← Extend Podcast with Darshan Shah, MD
Extend Podcast with Darshan Shah, MD
13. Are You Fueling or Failing Your Body?
00:15:26
Are you overwhelmed by all the conflicting diet advice out there? In this episode of Extend, I simplify it all with a framework that works: the good, the bad, and the ugly of food. We’ll dive deep into how to structure your meals around...
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- [00:03]
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Welcome to xtend with me, Dr. Darshan Shah. A podcast dedicated to cutting edge science research tools and protocols designed to help you extend your health span. Having become one of the youngest doctors in the country at the age of 21 and trained and board certified at the Mayo Clinic, I've accumulated three decades of practice as a board certified surgeon and longevity expert. Over that time, I've discovered that a mere 20% of health knowledge yields 80% of the results. When it comes to your health span, we are living in a new era where we are creating a new healthcare system no longer focused on disease management, but achieving optimal health and vitality. Join me as I interview world renowned experts offering you a step by step guide to proactively avoid disease and most importantly, extend your health span.
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Welcome back to the XTEND podcast where we're going to explore the science behind optimizing your health and longevity. I'm Dr. Darshan Shah and today we're dissecting one of the most controversial and misunderstood areas of health and nutrition. Diets. I actually don't like using this term at all. The word diet to me infers some special name plan that you can buy a book about and that if you follow a few weeks or months, you're going to achieve some specific goal, most often around weight loss. Instead, what we need to do is think about how do we cut through all of this confusion around macros and all the name diets and achieve a pattern of eating that lasts you for the rest of your life and that also keeps unwanted fat off of you, keeps your muscles strong, keeps your nutrient levels optimized and also helps you to just feel great. So to understand where we're going in this episode, we really need to take a look back to look at where we've been with diets. The first named diets came around in the early 1900s as a way to combat overindulgence and generally they recommended lower carbs and to decrease alcohol intake. However, diets really weren't a thing until after World War II. What happened then was that in the mid-1900s, the war food machine refocuses, selling to the American public and people saw a massive rise in processed food and obesity. This resulted in many of the name diets that you see out there, stuff to curb obesity like Atkins Diet, Weight Watchers, south beach, we know all these names. Then in 1992, our government got involved. The USDA introduced the Food Guide Pyramid. This was a tool designed to simplify and optimize nutrition for the general public. Sadly, it had the exact opposite effect. The base of this food pyramid recommended 6 to 11 servings of grains per day, emphasizing foods that had refined. Grains like bread, rice, pasta, cereal. These were all considered dietary staples. Vegetables and fruits were of secondary importance, with protein and dairy and fats crammed into really small portions higher up on the pyramid. The goal of the food pyramid was to combat malnutrition and to promote affordable, accessible foods. Sadly, this recommendation was based on lobbying by the grain industry and an overabundance in cheap, subsidized refined grains, rather than any real science. As we often see in public health recommendations that are oversimplified and not based on science. The unintended consequences of this were profound. By emphasizing refined grains as a foundation of the diet, the pyramid inadvertently contributed to a nationwide surge in metabolic disease, obesity and diabetes. How did all this happen? Well, refined grains like white bread and pasta are rapidly digested in the gut and they lead to blood sugar spikes and insulin surges over time. This chronic exposure to high insulin levels contributes to insulin resistance, which is a precursor to metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes. If you couple this with the demonization of fats that occurred around the same time, fats being a vital macronutrient for brain health hormone satiety, and you have created the perfect storm for overeating, weight gain, metabolic disease and chronic inflammation. We now know that quality matters far more than quantity and when it comes to carbohydrates. Fast forward to today. The science is very clear. We need to flip the food pyramid completely upside down. Instead of building our diets around refined grains and fat avoidance, we should prioritize nutrient dense whole foods. At the base of the new pyramid should be non starchy vegetables like leafy greens, broccoli, peppers et cetera. These are rich in fiber, vitamins and phytonutrients, compounds that reduce inflammation and support cellular health. The goal here is really diversity, aiming for a rainbow of vegetables to maximize the spectrum of antioxidants and micronutrients. The middle of the pyramid should feature high quality protein and fats. Think wild caught fish, pasture raised and grass fed meats, eggs and organic plant based proteins like lentils and tofu. Healthy fats deserve a prominent place in the middle as well. Olive oil, avocados, nuts, seed and fatty fish like salmon provide essential omega 3 fatty acids which are critical for brain health, for reducing inflammation and improving cardiovascular disease. Fats also improve our satiety, helping us to prevent overeating. It's a total contrast to the hunger inducing effects of refined carbohydrates at the very top of the pyramid to be consumed in minimal portions only are the empty carbohydrates, refined grains and sugars. At the very top of the pyramid to be consumed in minimal portions only, are empty carbs, refined grains and sugars. These should be minimized or eliminated altogether, especially for those with signs of metabolic dysfunction. So now let's do a deeper dive. Let's talk more about the macros in detail. And let me be very clear here. You need all of the macros, fats, proteins and carbs. The major point here with macros is that in every category of macronutrient, you have the good, the bad and the ugly. With carbs, for example, we find good carbs in whole, organic fruits and vegetables, whole grains and nuts. Good carbs are packed with fiber, micronutrients and phytonutrients, and they have really low glycemic indexes, which is another way to say how much they raise your blood sugar and for how long. Bad carbs, in contrast, are considered to be refined grains. High quantities of starchy vegetables by themselves, and sugary drinks like soda and fruit juices. White bread, white pasta, white rice, bagels and low fiber cereals all fall into the category of bad carbs. So why are these bad for you? They raise blood sugar and insulin, can actually make you hungrier, and sometimes cause gut dysbiosis and sensitivities. And then you have the ugly. These are the highly processed sugar and fat filled packaged food concoctions, fast food and packaged meals. Here you have all of the desserts, chips and cookies found in the center of the supermarket. You also have potato chips, pretzels, flavored crackers, packaged snack cakes, french fries, breaded chicken nuggets, fried doughy snacks, instant noodles, frozen pizza, all the ready to eat frozen dinners, basically the entire center of the supermarket. These foods are basically a mix of chemicals made to keep you hungry eating more, and they provide little to no nutritional value.
- [07:38]
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This system of good, bad and ugly also translates into another macro protein. With protein you have many healthy options like grass fed, well sourced red meat, pasture raised organic poultry or organic vegetable protein found in legumes, soy and whole grains, nuts, seeds and algae based options like spirulina and chlorella. However, highly processed proteins like packaged deli meats, protein bars, hot dog sausages and more have additives, preservatives and flavorings that can lead to more inflammation and health issues like cancer. Finally, let's discuss fats. Fats as a category were demonized for years. In reality, the fats found in unprocessed nuts, some oils and fatty, well raised fish are incredibly healthy for you. The scientific name for good fats are mono and polyunsaturated fats. These have nutrients like omega 3s that promote brain health, hormone health and keep you full so you eat less calories. They are also found in avocados, olive oils, olives, nuts like almonds, cashews, pecans, macadamias and seeds like pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, flaxseeds and sunflower seeds. Fatty fish like the Smash fish which is an acronym for salmon, mackerel, anchovies, sardines and herring are also incredibly healthy sources of these fats and proteins. Finally, soybeans and tofu also fall into this category. These fats should be consumed without many concerns. The type of fats that have confused many of us for years are saturated fats. Some of these can fall into the bad category depending on how much you consume, your genetics and your overall state of metabolism and other health issues. Generally, saturated fats are found in coconut oil, grass fed butter or ghee, dark chocolate with at least 70% cocoa and full fat dairy like yogurt and cheese that's sourced from pasture raised animals. These fats can in moderate amounts for most people be considered nutrient dense by providing essential fatty acids and fat soluble vitamins like A, D, E and K. These can be heart healthy and actually reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease and are essential for cognitive function and mental clarity. A special kind of fat in this category are called medium change triglycerides and these include MCT oil and coconut oil. These are quickly metabolized and turned directly into energy in the liver for a cognitive boost. It's also worth mentioning here omega 6 fats. Although we need omega 6 which are found in vegetable oils like corn oil, soybean oil and canola oil. They can be very inflammatory if taken in excess. Sadly, since these oils are very cheap, they are primarily what is used in packaged and fast foods and almost in all restaurants. They are also highly refined, often involving heat and chemical solvents like hexane and also bleaching. These fats can also oxidize when cooked in high heats, which can also be damaging and harmful to our biology. So I personally prefer to stick to olive oil for dressings and cooking with avocado oil, coconut oil or ghee to minimize these issues. Okay, so what about the ugly fats? Ugly fats increase inflammation, your risk of heart attacks, obesity and dementia. Unfortunately, these are found very commonly in our modern American Standard diet. The acronym for the Standard American Diet is a sad diet for a reason. The worst of these fats are the trans fats. These are artificially created fats that have been banned in most countries and states because they are incredibly damaging to your cells. They are still found, however, in partially hydrogenated oils which are common in processed and packaged foods like packaged baked goods, cookies, cakes, pastries, fried foods like most french fries and fried chicken, and margarine or shortening. Margarine has actually been taken off shelves in most places because it is actually banned. Next, we need to be concerned in many people about foods with an excess amount of saturated fats. So to be clear, not everyone has a problem with these saturated fats, but most of us do, especially in big quantities. These are found in fatty cuts of red meat, most processed meats like bacon, sausages, hot dogs and full fat dairy from non grass fed sources. Also, palm oil and coconut oil in excessive quantities can cause problems as well. What happens when you eat an excessive amount of saturated fats? Well, mainly in most people, it can raise LDL or other bad forms of cholesterol and increase the risk of cardiovascular disease and heart attacks, especially when you combine them with a diet high in refined carbs. This is important to recognize because heart attacks are the number one cause of death in the western world. So if your APOB blood marker test is high, you should look into reducing your intake of saturated fats, especially with refined carbs together. Remember, these are especially damaging if combined with high levels of sugar and salt as well as they often are in fast food, packaged meals and a lot of condiments and spreads. So how do you take the structure of good, bad, ugly and formulate a diet around it? Well, it's pretty easy actually if you use the 8020 rule. If 80% of the time you're eating in the good category and then you're moderating the bad category down to 20% and you're absolutely minimizing the ugly category. By minimizing ultra processed food, fast food, and packaged snacks, you're generally going to be able to keep your fat under control and maintain muscle mass, have a stable glucose level, and most importantly, avoid cancer, dementia, heart disease and metabolic impairment. When you realize that the ugly category of food didn't even exist before the mid 20th century, it becomes evident that this is a new problem created by industrialization and we simply need to get back to the basics. Whole real food cooked at home with great ingredients.
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Thank you so much for listening to the podcast today. Please remember to subscribe if you like this episode and give us a good review and share a link with your friends. It really helps to support all of our efforts. I also want to remind you that the information shared on this podcast is for educational purposes only and is not intended to replace professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Please consult with the your healthcare provider or physician before making any decisions or taking any action based on what you hear today, especially if you have any underlying health conditions or on any medications. Your doctor knows your personal health situation the best and it's always important to seek their guidance.