All right, and welcome back. So we left off talking about how things like high fructose corn syrup and sucrose and other sweeteners are really detrimental to our health. Well, now we're gonna get into why they're, they're detrimental to your health. So simple sugars, they wreak havoc with our ability to control our blood sugar levels. And what this means is it can lead to diabetes in the long run, it can increase inflammation, and as we've seen, in the first PowerPoint, how inflammation can lead to a ton of different diseases depending on how bad it can also lead to atherosclerosis. So things like white flour products, refined sugars, there are other sources of refined carbohydrates too.

These are absorbed very quickly through the gut lining. And that's how they raise our blood sugar so fast. So because They're very simple in their molecular structure, they're able to get through the gut wall much faster than complex carbohydrates which needs to be broken down further. And this is what raises blood sugar levels quickly. So in order to figure out what's going on here, we need to understand what happens when we eat carbohydrates. So, when carbohydrates are ingested, the body releases insulin in response.

And insulins job is to remove glucose from the bloodstream and store it whether it be in the liver, which eventually gets stored as glycogen, it could be stored in muscle cells to be used as energy later on. And as we talked about earlier, lean muscle mass requires more energy to maintain on a daily basis. So actually, your muscles are the major source for where your glucose is gonna go. Now the liver can only store a certain amount of calories. It's usually between 1200 and 1600 calories worth of glucose, and it's stored as glycogen which is the storage form of glucose in the liver. So what happens is when you increase amounts hot increase your carbohydrate intake higher than then that where you have more than 1600 calories in reserve, the rest begins to be stored as fat.

And that's what leads to weight gain when you consume the excess refined sugars as they eventually just get converted into fat and stored in fat cells. So what happens here is when you continue to eat simple sugars, insulin becomes less sensitive to simple carbohydrates over time. So and the body needs more simple sugars to satisfy the receptors. So you're starting to see that there is this kind of downward spiral associated with consuming simple sugars and then needing more to satisfy receptors. The main reason This is the main reason that simple sugars and refined sugars lead to type two diabetes and insulin resistance. Now, insulin resistance is the state in which the body's muscles, liver and fat tissues do not adequately respond to insulin in the blood.

And that's due to insulin not being as effective in the same amount. So in response to when you're eating these processed sugars, the pancreas needs to create even more insulin to get the same effect it would under normal circumstances. And this habitual consumption of high sugar content foods over time, where's the pancreas out and leads to dysfunction of what is known as the beta cells in the pancreas, and the beta cells are responsible for producing insulin. Now, in the state of insulin resistance, the liver will inappropriately release glucose into the bloodstream. And this is what causes blood spikes in blood glucose following meals. So the best way to limit these spikes and control normal flow of blood sugar regulations is eliminating the highly processed and refined carbohydrates from the diet and replacing them with Whole Foods.

Consuming more complex carbohydrates slows the breakdown process in the gut. And as a result, less carbohydrates. There's less of a rush of carbohydrates into the bloodstream in one shot. And when you have more time to break down the same amount of food that leads to more stable blood sugar levels long term. Alright, so picking up where we left off from our discussion on pesticides, we're going to move into animal products. And this is this is a main major issue here in the United States especially so this is another change worth considering.

Especially because Americans in particular consume weigh more animal products than they than they should. Now when it comes to choosing animal products quality is extremely important. Multiple studies that have come out years ago and continue to come out today link the increased intake of animal products to the increased risks of diseases like heart disease, certain types of cancer, and other diseases as well things like atherosclerosis sclerosis, these are all things that have been linked to excess intake of animal products. Now, in contrast, a plant based diet seems to have the exact opposite effect. So why might that be? Well, meat lacks the phytonutrients and antioxidants necessary to stave off cancer so that makes sense.

You consuming more fruits and vegetables especially organically raised ones, you'll be getting more of those antioxidants and phytonutrients so you can stave off those cancers. We talked about things like breast cancer, probably Cancer, things like that. meat products contain pesticide residues and large amounts of saturated fats. So this goes back to how the animals we eat are raised and they're fed diets made mostly of conventionally raised produce. And again we are what we eat so if we're eating conventionally raised animals were essentially eating what they ate before in terms of saturated fat saturated fat to actually okay in smaller doses, especially if they're coming from responsibly raised animals their fat profiles are much healthier and will be actually give us some benefit long term as humans. Also, grilled chart and fried meats contain increased amounts of carcinogenic compounds.

And these also may may be playing a role into why the the cancer rates are increased. So when you grill things and you get that kind of charge, that's actually those are known to have carcinogenic effects. Facts. So today, this might seem counterintuitive, because there's so many fad diets out there that claim that you should be eating a high protein diet, high amount of animal products, but in reality this because that's how our ancestors ate now, that just doesn't hold up today. If you're going to assume that that's how our ancestors ate, that array doesn't make sense because the meat consumed by our earliest ancestors, the fat profile was very different. So meat consumed thousands of years ago had significantly less amount of fat than the bread cattle that we have today.

And it it's almost more than quadrupled. And now, domesticated beef contains almost all saturated fats and no beneficial omega threes. Now this is in contrast to wild pear Raised beef that would contain as much as 4% polyunsaturated fats which are considered healthy fats. Now range fed grass fed beef. They also contain about 10 times more conjugated linoleic acid compared to domesticated animals. And now CLA is an essential fatty acid and it may play a role in reducing the risk of heart disease and cancer.

So, we talked about how quality is an issue. Other things can be an issue as well. We talked about grilling, cured and smoked meats can also be particularly harmful because of their high amounts of nitrates. So things like ham bacon jerky, can have high amounts of nitrates. Now this is an issue because sodium nitrates have been linked to dramatically increased cancer rates. Sodium nitrates are used they're a preservative so that's why they tend to be very popular popular in the food industry that will keep food from spoiling.

Nitrates also seem to have a negative effect on children. increasing the risk of child the rates of childhood cancers things like leukemia and lymphoma and brain cancers. One study found that children who eat 12 hot dogs per month are 10 times more likely to get leukemia than children who don't eat hot dogs at all. That same study also found that children who eat hot dogs only once a week, double their chances of potentially get developing brain cancer. And children who eat them twice a week, triple them. Those are just huge numbers.

Pregnant women who eat two servings per day of any cured meat, leave their children twice as likely to develop brain cancer than those who do not eat at all. And just kind of taking this into perspective that these preservatives and other methods of curing meat they actually can have dead really detrimental health impacts on us long term Another study found that children who eat the most bacon, sausage and ham are three times as likely to develop lymphoma. Another study found that children who eat ground meat once per week are twice as likely to develop Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia compared to those who don't. And that same study found that those who eat two or more hamburgers per week tripled their risk for a type of leukemia known as Acute Lymphocytic lymphocytic leukemia. So now that we looked at some of the dangers of consuming conventionally raised products, animal products, what can you do about it?

Well, for one thing, if you're going to consume animal products, you should look for pasture raised grass fed animal products that that that should be the starting point. And it goes without saying as we as we've taken a look already, you should avoid the conventionally raised animal product. As often as possible. Another thing that you should do is limit dairy consumption especially for adults, most adults actually lose the ability once they are fully formed. So early 20s, mid 20s lose their ability to actually digest lactose effectively, you actually only retain maybe somewhere between 10 and 15% of the enzymes that you did as a child and that's because we don't need milk for survival anymore the same way as infants and young children do. avoid processed meats and deli meats these are usually packed with preservatives and additives and again generally aren't you're not getting these from organically raised animals so they're gonna still contain the antibiotics and other additives as well.

Another thing just in terms of limiting your animal consumption all together it would be to explore vegetarian sources of protein so things like beans and legumes, lentils, chickpeas, kidney beans, white beans, all that These are great options, organic tempi and tofu. And soy beans. For that matter, that's another great source of protein, things like Kima, and nuts and seeds all contain a really high amount of protein that you might need. So, I would encourage trying to replace some of your animal products with some of these vegetarian options, even if it's only a couple days a week. So moving on, we talked about fats a little bit, so let's go a little bit further into it. Now, that's played an integral role in developing the ideal meal plan for anyone.

However, it's just as important to incorporate the right kinds of fats in addition to the right number of them, so a diet to high in fat, which is usually considered higher than 30% of your total calories per day is linked to many different forms of cancer, especially when those fats are saturated and high in cholesterol. So the goal of an Ideal meal plan should be to increase the consumption of mono unsaturated fatty acids and omega three fatty acids, while simultaneously decreasing the intake of omega six fatty acids, trans fatty acids and saturated fat. Now, the optimal omega six to omega three ratio should be one to one. Now, unfortunately, if you're eating a standard American diet, your omega three to omega six ratio can be somewhere between one to 10, one to 20, and even higher and these are these numbers just are good indicators of chronic inflammation.

So the closer you get to that one to one ratio, the better it's more likely that you are not. You don't have chronic inflammation and some of the symptoms and diseases that come along with it. So what makes a fat good or bad? Well, it depends on the function in the body and that's main function in the body. Believe it or not, is to build the lipid by layer that surrounds every cell in our body. So when you think about it, cell membranes in every human cell are made mostly of fat.

And when you take a look at the illustration on the right here, all the yellow tailed substances here are our fats. So these fatty acids that we eat are eventually incorporated into these bio layers, which are which are the casings for every cell in the body. And then what's goes into them is dictated by the foods we eat. So if we take a look, a diet high in saturated fats, trans fats and animal fatty acids and cholesterol, they result in a much less fluid permeable membrane compared to diets containing the optimal levels of unsaturated monounsaturated fatty acids. So if you're consuming high amounts of things like margarine, shortenings and hydrogenated vegetable oils, and animal fats, you're going to get a more rigid, less fluid membrane. And when that happens, cells aren't able to, to work as well as they could.

So what does this mean exactly? Well, modern pathology clearly states that changes in cellular cellular membrane function, and that's dictated by its fatty acid. What fatty acids make them up is a central factor of virtually all diseases known today. So what does this all mean? improper cell membrane function means there's a greater chance of disease because of this chronic inflammation. So when cell membranes aren't healthy, they lose their ability to retain water, essential nutrients and electrolytes.

Their ability to communicate with other cells using using hormones is compromised. And we can take a look at an example. So if you're eating poor quality fats, this leads to abnormal cell membranes. structure and function and we talked about how structure is dictated by the fats we eat. Now, this impairs the actions of something like insulin, which regulates blood sugar levels. And when this gets disrupted, it could potentially lead to diabetes.

And this is just one of many examples we can use. So, incorporating the correct fats into meal plans allows for proper functionality and maintenance of healthy cells. And that's for all types of cells, whether it's brain cells or muscle cells, liver cells, or bone cells. These plays a role in every single type of cell you could think of. So, interestingly enough, there's one diet that actually incorporates something close to the ideal lipid profile. It actually decreases the effects of bad fats by substituting them with healthier ones, and this is known as the Mediterranean diet.

And most of the fats found in the Mediterranean diet come from things like olive oil, nuts and seeds. Fish. And so the Mediterranean diet originates from Crete, which is a Greek island, other parts of Greece in southern Italy. And just over time, it's been a very highly studied diet. And it's been shown to incorporate optimal ratios of fatty acids. So, some of its followers are known to be some of the longest living cultures on the planet.

And they all and on top of that, they have very low levels of morbidity, so coexisting issues, things that we commonly see, in America today, things like heart disease, or obesity or congestive heart failure. These are all comorbidities, these are actually very low in these in these groups of people and they're known as Blue Zone. So Blue Zones are usually more indigenous groups, but they eat very native diets. And they tend to have the longest lifespans on the planet and those in the area we talked about with the minute train Died are considered in in a Blue Zone. Now the Mediterranean diet if you were to follow it has shown great benefits in reducing the risk of things like heart disease, autoimmune diseases, cancer, arthritis, allergies, diabetes, while increasing your lifespan. So why is the Mediterranean diet so successful?

Well, we have to look at what foods are incorporated. So olive oil is the main source of fat. When you're looking at the Mediterranean diet, it's high in monounsaturated fats, which is helpful when you're looking at decreasing saturated fat intake all together. Their foods are minimally processed, if at all. So they're eating basically things, how they're grown in nature, and that's how foods are meant to be in the beginning with their diet is based mostly around plant foods, vegetables, seeds, nuts, potatoes, pasta, beans, and even bread and you would think these things that wreak havoc here in America, they actually Eat these things, because they can do it in adequate in moderate amounts and still get the benefits of eating all these Whole Foods. There's also a focus on seasonality, so they're only eating foods that are available to them naturally.

So other staples of the Mediterranean diet so fresh fruit is actually seen as a typical dessert. Honey and other natural sweeteners are only eaten a few times a week. So very low, added sugar intake on their part. Red Meat is consumed in very low amounts, and sometimes they'll eat it only as frequently as once a month. So they're really not getting their protein from the same sources we would say in America today. Dairy products, like yogurts and cheeses, many of which are made by themselves are consumed in low amounts.

Fish is consumed on a regular basis. So that's something they might have on every day on an everyday basis and poultry so chicken and egg Eggs are consumed somewhere between one and four times per week. And that's dependent really just on availability. Wine is also consumed in low to moderate around amounts, especially red wine. And we talked about olive oil before, but olive oil is probably one of the biggest staples in the Mediterranean diet. And it's composed of amount of unsaturated fatty acid known as oleic acid.

But it also has many health benefits. So olive oil contains a plethora of antioxidants, which is great for fending off free radical damage that can lead to many of the chronic inflammation inflammatory conditions we talked about. Olive oil is known to be a viable agent for protection against heart disease. And although contains a hot, high amount of polyphenols, which work in conjunction with antioxidants to give them those properties. So, olive oil has also been shown to lower LDL levels which is considered the bad cholesterol increase the HDL levels, which is considered the good cholesterol. And it has been shown to protect LDL cholesterol from being damaged by harmful free radicals.

And that's due to the polyphenols and the antioxidants we talked about on the previous slide now, although has also been shown to maintain and stabilize high triggers high triglyceride levels, which is very commonly found in diabetics and people with weight loss issues. Now, so we talked about the benefits and detriments of eating good fats versus bad fat so what can you do about at home Well, the place to start would be to increase your omega three omega three fatty acid intake, and you can get these from things like fatty fish, fish oils as a supplement seeds, like flax seeds and chia seeds and nuts. These are all great sources of omega threes. However, just As an if not probably more important is reducing your intake of omega six fatty acids which is which are known to be pro inflammatory. And you get these from things like conventionally raised animal products, margarine, shortenings and hydrogenated vegetable oils.