Intermittent Fasting 101

Many people have heard of caloric restriction, and it's implications on human health and longevity.  Time and time again, lab-testing of CR has been shown to produce a whole range of physiologic benefits, as well as extend lifespan in all animals- be it silkworms or apes.  There is however, a more practical way to reap these benefits, via intermittent fasting. Intermittent fasting (IF) has been a very useful tool for me in my health and fitness journey. It is beneficial both to the body and the mind, in so many ways. This was the first article I ever read about IF, from Dr. Michael Eades, author of Protein Power (an awesome book I recommend everyone reads). "Like caloric restriction, intermittent fasting reduces oxidative stress, makes the animals more resistant to acute stress in general, reduces blood pressure, reduces blood sugar, improves insulin sensitivity, reduces the incidence of cancer, diabetes, and heart disease, and improves cognitive ability." An interesting thing he mentions is that while both caloric restriction (CR) and IF provide numerous health benefits and potentially increase lifespan, CR animals in lab settings exhibit depression and irritability, even hostility and violence. IFing shows no such behavior. Another excellent article from Mark's Daily Apple: The Myriad Benefits of Intermittent Fasting Beyond the tangible physiologic benefits of IF, there is the idea that IF sort of re-primes your innate hunger mechanisms, can resensitize appetite hormones such as leptin and ghrelin, and just generally change/improve/reset your relationship to food. Which is obviously important in this culture of binge eating, food cravings and the like.

A Friday Perspective

Many people are broken. They have faulty glucose metabolism, a sluggish liver and pancreas, irritated bowels, bacterial overgrowth- any number of acquired conditions which mostly stem from poor diet and lifestyle. This puts the body in such a state where it cannot properly assimilate the things it needs from good, healthy foods, or it may even be rejecting things that would otherwise be very good for your constitution.

The answer is not to start downing supplements. A health-building diet and lifestyle is both about adding things that are beneficial/health-restoring (exercise, proper food, sun & vit D, adequate rest, perhaps some targeted supplementation) as well as removing barriers to optimal health- whatever is standing in the way of your body healing and optimizing its own function.   This could be your binge drinking several nights a week.  Or your inability to say "no" to the franken-fried chips and french fries in front of you. Even eating certain "healthy" foods place large burdens on your system.  Maybe you never get up off your butt and move your body, or don't sleep enough, or you sleep too much.

I often see references to obscure tribes or groups around the world that eat extreme diets, such as the Inuit or various Pacific Islanders. Some eat 70% starchy carbs from sweet potatoes, others eat nothing but meat, milk and fat. One group gets 50% of calories as saturated fat from coconut.  These people thrive and flourish on their whole-food diets regardless of macronutrient ratios, and are virtually free of disease.  Take these people out of their environment, and place them in a Western diet/lifestyle- BAM they get diabetes, heart disease, cancers.

Bottom line- breaking your body with processed, refined carbs and sugars, industrially manufactured vegetable oils, drugs, booze, sitting on your ass all day in front of a TV etc absolutely will cause disease. This is exactly why you need a multi-faceted and holistic approach when looking to build health and create life-long habits that will contribute to your wellbeing.

Perfect Day of Eating - Part 1

Well I definitely fell off the blogging bandwagon for a while there.  Right around the time I started Investigative Health, I began a new job at Vitamin Cottage Natural Grocers in Centennial, CO, and I've been super busy.  To those unfamiliar with VCNG, we are a family-owned, rapidly-growing company, with a supreme set of core values related to food integrity and healthy living. We have an incredible array of grocery and supplement products, a 100% organic produce department, and some awesome meat and dairy selections- grass-fed beef, elk, ostrich, free range chicken, eggs, and organic milk and cream.

Despite my lack of blogging, my passion and interest in all things health and nutrition has not waned in the least. In fact, working in such an environment has only intensified my passion and expanded my knowledge base.  Every day I converse with people on a whole range of topics related to food, nutrition, health etc- some who are already as passionate as me, but plenty of others just beginning to learn how to better their health and wellbeing through dietary choices and lifestyle habits. Needless to say, I really love my job.

Every day, people ask me what I eat.  I have spent the last 2+ years meticulously tinkering with my diet, learning all sorts of important information about food and nutrition along the way.  What initially sparked this "quest" was a series of concerning health dilemmas I faced in late 2007.  Between two courses of the hardcore antibiotic Ciprofloxacin within just months of each other, and some very poor dietary and lifestyle choices, my health hit an all time low.  I developed bad cystic-type acne on my back/chest/face, I was pretty depressed and I just looked and felt like general crap.  Thus began my crusade for ultimate health and wellbeing.  I'd like to provide a more detailed description of said journey; what worked, what didn't etc in a later post.

Anyways, here I am now, having attained a level of health I never thought imaginable, looking and feeling amazing and moreso every day.  It must show, because people tell me I look radiantly healthy, and therefore the constant questions about what I eat, how I exercise etc.  So, as a first in a series dedicated to my dietary approach, here is a typified layout of a basic day of eating.

You should know :
1) I don't buy into the Ancel Keys lipid hypothesis or any "fat and cholesterol are bad" variant in any way.  It is completely bogus, seeing as how as a country we have generally complied with mainstream recommendations yet we are fatter and sicker than ever.
2) I don't do wheat or any grains really for that matter.  No bread, pasta, crackers, etc.  Nor do I do legumes, as they cause issues for me.  And my dairy intake is kept to butter, heavy and sour cream.  I eat generally low-carb.  Try to get fat eating fat and protein, I dare you.
3) I love cooking.  I have no problem taking 30 min- a hour several times a day to prepare a delicious & nutritious meal (yes, you DO have time). I suggest you adapt the same mentality.  Bottom line, less than 100 years ago, you really had no choice but to prepare meals at home from scratch.
4) I work a pretty intense job, on my feet 8 hours/day, 40+ hours per week, plus I do strength training ~2 times/week.  My calorie needs are quite possible way different than yours.  The overall nutritional strategy and macronutrient ratios are likely not different than yours. Adjust accordingly/proportionately.
5) I am absolutely unyielding in my refusal to eat any and all processed/packaged/refined crap food.  100% whole, nutrient-dense foods and nothing but.  Period.


Breakfast generally looks like this.  If it's a workout day, I'll generally skip breakfast (but more on that later).

For lunch, I generally like a big salad with some good proteins.  I make all my own dressings, and I have some awesome recipes for some delicious and healthy ones that I can post later.

If I feel like having a snack:

And I like a pretty big dinner:

Some days I take a little cod liver oil, for the Omega-3s, plus some natural vitamins D & A.  Also, I might have a couple spoonfuls of coconut oil, if I am needing the calories.

So you can see, I eat a super nutrient-dense, anti-inflammatory, blood sugar & insulin-optimizing diet that emphasizes plenty of healthy fats and protein. I get about 40-50 g of fiber without any grains, and more fruits and vegetables than your average vegetarian.

Let me re-iterate, this is a very generalized example of what I might eat in a given day.  This post also opens up several other areas of discussion, such as optimal pre- and post-workout nutrition, as well as more specific examples of some of my meals.  Take some time to let this soak in, contemplate any potential implications in your own dietary approach, and stay tuned as I will be back to continue the saga.

To your health, Daniel.

What Exactly is this "Paleo Diet"?

To those of you who know me, you've probably noticed I am rather particular in my eating habits, and my food choices tend to deviate from what conventional wisdom tells us is "healthy" or "correct". For the most part I follow a "paleo diet", and I truly believe (and to an extent, know) that this is the optimal diet for the human organism. The paleo diet replicates the metabolic environment that our bodies evolved under and are genetically adapted to- it works in sync with our bodies and removes the bases for many of society's modern afflictions. In this post I will attempt to explain the paleo diet in scientific and evolutionary context.

The Paleo Diet is predicated on the fact that humans evolved for millions of years consuming only that which be could hunted, foraged and gathered; a diverse and seasonally-changing diet of wild game, fish, shellfish, eggs, tree nuts, vegetables, roots, fruit, berries, mushrooms.  Only in the last 10,000 years or so, with the advent of agriculture and animal husbandry did we begin making grains, dairy (sort of a gray-area; a bane for some, a boon for others), legumes and other crops, and more recently, refined vegetable oils staples of our diets. These "neolithic foods" are truly incompatible with our biochemistry and may even pose a significant hindrance to our health and wellbeing, especially considering the extent to which we have refined and processed and allowed them to pervade almost every corner of our food supply. More specifically however, even in their whole forms, the gluten, lectins and anti-nutrients in these foods work antagonistically to our bodies, and can disrupt otherwise healthy function (even whole, unrefined grains may not be as healthy as you think...).

We've spent much of our time on Earth like this.

Wheat and grain products also impose other, less cryptic banes upon society. Over-consumption of wheat and starchy grain products- large quantities of refined carbohydrate (pasta, bread, etc)- combined with our sedentary lifestyles is likely the main cause of metabolic derangement, obesity and diabetes. The dramatic increase in refined sugar consumption has contributed greatly to this as well.  These are habits that would otherwise be impossible before the advent of industrial processing!  (Humans have always been able to grab a spear and kill a fatty, protein-rich animal!!) Finally, the amounts and types of fats we eat have changed dramatically as well, having wide-ranging implications on health and disease.  We are vehemently told to favor unsaturated vegetables oils over animal and other saturated fats, and we have complied.  But these oils are extremely high in pro-inflammatory omega-6 polyunsaturated fats, and combined with a diet lacking in omega-3's, may actually be the main culprit in heart disease.


I highly encourage you to watch this video (Thank you Pay Now, Live Later):




When viewed in this light, it becomes intuitively clear that this is the way humans are intended to live and eat. We live in an artificial food-abundant environment that allows us to instantly satisfy the slightest urges; we can eat things and eat in ways that humans have never been able to do in the entire history of our species' evolution. As you start analyzing all the discordances between modern society and humans' "natural habitat" you can see how deep this concept goes. (I mean really down to the nitty gritty).

Paleo Diet: the Basics

In short, paleo eating is:

• Complete elimination of all processed, packaged foods, preservatives, artificial ingredients etc
• Elimination of all refined sugar and flour
• Minimization with aim of elimination of grains (gluten-grains especially)
• General reduced carbohydrate consumption; carb sources in order of non-starchy vegetables, fruits, roots/tubers; sweet potatoes, yams, squash (Paleo does not have to be extreme low-carb necessarily)
• Ample protein from high-quality animal sources
• Increased healthy fats; fats should make up majority of calories: mostly mono-unsaturated from olive oil, avocados, animal fats and saturated fats from organic butter, milk/cream (if deciding to include dairy) coconut oil + milk. Increased consumption of saturated animal fats (Yes, that's what I said)
• Minimizing if not eliminating vegetable oils (Soy, corn, canola, etc)
• Getting ton's of Omega 3's, through supplementation if necessary (I eat a can of sardines almost every day)
• Lot's of different colors of vegetables, fruits; focus on nutrient density.

For me, I get the bulk of my food volume from vegetables; salads & cooked veggies, fruits, the occasional sweet potato or squash, and the bulk of my calories from healthy fats such as coconut oil, avocados, nuts, olive oil, ghee, and grass-fed tallow. I also include ample amounts of high quality protein from grass-fed beef, bison, lamb, wild salmon, sardines & other seafood, free range chicken, organic eggs etc.

For a much more comprehensive list of how to eat and live according to the Paleo Diet/lifestyle, peruse this page by Diana Hsieh of Modern Paleo. I agree 100% with everything she outlines on that page, and I think it is the ultimate resource for both newcomers and anyone trying to deepen their knowledge of health and nutrition.

Grains Are... Not So Great

Evidence increasingly suggests that the consumption of gluten and gluten-like substances as well as the lectins and anti-nutrients found largely in grains and legumes (and subsequently the animals we feed them to) are behind most if not all inflammatory and auto-immune conditions. So no, you can't eat bread, pasta, or bean burritos, or eat a hamburger or glass of milk from a cow stuffed with soy and corn (yes, corn is a grain). Well, you can, just don't complain if you develop arthritis, asthma, intestinal disorders, or lupus. And these are the foods we rely upon- they form the base of our food pyramid!

Further reading:

ARTICLES:

• Damn Dirty Grains by Robb Wolf
• A former research biochemist and expert in paleolithic nutrition. Also a former California State Powerlifting Champion, and current co-owner of NorCal Strength & Conditioning, one of the Men’s Health “top 30 gyms in America. Likewise, his emphasis is on improving athletic performance and tackling general health problems through paleo nutrition coaching. Article Highlight: "Most of the problems related to grain consumption can be lumped into one of two categories: those related to hyperinsulinemia and those related to irritant/toxicant properties inherent to grains."
• Against the Grain: 10 Reasons to Give Up Grains by Jenny of Nourished Kitchen
• Co-founder of large Colorado Farmers' Market, advocate of high-quality, local foods; Nourished Kitchen’s goal is to promote sustainable agriculture and nutrient-dense, whole foods in everyday kitchens. Article Highlight: "Grains aren't good for your gut...or for your joints, teeth or skin... they cause inflammation..."
• The Awful Truth About Eating Grains by Joseph Mercola 
• Controversial but extremely informative and impassioned... love him or hate him. Advocate of health and nutrition strategies contrary to established doctrine, heavily trafficked website is an excellent resource. Article Highlight: "If you have digestive problems or suffer some of the classic autoimmune reactions (e.g. allergies) consider the possibilities that grains may be problematical."
• Should More of us Steer Clear of Wheat? by Jerome Burne
•  "...the immune reaction to gluten that damages the gut in [celiac's disease] can also cause problems almost anywhere else in the body...while the gluten antibodies can damage the bowels, they can also cause problems elsewhere."
• Why Grains Are Unhealthy by Mark Sisson
• Founder of Mark's Daily Apple and author of The Primal Blueprint, Mark has garnered a huge following, improving the lives of thousands through his "primal lifestyle" - a version of the paleo diet combined with smart exercise and lifestyle habits. Article Highlight: "the fundamental problem with grains is that they are a distinctly Neolithic food that the human animal has yet to adapt to consuming... a diet very low or entirely without grains (low-carb) has been shown to decrease risk for problems associated with diabetes, to lower blood pressure, alleviate heartburn symptoms, and shed abdominal fat."

BOOKS:

• Going Against the Grain: How Reducing and Avoiding Grains Can Revitalize Your Health (Book) by Melissa Smith
• [from Amazon.com]: "Diets high in grains can lead to a host of health problems such as obesity, diabetes, heart disease, fatigue, and more...'Smith has courageously and accurately tackled what has emerged as America's primary food-related health problem: disease and obesity attributable to the regular consumption of high-calorie, nutrient-poor, immune-disruptive grains.' -Kenneth D. Fine, M.D., gluten sensitivity researcher and director of The Intestinal Health Institute, Dallas"
• Dangerous Grains: Why Gluten Cereal Grains May Be Hazardous To Your Health (Book) by James Braly, M.D. and Ron Hoggan, M.A.
• [from Amazon.com]: "The authors, leading experts in the field of food allergies, and celiac disease, present compelling evidence that our grain-centered diet is to blame for a host of chronic illnesses..."
• "Contains more than a dozen case histories of people who have recovered from a wide variety of chronic conditions - back pain, chronic fatigue, the auto-immune disorder lupus - simply by following a gluten-free diet."

TAKE THAT, CORN REFINERS ASSOCIATION!

In light of the increasing bad press surrounding high fructose corn syrup- both the evidence of it's potential health detriments and decrying of it's pervasiveness in our food supply, the Corn Refiners Association has applied to the federal government to officially change the name of their product to "corn sugar". This clearly being the only reasonable course of action, as consumption of HFCS by Americans has recently reached a 20-year low.  That's right, apparently the problem is that Americans have become more judicious in their food purchasing/consumption decisions in regards to their health.

A slight reduction in HFCS consumption- apparently an issue of brand imaging

The Corn Refiners Association repeatedly claims that consumption of HFCS is no different healthwise than consumption of table sugar. If you browse the scientific literature, you'll find studies leaning either way on that matter (always question who was carrying out the study, who funded it etc, as well as the specific experimental design), although this recently published study out of Princeton University is particularly alarming. Researchers discovered increased body weight, body fat and triglyceride levels amongst male and female rats on a HFCS-laden over a sucrose-laden diet.

Now, I am more for the reduction of ALL sugar in the American diet, rather than just singling out one palpable offender; it's more likely that refined sugar in all forms contributes to the health problems of this country collectively.  But does that justify the apparent "sweeping under the rug" by the CRA in attempts to reprogram consumer perceptions of high fructose corn syrup? Should the solution really be to re-name HFCS so as not to make it stand out from other forms of sugar, in some apparent act of "fairness"?  Whether or not HFCS is the greater of evils perhaps shouldn't be our primary focus, but rather a reduction in sugar consumption in general. What is for sure is that shrouding it under the guise of a new name only perpetuates the underlying problem- excess sugar consumption.  I for one hope that the Corn Refiner's Association is denied their request; until Americans realize that all sugar is bad news for our health, I think HFCS must continue to be the fall-guy.

Bonus:

I'm sure you have all seen the commercial -

There are a couple of others like it too; they all involve some general cliche situation and fallaciously implicate that anyone who questions the nature of high fructose corn syrup as a legitimate food source is incompetent.

Well, I found this awesome video retort that definitely puts the Corn Refiners Association in their place:

Air this during the 5 o'clock news!

The Most Important Thing You Need to Understand About the Foods We Eat

What I am about to discuss is an extremely important concept, one that I am not quite sure most people consider when making decisions about the foods they purchase and consume. This post is largely inspired by a recurring experience I have involving different people and places, but always with the same general discourse and outcome. Here is an example of a recent instance:

[At a friend's graduation party]
Woman: (to me) "Would you like a piece of cake?"
Me: (eying the clearly store-bought label/plastic packaging) "No, I am alright, but thank you."
Woman: "Oh come on, a little fat/sugar won't kill you!"

...
As if the reason I didn't want to eat the cake was because I was worried about the "fat" or "sugar".

Let's consider for a moment the notion of cake. What things come to mind when you think of cake? Eggs? Milk? Flour? Perhaps some sugar, and some oil or butter? Here is a recipe for old-fashioned yellow cake, complements of the Old Recipe Book:

Easy Yellow Cake

2 eggs beaten
1/8 tsp salt
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup hot water
1 Tblsp butter

Beat eggs 5 minutes, adding salt, beat in sugar and vanilla, Sift flour and baking powder together, and add. Melt butter in hot water and add. Use an angel food cake tin. Bake at 350 till done.
Recipe from a 1953 cookbook

Seems somewhat harmless right?  I mean sugar and flour are not the most optimal foods, but at least they are "real", and besides, this is the way people have made cake for hundreds of years, right?  Now, I work at a large national-chain grocery store, and was able to obtain a label with an ingredient list for one of the standard cakes sold to at least dozens of people per day, "fresh" from the bakery. Brace yourself:

Sheet Cake W/ Buttercream Frosting 
Ingredients: CAKE: SUGAR, ENRICHED WHEAT FLOUR BLEACHED (FLOUR FERROUS SULFATE, NIACIN, THIAMINE MONONITRATE, RIBOFLAVIN, FOLIC ACID), PARTIALLY HYDROGENATED VEGETABLE SHORTENING (SOYBEAN AND/OR COTTONSEED OIL), PROPYLENE GLYCOL MONOESTERS, MONO & DIGLYCERIDES, LECITHIN, BHT & CITRIC ACID ADDED AS PRESERVATIVES), EGG WHITES, NONFAT MILK, DEXTROSE, MODIFIED FOOD STARCH, SALT, SODIUM BICARBONATE, ACIDIC SODIUM ALUMINUM PHOSPHATE, SODIUM STEAROYL LACTATE, EGG YOLKS, TETRASODIUM PYROPHOSPHATE, CELLULOSE, ARTIFICIAL FLAVORING, POLYSORBATE 60, XANTHAN GUM, SODIUM ACID PYROPHOSPHATE, EMULSIFIER (PROPYLENE GLYCOL, MONO & DIESTERS, MONO & DIGLYCERIDES, BHT ADDED AS PRESERVATIVES), POTASSIUM SORBATE, DICALCIUM PHOSPHATE, GUAR GUM, MALTOL, LACTYLIC OLEATE, ENZYMES, ASCORBIC ACID, MIXED TOCOPHEROLS (ANTIOXIDANTS) FROSTING: SUGAR,VEGETABLE SHORTENING (PARTIALLY HYDROGENATED SOYBEAN & COTTONSEED OILS), MONO & DIGLYCERIDES, POLYSORBATE 60, WATER, CORN SYRUP, CONTAINS 2% OR LESS OF MALTODEXTRIN, TITANIUM DIOXIDE (FOR COLOR), MODIFIED FOOD STARCH, NATURAL & ARTIFICIAL FLAVOR, SALT, POTASSIUM SORBATE (PRESERVATIVE), PHOSPHORIC ACID, GUAR GUM. MAY CONTAIN: COCOA (PROCESSED WITH ALKALI), CARAMEL COLOR, ARTIFICIAL COLOR (FD&C RED #40) WATER, FRUCTOSE, POPPY SEED, EGG WHITE SOLIDS, SODIUM CASEINATE, HYDRATED SORBITAN WITH MONOSTEARATE, CORNSTARCH, CARROTS, SOYBEAN OIL, PINEAPPLE, RAISINS, LEAVENING (BAKING SODA), SODIUM ACID PYROPHOSPHATE, MONOCALCIUM PHOSPHATE, NATURAL FLAVORS, WHEAT STARCH, MOLASSES, SPICE, CALCIUM STEARATE, SOY FLOUR, SOY LECITHIN, BETA CAROTENE AS COLOR, WHOLE EGGS, PROPYLENE GLYCOL, HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP, GLYCERINE, SILICA GEL, HYDRATED SILICA, CITRIC ACID, SODIUM BENZOATE (A PRESERVATIVE), SODIUM BICARBONATE, TITANIUM DIOXIDE, FD&C RED #3 & #40, BLUE #1-133 & #1, YELLOW #5 & #5-E102,YELLOW #6 & #6-E110, AEROSIL, STARCH, METHYLCELLULOSE, SUGAR, CORN STARCH, VEGETABLE GUM, 1/10 OF 1% SODIUM BENZOATE & POTASSIUM SORBATE (AS PRESERVATIVES), GUMS, SORBITOL, VEGETABLE GUMS, SALT, GUM ARABIC.

Good Lord. Sounds less like a cake recipe than a shopping list for the local High School chemistry department! First, let me address the partially hydrogenated vegetable oils that are clearly a main ingredient (ingredients are always listed in descending order of quantity).  Partially hydrogenated vegetable oil, AKA pure trans-fat- I mean come on, we KNOW how toxic this stuff is to the human body!  How can anyone still be ethically using it in our food supply?!  How can it even still be legal to do so?! By now that should be more than enough of a red flag screaming stay away!

And what about all those other listed ingredients- so many things in there are less likely to be processed via digestion, but rather ushered to the liver for immediate detoxification and expulsion from the body!  Once you exit the world of real foods and enter the realm of chemical additives, preservatives, stabilizers, conditioners, and artificial this and that, you really start begging questions of the "foods" we choose to put into our bodies and their implications in health and disease.  Such substances truly rebuke the notion of "everything in moderation". These are toxic ingredients which should be absolutely avoided like the plague.

Herein lies the point to this whole post; Cake is not always cake!! This is the case for everything in our food supply in this day and age; very little food isn't processed to some degree, and as clearly shown above, more often than not it is processed to a very large degree.  And calling a food one thing or another doesn't always mean that they will be the same thing. You must always be reading ingredient lists, and constantly questioning the sources of your food, and the quality and characteristics of the ingredients that go into them.  This is the mentality I maintain *at all times* because it applies to EVERYTHING. The oft-repeated concept of eat whole foods, and nothing but whole foods is always your safest bet.

So next time you are at a birthday party and someone offers you a piece of cake, unless you can actually see the dirty stand-mixer or the cake pans soaking in the sink, you should seriously consider if you want to be putting all that stuff into your body.

Stay tuned for Part 2 of this article, as I further explore this concept.