There are three major hidden reasons that wheat products, not just gluten (along with sugar in all its forms) is a major contributor to obesity, diabetes, heart disease, cancer, dementia, depression and so many other modern ills.
There are three major hidden reasons that wheat products, not just gluten (along with sugar in all its forms) is a major contributor to obesity, diabetes, heart disease, cancer, dementia, depression and so many other modern ills.
This is why there are now 30 % more obese than undernourished in the world, and why chronic lifestyle and dietary driven disease kills more than twice as many people as infectious disease globally.
Sadly, this tsunami of chronic illness is increasingly caused by eating our beloved diet staple, bread, the staff of life, and all the wheat products hidden in everything from soups to vodka to lipstick to envelope adhesive.
“You can’t go sailing” the irritated dermatologist exclaimed, “you have stage four cancer, you are dying! Do you not understand!” This was the start of a journey, which resulted in being tumour free. This is our story and how we did it.
This journey was the basis of Meme Grant’s book. How We Beat Cancer: The Natural Way
There’s an answer to the current terrible health trends of skyrocketing obesity, diabetes and chronic disease rates.It all starts with the nutritional composition of your diet. Most people simply eat far too many processed foods, grains and sugars, (particularly fructose), net carbs and too few healthy fats, and too many unhealthy fats, which results in gaining and retaining extra body fat and becoming increasingly insulin resistant.
Most also eat too much protein for optimal health and, while exercise cannot compensate for the damage done by a high-carb, low-fat diet, most do not get enough physical movement either. These factors set in motion metabolic and biological cascades that deteriorate your health.
The Root Cause of Most Degenerative Conditions:A foundational cause of most degenerative diseases is the fact that your mitochondria, the little powerhouses located in most of your body’s cells, are not receiving sufficient amounts of proper fuel. As a result, your mitochondria start to deteriorate and malfunction. This dysfunction lays the groundwork for subsequent breakdowns of various bodily systems.
Your mitochondria generate the vast majority of the energy (adenosine triphosphate or ATP) in your body. Were all mitochondria to fail, you’d be dead in seconds.
In addition to generating the energy currency of your body, ATP, your mitochondria are also responsible for apoptosis (programmed cell death), and serve as important signalling molecules that help regulate the expression of your genes. This is a function that even most doctors are unaware of. Your mitochondria are nourished by certain nutrients and harmed by others.
So, a healthy diet is a diet that supports mitochondrial function and prevents dysfunction, and having the metabolic flexibility to burn fat is the key. People who eat a primarily processed food diet are burning carbohydrates as their primary fuel, which has the devastating effect of shutting down your body’s ability to burn fat. This is why obesity is so prevalent, and why so many find it nearly impossible to lose weight and keep it off.
Fats Versus Carbs:Ideally you will have the metabolic flexibility to burn either carbs or fats for fuel. Saturated fats have been wrongly demonized as being harmful, and when food manufacturers started removing the fats from their processed foods, they added sugar instead. We now know healthy dietary fats support good health.
When your body burns primarily carbs for fuel, excessive reactive oxygen species (ROS) and secondary free radicals are created, which damage cellular mitochondrial membranes and DNA, leading to the degenerative diseases that are so prevalent today. Healthy dietary fats, which are a cleaner-burning fuel, create far fewer ROS and free radicals. Fats are also critical for the health of cellular membranes and many other biological functions.
Metabolic Mitochondrial Therapy – Fat and Carb Basics:Dr. Mercola developed the metabolic mitochondrial therapy (MMT). The initial phase of the MMT program – which ends once your body is able to effectively burn fat for fuel – can take anywhere from weeks to months or longer, depending on how metabolically damaged you are.
The initial strategy of this program is the restriction of net carbohydrates (total carbs minus fiber) to 20 to 50 grams per day, but only until you start burning fat for fuel. To replace the lost carbs, you increase healthy fats, so that you’re getting anywhere from 50 to 85 percent of your daily calories from fat.
Examples of high-quality healthy fats include:• Avocados• Coconuts and coconut oil (excellent for cooking as it can withstand higher temperatures without oxidizing)• Animal-based omega-3 fat from fatty fish low in mercury like wild-caught Alaskan salmon, sardines, anchovies and/or krill oil• Butter made from raw grass fed organic milk• Raw nuts (macadamia and pecans are ideal as they’re high in healthy fat while being low in protein)• Seeds like black sesame, cumin, pumpkin and hemp seeds• Olives and olive oil (make sure it’s third party certified, as 80 percent of olive oils are adulterated with vegetable oils)• Grass fed (pastured) preferably organic and humanely raised meats. Avoid CAFO (concentrated animal feeding operation) animal products• MCT oil• Ghee (clarified butter), lard and tallow (excellent for cooking)• Raw cacao butter• Organic, pastured egg yolks
Fats to avoid include trans fats and highly refined polyunsaturated vegetable oils. Both damage the mitochondria.Raising the amount of fat and decreasing net carbs is what pushes your body into burning fat for fuel. Eating high amounts of both fat and net carbs will NOT allow your body to make this shift, as your body will use whatever sugar is available first.
Metabolic Mitochondrial Therapy — Protein Basics:A general recommendation is to limit your protein to one-half gram of protein per pound (1 gram per kilo) of lean body mass. To determine your lean body mass, subtract your body fat percentage from 100.
For example, if you have 30 percent body fat, then you have 70 percent lean body mass. Then multiply that percentage (in this case, 0.7) by your current weight to get your lean body mass in pounds or kilos. As an example, if you weigh 170 pounds, 0.7 multiplied by 170 equals 119 pounds of lean body mass. Using the “half-gram of protein” rule, you daily protein requirement would be 59.5 or just under 60 grams.
To figure out your body fat refer to this Blog Post Loosing Weight? Here Are A Few Ways To Measure Your Progress https://2healthyhabits.wordpress.com/2021/02/19/loosing-weight-here-are-a-few-ways-to-measure-your-progress/Here is an example:Formula: Women: 76 – (20 x height in inches/waist circumference in inches) = RFMTo calculate, first (20 x 64in tall) = 1280, then divide that by her waist, we will use 27 inches = 1280/27 =47.4, subtract 76 = 28.59. This is this woman’s body fat. For men, subtract 64 instead of 76.
Certain individuals and life circumstances do raise your protein requirements. This includes seniors, pregnant women and those who are aggressively exercising (or competing). As a general rule, these individuals need about 25 percent more protein.
Why Limit Protein?The reason for limiting protein is because excessive protein has a stimulating effect on a very important biochemical signalling pathway called the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR), which has significant, adverse metabolic consequences. Importantly, this pathway plays a significant role in many cancers. It’s also a significant regulator of the aging process. When you reduce protein to just what your body needs, mTOR remains inhibited, which helps minimize your chances of cancer growth.
Excessive protein can also be converted into body fat and, through some pathways, sugar. So, net carb restriction normalizes the insulin pathway while protein restriction normalizes the mTOR pathway, both of which are important for optimal health. It’s well worth noting that cancer is just one expression of the same metabolic problem found in most other degenerative diseases. The same pathways are involved in most if not all of them.
Feast-Famine Cycling Basics:A crucial difference between MMT and most other ketogenic diets is something called feast-famine cycling. Continuously remaining in nutritional ketosis can actually cause counterproductive side effects, and is likely not optimally healthy in the long term. The ketogenic cycling is implemented once you’re out of the initial stage and your body has regained the ability to burn fat. At that point, you begin cycling in and out of nutritional ketosis by upping your carb and protein intake once or twice a week. After a day or two of “feasting,” you then cycle back into nutritional ketosis (the “fasting” stage) for the remainder of the week. By periodically pulsing higher carb intakes, consuming, say, 100 or 150 grams of carbs opposed to 20 to 50 grams per day, your ketone levels will dramatically increase and your blood sugar will drop.
Why is this pulsing so important? It goes back to the workings of insulin. The primary function of insulin is not merely to drive sugar into the cell but rather to suppress the production of glucose by your liver (hepatic gluconeogenesis). When you suppress insulin for too long, however, your liver starts making more glucose to make up for the deficit.
The result? Your blood sugar starts rising even if you’re not eating any sugar at all. In this situation, eating a high-carb meal will actually LOWER your blood sugar (because you activated insulin, which then suppresses glucose production in your liver). In the long term, this is not a healthy metabolic state, and cycling in and out of nutritional ketosis will prevent this from occurring.It is simply wrong to try and calculate composition of your meals, or calculate when you should eat and how much. These things need to be done instinctively, from the signals your body’s biology gives you, as your body has infinitely more wisdom about what it needs, than our mind and intelligence will ever calculate.
Getting Started:To be successful on this program, precision is important. You cannot guess when it comes to the amount of fat, net carbs and protein you eat. In the beginning, you have to measure and track them. To do this you need:• A kitchen scale to weigh food items• Measuring cups to measure food amounts• A nutrient tracker such as http://www.cronometer.com/mercolaBased on the personal base parameters you enter, such as height, weight, body fat percentage and waist circumference, it will automatically calculate the ideal ratios of net carbs, protein and healthy fats (including your omega-3 to omega-6 ratio) to put you into nutritional ketosis.
From a metabolic perspective, once you become an efficient fat burner, one of the most astonishing things that happens is that your food cravings disappear. No longer will sugar rule your world. It’s incredibly freeing for most people. Your energy level and mental clarity will also dramatically increase.
Source: Basic Introduction to Metabolic Mitochondrial Therapy
I invite you to Follow my Blog, Facebook or be added to my email distribution list. My focus is to maximize my physical performance and mental clarity, body composition, and most importantly overall health with a wholesome diet and exercise.
I will bring you compelling articles on Ketogenic and GAPS diets, the Super Slow High-Intensity Exercise Program and supplements.To follow my Blog, please click the Follow button to receive an email when the next posting is available. Hint: You may have to click the Accept and Close button before follow is available. I thrive on feedback. Please let me know you are interested in the content by clicking Like, Commenting or sending me a message or email about the Post.
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Disclaimer: The content of this email or Post is not intended for the treatment or prevention of disease, nor as a substitute for medical treatment, nor as an alternative to medical advice. Use of recommendations is at the choice and risk of the reader.
Do you have an excessive waist circumference, high triglycerides, low HDL, fatty plaques in your arteries, hypertension etc.?
Topics Addressed:
Current diet recommendations & unintended consequences
Insulin resistance = carbohydrate intolerance
Over-consumption of carbohydrate as a driver of chronic disease
Nutritional Ketosis as a potent therapy to restore metabolic health
Current diet recommendations & unintended consequences
The 2015 guidelines it demonized saturated fat and still promoting relatively high carbohydrate diets as a result we have an obesity and diabetes epidemic.
The diet heart hypothesis is if you over consume fat in particular saturated fat it raise your cholesterol and raise your heart disease.
The unintended consequences of this obsession with fat in this country and decreasing fat resulted in turn with an over consumption of carbohydrate. It’s this excessive amount of carbohydrate that people are eating that are leading to an alternative problem of metabolic syndrome or pre-diabetes which puts a lot of people on the fast path to developing type 2 diabetes which in turn increases risk for heart disease. The more carbs you eat the more you suppress your own body’s ability to access and utilize fat for fuel.
Following the guidelines has resulted in added sugars and a lot of processed starches and grains and cereals. That consumption is the primary cause of the obesity and diabetes epidemic, most non-commutable chronic disease and probably driving cancer too.
Dr. Volek is most interested in diabetes in part because of the statistics on diabetes and prediabetes published in JAMA in2016. It showed that one half of adults in the U.S. have pre-diabetes.
The general consensus among the healthcare industry and physicians is that diabetes is a chronic progressive disease that it can’t be reversed and that is not the case. It’s caused by over consumption of carbohydrate, it can be reversed by bringing carbohydrate down into an appropriate range, which for many diabetics means a ketogenic diet.
Metabolism: When we eat a typical meal that has carbohydrate in it, that meal may have easily a hundred grams of carbs in it. That is about ten times what we have in our blood. We only have one to two teaspoons of blood sugar and throughout our entire circulatory system. The body has ways to dispose of that glucose and if you’re processing that carb meal in a healthy way the majority of that glucose gets taken up into skeletal muscle through an insulin mediated process and it gets oxidized eventually. It may be temporarily stored as glycogen but we have a finite capacity to store glycogen.
Insulin resistance = carbohydrate intolerance
What happens if your insulin resistance though?The primary characteristic many tests are based on is insulin mediated glucose uptake into cells. If you can’t get the glucose into muscle where does it go? The only other pathway that glucose can be metabolized is into fat. That happens in the liver, so if you are insulin resistant the majority of carbohydrates that you’re consuming actually takes an alternative path where a greater proportion of it gets converted to saturated fat. It gets packaged into a VLDL particle and released into the blood. What you see in type 2 diabetes or pre-diabetes, you see not just higher triglycerides in the blood but if you look at the composition of those VLDL particles they’re enriched in saturated fatty acids. A lot of that gets de-saturated to a 16:1 or palmitoleic acid. That is highly associated with risk for diabetes and other chronic problems.
Over-consumption of carbohydrate as a driver of chronic disease
Most people are consuming carbohydrates above their tolerance. The result is metabolic syndrome. The signs are: excessive waist circumference, high triglycerides, low HDL, fatty plaques in the arteries, hypertension etc.
Please see the image of the insulin resistance continuum.
The insulin resistance is as a form of carbohydrate intolerance. It’s a continuum where people on the far end of the spectrum, that are carb tolerant, may be able to tolerate very low-fat high-carbohydrate diets and remain insulin sensitive and there’s other people at the other end of the continuum and a whole lot of people in between. It even changes over the lifespan, as we get older and enter into middle-age and beyond tolerate carbs less effectively so we’re more carb intolerant.
If you’re burning fat you don’t rely on insulin. Burning fatty acids and ketones are independent of insulin. It is a healthier fuel to be burning the vast majority of time. The more carbs you eat the more you inhibit fat burning and you become dependent carbs as your primary fuel source.
There is nothing comes close to a ketogenic diet in terms of enhancing the body’s ability to burn fat and ketones.
The body has developed this system to be able to maintain perfect inner organs fuel exchange in the context of low carbohydrate availability. The term I (Volek) like to use is keto-adaptation to describe this process of switching all the cellular machinery over to being able to accommodate fatty acid as the primary fuel and ketones.
There’s a lot of health benefits associated with keto-adaptation. Obesity, chronic diseases, neurological conditions and cancer are much easier to manage with the ketogenic diet. Type-2 diabetes can be reversed with the ketogenic diet.
What is the ketogenic diet?
See the slide of how it differs from other low carb diets.
It is low in carbohydrate. Carbohydrates are probably the primary macronutrient that drives ketosis but protein is also anti Ketogenic. A ketogenic diet is limited in carbs and protein. Fat doesn’t really factor in that much in terms of inducing ketosis so fat can be high it can be low it can be moderate depending on if weight loss or weight maintenances is desired. The Ketogenic diet is very tasty and very satiating.
What does the ketogenic diet look like in terms of macronutrients?
Please see the image of where calories come from.
Carbs are 5% up to 10% of your calories if you trying to loose weight. Make sure you are getting 10-15 grams of non-starchy vegetables, and one or two ounces and nuts will give another 5-10 grams and even some fruits such as berries, avocados or tomatoes. The limit of what induces ketosis is highly variable, diabetics need to be generally closer to 30 or 35 or 40 grams of carbs, whereas some athletes can have more. (One gram of carbs is 4 calories). It is best to measure ketones to know because there’s no magic number here that works for everyone.
Please see the image of Ketone levels.
The real key here is the numbers if you’re eating carbs above 50 grams of carbs for most people you’re likely not more than point to maybe point 1 millimolar in the blood. It might be a bit higher after an overnight fast.
Nutritional ketosis (very low-carb diet) ranges from1 up to 5 millimolar.
Working with your doctor, Type 1 diabetics may reduce the levels of insulin required.
When you’re in ketosis the brain can extract about two-thirds of its energy from ketones and is protected from low blood sugar.
Next week we will continue with point four Nutritional Ketosis as a potent therapy to restore metabolic health
Disclaimer: The content of this email or Post is not intended for the treatment or prevention of disease, nor as a substitute for medical treatment, nor as an alternative to medical advice. Use of recommendations is at the choice and risk of the reader.
I invite you to Follow my Blog, Facebook or be added to my email distribution list. My focus is to maximize my physical performance and mental clarity, body composition, and most importantly overall health with a wholesome diet and exercise.
I will bring you compelling articles on Ketogenic and GAPS diets, the Super Slow High-Intensity Exercise Program and supplements.
To follow my Blog, please click the Follow button to receive an email when the next posting is available. Hint: You may have to click the Accept and Close button before follow is available.
I thrive on feedback. Please let me know you are interested in the content by clicking Like, Commenting or sending me a message or email about the Post.
If you wish to contact me by Email, please email lpolstra@bell.net using this form.
Mounting research suggests nutritional ketosis is the answer to obesity, insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes, cancer, epilepsy, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, ALS, MS, autism, migraines, traumatic brain injuries, polycystic ovary syndrome and much more.
The underlying problem is metabolic dysfunction that develops as a result of consuming too many net carbohydrates (total carbs minus fiber) and/or protein. Sugars found in processed foods and grains are the primary culprits.
By eating a healthy high-fat, low-carbohydrate and low- to moderate-protein diet, you enter into what is known as nutritional ketosis: a state in which your body burns fat as its primary fuel rather than glucose (sugar).
Once you develop insulin and leptin resistance, it triggers biochemical cascades that not only make your body hold on to fat, but produce inflammation and cellular damage as well.
Other benefits include fewer hunger pangs, a dramatic drop in food cravings, helps you retain muscle mass and promotes longevity.
Hence, whether you’re struggling with weight and/or chronic health issues, the treatment is optimizing your metabolic and mitochondrial function. Your diet is key.
The primary reason that so many people are overweight and/or in poor health these days is that the Westernized diet is overloaded with non-fiber carbs as the primary fuel, which in turn inhibit your body’s ability to access and burn body fat.
High-quality fats are a far preferable fuel, as they are utilized far more efficiently than carbs.
How to Enter Into Nutritional Ketosis:
The most efficient way to train your body to use fat for fuel is to remove most of the sugars and starches from your diet, and replace those carbs with healthy fats.
A dietary intake of about 50 grams or less per day of net carbs while also keeping protein low-to-moderate is usually low enough to allow you to make the shift to burning fat (nutritional ketosis).
This is a generalization, as each person responds to foods in a different way. If you’re insulin resistant or have type 2 diabetes, may require less than 40 grams, or even as little as 30 grams per day, to get there.
Nutritional Ketosis Improves Your Brain Health:
Many times, improved cognition and mental acuity are among the first things people notice when entering nutritional ketosis.
Unlike blood glucose, blood ketones do not stimulate an insulin surge. They can even enter cells that have become insulin resistant. This is likely one of the reasons nutritional ketosis works so well for a variety of neurological problems and diseases.
Metabolic conditions (abdominal obesity, elevated triglycerides, low HDL cholesterol, high blood pressure and/or elevated fasting blood sugar) have shown improvement with nutritional ketosis.
Hormonal and Nervous System Disorders such as Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and multiple sclerosis (MS) are two conditions that appear to respond well to this switch in primary fuel.
Nutritional Ketosis May Be the Key to Cancer Prevention:
It is my (Dr. Mercola) belief, as well as that of many of the experts I have interviewed, that over 90 percent of cancer cases are either preventable or treatable. The key is recognizing that cancer is really a mitochondrial metabolic disease, rooted in poor diet choices combined with a toxic lifestyle. Mitochondrial dysfunction sets you up for developing any number of diseases.
The central premise is that since cancer cells need glucose and insulin to thrive, lowering the glucose level in your blood though carb and protein restriction literally starves the cancer cells. Additionally, low protein intake tends to dampen the mTOR pathway that is often responsible for accelerating cell proliferation.
The remedy lies in optimizing your mitochondrial function and correcting the metabolic dysfunctions of insulin and leptin resistance.
This image of the list of food on the Ketogenic Diet and foods to avoid is from the website https://lowcarbalpha.com
Disclaimer: The content of this email or Post is not intended for the treatment or prevention of disease, nor as a substitute for medical treatment, nor as an alternative to medical advice. Use of recommendations is at the choice and risk of the reader.
I invite you to Follow my Blog, Facebook or be added to my email distribution list. My focus is to maximize my physical performance and mental clarity, body composition, and most importantly overall health with a wholesome diet and exercise.
I will bring you compelling articles on Ketogenic and GAPS diets, the Super Slow High-Intensity Exercise Program and supplements.
To follow my Blog, please click the Follow button to receive an email when the next posting is available. Hint: You may have to click the Accept and Close button before follow is available.
I thrive on feedback. Please let me know you are interested in the content by clicking Like, Commenting or sending me a message or email about the Post.
If you wish to contact me by Email, please email lpolstra@bell.net using this form.
If you haven’t stopped using artificial sweeteners, please do so immediately!
The side effects simply aren’t worth it. They cause symptoms that range from headaches and migraines to weight gain and even more serious conditions like cardiovascular disease.
Artificial sweeteners retrain the taste buds to need more and more, sweeter and sweeter foods. This leads to even greater incidences of obesity, type 2 diabetes, kidney damage and so much more.
Holly Strawbridge, former editor of Harvard Health, points out that while FDA studies have “ruled out cancer risk” for non-nutritive sweeteners, all of the studies conducted were based on significantly smaller doses than the 24 to 50 ounces a day of diet soda commonly consumed. These portions have not been evaluated for their safety.
In addition, another study on the effects of artificial sweeteners on atherosclerosis found that daily consumption of drinks with artificial sweeteners creates a 35 percent greater risk of metabolic syndrome (conditions that occur together: increased blood pressure, high blood sugar, excess body fat around the waist, and abnormal cholesterol or triglyceride levels), and a 67 percent increased risk for type 2 diabetes. Atherosclerosis is when plaque builds up inside the arteries leading to strokes, heart attacks and even death.
There is additional evidence that links artificial sweeteners to the development of glucose intolerance and other metabolic conditions that result in higher than normal blood glucose levels.
A 2018 study published in Inflammatory Bowel Diseases also revealed that the artificial sugar, sucralose (otherwise known as Splenda) and maltodextrin, intensifies gut inflammation in mice that carry Crohn’s-like diseases. Specifically, the artificial sweetener increases the number of Proteobacteria – a microbe bacteria associated with E. coli, Salmonella and Legionellales – in the mice who carried a Chrohn’s-like disease.
Additionally, the ingestion of artificial sugar intensified myeloperoxidase (an enzyme in white blood cells) activity in individuals that have a form of inflammatory bowel disease. This study indicates that it may be practical to track Proteobacteria and myeloperoxidase in patients to adjust their diet and monitor the disease and gut health.
Partial List Of Where Dangerous Artificial Sweeteners Hide:
Toothpaste and mouthwash
Children’s chewable vitamins
Cough syrup and liquid medicines
Chewing gum
No-calorie waters and drinks
Alcoholic beverages
Salad dressings
Frozen yogurt and other frozen deserts
Candies
Baked goods
Yogurt
Breakfast cereals
Processed snack foods
“Lite” or diet fruit juices and beverages
Prepared meats
Nicotine gum
Please avoid these artificial sweeteners:
Aspartame – also marketed as NutraSweet, Equal, Sugar Twin and AminoSweet, Calcium cyclamate, Cyclamates, Saccharin, Sodium cyclamate, Sweetening agent.
It is currently used in more than 6,000 consumer food and beverage products, including Diet Coke and Diet Pepsi, sugar-free gum, candy, condiments and vitamins, and over 500 prescription drugs and over-the-counter medications.
According to a recent study published in the American Journal of Industrial Medicine aspartame has carcinogenic effects.
A recent study points to alarming news for women who consume artificial sweeteners during pregnancy or while breastfeeding. It appears that aspartame can predispose babies to metabolic syndrome disorders, and obesity, later in life.
Common side effects of aspartame include headaches, migraines, mood disorders, dizziness and episodes of mania. Comprising phenylalanine, aspartic acid and methanol, these substances can stay in the liver, kidneys and brain for quite some time.
Dozens of studies have linked aspartame to serious health problems, including cancer, cardiovascular disease, Alzheimer’s disease, seizures, stroke and dementia, as well as negative effects such as intestinal dysbiosis, mood disorders, headaches and migraines.
Sucralose (Splenda)
Sucralose, derived from sugar, was originally introduced as a natural sugar substitute. But it’s a chlorinated sucrose derivative. Chlorine is one of the most toxic chemicals.
At 600 times sweeter than sugar, it can contribute to an addiction for overly sweet foods and drinks. A medical study that found it could be linked to leukemia in mice.
A study published in the Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health found that cooking with sucralose at high temperatures can generate dangerous chloropropanols – a toxic class of compounds. Human and rodent studies demonstrate that it can be metabolized and have a toxic effect on the body.
Acesulfame K (ACE, ACE K, Sunette, Sweet One, Sweet ‘N Safe)
Composed of a potassium salt that contains methylene chloride, Acesulfame K is routinely found in sugar-free chewing gum, alcoholic beverages, candies and even sweetened yogurts. It’s often used in combination with aspartame and other noncaloric sweeteners. It found in highly processed foods and baked goods.
Long-term exposure to methylene chloride has been shown to cause nausea, mood problems, possibly some types of cancer, impaired liver and kidney function, problems with eyesight, and perhaps even autism.
Saccharin (Sweet ‘N Low)
Many studies link saccharin to serious health conditions. Sadly, it’s the primary sweetener for children’s medications, including chewable aspirin, cough syrup, and other over-the-counter and prescription medications. It’s believed that saccharin contributes to photosensitivity, nausea, digestive upset, tachycardia and some types of cancer.
Xylitol (Erythritol, Maltitol, Mannitol, Sorbitol and other sugar alcohols that end in –itol)
Sugar alcohols aren’t absorbed well by the body and cause an allergic reaction for those who have a sensitivity to it. In addition, it has gastrointestinal side effects that include bloating, gas, cramping and diarrhea. Its laxative effect is so pronounced that it’s actually part of the chemical makeup for many over-the-counter laxatives.
WebMD states: “Not enough is known about the use of xylitol during pregnancy and breast feeding. Stay on the safe side and avoid use.”
Special note to dog owners:
Sugar alcohol-based artificial sweeteners are a life-threatening toxin to dogs. Be mindful of breath mints, candies, sugar-free gum, frozen desserts and other foods when your pets are around.
Healthy Alternatives to Artificial Sweeteners:
Maple syrup, coconut sugar, stevia (safe as a fresh herb), fruit purees and raw honey are great, healthy substitutions. Start working to retrain your palette to enjoy the natural sweetness of foods.
Try adding other flavors like tangy, tart, warm and savory to please your palette. For example, vanilla, cocoa, licorice, nutmeg and cinnamon enhance the flavor of foods, so you need less sweetness.
When you crave a sweet drink, try homemade infused waters. Start sweetening your iced tea with honey, coconut sugar or even maple syrup for a twist.
America’s obesity epidemic continues to grow, and it coincides with an increase in the widespread use of non-nutritive artificial sweeteners including aspartame, sucralose, saccharin and sugar alcohols.
Research shows that artificial sweeteners don’t satiate you the way real foods do. Instead, you end up feeling less satisfied and more prone to eating and drinking more, resulting in weight gain, in addition to potentially suffering dangerous side effects associated with artificial sweeteners.
Everyone should avoid artificial sweeteners, but it’s particularly important for children and women who are pregnant or breastfeeding. The risk is simply too great.
I invite you to Follow my Blog, Facebook or be added to my email distribution list. My focus is to maximize my physical performance and mental clarity, body composition, and most importantly overall health with a wholesome diet and exercise.
I will bring you compelling articles on Ketogenic and GAPS diets, the Super Slow High-Intensity Exercise Program and supplements.
To follow my Blog, please click the Follow button to receive an email when the next posting is available. Hint: You may have to click the Accept and Close button before follow is available.
I thrive on feedback. Please let me know you are interested in the content by clicking Like, Commenting or sending me a message or email about the Post.
If you wish to contact me by Email, please email lpolstra@bell.net using this form.
Disclaimer: The content of this email or Post is not intended for the treatment or prevention of disease, nor as a substitute for medical treatment, nor as an alternative to medical advice. Use of recommendations is at the choice and risk of the reader.
It is Valentine’s Day. What a day for a post on sugar. Let us see what we can learn about sugar.
Dr. Robert Lustig, a professor of Clinical Pediatrics in the Division of Endocrinology in the University of California and a pioneer in decoding sugar metabolism, says that your body can safely metabolize at least six teaspoons (28.6 grams) of added sugar from natural and manufactured sources per day. It seems like a lot, but did you know that a 3” apple has 18.9 grams of sugar.
The average American consumes about 32 teaspoons of sugar per day. Sugar is in most processed foods and drinks. It is in your coffee or tea. It is in pastries, cakes and cookies, sprinkled it over your breakfast cereal or your oatmeal. It’s hidden in sodas, fruit juices, candies, ice cream and in almost all processed foods, including breads, meats, and condiments like Worcestershire sauce and ketchup.
The best way to ensure you’re not consuming excess added sugars is to get in the habit of always scanning the ingredient list. Ingredients are listed by quantity from high to low: the closer to the front of the list a form of sugar is, the more the product contains.
Just because you don’t see “sugar” on the ingredient list when scanning a nutrition label does not guarantee the item is sugar or sweetener-free. Sugar goes by a slew of different names, hiding how much sugar is in the product.
On the Nutrition label the carbohydrate count per serving size is given as total grams, and then broken down into carbs from fiber and sugar. Sugar should be zero as often as possible (1–2g at most).
The Most Common Names for Sugar:
Basic Simple Sugars (monosaccharides and disaccharides):
Here are some of the effects that excessive sugar intake has on your health:
Sugar is a primary dietary factor that drives obesity and chronic disease development.
Sugar causes weight gain, abdominal obesity, decreased HDL and increased LDL cholesterol levels, elevated blood sugar, elevated triglycerides, high blood pressure, Hypertension, Lipid problems, Heart disease, and Polycystic ovarian syndrome.
One of the most severe effects of eating too much sugar is its potential to damage your liver, leading to a condition known as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Your liver metabolizes alcohol the same way as sugar – as both serve as substrates for converting dietary carbohydrate into fat. This promotes insulin resistance, fatty liver and dyslipidemia (abnormal fat levels in your blood).
Fructose or high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS). It is found in most processed foods and drinks. HFCS is metabolized directly into fat.
Fructose causes superoxide free radicals to form, resulting in inflammation.
Fructose can directly and indirectly stimulate the brain’s “hedonic pathway” – creating habituation and dependence, the same way that alcohol does.
Sugar “feeds” the cancer cells, promoting cell division and speeding their growth, allowing the cancer to spread faster.
The metabolic theory of cancer holds sugar damages mitochondrial function and energy production, triggering cell mutations that are then fed by on going sugar consumption.
How to Manage or Limit Your Sugar Consumption
Your healthiest choice is to avoid or eliminate refined sugar from your diet by eating whole, organic foods, and carefully reading labels of any packaged foods you buy.
Avoid processed foods and beverages like soda. According to SugarScience.org, 74 % of processed foods contain added sugar stealthily hidden under different names. (See the list of names above.)
Severely limit your consumption of refined carbohydrates (waffles, cereals, bagels, bread, etc.) and grains, as they actually break down to sugar in your body, resulting in insulin resistance.
Keep your total fructose consumption below 25 grams per day, including that from whole fruit. Fruits are rich in nutrients and antioxidants, but they also naturally contain fructose.
Avoid artificial sweeteners like aspartame and sucralose.
Increase your consumption of healthy fats, such as omega-3, saturated and monounsaturated fats such as organic butter from raw milk, (unheated) virgin olive oil, coconut oil, raw nuts like pecans and macadamia, free-range eggs, avocado and wild Alaskan salmon.
Drink pure, clean water. The best way to gauge your water needs is to observe the color of your urine (it should be light pale yellow) and the frequency of your bathroom visits (ideally, this is around seven to eight times per day).
Add fermented foods to your meals, they provide detoxification support, which helps lessen the fructose burden on your liver. Some of the best choices include kimchi, natto, organic yogurt and kefir made from grass fed milk, and fermented vegetables.
Please see the original for the Footnotes and Citations for the scientific studies.
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High intakes of healthy fats – especially saturated fats – boost health and longevity. Those who got 35 percent of daily calories from healthy fats were 23 percent less likely to die than those who only got 10 percent of calories from fat.
People who got 77 percent of daily calories from carbohydrates were 28 percent more likely to die than those who got 46 percent of calories from carbs.
Other recent research shows a reduced-sugar diet can lower liver fat by more than 20 percent in just nine days.
Mitochondria – the tiny energy factories within your cells – generate adenosine triphosphate (ATP), the energy currency your body needs to run its systems. Your mitochondria are also responsible for apoptosis (programmed cell death), and serve as important signaling molecules that help regulate your genetic expression. Hence, the state of your mitochondria plays a key role in health and disease.
Once your mitochondria become damaged and dysfunctional, your energy reserves decrease, leading to a wide variety of symptoms, some of the most common being headache and fatigue, and leaving you increasingly vulnerable to degenerative diseases such as cancer, heart disease, diabetes and neurodegenerative decay.
Unfortunately, mitochondrial damage is more the norm than the exception these days, thanks to the prevalence of processed food diets, inactivity, lack of sun exposure and excessive exposure to toxins and non-native electromagnetic fields from cell phones, routers, cellular towers and more. All of these factors contribute to mitochondrial dysfunction. Fortunately, your body can regenerate and renew, regardless of your age – provided it has the proper fuel to do so.
A ketogenic diet – which is very low in net carbohydrates and high in healthy fats – is key for boosting mitochondrial function.
When your body is able to burn fat for fuel, your liver creates water-soluble fats called ketones that burn far more efficiently than carbs, thereby creating fewer reactive oxygen species (ROS) and secondary free radicals. Ketones also decrease inflammation, improve glucose metabolism and aid the building of muscle mass.
International Study Confirms Fat for Fuel Premise
The large-scale international study (known as the international Prospective Urban Rural Epidemiology, or PURE, study) reports thathigh intakes of healthy fats – especially saturated fats – boost health and longevity.
Its research team recorded the eating habits of 135,000 adults in 18 countries – and followed the participants’ health for more than seven years on average. Those with the highest intake of dietary fat (35 percent of daily calories) were 23 percent less likely to have diedduring the study period than those with the lowest fat intake (10 percent of calories).
The rates of various cardiovascular diseases were essentially the same across fat intake, while strokes were less common among those with a high fat intake. The participants with the highest carbohydrate intake (77 percent of daily calories) were 28 percent more likely to have diedthan those with the lowest carbohydrate intake (46 percent of calories).”
Low-Fructose Diet Significantly Reduces Liver Fat in Mere Days
Another recent study found a reduced-sugar diet lowered liver fat by more than 20 percent in just nine days. Processed fructose found in soda, fruit juices and processed food is a major contributor to nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).
The study clearly showed that sugar is turned into fat, which may explain the epidemic of fatty liver in children consuming soda and food with added sugar. The study found that fatty liver is reversed by removing added fructose from our diet.
NAFLD raises your risk for Type 2 diabetes. A high-fat, low-carb diet has been shown to improve both blood sugar levels and blood lipids.
Dr. Robert Lustig (who investigated the role of fructose in disease for many years) commented on the results, saying, “Many people think that fructose provides empty calories. But no, they are toxic calories because they are metabolized onlyin the liver, and the liver turns the excess into fat.”
American Heart Association Has It All Wrong
In June 2017, the American Heart Association (AHA) shocked health conscious individuals around the world by declaring coconut oil dangerous.
However, the AHA had carefully cherry-picked outdated data from the 1960s and early 1970s. Moreover, none of these four studies actually involved coconut oil, which means the AHA is flat out making false claims when it’s identifying coconut oil as a dangerous fat.
Nutritional science has made significant strides since the ’70s, and many recent studies have repeatedly refuted the idea that high-fat diets promote heart disease.
Why Is the AHA Clinging to Outdated Science?
As noted by Nina Teicholz, an investigative journalist and author of “The Big Fat Surprise: Why Butter, Meat, and Cheese Belong in a Healthy Diet:”
“To me, the AHA advisory released in June (2017) was mystifying. How could its scientists examine the same studies as I had, yet double down on an anti-saturated fat position? With a cardiologist, I went through the nuts and bolts of the AHA paper, and came to this conclusion: It was likely driven less by sound science than by longstanding bias, commercial interests and the AHA’s need to reaffirm nearly 70 years of its ‘heart healthy’ advice …
Why the AHA is resistant to updating its view of saturated fats, despite so much legitimate science, could simply reflect the association’s unwavering devotion to a belief it has promoted for decades. Or it could be due to its significant, longstanding reliance on funding from interested industries, such as the vegetable-oil manufacturer Procter & Gamble, maker of Crisco …
In July of 2017, Bayer, the owner of LibertyLink soybeans, pledged up to $500,000 to the AHA, perhaps encouraged by the group’s continued support of soybean oil, by far the dominant ingredient in the ‘vegetable oil’ consumed in America today.”
Consider Experimenting With a Water Fast
A Multi-day fasts is where the only thing you consume is water and mineral supplements, and no other food or drink. It allows your body to seriously upregulate autophagy (destruction of damaged cells) and removes most of the damaged and premalignant cells in your body. It is a magnificent way to help cancer-proof your body. It is also outstanding for helping you achieve optimal body weight, and it can improve your health and extend your lifespan.
The more comfortable way to start a water-only fast is to fast 12 to 18-hour daily intermittent fasts for a few months. This will radically decrease any negative side effects. Your doctor should monitor fasts longer than 18 hours.
During his fast, Dr. Mercola experienced no hunger pains, no food cravings, lost 10 pounds. His ketones were 5.1, and his was blood sugar 45, which doubled the ketone/glucose index threshold Dr. Thomas Seyfried (a leading researcher) says is necessary to treat cancer.
Read more about the water-only fast in Dr. Mercola’s book, Fat For Fuel. Here is a link https://www.fatforfuel.org/
The Benefits of a Cyclical Ketogenic Diet
The cyclical or targeted ketogenic diet is high in healthy fats and fiber, low in net carbs with a moderate amount of protein.
Ideally, once you have established ketosis you cycle healthy carbs back in to about 100 to 150 grams on the few days a week you do strength training.
Health Benefits:
Weight loss – By rebalancing your body’s chemistry, weight loss and/or improved weight management becomes nearly effortless. Studies have shown a ketogenic diet can double the weight lost compared to a low-fat diet.
Reduced inflammation – When burned for fuel, dietary fat releases far fewer ROS and secondary free radicals than sugar. Ketones are also very effective histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors that effectively reduce inflammatory responses.
Reduced cancer risk – While all cells can use glucose for fuel, cancer cells lack the metabolic flexibility to use ketones. Regular cells thrive on them. Once your body enters a state of nutritional ketosis, cancer cells are more susceptible to being removed by your body through a process called autophagy. A cyclical ketogenic diet is a fundamental, essential tool that needs to be integrated in the management of nearly every cancer.
Increased muscle mass – Ketones spare branched-chain amino acids, thereby promoting muscle mass. However, make sure to implement cyclic ketosis. Chronic ketosis may eventually result in muscle loss as your body is impairing the mTOR pathway, which is important for anabolic growth.
Lowered insulin levels – Keeping your insulin level low helps prevent insulin resistance, Type 2 diabetes and related diseases. Research has demonstrated that diabetics who eat a low-carb ketogenic diet are able to significantly reduce their dependency on diabetes medication and may even reverse the condition.
Lowering insulin resistance will also reduce your risk of Alzheimer’s. Recent research strengthens the link between insulin resistance and dementia even further, particularly among those with existing heart disease.
Mental clarity – One of the first things people really notice once they start burning fat for fuel is that any former “brain fog” lifts, and they can suddenly think very clearly. Ketones are a preferred fuel for your brain; hence, the improved mental clarity.
Increased longevity
One of the reasons you can survive a long time without food is due to the process of ketosis, which spares protein breakdown. A fairly consistent effect seen in people on a ketogenic diet is that blood levels of leucine and other important structural proteins go up, allowing these proteins to perform a number of important signaling functions.
Ketones also mimic the life span extending properties of calorie restriction (fasting), which includes improved glucose metabolism; reduced inflammation; clearing out malfunctioning immune cells; reduced IGF-1, one of the factors that regulate growth pathways and growth genes and is a major player in accelerated aging; cellular/intracellular regeneration and rejuvenation (autophagy and mitophagy).
Take Control of Your Health – And Help Others Do the Same
Excessive net carbohydrate intake is the No. 1 culprit behind skyrocketing obesity, diabetes and chronic disease rates, primarily by decimating your mitochondrial function.
Take control – eat a diet that allows your body to burn fat as its primary fuel rather than sugars. Weight loss is simply a natural side effect of rebalancing your body’s chemistry.
Please see the original for the Footnotes and Citations for the scientific studies.
I invite you to Follow my Blog, Facebook or be added to my email distribution list. My focus is to maximize my physical performance and mental clarity, body composition, and most importantly overall health with a wholesome diet and exercise.
I will bring you compelling articles on Ketogenic and GAPS diets, the Super Slow High-Intensity Exercise Program and supplements.
To follow my Blog, please click the Follow button to receive an email when the next posting is available. Hint: You may have to click the Accept and Close button before follow is available.
I thrive on feedback. Please let me know you are interested in the content by clicking Like, Commenting or sending me a message or email about the Post.
If you wish to contact me by Email, please email lpolstra@bell.net using this form.
Disclaimer: The content of this email or Post is not intended for the treatment or prevention of disease, nor as a substitute for medical treatment, nor as an alternative to medical advice. Use of recommendations is at the choice and risk of the reader.
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