Home » Archives for DocMuscles » Page 9

Author: DocMuscles

Cheesecake #DocMuscles #KetonianKing

Happy National Cheesecake Day!

Happy National Cheesecake Day!

Yes, you heard me correctly.  It is National Cheesecake Day today.  Today you must eat cheesecake – or you could be considered un-American.

“I can’t eat cheese cake, I’m doing a ketogenic diet!” you exclaim.

“Yes.  So am I.”

Eating cheesecake is actually good for you, (low-carb cheesecake that is) and it’s also good for your family. This is the perfect day for ketogenic cheesecake . . . like my wife Tiffini’s Low-Carb Key Lime & Blueberry Cheesecake and as my gift to you for #NationalCheesecakeDay, you can get the recipe by filling in that pop up box!

And, “NO – I know what you’re thinking,” you can never have too much heavy whipped cream.

So, why am I so excited about National Cheesecake Day?  I love low-carb cheesecake for a number of reasons.

Testosterone & Cheesecake

National Cheesecake Day makes me think of testosterone.

I know. Leave it to a man to start with testosterone, but in the big picture, a man really isn’t a man without testosterone, right?  I mean, it was during the 5th week of embryonic development that my Y chromosome began signaling the differentiation of male fetal growth in-utero.  And like every male, that same hormone, testosterone, continues to differentiate me from the human female counterpart throughout life.  (And, boy am I grateful for that.)

The reason testosterone comes to mind is that I see a large number of men with low testosterone.  Low testosterone has become a significant issue.  20-30% of the men in my practice suffer from some degree of suppression in testosterone when they first present in my office.   In fact, you can’t watch late night TV without being asked if your testosterone is too low (“Do you have Low ‘T’?”).

We know that the primary nutrient shown to affect testosterone to the greatest extent is fat. Studies reveal that diets low in fat and high in carbohydrates are associated with lower testosterone compared to diets high in fat (1, 2).  That begs the question, has 50 years of our low-fat high-carb diets made us less manly?  I am convinced, but I’ll let you be the judge when you look at the pictures below . . .

Manhood #DocMuscles #KetonianKing Cheesecake

When did this become acceptable?

MenThenMenNow #DocMuscles #KetonianKing Lack of Cheesecake

Testosterone is essential in providing energy, muscle mass & growth and actually keeping the waistline down.  Adequate testosterone is one of the key components allowing the man to fill the fatherhood rolls of protector and provider.

Female Brain Has A Testosterone Meter

Interestingly, the female brain is actually subconsciously wired to see the male physique and identify pheromones indicating your testosterone is higher or lower.  Most women won’t admit it, because they probably don’t even recognize it, but studies show that men who lack muscle, have lower testosterone and have a beer belly are actually less attractive to the female sex. Men who produce more testosterone produce androstadienone in their sweat at a greater concentration which can be detected by the female improving her mood, focus and sexual response (9).  If your diet isn’t helping you stimulate testosterone production, you’re less inclined to perform well in areas requiring its presence and you may be seen as less attractive by the women in the room.

That means that, bacon and eggs you craved this morning improve your manliness and actually give you more sex appeal. And, I’m sorry to say, the bagel and orange juice you had this morning are feminizing, they’re turning you into a woman, especially if you are like 85% of other men who over produce insulin because of insulin resistance.

When insulin is high and being over produced, it suppresses Luteinizing Hormone (LH) and Follicle Stimulating Hormone (FSH), lowering testosterone production.  The high insulin and high fructose of the bagel and orange juice stimulate increased uptake of fat into the fat cells and decreases adiponectin production.  This causes increase in Sex Hormone Binding Globulin (SHBG) which further decreases available testosterone.  High insulin and low adiponectin puts your “man card” through the wash.

Cheesecake and Men’s Muscles

Men need muscles for all sorts of important things.  It’s often Dad who carries the child on his shoulders, or lifts you above his head.  It takes muscles for that.

Father and Child #DocMuscles #KetonianKing Cheesecake makes better fathers

We talked about the importance of testosterone in muscle development.  That that’s not all.  Many men can provide for their families specifically because of their ability to use that muscle.  I’m not saying women can’t use muscle, too.  In fact, muscle is essential for the female body to be healthy. What I’m saying that there are a number of jobs that make our country function that require men who are fit. Jobs like policemen, firefighters, special-ops military teams, construction workers, life-guards & delivery drivers require the strength and power men bring to these fields.  These jobs require muscle, and specifically “manly” muscle from healthy testosterone.

In addition, we know that ketones, the primary fuel in a ketogenic diet, inhibit muscle breakdown by decreasing leucine oxidation and preserving muscle mass (3). Being in ketosis increases testosterone and increases the presence of leucine preserving and allowing for bigger stronger muscles. So, yes, visiting the donut shop actually does make you less manly by allowing the more rapid degradation of your muscles.

“Wasn’t it my muscles that first got your attention when we met and got this whole father thing started in the first place, honey?” I asked my wife in the kitchen.

“What?! No . . .” she responded.

“Oh, . . . never mind.”

Energy & Cheesecake

Whether you have great muscles or not, you need energy for the muscles you have to fill your role as a man.  Work requires energy.  As fat is increasingly used as your primary fuel, instead of sugar, the liver converts it into ketone bodies, or ketones.  The liver itself, doesn’t use the ketones, so they are taken up by the muscles and brain for fuel.  Increased energy, mental clarity and suppression of inflammation are the key findings that are noticed while using fat as your primary fuel.  What man couldn’t us a little more of that?

Health of Family Influenced By Father’s Health

In fact, several studies report that the man in the home has the biggest impact on the overall fitness and on the overall weight of his children. It was found that the father’s, not the mother’s, total and percentage body fat was the best predictor of whether or not the couple’s daughters gained weight as they got older (4).  All the more reason to keep your waistline under control, Dad. And, all the more reason to have low-carb cheesecake today.

Another fascinating study showed fathers’ (again, not the mothers’) body mass index is directly related to a child’s activity level (5).

Cheesecake Helps Rough-Housing

Energy and muscle is essential for “rough-housing” and there is science to prove that “rough-housing” makes your kids awesome!  Psychologist Anthony Pellegrini found that the amount of rough-housing children engage in predicts their achievement in first grade better than their kindergarten test scores do (10). What is it about rough and tumble play that makes kids smarter? Well, a couple things.

OldFasionedRoughHousing #DocMuscles #KetonianKing cheesecake

Rough-housing makes your kids more resilient.  Strengthening resilience is a key in developing children’s intelligence. Resilient kids tend to see failure more as a challenge to overcome rather than an event that defines them.  Intellectual resilience that comes from energetic fathers helps ensure your children bounce back from bad grades and gives them the grit to keep trying until they’ve mastered a topic.

Intelligence From Cheesecake?

Neuroscientists studying animal and human brains have found that bouts of rough-and-tumble play increase the brain’s level of a chemical called brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). BDNF helps increase neuron growth in the parts of the brain responsible for memory, logic, social intelligence and higher learning–skills necessary for academic success.  We, also, now know that the brain that uses fat, or ketones, as its primary fuel recovers from injury and makes BDNF more effectively (6,7).

So, remember, that rib-eye with steak butter your kids gave you for dinner and the low-carb cheesecake you had for dinner is actually making you and them smarter and more resilient. You could even say that a diet high in fat and low in carbohydrate gives your family more grit.

Overall Happiness from Cheesecake?

The Harvard Grant Study completed in 1934, the longest longitudinal study ever done on the lives of men, found that a man’s father influenced his life in multiple ways exclusive to his relationship with his mother. Loving fathers imparted to their sons:

  • Enhanced capacity to play
  • Greater enjoyment of vacations
  • Increased likelihood of being able to use humor as a healthy coping mechanism
  • Better adjustment to, and contentment with, life after retirement
  • Less anxiety and fewer physical and mental symptoms under stress in young adulthood

It should be noted that “it was not the men with poor mothering but the ones with poor fathering who were significantly more likely to have poor marriages over their lifetimes.” Men who lacked a positive relationship with their fathers were also “much more likely to call themselves pessimists and to report having trouble letting others get close” (8).

You, as a testosterone producing man and father, matter.  And, being in ketosis makes you an even better father! Seriously.

FatherSon #DocMuscles #KetonianKing cheesecake

When all is said and done, a man’s relationship with his father very significantly predicted his overall life satisfaction at age 75 — “a variable not even suggestively associated with the maternal relationship” (8).

So, to circle back, the low-carb key-lime cheese cake just made me more manly. Thanks, Honey!  Happy National Cheesecake Day!

Tiffini’s Low-Carb Cheesecake Recipe:

Crust:

2 1/2 cups macadamia nut flour (salted tastes better)

1/4 cup sweetener (Swerve)

1/2 cup butter melted

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour and sweetener.  Stir in butter until well combined.  Press firmly into bottom and up the sides of a pie pan or spring-form pan.  Bake at 350 degrees for 8 minutes (watch closely so that the crust does not over-brown) 

Filling:

16 oz cream cheese, softened

2 tbsp sour cream

1/4 cup freshly squeezed lime juice with pulp

1 tsp lime zest

3/4 cup sweetener (Swerve or erythritol)

1/2 cup + 2 tbsp heavy whipping cream, divided

1 tbsp gelatin or 1 envelope Knox gelatin

In a large bowl, beat cream cheese, sour cream, lime juice with pulp and zest together until smooth.  Beat in the sweetener until well combined.   In a small bowl, whisk together 2 tbsp of heavy cream and the gelatin.  Stir into the cream cheese until well combined.  

In another bowl, beat whipping cream until it forms stiff peaks.  Gently fold  whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture.

Spread the filling over the cooled prepared crust.  

Refrigerate for a few hours until set and ready to serve with blueberries sprinkled on top.

References:

  1. Hamalainen, E., H. Aldercreutz, P. Puska, and P. Pietinen. Diet and serum sex hormones in healthy men. J. Steroid Biochem. 20:459-464, 1984.
  2. Reed, M.J., R.W. Cheng, M. Simmonds, W. Richmond, and V.H.T. James. Dietary Lipids: an additional regulator of plasma levels of sex hormone binding globulin. J. Clin. Endocrin. Metab. 64:1083-1085, 1987.
  3. Nair KS, Welle SL, Halliday D, Cambell RG. Effect ofβ-hydroxybutyrate on whole-body leucine kinetics and fractional mixed skeletal muscle protein synthesis in humans. J Clin Invest. 1988;82:198–
  4. Figueroa-Colon R, Arani RB, Goran MI, Weinsier RL. Paternal body fat is a longitudinal predictor of changes in body fat in premenarcheal girls. Am J Clin Nutr. 2000 Mar;71(3):829-34.
  5. Finn, Kevin et al. Factors associated with physical activity in preschool children.J of Ped., Vol 140, Issue 1, 81-85
  6. Vizuete AF1, de Souza DF, Guerra MC, Batassini C, Dutra MF, Bernardi C, Costa AP, Gonçalves CA. Brain changes in BDNF and S100B induced by ketogenic diets in Wistar rats. Life Sci. 2013 May 20;92(17-19):923-8.
  7. Masino SA, Rho JM. Mechanisms of Ketogenic Diet Action.  Jasper’s Basic Mechanisms of the Epilepsies [Internet]. 4th edition. Bethesda (MD): National Center for Biotechnology Information (US); 2012.
  8. Valliant GE. Triumphs of Excellence: The Men of the Harvard Grant Study. 1934
  9. Verhaeghe J, Gheysen R, Enzlin P. Pheromones and their effect on women’s mood and sexuality. Facts Views Vis Obgyn. 2013; 5(3): 189-195.
  10. DeBenedet A, Cohen LJ. The Art of Roughhousing. 2010. Quirk Books.
Fat Lock Box #DocMuscles #KetonianKing

Ketones – One of the Keys to the Fat Lock-Box

Do you have the keys to your “fat lock-box?”

Lock-boxes have always fascinated me.  Lock-boxes with special keys are even more fascinating.  The more I’ve learned about fat cells (adipocytes), the more I think about them as special fuel depositories or fat lock-boxes.  Before the invention of refrigerators, fast-food, Bisquick and beer, our bodies preserved and reserved fat as a precious commodity.

The body, when given fat with carbohydrates or excess protein, quickly places the fat into a lock-box for safe keeping.  It does this for two reasons. First, the body can store fat very efficiently. Second, hormone signals stimulate fat storage when other fuel sources (carbohydrate & protein) are present in excess. The body can access this stored fuel only when the right presentation of hormonal keys are present.  Fascinatingly, we now know from recent research, there are actually three types of lock-boxes for fat in the human body (white adipose tissue, brown adipose tissue, and tan adipose tissue).

The greatest challenge for the obesity doctor is getting into the fat lock-box.  Some people’s boxes are like the “Jack-in-the-Box” you had as a child – just add a little exercise spinning the handle and the box pops open (These are those people that say, “Oh, just eat less and exercise and you’ll lose weight.”)  For the majority of the people I see, it’s more like the lock above with a four or five part key required to turn the gears just right.  (And, that key often only seems available on a quarter moon at midnight when the temperature is 72 degrees.)  Fat cells, called adipocytes, require four, and possibly more, keys to open them up and access the fuel inside.  Exercise is only one of those keys.  However, exercise alone often fails.

Over the last 18 months, I have been surprisingly impressed with the results patients have by the addition of both medium chain triglycerides and exogenous ketones.   A number of people have asked me, “Why do you encourage the addition of exogenous ketones to a person already following a ketogenic diet?”

Others just accuse me of self promotion, saying, “You’re just trying to sell a product!”

Or they exclaim, “Giving more ketones is just a waste of time and money.”

A few of the uneducated holler from across cyberspace, “You’re just going to cause ketoacidosis!”

Believe me, I’ve heard it all.  And, the skepticism is understandable.  I work with people every day, looking closely at weight gain/loss, metabolism, cholesterol, blood pressure, inflammation, etc.  With any “low-carb” or “ketogenic product,” I test it out on myself and my family, before I offer it to my patients or even consider encouraging its use in my practice.  I have this desire to understand “the how” and “the why” before I prescribe the who and when.

The Fat Lock-Box Keys

First , let’s talk about the adipocyte as a fat lock-box – and where you find the keys. Then, we’ll discuss how products may or may not help.

Insulin

There is only one door INTO the adipocyte for the fat, and the key to that door is insulin.   Insulin stimulates an enzyme called lipoprotein lipase that essentially pulls the fat from the cholesterol molecule into the fat cell.  Without insulin, fat doesn’t enter the fat cell.  As a result, type I diabetics (those that make absolutely no insulin) look anorexic if they don’t take their needed insulin.   Insulin is also the first key to the back door on the adipocyte.  Actually, if there is too much insulin in the system, fat enters easily through the front door but cannot exit the back door (Picture 1). Insulin seals up the back door so that fat cannot exit very effectively.

That’s why insulin is the master hormone when it comes to obesity.  You’ve got to lower the over-all insulin load to get the adipocyte slowing fat entry and increasing fat exit.  If you don’t do that, I don’t care how much you exercise, 85% of the population will struggle with weight loss.  Hmmm, seems kind a familiar to the last 50 years of our obesity epidemic, No?

Stimulation Lipolysis #DocMuscles #KetonianKing
Picture 1 – Four Key Pathways to Adipocyte Stimulation of Lipolysis

Catecholamines

The second key to the back door of the fat cells are the catecholamines.  These are adrenaline (epinephrine), norepinephrine, adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) and even serotonin.  These hormones are produced in the adrenal glands through exercise, fear and even recollection of powerful memories. Medications can also stimulate production of these hormones.  The catecholamines stimulate cAMP.  cAMP opens the fat cell, releasing fatty acids for fuel.

#WhereIsBaconBoy #DocMuscles #KetonianKing

The thyroid hormone conversion of T4 to T3 also plays a role in uptake of the catecholamines by adnylyl cyclase (AC).  Low levels of T3 (like those seen in hypothyroidism or in cases of thyroiditis) also inhibit unlocking of the fat lock-box.  Conversion of T4 to T3 is driven by the presence of bile salts in the gut.  Increase fat intake increases the presence of the bile salts which naturally leads to better T3 conversion.  Hence my constant references to eating more fat and bacon. .

Inflammation & Medications

The third key is an inhibitory effect on adenylyl cyclase (AC) activity by alpha and beta adrenoreceptors, adenosine, prostaglandins, neuropeptide Y, peptide YY, HM74-R & nicotinic acid.  These inhibitory and inflammatory hormones produced in the brain, gut and other areas decrease cAMP activity in the fat cell and slow fat loss.  The fancy long names are all hormones causing inflammation.  Of note, many are also stimulated by medications including blood pressure lowering drugs. Check with your doctor if the medications you are taking may be causing weight gain, or halting your weight loss.

Please note that the first three keys have effect on the cAMP pathway for release of fat from the adipocyte.  These three keys turn on or off effective function of cAMP leading release of fatty acids from the fat cell.

Naturitic Peptides

The fourth key follows a separate pathway.  This is why I’ve clinically seen patients experience weight loss even in the presence of higher insulin, inflammatory disease or hypothyroidism. This key activates release of the naturitic peptides (ANP, BNP).  These hormones are released from the heart when it squeezes more powerfully.  As the cardiac muscle contracts, it releases ANP & BNP hormones.  These hormones stimulate the cGMP pathway in the adipocyte.   It then activates hormone sensitive lipase (HSL) and perilipin to release free fatty acids.  Again, this pathway is separate from the pathway by which the first three keys released fat.   Exercise increases heart contractility, but is inhibited by high insulin levels.  However, ketones themselves also stimulate this increased contractile effect.

Hypothalamus-Pituitary-Gonadal (HPG) Axis & Testosterone

There actually is a fifth key not referenced above.  The fifth key to the fat lock-box amplifies testosterone’s presence through the HPG axis.  Insulin resistance and leptin resistance lower testosterone in men and raise it in women, causing poly-cystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS).   Normalizing insulin levels (with a ketogenic diet) while at the same time increasing ketones as the primary fuel powerfully resets the HPG axis through a complex series of hormonal reactions.  Growth hormone is balanced and testosterone returns to a normal range.

Clinically, 60% of the people I see in the office have abnormal testosterone due to insulin resistance. This leads to hypogonadism in men and PCOS (abnormal periods, facial hair growth and/or infertility) in women.  Restricting carbohydrates and maintaining nutritional ketosis by diet and/or addition of exogenous ketones has a powerful corrective factor in these people.

Testosterone influences the up-regulation of the alpha & beta adrenergic receptors (the 2nd & 3rd key above).  Hence, if your testosterone is low, it has a suppression on the way that the catecholamines influence fatty acid release from the fat cells.  If your testosterone and growth hormone are normal, muscle development and adrenaline stimulus from exercise helps amplify the use and mobilization of fat from the fat cell.  In people with insulin resistance and leptin resistance, exercise and the catecholamines don’t have the same fat burning effect.

What Does This Actually Mean?

Yes, I have greatly simplified a series of very complex hormonal pathways in the explanation of the keys above.  Why do you think understanding obesity has been so difficult?  Think of your adipocytes as a fat lock-box.

What’s even more important is the knowledge that the fat cell DOES NOT open or close because of calories.  There is no dogmatic calorie-meter on the wall of the fat cell.  There is no calorie key to the fat lock-box.  Really, . . . in the 50 years of studying fat, researchers haven’t found one.  (Prove me wrong when you show me an electron micro-graph of a calorie-meter in the wall of a cell).  Science has demonstrated multiple times that the lack of food from starvation or excessive fasting suppresses thyroid function (an inhibitory effect on key #3).  Restricting calories actually inhibits fat loss in many people.

The fat lock-box keys I refer to above are hormone responses to the presence of macro-nutrients (food).  That means, first reduce your carbohydrate intake by eating real food from good sources. You can learn how to get started by registering for my FREE six part weight loss mini-course.  Second, be as active as you can. Third, reduce stress and medications that have inhibitory effect on catacholamines. Fourth, balance your thyroid. And, fifth, get into ketosis and consider adding exogenous ketones to your dietary regimen.  It really is that simple.

References

(For those of you that still believe there is a calorie key – or just need something to do while in the bathroom):

  1. Lafontan et al. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol. 2005
  2. Lenard NR, Obesity, 2008
  3. Li XF et al, Endo (April 2004) Vol 145
  4. Liu YY& Brent GA, Trends Endocrinol Metab. 2010 Mar; 21(3): 166–173
  5. Max Lafontan et al. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol. 2005;25:2032-2042
  6. Skorupskaite K et al, Hum Rep Update, Mar 2014, vol 20

National Day of the Cowboy – Why DocMuscles Wears A Cowboy Hat

Happy National Day of the Cowboy!  I love beef and a good cowboy hat as much as I love bacon.  And, the one thing that I think about when I cut into my ribeye steak is the cowboy that helped put it on my plate. Starting in 2005, National Day of the Cowboy is observed annually on the fourth Saturday in July.

The cowboy era and legends began after the Civil War in the heart of Texas and the southern states West of the Mississippi. Cattle were herded long before this time, but in Texas, they grew wild and unchecked. As the country grew, and populations moved West, the demand for beef (my favorite ketogenic food) in the Northern territories and Northwestern states increased.  Cowboys moved 5 million head of cattle  each year by cowboys pushing their herds on long Northward drives to where profits could be made selling the beef.

The draw of wealth and adventure, mixed with stories of a rough wilderness set on the backdrop of the Great Plains, gave way to the mythological image of the cowboy.  Where the dust settles out reveals the truth of the American cowboy and cowgirl. The life of a cowboy required a particular ability to live in a frontier world.  It required respect, loyalty and a willingness to work hard.

Former President Bush said of this day, “We celebrate the Cowboy as a symbol of the grand history of the American West. The Cowboy’s love of the land and love of the country are examples for all Americans.”

HOW TO OBSERVE

Celebrate with a cowboy you know and post on social media using #NationalDayOfTheCowboy. Enjoy a western novel or movie, attend a rodeo and embrace the cowboy way of life.  Or just pull out your cowboy hat and wear it, thinking about the men and women who tamed the West.

You can see how I observed this special day (Do you like my new hat?)

https://www.facebook.com/DrAdamNally/videos/1210442022417141/

The Cowboy Hat – Most Recognized Symbol of the West

The cowboy hat is a defining piece of attire that has carried over from the Old West.  Originally defined by J.B. Stetson in 1865, it is one article of clothing that has essentially remained unchanged.  It is a welcome addition to the Nally home as an essential part of our little ranch’s attire because of shade it provides in the hot Arizona sun, the fitted sweatband inside,  and the durability in the rain.

The durability and water-resistance of the original Stetson obtained additional publicity in 1912, when the battleship USS Maine was raised from Havana harbor, where it had sunk in 1898. A Stetson hat was found in the wreck, which had been submerged in seawater for 14 years. The hat had been exposed to ooze, mud, and plant growth. However, the hat was cleaned off, and appeared to be undamaged. (John B. Stetson Company. “Stetson Hats the World Over. The Story of 50 Years of Stetson Foreign Business.” 1927. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)

Cowboy Hat Design

Ornamentation, like bows and buckles, are usually attached on the left side. This had a practical purpose. Because the majority of people are right-handed, in the absence of a wide brim, bows or feathers on the right side of the hat would interfere with the use of weapons and lassos.

Inside the cowboy hat you’ll find a small memorial bow to past hatters.  In the early 1900’s hatters developed brain damage from treating felt with mercury (which gave rise to the expression “Mad as a hatter“). “Early hatters used mercury in the making of their felt hats. Their bodies absorbed mercury, and after several years of making hats, the hatters developed violent and uncontrollable muscle twitching. The ignorance of the times caused people to attribute these seizure like convulsions to madness, not mercury.” The bow on the inside hatband at the rear of the hat often resembles a skull and crossbones.

Meaning of The Cowboy Hat Crease

Today’s cowboy hat has remained essentially unchanged in construction and design since the first Stetson creation. The cowboy hat quickly developed the capability, even in the early years, to identify its wearer as someone associated with the West.  “Within a decade the name “John B. Stetson” became synonymous with the word “hat” in every corner and culture West of the Mississippi.” The shape of the hat’s crown and brim were often modified by the wearer for fashion and to protect against weather by being softened in hot steam, shaped, and allowed to dry and cool. Felt tends to stay in the shape that it dries. Because of the ease of personalization, it was often possible to tell where a cowboy hat was from, right down to which ranch, simply by looking at the crease in the crown.

#DocMuscles Cowboy Hat Crease

The mystique of the “Wild West” was popularized by entertainers such as Buffalo Bill Cody and western movies starring actors such as Tom Mix, the Cowboy hat came to symbolize the American West.  John Wayne christened them “the hat that won the West”.  The “Boss of the Plains” design influenced various wide-brimmed hats worn by farmers and ranchers all over the United States.  Later designs were customized for law enforcement, military and motion pictures.

Murphy Elliot #DocMuscles Famous Cowboys
Murphy Elliot’s Sketches of Famous Cowboys and Their Hats
Life-Balance Myth #DocMuscles #KetonianKing

Don’t Cry When It’s Over, Smile Because It Happened

Sometimes We Have To Let Things Go

Sometimes we have to let things go.  Not because we want to, but because life changes and some responsibilities become too heavy to carry. Sometimes we have the strength to carry the weight. But, the work of carrying offsets our balance. Balancing objects can occur when the foundation is stable and boundaries are secure.  Balance is the act of putting an object in a steady state of motion so that it does not fall or shift out of balance. Instability is the opposite of balance. Frequent attention must be given to the motion of the object to maintain stability.  This applies to objects, responsibilities, actions and even health.  But, balance in life is a myth.

Think about the Chinese acrobat. She balances on one arm, . . . then slowly adds a plate that is spinning on a stick. Then another stick, and another plate . . . However, the plates don’t keep spinning on their own.  Even though the plates appear perfectly balanced, she must periodically spin them to maintain balance.

There comes a point where more than three or four plates is too much to manage. Many of us live our lives afraid to add a plate, and on the flip side, many of us try to spin too many plates. The stress of too little or too much interferes with relationships, sleep, health and sense of well-being.

Chinese Acrobat #DocMuscles

Life-Balance Is A Myth

Our lives consist of attempting to balance multiple “plates” in the form of responsibilities or activities around us.  Attention is taken from one activity and focused on another until that responsibility or activity is back in balance.  This is why balance in life is a myth.  We move from object to object, responsibility to responsibility.  None of those objects ever remains completely balanced at the same time.  As we focus on re-balancing one task, the others slow and begin to fall out of balance.  As a husband, father, physician, speaker, entrepreneur and son of God, I wear many hats. I’ve frequently felt like a lone fireman, running from fire to fire with a garden hose, attempting to reset the balance in my responsibilities and put out fires.  I know you do too. We’ve had these conversations in my office.

Life-balance is a myth I bought into. It was placed on sale by life’s “well meaning middle-managers” in school and business. I kept thinking that at some point I could attain a perfect balance in all of my care-giving, parenting and relationship activities. Recognizing this myth has helped me make some very important decisions.

Learn To Say “NO”

I am a recovering “nice guy” and part of the “nice guy syndrome” involves understanding the myth of life-balance. Learning to say “no” is not easy.  I am learning to set boundaries. I am learning to stabilize foundations.  As a healer, I have an innate desire to help everyone, literally everyone.  This desire to help frequently comes at the detriment of family and those close to me.  The work of healing is seen as a “noble calling” in our society.  Because of this, I justified the need to help everyone with large amounts of time at my own expense.  I’ve spend hundreds of hours answering questions about health and weight at the expense and burden of myself and my family.  Saying “No,” even when an activity offsets needed balance is not easy for some of us.

Good, Better & Best

Part of that boundary setting is looking at those things that are “good, better and best.”  It requires looking at the objects, responsibilities and warming fires around us and deciding which ones are good, which ones are better and which ones are best. Balancing some objects and responsibilities are good, but may actually be taking time away from some of the better or best things we could be doing.  As we consider various choices in our lives, we need to remember that it is not enough that something is good. Other choices are better, and still others are best. Even though a particular choice may be more costly, the much greater value may make it the best choice of all.  I’ve had to sit down with myself and my family, and make some challenging decisions.

I am learning to set boundaries.  Looking at what is most important in my life at this time isn’t easy.  However, it’s been made loud and clear to me that we must be able to forgo “good things” to do those things that are better or best.  In medical speak, continually fixing and fine tuning the thyroid hormones doesn’t help when leptin is out of balance.

How Many Psychological Carbs Are In Your Life?

Many of us must realize that many of the good things are “psychological carbohydrates.”  The carbs smell good . . . And they taste great.  But, forgoing the carbs brings the greatest return in areas of our lives that are most important. Those things that are better or best are more effective at strengthening our lives and those of our families.

Pick The Best Things In Your Life To Balance

One of those decisions is to leave KetoTalk.com.  The choice to leave relates specifically to selecting the best things that allow me to focus my time, energy and skills on being a good husband, father, physician and entrepreneur.  I’m sure the rumors will surge, and cyberspace will fill with speculation.  The truth is that I still have a wonderful relationship with Jimmy Moore, that has not changed.  He and I are still great friends.  Leaving KetoTalk was a very difficult decision.  I will continue working with him on my upcoming book The KetoCure, and we will still be working together on the KetoLiving.com line of supplements.  Non-of that will change.  What will change is my focus on activities that bring the best value to my patients and my practice while at the same time bringing the greatest value to me and my family.

I love people. I love to help people. Working with thousands of amazing souls in this ketogenic journey, is an immense blessing.  Unless I am assasinated by a rogue high-velocity vegan cucumber, I’m not going anywhere. You can find me and work with me here at DocMuscles.com.

How many plates are you spinning?  Do you need to let something go?  Is the good in your life keeping you from the better or the best?

So, don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened and we became great friends.

 

 

Bacon Grease DocMuscles #KetonianKing

Bacon Grease – The Healthy Essential Oil

Bacon Grease Is the Healthy Oil

Is bacon grease really healthy? People in my office stress out about getting all the healthy fats and the right amino acids.  I am asked all the time, which protein powder they should be taking?  Do I prefer fish oil or krill oil?  My answer to this is simple.

“Bacon grease.”

Disbelief Bacon DocMuscles

I know, I can see it on your face now. . . the blank stare of disbelief.

Yes, I said “bacon grease.”

If you are following a low carbohydrate or ketogenic diet, bacon grease is your essential oil. Let me explain why:

Bacon Contains All The Essential Amino Acids

Bacon, and the grease it creates, contains all the essential amino acids.  Yes, even the coveted branched chain amino acids (BCAAs).  Go ahead, have 3-5 slices for breakfast, but keep the grease and re-use it to cook with.  Because your saving yourself from having to buy expensive protein powders and less tasty versions of these essential muscle building blocks.

Bacon Is A Great Source of Choline

Bacon grease is a great source of choline, an essential nutrient for stabilizing cell membranes and making the neurotransmitter acetylcholine.  Acetylcholine is one of the neurotransmitters absent in memory disorders and muscle disease.  Fascinatingly, choline helps in the prevention of fatty liver disease, a disease caused by the standard American diet that often progresses to non-alcoholic liver disease.

Choline has also been shown in a number of studies to help ward off Alzheimer’s Disease.

Bacon Grease Contains All The B-Vitamins

Bacon fat is a superb source of all of the necessary B vitamins.  It is also a superb source of Vitamin D, phosphorus, magnesium and iron.  In fact all of the fat soluble vitamins – any vitamin that sounds like a letter of the alphabet: A, B, C, D, etc.- are found in animal fat.

Veggies Bacon Superpower DocMuscles

Bacon Grease Suppresses Appetite

Long-Chain fatty acids are satiating.  Bacon grease is a great source of the longer chain fatty acids and has a wonderful effect on suppressing your appetite.  That’s why Dr. Nally talks about it so often.  Bacon is the duct tape of the culinary world, and acts to suppress the cravings for the pie that might arise 30-60 minutes later.

Bacon Brings Happiness

When have you ever felt a frown after eating bacon?  That’s my point . . . you just smiled when that thought crossed your mind.  Seriously, don’t deny it . . .

Put a piece of bacon in your mouth, and it doesn’t really matter who the president is, what Kim Kardashian recently posted, or that you’re late for work . . . seriously.  Bacon in your mouth reminds you how good life really is.  If I die while eating a plate of bacon, my life will be complete.

My wife fries eggs in bacon grease for breakfast when she cooks.  I tell you . . . it’s edible love.

Bacon Stimulates the Heart

Bacon grease also contains a significant amount of medium chain triglycerides (caproic, caprylic, capric, and lauric acids).  These medium chain triglycerides (MCTs) are all the rage in helping to maintain a ketogenic diet.  MCTs convert rapidly into ketones after absorption into the liver from the gut.  Rapid conversion of fat into ketones stimulate more effective contraction of the heart.  When the heart contracts more effectively, it releases atrial-naturitic peptide (ANP), that opens the “back door” in the fat cell allowing for more efficient fat burning and maintenance of ketosis.

Bacon Smells So Good

Many people us essential oils for the aromatic effect they produce on mood and anxiety.  Next time you cook bacon, check your mood.  Never has there been an aroma that is so inviting and calming.  Very few other aromas actually bring people to a dinner table.  And for you men out there, bacon grease improves your manhood.  Increased presence of ketones, and the appetite suppressing effect of bacon grease helps to stabilize testosterone and leucine.  This improves muscle development, enhances libedo, and prevents the progressive decline in testosterone leading to the “girly-man” status that occurs with so many men eating the standard American diet.

Let me leave you with one last question.  When is the last time you saw left-over bacon?

Exactly – the same time you saw leprechauns riding unicorns down your street after a rain storm.

So, cook that bacon . . . and save the grease.  Use it to cook your eggs or bake with it.  You’ll thank me later.

Why Be In Ketosis? Part XIII: How Ketones Modulate Pain

DocMuscles in Downtown Denver

I traveled to downtown Denver, Colorado, this week.  It gave me the opportunity to talk to a number of really great people.  A number of those people that I chatted with were searching for relief from pain and other aliments.  Not surprisingly, being in the mile-high city, many of those were using derivatives of marijuana (pun not intended).  I was actually surprised at the number of people who spontaneously admitted to using tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) or cannabinol (CBD).  They use it in various forms to treat their pain or other complaints.  Only a handful of those that I had the pleasure of talking to had ever heard of nutritional ketosis as an approach to pain control. This got me thinking about my patients and their pain control.  Many of them have had significant improvement in pain using a ketogenic diet and exogenous ketones.

Nutritional Ketosis as a Method of Pain Treatment

I started using nutritional ketosis as an adjunctive treatment to disease twelve years ago. Quite a few of my patients reported improvements in their overall pain using this approach.  I started to see 50-60% improvement in the inflammatory types of pain, and 40-50% improvement in neuropathic pain.

Ketosis and Forms of Pain

There are a number of forms of pain: thermal, inflammatory, and neuropathic. Looking over the scientific literature, there is no strong data showing that ketogenic diets reduce thermal pain, however, there is data showing improvement in inflammatory pain.  Within two days of dietary changes, inflammatory pain and secondary swelling, as well as plasma extravasation (excess fluid accumulation around the area of swelling) show measured improvement.

Watch my four minute vlog below about pain control being one of the twenty-five reasons to use nutritional ketosis (This video has a mic problem, so turn your sound all the way up):

[ssp-video]

Even though the published science has not caught up to fully clarified what we are seeing clinically, evidence demonstrates that ketones improve nerve pain. When ketones are present in increased amounts in the blood stream, the current evidence points to a number of poorly understood mechanisms.  Ketones compete with chloride ions in the peripheral nerve cells.  When ketones bind instead of chloride, there is a decrease in glutamate production, a key amino acid necessary in the signaling of pain fibers.  The lower glutamate level causes a rise in gama-aminobutyric acid (GABA). . . leading to decreased sensation of pain.

This is the same pathway that stops intractable seizures and may play a very significant role in dietary treatment of autism.

Denver is ranked No. 3 by Zagat on the list of “Foodie Capitals” of America. And, the downtown scene is absolutely beautiful, but I walked by eight different restaurants specializing in “carbage” while walking just two blocks.  Encouraging cities to eat less bread may be a challenge.   But, hey, you get to eat more bacon!  And, bacon is the duct tape of the culinary world.

Bacon Boy loves to travel. Click Here to take him on your next photo opportunity.

Why Be In Ketosis – Part XII (Thyroid)

There is a pattern that I’ve noticed on every live-stream that I’ve appeared on talking about ketosis that someone always asks the question: “What about the thyroid?”  That’s literally how it’s asked. . . someone I am unfamiliar with keys in the question, “What about the thyroid?”

The blunt sarcastic response in my head is usually, “Well, what about it?”

Buried within the vague periscope or twitter question above is the real question that is on the minds of thousands of people,  “Does ketosis effect the thyroid . . . ?”

There’s loads of information about the thyroid on the internet.  Much of it is garbage.   Seriously.  Ask Google about “thyroid,” and you’ll see thousands of articles, posts and comments on WebMD, Women’s Health, and Wikipedia all across the “interwebby.”  Everyone, and I mean everyone, seems to have a “thyroid opinion.”  Much of the “wikopinion” out there is here-say, conjecture and anecdotal. It doesn’t really give people any foundational understanding of what their thyroid is doing, or more importantly for that matter – what their thyroid isn’t doing.

Of late, the Paleo and Vegetarian thought leaders seem to decry nutritional ketosis because they claim that this dietary approach suppresses thyroid function. This wiki-theory (yes, it is just a theory) was extrapolated from a single study where the T4 level dropped in the first few weeks after ketosis was entered.  But just because T4 drops, doesn’t mean the diet suppresses the thyroid.  Using T4 as a screening test alone for assessment of thyroid function is 1987 thinking (1987 brought us the Kia Concord and the Subaru Justy just so you get the mental picture).  T4 fluctuates with a number of binding proteins and following this number alone is really bad medicine.  Taking thyroid advise from the Paleo people is like asking your Fed Ex driver about the correct lift on your 4×4 truck.  Really?

Excessive insulin, the hormone produced when you eat sugar, starch and some proteins, actually stimulates thyroid peroxidase antibodies and can cause exacerbation of thyroiditis (causing over-production or under-production of thyroid hormone).  Because 85% of the people I see in my office over-produce insulin (this is referred to as insulin-resistance), in response to starches, there is a significant flux in thyroid function due to  this pre-diabetes state (insulin over-production) on high carbohydrate based diets.

Leptin, the hormone produced by fats cells when they are “full,” actually stimulates the conversion of T4 to T3.  At least 40% of my obese, insulin-resistant patients are also leptin-resistant, meaning they over-produce leptin as well.  This has a suppression effect on T4 (by converting it to T3) and is the usual cause of the T4 levels being lower when initially staring a ketogenic diet.  It is also the reason that some people feel anxious or “activated” when changing to nutritional ketosis.  Leptin-resistance is driven by a high level of fructose in the diet and the presence of high triglycerides, inhibiting the leptin signal from crossing the blood-brain barrier.  As a person follows a ketogenic diet and lifestyle, leptin returns to normal over 3-6 months and T4 levels normalize.  The Paleo and Vegetarian nay-sayers never mention that . . . do they?  What they won’t tell you is that calorie restriction, which is a must for weight loss, on the DASH, Mediterranean, Paleo or Vegetarian diet causes suppression of testosterone, leucine, and thyroid function, causing worsening T4 suppression over time.  Hmmm . . .  put that in your low-fat green vegetarian taco, and smoke it.

Wait . . . I don’t advocate smoking so, ignore that.

The point is, a ketogenic lifestyle stabilizes thyroid function and improves auto-immune thyroiditis. I’ve seen it happen clinically for over 12 years.  It, also, dramatically helps stabilize the other 30 hormones involved with the diseases of civilization including obesity, insulin resistance and diabetes.

Watch my live-stream recording below to find out more about the thyroid.

 

Coconut Oil – Duct Tape for the Broken Metabolism

Coconut oil can be found in just about every grocery store, health food store and coffee shop near you.  It was made popular in the last few years by the highly advertised Bullet Proof Coffee claims of health and taste over the last few years.  But in the last few days, the news outlets through video and print have made it clear that the American Heart Association (AHA) isn’t happy with our use of this “duct tape for one’s metabolism.” The AHA has long been a proponent of education against activities increasing the risk of heart disease.  Since 1961 the AHA has decried the use of saturated fat, based on their support of Ansel Key’s diet heart hypothesis, and leading to over 60 years of preaching against the use of saturated fats from the pulpits of science.  The claim is that 85% of coconut oil is saturated fat (this is the fat deemed “evil” by those “disciples of the low-fat cloth”).   Yes, coconut oil is predominantly a saturated fat.  And approximately 75% of that is medium chain triglycerides, the form that converts most efficiently into ketones, for those of us using ketogenic nutritional approaches to health.  But is coconut oil really bad for your heart health?

Those of us using ketogenic diets know that LDL-C will commonly rise with increased saturated fat intake.  And, we’ve know this for over twenty years. This is to be expected, because LDL-C is really comprised of three different LDL sub-particles (big fluffy, medium, and small dense).  We’ve known for the last twenty years that increased saturated fat actually causes a shift in these particles to bigger “fluffier” particles.  We also know that it’s the small dense LDL particles are the atherogenic/inflammatory particles participating in the formation of vascular disease (arterial blockage) and their presence in the blood is directly correlated with the level of triglyceride, and that the big “fluffy” particles actually reduce the risk of vascular disease. Those of us following ketogenic lifestyles and treating disease with these protocols also know that triglycerides levels are increased directly by increasing levels of insulin.

The 2015 British Medical Journal published a study reviewing the relevant 19 peer reviewed medical articles that included over 68,000 participants.  This review showed that there is no association of high LDL-C (a calculated value of all the LDL sub-particles) with mortality (meaning that an elevated LDL-C does not lead to an increased risk of death from heart disease).  In stark contrast to this landmark review, The American Heart Association’s Presidential Advisory published this week in the June 20, 2017 issue of Circulation states that saturated fat is the cause of increased LDL-C and elevated LDL-C is associated with an increase in death by cardiovascular disease.  This boldfaced claim is based on a single small 4 year (2009-2013) literature review completed by the World Health Organization with a whopping 2353 participants, most of these studies only lasting 3-5 weeks (not nearly long enough to see fully effective cholesterol changes) and none of which had any focus on carbohydrate intake, insulin levels or LDL sub-particle measurement.  From this singular study, the AHA concludes that elevated LDL-C is an indicator of increased cardiovascular mortality.  That’s the equivalent of saying, “you know cars drive on the roads and cause pot holes, so we should all STOP driving cars because it is causing our freeway system to have increased pot holes.”

You can’t extrapolate mortality risk based on a single small study that doesn’t actually identify correlation or causation.  But the AHA did exactly that in 1961, and they are trying to do it again today.   The MR-FIT study, largest study ever completed, is incessantly quoted as the study that demonstrates reduction in cholesterol leads to reduction in cardiovascular disease, but this trial was actually a failure and did not demonstrate improved risk by lowering cholesterol.  In fact, the Director of the study, Dr. William Castelli actually stated, “. . . the more saturated fat one ate, the more cholesterol one ate, the more calories one ate, the lower people’s serum cholesterol…”

“We found that the people who ate the most cholesterol, ate the most saturated fat, ate the most calories weighed the least and were the most physically active,” he said.

Isn’t that interesting?

So, is coconut oil, or any other food high in saturated fat to blame?  Absolutely not!  There is no solid evidence to support these facts and there hasn’t been in over 65 years.   In fact, clinically, I find that the addition of coconut oil lowers triglycerides, decreases appetite, improves energy, improves skin tone, and plays a huge role in shifting the Omega 3/6 ratios to a more normal 2:1 level.

[clickToTweet tweet=”Is coconut oil, or any other food high in saturated fat to blame?  Absolutely not! #docmuscles” quote=”Is coconut oil, or any other food high in saturated fat to blame?  Absolutely not!  There is no solid evidence to support these facts and there hasn’t been in over 65 years. #docmuscles”]

So, how does coconut oil help the broken metabolism?  The majority of people I see in my office have insulin resistance to some degree.  Insulin resistance is an over production of insulin in response to any form of carbohydrate or starch.  Increasing your saturated fat, does two things.  It provides a fantastic form of fuel, one your body can use very easily.  And second, it will decrease your craving for starches and carbohydrates, naturally decreasing production of insulin and helping to improve insulin resistance over time.

If you want to learn more about using fat and improving insulin resistance, see my previous blog post here.

You can learn more about how our acceptance of bad science has lead to an obesity and diabetes epidemic in our country over the last 65 years by reading these books below: