Keto and Carnivore

1. Carnivore • Anecdotal Benefits  Feeling less anxious and depressed/improved mood  Weight loss  Skin rejuvenation  Gut issues (could be because the diet is low residue, most food is absorbed high up in digestive tract-nothing left to irritate/inflame gut. The diet is like a gut fast. It acts as the ultimate elimination diet (Low lectin, FODMAP, sulphite, oxalate, salicylate, phytate, super low carb, no fibre diet.)  Rheumatoid arthritis  Many autoimmune issues and general health. • Lacking nutrients? Isn’t it dangerous?  Eskimos lived off meat without vegetables and carbs to make it wholesome and were a healthy society, none got scurvy until coming in contact with white people (1960 book ‘The Fat of the Lamb)  Organ meats are superfoods because they are so nutrient dense. Liver, Heart (CoQ10), Kidneys, Brain is great. Packed with Vit B, A and D. Magnesium, Copper, Selenium, Iron, Phosphorus, Folic acid, Zinc, Chromium, omega 3’s, Folate, Choline, Creatine  Nutrients in meat are also better absorbed compared to those in vegies.  There are small amounts of Vit C but less is required as there’s no glucose competing for uptake.  70 g of salmon roe will cover Vit E, D and boost vit A. Thiamine levels will be lower but won’t need as much because burning carbs for energy is a big consumption of it. Carnivore diet maintains healthy potassium levels. Lack of fibre helps with magnesium status. Meat’s ‘homocysteine’ is known for its contribution to heart disease, to get rid of the homocysteine, you need all the b vitamins, which animal foods are quite high in. It can be seen in vegans that they are 67% higher in homocysteine levels (age faster).  Dietary supplements can have negative effects as with calcium, which is related to heart disease and kidney stones.  Soy contains phytoestrogens that bind to estrogen receptors and cause hormonal issues.  Phytic acid (phytate) is an antinutrient which comes from grains, nuts, legumes and binds to nutrients like calcium, iron, potassium, magnesium, and zinc making them less absorbable. It doesn’t just impair absorbability from that food but others on the same plate as well.  Sally Norton suggests that the low levels of oxalate, another antinutrient in foods, may have no short-term effects but in the long-term problems could arise after repeated exposure, as it collects in body’s tissue, bone, skin and glands. Found in spinach, almonds, cashews, 80% kidney stones made of calcium oxalate. • In studies, meat eaters appear less healthy but read carefully they may not take into account other health factors because vegans and vegetarians are generally health conscious so they won’t smoke and they would exercise on average more than meat eaters. • Fibre  According to Best Practice and Research: Clinical Gastroenterology- ”our understanding of ..constipation [in adults and children] remains primitive.”  Even though advertisers since the 50’s have promoted fibre in breakfast and its advertising origins can be traced back to a scare campaign.  However, ‘Fibre Menace’ by Kostantin Monastyrsky explains that low fibre doesn’t kill gut microbiomes because some live in different conditions, some oxygen, some without. Some fibre some without. 2. Ketosis • Ketosis occurs when your body starts using fat as its main fuel source rather than glucose (sugar). This occurs when you regularly consume less than 50g of carbs. Fasting and butter coffee help kickstart the process. • Ketones are a better fuel source; fatty acids are the hearts main source of fuel and the brain derives more than 2/3 of its energy from ketones. • Dr. D’Agostino was able to double breath retention 2min to 4 just by being in ketosis. • Keto flu involves headache, fatigue, nausea, muscle weakness-all of these match symptoms of sodium depletion. Higher ketone level means release of glucagon, and lower insulin which all increase salt excretion. So, to fight the flu with ease, just increase salt intake. • Foods  All meat and seafood, grass-fed and organic beef whenever possible, wild-caught fish, and pasture-raised poultry, pork, and eggs.  Nuts and seeds are also fine and best eaten raw (not roasted or coated in sugar).  Butter coffee-butter, coffee, pure C8 MCT oil or coconut oil. Curbs hunger, improves focus, sustained energy. Caffeine boosts ketone production, insulin hinders production, so no breakfast or keto friendly bfast.  Dairy-Butter and ghee, cream, Fermented dairy products like yogurts and kefir, Sour cream, hard and soft cheeses  Other fats-Lard, Mayonnaise, Coconut oil, coconut butter, Flaxseed oil, Olive oil, Sesame seed oil, MCT oil and MCT powder, Walnut oil, avocado oil. • Benefits  Weight loss  Muscular physique  Mental efficiency 3. The Dietary Fat Myth • In 1958, Ancel keys made a hypothesis that made pharma industry billions (scare campaign on fat). Looking at select few countries on a graph, there’s a clear linear relationship between eating fat and heart disease, when more countries are added to this graph however the trend line is non-existent. This theory was still accepted by the USDA and multiple other ‘health’ organizations. Dr George Mann a researcher who was involved in a study intended to boost the theory stated, “dietary fat is not the determinant for either high cholesterol nor coronary heart disease and the diet-heart hypothesis is the greatest scam ever perpetrated on the American public.” • The stuff that clogs arteries isn’t fat, our body doesn’t want us to decrease cholesterol either. High cholesterol does nothing. • Calories in/out is based on bad physics. It doesn’t take into account biological reactions to different macronutrients (Fat, Carbs, Protein). When body is properly fed, our bodies won’t store fat in excess and be constantly hungry (like with carbs). If they did our species would have died long ago. • Carbs drive fat accumulation. For 200 years reducing carbs was common for weight loss. In 1979, Dr. John Rollo successfully treated diabetes with low carb diets. For all those years people knew what to do, obesity rates were in control but in 1977 USDA guidelines were developed, and they encouraged people to cut fat and replace it with carbs, which led to an extreme increase in obesity AND reports of heart failure and disease. Type 2 is described as a chronic condition even though a study of 66 people showed 33 going into remission in 26 months. 40% of Americans live with diabetes or prediabetes. Contrary to popular belief its not chronic, people have reversed their diabetes on low carb/keto diets. Fiber has a protective/balancing effect against carbs and sugar. Just because you eat fat doesn’t mean you’ll store it. Low carb reduces triglycerides. Dietary fat DOES NOT cause insulin resistance. • Blood glucose/sugar rises from carbs, particularly low in fiber. Insulin releases to carry glucose to cells for energy. When your body fills its energy reserve with glucose, it gets stored in muscles and liver. People are living off their energy reserve and adding fat on to themselves. Eating a good helping of meat with rice will make you hungry a lot sooner than if you just had the meat (Carbs in rice making you hungry). • Subcutaneous fat (under skin) correlates with longevity, visceral fat (around organs) promotes inflammation and causes several health issues. When people lose weight from reducing calories, that weight comes from muscle. Only after going through muscle will your body start on the fat. 9% of obesity could be blamed on genes and worse case with all the worst genes would only account for 22 pounds anyway. 4. Carbs • Maintaining blood glucose by eating carbs is unnecessary and a vicious cycle. You will run out of energy when it goes down and get hungry. • We are only hungry because of a hunger hormone ghrelin and we set this to go off at bfast lunch and tea, the 3 meal times that were brought to us by culture, not biology. Hunter gatherers would feast on a big catch and go days without food until they’re bodies craved more fat and protein. • We have also trained ghrelin to make us hungry as soon as our stomachs are empty and when our glycogen stores are low. This is very bad. We shouldn’t always listen to this hormone because it can change based on our decisions (when we eat and why). It does make you hungry but it does go away. Ghrelin may also specifically make you hungry so your body gets salt. • Humans in no way require carbohydrates to live. Liver produces glucose if needed. 456 pound 27-year-old man fasted for 382 days in Scotland. Only water and vitamin supplements. Lost 276 pounds with no ill effects. • Carbs spike blood sugar which leads to insulin resistance and weight gain especially when consumed without fiber to mitigate. • Often comes with gluten:  Which has been the culprit for countless ills for countless people. Allergies, reflux, skin conditions, fatigue, depression, ADHD, brain fog, weight gain.  95% of celiacs remain undiagnosed. Many more likely have gluten sensitivity, 30-40% in U.S.  3% of Japan consumes wheat and they are very healthy while U.S is at 30%.  People can’t completely digest gluten. Immune system thinks gluten is an attacker. Provokes inflammation which chips away at health. Nowhere in body is safe since anywhere is affected by inflammation. Increased risk of autoimmune diseases. National guidelines usually put whole grains at the bedrock of the diet.  Increased celiac disease was due to hybridization techniques of the 20th century which drastically altered the wheat of the last 10,000 years. Preparation for bread has also changed, it used to require a long fermentation process of a couple of days. 5. The Salt Myth • U.S guidelines and the WHO recommends 5.7g daily (just over teaspoon). Reasoning is because large amounts of sodium pull fluid from body’s tissue, and into blood, which raises blood volume and heart pumps harder. (High blood pressure/Hypertension). This is only true in high amounts. It is faulty reasoning to suggest the body only needs a teaspoon of salt for an ENTIRE day. • Why has the salt intake gone down over the course of history yet the hypertension/heart disease gone dramatically up? 1/3 of the U.S has hypertension today but before refrigeration, salt consumption was triple the U.S guideline as it was a preservation method in early 1800’s to end of WW2. • The west consumed around 16g of salt daily based on military archives data. The average South Korean has almost double U.S guidelines daily while having lowest rates of coronary heart disease globally-2014 WHO. This is known as the Korea paradox but this instance can be essentially mirrored by 13 other countries. • Sodium is an essential nutrient, our bodies do not produce it but they do need it. Reducing it could be bad as it facilitates digestion in stomach and necessary for bone formation and strength, low levels come with a huge list of symptoms and issues. • Mammals that get food from sea like walruses, polar bears, sea lion all have similar kidneys to humans. Kidneys that filter out excess salt if consumed at an adequate pace. A study showed people excreting salt close to the amount consumed, meaning bodies are fit for excess sodium not deficit. • Blood pressure increasing with high salt can be explained by potassium deficiency. Salt could help insulin resistance/sensitivity. 6. Sources • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=isIw2AN_-XU • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-eefgRVi7Ko