Could Eating More Fat Cheese And Milk Make You Smarter?

Could eating more cheese and milk make you brainier? | Mail Online: Fat lot of good: How eating more cheese and milk could make you brainier

...new research has caused controversy by suggesting that, in fact, dairy food could be essential for a healthy brain.

The study, by U.S. and Australian researchers, involving 1,000 adults, found those who regularly have dairy products such as milk, cheese and yoghurt score better on tests of mental ability than people who never, or rarely, consume dairy.

Eating a High Fat Breakfast May be Good for You

Why Eating a High Fat Breakfast May be Good for You | Fox News: The study revealed that mice fed a meal higher in fat after waking up had normal metabolic profiles. On the other hand, they found mice that ate a carbohydrate-rich meal in the morning and a high fat meal at the end of the day had increased weight gain, glucose intolerance and other factors related to metabolic syndrome.

Very-low-carbohydrate diets and preservation of muscle mass

Nutrition & Metabolism | Full text | Very-low-carbohydrate diets and preservation of muscle mass:

"Although more long-term studies are needed before a firm conclusion can be drawn, it appears, from most literature studied, that a VLCARB is, if anything, protective against muscle protein catabolism during energy restriction, provided that it contains adequate amounts of protein."

Safflower Oil Reduces Belly Fat

Safflower Oil Reduces Belly Fat: The Clinical Study that Supports the Health Claim:

"Results: Although safflower oil did not lower total body fat, it did reduce abdominal (belly) fat by 2.3 pounds and 4.2 pounds, or an average of 6.3%. It also increased lean muscle mass by an average of 1.4 pounds and 3 pounds. Moreover, it reduced fasting blood sugar levels by 11 and 19 points."

Comparison of energy-restricted very low-carbohydrate and low-fat diets on weight loss and body composition in overweight men and women

Comparison of energy-restricted very low-carbohydrate and low-fat diets on weight loss and body composition in overweight men and women:

This study shows a clear benefit of a VLCK (very low-carbohydrate ketogenic)over LF (low-fat) diet for short-term body weight and fat loss, especially in men. A preferential loss of fat in the trunk region with a VLCK diet is novel and potentially clinically significant but requires further validation. These data provide additional support for the concept of metabolic advantage with diets representing extremes in macronutrient distribution.

"Results
Actual nutrient intakes from food records during the VLCK (%carbohydrate:fat:protein = ~9:63:28%) and the LF (~58:22:20%) were significantly different. Dietary energy was restricted, but was slightly higher during the VLCK (1855 kcal/day) compared to the LF (1562 kcal/day) diet for men. Both between and within group comparisons revealed a distinct advantage of a VLCK over a LF diet for weight loss, total fat loss, and trunk fat loss for men (despite significantly greater energy intake). The majority of women also responded more favorably to the VLCK diet, especially in terms of trunk fat loss. The greater reduction in trunk fat was not merely due to the greater total fat loss, because the ratio of trunk fat/total fat was also significantly reduced during the VLCK diet in men and women. Absolute REE (kcal/day) was decreased with both diets as expected, but REE expressed relative to body mass (kcal/kg), was better maintained on the VLCK diet for men only. Individual responses clearly show the majority of men and women experience greater weight and fat loss on a VLCK than a LF diet."

Blood Sugar

The Heart Scan Blog:

"83 mg/dl is required to erase the excess cardiovascular risk of blood sugar"

Saturated fat and cardiovascular disease

Meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies evaluating the association of saturated fat with cardiovascular disease -- Siri-Tarino et al., 10.3945/ajcn.2009.27725 -- American Journal of Clinical Nutrition:

"A meta-analysis of prospective epidemiologic studies showed that there is no significant evidence for concluding that dietary saturated fat is associated with an increased risk of CHD or CVD."

Spices blood sugar and the formation of AGE compounds

Spices May Protect Against Consequences Of High Blood Sugar:

"She added that controlling blood sugar and the formation of AGE compounds can also decrease the risk of cardiovascular damage associated with diabetes and aging. She explained that high blood sugar accelerates heart disease partly because AGE compounds form in the blood and in the walls of blood vessels. The AGE compounds aggravate atherosclerosis, which produces cholesterol plaques."

High carb diet increases risk of cataract development in elder women

High carb diet increases risk of cataract development in elder women:

"They found that women in the study whose average carbohydrate intake was between 200 and 268 grammes per day were 2.5 times more likely to get cortical cataracts than the women whose intake was between 101 and 185 grams per day."

A ketogenic diet reduces amyloid beta 40 and 42 in a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease

A ketogenic diet reduces amyloid beta 40 and 42 in a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease:

"Previous studies have suggested that diets rich in cholesterol and saturated fats increased the deposition of Aβ and the risk of developing AD. Here we demonstrate that a diet rich in saturated fats and low in carbohydrates can actually reduce levels of Aβ. Therefore, dietary strategies aimed at reducing Aβ levels should take into account interactions of dietary components and the metabolic outcomes, in particular, levels of carbohydrates, total calories, and presence of ketone bodies should be considered."

Comparison of very low carbohydrate/high saturated fat and high carbohydrate/low saturated fat diets on body composition and cardiovascular risk

Comparison of isocaloric very low carbohydrate/high saturated fat and high carbohydrate/low saturated fat diets on body composition and cardiovascular risk:

"Isocaloric VLCARB results in similar fat loss than diets low in saturated fat, but are more effective in improving triacylglycerols, HDL-C, fasting and post prandial glucose and insulin concentrations. VLCARB may be useful in the short-term management of subjects with insulin resistance and hypertriacylglycerolemia."

A low-carbohydrate, ketogenic diet to treat type 2 diabetes

Nutrition & Metabolism | Abstract | A low-carbohydrate, ketogenic diet to treat type 2 diabetes:

"The LCKD improved glycemic control in patients with type 2 diabetes such that diabetes medications were discontinued or reduced in most participants. Because the LCKD can be very effective at lowering blood glucose, patients on diabetes medication who use this diet should be under close medical supervision or capable of adjusting their medication."

Effects of a carbohydrate-restricted diet on markers for cardiovascular disease

Effects of a carbohydrate-restricted diet on emerging plasma markers for cardiovascular disease:

"A diet based on restricting carbohydrates leads to spontaneous caloric reduction and subsequent improvement in emerging markers of CVD in overweight/obese men who are otherwise healthy."

Eggs modulate the inflammatory response to carbohydrate restricted diets

Eggs modulate the inflammatory response to carbohydrate restricted diets in overweight men:

"A CRD with daily intake of eggs decreased plasma CRP and increased plasma adiponectin compared to a CRD without eggs. These findings indicate that eggs make a significant contribution to the anti-inflammatory effects of CRD, possibly due to the presence of cholesterol, which increases HDL-C and to the antioxidant lutein which modulates certain inflammatory responses."

Natural Trans Fats Have Health Benefits

New Study Shows: Natural Trans Fats Have Health Benefits
ScienceDaily

Contrary to popular opinion, not all trans fats are bad for you.

University of Alberta researcher Flora Wang found that a diet with enriched levels of trans vaccenic acid (VA) -- a natural animal fat found in dairy and beef products -- can reduce risk factors associated with heart disease, diabetes and obesity.

Vegetarians AGE faster

Michael R. Eades, M.D.: "Vegetarians AGE faster"

While reading a scientific paper on the benefits of a carnivorous diet I noticed a paper in the list of references at the end that I had never seen cited. I tracked the paper down, read it, and learned that vegetarians have significantly higher rates of advanced glycation end products (AGE) than do omnivores."

The F-Word

"All you ever wanted to know about fats
by John M Berardi"

Despite years of anti-fat sentiment, it's becoming clear that the right kinds of fats can make you healthier, smarter, more muscular, and leaner.

Back in the 80's, the US Surgeon General's office, the American Heart Association, and the US Department of Agriculture joined forces and took up arms against what they considered to be the great nutritional scourge — dietary fat. That's right, they attempted to eradicate dietary fat from our nutritional lexicon with extreme prejudice.

If you're too young to remember this phenomenon, it might seem downright foolhardy to attack an entire macronutrient category. In fact, waging war against one-third of the macronutrient triumvirate may even seem unthinkable. But to those nutrition conscious individuals living through the war on fat, it's hard to forget the sensationalistic demonization of dietary fat and the faddish low fat diets that followed.

So how did this all come about? Well, back in the 80s, doctors and researchers, alarmed by the rising incidence of heart disease and obesity, needed a strategic target. As lipid researcher Lonnie Lowery has put it, they needed a perfect enemy. So after finding out that the plaques building up in our arteries (arteriosclerotic plaques) were made up of fats and then discovering that certain countries with diets high in animal fat also had a higher incidence of heart disease, 20 subsequent years of scientific investigation were spent attempting to prove that dietary fat (specifically saturated fat and cholesterol) was leading the heart disease brigade. read more

Interview with Ori Hofmekler about The Anti-Estrogenic Diet

YouTube - Interview with Ori Hofmekler The Anti-Estrogenic Diet

Testosterone Nation - Experimental Biology 2007

Testosterone Nation - Experimental Biology 2007: "Prolific low-carb researcher Dr. Jeff Volek's group had a couple posters at EB as well. Here's what they had to say:

• After 12 weeks, obese women on a very low carbohydrate ketogenic-diet had much less systemic inflammation compared to those that followed a low fat diet. For those that are interested, the inflammatory markers that decreased were: TNF-a, IL-8, MCP-1, E-selectin, I-CAM, and PAI-1.

• People on low-carb diets that ate 3 whole eggs each day also had decreased inflammation compared to those low carbers that ate egg substitutes (Note: Eat your eggs! They're also loaded with leucine).

• People on a low-carb diet who ate more saturated fat had a higher utilization of saturated fat and their livers produced less saturated fat. Low-carb diets seem to allow for increased use of saturated fats by the body as well as increased clearance."

Kinds of Fat and Fat Resistance

I have been pretty busy the past few months on my invention and company. I have also been giving a lot of talks around the country. So, I have not been posting much. I thought I would end this year with a bit on fat resistance and with some encouragement for the New Year.

It is true that my diet is somewhat higher in fat than either the ADA or AHA recommends. But, my sources of fat are primarily in the Omega 3 and unsaturated fats such as salmon, tuna, nuts, and olive oil. PaleoGal may have a point in observing that by eating low fat meats or trimming the meat to reduce fat content, that there is a bit of an inconsistency in my diet. This is only an apparent inconsistency though.

I am altering my cell membrane fatty acid profile by choosing to eat this way. Membrane cholesterol content is important and my diet leads to flexible, permeable membranes with low cholesterol content. This has many benefits for cell plasticity and function, but it does make the membrane more susceptible to oxidative damage. Hence, the high antioxidant content of my diet.

Altering the membrane fatty acid profile alters its insulin sensitivity. Excess cholesterol content diminishes insulin sensitivity. This is one of the reasons the ADA recommends a high carb diet, though paradoxically, this induces insulin resistance too. A cholesterol laden membrane impairs insulin sensitivity and reduces the stimulation of GLUT4. Thus, we might call this lipid (fat) resistance. Trivalent chromium reduces membrane cholesterol content, which may be the pathway through which chromium improves insulin sensitivity. See the Abstract below for more details (it is almost unreadable unless you are a specialist, but I want you to know there is research that clearly supports what I am saying).

Read More