Tuesday, August 16, 2016

This should put the issue into perspective as well as the rewards from each. I knowingly ordered farm-raised salmon from a local store a few years back and got horribly sick. There are folks out there who continue to dismiss the difference. The little things make huge differences. Don't make a mistake on the little things; they may come back to bite you.

Wednesday, August 10, 2016

Dave Asprey, Creator of BulletProof Coffee (Fantastic Product!) Interviews Dr. Barry Sears, Creator of the Zone Diet

This is a long interview. It's good but it's long. Polyphenols are master sculptures of the gut.
Well, this point was interesting.  Asprey asks which is better--eating 2 pounds of green leafy vegetables or eating high fat meals?
Polyphenols in berries are more water soluble and so find their way into your blood stream better. Green leafy vegetables have less water solubility.  Sounds like they are better used for insoluble fiber than for their polyphenol effect.  The conundrum is that berries have a higher sugar content, so you can't eat a bunch.  Sears argues for concentrates extracted without the sugar content and without the inefficient solubility into your blood stream.  He is essentially recommending his products.

Alberto Viejo recommneds high amounts of polyphenols so your stress


Polyphenol has a half-life.  Their half life is measured in hours. The genes you're activating.  

The green coffee polyphenol are rich in polyphenols but very bitter. They have to be cooked and the polyphenols are released.  In nutrition, nobody's wrong, but often they're not completely right.

You need . . .

Adequate amount of protein [i.e., amino acids] in a day.
Adequate amounts of essential fats. 
Adequate levels of polyphenols.  Essential to manage inflammation.

So you have to have adequate amounts in the right balance to maintain insulin in a zone.  

The fat will have no effect on insulin. Medium-chain triglycerides developed at Harvard Medical School back in the 80s were used for treating burn victims?  Water soluble.  Enter into the blood stream through the portal vein, go directly to the liver and metabolized there on the spot and wipe out stores of glycogen.  Get ketosis very quickly.  Can no longer maintain blood sugar levels for the brain.  


The brain is the only organ that can use energy.  Wow!  Never heard that before.  


Central nutrients Get them all together with the least amount of calories but with the best hormonal response.  Food affects hormones and the expression of our genes.  It's really gene therapy in our kitchen.


Start-ups using time and money to say that it tastes good.


FDA has made it clear: you can make drug-like claims if they're supported by good, clinical research.  Rat studies from China is not "good, clinical research."  You've got to use people.  


Foods and drugs have therapeutic zones, above which the food/drug is toxic, below which the food/drug is ineffective.


Sears claims that the Zone Diet book was really written for cardiologists. 


It's an inflammation management diet, not a weight control diet, althought it will control your weight.  


Excessive Omega 6 from soy and cheese.  I love cheese!  Is this my problem?  


Essential fatty acids are essential because they control powerful hormones in our bodies, called eicosanoids.  Eicosanoids are 

prostaglandins and related compounds.  Most are produced from arachidonic acid, a 20-carbon polyunsaturated fatty acid (5, 8,11, 14-eicosatetraaenoic acid.  The eicosanoids are considered "local hormones."  They have specific effects on target cells close to their site of formation.
A balance creates a nice homeostasis.  Our ability to produce Omega 6 fatty acids is monumental.  Every disease state is the result of Omega 6: obesity, diabetes, Alzheimer, cancer, etc.  When increase the levels of insulin we get an explosion of inflammation. We were ground zero with Omega 6 fatty acids.  Italian children are the fatest in Europe.  

People developed a fat trap, where the calories get into your fat cells and being trapped in your fat cells and not being released to make energy, like ATP.  Gaining weight while starving!!  Signicant change in their metabolism.  Constantly starving of energy. 


Fat cells are our swiss bank account.  Fat Trap caused by significant inflammation.  Not enough ATP, you either slow down or make more calories.  


Metabolism: converting calories into energy.  If you're not hungry 5 hours after your meal, it means you've rectified your metabolism. 


            

Tuesday, August 9, 2016

Water: Weight Loss in a Bottle?

My favorite bottled waters are Arrowhead Spring Water and Arrowhead Filtered Water.



The other bottled water is Mountain Valley Spring Water.

For reasons of vitality, spring water is always preferred to sparkling water.


Monday, August 8, 2016

You really want to restrict any form of white bread from your diet.  If you like sandwiches, that's not an easy task.  If you like pasta in all of its forms, ditto, not an easy task.  And the reason is that white bread is so chewy,  And though it's tastelss it doesn't matter because it tends to absorb all of the delicious sauces and mustards that we put on pasta or sandwiches.  One of my favorite sandwiches is a pastrami sandwich.  Love the fatty meat.  Love the mustard.  Love the pickles.  And love how the white bread of the sandwich bun interacts with the juices of the meat and the mustard to create this exquisite toasty, spongy texture.  It is to die for.  But I hope not.  It shouldn't be this good--so good so as to die for.  Nothing should be. One of my favorite snacks was a sourdough role and lots and lots of raw butter.  It's Heaven.  And it beat hands down any kind of pastry or cake or ice cream.  I was after the fat, and the bread let was the perfect canvas for that cuisine.

Same thing with pasta.  Ooh, it's good!  Imagine it: butter, pesto, garlic, Romano or Parmasean cheese.  De-lish.  Or how about a tasty sausage, tomato with wine and mushroom sauce.  Aww. You're killin' me with these options.   And maybe that is what it is: the white bread allows us to build some deliciously home-made meals.  It is the definition of comfort food.

But at what price?  There is always a cost?  LiveStrong defines what white bread is and why it's bad:
White bread -- the ubiquitous soft and fluffy slices still favored by many -- looks delicious but has little substance. Most hamburger buns, French and Italian bread, Kaiser rolls, bagels and pizza crust are also white bread and none of them are good for you. White bread is low in essential nutrients, and may have an adverse effect on your health.
 The fact that the food has "little substance" can't be good for the different organ systems involved in processing food, like your digestive system, your liver, spleen, kidneys, etc.  So the Kaiser roll with its seeds, yeah, no, it's not going to help you.  It will make you and your organ systems tired.  Some might "Ah, once in a while won't hurt."  Maybe.  But what does once in a while look like before it becomes a once in a while lifestyle?  Also, white is low in essential nutrients.  The benefit to eating nutrient dense foods is that you tend to eat less of them. 

REFINED GRAINSA refined grain is created when a whole grain is finely ground and stripped of its bran and germ, the elements that contain fiber, vitamins and minerals. White bread is made from refined grains, which are low in magnesium, zinc, vitamin E, fiber and essential fatty acids. Even though some manufacturers add vitamins back in, natural whole grains are still a superior choice.  
Refined grains are denuded food.  But grains in general will produce inflammation.  The LiveStrong article does try to persuade you to consider whole grains, but I have my doubts.  Bread lacks fiber.  It's bulk but it's not fiber that helps you digest other foods.

HIGH GLYCEMIC INDEXThe glycemic index is a measurement of how quickly and how much a food affects your blood sugar and insulin levels compared with pure glucose. White bread has a high glycemic index because it's made from refined grains that are rapidly absorbed during digestion, causing sharp spikes in blood sugar and insulin levels. A diet that includes a lot of white bread and other high-glycemic foods -- like sweets, candy, desserts and white potatoes -- increases your risk for weight gain, type 2 diabetes and heart disease, according to the Harvard School of Public Health.

Saturday, August 6, 2016

Stay Healthy, My Friends

Clovis is located near Fresno. Oh, boy.