Category Archives: Food

Fat burning

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The idea of ketotic diets has been mentioned in my social circles for some time. I didn’t pay much attention, figuring it was just one of those fad diets people get into. Indeed, it seemed like it was just a revival of the Atkins diet and since the focus was on weight loss I wasn’t really interested. I already knew how to feed my body in a way that nurtured it and kept it at a healthy weight. Besides, the ketosis I was familiar with was the ketosis that occurs during starvation and that didn’t sound like a fun diet.

Last spring, my interest in athletic training and the research on the Access® Bar, an exercise bar formulated to switch off adenosine so that the body can easily burn fat reserves, got me interested in how fat burning works. access-barDr. Larry Wang, the researcher that formulated the Access Bar, found that humans, unlike animals that hibernate, will die of hypothermia long before they have exhausted their body’s fat reserves. This was amazing to me, because I thought the whole idea of fat was to have extra fuel available when we need it. What I learned was that the body hoarded fat like gold and that even in the face of death would not simply release it. If it doesn’t allow you to burn fat in the face of death from hypothermia, do you think it will allow you to burn fat when you go to the gym?

Thinking to help people living in the extreme cold of Canada, Dr Wang, a professor at the University of Alberta, was interested in unlocking fat burning. In order to figure out how to do this, he subjected lightly clad students to below freezing weather for three hours with and without his formulation. His research demonstrated that the formulation (now called the Access Bar) could indeed unlock fat burning in the students and allow them to maintain body temperature longer than when they did not use the bar. You can read a summary of his research.

Eventually, Tammy van Wisse, a performance swimmer, learned about the bar. She writes about swimming the English Channel with her brother and how he almost died of hypothermia. The next year they completed the swim using the Access Bar without any issues. Not only did they both stay warm, but she lost 22 pounds during the 8 hours and 23 minutes it took her to cross the channel This surprising amount of weight loss, was much more than the year before, suggesting a better ability to mobilize fat.

Still, ketogenesis didn’t really catch my attention until my partner decided to go on a ketotic diet. People report more energy, less food cravings, and easy weight loss on a diet that induces nutritional ketosis. I was interested in more energy and was looking for a metabolic plan that might help me reduce my overall food consumption. I was also curious about how my body would respond to nutritional ketosis. When my partner started his diet, I joined him.

Since we went from our regular diet one day to ketogenic diet the next, there was no time for elaborate preparation.  My partner had done a strict Atkins protocol years before, so he knew what his plan was.  I did a quick search of the internet to see what I needed to do.

The basic gist of the diet was low carbohydrate, moderate protein and high fat.  How low is low carb?  Well, 20 grams a day is certain to induce ketosis.  However, it seems that anything under 50 grams might also work, depending on the person. I used the Keto-Calculator to figure out what my targets were.

My beginning parameters were 28% fat, moderate activity, 132 pounds.  I opted for 1724 calories per day, since I had slowly gained five pounds over the past 9 months and restricting a few hundred calories would slowly shed that.  The calculator required that I set targets for carbs and proteins.  I wasn’t sure what to use so I first considered 30 and 50 grams carbs.  Here they are at high protein (95 grams per day):

Carbs
30 gram  (7%, 120 kcal)    or   50 gram  (12%, 200 kcal)
Protein
95 gram (22%, 380 kcal) for both
Fat
136 gram (71%, 1224 kcal)    or 108 gram (66%, 1144 kcal)

And then 40 grams carbohydrates at what I usually average in protein:

Carbs       40  grams (9%, 160 kcal)
Protein    80 grams  (19%, 320 kcal)
Fat          138 grams (72%, 1244 kcal)

And finally, 40 grams carbohydrates at what the program considered my minimum protein:

Carbs       40  grams (9%, 160 kcal)
Protein    58 grams  (13%, 232 kcal)
Fat          148 grams (78%, 1332 kcal)

In summary my ranges were:

8-12% carbohydrates*
15-25% protein
63-78% fat

I was familiar with my daily macro-molecule breakdown from years of tracking my nutrition. My averages were:

47% carbohydrates  (240g total, 23 gram fiber, 910 kcal)
15% protein (74 grams, 292 kcal)
37% fat (82 grams, 724 kcal)

I thought my diet worked well for my body.  Since it was based on free selection of food over a long period of time, I was impressed by how constant my day-to-day selection of food was.  I certainly was entrained to these proportions of macromolecules.  Was this optimal health, or simply a habit?  I thought I had the “right” way of eating for me, but wondered what else was possible.

I embarked on the ketogenic diet.  I did not like it, nor did I like how I felt.  I stuck with it only because I was curious.  I thought it would be enjoyable to indulge in extra fat, but I got no pleasure from it.  I missed eating lots of fruit and my beloved tortilla chips.   Here are my averages for the end of the first week:  137 grams fat, 32 grams net carbohydrates, 100 grams protein.

I had initially committed to a week trial and on the 9th day I ended the ketogenic diet by slowing adding more carbohydrates.  However, I kept wondering if I had even reached ketogenesis.  I also noticed that my protein, which I had not been watching closely, had crept up 20-30 grams over target.  Excess protein is converted to sugar in the body and I wondered if that blocked me from becoming ketogenic.

The question about if I had given the diet a fair trial loomed large.  What if I never even entered ketosis?  How hard can it be to become ketotic?  I felt certain I had, but I needed proof.

I ordered a meter to test blood ketones from Amazon and continued to munch out on carbohydrates while it was shipped.  So for four days I averaged 94g net carbs and then the meter arrived.  to be continued…

 

* Carbohydrates are “net carbs”.  This means total grams carbohydrates minus the fiber.

Five Healthy Eating Tips

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  1. Drink more water
  2. Add vegetables
  3. Plan meals and/or cook in batches
  4. Evaluate your food choices – reduce sugar and fat as appropriate
  5. Exercise and reduce stress – eliminates cravings

 

1.  Drink more water
I drink about 2 quarts of water each day.  Water satisfies thirst, can be useful in warding off cravings for extra food and it helps flush waste out of the body.  Some people may mistake thirst for hunger.  The body must have take in 2 cups of water each day to eliminate the waste that is produced.  But optimal intake is set at about 3 liters.  This is water from food as well as from beverages.  Typically people get between three to four cups of water as part of the food they eat.

Do you think you drink enough water?  Not sure?  Try adding one or two quarts of water each day for a week or two and see how it feels.  Signs of dehydration include thirst and chapped lips (or needing to use chap-stick frequently).

During short term hard exercise one losses water and salt. These both need to be replaced.  Sodium and other electrolytes “hold” water in the body.  If your blood pressure is low you may want to increase salt in your diet.

What prevents you from drinking more water?
●    Don’t remember
●    No time
●    Don’t want to go to the bathroom all the time

Strategies for drinking more
●    Carry a water bottle and/or keep water bottles in the car.
●    Keep water bottles, glasses or mason jars full of water in the kitchen, next to your bed, at your desk, next to the couch or other places where you spend time.

2.  Add vegetables
Two thirds of all cancer can be prevented by adequate intake of fruits and vegetables.  Over our lifetime we have a 39% chance of being diagnosed with cancer (all sites, invasive SEER Cancer Statistics Review 1973-1999).  (20% will die from cancer.)  This means that in a room of fifteen people six people will end up with cancer. Imagine that next time you are in a social gathering.  Which six will it be?

However, if we all start eating five to nine servings of fruits and vegetables only two of us will end up with cancer.  Both fruits and vegetables give us the benefits, but I like to emphasize eating more vegetables since it was always the greatest challenge for me.  It was easy for me to get in the 2 to 4 servings of fruits, but harder to manage the 3 to 5 servings of vegetables.

Fruits and vegetables are beneficial in preventing heart disease, type II diabetes, obesity and common illnesses such as colds.  They provide these health benefits by supplying antioxidants, fiber, vitamins and minerals and other micronutrients.  Sometimes it is hard to get excited about long term benefits.  Do we really care if we die at 60 of a heart attack?  But sudden death is not the usual lot, just the most dramatic.  These ailments can lead to chronic pain, isolation, limited mobility, etc.  Search on colostomy bag images if you want motivation to eat more vegetables.

What is in it for you today?  You and your family will be sick less often.  This makes your life easier.  You will have more energy and less fatigue, less headaches.  Subtle sense of well being.  Clean body, clear mind.  Energy you can count on.  No afternoon drag.  Better gut health, less problems with infections: yeast, bladder, colds.

Do you eat 3 to 5 servings of vegetables a day?

Do you eat 2 to 4 servings of fruits a day?

What is a serving of vegetables?  Fruits?  

half cup servings of vegetables and fruits

One serving: Dense vegetables – ½ cup or 2 or 3 ounces; Leafy vegetables – one to three cups.

In brief you need 1.5 to 2.5 cups per day or 1/3 to one pound of vegetables a day.

What keeps you from eating the recommended number of vegetable servings?
●    Don’t like vegetables.
●    Too hard to prepare.
●    Cost too much.
●    Don’t know how to prepare.
●    Forget.
●    Didn’t know I need to eat so much.

Keep it simple.  Start by adding a vegetable at each meal.  Go for color.  Most bang for your buck= carrots

3.  Plan meals and/or cook in batches
Eat low sugary breakfast
Eating a breakfast that includes protein and fat in addition to complex carbohydrates lessens food cravings, balances blood sugar, helps maintain normal weight and results in lower food consumption at lunch when compared to the results of eating a sugary breakfast.  Adding vinegar at breakfast also helps maintain stable blood sugar.  Eat cereal for dinner.  Eat dinner for breakfast.

For many years I ate a bean dish with rice for breakfast everyday.  Here is my recipe.  I would make this up using the leftover vegetables in my fridge (you know the ones that end up rotting).  One batch of this is good for breakfast for two weeks.  Make up a batch and freeze it in individual serving size containers.  Since I like variety, I would make up two different batches:  one lentil soup type and one chili type and rotate depending on my mood.

4.  Evaluate your food choices – reduce sugar and fat as appropriate
Adding vegetables is the most important thing you can do.  After that take a look at what you are eating and ask your body what it needs or doesn’t need.  Reducing sugar and fat may be a good thing for the majority of people, but there may be other foods that are causing problems in you body.  Some people find that they already know (but perhaps are ignoring) the foods that create dis-ease in their bodies.

Muscle test food choices
You can also play around with muscle testing.  Take a stable standing position and hold a food in front of you.  Ask your body, “What about this food?  Would you like this?”  If your body is okay with the food, the body will rock forward.  If the food is not good for the body, then the body rocks backwards.  I know some people that were able to use this dynamically to eliminate a food allergy.  They thought they were allergic to eggs their whole life.  What they found, when they listened to their body, was that they could eat eggs, but only when the body said “yes” and only the number of eggs the body specified.

5.  Exercise and reduce stress – eliminates cravings

 

Read my earlier post about other barriers to healthy eating.

 

Healthy Eating

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I used to teach a class on healthy eating for the Drug Abuse Alternatives Center in Santa Rosa. This morning, as I pondered the following questions:  What kind of information do people really need?  How can I contribute to greater health on the planet?  I was reminded of that class.

As I prepared to teach that class back in 2007, I realized that teaching people how to eat healthy seemed silly.  Everyone already knows how to eat “healthy”.  To test my hypothesis I started the class with a question.  Which one of these is healthier?
cokeapple

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As I suspected, everyone picked the apple.  While they both have an equivalent number of calories, the Coke has what we call empty calories and the apple gives us vitamins, minerals, fiber and natural compounds that prevent cancer and heart disease.  Similarly, when offered a choice between cookies and veggies, the class participants chose the veggies.  Once again I came smack up against the truth that more information isn’t really necessary.  Lack of knowledge isn’t a barrier to healthy eating. It is something else.

Some of the barriers are practical:
●    Can’t find the time.
●    Don’t have enough money.
●    Too much work.
●    I’m too tired.
●    The people around me don’t eat well either.
●    There is no good food in the house.

Other barriers to healthy eating are internal.  Sometimes people eat when their body doesn’t need food because they have specific triggers or have picked up habits that are hard to break.  Some of the reasons for inappropriate eating include:

●    Lack of awareness that we are eating.
●    Eating when we get home.
●    Eating when we get a break or during times of transition.
●    Treating ourselves with food.
●    Eating to calm down.
●    Eating because other people are eating.
●    Eating more because other people are eating.
●    Eating because we are cooking for others.
●    Buying food that others like even though it isn’t very healthy.
●    Depriving ourselves of food and getting too hungry.

The therapy for these type of blocks include a process of introspection and conscious behavior change.  It is all about making a choice and increasing awareness. Specific techniques for changing eating habits include my favorite ThetaHealing®.  Sometimes we are compelled to eat a certain way due to subconscious beliefs and programs.

Five Healthy Eating Tips