West Angeleno
Eat like you live west of Lincoln
Park your Bird scooter in front of your favorite coffee joint on Main Street in Santa Monica and get in line with confidence! Inspired by the high fat, plant forward diets of West LA, West Angeleno’s can eat with range.
Like their California Keto brothers and sisters, it’s more likely West Angeleno’s can incorporate some saturated fats into their diets without seeing large upticks in “bad cholesterol.” But West Angeleno dieters needn’t cut the carbs entirely. Unlike California Keto dieters, West Angeleno’s have room in the carb bucket to get a bigger percentage of calories from healthy complex carbs like yams, oats, black beans, cruciferous veggies, buckwheat and more.
In real life, West Angeleno’s love their farmer’s markets and pay a premium for food they know is local, organic and fresh. This style of eating is perfectly suited to West Angeleno diet types as they may be challenged with high histamine foods. The longer food sits out, the more histamine accumulates. For this reason, West Angeleno diet types will want to steer clear of aged and fermented foods, as well as left-overs, and instead opt for what is local and in-season.
What is the scientific basis for this diet? The West Angeleno macronutrient ratios of 35% healthy fats, 45% complex carbs, and 20% protein, often from plant sources, is consistent with the most recent United States Dietary Guidelines.
For more on the science of nutrigenomics, see our science page.
Most closely related diet: California Keto
Primary difference with California Keto: This is the battle of the carbs. West Angeleno’s have more room for a slightly more carbohydrate rich diet than do California Keto dieters.
Biggest challenge: Balancing fat intake with histamine as the two don’t always pair well. West Angeleno’s score high for fat metabolism and lower for histamine clearance. If a West Angeleno dieter determines histamine isn’t an issue for her, she can be more liberal with fat and animal protein. If histamine seems to be a factor, the challenge is to dial back on animal products until a balance is achieved.
Red meat friendly? From a cardiovascular standpoint, West Angeleno’s should be able to do just fine with the occasional piece of high quality beef added to their diet. The challenge is to make sure the beef doesn’t overload the “histamine bucket,” as high protein diets can sometimes do.
Keto friendly: Yes. West Angeleno’s should have the fat metabolism genes to handle cyclical ketosis. As always, check with your doctor before embarking on any new diet.
Carnivore diet friendly? Nope.
Does this diet type handle fermented foods? Again, this one comes down to histamine. West Angeleno’s score lower on histamine clearance, but this doesn’t mean they will have issues with histamine. If histamine is suspected as a problem, as it could be seasonally, fermented foods would be an easy category of food for West Angeleno’s to add to the avoid list.
What about pancakes and refined grains: Not a great choice for anyone, West Angeleno’s included. However, with their stronger carbohydrate metabolism, some high quality flour based foods can be part of a healthy diet for West Angelenos.
Go to breakfast: Eggs and oats.