The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog.
Here’s an excerpt:
600 people reached the top of Mt. Everest in 2012. This blog got about 9,500 views in 2012. If every person who reached the top of Mt. Everest viewed this blog, it would have taken 16 years to get that many views.
There’s plenty of people who at some time in your life will inform you that a certain food is bad for you. God knows, I have been one of those people (sorry I was wrong)! When you learn from organisations or gurus’s, you are often taking a view of someone else who has had a said experience, combined with a review of anecdotal and scientifically reviewed literature. Well, I certainly wouldn’t call myself a guru, but here’s my slant on coffee and caffeine and consumption. Take it for what you will! 
Why people often think caffeine is bad for you.
When people consume caffeine (in particularly without sugar) some, can often experience, shaking, anxiety, euphoria, increased energy followed by decreased energy and a host of other unwanted symptoms. In my experience anecdotally of course, myself and many of clients have experienced these issues when the body was in fact hypoglycaemic. This may have been brought on by intensive exercise programs, eating a high protein paleo type diet which often exposes the liver to low levels of glucose stores and other stressful situations. Coffee causes adrenal fatigue..no! Blood sugar dysregulation can affect cortisol responses!
The caffeine surge releases a large amount of cortisol and if blood sugar levels are not well maintained a release of triglycerides ensues and a subsequent peak in insulin levels. Then comes the crash and the unwanted symptoms that were stated above. The work of Ray Peat compelled me to go back and review my understanding of caffeine, cortisol and other biochemical and hormone responses, for which I have to thank him for and suggest, that reading his work a must for all. It’s a great place to start from combined with a solid grasp of physiology, I don’t think it is the be all and end all, but for me it’s been very useful.
So, how to manage those hormonal responses? Well how about a simple spoonful of sugar (no sugar does not cause cancer!), maple syrup or coconut oil or both? The point is that if you manage you blood sugar levels appropriately then avoiding these uneccessary hormonal fluctuations is easy as expresso…. I mean espresso of course! Especially, when most people (unless you have a genuine sensitivity to caffeine) should be consuming caffeine.
Caffeine is awesome, fact! Here’s why! (ps there are many compounds with scientific names that are not discussed as part of this article, buts lets just agree that coffee has a number of substances as well as caffeine that are beneficial!)
Caffeine has scientifically been proven to lower the risks of:
It also improves exercise performance, focus, increases body temperature, acts as an antioxidant yet many health experts state that can caffeine is detrimental to the thyroid gland. So how can a compound that raises metabolic rate and improve performance be the same compound that surpresses the thyroid gland and slows down metabolism. Me thinks that people to look closer at the mechanisms of caffeine as there are plenty of studies that show that caffeine decreases TSH levels, if that’s the marker that you determine thyroid function by?
Let’s be clear, I am not stating that large amounts of caffeine daily should be ingested but it is clear that 1-2 cups of coffee per day are beneficial. Unless your a Costa Rican and carry the gene rs762551(C) which is suggestive of slow caffeine metabolism. This gene has been shown to increase the risk of heart attack, which is a bit of a bummer as Costa Rica produces some really good coffee!
Want some references? (there are thousands!)
In vitro antioxidant activity of coffee compounds and their metabolites.
My experience with understanding nutrition really started when I was at University when I studied sports nutrition as part of my Fitness and Health degree but over the last few years I have entertained the philosophies of the CHEK Institute, Metabolic Typing, Institute of Functional Medicine and Ray Peat PhD. Many of them have contrasting methods and I have to say I cherry pick between them as I have never felt that each one provides the definitive answer. This is especially so when you consider biochemical and emotional individuality.
So for each client, I consider, what will bring them the quickest resolve with nutrient rich foods and minimal amount of supplements. This is usually done by filling in my intake forms and recommending a functional medicine lab test based upon the clients history, current symptoms and goals. So here is the overview for this client:
CEO of medical supply company, no perceived health complaints.
Goals weight loss, and cholesterol reduction- client had undertaken regular exercise for many years with a committed approach to boot camp for the last 6 months -3 x per week plus a relatively healthy diet.
Weight: 91 kgs Serum Cholesterol: 238 mg/dL LDL: 151 mg/dL C Reactive Protein: 6
Other bloods such as thyroid were conducted but were unremarkable. His body temperature was consistently low at 36 degrees suggesting a thyroid/adrenal metabolic inefficiency.
Given that he was a driven individual, I often find that these type of people, often fill my intake forms and show very little, in the way of systems dysfunction such as gut, thyroid, adrenals etc. Given there was little weight loss and inflammation in the form of elevated cholesterol and C reactive protein I decided to run an adrenal stress test and here is the result.
The interpretation was one of hypo-cortisolemia in the morning but what was it being driven by? Work ethic plus the combination of stressful exercise were my thoughts.
Now boot camps and circuit training and modalities such as cross fit often try to squeeze many different types of exercise into their sessions. Strength, power, cardio, strength endurance cannot be trained in one session with significant results and inappropriate rest periods contribute to the stress. The net effect of training like this increases cortisol, lactic acid, structural wear and tear and instead of being a positive stress, has most likely contributed to the inflammatory process, raising cholesterol levels, waistline and visceral fat.
My approach.
Exercise: Client conducted 2-3 corrective exercise sessions per week that focused on quality of movement, breathing pattern work and postural reconditioning with homework of stretching and mobilisation.
Nutrition: Increased saturated fat intake of coconut oil, protein and carbohydrates. Increased carbohydrate in the form of liberal amounts of fresh orange juice and fruit. Eggs, gelatin, good quality meats. Removed gluten for a 3 month period. No calorific restrictions.
Supplements: Quantum B max- vitamin B, Vitamin C, Magnesium, Korean Ginseng to support adrenals.
And the results…well here is the latest batch of blood work.
The client was quite happy as he also lost 6.5 kg’s in the process, all from eating more and doing less exercise. The results speak for themselves but could it have been the reduction of overload and increase in quality in exercise, the nutrition or the supplement plan that created the change. Probably a bit of each, not scientifically valid in some people eyes but the client has got what he wanted and is now moving into a strength and conditioning phase without increasing inflammation and tissue breakdown. To sum up I think the question ‘Should Hormones dictate exercise selection,’ be asked? Or should someone who wants to lose weight and adjust key markers that influence key markers such as cholesterol just throw themselves into any old form of exercise?
In this case a review of hormones did dictate exercise selection with fantastic results.
Do you know anyone with high cholesterol that would like to address why they have high cholesterol or an inflammatory process, then please send them my way.
Conventional nutrition teaches us that our diet should be abundant with antioxidants or the re-classified redox molecules such Vitamin B, C, E glutathione and the like. And it’s not a bad idea too, especially as the body is bombarded with insults on a daily basis in the form of xenoestrogens, toxins, soot in the air, dirty water and all sorts of complex chemicals hidden in our foods. A healthy diet and high nutrient consumption is essential in preventing damage to our DNA through reactive oxygen species or ROS which can contribute to oxidation of fats and other compounds, which contributes to the aging process and exposure to disease development.
Aspirin is one such compound that is often overlooked in the fight against cancer and aging and was a target of the pharmaceutical companies marketing campaign to discredit its benefits, when they decided to bring out a COX 2inhibitor. COX 2 inhibitors help to supress the production of prostaglandins that can be responsible for inflammation, cell degradation, pain and the like. It shouldn’t be lost on anyone that Aspirin which is salicylic and ascetic acid is a natural product that cannot be patented. Therefore it has often been the goal of business lead institutions to discredit many natural substances that cannot be lucratively pursued.
One of the many benefits of Aspirin is its ability to supress lipid peroxidation which is usually mediated by consumption and storage of polyunsaturated fatty acids. When these are stored as body fat in the form of triglycerides and then released in an attempt to stabilise blood sugar levels large amounts of oxidative stress can occur and the use of Asprin, vitamin C and vitamin E can help suppress this form of stress that is heavily linked to heart disease and cancers. Some of the many unwanted effects of Aspirin such as gastrointestinal stress have been recorded when exceptionally high doses of aspirin have been used in laboratory experiments.
The use of Aspirin shouldn’t be discounted in the fight against disease prevention, however supplementing with Vitamin K would also prove to be beneficial. To find out more about aging and disease prevention get in touch.
1. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0891584900004251
Candelario-Jalil, Eduardo and Akundi, Ravi S. and Bhatia, Harsharan S. and Lieb, Klaus and Appel, Kurt and Munoz, Eduardo and Hull, Michael and Fiebich, Bernd L. (2006) Ascorbic acid enhances the inhibitory effect of aspirin on neuronal cyclooxygenase-2-mediated prostaglandin E2 production. [Journal (Paginated)]
Peat, R. Nutrition For Women. 1993.
http://raypeat.com/articles/aging/aspirin-brain-cancer.shtml
PUFA’ s or poly-unsaturated fatty acids have been suggested as being a safe food source for many years and many have even touted as being protective for the heart. Saturated fats have been outcast as the villain as the marketing purse of seed manufacturers often outweighed the gain that could be had by the protective more stable fats of coconut and palm oils.
Because the molecular structure of PUFA’s are less stable than saturated fats when heated they become carcinogenic. Many studies favoured by the seed industry have favoured the analysis of so called good and bad cholesterol or LDL’s and HDL’s as a marker for the so called healthy effect of vegetable and seed oils. A factor overlooked as part of this education is that high HDL levels can be interpreted as an auto immune process in action and cancerous states can be correlated with high HDL levels. Heat alone will not cause PUFA’s to become unstable, overtime these oils can become rancid and when consumed cause lipid peroxidation . Think of all those warehouses of nuts that have been sitting around for months or years before being consumed, which are then often roasted and the PUFA’s within them oxidised.
The problem is that when all of these oils are consumed they cause the production of Reactive Oxygen Species or ROS and lipid peroxidation which causes large amounts of stress to cellular DNA which can be responsible for genetic mutations which can lead to aging, cell destruction and cancers. Ray Peats work on the damage caused by PUFA’s is very well documented.
Many commercially consumed foods such as tortilla chips (which mostly are derived from genetically engineered crops that have been covered in harmful pesticides) have been fried in these oils causing a dabble whammy of oxidative stress and insult to the human organism. People often think that by eating healthily they are able to not worry about small details such as fats and have often been falsely convinced that butter/ghee/ coconut and palm oils and that, high fat diets are the causative link in heart disease and heart attacks.
Dealing with ridding the body of dangerous PUFA’s stored in body fat stores can be achieved with the right diet plan and ameliorating the dangerous effects of lipid peroxidation can be achieved with supplementation such as Vitamin E, B’s, Asprin and others. Below I have highlighted a list of oils that are ideal for cooking with and the others should be avoided. To find out more about restoring your body to optimal health please get in touch. Balanced Body Mind
Approximate PUFA content of various oils and fats: (taken from Integrative/med)
Evening Primrose oil (81% PUFA)
Hemp oil (80% PUFA)
Flax oil (72% PUFA)
Grapeseed oil (71% PUFA)
Chia oil (70% PUFA)
Safflower oil (75% PUFA)
Sunflower oil (65% PUFA)
Perilla oil (63% PUFA)
Corn oil (59% PUFA)
Soybean oil (58% PUFA)
Pumpkin oil (57% PUFA)
Walnut oil (55-63% PUFA)
Cottonseed oil (50% PUFA)
Sesame oil (41-45% PUFA)
Canola oil (30-37% PUFA)
Rice bran oil (36% PUFA)
Beech nut oil (32% PUFA)
Peanut oil (29-32% PUFA)
Pecan oil (29% PUFA)
Brazil nut oil (24-36% PUFA, 24% SAFA)
Pistachio oil (19% PUFA)
Cashew oil (17% PUFA, 20% SAFA)
Almond oil (17% PUFA, 8% SAFA)
Duck fat (13% PUFA, 1% cholesterol) Use but try to go for safer oils below
Lard (12% PUFA, 41% SAFA, 1% cholesterol) Use but try to go for safer oils below
Filbert oil (10-16% PUFA)
Avocado oil (10% PUFA)
Macadamia oil (10% PUFA, 15% SAFA)
Safe cooking oils
Goose fat (10% PUFA, 1% cholesterol)
Palm oil (8% PUFA, 50% SAFA)
Olive oil (8% PUFA, 14% SAFA)
Butter (4% PUFA, 50% SAFA)
Ghee (4% PUFA, 48% SAFA, 2% cholesterol)
Cocoa Butter (3% PUFA, 60% SAFA)
Coconut oil (2-3% PUFA, 92% SAFA, 0% cholesterol)
Palm kernel oil (2% PUFA, 82% SAFA)
Tommo’s Chicken Liver pate (al orange!) Gluten and dairy free
Clients are often asking me for recipes for different foods, so until I manage to write my own cookbook this should go some way to appeasing them. I often actively encourage clients to make use of organic organ meats, especially the liver as it has a good amount of protein and vitamin A amongst others and assists in thyroid function, gene transcription, eyesight and immune system function. We often used to consume a lot more of the whole animal (see previous posts on gelatin) to glean more nutrients that balance the consumption of muscle meats alone. This pate dish is great to take along to work and have with carrots or sticks of cucumber and the best part its gluten free. I also made this dairy free as I am not handling casein/dairy to well at the moment but you can substitute the coconut oil with butter and cream if you so wish. Dairy often gets a bad press but if your gut can tolerate it isn’t a food that should be restricted from your diet for long periods
Here’s what you need:
Chicken livers, Half a roasted squash, 2 oranges, Coconut oil, Maple syrup, Thyme, 1 small red onion, Salt & pepper, 2 cloves of garlic, Dried chilli.
Here’s what you do…. 
livers
until it’s looking like a paste
I think this goes well with some buckwheat crisp breads, with nori seaweed on top, or with some vegetables, if you prefer. Whatever you do it tastes great and will help to give you variety that tastes pretty good.
Remember good food with the right type of exercise goes along way to healing your gut and mind, get in touch if you experience pain, fatigue, energy, sleep, skin and other problems.
This week I had a couple of clients in my practice who had been to see Doctors and been given an IgG4 test to determine what foods that they were allergic to. To their horror the clients had been told that they would need to avoid over 50 different foods. These included staples such as eggs, dairy, meats fruit and good quality sources of nutrients! 50….50?! To me that should start alarm bells ringing.
Why is that client having so many reactions to food? It’s not normal to have so many reactions to that many foods. In the last blog that I did I talked about why people get a leaky gut and why it makes no sense to run a food intolerance test, which is just looking at another symptom. In the last blog I showed you my diagram of why people get a leaky gut and on the list are many issues such as fungus, parasites, bacteria, estrogen dominance, poor food choices etc. So why not start with key areas of assessment such as an internal terrain gut test or the thyroid, skip the expensive food allergy tests and for that matter adrenal tests, These are just symptoms of other metabolic dysfunctions. Danny Roddy wrote about adrenal fatigue and I must agree that I made a conscious decision to stop anaylising areas such as the adrenals so that clients can address areas that will bring around a resolution to their problems with assessments that yeild more bang for their buck!
Below is a childlike drawing of a leaky gut ( drawn by myself of course!)
Note the difference in structure of the villi of the healthy and unhealthy intestines. When food enters the mouth, the brain has already released enzymes in the saliva that start to break down food, prior to its arrival into the stomach. Once inside the stomach, hydrochloric acid or HCL is produced along with other key digestive chemicals that help to break down key nutrients into their most basic of structures.
Carbohydrates are broken down into sacharrides, Proteins are degraded to amino acids Fat is broken down to triglycerides.
So here’s where some of the problems start especially when HCL production is reduced. Hydrochloric acid can often be reduced due to issues such as dehydration, low protein diets or vegetarianism, bacterial infections such as Helicobacter Pylori (which is responsible for gastric ulcers and cancers) and proton pump inhibitors such as omeprazole which lower stomach acid.
As the food is only partially digested and less acidic than normal it enters the small intestine, due to its low level of HCL and acidity. The normal stimulation of key digestive enzymes such as lipase, amylase and protease are also inhibited as the lack of acidity fails to initiate the production of cholesytekinin which triggers digestive enzymes decreasing further the digestive process.
Now you have undigested food particles hanging around the small and large intestine which becomes a breeding ground for fungus, parasites and bacteria which start to putrefy the foods in your bowel. The net effect….gas, noxious smells and other unwanted symptoms such as bad breath, poor skin, bags under eyes, poor sleep and the list goes on and so the vicious cycle of undigested food, gut dysfunction and a leaky gut ensue. a lot of people think that they eat healthily but f you have a leaky gut then it is likely that you will suffer from mal-absorption and key nutrients such as vitamins, minerals and sources of energy go undigested.
As the body is becomes increasingly stressed, the hormones that regulate the mucosal barrier such as cortisol become elevated and supressed as do other hormones and the bodies primary source of defence where most of the antibodies are produced starts to diminish.
This can also be contibuted to by the thyroid, adrenals and other glands which make the digestive system dysfunctional. If you want to find out why you have so many reactions to foods: find out what is causing it! Don’t shoot the messenger!
To book a free consult here in Dubai or across the world by skype get in touch.
The gastro-intestinal system, comprising of the stomach and intestines, like other parts of the body is subjected to a modern day barrage of toxins and microbes that can be directly attributable or work in tandem with other dysfunctions. These have been shown to cause auto immune diseases such as Celiac, Chrohn’s disease ulcerative colitis and many more.
A leaky gut is when the finger like projections of the intestines called the villi start to atrophy or become damaged, inhibiting the secretions of some enzymes that break food down and leaving the tight junctions where food is ultimately absorbed into the blood stream open to further damage and further malabsorption. The list below highlights the many factors that can cause a leaky gut.
* Antibiotics
* Degradation off the mucosal barrier through stress and factors below
* Dysbiosis- imbalance of beneficial bacteria
* Contraceptive pill
* Fungus, bacterial or parasitic infection often all 3 are involved
* Poor food choices
* Gluten consumption
* Environmental toxins
* Estrogen dominance
* Adrenal stress
When people often go for trendy food allergy/intolerance tests such as the 1gG4 test many people often come back with a list of multiple food reactions and are told to cut these foods out of their diet. Whilst there are many modern ‘new world’ foods that we are now exposed to, the multiple allergies that people come back with is a sign that the gut is dysfunctional and 5 or more intolerances should be considered as a sign of a leaky gut. What many people are not told is that if you have a leaky gut, these food intolerances can disappear once the gut has been healed which can take some months and in some cases to regain full digestive health a year or so.
To find out more about food allergies, leaky gut and getting you back to your old self get in touch!
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