Will a Low-Carb Diet Ruin Your Metabolism?
Carbs seem to be a scapegoat that people like to blame when weight loss doesn’t happen fast and easy.
If you are following a low carb diet and struggling to succeed, you might believe that all the years you spent eating carbohydrates to your heart's content must have destroyed your metabolism and made you fat. Otherwise, you'd be able to eat like normal folks.
Maybe, you are questioning the validity of low-carb diets, so you live on the other side of the argument and think that carbohydrate restriction will permanently alter your metabolism, thereby making it impossible to ever return to a well-balanced diet.
But what’s the truth?
Will eating too many carbohydrates or not eating enough ruin your metabolism – or not?
What is Metabolism?
Does hearing about the energy equation make you feel nervous or irritable?
Many low-carb dieters feel that way. They don't like hearing about calories or thermodynamics and are quick to jump up and defend the low-carb way of life. Regardless of the truth, most people following a low-carb lifestyle would rather believe in low-carb magic.
Afterall, Dr. Atkins told you that you no longer need to worry about calories. You don't have to be afraid of fat. You can eat until you are satisfied.
So most people believe that the laws of thermodynamics do not apply to low-carb diets. "Calories don’t matter," they often say.
Dr. Eades has tried to set the record straight.
But, far too many people still do not want to go outside and drag the energy equation back in from the trash and take a closer look. They’d rather leave it out of sight, pretend it doesn’t exist, and let the myths about starvation mode and damaged metabolisms reign in their lives instead.
However, we are not going to do that here. Instead, I'm going to tackle the myths about damaged metabolisms and present you with the facts:
Many low-carb dieters feel that way. They don't like hearing about calories or thermodynamics and are quick to jump up and defend the low-carb way of life. Regardless of the truth, most people following a low-carb lifestyle would rather believe in low-carb magic.
Afterall, Dr. Atkins told you that you no longer need to worry about calories. You don't have to be afraid of fat. You can eat until you are satisfied.
So most people believe that the laws of thermodynamics do not apply to low-carb diets. "Calories don’t matter," they often say.
Dr. Eades has tried to set the record straight.
But, far too many people still do not want to go outside and drag the energy equation back in from the trash and take a closer look. They’d rather leave it out of sight, pretend it doesn’t exist, and let the myths about starvation mode and damaged metabolisms reign in their lives instead.
However, we are not going to do that here. Instead, I'm going to tackle the myths about damaged metabolisms and present you with the facts:
The energy-out portion of the equation is your metabolic rate.
Although the body handles protein, carbs, and fats differently, that doesn’t make the energy-out side of the equation false. What you eat must be broken down, processed, utilized, and burned for fuel or stored.
You can’t get around that.
Long-term, if energy coming in does not balance energy going out, you’ll get fat.
If energy coming in is less than what you need to fuel your body processes, you’ll lean out.
Metabolism isn’t simple. It’s fairly complex and divided into three parts:
Although the body handles protein, carbs, and fats differently, that doesn’t make the energy-out side of the equation false. What you eat must be broken down, processed, utilized, and burned for fuel or stored.
You can’t get around that.
Long-term, if energy coming in does not balance energy going out, you’ll get fat.
If energy coming in is less than what you need to fuel your body processes, you’ll lean out.
Metabolism isn’t simple. It’s fairly complex and divided into three parts:
- basal metabolic rate (BMR)
- thermic effect of food (TEF)
- thermic effect of activity (TEA)
- fidgeting
- wiggling
- shaking your foot
- rocking back and forth
- getting up from a sitting position
How Metabolism Functions
When people talk about damaged metabolisms, they are generally referring to their Basic Metabolic Rate, their BMR. However, the thermic effect of food and activity play greater roles in the success of your diet than your BMR does.
Basal Metabolic Rate:
BMR is influenced by a variety of factors. Some of those conditions depend on:
- the amount of lean body mass you have
- your body fat level
- whether you have dieted yourself down to your current weight
- your hormonal balance (homeostasis)
- heredity tendencies
- and other adaptive issues
It is the hormonal outcome and body composition of weight loss that affects your resulting metabolic rate after dieting, not the type of diet you followed to get there.
Thermic Effect of Food:
The thermic effect energy breaks down the macronutrients you eat (protein, fats, and carbs) and processes them for use or storage.
Protein uses the highest amount of energy.
About 20 to 30 percent of the calories in meat, eggs and dairy foods are needed to break them down into amino acids. This is one reason why a low-carb diet appears to improve metabolism, but that improvement will come with any diet where you eat the same amount of protein.
When processing carbohydrates, the body uses about 5 to 6 percent of its calories to turn them into glucose and store them as glycogen. If glycogen stores are full, it takes up to 23 percent of the calories to convert carbohydrates into triglycerides and store them in your fat cells.
That is similar to the cost of breaking down proteins.
Fats don’t need much converting, as they can be pretty much stored in their current condition, so it only takes 2 to 3 percent of calories to process fats.
Thermic Effect of Activity:
This portion of your metabolism is extremely variable. It includes all movement that is not a basic body function.
Sedentary individuals might burn 10 to 30 percent of their calories over their BMR, while more active individuals will burn more.
Fitness level really comes into play here.
But, overdoing exercise in comparison to the number of calories consumed can cause your metabolic rate to fall quicker than anything else.
In addition to exercise and daily movement, there are other things that burn calories. Weather cold enough to cause shivering, coming down with a cold or the flu, and repairing injuries are just a few.
Fitness level really comes into play here.
But, overdoing exercise in comparison to the number of calories consumed can cause your metabolic rate to fall quicker than anything else.
In addition to exercise and daily movement, there are other things that burn calories. Weather cold enough to cause shivering, coming down with a cold or the flu, and repairing injuries are just a few.
How Does a Low Carb Diet Affect Your Metabolism?
A low carb diet works extremely well for those with insulin resistance because it quickly lowers basal insulin levels and blood glucose in those with metabolic syndrome. It also requires less first- and second-stage insulin release, which allows the body’s metabolism to function more normally.
Many individuals with insulin resistance have a TEF defect that corrects itself when you lose weight and become more sensitive to insulin.
Insulin can also trigger hunger, so reducing insulin levels can correct overeating problems.
Many individuals with insulin resistance have a TEF defect that corrects itself when you lose weight and become more sensitive to insulin.
Insulin can also trigger hunger, so reducing insulin levels can correct overeating problems.
Not everyone who follows a low carb diet is insulin resistant.
For those with only a few pounds to lose, it is more likely that you are insulin sensitive or only slightly resistant. Turning to a low-carb diet early puts you ahead of the game because your metabolism isn’t as likely to get depressed from dieting as those with more pounds to lose.
You should not have a TEF defect that needs healing.
After losing 40 pounds in 1975, I easily maintained that weight for over two decades eating anything I wanted. It was only after food sensitivities began to surface and blood glucose levels started to degrade that I put the weight back on.
For those with only a few pounds to lose, it is more likely that you are insulin sensitive or only slightly resistant. Turning to a low-carb diet early puts you ahead of the game because your metabolism isn’t as likely to get depressed from dieting as those with more pounds to lose.
You should not have a TEF defect that needs healing.
After losing 40 pounds in 1975, I easily maintained that weight for over two decades eating anything I wanted. It was only after food sensitivities began to surface and blood glucose levels started to degrade that I put the weight back on.
Whether you have a little to lose or a lot, handling pre-maintenance and maintenance wisely is the key to keeping your metabolism healthy.
When you restrict calories, metabolism slows down because it senses that fuel is in short supply.
The body functions with only one goal in mind: survival.
Low carb dieters often refer to this reduction in metabolic rate as starvation mode, but that is not accurate.
The definition of starvation is less than 50 percent of the calories you need for your BMR. This is why the famous Minnesota Semi-Starvation Study done on Viet Nam War objectors was called semi-starvation, even though they were fed 50 percent of the calories they needed for maintenance.
When you restrict calories, metabolism slows down because it senses that fuel is in short supply.
The body functions with only one goal in mind: survival.
Low carb dieters often refer to this reduction in metabolic rate as starvation mode, but that is not accurate.
The definition of starvation is less than 50 percent of the calories you need for your BMR. This is why the famous Minnesota Semi-Starvation Study done on Viet Nam War objectors was called semi-starvation, even though they were fed 50 percent of the calories they needed for maintenance.
Keeping Your Metabolism Healthy
Most people who claim to be following the Atkins Diet are not doing Atkins. They are following an extremely low carbohydrate plan they designed themselves, and they are doing it for extended lengths of time.
This is fine, but keeping your metabolism healthy requires certain precautions.
Very low-carb diets affect many body functions.
This is fine, but keeping your metabolism healthy requires certain precautions.
Very low-carb diets affect many body functions.
levels drop. Dr. Atkins original built-in defense against the metabolic slowdown was to raise carbohydrate intake slowly and steadily until you reached a level slightly less than homeostasis.
For many individuals, losing only a pound of week – even if it comes off easily – is far too slow to maintain dietary focus.
For that reason, Dr. Atkins allowed many patients to stay at Induction levels a little longer, and he raised their carbohydrate intake slower. In fact, in one interview, he mentioned that for those with 100 pounds to lose, his typical course of action would be to keep them at 25 net carbs for the major part of the weight-loss phase to get the fat off more quickly.
To compensate, however, he admitted in that interview that he administered thyroid hormone to his patients to get them through the rest of the weight-loss phase, once the body had adapted to what they were doing.
For that reason, Dr. Atkins allowed many patients to stay at Induction levels a little longer, and he raised their carbohydrate intake slower. In fact, in one interview, he mentioned that for those with 100 pounds to lose, his typical course of action would be to keep them at 25 net carbs for the major part of the weight-loss phase to get the fat off more quickly.
To compensate, however, he admitted in that interview that he administered thyroid hormone to his patients to get them through the rest of the weight-loss phase, once the body had adapted to what they were doing.
Many of us do not have that luxury.
We have to do things a little differently if we want to experience a similar success.
This is why I always recommend Dr. Atkins original diet whenever anyone asks me which Atkins version is best. Plus, I fully advocate returning carbohydrates to your diet to keep your thyroid healthy.
It is extremely important when you reach lower body fat levels to eat adequate protein and carbohydrates because the thinner you are, the more likely it is that you will sacrifice lean body mass rather than body fat.
The ’72 version of the Atkins Diet allows you the freedom to fine-tune your diet to your own metabolic issues and food sensitivities, as well as discover your own personal carbohydrate and fat tolerance levels.
We have to do things a little differently if we want to experience a similar success.
This is why I always recommend Dr. Atkins original diet whenever anyone asks me which Atkins version is best. Plus, I fully advocate returning carbohydrates to your diet to keep your thyroid healthy.
It is extremely important when you reach lower body fat levels to eat adequate protein and carbohydrates because the thinner you are, the more likely it is that you will sacrifice lean body mass rather than body fat.
The ’72 version of the Atkins Diet allows you the freedom to fine-tune your diet to your own metabolic issues and food sensitivities, as well as discover your own personal carbohydrate and fat tolerance levels.
If you’ve been dieting for quite some time, you also run the risk of your Leptin levels crashing.
If that happens:
Weight loss will come to a halt, and you’ll be unable to stick to your diet. Your hunger will increase dramatically, you won’t be able to get your thoughts off food, and you’ll begin displaying many of the symptoms associated with the starvation response.
This doesn’t mean a low-carb diet is bad. It means that your body needs a break.
For me, I always move to maintenance after a few weeks of dieting to give my body time to adjust back to a normal metabolism. The alternative is what most dieters fear the most: returning to your old way of eating and regaining everything you lost back, plus more.
If that happens:
Weight loss will come to a halt, and you’ll be unable to stick to your diet. Your hunger will increase dramatically, you won’t be able to get your thoughts off food, and you’ll begin displaying many of the symptoms associated with the starvation response.
This doesn’t mean a low-carb diet is bad. It means that your body needs a break.
For me, I always move to maintenance after a few weeks of dieting to give my body time to adjust back to a normal metabolism. The alternative is what most dieters fear the most: returning to your old way of eating and regaining everything you lost back, plus more.
Pre-Maintenance and Maintenance
No matter how much weight you have to lose, no diet will allow you to return to your old way of eating. That old way is what caused you to become overweight. Return to that, and the weight will come back. That much is true.
What isn’t true is the type of foods you have to limit.
There are many ideas floating around the low-carb community, ideas that are personal choices projected onto everyone else. For example, Dr. Atkins early books did not outlaw white potatoes. In fact, in the 1992 version, he showed you how to eat them and continue losing weight.
He called it: Real Life.
What isn’t true is the type of foods you have to limit.
There are many ideas floating around the low-carb community, ideas that are personal choices projected onto everyone else. For example, Dr. Atkins early books did not outlaw white potatoes. In fact, in the 1992 version, he showed you how to eat them and continue losing weight.
He called it: Real Life.
Unknown to many low carbers, Dr. Atkins also did not put all of his patients on a low carb diet. He did not believe that carbohydrate restriction was necessary for everyone.
A low carb diet is for those with insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome. It worked well for his patients who had inflammatory bowel disease. Sometimes, he used it for those who were allergic to wheat, but he did not put everyone who came to him on low carb.
A low carb diet is for those with insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome. It worked well for his patients who had inflammatory bowel disease. Sometimes, he used it for those who were allergic to wheat, but he did not put everyone who came to him on low carb.
I know that tidbit of information would shock a lot of low carbers who believe everyone should be eating low carb, but in 1981, Dr. Atkins wrote a book called “Dr. Atkins’ Nutrition Breakthrough: How to Treat Your Medical Condition Without Drugs.”
In that book, he provided a diet he called, “The Meat and Millet Diet,” that he fine-tuned to fit the patient’s individual metabolism:
In that book, he provided a diet he called, “The Meat and Millet Diet,” that he fine-tuned to fit the patient’s individual metabolism:
“This diet is the best blood-sugar-controlling diet I have been able to devise for the patient who cannot afford to be on a weight-losing regime. It maintains most of the advantages of the Atkins Diet, except the advantages of being in ketosis. But it affords the many clinical advantages of a high ratio of complex (starch) to simple (sugar) carbohydrates. And it provides the added benefit of a high fiber intake.”
The bottom line:
Dr. Atkins was into health, and not strictly low carb.
His pre-maintenance diet was designed to gently take you out of ketosis, but most low carbers do not want to go there.
As a result, their metabolisms stay depressed, so they have to eat a low number of calories to maintain their weight. Their thyroid often becomes trashed, so they end up on thyroid medication for the rest of their lives. They are afraid of refilling their glycogen stores because, on the average, that represents a 5 to 10 pound water regain, so they stay in ketosis even though we don’t know how safe that is for everyone who doesn’t need to be there.
Dr. Atkins was into health, and not strictly low carb.
His pre-maintenance diet was designed to gently take you out of ketosis, but most low carbers do not want to go there.
As a result, their metabolisms stay depressed, so they have to eat a low number of calories to maintain their weight. Their thyroid often becomes trashed, so they end up on thyroid medication for the rest of their lives. They are afraid of refilling their glycogen stores because, on the average, that represents a 5 to 10 pound water regain, so they stay in ketosis even though we don’t know how safe that is for everyone who doesn’t need to be there.
The easy alternative to the glycogen problem is to simply diet yourself down to 10 pounds lower than you want to be, so that when your glycogen refills, you will weigh exactly what you want to.
Glycogen and the water that attends it are not fat. They are nothing to be afraid of. It’s all that water and glycogen you lost during the first two weeks of your diet. The glycogen and water needs to be replaced, so your body doesn’t think it’s still starving.
The key to a healthy metabolism is to find out the carbohydrate level you feel best at, one that will allow you to maintain your goal weight easily. This doesn’t necessarily mean that you give up potatoes, but it does mean you have to stay within your maintenance level of calories.
Glycogen and the water that attends it are not fat. They are nothing to be afraid of. It’s all that water and glycogen you lost during the first two weeks of your diet. The glycogen and water needs to be replaced, so your body doesn’t think it’s still starving.
The key to a healthy metabolism is to find out the carbohydrate level you feel best at, one that will allow you to maintain your goal weight easily. This doesn’t necessarily mean that you give up potatoes, but it does mean you have to stay within your maintenance level of calories.
For others like my Uncle, it doesn’t.
It just depends on the healthy habits you take into maintenance with you and whether you've learned how to exert some portion control.
Go back to the amount of food you ate before, and you’ll return to who you were.
While low carb doesn’t necessarily mean drastic restriction for the rest of your life, it does mean you have to change. A smaller body needs fewer calories. That’s the price for being thin.
REVIEW: A THOROUGH AND HONEST LOOK AT SKINNYMINT 28 DAY TEATOX
I'm going to start by saying that I was sent these products to review, but that's never swayed me to review things certain ways before and it wont now! So lets begin...
The aim of 'teatoxing' is to 'help boost your metabolism, flush out toxins, reduce bloating and burn fat'.
Alongside green tea, we have yerba mate, another metabolism boosting tea which is also said to be able to stem your appetite and make you feel fuller for longer as it slows digestion. The caffeine content in yerba mate is also fairly high - again, adding to that boost Skinnymint have blended 'Morning Boost' for.
Following from senna we have ginger root - another well known player in the world of digestive health. Skinnymint were quite clever in including this guy, as ginger will help in soothing the digestive tracts after senna has done its thing by irritating them. Gingers soothing properties has actually made it quite popular with those who suffer with irritable bowel syndrome!
Licorice root and psyllium husk are both included in the mix, licorice for its ability to soothe the stomach no doubt, and psyllium for its fiber and colon cleansing power. We also have hawthorn berry thrown in, which helps with anxiety, insomnia and mood-swings.
How Strong are the Diuretic and Laxative Effects?
The human body has evolved in a way which means that basically whatever the hell we throw at it - be it drinking excessive amount of alcohol, binging on junk food night after night or heck, even something more hardcore - it can get rid of any harmful chemicals or toxins very effectively. Your body is ALWAYS detoxing itself naturally, it was designed to. If you really want to help your body in this process, it's very simple indeed -
1. Drink more water.
What's the Science of Skinnymint?
Lose Weight - Surely this is the same as the fat burning claim...? Otherwise, we're talking water weight which fluctuates day to day anyway, or muscle - which you really don't want to lose!
Reduce Appetite - I have a low appetite anyway, but I haven't noticed a change in it at all. If anything, the exercise I've been doing has made me slightly hungrier than usual.
Increase Energy - I do feel I have a bit of pep after 'Morning Boost' for an hour or two, but otherwise I've actually been more tired than usual recently. I was ill last week, however, so I could just still be getting over that.
Improve Digestion - I'm very lucky that I've never had digestive issues, even when I ate meat in Asia from street stands after four years being veggie I never had so much as a stomach ache! Maybe that means I'm not quite the ideal person to comment on improved digestion, then, but 'Night Cleanse' sure gets things moving...
Also realise that any benefits from Skinnymint you might experience will only be felt DURING the teatox. Afterwards, your bloating will return and your metabolism will go back to normal (if it even changed.) This means Skinnymint is best for a 'quick fix' like I mentioned earlier - holidays, weddings etc.
Now lets look at the price, the 28 day teatox will set you back $54.90 (US) - that's £35.40 with FREE shipping worldwide. That equates to $13.72 per week (£8.80.) If we look at the ingredients which do the most work - that's quite pricey! There are cheaper options out there that will do the exact same thing.
Is it healthy to take diuretics and laxatives for four weeks? Probably not. I've already mentioned how 'Morning Boost' can make me feel a bit dehydrated and how your body can become reliant on senna is a short amount of time. It's always best to leave your body to do its thing naturally, and only add aids if it GENUINELY needs it and after talking to a doctor.
So would I recommend Skinnymint? No. It's expensive for what it is, its effects are not proven (and if they were, you could get the same effects from different products for cheaper), it's a quick and temporary fix to problems that can be solved with healthy eating and exercise and it claims to 'flush out toxins' when all your body really needs to help with that is water and clean eating...
Save your money - pop to the supermarket to buy a box of green tea for a few quid instead, your wallet and your body will thank you for it!
The Potato Diet
In 2010, I wrote a series of blog posts on the health properties of potatoes (1, 2, 3). The evidence showed that potatoes are non-toxic, filling per calorie, remarkably nutritious, and can be eaten as almost the sole source of nutrition for extended periods of time (though I'm not recommending this). Traditional South American cultures such as the Quechua and Aymara have eaten potatoes as the major source of calories for generations without any apparent ill effects (3). This is particularly interesting since potatoes are one of the highest glycemic and most insulin-stimulating foods known.
Potatoes appear not to cause fat gain, and in fact frequently cause fat loss and improve metabolic health in people who are overweight. The Washington Potato Commissioner Chris Voigt illustrated this in his two month potato-only diet, during which he lost 20 lbs and greatly improved his metabolic and cardiovascular biomarkers without feeling hungry. I interviewed Mr. Voigt and gave my thoughts in a series of posts (4, 5). Some people objected that Mr. Voigt may not have been impartial since he had an interest in making potatoes look good. Although my gut feeling was always that he was being straightforward about his experience, it's nevertheless a reasonable concern.
This year, a fascinating thread appeared in the Mark's Daily Apple forum. Apparently inspired by an exchange with Ray Cronise, someone decided to go on a potato diet and began losing weight rapidly (6). The thread snowballed as other people joined in and found that they were also losing weight rapidly on the potato diet (potatoes, sometimes with a small amount of added fat). It is worth noting that most of these people were coming from a primal-style low-carbohydrate diet*. As of right now, the thread has 104 pages.
People have proposed explanations for this phenomenon, and some have been amusing, such as the attempt to explain the effect via the insulin-obesity hypothesis.
Those of you who followed my writing on food reward and "why we eat" will understand that fat loss is exactly what one would expect from a diet like this, and in fact the diet echoes the recommendations I published in 2011 for using food reward as a fat loss tool (7). The potato diet works because:
* For the record, I'm not implying that the Primal Blueprint or other reduced-carbohydrate Paleo type approaches are fattening. It is a fact that PB and similar approaches have helped many people lose fat and become healthier, and will continue to do so.
Potatoes appear not to cause fat gain, and in fact frequently cause fat loss and improve metabolic health in people who are overweight. The Washington Potato Commissioner Chris Voigt illustrated this in his two month potato-only diet, during which he lost 20 lbs and greatly improved his metabolic and cardiovascular biomarkers without feeling hungry. I interviewed Mr. Voigt and gave my thoughts in a series of posts (4, 5). Some people objected that Mr. Voigt may not have been impartial since he had an interest in making potatoes look good. Although my gut feeling was always that he was being straightforward about his experience, it's nevertheless a reasonable concern.
This year, a fascinating thread appeared in the Mark's Daily Apple forum. Apparently inspired by an exchange with Ray Cronise, someone decided to go on a potato diet and began losing weight rapidly (6). The thread snowballed as other people joined in and found that they were also losing weight rapidly on the potato diet (potatoes, sometimes with a small amount of added fat). It is worth noting that most of these people were coming from a primal-style low-carbohydrate diet*. As of right now, the thread has 104 pages.
People have proposed explanations for this phenomenon, and some have been amusing, such as the attempt to explain the effect via the insulin-obesity hypothesis.
Those of you who followed my writing on food reward and "why we eat" will understand that fat loss is exactly what one would expect from a diet like this, and in fact the diet echoes the recommendations I published in 2011 for using food reward as a fat loss tool (7). The potato diet works because:
- Potatoes have a low calorie density and a high satiety value per calorie.
- Eating a diet that is composed almost exclusively of one food is low in reward, low-moderate palatability, low in variety, and has a high sensory-specific satiety. Even if you dress up your potatoes as well as you can, you're still eating potatoes. This tends to reduce calorie intake.
- Potatoes are nutritious enough (including complete protein) that they can be the sole source of calories for an extended period of time. However, they are not a complete source of all micronutrients and deficiencies will eventually arise.
* For the record, I'm not implying that the Primal Blueprint or other reduced-carbohydrate Paleo type approaches are fattening. It is a fact that PB and similar approaches have helped many people lose fat and become healthier, and will continue to do so.
Magnesium Part 3: The wrath of histamine
In the first 2 parts of this blog series we went over the importance of magnesium to the metabolic syndrome and lifestyle factors that contribute to magnesium wasting. If you haven't read those two blogs they can be found here and here. If you remember from part 1, one of the important functions of magnesium is to help create the histamine metabolizing enzyme Diamine Oxidase (DAO). In magnesium deficient rats, DAO activity is decreased to 50% after 8 days of magnesium deficiency and it returns to baseline once magnesium is reintroduced back in to the diet(1). In addition, histidine decarboxylase (HDC) activity is increased in some of the tissues of the magnesium deficient rats, particularly the spleen and peritoneum but not the skin(2). HDC is an enzyme that makes histamine from histidine, an amino acid. It is this conversion as well as certain foods that contain and/or liberate histamine that can be potentially problematic for someone with an existing magnesium deficiency.
Histamine intolerance is a condition where histamine accumulates in the body as a result of defective histamine metabolism(3). This occurs as a result of reduced DAO activity, something that is made worse by a magnesium deficiency as referenced in the above study. In addition, HDC activity increases which increases the conversion of histidine to histamine in the gut and circulation. Histidine can be found in most high protein foods and is an essential amino acid. As histamine accumulates in the body, numerous symptoms related to allergic reactions can occur including rash, GI symptoms, headache, hypotension, heart arrythmia, and a host of other symptoms. Below is a flow chart of symptoms taken from reference #(3).
It becomes important for a person experiencing these symptoms to do a good job of managing histamine levels. To do this, one should avoid foods that contain histamine, foods that liberate histamine from mast cells, and foods that block DAO activity. Foods that contain histamine include alcohol, any food that has undergone microbial fermentation including cheeses, meats, pickled foods/sauerkraut, beans, pulses, nuts, chocolate, wheat based products, shellfish, canned foods, and smoked meats(4). Leftovers should be strictly avoided as bacteria act on the histidine in foods quickly, converting it in to histamine even in the refrigerator. Foods that are known to liberate histamine from mast cells include citrus fruits, chocolate, nuts, papaya, beans/pulses, tomatoes, strawberries, pork, spinach,wheat germ, undercooked egg whites, and food additives(3,4). Finally, foods that are known to block DAO activity include alcohol, green/black/mate teas, and energy drinks(4).
In addition to minimizing foods that can increase histamine levels in the body, it is a good idea to increase magnesium levels to help support DAO levels and reduce HDC levels. Another nutrient that appears to be important in supporting DAO levels is Vitamin B6(5,6). There is also evidence that vitamin B6 may help transport magnesium in to cells, possibly by forming a complex between the two(7). As far as foods to support DAO activity, one interesting finding is that fat is the only macronutrient that increases DAO levels in the lymphatic system, protein appears to only increase DAO levels in the intestinal lumen while carbohydrate seems to have no effect on DAO levels(8). Therefore, DAO only enters the circulation in the presence of fat. If you are experiencing systemic symptoms of histamine intolerance, increasing fat intake may be something you want to look at. Just make sure you take any oral magnesium supplement away from high fat meals as there is evidence that fat negatively impacts magnesium absorption(9). However, if the reduction of magnesium absorption is due to utilizing more magnesium for DAO production, this may be a positive effect.
Most of you who have been "enjoying" the paleo autoimmune protocol are probably jumping for joy that you get to eliminate a bunch of other foods. Ironically enough, some of the foods that are known to negatively impact histamine levels are also FODMAPS. The point here is that if you are experiencing autoimmune symptoms you should be keeping a strict food journal to identify foods that are triggering responses so that you can compare those foods to foods that are known to cause negative reactions in the body to establish mechanism. If these foods seem to match up to foods known to negatively impact histamine levels, try that route. If it's FODMAPS that tend to be causing the problems, remove those foods. If there doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to the reactions and you eat a lot of leftovers, something people who eat a paleo diet do often, try eating only fresh food. If you want to find out if histamine is a problem, try antihistamines for a couple of days to find out if that ameliorates some of the symptoms. I wouldn't use that as your solution since it's not a solution, it's a band-aid, but improvement from antihistamines infers that histamine may be a problem.
If you do identify histamine as being the culprit, it is probably a dose/response issue. What I mean by that is you should find your tolerable dose of histamine and attempt to limit exposure to foods that increase histamine to below that dose. The absolute fastest way to remedy the situation would be to eliminate those foods altogether, but that doesn't really leave much left if you are already on a paleo diet. In any case, you may also want to increase magnesium and Vitamin B6 intake to both increase DAO production and reduce HDC production. It seems fairly apparent that one of the underlying issues in the whole situation is a magnesium deficiency. My best guess is that correcting the magnesium deficiency corrects the histamine intolerance. In this situation I would recommend both oral and topical magnesium supplementation to make sure both the gut and your cells are getting their fair share of magnesium.
Histamine intolerance is a condition where histamine accumulates in the body as a result of defective histamine metabolism(3). This occurs as a result of reduced DAO activity, something that is made worse by a magnesium deficiency as referenced in the above study. In addition, HDC activity increases which increases the conversion of histidine to histamine in the gut and circulation. Histidine can be found in most high protein foods and is an essential amino acid. As histamine accumulates in the body, numerous symptoms related to allergic reactions can occur including rash, GI symptoms, headache, hypotension, heart arrythmia, and a host of other symptoms. Below is a flow chart of symptoms taken from reference #(3).
It becomes important for a person experiencing these symptoms to do a good job of managing histamine levels. To do this, one should avoid foods that contain histamine, foods that liberate histamine from mast cells, and foods that block DAO activity. Foods that contain histamine include alcohol, any food that has undergone microbial fermentation including cheeses, meats, pickled foods/sauerkraut, beans, pulses, nuts, chocolate, wheat based products, shellfish, canned foods, and smoked meats(4). Leftovers should be strictly avoided as bacteria act on the histidine in foods quickly, converting it in to histamine even in the refrigerator. Foods that are known to liberate histamine from mast cells include citrus fruits, chocolate, nuts, papaya, beans/pulses, tomatoes, strawberries, pork, spinach,wheat germ, undercooked egg whites, and food additives(3,4). Finally, foods that are known to block DAO activity include alcohol, green/black/mate teas, and energy drinks(4).
In addition to minimizing foods that can increase histamine levels in the body, it is a good idea to increase magnesium levels to help support DAO levels and reduce HDC levels. Another nutrient that appears to be important in supporting DAO levels is Vitamin B6(5,6). There is also evidence that vitamin B6 may help transport magnesium in to cells, possibly by forming a complex between the two(7). As far as foods to support DAO activity, one interesting finding is that fat is the only macronutrient that increases DAO levels in the lymphatic system, protein appears to only increase DAO levels in the intestinal lumen while carbohydrate seems to have no effect on DAO levels(8). Therefore, DAO only enters the circulation in the presence of fat. If you are experiencing systemic symptoms of histamine intolerance, increasing fat intake may be something you want to look at. Just make sure you take any oral magnesium supplement away from high fat meals as there is evidence that fat negatively impacts magnesium absorption(9). However, if the reduction of magnesium absorption is due to utilizing more magnesium for DAO production, this may be a positive effect.
Most of you who have been "enjoying" the paleo autoimmune protocol are probably jumping for joy that you get to eliminate a bunch of other foods. Ironically enough, some of the foods that are known to negatively impact histamine levels are also FODMAPS. The point here is that if you are experiencing autoimmune symptoms you should be keeping a strict food journal to identify foods that are triggering responses so that you can compare those foods to foods that are known to cause negative reactions in the body to establish mechanism. If these foods seem to match up to foods known to negatively impact histamine levels, try that route. If it's FODMAPS that tend to be causing the problems, remove those foods. If there doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to the reactions and you eat a lot of leftovers, something people who eat a paleo diet do often, try eating only fresh food. If you want to find out if histamine is a problem, try antihistamines for a couple of days to find out if that ameliorates some of the symptoms. I wouldn't use that as your solution since it's not a solution, it's a band-aid, but improvement from antihistamines infers that histamine may be a problem.
If you do identify histamine as being the culprit, it is probably a dose/response issue. What I mean by that is you should find your tolerable dose of histamine and attempt to limit exposure to foods that increase histamine to below that dose. The absolute fastest way to remedy the situation would be to eliminate those foods altogether, but that doesn't really leave much left if you are already on a paleo diet. In any case, you may also want to increase magnesium and Vitamin B6 intake to both increase DAO production and reduce HDC production. It seems fairly apparent that one of the underlying issues in the whole situation is a magnesium deficiency. My best guess is that correcting the magnesium deficiency corrects the histamine intolerance. In this situation I would recommend both oral and topical magnesium supplementation to make sure both the gut and your cells are getting their fair share of magnesium.
Butyric Acid: an Ancient Controller of Metabolism, Inflammation and Stress Resistance?
An Interesting Finding
Susceptible strains of rodents fed high-fat diets overeat, gain fat and become profoundly insulin resistant. Dr. Jianping Ye's group recently published a paper showing that the harmful metabolic effects of a high-fat diet (lard and soybean oil) on mice can be prevented, and even reversed, using a short-chain saturated fatty acid called butyric acid (hereafter, butyrate). Here's a graph of the percent body fat over time of the two groups:
The butyrate-fed mice remained lean and avoided metabolic problems. Butyrate increased their energy expenditure by increasing body heat production and modestly increasing physical activity. It also massively increased the function of their mitochondria, the tiny power plants of the cell.
Butyrate lowered their blood cholesterol by approximately 25 percent, and their triglycerides by nearly 50 percent. It lowered their fasting insulin by nearly 50 percent, and increased their insulin sensitivity by nearly 300 percent*. The investigators concluded:
I found this study thought-provoking, so I looked into butyrate further.
Butyrate Suppresses Inflammation in the Gut and Other Tissues
In most animals, the highest concentration of butyrate is found in the gut. That's because it's produced by intestinal bacteria from carbohydrate that the host cannot digest, such as cellulose and pectin. Indigestible carbohydrate is the main form of dietary fiber.
It turns out, butyrate has been around in the mammalian gut for so long that the lining of our large intestine has evolved to use it as its primary source of energy. It does more than just feed the bowel, however. It also has potent anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer effects. So much so, that investigators are using oral butyrate supplements and butyrate enemas to treat inflammatory bowel diseases such as Crohn's and ulcerative colitis. Some investigators are also suggesting that inflammatory bowel disorders may be caused or exacerbated by a deficiency of butyrate in the first place.
Butyrate, and other short-chain fatty acids produced by gut bacteria**, has a remarkable effect on intestinal permeability. In tissue culture and live rats, short-chain fatty acids cause a large and rapiddecrease in intestinal permeability. Butyrate, or dietary fiber, prevents the loss of intestinal permeability in rat models of ulcerative colitis. This shows that short-chain fatty acids, including butyrate, play an important role in the maintenance of gut barrier integrity. Impaired gut barrier integrity is associated with many diseases, including fatty liver, heart failure and autoimmune diseases (thanks to Pedro Bastos for this information-- I'll be covering the topic in more detail later).
Butyrate's role doesn't end in the gut. It's absorbed into the circulation, and may exert effects on the rest of the body as well. In human blood immune cells, butyrate is potently anti-inflammatory***.
Butyrate Increases Resistance to Metabolic and Physical Stress
Certain types of fiber reduce atherosclerosis in animal models, and this effect may be due to butyrateproduction produced when the fiber is fermented. Fiber intake was associated with lower blood markers of inflammation in the Women's Health Initiative study, and has been repeatedly associated with lower heart attack risk and reduced progression of atherosclerosis in humans. Butyrate alsosharply reduces the harmful effects of type 1 diabetes in rats, as does dietary fiber to a lesser extent.
Butyrate increases the function and survival of mice with certain neurodegenerative diseases. Polyglutamine diseases, which are the most common class of genetic neurodegenerative diseases, are delayed in mice treated with butyrate (1, 2, 3). Many of you have probably heard of Huntington's disease, which is the most common of the class. I did my thesis on a polyglutamine disease called SCA7, and this is the first suggestion I've seen that diet may be able to modify its course.
Yet another interesting finding in the first paper I discussed: mice treated with butyrate were more cold-resistant than the comparison group. When they were both placed in a cold room, body temperature dropped quite a bit in the comparison group, while it remained relatively stable in the butyrate group, despite the fact that the butyrate group was leaner****. This was due to increased heat production in the butyrate group.
Due to the potent effect butyrate has on a number of bodily processes, it may be a fundamental controller of metabolism, stress resistance and the immune system in mammals.
An Ancient Line of Communication Between Symbiotic Organisms
Why does butyrate have so much control over inflammation? Let's think about where it comes from. Bacteria in the gut produce it. It's a source of energy, so our bodies take it up readily. It's one of the main molecules that passes from the symbiotic (helpful) bacteria in the gut to the rest of the body. Could it be that the body receives butyrate as a signal that there's a thriving colony of symbiotic bacteria in the gut, inducing immune tolerance to them? The body may alter its immune response (inflammation) in order to permit a mutually beneficial relationship between itself and its symbionts.
Sources of Butyrate
There are two main ways to get butyrate and other short-chain fatty acids. The first is to eat fiber and let your intestinal bacteria do the rest. Whole plant foods such as sweet potatoes, properly preparedwhole grains, beans, vegetables, fruit and nuts are good sources of fiber. Refined foods such as white flour, white rice and sugar are very low in fiber. Clinical trials have shown that increasing dietary fiber increases butyrate production, and decreasing fiber decreases it (free full text).
Butyrate also occurs in significant amounts in food. What foods contain butyrate? Hmm, I wonder where the name BUTYR-ate came from? Butter perhaps? Butter is 3-4 percent butyrate, the richest known source. But everyone knows butter is bad for you, right?
After thinking about it, I've decided that butyrate may have been a principal component of Dr. Weston Price's legendary butter oil. Price used this oil in conjunction with high-vitamin cod liver oil to heal tooth decay and a number of other ailments in his patients. The method he used to produce it would have concentrated fats with a low melting temperature, including butyrate, in addition to vitamin K2*****. Thus, the combination of high-vitamin cod liver oil and butter oil would have provided a potent cocktail of fat-soluble vitamins (A, D3, K2), omega-3 fatty acids and butyrate. It's no wonder it was so effective in his patients.
* According to insulin tolerance test.
** Acetate (acetic acid, the main acid in vinegar), propionate and butyrate are the primary three fatty acids produced by intestinal fermentation.
*** The lowest concentration used in this study, 30 micromolar, is probably higher than the concentration in peripheral serum under normal circumstances. Human serum butyrate is in the range of 4 micromolar in British adults, and 29 micromolar in the hepatic portal vein which brings fats from the digestive tract to the liver (ref). This would likely be at least two-fold higher in populations eating high-fiber diets.
**** Due to higher mitochondrial density in brown fat and more mitochondrial uncoupling.
***** Slow crystallization, which selectively concentrates triglycerides with a low melting point.
Susceptible strains of rodents fed high-fat diets overeat, gain fat and become profoundly insulin resistant. Dr. Jianping Ye's group recently published a paper showing that the harmful metabolic effects of a high-fat diet (lard and soybean oil) on mice can be prevented, and even reversed, using a short-chain saturated fatty acid called butyric acid (hereafter, butyrate). Here's a graph of the percent body fat over time of the two groups:
The butyrate-fed mice remained lean and avoided metabolic problems. Butyrate increased their energy expenditure by increasing body heat production and modestly increasing physical activity. It also massively increased the function of their mitochondria, the tiny power plants of the cell.Butyrate lowered their blood cholesterol by approximately 25 percent, and their triglycerides by nearly 50 percent. It lowered their fasting insulin by nearly 50 percent, and increased their insulin sensitivity by nearly 300 percent*. The investigators concluded:
Butyrate and its derivatives may have potential application in the prevention and treatment of metabolic syndrome in humans.There's one caveat, however: the butyrate group at less food. Something about the butyrate treatment caused their food intake to decline after 3 weeks, dropping roughly 20% by 10 weeks. The investigators cleverly tried to hide this by normalizing food intake to body weight, making it look like the food intake of the comparison group was dropping as well (when actually it was staying the same as this group was gaining weight). This does cast some doubt on the health-promoting effects of high-dose butyrate.
I found this study thought-provoking, so I looked into butyrate further.
Butyrate Suppresses Inflammation in the Gut and Other Tissues
In most animals, the highest concentration of butyrate is found in the gut. That's because it's produced by intestinal bacteria from carbohydrate that the host cannot digest, such as cellulose and pectin. Indigestible carbohydrate is the main form of dietary fiber.
It turns out, butyrate has been around in the mammalian gut for so long that the lining of our large intestine has evolved to use it as its primary source of energy. It does more than just feed the bowel, however. It also has potent anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer effects. So much so, that investigators are using oral butyrate supplements and butyrate enemas to treat inflammatory bowel diseases such as Crohn's and ulcerative colitis. Some investigators are also suggesting that inflammatory bowel disorders may be caused or exacerbated by a deficiency of butyrate in the first place.
Butyrate, and other short-chain fatty acids produced by gut bacteria**, has a remarkable effect on intestinal permeability. In tissue culture and live rats, short-chain fatty acids cause a large and rapiddecrease in intestinal permeability. Butyrate, or dietary fiber, prevents the loss of intestinal permeability in rat models of ulcerative colitis. This shows that short-chain fatty acids, including butyrate, play an important role in the maintenance of gut barrier integrity. Impaired gut barrier integrity is associated with many diseases, including fatty liver, heart failure and autoimmune diseases (thanks to Pedro Bastos for this information-- I'll be covering the topic in more detail later).
Butyrate's role doesn't end in the gut. It's absorbed into the circulation, and may exert effects on the rest of the body as well. In human blood immune cells, butyrate is potently anti-inflammatory***.
Butyrate Increases Resistance to Metabolic and Physical Stress
Certain types of fiber reduce atherosclerosis in animal models, and this effect may be due to butyrateproduction produced when the fiber is fermented. Fiber intake was associated with lower blood markers of inflammation in the Women's Health Initiative study, and has been repeatedly associated with lower heart attack risk and reduced progression of atherosclerosis in humans. Butyrate alsosharply reduces the harmful effects of type 1 diabetes in rats, as does dietary fiber to a lesser extent.
Butyrate increases the function and survival of mice with certain neurodegenerative diseases. Polyglutamine diseases, which are the most common class of genetic neurodegenerative diseases, are delayed in mice treated with butyrate (1, 2, 3). Many of you have probably heard of Huntington's disease, which is the most common of the class. I did my thesis on a polyglutamine disease called SCA7, and this is the first suggestion I've seen that diet may be able to modify its course.
Yet another interesting finding in the first paper I discussed: mice treated with butyrate were more cold-resistant than the comparison group. When they were both placed in a cold room, body temperature dropped quite a bit in the comparison group, while it remained relatively stable in the butyrate group, despite the fact that the butyrate group was leaner****. This was due to increased heat production in the butyrate group.
Due to the potent effect butyrate has on a number of bodily processes, it may be a fundamental controller of metabolism, stress resistance and the immune system in mammals.
An Ancient Line of Communication Between Symbiotic Organisms
Why does butyrate have so much control over inflammation? Let's think about where it comes from. Bacteria in the gut produce it. It's a source of energy, so our bodies take it up readily. It's one of the main molecules that passes from the symbiotic (helpful) bacteria in the gut to the rest of the body. Could it be that the body receives butyrate as a signal that there's a thriving colony of symbiotic bacteria in the gut, inducing immune tolerance to them? The body may alter its immune response (inflammation) in order to permit a mutually beneficial relationship between itself and its symbionts.
Sources of Butyrate
There are two main ways to get butyrate and other short-chain fatty acids. The first is to eat fiber and let your intestinal bacteria do the rest. Whole plant foods such as sweet potatoes, properly preparedwhole grains, beans, vegetables, fruit and nuts are good sources of fiber. Refined foods such as white flour, white rice and sugar are very low in fiber. Clinical trials have shown that increasing dietary fiber increases butyrate production, and decreasing fiber decreases it (free full text).
Butyrate also occurs in significant amounts in food. What foods contain butyrate? Hmm, I wonder where the name BUTYR-ate came from? Butter perhaps? Butter is 3-4 percent butyrate, the richest known source. But everyone knows butter is bad for you, right?
After thinking about it, I've decided that butyrate may have been a principal component of Dr. Weston Price's legendary butter oil. Price used this oil in conjunction with high-vitamin cod liver oil to heal tooth decay and a number of other ailments in his patients. The method he used to produce it would have concentrated fats with a low melting temperature, including butyrate, in addition to vitamin K2*****. Thus, the combination of high-vitamin cod liver oil and butter oil would have provided a potent cocktail of fat-soluble vitamins (A, D3, K2), omega-3 fatty acids and butyrate. It's no wonder it was so effective in his patients.
* According to insulin tolerance test.
** Acetate (acetic acid, the main acid in vinegar), propionate and butyrate are the primary three fatty acids produced by intestinal fermentation.
*** The lowest concentration used in this study, 30 micromolar, is probably higher than the concentration in peripheral serum under normal circumstances. Human serum butyrate is in the range of 4 micromolar in British adults, and 29 micromolar in the hepatic portal vein which brings fats from the digestive tract to the liver (ref). This would likely be at least two-fold higher in populations eating high-fiber diets.
**** Due to higher mitochondrial density in brown fat and more mitochondrial uncoupling.
***** Slow crystallization, which selectively concentrates triglycerides with a low melting point.
Magnesium and Vitamin D Metabolism
Ted Hutchinson posted a link in the comments section of my last post, pointing to a page on the Vitamin D Council's website where Dr. John Cannell discusses cofactors required for proper vitamin D metabolism. It's actually the site's home page, highlighting how important he feels this matter is. In this case, 'cofactor' simply means another nutrient that's required for the efficient production and use of vitamin D. They include:
The bottom line is that no nutrient acts in a vacuum. The effect of every part of one's diet and lifestyle is dependent on every other part. I often talk about single nutrients on this blog, but my core philosophy is that a proper diet focuses on Real Food, not nutrients. Tinkering with nutritional status using supplements is potentially problematic. Despite what some people might tell you, our understanding of nutrition and human health is currently rather crude-- so it's best to respect the accumulated wisdom of cultures that don't get the diseases we're trying to avoid.
- Magnesium
- Zinc
- Vitamin K2
- Vitamin A
- Boron
Magnesium... is essential for the normal function of the parathyroid glands, metabolism of vitamin D and adequate sensitivity of target tissues to [parathyroid hormone] and active vitamin D metabolites. Magnesium deficit is usually associated with hypoparathyroidism, low production of active vitamin D metabolites, in particular 1,25(OH)2 vitamin D3 and resistance to PTH and vitamin D. On the contrary, magnesium excess, similar to calcium, inhibits PTH secretion. Bone metabolism is impaired under positive as well as under negative magnesium balance.Magnesium status is critical for normal vitamin D metabolism, insulin sensitivity, and overall health. Supplemental magnesium blocks atherosclerosis in multiple animal models (3, 4). Most Americans don't get enough magnesium (5).
The bottom line is that no nutrient acts in a vacuum. The effect of every part of one's diet and lifestyle is dependent on every other part. I often talk about single nutrients on this blog, but my core philosophy is that a proper diet focuses on Real Food, not nutrients. Tinkering with nutritional status using supplements is potentially problematic. Despite what some people might tell you, our understanding of nutrition and human health is currently rather crude-- so it's best to respect the accumulated wisdom of cultures that don't get the diseases we're trying to avoid.
My review of Trim Healthy Mama (THM) - The good, the bad, and the ugly
The good: The concept of separating carbs and fats for weight loss is effective, sustainable, and healthy.
The bad: The Frankensweeteners and stevia recommended as "natural" sugar alternatives can cause serious harm, including miscarriage and infertility.
The ugly: The authors of the book and those running the THM boards on Facebook and elsewhere do not want this information to become public.
Read on below for an in-depth review of the book, the concept behind it, its potential pitfalls, and how to actually make it work AND be healthy doing so.
Maybe you have heard about the latest "rage" in weight loss - the Trim Healthy Mama (THM) book by Pearl Barrett and Serene Allison. The book came out about 18 months ago, and has gained popularity especially over the past year. So much so, that Amazon regularly sells out of it completely.
The good:
Most weight loss plans follow one of the following ideas:
(1) Reduce overall caloric intake. This causes the metabolism to slow down, stalling weight loss. It is also hard to sustain, as the human body is not programmed to run on empty for extended periods of time. People struggling with weight in the first place likely will not have the will power to consume less calories than they are needing for months or even years to reach their goal weight. It's easy to fall off the wagon, and yo-yo dieting ensues.
(2) Cut out fats. Eating healthy fats is CRUCIAL not only for overall health, hormone balance, and brain function, but it is also an integral part of losing weight. People do not get fat from eating healthy fats. In fact, quite the contrary is true. Of course, modern, altered "fats" such as margarine, hydrogenated vegetable oils, and other denatured products are very unhealthy, but they should not be allowed to give fats in general a bad name.
(3) Cut out carbohydrates. While an over-consumption of simple carbs is the main culprit behind excess weight, carbs should not be cut out from the diet entirely. "Give us this day our daily bread" in the Lord's prayer should put that issue to bed for good. Again, as with fats, there is a huge difference between healthy carbs, and those that are, indeed, destructive to good health.
The basic weight loss concept underlying the Trim Healthy Mama book falls into none of the above categories. The authors recognize that healthy, traditional fats play a crucial part in achieving and maintaining healthy weight, and do a good job of explaining this. Likewise, they do not advocate for "low carb" or "paleo/primal" diets, because they know that carbs play an important role in fueling our bodies.
They then go on to explain quite nicely how our bodies respond to both types of primary fuel - carbs and fats - and how the metabolizing of them interferes with one another.
Their conclusion for weight loss, in a nutshell, is this: do not consume fats and carbs in the same meal. To be more specific, a fat-fueled meal (called an "S" meal in the book for "satisfying") should contain no more than 10 g of net carbs, while a carb-fueled meal (called an "E" meal for "energizing") should contain no more than 5 g of fat.
Furthermore, not just any carbs and fats are plan approved. Denatured Frankenfats are out, while butter is promoted (rightfully so). Simple carbs, even in "healthy" forms such as juice, are not "on plan" - only complex carbs that have been properly prepared through soaking and/or sprouting and/or sourdough fermentation are allowed.
Some others have criticized the program, saying it is incompatible with a whole foods lifestyle, but I have to disagree on that point. The plan can be as packed with whole foods as one wants it to be. Remember, the only critical underlying premise is not to mix carbs and fats in the same meal. One could easily make their own sourdough or sprouted bread, make their own almond milk, etc. Likewise, instead of using egg whites from a carton, one could simply separate their own, homegrown eggs, and use the yolks in another meal. There is nothing inherently "denatured" to the program itself, though some of the foods that are recommended or included in the recipes call for weird ingredients, such as "defatted peanut flour" or a highly processed type of whey protein. There is absolutely no need to choose those particular recipes.
For the vast majority of people, even if they decide to use some of the stranger ingredients suggested, the "on plan" foods will still be a great improvement from the standard American diet. In fact, even just cutting out liquid carbs and other simple starches like pasta will do wonders for their waistline.
As far as the recipes in the book go - they are a good starting point for getting ideas, but taste-wise, they are mostly "meh" at best. The THM Pinterest page, however, is packed with wonderful recipe ideas from all over the web, as are numerous other websites such as Gwen's Nest.
Should you buy the book? Maybe. If you have never read "Nourishing Traditions," or books such as "Eat Fat, Lose Fat" that debunk modern food myths, Trim Healthy Mama will help teach you about nutrition.
However, please be warned not to jump into the program both feet first until you read the rest of this post.
The bad:
I have already mentioned that some of the ingredient suggestions are a little fad-ish, but whatever - they are not integral to the program at all.
My one, big, huge, main problem with the THM program is with the supposedly healthy and safe sweeteners that are "on plan". While the authors correctly speak out against artificial sweeteners such as Splenda, aspartame, etc., they then go on to allow only two types of sweeteners for the THM plan:
(1) Hydrogenated sugar alcohols, i.e. xylitol and erythritol. These are about as healthy and natural as their names suggest. Their safety (or rather lack thereof) has already been covered in other articles readily available online, such as Natural News, Crunchy Betty, and The Healthy Home Economist. So for the sake of time, I will just point my readers to those resources readily available online.
(2) Stevia. This singular ingredient is really what is giving me a bad taste for the whole program, and why I am reluctant to recommend it to anyone without going into a big speech explaining why the on plan sweeteners are to be avoided, and how to substitute for them.
Before I go off on stevia specifically, I would like to address the problems associated with any zero-calorie sweetener, no matter how "natural" it claims to be, or even may be. From aspartame to stevia, and everything in between, sweet foods that are not accompanied by actual carbohydrates wreak havoc on human metabolism. Our bodies are programmed to expect carb-based fuels when we taste something sweet. Accordingly, the body prepares for this by releasing insulin, and getting ready to metabolize the incoming fuel. Which may never come, if we are really just downing a diet soda, or coffee sweetened with stevia. Again, this topic has been covered by others extensively, such as on Empowered Sustenance. It is a well-known fact that sugar-free foods cause weight gain, as evidenced by overweight people everywhere guzzling diet sodas.
But back to stevia. It's an herb, so it's natural, which automatically means it's healthy, right? WRONG. Arsenic is a natural substance, too. As are many other poisons, venoms, and toxins.
Stevia, like a number of other herbs, has traditionally been known to cause infertility in both men and women. So much so, that women in South America (where this plant grows) were known to drink it as tea as a form of birth control.
But unfortunately, it doesn't end there. The reality is, that stevia, like a number of other herbs, can and does act as an abortifacient, or an "implantation preventer." I recently blogged about herbs of this type in my post "Sarah, the Healthy Home Abortionist." If one believes that life begins at conception (as we do), use of such herbs during the reproductive years of a woman's life should be out of the question.
Will every pregnancy end in miscarriage if you use stevia? No. Will stevia cause all women to become infertile? No. Some women are affected by herbs more than others. In fact, ironically, the healthier you are going into it, the more effectively your body will respond to herbs. Some women are affected more than others specifically by stevia because of the fact that it is in the ragweed family. If you suffer from seasonal allergies, chances are stevia will affect you worse than those who do not suffer from these allergies. Since we cannot know exactly how it affects each of us individually, we should just stay away from it altogether, rather than playing Russian roulette with the lives of our unborn. Just because your cycles are starting on time, does not mean you didn't have a "silent" miscarriage due to the damage done to your hormone levels (an aspect well explained in the article on Empowered Sustenance), and thus your reproductive system, by stevia.
Another common, negative side effect of stevia stems from the fact that it lowers blood pressure. While this may be great for those suffering from hypertension, people with naturally low blood pressure such as myself may find that stevia lowers their blood pressure to the point where they experience headaches, start seeing black spots, have tunnel vision, or even black out. This in spite of the book's claim that:
(Page 184)
The ugly:
I really was not looking forward to writing this part, but feel it has become necessary because of the growing popularity of the THM program.
Time and again, the question comes up in various THM groups on Facebook of whether or not the plan-approved sweeteners are really safe. These type of discussions are always, without exception, quickly dismissed along the lines of "Yes, they are, and it's all covered in xyz the spot"
The fact of the matter is that the THM book only very briefly touches on the safety concerns regarding stevia, in a total of 2 paragraphs. The only source they point their readers to verify the safety of stevia is the website www.stevia.net - I am certain there is nothing partial on that site, right? By that same token, why not go to www.splenda.com and read all about how healthy and beneficial their artificial sweetener is, complete with "scientific studies" to prove their point.
(page 183 and 184)
I have talked to a number of women who directly blame stevia for their inability to become pregnant, or for a miscarriage - myself being one of them. The authors' above claim to the contrary is either not true, or they are simply shutting these women down before giving them a chance to explain their point.
The question specifically of whether or not stevia causes miscarriage is shut down and deleted from any public discussion almost immediately. Even on threads where members specifically ask, "Is this safe? What are everyone's experiences?" other members are not allowed to weigh in with any advice that contradicts the "stevia is safe" dogma, not even if they accompany it with saying something along the lines of "the plan is great, it works if you use raw honey or maple syrup, but I, too, do not feel that stevia is safe, and think it may be to blame for infertility or miscarriage." One of the administrators, who deleted all my comments on the thread (all of which repeatedly stated that the program itself is great, and effective, but that stevia should be avoided), wrote to tell me that:
I will not allow any other posts like the ones I've removed to stay up on the board, because it plants unnecessary and unfounded seeds of fear in the minds of other ladies.
Hm, where have I heard that lingo before... Oh, that's right, it's the same line the pro-GMO companies use. "We can't label foods as containing GMOs, because it will unnecessarily frighten consumers." I guess the THM administrators do not think their readers are smart enough to be presented with both sides of an issue, and come to a conclusion for themselves. If stevia is so safe and harmless, there is nothing to fear. If I told you bananas cause infertility and miscarriage, the National Banana Board would at best get a laugh out of me, but certainly not go on a crusade to shut down all such claims by anyone. If doubts need to be hidden and scrubbed in a concerted effort to silence them, maybe there is a reason they keep "persistently popping up," as the authors themselves put it. Maybe, just maybe, there is truth in it?
The same administrator also told me:
The allegations you're making against the use of stevia are so far as I can tell based simply on anecdotal evidence alone.
Anecdotal - maybe. Sort of like the author declaring stevia as safe because both herself, as well as other ladies she knows, became pregnant while using stevia. People also become pregnant while taking birth control pills, or having IUDs in place, both of which are much stronger and more effective than stevia. All scientific research starts out with anecdotal indications for or against an issue, which is what then motivates a closer examination by way of a study. Seeing as we live in a society that by and large heavily promotes birth control, and does not think that life begins at conception, I do not think that there are any laboratories, universities, or research labs interested in spending time and money to find out just how stevia affects the uterine lining, and what percentage of women will suffer a "silent abortion," in a country where thousands of babies are consciously aborted every single day. This information is hard to come by for birth control pills, whose express purpose is the prevention and interruption of pregnancy - how much more so for an herb that few people care at all about?
The truth of the matter is that there is virtually no research available on how stevia affects fertility and the female reproductive system, either negatively or positively. We are, therefore, forced to come to a decision based on anecdotal evidence, rather than to simply assume it's safe. Shouldn't the burden of proof be on them to show that stevia does NOT negatively impact fertility, and cause miscarriage? There are only two publicly available studies that investigate the effects of stevia on fertility, and both came to the conclusion that it reduces fertility.
To be fair, I would like to mention that there are a number of women who follow the THM plan, lose large amounts of weight, overcome PCOS, and as a result, are able to become pregnant. Clearly, not all women miscarry every pregnancy if consuming any amount of stevia. Like I said, for the majority of women, overcoming their addiction to simple carbs, and adding healthy fats to the diet, will greatly improve their overall health. But this does not negate the fact that stevia is still harmful. It's just the least of a severely overweight person's health problems.
From my own anecdotal evidence, I used stevia very sparingly (every few days in small amounts) for about 4 or 5 weeks, before discontinuing its use because it was making my blood pressure drop dangerously low, to the point where I was on the verge of passing out every time I used stevia. In spite of my very minimal consumption of it, I suffered TWO early miscarriages in two consecutive cycles, once while still using stevia, and the second shortly after discontinuing it. I know miscarriages are common and occur for a number of reasons, but in all our married years (13 and counting), we had only suffered two other miscarriages, and one of those was caused by recently having come off birth control pills. It was not until the second miscarriage that I started to put the puzzle pieces together, mostly due to other people pointing out their "ancedotal" connection of stevia and miscarriage.
I have since talked to many other women who reported being unable to become pregnant while consuming any amount of stevia, no matter how small, and who got pregnant immediately after discontinuing it. The THM group on Facebook for pregnant and nursing moms is replete with stories of moms who report having a miscarriage, many of them habitually. One time, 5 of the 6 posts at the top of the wall were about a mom just having had a miscarriage while "on plan," which presumably involves stevia. While I am not at all claiming that all these are caused by stevia, or that the mothers are to blame, it definitely should give us pause. True, among a group of people who generally embrace fertility and large families, there will inevitably be more miscarriages, simply because there will be more pregnancies - but even accounting for that, the THM boards seem to have an abnormally high rate of miscarriage.This has been pointed out time and again by other people, not just me - but like mine, their comments always get deleted.
Why would the authors want to hide this controversy? In a word, because it's inconvenient. It would fly in the face of their religious belief that life begins at conception, so they would be forced to deal with it if it were true. Not being able to use stevia would make it much more complicated to explain and implement their plan. Just as there is a difference between good fats and bad, there is a world of difference between real, raw honey, and the stuff sold at grocery stores. Furthermore, it would be hard to come up with scrumptious, fat-laden desserts that only use minimal amounts of sweets (carbs). Stevia allows sugar-addicted American palates to "have their cake and eat it, too"
Their highly popular book, that they put so much time and work into, would need to be majorly revised, which may kill it altogether.
Plus, the authors are in the process of releasing their own line of stevia sweeteners.
Ignorance is bliss in their situation. What they don't know CAN hurt them, and the ladies they lead on to believe that stevia is safe.
To click here to read "4 Reasons Why I'm not a Trim, Healthy Mama" by the Nourishing Herbalist. Lots of interesting info in that post, too.
To click here to read "4 Reasons Why I'm not a Trim, Healthy Mama" by the Nourishing Herbalist. Lots of interesting info in that post, too.
The healthy alternative: real, whole, low-glycemic sweeteners in moderate amounts
Like I said at the beginning of this post, the basic underlying concept of separating carbs and fats is very effective. I have recommended the program to a number of people, all of which have seen great success with it, whether or not they use only plan-approved sweeteners.
My recommendation is to use raw honey or grade B maple syrup for all E meals, and in moderate amounts (up to 1 tsp per serving) for S meals. This will not interfere with the effectiveness of the program at all, and you will be able to successfully and relatively painlessly lose weight following these basic principles. The biggest challenge are desserts - they need to be S to be tasty and decadent as one would expect a dessert to be, but that means they cannot contain too much honey or the meal will be carb-laden. Making S treats only occasionally (as in, every few days), even if they contain more than the 1 tsp of honey I recommend, will not throw you off plan. Also, your palate will adjust to needing less and less sweetness the more the sugar addiction is broken. Or, switch to E desserts, which are harder to find recipes for, but can be just as tasty.
I myself am currently on the program, not with the goal of losing weight, but maintaining my current weight for the rest of this pregnancy. When we found out I was expecting twins, I was told to gain 50-70 lbs. I typically gain about 25-30, so this was a shocker, but I followed the advice because our smaller baby was only getting a fraction of the food I was eating due to his poor cord insertion. Well, when he passed away at 20 weeks, I had already gained 40 lbs. There really is no need for me to gain any more. In fact, I find that when I follow the program, I end up eating way more calories than when I'm off plan, simply because being on plan makes my metabolism run in high gear, so I know baby is getting enough even though I am not gaining (as also evidenced by his excellent growth and health based on ultrasound exams). Actually, if I stay on program all day, every day, I quickly lose weight even while pregnant, and that while using raw honey and grade B maple syrup whenever I like. So every few days, I have to get off program and consume meals that contain both carbs and fats, even simple carbs, just to stay with my goal of maintaining rather than losing.
Another tweak that I have made while pregnant is to continue drinking fresh, whole, raw milk, which is always "off plan." Milk contains large amounts of lactose (which is a type of sugar, and therefore a carb), as well as fat. As such, it is by definition not compatible with the THM plan. However, not only does raw milk have a low glycemic index, I think that drinking it is important because I am pregnant, and milk is crucial for growing babies. My own "rule" for using milk and still losing weight is to use 1/2 cup or less for S meals, or count it as an E food if I have more than 1/2 cup. I also do not consume more than 1 cup at a time. Following these guidelines, like I said, has not stood in the way of weight loss for me. When I am not expecting, I do not drink fresh milk, but rather make my own kefir from raw milk. That way, all the benefits of drinking raw milk are preserved, while the lactose has been removed by way of fermentation. For people with digestive issues, drinking soured milk (i.e. kefir) rather than fresh milk is a much better option, anyway.
In conclusion, the plan works. In fact, it works very well, it works fast, and going from being "on plan" to just a regular, whole foods diet (NOT the standard American diet) that contains both fats and carbs in the same meal will not make you regain the lost weight, but rather just maintain your current weight. You will be able to have bacon and eggs for breakfast one day, oatmeal the next, and all sorts of other satisfying foods that will keep you from feeling hungry or deprived. As such, it is the near perfect diet plan - just so long you stay away from the at best questionable "on plan" sweeteners. Your palate may need to adjust to not craving sweets and simple carbs all the time, but eventually, if the weight loss is going to be permanent, this is a necessary component anyway.
Please do weigh in below with your experiences on the program, with the issues surrounding the sweeteners I mentioned, or anything else that would be valuable to this discussion.
Another tweak that I have made while pregnant is to continue drinking fresh, whole, raw milk, which is always "off plan." Milk contains large amounts of lactose (which is a type of sugar, and therefore a carb), as well as fat. As such, it is by definition not compatible with the THM plan. However, not only does raw milk have a low glycemic index, I think that drinking it is important because I am pregnant, and milk is crucial for growing babies. My own "rule" for using milk and still losing weight is to use 1/2 cup or less for S meals, or count it as an E food if I have more than 1/2 cup. I also do not consume more than 1 cup at a time. Following these guidelines, like I said, has not stood in the way of weight loss for me. When I am not expecting, I do not drink fresh milk, but rather make my own kefir from raw milk. That way, all the benefits of drinking raw milk are preserved, while the lactose has been removed by way of fermentation. For people with digestive issues, drinking soured milk (i.e. kefir) rather than fresh milk is a much better option, anyway.
In conclusion, the plan works. In fact, it works very well, it works fast, and going from being "on plan" to just a regular, whole foods diet (NOT the standard American diet) that contains both fats and carbs in the same meal will not make you regain the lost weight, but rather just maintain your current weight. You will be able to have bacon and eggs for breakfast one day, oatmeal the next, and all sorts of other satisfying foods that will keep you from feeling hungry or deprived. As such, it is the near perfect diet plan - just so long you stay away from the at best questionable "on plan" sweeteners. Your palate may need to adjust to not craving sweets and simple carbs all the time, but eventually, if the weight loss is going to be permanent, this is a necessary component anyway.
Please do weigh in below with your experiences on the program, with the issues surrounding the sweeteners I mentioned, or anything else that would be valuable to this discussion.
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