Orthomolecular Medicine News Service, January 19, 2018
by Tom Taylor
“Say it ain’t so Joe!” (1)
Really?
You mean what you have heard all your life just ain’t so?
You have probably believed fat is bad.
“It ain’t so.”
You have probably believed that starvation is the main way to lose weight.
“It ain’t so.”
You have probably believed you have fat genes.
“It ain’t so.”
You have probably even believed that beer is worse for your kids than soft drinks. OK, you are right on that one. It is worse, but not by very much. Even worse are soft drinks with artificial sweeteners that are supposed to help you lose weight. “It ain’t so.”
Science over the last decades has learned that you have two main energy-burning systems in your body: one that quickly burns sugars from the soda or carbs from the beer and another for the stored fat in your body. It turns out your typical body is a bit lazy (surprise, surprise) and likes to take the easy course and burn the sugars and avoid the fats. Thus, it prefers to yell at you, “hey, we are starving down here,” instead of shifting gears and burning the fats. Details to follow.
Enter the counter-intuitive world of eating fat to get rid of fat, known as ketogenics. If you have the least interest in getting rid of fat whether it be 2 pounds, 20 pounds, or 200 pounds; or if you are interested in fewer energy ups and downs during the day, or improving the biomarkers of general health, then contemplating the following lectures will really be worth your time.
Today’s typical individual has a lifestyle that is better than kings of two centuries ago, but is cursed by commercial advertising. Ads often tell a partial truth, and we seldom get around to figuring out the “rest of the story,” especially without Paul Harvey. However, here are some people that are really good at telling the “rest of the story.”
One last point before starting: many of these videos I mention below have viewership records of 1,000 to 20,000 viewings. Recently I noticed that a video on the black plague of 1665 had about 500,000 views and Taylor Swift had a video at 2.4 billion views. What can I say; are we all worried about getting the plague? OK, good health is not nearly as entertaining as black plague history or a catchy tune, but you knew that before reading this. So just visualize it this way. Some day in the future, while visiting a diabetic patient in the hospital, you will be able to hand them the remote control so he/she can watch Taylor Swift “Shake It Off” one more time past 2.4 billion views. Then you can safely go home and sleep in your own bed where no one will ever startle you awake at midnight demanding to take your blood pressure or prick your finger. That alone is worth a thorough study of the following material.
Finally, I started down this path out of curiosity and became aware of the potential for better energy and weight management. However, these speakers, especially Jeff Volek, have convinced me that a ketogenic oriented diet provides multiple benefits to overall health far beyond just easy weight control.
Eric Westman, M.D.:
Update on Ketogenic Diet for Obesity, Diabetes, and Metabolic Syndrome
Eric runs an obesity clinic in North Carolina with a 6-month waiting list to see him. He teaches about the ketogenic diet. He doesn’t care about you counting calories or keeping a food diary. He doesn’t care too much how much exercise you get. He does care that you eat the right type of diet, basically protein and fats, and avoid being hungry. His application of the ketogenic diet has had wide ranging success, from major weight loss to getting diabetics off insulin. This is without any drugs (or hunger). In fact, his medical group has banned drug companies’ sales personnel from their building. Very well-done presentation and worth anyone’s hour to watch. Good success stories. Good statistics demonstrating validity of the approach. [2]
Beth Zupec-Kania, R.D.:
Eating Ketogenically with Optimal Nutrition
A nice follow-up video if you take an interest in what Eric Westman has to say. [3]
Dr. Dave Jockers:
How to Follow a Vegan Ketogenic Diet
A population segment out there has thoroughly and irrevocably internalized, “Eating fat is gross.” If this includes you, then try Dr. Dave Jockers. [4]
Bob Briggs:
Butter Makes Your Pants Fall Off
Bob is most unusual in a good way: he has no credentials beyond his own success story. However, sincere, direct, easily understood, good science, are all terms that fit Bob perfectly. He may not know his medical Latin, but he does know how to get his point across. If you are fence-sitting as to whether to return to standard fare TV or watch these videos, then at least give Bob a try. Here are three viewer comments (with minor edits) copied from his YouTube video. [5]
- Bob..so happy I found your video. You are making me laugh! So simply logical. Thanks for the awakening!
- He is speaking truth, I’ve been on a ketogenic diet for almost 3 weeks now and I’ve lost 11 lbs. my cravings for sugar/carbs went away. My appetite went way down the second week. My energy went way up and I have been feeling so much better. Also for the first time in my life I have had my period with no pain (I’m not sure if this had anything to do with it but I was surprised). I’ve also been sleeping better. I thought that I would never be able to get rid of my sugar cravings because it was so bad. I would want something sweet after all my meals, but it’s totally gone.
- Love your video. I have lost 35 pounds doing the same things! I hope my videos are a third as entertaining as yours. Great video. I am a fan!!
Robert Lustig M.D.:
If you are a hard-core, life-long sugar addict (like most of the planet) then you should suck it up and have the guts to watch this: Brutal, excellent, and fascinating. Probably the original “sugar is poison” MD. Really, really interesting. [6]
Also see this Orthomolecular Medical News article, Toxic Sugar, by Robert G Smith PhD. [7]
Sugar industry paid researchers to distort the facts, to blame fat
If you are not up to a Robert Lustig lecture, then at least give this NPR article and the similar article in NY Times a consideration. Both explain how shenanigans from 50 years ago sent the USA and hence much of the world on a pro-sugar anti-fat tack.[8] The sugar industry paid researchers to distort the facts, to blame fat for heart disease. [9-10]
Also see this Orthomolecular Medical News article, Sugar Fraud by Ralph Campbell MD. [11]
Julia Ross:
Sugar Addiction: Defeating the Greatest Dietary Crisis of All Time
Calling sugar addiction, the “Greatest Dietary Crisis of All Time” is probably not hyperbole. Julia is really interesting and has a message we all love. “It is not your fault,” and it is actually true for her clients. She applies research that shows the absence of any one of four amino acids from your brain, such as GABA, can drive you to irresistible overeating or unexplainable moods. Truly innovative work with proven long-term clinical success. The video gives a solid overview of the ways to prevent overeating sugar and carbohydrates that have proven so successful for over 10 years in her clinical practice. Her checklists are worth your time to know if this applies to you. [12]
Prof. Jeff Volek:
The Art and Science of Low Carb Living: Cardio-Metabolic Benefits and Beyond
This is complimentary material to the first presentation above by Eric Westman, M.D. Jeff is an Ohio State professor and he is speaking at Low Carb Down Under (Australia). This talk expands discussion of the array of benefits beyond weight loss to subjects such as better athletic performance, and lower need for antioxidants. His main message is ketogenic diets benefit so many biomarkers, that he considers weight loss a secondary benefit. [13]
Low Carb Down Under appears to be more of a TED talk format than a medical talk. Other similar events have spawned including Low Carb Breckenridge (ski resort) and Ketofest in Connecticut this past fall. These can be found on YouTube. This proliferation of events suggests growing widespread interest in Ketogenics.
Jason Fung, M.D.:
Intermittent Fasting for Weight Loss
A Canadian nephrologist who is getting diabetics off insulin and helping them lose weight by the ton. His videos are worth watching because he advances the Keto diet into Intermittent Fasting, which some believe helps to jump start the Keto diet. [14]
In summary: Most of us are born sugar addicts. The tricks of some devilishly brilliant (but unassigned to a level of hell by Dante, [15]) sugar marketers have made you think fat is worse than sugar all your life, “but, It ain’t so”. A ketogenic diet with a reasonable amount of sugar and carbs like the French are famous for, can control weight. Or a ketogenic diet with virtually no carbs or sugar can lose a lot of weight without hunger or calorie-counting. Additionally, multiple studies show ketogenic diets benefit a wide cross section of biomarkers. If you want to try a ketogenic diet, make sure that you eat a healthy proportion of vegetables and take supplements of vitamins and minerals to make up for the essential nutrients that you would otherwise be missing.
(About the author: Tom Taylor, EE, ME, MBA has no financial interest in the medical or nutrient industry. He currently runs a small technical group (www.maskinell.com) in the Atlanta, GA area, and is a commercial pilot.)
[The views expressed in this article are the author’s and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of all members of the Orthomolecular Medicine News Service. OMNS allows equal time for dissenting viewpoints. Manuscripts may be submitted to the Editor at the email address further below.]
References:
1. See web or wiki references to Shoeless Joe Jackson and a baseball game throwing scandal. Charley Owens of the Chicago Daily News wrote a headline of lament, “Say it ain’t so, Joe,” that later took on a life of its own.
2. Westman E. Update on Ketogenic Diet for Obesity, Diabetes, and Metabolic Syndrome https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WendvONj5O0
3. Zupec-Kania B. Eating Ketogenically with Optimal Nutrition. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pU6gH5-mMD8
4. Jockers D. How to Follow a Vegan Ketogenic Diet. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmhaj7h8s_w
5. Briggs B. Butter Makes Your Pants Fall Off. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6aMN6NLOTQ
6. Lustig R. Sugar: The Bitter Truth. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBnniua6-oM
7, Smith RG. Toxic Sugar. http://orthomolecular.org/resources/omns/v08n14.shtml
8. You know, tack, like when your sailboat cannot sail straight into the wind but must sail back and forth alternatively to both sides of the wind to make progress.
10. https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/13/well/eat/how-the-sugar-industry-shifted-blame-to-fat.html
11. Campbell R. Sugar Fraud. http://orthomolecular.org/resources/omns/v12n21.shtml
12. Ross J. Sugar Addiction: Defeating the Greatest Dietary Crisis of All Time https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=058rmVNSRIg
13. Volek J. The Art and Science of Low Carb Living: Cardio-Metabolic Benefits and Beyond. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tC_qBC1EEvw
14. Fung J. Intermittent Fasting for Weight Loss https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9Aw0P7GjHE
15. Dante wrote The Divine Comedy some 700 years ago where he divided hell into 9 levels and assigned notable people of the day to various levels. Would Dante have assigned the sugar marketers to the third or fourth levels, gluttony and greed, or to the eighth or ninth levels, fraud and treachery?
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