Is Our Low Fat Lifestyle Actually Killing Us?

If there has ever been a medical dogma that has taken hold so tightly as to actually cause us harm it is the concept of eating low fat foods for better health. The fact is that there is no credible evidence proving this to be true, but came into its own in the 80’s when the cholesterol fighting boom took over healthcare. All of the sudden fatty foods, particularly the saturated fats, became a boogey man for heart health and a massive campaign was launched to stop us from eating the stuff. The idea was that since cholesterol (found in fatty foods) is a major constituent in arterial plaque we should therefore avoid consuming fatty and cholesterol containing foods. And then there is also the misconception that since we are all avoiding fat on our bodies, we should avoid fat in our diets, as if it goes directly from our mouths to our thighs! Hogwash… So what is this low fat diet actually doing for us other than not increasing our overall health or lengthening our life spans? There are quite a few things going on here that perhaps you have not considered. I hope to bring up a few concepts here that might just get you thinking about how to eat for better health.

Probably the most significant mishap through this whole saturated fat scare is the switch from good old saturated fats to hydrogenated vegetable oils. These are things like margarine and Crisco, which are actually just artificially made saturated fats! What they have done here is take a vegetable oil which is normally liquid at room temperature and add some hydrogen atoms to the long carbon chain that makes up its chemical structure. This makes a liquid a solid so that it can be used like a spread, or to make packaged baked goodies with a longer shelf life. The trouble here is that doing so creates trans fats. Losing the natural saturated plant and animal fats and replacing them with factory made trans fats has probably single handedly killed more people than any other factor today, and all in the name of better health. And I can guarantee that a good number of people reading this article now still feel that they should avoid butter over their butter-like spread. In fact butter is one of the most stable of the fats out there and does not turn to trans fat when heated. The same cannot be said for the hydrogenated oils. Once heat is applied, whammo, you get trans fats. Even the ones that claim to be trans fat free, once heated have the potential to turn to trans fat in the pan. Sneaky advertising to say the least. So please be very careful about what you are putting in your mouth! If it was made in a lab it probably isn’t good for you!

The second concept that comes to mind is that in order for us to think clearly and have healthy and powerful cognition we need to have plenty of the neurotransmitter Acetylcholine. In order to make Acetylcholine we need several raw materials in our diets to be present. The main constituent required is Choline. Without adequate intake of Choline containing foods we cannot make Acetylcholine. So where do we get Choline you ask? Well guess what… We get Choline in high fat foods such as fatty pork, cream, cheese, egg yolks, nuts and seeds for example. Besides the nuts and seeds (which need to be raw mind you) the other foods listed are generally on the naughty list by mainstream standards. So an argument could be made that eating a diet void of these fatty foods, or even low in these foods could actually make you less sharp in the long run! But to take it a step further, if you do not stimulate the neurons in your brain with the various hormones and neurotransmitters like Acetylcholine, the brain cells begin to die. The Hippocampus is a structure in the brain that, among other important jobs, is responsible for turning short term memory into long term memory. It happens to be rich in Acetylcholine receptors and when these receptors do not get stimulated by Acetylcholine you get degeneration of the Hippocampus. This is the first structure in the brain to decline in cases of dementia and Alzheimer’s Disease. It is vital that we keep our Hippocampus and Acetylcholine system primed to avoid the ravages of mental decline as we age. And a diet without Choline (ie. a fat free diet) can be a quicker road to dementia and brain health decline than you think. Remember, our brains are made up primarily of fat and cholesterol. We need these raw materials to keep our brains healthy.

Overall, once you get past the scare tactics, the reasons for avoiding fats are few compared to the reasons for including them as a main player in your diet. I only chose a couple of points here to spotlight but there are plenty more. And don’t get me wrong, fat is of course a high energy food and should be respected. Over eating any high energy food is a bad thing to do. But when you factor in good fats like what you might find in raw nuts and seeds, meat, fish, avocados and coconuts (yes you can and should consume coconut oil. It is one saturated fat that actually helps you burn body fat!) you are not only protecting your brain, but you are giving every cell in your body what it needs to carry out the millions of functions that keep you a healthy and thriving person. Keep your fats natural and your body will know exactly what to do with them. It is the new factory made stuff that causes the trouble. So please people, understand that we have come a long way in our understanding of health since the 80’s. I know that we are told by our doctors and by the commercials and ads every day that we should avoid fats. Fat is an easy scapegoat. But one thing to really take to heart is that outdated medical dogmas like this one don’t die easily. But it doesn’t mean that they are correct. If saturated fats were really killers then there would be no more Eskimos. They eat a diet consisting primarily of saturated fats and very little vegetables yet live longer and healthier lives than those of us in the lower states eating the low fat stuff. It isn’t until they come down here that they suffer the same poor health as us average Americans. Go and Google the “Eskimo Paradox,” to see what I am talking about. But above all, do what the elders did. Enjoy your healthy and yummy fats in moderation. Avoid the synthetic stuff and the simple sugars and carbs and you will be way ahead of the mainstream concept of what is considered healthy. And not to mention your food will taste better.

Happy eating, and good health!

The Testosterone - Brain Connection

We men are often times accused of thinking with our penis and not our brains. Though I admit to such accusations at least on some occasions the fact is that we do indeed think with our brains. But if you consider how testosterone works on our brain the accusation of us thinking with our penis isn’t all that far from the truth. Indeed both our brains and our reproductive organs have a high sensitivity to testosterone. We think like men because our male hormone testosterone has very significant impacts on our brains. In this article I want to explore some of these concepts and hopefully offer the man (or woman) reading this a little more insight into how we men experience the world.

The first thing to understand about a hormone like testosterone is that it is nothing without its hormone receptor. These hormone receptors are located on the surface of the many different cells throughout our body. Think of this interaction like a key and lock scenario. The hormone is the key which turns the mechanism of a lock on a cell in the body to produce some significant result. You can’t have a functioning system without having both the hormone and the receptor functioning well together.

As men, our brains are loaded with testosterone receptors, which is why we experience the world through the stereotypical male point of view. The frontal lobe of our brain in particular is rich with testosterone receptors, and it is this part of our brain where we process much of our sense of reason. So when we see, hear, taste, smell or touch something our brain decides how to respond to the stimulation based upon how well our frontal lobe is firing. If for example we are low in testosterone our frontal lobe will not fire well and we will begin to lose the response of what we have all known as typically male. Included in this concept could be things like low libido and/or poor motivation for other activities such as work or relationships. This could even include wanting to put positive energy towards the children, or how you interact with your wife. Significant stuff! Remember, our hormones greatly effect how we view and respond to our surroundings. We understand things only as much as what comes through the testosterone filtered actions of the frontal lobe.

Low testosterone in men is also a common cause of depression and is mostly associated with the Dopamine pathways. So these men are often on medications like Wellbutrin or Abilify. Depression from a neurological perspective can be described as a low firing rate of the frontal lobe. And without adequate exposure to testosterone the firing rate will decline rapidly. So you must ask yourself if you are taking these medications if you are treating the core problem or just the symptoms. And at what cost? It is an important concept to consider because without working on the core problem you might be required to take the symptom masking medications indefinitely.

Lastly, it has been well reported in the literature that loss of testosterone in men is correlated with brain aging and cognitive decline. This can lead to poor memory, cloudy thinking, dementia and eventually Alzheimer’s. This is not something you want when there are children to be present for and not to mention the enjoyment and quality of your personal life. Other studies show that poor testosterone status in men can hinder the healing and recovery from brain related injuries. Testosterone can therefore be considered neuro-protective in men. From a brain health perspective, it is imperative that men have healthy testosterone status.

So having said all that one might want to run out and get on some testosterone replacement therapy. In fact, your doctor will most certainly recommend it. This may be necessary for some individuals, but please understand that hormones are very strong and I can tell you that I see hormone therapy overdose all the time in my clinic. It is one of the things that I often help people recover from in fact. If you end up with testosterone levels higher than what is normal in a healthy male, you will begin to induce receptor site resistance. Remember the hormone receptors? This means that though there will be elevated hormone present, the person will experience life as though he were low in that hormone. If you are currently taking testosterone and have ever felt the need to increase your dose this is a bad sign. You are probably becoming resistant to your hormones and more is definitely not better! Please contact me if this is the case for you.

Instead of starting out on a replacement model for Testosterone status, I would hope that you would first consider the Functional approach. It is always better to produce your own hormones naturally. This leaves your body stronger and more able to function on its own without the added stress to your system. The replacement model almost always leads to a weakened system that is dependant on hormone replacement for the rest of your life. It also leaves you open to other more serious problems like cancer for example. If you like your prostate, I recommend avoiding artificially elevated male hormone status as you can experience with hormone replacement therapy. Digging out from such a thing is often difficult and uncomfortable to say the least. There are many natural ways out there to stimulate healthy testosterone physiology in your body without the use of such medications. And if you can keep the interplay of testosterone and brain function squarely in mind you can achieve amazing results. And in the end you will be a better man for it.