Nutrition

Integrative Medicine

If body composition is important for performance, and you believe “calories in / calories out” is obsolete, what methodologies should we use?

Rethinking Calories: Why Hormonal Impact Matters for Body Composition

So, whoever asked this question, I love you for asking it, because I have a feeling that anyone who's heard me talk about calories. Probably has a similar question. So, here's what the question says, if body composition is important for performance. Yes, it is. And you meaning me believe the calories in calories out is obsolete, but what methodologies should we use? So I want to explain what I mean, when I say the calories in calories out is obsolete, I don't mean calories or obsolete. That they don't matter. But for decades the traditional way of looking at changing your body composition is to do a math test and see if the calories in a equaling or greater than the calories out. And is if the human body behaved like a checking account, you take this much in you spend this much. What's left, is he the muscle and fat? That's what's obsolete. It's not that calories, don't matter. It's that they can't take center stage and you can't ignore Nor the hormonal effect of those calories because some calories, tell you about a to release hormones that make you store fat and some calories. Don't some hormones like testosterone, tell you to build muscle, so you got to get control of the hormones. Now, how do you know, it's not as easy as just doing the math but it's more effective. First of all, you don't have to throw out the math equation. I do that from time to time, I keep track of my basal metabolic rate and I think about how much I've gone over or under, it's not that you can't use that. But what you got to look at it, What are those calories doing to your hormonal universe? And that's what's telling you to gain or lose. So if you see yourself gaining more body fat than you want, or your stomach is expanding, their likely culprit. Is that the calories that are coming from fat, from, I'm sorry from sugar and from starch, are the ones that are triggering that storage of fat. It's likely to be that and simply cutting back on those carbohydrates. Should immediately give you a result within a week that you can see. So That's that's my answer calories matter. But what matters as much or more is what those calories do to your hormones? Namely insulin, the fat storage hormone and if those calories that you eating are triggering a lot of insulin, it's going to be impossibly difficult to lose body fat, and continue to gain muscle.

Calories matter, but what matters more is the hormonal effect of those calories. Some calories cause your body to release hormones that make you store fat, while others like testosterone can help you build muscle. To get control of your hormones, you should look at what the calories you are eating are doing to your hormonal universe, particularly insulin which is the fat storage hormone. Cutting back on carbohydrates is a good way to start seeing results in terms of losing body fat within a week.

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If body composition is important for performance and the belief is that the calories in/calories out approach is obsolete, what methodologies should be used?

First, it's important to clarify that when I say calories in/calories out is obsolete, I don't mean that calories don't matter. What I mean is that the traditional approach of simply balancing calories in and calories out to change body composition is outdated. The human body is not like a checking account where you input a certain amount and spend a certain amount, resulting in what's left being muscle and fat. It's more complex than that.

To effectively manage body composition, it's crucial to consider the hormonal effects of the calories consumed. Different calories can trigger the release of hormones that either promote fat storage or muscle building. Therefore, understanding and controlling these hormones is key.

While you can still use the basic math equation of tracking calories in and calories out, it's essential to focus on what those calories are doing to your hormonal balance. If you notice unwanted body fat gain or an expanding stomach, it's likely that calories from sugar and starch are triggering fat storage. By reducing your intake of these carbohydrates, you should see noticeable results within a week.

In summary, calories do matter, but equally important is how those calories affect your hormones, particularly insulin, the fat storage hormone. If the calories you consume are causing a significant insulin response, it can be extremely challenging to lose body fat and gain muscle simultaneously.

Unlocking the Power of Fasting: Weight loss, energy, healing, disease prevention & more

So, the question was, what are the top benefits of fasting? Well, it's a fairly long list. I'll give you the short version of it weight loss, which is for me, not the primary reason to do fasting, but it certainly is the main attraction for a lot of people who get interested in fasting. Certainly increased energy, increased healing of the gut leaky gut and inflammation in general. It's very anti-inflammatory to too fast or do time restricted eating. And the lowering of risk for chronic disease, that's in the litter. Should have peer-reviewed articles on the lowering of risk, as a result of intermittent fasting, detoxification in the sense of really deep cellular cleaning a process called or topology, which takes place after about a 24-hour fast, maybe a little bit longer, some people claim, you can get a little bit about top of G even during intermittent fasting. But the point is, you do get it and you get it as a result of not eating. And finally, the thing that I think is probably the most important thing of all. Because I'm on a mission to educate people about this condition is that fasting can reverse or prevent or treat insulin resistance. And I'm so passionate about this particular benefit of fasting, because I think that insulin resistance is at the heart of every chronic disease. We know of, we talked about it, the great cholesterol, a myth, its tracks with heart disease, way more than cholesterol. Does it? Finds all the comorbidities for covid. It underlies, hypertension, metabolic syndrome, pre diabetes, diabetes. Obesity, heart disease. Alzheimer's, insulin resistance is a big issue in 88 percent of Americans, have some degree of it, some degree of insulin resistance. So anything that we can use to turn insulin resistance around to prevent it or to treat it or to prevent its damage is a really important intervention and fasting. Meets that criteria. So, for all those reasons, weight loss, detoxification more energy, healing of leaky gut, reduction of risk of chronic disease and the reversal of insulin resistance. For all those reasons. I recommend very highly that people do some form of time restricted eating or intermittent fasting and there's a free course. It doesn't cost a penny on my website, an introduction to intermittent fasting. It's a five-day short, video course. Just go to my website, Jonny Bowden.com and sign up for it and you'll get it for free. And and listen to that information because really fasting is an amazing intervention. So if you're thinking about doing it, I recommend that you do.

Fasting has many benefits including weight loss, increased energy, gut healing, reducing risk of chronic disease, and reversing insulin resistance. I recommend people do time-restricted eating or intermittent fasting and there is a free 5-day video course on my website Jonny Bowden.com.

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The top benefits of fasting include weight loss, increased energy, healing of the gut, reduced inflammation, lower risk of chronic disease, detoxification, and the reversal or prevention of insulin resistance. While weight loss may be a primary motivation for some, fasting offers a range of health benefits beyond shedding pounds. It promotes deep cellular cleaning and a process called autophagy, which occurs after about a 24-hour fast. Fasting also plays a crucial role in addressing insulin resistance, a condition that underlies many chronic diseases. Insulin resistance is prevalent in a significant percentage of the population and is linked to conditions such as heart disease, hypertension, metabolic syndrome, diabetes, obesity, and Alzheimer's. By incorporating some form of time-restricted eating or intermittent fasting, individuals can experience these benefits. To learn more, there is a free five-day video course on intermittent fasting available on my website, JonnyBowden.com. Fasting is a powerful intervention worth considering for its numerous advantages.

3-5 small meals a day vs 2 larger meals a day. What’s better for you and why?

The Truth About Meal Frequency: 3-5 Small Meals vs 2 Larger Meals

Oh man, this is a question. I am just dying to answer. So, thank you. Whoever asked it, 3 to 5 small meals. A day versus two larger meals a day. What's better for you? And why not even close the two large Emile separated by 4 to 5 hours. Is that's my goal for my clients, myself and my family, that's our Bullseye. The advice to eat many meals to keep grazing, to eat, every two or three hours to eat, you know, the mini meals that we taught you. About eating back in the 80s and early 90s. Absolutely out-of-date wrongheaded, boneheaded information, it says prescription for pre-diabetes. It will keep your blood sugar elevated throughout the day. It never gets the chance to go back down and relax and let the gut heal. It never allows your insulin level to go back down because insulin always goes up every time you eat. So if you're eating constantly, you're constantly in a state of elevated insulin and that is a prescription for pre-diabetes and it's also also a guarantee it's going to be incredibly difficult to lose weight because you don't lose weight. When your insulin is high and your insulin goes High. When you eat food, obviously the less carbs in the meal, the more fat and protein, the smaller the meal, the more distance between the meals, the less insulin but eating every two or three hours is just an idiotic strategy and Mia copper. I taught it to you. I was not the only one. Everybody taught it in the 90s except some of us have been smart enough to go. Wait a minute, that was a clock and we're now trying to correct that. Unfortunately, that information is still out there a lot. I teach a lot about fasting. I have a course called meta fasting. I have a free course on my website. That's an introduction to intermittent fasting. And one of the biggest benefits of that is to reduce insulin and reduce blood sugar and help with detoxification. And you do that, the ideal of doing that is time, restricted eating two to three at tops meals with four hours, separating all of them, that's the way to do it and a to milder Day. Schedule is Right. Smack in the middle. Middle of that bullseye.

The best way to eat for optimal health is to eat 3-5 meals a day, with 4-5 hours between each meal, with the meals containing mostly fat and protein and fewer carbohydrates. This will help reduce elevated insulin levels and make it easier to lose weight. Intermittent fasting is also beneficial for reducing insulin and blood sugar levels, as well as helping with detoxification.

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The debate between 3-5 small meals a day versus 2 larger meals a day is an interesting one. In my opinion, the clear winner is having two larger meals separated by 4 to 5 hours. This is the approach I recommend to my clients, myself, and my family.

The advice to eat many small meals throughout the day, grazing every 2-3 hours, is outdated and misguided. It can lead to elevated blood sugar levels and constantly elevated insulin levels, which is a recipe for pre-diabetes. It also makes weight loss incredibly difficult, as high insulin levels hinder fat burning.

Eating every 2-3 hours keeps insulin constantly elevated, preventing it from going back down and allowing the body to heal and relax. The key is to have smaller meals with less carbohydrates and more fat and protein. Increasing the time between meals reduces insulin levels.

I teach a lot about fasting and its benefits, including reducing insulin and blood sugar levels and aiding in detoxification. The ideal approach is time-restricted eating, with 2-3 meals and at least 4 hours between each meal. This helps maintain a balanced insulin response and promotes overall health.

So, in my opinion, the best approach is to have two larger meals with a moderate fasting period in between. This falls right in the middle of the bullseye for optimal health.

There is a lot of controversy about whether world class athletes can be vegan and perform, what are variables to consider in whether this is true?

Unveiling the Controversy: Can World-Class Athletes Thrive on a Vegan Diet?

So this is a great question and it might seem odd for me to be answering it because I've been very outspoken on the subject of veganism, but the question is, there's a lot of controversy about whether world-class athletes can be vegan and still perform at the highest level? What are the variables to consider in whether or not this is true. So what you're really asking is how do you figure out if that works for you or not and I'll give you a general answer to that I have seen. I'm no vegan Been outspoken about the fact that I think there's a lot of problems with vegan diets. They're hard to sustain their heart to do correctly and even if you do them correctly, there's about a half a dozen. If not more nutrients that you are going to be missing that you need to supplement with. So all of those reasons makes me feel in general. We do better with some animal products in our diet. That said, there are vegan bodybuilders, not many, but I've seen a couple and I've read a couple articles about them do I believe there's a couple of vegan food, Ball players. There's a couple of vegan professional tennis players that I know of, so it can absolutely be done. The question is whether or not, it's right for you and the, the bottom line metric. I'd like you to use for. This is your energy. How do you feel when you're on a vegan diet and it may take a while for you to really see that because I've known a lot of people who started out as vegan. It was a great Improvement on the Great American diet that we will all follow. Yeah. You're going to get a lot of improvement. If you go. That crap to vegan but then as the months and the years go on they start to see here Fallout thinning nail, you know, nails and other structures like that are not what they once were you're missing, you know, powerful Omega-3s that you can only get really from fish, not from plant Foods. There's a lot of things that can go wrong and they sometimes don't show up for a while, but if you feel good, your energy top-flight you can perform. And you feel like you're performing. Well, that's your answer. Then you're one of those people for whom a vegan diet might be very suited. If it doesn't feel like you've got your energy and you got your Moxie and you got your, you got your groove on. It's probably time to consider some medicinal foods that come from animals.

It is possible to be vegan and still perform at a high level as an athlete, but it really depends on the individual. If you feel good and have plenty of energy, then a vegan diet may be suited for you. However, if you start to experience any issues such as thinning nails or lack of energy, then it may be time to consider adding some animal-based foods into your diet.

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The controversy surrounding whether world-class athletes can be vegan and still perform at the highest level is a complex topic. While I have been outspoken about the challenges and potential nutrient deficiencies in vegan diets, it is important to consider the variables involved in determining if it works for an individual athlete.

In general, I believe that incorporating some animal products into our diets can be beneficial due to the potential difficulties in sustaining a vegan diet and the need for nutrient supplementation. However, there are examples of vegan bodybuilders, a few vegan professional tennis players, and vegan professional athletes in other sports. So, it is possible to perform at a high level while being vegan.

The key factor to consider is how you feel and the energy levels you experience on a vegan diet. It may take time to assess this accurately, as some people initially experience improvements when transitioning from a standard American diet to a vegan one. However, over time, deficiencies may arise, such as thinning nails and a lack of essential nutrients like powerful Omega-3s found primarily in fish.

If you feel energetic, perform well, and have an overall positive experience on a vegan diet, then it may be a suitable choice for you. However, if you feel a decline in energy or a lack of vitality, it may be worth considering incorporating some animal-based foods for their medicinal benefits.

Ultimately, the decision of whether a vegan diet is appropriate for a world-class athlete depends on individual factors and how well they can meet their nutritional needs while maintaining optimal performance.

Ivermectin: A Controversial Medicine with Broad Functions

So the question is, what is ivermectin? Well this is a tough question to answer without getting into the politics of ivermectin, but I'm going to try to do it as objectively as possible. Ivermectin is a medicine that won the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 2015. It's been around since the 1980s. Four billion dosages have been given to humans safely. And it's kind of one of these broad-based medicines that has a lot of different functions. It's basically an antimicrobial, antiparasitic medication. It's given for river blindness, for all kinds of different things. And it has met with tremendous controversy because people were touting it as an adjunct treatment for COVID. In fact, there's a book. It's not quite out yet, but it will be in 2023 when I'm recording this, called The War Against Ivermectin by Pierre Corrie, who's a terrific MD and one of the great experts on ivermectin, talking about how it got politicized and how it got demonized. That's an issue I don't want to touch. All I can tell you is that it's a safe medicine. Forty years of experience using it with humans. Four billion dosages delivered. Antiparasitic, broad-based, many different effects that it can have. And I have used it personally when I had COVID and with great results. It doesn't mean it's a cure or preventative. It means it may have a role in the treatment of different viruses.

Ivermectin is a medicine that won the Nobel Prize for medicine in 2015 and has had 40 years of safe usage with humans. It is an antimicrobial, anti-parasitic medication used to treat many different conditions, including River Blindness. Recently, it has been controversial due to being touted as an adjunct treatment for Covid-19, but it is still considered a safe medicine.

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Ivermectin is an antimicrobial and antiparasitic medication that has been in use since the 1980s. It won the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 2015 and has been safely administered to humans with over four billion dosages given. It is commonly prescribed for conditions like river blindness. However, it has faced controversy due to its promotion as an adjunct treatment for COVID-19. Without delving into the politics surrounding it, I can say that ivermectin is a safe medicine with a broad range of effects. Personally, I have used it during my own battle with COVID-19 and experienced positive results. It's important to note that while it may have a role in the treatment of different viruses, it is not a cure or preventative measure.

The Miraculous Power of Intermittent Fasting

The question is, does intermittent fasting really work? And the short answer is yes. It really does. And yes, you can sabotage it and screw it up so that it does no good. You can get on an intermittent fasting schedule. Let's pick one that's very popular 16:8. So you're basically fasting for 16 hours and you eat. Let's just say from noon to 8:00 p.m. if you eat seven meals from McDonald's during that noon to 8 p.m. guess what? You're going to be able to say, hello to Art, intermittent fasting, you know didn't work. You got it. These things sensibly. You've got to also monitor, what? You're eating during the fasting window and by fasting window. I mean, the number of hours that you, that you can eat during the day, the best intermittent fasting always divides a day into a feeding window and a fasting window. So, for example, on that 16:8 program you would fast for 16 hours, theoretically, eight of those would be while you're sleeping and then you'd start the eating daily eating window, say at noon and finish it. Eight. So what you eat during that window matters, a lot and that's a whole discussion. I've written a course on this. By the way I have a, this is totally free. I have a free course. An introduction to intermittent fasting. It's a five-day easy to follow you. No video or audio course that you can listen to anywhere and it's on my website, just go, download it, it's for free, just go to Jonny Bowden.com and it's right there on the front page and my partner. And I also wrote An actual course called meta passing. So we believe this stuff works. It's a very, very relatively easy intervention to do in a very, very effective Intervention when it's done, right? Just don't assume just like, with anything else that just because something fits the label of intermittent fasting. Like, I only ate between 12 and 8. But you know, what did I eat all day? Do we do sin french fries? No, that won't work. But coupled with some sensible dietary advice and some personalization intimate. And fasting can be nothing short of miraculous not just for your health. Not just for your weight but for your health, for reversing insulin resistance and preventing pre-diabetes. All that good stuff. It's good thing to do.

Intermittent fasting can be a very effective intervention when done right, and when coupled with sensible dietary advice. There are free resources available to help you get started, such as Jonny Bowden's 'Introduction to Intermittent Fasting' course which is available for free on his website.

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Does intermittent fasting really work? The answer is yes, it does. However, it's important to approach it sensibly and avoid sabotaging its effectiveness. Let's take the popular 16:8 fasting schedule as an example, where you fast for 16 hours and eat within an 8-hour window, such as from noon to 8 p.m.

If you consume seven meals from McDonald's within that eating window, then yes, you can say that intermittent fasting didn't work. What you eat during the fasting window matters a lot. The concept of intermittent fasting involves dividing the day into a feeding window and a fasting window. For instance, in the 16:8 program, you fast for 16 hours, with eight of those hours typically occurring during sleep, and then start your eating window at noon and finish it at 8 p.m.

It's crucial to pay attention to what you eat during that window. I have a free course on intermittent fasting available on my website, which provides more in-depth information. When done correctly, intermittent fasting can be a highly effective intervention for various health benefits, including weight management, reversing insulin resistance, and preventing pre-diabetes.

So, yes, intermittent fasting does work, but it should be combined with sensible dietary choices and personalized approaches to maximize its benefits.

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Jonny Bowden, PhD, CNS answers your Integrative Medicine questions. See all the advice Jonny Bowden, PhD, CNS has and get answers to your own Integrative Medicine questions.

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Jonny Bowden began his career as a jazz musician, studying under Herbie Hancock and at Juilliard before earning degrees in music & psychology from NYU. He found his passion for nutrition while working as a pianist for Alvin Ailey Dance Theatre. Bowden changed careers and earned 6 personal training certifications, a psychology masters, and a nutrition PhD. He was the Dean of the Equinox Fitness Training Institute for 4 years and became a board-certified nutritionist. Bowden has penned 15 books, including best-sellers "The Great Cholesterol Myth," "Living Low Carb," and "150 Healthiest Foods on Earth”. He's a worldwide speaker, has appeared on every major network (ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, Fox, MSNBC), has been interviewed on dozens of podcasts, and featured in The NYT, Men’s Health, Woman’s World, Forbes Online, GQ, Cosmo, Self, Prevention, InStyle, Shape, and O, The Oprah Magazine. Known as The Nutrition Mythbuster™, Bowden is committed to debunking health myths and speaking truth to power.