“Food May Be Essential As Fuel For The Body, But Good Food Is Fuel For the Soul.” – Malcolm Forbes
IT’S EARLY MORNING, near the close of April. I recalled that the coffee shop was the city’s center from Google Maps. I walked past the vicar forane woman standing on the porch of the presbytery, waiting for his carriage. I opened the door, smelled the brewing coffee, skimmed the room, and noticed a man in his mind 40’s of mixed heritage beaconing at me. We have only met via virtual conference; we live in an exciting world with optimism and dystopia. We have a meeting to discuss the manuscript of my new book. Sitting next to our table, a young white couple was drawn to the book “Eat to Beat Diet” on their table. It seemed I had read the book before; maybe it was just Deja Vu.
About an hour later in my, sipping my second cuppa for the day, listening to positives from the FM radio, moving my head from left to right, and singing along but out of tune most of the time. A few minutes later drove into my garage next to the artificial lake in the middle of nowhere. I scanned my library, and thoughts of my 50 books reading community challenge have been trending on social media. I picked up the book “Eat to Beat your diet” a great book to read this week. I started flipping, and the section on metabolism caught my attention. If you have previously read my LinkedIn newsletter “You are what your mother ate,” serendipitously, I found that my glucose was out of whack. “Doctors are the worse patients,” not exactly; the problem is complicated and multi-factorial.
In his book beat your diet by William W.Li, MD, the concept of metabolism dates back to at least the thirteenth century and is inextricably linked to nutrition. An Egyptian physician Ibn al-Nafis wrote the first documented description in 1260 CE: “Both the body and its part are in a conscious state of dissolution and nourishment, so they are inevitably undergoing permanent change.” 1614, a physician named Santorio Sanctorius tried to measure his metabolism. Sanctorius stays in a chair device suspended like a swing set and connected to a weight scale. While eating, working, defecating, and even sleeping, he would calculate how his body weight changed due to each activity.
The damage to your metabolism and health is caused by accumulating excess fat, called “Metabolic syndrome.”
At your next visit to your family physician, you might want to ask her how do I know if I have metabolic syndrome. If you have three or more of these signs: (At the time of writing this blog and drinking coffee, my blood glucose was less than 8mmol/L despite enjoying fries, burger, and diet coke with my two kids yesterday!)
• Fasting blood sugar higher than 100mg/dl
• Blood pressure higher than 130/85mmhg
• Blood triglyceride levels greater than 150mg/dl
• Low levels of the goods HDL cholesterol
• Waist size greater than 40 inches for a man and 35 inches for a woman
Here’s a scoreboard of how you can help your metabolism. Each food can have one or more of these benefits:
• Reduce the inflammation caused by excess fat.
• Improve your body’s sensitivity to insulin
• Activate the pathways that trigger thermogenesis in brown fat.
• Cause white fat to become fat or beige fat ( brown fat-like)
• Direct stem cells to make more desirable brown fat instead of harmful white fat
• Reduce the amount of visceral fat, shrinking waist size!
• Produce more of the beneficial hormone adiponectin from healthy fat cells.
• Improve Lipid metabolism by restoring the microbiome.
• Slow fat’s ability to grow
• Suppress your appetite!
An ideal diet should balance macronutrients (carbohydrates, protein, and fat) and micronutrients (vitamins and minerals) in the appropriate proportions to support good health.
Some key characteristics of an ideal diet are:
- Adequate protein: Protein is essential for building and repairing tissues, maintaining muscle mass, and supporting various physiological processes. The recommended daily protein intake for adults is about 0.8 grams per kilogram of body weight. Good protein sources include lean meats, fish, eggs, beans, lentils, and nuts.
- Complex carbohydrates: Complex carbohydrates are an essential source of energy for the body. They provide sustained energy and can help regulate blood sugar levels. Whole grains, fruits, and vegetables are excellent sources of complex carbohydrates.
- Healthy fats: Healthy fats such as monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats are essential for brain health, heart health, and hormone production. Good sources of healthy fats include nuts, seeds, avocados, olive oil, and fatty fish.
- Vitamins and minerals: A diet that includes a variety of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean protein, and healthy fats will provide the necessary vitamins and minerals for good health. Eating a rainbow of colorful fruits and vegetables can help you get a wide range of nutrients.
- Adequate hydration: Staying hydrated is essential for good health. Adults’ recommended daily water intake is about 2 to 3 liters per day, depending on activity level, climate, and other factors.
- Limited processed foods and added sugars: Processed foods and added sugars can contribute to weight gain and other health problems. Limiting these foods and focusing on whole, minimally processed foods instead is best.
It’s important to note that individual nutrient needs may vary based on age, sex, activity level, and overall health status. It’s always a good idea to consult a healthcare professional or registered dietitian to help you develop an ideal diet plan that meets your needs and preferences.
Hippocrates of Kos (circa 460-370 BCE), the father of modern medicine, wrote in his journal, Aphorisms:
When more food than is proper has been taken, it’s occasions disease. We must also consider in which cases food is to be given once or twice a day, in more significant or smaller quantities, and at intervals. Something must be conceded to habit, season, country, and age. Growing bodies have the most innate heat; they, therefore, require the most food, for otherwise, their bodies are wasted. In older people, the heat is feeble, and consequently, they need little fuel, as it were, to the flame, for it would be extinguished by much.
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50 Books Reading challenge 2023
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FOOTNOTES:
Christopher Palmer MD , BRAIN ENERGY
William W.Li MD, EAT To BEAT YOUR DIET