Eggs and Fish Question

[taylj8]

Hi All,

 

I just started Crossfit and am beginning my 30 day cleanse tomorrow. I have been a vegan/ vegetarian for almost a decade but have recently introduced eggs and fish back into my diet as I know I was not getting enough protein, was eating far too many carbs, and was constantly tired.

 

I have relied heavily on protein powders, usually a shake or two everyday as a meal and a snack in the past, but know they are not allowed on this diet. I worry however about only getting protein from fish and eggs. The only sea food I eat is wild caught salmon, mahi mahi, and shrimp. I know these are lower in mercury and contaminant levels because they are cold water fish. Do you think it is safe from a toxin/ cholesterol level to rely solely on fish and eggs as a protein source? Also, I can only find cage free organic eggs, but none that state they are soy free... is this a huge deal? Or does anyone have a brand recommendation?

 

I need to stay away from nuts and nut butters as they are a trigger food for me. And I just can't stomach tuna which other threads have recommended.

 

Any advice for a newbie is appreciated! 

[Physibeth]

The most recent studies all seem to agree that dietary cholesterol has very little impact on blood levels of cholesterol. I think you will be fine. Use the best quality of protein sources you can find. It is very very hard to find eggs from chickens that have not gotten soy in their diet.

 

Nuts/nut butters are considered fat sources more than protein sources for W30.

 

If eggs and fish is all you are willing to do I think you will be just fine. If you could bring yourself to add meat back in that will give you a wider variety of nutrients of course, but you will still get a lot of benefit from doing it the way you are currently planning to do.

[Tom Denham]

If your diet is rich in selenium, you are not at risk from the mercury you might ingest with fish. And fish tend to be rich in selenium. See this article: http://chriskresser.com/is-eating-fish-safe-a-lot-safer-than-not-eating-fish

 

Another good source of selenium is brazil nuts. I eat 2 (two) brazil nuts per day as a selenium supplement. 

 

You probably do need to break out of your tight niche of which seafood you will eat. There are hundreds of seafood choices available. Our bodies do best with a variety of foods. Eating 3 out of the 100s available is not a good idea. 

 

By the way, I have been eating 3-4 eggs per day for years.

 

A word about labels.... A cleanse is something you do periodically to rid your body of crap. A cleanse means that you are doing something temporarily and will go back to eating crap after it is finished. The Whole30 is not a cleanse. It is an introduction to eating real, whole foods that is meant to provide a springboard into eating more real, whole foods for the rest of your life. It is also a 30-day elimination diet designed to help you identify foods that cause you problems. The goal of the 30-day elimination is to provide you with information to make good decisions about which foods you should totally eliminate and which foods you may eat occasionally without causing too much trouble. 

[taylj8]

Thank you both for your response.

 

I went to a farmers market yesterday and was actually able to find eggs from chickens fed a non-soy diet which I was excited about.

 

I will start looking into expanding my fish choices and which ones are best.

 

And thank you for the clarification about a cleanse. You are completely right, it definitely affects mentality and the way I approach/ see food changes. This is a lifestyle change and I want to set myself up for success!