be eating? What's an ideal number?
- I've seen many people on here who only eat 2-3 times a day; my metabolism is very fast, I only started PB 1 day ago, so I'm going from 6-8 meals a day, to 2-4; and I just don't know if I can manage off of 2-4 meals a day. Will my body adjust? Advice?

2) How can I get my calcium in? Are calcium supplements okay?

3) In the PB book, Mark emphasizes not spiking your insulin (I think lol!). Can I eat as much as I want (following PB rules (no grains etc...)) without having to worry about that?

An example of this would be: I had 3 whole eggs and a shake for breakfast (ingredients for shake: strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, water). How do I know this meal isn't spiking my insulin like Mark says not to do? Should I not worry about this if I'm following the PB Nutrition guidelines?

Thanks and sorry for the long post/noobie questions!

[barryman9000]

1) If you're hungry, eat. If you're not... don't.
2) Calcium is found in a lot of things, but I find the easiest sources are spinach, broccoli, onions and carrots (http://www.citracal.com/calcium/foods/vegetables.aspx)
3) If you eat according to the PB, you won't have to worry about spiking insulin. That usually happens when you eat sugar, starches, and processed grains.

Figure out how much fruit is in the shake. You really want to limit fruit intake especially for weight loss.

Regarding Ca supplements, I've read that they don't really do anything if your Vitamin D is low. I'm sure there are others on here who could elaborate, but here's a good link on the subject:
http://heartscanblog.blogspot.com/se...el/vitamin%20D

[ckayy]

Figure out how much fruit is in the shake. You really want to limit fruit intake especially for weight loss.

Oh I'm skinny and tall lol, no worry about weight loss. =D

btw thanks for the feedback.

[MamaGrok]

I don't typically worry about any isolated nutrients, except for the ones we're low on b/c of modern lifestyle changes - like soil depleted in magnesium, and D deficiencies from living indoors.

So I don't really worry about calcium. I would worry about making sure you have enough magnesium if you take calcium, b/c they balance each other.

I think (?) bone broth is a good source of calcium?

[tangentrider]

I think (?) bone broth is a good source of calcium?

I've heard this as well. Anyone have info?

[ckayy]

I don't typically worry about any isolated nutrients, except soil depleted in magnesium, and D deficiencies from living indoors.

I would worry about making sure you have enough magnesium if you take calcium, b/c they balance each other.

So would just taking a multivitamin that has magnesium along with a calcium supplement be alright?
Thanks!

[arthurb999]

Don't graze like an herbavore

Add in a couple more eggs and/or bacon for breakfast.
Big salad for lunch with meat (i also add fruit because it's post workout for me)
Huge meat consumption for dinner and some veggies... feel free to eat a whole chicken.

Snack on almonds and hard cheese if you must.

You won't need to eat as often as you do when you're eating things like small servings of skinless chicken and brown rice...

[barryman9000]

My understanding of multi vitamins is they're a waste of money. Some of the vitamins may get absorbed, but for the most part everything can be collected in the urine later. Other than a few which can be absorbed like Calcium and Magnesium provided they're taken with Vitamin D, and of course Omega 3.

[MamaGrok]

Conventional dietary advice says that Mg should be about 1/2 of Ca, but you also need to balance it with A & D (without fat-soluble vitamins, you won't absorb your minerals). It's very complicated, all these nutrient interactions, and much safer just to eat real, whole food, than to worry about it. The exceptions would be a) known common deficiencies due to our modern lifestyles and b) signs that you, in particular, have a certain deficiency b/c of a certain, abnormal, situation.

I don't think that, in general, we really have "too little" calcium - I think we have too little of its co-nutrients which tell it where in the body to go (instead of kidney stones, bone spurs, and arteries). Check a recent thread on a calcium study here on this forum.