Solving the Weight Loss Puzzle - Part 2

 

If you have not seen part 1 take a moment to review it.  So what is the key to weight loss anyway?   Although there is a lot of press out there stating that “Calories do not count” and “just focus on eating healthy” the fact is that regulation of bodyweight and bodyfat (two different things!) are primarily controlled by the balance of energy you take in from food and beverages (calories) and the energy you use to maintain all your cells and fuel all movement.    So why are people (including some very bright researchers as well) saying that calories don’t count?

First because a lot of research that is quoted was done WITHOUT controlling calories taken in and using participant recall to estimate calories taken in.  Here is the problem with this – we are lousy at estimating calories taken in.   In fact even trained dieticians frequently underestimate their calorie intake by 40%!  Imagine running a business and underestimating your bills by 40%!  In literally every case when food intake is precisely controlled or measured through a process using “doubly labeled water” (which can be used to measure food intake with 100% accuracy without having to measure and provide food) people do in fact lose weight based on calories in and calories out!

Second because there is confusion about a process that is built into every human being called “Metabolic Adaptation”.    Simply put your body adjusts to any prolonged reduction in calorie intake (regardless of the type of diet!) by reducing resting metabolic rate.    In addition if the reduction in calorie intake is really large your level of spontaneous physical movement will be reduced.  This process is based on hundreds of thousands of years of humans living in a world where adequate food intake was NOT guaranteed and in fact people frequently were forced to not eat for prolonged periods of time.  So the ability to reduce the body’s need for energy was a fundamental survival mechanism encoded in all our genes!

For example if you take a group of people of about the same height, weight, age, sex and activity level who require 2,000 calories per day to maintain their current bodyweight and drop their calorie intake to say 1,500 calories per day all of them will lose weight/fat initially.    However within a 2 – 3 month span all weight/fat loss will cease even if they continue to eat exactly 1,500 calories per day and maintain the same physical movement profile because as you lose weight/fat the body ALWAYS responds by lowering resting metabolic rate.    So unless you INCREASE physical activity ALL DIETS become less effective over time regardless of how “healthy” they are!

Stay tuned for part 3 and learn the difference between weight loss and fat loss!

Solving the Weight Loss Puzzle - Part 1 of 4

 

Have you tried to lose weight and failed? If so, you are not alone. 95% of the people who try to lose weight fail to reach their goal, and even less are actually able to maintain their weight loss once they achieve their goal. Obesity and the associated disease diabetes are increasing exponentially in the America despite the many published health warnings about the health risks associated with being overweight.

Why are people unable to lose weight? People are hopelessly confused about the factors controlling bodyweight regulation. This is not surprising when you understand that every single program, book, and guideline developed by various diet “experts”, including our own government, lacks crucial information, contains misinformation, or contains myths. The list of experts and programs seems endless: The Keto Diet, The Paleo Diet, The Carnivore Diet, Dr. Atkins, Dr. Andrew Weil, The Pritikin Diet, Sugar Busters, Protein Power, Dr. Dean Ornish, and all the rest. To make matters worse much of the “information” from different experts seems to be completely contradictory.

Take this short True/False quiz to see how much you really understand about controlling your weight and bodyfat levels.

Eating a low fat diet is the key to losing weight
Eating a low carbohydrate diet is the key to losing weight
Most obese people have a slow metabolism
Obesity is a genetic disorder
Some people have a slow metabolism and some people have a fast metabolism
Exercise is not really effective for weight loss
You can eat all you want and lose weight if you do not eat carbohydrates
Low carbohydrate diets are unhealthy
If you eat foods in the right combinations you will lose weight
The key to weight loss is eating healthy not counting calories
Americans are eating more fat than ever before
Americans are eating less fat than ever before

Sound familiar? It should. All these statements have been made by various “experts”. Unfortunately, all but the last one is FALSE. If you want to control bodyweight you have to understand ALL the factors that govern bodyweight regulation and how they apply specifically to you. Stay tuned for part 2 of this article next week to learn more!

The Dangers of Trans Fats and Many Vegetable Oils

People tend to be very black and white regarding how they view fat intake – from fat is great to fat is the cause of all disease.    Of course, neither position is correct.  The types of fat you consume and the ratios of these fats along with other constituents of your diet determine how healthy or unhealthy fat intake is!

Having said there is one type of fat is clearly terrible for your health:  partially hydrogenated fat aka “trans fats”.    In fact there are two types of trans fats – naturally occurring and man-made and you guessed it – the man-made trans fats are the problem! You need to avoid them like the plague.    These man-made fats were created to improve shelf-life of products rather than using saturated fats which are also shelf-stable.

Almost all pre-packaged foods contain trans fats including margarine and spreads, store bought cookies, cake and pie crusts; frozen pizza; canned biscuits and rolls; crackers and potato chips and fried foods.

Trans fats increase LDL cholesterol and decrease HDL cholesterol and directly increase your risk for heart disease, stroke and type 2 diabetes.  

Linoleic Acid

Another fat that is the cause of much disease is the excessive consumption of Linoleic Acid.    Linoleic acid is an Omega 6 polyunsaturated fatty acid and is required to produce various hormones and essential chemicals in our bodies.   The problem is that we are eating a whole lot more of these fats than our bodies were designed to handle.    When you consume too much – which the vast majority of Americans do - its is broken down into toxic metabolites such as aldehydes and acrolein resulting in chronic inflammation.  

Excessive linoleic acid acts as a biological poison and is cytotoxic, mutagenic, carcinogenic and causes fat cells to store more fat!

Where does Linoleic Acid come from in our diet?

Within the last 150 years human consumption of vegetable oils/fats has sky-rocketed – take a look at most mayonnaise, salad dressing, and snack foods and you will almost always see soybean oil, canola oil, corn oil, or other nut or vegetable oil.    With few exceptions these fat sources are chock full of linoleic acid.   The consumption of vegetable oils in the US has increased from less than 2 grams per day in 1860 to 80 grams per day as of 2010.  In 1900, 99% of added fats where from animal fats (mostly saturated fat).    In 2005, 85% of added fats were from vegetable oils.   

There is a clear and strong correlation between common health conditions and vegetable oil intake – there is NO correlation between naturally occurring animal based saturated fats and disease.   This is not to say that some people do not experience increased levels of cholesterol from saturated fat intake but that is not the norm!

What is the Answer?

Avoiding trans fats and excessive linoleic acid is pretty simple:

1.    Avoid processed shelf-stable foods whenever possible – they are almost always full of trans fats and/or high levels of vegetable oils packed with linoleic acid.

2.    Choose whole foods like fruits, vegetables, whole grains, beans, meats, fish, whole nuts, poultry and eggs.

3.    Avoid stick margarine and vegetable shortening.

4.    Avoid fried foods – choose foods that are baked, steamed, broiled or grilled.

5.     When you do choose packaged foods read the label and avoid foods with ingredients including “partially hydrogenated”; “trans fatty acids”; canola oil, corn oil, soybean oils and other vegetable and seed oils.

6.    Make your own salad dressings with organic extra virgin olive oil packaged in small glass bottles what has a harvest date listed within the last 18 months or less!  Olive oil can be very healthy but it is fragile and goes rancid very easily so pay attention to these tips to get benefits from olive oil.

7.     For mayonnaise choose mayo made with avocado oil which is shelf-stable but not full of trans fats!

8.     Use butter or extra virgin coconut fat/oil for high heat cooking.

9.     For quick stir frying and sautéing use a high quality Olive Oil.    Lastly, remember that ALL fats are high in calories so watch your fat intake!

Heart Rate Variability - Key to Optimizing Recovery

 

We all know that exercise is key to health and fitness, but it is easy to lose sight of the fact that exercise is a stimulus and stressor and that progress occurs during recovery from exercise!

There are many factors which affect our ability to recover from and improve from exercise including adequate sleep, breathing patterns, hydration, nutrition, and mental ability to relax to name a few.

Measuring your Heart Rate Variability (HRV) is an accurate and easy way to check your recovery status.  HRV refers to the fact that the time between each heartbeat continuously changes!   The picture above shows the change in time between each beat of the heart on an electrocardiogram.  Even though the time between each heart beat is always varying your heart rate - expressed as beats per minute - can be steady at times.

For example, an average heart rate of 60 beats per minute (bpm) does not mean that the interval between every heartbeat is exactly 1.0 sec, instead they may fluctuate/vary from 0.5 sec up to 2.0 sec.   During exercise, HRV decreases as heart rate and exercise intensity increases. HRV also decreases during periods of mental stress.

As a general rule of thumb we want to see HIGHER Heart Rate Variability.    Higher HRV indicates that your body is in a highly responsive state and able to quickly adjust to changes and challenges to optimize homeostasis.   Homeostasis refers to the need for your body to maintain a consistent internal environment to function properly so your body needs to constantly adjust to changes such as changes in air temperature, changes in muscle activity, changes in light level, etc.

HRV is regulated by the autonomic nervous system (ANS) which controls the function of our internal organs such as heart, lungs, intestines, level of arterial tension, digestion, etc.    The Autonomic Nervous System has two parts:  Sympathetic and Parasympathetic.  

The sympathetic nervous system is the "fight or flight" system, while the parasympathetic nervous system is often considered the "rest and digest" system. In many cases, these systems have "opposite" actions such as the Sympathetic System turning off digestion and the parasympathetic System turning on Digestion. 

Parasympathetic activity decreases heart rate and increases HRV, whereas sympathetic activity increases heart rate and decreases HRV.    Recovery is all about increased parasympathetic activity.   When your sympathetic nervous system (fight or flight) is active for long periods of time – you cannot recover from stress and sooner or later you will begin to experience symptoms and disease.  This is what being “Stressed Out” is all about!

Measurement of HRV

Measurement of HRV allows you to know how your body is responding and adapting to all the stressors in your life.  By measuring HRV each morning upon waking before you rise from bed or eat or drink anything you can very accurately track your recovery status.   There are several easy-to-use devices and apps available to measure your HRV:

 

•      Fitbit – in the Sense, Versa 2 and 3, Charge 4, Inspire 2 and Luxe models – less expensive than many other options

•      Oura Ring – www.ouraring.com – very popular and one of the best available and simple ring   

By looking at your HRV daily you will quickly notice patterns and find out how different workouts, alcohol intake, stress and caffeine affect your recovery.  You will also see how your HRV score tracks directly with the quality of sleep.   When you have a great nights sleep you will see it reflected in improved HRV!

High-Intensity Aerobic Exercise Can Rduce Risk of Metastatic Cancer by 72%!

 

A recent study by the Tel Aviv University showed that intense aerobic exercise lowered the risk of developing metastatic cancer by 72%.  Metastasis is the process cancer uses to spread and metastasis is ultimately what kills those with cancer.  

The research found that high-intensity aerobic exercise increased internal organs’ consumption of glucose (blood sugar) which decreased the energy available for tumors to grow and spread.

The two lead researchers stated that:  “Studies have demonstrated that physical exercise reduce the risk for some types of cancer by 35%.   This positive effect is similar to the impact of exercise on other conditions, such as heart disease and diabetes.  In this study we added new insight, showing that high-intensity aerobic exercise, which derives its energy from sugar, can reduce the risk of metastatic cancer by as much as 72%.   If so far the general message to the public has been ‘be active, be healthy’, now we can explain how aerobic activity can maximize the prevention of the most aggressive and metastatic types of cancer.”

The research combined an animal model using mice with data from 3,000 individuals for 20 years.   Both sets of data showed similar outcomes which enabled researchers to identify its underlying mechanism.   By sampling the internal organs of animals before and after physical exercise and also following the injection of cancer – researchers found that aerobic exercise significantly reduced the development of metastatic tumors in the lymph nodes, lunges and liver. 

For more information on how exercise can help prevent cancer and help prevent metastatic cancer click here:   https://www.hockey4hope.com/single-post/2017/01/17/how-exercise-can-prevent-cancer