Industrial Seed Oils
Our country has a dark, dirty secret. We’ve been lied to for decades. We were told that fat and cholesterol are bad for you and it will cause heart disease. Well the evidence that is emerging is telling a different story. How did this happen?
Our country has a dark, dirty secret. We’ve been lied to for decades. We were told that fat and cholesterol are bad for you and it will cause heart disease. Well the evidence that is emerging is telling a different story. How did this happen?
In 1955, President Eisenhower had a heart attack. The nation was shocked and in fear as this was not common in those times. Dr. Ancel Keys arrived on the scene and became known for the “diet-heart hypothesis”. This is where the long standing belief that cholesterol causes heart disease came from. Dr. Keys was a physiologist and conducted large population studies on heart disease. The problem is that Dr. Keys cherry picked his data as he was eager to prove his theory right. Dr. Keys had a reputation for being persuasive and in 1961, was able to convince the head of the American Heart Association to recommend a diet that was low in fat and high in carbs. Incidentally, corn is the number one crop in the United States. So now we have a situation where large scale food companies are incentivized to make foods that are processed with anything rather than saturated fat. It is cheaper to use vegetable oils such as corn oil rather than butter anyway. Suddenly, these oils become ubiquitous and we are told they are good for you.
But they’re not.
These oils require high levels of heat to draw oil from the seed and include cottonseed oil, grapeseed oil, canola oil, safflower oil, corn oil, sunflower oil, soy oil, and rice bran oil. These are what Dr. Cate Shanahan calls “the hateful eight”. These oils cause high levels of damage and chronic inflammation to our bodies. These oils (that were originally intended for use in soaps by Proctor and Gamble), are produced through hydrogenation, which makes the molecules highly unstable and are why they cause damage. Furthermore, the process of making these oils creates a foul smelling oil, and deodorizing chemicals are added to improve the smell, creating trans fats. These artificial trans fats are known to be hazardous for our health.
It is important to note that fats are a crucial macronutrient that our bodies need. They play a role in lining organs, insulating nerves, brain function, and absorption of the fat soluble vitamins; A, D, E, and K. Lack of ability to absorb vitamin D in particular can have a negative affect on our immune system. Fats are also a source of fuel for the body. Carbohydrates, or sugars are also a primary source of fuel. So if you void the body of fat sources, the body must rely on sugars for fuel. This will lead to metabolic reliance on sugar and “metabolic syndrome”. Metabolic syndrome is a cluster of conditions that tend to occur together including diabetes, heart disease, and stroke. It’s no wonder that years after the fat-free craze dating back to 1961, we see an increase in metabolic syndrome. Childhood obesity and stroke continues to rise.
So how do we know which fats and oils are good or bad? If they just have to be pressed, (like olives or avocados) to draw the oil, they are good. If they have to be exposed to high levels of heat, they are bad. Here is a helpful chart:
When I tell my athletes about this, the common response is, “well I only use olive oil”. Which is great, but the problem is once you start reading labels, it will be depressing to see just how widespread these seed oils are. You’ll find them in crackers, chips, pretzels, store bought salad dressing, commercial hummus, and as I sadly realized just a few days ago, even in almond and oat milk. The problem is deep in the United States, and the solution, as always, is to eat real food and avoid processed foods. Make sure to get the good fats in, stay away from simple sugars and industrial seed oils.
This is a must see documentary that goes into more detail:
Are You Metabolically Inflexible?
Your body can produce energy from multiple sources, the two most common being carbs and fats. If you are able to easily switch between the two sources without crashing, you are metabolically flexible. If, for years, you’ve been on a high carbohydrate diet, chances are you are not metabolically flexible.
Did I get your attention?
Metabolic flexibility is a term that’s being thrown around a lot right now, and for good reason. With the current COVID pandemic, there appears to be a strong predilection towards impacting people with metabolic syndrome which is directly correlated to metabolic inflexibility. Metabolic syndrome is a cluster of symptoms which appear to tie back to insulin resistance, a.k.a. Diabetes. Millions of Americans are diabetic, and millions more are prediabetic.
What do these terms mean? Your body can produce energy from multiple sources, the two most common being carbs and fats. If you are able to easily switch between the two sources without crashing, you are metabolically flexible. If, for years, you’ve been on a high carbohydrate diet, chances are you are not metabolically flexible. The problem is, following Eisehower’s heart attack in 1955, a physician named Ancel Keys convinced the American Heart Association that a diet high in saturated fats leads to heart disease. Shortly after, a diet of low fat and high carbs was recommended. Years later, the United States skyrocketed in incidences of diabetes, stroke, and childhood obesity; and the numbers continue to climb.
I remember in the 90’s, hearing that I could lose weight by eating as much meat and cheese as I wanted, but no rice or pasta. I couldn’t believe it. The Atkins diet had surfaced. Over the years, this low carb, high fat diet has morphed into the Paleo diet, and now the Ketogenic diet. If you think about it, all this is, is a return to the way humans have evolved to eat over millennia. The Inuit (Eskimos), have traditionally lived off of a diet of primarily whale blubber and have some of the lowest incidence of chronic diseases on the planet.
So what is going on here? Why are carbs being taken off the table? The bigger part of this is that Americans have been eating an overabundance of carbs. And I mean refined carbs. The carbs from fruit and vegetables are not evil, and they carry the additional benefit of being loaded with micronutrients. It’s the white bread, rice, pasta, etc. The problem with using carbs as your primary fuel source is the waste product. They don’t burn as clean as fats. When the body breaks down carbs, they become oxidized. This leads to what is known as free radicals.
These little guys wreak havoc on the vascular system, eating away at the lining of our blood vessels, leading to clots and strokes. By the way, the oxidation process of free radicals is neutralized by antioxidants. In other words, fruit and vegetables. See how it all ties together? A quick tip, the darker the fruit, the more antioxidants. If a fruit browns, it is low in antioxidants. The process of oxidation leads to browning (think of apples and bananas left out). Just like when iron is exposed to oxygen, it rusts, I think of oxidation in humans as our way of rusting.
The constant flux of carbs in the system leads to insulin resistance. Insulin is a hormone that transports carbs into cells. If the body chronically gets excess carbs, the insulin can’t keep it’s job up. The brain can become insulin resistant as well and this is called type 3 diabetes. This leads to damage to the nerves and it’s thought that a carb heavy diet can lead to Alzheimer’s.
This brings me to the next new trend, fasting. The idea here is that once the body runs out of carbs to burn, it turns to fat stores. Fat breaks down into ketone bodies for fuel and now you are in a state of ketosis. This is where Ketogenic diet gets its name. An easy way to tell if you are metabolically inflexible is if you get ‘hangry’ when fasting.
So the bottom line is that we want to become metabolically flexible. You are just a more adaptable being if you can use all food sources for energy. Also, if you get energy from a more normal level of carbs, you don’t run the risk of insulin resistance and the cascading damage of free radicals.
How does one do this? Choose whole foods and don’t eat things that are white or that don’t rot. If it’s got a list of ingredients, it’s probably bad. Try to achieve a state of ketosis, so maybe the ketogenic diet or intermittent fasting is for you. Also, surprise surprise...exercise. Exercise has been demonstrated to improve insulin sensitivity.
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What Exactly is an Electrolyte?
An electrolyte is a mineral that carries a charge when dissolved is a fluid such as water or blood. When you ingest food or beverage, it is broken down into smaller parts. Some are broken into neutral atoms or molecules, and some are broken into charged atoms or molecules. If they have a charge, they are called ions, or electrolytes.
An electrolyte is a mineral that carries a charge when dissolved is a fluid such as water or blood. When you ingest food or beverage, it is broken down into smaller parts. Some are broken into neutral atoms or molecules, and some are broken into charged atoms or molecules. If they have a charge, they are called ions, or electrolytes. The electrolytes of the body are:
Sodium (Na+)
Potassium (K+)
Calcium (Ca2+)
Bicarbonate (HCO3-)
Magnesium (Mg2+)
Chloride (Cl-)
Phosphate (PO4 3-)
The human body is a bioelectric machine, and is capable of producing energy equivalent to a 100 watts light bulb. Electric currents in the body are used by different functions in the body such as conducting nerve impulses, controlling metabolism, and regulating tissue and organ function.
Electrolyte balance is crucial for normal human functioning and helps maintain fluid levels in cells. If the electrolyte concentration in a cell is too high, fluid will move into that cell via osmosis. If the electrolyte concentration is too low, fluid moves out of the cell. This is why your pee is very yellow when you are dehydrated; the body is trying to maintain electrolyte balance and dumps electrolytes to restore balance.
The kidneys are the main organ that filters electrolytes and maintains balance. If this system is disrupted, dysfunctions can occur. Let’s look at salt, since it’s the main electrolyte. Too much salt (hypernatremia) can cause thirst, confusion, irritability, fatigue, spasms or muscle twitching. Too little (hyponatremia) can cause dizziness, headache, spasms, and even seizures or coma. Sounds serious, but the good news is that it’s relatively easy to maintain balance as long as your kidneys are functioning well. You can use a urine color chart to monitor your hydration status:
But wait, I thought alcohol dehydrates you, so why does my pee turn clear when I have alcohol? It is because the kidneys are guided by hormones secreted from the pituitary gland in your brain. Alcohol is able to cross the blood brain barrier and disrupt the hormone signaling. ADH is a hormone that tells the kidneys to hold on to water, and alcohol inhibits this hormone. So the whole function of the kidney is altered and the body starts wrongly dumping water. Then in the morning, when the alcohol is no longer affecting your brain, the kidneys start working normal again and recognize a gross electrolyte imbalance and dump salts, making your pee very yellow. Now you are depleted in water and electrolytes, so you become very thirsty and crave salty food. This is how brunch was born. Drinking water with every alcoholic beverage can help buffer this to an extent.
References:
Fluid and Electrolyte Balance. (2020, October 01). Retrieved October 17, 2020, from https://medlineplus.gov/fluidandelectrolytebalance.html
Nguyen, T. (2014, March 24). This Flashlight Is Powered by the Touch of Your Hand. Retrieved October 17, 2020, from https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/this-flashlight-is-powered-by-the-touch-of-your-hand-180950226/
User, S. (n.d.). The Science of Bioelectricity. Retrieved October 17, 2020, from https://www.e-qure.com/the-science-of-bioelectricity/the-science-of-bioelectricity