Beck Anderson Yoga & Wellness Hammock

Most of us have the idea ingrained in our brains that fat is bad. And I’m not referring to the fat on our bodies, but the fat in our foods. In the last 100 years it has become common knowledge that to be healthy you need to skimp on butter, bacon, fatty meats, and other food that has naturally occurring fat. In fact, foods that naturally contain fat (i.e. milk) have the fat artificially taken out of the food!

Why did all this begin to happen? And is it necessary to avoid fat?

The diet-heart hypothesis was first proposed in 1953 by Ancel Keys (from the University of Minnesota) stating that dietary fats, including cholesterol, cause heart disease, and by avoiding these foods we can avoid developing heart disease.

To support his theory, Keys carefully (and unscientifically) selected 6 or 7, depending on who you ask, countries (out of the 22 available) that showed a correlation between dietary fat, cholesterol, and heart disease.

This type of scientific research would be similar to trying to prove that asthma was caused by owning a Corvette. First we would finding all the information about people who had asthma and all the people who owned a Corvette. We’d plot the information on a diagram, then selectively delete the dots that are scattered all over to end up with a straight line “proving” Corvettes caused asthma. Ridiculous, right?

Then why do we avoid dietary fat and cholesterol?

Because the authorities were desperate to find the solution to the reason heart disease was increasing and when Keys proposed his hypothesis, it was the ticket they needed. The diet-heart hypothesis is the most researched hypothesis, yet it has never been proven and heart disease continues to raise.

“The late Dr. Russell Smith, an American experimental psychologist, participated in publishing two thorough reviews of the existing scientific data on the diet-heart hypothesis with more than 3,000 references. His conclusion:

‘The current campaign to convince every American to change his or her diet and, in many cases, to initiate the drug ‘therapy’ for life is based on fabrications, erroneous interpretations and/or gross exaggerations of findings and, very importantly, the ignoring of massive amounts of unsupportive data …It does not seem possible that objective scientists without vested interests could ever interpret the literature as supportive …It is depressing to know that billions of dollars and a highly sophisticated medical research system are being wasted chasing windmills.’ “

To support his hypothesis, Keys invented what he termed the Mediterranean Diet stating the heart healthy diet is mainly vegetarian, pastas, olive oil, some cheeses, fruit. But any person who has traveled the Mediterranean knows that their food is not at all the diet Keys suggests. Whether you are in Spain, France, Italy, Greece, or anywhere else near the Mediterranean you will be served plenty of meats, fish, cheese, eggs, butter and nothing low fat.

Let’s look at some specific scientific points:

• In Britain fat consumption has been stable since 1910 while heart attacks have increase 10 times between 1930 and 1970. So in Britain, having heart disease has nothing to do with fat consumption. (Campbell-McBride p. 11)
• Since World War II the Japanese have been eating more and more animal fat, while fewer and fewer of them diet from heart attacks. On top of that, mortality from most diseases decreased in Japan as they ate more animal fat. (Campbell-McBride p. 11)
• In Switzerland, after WWII intake of animal fat increased by 20%, yet the death rate from heart disease steadily decreased. So, on can say that in Switzerland eating more fat helps against heart disease. (Campbell-McBride p. 11)
• In the USA, between 1930 and 1960, mortality from heart disease increased 10 times, while the consumption of animal fat decreased. Just from this data, one can create a hypothesis that reducing animal fat in your food causes heart disease. (Campbell-McBride p. 11)
• Children on low-fat diets suffer from growth problems, failure to thrive and learning disabilities. Incidentally, in children no connection was found between what they eat and their blood cholesterol levels. (Campbell-McBride p. 12)
• Cholesterol protects us from infections. People with low blood cholesterol are more prone to infections, and when they get an infection they have an increased risk of dying from it compared to people with high cholesterol. When people with low cholesterol and suppressed immunity were fed high-cholesterol foods their ability to fight infection was substantially boosted. For centuries before the discovery of antibiotics, a misture of raw egg yolks and cream, very rich in cholesterol, was used as a cure for tuberculosis. Cholesterol supports immunity in laboratory studies by inactivating microbial toxins and assisting various parts of the imune system in fighting infection.

Recently the LA Times published an article, A Reversal on Carbs, alluding to what most Weston A Price Foundation (WAPF) members already know: carbohydrates are NOT the body’s preferred method of fuel and is, in fact, the number one reason why America is fat.

Yet many people think they “need” carbohydrates to function. The accepted knowledge is this: it doesn’t matter what you eat, as long as you stay within your daily nutrient allowance of so many calories. What does science have to say about the role of fats versus carbohydrates in the body?

Firstly, in the whole history of man-kind, it has only been since the mid 1900s that carbohydrates (not including vegetables and, to some extent, fruit) become the “norm,” so this “scientific study” in the LA Times is only bringing us back to what has been normal for thousands of years.

If a person consumes a balanced diet which is about 30-80% healthy fat, protein and no or very few carbohydrates their body will automatically find it’s healthy weight. Without effort.
 
Carbohydrates turn into glucose in the body and insulin comes in to turn it into energy or storage, right? Healthy fat, on the other hand, is usable from the minute it enters the body — the body and the brains’ primary source of fuel is designed to be fat in the form of ketones — not glucose!

Furthermore, if one is not consuming enough healthy fat, ones own body will synthesize fat from other sources, most notably, carbohydrates, and absorb and store this unwanted fat. Grains (most common source of carbohydrates) cause many health problems due to its ant-nutrient content, its tryptophan-poor profile, high omega-6 levels… it’s an allery and sensitivity potential to tons of people. One only feels like one NEEDS carbs to get through the day when ones body is in glucose-burning mode (sugar addiction). Then one will have cravings. When one body is in fat burning mode, one can last without food longer between meals and will have more energy because ones body isn’t spending energy converting glucose into something usable. 

Just to clarify about “healthy” fat, this includes saturated fats, monounsaturated fats and certain essential polyunsaturated fats such as omega-3s but stay away from the poly-unsaturated vegetable oils. These last oils are simply damaging to ones body. Most of ones fat consumption should be from animal fats though, it’s only natural.  Unadulterated animal fats, preferably, are the best source of fat for ones body… so yes: butter, raw full fat cheese, raw milk, etc. God made it that way, that’s the way humans ate for thousands of years… what’s wrong with it? SCIENCE has proven it’s healthy even. It’s basic biochemistry.

As far as exercise goes, it’s good for keeping a value of life–being flexible and able to run, jump, sprint, etc and lift things, but I put very little value in exercise as far as weight control. Exercise can never compensate for an unhealthy diet, any more than supplements and drugs can. To get/maintain a healthy body and healthy weight it’s 80% nutrition and 20% exercise. I see physical activity as a fun thing, not do-it-or-you’ll-get-fat type of a thing.

About the whole calorie in/calorie out idea: if this worked, a lot of people would be normal weighted. BABIES are overweight these days, do we have a plethora of under active babies? Uh, no. They just eat, sleep and poop as they are programmed, yet they are fat. Being fat must not be about willpower or exercise. I think we have to dig deeper.

What exactly is a calorie?  A calorie is the amount of energy required to heat 1 kilogram of water by 1 degree Celsius in a bomb calorimeter. Every gram of protein and carbohydrate takes about 4 calories to heat the water while every gram of fat takes about 9 calories and alcohol takes about 7. BUT, the human body doesn’t burn calories the way a bomb calorimeter burns calories. The human body is complex with multiple organs, enzymes, hormones, brain chemicals, and more – every day new cells are made, hormones are manufactured and toxins are neutralized.  On the other hand, the bomb calorimeter is a tank. Food goes in and then goes out in the form of heat. There is no manufacturing going on, no thyroid glands or hormones to contend with.

So just because a gram of fat produces 9 calories in a bomb calorimeter doesn’t mean the body will store 9 calories from that same fat gram. Calories are used for other things in humans other than storing fat and providing energy for exercise.

Then where did the calorie in/calorie out come from? Let me quote from Nora Gedgaudas: The first law of thermodynamics states that energy in a closed system at thermal equilibrium is neither created nor destroyed. Energy can be transformed. First, is the human body a closed system? Nope.

So what does the law of thermodynamics and caloric deficit have to do with calories and weight gain? NOTHING. This law really says that the calories we eat can be stored (in fat or glycogen), burned off with work (as in exercise or digesting food), or burned off as waste (as in carbon dioxide or sweat). It simply says not all calories will go to the fat stores in our hips because some of those calories will be used to do work and some will be discarded as waste.

Summary

Animal fats are healthy and necessary for the human body and carbohydrates are not, exercise is not necessary for weight control but is good for quality of life, a calorie of food in a human is much different than in a bomb calorimeter, and the first law of thermodynamics (caloric deficit) has nothing to do with calories and weight gain.

I feel fairly brave posting this, seeing as the before photo IS me and is NOT attractive.  But here are the facts:

• I lost 15 pounds from December 18 until… well a few weeks ago.

What I did NOT do:

• I did NOT work out at the gym.
• I did NOT eat low or no fat.
• I did NOT eat lots of fiber.
• I did NOT eat only protein.
• I did NOT get liposuction.
• I did NOT go on a fad diet like Weight Watchers, the Cookie Diet or any “loose 10 pounds in 10 minutes” type of diet.
• I did NOT become bulimic or anorexic.
• Or any other numerous weird things people do for the sake of losing weight.

Now this is what I DID do.  First, remember that I’m just stating what I did/am doing and not necessarily suggesting anyone follow this exact plan to lose weight.  I began this diet with the sole purposes of promoting healthy digestion and healing my gut and in the process I lost the excess body weight.

• A 2 day day fast of all solid foods: I drank beef broth, teas and [weak] coffee.  And every night a special treat: an enema (used for people who’s body doesn’t eliminate waste naturally).
• Then I began the Introduction to Gut and Psychology Syndrome Diet and continued until just after the New Year slowly introducing foods that didn’t cause digestive issues or inflammation in my body.  There are six stages, the first stage included adding cooked vegetables to the bone broth soup and probiotic juices, the next stage raw egg yolk is added to the soup and cooked meat.  Then avocados, and pancakes and the list goes on.
• Then after the Intro was done I jumped into the Full GAPS diet which will last about 2 years.  Most of the recipes I post on this blog is GAPS friendly, meaning possible digestive-problem foods are not used: grain, lactose, sugar (processed).

Summary

Fasting diet: bone broth, I’m guessing, is 95% animal (healthy) fats and 5% protein.  No exercise routine other than normal daily living.
Introduction diet: 80% healthy fats 10% animal products and 10% [vegetable] carbohydrates.  No exercise routine other than normal daily living.
Full GAPS diet: 50% healthy fats, 40% animal products and 10% in carbohydrates.  Exercise: Weight lifting 2-3 times per week for 15 minutes, cardio 3-4 times per week for 30 minutes and stretching in the form of yoga 3 times per week for at least 30 minutes.
Now for the photos.
NOTE: I was not sticking out my stomach in the before photo.
Sadly.

BEFORE: 26 Dec 2010

AFTER: 27 Jan 2011

The following is an excerpt from GAPS online:

Q: After reading your book about dietary fat, cooking fats, and toxins stored in body fats, I now am wondering what your understanding of belly fat on individuals is?

A: Fat is the preferred source of energy for most of the cells and organs in the human body. Body fat is stored energy. There are two main depots of energy in the body: under skin fat and visceral fat (belly fat).

Under skin fat is an endocrine organ producing certain hormones essential for human physiology, such as leptin, resistin and cytokine TNF alpha. Women normally have more under skin fat than men, as female hormones lay the foundation for feminine fat storage on hips, breasts, buttocks and thighs, giving women their beautiful shape. Male hormones favour storage of under skin fat on the upper body, giving men their masculine shape. Regular consumption of sugar, flour and other processed carbohydrates alters hormonal balance in the body: that is why nowadays we see many women with male-type bodies and many men with feminine looking bodies.

Belly fat is largely a storage space for quick energy: this energy is stored inside the abdomen around inner organs: intestines, bowel, stomach, liver, kidneys, etc. Normal amounts of visceral fat are essential to support and insulate our inner organs. Processed carbohydrates in the body are quickly converted into fat. Some of this fat is stored under skin, which has a limited storage capacity. But if the carbohydrates keep coming, excessive fat is largely stored in the abdomen. Alcohol is a form of energy, which is quickly converted into fat and stored almost exclusively in the abdomen, giving the person a “pregnant” look. Fat attracts water: almost a quarter of belly fat tissue can be stored water. Men (and women) who drink too much alcohol regularly without consuming too much carbohydrates have large, hard-to-touch bellies with very little under skin fat – a “pregnant” belly; a belly full of fat and water. Men and women who indulge in both (too much alcohol and processed carbohydrates) will have large hard bellies and too much fat stored under skin as well.

The obesity epidemic is caused by processed carbohydrates which came to dominate our modern diets. Natural animal fats (butter and fats in eggs, meat and fish) balance our hormones and go into our bodily structure. Unfortunately, our modern diet is very low in these nourishing fats. Eating lots of carbohydrates while depriving your body of essential-to-life animal fats lead to obesity, diabetes, heart disease, cancer, auto immunity and most other modern plagues. 

Dr. Natasha Cambell-McBride:

“Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride holds a degree in medicine and Postgraduate degrees in both Neurology and Human Nutrition.  In her clinic in Cambridge she specializes in nutritino for children and adults with behavioral and learning disabilities, and adults with digestive and immune system disorders.

She believes that the link between learning disabilities, the food and drink that we take, and the condition of our digestive system is absolute, and the results of her work have supported her position on this subject.”  Read more about Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride here!