An excellent lecture on the hazards of sugar. This highlights the effects of fructose on everything from kidney damage leading to blood pressure problems to appetite control, weight gain, and energy production (or lack thereof)...

 

 

Yesterday I wrote about the fallacy of cutting out 100 calories per day and expecting to lose 10lbs in one year. It seemed to work on paper, but we saw in reality the conclusion is based on a host of incorrect assumptions.


The calories in/calories out idea is useful if we think about in the opposite way. In a backward looking way, if you gained weight we know that you ate more than you burned and conversely that if you lost weight you burned more than you consumed. So instead of how can we eat less and fight our body's natural desire for balance, ask how can we get our body to use our stored energy (body fat) and lead us to want less food. How can we make tons of energy available to our cells so they don't signal us to eat more? How can we make so much energy available to the cells that we feel energetic and capable of being active? These things are all about controlling hormones. It's hormones that influence whether energy gets stored or burned. It's hormones that make you feel hungry or sated. I can geek out on the biological mechanisms, but I'll spare you for now. If you want to know, I'll elaborate in the comments. We can't count calories down to the minutiae, but we can do things to tilt our internal hormonal balance towards energy release and away from energy storage.

Behaviors that influence energy conservation/storage:
- calorie restricted dieting
- high carbohydrate consumption
- long, slow cardio
- stress
- lack of sleep
- some prescription medications

Behaviors that promote energy release
- adequate caloric intake
- low carbohydrate consumption
- high intensity exercise
- weight training
- emotional balance
- plenty of sleep
- intermittent fasting

The why of each of these points could be (and has been) a post all its own. But regardless of the explanation, the action plan is the same. More behaviors from the energy release category and less from the energy storage. Simple enough? We hope so!

Did you know that low carbohydrate diets increase your basal metabolic rate? AND they reduce your appetite. Low carb dieters have been shown to spontaneously consume up to 400 calories per day less - without even trying! High intensity exercise too, improves your hormone situation by increasing insulin sensitivity and improving your body's ability to access and use energy stored in the fat cells.


So the 1200 calorie/day, Special K diet with hours on the elliptical is out. What's in? Eating meats and vegetables, nuts and seeds, some fruit, little starch, and no sugar... oh, and plenty of it. Working out hard and fast for short periods of time and lifting some heavy things. Staying relaxed, grounded, happy, and well rested - all of which are easier to accomplish with an adequate fat intake since fat is a major player in the creation and transmission of most hormones.


This approach supports your immune system, reduces inflammation, reduces blood sugar, improves insulin sensitivity - in short, it makes you healthier. It also makes you stronger, fitter, and more energetic. One more pleasant side effect? It makes you leaner, because healthy bodies don't carry an inordinate amount of body fat. Sounds good to me!

Muscle glycogen is the stored form of carbohydrate in your muscles, which the endurance community regards as the be-all, end-all of energy production. Running out of muscle glycogen is usually blamed for hitting the proverbial "wall" or "bonking", but in fact your body can function just fine with other sources of fuel. Your body is smart - when sugar is unavailable it switches to an enhanced form of fat metabolism to produce energy. In fact, it continues to burn fat for fuel even after the exercise is over.

 

Training with Low Muscle Glycogen Enhances Fat Metabolism in Well-Trained Cyclists

"Training with low muscle glycogen reduced training intensity and, in terms of performance, was no more effective than training with high muscle glycogen. However, fat oxidation was increased after training with low muscle glycogen, which may have been due to enhanced metabolic adaptations in skeletal muscle."

 

 

Bring on the bacon and eggs!

 

"Scientists believe that breakfast programmes the metabolism for the rest of the day, and a fatty meal will help the body break down fat later on.

Carbohydrate rich foods in contrast appear mainly to prepare the body to break down only carbohydrates, the International Journal of Obesity reports."

 

Keep reading...

 

Epigenetics is the study of how environmental and lifestyle factors influence the expression of our genes. Think of it this way... you are born with a pre-programmed  set of genes, but variables in your life (from fetal development onward) impact whether these genes are switched "on" or "off". This complex pattern of switches is known as your epigenome. People are very quick these days to dismiss their health problems as "bad genetics" as if their health is 100% pre-determined and completely out of their direct control. But science is now discovering quite the opposite. Everything from what your mother ate, to what you eat, to environmental toxins, to how much sleep you get can influence whether your genes work with you or against you.

 

Watch this great NOVA Video on Epigenetics.

 

So if our genetic outcome varies from generation to generation, why do we care what cavemen ate 100,000 years ago? The short answer is that we optimize the control of our genes by mimicking the circumstances under which we evolved for 99% of human existence - paleo food, periods without food, high intensity functional movement, plenty of rest, etc.

 

This question was addressed in this week's Paleo Diet Newsletter (it's free... you should subscribe!). Consider this the detailed answer...

 

Q: What do you think about epigenetics? Many scientists (in Germany) believe that the concept of the Paleo Diet is no longer tenable.

Thanks a lot, Michael

 

A: Dear Michael,
Epigenetics is defined as the science studying changes in phenotype or gene expression by mechanisms other than changes in DNA nucleotide sequence1. The phenotype is someone's appearance which it's determined by the genotype (stable and heritable) and the environment (nutrition and other lifestyle factors) which give place to the epigenotype (heritable, labile and rapid)1. Epigenetic changes are controlled, among other mechanisms, by methylation and histone modification. Altered methylation pattern and histone modification may lead to increased susceptibility to disease. E.G. cancer is associated to generalized hypomethylation and localized promoters hypermethylation1. Histone manipulation may also increase or decrease disease susceptibility2.

 

Both, methylation and histone manipulation are under the control of dietary substances. For example, methylation depends on SAMe availability, which in turn is influenced by vitamin B6, vitamin B12 and folate intake3, and long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids such as DHA4. On the other hand, certain substances such as garlic, horseradish, fiber, blueberries, apple, onion, nuts, berries, red grapes, broccoli, etc. are known nutrients involved in histone modification2.

 

The Paleo Diet is rich is all of these nutrients5, hence it may exert positive effects upon epigenetics machinery leading to decreased disease susceptibility. Decreased availability of micronutrients is associated to disease severity, probably, through complex epigenetic mechanisms, and supplementation could improve those symptoms3. Improved epigenetic is influenced by metabolic programming during foetal and early life. These two periods are crucial for the developing newborn and future adult's health. Hence, The Paleo Diet may confer protection against several diseases improving the epigenetic programming.
We hope this is helpful.

 

Maelán Fontes Villalba
Pedro Carrera Bastos

 

References:
¹ van Vliet J, Oates NA, Whitelaw E. Epigenetic mechanisms in the context of complex diseases. Cell Mol Life Sci. 2007 Jun;64(12):1531-8.
² Delage B, Dashwood RH. Dietary manipulation of histone structure and function. Annu Rev Nutr. 2008;28:347-66.
³ Kemperman RF, Veurink M, van der Wal T, Knegtering H, Bruggeman R, Fokkema MR, Kema IP, Korf J, Muskiet FA. Low essential fatty acid and B-vitamin status in a subgroup of patients with schizophrenia and its response to dietary supplementation. Prostaglandins Leukot Essent Fatty Acids. 2006 Feb;74(2):75-85.
⁴ Muskiet FA, Kemperman RF. Folate and long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids in psychiatric disease. J Nutr Biochem. 2006 Nov;17(11):717-27.
⁵ Cordain L, Eaton SB, Sebastian A, Mann N, Lindeberg S, Watkins BA, O'Keefe JH, Brand-Miller J. Origins and evolution of the Western diet: health implications for the 21st century. Am J Clin Nutr. 2005 Feb;81(2):341-54.
⁶ Kemperman RF, Veurink M, van der Wal T, Knegtering H, Bruggeman R, Fokkema MR, Kema IP, Korf J, Muskiet FA. Low essential fatty acid and B-vitamin status in a subgroup of patients with schizophrenia and its response to dietary supplementation. Prostaglandins Leukot Essent Fatty Acids. 2006 Feb;74(2):75-85.