Currently viewing the tag: "FFA"

No Guts. No Glory. (Part 2)

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As we wind down this journey, I hope you can clearly see the problem with the very simplistic “molecular biology” approach to our biological systems. More than one time during the last two TEDMED events I heard that this approach is dead. The idea that we can use a reductionist attitude to manage one hormone or one macronutrient and have widespread impact has failed repeatedly.

Sugar and oil (not foods, but refined energy) will probably end up being the exception.

We now know that there are a “symphony of reactions” that happen in our body and it is far more Read Full Article →

Fat – Part 1

By On · 59 Comments

What an incredible month and I can’t believe November came and is gone.  “Fat bottom girls, you make the rockin world go round…”  It’s time to dive into Fat.  It’s sort of the original sin of food. Unlike proteins and carbohydrate, most of us know when we have too much of it around.  We covered some material in the BATgirl posts – predominately the “brown” flavor, so now let’s talk about the “white version.” After we discuss a little bit about how we get it and how to lose it, we will pick up with the dietary forms of fat. Read Full Article →

Carbohydrates – Part 3

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glycogen is key to running long distance. When we bonk, it's because we are running low on glycogen and must switch to fat reserves.We’ve covered a lot of ground. What we’ve discussed  is that carbohydrates come in the form of simple sugars (monosaccharides) and more complex carbohydrates (polysaccharides). We know that the sugar names all end in “ose” (glucose, fructose, lactose, etc…). Polysaccharides are many of these monosaccharides linked together in a chain and are a common way plants store energy (similar to our fat) for later use.

I’m suggesting you stop thinking about “Carbs” as a food group; instead categorize meat, vegetables, grains, dairy, etc… Starch (potato) and Cellulose (wood) are made from IDENTICAL glucose molecules. They have a different saccharide bonds Read Full Article →

BATgirl to The Rescue (Part 2)

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BAT, Brown Adipose Tissue, Thermal diet and weight lossWe learned in Part 1 that not only do human infants start out with more fat than any other species, a higher percentage is brown adipose tissue (BAT). Women, in general have more than men and as Humans age, BAT seems to dwindle. It’s likely if you have ever been obese, you have less BAT then your skinny friends.Custom gummibåt

I have dozens of papers here on BAT. My interest with BAT began after Tim and I discussed it at length and started exchanging ideas and data. Honestly, I came to my conclusions from the complete opposite (but complimentary) approach – it was much more of a 30,000 ft level view on the subject. Read Full Article →