Lisa > Recent Status Updates

Finished reading; RTC.

Finished reading; RTC.

Finished reading; RTC.

saturated fat may not be as unhealthy as some claim, but it is not a health food. Although there is substantial variation among individuals, many (not all) people who eat more saturated fat will raise their levels of plaque-forming lipoproteins, and replacing those animal fats with plant fats almost always reduces the risk of heart disease.

Obesity increases the risk of some cancers by as much as 50%, an effect so large that obesity accounts for at least 14% of cancer deaths in men and 20 percent in women in the U.S.

An abundance of high-quality evidence unequivocally shows that lifelong exercise lowers cancer rates in humans through many of the same mechanisms as calorie restriction.

When it comes to cancer, what you eat matters, but how much and how often you eat can also be consequential. At a fundamental level, cancer is largely fueled by having too many calories and nutrients.

cancer cells have a sweet tooth. cancer cells derive energy almost exclusively from glucose in the absence of oxygen.
This characteristic may explain why low-carb diets potentially help fight and prevent some cancers.

On the plus side, most plants contain cancer-fighting phytochemicals, helping explain why vegetarians and others who eat diets rich unprocessed fruits and vegetables are less likely to get cancer.

There is unambiguous evidence that some cancers arise from not enough fiber and too much alcohol, red meat, and ultra-processed foods, especially processed meats like pepperoni and salami. There is also strong evidence that diets loaded with sugar, saturated fat, and animal protein increase the risk of some cancers.

If there ever was a disease of aging, cancer is it. Yet despite occurring more commonly with age, cancer isn't caused by age.
Apart from exercising regularly and avoiding radiation and cancer-causing toxins, one important modifiable factor that can lower your risk of cancer is diet, including what, how much, and possibly when you eat.

At this point, whether intermittent fasting and other calorie-restriction diets will help you live longer remains conjectural.
humans, like other animals, are adapted to fast intermittently. Since time immemorial, humans have experienced regular periods of hunger
[During these times] cells throughout the body recycle waste and engage in other forms of cellular housekeeping [rather than growing and building tissue].

[GLP-1 medications currently in use: Mounjaro, Ozempic, Saxenda, Trulicity, Zepbound, Victoza, Wegovy, Rybelsus, Bydureon, Byetta, Foundayo, Bydureon BCise, Adlyxin]

Unfortunately, these drugs' effects last only as long as you keep taking them. Once dieters go off the prescription, their appetites come roaring back, making them vulnerable to regaining lost weight, restoring to their previous set point
As I write this, GLP-1's haven't been around long enough for us to know their long-term effects.

a synthetic version of the Gila monster's longer-lasting hormone . . . stimulates insulin release and slows the stomach's rate of emptying, but also turns down people's appetites for many days. . . . This class of drugs also have wide-ranging beneficial effects on heart disease, metabolism, possibly cancer, and even mental health issues like addiction and depression.

[The Gila monster's] venom contains a hormone that regulates blood sugar levels during the weeks or months it typically goes without food. . . . [Dr. Daniel] Drucker discovered that the lizard's secret was a long-lasting version of a hormone called GLP-1 (glucagon-like peptide 1), which in humans is produced by the intestine and which stimulates the pancreas to produce insulin . . .

Could the bacteria in our gut influence whether we develop obesity? . . . they affect digestion and metabolism as well as the nervous and immune systems. . . .
Since gut microbes live off the food we eat, diet is the primary factor that influences our gut microbiome. . . fermented and minimally processed foods with abundant fiber seem to promote healthy microbiomes that protect against obesity

if one can cope with the cravings and lethargy dieting causes, cutting calories is the faster way to lose weight. However, effective dieting is not just about losing weight but also preventing subsequent weight regain. And that's where exercise shines, because modest levels of exercise help prevent the weight from coming back after a diet. [Note, exercise needs to be designed into one's life and maintained.]

genes don't cause obesity but instead affect your vulnerability to obesity in today's environment.

When we lose weight, the body fights to get the fat back, but when we gain weight, our set point [a pre-determined weight to which the hypothalamus along with other parts of the brain returns us by adjusting our metabolism, activity levels, and appetite ]settles higher.

not a quote - Hormones affected include insulin (needed to transport sugar and fat molecules out of the bloodstream and into cells)--type 2 diabetes and hardening of the arteries), leptin (suppresses appetite or stimulates hunger), and ghrelin.

We evolved evolved to mostly store subcutaneous fat and have only a little abdominal fat. Abdominal fat, in addition, is more sensitive to hormones and has more blood vessels. In essence, abdominal fat is a readily accessed, short-term energy reserve for use in times of need. . . . it is an adaptation to help us cope with short-term food shortages or times when we need to be extra physically active.

It makes sense that we evolved to detect and respond to declining levels of fat because having too little fat is ruinous for reproduction and deleterious for other functions. However, because obesity was so rare in our evolutionary history, we apparently never evolved adaptations to prevent us from storing too much fat. But how much is too much?

p. 160 Despite not being overtly toxic, emulsifiers partially dissolve the gut's mucus lining.

p. 173 Although you can't see or feel it, when fat cells store more fat than they should, they become damaged . . . Damaged cells then synthesize and secrete chemical messengers (adipokines) that activate an immune response triggering inflammation.

many of these compounds [chemical additives] are known to be toxic only at high doses. Also their potentially harmful effects might not manifest for decades. Because it's hard to prove they make people sick, manufacturers are allowed to use them in doses presumed to be safe.

The additives in 2 slices of pizza cannot poison anyone. But how about hundreds of pizzas consumed alongside other UPFs over a lifetime?

Humans are mismatched to certain foods. Despite a long history as the animal kingdom's ultimate omnivores, no processing method will enable me to eat castor beans . . . or poison ivy . . . Along the same lines, it is reasonable to hypothesize that some of the novel compounds such as the emulsifiers and stabilizers used to manufacture UPFs [ultraprocessed foods] are mismatches.

Thanks to new technologies, billions of us have unprecedented dietary options that our foraging and farming ancestors could never have imagined. This embarrassment of riches has created a newfound conundrum: we must decide what to eat among many confusing options.

these diets [those of hunter-gatherers or pre-industrial farmers] would not have endured if they had not been reasonably nourishing. But no traditional diet was ever created to prevent people from getting heart disease and type 2 diabetes as they aged . . . . They strove to acquire enough food to help them and their children stay healthy for long enough for their children grow up to have children themselves.