Older Bolder Life

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Letting Simple Physiology Inform Your Carb Choices: An Example

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I shared a few weeks back a discussion I had with a skeptical physician friend after he’d approached me for input on how he might best approach turning his health around; read my recount of our interaction (part 1 and part 2) here.

We’ve chatted back and forth over the past couple of months, working through his traditional medical training induced skepticism for a lower carb / moderate protein / higher fat food plan and I thought it might be worth sharing what finally convinced him to jump into a trial with both feet.

What finally convinced him was encouraging him to let simple human physiology inform his food choices, particularly when it came to carbohydrate intake.

For illustration purposes, I constructed a hypothetical man, weighing 190 pounds, and used one of the many tools available to estimate his blood volume, which turned out to be 6464 ml.

I then asked him what he’d like to consider as a “normal” blood glucose level (granted, there are a host of influences on what might be a normal level); he suggested we use 100 mg/dl (to make the math easy, and that’s 5.5 mmol/l for those thinking along those lines).

In our hypothetical man, a blood glucose level of 100 mg/dl, given his estimated blood volume per above, means that only 6460 mg of glucose is in circulation at any given moment. That’s all of 0.228 ounces, which, when visualized in terms of table sugar (yes, that’s sucrose, but we’re painting a visual picture here), ends up just a hair over 1 and 1/2 teaspoons.

In our hypothetical man, a blood glucose level of 130 mg/dl – deemed to be the acceptable upper limit of normal, given his estimated blood volume per above, means that only 8398 mg of glucose is in circulation at any given moment. That’s all of 0.296 ounces, which, when visualized in terms of table sugar (yes, that’s sucrose, but we’re painting a visual picture here), ends up being just about 2 teaspoons.

I reminded him of how aggressively the body responds to carbohydrate consumption, which produces a flood of glucose into the bloodstream inducing the cascade of insulin responses (here’s a quick reminder, it’s oversimplified, but a review).

Visualizing what relatively small amounts of blood glucose are actually in circulation at any given time, thinking through the very elegantly designed hormonal controls in place to keep blood sugar very tightly regulated, and well understanding the ravages of blood glucose elevated out of normal ranges (i.e. T1DM), finally ‘flipped the switch’ in my friend’s thought process, at least in the context of the standard American diet and the (relatively speaking) huge load of carbohydrates it provides.

Sometimes simple examples win the day.

The Simple Power of NEXT

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This time of year, for obvious good reasons, tends to get a bit hectic and (for many) more than a little stressful.

At least for some of us, some of the most tempting, and most egregiously bad, Standard American Diet fare shows up at work, on the family table, at your favorite coffee shop, holiday parties and gatherings, and just about anywhere else you care to venture.

For those of us working to maintain a healthier, active lifestyle, the challenges are oft compounded by the time demands of the season, shortening hours of daylight, and the arrival of late fall and winter weather all conspiring together to cut into your valuable exercise and workout windows.

There’s a simple principle you’ve no doubt heard before, but it’s worth mentioning again, and in fact, I’ve been sharing repeatedly it with clients for the past ten days in particular…

The Simple Power of Next

Get off track with your food plan this week? It happens. And will likely happen again before we see another New Years Day pass. Don’t waste time beating yourself up.

It doesn’t matter, at least in the long term, bigger picture IF you simply exercise the simple power of choosing to get back on track for your NEXT meal.

Get off track with your exercise or workout plan this week? It happens. And will likely happen again before we see another New Years Day pass. Don’t waste time beating yourself up.

It doesn’t matter, at least in the long term, bigger picture IF you simply exercise the simple power of choosing to get back on track for your NEXT walk, run, yoga session, or workout.

The Simple Power of Next Works Wonders Over the Long Haul Too

One of the most common concerns I’ve heard over the years from people who are morbidly obese as they consider lifestyle changes to restore their health is that it just seems too overwhelming to actually visualize themselves dropping what in some cases might actually half their body weight. (Count me among that unique crowd at one point years ago…)

Granted, setting a long term goal to drop 80, 100, even 200 pounds is a daunting challenge, though what I chose to do, and what I encourage clients to do continually, is simply reduce that challenge to making the best choices possible for their very next meal (or the day’s food plan) and their very next workout.

The old adage that success begets success is certainly true in this case, and it’s much easier to summon the willpower and momentum to make a single meal or single workout ‘best choice’.

Git ‘er done today, and leverage the simple power of next.

the Older Bolder Life Salad Sunday 18 November: Our House Guacamole

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The Primal/Paleo crowd doesn’t need to be reminded that avocados happen to be one of those superfoods that not only support great health but just taste damn good.

Most avocado fans know that avocados are packed with Vitamin K, Folate, Vitamins C, B5, B6 and E, and offer a good dollop of potassium too, though their principle benefit is the 15 grams (on average) of monounsaturated fat, most of it the monounsaturated fatty acid oleic acid (high in good olive oil too).

I recently shared about this recipe on Chi Wulff (a fly fishing blog) –

…my lovely wife has been something of a guacamole ninja since we enjoyed four years in San Antonio years ago during my graduate training; we learned to enjoy authentic TexMex and Mexican guacamoles and still have a batch 2 or 3 times a week to this day.

There are a lot of fancied up recipes for all sorts of up-town guacamoles out there today, and you probably have a family favorite, but what follows is Our House Guacamole recipe we’ve evolved over the years. While I’m working on the rest of dinner, ME can have a batch of this done, ready to savor, in under five minutes.

Being good Texicans, we consider a big bowl of guacamole to be an all purpose condiment (try it slathered over your steak or grilled chicken tonight), or a super-vegetable / all purpose side for any meal. (Some nights a double recipe of guacamole is dinner with a pile of crunchy crudite to dip)…

We don’t measure any ingredient when putting this together anymore; she just drops things in “until it looks right” – give this one a spin if you don’t have a house favorite yet…

2 large, ripe avocados, pitted, peeled, mashed with a fork
3 – 4 tsp fresh lime juice, maybe more to taste
1/2 small red onion, minced
2-4 tbsp finely chopped, seeded roma tomato
1 medium garlic clove, minced, then mashed with salt to a paste
1/2 – 1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp good salt
Generous sprinkle of good paprika/smoked paprika

Consider adding
1-2 stemmed, seeded (membranes too) and diced serranos or jalapenos
3-4 tbsp chopped cilantro (fresh of course)

Start by mashing the minced garlic clove with the salt (you’re making a paste), then combine the remainder of the ingredients and fold roughly wth a fork (we like some texture in ours). Don’t forget the peppers and cilantro either…

While it’s best uber-fresh, if not eating immediately, drop one of the avocado pits in the bowl, spritz with fresh lime juice, then cover tightly with plastic wrap, and throw in the fridge (no more than 2 hours!).

Sprinkle with the paprika before serving.

Enjoy.

Inquiring Minds Want to Know (Links and Stuff) 17 November 2018

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Topics That Caught Our Eye This Week

Does Science Support a 4-Hour Workday? Fascinating…

Timing of Food Intake Matters (and an incidental plug for IF)

And Another Study Supporting IF

Tainted Supplements????

Daily Drinking Leads to Increased Mortality

For Your Thanksgiving Holiday This Next Week

A Tongue in Cheek Southern Spin on Healthy Eating

Another Holiday Related Topic: The Science of Good Chocolate

Impress the Family at Thanksgiving: Bring Your Medieval Eating Knife

Our Recipes From the Past Week(s)

Braised Turkey Thighs (video)

Quick Pickled Daikon Radishes

Grilled Cumin Garlic Tahini Chicken

Grilled Southwestern Cauliflower Steaks

Homemade Caesar Dressing with Avocado Oil Mayo

Grilled Gochujang Skirt Steak

Keto Thursday: Pregame for Your Nutritional Ketosis Run

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By far and away the most common questions I’ve fielded this past summer and early fall have been related to folks wanting to jump on the keto bandwagon, most often in fact some version(s) of how do I get started, what’s the easiest way to get into keto, and do I really have to give up carbs?

My response typically focuses on review of several key points…

First Things First: Why Nutritional Ketosis?

First, I typically query why someone wants to give nutritional ketosis a spin. There are a host of great reasons to give NK a try – pursuit of greater metabolic flexibility, increased cognitive and/or physical performance, particularly in endurance-focused activities, or just overall improving your daily function (and quality of life).

Breaking through a weight loss stall is another worthy, and common, reason, as is dealing with a challenging health or metabolic issue (classically you might think of a seizure disorder here, though keto is commonly brought into the discussion for example when talking about T2DM, pre-dementia states, and even adjunctive treatment for some malignancies).

On the other hand, pursuit of “ketosis” to simply jump on the latest dietary fad bandwagon doesn’t seem to play well over the long haul, at least in my experience.

Pregame for Nutritional Ketosis: Take an Honest Snapshot of Where You Stand Metabolically

Honest self-appraisal, for most of us at least, isn’t the easiest task to accomplish, though this point is pretty straightforward. At the extremes, contrast the 40-year old, overweight, sedentary, desk-bound, over-stressed office worker, languishing on the standard American diet (SAD), crashing and burning multiple times a day, stumbling from one carbohydrate bomb to the next with the 40-year old who’s been eating primally or following a Paleo-ish eating plan, consuming moderate amounts of protein and less than 100 grams of carbs per day, walking 40 minutes 5 days a week, and getting enough sleep to truly rest and repair every day.

While anything is possible, I’d argue simply that the SAD guy above isn’t ready to launch a genuine nutritional ketosis run no matter how strongly he might want to; he could grind it out, but would likely suffer from the ‘keto flu’ (not a big fan of that term by the way) and would be at high risk to fail within the first three weeks. His road would be a danged bumpy one, and could be smoothed significantly with a pre-keto adjustment period (more below).

On the other hand, our guy eating Primally will likely make the transition into NK with relative ease…

Pregame for Nutritional Ketosis: Do a Bit of Housecleaning First

From a post on a similar topic I shared back in June –

Stepping into nutritional ketosis is a relative piece of cake if you’ve done some preliminary diet “housekeeping” to begin with. The most important dietary housekeeping is sorta’ve along the lines of cleaning the most obnoxious things out of your house – one, getting rid of grains and heavily processed carbs, including sugar in all its forms is one, and the second essential dumping the toxic, industrial-processed seed oils that are commonly stocked in pantry and restaurant around the world.

The other bit of housekeeping that I often recommend is to take a thoughtful, honest look at the amount and quality of protein one is eating prior to starting a nutritional ketosis run. Many of us are simply eating too much protein, and too much protein from less-desirable sources (i.e. CAFO beef, pork, and chicken).

Pregame for Nutritional Ketosis: Put on Your Thinking – and Listening – Cap

Two points here. One, be prepared to learn some new concepts. Nutritional ketosis is a fascinating tool (among many) to optimize your health and function, though as with all concepts that are swept to fad stardom, there is a tremendous amount of noise and misinformation in the keto arena these days.

Looking for a great read to kick off the learning process? Consider The Keto Reset Diet by Sisson and Kearns, or Primal Fat Burner by Nora Gedgaugdas to mention a couple. Find a mentor or trusted coach (and yes, we can help you with a customized coaching program here…).

Second, your physiology and metabolism are unique to you alone; your optimal path to and in nutritional ketosis will likely be different than any one you know or read, and will require some thoughtful attention to what your body is telling you. Listen well, and don’t hesitate to make rational, thoughtful adjustments along the way.

Pregame for Nutritional Ketosis: Commit to Give Nutritional Ketosis a Fair Trial

I’ve shared this before –

No matter how you’ve been eating before, truly starting nutritional ketosis will cause your body to make some adjustments as you preprogram your metabolic machinery. I agree wholeheartedly with those who suggest you make at minimum a 6 week commitment to the process, promising yourself you’ll wade through whatever adjustments come your way. And as your body adapts to fat-burning, there are several breakthrough windows that are exciting to watch and feel – though for most that’s territory that occurs in week three and beyond.

Frankly, I’m typically encouraging most of my clients to make a 12 week or more commitment to their NK trial, particularly if they’re over 40 and have been or are ‘metabolically challenged’. And, to be fair, NK doesn’t work for everybody.

There are several other minor points to consider when thinking about an NK run, we’ll come back and revisit on another day.

the Older Bolder Life Vegetable Wednesday 14 November: Quick Pickled Daikon Radishes

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Twice over the past few months I’ve shared recipes for quick pickles, something we tend to keep in the fridge year round, perfect for snacking and a quick, crispy, nutritious, and Primal/keto side for dinner.

If you missed the prior recipes, here’s the Quick Pickled Beets and Onions, and here’s the Tasty Quick Dills.

Radishes are one of my personal favorite snacks (even as we turn the corner to late fall/early winter, there’s still a container of trimmed radishes in water in the fridge this morning), not only for their satisfy crunch and burst of spicy, umami flavor, but also given the fact they contain almost no soluble carbs in a handful.

Radishes make a surprisingly tasty quick pickle, something Bahn Mi fans learned with their first one, and are a tasty snack/side to throw into your rotation. Bonus points for the quick, simple prep too…

1 cup apple cider vinegar
1 cup unseasoned rice vinegar
1/4 cup kosher salt
2 tbsp fresh-squeezed lime juice
2 tbsp good honey (optional)
2-4 red Thai or serrano chiles, stemmed, split lengthwise
1 tsp coriander seeds
1/2 tsp dill seeds

1 medium-large daikon radish, trimmed, peeled, thinly sliced
Consider using a watermelon radish as well…

To a medium saucepan add the vinegars, salt, lime juice, honey if using, chiles, and both seeds; bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring to dissolve the salt and honey. Remove from heat and let cool for 15-20 minutes.

Prep the radishes, add to a large, flat-bottomed bowl, and pour the pickling liquid over. Stir well to separate the radish slices so that all are exposed to the liquid, cover, and chill for at least 4 hours before serving. These will stay crispy for 4-5 days, though ours never last that long.

Enjoy.

Coffee and Intermittent Fasting: An Interesting N=2 Experiment

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One of the most commonly asked questions we hear over over and over again has to do with intermittent fasting (IF) and morning coffee (or tea) – specifically what will or won’t break a fasting state.

There’s been a fair amount of discussion as to what nutritional ketosis enthusiasts might add to their morning coffee to enhance their ‘get-the-day-started’ beverage and NOT break their fast, with opinions as you might guess ranging all over the place.

Becky Gillaspy, DC and her husband Keith ran an interesting N=2 experiment, testing three typical morning coffee ‘enhancers’ including cream, MCT oil, and butter, and followed their own blood glucose and ketone levels q30 minutes for the following two hours post a baseline measurement.

Read their results here on her blog (Coffee Experiment! What Can I Put In My Coffee When Intermittent Fasting – We Ran The Test); for the record, none of the three additives disrupted their nutritional ketosis state.

Granted, N=2 clinical trials are much more anecdotal than hard science, particularly when the metabolic and general health of the participants is not disclosed, though these types of investigations are nevertheless quite interesting and instructive. Their effort earns a hearty “attaboy” from us…