The Body Fat Setpoint, Part IV: Changing the Setpoint

Prevention is Easier than Cure

Experiments in animals have confirmed what common sense suggests: it's easier to prevent health problems than to reverse them. Still, many health conditions can be improved, and in some cases reversed, through lifestyle interventions. It's important to have realistic expectations and to be kind to oneself. Cultivating a drill sergeant mentality will not improve quality of life, and isn't likely to be sustainable.

Fat Loss: a New Approach

If there's one thing that's consistent in the medical literature, it's that telling people to eat fewer calories does not help them lose weight in the long term. Gary Taubes has written about this at length in his book Good Calories, Bad Calories, and in his upcoming book on body fat. Many people who use this strategy see transient fat loss, followed by fat regain and a feeling of defeat. There's a simple reason for it: the body doesn't want to lose weight. It's extremely difficult to fight the fat mass setpoint, and the body will use every tool it has to maintain its preferred level of fat: hunger, reduced body temperature, higher muscle efficiency (i.e., less energy is expended for the same movement), lethargy, lowered immune function, et cetera.

Therefore, what we need for sustainable fat loss is not starvation; we need a treatment that lowers the fat mass setpoint. There are several criteria that this treatment will have to meet to qualify:

1. It must cause fat loss
2. It must not involve deliberate calorie restriction
3. It must maintain fat loss over a long period of time
4. It must not be harmful to overall health
   

I also prefer strategies that make sense from the perspective of human evolution.

Strategies: Diet Pattern

The most obvious treatment that fits all of my criteria is low-carbohydrate dieting. Overweight people eating low-carbohydrate diets generally lose fat and spontaneously reduce their calorie intake. In fact, in several diet studies, investigators compared an all-you-can-eat low-carbohydrate diet with a calorie-restricted low-fat diet. The low-carbohydrate dieters generally reduced their calorie intake and body fat to a similar or greater degree than the low-fat dieters, despite the fact that they ate all the calories they wanted (1). This suggest that their fat mass setpoint had changed. At this point, I think moderate carbohydrate restriction may be preferable to strict carbohydrate restriction for some people, due to the increasing number of reports I've read of people doing poorly in the long run on extremely low-carbohydrate diets (2).

Another strategy that appears effective is the "paleolithic" diet. In Dr. Staffan Lindeberg's 2007 diet study, overweight volunteers with heart disease lost fat and reduced their calorie intake to a remarkable degree while eating a diet consistent with our hunter-gatherer heritage (3). This result is consistent with another diet trial of the paleolithic diet in diabetics (4). In post hoc analysis, Dr. Lindeberg's group showed that the reduction in weight was apparently independent of changes in carbohydrate intake*. This suggests that the paleolithic diet has health benefits that are independent of carbohydrate intake.

Strategies: Gastrointestinal Health

Since the gastrointestinal (GI) tract is so intimately involved in body fat metabolism and overall health (see the former post), the next strategy is to improve GI health. There are a number of ways to do this, but they all center around four things:

1. Don't eat food that encourages the growth of harmful bacteria
2. Eat food that encourages the growth of good bacteria
3. Don't eat food that impairs gut barrier function
4. Eat food that promotes gut barrier health

The first one is pretty easy: avoid refined sugar, refined carbohydrate in general, and lactose if you're lactose intolerant. For the second and fourth points, make sure to eat fermentable fiber. In one trial, oligofructose supplements led to sustained fat loss, without any other changes in diet (5). This is consistent with experiments in rodents showing improvements in gut bacteria profile, gut barrier health, glucose tolerance and body fat mass with oligofructose supplementation (6, 7, 8).

Oligofructose is similar to inulin, a fiber that occurs naturally in a wide variety of plants. Good sources are jerusalem artichokes, jicama, artichokes, onions, leeks, burdock and chicory root. Certain non-industrial cultures had a high intake of inulin. There are some caveats to inulin, however: inulin and oligofructose can cause gas, and can also exacerbate gastroesophageal reflux disorder (9). So don't eat a big plate of jerusalem artichokes before that important date.

The colon is packed with symbiotic bacteria, and is the site of most intestinal fermentation. The small intestine contains fewer bacteria, but gut barrier function there is critical as well. The small intestine is where the GI doctor will take a biopsy to look for celiac disease. Celiac disease is a degeneration of the small intestinal lining due to an autoimmune reaction caused by gluten (in wheat, barley and rye). This brings us to one of the most important elements of maintaining gut barrier health: avoiding food sensitivities. Gluten and casein (in dairy protein) are the two most common offenders. Gluten sensitivity is widespread and typically undiagnosed (10).

Eating raw fermented foods such as sauerkraut, kimchi, yogurt and half-sour pickles also helps maintain the integrity of the upper GI tract. I doubt these have any effect on the colon, given the huge number of bacteria already present. Other important factors in gut barrier health are keeping the ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fats in balance, eating nutrient-dense food, and avoiding the questionable chemical additives in processed food. If triglycerides are important for leptin sensitivity, then avoiding sugar and ensuring a regular source of omega-3 should aid weight loss as well.

Strategies: Micronutrients

As I discussed in the last post, micronutrient deficiency probably plays a role in obesity, both in ways that we understand and ways that we (or I) don't. Eating a diet that has a high nutrient density and ensuring a good vitamin D status will help any sustainable fat loss strategy. The easiest way to do this is to eliminate industrially processed foods such as white flour, sugar and seed oils. These constitute more than 50% of calories for the average Westerner.

After that, you can further increase your diet's nutrient density by learning to properly prepare grains and legumes to maximize their nutritional value and digestibility (11, 12; or by avoiding grains and legumes altogether if you wish), selecting organic and/or pasture-raised foods if possible, and eating seafood including seaweed. One of the problems with extremely low-carbohydrate diets is that they may be low in water-soluble micronutrients, although this isn't necessarily the case.

Strategies: Miscellaneous

In general, exercise isn't necessarily helpful for fat loss. However, there is one type of exercise that clearly is: high-intensity intermittent training (HIIT). It's basically a fancy name for sprints. They can be done on a track, on a stationary bicycle, using weight training circuits, or any other way that allows sufficient intensity. The key is to achieve maximal exertion for several brief periods, separated by rest. This type of exercise is not about burning calories through exertion: it's about increasing hormone sensitivity using an intense, brief stressor (hormesis). Even a ridiculously short period of time spent training HIIT each week can result in significant fat loss, despite no change in diet or calorie intake (13).

Anecdotally, many people have had success using intermittent fasting (IF) for fat loss. There's some evidence in the scientific literature that IF and related approaches may be helpful (14). There are different approaches to IF, but a common and effective method is to do two complete 24-hour fasts per week. It's important to note that IF isn't about restricting calories, it's about resetting the fat mass setpoint. After a fast, allow yourself to eat quality food until you're no longer hungry.

Insufficient sleep has been strongly and repeatedly linked to obesity. Whether it's a cause or consequence of obesity I can't say for sure, but in any case it's important for health to sleep until you feel rested. If your sleep quality is poor due to psychological stress, meditating before bedtime may help. I find that meditation has a remarkable effect on my sleep quality. Due to the poor development of oral and nasal structures in industrial nations, many people do not breathe effectively and may suffer from conditions such as sleep apnea that reduce sleep quality. Overweight also contributes to these problems.

I'm sure there are other useful strategies, but that's all I have for now. If you have something to add, please put it in the comments.


* Since reducing carbohydrate intake wasn't part of the intervention, this result is observational.

Track and Field event today in Lakewood NJ

Today I attended a track and field event in Lakewood NJ. As many of you know, I am the medical director for USATF NJ and I am responsible for chiropractic coverage for their sponsored events. This event today featured athletes 18 and under. I was mentoring a chiropractor from southern NJ, Fred Mayer DC who had never attended one of these events before. Together, we saw a number of competitors who needed help and he learned about the different types of events and what to look for when runners are having problems. I will be attending additional events toward the end of February, 2010

Vitamin D deficiency, seasonal depression, and diseases of civilization

George Hamilton admits that he has been addicted to sunbathing for much of his life. The photo below (from: phoenix.fanster.com), shows him at the age of about 70. In spite of possibly too much sun exposure, he looks young for his age, in remarkably good health, and free from skin cancer. How come? Maybe his secret is vitamin D.

Vitamin D is a fat-soluble pro-hormone; not actually a vitamin, technically speaking. That is, it is a substance that is a precursor to hormones, which are known as calcipherol hormones (calcidiol and calcitriols). The hormones synthesized by the human body from vitamin D have a number of functions. One of these functions is the regulation of calcium in the bloodstream via the parathyroid glands.

The biological design of humans suggests that we are meant to obtain most of our vitamin D from sunlight exposure. Vitamin D is produced from cholesterol as the skin is exposed to sunlight. This is one of the many reasons (see here for more) why cholesterol is very important for human health.

Seasonal depression is a sign of vitamin D deficiency. This often occurs during the winter, when sun exposure is significantly decreased, a phenomenon known as seasonal affective disorder (SAD). This alone is a cause of many other health problems, as depression (even if it is seasonal) may lead to obesity, injury due to accidents, and even suicide.

For most individuals, as little as 10 minutes of sunlight exposure generates many times the recommended daily value of vitamin D (400 IU), whereas a typical westernized diet yields about 100 IU. The recommended 400 IU (1 IU = 25 ng) is believed by many researchers to be too low, and levels of 1,000 IU or more to be advisable. The upper limit for optimal health seems to be around 10,000 IU. It is unlikely that this upper limit can be exceeded due to sunlight exposure, as noted below.

Cod liver oil is a good source of vitamin D, with one tablespoon providing approximately 1,360 IU. Certain oily fish species are also good sources; examples are herring, salmon and sardines. For optimal vitamin and mineral intake and absorption, it is a good idea to eat these fish whole. (See here for a post on eating sardines whole.)

Periodic sun exposure (e.g., every few days) has a similar effect to daily exposure, because vitamin D has a half-life of about 25 days. That is, without any use by the body, it would take approximately 25 days for vitamin D levels to fall to half of their maximum levels.

The body responds to vitamin D intake in a "battery-like" manner, fully replenishing the battery over a certain amount of time. This could be achieved by moderate (pre-sunburn) and regular sunlight exposure over a period of 1 to 2 months for most people. Like most fat-soluble vitamins, vitamin D is stored in fat tissue, and slowly used by the body.

Whenever sun exposure is limited or sunlight scarce for long periods of time, supplementation may be needed. Excessive supplementation of vitamin D (i.e., significantly more than 10,000 IU per day) can cause serious problems, as the relationship between vitamin D levels and health complications follows a U curve pattern. These problems can be acute or chronic. In other words, too little vitamin D is bad for our health, and too much is also bad.

The figure below (click on it to enlarge), from Tuohimaa et al. (2009), shows two mice. The one on the left has a genetic mutation that leads to high levels of vitamin D-derived hormones in the blood. Both mice have about the same age, 8 months, but the mutant mouse shows marked signs of premature aging.

It is important to note that the skin wrinkles of the mice on the left have nothing to do with sun exposure; they are associated with excessive vitamin D-derived hormone levels in the body (hypervitaminosis D) and related effects. They are a sign of accelerated aging.

Production of vitamin D and related hormones based on sunlight exposure is tightly regulated by various physiological and biochemical mechanisms. Because of that, it seems to be impossible for someone to develop hypervitaminosis D due to sunlight exposure. This does NOT seem to be the case with vitamin D supplementation, which can cause hypervitaminosis D.

In addition to winter depression, chronic vitamin D deficiency is associated with an increased risk of the following chronic diseases: osteoporosis, cancer, diabetes, autoimmune disorders, hypertension, and atherosclerosis.

The fact that these diseases are also known as the diseases of civilization should not be surprising to anyone. Industrialization has led to a significant decrease in sunlight exposure. In cold weather, our Paleolithic ancestors would probably seek sunlight. That would be one of their main sources of warmth. In fact, one does not have to go back that far in time (100 years should be enough) to find much higher average levels of sunlight exposure than today.

Modern humans, particularly in urban environments, have artificial heating, artificial lighting, and warm clothes. There is little or no incentive for them to try to increase their skin's sunlight exposure in cold weather.

References:

W. Hoogendijk, A. Beekman, D. Deeg, P. Lips, B. Penninx. Depression is associated with decreased 25-hydroxyvitamin-D and increased parathyroid hormone levels in old age. European Psychiatry, Volume 24, Supplement 1, 2009, Page S317.

P. Tuohimaa, T. Keisala, A. Minasyan, J. Cachat, A. Kalueff. Vitamin D, nervous system and aging. Psychoneuroendocrinology, Volume 34, Supplement 1, December 2009, Pages S278-S286.

Cancer patterns in Inuit populations: 1950-1997

Some types of cancer have traditionally been higher among the Inuit than in other populations, at least according to data from the 1950s, when a certain degree of westernization had already occurred. The incidence of the following types of cancer among the Inuit has been particularly high: nasopharynx, salivary gland, and oesophageal.

The high incidence of these “traditional” types of cancer among the Inuit is hypothesized to have a strong genetic basis. Nevertheless some also believe these cancers to be associated with practices that were arguably not common among the ancestral Inuit, such as preservation of fish and meat with salt.

Genetic markers in the present Inuit population show a shared Asian heritage, which is consistent with the higher incidence of similar types of cancer among Asians, particularly those consuming large amounts of salt-preserved foods. (The Inuit are believed to originate from East Asia, having crossed the Bering Strait about 5,000 years ago.)

The incidence of nasopharynx, salivary gland, and oesophageal cancer has been relatively stable among the Inuit from the 1950s on. More modern lifestyle-related cancers, on the other hand, have increased dramatically. Examples are cancers of the lung, colon, rectum, and female breast.

The figure below (click on it to enlarge), from Friborg & Melbye (2008), shows the incidence of more traditional and modern lifestyle-related cancers among Inuit males (top) and females (bottom).

Two main lifestyle changes are associated with this significant increase in modern lifestyle-related cancers. One is increased consumption of tobacco. The other, you guessed it, is a shift to refined carbohydrates, from animal protein and fat, as the main source of energy.

Reference:

Friborg, J.T., & Melbye, M. (2008). Cancer patterns in Inuit populations. The Lancet Oncology, 9(9), 892-900.

How to break a coconut

The coconut is often presented as a healthy food choice, which it is, as long as you are not allergic to it. Coconut meat has a lot of saturated fat, which is very good for the vast majority of us.

(I posted about this issue elsewhere on this blog: my own experience and research suggest that saturated fat is very healthy for most people as long as it is NOT consumed together with refined carbs and sugars from industrialized food products.)

Coconut water is a good source of essential minerals, particularly magnesium and potassium. So is coconut meat, which is rich in iron, copper, manganese, and selenium. Coconut meat is also an good source of folate and an excellent source of dietary fiber.

If you are buying coconuts at a supermarket, I suggest choosing coconuts that have a lot of water in them. They seem to be the ones that taste the best. Just pick a coconut up and shake it. If it feels heavy and full of water, that’s the one.

First you need to make some holes on the coconut shell to extract the water. I recommend using a hammer and screwdriver. The screwdriver should be used only for this purpose, so you can keep it clean. Nails can be too thin. Place the coconut over a mitten or towel, and make holes on the dark spots (usually three) using the hammer and screwdriver.

Once you puncture the coconut, move the screwdriver a bit to enlarge each hole. Then place the coconut on a cup or thermos, with the holes pointing downwards, and let the water flow out of it. Normally I use a thermos, so that I can keep the coconut water fresh for later consumption.

As soon as all the coconut water is out, hold the coconut with a mitten in one hand, and strike it with the hammer with the other hand. The key here is to hold the coconut with your hand. You need to strike it hard. It is a good idea to do this inside or right above a kitchen sink so that the shell pieces fall into it.

Do not place the coconut against a hard surface (e.g., ceramic tiles), otherwise you can either break that surface or send pieces of the coconut flying all over the pace. Strike different areas of the coconut until it breaks into 5 to 7 pieces.

Finally, remove the meat of the coconut with a butter knife. The hand that holds the knife should be protected with a mitten, because you will have to apply pressure with it.

Store the coconut water in a sealed thermos, and the coconut meat pieces in a sealed container, both in the refrigerator, to preserve their freshness.

Coconut water and meat have a slightly sweet taste because of their sugar content, which is small and packed in with a lot of fiber. 100 g of coconut meat has about 15 g of carbs, of which 9 g is dietary fiber; that is, 100 g of coconut meat has only 6 g of net carbs.

Friday Friend Shout Out: Nature's Corner Natural Market

This week's Friday Friend Shout Out goes out to Nature's Corner Natural Market in Spring Lake Heights, NJ. If you haven't been there, you need to take the drive to check it out! In our opinion, it's the best health foods store on the Jersey Shore.

Since opening it's doors in 1995, Nature's Corner has been providing it's customers with diet specific offerings including 100% organic, wheat and gluten free, sugar-free, dairy-free, vegan and raw foods. They have cruelty-free, organic body care,

Owner, Ed Levy, CN prides himself on his well trained and experienced staff who are always willing to take great care in providing customers with honest and sound guidance. The store itself has an amazing energy and I can honestly say that each and every time I enter the store (which is usually ever week or so) I am greeted by smiles which is an admirable quality in customer service. What's even more amazing? Every single time I go to Nature's Corner I find exactly what I am looking for! My only complaint is that it's 20 miles away!

So Ed, how about considering opening a Nature's Corner in Red Bank? I could be your first employee and on site holistic health consultant. Think about it ;)

Keep on Keeping it Fresh, Nature's Corner. You rock!!

~ Terra

My new favorite dessert...

is raw and loaded with goodness!!!

I am a dessert junkie and a warrior that has battled the sugar blues. I have ridden the highs and lows of the refined sugar roller coaster and I am very glad to have exited that ride. Even though I ditched the refined sugars, I still want my cake and I want to eat it too!!! How exactly are you supposed to do that in a healthy way? Three words: moderation and raw desserts.

One of the things that attracted me to raw foods were the desserts. Not only are they packed with nutrients, missing refined sugars and much more healthy but they will gave you the sweetness you crave without loading you down with refined sugar that will inevitably make you crash and feel crappy!

When Lauren, Jill and I graduated from IIN we had a little celebration dinner at one of my favorite raw digs in NYC, Quintessence - The Essence of Food... just thinking about that dinner makes me smile. We were so excited to be IIN graduates and to celebrate it with gourmet, raw, organic deliciousness. Healthy foodies on top of the world!

I previously tried many "normal" raw desserts crafted by Red Bank's own vegan raw chef Adam Sobel of Certified Orgasmic such as key lime pie and strawberry cheese cake. But I never really ventured into raw, uncharted territories. At our little soiree, I chose something new for dessert, the chia seed pudding.

Here's a little secret: when I chose the chia seed pudding, I didn't know what I was getting myself into. I knew what chia seeds were, but I don't think I had never eaten them and certainly had no idea how they were going to turn thenm into a delicious tapioca-like pudding. Wow. it was indeed amazing. Sweet and nutty and creamy and completely satisfying without a roller coaster ride. I found raw "tapioca" love.

For those of you that don't know what Chia seeds are, or look like, think of this:



Yeah, it's an Obama chia pet head! (I thought I would get a little political given the recent state of the union. Perhaps, I should stick to health, no?) Doesn't it make you giggle? The nutritional chia seeds are the same seeds that the novelty Chia Pet uses! I bet Chia Pet collectors all over are unaware of the nutritional and medicinal value of chia seeds. They contain more Omega-3s than any other vegetarian source and they're high in anti-oxidants, minerals and fiber. Basically, they do a body good. You can learn more about how amazing these little seeds are here. If you want to find chia seeds in your local health foods store, they look like this:



Tuesday night after consulting Elena's Pantry, I went on a little quest to make my own chia seed pudding goodness...and let me tell you, it's better than good. It's great!! This is the recipe I followed:

1 cup (raw) cashews
3 cups water
2 tablespoons agave nectar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon almond extract
pinch celtic sea salt
¼ cup chia seeds

1. Place the cashews and water in a Blendtec and blend on high speed until smooth
2. Blend in the agave, vanilla, almond extract and salt.
3. Place the chia seeds in a large mason jar (½ gallon size), pour the cashew mixture into the jar and shake well (very well!)
4. Place in the refrigerator overnight
5. Serve

Here it is:


We may be in the dead of winter in Jersey and 3 years ago, I may have reached for homemade donuts as my comfort food. But this is 2010. Health is the buzz word and my comfort food right now is chia seed pudding!

Keep it Fresh!

~ Terra

Patients in Medicare Demonstration Project Give Chiropractors High Marks

For those who are in Medicare or are about to be enrolled, this is a great thing.  The history of chiropractic inclusion in Medicare is that the limited benefit was negotiated in the 1970's before chiropractic had the widespread acceptance it has now as the top complementary health care profession in the country, if not the world.  It is safe, effective and cost effective and studies support these statements.  Unfortunately, in Medicare, chiropractic is only covered for manipulation and nothing else.  Seniors are required to pay for their own evaluations, x rays and therapies done even though these procedures are paid for when they visit other providers.  Many seniors value chiropractic as the best way to limit their exposure to harmful medications and stay out of pain and active.

Two years ago, after much chiropractic lobbying, Medicare was forced to create a chiropractic demonstration project in a few markets.  The purpose of this was to see if chiropractic would add to the cost, lower the cost or be budget neutral.  The good news is that chiropractic in most areas was chosen instead of other interventions without higher costs and the better news was the level of satisfaction most seniors reported.

What this all means - The American Chiropractic Assn.  now has an opportunity to change the Medicare problem forever which means if you are enrolled in Medicare, you will be covered for everything just as you are when you visit other doctors and it will end the discrimination against chiropractic patients under Medicare.  This is in the public's best interests and they should have the right to choose chiropractic as their intervention for their health care issues.

If you have seen the nonsense that went on as health care debated, you should realize that full inclusion for chiropractic is an uphill battle.  Last night pres Obama scolded congress for not doing their job and he is right. They are not there to get elected.  They are there to pass laws to help you and I.  Hopefully, chiropractic will be finally fully covered.

Here is the ACA press release for your reading

Patients in Medicare Demonstration Project Give Chiropractors High Marks

According to long-awaited results from a congressionally mandated pilot project testing the feasibility of expanding chiropractic services in the Medicare program, patients have a high rate of satisfaction with the care they receive from doctors of chiropractic.

When asked to rate their satisfaction on a 10-point scale, 87 percent of patients in the study gave their doctor of chiropractic a level of 8 or higher. What’s more, 56 percent of those patients rated their chiropractor with a perfect 10.

Contributing to that satisfaction was the attention given to patients’ needs and the accessibility of chiropractic care. Patients reported that doctors of chiropractic listened to them carefully and spent sufficient time with them. Some 95 percent said they had to wait no longer than one week for appointments.

“Doctors of chiropractic everywhere should feel pride in these patient satisfaction results and in being part of a profession that still sees the great need for spending time with patients and truly listening to them,” said Dr. Rick McMichael, president of the American Chiropractic Association (ACA). “It’s clear that patients deeply value the time their chiropractic providers spend with them and the expert care that DCs offer.”   

The pilot, known as a “demonstration project” in Congress, was conducted from April 2005 to March 2007 throughout the states of Maine and New Mexico, and also in Scott County, Iowa, 26 counties comprising the Chicago metropolitan area, and 17 counties in central Virginia.

Current chiropractic coverage under Medicare is limited to spinal manipulation. Under the demonstration project, however, chiropractic care was expanded to include diagnostic and other services, such as X-rays, examinations, physical therapy and rehabilitation services. 

The final report to Congress also includes information on the costs of expanding chiropractic services in the demonstration sites. The report indicates that in all but one of the demonstration sites, patients’ health care costs were not significantly changed by expanding coverage of chiropractic services.  In contrast, a cost increase was found in the Chicago metropolitan area. Further research into the reasons why the results in Chicago differ from the rest of the demonstration project sites is needed to better understand these findings.

“We already know that Medicare costs in general tend to be higher in Chicago than other similar areas of the country. We must find the underlying cause of the cost difference found in the chiropractic demonstration project and determine whether it had anything at all to do with the expansion of chiropractic services,” Dr. McMichael noted.  

To further analyze the results of the demonstration project, ACA is creating a taskforce of Medicare experts and researchers who will review the report and develop a response for the

Centers of Medicare and Medicaid Services.

To view the report online, visit www.acatoday.org/pdf/demo_report.pdf.

The low modern potassium-to-sodium ratio: Big problem or much ado about nothing?

It has been argued that the diets of our Paleolithic ancestors had on average a much higher potassium-to-sodium ratio than modern diets (see, e.g., Cordain, 2002).

This much lower modern ratio is believed by some to be the cause of a number of health problems, including: high blood pressure, stroke, heart disease, memory decline, osteoporosis, asthma, ulcers, stomach cancer, kidney stones, and cataracts.

But, is this really the case?

The potassium-to-sodium ratio in ancient and modern times

According to some estimates, our Paleolithic ancestors’ daily consumption was on average about 11,000 mg of potassium and about 700 mg of sodium (salt). That yields a potassium-to-sodium ratio of about 16. Today’s ratio in industrialized countries is estimated to be around 0.6.

Just for the sake of illustration, let us compare a healthy Paleolithic diet food, walnuts, with a modern industrialized food that many believe to be quite healthy, whole-wheat bread. The table below (click on it to enlarge) compares these two foods in terms of protein, carbohydrate, fat, vitamin, and mineral content.

Walnuts have a potassium-to-sodium ratio of about 205. The whole-wheat bread’s ratio is about 0.5; much lower, and close to the overall ratio estimated for industrialized countries mentioned above.

At the same time, walnuts provide a better nutritional value than whole-wheat bread, including a good amount of omega-3 fatty acids (2.5 g; of α-linolenic acid, or ALA). However, walnuts have a fairly high omega-6 fat content.

Also, many diabetics experience elevated blood glucose levels in response to whole-wheat bread, in spite of its glycemic index being supposedly lower than that of white bread. Walnuts do not seem to cause this type of problem, even though several people are allergic to walnuts (and other tree nuts).

Health effects of the potassium-to-sodium ratio

So, the potassium-to-sodium ratio appears to have been much higher among our Paleolithic ancestors than today. It is important to stress that, even though this is a possibility, we do not know this for sure. Animals go to great lengths to find salt licks, and then consume plenty of sodium in them. Our ancestors could have done that too. Also, we know that sodium deficiency can be deadly to both animals and humans.

As for the many negative health effects of a low potassium-to-sodium ratio in modern humans, we have reasons to be somewhat skeptical. One has to wonder if the studies that are out there do not conflate the effects of this ratio with those of other factors, such as smoking, heavy alcohol consumption, or consumption of industrialized high carb foods (e.g., cereals, pasta, refined sugars).

Another possible confounding factor is potassium deficiency, not the potassium-to-sodium ratio. Potassium deficiency, like other deficiencies of essential minerals, including sodium deficiency, is associated with serious health problems.

If potassium is deficient in one’s diet, it is also likely that the potassium-to-sodium ratio will be low, unless the diet is also equally deficient in sodium.

Let us take a look at a study by Ikeda et al. (1986), which included data from 49 regions in Japan, a country known for high consumption of sodium.

This study found a significant association between the potassium-to-sodium ratio and overall mortality and heart disease, but only among men, and not among women.

One wonders, based on this, whether another uncontrolled factor, or factors, might have biased the results. Examples are smoking and heavy alcohol consumption, which could have been higher among men than women. Another is chronic stress, which could also have been higher among men than women.

The researchers report that they found no association between the potassium-to-sodium ratio and mortality due to diabetes, liver disease, or tuberculosis. This ameliorates the problem somewhat, but does not rule out the biasing effect of other factors.

It would have been better if the researchers had controlled for the combined effect of covariates (such as smoking, alcohol consumption etc.) in their analysis; which they did not.

Moreover, the study found no association between the potassium-to-sodium ratio and blood pressure. This is a red flag, because many of the diseases said to be caused by a low potassium-to-sodium ratio are assumed to be mediated by or at least associated with high blood pressure.

Regarding the possible confounding effect of industrialized high carb foods consumption, it seems that many of these foods have a low potassium-to-sodium ratio, as the example of whole-wheat bread above shows. Thus, some of the health problems assigned to the low potassium-to-sodium ratio may have actually been caused by heavy consumption of industrialized high carb foods.

It is also possible that the problem is with the combination of a low potassium-to-sodium ratio and industrialized high carb foods consumption.

At the time the study was conducted, Japan was somewhat westernized, which is why industrialized high carb foods consumption might have been a factor. The US strongly influenced the Japanese after World War II, as it helped rebuild Japan’s economy.

In conclusion, the jury is still out there regarding whether the low modern potassium-to-sodium ratio is a big problem or much ado about nothing.

References:

Cordain, L. (2002). The Paleo Diet: Lose weight and get healthy by eating the food you were designed to eat. New York, NY: Wiley.

Ikeda, M., Kasahara, M., Koizumi, A., and Watanabe, T. (1986). Correlation of cerebrovascular disease standardized mortality ratios with dietary sodium and the sodium/potassium ratio among the Japanese population. Preventive Medicine, 15(1), 46-59.

Top 10 Reasons to Try Yoga for Life

This past Saturday was Yoga Day USA! I participated in a few of my favorite yoga classes in my area this weekend in honor of Yoga Day and also went to a lovely Kirtan last night at a new Yoga studio in Asbury Park. It was a great weekend! =)

Yoga Day USA's website had a really great list of 10 reasons to try yoga for life. I thought this was worth posting since we could all benefit from hearing the reasons why yoga is great for everything. If you already have a steady yoga practice, rock on! If you are wishy-washy these days with your practice, plan more time for yoga in your schedule each week. If you are not practicing yoga, consider it!

The health and fitness benefits of yoga have long been reported by practitioners and are now being confirmed by scientific research. Give yoga a try and discover what it can do for your body, your mind, and your soul.

Top 10 Reasons to Try Yoga for Life!

1. Yoga for STRESS RELIEF: Yoga reduces the physical effects of stress on the body. By encouraging relaxation, yoga helps to lower the levels of the stress hormone cortisol. Related benefits include lowering blood pressure and heart rate, improving digestion and boosting the immune system as well as easing symptoms of conditions such as anxiety, depression, fatigue, asthma and insomnia.

2. Yoga for PAIN RELIEF: Yoga can ease pain. Studies have demonstrated that practicing yoga asanas (postures), meditation or a combination of the two, reduced pain for people with conditions such as cancer, multiple sclerosis, auto-immune diseases and hypertension as well as arthritis, back and neck pain and other chronic conditions. Some practitioners report that even emotional pain can be eased through the practice of yoga.

3. Yoga for BETTER BREATHING: Yoga teaches people to take slower, deeper breaths. This helps to improve lung function, trigger the body’s relaxation response and increase the amount of oxygen available to the body.

4. Yoga for FLEXIBILITY: Yoga helps to improve flexibility and mobility, increasing range of movement and reducing aches and pains. Many people can’t touch their toes during their first yoga class. Gradually they begin to use the correct muscles. Over time, the ligaments, tendons and muscles lengthen, increasing elasticity, making more poses possible. Yoga also helps to improve body alignment resulting in better posture and helping to relieve back, neck, joint and muscle problems.

5. Yoga for INCREASED STRENGTH: Yoga asanas (postures) use every muscle in the body, helping to increase strength literally from head to toe. And, while these postures strengthen the body, they also provide an additional benefit of helping to relieve muscular tension.

6. Yoga for WEIGHT MANAGEMENT: Yoga (even less vigorous styles) can aid weight control efforts by reducing the cortisol levels as well as by burning excess calories and reducing stress. Yoga also encourages healthy eating habits and provides a heightened sense of well being and self esteem.

7. Yoga for IMPROVED CIRCULATION: Yoga helps to improve circulation and, as a result of various poses, more efficiently moves oxygenated blood to the body’s cells.

8. Yoga for CARDIOVASCULAR CONDITIONING: Even gentle yoga practice can provide cardio-vascular benefits by lowering resting heart rate, increasing endurance and improving oxygen uptake during exercise.

9. Yoga for FOCUS ON THE PRESENT: Yoga helps us to focus on the present, to become more aware and to help create mind body health. It opens the way to improved concentration, coordination, reaction time and memory.

10. Yoga for INNER PEACE: The meditative aspects of yoga help many to reach a deeper, more spiritual and more satisfying place in their lives. Many who begin to practice for other reasons have reported this to be a key reason that yoga has become an essential part of their daily lives.

Adapted from www.yogadayusa.org

Keep it fresh!
- Lauren

Element III: Hormonal Balance

The third element is the balance between the hormone insulin and growth hormone. People with the highest levels of the growth hormone somatotrophin (STH) live the longest.

Insulin, produced in the pancreas, is secreted to regulate the rate at which the body utilizes carbohydrates. When we consume carbohydrates (sugars and starches), insulin is released to lower the level of sugar (glucose) in the blood. Insulin also promotes the use of glucose as an energy source for the body, promotes the storage of fat and encourages the conversion of proteins to fat for storage.

Produced in the pituitary gland, STH increases the rate of protein synthesis, affects the metabolism of sodium, potassium and calcium and influences the metabolism of carbohydrates. The purpose of STH is to convert the body's available energy into bone, muscle and tissue growth.

When we are young, our bodies have a low ratio of insulin to STH so we are healthier, leaner, full of energy-and growing. The insulin encourages the body to store carbohydrates as fat while STH stimulates the burning of that fat.

Due to age and inactivity, stored carbohydrates accumulate in the form of fat. Because we are now full-grown, the hypothalamus tells the pituitary gland to release less and less STH. This causes the pancreas to produce more insulin in order to maintain proper blood sugar levels. The visible result of this hormonal imbalance is weight gain. The chronic symptoms of this imbalance is hypoglycemia. If not corrected, diabetes is the end result.

There are no surgeries that can be performed nor drugs that can be taken to maintain optimal levels of both insulin and STH.

Element II: Acid/alkaline Balance

The second element is the acid/alkaline balance in the body. It is monitored by measuring the "pH (the symbol for hydrogen ion concentration)" which is regulated by the body's oxygen saturation level. The body must be slightly alkaline for its cells to be properly oxygenated.

The pH scale goes from zero to 14-zero being purely acid, 14 being purely alkaline and 7 being "neutral pH."
Without exception, people with cancer have a pH below 7.0, which means their tissues, their cells, are not being properly oxygenated. This condition is called "acidosis."

People with a body pH over 7.4 do not have cancer because their cells and tissues are being properly oxygenated.

Contrary to current medical information, cancer is the easiest of all degenerative diseases to understand and is readily reversible without dangerous drugs and surgeries.

The body is constantly regulating the replacement of worn out cells while creating new cells to repair tissue damage.

"Cancerous" is the term applied to cells that reproduce in an unregulated manner until they form a tissue mass, or "tumor."

In order to create a cancerous cell in the lab, technicians simply withhold oxygen from a healthy cell and it becomes cancerous within a few hours. Conversely, supplying the cancerous cell with more oxygen than was withheld from it causes that cancerous cell to die within a few hours.

An individual cell cannot be cured of cancer; once cancerous, the cell must be destroyed.

The natural way to accomplish the feat of destroying cancer cells is exposing them to oxygen. Increasing the amount of oxygen available to the cells is accomplished by elevating body pH through diet and exercise.

In cases where elevating body pH is critical, the most alkalinizing element known to man is cesium. Daily intake of cesium, with potassium, will quickly increase body pH. It has been demonstrated that cancerous cells cannot survive in a pH of 8.0.

Once cancerous cells have been destroyed, maintaining body pH at 7.4-7.5 will prevent cells from becoming cancerous.

There are no surgeries that can be performed nor drugs taken that will restore or maintain the body's acid/alkaline balance

Element I: The collagen matrix

The entire body is held together by connective tissue. Collagen is the strong, fibrous protein that serves as the building block for connective tissues-including skin, tendons, ligaments, eyes and arteries.

Collagen is like the glue that holds the body together. Collagen production is dependent upon ample supplies of ascorbates.

While most animals produce their own ascorbates from the food they eat, humans, guinea pigs, fruit bats and primates do not. Scientists believe that about 10,000 years ago humans could produce their own ascorbates.

Unless sufficient quantities of usable ascorbates are ingested daily, the collagen matrix becomes stiff and brittle: Skin wrinkles, backs ache, ligaments pull and the little sacs in the lungs get stiff-causing blood vessels and arteries to crack.

Also critical to the production of collagen are the amino acids lysine and proline. When our bodies do not have enough vitamin C, they cannot use the amino acids lysine and proline to make the proper cross links in the collagen. Like ascorbates, humans must obtain lysine from dietary sources. Our dietary intake is usually deficient in lysine. Proline can be produced by the body but usually in inadequate quantities. Lysine and proline are essential for proper collagen formation and to prevent cholesterol build-up in the form of plaque.

Symptoms caused by ascorbate deficiencies (and the body's subsequent inabilityto utilize lysine and proline) are traditionally referred to as "scurvy." The body can, for a time, manufacture enough lipoproteins from blood plasma to "patch" the vesicular/arterial cracks. The patch material is commonly called "plaque." As the plaque gets thicker, vessels and arteries can no longer flex and blood flow is restricted.

As a result, the resting heart rate increases. This condition is commonly diagnosed as "high blood pressure."

Over time, vessels and arteries can become so cracked and plaqued that people lose blood internally, eventually resulting in a heart attack.

High blood pressure, also known as hypoascorbemia, is advance warning that the host is preparing to become another heart disease statistic.

A diet rich in ascorbates can prevent scurvy and, to some extent, therapeutic doses of ascorbic acid (vitamin C) can reverse the deficiency and other chronic conditions created by a lack of vitamin C. But ascorbic acid is only one form of ascorbate and can cause digestive discomfort when therapeutic doses are administered.

Buffered mineral ascorbates (sodium ascorbate, calcium ascorbate and potassium ascorbate) can be taken daily in larger quantities without discomfort. The only substances capable of healing damaged vessels and arteries are ascorbates.

It should also be noted that the presence of buffered mineral ascorbates prevents and/or reverses the symptoms of high blood sugar, commonly referred to as "diabetes."

There are no surgical procedures to be performed nor drugs taken that will remove the plaque and heal cracked vessels and arteries.

Three Elements of Optimal Health

Our health relies on trillions of cells repeatedly performing billions of specialized functions. Though the processes and systems that animate our bodies are phenomenally complex, what the cells driving them need is simple-simple to understand and simple to provide. You are about to discover the three elements of optimal health-the collagen matrix, acid/alkaline balance and hormonal balance.

It is a well-established fact that the surest and safest defenses of the body against germs and diseases are normal blood and digestive juices and that a diminution in this bactericidal power means a 'run-down' condition of the person. It is an equally well established fact that the only sure and lasting defenses of the body against a run-down condition are good nutrition, hygiene, work and personal habits. A healthy body is self-immune. Devoting some study to the analysis and understanding of the body's means at self-immunization is fruitful of rewards. Much is known in the literature on this subject but little has been made practical. Physiologists know that normal blood and digestive juices possess chemical substances that are inimical to the life of our bacterial foes. If we can analyze the chemical changes in the blood and tissues which cause a person to get 'run down' and put him at the mercy of his bacterial foes, we surely can work out a normal beneficent method of increasing the blood's store of normal bactericidal substances. In living we produce body-acids and by eating we supply food-alkali. We are built up by foods that are made up of acid-forming and base-forming elements, and our metabolism is such that our blood is, so to speak, always on the verge of turning acid.

We are saved from that evil by the alkali in the blood and tissues which, of course, derive them from our foods. The body is a factory in which occurs an incessant mating and unmating of acid and alkaline substances. It is capable of health and survival only to the extent of understanding and heeding the mating and unmating of acid-forming and base-forming substances of the blood with the acid-forming and base-forming substances of foods. Normal alkalinity of the blood and tissues must be maintained through the foods, or disease appears. If the body is lacking in alkali it necessarily with holds from neutralization and elimination a certain amount of poisonous organic and mineral acids. We breathe air into the lungs to rob it of oxygen which is taken up by the arterial blood and carried to the tissues where the carbon is burned or oxidized. This burning of carbon yields carbonic acid, which then is returned by the venous blood to the lungs to be breathed out. The balance of the carbonic acid yielded by tissue-oxidation is neutralized in the tissues and eliminated mostly through the kidneys. The inevitable result of a retention of carbonic acid and its compounds beyond the normal quotient in the blood and tissues brings on that 'run down' which invites and underlies bacterial and other diseases. Carbonic acid and its compounds deplete the blood and tissues of their supply of alkali, and thus produce the abnormal changes which develop disease. This alkali-depleting activity is characteristic of all organic and mineral acids produced in the body. The blood and tissues are supplied through the foods with 'free' and 'fixed' bases or alkali. During the formative stage of any disease the first alkali to go are the free, and the last to go are the fixed, All tissues or organs do not yield their fixed alkali with the same ease.

The digestive cells, or the liver cells, or the brain cells may be the first to answer the blood's call for more alkali in some cases, whereas in others the kidneys or the lungs will be the first to give up their reserve of fixed alkali in order to control or check the disease. So there are really no fundamental differences between diseases. The difference is merely in the particular functional importance of the special organ or tissue subjected by the blood to the greatest drain of alkali. During the prodromal stage, say of pneumonia, there occurs an impoverishment of the patient's blood in alkali; then follows an impoverishment of the tissue-alkali more or less generally, but localizing itself more specifically in the lungs. This dilucidation of the etiology and modus operandi of diseases is accurate. It has the support of science and gives a well-defined significance to the cause and course of specific diseases. This interpretation also suggests the normal means for conferring immunity as well as for aborting and curing diseases through the alkali-bearing foods. The underlying cause of infectious diseases is, therefore, an alkali-depleted diet, and the underlying cause for failure to abort and cure infectious diseases in an alkali-depleted dietetic treatment. The evidence that this is correct is overwhelming. It has long been known that protein bases are essential components of the activated defense-yielding substances of foods, called vitamines. Foods are said to be 'nutritious' and 'non-nutritious,' according as they yield much or little nitrogenous, carbohydrate and fat substances. In keeping with this conception, foods were long ago divided into (1) Proteins, (2) Carbohydrates, (3) Fats. Fruits and green vegetables are not classified. The wonderful vitalizing acids and salts they yield are relegated to the "ash" column. Nevertheless, fruits and green vegetables yield to the blood more activating acids and bases than all nutritious foods together, and, moreover, yield them with little or no demand on digestion, absorption and assimilation. These particular acids and bases readily travel to the blood and are quickly utilized to build up and repair tissues, to promote immunity to and recovery from diseases.

All treatments must prove unsatisfactory or failures if (1) the oxygen-intake and (2) the alkali- yield are deficient.

Source: Advanced Health Plan - Autology

Reversing Chronic Disease

Most people believe that genetics or bad luck gave them diseases for which the only treatments are drugs and surgeries. As a result, organized medicine will sell an estimated two-trillion-dollars worth of drugs and surgeries in 2005.

Drugs and surgeries are obviously not the solution to our medical problems; each year more, not fewer people die slowly (and expensively) from pharmaceutically and surgically-treated diseases.

Drs. Otto Warburg and Linus Pauling were awarded Nobel Prizes for pioneering simple, inexpensive protocols to prevent or reverse chronic illnesses such as cancer and heart disease. They determined that chronic diseases develop in the presence of acidic/unoxygenated cells caused by bodily imbalances resulting from malnutrition. Simply giving the body the few nutrients it needs restores balance; oxygenation and alkalinization then follow so that real healing can begin.

The process is truly elemental. By learning how your body works and why it gets sick, you can then obtain the non-patentable vitamins, minerals, enzymes and amino acids known to reverse disease symptoms that may have otherwise been terminal.

Once you know how your body works, you can teach others how their bodies work. Whether they know it yet or not, they are depending on you.

People can now arm themselves for the future with the knowledge from the past.

Advanced Scientific Health Research

Reversing Chronic Disease is Elemental

Most people believe that genetics or bad luck gave them diseases for which the only treatments are drugs and surgeries. As a result, organized medicine will sell an estimated two-trillion-dollars worth of drugs and surgeries in 2005.

Drugs and surgeries are obviously not the solution to our medical problems; each year more, not fewer people die slowly (and expensively) from pharmaceutically and surgically-treated diseases.

Drs. Otto Warburg and Linus Pauling were awarded Nobel Prizes for pioneering simple, inexpensive protocols to prevent or reverse chronic illnesses such as cancer and heart disease. They determined that chronic diseases develop in the presence of acidic/unoxygenated cells caused by bodily imbalances resulting from malnutrition. Simply giving the body the few nutrients it needs restores balance; oxygenation and alkalinization then follow so that real healing can begin.

The process is truly elemental. By learning how your body works and why it gets sick, you can then obtain the non-patentable vitamins, minerals, enzymes and amino acids known to reverse disease symptoms that may have otherwise been terminal.

Once you know how your body works, you can teach others how their bodies work. Whether they know it yet or not, they are depending on you.

Element III: Hormonal Balance

The third element is the balance between the hormone insulin and growth hormone. People with the highest levels of the growth hormone somatotrophin (STH) live the longest.

Insulin, produced in the pancreas, is secreted to regulate the rate at which the body utilizes carbohydrates. When we consume carbohydrates (sugars and starches), insulin is released to lower the level of sugar (glucose) in the blood. Insulin also promotes the use of glucose as an energy source for the body, promotes the storage of fat and encourages the conversion of proteins to fat for storage.

Produced in the pituitary gland, STH increases the rate of protein synthesis, affects the metabolism of sodium, potassium and calcium and influences the metabolism of carbohydrates. The purpose of STH is to convert the body's available energy into bone, muscle and tissue growth.

When we are young, our bodies have a low ratio of insulin to STH so we are healthier, leaner, full of energy-and growing. The insulin encourages the body to store carbohydrates as fat while STH stimulates the burning of that fat.

Due to age and inactivity, stored carbohydrates accumulate in the form of fat. Because we are now full-grown, the hypothalamus tells the pituitary gland to release less and less STH. This causes the pancreas to produce more insulin in order to maintain proper blood sugar levels. The visible result of this hormonal imbalance is weight gain. The chronic symptoms of this imbalance is hypoglycemia. If not corrected, diabetes is the end result.

There are no surgeries that can be performed nor drugs that can be taken to maintain optimal levels of both insulin and STH.

Source: Advanced Scientific Health Research

Element II: Acid/alkaline balance

The second element is the acid/alkaline balance in the body. It is monitored by measuring the "pH (the symbol for hydrogen ion concentration)" which is regulated by the body's oxygen saturation level. The body must be slightly alkaline for its cells to be properly oxygenated.

The pH scale goes from zero to 14-zero being purely acid, 14 being purely alkaline and 7 being "neutral pH."
Without exception, people with cancer have a pH below 7.0, which means their tissues, their cells, are not being properly oxygenated. This condition is called "acidosis."

People with a body pH over 7.4 do not have cancer because their cells and tissues are being properly oxygenated.

Contrary to current medical information, cancer is the easiest of all degenerative diseases to understand and is readily reversible without dangerous drugs and surgeries.

The body is constantly regulating the replacement of worn out cells while creating new cells to repair tissue damage.

"Cancerous" is the term applied to cells that reproduce in an unregulated manner until they form a tissue mass, or "tumor."

In order to create a cancerous cell in the lab, technicians simply withhold oxygen from a healthy cell and it becomes cancerous within a few hours. Conversely, supplying the cancerous cell with more oxygen than was withheld from it causes that cancerous cell to die within a few hours.

An individual cell cannot be cured of cancer; once cancerous, the cell must be destroyed.

The natural way to accomplish the feat of destroying cancer cells is exposing them to oxygen. Increasing the amount of oxygen available to the cells is accomplished by elevating body pH through diet and exercise.

In cases where elevating body pH is critical, the most alkalinizing element known to man is cesium. Daily intake of cesium, with potassium, will quickly increase body pH. It has been demonstrated that cancerous cells cannot survive in a pH of 8.0.

Once cancerous cells have been destroyed, maintaining body pH at 7.4-7.5 will prevent cells from becoming cancerous.

There are no surgeries that can be performed nor drugs taken that will restore or maintain the body's acid/alkaline balance

Source: Advanced Scientific Health ASH

Element I: The collagen matrix

The entire body is held together by connective tissue. Collagen is the strong, fibrous protein that serves as the building block for connective tissues-including skin, tendons, ligaments, eyes and arteries.

Collagen is like the glue that holds the body together. Collagen production is dependent upon ample supplies of ascorbates.

While most animals produce their own ascorbates from the food they eat, humans, guinea pigs, fruit bats and primates do not. Scientists believe that about 10,000 years ago humans could produce their own ascorbates.

Unless sufficient quantities of usable ascorbates are ingested daily, the collagen matrix becomes stiff and brittle: Skin wrinkles, backs ache, ligaments pull and the little sacs in the lungs get stiff-causing blood vessels and arteries to crack.

Also critical to the production of collagen are the amino acids lysine and proline. When our bodies do not have enough vitamin C, they cannot use the amino acids lysine and proline to make the proper cross links in the collagen. Like ascorbates, humans must obtain lysine from dietary sources. Our dietary intake is usually deficient in lysine. Proline can be produced by the body but usually in inadequate quantities. Lysine and proline are essential for proper collagen formation and to prevent cholesterol build-up in the form of plaque.

Symptoms caused by ascorbate deficiencies (and the body's subsequent inabilityto utilize lysine and proline) are traditionally referred to as "scurvy." The body can, for a time, manufacture enough lipoproteins from blood plasma to "patch" the vesicular/arterial cracks. The patch material is commonly called "plaque." As the plaque gets thicker, vessels and arteries can no longer flex and blood flow is restricted.

As a result, the resting heart rate increases. This condition is commonly diagnosed as "high blood pressure."

Over time, vessels and arteries can become so cracked and plaqued that people lose blood internally, eventually resulting in a heart attack.

High blood pressure, also known as hypoascorbemia, is advance warning that the host is preparing to become another heart disease statistic.

A diet rich in ascorbates can prevent scurvy and, to some extent, therapeutic doses of ascorbic acid (vitamin C) can reverse the deficiency and other chronic conditions created by a lack of vitamin C. But ascorbic acid is only one form of ascorbate and can cause digestive discomfort when therapeutic doses are administered.

Buffered mineral ascorbates (sodium ascorbate, calcium ascorbate and potassium ascorbate) can be taken daily in larger quantities without discomfort. The only substances capable of healing damaged vessels and arteries are ascorbates.

It should also be noted that the presence of buffered mineral ascorbates prevents and/or reverses the symptoms of high blood sugar, commonly referred to as "diabetes."

There are no surgical procedures to be performed nor drugs taken that will remove the plaque and heal cracked vessels and arteries.

Learn MoRE from the Advanced Health Plan

Eating fish whole: Sardines

Different parts of a fish have different types of nutrients that are important for our health; this includes bones and organs. Therefore it makes sense to consume the fish whole, not just filets made from it. This is easier to do with small than big fish.

Small fish have the added advantage that they have very low concentrations of metals, compared to large fish. The reason for this is that small fish are usually low in the food chain, typically feeding mostly on plankton, especially algae. Large carnivorous fish tend to accumulate metals in their body, and their consumption over time may lead to the accumulation of toxic levels of metals in our bodies.

One of my favorite types of small fish is the sardine. The photo below is of a dish of sardines and vegetables that I prepared recently. Another small fish favorite is the smelt (see this post). I buy wild-caught sardines regularly at the supermarket.

Sardines are very affordable, and typically available throughout the year. In fact, sardines usually sell for the lowest price among all fish in my supermarket; lower even than tilapia and catfish. I generally avoid tilapia and catfish because they are often farmed (tilapia, almost always), and have a poor omega-6 to omega-3 ratio. Sardines are rich in omega-3, which they obtain from algae. They have approximately 14 times more omega-3 than omega-6 fatty acids. This is an excellent ratio, enough to make up for the poorer ratio of some other foods consumed on a day.

This link gives a nutritional breakdown of canned sardines; possibly wild, since they are listed as Pacific sardines. (Fish listed as Atlantic are often farm-raised.) The wild sardines that I buy and eat probably have a higher vitamin and mineral content that the ones the link refers to, including higher calcium content, because they are not canned or processed in any way. Two sardines should amount to a little more than 100 g; of which about 1.6 g will be the omega-3 content. This is a pretty good amount of omega-3, second only to a few other fish, like wild-caught salmon.

Below is a simple recipe. I used it to prepare the sardines shown on the photo above.

- Steam cook the sardines for 1 hour.
- Spread the steam cooked sardines on a sheet pan covered with aluminum foil; use light olive oil to prevent the sardines from sticking to the foil.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Season the steam cooked sardines to taste; I suggest using a small amount of salt, and some chili powder, garlic powder, cayenne pepper, and herbs.
- Bake the sardines for 30 minutes, turn the oven off, and leave them there for 1 hour.

The veggies on the plate are a mix of the following: sweet potato, carrot, celery, zucchini, asparagus, cabbage, and onion. I usually add spinach but I had none around today. They were cooked in a covered frying pan, with olive oil and a little bit of water, in low heat. The cabbage and onion pieces were added to the mix last, so that in the end they had the same consistency as the other veggies.

I do not clean, or gut, my sardines. Normally I just wash them in water, as they come from the supermarket, and immediately start cooking them. Also, I eat them whole, including the head and tail. Since they feed primarily on plant matter, and have a very small digestive tract, there is not much to be “cleaned” off of them anyway. In this sense, they are like smelts and other small fish.

For about a year now I have been eating them like that; and so have my family (wife and 4 kids), of their own volition. Other than some initial ew’s, nobody has ever had even a hint of a digestive problem as a result of eating the sardines like I do. Maybe the Kock family members share a common crocodile-like digestive system, but I think most people will do fine following the same approach. This is very likely the way most of our hominid ancestors ate small fish.

If you prepare the sardines as above, they will be ready to store, or eat somewhat cold. There are several variations of this recipe. For example, you can bake the sardines for 40 minutes, and then serve them hot.

You can also add the stored sardines later to a soup, lightly steam them in a frying pan (with a small amount of water), or sauté them for a meal. For the latter I would recommend using coconut oil and low heat. Butter can also be used, which will give the sardines a slightly different taste.

The Body Fat Setpoint, Part III: Dietary Causes of Obesity

What Caused the Setpoint to Change?

We have two criteria to narrow our search for the cause of modern fat gain:

1. It has to be new to the human environment
   
2. It has to cause leptin resistance or otherwise disturb the setpoint
   

Although I believe that exercise is part of a healthy lifestyle, it probably can't explain the increase in fat mass in modern nations. I've written about that here and here. There are various other possible explanations, such as industrial pollutants, a lack of sleep and psychological stress, which may play a role. But I feel that diet is likely to be the primary cause. When you're drinking 20 oz Cokes, bisphenol-A contamination is the least of your worries.

In the last post, I described two mechanisms that may contribute to elevating the body fat set point by causing leptin resistance: inflammation in the hypothalamus, and impaired leptin transport into the brain due to elevated triglycerides. After more reading and discussing it with my mentor, I've decided that the triglyceride hypothesis is on shaky ground*. Nevertheless, it is consistent with certain observations:

• Fibrate drugs that lower triglycerides can lower fat mass in rodents and humans
  
• Low-carbohydrate diets are effective for fat loss and lower triglycerides
• Fructose can cause leptin resistance in rodents and it elevates triglycerides (1)
• Fish oil reduces triglycerides. Some but not all studies have shown that fish oil aids fat loss (2)
  

Inflammation in the hypothalamus, with accompanying resistance to leptin signaling, has been reported in a number of animal studies of diet-induced obesity. I feel it's likely to occur in humans as well, although the dietary causes are probably different for humans. The hypothalamus is the primary site where leptin acts to regulate fat mass (3). Importantly, preventing inflammation in the brain prevents leptin resistance and obesity in diet-induced obese mice (3.1). The hypothalamus is likely to be the most important site of action. Research is underway on this.

The Role of Digestive Health

What causes inflammation in the hypothalamus? One of the most interesting hypotheses is that increased intestinal permeability allows inflammatory substances to cross into the circulation from the gut, irritating a number of tissues including the hypothalamus.

Dr. Remy Burcelin and his group have spearheaded this research. They've shown that high-fat diets cause obesity in mice, and that they also increase the level of an inflammatory substance called lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in the blood. LPS is produced by gram-negative bacteria in the gut and is one of the main factors that activates the immune system during an infection. Antibiotics that kill gram-negative bacteria in the gut prevent the negative consequences of high-fat feeding in mice.

Burcelin's group showed that infusing LPS into mice on a low-fat chow diet causes them to become obese and insulin resistant just like high-fat fed mice (4). Furthermore, adding 10% of the soluble fiber oligofructose to the high-fat diet prevented the increase in intestinal permeability and also largely prevented the body fat gain and insulin resistance from high-fat feeding (5). Oligofructose is food for friendly gut bacteria and ends up being converted to butyrate and other short-chain fatty acids in the colon. This results in lower intestinal permeability to toxins such as LPS. This is particularly interesting because oligofructose supplements cause fat loss in humans (6).

A recent study showed that blood LPS levels are correlated with body fat, elevated cholesterol and triglycerides, and insulin resistance in humans (7). However, a separate study didn't come to the same conclusion (8). The discrepancy may be due to the fact that LPS isn't the only inflammatory substance to cross the gut lining-- other substances may also be involved. Anything in the blood that shouldn't be there is potentially inflammatory.

Overall, I think gut dysfunction probably plays a major role in obesity and other modern metabolic problems. Insufficient dietary fiber, micronutrient deficiencies, excessive gut irritating substances such as gluten, abnormal bacterial growth due to refined carbohydrates (particularly sugar), and omega-6:3 imbalance may all contribute to abnormal gut bacteria and increased gut permeability.

The Role of Fatty Acids and Micronutrients

Any time a disease involves inflammation, the first thing that comes to my mind is the balance between omega-6 and omega-3 fats. The modern Western diet is heavily weighted toward omega-6, which are the precursors to some very inflammatory substances (as well as a few that are anti-inflammatory). These substances are essential for health in the correct amounts, but they need to be balanced with omega-3 to prevent excessive and uncontrolled inflammatory responses. Animal models have repeatedly shown that omega-3 deficiency contributes to the fat gain and insulin resistance they develop when fed high-fat diets (9, 10, 11).

As a matter of fact, most of the papers claiming "saturated fat causes this or that in rodents" are actually studying omega-3 deficiency. The "saturated fats" that are typically used in high-fat rodent diets are refined fats from conventionally raised animals, which are very low in omega-3. If you add a bit of omega-3 to these diets, suddenly they don't cause the same metabolic problems, and are generally superior to refined seed oils, even in rodents (12, 13).

I believe that micronutrient deficiency also plays a role. Inadequate vitamin and mineral status can contribute to inflammation and weight gain. Obese people typically show deficiencies in several vitamins and minerals. The problem is that we don't know whether the deficiencies caused the obesity or vice versa. Refined carbohydrates and refined oils are the worst offenders because they're almost completely devoid of micronutrients.

Vitamin D in particular plays an important role in immune responses (including inflammation), and also appears to influence body fat mass. Vitamin D status is associated with body fat and insulin sensitivity in humans (14, 15, 16). More convincingly, genetic differences in the vitamin D receptor gene are also associated with body fat mass (17, 18), and vitamin D intake predicts future fat gain (19).

Exiting the Niche

I believe that we have strayed too far from our species' ecological niche, and our health is suffering. One manifestation of that is body fat gain. Many factors probably contribute, but I believe that diet is the most important. A diet heavy in nutrient-poor refined carbohydrates and industrial omega-6 oils, high in gut irritating substances such as gluten and sugar, and a lack of direct sunlight, have caused us to lose the robust digestion and good micronutrient status that characterized our distant ancestors. I believe that one consequence has been the dysregulation of the system that maintains the fat mass "setpoint". This has resulted in an increase in body fat in 20th century affluent nations, and other cultures eating our industrial food products.

In the next post, I'll discuss my thoughts on how to reset the body fat setpoint.


* The ratio of leptin in the serum to leptin in the brain is diminished in obesity, but given that serum leptin is very high in the obese, the absolute level of leptin in the brain is typically not lower than a lean person. Leptin is transported into the brain by a transport mechanism that saturates when serum leptin is not that much higher than the normal level for a lean person. Therefore, the fact that the ratio of serum to brain leptin is higher in the obese does not necessarily reflect a defect in transport, but rather the fact that the mechanism that transports leptin is already at full capacity.

Randomly Quirky Friday Friend Shout Out

So I am not going to lie, life has been damn busy!!!! Jill is making nutritional waves in Rwanda, Lauren is breaking ground in corporate wellness and I am immersing myself in all things yoga, fertility and pre and post-natal health. It has been a challenge with the three of us so very busy and on different continents taboot! Blogging here is that little piece of wonderful that makes all the craziness worth it. And the three of us know that by pooling our knowledge and resources together we will actively create greater change in people's health and wellness. And that dear readers, is the best high of all!!

So, today's blog post isn't the typical Friday Friends Shout Out. I just really wanted to give a shout out to all of our readers. It makes us feel fabulous to know that someone is reading our blog! And who doesn't love feeling fabulous!!! We love answering all your questions, reading all your comments and it brings a huge smile to our faces to know that we're being read!

So thank you readers for reading and making us feel fabulous!!

Keep it Fresh!
~Terra
3HC

Applied evolutionary thinking: Darwin meets Washington

Charles Darwin, perhaps one of the greatest scholars of all time, thought about his theory of mutation, inheritance, and selection of biological traits for more than 20 years, and finally published it as a book in 1859.  At that time, many animal breeders must have said something like this: “So what? We knew this already.”

In fact George Washington, who died in 1799 (many years before Darwin’s famous book came out), had tried his hand at what today would be called “genetic engineering.” He produced at least a few notable breeds of domestic animals through selective breeding. Those include a breed of giant mules – the “Mammoth Jackstock” breed. Those mules are so big and strong that they were used to pull large boats filled with coal along artificial canals in Pennsylvania.

Washington learned the basic principles of animal breeding from others, who learned it from others, and so on. Animal breeding has a long tradition.

So, not only did animal breeders, like George Washington, had known about the principles of mutation, inheritance, and selection of biological traits; but they also had been putting that knowledge into practice for quite some time before Darwin’s famous book “The Origin of Species” was published.

Yet, Darwin’s theory has applications that extend well beyond animal breeding. There are thousands of phenomena that would look very “mysterious” today without Darwin’s theory. Many of those phenomena apply to nutrition and lifestyle, as we have been seeing lately with the paleo diet movement. Among the most amazing and counterintuitive are those in connection with the design of our brain.

Recent research, for instance, suggests that “surprise” improves cognition. Let me illustrate this with a simple example. If you were studying a subject online that required memorization of key pieces of information (say, historical facts) and a surprise stimulus was “thrown” at you (say, a video clip of an attacking rattlesnake was shown on the screen), you would remember the key pieces of information (about historical facts) much better than if the surprise stimulus was not present!

The underlying Darwinian reason for this phenomenon is that it is adaptively advantageous for our brain to enhance our memory in dangerous situations (e.g., an attack by a poisonous snake), because that would help us avoid those situations in the future (Kock et al., 2008; references listed at the end of this post). Related mental mechanisms increased our ancestors’ chances of survival over many generations, and became embedded in our brain’s design.

Animal breeders knew that they could apply selection, via selective breeding, to any population of animals, and thus make certain traits evolve in a matter of a few dozen generations or less. This is known as artificial selection. Among those traits were metabolic traits. For example, a population of lambs may be bred to grow fatter on the same amount of food as leaner breeds.

Forced natural selection may have been imposed on some of our ancestors, as I argue in this post, leading metabolic traits to evolve in as little as 396 years, or even less, depending on the circumstances.

In a sense, forced selection would be a bit like artificial selection. If a group of our ancestors became geographically isolated from others, in an environment where only certain types of food were available, physiological and metabolic adaptations to those types of food might evolve. This is also true for the adoption of cultural practices; culture can also strongly influence evolution (see, e.g., McElreath & Boyd, 2007).

This is why it is arguably a good idea for people to look at their background (i.e., learn about their ancestors), because they may have inherited genes that predispose them to function better with certain types of diets and lifestyles. That can help them better tailor their diets to their genetic makeup, and also understand why certain diets work for some people but not for others. (This is essentially what medical doctors do, on a smaller time scale, when they take a patients' parents health history into consideration when dispensing medical advice.)

By ancestors I am not talking about Homo erectus here, but ancestors that lived 3,000; 1,000; or even 500 years ago. At times when medical care and other modern amenities were not available, and thus selection pressures were stronger. For example, if your no-so-distant ancestors have consumed plenty of dairy, chances are you are better adapted to consume dairy than people whose ancestors have not.

Very recent food inventions, like refined carbohydrates, refined sugars, and hydrogenated fats are too new to have influenced the genetic makeup of anybody living today. So, chances are, they are bad for the vast majority of us. (A small percentage of the population may not develop any hint of diseases of civilization after consuming them for years, but they are not going to be as healthy as they could be.) Other, not so recent, food inventions, such as olive oil, certain types of bread, certain types of dairy, may be better for some people than for others.

References:

Kock, N., Chatelain-Jardón, R., & Carmona, J. (2008). An experimental study of simulated web-based threats and their impact on knowledge communication effectiveness. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication, 51(2), 183-197.

McElreath, R., & Boyd, R. (2007). Mathematical models of social evolution: A guide for the perplexed. Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press.