Why Low-Fat Diets Don't Work

The reason low-fat diets are so ineffective is related to our blood sugar levels. A low-fat diet will usually mean that we end up eating more carbohydrate. This carbohydrate is converted into glucose (sugar) in the bloodstream. There is a large variation between different people, but in general, the more carbohydrate we eat, the higher our blood glucose levels get.

Glucose in the bloodstream triggers the release of the hormone insulin. So, high levels of blood glucose result in high levels of insulin. The problem is that insulin actually blocks the ability to burn body fat and it is the hormone that is responsible for depositing fat into our tissues.

The excess glucose in our bloodstream (created by excess carbohydrate in our diet) is directly converted into stored body fat The situation gets much worse as time goes by since high levels of blood glucose lead to

type II diabetes. Studies have also repeatedly demonstrated that excess glucose damages the arteries and causes heart disease.

A study published in the health journal Lancet in 2006 collated data on blood glucose and cardiovascular
disease from 52 countries. It was found that more than 3 million deaths were attributable to high blood glucose levels. The total number of deaths related to higher than optimum blood glucose was comparable to the number of deaths from smoking.

So next time somebody tells you they are on a low-fat diet, offer them a cigarette to go along with their super-high carb diet--it'll be just as healthy for them.

P.S. If you really want to understand causes of heart disease, read a brilliant book (available online) a Metabolic Typing colleague of mine Justin Smith wrote. Available at http://www.29billion.com/

Reversing the Diabetes Trend

In October 2010, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) projected that by the year 2050, as many as one-third of all adults in the U.S. could have diabetes. Despite the dire prediction, it’s quite possible to prevent, manage or even reverse diabetes.

According to one diabetes-prevention website, almost 60 million Americans are on the verge of becoming diabetic, while over 20 million already—about 8 percent of the U.S. population—have type 2 diabetes.

Type 2 diabetes accounts for approximately 90 percent of all diabetes diagnoses. Commonly referred to as a “lifestyle disease”, diabetes currently costs the global economy almost $400 billion per year.

That number is expected to jump to almost $500 billion in 20 years.

Diabetes, though, can usually be prevented, controlled, or possibly even reversed by:

• Managing blood sugar levels
• Losing weight
• Exercising
• Making dietary changes

In order to stem the tide of the diabetes epidemic, Al Pirnia, president of a diabetes-prevention company called Transformations, says that education and communication is crucial to managing and preventing diabetes.

“Every diabetes educator will encourage those with diabetes to lose weight and eat fewer carbohydrates, but what few people are saying is that you don’t need to have a huge belly in order to become pre-diabetic or diabetic,” says Pirnia.

Although it’s estimated that 80 percent of people with type 2 diabetes are obese, Pirnia says just a little extra abdominal fat can lead to a pre-diabetic condition.

“Just 10 pounds of extra abdominal fat,” he says, along with a stressful lifestyle that makes no time for exercise, “can get you over the top and make you become a diabetic,” cautions Pirnia.

More important than weight loss, says Pirnia, is educating people how to be in total control of their blood sugar.

“Diabetes is easy to correct at the early stage with simple food habit changes. Unfortunately, the [healthcare] system usually waits until it’s a disease condition before any action is taken,” Pirnia says.

Rather than educating the populace on how to regulate blood sugar levels, Pirnia claims that often times, a person’s blood sugar fasting levels are at 100 or even 110 before any comment is made by a healthcare professional.

Pirnia encourages those with pre-diabetic and diabetic conditions to frequently monitor blood sugar levels by using a self-administered glucometer.

Fasting blood sugar levels, says Pirnia, should not exceed 90.

Rather than simply telling someone with diabetes to modify their diet, Pirnia suggests educating those with diabetes on how to:

• Eat protein at every meal, including snacks
• Take a healthy snack between meals
• Never eat large meals full of starchy foods
• Learning, through use of the glucometer, which foods spike up blood sugar
• Eliminating or minimizing those foods which spike blood sugar
• Biochemically boosting the body’s fat burning process by adjusting carbohydrate to protein ratios
• Encourage hydrochloric acid (HCL) supplementation to support digestion and nutrient absorption
• Support healthy pancreatic function, especially those who have been on medication
• Educate pre-diabetics on the consequences of not changing their lifestyle

“It’s meaningless to tell someone, ‘lose weight’ if they are not going to learn how to burn abdominal fat,” says Pirnia.

“If people lose muscle mass when they lose weight, they are doing more harm than good. Furthermore, if those with diabetes or at risk of getting diabetes aren’t properly educated, they will just end up on medication and ultimately, their pancreas will be undermined or completely destroyed,” adds Pirnia, referring to the organ that secretes insulin to regulate blood sugar.

Failure to reverse diabetes could also lead to developing Alzheimer’s disease, certain cancers and heart disease, according to several contemporary studies.

The Gycemic Index scale, a measure of how quickly and for how long carbohydrates in a given food raises blood sugar levels, is one tool that nutritionists and dieticians frequently use to educate their clients.

But Thomas Wolever, Ph.D., a professor of nutritional sciences at the University of Toronto cautions that people often think that the GI tells you what your individual glycemic response will be all the time for a specific food.

“It doesn’t,” he says, in HealthCommunities.com’s Diabetes Focus.

“The GI of any food is consistent from day to day…what changes is a person’s response.”

For example, white bread has the same GI regardless. But if someone eats bread three days in a row, Wolever claims the GI response could vary by as much as three fold because of activity, stress levels, sleep quality, and what other foods have been eaten at other times of the day and at the same time as the bread.

The aforementioned Pirnia would no doubt educate those interested in managing their diabetes to avoid white bread at all costs.

“The bottom line,” says Pirnia, “is to empower people to learn how to manage and be in control of their blood sugar so they can impact their need for medication if they are already a diabetic, and for those who are pre-diabetic to never become a diabetic.”

Judd Handler is an Encinitas, CA-based health reporter and wellness consultant.

The Only Time You Should Eat Sugar (and not Fat)

Sugar is evil. It'll make you fat. You'll get diabetes.....you've heard it all before. 

As well as it should. Without going off on a tangent, part of the reason the U.S. economy won't rebound anytime soon, is the spiraling, out of control cost of health care. Millions of people are eating way too much junk food loaded with high fructose corn syrup. They get sick, have to go to the doctor, swallow a lifetime supply of medication and drive up health insurance premiums for everybody.

While this might be a simplistic view, partially blaming obesity for our sluggish economy, illness prevention is simple: eat real food, exercise at least a little bit several times a week and avoid sugar. 

For those of us who are on the wellness path, there is one time you should gulp down sugar and that's after a high-intensity workout.

Immediately after a hard core workout, your body's glycogen (blood sugar) levels are low. It's at this time you have a window of opportunity of around one hour when calories will be used up to 400% more efficiently than at any other time. 

Physiologically, it's as if you can eat almost anything you want. Think of this time as free calories. 

But don't go reaching for the Twinkies yet, if you've just completed a 5-mile run and did 200 pushups. 

In the past, sugary sports drinks were the staple of athletes. But in the last five to ten years, studies have shown that the best recovery drink or food has both simple carbs and protein, in a ratio of 4 parts carbs to 1 part protein. 

Unless you are lactose intolerant, one of the best foods to consume after a brutal workout is chocolate milk. 

Who would have thunk it? But chocolate milk has about 28 grams of sugar to 7 grams protein, a perfect 4:1 ratio.  

Including some protein aids the recovery process. After all, when you're strength training, what you're really doing is creating micro tears in the muscle fibers. Protein and plenty of rest rebuilds the muscle tissue.

So what about fat? Should that be consumed after a workout? Just like sugar, fat has a bad rap. I've always thought fat should really be called "lipids." Then, fat-phobic aerobic junkies and models wouldn't be afraid to eat a nutritious avocado for fear of being fat.

But the one and only time you should avoid eating fat is after a challenging workout as it theoretically interferes with the uptake of nutrients to the bloodstream, muscle tissue and organs. 

Under normal circumstances, natural dietary fat should be eaten at every meal to prevent blood sugar spikes--perhaps the number one reason people complain of being tired.

So reach for the sugar, only after a hard workout. Because if your blood is constantly full of sugar you will unknowingly create damage to the lining of your arteries and over time this will create inflammation.

If you're in need of a recommendation for good recovery formulas, email me at judd@fitnessandbodywork.com. 

To your health,

Judd

Food Allergies: Reasons, Symptoms and Cures

Are you one of the 12 million people in the U.S. with a food allergy? 

Only eight foods account for 90 percent of all food allergies. They are:

·         Corn

·         Soy

·         Wheat

·         Cow’s Milk

·         Eggs (from hens)

·         Peanuts

·         Tree Nuts

·         Seafood

Symptoms of food allergies can appear within as little as two minutes or up to two hours.

If you’re one out of the 25 adults—or one out of 17 kids age 3 and under—who suffer from food allergies, you’ll likely have at least one of the following symptoms:

·         rashes

·         hives

·         itching

·         swelling

·         wheezing and breathing difficulty

·         swollen lips or eyelids

Some people experience severe gastrointestinal symptoms from food allergies such as:

·         vomiting,

·         cramps

·         diarrhea

Food allergies, especially to peanuts and shellfish, can even, in extreme cases, lead to death from anaphylactic shock.

Causes of Food Allergies

Diligently, western society scrubs itself clean of all germs with heavily-marketed anti-bacterial soap. Is this obsessive cooties phobia cause for an increase in food allergies?

That’s one theory that’s been circulating among physicians, allergists and naturopaths and holistic healers for at least the past two decades.

Had no clue that anti-bacterial soap could actually weaken your immune system, causing it to attack a particular food substance, releasing histamines and other inflammatory chemicals in your system?

Have you succumbed to the hygiene propaganda?

If you have a toddler and keep your house spic and span, neutralizing all foreign microscopic invaders—both good and bad—your child may become more vulnerable to developing food allergies.

Other causes of food allergies

Processed foods, breast milk from mother to infant, and cross contamination from processors who produce many different food products in the same facility, are some of the other theories accounting for the increased incidence of food allergies.

In the case of peanuts, one theory exists that although Chinese cuisine contains lots of them, peanuts do not promote allergic reactions in most Chinese people because they boil their nuts—not roast them, as is commonly the case in western processed snacks and butters.

Whole-wheat-sandwich-eating Eskimos: More prone to food allergies?

Perhaps some sufferers of food allergies get dismayed because they think they are eating a food that is generally considered healthy.

“No fair, why is that I start wheezing after eating whole wheat bread—I thought it was much more nutritious than white bread,” pleads a despondent hypothetical food allergy sufferer.

It’s true of course that white bread lacks as many nutrients as whole wheat bread, but for some people, for reasons mentioned already, plus another important one— genetics—their DNA is not particularly well suited to digest, in this case, wheat.

If a traditional Nunavut igloo dweller living in far northern Canada abandoned that region’s traditional diet and subsisted instead on baloney sandwiches on whole wheat, there’s a chance this Nanuk of the North might develop a food allergy.

Dieticians, nutritionists and food coaches schooled in the concept of individualized nutrition and Metabolic Typing® understand that certain foods, especially in the case of wheat, corn, peanuts and soy, were introduced to humans, relatively, a short time ago.

Because many of us are ethnic mutts, it’s hard to know what traditional foods our ancestors ate.

Are you 100 percent Scottish-American? Then maybe your ancestors subsisted on seafood and unadulterated porridges. A pure-bred Scot from the Hebrides who now eats foods fortified with soy protein could develop an allergy to soy.

Eating bad foods kills enzymes, causes allergies

Over time, eating foods that trigger allergic reactions can render ineffective the digestive enzymes in your gut. Take cow’s milk for example. A common food allergen, it’s theorized by some progressive-thinking nutritionists that the pasteurization process in milk suppresses lactase, the enzyme needed to break down milk proteins.

Avoiding Food Allergies

It’s important to get in touch with your body and recognize any symptoms. Eliminating offending foods is the only tried and true way to avoid flare ups.

You can have your physician or allergist do a skin test for food allergies, but keep in mind that just because your skin shows sensitivity, it doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll experience allergic reactions, at least not severe ones.

Keeping a food journal is one of the best ways to learn how to eliminate foods that trigger reactions.

Facts about New Fad Diet: HCG Hormone Diet

If you were overweight, would you take a weight-loss supplement formulated from the urine of pregnant women?

 

The supplement in question is HCG (Human Chorionic Gonadotropin). This hormone has been utilized as a medical solution since the 1950s. It was originally administered to boys in India to reverse their female physical traits, such as breasts.

 

In recent years, due in part to celebrity-authored diet books heralding the hormone, the HCG Diet has become quite popular.

 

Perhaps not a household name like Atkins, South Beach and the Zone Diet, the HCG diet has also experienced a resurgence because of laissez-faire supplement regulations on the Internet, fueling an explosion of companies hawking HCG online.

 

How does HCG Work?

Proponents of the HCG diet claim that the hormone resets the body back to its natural healthy fat metabolizing capability. The hormone influences your body to draw all of its energy only from your abnormal and excess fat, yet leaving your muscles and organs functioning healthily.

 

People pushing HCG also purport that the hormone helps your body reach a state where it can more effectively control hunger while burning fat quickly.

 

Claims of one to three pounds of weight loss per day are common on the HCG diet.

 

HCG signals the hypothalamus (area of the brain that affects metabolism) to mobilize fat stores. In pregnancy, this helps the body bring nutrients into the placenta, nourishing the fetus with the energy to grow.

 

Although the hormone is commonly associated with pregnant women, men are also able to supplement with the hormone and have naturally occurring levels in their system.

 

HCG supplements are most often sold in sublingual drops, although most dieticians would recommend being supervised by a doctor, who would most likely prescribe injections rather than drops or pills.

 

Because injections and doctors visits are often more costly than ordering a bottle online, the resurgence of the HCG diet has sparked controversy.

 

What are HCG diet dangers?

For starters, HCG is only licensed as a fertility drug. But diluted, unregulated forms are found all over the Internet.

 

The hormone is also used by some bodybuilders to increase testosterone production and counter the effects of diminishing testicle size during an anabolic steroid cycle.

 

The main kicker is that the HCG diet is severely calorie-restricted: 500 calories maximum per day.

 

Conventional wisdom recommends that adults consume at least 2,000 calories per day.

 

Consuming only 500 calories per day would make most dieticians’ hair fall out.

 

Under normal circumstances, that’s precisely what would happen if someone ate 500 calories a day. In addition, they would experience muscle loss, bone density loss and organ dysfunction.

 

What do proponents of HCG say about the dangerously low caloric intake?

The case for HCG supplementation is that it actively suppresses food cravings, and energy requirements are completely fulfilled thanks to rapid fat metabolism.

 

Although HCG dieters eat similar to the caloric intake of an anorexic, their bodies are acting as if they’re consuming much more.

 

“Even though you’re only consuming 500 calories while on the diet, your body actually receives thousands of calories to meet its energy requirements from the fat that is being broken down,” claims one website that sells the hormone.

 

“Once the diet ends this status quo remains because your body has been re-tuned to take its energy from excess fat rather than store it,” the website adds.

 

How long do you have to be on the HCG diet?

Most businesses that sell HCG online claim that if you have up to 25 pounds of weight to lose, it will take about 25 days to achieve the weight loss. A cycle of approximately 40 days is the norm for people with more than 25 pounds to lose.

 

Some on the HCG diet have failed to lose all the desired weight on their first cycle. They are advised to repeat the cycle after a period of three weeks; six weeks if on the 42-day program.

 

The Verdict on HCG

Testimonials of people losing dozens of unwanted pounds number in the thousands, but it’s probably best to consult a doctor, dietician, or naturopath before starting the HCG diet.

 

4 Supplements to Consider Taking on a Daily Basis

People often ask me what supplements I take. But before I get into the specifics of my personal supplementation, keep in mind that everybody is different. So before you start popping pills, just because I told you, or any other health "expert" says to, investigate on your own. 


That being said, here are some supplements I take on a daily basis. 


Sea Salt with Trace Minerals


I wrote a previous post on why supplementing with a sea salt/trace mineral product is beneficial. To summarize, trace minerals act like the spark plugs for your cells. Many people experience fatigue on a daily basis for a variety of reasons, including chronic stress. Chronic stress zaps the body of important electrolytes like potassium and sodium. So, many of us are deficient in trace minerals and good salts.


I'm particular to Redmond's Real Salt as it contains over 60 trace minerals, which most of us aren't getting from our inadequate diets. Trace Minerals and real sea salt helps regulate blood sugar levels; regulates heart beat; helps balance Ph levels; can help stimulate thyroid production (your thyroid helps regulate metabolism); can help prevent muscle cramps, and other benefits. 


I sprinkle some on my food or after exercising, I'll even sprinkle some in water. Anybody who does long-distance running should pour a liberal amount into their water. 


Digestive Enzymes


While I'm partial to Peppermint as an efficient digestive enzyme, there are dozens of good enzymes on the market. Digestive enzymes break down the food in the body so that the nutrients can be absorbed. Enzymes are present in the food you eat which is why there is great importance placed upon having plenty of raw foods in the diet. I eat plenty of cooked food, especially in the winter when a salad doesn't warm the blood as much as a good pot roast.


Due to chronic stress, the body has to rely too much on its own digestive enzymes. The result is more stress placed on your system and organs leaving less time and energy for other jobs such as rebuilding and replacing damaged cells and tissue and keeping your immune system strong.


Probiotics


Unless you're a doctor, stop using anti-bacterial soap. Bacteria isn't a bad thing, in fact, our guts are colonized with plenty of helpful bacteria that perform a lot of beneficial functions, like keeping our immune system strong. If you eat fried foods and other unhealthy fare, definitely consider adding probiotics to your daily routine. 


Beware, though. Not all probiotics are created equal and if your system is deficient in good bacteria, you may actually need to pre-colonize your gut with prebiotics. Sound confusing? Yes, it is. In other words, some probiotics will be insufficient to repopulate the gut with good bacteria. I prefer a 20 billion organism count per day. (I take one pill that's 10 billion organisms in the morning; the other 10 at night). 


Vitaminn C


Colds and flus survive more easily in cold weather. Vitamin C, a powerful antioxidant, has many benefits, including keeping the immune system strong. People ask me about orange juice. I say ditch it or at least make sure you eat some fat and protein to prevent blood sugar crashes. Better yet, just eat an orange and/or plenty of leafy green vegetables. I also pop one or two 500mg Vit. C pills per day to make sure my immune system gets that extra protection. Vitamin C toxicity is possible so don't overdo it. 


Have questions or want a complimentary holistic health wellness consultation? Email coachjudd@gmail.com.

The Science Behind Why You're Chronically Tired

This morning, I woke up feeling like a pregnant woman who just ran a marathon -- bloated and exhausted.

While I usually have great energy in the morning, waking up today feeling hung over made me think of what I did differently last night.

Did I eat anything unusual? Did I gorge on ice cream? Pound one too many beers?

The only thing I can think of is that I did eat too many grains. At least for me, eating an excessive amount of grains (anything more than one slice of bread), even if they are sprouted or gluten-free or whole grain or advertised as healthy in 101 ways, puts me out of whack.

Constantly eating the wrong foods causes widespread systemic stress. And even if you are indeed eating for your Metabolic Type and a very healthy eater, having other chronic stress--be it a job you hate, being in a toxic relationship, exercising too much (Triathletes and marathon runners), indulging in drugs and alcohol--causes a physiological phenomena called the "Pregnenelone Steal".

When your body is under stress of any kind, cortisol is released by the adrenal gland (located on top of your kidneys). Cortisol is the stress hormone. If adrenaline prepares the body for fight or flight and has the energy that could be compared to a sprinter, cortisol, by contrast is the long-distance runner, preparing us for sustained stress.

This isn't necessarily a bad thing to have our bodies release a steroidal hormone to help us deal with stress. However, too much of a good thing, is, of course, a bad thing.

Once the body undergoes chronic stress, our adrenal cortexes struggle to make enough cortisol to keep up with stress. As a result, our bodies ingeniously take another hormone called pregnenelone (a precursor to estrogen), essentially preventing it from metabolizing into sex hormones. This is the Pregnenelone Steal.

All major systems of our bodies go out of whack. Too much cortisol can interfere with developing lean muscle . This is one reason why people who have gone through lots of stress often have trouble losing bodyfat and specifically adding muscle.

All long-term sicknesses are either caused or exacerbated by fatigued adrenals. This post could go on and on about how adrenal fatigue affects all systems.

Sparing you a boring lecture, just know that if you've been struggling with energy, you must first eliminate sources of chronic stress. Yes, this is easier said than done. But there are simple lab tests and 100% natural supplements like bio-identical hormones (derived from wild yam extract) that can help push you more towards balanced.

I'd be happy to help you or anyone else you know. I'm a graduate of the Functional Diagnostic Nutrition program that trains holistic health advocates in hormonal balance testing and digestive function. Call Judd at 858.442.6861 to receive your free wellness consultation.