#garytaubes

More signs of paradigms shifting. This would have been unthinkable 20 years ago. Seriously, Juice Is Not Healthy https://t.co/GOLCCnlRKs

Woke up today and weighed myself.  Haven’t lost any weight in about a week but I’m not discouraged! This weekend I was away on vacation and couldn’t stick to my diet as well as I wanted to - it wasn’t available. But I’m excited to be back from vacation and do this diet on full blast!

I made Bulletproof Coffee this morning for the first time! It was surprisingly delicious! I love that is coffee is basically 100% made of fat. I did notice that I started getting a headache after drinking it.  I think this is due to my body and my brain getting used to the transition from a high-carb diet to a low-carb diet.  I’ve read that the first month on the keto diet you see symptoms like this and they can come in stages - it’s just your body adjusting to the new diet. I’m kind of excited to see these changes happening because it means I am actually making changes and the diet is working. I’m also interested to see what my ketone levels will be with consuming so much fat. 

As I was drinking my coffee, I decided to read a few chapters of Gary Taubes book Good Calories, Bad Calories.  I especially got excited and intrigued and kind of furious with the dementia, cancer, and aging chapter.  My grandmother has Alzheimer’s disease so I’m extremely interested with this disease, what causes it, and how it can be prevented. In short, the cause is sugar and the cure to stop eating sugar.  It’s so simple and the research is evident - it just aggravates me that we are still trying to come up with cure for Alzheimer’s when we already have it.  

So the breakdown of how sugar affects our body in relation to the brain and Alzheimer’s is the following: 

Sugar is half fructose and half glucose

Fructose forms AGEs

The more AGEs in the brain, the more amyloid-plaque buildup in the brain

Amyloid-plaque buildup in the brain “results in the degeneration and death of neurons in the Alzheimer’s affected brain” 

Now we have something called insulin-degrading enzymes (IDEs) that cleans up the amyloid-plague buildup. BUT when insulin enters the body it demands the attention of the IDEs.  So the IDEs don’t clean up all the plaque in the brain, which leads the plaque to create Alzheimer’s symptoms - “degeneration of neuron (brain) cells, cell lose, and the dementia of Alzheimer’s.”

So basically when we eat sugar (or carbs that turn into sugar) it forms AGE’s which causes plaque buildup (which can’t be cleaned up by IDEs because insulin demands its attention) thus causing Alzheimer’s symptoms.

“This implies that anything that decreases insulin levels (and so increases the amount of IDE available to clean up amyloid-plaque) - including a dietary approach of eating less carbohydrates - WILL achieve [decreased amyloid levels in the human brain].” 

While I was reading this I became very frustrated and infuriated with our society.  My grandmother resides in an Alzheimer’s home in North Dakota and every time I visit her the staff is stuffing cookies and sweets down her throat - the exact thing that is causing her Alzheimer’s!!!  Granted it isn’t their fault - they probably don’t know the effects of sugar on Alzheimer’s victims, but then it is up to our public health officials, organizations, and scientists to EDUCATE people of the cause and prevention of Alzheimer’s.  But that would require those people to accept that sugar and carbs impacts our body in this way.  They are so against this diet and it’s killing people. 

I did a semester long research project on the keto diet for a health class in college and I remember reading one paper where they used Medium Chain Triglycerides (or MCTs) - like coconut oil - to REVERSE THE SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS OF ALZHEIMER’S! WHAT?!! They showed in the study that by consuming MCT oils (eating coconut oil everyday) one can reverse Alzheimer’s.  Not only can we prevent Alzheimer’s, but if someone has this terrible disease it might not be too late for them to reverse symptoms! This study makes complete sense now that I read Taubes’ book because eating MCT oils forces the brain to run on these oils (fat) - think of it as fuel for the brain. So the brain is running on MCT oils (the brain is running on fat not sugar) which lets the IDEs do their job and clean up that plaque that causes Alzheimer’s symptoms.

After a stall lasting about a week and a half, I logged another loss...and I am really close to seeing fifty pounds of fat vanish from my body! I applaud all of you who are making giant strides toward your weight-loss goals and becoming fit in the process....You are fabulous. Keep it up! But this message is for those of you who have more than 50 lbs to lose and believe there is no hope UNLESS you magically find a pill or potion that will turn you into a fitness freak overnight. 

I KNOW what it feels like to struggle with even minimal amounts of activity. There have been times when the simple act of showering makes me tired enough to need rest! I have been struggling with health problems for the last ten years, and it took me over 5 years to simply admit that there was something wrong. As it turns out, Lyme's Disease, severe anemia, food intolerance and joint pain have been causing extreme fatigue...translation: no exercise, and only very light activity levels. Meaning, I do only what is absolutely necessary: bathing, going to church and light cooking, cleaning, and laundry.

At the risk of sounding like some stupid commercial for a new fad diet.... I found a way to lose weight without exercise. I am really close to 30 lbs of fat loss since May 2013 and 50 lbs. overall since December 2012. HOW?! I carefully read Why We Get Fat and What To Do About It and, in May of 2013, I adopted a  low-carb diet! It is not 'easy'....but No pasta, potato or dessert is worth the misery of struggling to find clothes that aren't in the shape of a tent! I can attest that the overpowering craving for carbs becomes very manageable after a two week induction phase. (Actually, in less than 5 days you will be amazed how differently you will operate.) As I have said before, I do not believe that a 'no exercise' lifestyle is the best option...and I am sure that I would have made bigger strides and lost the fat FASTER with exercise....but I am still very excited with the results! Two summers ago, when I was forced to buy size 20W clothes, I tried to resign myself to a new reality. But everything changed when I came across the books by Gary Taubes and the no-fuss Atkin's app.