Category: Books

…And What To Do About It

Published on by Christine4 Comments

Yesterday, I shared part 1 of my review on Gary Taubes’  book, Why We Get Fat: And What to Do About It. His arguments really hit home with me, and I’m sure did with a few of you as well.  So, naturally, the next step after realizing why we are getting fat is figuring out what to do about it.  “Not all of us get fat when we eat carbohydrates, but for those of us who do get fat, the carbohydrates are to blame; the fewer carbohydrates we eat, the leaner we will be.”  It’s frustratingly beyond our control if we are predisposed to get fat, but at least there’s a solution.

Not all carbs are the same…  Leafy green veggies have lots of fiber that take a while to digest and therefore the carbs don’t cause blood sugar levels to spike.  But, cheap carbs, like bread, pasta, potatoes, rice, beer, soda, and all processed foods, have highly concentrated amounts of carbohydrates and are easy to digest. That means the glucose quickly enters our bloodstream, causing blood sugar to spike and with that insulin levels to go up.  Fruit, while not as carb-concentrated, is easy to digest and therefore might have a fattening effect on the most insulin resistant people.  The worst effect comes from a diet filled with fructose and highly sweetened food items. Our livers are not designed to handle the sugar overload and respond by turning it directly into fat. So when fructose is consumed with glucose (all those yummy processed foods/cheap carbs), insulin levels rise and start storing all that fat away instantly. It hastens the effect of carbs.  This explains why some carb-heavy cultural diets, like in Asian countries where rice is a staple, don’t have a fattening effect: because they also eat traditionally very little, if any, sugar and have otherwise healthy, lean diets of fish and veggies.

We’re addicts.  The more insulin resistant we become, the more insulin that’s constantly flowing through our bloodstream, craving a quick fix of glucose for fuel; that’s why we constantly crave those carbs even when we try to eat healthy and feel truly full on meat and veggies.  The solution is as radical as breaking an addiction: eliminating those cheap carbs completely to break the habit.  This is why many on the paleo diet are so successful in losing weight over many vegetarians/vegans, who often supplement their plant-based diet with carbohydrates.  Paleos are eating the way our ancestors did as hunter-gatherers – high protein & fat from meat and lots of wild plant foods that are low in carbs and low on the glycemic index.  Ultimately, Taubes suggests consuming fewer than 20 grams of carbohydrates per day and eliminating sugar completely to correct your weight. Beyond the benefits of losing weight, you will also find that your body starts healing itself naturally (the way God designed it to), since sugar actually suppresses your immune system for hours every time you consume it. Order his book here to learn more!

If all of this text has been a little overwhelming for you visual people, here is an awesome infographic that explains most of what I’ve summarized from his book.  Enjoy!

Carbs Are Killing You

[Source: Carbs Are Killing You]

So what do you think of Taubes’ argument?  Will you read his book? Will you go carb & sugar free?

Why We Get Fat…

Published on by Christine7 Comments

“We get fat, our physicians tell us, because we eat too much and/or move too little, and so the cure is to do the opposite.” – Michael Pollan, In Defense of Food

When my husband and I are planning a date night out to a really great restaurant and want to eat as much delicious food as possible, we often eat a light lunch or do something active to make ourselves hungrier for the big meal. But wait, that’s also what I’m told to do to lose weight…. Something’s wrong with this reasoning.

In his book, Why We Get Fat: And What to Do About It, Gary Taubes tackles this cultural mindset of “calories in, calories out,” turning it on it’s head and calling into question a principle we’ve always held to be true. It’s a fascinating read, with lots of really compelling cultural case studies and the scientific details in layman’s terms that help you to understand his argument.   I have a bad habit of reading the Appendix of a book first and will admit that I was disappointed with some of the diet recommendations he makes – in particular, okaying alternative sweeteners like Splenda and Nutrasweet and diet soda; but, I had a long plane flight ahead of me and nothing else to read so I kept on.  I’m glad I endured because there are definitely some great nuggets of information I got from this book:
 Obesity has become an epidemic.  1 in every 3 Americans are considered obese compared to only 1 in 9 fifty years ago. I’ll admit that I used to think that most people get fat by simply being lazy and/or eating too much junk food.  But, a case study of many areas of poverty shows that there are many who are malnourished (less calories in), work manual labor (more calories out), and who are still obese or overweight.  And in research studies, hormone-manipulated rats proved that they immediately began to overeat, become sedentary and quickly grew obese; even when completely deprived of food, forced to diet or forced to exercise, the rats retained their fat while their organs deteriorated.  There must be some other determining factor than being slothful and gluttonous…. it seems more to do with genes and hormones than simply overeating.  The answer lies within the fundamental definition of obesity- “a disorder of excess fat accumulation.”

Taubes relates fat tissue to a wallet: “you’re always putting fat into it and always taking fat out.”  But only certain forms of fat can go in and out, while others go in and stay. When fatty acids enter a fat cell, they join up with a glycerol molecule and two other fatty acids to become a triglyceride. Triglycerides are too big to go back out of the cell membrane, so they stay captive until they can be disassembled.  The hormone that works to create triglycerides is insulin.  Insulin works through the LPL enzyme and the HSL enzyme.  The LPL enzyme sends fatty acids into the cells for energy. When we exercise, LPLs trigger the release of fat from fat tissue and send those into muscle cells to burn off.  (As soon as we stop, though, LPLs work to help fat cells regain that fatty fuel, which is why Taubes claims exercise doesn’t make us lose fat, just gains us muscle.) The rest of the time, insulin triggers LPLs to send fatty acids into fat cells and tells muscle cells to burn blood sugar rather than fatty acids, so insulin basically keeps these fatty acids in your fat cells.  Insulin also suppresses the HSL enzyme, which is the enzyme that breaks down the triglycerides into fatty acids to move out of the fat cells.  And when our fat cells get full, insulin creates new ones… working constantly to make us fatter… it’s no wonder that so many diabetics that start insulin therapy gain so much weight.  Further, every other hormone in our body works to release fat from our fat tissues so that it can provide fuel for what it needs to do, but “insulin trumps the effects of other hormones.”  And as we get fatter, our demand for more fuel increases, which causes our appetite (especially for carbs) to increase. So, to lose fat, we must lower our insulin levels.  The way to do that is to diminish the cause for insulin secretion – carbohydrates.

Okay, but I eat healthy and I still struggle to lose weight, while I watch others eat fast food daily and stay super slim… frustrating, isn’t it? One reason is that “some people will secrete more insulin than others, and those who do are likely to put on more fat and have less energy.”  The other reason is that many of us have become insulin resistant. Eventually, your cells stop wanting all the glucose you’re putting in your body, and they start making insulin’s job harder to get it out of the bloodstream, which results in you secreting even more of it.  Everyone’s tissues react differently: if your muscle tissue is really sensitive to insulin, then you’ll use up more glucose in those cells, making you naturally lean, but if your fat cells are more sensitive, then glucose will go there instead and you’ll become overweight. And as we age, our muscles naturally become more resistant to insulin, which explains why we tend to get fatter as we get older.  Most importantly, this doesn’t just affect us, but our children too.. “the higher the level of a mother’s blood sugar, the more glucose her child gets in her womb” and therefore will be born with more fat and predisposition to be insulin resistant.

At this point in the book, he had my attention… is this resounding with you as well?  Tune in tomorrow for … And What To Do About It.

Why I’m Not A Vegan

Published on by Christine8 Comments

If God wanted us all to be vegetarians...

In my search for the truth in health, one of the main controversies I’ve encountered has to do with whether meat and animal products are healthy for us.  I’ve seen Forks Over Knives and I think it’s a great documentary, with thought-provoking research and many convincing points – I absolutely recommend it.  For those of you who haven’t seen it, it examines the claim that most, if not all, degenerative diseases could be prevented and may be even cured by switching from our current animal-based, processed foods diet to a whole-foods, plant based diet. I agree with almost everything in the film, especially the healing abilities of proper nutrition, but I’ve had a few hesitations. History tells us that for thousands of years, humans hunted animals for food, which enabled them to survive, thrive and populate the earth with healthy children. Not only have humans hunted for generations, but they have developed ways to cook animals in a way to extract every possible bit of nutrition from them. Our ancestors fully understood the nutritional benefits as it helped them grow strong and protected them from disease. I don’t believe that we just happen to like the way meat and dairy taste, but that it tastes good for a reason.

When I wrote about my inspiration, I mentioned that the basic theory for healthy eating centered around authentic world cuisine.  When I say world cuisine, I’m not talking about the Italian fettuccine alfredo or Chinese sweet and sour chicken you might get at a restaurant today; I’m talking about the traditional, homemade & homegrown food from nations all over the world.  And when I say traditional, I’m not referring to Grandma’s fried chicken or chocolate chip cookie recipes made with Crisco; we’ve got to go back a few hundred years before scientists started creating fake foods that saved cooking time and money.  Many of the traditional ingredients and methods of cooking happen to be the ones you find in common across the world and across history, as they were the most successful for maintaining and improving health. Today, the best example of cuisine that has remained mostly unchanged in modern times is French.  The reason? They’ve always been kind of, well, arrogant, so their ingredients and techniques have remained the same for ages and continue to be studied by chefs in culinary school today.  When I think of French cuisine, I think of many foods in the Four Pillars: slow-cooked meat, rich broths, and healthy fats; I wonder if it’s a coincidence that they have much lower risks of heart disease and are known for being thin rather than obese, quite opposite of two of the worst epidemics we suffer from in America today.

All that said, let’s get to the point: why I’m not a vegan.  First of all, I fully understand and respect that some people have strong beliefs in protecting the rights of animals and don’t eat them for those reasons. In fact, I too have a serious issues with how most animals are farmed today, in unbelievably cruel and unsanitary conditions, as well as the fact that they are given unnatural hormones and harmful antibiotics. I could rant for hours on the topic (and recommend lots of documentaries if you’d like to see it for yourself), but, basically, that’s the reason I have chosen to only buy organic, hormone and antibiotic-free, pastured/free range (plus raw and local, when possible) animal meat and products. I also agree with the problems of environmental effects that modern farming due to an animal-based diet has created, but I also think the same can be said for produce farming – we are destroying the nutrients in our soil and plants with pesticides, toxins and genetically modified seeds.

Veganism and vegetarianism are not certainly not bad, and I absolutely believe that you can live a life full of nutrition and enjoy many benefits to your health. These diets rightly put the focus on whole foods and plants, instead of depending on meat and dairy for nutrition.  However, I want to make a case that there are health benefits of animal meats and products, when they are from good sources and cooked properly, as well as point out a few differences I’ve found between a vegan diet and an authentic world cuisine diet:
1. Animal meat cooked on the bones and broth made from animal bones provide essential nutrients, mainly collagen, to our joints, ligaments, tendons, arteries, skin, and hair.
2. Animal organs are extremely rich in vitamins, often more than can be supplemented with fruits or vegetables.
3. The anti-cholesterol and low-fat campaigns are myths.  We need healthy fat in our diets, and nature (not science) makes the best, including butter, eggs, and bacon.
4. We’re born dependent upon milk and it should remain an important part of our diet, as long as it’s organic and raw (or fermented like yogurt and cheese). Pasteurization and homogenization destroy the probiotics and fat molecules that help us maintain strong digestive tracks, immune systems, brain function and bones.
5. Wheat (unless it’s sprouted) becomes a staple for many vegans, who turn to bread and pasta as fillers, and, even if it’s “whole wheat” or “multi-grain,” it’s not quite as healthy or natural as it’s advertised to be.
6. Lastly, while definitely not true of all vegans, the lifestyle often necessitates the use of many processed, manufactured foods to supplement meals for those that don’t know how to cook or have trouble incorporating all the necessary nutrients to a vegan diet. These processed foods contain many harmful ingredients, mainly soy, vegetable/canola oils, and sugar.

I’ll be expanding on these points in future posts. I’m so excited to share what I’ve discovered in the coming weeks and hope this has peaked your interest a bit.  If you want to keep up with future posts, you can subscribe to my blog on the sidebar to the right to get an email whenever I post something new.  And, I’d love to know, which of the topics above are you most interested in learning more about?

– Christine

My Inspiration – Deep Nutrition

Published on by Christine11 Comments

A few months ago, some dear friends loaned me a book that changed my perspective on health forever – Deep Nutrition: Why Your Genes Need Traditional Food, written by Dr. Catherine Shanahan and her husband, Chef Luke.  I was first inspired by Dr. Cate’s own personal story: after visiting many doctors and trying to use what she had learned in medical school to solve her unexplained health issues, she finally found healing by studying, at Luke’s suggestion, nutrition. It’s a miraculous story, and I don’t want to spoil it in hopes that someday you’ll read it too, but it’s what finally gave me hope for finding my own healing.

Since Dr. Cate is an expert in genetics, she uses this book to connect the dots between nutrition and it’s effect on our genes.  I can be quite the critic, so although I struggled at times through this science-heavy book, I appreciated the fact that she explains the biological reasons behind every claim she makes.  Essentially, our genes have been shaped by what our ancestors ate, and continue to be influenced by every bite we take.  You don’t have to go back as far as Paleolithic times, diets for which we have very little evidence, to find out what makes our bodies survive and thrive; you only need to look at the traditional cuisine of authentic cultures that exist worldwide today and have endured the test of time. Dr. Cate’s theory is the “Four Pillars of Authentic Cuisine:”

  • Meat cooked on the bone
  • Organs and offals
  • Fresh (raw) plant and animal products
  • Fermented and sprouted foods

Thankfully, our genes bounce back very well, so it’s never too late to make a change.  I’ve only been following this nutritional method (though I’ll admit, not as closely as I should, hence my resolution) for a few months and I’ve already seen a dramatic change in how I feel.  More than that, I’m making a difference in the lives of my future children by passing down my genetic wealth and giving them a real chance to be happy and healthy.

Deep Nutrition is full of so much great information that one post, or even a few, would not do it justice.  I’ll spend the next few weeks delving into these four pillars and the topics discussed in the chapters of this book, as well as share some recipes that I’ve created to follow these ideas in a practical world.

Which of the four pillars are most surprising to you?