Sweet Potato & Lentil Buddha Bowl

Quick Tomato Basil Zoodles

I’ve been wanting to share more recipes with you guys but I’m in such a rush during the week, I often feel like I don’t have time to post. But then I thought, why does it have to be a big, long, epic, post?? It doesn’t! So, here’s my dinner from tonight… Quick tomato basil zoodles!... Read More » The post Quick Tomato Basil Zoodles appeared first on Running on Real Food.

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How to Brush Your Teeth Correctly

I’m guessing (or at least hoping) that you learned to brush your teeth at a really young age and you’ve probably been brushing them pretty much that same way since then. You may have gotten a more grown up toothpaste that doesn’t taste like bubblegum and your toothbrush may not have a picture of Elmo on it anymore, but you likely still use the same method to brush.

A Better Way to Brush?

Just like we eventually grow out of bubblegum flavored blue toothpaste (Tip: use a natural toothpaste with your kids too!), there is a science-backed and more effective way to brush your teeth as well. Statistically, all of us could use an upgrade to our oral hygiene habits anyway, as over 90% of adults have some form of gum disease!

The early symptoms of gum disease are often ignored, and what starts as just bleeding gums or bad breath can eventually cause severe oral health problems and even tooth loss. Research is finding that not only is gum disease a leading cause of tooth loss in adults, but those bacteria living in the mouth and under the gums can cause systemic problems in the body as well! (That is why those with heart trouble and certain other medical conditions are told to take an antibiotic whenever getting their teeth cleaned at the dentist.)

While brushing alone won’t necessarily stop gum disease, there is a particular method of brushing that was discovered years ago that more effectively fights these harmful strains of bacteria in the mouth.

It’s All About That Bass…

Ok, ok… not the song, but an old school doctor named Dr. Charles Bass who discovered this method of brushing (now called the Bass Brushing method). At the time, Dr. Bass was the youngest person to become Dean of a medical school and was a pioneer in his field, carrying the first microscope west of the Mississippi River. (source)

Although he was academically gifted, his teeth weren’t as genetically fortunate, and at a young age, he was diagnosed with advanced gum disease and his dentist recommended complete removal of all of his teeth. He didn’t find this option particularly appealing (who would!) and instead decided to use his medical knowledge to try to address the disease scientifically.

Using his microscope, Dr. Bass identified the strains of bacteria in his mouth and used the microscope to gauge if different methods he tried were working to fight his gum disease, eventually identifying a method of brushing and a special toothbrush that helped reverse his gum disease. He was said to have died with all of his teeth in his mouth.

Why You Should Brush Your Gums

The method that Dr. Bass discovered for brushing, the “Bass Brushing” technique, is effective because it addresses bacterial colonization in the gums and doesn’t just focus on “scrubbing” the surface of the teeth. Dr. Bass found that many toothbrushes are too abrasive with bristles too close together to effectively address bacteria in the gums, so he created a brush called the Bass Brush that has bristles farther apart to be able to effectively reach the gums as well.

These specialized brushes also have rounded tips instead of the sharp/straight tips of most bristles, making them gentler on the gums. I have several family members who were told they were brushing too hard and had receding gums as a result. This brushing method and these more gentle toothbrushes help address this problem as well. Here’s a visual of the difference:

While the Bass Brushes are recommended for this method (and they are the brushes we use), some people have noticed some of the benefits from using the Bass method with their regular toothbrushes.

How to Brush Your Teeth With the Bass Brushing Method

First, hold the toothbrush gently! You’re not cleaning a grout line, so rather than holding the toothbrush like a scrub brush, hold it gently so your arm can relax and apply the small movements required for the Bass brushing technique:

• Hold the brush at the commonly recognized 45 degree angle to the tooth and gum line.
• The main difference in the Bass technique is how small the movements are. The Bass brushing technique uses very small lateral strokes along the gum line.
• It’s almost like you aren’t “brushing” your teeth. Rather, you place the toothbrush at a spot along the gum line and gently wiggle using very small, fine back-and-forth motions to get the bristles down between the teeth and under the gum line.
• Count to 5, then move to the next place with your brush and repeat.
• The small motion takes practice, but in time, you will be amazed at how much healthier your gums will feel!

Here’s a video that shows the method and explains why it works:

My Personal Tooth Brushing Story

When I was younger, I had swollen gums that started when I had braces (the latex in the rubber bands irritated my gums). Even years after the braces came off, my dentist always commented that my gums were swollen, especially on my bottom front teeth. A few years ago, he was worried that I had the beginning of gingivitis in my gums and that due to the swelling, it was hard to effectively clean under the gums.

It wasn’t until years later when I started using natural toothpaste options and Bass Toothbrushes that the swelling in my gums finally went away completely. Since switching, my gums are not swollen and my teeth are no longer sensitive to cold. I often use OraWellness Heal Thy Mouth Blend as toothpaste or in homemade toothpaste recipes since it contains oils that help battle the bacteria in the mouth.

If you want a more paste-like option for toothpaste, I recommend these homemade recipes:

• Homemade Remineralizing Toothpaste
• DIY Squeezable Toothpaste
• Herbal Tooth Powder Recipe

Even if you decide to stick with the cartoon character toothbrush, try brushing your teeth with the Bass Brushing Method instead. Your teeth and gums will thank you!

Ever used a Bass toothbrush or any other natural toothpaste? Share your experience below!

Continue Reading...How to Brush Your Teeth Correctly

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Refreshing Infused Water Recipes

Add some flavor to your filtered water with fresh fruit and herbs for the most delicious and refreshing way to hydrate!  How epically delicious do these infused waters look? We’ve been using all 4 of these recipes while in San Miguel and all I can say is I CAN NOT WAIT for summer when produce...

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Macro Friendly Foods for Vegan Flexible Dieting

Hey friends! So, after two weeks of having my nutrition 100% on point I am feeling so, so, so good. My weight hasn’t really changed and whatevs, I feel great, have been having awesome workouts and am looking leaner, so I’m super pumped! It makes it easy to stick to it when you can see and feel... Read More » The post Macro Friendly Foods for Vegan Flexible Dieting appeared first on Running on Real Food.

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Best workout nutrition strategies. A useful guide for what to eat before, during, and after exercise.

Looking for the best workout nutrition strategies to help improve performance, drop body fat, and gain lean muscle? Look no further. This article will teach you what to eat before, during, and after exercise for your specific goals.

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Just how important is workout nutrition anyway? Does eating specific things, at specific times, improve performance and help add lean muscle while losing fat? And, if so, what should you eat before, during, and after exercise?

These are common questions here at Precision Nutrition. Which is why, in this article, I’ll review the science of workout nutrition (you might be surprised by what I find) and share some of the best workout nutrition strategies for different goals.

• Want a quick guide? Check out our infographic: Workout nutrition illustrated. What to eat before, during, and after exercise. Health and fitness pros, feel free to print this out for your clients.

How to know if workout nutrition is important for you (or your clients).

At Precision Nutrition, we’ve worked with over 45,000 men and women through our nutrition coaching programs. Through this experience we’ve developed an advanced understanding of how workout nutrition strategies should vary from person to person.

What’s true for the pre-diabetic office worker who’s never exercised is certainly not true for the serious endurance runner or the long-time bodybuilder.

In general, the people who stand to benefit most from specific nutritional strategies around their workouts are athletes and competitors. For example:

• Endurance athletes training for high-level competition usually log a lot of miles each week. Their carbohydrate and calorie needs are likely higher. Therefore, adding a protein + carbohydrate (P+C) drink during training can help.
• Bodybuilders usually lift weights with serious muscle growth in mind. They often want to gain weight and require more protein and calories. A protein + carbohydrate (P+C) drink during training can help here too.
• Fitness competitors usually accumulate a lot of exercise hours trying to drop to a single-digit body fat percentage. To accomplish this, carb and calorie intake should be lower. A performance-enhancing, muscle-preserving branched-chain-amino acids (BCAA) drink during training can help.

Here’s a handy table that outlines our recommendations by goal and by body type.

Workout nutrition guidelines by goal and body type

Body type	General goal	Pre-workout	During workout	Post-workout
Ectomorph	Muscle gain or endurance support	Eat normally 1-2h prior	1 P+C drink, BCAA drink, or water during	Eat normally 1-2h after
Mesomorph	Physique optimization or intermittent sport support	Eat normally 1-2h prior	1 P+C drink, BCAA drink, or water during	Eat normally 1-2h after
Endomorph	Fat loss or strength sport support	Eat normally 1-2h prior	1 BCAA drink or water during	Eat normally 1-2h after

Non-athletes: Focus on food quality and quantity.

For everyone else, eating a healthy, well-considered meal 1-2 hours before exercise, and another healthy, well-considered meal within 1-2 hours after exercise can meet workout nutrition needs without any other fancy strategies.

Therefore, if you:

• are exercising for general health and fitness;
• have modest goals; and/or
• don’t have unique physiological needs…

…then your workout nutrition strategies can be more basic.

Focus on:

• eliminating nutrient deficiencies;
• ensuring your portions are the right size; and
• starting to eating right for your body type.

For more on these, check out “The 3 steps I teach trainers and coaches to fix any diet problem”.

Workout nutrition in detail.

Now you have an overview of our workout nutrition recommendations for different goals, body types, and levels of experience. Some of you can probably stop there.

However, if you’d like to go deeper, let’s dig in.

First I’ll review what’s happening during the pre-exercise, during-exercise, and post-exercise time periods. Then I’ll share what to eat to get the most out of them.

Pre-exercise nutrition needs.

What and when you eat before exercise can make a big difference to your performance and recovery.

In the three hours before your workout, you’ll want to eat something that helps you:

• sustain energy;
• boost performance;
• hydrate;
• preserve muscle mass; and
• speed recovery.

Here are a few ways to ensure you’re meeting your requirements.

Protein before exercise.

Eating some protein in the few hours before exercise:

• Can help you maintain or even increase your muscle size. That’s important for anyone who wants to improve health, body composition, or performance.
• Can reduce markers of muscle damage (myoglobin, creatine kinase, and myofibrillar protein degradation). Or at least prevent them from getting worse. (Carbohydrates or a placebo eaten before exercise don’t seem to do the same thing.) The less damage to your muscles, the faster you recover, and the better you adapt to your exercise over the long term.
• Floods your bloodstream with amino acids just when your body needs them most. This boosts your muscle-building capabilities. So not only are you preventing damage, you’re increasing muscle size.

Before you rush off to mix a protein shake: While protein before a workout is a great idea, speed of digestion doesn’t seem to matter much. So any protein source, eaten within a few hours of the workout session, will do the trick.

Carbs before exercise.

Eating carbs before exercise:

• Fuels your training and helps with recovery. It’s a popular misconception that you only need carbs if you’re engaging in a long (more than two hour) bout of endurance exercise. In reality, carbs can also enhance shorter term (one hour) high-intensity training. So unless you’re just going for a quiet stroll, ensuring that you have some carbs in your system will improve high intensity performance.
• Preserves muscle and liver glycogen. This tells your brain that you are well fed, and helps increase muscle retention and growth.
• Stimulates the release of insulin. When combined with protein, this improves protein synthesis and prevents protein breakdown. Another reason why a mixed meal is a great idea. No sugary carb drinks required.

Fats before exercise.

Fats before exercise:

• Don’t appear to improve nor diminish sport performance. And they don’t seem to fuel performance — that’s what carbs are for.
• Do help to slow digestion, which maintains blood glucose and insulin levels and keeps you on an even keel.
• Provide some vitamins and minerals, and they’re important in everyone’s diet.

Pre-exercise nutrition in practice

With these things in mind, here are some practical recommendations for the pre-exercise period.

Depending on what suits your individual needs, you can simply have normal meal in the few hours before exercise. Or you can have a smaller meal just before your exercise session. (If you’re trying to put on mass, you may even want to do both.)

Option 1: 2-3 hours before exercise.

This far in advance of your workout, have a mixed meal and a low-calorie beverage like water.

If you’re a man, here’s what your meal might look like:

If you’re a woman, here’s what your meal might look like.

Note: Your actual needs will vary depending on your size, goals, genetics, and the duration and intensity of your activity.

For example, an endurance athlete preparing for a 20 mile run will need more carbs than someone getting ready for a 45 minute gym session.

This article talks more about how you can individualize these meals for your own needs.

Option 2: 0-60 minutes before training.

Rather than eating a larger meal 2-3 hours before exercise, some people like to eat a smaller meal closer to the session.

The only issue with that: the closer you get to your workout, the less time there is to digest. That’s why we generally recommend something liquid at this time, like a shake or a smoothie.

Yours might look like this:

• 1 scoop protein powder
• 1 fist of veggies (spinach works great in smoothies)
• 1-2 cupped handfuls of carbs (berries or a banana work great)
• 1 thumb of fats (like mixed nuts or flax seeds)
• low-calorie beverage like water or unsweetened almond milk

Here’s a delicious example:

• 1 scoop chocolate protein powder
• 1 fist spinach
• 1 banana
• 1 thumb peanut butter
• 8 oz. chocolate, unsweetened almond milk

It probably goes without saying, but with pre-training nutrition, choose foods that don’t bother your stomach. Because… er… you know what happens if you don’t.

During-exercise nutrition needs.

What you eat or drink during exercise is only important under specific circumstances. But if you are going to eat during exercise, your goals will be similar to those for pre-workout nutrition. Above all, you’ll want to maintain hydration.

Goals of nutrition during exercise:

• stay hydrated;
• provide immediate fuel;
• boost performance;
• preserve muscle; and
• improve recovery.

Protein during exercise.

Eating protein during exercise:

• Helps prevent muscle breakdown. This can lead to improved recovery and greater adaptation to training over the longer term. And this is especially true if it has been more than three hours since your last meal. You only need a small amount of protein to control protein breakdown — around 15 grams per hour. If you’re the type of person who prefers to exercise on an empty stomach, then 10-15 grams of BCAAs during training can be helpful.
• Is really only necessary for some people: athletes doing long, intense training bouts, multiple daily training sessions, and/or people trying to gain significant amounts of mass.

Carbs during exercise.

Eating carbs during exercise:

• Provides an immediate fuel source. This helps boost performance and facilitate faster recovery. It keeps our stress hormone cortisol down, and beneficial hormones up.
• Is only beneficial in certain circumstances: endurance athletes on long runs, for people who want to gain a lot of muscle, and for highly active people who need every calorie they can get to increase size, strength, and/or performance.

How many carbs should you eat?

That depends. The maximum amount of carbohydrates that can be digested/absorbed during exercise is 60-70 grams per hour.

However, if you include protein in the mix, you can achieve the same endurance benefits with only 30-45 grams of carbohydrate per hour. Note: the protein also protects against muscle breakdown so it’s typically a good idea to add some in.

Fats during exercise.

Eating a bit of fat before and after exercise can be a great idea. (And tasty, too!)
But you should try to avoid eating fats during exercise. That’s because fats can be more difficult to digest. And during training, you don’t want to give your stomach more work than it can handle.

During-exercise nutrition in practice.

Do you need to eat during your workout?

That depends on how long it’s been since your last meal and the length/type of exercise you’re planning on.

Exercise lasting less than two hours

For training that’s less than two hours long, the main focus should be hydration. This is especially true if you’re using good pre- and post-training nutrition. So make sure you bring plenty of water.

But what about sports drinks? They don’t offer much benefit for events less than two hours long. Especially if you ate a good pre-exercise meal.

There are some exceptions, though:

• If you’re exercising in the heat and sweating a lot, sports drinks may be useful since they have electrolytes that help speed hydration and recovery.
• Also, if you’re going to be competing or training again in less than eight hours, sports drinks may jumpstart recovery before the next session.
• If you’re trying to gain maximum muscle, then including a protein and carbohydrate drink or some BCAAs during training could provide a small advantage.
• Finally, at the highest end of sport or competition, while it may not help, it certainly won’t hurt to sip on a sports drink during competition to ensure maximal hydration and energy supply.

Exercise lasting more than two hours.

For training that is longer than two hours, sports drinks can be a huge help. Every hour you’ll want to consume:

• 15 grams protein
• 30-45 grams carbs

This can come in the form of liquids, gels, or even some solid food.

Many endurance athletes prefer to drink water and eat fruit and other foods to supply their energy even on really long runs. Either approach is fine, as long as you ensure you’re getting enough protein, carbohydrates and electrolytes, especially sodium.

If you are exercising intensely for longer than two hours, especially in the heat, do not rely on water alone. This will decrease your performance and your recovery. And it could also lead to hyponatremia, a condition in which the sodium levels in your blood become too low. Hyponatremia causes your muscles and heart to contract erratically, and can even lead to death.

Under these conditions, when you’re sweating a lot, go with sports drinks.

Post-exercise nutrition needs.

Now let’s take a look at post-exercise nutrition.

Post-workout nutrition can help you:

• recover;
• rehydrate;
• refuel;
• build muscle; and
• improve future performance.

Protein after exercise.

Eating protein after exercise prevents protein breakdown and stimulates synthesis, leading to increased or maintained muscle tissue. So it’s a great strategy for better recovery, adaptation, and performance.

In the past, most fitness experts recommended fast acting proteins like whey or casein hydrolysate. This is because early research indicated that the more quickly amino acids get to your muscles, the better the result.

However, new research shows that hydrolyzed, fast-digesting proteins may get into our systems too fast. Because they’re in and out of the bloodstream so quickly, they might not maximize protein synthesis or maximally inhibit protein breakdown after all.

What’s more, hydrolyzed casein is preferentially taken up by the splanchnic bed (i.e. our internal organs). Which means it isn’t maximally effective for improving protein synthesis elsewhere.

And the protein you ate before training is still peaking in your bloodstream, so how quickly this protein gets there doesn’t really matter.

In other words, there’s no real evidence that protein powders, especially the fast-digesting kind, are any better for us than whole food protein after training. They’re probably not worse either. Which means you can choose whichever type of protein you want for your post-workout meal.

Want fast and convenient? Make an awesome post-workout protein shake.

Want real food? Then make an awesome high-protein meal.

Any high quality complete protein should do the job, as long as you eat enough. That means about 40-60 grams for men (or 2 palms) and 20-30 grams for women (1 palm).

Carbs after exercise.

Contrary to popular belief, it’s unnecessary to stuff yourself with refined carbohydrates and sugars to “spike” insulin and theoretically restore muscle and liver glycogen as rapidly as possible after your workout.

In fact, a blend of minimally processed whole food carbohydrates, along with some fruit (to better restore or maintain liver glycogen) is actually a better choice, because:

• it’s better tolerated;
• it restores glycogen equally over a 24-hour time period; and
• it might lead to better next-day performance.

Endurance athletes who perform two glycogen-depleting sessions within eight hours of one another might be an exception to this guideline, as speed of glycogen replenishment is critical in that situation. But for most healthy exercisers, whole food with some fruit is a better way to go.

Research shows that muscle protein breakdown is most inhibited and muscle protein synthesis happens best when insulin is at 15-30 mU/L. This is only about three times above fasting levels of 5-10 mU/L.

These levels are easily reached if you eat a mixed meal or drink Super Shake a few hours before and after training. Plus, with mixed meals, your levels should stay at this rate for about four hours after consumption.

Fats after exercise.

Dogma has it that we should avoid fats after exercise because they slow the digestion and absorption of nutrients.

While this is true, in most cases, it’s also irrelevant. We’ve already seen that speed of digestion of protein and carbs is not necessarily as important as we once thought. The same with fats.

In fact, one study compared what happens when people drink skim milk rather than whole milk after training. Participants drank either 14 oz. of skim milk or 8 oz. of whole milk (that equalized the calories, for those of you who love calorie math).

The skim milk drinkers got the same number of calories — along with six extra grams of protein. So you’d think they’d have the advantage.

Yet the whole milk drinkers actually ended up with a higher net protein balance! And the researchers had no explanation other than the fat content of the whole milk.

Additional research shows that eating as much as 55 grams of fat post-training, and another 55 grams in the two subsequent meals did not get in the way of glycogen replenishment compared to lower fat meals with the same amount of carbohydrates.

Clearly, fat doesn’t reduce the benefits of protein and carbohydrate consumption around training. In fact, it actually might provide some benefits of its own!

Post-exercise nutrition in practice.

While you don’t have to rush in the door and straight to the fridge the minute you finish at the gym, you shouldn’t dawdle and poke around forever before eating. Failing to eat within a two-hour window following training can slow recovery.

But this is context dependent; what you ate before your workout influences things. If your pre-training meal was a small one or you ate it several hours before training, then it’s probably more important for you to get that post-workout meal into your system pretty quickly. Probably within an hour.

If you trained in a fasted state (say, first thing in the morning before breakfast) then it’s also a good idea to chow down as soon after your workout as you can.

But if you ate a normal sized mixed meal a couple of hours before training (or a small shake closer to training), then you have a full one to two hours after training to eat your post-workout meal and still maximize the benefits of workout nutrition.

So go ahead — spend an hour in the kitchen cooking up a feast.

0-2 hours after exercise.

The approach to recover from training is the same as your preparation for a workout: have a mixed meal of real food.

Again, here’s how men might build it:

• 2 palms of protein;
• 2 fists of vegetables;
• 2 cupped handfuls of carbs;
• 2 thumbs of fats;
• low-calorie beverage like water.

And here’s how women might build it:

• 1 palm of protein;
• 1 fist of vegetables;
• 1 cupped handful of carbs;
• 1 thumb of fats;
• low-calorie beverage like water.

Sometimes after training you might not feel hungry. And that’s okay. If you don’t feel like eating, you can go with liquid nutrition.

Make a Super Shake using the same hand-sized portion guidelines as discussed above.

What to do next:
Some tips from Precision Nutrition.

In the end, there’s no perfect pre-and-post-training feeding regimen for everyone.

But the workout nutrition strategies laid out in this article will give you the foundation you need to experiment, practice, and figure out what works best for you (or, if you’re a trainer, what gets your clients the best results).

1. Understand your own needs.

The protein, carbohydrate, fat, and fluid requirements for a 155 lb. endurance athlete in the midst of marathon training vs. a 225 lb. bodybuilder recovering from a heavy resistance-training session are quite different.

Times of your training year will also dictate different needs in the post-exercise recovery period. That same bodybuilder will need a different approach when he starts to diet in preparation for a contest.

2. To simplify, prioritize whole foods.

For most of us, people without athletic competitions on the horizon, the best pre- and post-training meals will contain some combination of:

• high-quality protein,
• high-quality carbohydrates,
• healthy fats, and
• some fruit and vegetables.

These whole foods provide an awesome blend of nutrients: protein, carbohydrates, fats, fiber, vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and phytonutrients that build muscle, supply energy, decrease inflammation, and boost recovery.

Of course, you can eat solid foods or drink Super Shakes. And the amount of each macronutrient can vary depending on your needs as well as personal preferences and tolerances.

3. Time it right.

In terms of timing, you have about one to two hours on both sides of your training to still get maximal benefit.

And, according to the most recent data, the total amount of protein and carbohydrate consumed over the course of the day is far more important to lean mass gain, fat loss, and performance improvements than any specific nutrient timing strategy.

4. Commit long-term.

You may not gain a firm grasp on your own workout nutrition needs — or those of your clients — until you’ve experimented and adhered to what seems to work best consistently for several months.

Embrace that. Next-level workout performance and body composition isn’t supposed to come overnight. So view it as a fun challenge rather than a frustration.

Need help putting workout nutrition into practice?

Eating right for your workouts is next-level stuff; it can even feel a little complicated. That’s why, without guided experimentation, it’s hard to nail right away.

At Precision Nutrition, it’s our mission to help make the process easier, more effective, and more fun.

Women and men in our Precision Nutrition Coaching programs learn how to optimize their diets for diverse weight-loss, workout performance, and health goals in sustainable, long-term ways.

And fitness and health professionals in our Level 1 and Level 2 Certification programs learn how to help their clients do the same.

Coming .

If you’re a health and fitness pro and would like to learn more about becoming an elite, world-class nutrition and lifestyle coach, check out our Precision Nutrition Level 1 Certification program; it kicks off soon.

Important: Since we only take a limited number of students each time we offer the program, and it sells out every time, the best strategy is to add your name to our free presale list.

Getting on the list gives you the chance to sign up for the certification 24 hours before everyone else. Even better, you save big on the cost of the program.

[Of course, if you’re already a student or graduate of the Level 1 Certification, check out our Level 2 Certification, an exclusive Master Class for elite trainers looking to perfect their nutrition knowledge and coaching techniques].

The post Best workout nutrition strategies. A useful guide for what to eat before, during, and after exercise. appeared first on Precision Nutrition.

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Pot Roast Recipe

Healthy Mint Chip Shake

It’s time to turn up your smoothie game with this Mint Chip Shake! It’s refreshing and packed with greens and chocolate so it covers all your bases. Did you guys know that in college (before I grew some balls and started the blog), Linley and I had our own catering and event planning business? It...

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Creamy Lemon One-Pot Pasta + Weekly Menu

Sriracha Mayo Recipe

Matcha Latte

The post Matcha Latte appeared first on Deliciously Ella.

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‘Queering Yoga’ Documentary Seeks To Empower And Educate

Adding to the conversation of accessibility, diversity, and inclusivity, Queering Yoga is a new project set on expanding awareness and education around the trans community in yoga. As a documentary film, the intention behind Queering Yoga is to provide real-life perspectives and insights to empower, educate, and integrate. Ewan Duarte, the project’s Director and Producer states: As […]

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The Every-Person’s Guide To Immune System Support

The mistakes never seemed to end. At least, that’s how it felt when I started spending half my year on the road…and subsequently half of my year sick or fighting to solve my busted immune system.

The thing is, when I started running my own business I planned for many things. I did not plan for how spending more than 150 days per year traveling might create a universe of perpetual illness. In reality, my problems are no different than yours. The same pathogens and pitfalls that made me sick make you sick. The only change is that my travel schedule might make me a little more susceptible to reoccurring illness. Or, that’s what I thought.

Did you know: glutathione, a powerful antioxidant in whey, helps protect your body from illness.

You know that sometimes getting sick is inevitable. What you may not know—or at least what I never realized—is that you can set up your day in a way that protects your body and reduces the likelihood of the flu, upset stomach, or any seasonal sickness from taking you down.

Want to be healthier more often? Here are some suggestions that you can make a part of your day without much inconvenience to support your immune system. Your goal: apply three or more of these tips, and you’ll avoid the majority of errors I made.

Tip #1: The Hydration Fix

Airplanes are notorious as a sickness hotbed and a major threat to your immune sytem. You probably assume that it’s because you’re in an enclosed space. While that’s true, most people are also enclosed at their jobs. The difference? Airplanes lack humidity. Some studies suggest that humidity can be as low as 10 to 20 percent on a flight, in order to help maintain air cabin pressure.

While that might not seem important, the low levels of moisture can leave you dehydrated, which leaves you an increased risk of catching a respiratory virus.

Your defense is drink, drink, and drink more water. If you know you might have trouble drinking as much while flying, start hydrating early. Have at least 30 ounces of liquid (preferably water or add something with flavor like Emergen-C^®, keeping in mind the recommended serving), and aim for 60-80 ounces of water the entire day of travel. And when the beverage cart comes around, try to make sure to get something to keep you hydrated during the flight. (More on this in a moment.)

Tip #2: Seep Your Thirst

If the hydration aspect wasn’t clear, it’s not just how much you drink, but also what you drink. Water is great, but tea is a valuable beverage that protects your immune system. Specifically, black tea has been found to release interferon, which helps your body fight off disease.

Tip #3: Breakfast For Immune System Support

Many people know me for my thoughts on intermittent fasting (which can be an effective diet routine). While breakfast is not necessary for weight loss, it’s not unnecessary either. And when I’m on the road and trying to stay healthy, eating an earlier breakfast is a part of my immune defense protocol. Much of my beliefs come from personal experience: when I eat breakfast, I seem to handle life on the road better. But I wanted to know why.

Research from the University of Wales offers some correlational support from the “eat early-stay healthy” hypothesis. The scientists found that people who skipped breakfast were more likely to have an infection at some point during the 10-week study. The main question is why, and research from the Netherlands presents an interesting theory. Those scientists found that a big breakfast (more than 1,000 calories) increased the production of anti-viral agents by more than 400 percent.

It’s too soon to say that big breakfast = no sickness, but if you struggle with your health, it might be worth the try.

Tip #4: The Protein Cure

Motion sickness is a real problem when traveling, and some are stomach problems, in general. And while your issues could be with your equilibrium, usually it’s nausea that sends you down a dangerous path to sickness.

Your best bet for prevention might be what you least suspect: protein. For years, researchers have examined the relationship between protein and pregnant mothers as a way to reduce nausea and stomach pains. But it might apply to anyone not carrying a child, as well.

Penn State researchers have found that eating a protein heavy meal—compared to carbs or fasting—helped reduce nausea up to 26 percent. And additional research has found that protein also reduced stomach discomfort associated with motion or seasickness and travel-related stomach discomfort and bloating. The key is not going overboard. Try using 20 to 30 grams of protein (usually just 1 scoop of protein powder or a few eggs) to see if it does the trick.

Tip #5: When In Doubt, Go For More Protein (Powder)

Very few supplements are worth the hype, but protein powders might be one of the few that won’t let you down. As you just learned, protein can help prevent stomach discomfort and nausea, and whey protein specifically can boost your immune system by fighting against inflammation.

Specifically, glutathione, a powerful antioxidant in whey, helps protect your body from illness. Whey can also trigger an increase in healthy bacteria (bifidobacteria) in your gut, which has antimicrobial benefits and heightens your immune response by producing higher levels of white blood cells, lymphocytes, and cytokines—all which protect your body and fight infections.

Tip #6: Invest in Nutritional Insurance

I’ve discussed it before, there’s no way to “cure” a cold, but there are things you can do to stay healthy, such as making sure you take B vitamins (specifically biotin, which helps with white blood cell activity), vitamin C, and vitamin D (which might be the best vitamin for fighting off upper respiratory infections, according to Canadian researchers.

In an ideal world, you’ll eat fruits and vegetables with every meal and you’re covered. But when traveling—or following a general work schedule—every day won’t be perfect and your diet might be less than desirable. Your approach? A multi-vitamin supplement or greens powder or juice that supplies the vitamins, minerals, and micronutrients that help protect your body.

My approach is either drinking my typical morning smoothie or—especially when traveling—I simply take a couple of Emergen-C Chewables (I like the Immune+ Orange Blast), which has me covered for all the basics and removes the need for shaker bottles and mixing a powder.

Tip #7: Challenge Your Brain

Like most things on this list, sometimes the best thing for your body is the least obvious. So take this to heart: a little stress is good for your body.

You see, your body possesses many immune system proteins that help protect you from illness. Recent research has dug deeper into understanding these proteins, their roles, and what triggers them to do their job. One such protein, SIgA, receives a boost when doing challenges that are mentally stimulating.

The secret sauce: don’t bite off more than you can chew. If you create prolonged stress, instead of receiving an immune boost, you can overwhelm the system and cause shutdown.

Small work projects, crossword puzzles, or trying to solve a few problems each day can be enough to provide a daily boost to keep you healthy.

*These statements has not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any diseases.

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The post The Every-Person’s Guide To Immune System Support appeared first on Born Fitness.

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Family Friday (vol. 8): Life is Precious

Photo credit goes to my father-in-law for those pictures of Shea that make my heart burst with love. I keep looking at those pictures because otherwise, I might cry.

I’ve shared some about this month being terrible due to illness and all that jazz. But really, far worse things have happened in the past week.

An 8 month old child I knew was murdered. He was beautiful and perfect in every way. And he’s gone. I am shaken to my core and I cannot even begin to fathom what the family is going through. My heart breaks. Every idle moment in my mind goes directly to thinking about this innocent child who was taken in a brutal manner from this earth.

Last weekend, Mr. Prevention and I traveled an hour to Kalamazoo for date night – dinner and a comedy show. We were driving up around 5:30pm and Mark commented on the Cracker Barrel right off the highway. “Man, that Cracker Barrel is PACKED!” he said. Fast forward to 10:15pm when we were pulling on the highway headed home, a cop car FLEW past us, lights flashing. We saw the car pull off the highway and right into that same Cracker Barrel parking lot from earlier, along with at least 20 other emergency vehicles. It wasn’t until the next morning we found out that there were several fatal shootings in that parking lot just moments before we drove past that night. And worse, that Cracker Barrel was the 3rd shooting location on the shooting spree. Random violence with innocent lives lost. It could’ve so easily been us or people we knew. My coworker shared on Monday that she grew up right there and she has family members who frequently dine at that location. It was all just too much.

Currently, I sit in a Chicago hospital with my father who underwent a hip replacement on Tuesday. The routine surgery went well, but his recovery from the anesthesia has been highly complicated and scary. Your thoughts and prayers would be greatly appreciated.

So, life. It has really rattled me this month. Tomorrow is not guaranteed. Health is precious. Family means everything. Squeeze your loved ones and always remember to be thankful for all that’s good, even when seeing through the darkness seems impossible.

Be well,

from Prevention RD http://preventionrd.com/2016/02/family-friday-vol-8-life-is-precious/
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FOR THE LOVE OF FOOD: Skinny people don’t diet, healthy eating is cheaper than junk food, and Starbucks is worse than 6 donuts

For the Love of Food

Welcome to Friday’s For The Love of Food, Summer Tomato’s weekly link roundup. 

This week skinny people don’t diet, healthy eating is cheaper than junk food, and Starbucks is worse than 6 donuts. I included a couple of extra ones, because they were just too good to leave out.

Too busy to read them all? Try this awesome free speed reading app I just discovered to read at 300+ wpm. So neat!

Want to see all my favorite links? (There’s lots more). Be sure to follow me on Delicious. I also share links on Twitter @summertomato and the Summer Tomato Facebook page. I’m very active on all these sites and would love to connect with you.

Links of the week

• Skinny People Rarely Diet <<I told you so. And it isn’t just genetics, it’s habits. (The Atlantic)
• Slow Eating May Help Overweight Children <<Eating slowly is often one of those habits. (WSJ)
• Grass-fed Vs. Conventional: When Does It Matter Most? <<Really good explanation of when to splurge on grass-fed meats if they are difficult for you to acquire. (Mark’s Daily Apple)
• Some Starbucks Drinks Have More Sugar Than A Milkshake <<…or half a dozen donuts, in case you didn’t know. (Huffington Post)
• How to Eat Like a Successful MyFitnessPal User <<MyFitnessPal has a ton of data on what people eat and which people are successful at losing weight. The answers might surprise you.
• A Food Bank Proves A Healthy Mediterranean Diet Is Cheaper Than A Junky American One <<This was exactly my experience in grad school when I was broke as hell. When I started cooking more fresh food I actually saved money. It depends on what ingredients you choose, though. (Fast Company)
• Make Your Life Better by Saying Thank You in These 7 Situations <<This made me smile. And smiling is good for you. (James Clear)
• How Exercise May Lower Cancer Risk <<Very cool research identifies new mechanism by which exercise kills cancer cells. (NYTimes)
• Big Health Benefits to Small Weight Loss <<If you’ve been eating healthier and exercising, but still struggling to lose the weight you want, rest assured that the work you’ve done is still incredibly important. Keep it up. (NYTimes)
• The Best Temperature for a Good Night’s Sleep <<For a large number of people healthy habits are constantly undermined by poor sleep, and the temperature of your bedroom appears to have a major influence. (WSJ)
• 3 Reasons You Should Eat Liver (Like Leo) <<I love this. (The Kitchn)
• Vegetable Biryani for my “Rickshaw Girl” <<One of my favorite foods. Nom nom. (Global Table Adventure)

What inspired you this week?

from Summer Tomato http://summertomato.com/for-the-love-of-food-skinny-people-dont-diet-healthy-eating-is-cheaper-than-junk-food-and-starbucks-is-worse-than-6-donuts/
via Holistic Clients

Healthy Vegetarian Fried Rice

This healthy vegetarian fried rice is made with short grain brown rice, tons of veggies, and a protein-boost of egg for a delicious Asian-inspired meal!  Happy Friday! I’m coming at you today from sunny San Miguel, Mexico! If you’re not following Team Fit Foodie on Snapchat…now is the time to jump on that bandwagon. —>...

Read More »

The post Healthy Vegetarian Fried Rice appeared first on Fit Foodie Finds.

from Fit Foodie Finds http://fitfoodiefinds.com/2016/02/healthy-vegetarian-fried-rice/
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The Problem With PFCs

Did you know that the Environmental Protection Agency only tests chemicals after there is evidence they are harmful? Did you know that out of the more than 60,000 synthetic chemicals produced globally, the EPA has only restricted five? (15) In a previous post, I wrote about the negative health effects of Teflon, a member of a chemical family called PFCs. Unsurprisingly, chemicals similar to Teflon also have concerning effects on our health.

What are PFCs?

Perfluorinated Chemicals, or PFCs are a family of chemicals where all molecules have carbon backbones fully surrounded by fluorine atoms. (1) This structure makes them non-polar which gives them the ability to repel other substances.

How are PFCs Used?

Like PTFE (Teflon), these chemicals are incorporated into products to make them more resistant to stains, grease and water.(1) Companies have incorporated PFCs into carpeting, furniture upholstery, clothing, food wrap, fast food containers, car seats, shoes and even tents. (2,3,9)

Anytime a fabric is labeled waterproof, water-resistant, or stain resistant it is most likely made with PFCs.

Some companies who use PFCs in their fabrics are: North Face, Patagonia, Adidas, Columbia, Jack Wolfskin, Swimwear: Disney, adidas, Burberry, Shoes: Nike, Puma 3 Adidas (Gore-Tex, Formation) Columbia (Omni-Heat Thermal Reflective, Omni-Tech Waterproof Breathable). Jack Wolfskin (Texapore, Nanuk 300), Mammut (Exotherm Pro STR), Patagonia (Gore-Tex) The North Face (Gore-Tex, Primaloft One) (9)

The Problems with PFCs

One of the most concerning aspects of PFCs is that they have contaminated our environment, and our bodies. Surveys have shown that over 95% of Americans have concentrations of PFCs in their blood. (1)

They have been identified as some of the most persistent synthetic chemicals, the EPA stated that PFCs present “persistence, bioaccumulation, and toxicity properties to an extraordinary degree.” (2) Persistence refers to their long half-lives which means they remain in organisms for long periods of time. Bioaccumulation means that the higher an organism is on the food chain, the higher concentration it will have in its body.

Studies show that exposure to PFCs is associated with smaller birth weight in newborns, elevated cholesterol, abnormal thyroid hormone levels, inflammation of the liver, weaker immune systems, kidney and testicular cancers, obesity and even pregnancy-induced hypertension and preeclampsia. (2, 3)

To understand the health risks it’s important to understand some of the chemistry of PFCs. Once again, PFCs have a chemical structure that is comprised of a “backbone” of carbon atoms, which are surrounded by fluorine atoms.(1)

Types of PFCs

There are two main groups of PFCs. Long-chain PFCs contain eight or more carbons, while short-chain PFCs contain seven or less.(13)

Long-chain PFCs are more persistent in the environment, and their health effects are more well known. Many have now been banned in the US, but only to be replaced by short-chain PFCs whose effects are still being studied.

The two most problematic long-chain PFCs are PFOS (Perfluorooctane Sulfate) and PFOA (Perfluorooctanoic Acid), both of which have eight carbons. For this reason they are often referred to as C8.

PFOS is a soap-like agent, first used by 3M during the fabrication of Scotchgard.15 PFOA is most often used to produce PTFE or Teflon.14 It can be found in fire fighting foams, paints, textiles, lacquers and carpets.(14)

Since its discovery in the early 1950s, PFOA has spread around the globe, even contaminating biota in Antartica and the Arctic Circle.14 As these are places where the chemical isn’t produced, this is evidence of its ability to be transported long distances via ocean currents.

PFOA can also be transported via the atmosphere in two ways: bound to other particles which are emitted from industrial facilities, or because its chemical precursors pollute the air and they then degrade into PFOA.

Our bodies are contaminated because our food and water is contaminated by it, as is our air, our fabrics, and our cookware.15 It will even pass through the umbilical cord. (15)

PFOA is the most common PFC found in people’s blood, and this is especially true for those who work with or near the chemical. 4 Some of the most concerning information regarding the chemical’s effects comes from those who were exposed to PFOA while working at the DuPont Plant in Washington, West Virginia. (4)

Dupont Case PFOA Coverup

Below is a summary of the story of how DuPont covered up information about the health and environmental effects of PFOA. The full version is here, and it is both fascinating and sickening.

DuPont Chemical began purchasing PFOA in 1951 from 3M, which invented the compound in 1947.  PFOA keeps Teflon (a trademarked invention of DuPont) from clumping during production. (15)

At this time there were no government warnings or regulations regarding PFOA, but 3M recommended that DuPont dispose of the chemical by either incineration, or by sending it to chemical-waste disposal facilities. DuPont’s own instructions specified that PFOA shouldn’t be allowed to enter sewers or water supplies. (15)

But of course, DuPont broke its own rules and hundreds of thousands of pounds of PFOA powder made its way through the outfall pipes of DuPont’s facility in Washington, WV, which sits on the Ohio River.

In addition, DuPont disposed of 7,100 tons of sludge laced with the chemical into open and unlined pits.  PFOA entered the local water table near the Washington, WV plant and contaminated the potable water supply used by more than 100,000 people.

To make matters worse, DuPont knew that the chemical could be harmful thanks to its own researchers who had been investigating the effects on animals. Beginning in 1961 they discovered that PFOA could increase the size of livers in rats and rabbits, and they later replicated the results in dogs.

Researchers found that PFOA bound to plasma proteins in the blood and therefore circulated through every organ in the body. By the 1970’s DuPont discovered that workers in its Washington, WV plant had high concentrations of the chemical in their blood, yet they still did not disclose this information to the EPA.

In 1981 3M, still supplying PFOA to DuPont, found that ingestion of PFOA caused birth defects in rats.  After learning this, DuPont tested the children born to pregnant employees who had worked in the Teflon division, and found that two of the seven children had eye defects.

In 1984, DuPont became aware that PFOA was present in the local water supply, and unsurprisingly, they didn’t tell anyone.  They did however, understand that it shouldn’t contaminate their own water, and in 1991 the company put an internal safety limit for PFOA in their drinking water to one part per billion.

That same year DuPont found that a nearby district’s water supply contained three times that figure, and though the issue was debated within the company, they decided against making this information public.

DuPont later claimed that they did provide this information to the EPA. Their proof was copies of two letters from 1982 and 1992, sent to government agencies in West Virginia, and they both cited company studies as reasons why PFOA was not a concern.

Still, by the 1990s DuPont knew that the chemical caused cancerous tumors in the testes, pancreases, and livers of lab animals, and there was even evidence of human DNA damage and links to prostate cancer in workers exposed to PFOA.

By 1993 DuPont realized there was a need for an alternative, even though a suitable substance was found, the company ultimately decided against it.  It didn’t seem worth it to risk the $1 billion of profit they acquired each year from products produced with PFOA.

Fortunately, and unfortunately, in the late 1980s DuPont began dumping thousands of tons of PFOA sludge into a landfill near their Washington, WV plant. The runoff from this landfill, contaminated the water of a nearby cattle ranch owned by Wilbur Tennant.

Dozens of Mr. Tennant’s cattle became strangely ill. Many died, and when they were dissected he noticed that their organs were enlarged and discolored.

Veterinarians and local authorities had few explanations, but Mr. Tennant suspected the nearby landfill. In the late 1990s, he sought out the help of Rob Billot, an attorney specializing in environmental law.

After months of sifting through documents, Billot disclosed DuPont’s crimes to the EPA in 2001, via a 972 page letter.  The company was taken to court, and the result was 16.5 million dollar settlement to the EPA in 2005.

This was the largest settlement in EPA history, however the fine equaled less than 2% of the profits DuPont had earned that year on products with made with, or from PFOA.

A class-action law suit followed which was settled in September of 2004.  DuPont agreed to install water filtration systems in the six contaminated water districts near its plant as well as pay $70 million for research.

The money went to fund a study to determine if there was a “probable link” between PFOA and any negative health symptoms.15 If the link was established, DuPont would have to pay for medical monitoring of any person affected until his or her death.

Seven years later, in December 2011, the results were released: there was a probable link between PFOA and testicular cancer, kidney cancer, high cholesterol, pre-eclampsia, ulcerative colitis, and thyroid disease.

EPA Response

Water:

The realization of PFOA potential side effects led the EPA to began its own research. In 2002 it released its initial finding which concluded that PFOA was a danger to the general public. (15)

By 2003 they found that the average concentration of PFOA in the blood of adult americans was 4-5 parts per billion. That’s 4-5 times the concentration DuPont recommended its own water supply have. (15)

The EPA has determined that C8 contaminated the drinking water for more than 6.5 million people in 27 different states.(11) Toxicologists hired by Bilott suggested that PFOA concentrations in water be no greater than 0.2 parts per billion.(15)

In early 2009 the EPA released Provisional Health Advisories for PFOA and PFOS which recommended that PFOA levels not be above 0.4 µg/L (micrograms per liter) or 0.4 parts per billion, and that PFOS not be above 0.2 µg/L.4

However, these advisories are not legally enforceable and therefore local water districts don’t have to disclose to their customers if their water is contaminated with PFOA.  This should change soon, as the EPA has claimed that they will announce a permanent regulation for PFOA by early 2016. (15)

Corporate Regulations

In 2006 the EPA agreed to a stewardship program which allowed 8 companies to voluntarily those out their use of PFOA by 95% by 2010, and eliminate it completely by 2015. 4 3M did so in 2000, and DuPont ceased production in 2013.

The five other global companies which use or produce PFOA are phasing it out.  As a result of these efforts, the serum concentration of PFOA in the average American has decreased significantly.

FDA Response

The Food and Drug Administrations has taken fewer steps to protect us than the EPA. In January 2016 the FDA banned three C8 PFCs from use in food packaging like microwave popcorn bags, sandwich wrappers and pizza boxes. (11)

While this may seem like good news, those PFCs had already been phased out of production, and were not the PFCs currently in use. Instead, food companies are using short-chain PFCs.

Problem with Short Chain PFCs

Short-chain PFCs have seven or less carbon atoms.15 They have been proven to be less persistent, but their long term health effects have not been well studied.

In fact, in May 2015, 200 scientists signed the Madrid Statement- a document which expresses their concern about the health effects of all PFCs.  According to the statement, new research has shown that even low doses of PFCs can negatively impact health.  The scientists recommend that nations should create legislation which would eliminate all but those PFCs deemed necessary, and “wherever possible avoid products containing, or manufactured using, [PFCs including] many products that are stain-resistant, waterproof or nonstick.”

How to Avoid PFCs

So we now know that everyone has PFCs in their blood, so what can you do to limit any further contamination?

1. Avoid any product labeled nonstick, waterproof, stain-resistant, or water resistant.

• Of course some fabrics, such as felted wool, have these properties naturally. Ask questions, and read labels!
• Avoid non-stick pans and utensils. Opt for stainless steel pots, ceramic and cast iron skillets, and cooking utensils that are wood or stainless steel. Glass and ceramic are good options for bakeware.
• Cookware made from ceramic-enameled cast iron, while a pricier option, are durable and can be used on a wide variety of heat sources (grill, gas, electric, oven, campfire, etc).

2. Avoid fast-food and disposable food packaging

• Another reason to avoid fast food! PFCs are often added to disposable paper food packaging to make it more resistant to grease an water.(3)
• However making real food a priority- especially when traveling, sometimes means relying on disposable plates and bowls. Opt for non toxic alternatives like chemical free compostable paper plates, compostable cutlery, and PFC free compostable paper cups.
• If you eat popcorn, pop your own popcorn on the stove, and avoid the short-chain PFCs found in the microwavable bags.

3. Choose personal care products without PTFE or Perfluoro ingredients

• That’s right, PFCs are sometimes incorporated into cosmetics and toiletries. If you are unsure about a product or ingredient, cosmeticsdatabase.com, a database created by the Environmental Working Group, is a great resource for learning more about the ingredients and their risks.
• It’s also another reason to consider making your own cosmetics! Check out these posts for recipes for homemade foundation, DIY creme blush and other makeup recipes.

4.Consider a water filtration system for your home.

• This will not only filter out PFCs, but other unwanted substances such as heavy metals, fluoride, and chlorine. There are many options to fit your home and living situation. Check out these posts for more information: Water Filter Options and my review of an under counter water filter.

A note on non-toxic perfectionism…

While the above information is concerning, I hope that by posting it, I am providing you with knowledge that will help you take control of you and your family’s health. Please think of this as empowering information, not another thing to worry about.

It’s certainly easy to feel overwhelmed with the chemicals found in plastics, or in antibacterial soaps, and now even in our clothes and water, please know that stress is probably more toxic than many chemicals. In today’s world it is impossible to live a 100% perfectly clean, non-toxic lifestyle.

Don’t let perfect be the enemy of good. Even small steps to reduce your exposure to toxins will make a difference. Do the best you can, which I bet is already pretty great.

Continue Reading...The Problem With PFCs

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RHR: Dr. Mark Hyman on the Future of Medicine

I want to do something maybe a little different than the typical interview where we talk about nutrition and lifestyle and all that great stuff, which is really important, but I want to start by just learning a little bit more about your background and how you got to be where you are now. You’re really well known in the functional medicine community, nine-time New York Times bestselling author, heading up the Cleveland Clinic’s functional medicine initiative, but I’m curious to know a little bit more about how you even got interested in all this stuff. You were trained originally in conventional medicine. How did you get from there, in medical school, to where you are today?

In this episode, we cover:

4:44  How Mark got to where he is today 7:50  Where has conventional medicine failed? 15:04  Research that supports functional medicine 24:36  Future developments in the delivery of care 28:28  Mark’s new book

[smart_track_player url="http://traffic.libsyn.com/thehealthyskeptic/RHR_-_Dr._Mark_Hyman_on_the_Future_of_Medicine.mp3" title="RHR: Dr. Mark Hyman on the Future of Medicine" artist="Chris Kresser" social="true" social_twitter="true" social_facebook="true" social_gplus="true" ] Chris Kresser: Hey, everyone, it’s Chris Kresser. Welcome to another episode of Revolution Health Radio. Today I’m really excited to welcome Dr. Mark Hyman as a guest. Dr. Hyman is a practicing family physician, a nine-time #1 New York Times bestselling author, and an internationally recognized leader, speaker, educator, and advocate in the field of functional medicine. He’s the Director the Cleveland Clinic Center for Functional Medicine. He is also the founder and medical director of The UltraWellness Center, chairman of the board of the Institute for Functional Medicine, a medical editor of The Huffington Post, and was a regular medical contributor on many television shows including CBS This Morning, Today Show, CNN, The View, Katie, and The Dr. Oz Show. I met Mark, I think it was maybe a year and a half ago, at an event that we were both at in Arizona, and we immediately hit it off and became fast friends. He’s an extremely intelligent person and one of the sweetest guys you’ll ever meet. I have tremendous respect for his contribution in this field. He’s a real inspiration for me and many other functional medicine practitioners. He has done probably more than anyone that I can think of to move the field of functional medicine forward and help it to gain the recognition that it deserves and so badly needs in order to become a greater part of the delivery of medical care not only in the US, but around the world. Every time that I’ve had a chance to cross paths with Mark at other conferences or events that we were at, we’ve just had a great time together. I’ve been wanting to get him on the show for a number of months, but because of our schedules, we weren’t able to make it work until today, so without further ado, I’d love to introduce you to Mark Hyman. We’re going to talk all about functional medicine and the future of medicine. I hope you enjoy this interview as much as I did. Mark, I’m so excited to have you on the show. I’ve wanted to do this for a long time, and I’m glad we could finally make it work. Mark Hyman, MD: I’m so glad to be here, Chris. Chris Kresser: I want to do something maybe a little different than the typical interview where we talk about nutrition and lifestyle and all that great stuff, which is really important, but I want to start by just learning a little bit more about your background and how you got to be where you are now. You’re really well known in the functional medicine community, nine-time New York Times bestselling author, heading up the Cleveland Clinic’s functional medicine initiative, but I’m curious to know a little bit more about how you even got interested in all this stuff. You were trained originally in conventional medicine. How did you get from there, in medical school, to where you are today?

How Mark got to where he is today

Mark Hyman, MD: Well, I got there the way that no one really should get there, which is similar to your story, which is getting very sick and having to figure out how to get myself better when the conventional medical approach that I was an expert in had no answers. Chris Kresser: Right. Mark Hyman, MD: It was through that exploration of the body from the inside out that I actually began to realize that everything I learned about how the body is organized, how we get sick, how we get better, how we define disease, is all completely wrong! There are elements of what I learned that are the foundational science, but how the pieces got put together is just totally wrong and had actually nothing to do with how human biology is organized. Through that exploration of my own illness, I began to sort of see what was out there, and I discovered Jeffrey Bland, I discovered Sidney Baker, Leo Galland, guys like Russell Jaffe—pioneers in this field who really began to rethink our approach to disease and put together a story that, it turns out, is actually probably the biggest medical discovery since sanitation and antibiotics and vaccines. I think we just really have leapfrogged forward in medicine dramatically in the last few decades with the discovery of systems thinking in biology, and functional medicine is really the clinical application of all that. Chris Kresser: When you were getting started in all this, you mentioned discovering Jeffrey Bland. Was “functional medicine” even a term that was in use at that point, or was that still kind of evolving? Mark Hyman, MD: Yeah, the Institute for Functional Medicine started 25 years ago, whatever that was... 1990 maybe or ‘91. Chris Kresser: Yeah, ‘90. Mark Hyman, MD: They started putting on conferences. The first one I went to was in ‘97. Then I went to their first certification program, the AFMCP, and I began to sort of realize that I thought this was all a well-established field, but little did I know it was just getting figured out, and I was sort of figuring it out with everybody else. With the faculty that we built, we were able to really kind of come together and put together the basic foundational principles that have now because the Institute for Functional Medicine and the certification program and laid down the paradigm of a new way of thinking about how we get sick and better that is based on causes and not symptoms. It’s based on treating the whole organism, not just organs. It’s based on not geography or where is the problem in your body, but on the mechanisms underneath the symptoms. That’s what’s really been exciting, and I got to try it on myself, I got to try it on literally tens of thousands of patients, first at Canyon Ranch as the medical director and then my own practice at The UltraWellness Center and now at Cleveland Clinic, where we launched the first academic medical center to have functional medicine in it, and it’s just exploding there.

Where has conventional medicine failed?

Chris Kresser: Yeah, I definitely want to come back to that and spend some time talking about it. This is probably a good segue into talking a little bit more about what some of the biggest problems are in conventional medicine today. You speak publicly about this, your role at IFM and the Cleveland Clinic. You’re well acquainted with all of these challenges, but let’s break it down a little bit. Where has conventional medicine really failed? Mark Hyman, MD: I think we failed in that we’ve focused on a system of classification of diseases based on symptoms and geography—where is it in your body and what’s the symptom? If you have joint pain, you go to the joint doctor; head pain, you go to the head doctor; stomach pain, you go to the stomach doctor; you have diabetes, you go to the diabetes doctor. But as we’re learning about how the body works, this way of organizing and thinking doesn’t really work, and all it allows us to do is to group people according to symptoms, not causes, and then treat the symptoms with drugs that are usually suppressive and have a lot of side effects, so they block, inhibit, or interfere with some mechanism instead of learning how to create health. Functional medicine is really the science of creating health as opposed to the science of treating diseases. Conventional medicine fails in that the model we have is great for acute illness. If we have a serious injury or an acute end-stage problem, it’s great. I mean, I’m at Cleveland Clinic, and absolutely I would go there if I had some serious acute problem. Chris Kresser: Right. Mark Hyman, MD: They’re great at it, but what they’re not great at is dealing with the burden of chronic disease, which now affects 1 in 2 Americans. It’s 83 or 84 percent of our healthcare costs, or $3.8 trillion, and we are now recognizing that we don’t have a good model to deal with this burden of chronic illness, everything from autoimmune diseases, which affect 80 million, diabetes, heart disease, cancers, digestive disorders, inflammatory disorders, skin disorders, mood disorders, cognitive disorders, anxiety, depression—these things just are not well dealt with by our conventional approach. Chris Kresser: Do you find that there is a strong awareness of that, even within the deeper, more-entrenched establishment within conventional medicine? Are you seeing a change in the openness and awareness of this problem? What’s your experience with that? Mark Hyman, MD: I think what’s happening is that science is catching up with everybody and that the paradigm is beginning to crack. As I got to Cleveland Clinic, I was sort of shocked to find some doctors saying to me, “What took you so long to get here?!” Chris Kresser: Yeah! Mark Hyman, MD: One of them was Dr. Charis Eng, Head of Personalized Genomics, and she’s one of the leading genomic researchers in the world. She told me she’s studying the microbiome in cancer and how to regulate breast cancer. I mean, this is a radical idea. No oncologist is thinking about your gut flora, but she is! Then Stan Hazen at Cleveland Clinic is looking at the role of our diet in regulating bacteria and how that affects your risk of heart disease and that by altering your diet you can change your gut flora and reduce your risk of heart disease. Again, nobody who’s a cardiologist is thinking about your gut flora, but now these ideas are becoming almost mainstream. Things like leaky gut, which was heresy years ago now is all of a sudden written about in the medical literature as, “Oh, yeah, of course, we always knew that.” We’re seeing these concepts of inflammation, for example, across all the specialties, not just in autoimmune stuff and allergy and asthma, but in diabetes and heart disease, cancer— Chris Kresser: Depression. Mark Hyman, MD: Depression and dementia. Who would have thought that depression is an inflammatory disease of the brain? We thought it was a psychological issue. Chris Kresser: Yeah. Mark Hyman, MD: We had ideas, for example, about autism, that it was from bad parenting, right? Chris Kresser: Right. Mark Hyman, MD: And now we know it’s not. It’s a metabolic problem in the brain, metabolic encephalopathy. We know that depression may not be all the reasons we think people are depressed, maybe emotional issues and maybe something very physical. Obviously it can be emotional, but there are just different ways of thinking that are now emerging so that anybody who is paying attention who is a doctor or scientist can’t avoid these ideas. They’re shaking up the very paradigm of what’s going on. It’s like all of a sudden Einstein came up with the theory of relativity, then all of a sudden the world as we know it changed. Even though people still don’t really get his ideas even today, they really altered our view of reality, that time and space are not what we thought, that time is not linear, that space is curved. I mean, how could time not be linear, but it isn’t! That solid objects are mostly empty space, that atoms are energy and not just matter. These are crazy ideas, right? The same thing is happening today in biology, and yet we’re still, from a structural and a practice point of view, mired in this old system. I think it’s starting to crack in a big way, and I’m excited about what’s happening. Chris Kresser: Yeah, I’m really glad to hear you bring that up when you were referring to research that’s being done in the “conventional” world that supports functional medicine methodology. One of the biggest criticisms that we hear from some people in the conventional world is that there isn’t any research to support functional medicine, and I’d be curious to hear how you’re addressing that challenge both in terms of just redefining or reframing that question or what kinds of research do support functional medicine and then any specific initiatives that you are working on at the Cleveland Clinic to develop more research that could support functional medicine. Mark Hyman, MD: There are many, many scientists working in their silos on different aspects of what’s happening, guys like Dr. Alessio Fasano who has been a pioneer in understanding gluten and the fact that there is a whole spectrum of gluten sensitivity, not just celiac, that it does cause leaky gut and it is related to a whole host of disorders that aren’t typically what we think of as gluten related. This guy is at Harvard! You have guys like David Ludwig, also at Harvard, who is shaking up ideas about calories, that all calories are not the same, that fat and carb calories act completely different in the body. In his new book, Always Hungry?, he talks about the fact that when you increase your fat in your diet, you shut off hunger, you boost your metabolism, you increase fat burning and reduce fat storage, whereas if you eat refined sugars or carbs you do the opposite. These are really crazy ideas, that all calories are not the same. This is a heretical idea that contradicts our conventional world view, but these are coming out of the highest levels of academic research. Then there are guys at Cleveland Clinic doing studies on the gut microbiome and heart disease. These are kind of... out there.

Research that supports functional medicine

Chris Kresser: Yeah, and the important thing to realize here is those are not studies about “functional medicine,” per se. Mark Hyman, MD: No. Chris Kresser: But there are studies about discovering what the underlying roots of illness are and how to address it at that level, which, of course, is consistent with the functional medicine approach. Mark Hyman, MD: Right.

Chris Kresser: I think that’s a really key point for people to understand. There’s tons of research that supports functional medicine. It’s just not called “functional medicine research.”

Mark Hyman, MD: Right. Now what’s changing is that for the first time, really, in the history of the world, we’re actually doing targeted functional medicine research. Cleveland Clinic is funding literally millions of dollars of research. We’ve raised $8.5 million so far this year. Chris Kresser: That’s great. Mark Hyman, MD: And there’s funding that’s coming from the Cleveland Clinic directly to fund this research. We’re doing studies on reversing diabetes, getting people off insulin, on migraines, on asthma, on inflammatory bowel disease, and on autoimmune diseases. We just got a $5 million grant to study autoimmune disease, and we’re going to be looking with some of the most sophisticated researchers in the field at psoriatic arthritis and other autoimmune diseases. It’s super exciting. We’re looking at dementia and working with the brain people. There’s a whole program there called the Lou Ruvo Center, where they’re focused on dementia research. We’re going to look at early on in the spectrum how we can actually treat the brain in a way that lead to reversal of dementia. I think we’re really seeing exciting things happening. We’re working with one of the urologists who’s just fanatic about functional medicine and nutrition, and we’re doing a whole nutritional intervention with functional medicine to reverse prostate cancer. We’re actually looking at sophisticated genetic tests in prostate cancer because you can actually see changes quickly. You can do biopsies before and after, so you can really get tissue easily, and it’s a wonderful way to actually look at the effect of these interventions. There’s so much happening, and I wish I had 10 of me because we could do so much. It really is a powerful shift in the paradigm. In fact, Toby Cosgrove, who’s the head of Cleveland Clinic, has seen the future and understands that this is the future of treating chronic disease and has brought it not in the periphery as an add-on to their services, but really into the center. In fact, we are literally in the heart of Cleveland Clinic. We are in the main building, right in the heart, and we’ve grown so fast that we have 1500 people on the waiting list. Last week I saw four doctors in my practice—two deans of medical schools, two chairmen of departments of institutes—that are coming to see me as patients. Chris Kresser: Right. Mark Hyman, MD: When the deans of medical schools and the heads of institutes from major centers are starting to understand that they need help and they’re actually asking for care from functional medicine, then we’re seeing real changes. Chris Kresser: Yeah. That’s exactly been my experience—on a smaller scale, definitely! I have to say 20 to 30 percent of my patients are physicians or healthcare practitioners from the conventional model. They’re athletes and people who are really in prominent positions in many different fields who are becoming aware of this work. It makes sense to them! It’s kind of a no-brainer, really. Mark Hyman, MD: Yeah, it’s really true. Chris Kresser: This is kind of a little bit of a tangent, but I’m a research nerd, as you know, so I think about these things! Functional medicine, one of the principles is it’s individualized, right? Mark Hyman, MD: Yeah. Chris Kresser: We don’t necessarily give the same treatment to the same patient even if they have the same condition because we know that for one person with depression could be an inflammatory disorder, but for another person it may actually be more situational and related to what’s happening in their life, or maybe it’s related to the gut-brain connection and the gut microbiota. When you’re designing a study to test functional medicine, how do you take those individual differences into account? Or are we at the point where we can’t really do that yet and it’s just one step at a time? Mark Hyman, MD: I think we absolutely can and do. I mean, this is what we do as practitioners of functional medicine. We treat everybody differently based on what their problem is. I always give the example of depression. If someone comes in and they’re hopeless and they’re helpless and they have no interest in daily life or sex or they don’t want to eat or can’t sleep, you have depression. Well, that’s just a name that we give people who have those symptoms, but then we can figure out what the cause is for each person. In one person it may be because they’re eating gluten and have developed an autoimmune thyroid condition called Hashimoto’s. Another person may need thyroid replacement. In another person, it may be because they have been taking an acid blocker for 10 years and have B12 deficiency, or because they have vitamin D deficiency from living in the Northwest or it’s winter, or because they have taken antibiotics which altered their gut flora and created inflammation, or because they eat sushi and have mercury poisoning, or hate fish and have omega-3 deficiency, or maybe eat a lot of sugar and have prediabetes. In each one of those patients, you need to figure out what their issue is that’s causing their depression. It’s not like everybody gets an antidepressant. You have to figure out an individual personalized approach to every patient. Chris Kresser: Right, so how do you approach that in research? That’s what I’m wondering. Mark Hyman, MD: How do you approach it in research? Chris Kresser: Yeah, like doing research on functional medicine. Mark Hyman, MD: In our studies, what we’re designing an approach. We’re studying an approach, not a particular therapy. We’re not saying, “Well, let’s study CoQ10 in X,” or “Let’s study this diet in this.” We’re actually saying, “Everybody who comes in is going to get a personalized evaluation, personalized diagnostics, and based on what we find, we’re going to customize a treatment.” It’s like a black box. They’re going to come into the box, they’re going to get treated, they’re going to go out, and then we see who gets better. Chris Kresser: Right. Mark Hyman, MD: Then people go, “Well, how do you know what worked? What’s going on? How do you prove it?” and the truth is that we won’t know exactly what it is. We’re just testing the method, and then we can go back and start to look at mechanisms and what’s working and what’s affecting it. I think it’s really the approach. Chris Kresser: Is there a control group that gets standard care for that, or at this point, is it just testing the functional method? Mark Hyman, MD: Well, we’re testing the approach and looking at how these different approaches, compared to conventional therapy, work or not. We’re going to take people and an autoimmune disease or with migraines or diabetes and we’re going to randomize them to either a conventional approach or functional medicine, and then we’re going to see how we do. Chris Kresser: Well, see, that makes perfect sense to me, and this is where I think the whole RCT thing has gotten a little out of control. It’s been a tremendous development in research, and it has really changed medicine in a lot of positive ways, but when it comes down to it, patients have a choice to make in terms of what kind of care they get, right? They can either go see a functional medicine doctor or they can see a conventional doctor. That’s really what it boils down to. In the end, it doesn’t matter as much whether it was this intervention or that intervention that made the difference in the functional approach because the decision that they have to make—and the decision from a public policy perspective that needs to be made—is what is the model of medicine that’s going to produce the best results. Mark Hyman, MD: Exactly. Then we can dig into what the issues are or what we want to do, but I think it’s really important to get the initial comparison and saying, “What are the benefits?” What we’re looking at are what I call the “holy shit studies” instead of the “so what? studies.” In other words, it’s not like, “Oh, well, you got a person a little better,” it’s like, “Oh, you fixed a problem that nobody else could fix.” Chris Kresser: Right, that we’re spending hundreds of billions a year treating. Mark Hyman, MD: We’re taking people and getting them off insulin. That just doesn’t happen in medicine. People get progressively more medications. We “manage” their diabetes. We don’t “fix” their diabetes. Chris Kresser: Yeah. Mark Hyman, MD: With migraines, we “manage” their condition, and often there are patients who are very resistant to treatment, and we’re going to take the hardest cases who are the ones that no one else really would want to do, and that’s a problem. Chris Kresser: Yeah. I think that’s right because the RCT model, in some ways it’s antithetical to individualized care because it’s trying to remove everything from the process except for the explicit effects of a particular intervention in a group of people. Mark Hyman, MD: Right. Chris Kresser: In fact, really the more accurate way of talking about placebo is the sum total of the effects of the interaction that happens between the clinician and the patient. Mark Hyman, MD: Right. Chris Kresser: Up until the advent of randomized clinical trials, that was seen as something to be celebrated and encouraged and a crucial part of medicine, and in some ways, RCTs have made that kind of a bad word, as if we can remove ourselves as clinicians from the interaction with the patient. Mark Hyman, MD: Right. Of course, it’s not a bad thing! Chris Kresser: Yeah, so it’s really cool to hear what you’re doing there, Mark. It’s inspiring and I’m so glad to know that this is happening. A lot has changed just even in the past few years. Mark Hyman, MD: It’s unbelievable.

Future developments in the delivery of care

Chris Kresser: Yeah, it’s really exciting. What future developments in medicine or the delivery of care are you most excited about at this point? If we had a crystal ball... I mean, so much has changed, as we just said, in the last five years. Let’s say we’re having this conversation five years from now, what do you think we’ll be looking back on and celebrating and talking about? Mark Hyman, MD: You know what’s exciting to me, Chris, is I think that we’re going to rethink not just what we’re doing, but how we’re doing it, the delivery of care. I think one of the challenges is that we have very centralized, top-down medicine. What’s the uberization of medicine look like? How do we connect together information, people, services, products that empower people to take things into their own hands and what we call disrupt or disintermediate the medical profession? We see this with Airbnb. We’re cutting out the middleman! Chris Kresser: Yeah! Mark Hyman, MD: And there’s an access issue, and I think we can do that with scalable solutions. I can imagine a future where functional medicine is built into a bioinformatic system which analyzes your history, medical history, analyzes lab tests that can be done by yourself at a local pharmacy or anywhere or maybe a kit that’s sent to your home. That data gets put into a system. It’s driven through an artificial intelligence decision support system. It spits out guidelines and recommendations for you to do. You find other people to do it with in your community. You learn how to actually connect the resources that are around you that link everything together. I mean, Uber didn’t invent anything new; it just linked together all sorts of resources to make things easy, and that can happen in medicine to help people change their lifestyle and behavior. It can link people in the community who want to get healthy together, who want to learn how to shop and cook and do all kinds of things. I think we’re going to see future healthcare without walls. We’re going to see folks like you and me only dealing with tertiary care, really very severe problems that require a different level of expertise, that most problems will be able to be dealt with by people by themselves at home without healthcare providers or maybe health coaches or maybe online groups or whatever the Facebook of healthcare is. That’s where I think we’re going that’s going to change the face of medicine, and I think functional medicine is the operating system that can drive that so that people get the most powerful change in their biology. Chris Kresser: Yeah, that’s really exciting. Lest people think that this is a totally sci-fi, unrealistic vision, I’ve seen research showing that apps where you take a picture of a skin lesion or rash and upload it to this database are more accurate in diagnosing correctly the skin problem than going to a dermatologist in some cases! Mark Hyman, MD: Yeah! Chris Kresser: I don’t think we’re very far away from many of the things that you just talked about. Mark Hyman, MD: Exactly. No, we’re not. Then maybe it’ll be linked to telemedicine, where people can link to you and me via telemedicine and we can do a consult and guide them. It makes it super easy, yeah. Chris Kresser: That, as you alluded to earlier, will hopefully solve the access issue. Right now functional medicine, at least in the kind of private one-on-one scenario, is really only for upper-middle-class people and above. We’re looking at offering group visits, both in person and video using video conferencing software, and integrating some of these algorithms and delivering content from ebooks and audio and video that can complement the courses. Mark Hyman, MD: Yeah. Chris Kresser: It’s exciting to see what’s possible. And I think not only in our lifetimes, but really in the next five to ten years we could see this stuff really make a huge dent in how things are done. Mark Hyman, MD: It’s pretty exciting.

Mark's new book

Chris Kresser: Speaking of exciting, you just published a new book two days ago, I think, and it is, what... book number 10? Is that right? Mark Hyman, MD: No, actually it’s like 13. Chris Kresser: Thirteen?! Wow! That’s amazing. I can’t keep up. Mark Hyman, MD: Maybe it’s 12. I don’t know. I’m losing count. Chris Kresser: This book is all about fat. What made you decide to write about fat? Mark Hyman, MD: I’d been telling the sugar story for a while, and then I realized it’s pretty clear that we now know that sugar is the driver of most chronic disease, but no one has really told the story of fat, which is when you stop eating sugar, what do you eat? Well, you have to eat something. You can’t just eat steak all day long. You need fat. Chris Kresser: Some of my listeners might beg to differ! Mark Hyman, MD: By the way, for those of you who don’t know this, when you eat too much protein, it actually turns to sugar in your body through a process called gluconeogenesis, so it actually can spike insulin and do all those things if you’re eating excess amount of protein. That’s another story. Chris Kresser: That’s the next book. Mark Hyman, MD: That’s the next book! But I realized that no one really kind of dug into the slippery science of fat and separated, well, I say, fat from fiction and actually kind of helped us emerge from this low-fat craze that we’ve been in for 35 years that’s caused this epidemic of obesity and diabetes, so I decided to tackle fat. It’s the most difficult book I’ve written because the controversies are so deep and the paradigm shift is so big, but I felt that I really needed to go into it. The book is really a detailed analysis of the science of how we got in this mess, what we know about fat today, and blowing up two of the biggest myths, which are that fat makes you fat and that fat causes heart disease. Then it lays out a step-by-step program for people to learn how to include the right fats in their diet, how to increase fat without getting into trouble, for example, like eating refined omega-6 oils or having trans fats, and actually eating a diet that is overall well balanced and healthy. Chris Kresser: I know that if I look back at just even five years ago, some of my beliefs about food and nutrition have changed significantly since then, and I hope they continue to change because it means I’m still learning and growing. I know that in the past you maybe leaned more towards a lower-fat kind of approach, and I’m just curious how your transition to this... maybe it’s not so new for you, but maybe for some people that in the past were familiar with your work, how that’s been received by some of your colleagues in the lower-fat, plant-based world, and what that’s been like for you. I’m just curious. Mark Hyman, MD: Well, I wrote Ultraprevention 15 years ago, and in that book I wrote fat is not a four-letter word because it was becoming clear even then, in the heyday of the low-fat era, that there were benefits to fat and that we shouldn’t all be low fat. So I’ve been talking about this for a long time, although my thinking has evolved and I realize that I though saturated fat was evil, and now I realize that based on the science, I don’t think it’s so bad. I don’t know if it’s a health food, but I think if I had to choose between butter and a bagel, I would definitely choose the butter, where I used to choose the bagel. Chris Kresser: Yeah. Mark Hyman, MD: I think that’s really shifted for me. I used to be a vegetarian. I used to eat low fat. I used to eat a ton of pasta. I thought pasta was a health food. And when I look at my own health and my own body, it’s just stunning to see the difference. I’m just amazed. I see pictures of myself when I was in my 30s and what my body looked like, and I was more flabby and just not as fit. Now with less exercise, I’m more muscular and have more levels of fitness than I did. It’s pretty fascinating to see what happens. I lost 15 pounds, and my waistline went down two inches. I feel more fit and lean at 56 than I did when I was younger, and I thought I was eating a healthy diet. It wasn’t like I was eating junk food. I never had soda. I never had processed food. I never had junk food. I ate tons of fruits and vegetables, but I did tend to eat more starches and more refined carbs and more pasta and more rice and more whole grains and more beans. Now I don’t not eat any of those things. I sort of joke about something called the “pegan” diet because I was once on a panel with my friend Joel Kahn, who’s a vegetarian cardiologist and a vegan, and my friend Frank Lipman, who’s a doctor and on the paleo end, and I’m like, “I’m in the middle here. I must be a pegan.” I sort of joked about it, and then I began to think, “Well, what is a pegan? What are the principles that are in common?” In fact, I realized there are a lot of principles that are in common between vegans and paleo if they just kind of stopped for a minute and stopped being religious and started being curious. Chris Kresser: Yeah. Mark Hyman, MD: I think that the concepts of a very-low-glycemic diet, of an unprocessed whole foods diet, of a diet rich in fruits and vegetables that are colorful and full of antioxidants, a diet that’s low in antibiotics, hormones, or pesticides, that’s non-GMO, a diet that’s absent of artificial sweeteners, additives, and ingredients, a diet that is actually higher in good quality fats, a diet that is very, very low glycemic. These are standard principles. Even a diet that’s not having any dairy in it is common to both, and having good quality proteins, whether they’re plant based or animal based, I mean, that’s the biggest difference. And then grains, I think there’s a view and my perspective is that some amount of grains can be OK for some people. I think gluten grains are probably the least healthy, and I think if you have things like buckwheat or quinoa or teff or other things that are what I call “funny foods,” they actually can be OK for some people. I think we really have to look at what’s that person’s individual health issue, what’s their genetics, and there’s a whole field of nutrigenetics. You and I, Chris, have talked about this, that there isn’t a one-size-fits-all, and some people need more or less fat. Chris Kresser: Yeah. Mark Hyman, MD: We’re now just beginning to understand how that might work. I think it’s really just being curious, not religious, about the whole thing. Chris Kresser: Yeah, and eating real food. Mark Hyman, MD: Yeah. Chris Kresser: That’s so much of it, what it comes down to. We’ve shared a few meals together, and if you looked at both of our plates, you’d have a hard time knowing who was the “paleo” guy and who was the other guy! People want to make it into a black-and-white thing and it’s really not. Mark Hyman, MD: Mm-hmm. Chris Kresser: Was there anything in the process of researching and writing the book that just totally surprised you, you weren’t expecting, or it was kind of out of left field? You just did the Fat Summit a couple of months back, and you had people from all over the spectrum talking about fat. You really put yourself in that position of being in the middle, the mediator, so I’m curious. This is what you do, it seems like, when you get into a topic, you really dive deeply in and look at all the different sides of it, so I’m just curious to know anything that came out of that experience that is worth sharing. Mark Hyman, MD: Well, I try not to have a preconceived notion of things and just try to listen to perspectives and combine that with common sense and some sense of what I call the sniff test, you know? Chris Kresser: Yeah. Mark Hyman, MD: Like, does this actually make sense? Gee, if we’re being told to eat 20 percent of our calories as soybean oil, is that something we’ve done for millions or years or has that just happened in the last hundred years? And if that’s so, is that a good idea? Probably not. That’s what I call the sniff test! I think the thing that really struck me as I began to do the research was just how much fat we probably should be eating and how 40, 50, 60-percent-fat diets actually can be very healthy and correct a lot of the problems that are affecting people, including weight gain and particularly metabolic syndrome or type 2 diabetes. Looking at the studies, I was sort of amazed to see how we can really impact those conditions through higher-fat diets. I had a patient, she was prediabetic, overweight, struggled to lose weight for years, had cholesterol of 300 and triglycerides of almost 300, 200-something. She was trying to eat a basically healthy, whole-foods diet. It just wasn’t working. And I said, “Well, why don’t we try a ketogenic diet? Why don’t we try, like, a 70-percent-fat diet. I want you to have coconut butter and grass-fed butter, saturated fats. Just try it for, like, two months and let’s test your blood and see what happens.” She called me back. She was like, “Oh, my God, Mark. My weight went down 20 pounds for the first time in 30 years. My cholesterol dropped a hundred points. My triglycerides dropped 200 points.” I was like, “Your cholesterol dropped a hundred points having butter and coconut butter?!” Chris Kresser: Yeah. Mark Hyman, MD: Even for someone like me, I’d been so indoctrinated, like the rest of us in this culture, that saturated fat causes abnormal cholesterol, that I just... The other thing that was shocking to me is that I thought that saturated fat was bad because it raised saturated fat in your blood and that actually we know that high saturated fat levels in your blood are dangerous and cause heart disease. What really shocked me was learning that actually it’s the sugar and refined carbs that cause your body to produce saturated fat in your liver. It’s not saturated fat that you eat that causes high levels of saturated fat in your blood. It’s the carbs. That was kind of an eye opener for me. The other eye-opener was that you can use high-fat diets to reverse fatty liver, which affects 90 million people, and that MCT oil, which is a derivative of coconut oil, that we can actually use that to reverse fatty liver, which is pretty amazing. Chris Kresser: Yeah. Mark Hyman, MD: There are so many things I learned. It was really eye opening, and I write all about it in the book. Chris Kresser: Yeah, which I highly recommend. Nobody has really done this the way that you’ve done it so far, just to trace the history of it and talk about fat from the perspective of summarizing all the most recent research and how it can help. I think it’s a really balanced view on the topic that’s not the super-dogmatic approach that a lot of people take. There are tons of books about ketogenic and low-carb diets, there are tons of books about low-fat diets, but for someone who just wants to get a kind of rational, well-researched, balanced view on the role of fat in the diet, I can’t recommend this book highly enough. If you’ve ever read any of Mark’s other books, you know what you’re going to be in for. They’re always very well written and super practical and easy to implement, so definitely get out there and check it out. Mark, thanks so much for coming on the show. It’s been a pleasure to talk to you. And thank you for all of your contributions to functional medicine and moving this forward. I know as a practitioner myself, it’s really exciting and inspiring to see what you’re doing and to know that we’re part of this movement and really transforming the way that healthcare is delivered. Mark Hyman, MD: Well, thank you, Chris. It’s been amazing to follow you as well. I think you’re one of the few people out there who are really digging into the research, are thoughtful, and report on ways that are clear, accessible, and I personally learn a lot from you, so thank you for what you do, too. Chris Kresser: I appreciate that, Mark, and I look forward to seeing you and our paths crossing again at the next... whenever that happens. Mark Hyman, MD: Absolutely. Chris Kresser: Good luck with the book, and let’s do this again soon. Mark Hyman, MD: OK, Chris. Thank you so much. Chris Kresser: All right, take care. Mark Hyman, MD: Take care.

from Chris Kresser http://chriskresser.com/dr-mark-hyman-on-the-future-of-medicine/
via Holistic Clients