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The Shovel will Fail You in Obesity, Finances & Life

A few years ago, my family and I set out to build a pond.

I have always loved Koi and the serenity of a Koi pond in my own back yard was very enticing. I spent about a year planning my design and the location.  I dreamed of a serene evening after a very long, hectic day seeing patients relaxing beside the pond.  The sound of trickling water, the occasional splash from fish, the cool breeze passing over the mist from a water-fall would sooth my soul after a busy day in the office.

I envisioned the perfect area.  An unused access path, previously worn by the previous owner with truck and trailer traffic, beside my now expanded patio. Twenty feet wide, thirty feet long and four feet deep. . . that seems just perfect.

I pulled out my shovel and set about digging. Eager to begin and filled with the energy of the final product, I set to digging.  What could be so hard about digging my own pond?  Think of the exercise I will be getting.  Thoughts spurred me on.

Minutes later, chest heaving, face glistening with sweat, I stared in dismay at the ground. All I had to show for my wild digging was a small 1/2 inch dent in the dusty Arizona top soil.

Sonoran Clay

Over time, calcium-carbonate, along with other minerals, accumulates and dissolves into the topsoil of the very arid regions of Arizona Sonoran Desert.  It forms a two to three-foot layer of soil called “caliche.” Periodic rains carry the calcium as far as three feet down into the soil, then the water rapidly evaporates in the blistering Arizona heat.  This often forms two to three feet of soil that is “literally” harder than concrete.

With tremendous zeal, a great deal of sweat and a round of painful blisters, I broke my third shovel on this impenetrable ground.  I realized this was much more difficult than I thought.  I pulled out the back-hoe attachment for my small farm tractor.  After a few hours and few gallons of diesel fuel later, still very little progress occurred.

Multiple weekends and evenings of digging in the Arizona caliche left me with three broken shovels, a ruptured hydrolic line in my tractor, anger that my expensive back-hoe attachment didn’t work, and only a small dent in the ground near my patio.  Even the brute force from the tractor would not budge the clay.  I wondered if dynamite would be effective?  (My wife would have none of this idea).

With my exuberance quashed, I concluded that this would require much more measured exhuming.

Escape From the Prison

We often imagine, with great delight, the removal or destruction of that which enslaves or imprisons us.  We dream that just a little sweat, exertion of a few shovel scoops of dirt and the foundation to our prison of obesity, addiction, debt, and depression are exposed.  A few extra scoops and we imagine freedom from that prison cell.

If only I had a jack hammer and a bigger, more powerful scoop, I imagine . . . I could make short work of these manacles that bind me.

But, our manacles and prison cells do not so easily give way.

The failings of our sharpened spades and powerful back-hoes form a new, even stronger fetter – the belief that our prison cell is unbreakable, that our challenge is just too great. These failings usually leave a person cured of any further desire to break free.  It quashs the dream and solidifying the depression of stagnation.

The in-fecundity of my shovel, no matter the strength and effort put behind it, was not cause to quit.  It was life’s lesson that prisons and shackles often only need a simple tool.

Enter the pick-axe.  During this process my wife said, “Honey, why don’t you use the pick in the garage?”

“If my shovel and the back-hoe didn’t work, there was no way I was going to break through this clay with a pick axe.” That was absurd, I thought.

Yet when I humbled myself to try, it was simple.  The pick-axe was unpretentious.  This simple tool allowed for an almost effortless stroke to a small area of weakness in the caliche.  A large flake of soil would pop free with each stroke. The process was repeated.

Scale by scale, the dragon’s flank was exposed. Careful work of the pick-axe began to loosen layer after layer, section after section, pellicle after pellicle.  Yes, it was slow work. But, each swing was a small victory.

At each little victory, my heart would leap, the dream would become ever clearer.

Working this magic again and again until finally the specter was weakened enough to pull out the shovel.  And, further work, allowed for bringing back the powerful back-hoe, in gratifying scoops.

The excavation that I thought would take two months took me fourteen.  But, it was gratifying.

I learned a powerful lesson. Wherever life has pinned you, fettered you or barred you in, put down the shovel, and pick up the pick-axe.  Second, if you really listen, your spouse may point out the tool you really need. Don’t be afraid to chip away at it a piece at a time.

Finances

Stop waiting for the sharper shovel or the bigger back-hoe to dig yourself out of your harrowing debt, mega mortgage, or your income dwarfing spending. The jackpot or financial windfall won’t come. While others await the jackpot, put down your shovel and shoulder your pick-axe.

  1. Pick one small debt and begin to pick at it by applying just a little extra each month until it is gone.
  2. Cancel your extra cable, sell the motorcycle and payoff the 21% interest credit card.
  3. If you must, pick up a side-hustle for extra to sharpen the pick.

Once you’ve lifted one flake, chip away at the next. Making progress will make it easier to continue.  It doesn’t matter how long it takes, just keep at it.

Marriage

You long for resolution of the apathy, progressive resentment and mutual stalemate that permeates your relationship.  You look in vain for the bigger shovel that will uncover the treasure that years of apathy have buried. You long to uncover your dreams and needs that have been covered and hardened under the clay of resentment.  The shovel and the back-hoe won’t help you here.

Drop the shovel.  Shoulder your pick-axe.

  1. Kiss your wife every time you leave, even if it’s just for a ten minutes to run to the convenience store.
  2. Hold her for five seconds longer every time you hug.
  3. Find a gift you can give her once a week, just because.
  4. Put down your phone and look her in the eyes when she talks to you and listen. Really listen and the flakes of hard clay will unveil the beauty of her soul.
  5. Find a way to praise her every day, even if it is through a simple text.

Health

You long to rid yourself of your addiction to sugar, bread, stress, and sleep deprivation.  You’ve tried to scoop them out of your life.  You even hired a trainer with some muscle to force you to change.  You’ve tried in vain to save yourself from yourself.

Trying to use the shovel here is like trying to use the shovel on steel forged walls of your life’s prison fortress.  Forget the shovel.  Shoulder your pick-axe.

  1. Start with one meal and make some substitutions.  My dietary plan can help you with this.
  2. Go to bed an hour earlier. Really, you’ll be surprised that the focus you have will more than compensate for the hour of lost time in the evening.
  3. Add a quality vitamin to your morning routine.
  4. Take ten minutes and do 20 push-ups and 20 sit-ups, then take a 10-minute walk.
  5. Simply remove the “white stuff” from your meals. You will be amazed at the results.
  6. Put down your phone for 30 minutes and read that book you’ve been meaning to read, instead of surfing Facebook.

Grand-standing with your back-hoe doesn’t help you.  Just swing the pick-axe once or twice.  Simple daily picking with the sharp point weakens the hardest of ground and the prison walls in our lives.  It takes time, so be patient.

Find the weak point, apply the pick.  Day by day, little by little you will be free.

I’ve been there.  I’m with you.  Keep me posted on your journey.

If you’re looking for a program that teaches you how to do this, check out my membership site.

Long-term weight loss

Long-Term Weight Loss: Why So Many Fail

Over fifty years of data have demonstrated that creating energy deficit through the reduction in caloric intake is effective in reducing weight. . . However, it is only for the short term (1, 2).  The biggest challenge physicians face in the treatment of obesity is that calorie restriction fails when it comes to long-term weight loss.

Isn’t Fasting Effective in Long-Term Weight Loss?

With the craze and popularity of intermittent fasting, some have claimed that intermittent fasting is more effective in weight reduction.  Recent results demonstrate that this may also be incorrect.  In the short term evaluation of caloric restriction and intermittent fasting, reduction in 15-20 lbs of weight is effectively seen and the highly publicized Biggest Loser’s losing ~ 120 lbs.  Intermittent fasting and alternate day fasting have been shown to be more effective in lowering insulin levels and other inflammatory markers in the short term.

There is, however, controversy over maintaining weight loss beyond 12 months in the calorie restriction, intermittent and alternate day fasting groups. Forty different studies in a recent literature review, thirty-one of those studies looking at forms of intermittent fasting, demonstrate that the majority of people regain the weight within the first 12 months of attempting to maintain weight loss(3, 5).  This is, also, what I have seen for over 18 years of medical practice.

Is Calorie Restriction the Only Way to Lose Fat?

Numerous “experts” claim that the only way to reduce fat is “caloric deficit.”  Variations through the use of intermittent, long-term or alternate day fasts can be found all over the internet.   In regards to calorie restriction, these “experts” with nothing more than a personal experience and a blog to back their claims preach this louder than the “televangelists” preach religion.  Based on the faith that many place in this dogma, it could be a religion.  What causes belief in this dogma is that weight and fat loss actually does occur with caloric restriction to a point.  The average person will lose 20-25 lbs, however, within 12 months of achieving this goal, most people regain all the weight.  (No one ever mentions the almost universal problem with long-term weight loss, especially those “experts.”)

Prolonged calorie restricted fasts, intermittent fasts, and alternate day fasts are often grouped together into the fasting approach, causing significant confusion among those that I speak to and counsel in my office.  There is great data that alternate day fasts do not have the reduction in resting energy expenditure that prolonged fasting, intermittent fasting and calorie restriction cause.  However, none of these approaches appears to solve the problem of weight re-gain after long-term (12-24 months into maintenance) weight loss (3).  And, a recent study of 100 men participating in alternate day fasting showed that there was a 38% dropout rate, implying that without close supervision and direction, maintenance of this lifestyle is not feasible for over 1/3rd of those attempting it.

Long-Term Weight Loss Failure Brings Tears

Failure on calorie restricted diets, low fat diets, and intermittent fasting diets with weight regain at twelve to twenty-four months is the most common reason people end up in my office in tears.  They’ve fasted, starved themselves, calorie restricted, tried every form of exercise, and still regained the weight.  Trainers, coaches and “experts” have belittled them for “cheating” or just not keeping to the diet.  Yet, we know that calorie restriction and intermittent fasting cause a rebound in leptin, amilyn, peptid YY, cholecystikinin, insulin, ghrelin, gastric inhibitory peptide and pancreatic poly peptide by twelve months causing ineffective long-term weight loss (6).  The dramatic rise in these hormones stimulates tremendous hunger, especially from ghrelin and leptin.

Hormones after weight loss
N Eng J Med 27 Oct 2011. Mean (±SE) Fasting and Postprandial Levels of Ghrelin, Peptide YY, Amylin, and Cholecystokinin (CCK) at Baseline, 10 Weeks, and 62 Weeks.

Although less problematic in alternate day fasting, these calorie restricted approaches also cause dramatic slowing of the metabolism at the twelve month mark.  In many cases, the metabolic rate never actually returns to baseline, creating even more difficulty in losing further weight or even maintaining weight (6).

Weight rebound after loss
N Engl J Med 27 Oct 2011. Mean changes is weight from 0 – 62 weeks.

Is Gastric Bypass or Gastric Sleeve the Solution?

Gastric bypass and the gastric sleeve procedures have been touted as the solution to this problem, as they decrease ghrelin, however, 5-10 years later, these patients are also back in my office.  They find that 5-10 years after these procedures the weight returns, cholesterol and blood pressure rise, and diabetes returns.  These hormones kick into high gear, stimulating hunger in the face of a slowed metabolism, that to date, has been the driver for weight regain in the majority of people.  People find it nearly impossible to overcome the hunger. You may have experienced this, I know I have.

It’s the Hormones, Baby!

So, what is the answer?  It’s the hormones.  (WARNING – You’ll hear that when your wife is pregnant, too, gentlemen).  We are hormonal beings, both in weight gain, and in pregnancy.  Trying to preach calorie control to a hormonal being is like showing up at the brothel to baptize the staff. You might get them into the water, but you’re probably not getting them returning weekly to church or pay a tithe.

Respect My HormonesSo, how do you manipulate the hormones in a way to control the rebounding hunger and suppression of metabolism?  This is where we put a bit of twist on the knowledge we’ve gained from alternate day fasting.  Recent research shows that “mild” energy deficit in a pulsatile manner, that has the ability to mimicking the body’s normal bio-rhythm’s is dramatically effective in reducing weight and maintaining normal hormonal function without cause of rebound metabolic slowing (4).

Pulsed Mild Energy Restriction

What does this mean in layman’s terms?  It means that if we provide a diet that maintains satiety hormones while providing a period of baseline total energy expenditure needs and a period of mildly reduce caloric intake in a pulsed or cyclic manner, greater weight loss occurs and there is no rebound of weight 1-2 years later.

The main reason I’ve not jumped on the intermittent fasting band wagon is the shift in leptin, amylin, ghrelin and GLP-1 signaling that regularly occurs at the 6-12 month mark.  The rebound of these hormones causes weight re-gain and is what prevents successful long-term weight loss.  A number of people come to my office and tell me they couldn’t follow a ketogenic diet, so they’re doing intermittent fasting and it works . . . for a while.  Then, they end up in my office having hit a plateau or fallen off the wagon and regained all the weight.  They are completely confused and don’t understand what happned.  Most of them are convinced it’s their thyroid or cortisol and they’ve seen every naturopath and functional medicine doctor in town.

What people really need is a simple approach to long-term weight loss without having to spend the night in the physiology lab every two weeks sleeping under a ventilated hood system.

The Ketogenic Lifestyle is a Pulsed Energy Lifestyle

  • First, it is essential to turn off the insulin load. Insulin is the master hormone.  This is done by a ketogenic lifestyle that restricts carbohydrates.
  • Second, providing adequate protein to supply maintenance of muscle and testosterone is key.
  • Third, providing adequate fat is the simple way to maintain leptin, ghrelin, amylin, GLP-1 (among the others) and long-term weight loss.  Can you eat too much fat?  Of course you can.  But, because each of us have differing levels of stress and activity each day, this fat intake becomes the lever for hunger control.
  • Fourth, the use of exogenous ketones ensures easily accessible ketone (short chain fatty acids) to modulate adipose (white fat) signaling of the liver without large caloric intake through the portal vein by first pass of liver metabolism.  The ketones also help stabilize the gut bacteria.  The combination of hormone balance between the liver and fat cells and improvement of gut bacteria suppresses key hunger hormones and aids glucose regulation between the fatty tissues and the liver.  Ketones, both endogenous and exogenous, suppress production of TNF-alpha, IL-6, resistin, and stabilize production of adiponectin and leptin from the adipose cells (7, 8, 9).

In my office, once we calculate the basic protein needs daily, we start with a 1:1 ratio of protein to fat.  Then, the fat is adjusted up or down based on hunger. Remember, hunger occurs, because your body produces hormones.  The addition of fat to a diet that is not stimulating large amounts of insulin resets the hormone patterns back to normal without causing weight gain.

Give Obese People Fat Ad Libitum?

“Sure, Dr. Nally, but what about those people who don’t know if they are hungry, bored, stressed or just have a bacon fixation?  You can’t just give them all the fat they want?!”

Why not?  Implying that people aren’t smart enough to know when they are full is a bit of a fascist philosophy, don’t you think?

Do people over eat?  Sure they do.  But, I’ve found that when you give people an antidote to hunger (using fat intake in the presence of stabilized insulin levels) over a few months, people begin to recognize true hunger from other forms of cravings.  This is especially true when they keep a diet journal.  This gives people the ability to begin listening to their own bodies, responding accordingly and governing their stress, eating, exercise and activity.  Keeping a diet journal is key to long-term weight loss.  And, isn’t helping people use their own agency to improve their health really what we’re trying to do?

Interestingly, doing this over the years seems to line up with the findings of this year’s MATADOR study in the International Journal of Obesity.  They found that mild intermittent energy restriction of about 30-33% for two weeks, then interrupting this with two weeks of a diet that was energy balanced for needs improved both short and long-term weight loss efficiency (4).  In looking at my, and my patient’s diet journals, this energy restriction of about 1/3 of needed calories cyclically seems to happens naturally with a ketogenic lifestyle, without even counting calories.  (Calories are a swear-word in my office).

What does the correct long-term wight loss program look like in a diet or meal plan?  Well, you’ll have to join the Ketogenic Lifestyle 101 Course to see what that really means to you individually.  I look forward to seeing you there.

Want to find out more about the Ketogenic Lifestyle 101 course?  CLICK HERE.

 

Have you read my book The Keto Cure?  Get a signed copy from me by clicking HERE.

References:

  1. Bronson FH, Marsteller FA. “Effect of short-term food deprivation on reproduction in female mice.” Biol Reprod. Oct 1985; 33(3): 660-7. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/4052528?dopt=Abstract&holding=npg
  2. Connors JM, DeVito WJ, Hedge GA. “Effects of food deprivation on the feedback regulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-thyroid axis of the rat.” Endocrinology. Sep 1985. 117(3): 900-6. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3926471?dopt=Abstract&holding=npg
  3. Seimon RV, Roekenes JA, Zibellini J, Zhu B, Gibson AA, Hills AP, Wood RE, King NA, Byrne NM, Sainsbury A. “Do intermittent diets provide physiological beneftis over continuous diets for weight loss? A systematic review of clinical trials.” Mol Cell Endo. 15 Dec 2015. 418(2): 153-172. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0303720715300800
  4. Byrne NM, Sainsbury A, King NA, Hills AP, Wood RE. “Intermittent energy restriction improves weight loss efficiency in obese men: the MATADOR study.” Int J Obes. 2018. 42:129-138.  https://www.nature.com/articles/ijo2017206
  5. Trepanowski JF, Kroeger CM, Barnosky A. “Effect of Alternate-Day Fasting on Weight Loss, Weight Maintenance, and Cardioprotection Among Metabolically Healthy Obese Adults.” JAMA Intern Med. Jul 2017. 177(7): 930-938. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/article-abstract/2623528?redirect=true
  6. Sumithran P, Prendergast LA, Delbridge E, Purcell K, Shulkes A, Kriketos A, Proietto J. “Long-term persistence of hormonal adaptations to weight loss.” N Engl J Med. 27 Oct 2011. 365: 1597-1604. http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1105816
  7. Asrih M et al., “Ketogenic diet impairs FGF21 signaling and promotes differential inflammatory responses in the liver and white adipose tissue.” PlosOne. 14 May 2015. Open Access. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0126364
  8. Veniant MM et al. “FGF21 promotes metabolic homeostasis via white adipose and leptin in mice.” PlosOne.  Jul 2012. Open access. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0040164
  9. Whittle AJ, “FGF21 conducts a metabolic orchestra and fat is a key player.” Endocrinology. 1 May 2016. 157(5): 1722-1724.

Ketogenic Lifestyle Side-Effect: Pregnancy

Pregnant man

Be warned, a ketogenic diet may cause pregnancy . . . !

Infertility and poly-cystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) is a common occurrence in women with insulin resistance, pre-diabetes and diabetes.  When treated with a ketogenic lifestyle, these symptoms often improve dramatically, and in fact, I’ve had a number of women in my medical practice, previously unable to conceive due to PCOS, get pregnant after changing to a ketogenic diet.

We discuss PCOS, as well as CrossFit, NSAIDs, Toxic Mold, And Calorie Restriction On Keto-Talk this week.  Tune in here on you computer or down-load today’s podcast on iTunes for free. You won’t be sorry.

KetoOSKanv21

 

Adapt Bar Berry

Ketogenic Rule #7: Abs are Made in the Kitchen – Not the Gym

Abs female Abs made in kitchen

“Doc, how do I get six-pack abs?”

I get this question almost daily. Sorry to burst your bubble, but there is NO exercise program that will give you “six-pack” abs.

Really.  You can do sit-ups, leg lifts and crunches ’till the cows come home and it will do nothing other than give you abdominal cramps.  It will also make you hungry.  I don’t care what Men’s Fitness, Bodybuilding.com, Muscle Magazine, Shape or even Doctor Oz said. There are no “6 Best Exercises for Ripped Abs.”  There is only one exercise . . . throwing the carbs in the trash (or giving them to the neighbor you don’t like.)

The “12 Step Ab Program” really only has ONE STEP . . . cut the carbs.  Let me repeat that.  There is only ONE STEP to “six-pack abs,” . . . cut the carbs.  Cardiovascular exercise does nothing for amazingly toned abdominal muscles, other than make you hungry.   Resistance exercise improves insulin resistance, but doesn’t build the abs.  Avoiding the milk, rice, wheat, oatmeal and fruit allows the abs to appear.  Yes, I’m serious.  What do bears eat? Berries.

When did you last see the a bear with “six-pack abs?”

The only way to see your “six-pack” is to remove the fat covering your “six-pack.”  The only way to get rid of fat covering your “six-pack” is to stop drinking it and lower the carbohydrate content to less than 20 grams per day.  Seriously . . .

So you’ve done 100 crunches a day for six months?  Do you see your “six-pack” now?  Exactly.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again.  Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.

Follow the principles outlined in my past articles like The Principle Based Ketogenic Lifestyle . . . Part I & Ketogenic Principles . . . Part II and make sure you are avoiding Common Ketosis Killers.

Dr. Nally’s Favorite Exogenous Ketones

Staying in ketosis and adding 2-3 days of resistance training will melt 2-5 lbs of abdominal fat away each month.   Yes, I know it is slow . . . but that is weight (fat) that will stay off.  Use whole foods high in fat, moderate in protein and low in carbohydrate.  Use supplements like Keto//OS & Adapt bars to help when you don’t have access to a good meal or as a snack when you are hungry.  Look at the list of Low Carb Links above to get great ideas for meal preparation and sweeteners that you can use.

 

Adapt Your Life

 

 

Random Thoughts from the Toilet Paper Roll

Random-Thought-Notebook

I am a family physician.  Each door I open holds another challenge, another question or another puzzle. You never know what will be behind door number 2 or number 3.  This leads to becoming very adept at understanding and thinking about the random.  Door #1 one holds the rash. Door #2 holds the patient with diabetes.  Door #3 . . . rectal bleeding.  Yes, my morning often starts out just that way.

While randomly thinking about the randomness that my career choice brought to my life, I’ve made a few random decisions that relate to our health in general.

Smedbo CS3414 Cabin Euro-Style Toilet Roll With Lid Toilet Roll

First, if I ever decide to buy a toilet paper roll company, I’ve already made the executive decision that each piece of paper on the roll needs the opportunity to express itself in a random way. One piece would say, “Nice fingernail polish.” Another would say, “Wow, you have a nice bottom.”  A third would say, “Please don’t apologize, brown is my favorite color.” A fourth might say, “You know, you really should see your doctor about that . . . ”

If I Get Hit By a Bus Tomorrow, Here's How to Replace the Toilet Paper Roll

Second, if I live until I’m 70 years old, I will have spent 10 of those years on Monday.  This calls for sausage and eggs for breakfast every Monday morning.  Wait, I’m already doing that . . . no wonder I like Mondays.  It also means that if I set my clock to wake up earlier on the weekend, then Monday morning I will start the week off “sleeping in.” It is amazing to me that even under ideal conditions people have trouble locating their car keys in a pocket, finding their cell phone, and even pinning the tail on the donkey . . . but I’d bet everyone of us can find & push the SNOOZE button from 3 feet away, in about 1.7 seconds, eyes closed, first time, every time…

Dok CR32 4 Port Smart Phone Charger with Speaker, Alarm, Clock & FM Radio

Third, with all of this randomness . . . someone needs to invent the “Sarcasm Font.” There are some things that shouldn’t be written in “Times New Roman.”

Fourth, Can I take back all those times I didn’t want to take a nap when I was younger?  I am quite convinced that a significant number of my obesity patient’s would be so much more successful with an afternoon nap.

Fifth, in the age of computers, voice recognition, iPhones and electronic medical records, I really want to meet the person that invented cursive and ask, “Was that really necessary?”

Sixth, in this new era of reality everything, I think that print newspapers would still be fascinatingly successful if the obituary column told you how the person died.

KetoOS
KetoOS – Drinkable Exogenous Ketones

Seventh, with all the high fat, moderate protein I recommend, the freezer has become an important appliance in the ketogenic world . . .yet no one can answer me this question: “Why is there still no freezer light?”

Are the Keys in the Freezer?

Last, bad decisions often make for the best stories. . . .

 

The Low-Carb Restaurant

Ketogenic Lifestyle Rule #3: Be BOLD or Be Italic, but never be Regular: Why Size Matters with Cholesterol


On this evenings PeriScope video we talked about cholesterol.  And, and you can see an updated, in depth discussion about cholesterol on my YouTube channel here.  Please go check it out and if you find it helpful, please follow me here and on YouTube.   The is the burning question on everyone’s mind who starts a Low-Carb, High Fat or Ketogenic Diet: “What will happen to my cholesterol if I lower my carbohydrates and eat more fat?”

The answer . . . it will improve!

How do I know this?  I’m an obesity specialist.  I specialize in FAT or lipids (to put it kinder scientific terms).  To specialize in fat, one must know where it came from, what it’s made of and where it is going. And,  this has been the case with every single patient I have used this dietary change with for the last ten years, myself included.

Lets start with the contents of the standard cholesterol or “Lipid Panel”:

  • Total Cholesterol
  • HDL-C (the calculated number for “good” cholesterol)
  • LDL-C (the calculated number for “bad” cholesterol).
  • Triglycerides

The first problem with this panel is that it makes you believe that there are four different forms of cholesterol.  NOT TRUE!  Actually cholesterol is cholesterol, but it comes in different sizes based on what it’s function is at that moment in time.   Think of cholesterol as a bus.  There are bigger busses and smaller busses.   Second, triglyceride is actually the passenger inside the HDL and the LDL busses.  And third, Total Cholesterol is the sum of the HDL, LDL, as well as ILDL & VLDL which aren’t reported in the “Lipid Panel” above.

The fourth thing that this panel doesn’t tell you is that HDL & LDL are actually made up of sub-types or sub-particles and are further differentiated by weight and size.

Cholesterol Size

For our conversation, we need to know that the number of LDL particles (LDL-P) can actually be measured in four different ways and these measurements have identifed that there are three sub-types: “Big fluffy” large dense LDL, medium dense LDL, and small-dense LDL.  Research has identified that increased numbers of small-dense LDL correlates closely with risk for inflammation, heart disease and vascular disease (1).

Microsoft PowerPoint - ADA Otvos LDL size talk_modified.ppt [Com

If you’ve been a follower of my blog for a while, you’ve seen this picture before. This picture illustrates why an LDL-C (the bad cholesterol measurement) can be misleading. Both sides of the scale reflect an LDL-C of 130 mg./dl. However, the LEFT side is made up of only a few large fluffy LDL particles (this is the person with reduced risk for heart disease) called Pattern A  or a LDL healthy cholesterol level.  Even though the LDL-C is elevate above the recommended level of 100 mg/dl, the patient on the left has much less risk for vascular disease (this is why you CAN’T trust LDL-C as a risk factor).

The RIGHT side of the scale shows that the same 130 mg/dl of LDL-C is made up of man more small dense LDL particles (called “sd LDL-P”) with a Pattern B type that is as increased risk for heart or vascular disease.  This is where the standard Lipid Panel above, fails to identify heart disease and it’s progression.

Research tells us that the small dense LDL particle levels increase as the triglycerides increase.  And we know that Triglyceride levels increase in the presence of higher levels of insulin leading to a cascade of inflammatory changes.  Insulin is directly increased by the ingestion of simple and complex carbohydrates.  Insulin also increases with the ingestion of too much protein.  So, that chicken salad or the oatmeal you ate, thinking it was good for you, actually just raised your cholesterol.   If you are insulin resistant, your cholesterol just increased by 2-10 times the normal level (see my article here on how insulin resistance causes this.)

Adapt Your Life

“Ok, but Dr. Nally, there are four different companies out in the market measuring these fractional forms of cholesterol. Which one should I choose?”

There are actually five different ways you can check your risk.

  1. Apolipoprotein levels.  This can be done through most labs; however, this test doesn’t give you additional information on insulin resistance that the other tests can.
  2. Berkley Heart Lab’s Gradient Gel Electrophoresis – This test gives a differentiation based on particle estimation between Pattern A and Pattern B
  3. Vertical Auto Profile (VAP-II) test by Arthrotec – This test determines predominant LDL size but does not give a quantifiable lipoprotein particle number which I find very useful in monitoring progression of insulin resistance and inflammation.
  4. NMR Spectroscopy from LipoScience – This test measures actual lipoprotein particle number as well as insulin resistance scores and will add the Lp(a) if requested.  I find the NMR to be the most user friendly test and useful clinically in monitoring cholesterol, vascular risk, insulin resistance progression and control of the inflammation caused by diabetes.  This test has the least variation based on collection methods if frozen storage is used.
  5. Ion-Mobility from Quest – This test also measures lipoprotein particle number but does not include insulin resistance risk or scoring.  Because the test is done through a gas-phase electric differential, the reference ranges for normal are slightly different from the NMR.

In regards to screening for cardiovascular risk, the use of all five approaches are more effective than the standard lipid panel.  However, I have found that clinically the NMR Lipo-profile or the Cardio I-Q Ion-Mobility tests are the most useful in additionally monitoring insulin resistance, inflammation, and disease progression.

It is was the use of these tests that demonstrated to me the profound effect of carbohydrate restriction and ketogenic lifestyles on vascular and metabolic risk.  We talk more about these tests on my YouTube video .

Hope this helps.

KetoOS Image

References:

  1. Williams PT, et al. Comparison of four methods of analysis of lipoprotein particle subfractions for their association with angiographic progression of coronary artery disease. Atherosclerosis. 2014 April; 233(2): 713-720.

Ketogenic Lifestyle Rule #2: Life Begins at the Edge of Your Comfort Zone

Ketogenic Lifestyle Rule #2: LIfew Begins at the Edge of Your Comfort Zone
Ketogenic Lifestyle Rule #2: Life Begins at the Edge of Your Comfort Zone

We have been taught for over 50 years that the minimum carbohydrate intake necessary to maintain health is 130 grams per day, with the average diet of 2000 calories per day containing around 300 grams per day based on 1977 recommendations that 55-60% of are dietary intake should come from carbohydrates.  This value was initially established during World War II by a committee of scientists tasked with determining dietary changes that might effect national defense (1). These “guidelines,” originally called the Recommended Daily Allowances (RDA) and accepted by many as the gospel truth, have been modified every ten years and in 1997 changed to the Dietary Reference Intake (DRI).  However, the recommended carbohydrate values have not changed other than “avoiding added sugars” in the most recent 2015 recommendations.

In light of the fact that there are NO actual diseases caused by lack of carbohydrate intake, most dietitians and physicians  still preach the carbohydrate dogma originally outlined by the RDA.  I say dogma, because these recommendations are based on a diet that vilifies fat, particularly animal fat like red meat.  Say the words “red meat” around a dietician these days you’d think Voldemort (“He Who Shall Not Be Named”) had returned.

I bring up the carbohydrate quandary because it is a question that I am asked every single day.  The question that seems to be asked of me, more and more, is what exactly is a carbohydrate?

Let’s make it simple. There are really only three types of carbohydrates:

  • Sugar
  • Starch (known as complex carbohydrates)
  • Fiber

Let’s start with Sugar.  The simple form of carbohydrates, and the form that spikes your blood sugar and insulin rapidly, are called mono-saccharides (glucose, galactose, fructose & xylose). When two of these mono-saccharides are bound together they form disaccharides like sucrose, also known as “table sugar” (glucose + fructose), lactose found in milk (glucose + galactose), and maltose found in cereals and sweet potatoes (glucose + glucose).

Lactose
Milk Sugar or Lactose (glucose + glucose)

The simple monosaccharides or disaccharides are easy broken into their mono-saccharide form in the blood stream and require the body to produce insulin to be used.  The person with insulin resistance, impaired fasting glucose or type II diabetes often produces 2-10 times the normal amount of insulin to correctly use these mono-saccharides (see why this is a problem in:  The Dreaded Seven: Seven Detrimental Things Caused By High Insulin Levels).  Remember, fruit is also simple sugar containing the mono-saccharide fructose . . . which we call “natures candy” in my office.

Natures Skittles

“Yea, I know sugar is bad for me, but Dr. Nally, I just eat the good starches.”

If I had a nickel for every time I’ve herd that phrase . . .

We’ve become comfortable with shunning fat and “simple sugar,” but in the process we’ve been eating more “good starch.”  But the “good starches” are also saccharides – just in longer chains of more than three glucose molecules bound together.   Our gut easily breaks the bonds between the glucose links and turns these starches into mono-saccharides to be used as fuel.  It takes a bit longer than the simple sugars above, so the release of insulin is slower (which is why it has a better glycemic index score), but whether you produce the insulin in the first hour or the second hour after eating it, insulin is still insulin.  In the case of insulin resistance, the damage is still done.

These good starches make up “comfort food” like bread, rice, pasta, potatoes, corn, grains & oats. To the patient with insulin resistance, impaired fasting glucose or type II diabetes, the higher insulin response stimulates increased weight gain, rise in cholesterol, shift in hormone function and progression of atherosclerosis (vascular and heart disease).  See the recent article on Why Your Oatmeal is Killing Your Libedo.

What about “resistance starches?” These are still starches and I am finding clinically that they still cause a rise in insulin and push people out of ketosis (See Common Ketosis Killers).

Finally, Fiber. Fiber is a carbohydrate, however, it is the indigestible part of the plant.  Fiber has double bonds between the saccharides that human gastrointestinal tracts cannot digest. In most cases, fiber passes right through the intestines without being digested.  It actually acts like a broom for your colon, helping the intestines to move nutrients through the system.  This is why I recommend 1-2 leafy green salads a day for most patient’s following ketogenic diet.  Fiber does help to promote bowel function.

Eat Your Greens
The Leafy Greens

Fruit, non-green vegetables, pasta, grains and breads do contain good sources of fiber, however, these foods also have absorbable starches making them problematic as noted above.

The take home message is this, the use of starch or simple carbohydrate will be problematic for weight loss, cholesterol control, blood sugar control  or blood pressure control in a patient with insulin resistance.

Therefore, the ketogenic lifestyle truly begins at the end of your comfort zone.

Adapt Your Life

Ketogenic Lifestyle Rule #1: There should ALWAYS be bacon in the fridge

BaCoN Fridge

I thought that over the next few weeks I’d address a number of Ketogenic Lifestyle Rules that I have adopted.  These seem to help and bring a little clarity to one following a Ketogenic Lifestyle or someone on the road to becoming a true “Ketonian.”

The first of these rules is that there should ALWAYS be bacon in the fridge!
Adapt Your Life

We address this rule and some interesting facts around having bacon in the fridge in this evening’s Persicope below.  We also address the benefits of journaling, how to help stop binge eating, what are your real protein needs, and red-meat fear-mongering. We even discuss whether or not pigs like bacon.  Enjoy!

 

Links referenced in this video:

Red & Processed Meats: Bacon Fear-Mongering

Calculating Your Protein Needs from Ideal Body Weight

The Power of a Good Vitamin

 

(Just a note: I love Katch.me’s service; however, due to the contract language allowing Katch.me to have unlimited rights to my Periscope Videos, I have withdrawn from Katch and my videos are no longer available on this medium until the contract usage can be modified.)

The Ketogenic Diet & Multiple Sclerosis

Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is a neurological disease caused by demyelination or breakdown of the myelin coating around the nerve cells (1).   This is referred to as a neurodegeneration where the physical structure of the nerve is compromised, much like the coating around an electrical wire being chipped or stripped away. Common symptoms of MS are sensory symptoms in the extremities or face, unilateral visual loss, acute or subacute motor weakness of the muslces, diplopia (double vision), gait disturbance and balance problems, Lhermitte sign (electric shock-like sensations that run down the back and/or limbs upon flexion of the neck), vertigo, bladder problems, loss of control of a limb,  and pain.

 

Effects of Ketosis on Multiple Sclerosis

Initially, and for many years, the degeneration seen in multiple sclerosis (MS) was thought to occur because of an acute inflammatory attack on the cells by dis-regulated immune cells crossing the blood brain barrier.  However, treatments focused on modulating the inflammatory attack seem to have no effect on the degeneration and demyelination.  Thus, the actual definitive cause of this demyelination and neuro-degeneration has eluded us since 1868, when Jean-Martin Charcot first described it.

Recent studies point to evidence that this demyelation may be due to degeneration or breakdown of the nerve cell’s ability to use glucose as a primary fuel (2, 3).  It is now theorized that MS may be due to a combination of degeneration and localized inflammation related to poor glucose uptake causing the demyelination which is seen in a number of MS cases (4, 5, 6).

Demyelination of Nerve
A. Normal nerve cell with intact myelin sheath around the axon. B. Demyelinated axion nerve losing its ionic charge due to escape of potassium. C. Radio-labled tracer allowing visualization of demyelination on PET Scan

With this dual concept in mind, ketogenic diets have demonstrated some promising results when used with neurological diseases including MS.  Ketogenic diets have been used in the treatment of epilepsy since 500 B.C. and in the treatment of obesity since 1860.  It is now becoming apparent that ketogenic diets may play a very significant role in the treatment of neurological disease because of two-fold effects that arise when ketones become the primary fuel for the body.

First, when a person becomes keto-adapted and ketones are used as the primary fuel, instead of glucose, the body up-regulates mitochondria to use the ketones for fuel. As the ketone level rises,  the need for glucose diminishes.   This provides the nerve cell an alternative fuel source if glucose metabolism is impaired. It also decreases the need and production of insulin, a known hormone heavily involved in stimulating inflammation and inflammatory responses.

The second effect of a ketogenic diet is this favorable effect on inflammation.  It has been demonstrated that a ketogenic diet decreases reactive oxygen species, increased production of superoxide dismutase and catalayse, all of which notably decrease the inflammatory effects of oxidative stress (9,10, 11).  A ketogenic diet also is well known to raise glutithione levels, another anti-oxidant that decreases inflammation and oxidative stress (12-16).  This same anti-inflammatory and keto-adaptation effect can be obtained from intermittent fasting.

To date, studies in patients with neurologic diseases like MS, Alzheimer’s disease using ketogenic diets have had positive results in memory, cognition and diminished inflammation with evidence of halting or reversing the chronic demyelination (17,18, 19).  Still somewhat theoretical, the evidence points to effective dietary treatment and prevention for multiple sclerosis and other degenerative neurological diseases like Alzheimer’s Disease.

KetoOS

References:

  1. J. M. Pearce, “Historical descriptions of multiple sclerosis,” European Neurology, vol. 1, no. 1, pp. 49–53, 2005.
  2. C.-A. Castellano, S. Nugent, N. Paquet et al., “Lower brain 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose uptake but normal 11C-acetoacetate metabolism in mild Alzheimer’s disease dementia,” Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, vol. 43, no. 4, pp. 1343–1353, 2014.
  3. S. Nugent, S. Tremblay, K. W. Chen et al., “Brain glucose and acetoacetate metabolism: a comparison of young and older adults,” Neurobiology of Aging, vol. 35, no. 6, pp. 1386–1395, 2014.
  4. H. Lassmann, W. Brück, and C. F. Lucchinetti, “The immunopathology of multiple sclerosis: an overview,” Brain Pathology, vol. 17, no. 2, pp. 210–218, 2007.
  5. C. Confavreux and S. Vukusic, “Natural history of multiple sclerosis: a unifying concept,” Brain, vol. 129, no. 3, pp. 606–616, 2006.
  6. P. K. Stys, G. W. Zamponi, J. van Minnen, and J. J. G. Geurts, “Will the real multiple sclerosis please stand up?” Nature Reviews Neuroscience, vol. 13, no. 7, pp. 507–514, 2012.
  7. P. G. Nijland, I. Michailidou, M. E. Witte et al., “Cellular distribution of glucose and monocarboxylate transporters in human brain white matter and multiple sclerosis lesions,” Glia, vol. 62, no. 7, pp. 1125–1141, 2014.
  8. L. C. Costantini, L. J. Barr, J. L. Vogel, and S. T. Henderson, “Hypometabolism as a therapeutic target in Alzheimer’s disease,” BMC Neuroscience, vol. 9, supplement 2, article S16, 2008.
  9. P. G. Sullivan, J. E. Springer, E. D. Hall, and S. W. Scheff, “Mitochondrial uncoupling as a therapeutic target following neuronal injury,” Journal of Bioenergetics and Biomembranes, vol. 36, no. 4, pp. 353–356, 2004.
  10. P. G. Sullivan, N. A. Rippy, K. Dorenbos, R. C. Concepcion, A. K. Agarwal, and J. M. Rho, “The ketogenic diet increases mitochondrial uncoupling protein levels and activity,” Annals of Neurology, vol. 55, no. 4, pp. 576–580, 2004.
  11. T. Shimazu, M. D. Hirschey, J. Newman et al., “Suppression of oxidative stress by β-hydroxybutyrate, an endogenous histone deacetylase inhibitor,” Science, vol. 339, no. 6116, pp. 211–214, 2013.
  12. S. G. Jarrett, J. B. Milder, L.-P. Liang, and M. Patel, “The ketogenic diet increases mitochondrial glutathione levels,” Journal of Neurochemistry, vol. 106, no. 3, pp. 1044–1051, 2008.
  13. J. B. Milder, L.-P. Liang, and M. Patel, “Acute oxidative stress and systemic Nrf2 activation by the ketogenic diet,” Neurobiology of Disease, vol. 40, no. 1, pp. 238–244, 2010.
  14. N. Dupuis, N. Curatolo, J. F. Benoist, and S. Auvin, “Ketogenic diet exhibits anti-inflammatory properties,” Epilepsia, vol. 56, no. 7, pp. e95–e98, 2015.
  15. D. Y. Kim, J. Hao, R. Liu, G. Turner, F.-D. Shi, and J. M. Rho, “Inflammation-mediated memory dysfunction and effects of a ketogenic diet in a murine model of multiple sclerosis,” PLoS ONE, vol. 7, no. 5, Article ID e35476, 2012.
  16. Y.-H. Youm, K. Y. Nguyen, R. W. Grant et al., “The ketone metabolite β-hydroxybutyrate blocks NLRP3 inflammasome—mediated inflammatory disease,” Nature Medicine, vol. 21, no. 3, pp. 263–269, 2015.
  17. A. Ramm-Pettersen, K. O. Nakken, I. M. Skogseid et al., “Good outcome in patients with early dietary treatment of GLUT-1 deficiency syndrome: results from a retrospective Norwegian study,”Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology, vol. 55, no. 5, pp. 440–447, 2013.
  18. Y. Ito, H. Oguni, S. Ito, M. Oguni, and M. Osawa, “A modified Atkins diet is promising as a treatment for glucose transporter type 1 deficiency syndrome,” Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology, vol. 53, no. 7, pp. 658–663, 2011.
  19. M. Storoni and GT Plant, “The Therapeutic Potential of the Ketogenic Diet in Treating Progressive Multiple Sclerosis,” Multiple Sclerosis International, vol. 2015, Article ID 681289, 9 pages, 2015.

Thinking Outside of the Box

Nine dots

The image above has nine dots within a square.  Your task, using only four lines is to connect ALL nine dots WITHOUT ever raising your pen, pencil or finger (Please don’t use a sharpie on your computer screen . . . it doesn’t come off).

You may have seen this puzzle previously . . . it’s made its rounds in corporate training circles. But the underlying principle remains true.  The solution requires you to expand your thinking or to “think outside the box.”out-of-the-box

Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect. (Mark Twain)

Why should we limit ourselves to thinking outside the box.  Can’t we just get rid of the box?

True discovery consists in seeing what everyone has seen . . . then, thinking what no one has thought.

The answer can be found when those four lines are used beyond the box our mind creates:

Nine dots solution

What good has the box done us?  People were burned at the stake because they refused to believe the Earth was not the center of the universe. People were beheaded because they had a sneaking suspicion that the world was not flat.

Why is it so very hard to accept that our weight gain and diabetes are driven by a hormonal signal, and not by gluttony or caloric intake of fat?  The definition of insanity is doing the same thing repetitively and expecting a different outcome.  How long have you been restricting calories and fat with only minimal or no improvement in your weight, blood sugar, cholesterol or general feeling of health?diabetes global warming

The main problem with the current thought model, or dogma, on the obesity’s cause is that it does not account for metabolic syndrome.  Metabolic syndrome is insulin resistance.  It is an over production of insulin in the presence of ANY form of carbohydrate (sugar or starch).

In the practice of medicine over the last 15 years, I noticed that a very interesting pattern emerged.  There was always a spike in fasting and postprandial insulin levels 5-10 years prior to the first abnormal fasting and postprandial blood sugars.  These patients were exercising regularly and eating a diet low in fat.  But they saw continued weight gain and progressed down the path of metabolic syndrome.  10-15 years later, they fall into the classification of type II diabetes.  What I now lovingly refer to as stage IV insulin resistance.

The only thing that seems to halt this progressive process with any degree of success is carbohydrate restriction.  Fasting insulin levels return to normal, weight falls off, and the diseases of civilizations seem to disappear as insidiously as they arose.

So you tell me, is the world flat?  Is the Earth the center of the universe?

Low-carb is bad

What is a low carbohydrate or ketogenic diet?  15 years of practical in the trenches experience have helped me develop a very simple program to help you lose and maintain your weight.  Access to this program, video help and access to blog articles at your fingertips are offered through my online membership site.

You can also hear me each week a I discuss low carbohydrate, paleolithic and ketogenic diets with the Legendary Jimmy Moore on KetoTalk.com

PeriScope: Weight Loss, Gut Health & Pond Scum…In The New Year

Good morning from Arizona.  I’ve had a few people ask about how gut health relates to a ketogenic diet.  This is a great question and one that I think can be answered best by taking a closer look at my natural koi pond and learning a little about pond scum.

So, sit back and look at the similaries between your gut and how nature balances a pond system: Katch.me

Or you can watch the video below:

The four tenets of health that we touch on above that are essential to understand before you can understand gut health:

  1. The body is a unit and works as such with all parts enhancing the whole
  2. The body is capable of self-regulation, self-healing, and health-maintenance
  3. Structure & function are reciprocally interrelated
  4. Rational treatment of the body must be based upon understanding the principles above and assisting or augmenting those principles

Keys to gut health and pond balancing that we touch on:

  1. Remove the toxins from entering the system like:
    • Antibiotic overuse
    • Caffeine
    • Artificial Fat
    • Artificial Sweeteners
  2. Repair the system and it’s ability to balance the system
    • Takes time
    • Provide structure for the bacteria to which it can bind
    • Provide essential vitamins and minerals like KetoEnhance & Omega-3 fatty acids
    • Periodic Fasting
  3. Restore the bacteria or flora of the system
    • Prebiotics (fermented foods like sauerkraut, kimchi, Japanese natto, etc.)
    • Probiotics like Dietary KetoBalance (can be purchased in the office)
  4. Replace the salts and pH balance where necessary
    • Replace electrolytes
    • Limit things that shift the pH balance

Hope this gives you a starting point for your New Year!!

Why the Calorie is NOT King

Today in the office I had the calorie conversation again . . . three times.  We have an entire society with a very influential health and fitness industry built around the almighty calorie.  Has it helped? Looking at our 5 year obesity outcomes.  It hasn’t helped a bit.  In fact, it is worse.  In 1985 only 19% of U.S. adults were obese.

Obesity 2011
U.S. Obesity Adult 2011
Obesity 2014
U.S. Adult Obesity 2014

In 2014, 34.5% of U.S. adults were obese.  The numbers this year are approaching 35.6%   You can see the dramatic increase in obesity by 1-3% every year for the last 5 years in the CDC images above.

For over 50 years we have been told that caloric restriction and fat restriction is the solution.  But by the numbers above, the 58 million people in the U.S. utilize a gym or health club to burn off those calories aren’t seeing the success that they should be expecting.

Why?  Because the calorie is NOT king.  What do I mean by that?  We don’t gain weight because of the thermogenic dogma we’ve been taught for the last 50 years.  Our weight gain is driven by a hormone response to food.   Hear more about why the calorie is NOT king on tonight’s PeriScope.  You can Katch it here with all the live stream comments and hearts at Katch.me/docmuscles.

Or you can watch the video without the comments here:

Pre-, Post-Workout Meal on Ketosis. Is it Important?

Today’s Periscope was an exciting one.  Do you really need a pre- or post-workout shake or meal?  How much protein do you need?  What’s the difference between ketosis and ketoacidosis?  Is Dr. Nally a ketogenic cheerleader? Get your answers to these and many more questions asked by some wonderful viewers this evening on today’s PeriScope.

https://katch.me/embed/v/5def6bce-4f67-363a-b5f9-3bbec8a8aea2?sync=1

Be sure to check out Dr. Nally’s new podcast called “KetoTalk with Jimmy and the Doc” with the veteran podcaster Jimmy Moore on KetoTalk.com.  The first podcast will be available on December 31, 2015.  KetoTalk with Jimmy and the Doc will be available for download for free on iTunes.

Stay tuned . . . !

The 3 Weight Loss Necessities to Weathering the Holidays

What are the three things you need to successfully weather the holidays with your ketosis lifestyle? What does a raindeer on a motorcycle look like? How does insulin resistance effect kidney stones and gout? How do you get back on track if you fall off the ketosis wagon? These and many more questions are answered by Dr. Adam Nally on tonight’s PeriScope.

You can see the video stream including the comment roll here at katch.me/docmuscles.  Or you can watch the video below:

Caffeine . . . Weight Loss Wonder Boy or Sneaky Scoundrel?

I’ve been looking for the answer for quite some time. . . what role does caffeine play in your and my weight management journey?  The answer gave me a headache. . . literally and figuratively.

As many of you, including my office staff, know, I love my Diet Dr. Pepper (and my bacon).  I found that being able to sip on a little soda throughout the day significantly helped the carbohydrate cravings and munchies during a busy and stressful day at the office.   Diet Dr. Pepper contains caffeine, however, I wasn’t really worried.  Caffeine has been well know to have a thermogenic effect which increases your metabolism and has been thought for many years to help with weight loss among the weight loss community.

Diet Dr. Pepper is, also, one of only four diet sodas on the grocery store shelves that doesn’t contain acesulfame potassium (click here to see why most artificial sweeteners cause weight gain).  The four diet sodas that I have been comfortable with my patients using are Diet Dr. Pepper, Diet Coke, Diet Mug Root-beer and Diet A&W Cream Soda.  These are the last four hold out diet sodas that still use NutraSweet (aspartame) as the sweetener.  Most of the soda companies have switched the sweetener in their diet sodas to the insulinogenic acesulfame potassium because it tastes more natural and aspartame has been given a media black eye of late.  However, NutraSweet (aspartame) is the only sweetener that doesn’t spike your insulin or raise blood sugar (click here to find out why that is important).

Yes, I know.  The ingestion of 600 times the approved amount of aspartame causes blindness in lab rats (but we’re not lab rats, and . . . have you ever met someone that drinks 600 Diet Dr. Peppers in a day?  The lethal dose of bananas, which are high in potassium that will stop your heart, is 400).  Aspartame can also exacerbate headaches in some (about 5% of people) and I’ve had a few patients with amplified fibromyalgia symptoms when they use aspartame.   But for most of us, its a useful sweetener that doesn’t spike your insulin response, halting or causing weight gain.

But, over the last few years, I’ve noticed that increased amounts of Diet Dr. Pepper & Diet Coke seem to cause plateauing of weight and decreasing the ability to shift into ketosis, especially mine.  I’ve also noticed (in my personal n=1 experimentation) that my ability to fast after using caffeine regularly seems to be less tolerable, causing headaches and fatigue 8-10 hours into the fast, symptoms that don’t seem to let up until eating. Through the process of elimination, caffeine seems to be the culprit.

Red Bull in caffeineAfter mulling through the last 10 years of caffeine research, most of which were small studies, had mixed results, used coffee as the caffeine delivery system (coffee has over 50 trace minerals that has the potential to skew the results based on the brand) and never seemed to ask the right questions, the ink from a study in the August 2004 Diabetes Care Journal screamed for my attention.

It appears that caffeine actually stimulates a glucose and insulin response through a secondary mechanism.   The insulin surge and glucose response is dramatically amplified in patients who are insulin resistant.  Caffeine doesn’t effect glucose or insulin if taken while fasting; however, when taken with a meal, glucose responses are 21% higher than normal, and insulin responses are 48% higher in the insulin resistant patient. Caffeine seems to only effect the postprandial (2 hours after a meal) glucose and insulin levels.  The literature shows mixed responses in patients when caffeine is in coffee or tea, probably due to the effect of other organic compounds (1).

Caffeine Effect on glucose insulin
Caffeine effect on plasma glucose and plasma insulin compared to placebo (1).

Caffeine also diminishes insulin sensitivity and impairs glucose tolerance in normal and already insulin resistant and/or obese patients.  This is seen most prominently in patients with diabetes mellitus type II (stage IV insulin resistance).  Caffeine causes alterations in glucose homeostasis by decreasing glucose uptake into skeletal muscle, thereby causing elevations in blood glucose concentration and causing an insulin release (2-6).

Studies show that caffeine causes a five fold increase in epinephrine and a smaller, but significant, norepinephrine release.  The diminished insulin sensitivity and exaggerated insulin response appears to be mediated by a catacholamine (epinephrine, norepinephrine & dopamine)  induced stress response (5).  Caffeine has a half life of about 6 hours, that means the caffeine in your system could cause a catacholamine response for up to 72 hours depending upon the amount of caffeine you ingest (7).

The reason for my, and other patient’s, headaches and fatigue after a short fast was due to the exaggerated stress hormone response.  Increased levels of insulin were induced by a catacholamine cascade after caffeine ingestion with a meal, dramatically more amplified in a person like me with insulin resistance. The caffeine with the last meal cause hypoglycemia 5-7 hours into the fasting, leading to headaches and fatigue that are only alleviated by eating.

Even when not fasting, the caffeine induced catacholamine cascade causes up to 48% more insulin release with a meal, halting weight loss and in some cases, causing weight gain.

Caffeine is not the “Wonder-Boy” we thought it was.

How much caffeine will cause these symptoms? 50 mg or more per day can have these effects.

caffeine-content-of-popular-drinks

Ingestion of caffeine has the following effects:

  • 20-40 mg – increased mental clarity for 2-6 hours
  • 50-100 mg – decreased mental clarity, confusion, catacholamine response
  • 250-700 mg – anxiety, nervousness, hypertension & insomnia
  • 500 mg – relaxation of internal anal sphincter tone (yes . . . you begin to soil yourself)
  • 1000 mg – tachycardia, heart palpitations, insomnia, tinnitus, cognitive difficulty.
  • 10,000 mg (10 grams) – lethal dose (Yes, 25 cups of Starbucks Coffee can kill you)

The equivalent of 100 mg of in a human was given to a spider, you can see the very interesting effect on productivity.  How often does the productivity of the day feel like the image below?

Spider Normal
Normal Spider (9)
Spider Caffeine
Spider on caffeine (9)

Beware that caffeine is now being added to a number of skin care products including wrinkle creams and makeup.  Yes, caffeine is absorbed through the skin, so check the ingredients on your skin care products.

Diet Dr. Pepper, my caffeine delivery system of choice, has slightly less caffeine (39 mg per 12 oz can or 3.25 mg per oz) than regular Dr. Pepper.  I found myself drinking 2-3 liters of Diet Dr. Pepper per day (long 16-18 hour work days in the office).  After doing my research, I realized that my caffeine tolerance had built up to quite a significant level (230-350 grams per day).

So, a few weeks ago, I quit . . . cold turkey.

Did I mention the 15 withdrawal symptoms of caffeine? (8)

  • Headache – behind the eyes to the back of the head
  • Sleepiness – can’t keep your eyes open kind of sleepiness
  • Irritability – everyone around you thinks you’ve become a bear
  • Lethargy – feels like your wearing a 70 lb lead vest
  • Constipation – do I really need to explain this one?
  • Depression – you may actually feel like giving up on life
  • Muscle Pain, Stiffness, Cramping – feel like you were run over by a train
  • Lack of Concentration – don’t plan on studying, doing your taxes or performing brain surgery during this period
  • Flu Like Illness – sinus pressure and stuffiness that just won’t clear
  • Insomnia – you feel sleepy, but you can’t sleep
  • Nausea & Vomiting – You may loose your appetite
  • Anxiety – amplified panic attacks or feeling like the sky is falling
  • Brain Fog – can’t hold coherent thoughts or difficulty with common tasks
  • Dizziness – your sense of equilibrium may be off
  • Low Blood Pressure & Heart Palpitations – low pressure and abnormal heart rhythm

I experienced 13 of the 15 that lasted for 4 days.   I do not recommend quitting cold turkey unless you have a week off and someone to hold your hand, cook your meals and dose your Tylenol or Motrin.  My wife thought I was dying. . . I thought I was dying on day two.  I actually had a nightmare about buying and getting into my own coffin.  It can take up to three weeks to completely recover from caffeine withdrawal.

The other way to quit is to decrease your caffeine intake by 50 mg every two days.   That means decrease caffeine by:

  • 1 can of soda every two days
  • 1/4 cup of coffee every day
  • 1/2 can of Energy Drinks every two days
  • 1 cup of tea every two days

The benefit of this method is that withdrawal symptoms are much less severe without the caffeine headache and the ability to remain productive.  It will take longer, but quitting cold turkey is not a pretty picture.  Been there . . . done that, . . . and I’m not going back. I actually lost another half inch off my waistline by day 5 of caffeine discontinuation.

What is the take home message here?  If you have any degree of insulin resistance, caffeine makes it worse and will amplify your weight gain as well as decrease the productivity of your day.

References:

  1. Lane JD, Barkauskas CE Surwit RS, Feinglos MN, Caffeine Impairs Glucose Metabolism in Type II Diabetes, Diabetes Care August 2004 vol. 27 no. 8 2047-2048; doi:10.2337/diacare.27.8.204
  2. Jankelson OM, Beaser SB, Howard FM, Mayer J: Effect of coffee on glucose tolerance and circulating insulin in men with maturity-onset diabetes. Lancet 1: 527–529, 1967
  3. Graham TE, Sathasivam P, Rowland M, Marko N, Greer F, Battram D: Caffeine ingestion elevates plasma insulin response in humans during an oral glucose tolerance test. Can J Physiol Pharmacol 79:559–565, 2001
  4. Greer F, Hudson R, Ross R, Graham T: Caffeine ingestion decreases glucose disposal during a hyperinsulinemic-euglycemic clamp in sedentary humans.Diabetes 50:2349–2354, 2001
  5. Keijzers GB, De Galan BE, Tack CJ, Smits P: Caffeine can decrease insulin sensitivity in humans. Diabetes Care 25:364–369, 2002
  6. Petrie HJ, et al. Caffeine ingestion increases the insulin response to an oral-glucose-tolerance test in obese men before and after weight loss. American Society for Clinical Nutrition. 80:22-28, 2004
  7. Statland BE, Demas TJ, Serum caffeine half-lives. Healthy subjects vs. patients having alcoholic hepatic disease, Am J Clin Pathol 1980 Mar;73(3):390-393
  8. Evans SM, Griffiths RR, Caffeine Withdrawal: A Parametric Analysis of Caffeine Dosing Conditions, JPET April 1, 1999 vol. 289no. 1 285-294
  9. Noever R, Cronise J, Relwani RA. Using spider-web patterns to determine toxicity. NASA Tech Briefs April 29,1995. 19(4):82. Published in New Scientist magazine, 29 April 1995

Common Ketosis Killers

“I’ve tried your low-carb diet, Dr. Nally, and it didn’t work.”

“Hmm . . . really?”  If you’re mumbling this to yourself, or you’ve said it to me in my office, then lets have a little talk.  You’ve probably been subjected to the common ketosis killers.

Scale HelpI’ve heard this statement before.  It’s not a new statement, but it’s a statement that tells me we need to address a number of items.  If you’ve failed a low carbohydrate diet, I’d suspect you are pretty severely insulin resistant or hyperinsulinemic.  You probably never really reached true ketosis.   I’d want to have you checked out by your doctor to rule out underlying disease like hypothyroidism, diabetes, other hormone imbalance, etc.

Nutritional Ketosis is Most Effective as a Lifestyle Change

Next, switching to a low-carbohydrate lifestyle is literally a “lifestyle change.”  It requires that you understand a few basic ketosis principles.  And, it takes the average person 3-6 months to really wrap their head around what this lifestyle means . . .  and, some people, up to a year before they are really comfortable with how to eat and function in any situation.

I assume, if you are reading this article, that you’ve already read about ketosis and understand the science behind it.  If not, please start your reading with my article The Principle Based Ketogenic Lifestyle – Part I and Ketogenic Principles – Part II.  If this is the case, then please proceed forward, “full steam ahead!”

There are usually a few areas that are inadvertently inhibiting your body transformation, so let’s get a little personal.

Nutritional Ketosis is a Very Low Carbohydrate Diet

First, this is a low carbohydrate diet.  For weight loss, I usually ask people to lower their carbohydrate intake to less than 2o grams per day. How do you do that?  (A copy of my diet is accessible through my membership site HERE.)  You’ve got to begin by restricting all carbohydrates to less than 20 grams per day.  Any more than 20 to 30 grams per day will cause an insulin release from the pancreas and stimulate fat storage of both carbohydrate and fat for the next 10-12 hours, commonly killing ketosis.  Keep a dietary journal to record your progress, your cravings, your successes and failures.  I’m going to want to see it and review it with you if you see me.

No, I don’t believe in “Net Carbs.”  Net Carbs are a sales gimmick to get you to buy “artificial food” that keeps you coming back for “artificial food” and halts your weight loss (you’ll see why shortly).   You’re going to lose the most weight and feel your best when you eat real food. I do allow for the subtraction of real fiber, specifically non-cooked, non-blended, non-juiced leafy greens (If you cook, blend or juice a leafy green, it activates more carbohydrate availability).  Leafy greens are real fiber.  You can subtract them.  In fact, I recommend eating 1-3 cups of leafy greens per day to help bowel function & provide necessary folic acid, but, everything else is “carbage.”  Avoid it.

Yes, cottage cheese and yogurt contain carbohydrates.  Be very cautious with them.

No, oatmeal and Cream of Wheat™ are not helpful. See my article on Why Your Oatmeal is Killing Your Libedo.Alcohol

Alcohol also halts your weight loss.  It’s not the sugar in the alcohol I’m worried about, the distilling process changes the sugar to alcohol, however, alcohol stimulates an insulin response after the alcohol is metabolized in the liver with a SIMILAR RESPONSE to regular sugar.

 

To Effectively Maintain Nutritional Ketosis, You MUST get adequate Protein

Second, this is a low carbohydrate, moderate protein, high fat lifestyle.  N0 . . . it is NOT a high protein diet! However, so many of my patients don’t eat enough protein that they feel like it is a “high protein diet.”

Protein is essential for the building and maintaining of muscle, connective tissue and a number of other enzymatic reactions in your body.  However, in patients who are morbidly obese [people with a body mass index (BMI) over 50], excess protein intake can cause fat to be stored by producing an excessive insulin response.  In these patients we initially moderate protein.  Excess sugars and a number of proteins, in the presence of a high insulin response, are converted to triglyceride (the soft squishy stuff inside the fat cells that make them plump) and stocked away inside your adipose tissue.  Excessive protein, especially the amino acids argenine, leucine and tryptophan are common ketosis killers, not because they are converted to sugar, but because they stimulate and insulin response all by themselves.

If you don’t fall into the morbidly obese category (BMI over 50). Then, I encourage you to use the protein levels below.

Initially, I ask my patients to focus on lowering their carbohydrate intake and I don’t really worry about protein.  (It is often hard enough to figure out what the difference between a carbohydrate and a protein in the first month or two if you’ve never had any nutrition background.)  Most people begin losing weight just by lowering carbohydrates over the first few months.  Once you figure out how to lower your carbohydrates, if your weight loss is not moving and your pants are not getting looser, then you’re probably eating too much protein.

How much protein do you need?  It’s pretty easy to calculate and is based on your height and gender.  Your basic protein needs to maintain muscle, skin and hair growth are as follows:

  • 70 grams or higher for women per day
  • 120 grams or higher for men per day.

However, these levels are WAY TOO LOW for weight loss and maintaining good health.  Because we now know that protein acts as a hormone in a number of ways, in my office I recommend women get 80-90 grams of protein per day, and men should get > 150 grams of protein per day.

ProteinIf you’re still a little confused about protein, read my article on Why Your Chicken Salad Stops Your Weight Loss.

This also goes for protein powders and protein shakes.  Many of these have 25-40 grams of protein in them per serving, so be careful with their use.

Nutritional Ketosis is a High Fat Diet

Third, this is a high fat lifestyle.  Yes, I want you to INCREASE your fat intake.  I’m going to repeat that, again, just for clarity, . . . . INCREASE your fat intake.  Increase it to around 50% of your total calories, . . . 70% of your total calories if you can do it.  Not enough fat is a common ketosis killer.

“What?! Won’t that cause heart disease and stroke and make my cholesterol worse?!!!”

I know, take a big deep breath . . . (you may even need to breath into a paper bag for a minute if you begin hyperventilating).

No, it will not raise your cholesterol, cause heart disease, or cause a stroke.  If you have lowered your carbohydrate intake to less than 20 grams per day, then there is NO hormonal signal for you to make more bad cholesterol, worsen heart disease, or cause a stroke.  In fact, there is great data showing that increasing your fat and lowering your carbohydrates reverses the blockage in the arteries.  I see this reversal every single day in my clinic through the application of ketogenic diets.

If we remove carbohydrate as your primary fuel, you must replace it with something else.Food Pyramid WrongThat something else should be fat.  Protein must be moderated, as it will also be stored as fat if you eat too much.  So, if the carbohydrates are kept low, fat intake can be increased and the body will pick the fat it wants and essentially throw the rest out without raising cholesterol, causing weight gain or causing heart disease.  This is why we want you to use good natural animal fats like butter, hard cheese, olive oil, coconut oil, avocado, etc.  Look for fats highest in omega-3 fatty acids as these decrease inflammation and improved weight loss.  Look for meats highest in fat like red meat (55% fat) and pork (45% fat).  Take the food pyramid and flip it over.

Check Your Sweeteners At the Door

The fourth common ketosis killer and culprit in halting your weight loss is  artificial sweeteners.  There are quite a few of them.  Most of them WILL cause an insulin response (exactly what we don’t want for weight loss) with minimal to no rise in blood sugar.  Raising blood sugar doesn’t matter, if the insulin is being stimulated  . . . “you’re gonna gain weight for the next 10-12 hours.”  I wrote an article for you to print off and hang on your fridge, upload it to your iPhone or carry it with you in your purse to the grocery store. (If you’re a man and you’re carrying a purse, please don’t tell me about it.)  You can find the article here: The Skinny About Sweeteners.  The short list of those sweeteners that are OK to use and cook with, and do not increase insulin response, can be found here in my Amazon Store.

Don’t Even Start with Coffee Creamers

CoffeeCreamersFifth on my list is coffee creamer.  Coffee creamer contains corn syrup solids (another very special name for  . . . SUGAR!!) and/or maltodextrin (SUGAR’s married name!).  If you must put something in your coffee, then use real heavy cream (pure tasty fat) or real butter.   It will taste much better (I’m told – I don’t drink coffee personally) and you won’t get an insulin spike 2-3 hours later and begin craving more coffee and donuts.

Yes, “Half & Half” is half fat and half sugar. . .  avoid it too!!

Ketosis Killing Medications

The sixth culprit in halting weight loss is medications.  Please talk to your doctor before making ANY changes in your medications as suddently stopping them can be hazardous to your health.  Those highest on my list for stopping your weight loss are Glyburide (glipizide), insulin, & steroids like prednisone.  A more complete list of medications that will halt your weight loss can be found on my on my ketogenic diet plan.  If you are on any prescription medications, please talk to your doctor or to a physician board certified in obesity medicine treatment about how to adjust or wean these medications in a way that is safe and appropriate for your individual needs.

Estrogen

The seventh common culprit in halting weight loss is a lack of estrogen in menopausal or post-menopausal women.  About menopause-cartoon-02420% of women that I see in my practice who are over 55 years old, need some degree of estrogen replacement before they are able to lose weight.  Estrogen plays a very large role in regulation of the metabolism and when deficient, causes weight retention or weight gain.  Talk to your doctor about the risks and benefits of estrogen for you individually in this situation.

Stress

The eighth reason for shifting out of ketosis is stress.  Acute and chronic stress can be caused by a number of issues. The most common is lack of sleep.  You can read about stress and ways to address it in two of my articles: How Does Stress Cause Weight Gain? and Adrenal Insufficiency, Adrenal Fatigue and PseudoCushing’s Syndrome – Oh My!

For many years, we’ve thought that caffeine was great for weight loss.  However, we are finding, clinically, that too much caffeine can also cause a stress response by raising cortisol, releasing glycogen, thereby stimulating an insulin response and bringing your weight loss to a screeching halt.  How much caffeine? . . . The jury is still out . . . and remains to be determined.  But, I am currently under going an n=1 experiment on myself (as many of you know, I loved Diet Dr. Pepper.  But I had to give it up).  I’ll keep you posted . . .

Look closely at these eight issues.  Correcting them usually solves most plateaus with weight loss and improves blood pressure, blood sugar and cholesterol control dramatically.

The 5 Myths of Weight Loss

This evening we covered the 5 myths of weight loss identified through the National Weight Control Registry’s research findings. What causes “wrinkle face” for Dr. Nally?  We also talked about & answered 20 minutes of rapid fire questions ranging from the amount of protein you need daily to the likelihood a human could be a bomb calorimeter . . . exciting stuff!!

You can watch the video stream below.  Or you can Katch the replay with the rapid stream of exciting comments here at Katch.me/docmuscles.

What Lab Testing Do You Need to Start Your Weight Loss Journey?

What laboratory testing is necessary when you start your weight loss journey on a Ketogenic, Low-Carbohydrate, Paleolithic or any other dietary changes?  Why do you need them and what are you looking for?  We discuss these questions and others on today’s PeriScope.  Lots of questions from around the world to day . . . this one lasted a bit longer than normal . . . 45 minutes to be specific.  But it’s a good one because of all of your fantastic questions!  You really don’t want to miss this one.

You can see the video below or watch the video combined with the rolling comments here on Katch.me/docmuscles.

A list of the labs that we discussed are listed below:

  • Fasting insulin with 100 gram 2 or 3 hour glucose tolerance test with insulin assay every hour
  • CMP
  • CBC
  • HbA1c
  • Leptin
  • Adiponectin
  • C-Peptid
  • NMR Liprofile or Cardio IQ test
  • Lipid Panel
  • Urinalysis
  • Microalbumin
  • Apo B
  • C-reactive protein
  • TSH
  • Thyroid panel
  • Thyroid antibodies
  • AM Cortisol

This list will at least get one started, provide the screening necessary to identify insulin resistance (Diabetes In-Situ), Impaired fasting glucose, diabetes and allow for screening for a number of the less common causes of obesity.

I would highly recommend that you get these through your physician’s office so that appropriate follow up can be completed.  These labs will need to be interpreted by your physician, someone who understands and is familiar with various causes of obesity.

Until next time . . .

 

Diabetes Mellitus – Really the Fourth Stage of Insulin Resistance

Diabetes Epidemic & You

I just completed my reading of Dr. Joseph Kraft’s Diabetes Epidemic & You.  This text originally printed in 2008 and was re-published in 2011.  I am not really sure why I have never seen this book until now, but I could not put it down.  I know, I am a real life medical geek.  But seriously, you should only read this book if you are concerned about your health in the future. Otherwise, don’t read it.

For the first time in 15 years, someone has published and validated what I have been seeing clinically in my office throughout my career.  Dr. Kraft is a pathologist that began measuring both glucose and insulin levels through a three hour glucose tolerance blood test at the University of Illinois, St. Joseph Hospital in Chicago.  This test consists of checking blood sugar and insulin in a fasted state, and then drinking a 100 gram glucose load followed by checking blood sugar and insulin at the 30, 60, 120 and 180 minute marks (a total of three hours).

Dr. Kraft completed and recorded this test over a period of almost 30 years on 14,384 patients between 1972 and 1998. His findings are landmark and both confirm and clarify the results that I have seen and suspected for years.

Type II Diabetes: Really Just the Fourth Stage of Diabetes

I am convinced that our problem with treating obesity, diabetes and the diseases of civilization has been that we defined diabetes as a “disease” based on a lab value and a threshold instead of identifying the underlying disease process.  We have been treating the symptoms of the late stage of a disease that started 15 to 20 years before it is ever actually diagnosed. Diabetes is defined as two fasting BS >126, any random blood sugar >200, or a HbA1c >6.5%.  (Interestingly this “disease” has been a moving target.  When I graduated from medical school it was two fasting blood sugars >140 and the test called hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) that we use today for diagnosis didn’t even exist).  The semantics associated with this problem is that many of us recognize that the disease is not actually diabetes. The disease is (as far as we understand it today) insulin resistance or hyperinsulinemia.   This is where Dr. Kraft’s data is so useful.  Diabetes, as it is defined above, is really the fourth stage of insulin resistance progression over a 15-20 year period and Dr. Kraft’s data presents enormous and very clear evidence to that effect.

insulin-resistance-obesity

When I first entered private practice 15 years ago, I noticed a correlation and a very scary trend that patients would present with symptoms including elevated triglycerides, elevated fasting blood sugar, neuropathy, microalbuminuria, gout, kidney stones, polycystic ovarian disease, coronary artery disease and hypertension that were frequently associated with diabetes 5-15 years before I ever made the diagnosis of diabetes mellitus.  I began doing 2 hour glucose tolerance tests with insulin levels and was shocked to find that 80-85% of those people were actually diabetic or very near diabetic in their numbers. The problem with a 2 hour glucose tolerance test, is that if you are diabetic or pre-diabetic, you feel miserable due to the very profound insulin spike that occurs.  A few patients actually got quite upset with me for ordering the test, both because of how they felt after the test, and the fact that I was the only physician in town ordering it.  So, in an attempt to find an easier way, I found that the use of fasting insulin > 5 nU/dl, triglycerides > 100 mg/dl and small dense LDL particle number > 500 correlated quite closely clinically with those patients that had positive glucose tolerance tests in my office.  There is absolutely no data in the literature about the use of this triangulation, but I found it to be consistent clinically.

I was ecstatic to see that Dr. Kraft plowed through 30 years and over 14,000 patients with an unpleasant glucose tolerance test and provided the data that many of us have had to clinically triangulate.  (I’m a conservative straight white male, but if Dr. Kraft would have been sitting next to me when I finished the book this afternoon, I was so excited that I probably would have kissed him.)

Insulin resistance or hyperinsulinemia (the over production of insulin between 2-10 times the normal amount after eating carbohydrates) is defined as a “syndrome” not a disease.  What Dr. Kraft points out so clearly is that huge spikes in insulin occur at 1-2 hours after ingestion of carbohydrates 15-20 years prior to blood sugar levels falling into the “diabetic range.”   He also demonstrates, consistently, the pattern that occurs in the normal non-insulin resistant patient and in each stage of insulin resistance progression.

The information extrapolated from Dr. Kraft’s research give the following stages:

Stages of Insulin Resistance
Stages of insulin resistance by 3 hr OGTT extrapolated from “Diabetes Epidemic & You”

From the table above, you can see that the current definition of diabetes is actually the fourth and most prolifically damaging stage of diabetes.  From the data gathered in Dr. Kraft’s population, it is apparent that hyperinsulinemia (insulin resistance) is really the underlying disease and that diabetes mellitus type II should be based upon an insulin assay instead of an arbitrary blood sugar number. This would allow us to catch and treat diabetes 10-15 years prior to it’s becoming a problem.  In looking at the percentages of these 14,384 patient, Dr. Kraft’s data also implies that 50-85% of people in the US are hyperinsuliemic, or have diabetes mellitus “in-situ” (1). This means that up to 85% of the population in the U.S. is in the early stages of diabetes and is the reason 2050 projections state that 1 in 3 Americans will be diabetic by 2050 (2).

Insulin resistance is a genetically inherited syndrome, and as demonstrated by the data above has a pattern to its progression.  It is my professional opinion that this “syndrome” was, and actually is, the protective genetic mechanism that protected groups of people and kept them alive during famine or harsh winter when no other method of food preservation was available. It is most likely what kept the Pima Indians of Arizona, and other similar groups, alive while living for hundreds of years in the arid desert. This syndrome didn’t become an issue among these populations until we introduced them to Bisquick and Beer.

The very fascinating and notably exciting aspect of this whole issue is that insulin resistance is made worse by diet and it is completely treatable with diet. This is where the low carbohydrate diet, and even more effective ketogenic diet or lifestyle becomes the powerful tool available.  Simple carbohydrate restriction reverses the insulin spiking and response.  In fact, I witness clinical improvement in the insulin resistance in patients in my office over 18-24 months every day.  You can get a copy of my Ketogenic Diet here in addition to video based low carbohydrate dietary instruction.

Until we are all on the same page and acknowledge that diabetes is really the fourth stage of progression on the insulin resistance slippery slope, confusion and arguments about treatment approaches will continue to be ineffective in reducing the diseases of civilization.

References:

  1. Kraft, JR. Diabetes Epidemic & You: Should Everyone Be Tested? Trafford Publishing, 2008, 2011. p 1-124
  2. Boyle JP et al. Projection of the year 2050 burden of diabetes in the US adult population: dynamic modeling of incidence, mortality, and prediabetes prevalence,  http://www.pophealthmetrics.com/content/8/1/29 Accessed November 22, 2015

How to Stay Motivated on Carbohydrate Restriction

This evening on PeriScope, we talked about the 10 things you can do to stay motivated on your low-carb lifestyle.  A number of great questions were asked including:

  • How much carbohydrate should be restricted?
  • What labs should you be monitoring regularly?
  • What’s a normal blood sugar?
  • Why is Dr. Nally freezing in Denver?
  • Is fermented food good for you?
  • Why should you eat pickles and kimchi even when you’re not pregnant?

And, much much more . . . It’s like a college ketogenic course on overdrive . . . for FREE!!!

You can see the PeriScope with the comments rolling in real-time here: katch.me/docmuscles

Or, you can watch the video stream below:

See you next time.

How Fat Makes You Skinny . . . (Eating Fat Lowers Your Cholesterol?!)

Diseases seem to arrive in three’s each day in my office.  Today I had three different patients with cholesterol concerns who were notably confused about what actually makes the cholesterol worse, and what causes weight gain.  Each of them, like many patients that I see, were stuck in a state of confusion between low fat and low carbohydrate lifestyle change.   My hope is to give my patients and anyone reading this blog a little more clarity regarding what cholesterol is, how it is influenced and how it affect our individual health.

First, the standard cholesterol profile does not give us a true picture of what is occurring at a cellular level.  The standard cholesterol panel includes: total cholesterol (all the forms of cholesterol), HDL (the good stuff), LDL-C (the “bad” stuff) and triglycerides.  It is important to recognize that the “-C” in these measurements stands for “a calculation” usually completed by the lab, and not an actual measurement.  Total cholesterol, HDL-C and triglycerides are usually measured and LDL-C is calculated using the Friedewald equation [LDL = total cholesterol – HDL – (triglycerides/5)].  (No, there won’t be a quiz on this at the end  . . . so relax.)

However, an ever increasing body evidence reveals that the concentration and size of the LDL particles correlates much more powerfully to the degree of atherosclerosis progression (arterial blockage) than the calculated LDL concentration or weight (1, 2, 3).

There are three sub-types of LDL that we each need to be aware of: Large “fluffy” LDL particles (type I), medium LDL particles (type II & III), and small dense LDL particles (type IV).

Lipid Planet Image
Weight & Size of VLDL, LDL & HDL

 

Misleading LDL-C
Why LDL-C is misleading: Identical LDL-C of 130 mg/dL can have a low risk (Pattern A) with a few “big fluffy LDL particles or high risk (Pattern B) with many small dense LDL particles.

Second, it is important to realize that HDL and LDL types are actually transport molecules for triglyceride – they are essentially buses for the triglycerides (the passengers).  HDL can be simplistically thought of as taking triglycerides to the fat cells and LDL can be thought of as taking triglycerides from the fat cells to the muscles and other organs for use as fuel.

Third, it is the small dense LDL particles that are more easily oxidized and because of their size, are more likely to cause damage to the lining of the blood vessel leading to damage and blockage.  The large boyant LDL (“big fluffy LDL particles”) contain more Vitamin E and are much less susceptible to oxidation and vascular wall damage.

Lipid Danger Slide

Eating more fat or cholesterol DOES NOT raise small dense LDL particle number.  Eating eggs, bacon and cheese does not raise your cholesterol!  What increases small dense LDL particles then?  It is the presence of higher levels of insulin.  Insulin is increased because of carbohydrate (sugars, starches or fruits) ingestion. It is the bread or the oatmeal you eat with the bacon that is the culprit.  The bread or starch stimulates and insulin response.  Insulin stimulates the production of triglycerides and “calls out more small buses” to transport the increased triglyceride to the fat cells (4, 5, 6, 7).

Fourth, following a very low carbohydrate diet or ketogenic diet has been demonstrated to decreased small dense LDL particle number and correlates with a regression in vascular blockage (8, 9).  So, what does this really mean to you and me?  It means that the low-fat diet dogma that that has been touted from the rooftops and plastered across the cover of every magazine and health journal for the last 50 years is wrong. . . absolutely wrong.

I talk about this and answers questions on today’s Periscope.  You can see the recording on Katch.me with the comments in real time here:

https://www.katch.me/docmuscles/v/2f0b6d07-d56a-368b-b4f6-34a5ab3da916

 

Or, you can watch the video below:

References:

  1. Superko HR, Gadesam RR. Is it LDL particle size or number that correlates with risk for cardiovascular disease? Curr Atheroscler Rep. 2008 Oct;10(5):377-85. PMID: 18706278
  2. Rizzo M, Berneis K. Low-density lipoprotein size and cardiovascular risk assessment. QJM. 2006 Jan;99(1):1-14. PMID: 16371404
  3. Rizzo M, Berneis K, Corrado E, Novo S. The significance of low-density-lipoproteins size in vascular diseases. Int Angiol. 2006 Mar;25(1):4-9. PMID:16520717
  4. Howard BV, Wylie-Rosett J. Sugar and cardiovascular disease: A statement for healthcare professionals from the Committee on Nutrition of the Council on Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Metabolism of the American Heart Association. Circulation. 2002 Jul 23;106(4):523-7. PMID: 12135957
  5. Elkeles RS. Blood glucose and coronary heart disease. European Heart Journal (2000) 21, 1735–1737 doi:10.1053/euhj.2000.2331
  6. Stanhope KL, Bremer AA, Medici V, et al. Consumption of Fructose and High Fructose Corn Syrup Increase Postprandial Triglycerides, LDL-Cholesterol, and Apolipoprotein-B in Young Men and Women. The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism. 2011;96(10):E1596-E1605.
  7. Shai I et al. Cirulation. 2010; 121:1200-1208
  8. Krauss RM, et al. Prevalence of LDL subclass pattern B as a function of dietary carbohydrate content for each experimental diet before and after weight loss and stabilization with the diets.  American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 2006; 83:1025-1031
  9. Gentile M, Panico S, et al., Clinica Chimica Acta, 2013, Association between small dense LDL and early atherosclerosis in a sample of menopausal women, Department of Clinical Medicine and Surgery, University “Federico II” Medical School, Naples, Italy Division of Cardiology, Moscati Hospital, Aversa, Italy A. Cardarelli Hospital, Naples, Italy

Reversal of Diabetes in the Ketogenic Zone – A Case Report

Low Carb ZoneThis week I had the pleasure of seeing a really nice 46 year old Hispanic male who is fairly new to the office.  He came back in to see me in follow up on his diabetes.  To give you a bit of background history, the patient came to see me about 6 months ago, just not feeling very well. Based on his symptoms of fatigue, history of elevated blood sugar and family history, lab work was completed.He saw us initially with a Hemoglobin A1c of 12.3% in June (normal should be 4.9%-5.6%).  This means he had an average blood sugar over the previous three months of about 310 mg/dL (normal should be < 110 mg/dL).

Past Medical History include:  Diabetes Mellitus – type II (not on any medications when initially seen), Hypertension (high blood pressure), Dyslipidemia (elevated cholesterol) and a non-specific heart arrhythmia.

Medications: None

Surgeries: Knee & shoulder arthroscopies

Family History: Father Diabetes, Stroke, Heart Disease, Hypertension, Elevated Cholesterol

Social History: Non-Smoker, Limited Alcohol Use

He related to me that he had been on metformin before, however, had some significant diarrhea and was not interested in using this medication EVER again.   A previous doctor had tried Victoza© (liraglutide), a GLP-1 inhibitor, but he didn’t use it for very long as he didn’t really see much change with this medication.

After getting his labs back, we had a very long conversation about the need to either fix his diet dramatically, or he may be looking at using 3-4 oral medications or even insulin to control his blood sugar.

When I see average blood sugars (HbA1c) stay over 6.5%  (or greater than 140 mg/dL), the risk for retinal, kidney and nerve damage is significant and often irreversible after 4-5 years.  Most physican’s are affraid to lower the HbA1c to less than 7.0% with medications due to low blood sugar events, and so the diabetes community has “settled” with 7.0% as being effective.  However, it still isn’t low enough.  I saw this happen with my father and with other members of me family.  I’ve seen it happen over and over with my patients over the last 15 years when they have not lowered their blood sugar and reduced the high insulin loads that occur in response to those high blood sugar levels.  It has been my experience that HbA1c can be very safely lowered to the normal range, as low as 5.2-5.6% without symptomatic low blood sugars, with the correct diet and careful use of medications.

So, my patient, above, committed to change.  I was worried that diet alone would not be able to lower these levels enough to be effective so we discussed tight carbohydrate restriction, the addition of methlyated folate and chromium and a re-trial of a low dose of Victoza© (liraglutide), which he had at home.

I didn’t see him for about three months.  When he followed up this week I was amazed.  I was amazed because I rarely see more than 1.5% drop in HbA1c with the addition of Victoza© (liraglutide).  The additional 4.5% of drop with diet was dramatically impressive.

When we talked, he told me that all he has done differently is use the Victoza© (liraglutide) and cut his carbohydrate intake to less than 10 grams per meal (Yes, he did admit to occasionally cheating).

You can see the dramatic results:

June 2015
September 2015
Glucose
258
103
HbA1c
12.3%
6.3%
Urine Creatinine (Random)
208
72
 
Total Cholesterol (mg/dL)
219
218
Triglycerides (mg/dL)
137
117
HDL-C (mg/dL)
38
37
LDL-C (mg/dL)
154
158
LDL-P (nmol/L)
2172
1691
Small dense LDL-P (nmol/L)
1289
419
 
TSH (mU/L)
1.75
 

As you can see, a dramatic change in his blood sugar has occurred in a three month interval.  Not only that, we see a significant change in his cholesterol profile.

Some might argue that this is the Victoza© (liraglutide) doing this.  I can tell you, in the 15 years I’ve been doing this and in the 5 years that Victoza© (liraglutide) has been available in the U.S., I have never seen a drug reduce blood sugar or cholesterol this dramatically.

Cholesterol SizePreviously, we looked at LDL-C for heart disease risk, however, I have multiple patients that have had heart disease with normal LDL-C ( <100 mg/dL).  LDL-C is just a summation of all the particles. The LDL particle is actually made up of three sub-types and it is specifically the small dense particle that causes the vascular risk. You can see a dramatic normalization of the small dense particle LDL with no change in LDL-C and minimal change in Total Cholesterol in the patient’s labs when he reduces his carbohydrate intake.  This is a pattern I see every single day. When serial carotid ultrasound studies are completed, I see reduction in blockage and reduction in the vascular wall thickening.   I will be very interested to see the vascular studies on this patient and I will await his results as he tightens up his diet even further.

All in all, he has dramatically brought his diabetes under control with carbohydrate restriction and if he continues this lifestyle, he has reduced his risk for retinal damage, reduced his risk for kidney damage, reduced his risk for nerve damage and essentially added 20 years to his life.

(Disclosures:  Dr. Nally has no vested interest, monitary or otherwise, in Novo Nordisc or it’s products including liraglutide.)

So, What is this Ketogenic Thing Again . . . ?

I’ve personally been following and prescribing ketogenic diets to my patients since 2005.   When I started on my ketogenic journey, it was called a “Low Carbohydrate Diet.” Over the last 5-10 years, we’ve learned a thing or two about how the body processes carbohydrate, protein and fat. Specifically, it’s not just the restriction of the carbohydrates that leads to metabolic health, but appropriate protein intake and significant emphasis on the level and type of fat intake as well. The majority of people who cut out carbohydrates will initially see successful weight loss, but to maintain that weight loss and see significant metabolic changes that reverse the diseases of civilization, an understanding of protein and fat needs are essential.

It’s Not Necessarily a High Protein Diet

Most people, when they hear you’re following a “Low-Carb” diet . . . respond with, “Oh, you are on that high protein, Adkins’ thing, . . . right?!”

Bacon Recipes

Well, not really. A true ketogenic diet is NOT a “high protein diet.” However, you must be ingesting enough protein to maintain muscle, hair growth and energy levels.  Most people, having been brainwashed in grade school and middle school about the horrors of fat in the diet, assume that if you’re not eating carbohydrates, then you must be eating extra protein to stay satiated.  (No one would ever intentionally increase the fat in their diet, right?!!)  However, remember that protein and fat usually come together in the sources that the Good Lord put them in.

That’s the impression that most people in my office get when I mention the words “Low-Carb” or “Adkins.”  And, before I have a chance to explain that I’m not recommending that you race home to eat three large turkey legs and a pound of turkey bacon, the vegetarians gather their things to leave and the former home economics teachers begin to get chest pain at the mental picture in their heads.

How Are Ketones Made?

A ketogenic diet is one which allows your body to use ketones as it’s primary fuel source. Ketones are produced from the breakdown of triglyceride and free fatty acids.  Ketones are essentially produced by two distinctly different events:

1) Starvation caused by prolonged periods without food (which is essentially what happens to type I diabetics when they have no insulin at all in their systems)

2) When fat is ingested as the primary fuel, and very low levels of insulin are  concurrently produced, primarily when the diet has minimal to no carbohydrate present (allowing the body to activate its free fatty acid reserves found within in the adipose cells).

The body is an amazing machine.  It was designed to take any of the three main macro-nutrients (carbohydrate, protein or fat) as fuel and function quite well.  It’s like a futuristic car that can run on unleaded gasoline, oil, or diesel fuel.  It is able to recognize which fuel is present and run quite well off of any of the three.  The amazing thing about the body is that we mix up all three fuel types and just pour them into the tank.  Impressively, the body can separate them out and run very well in the short term on any combination of mixes.  We don’t have cars or trucks that do that today . . . maybe in the future . . .?

We have Two Fuel Systems

I like to equate carbohydrates to unleaded fuel. These are clean burning, easy to access and cheap.  However, the body requires the production of insulin to use this “unleaded” type of fuel. When carbohydrates are identified to be present in the liver and pancreas, insulin is released so that the rest of the cells throughout the body can “open the tank” and let the carbohydrate into the cell to be used as fuel.  The challenge is that carbohydrates don’t store very well in the form they are supplied in, so, as a protective mechanism against starvation and famine, if excess carbohydrate is found in the system, it is converted into triglyceride.  Insulin is required for this.  Interestingly, when your insulin levels rise, the signal to the body is that “unleaded fuel” is in the system, so it stores any fats and excess carbohydrates in the form of free fatty acid and triglyceride.  Carbohydrate stimulate an insulin response and cause fat storage.  It is the same reason we give corn to cattle — to plump them up before taking them to market.

Fat then is the “diesel fuel” of macro-nutrients.  It burns well, can be stored very easily, and provides over twice the energy to the body when measured in the form of k-cal per gram.  Fat is used preferentially when there is limited or no insulin floating around the blood stream and is quickly and efficiency stored when other forms of fuel are available.  (Insulin being the key hormone signaling that other fuel is around.)

Nutritional Ketosis is Using Fat as Your Optimum Fuel

So what is this “ketosis thing?” It is a method of dietary change (a lifestyle) that intentionally focuses the body’s metabolism to use fat (in the form of triglyceride & free fatty acid) as its primary fuel. Leading to weight loss, dramatically improved blood sugars, significantly improved cholesterol and triglyceride levels, and notably improved inflammatory markers.

“But don’t you end up eating a lot more protein on your weight loss program?” I frequently get asked.

Honestly, No.

Protein and fat are both very filling, and most people find that limiting the carbohydrates actually causes less hunger and diminishes the rebound carbohydrate cravings often stimulated by the two or three slices of bread, pasta or that potato often occurring 2-3 hours later. Interestingly, most people don’t eat that much more and the protein levels remain fairly constant.  Because fat and protein come together in meats, eggs, fish, etc., satiation occurs with just minor increases in dietary intake real animal food.  I don’t recommend increase the fat alone.  I recommend increasing the amount of real animal protein until you are full.  This is even more satiating and many people find themselves eating only twice a day when they are hungry.

 Excessive protein in those who are morbidly obese with severe overproduction of insulin can experience a spike the insulin levels further with large amounts of protein. Protein can be equated to the oil you put in your car.  Protein is a building block used for muscle, connective tissue and some essential metabolic functions.  When too much protein, in this group is ingested, it spikes the insulin. (See my article on Why Your Chicken Salad is Making you Fat)

Most people have problems when they start supplementing with protein shakes.  These often contain sweeteners that raise insulin and consequently halts your weight loss – or even causing weight gain.

The Many Names of Sugar

Found this info-graphic while surfing Banner Health’s information pages. Many of my patients get a very confused look on their face when I ask them to restrict carbohydrates.  Sugar is the most prevalent form of carbohydrate in the Standard American Diet or SAD diet. Sugar comes by more than one name.  This info-graphic is actually very helpful.  All of these names are synonymous with weight gain and cholesterol formation.

Many names of sugar