Older Bolder Life

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Older Bolder Foundations: Is Everything You’ve Been Taught About Macronutrient Partitioning Wrong? Probably. (Part 2 of 3)

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If you missed yesterday’s post taking a well-earned jab at the conventional wisdom concerning macronutrients and macronutrient partitioning, scroll down (or click here) to read. Now, let’s get down to some practical nitty-gritty details…

Getting to Your Best Macronutrient Partitioning: First, the Caveats

When trying to dial in optimal macronutrient partitioning for any given individual (most likely you!), a couple of caveats are in order.

One, beware anyone (including the USDA) telling you that their formula / ratio / recommendations work for everyone, particularly if you have to pony up something (likely cash) up front to get the magic data. There’s a simple reason generic, one-size-fits-all partitioning recommendations aren’t worth much…

Two, your optimal macronutrient partitioning needs depend on a host of factors THAT ARE UNIQUE TO YOU; potentially including (a short list, just for example):

  • Your current objective(s): be it weight loss, athletic performance, cognitive improvement, general well being, longevity, etc.
  • Your current body composition: Are you overweight, underweight, lacking appropriate muscle mass?
  • Your overall metabolic health: Are you in full-blown metabolic syndrome with insulin resistance, on the edge, or “fairly healthy”?
  • Your overall level of activity: Are you a cubical-bound couch potato whose idea of a workout is the walk to and from the car in the parking lot, an occasional, casual walker, perhaps working a physically demanding job, or a gym rat?
  • Your overall general health: Do you have conditions that impact your body’s functions in a material way, such as joint problems (degenerative arthritis), heart disease or hypertension, poor sleep, or stress you can’t manage?
  • Your age: For example, protein requirements increase in the elderly, and the elderly’s protein requirements may be more impacted by higher activity levels.
  • Your current progress in your recovery journey: Your best macronutrient partitioning will change over time, pending where you are in your health and wellness journey, and as you purposefully get leaner, more fit, and thoughtful about how you fuel your mind and body.

Optimizing your macros takes paying attention to what your body’s telling you; it’s time to start listening…

Getting to Your Best Macronutrient Partitioning: Carbs

In all the study, reading, and learning I’ve done over the years, from where I sit no one has done a better job illustrating the role that carbs play in your macro intake than Mark Sisson of The Primal Blueprint and Mark’s Daily Apple. In particular his carbohydrate curve packs a boatload of information into one simple yet inspired graphic, reproduced below.

There’s volumes to talk about with regard to carbohydrate intake and we’ll be focusing on the subject extensively here on in months to come. At this point, as the vast majority of folks that I interact with have as a primary objective optimizing lean body mass (for most that means dropping fat and building/preserving muscle), we typically start by targeting 100 g (net) or less of carbs / day.

Getting to Your Best Macronutrient Partitioning: Protein

The current RDA for protein – 0.36 g/lb lean body mass (or 0.8 g protein/kg LBM) – is based on assumptions that don’t apply to many: a sedentary lifestyle, healthy / metabolically sound, with normal lean body mass and not trying to build muscle/increase LBM. For active individuals, for years have recommendations have quickly spun up into the 0.7 to 0.8 g/lb range (or higher).

Interestingly, many in the ancestral health and wellness world have been for some time challenging the RDA dogma above, and suggest that the minimal requirements may indeed be much lower, in the range of 0.5 g/lb LBM.

Intuitively you know that athletes need more, though as science drills down with more and more specific research, the shockingly high amounts of protein recommended (for example in body builders) appear to have quite potentially been simply too much. Suffice it to say that a large portion of the strength training community holds that 1-2 g protein/lb of LBM per day is reasonable.

For those seeking weight loss, and recognizing that goal number one is loss of fat and not lean body mass (muscle being the largest component of LBM), studies have shown that upping protein (basically doubling the RDA above) improves weight loss and better preserves LBM.

The elderly and those recovering from significant illness or injury need more protein (in the ranges of 0.5-0.6 g/lb LBM and 0.7-0.8 g/lb LBM respectively).

We’ll have much more to say about protein in weeks and months to come, but at this point we steer most to target roughly 0.5 to 0.6 g of quality proteins/lb of LBM per day, and adjust within 3-4 weeks based on your body’s response.

We’ll take a hard, detailed look at what constitutes optimal protein sources in a few weeks, and
tomorrow we’ll take a look at fat and some final thoughts on macronutrient partitioning.

Older Bolder Foundations: Is Everything You’ve Been Taught About Macronutrient Partitioning Wrong? Probably. (Part 1 of 3)

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One can’t venture too far down the fitness, weight loss, or wellness roads without encountering some discussion of what makes up the ideal macronutrient partitioning ratio (the amount of carbs, protein, and fats you eat) for the human body. And just about everybody misses a key point about partitioning – we’ll delve more into it in tomorrow’s post – but your critical challenge is finding the right partitioning, at the right time, for you.

[Just so we’re all on the same page in this short discussion, let’s follow accepted convention and think of macronutrients as those nutrients the body needs in large quantities – carbohydrates, proteins, and fats; we’ll designate micronutrients as those needed in smaller amounts – water and fat soluble vitamins and minerals, other esoteric cofactors, and some might even throw water in that mix. (This is a fairly oversimplified approach, though it serves our purpose here).]

Conventional Wisdom on Macronutrient Partitioning

Like many of you, I came of age in the 1970’s, during a time when the earnest folks at the USDA coordinated a number of very diverse interests (including significant representation from food growers/producers) to articulate Dietary Guidelines for us all; the infamous food pyramid arose during those early years.

The USDA continues to this day to offer their increasingly-challenged recommendations; you can read the latest version of their Dietary Guidelines for Americans (2010) here, all mind-numbing 112 pages.

Honing in on their recommendations for macronutrient partitioning, the table below was cut right from the document –

Sadly, despite the explosion of scientific evidence otherwise, these carbohydrate-centric, fat-phobic concepts still pervade much of traditional medical / dietary literature and practice; here’s a quick example from a university website resource (Washington State).

And (perhaps not so) shockingly, despite all of the learned counseling we’ve received, Americans continue to stuff a shocking array foods down our gullets as noted in the Dietary Guidelines (link above); the table below details the top food sources of calories by age groups…

Taking the table above at face value (assuming it’s reasonably representative), it’s no wonder the ‘typical American’ slowly and inexorably gains weight every decade past thirty (many starting much, much earlier). And despite exposure to the Dietary Guidelines over the past 40 years, we’ve become fatter, less healthy, less active, and according to recent news – less intelligent along the way.

There has to be a better path, and there is – Part 2 on macronutrient partitioning tomorrow.

the Older Bolder Life Salsa Sunday 24 June: Quick Jalapeno Tomato Table Salsa No. 3

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With summer’s fresh produce season in full swing across most of the country now, it’s high time to fold some of those sent-straight-from-heaven tomatoes into some great table salsas.

This Quick Jalapeno Tomato Table Salsa No. 3 is another one we reach for fairly routinely; it’s quick to come together, offers several layers of great pepper flavor (using fresh and dried peppers), can be spiced up or down pending your desires, and offers a nice burst of citrus tartness too.

This is another one of those very versatile salsas that are great spooned over fresh grilled chicken or pork hot off the grill, and can make your breakfast eggs / omelette / frittata a whole new experience.

2 medium to large, vine-ripened tomatoes, stem scar removed
2-3 cloves garlic, peeled
1 medium jalapeno pepper, stemmed, seeded if desired (and/or)
1-2 medium serrano peppers, stemmed, seeded if desired
1-2 chile de arbol dried peppers, stemmed, then crushed
1-2 tbsp fresh lime juice (start with one)
1-2 tbsp EVOO (start with one)
1/2 tbsp good salt

2-3 tbsp chopped cilantro leaves w tender stems
1/4 to 1/3 cup chopped (fine) red onion

Blanch the tomatoes and prepped garlic cloves in a medium pot of boiling water for 2 minutes; then rinse in cool water, peel and remove tougher tomato cores.

Into your trusty blender go the tomatoes, garlic, both/either fresh peppers, the crush dried pepper, lime juice, EVOO, and salt. Blend to desired consistency, we like it with some texture. Taste for seasoning and adjust the lime, EVOO, and salt.

Pour into your serving bowl and gently stir in the cilantro and chopped red onion, maybe even a minced fresh pepper if you’re looking for a bit more spice.

Enjoy.

the Older Bolder Life Friday Feast 22 June: Barbary Coast Lamb Kabobs

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My lovely wife spent some of her developmental years growing up in North Africa (Algeria), back when the region was far less tumultuous than today; she and her family grew to savor the many of the regional dishes of the area, including the roasted lamb kabobs of what used to be called the Barbary Coast (Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, and Libya).

We occasionally enjoy pasture-raised lamb at home, whether it be a leg of lamb, lamb chops, or what we’ve come to call these Barbary Coast Lamb Kabobs.

This dish is fun to serve for a crowd, is a piece of cake to put together, and most importantly, is absolutely delicious. Around our house at least, there must be tzatziki or a great yogurt sauce on the table, as well as great Greek-inspired salad (we’ll post our favorite this summer at some point).

As a bonus, this recipe works incredibly well with chicken as well.

2 lb leg of lamb, trimmed, cut into 1 and 1/2- inch cubes

Marinade
3/8 cup olive oil
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
3 large garlic cloves, minced
1 tbsp fresh mint, chopped
2 tsp fresh grated lemon peel
2 tsp fresh ground pepper
1 tsp (generous) coriander (ground)
1 tsp (generous) cumin (ground)
1 tsp good salt

Vegetables
2 red onions, quartered, with resulting pieces then halved
1 red bell pepper, stemmed and seeded, cut into 1 and 1/2- inch pieces
1 green bell pepper, stemmed and seeded, cut into 1 and 1/2- inch pieces
2 baby zucchini, trimmed, cut into 1 and 1/2- inch pieces
1 small container grape tomatoes
Optional: 16 dried apricots, soaked in boiling water 5 min. then drained

Mix together the entire list of marinade ingredients in a medium bowl, whisking well to combine. Add the cubed lamb, stirring gently but thoroughly, cover, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, 4-8 hours is better.

When ready to cook, fire the grill, and thread the meat onto skewers alternating with peppers and onions; thread the remaining vegetables onto skewers artfully.

Grill the meat and vegetables; the meat (pending your fire), should be medium-rare to medium in 7 to 8 minutes; turn and baste every 3-4 minutes for an even cook. The vegetables may take a minute or two longer.

Serve hot off the grill with the accompaniments of your choice (see above).

Enjoy.

Thursday Keto Corner 21 June : My Day in the Nutritional Ketosis Zone

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Over the past several months I’ve been asked nearly every day by friends, family, and coaching clients how life has worked for me while in nutritional ketosis, even though I’m just in my 10th week of NK currently.

Everyone who queries gets more or less the same quick story (maybe it’s not so quick), which includes a brief touch on the following main points.

My day typically starts at about 6 when I awaken naturally without setting an alarm; that’s about the time of late that the eastern sky lightens in our neck of the woods this time of year. We’ve also been working hard around our to camp to improve our approach to restful sleep, and typically I’ll have slept 8 hours +/- 30 minutes by that 6 AM start.

Almost every early morning I pour a big glass of cold-brewed coffee, with either a bit of cream or full-fat coconut milk to soften it just a tad, along with one scoop (10 gm protein) of collagen powder. Otherwise, for months now I’ve been implementing the WHEN principle when it comes to eating, not consuming anything else until When Hunger Ensues Naturally, very easily (and initially unintentionally) accomplishing another goal of ‘painless’ intermittent fasting.

I then work in my home office for several hours, typically stopping mid to late morning for a workout (fairly high intensity resistance 2-3 days per week, sprinting one day, and walking or hiking 5 to 6 days per week). It’s then back to the desk for another 1-2 hours of work until somewhere between 1 and 2 when I feel the first real urges of the day to eat.

Lunch for me, the first food intake of the day, is most often cold, leftover grilled or roasted chicken, pork, steak, occasionally a hamburger patty or a high quality salami; often a few olives or quick dill pickles are included, though I personally often don’t consume any more than just a handful (or less) carb grams at lunch. If the day’s planned menu is lean on fats, I might have a spoon of coconut butter or a fat bomb with lunch as well.

It’s then either back to the desk or out for errands, finishing up work and communication tasks, taking several stretch and quick walk intervals; the protein and fat rich lunch provides all the fuel I need to remain sharp and productive, with no post-workout or post-meal crash at all.

Given my wife’s work schedule (area manager for large national retail chain) we most often consume our largest meal of the day in the early evening – typically a grilled protein (steaks, pork chops, tenderloin, or pork shoulder, coldwater fish in the spring, summer and fall) with one of the many coleslaws or salads we enjoy (including several cauliflower and broccoli-based), or another grilled, roasted, or raw vegetable.

We then relax with a short walk, reading or writing (that novel is taking forever), or chase little bass with a fly rod on several local ponds, and are usually crashed in bed by 10, getting ready to get sleep well, and get another day started.

the Older Bolder Life Vegetable Wednesday 20 June: ME’s Cauliflower Salad

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I’m not sure where it was that we first enjoyed this simple but delicious raw cauliflower “salad”, though you could just as easily call it a slaw.

Cauliflower is such a versatile workhorse in the kitchen and has been popping up everywhere in all sorts of forms these days; we happen to think it’s under-appreciated “just as it is” raw, as in serving it on your hummus tray, as crudite with your favorite dips or dressings, or in salads such as this.

This is one of those recipes to throw together, adding ingredients “until it looks right”, adjusting for your palate as you go, and you can use whatever olives and cheese float your boat. Try it and I’ll bet it ends up in your summer rotation over the next few months.

1 large head cauliflower florets, trimmed (the tender, small stems are good too)
1/2 to 1 cup good olives (pimento stuffed), chopped roughly
2-3 ounces cheese of your choice, great with a medium or sharp cheddar, or MJ
Approx. 1/2 cup homemade avocado or olive oil mayo (may need more)
1-2 tbsp olive brine
Optional: Jar of chopped pimentos, drained and chopped
Optional: 1-2 tbsp of fresh, coarse-ground black pepper

This one is a piece of cake to pull together – the most time consuming task is cutting up the cauliflower head; be sure to wash the florets well, then let them drain for several minutes before combining with the rest of the ingredients.

The beauty of this recipe, as with just about all salads and slaws, is that you can easily adjust the final amounts of the key ingredients to suit your (family’s) tastes. We never measure the ingredients for this one, and just add olives, cheese, and homemade avocado oil mayo until “it looks right”. (Try it as written to get an idea what it should look and taste like the first time around.)

Hold in the fridge until ready to serve, best made within 2-3 hours of serving.

Enjoy.

Older Bolder Life Foundations: There is a Far, Far Better Way to Eat

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There is indeed a far, far better way to eat, using a diet format that fits our human physiology better than any other. This food plan is intuitively simple, is accessible to just about anyone and everyone, is packed with nutrients, and probably most importantly – is built for the long-haul as it’s tasty, satisfying, and allows you to be as creative as ever in the kitchen. And for those who want to dig deep into the science behind their own physiology, appears to make the most sense in terms of the science-based evidence in hand today.

I’m talking about a low carbohydrate, moderate protein, high fat approach to nourishment (LC/MP/HF); it’s not a novel approach at this point in mid-2018, but appears to be the optimal one for human physiology (for the vast, vast majority of us on the planet today at least) based on evolving scientific understanding of how the body works, in particular with regard to the cadre of hormones that regulate nutrient transport, metabolism, storage, and your hunger.

Granted, there are plenty who disagree, and on a variety of grounds (many of which are based on preference and not physiology). And there are a host of criticisms of LC/MP/HF that typically mischaracterize the approach in some way; i.e. eating low carb means you never any any carbs at all. That’s fine, after all, we’re all ultimately personally responsible for how our bodies function, and how we relate to the world around us.

If you’re truly serious about living life as fully as possible, optimizing your physical, cognitive, and emotional/spiritual potential, you cannot ignore the body of science and experience detailing the successes of low carbohydrate, moderate protein, high fat food plans. Here are just a few of the reasons the LC/MP/HF approach works.

Eating Low Carb/Good Carb Tastes Good

One of the keys for success of any long term, healthy eating plan is that is has to taste good. A simple concept, yet so often ignored in the past (I’m remembering one of my yo-yo dieting parents eating cabbage braised in tomato juice twice a day for weeks as child…). For a long term eating plan to succeed there needs to be an vast array of food choices that are satisfying and attractive, and eating nutrient-dense, fresh, healthy carbs (leafy greens with high fat dressing, crispy steamed broccoli dripping with butter, sautéed mushrooms, and more), fits the bill quite nicely.

Eating Low Carb/Good Carb Puts Insulin In Its Place

Insulin plays a number of roles in the body, with one of its principle tasks being to store excess nutrition, and it does so by storing fat. High carb diets chronically keep insulin elevated, keeping fat locked in storage, and the longer you live with elevated levels of insulin, the more risk you become of developing insulin-resistance, which among other devastating things makes it much harder to drop excess body fat.

Eating a low carb/good carb diet lowers insulin levels, one of the first critical steps in getting you back on the healthy track.

Eating Low Carb/Good Carb Increase Fat Intake (And Fat Ain’t the Bad Guy)

Long demonized in the Standard American Diet (SAD), fats are very likely the preferred, optimal fuel for your body to primarily run on, a point we’ll be addressing at length here over time. Among many other things, fat in a meal slows gastric emptying, prolonging a sense of satiety, which means you’re not eating for longer periods, and thus overall lowering calorie intake (which for most of us, is a good and necessary thing!)

Eating Low Carb/Good Carb Emphasizes Quality Protein

Particularly as we age, lean muscle mass diminishes (there are host of reasons for this), and protein intake is critical to combat this natural decline; it’s even more important in the setting of trying to lose excess body fat – you want to the fat to go away, not the muscle!

Quality protein in the diet, particularly in the setting of low carbs, contributes massively to your sensation of satiety, meaning you’re less hungry, sharper longer, and break out of the carb-crash roller coaster pattern the SAD provides.

Eating Low Carb/Good Carb Implies Embracing the Good and Dumping the Bad

There are several foods, ironically centerpieces of the typical American diet, that contribute more to the damaged and deranged health of the population than anything else – sugar, grains, and the highly-oxidized, polyunsaturated, industrially-processed vegetable and seed oils being the worst of all.

Eating a SAD diet, these three categories often make up the preponderance of calories consumed, despite the hard science record that carbs are the principle driver in determining body composition and that excess glucose (yep, we’re looking right at you grains and sugars) is the root culprit fostering the obesity epidemic and the flood of disorders (i.e. T2DM, heart disease) that walk hand in hand with it.

This isn’t a carb-phobic approach – it’s sweeping the crap carbs out of your diet, and replacing them fully with nutrient-dense, fiber-rich, healthy carbs at levels that make sense physiologically.

This is a meaty topic (slight pun intended), and one not well-covered in a few paragraphs; there’ll be much more to come and there’s a plethora of great information at your fingertips today.

Eating Low Carb/Good Carb Works Quickly

Not intentionally referring to the quick loss of water weight that often occurs when transitioning to a LC diet (there’s no question that early success in weight loss efforts often encourages longer-term compliance), but more to the reality that particularly in the obese, dropping carbs to a “low or very low” level (in the setting of appropriate protein and fat intake) often leads to rapid drops in fat stores (maybe even targeting belly fat).

My own experiences speaks to this phenomenon of rapid weight loss; after a 100 lb weight loss and subsequent stall, entering a period of thoughtful nutritional ketosis led to a prolonged run of dropping 2 to 2.5 lb of fat per week, eating to absolute satiety every single day.

Eating Low Carb/Good Carb is Easy, Intuitive, and Simple to Follow

During my years in practice, I advised overweight patients (when treating their bone, muscle, joint, or spine issues), to take a serious run at weight loss; most often I steered them to what I used to call ‘rational’ programs – like Weight Watchers and The Zone. The most common complaints/reasons for failure that I heard over and over was the fact that patients found the regimented programs too restrictive and regimented, difficult to learn, and unsatisfying.

Successful diets and food plans – whether pursuing weight loss, optimizing health, or high level athletic pursuits – are based on simple, easy to understand, almost common-sense principles that allow one to intuitively navigate the sea of food choices laid before us every day. A carefully crafted LC/MP/HF approach, like Primal and Paleo for example, offer just such a framework.

Eating Low Carb/Good Carb Packs in Nutrients, Not Calories

I’m often stunned at how often a LC skeptic will assert that eating a low carb diet is harmful from the standpoint of missing out on key nutrients. The assertion is almost shamefully easy to counter, as in replacing calorie-dense, carb-dense foods – bread with every meal for example – with a fresh leafy green (or sautéed spinach, broccoli rabe, or green beans, etc.). Doing so ups your micronutrient density significantly, and adds a host of healthy phytochemicals as well.

Sugars are devoid of micronutrients, and grains bring along a lot of unsavory baggage in addition to their unfavorable carbohydrate density – namely lectins (including of course gluten), micronutrient-binding phytates, and the little discussed protein gliadin, binding to opiate-receptors in the brain (more on this little gem later).

More to come.

Older Bolder Life Foundations: Can You Simply Exercise Your Way to the Body You Want? Probably Not.

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One of the most pervasive myths about health and fitness that I personally encountered growing up and later in medical training and practice was that exercise, of all types, was the principle key to attaining a “fit and trim” body composition. To be sure, what one consumed in terms of diet was deemed important, but for example playing high school sports in the mid-70’s, we were taught and trained to be carb-dependent, protein-guzzling machines.

Wait Just a Danged Minute, This Story Doesn’t Add Up

We experienced, yet didn’t really understand, the simple reality that repetitive, glucose-fueled / glucose-burning workouts trained our bodies to prefer or reach for glucose preferentially 24/7.

We burned through glucose in the too-long, too-intense HIIT and chronic cardio-focused training that dominated the day, gorged on carbs and too much protein (leading to gluconeogenesis when glycogen stores refilled quickly) afterward, generating spikes of insulin, with a resultant ‘sugar crash’ leading to even stronger carb cravings.

Some of my very athletic compadres began in high school to pack on a few extra pounds around the middle, a body composition change that became even more prevalent on through college and graduate school years.

Yet the conventional wisdom taught back then (and even in some circles now) was based on the calories-in / calories-out model, and could be ‘fixed’ by simply reducing your total calories per day, usually by restricting fats, and continuing to fuel with carbs as we implored ourselves and patients to just ‘work those calories off in the gym or on the road’.

Yet over the past three decades we (as a Nation) have seen fitness levels plummet as we dutifully pursued the Food Pyramid and chased the current fad diets across the fruited plain, and pounded hours away in the gym hoping to return to the bodies and fitness of our youth.

Body Composition and Exercise: So How Much Does Exercise Truly Matter?

Ironically, looking back on more than twenty-five years in the study and practice of medicine (rehabilitative and musculoskeletally focused), I don’t remember reading or hearing detailed discussion of what we know today to truly drive body composition. Lip service was paid to obtaining “nutritional balance, eating well, and getting lots of exercise”, though nutritional recommendations were seeming directed more by USDA policy than by evidence-based science back in the day.

Sure, medical investigators have long acknowledged that exercise plays a role in body weight and composition (here’s a decent example from the Journal of Obesity back in 2011), though multiple agencies, for example including the American Heart Association, still cling to out-dated and frankly harmful dietary recommendations (see the nitty gritty details here; we’ll have a detailed discussion about these at a later date) and chronic cardio inducing exercise recommendations.

The encouraging reality is this: what you eat will determine 80% of your body composition, with exercise contributing roughly 10%. The other 10% is likely composed of your skills in managing stress (and life can be damned stressful these days) and resting well (sleep matters).

These are of course rough divisions, and will vary in their relative contribution somewhat among individuals pending details such as how far above their ideal body weight they might be, how metabolically impaired they are, how long they’ve been metabolically impaired, if they suffer from other medical issues (comorbidities), how they manage stress, and how they manage sleep – which most of us these day do quite poorly.

Exercise – particularly the right types and in appropriate volumes – is a critical, absolutely necessary, and often fun part of the equation, but what you eat is far, far more important to your overall health, wellness, function, and body composition.

As we progress through our Foundation Series we’ll be digging into each of these areas in much greater detail.