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And with that said, let's go ahead and get started. The following is an introduction
to a section of the upcoming book, Diet Dogmas. There is a general desire to have a quick
and simple fix that we can make to our diet that someone's going to make us, quote, lean
and sexy, end quote, or quote, fit and healthy, end quote, a change where we can fall prey
to quick messages, to personalities, where we almost want to follow the tenants, the
guides, the dogmas, as if we're following a new religion. One such movement that seems
to have taken hold over the last decade or so is the movement that we should avoid sugars
at all costs and are constantly being told about how bad sugars are and that we need
to get rid of sugars from our diet. Done so by following a, quote, keto diet or a, quote,
paleo diet, or maybe even the, quote, carnivore diet. But are these the best diets for me
to follow in order to lose weight and in order to get healthy? Well, let's talk about that.
Warning. The following presentation contains information that might contradict what you
have previously heard or believed to be true about how the human body works and contains
material that is not suitable for close minded individuals. Enjoy.
Let's go ahead and let's talk about ketogenic and paleo diets. What are the pros? What are
the cons? What does the sign say in a quick overview? Once again, we'll be getting much
more details within the book. And this is simply just an overview to the chapter that
I'll shout not eat carbohydrates. So let's go ahead and let's talk about paleo and let's
talk about keto diets. And so paleo diets, what is it? What it isn't? And should I use
it? So what is the paleo diet? The paleo diet is a dietary philosophy that is focused on
what we think a paleolithic human would have eaten for their diet. Based off of the idea
that we're going to be eating a lot of raw or natural things such as fish, steak, shellfish,
poultry, vegetables, nuts, fruits, berries, and eggs. The idea is, is that this type of
diet is going to counteract a lot of the nutritional deficiencies that might come about through
eating a modern diet or eating from fast food restaurants that can lead to a host of problems
such as obesity issues, along with metabolic issues coming about through the consumption
of various types of fast food or processed foods. But what does the evidence say? What
is the idea that surrounds the paleo diet or the paleo diet, sometimes we're just the
caveman diet and does it actually hold true when we start looking at the evidence? Which
remembers that most of the recommendations that we are going to be providing from a paleo
diet is coming from analysis of modern hunter and gatherer associations, hunter and gatherer
groups, not necessarily what might have been consumed during paleolithic time. We also
have to remember that a lot of the foods that we're going to consider to be paleo are actually
modern in their derivations. A lot of the benefits that we're going to look at are not
universal and there is some question as to whether or not the benefits that we see coming
from the diets are coming from the diet or coming from other things. So what do we know
that comes out in terms of benefits? We do know that there is some benefits that come
about from following a paleolithic dietary practice or paleo diet or a caveman diet.
A lot of these benefits are similar to the benefits that we see coming from things like
intermittent fasting, a very low carbohydrate diet, as well as with a plant rich diet, things
like increased insulin sensitivity and neuroplasticity within the nervous system and a reduction
in ROS gamut, an increase in metabolic flexibility and increase in insulin sensitivity and increase
in lipolysis, breakdown of lipids and an increase in an anabolism, growing of tissues within
the musculoskeletal system. Within the cardiovascular system, this is where we start seeing a lot
of differences that might come about where we don't see universally one direction in
terms of changes, where we will see a change in compliance, a change in cardiac function,
a change in atherosclerosis and a change in inflammation that is highly questionable in
terms of its root benefit coming from the diet as opposed to other lifestyle changes.
In adipose tissue, we do see an increase in insulin sensitivity, an increase in lipolysis,
the breakdown of lipids, as well as a change in adipokine signaling and macrophage signaling.
Changes in adipokine signaling changes in the hormone signals coming from the adipose
tissue as well as changes in macrophage activation lead to changes in inflammation that may lead
to the reduction in ROS damage and the reduction in inflammation that we see throughout the
body for people who follow a Paleolithic diet. In terms of pancreas functions, we do see
a normalization of insulin and glutagon levels for those individuals who happen to have metabolic
issues, metabolic syndrome or type 2 diabetes that follow a Paleo diet. But once again,
it is not universal and may be associated with changes in activity as well as other
lifestyle intervention. In terms of liver functions, once again, we do see some questionable
responses coming out of liver functions. However, for those who follow a Paleo diet that has
the reduction in or reduces the consumption of a lot of the sugars and a lot of the grains,
we will see an increase in ketone formation due to a change in metabolic functions towards
lipid utilization and ketogenic processes. As with all the other insulin sensitive tissues,
we will see an increase in insulin sensitivity due to the reduction in sugar loads and in
carbohydrate loads. We will see an increase in ROS clearance as well as a change in the
non-alcoholic fatty acid liver issues within the liver for people who have metabolic issues
and change diet to follow a Paleo diet. Well, that's all well and good. What about the entirety
of the research? We did say that there was some questionable and some responses that
were not universally found. And so the question comes about is, does it automatically mean
a healthier food in our diet? Is our diet automatically healthier because we are going
to be eating more unprocessed foods, at least that's the claim, or eating things that are
more in line with what we would have had in Paleolithic times, closer to what some people
refer to as ancestral human diets. The problem is that a lot of the claims about ancestral
human diet is going to ignore a lot of the evolutionary processes that have happened
within human history. And so if we look at a lot of the evidences out there, is it actually
safer? Do we actually have evidence to show that the Paleo diet is worth all of the hype
that we tend to attribute to it? And this is where once again, just like with all the
other diets, we have to go back and say, well, we're going to have deficiencies and we're
going to have deficiencies because we're going to be cutting out things from the diet.
Based off of how we go about setting up the Paleo diet, we could be deficient in various
vitamins such as vitamin B, in particular folate, as well as vitamin C and vitamin D,
as well as some other antioxidants. We could have ion deficiencies, ion deficiencies such
as calcium, iron, iodine, magnesium, psyllium and sodium. Notice there's a question mark
on the sodium deficiency and that depends upon what type of meats we're going to be
eating and how we go about seasoning the meats. However, with the reduction in dairy consumption,
we do run the risk of having calcium deficiency as well as vitamin D deficiency. With the
reduction in grain consumption, we do risk having vitamin B deficiencies coming about
in particular the folate, but also with the niacin. We will also see a change in psychological
drive for food more in a Paleo diet than in many of the other diets simply because of
the excessive labeling of good food versus bad food. Because of the lower consumption
of vegetables in some of the diets, this is going to be very similar to what we see with
a very low carbohydrate ketogenic diet, we do run the risk of diet induced metabolic
acidosis. The other thing that to worry about based off of the type of foods that we're
eating in terms of getting our proteins, our fats and our carbohydrates is an excessive
load of animal saturated fat, animal antigens and cholesterol issues. The animal antigen
and cholesterol issues can lead to an actual increase in atherosclerosis, hardening of
the arteries as well as cardiovascular disease. Based off of the type of animals that we're
going to be eating within the Paleo diet, we could see a hyper saturation of saturated
fats, meaning we're going to have large amounts of saturated fats relative to our polyunsaturated
fats or MUFAs and our monounsaturated fats or MUFAs. Based off of the source of the animal
protein, we could see altered fat metabolism and fat absorption taking place as well as
altered cholesterol metabolism within the liver, which could lead to increased levels
of circulating LDLs within the body. So one of the things we have to address within
the idea about the Paleo diet is, is it actually truly close to the Paleolithic diet? That
is, is it actually historically close to what we would think of as a Paleolithic diet? And
once again, what we're looking at is we're looking at dietary practices that are closer
to hunter gatherer practices than actual Paleolithic practices, mainly because the foods that we're
eating have evolved with us evolving. The other thing is that a lot of the ideas around
the Paleolithic diet kind of goes to the, to the GIF at the very beginning of the discussion
in terms of the Flintstones is that we misrepresent what actually is historically accurate in
terms of our dietary practices, 10, 20, 30, 40,000 years ago. As we were doing a lot of
cultivating, we're doing a lot of agricultural cultivation and domestication taking place,
which means a lot of the foods that we think about as being modern aren't actually modern,
they're more Paleolithic than we actually attribute in terms of their sourcing. But
the other thing is, is that just like with all other diets, we start having mass produced
issues. We start having things that are becoming processed, things that are having chemical
additives within it, things that can and do act like metabolic disruptors, which means
that we run the risk of having metabolic disruption taking place from following a Paleo diet,
very similar to following a lot of the other diets that we think about as having health
benefits to it based off of the way in which it's being sold to us. And so if we start
looking at the underlying issues coming into the Paleolithic diet, it's not as clear cut
as what we would hope it would be based off of how the chemicals and how the nutrients
and how all of the processing takes place, particularly for the mass produced Paleo labeled
foods. If we're to follow a Paleo diet based off of the use of meats and vegetables and
nuts and berries and fruits without purchasing the mass produced foods, we will lower the
risk of having metabolic disruption within there, based off of the percentages that we
see in terms of consumption, where there is a wide range in what is being advertised or
advised in terms of consumption of macronutrient, we could still have metabolic disruption taking
place based off of following a Paleo diet. One such type of diet that we might have is
that keto diet, where we're going to skip the carbs, eat the fat, eat the protein, stuff
that has become very popular. So what is the ketogenic diet? The ketogenic diet is a
diet that is meant to eliminate a lot of the sugars and starches and replace them with
fats and proteins. Depending upon what type of ketogenic diet you might follow, you'll
see a different type of breakdown in terms of fats versus protein. But the idea here
is to by eliminating a lot of the sugars and by eliminating a lot of the fast foods that
we might consume within our diet, we're able to eliminate a lot of the metabolic diseases
that are facing us currently, a lot of the over fatness and hyperadiposity that affects
us both aesthetically as well as metabolically, as well as in terms of our health. And so
what's the evidence say? What do we know about ketogenic diet that is going to lead to some
of the health benefits that get reported as relates to the ketogenic diet? Well, a lot
of it has to do with changes in metabolism based off of changes in our energy utilization,
where we're going to change the fuel sources that we're going to follow to get the ATP
within the body, where instead of using a lot of carbohydrates, while we will still
use some carbohydrate, the majority of energy metabolism is going to focus on fat utilization
through most of the activities that we're going to have. By changing the use of sugars
to use of fats, we're going to change a lot of hormone actions that might take place.
Some actions that will lead to changes in various types of sensitivity, as well as various
types of masses that we might see within the body, as it's going to change our relative
body compositional ratio. Within our adipose tissue, because we're going to change our
dietary practices, we're going to end up increasing the utilization of fat and increasing hormone
changes that will increase the amount of fat breakdown we might see within adipose tissue.
This is going to be accompanied by a change in insulin sensitivity, a change in hormone
signaling, and a change in macrophage signaling from the macrophages from the immune cells
that we see within the fat masses of the body. Changes in metabolism at the fat cells is
going to lead to changes in hormone signaling coming away from the pancreas, which is going
to lead to normalization of insulin and glucagon, particularly for people who have insulin and
glucagon issues, metabolic issues, due to overfatness. At the liver, we're going to
see an increase in gluconeogenesis, making of glucose from glucose metabolites, as well
as an increase in ketone formation due to the restriction that we might have in total
amount of carbohydrates that we're going to consume. What we have to remember is that
we need 120 grams of carbohydrates minimum in order to have proper neuron function. And
in order to meet that glucose need, the liver is going to produce more glucose for the body
through gluconeogenesis. Because of the change in fat metabolism, we will see an increase
in insulin sensitivity is going to come about due to changes in normalization of insulin
and glucagon signaling, as well as an increase in ROS clearance due to changes in metabolism
is going to reduce the total amount of ROS that we might see within the body due to changes
in inflammation. In the nervous system, we're going to see changes in insulin sensitivity
that's going to lead to neuroplasticity. The changes in insulin sensitivity, along with
a reduction in ROS inflammation damage has been attributed to the changes that we might
see within neurodegenerative diseases for people who follow a ketogenic diet. There
is some reported benefit for people who have seizure disorders, where following a ketogenic
diet will reduce the total number of seizures and the total level of seizure that might
be experienced if one would one would experience a seizure. Within the musculoskeletal system,
we will see various changes in metabolic flexibility, we will change what fuel sources we might
use for energy purposes. We will see an increase in insulin sensitivity, we will see a change
in fat mass utilization, fat mass utilization for energy purposes, which means we're going
to see an increase in lipolysis and fatty acid oxidation. We may see an increase in
protein utilization. However, that increase in protein utilization for energy purposes
will be offset by increase in anabolic responses, growth responses, as well as the retention
of skeletal mass and skeletal muscle mass that is bone and skeletal muscle tissue being
retained during weight loss period. In terms of cardiovascular benefit, this is where we
see a lot of variability based off of how we measure changes within the systems based
off of the ketogenic diet. Where due to a reduction in inflammation, we may see changes
in atherosclerosis and change in cardiac functions. However, this is not universally seen for
everybody following a ketogenic diet based off of the ability to metabolize fats within
the body. So all that sounds great, but then we got to think, wait, is it too good to be
true? Is it a panacea? Is it something that is going to be a cure all? This is where we
have to start looking at what does the evidence say? Just eating keto doesn't mean being healthier.
There is some indication that following a high fat diet can hurt exercise performance
and can hurt athletic performance. But how true is that? Well, if we look into the research,
there is some evidence to support that eating keto is not necessarily automatically healthier
and following a high fat diet may impact my exercise performance, particularly in explosive
exercises as well as in long duration exercises, which is interesting given the fact that when
we do long duration exercise or long duration activities, we tend to utilize more fats than
we do carbohydrates. But the problem is, is that changes in fat utilization following
a ketogenic diet may lead to a reduction in explosive muscle contraction capability because
of the reduction in glycogen and glycogen stores within the muscles. So what else might
we have to worry about as it relates to ketogenic diet deficiencies? Just like with any other
diet that we might follow, if we are not eating what we should be eating, we have to worry
about micronutrient deficiencies and macronutrient deficiencies. In this case here, because of
the restriction on types of foods that we might be eating, people who follow a ketogenic
diet that do not eat large amounts of vegetables, in particular, low glycemic vegetables may
have fiber deficiencies because of the increased use of fat or fuel source. People who follow
a ketogenic diet may have a carnitine deficiency. There is some evidence to support due to metabolic
use, vitamin B deficiencies. Once again, because of the type of foods that are being consumed,
we might have a vitamin C deficiency. Along with deficiencies in vitamins and in some
of our amino acids and some of our protein sources, we will also see some cation electrolyte
deficiency. There is some evidence to support that we might have a deficiency in iron, might
see a deficiency in magnesium and selenium, might see a deficiency in potassium and sodium
based off of following a ketogenic diet. Now, a lot of people might say, well, I'm going
to be eating large amounts of meat, so why am I going to have an iron deficiency when
we know that people who eat animal protein will automatically have higher amounts of
iron in their diet relative to people who don't eat animal protein? Well, based off
of the foods that we're eating following a ketogenic diet, we may have competition for
transport of a lot of these cations. At the same time, because I'm not consuming large
amounts of starches and large amounts of sugars, I do not have the ability to absorb a lot
of these cations due to current flow across the membranes of the intestine. A lot of the
ions that we see listed here are moving with water and water movement. It goes hand in
hand, particularly with sodium, as well as with a lot of the starches that we might have,
carbohydrates that we might have within our diet, where if I restrict the carbohydrates,
I may also restrict the movement of these cations. Because of the implicit and explicit
good food versus bad food idea, there is a change in psychological drive for foods that
may lead to various types of food cravings, but there's also a lot of social exclusion
going on within the ketogenic diet. The good food, bad food, and the social exclusion leads
to a very restrictive diet that can cause social exclusionary behaviors to take place
that may limit the likelihood of following the diet for long periods of time. There is
a chance based off of how we establish the ketogenic diet to induce a metabolic acidosis
within the person who follows the ketogenic diet due to the large amounts of animal protein
or protein in general, as well as the amount of fat within the diet. Speaking of fat, the
higher amounts of saturated fat and lower amounts of polyunsaturated fat and monounsaturated
fat, as well as an imbalance in the ratio between all the saturated fat and monounsaturated
fat, as well as the ratio in between our omegas, omega threes and omega sixes, can lead to
an altered fat absorption and metabolism taking place within the body. For some people, because
of genetic issues, they may have an altered ability to metabolize the cholesterol that's
being consumed, which may lead to an increase in LDL levels for individuals who are trying
to follow the ketogenic diet. Along with that, we might also have issues that come about
because of the fact that just because I am following a ketogenic diet, we tend to think
of the fact that we're following a natural food consumption. What we have to remember
is that a lot of these foods are going to be mass produced foods. And a lot of times
we're going to be consuming a lot of non-nutritive sweeteners. Non-nutritive sweeteners have
recently come into having a negative ideal about them as relates to increased risk for
cancer, increases for cardiovascular disease, increased risk for homeostasis as relates
to body weight issues and glucose metabolism, where the over consumption of a lot of these
non-nutritive sweeteners can act like metabolic disruptor. Now we have to have a caveat on
this because a lot of the evidence that we have is within animal models that do not in
100% way correlate with humans in terms of how we physiologically function and metabolically
function. However, over consumption of artificial sweeteners, non-nutritive sweeteners has been
linked with increased food intake, has been linked with abnormal insulin secretions, has
been linked with cardiovascular disease, has been linked with abnormal growth signals within
skeletal muscles, all mimicking what we might have already seen with people who exhibit
metabolic syndrome and over fatness, even though we're consuming these non-nutritive
sweeteners in an attempt to reduce caloric intake. And once again indicates that changes
in nutrition and changes in diet as relates to body weight, body composition and overall
health is not about calories. It's about the nutrients that are being consumed. Along with
this non-nutritive sweeteners tend to taste sweeter than normal sugar in terms of their
level of sweetness and our bliss point, which may lead to an over consumption of food in
an attempt to get the bliss point of consumption that we are attempting to get from food consumption,
which may lead to an increase in nutrient balance towards the consumption side that
can lead to increase in fat mass that we are attempting to combat by following the ketogenic
diet.