Brando's Blog

This Blog is Moving!!!

Please note, this will be the last ever blog posted on this site.

I will be closing down this blog account soon as my blogs are now being posted on the new BodyCHEK website at http://bodychek.co.uk/blog/  

Please feel free to join me there.

From waste to waists: Government cuts have a new target - Part 3

So, if I was minister for health my suggestions would be:

1. Set goals for how you want to be and focus on what it will be like when you’ve achieved it every day.
2. Take 10 minutes out of each day to spend time on your own in silence just focusing on your breathing
3. Drink at least 2 litres of mineral water each day and minimize all other beverages
4. Eat as much of your food from organic or wild sources and reduce/eliminate grains, dairy, fruit, caffeine, sugars and alcohol.
5. Get some movement in the body every day for at least 30 minutes. Find something you enjoy and do that. Walking or walking the dog would suffice
6. Get to bed by 10pm each evening and get at least 8 hours sleep per night

They would be my recommendations. The amount of people who would actually follow them sadly would be the real challenge. But that's how I make my living!!!

If you’re currently overweight, why not give my recommendations above a try for six months and see what happens? Make sure you keep a diary of what you eat, your exercise and your sleep patterns.  

From waste to waists: Government cuts have a new target - Part 2

Eating more food is a SYMPTOM of a metabolic/hormonal imbalance in the body. Firstly, if someone is eating poor quality food, i.e. processed and/or non-organic the food will be nutrient depleted and toxic. If you eat food and it is missing nutrients your body will require more food to consume adequate amounts of nutrients.

So is the government suggesting we eat organic? NO!

Eating foods that are toxic (all non-organic food and practically all sea food is toxic as are all medical drugs) which rob us of vital nutrients, which requires us to eat more so we obtain adequate nutrients.

So I repeat, is the government suggesting we eat organic???

Many foods that people eat cause a sharp release of insulin to help control blood sugar. These foods include bread, pasta, most fruits, sugary and fizzy drinks, desserts or anything with flour or sugar in it.

Insulin’s role in the body is to store sugar in the muscle and fat cells of the body and thereby reduce blood sugar levels which when too high are toxic.

When large amounts of insulin are released into the blood stream it opens the door to storing the energy in the fat cells. Without insulin, we cannot store body fat, just like you can’t open a safe without the combination.

So are the g overnment suggesting we eat less bread, pasta, pastries, pizzas, fruit, dried fruit and sugary drinks? They actually tell us that to be healthy and lose weight we should be eating mainly grains like bread, pasta and cereals. These all greatly increase insulin levels!

Now, just imagine your overweight and you reduce your calories below what you need to survive so you can lose weight. After all, that is what is recommended. You take in less than you need and create an energy deficit.

All this seeks to achieve is make you lethargic as you don’t have the energy to do anything in the long term. So you do less activity and your weight continues to rise.

So how effective will the governments’ suggestions be on reducing obesity in the UK. My prediction is that obesity will to continue to rise year on year for at least the next 10 years and I’m willing to put money on it. So I believe the suggestions will be totally ineffective.

Stay tuned to find out what I would recommend if I was Health Minister...

From waste to waists: Government cuts have a new target

This week UK Ministers launched a drive to eliminate five billion calories a day from the nation's diet.

Jeremy Laurance, The Health Editor for The Independent wrote, “Andrew Lansley said cutting calories was essential to reverse Britain's soaring obesity levels. More than 60 per cent of adults and a third of 11-year-olds are obese or overweight”.

However, Medical organisations wanted regulatory action to control the food and drink industry or measures such as a "fat tax" to reduce consumption of calorie-dense foods. Mr Lansley said the goal would be achieved through individual action, local authority interventions and voluntary initiatives by businesses to reduce calories and help consumers choose less fattening items.

Unfortunately, neither the government or the health service will come up with a solution soon as they don’t understand the causes of obesity.

It is very easy to tell someone to cut calories, but how easy is it for people to achieve?

The reason it is very difficult if not impossible is due to reasons they simply don’t understand.

Stay tuned to find out what the government and most experts don't understand.

 

My Food Sensitivity Test Experience - Part 2

Unfortunately, most Doctors are unaware of the MRT and they believe food sensitivity tests to be inaccurate or unreliable. This is true of most of the tests available out there.

The reason the MRT is so good is because it tests against three different mediators IgM, IgG and T-Cell reactions and against 150 different foods and chemicals.

Other tests generally only test against one type of response, such as the ELISA Test (IgG).

Other benefits of the MRT include: 

• A higher than 90% sensitivity and specificity
• A higher than 90% split sample reproducibility
• Measures the effects of antigen challenge on all circulating immune cells
• Mediator release is the key
• Accounts for both type 3 and type 4 reactions
• Tests reactions to both foods and food-chemicals

So what did my test tell me?

I was found to be Highly Reactive to the following:

• Asparagus
• Cheddar
• Green Pepper
• Lettuce
• Lima Bean
• Oats
• Salmon

 And, I was found to be moderately reactive to: 

• Acetoaminophen (Paracetamol)
• Apple
• Brazil nuts
• Beef
• Black Pepper
• Blueberry
• Capsaicin (active ingredient in chili peppers)
• Yellow #5
• Grapefruit
• Honey
• Lemon
• Maple
• Mustard
• Onion
• Pecan
• Rye
• Sorbic Acid (E 200 – preservative)
• Strawberry
• Tapioca
• Tyramine
• Wheat

Fortunately, for me it requires very little change to my current diet, with beef and lettuce being the main foods I need to eliminate from the list. 

So I’ll be eating more lamb to make up for the beef and more spinach instead of the lettuce.

 I’ll keep you posted on how I go throughout this 6 month elimination of these foods.

 

Eating More and Exercising Less Does NOT Cause Fat Gain - Part 5

In the last part of this blog, I will introduce you to the role of another hormone, 'cortisol'.

If you're a regular reader of this blog, you'll know that cortisol is a stress hormone and is released during prolonged stress.

When the amount of cortisol released increases, it steals resources from a separate hormonal pathway. It steals the hormone pregnenolone to make progesterone, which is a precursor to cortisol. This mechanism is known as Pregnenolone Steal. Now, the downside to this is that DHEA, testosterone and estrogen (our growth hormones) levels are reduced.

As the growth hormones reduce, the ability to increase or maintain muscle tissue and therefore, metabolic rate is reduced. As metabolic rate is reduced, the ability to use fat as fuel reduces. Also, you may remember that testosterone and estrogen also inhibit lipoprotein lipase (LPL). LPL being the enzyme that helps to store fat in the fat cells.

So as estrogen and testosterone levels drop due to prolonged stress, the ability to store fat goes up!

When our bodies are under stress for a prolonged period of time the Adrenal glands (the glands that secrete cortisol) find it more and more difficult to respond to the stress due to fatigue (Adrenal Fatigue). As the amount of cortisol starts to reduce, energy levels go down, so you won't have the energy to exercise.

Whilst the cortisol levels reduce, the growth hormones remain low too, i.e. they don't bounce back. So you don't have the energy to exercise and you have a body set-up hormonally and enzymatically to store body fat. 

In addition, Cortisol and it's relationship to DHEA plays a significant role in the control of a number of systems in the body. For instance it plays a role in fat and carbohydrate metabolism, hormone balance, detoxification and other systems that directly affect fat usage and storage.

So if your Cortisol/DHEA ratio is out of balance, then you'll find it hard to lose body fat. 

In addition, when cortisol is high, it also inhibits thyroid function which plays a major role in your metabolism. So if you're stressed for long enough, it's likely your thyroid will slow down (hypo-thyroid) and you'll find it easier to gain fat and harder to lose fat and have the energy to exercise. 

Causes of chronic stress (known as adrenal fatigue) are very varied, but in today's society it nearly always includes a parasitic, bacterial and/or fungal infection.

Once the infection is removed and healthy lifestyle behaviours are in place, your eating right for your metabolic type, your gut is healed, your cells are detoxified and your steroid hormones are balanced, your body will slowly return to normal, including your normal weight and body fat percentage.

I hope this blog series has been helpful to you and that you realise that calories in versus calories out is just very poor science and doesn't work in the long term. 

If you would like more information on how you can finally achieve your ideal size and weight, please click here.

 

Eating More and Exercising Less Does NOT Cause Fat Gain - Part 4

OK, so far I've discussed how important it is to balance your steroid hormones if you wish to lose weight.

Well, there is another potentially even more important hormone to consider with weight loss. This hormone is insulin.

Insulin is secreted by the pancreas in response to eating carbohydrates to keep blood sugar under control. The more carbohydrates eaten, the more insulin is secreted.

Insulin also ensures that muscle cells receive amino acids to aid repair and provide energy. Insulin is also the principle regulator of fat metabolism by allowing fatty acids to enter fat cells.

Insulin also has a direct affect on the enzyme Lipoprotein Lipase (LPL) which I have previously discussed. LPL helps to store fat in muscle tissue for energy storage and to store fat in fat cells.

Insulin stimulates LPL on the fat cells, especially around the abdomen. Insulin inhibits LPL on the muscle cells reducing the availability of energy, which is likely to make you feel tired and/or hungry.

Insulin also suppresses another enzyme Hormone Sensitive Lipase (HSL) which helps us to burn fat, therefore meaning helps us to store more fat. The more insulin is secreted, the more HSL is inhibited, the less fat you can use for energy and the more that will be stored in your fat cells.

Insulin also helps to pump glucose into your fat cells where they make triglycerides. Triglycerides are two fatty acids joined with one glycerol cell. Triglycerides are large and cannot leave a fat cell unless it is broken down into fatty acids.

Insulin also promotes the growth of new fat cells, just in case your current fat cells become full.

Gary Taubes in his book, "Why We Get Fat and What To Do About It", states that there are a number of stages that the insulin cycle goes through:

1. You get hungry and think about a meal containing carbohydrates
2. You begin secreting insulin
3. The insulin inhibits HSL and stimulates LPL
4. You get hungrier
5. You begin eating
6. More insulin is secreted
7. As you ingest the carbohydrates, blood sugar increases
8. More insulin is secreted
9. Fat is stored as triglycerides in the fat cells
10. Fat cells get fatter (and so do you)
11. Fat stays in the fat cells until the insulin levels reduce

So you see, just eating less and exercising more might not get the job done.

Stay tuned for more information. There's still another important hormone I haven't mentioned yet...  
 

Eating More and Exercising Less Does NOT Cause Fat Gain - Part 3

So you might be wondering (if you read the first two parts of this post), why I suggested balancing steroid hormones, yet I have only mentioned estrogen (the female hormone) so far.

If you were wondering, then it might interest you to know that testosterone (the male hormone) also inhibits LPL on fat cells, especially around the waist. 

So when a man's testosterone levels drop, the ability to store fat, especially around the middle also increases. This is one reason why men over forty often begin to develop the beer belly (even if they don't drink beer).

So whether you're male or female, it is important to balance your steroid hormones if you want to lose weight or to stop yourself becoming fat.

Your steroid hormones aren't all you need to keep in check. Stay tuned to find out more...

Eating More and Exercising Less Does NOT Cause Fat Gain - Part 2

So what is the answer?

Answer: You need to make sure that you balance your steroid hormones.

How do you do this?

Answer: In my clinical practice, I do this by analyzing my clients’ steroid hormone balance and investigate what might have caused the imbalance and give recommendations on what each individual needs to do to correct it.

An imbalance in steroid hormones is nearly always caused by stress. In today’s society, stress is everywhere. There are obvious stresses like work deadlines, money worries, relationships etc. There are also hidden stressors like food sensitivities, parasite infections and bacterial and fungal overgrowths, which occur in 99.99% of people coming to see me. Chronic stress will almost always cause an imbalance of the steroid hormones.

I advise my clients on nutritional, digestive, immune, hormonal, activity, lifestyle, sleep and mental/emotional factors. Each person is different and requires a different approach.

Once the stressors are identified and eliminated, the body is able to normalise appetite and energy levels and importantly body fat levels.

If you or anyone you know is struggling to lose body fat, please feel free to contact me or more information or to arrange an initial consultation.

Eating More and Exercising Less Does NOT Cause Fat Gain

We have been repeatedly told that eating too much and not exercising enough is the cause of being overweight to the point where it has become the accepted truth.

In this post, I will explain why it is not the truth. I will explain why people’s attempts to lose weight by eating less and/or exercising more are more often than not futile. I will show you how research has proven the calories in versus calories out theory to be a long way from reality.

If you or someone you know has struggled to lose excess body fat, then this article may be the most important one you ever read.

To think that eating too much or not exercising enough causes obesity is like believing pain causes bruising. Pain and bruising are just symptoms of trauma to the body.

Eating more and exercising less are symptoms of hormonal imbalances. In a study by George Wade of The University of Massachusetts in the 1970's, he removed the ovaries from female rats. These rats immediately began eating much more food and soon became obese.

More interestingly, Wade also removed the ovaries of another group of rats and restricted their calorie intake. This group of rats became more sedentary and became just as fat as the group who could eat as much as they liked.

So what caused the over-eating and the inactivity? With the removal of the ovaries, the estrogen levels of the rats were severely reduced.  Estrogen has a direct affect on an enzyme called Lipoprotein Lipase (LPL). LPL pulls fat from the blood stream into any cell (fat or muscle) that happens to express LPL.

It just so happens that Estrogen inhibits LPL’s affect on fat cells. Therefore, the higher the Estrogen levels, the lower the fat uptake by the fat cells. Conversely, the lower the Estrogen levels, the more fat can be taken up by the fat cells.

So when Estrogen is low and the fat cells are storing more fat than normal, energy is being prevented from being stored in the muscle tissue and therefore less energy is available to the body. This has two possible consequences. The person will need to eat more food to raise energy levels or the person will conserve energy by being less active.

This may explain why post-menopausal women tend to put on weight.

What Wade’s research also suggests is that when fat tissue absorbs more calories from the circulation the fat cells expand. If the person is able to eat more food they will (to make up the deficit in available energy and to maintain their new size). If they are unable to eat more food, they will become more sedentary.

Also, Wade gave estrogen to the rats after the study and there eating habits, activity levels and weight normalised.

To emphasize the point further, think about a teenager going through a growth spurt. They eat more during the growth spurt to fuel the growth, which has been initiated by growth hormones. Teenagers don’t go through growth spurts because they spontaneously start eating more.

In addition, a teenage male will often eat more, reduce body fat percentage and gain muscle over that period.  Does this not prove that eating more does not cause fat gain?

It is size and growth that determines appetite and activity levels, not appetite and activity determining size and growth. Elephants and whales eat huge amounts of food to sustain their huge bodies. Their bodies aren’t huge because they over eat.

So whenever our bodies GROW fat tissue, we need to increase calorie intake to sustain it. If we choose to or are unable to increase calorie intake, we’ll feel fatigued and won’t be able to exercise. It’s simply not true that people are fat because they are lazy.

Also, I see a lot of clients with chronic fatigue and they are nearly always overweight too. So these people have large bodies that need high levels of calories, but because they are not eating enough (because they think that is how to lose weight) they are in a vicious cycle that won’t be broken until they know the answer.

So what the answer?

Tune in next time to find out....