A major key to a long and healthy life: fasting or a ketogenic diet

[onawah]

Intermittent Fasting for Weight Loss | Natural Health Blog
Date: 09/20/2018 Written by: Hiyaguha Cohen© 1999-2018 The Baseline of Health Foundation
https://jonbarron.org/detoxing-full-..._hsmi=66267893

"If you’re a regular reader, you know that Jon Barron has long advocated intermittent fasting for health and weight loss. His recommended protocol includes fasting one day a week on juice plus a superfood such as chlorella, spirulina, stabilized rice bran, or something equivalent. He also suggests a three-day juice and superfood fast once a month, plus a five-day juice/superfood fast twice a year as part of a bi-annual liver detox.

Those who follow Jon’s protocol get great results, but the idea of giving up a day of gluttony once a week may seem too difficult for some people. Fortunately for the fast-phobic, there’s a different type of intermittent fasting that seems to be a bit less daunting, and lately it’s been catching on like a California wildfire. The concept, known as the 16/8 diet, involves limiting food consumption to a narrow window of time each day, but during that time window anything goes.

Here’s how it works: You’re allowed to eat for eight hours a day. Outside of that, you can’t have anything except water or zero-calorie drinks. So, if you finish dinner by 6:00 pm, you essentially fast until 10 am the next morning, giving you 16 hours without food.

Liver Detox Package from Baseline Nutritionals
It sounds so simple, and yet preliminary research indicates that it works on many levels. Animal studies found that rats that were allowed to eat high-fat foods in unlimited quantities within a limited daily time period weighed less and had normal cholesterol and blood glucose levels, while rats allowed to eat whenever they wanted within 24-hour periods gained weight, developed high cholesterol and high blood glucose plus had impaired motor control.1

There’s only been one small human study to date, but the results were equally promising. Twenty-four obese subjects followed the 16:8 plan for 12 weeks. At the end, participants saw significant drops in blood pressure and weight. Strangely, there was also a control group that consisted of subjects who followed a different type of intermittent fasting routine (alternate day fasting), and those on the 16:8 plan lost more weight, consumed fewer calories, and reduced systolic blood pressure more than those fasting every other day. 2

Jon Barron explains some of the benefits of fasting in his book, Lessons from the Miracle Doctors. “First, when you deprive your body of food, your body begins to consume itself to survive. Being geared to self-survival, your body chooses to consume damaged cells and toxic cells first, saving the healthiest for later. It takes a tremendous amount of energy, and puts a tremendous strain on your body's organs, to process food. (Check your heart rate after eating a large meal and observe how exhausted you feel.) When you fast, your body diverts that energy to repair and rebuilding.”

Advocates of time-restricted eating point out that every time you eat, your liver releases insulin to keep blood sugar levels stable. If you confine eating to an eight-hour window, you’re releasing less insulin into the bloodstream, and that’s good because insulin build-up promotes fat storage and inflammation in the body. As research confirms, when insulin levels drop through fasting, insulin sensitivity increases, blood sugar levels normalize, and the body burns fat.3

Intermittent fasting helps you lose weight in three ways. First, unless you’re succumbing to gluttony during the eight-hour eating period, you’ll most likely end up eating fewer calories each day. But more importantly, because you will tend to use up all of your body’s available glucose during your fasting hours, you force your body to start burning fat for energy, which results in weight loss. And finally, as a result of moving your body into a fat burning state, your insulin levels will drop—since it’s no longer needed at the same levels—while at the same time, growth hormone and noradrenaline levels are increased, which yet again increases your body’s breakdown of fat for energy.

As just mentioned, studies show that intermittent fasting triggers the body to produce more Human Growth Hormone (HGH). HGH is key for strength, muscle development, immunity, resistance to disease, recovery from injury, weight loss, and optimized metabolism. Research also indicates that intermittent fasting can induce a type of cellular repair process called autolysis that helps the body “intelligently” rid itself of waste and toxins, and animal studies show that it might even extend lifespan. Other benefits include increased resistance to injury from cardiac events, heart-rate stabilization, and reduced oxidative damage.4

And finally, research indicates that intermittent fasting might be good for the brain as well. One study of fruit flies found that fasting blocked the synaptic activity of neurons.5 Since overactive synaptic activity is associated with Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Disease, it’s possible that fasting has a protective effect on the brain. Meanwhile, rat studies out of Johns Hopkins found similar results, but in addition, concluded that the brain stimulates chemicals that promote cell growth, and, in fact, the brain creates new cells and becomes more resistant to plaque when stressed by fasting.6 According to study director Dr. Mark Mattson, neuroscience professor at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, "There's an increase in adaptive stress responses when people intermittently fast that is good for maintaining the brain…As is similar to what happens when muscles are exercised, the neurons in the brain benefit from being mildly stressed.”

If you decide to try the 16:8 diet, here are some things to keep in mind:

Experts suggest very young children shouldn’t fast as they need extra calories for growth. On the other hand, fasting has been shown to reduce seizures in epileptic kids. Also, diabetics and those with low blood sugar should check with their health practitioner before fasting.

You can choose any time window you prefer, as long as you restrict food intake to an eight-hour window each day. But do keep in mind that the later you eat, the more difficult weight loss will be for you, as studies show that once the body releases melatonin, which happens close to bedtime, calorie burning naturally slows down. Finishing dinner by six and then fasting until breakfast at 10 the next morning is ideal.

Some sources say it’s okay, or even good, to drink coffee or tea (without cream or sugar) during your fasting hours to help you combat hunger. Others claim that such beverages will trigger metabolic processes in your body, and so it’s better to simply drink water.7

For weight loss, the usual rules apply during eating hours. If you pig out during your eight-hour window, you’ll sabotage any benefits you might have gained during the fasting hours.

Experts say the average person loses seven to 10 pounds within 10 weeks of starting the intermittent fasting regimen.8

You probably won’t get that hungry. 16:8 fasting isn’t like fasting for an entire day, and drinking water (or coffee or tea) will most likely sustain you during your fasting hours. Staying busy helps so you don’t focus on what you’re missing. If you really can’t make it 16 hours without food, try going 15 or 14 hours at first, and work your way up. But keep in mind, you really do need to get up to around 16 hours of fasting a day for the benefits to kick in."

1. Burrell, Susie. “Eight-hour diet is key to weight loss, according to experts.” News.com.au. 6 September 2018. https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/he...fd2cf0322c1b66
2. University of Chicago. “Daily fasting works for weight loss, finds study on 16:8 diet.” 18 June 2018. Science Daily. 6 September 2018. https://www.sciencedaily.com/release...0618113038.htm
3. Heilbronn, LK et al. “Alternate-day fasting in nonobese subjects: effects on body weight, body composition, and energy metabolism.” 8 January 2005. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 9 September 2018. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15640462
4. Mattson, MP and Wan, R. “Beneficial effects of intermittent fasting and caloric restriction on the cardiovascular and cerebrovascular systems.” 16 March 2005. Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry. 9 September 2018. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15741046
5. Lidicker, Gretchen. “New Research Shows How Intermittent Fasting is Like Decluttering for Your Brain.” 14 December 2016. Mindbodygreen. 7 September 2016. https://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-2812...our-brain.html
6. Anft, Michael. “Don’t Feed Your Head.” September 2012. Johns Hopkins Magazine. 9 September 2018. https://hub.jhu.edu/magazine/2012/su...eed-your-head/
7. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/health-f...ittent-fasting
8. Haney, Stephanie. “This is How Long It’ll Take for Intermittent Fasting to Work.” 5 September 2018. MSN Health & Fitness. 9 September 2018. https://www.msn.com/en-gb/health/die...BoPH6F#image=5

[TargeT]

found a good info-graphic for explanation of Ketosis


https://i.imgur.com/4KyfDi3.jpg

[Bill Ryan]

I've copied this interesting post over from the Water Fasting thread, because discussing keto protocols was a little off-topic there, and I found myself really interested in Miller's reported experience.

My question to her: if you were on a keto (presumably high-protein) diet, how come your biceps shrank in size even when you were exercising??

Posted by Miller (here)

Posted by Bill Ryan (here)

Posted by Miller (here)
Personally I start intermittent fasting 2 weeks before then one meal a day the week before and then. I fast, but dont fast more than 48 hours because of muscle loss (sarcopenia) because of age and I dont eat meat. Tbh I find it difficult to eat the recommended amount of protein (just too much) but, like Bill, I listen to my body.

Just a thinking-aloud post here: I too am wary of possible muscle loss when on a medium-length water-fast, so I'm always mindful of the issue. (But, listening to my body, it always seems to tell me clearly when enough fasting is enough!)

I found myself wondering if whey protein might be an acceptable solution for you when managing the potential muscle-loss problem. Boosting yourself with whey protein for a week or two before a water fast (that is, assuming you're not a strict vegan!) might well deal with the issue and enable you to fast for longer — if you want to.

Thank you Bill. I'm not vegan (I eat salmon, eggs and cheese) but not keen on whey protein although I've tried pea protein in smoothies. Since my early 20s I've remained fairly athletic but my attempts at keto during lockdown reduced my biceps practically to walnuts when they used to be like :0. When I spoke to the doctor, he suggested I use lighter weights and do more reps (which contradicted what I understood about lifting weights), but what did help was doing them much slower.

As I grew older I thought (mistakenly) that if I kept doing what I was doing everything would stay the same, but of course it doesn't, and aging brings a set of - shall we say "challenges" - which continue to test. What I'm aiming for is not to live forever, but to live well and not be a burden to my children, hence an interest in fasting and autophagy.

Apologies for sliding a little off topic, and thank you again for your welcome and kind thought Bill. Much appreciated

[Miller]

Hi Bill

Keto didn’t work for me because I didn’t eat enough protein or fat, although I tried really hard to make it work. 225g of protein is a lot to eat in one day when you don’t eat meat.

An egg has about 8g, so 3 has 24g, which is breakfast sorted and with a smoothie with a scoop of pea protein (8g) is 32g

A pre-cut portion of salmon has 25g of protein and with salad or spinach is lunch sorted

225g – 57g = 168g, which is a helluva lot of lentils for dinner!

The foods listed above sound quite meagre but I haven’t included (for instance) broccoli soup with lots of cream and cheese, but even then not enough protein. And not enough fat either, although I would have cream in my coffee, but not butter (yuk!) like some people on keto.

Re the exercise, I’ve always been fairly active and didn’t alter my routines much, except instead of lifting reps of 15, 12 and 8 three times, I did the full 3 sets for each body part before moving on to the next. This may have had some bearing on the muscle loss as well.

I was only on keto for about 6 weeks but the effects lasted longer. As already mentioned, Dr Eric Berg on YT advocates Healthy Keto with lots of vegetables and salads but excludes grains (wheat, bread, pies, etc), starches (potatoes), sugar and seed oils, but he does get his main protein from meat, and fatty meat at that.

My view, based on my own experience and lifestyle, is don’t do keto if you don’t eat meat.

I now lead a more sedentary lifestyle than I used to, but still lift weights 2-3 times a week, walk about 5 miles a day and incorporate a few yoga / pilates moves for flexibility and eat lots of fruit and vegetables and the same amount of protein. My muscles have recovered well, although they’re not as they used to be, but C’est la vie. It also shows that there must be SOME protein in vegetables after all.

So what do you eat (typically) in a day Bill and is it working for you?

[Bill Ryan]

Posted by Miller (here)
Hi Bill

Keto didn’t work for me because I didn’t eat enough protein or fat, although I tried really hard to make it work. 225g of protein is a lot to eat in one day when you don’t eat meat.

Thanks for the long and interesting post! But where do you get 225g from? That seems like way too much protein, an almost impossible amount if one's not eating large steaks and whole chickens.

I know relatively little in detail about keto diets, but I found this article:

• How much protein can you eat in ketosis?
  https://dietdoctor.com/how-much-prot...eat-in-ketosis

As I always maintain (and I know you agree! ), I carefully listen to my body and never force anything. I've occasionally used a protein-and-fat only keto diet for about a week or so just to lose a little weight if I've not been very active (it works easily and perfectly), and I just stop eating when I feel full and don't keep looking at the fridge. I've never calculated grams of protein, weighed portions, or anything like that. Not ever!

[Miller]

Not sure exactly where I got the figure of 225 from but never managed to get anywhere near it. I cut right back on the carbs and vegetables, and think that was a big mistake. I listened to my body before keto, and ignored it when I tried keto, but I'm listening again now, and am mostly back on an even keel.

Interesting snippet about Arnold Schwarzenegger's 250g protein intake now that he's adopted a vegan diet:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/a...-80-vegan.html

[Bill Ryan]

Posted by Miller (here)
Not sure exactly where I got the figure of 225 from but never managed to get anywhere near it. I cut right back on the carbs and vegetables, and think that was a big mistake. I listened to my body before keto, and ignored it when I tried keto, but I'm listening again now, and am mostly back on an even keel.

Well, good!! And kudos to you for figuring it out. We always have to remember that each of us is unique in so many aspects, and we can't always just go blindly copying what works well for someone else.

Posted by Miller (here)
Re the exercise, I’ve always been fairly active and didn’t alter my routines much, except instead of lifting reps of 15, 12 and 8 three times, I did the full 3 sets for each body part before moving on to the next. This may have had some bearing on the muscle loss as well.
[ ... ]
I now lead a more sedentary lifestyle than I used to, but still lift weights 2-3 times a week, walk about 5 miles a day and incorporate a few yoga / pilates moves for flexibility and eat lots of fruit and vegetables and the same amount of protein.

I have to say that's super-impressive (and would be for any of us!) considering that few readers here are still just 21.

Your regime makes me feel very lazy! I've never lifted weights (or even done pilates), and merely hike in the mountains maybe 2-3 times a week. I can still do a 7 minute plank (which I confess I'm quite pleased with), but that's merely because hiking up and down hills with a backpack, even a light one, strengthens everything in the core and seems to keep it that way.

Re my own diet, I eat quite a lot of protein, including lots of nuts and cheese, but also gallons of rich veggie soup (I have a huge pot lasting days which is always right there on the stove), and large amounts of papaya, which is everywhere here. (Other fruit is all around, but papaya is my fav.) And I rarely if ever eat wheat... which I feel increasingly sure is a major health-influencing factor that many are quite unaware of.

[Sirus]

Aldis yoghurt - 25g protein per small pot
Muscle Moose protein powder- 50g protein for 2 scoops

It's really not that difficult to get 225g in, although there is an adjustment phase for the first few days. Strength training also fires up the metabolism and also helps to synthesise the protein better.

[Bill Ryan]

Posted by Bill Ryan (here)
I know relatively little in detail about keto diets
[ ... ]
I carefully listen to my body and never force anything.

Well, here's a small tale that I tell against myself.

Inspired by re-reading this thread, I went on an experimental keto diet for a few days — and am still on it. But the moral of this story is that a couple of days ago I really didn't know what I was doing.

All seemed fine, and the day before yesterday I went on quite a long mountain hike, not an easy one at all. I was feeling great, with lots of energy — until the very last section, which after 3 non-stop hours was a final steep strenuous climb up out of a valley.

I suddenly felt extremely lightheaded, a new experience for me in the mountains. For a moment I thought I might actually pass out. I stopped immediately, sat down, and just rested for a few minutes. It wasn't a glucose issue, as my legs felt strong. I didn't know what to make of it, but I slowly continued the climb to finish the hike, and all was well.

And then I realized that I was totally dehydrated. (Of course! ) I spent the journey home in my vehicle drinking from my water bottle — which I had NOT taken with me. (I had a small bottle of cold black coffee, which is almost always fine for me even on a long hike. I do carry some iodine drops, so I could always replenish it with water from a stream if needed. But the issue was that at no point had I felt thirsty.)

The lesson for me was that on a keto diet one clearly has to keep oneself well-hydrated. When water fasting (which I know a lot about), this all takes care of itself. But here I'd got it all wrong, and my body had NOT told me that it needed water until I got to an extreme state. I do know that this combo of circumstances is unusual, and maybe others are unlikely to find themselves in the same kind of situation! But I thought it might be rather interesting to report the experience.

[Miller]

Hope you've recovered well Bill. As a matter of interest, how long did it take to recover fully after you ?

Here's a new and fairly short 14:28 minute video from Prof David Sinclair who is a proponent of longevity and follows a vegan diet. He's 54 years old.

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=pUP0rSIu2TI

https://hms.harvard.edu/news/rewinding-clock
and an interesting article from Harvard University citing David Sinclair's work

A quick look on google shows that the way to increase NAD levels naturally is to eat raw foods that contain vitamin B, like avocados, steamed fish, and peanuts, which should be part of your daily diet. You can also boost NAD+ levels by drinking two to three glasses of cow's milk every day.

[Bill Ryan]

Posted by Miller (here)
Hope you've recovered well Bill. As a matter of interest, how long did it take to recover fully after your dehydration experience?

Thx, I recovered pretty fast. I drank a lot of water when I got back to my vehicle (but gradually, not all at once), and then on the way home I picked up a big fresh coconut for the electrolytes in the coconut water.

The next morning I had a large cheese and veggie omelet for breakfast, prehydrated with a liter of water, and went on a gentler short hike with Mara (my dog) for an hour and a half. (She'd had to stay at home the previous day, but she'd REALLY wanted to come. ) I repeated the large coconut for the electrolytes. By then, I felt really fine.

~~~

Thanks for the video! It was valuable and interesting. I do quite a lot of what Sinclair does, including no wheat, little or no sugar, and no alcohol (zero, never). I only use milk in coffee, but I do drink kefir and yogurt, which he didn't mention, and also cheese.

I don't look quite as young as him, but then I'm a little older! And I'm happy that I'm still regularly doing more in the mountains than most probably could half my age. So — so far so good, and my mountain fitness is really my personal measure.

[Bill Ryan]

An update about my keto diet, which might be interesting for some. I've been on it for 3 weeks now (the longest I've ever done this), I never feel hungry, and I've been hiking in the high mountains every few days with plenty of energy all the time. In short, I feel great. It's all been very easy.

I posted above about a small mountain experience which took me by surprise (I suddenly felt very light-headed, and had to sit down), and I realized soon after that I was simply badly dehydrated. When I'm noticing is that I'm not often feeling thirsty, and so I have to discipline myself to drink water regularly, always a little more than I seem to feel I need.

I was never overweight, but looking in the mirror I really am getting quite lean! Happily, though, I'm not losing any strength or energy at all. I started to read online about how one STOPS losing weight on keto, and the simple answer seems to be merely to increase one's intake of protein and fat.

I vary my protein intake quite a lot, making sure to include cheese, milk, eggs, nuts, fish, and so on. I also make sure that I occasionally eat non-starchy veggies like onions, carrots, spinach, celery, and avocados. Visiting a friend for lunch last week, I had some pasta and then some cake(!), but it seemed to make no difference at all. Increasing the protein and fat, if I need to, feels like it should be not too hard.

I have no idea how long I'll continue this! Three weeks and counting is is far longer than I'd originally thought or intended. I keep on waiting for my body to insist on a bunch of large salads for a change, but so far all it REALLY insists on every few days is celery — always happy to oblige, and not a problem at all.

[Bill Ryan]

A further update, with an added question for anyone who knows more about this than I do.

This is now Day 57 of my keto diet. It's proved so easy and hassle-free (and also surprisingly inexpensive!) that I've just been continuing it as a simple routine, punctuated with large mixed salads every two or three days. I've felt zero ill-effects, I'm never hungry, my mountain hiking energy has been fine, and I'm the same weight now as I was 20 or even 30 years ago.

But yesterday I started to sense a vague nagging worry, which was purely intuitive. So I tested my cholesterol at a local lab, very cheap to do here. It was hugely high.

My levels were:

• Total cholesterol: 291
• LDL: 213
• HDL: 38.4
• Triglycerides: 199

That's all way out of medically-agreed 'normal' range.

I'm not at all convinced that high cholesterol must be a terribly dangerous thing, but it did raise a flag for me that I should try to understand all this better. What I'm thinking now is that I'm going to bridge over to mostly large mixed salads (with olive oil, sesame oil and avocado oil), with fish and eggs but less cheese and full cream raw milk. (A shame, because that's just so delicious! )

Is there any advice from readers who may have experienced any of this for themselves??

[Miller]

💚 KETO Increased Your Cholesterol?? (Here’s why It's OK) 💚

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=-QwD4xoSmRg

(14.12 minutes)

I hope this video by an MD will allay your fears somewhat Bill, but at the end of the day it's all just "information" and we get to decide what's best followed or avoided.

The doctor in this video said that it's the ratio between waist measurement and height that indicates a higher risk of health problems.

[onawah]

Dr. Mercola advises against using a lot of seed oils (and they can be hidden in ways you might not expect, such as in meat).
Most of his articles are behind a paywall now, but they can still be found in pdf form:
https://oh17.com/wp-content/uploads/...id-Mercola.pdf

And here is the info in a nutshell:
"STORY AT-A-GLANCE
There's an even worse offender than sugar for your immune system and overall health: industrially processed seed oils, often referred to as "vegetable oils"
At the root of the harmful biochemical reactions triggered by seed oils is linoleic acid, the primary fatty acid found in polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs)
The dramatic increase in seed oil intake in recent decades is a key culprit behind the soaring rates of heart disease, cancer, age-related macular degeneration, diabetes, obesity and dementia
Unsaturated fat intake is associated with increased mortality from COVID-19, while saturated fat intake lowers your risk of death
Linoleic acid is found in most processed foods, including sauces and salad dressings, along with "healthy" foods like chicken, pork and olive oil
What you eat plays a significant role in how well your immune system functions. As a result, you can actively support your body's ability to ward off acute and chronic conditions with each food you put into your mouth. However, depending on your food choices, you can also hinder it.

What's the worst ingredient for your immune system? If you guessed sugar, nice try, but there's an even worse offender that's just as prevalent but not as widely recognized for its pernicious influence on health: industrially processed seed oils, often referred to as "vegetable oils."

At the root of the harmful biochemical reactions triggered by seed oils is linoleic acid, which is an 18-carbon omega-6 fat. Linoleic acid is the primary fatty acid found in polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) and accounts for about 80% of the fatty acid composition of vegetable oils. Omega-6 fats must be balanced with omega-3 fats in order to not be harmful, but this isn't the case for most Americans.

Why Seed Oils Are Even Worse Than Sugar
An immunologist with CNBC News recently named sugar the "worst food ingredient for your immune system,"1 in large part because consuming too much of it can contribute to insulin resistance and obesity, which increases inflammation in your body and causes damage to blood vessels.

While your immune system is busy tending to these areas, CNBC notes, "This creates a major distraction for the immune system and paves the way for dangerous bacteria and viruses to slip through our body's defenses."2 In fact, it's been known since at least the 1970s that sugar weakens the immune system (while fasting strengthens it),3 and I recommend limiting added sugars to a maximum of 25 grams per day or 15 grams a day if you're insulin resistant or diabetic.

But most health "experts" simply do not understand that seed oils are even worse than sugar. These fats become embedded in your cell membranes and stay there for about seven years, wreaking havoc on your health.

Not only are most of the omega-6s you eat, including seed oils, damaged and oxidized through processing, but even if they are unheated and pristine when consumed in any but small amounts, your body degrades them into free radicals that damage virtually every tissue in your body.

"Most of this linoleic acid, when it oxidizes, it develops lipid hydroperoxides and then these rapidly degenerate into … oxidized linoleic acid metabolites," says Dr. Chris Knobbe, an ophthalmologist and the founder and president of the Cure AMD Foundation.4

OXLAMs (oxidized linoleic acid metabolites) create a perfect storm, as they are cytotoxic, genotoxic, mutagenic, carcinogenic, atherogenic and thrombogenic, according to Knobbe. Their atherosclerosis and thrombogenic actions are especially concerning because they can produce strokes and clots, however metabolic dysfunction can also occur.

During the lipid peroxidation cascade caused by the excess consumption of omega-6 seed oils, PUFAs accumulate in your cell membranes, leading to a peroxidation reaction. Because there are so many reactive oxygen species it leads to the development of insulin resistance at the cellular level. OXLAMs are also toxic to the liver and are associated with inflammation, fibrosis and fatty liver disease in humans.5

Dr. Paul Saladino, a physician journalist, also explained in a podcast that linoleic acid "breaks the sensitivity for insulin at the level of your fat cells,"6 essentially making them more insulin sensitive — and, since your fat cells control the insulin sensitivity of the rest of your body by releasing free fatty acids, you end up with insulin resistance.

Linoleic Acid Drives Chronic Diseases, Worsens COVID-19
There's virtually nothing more destructive to your body than seed oils in producing heart disease, cancer, age-related macular degeneration, diabetes, obesity and dementia.7 When I interviewed Tucker Goodrich, who developed an IT risk management system used by two of the largest hedge funds in the world, then transitioned into medical research, he explained that animals typically develop cancer once the linoleic acid in their diet reaches 4% to 10% of their energy intake.

Yet, most Americans get approximately 8% of their calories from seed oils. "So, we're way over what these thresholds in the lab would suggest is a safe level of these fats based on the laboratory work in animals," Goodrich said, adding:

"We've got this huge disconnect between what the lab science tells us we should be doing and what our dietary guidelines tell us we should be doing. The scientists are saying, 'Oh, look, it's poison. It causes all the chronic diseases,' and the government's saying, 'Eat lots of it.' That's not a good thing."

Data also indicate that COVID-19 mortality rates are heavily influenced by the amount of unsaturated fats you eat. Simply put, unsaturated fat intake is associated with increased mortality from COVID-19, while saturated fat intake lowers your risk of death.8 The authors noted that unsaturated fats "cause injury [and] organ failure resembling COVID-19."

More specifically, unsaturated fats are known to trigger lipotoxic acute pancreatitis, and the sepsis and multisystem organ failure seen in severe cases of COVID-19 greatly resembles this condition. In short, linoleic acid contributes to the inflammatory domino effect that eventually kills some people with COVID-19. Goodrich explained:

"I did an enormous post on this, looking at the effects of LA [linoleic acid] in SARS COV-2 and SARS in general. SARS is a severe acute respiratory syndrome. SARS kills you by giving you acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS).

ARDS can be caused by lots of different things, not just these viruses. You can get it from influenza. You can get it from inhaling acid into your lungs. What's fascinating is the human literature is quite clear that you can induce ARDS through feeding seed oils.

Very sick people who can't eat are fed intravenously. It's called total parenteral nutrition (TPN). Generally, this is used through a product called Intralipid, which is made out of soybean oil and sugar. When you start to understand all this stuff, it's just mind boggling. Doctors did an experiment after they noticed that a lot of their patients who came into the ICU and got TPN then subsequently got ARDS.

So, they started playing with what they were feeding them, and what they discovered was this soybean oil formula increased the patient's rate of getting ARDS. The fatality rate from ARDS is 30% to 60%. Feeding seed oils increased the rate of ARDS by seven times."

It's Hidden in 'Healthy' Foods, Like Chicken and Olive Oil
Another reason why linoleic acid is so harmful is because it's found in virtually every processed food, including restaurant foods, sauces and salad dressings. Many processed foods high in sugar also contain seed oils, which is why eliminating them from your diet is essential for improving and maintaining your health.

However, even if you cut out processed foods and skip sauces and salad dressings when you eat out, you may still be consuming too much seed oil because it's hidden in "healthy" foods like chicken and pork. The problem is that these animals are fed grains that are high in linoleic acid,9 which makes the meat a major source as well. So if you're eating chicken and pork, believing it to be good for you, you're being misled.

Olive oil is another health food that's a hidden source of linoleic acid; however, there are caveats. As Goodrich explained, the linoleic acid content of olive oil can vary significantly. "The percentages that I've seen quoted in literature range from 2%, which is awesome, to 22%, which is not good," he said.

Olive oil also has the benefit of containing beneficial oleic acid, which is protective against both cardiolipin oxidation and LDL oxidation. Cardiolipin is a type of fat located in your mitochondria, and oxidation of cardiolipin is one of the things that controls autophagy.

By altering the composition of cardiolipin in your mitochondria to one that's richer in omega-6 fats, you make it far more susceptible to oxidative damage. Goodrich cites research showing that when the linoleic acid in cardiolipin is replaced with oleic acid like that found in olive oil, the cardiolipin molecules become highly resistant to oxidative damage.

The other variable, however, is that olive oil is often cut with cheaper seed oils, which raises the linoleic acid content. So if you consume olive oil, I strongly recommend keeping close track of your total linoleic acid intake.

How Much Linoleic Acid Is Too Much?
Many now understand that your omega-6 to omega-3 ratio is very important, and should be about 1-to-1 or possibly up to 4-to-1, but simply increasing your omega-3 intake won't counteract the damage done by excessive linoleic acid. You really need to minimize the omega-6 to prevent damage from taking place.

Ideally, consider cutting linoleic acid down to 2 or 3 grams per day, which is close to what our ancestors used to get before all of these chronic health conditions, including obesity, diabetes, heart disease and cancer, became widespread. If olive oil puts you over the limit, consider cooking with tallow or lard instead. Beef tallow is 46% oleic acid and lard is 36% oleic acid.

Remember, linoleic acid is considered an essential fat, so you don't want to eliminate it entirely. It's only when consumed in excessive amounts that linoleic acid acts as a metabolic poison — but virtually everyone is consuming excessive amounts.

What amount is "excessive"? Anything over 10 grams a day is likely to be problematic, although the exact cutoff is still unknown. In 1909, Americans ate 2 grams a day of vegetable oil, according to Knobbe, but by 2010 this had increased to 80 grams a day.10

If you're not sure how much you're eating, enter your food intake into Cronometer — a free online nutrition tracker — and it will provide you with your total linoleic acid intake. The key to accurate entry is to carefully weigh your food with a digital kitchen scale so you can enter the weight of your food to the nearest gram.

Cronometer will tell you how much omega-6 you're getting from your food down to the 10th of a gram, and you can assume 90% of that is linoleic acid. Again, anything over 10 grams is likely to cause problems. Since there's no downside to limiting your linoleic acid, you'll want to keep it as low as possible, which you do by avoiding high-LA foods. This means eliminating all of the following oils:

Soy Corn
Canola Safflower
Sunflower Peanut
Other high-LA foods include chips fried in vegetable oil, commercial salad dressings and sauces, virtually all processed foods and any fried fast food, such as french fries. I'm currently writing a book on this topic as well, so stay tuned for more information about what I believe is likely the leading contributing cause of virtually all chronic diseases we've encountered over the last century."

[Alan]

My total cholesterol and LDL numbers have been in these ranges for years (I'll be 62 in a week). I've never taken statins (and never will). I have had 2 calcium score tests done (CAT scan looking for blockages in coronary arteries), and both times I got a perfect score of zero (no sign of blockages beginning to form). I've also had several sonograms of my carotid arteries, also looks perfect.

I'd -maybe- be a little concerned about the high triglycerides. How is your seed oil consumption?

(edit) I'd be hard pressed to stop drinking raw milk and cheese, 2 of my favorite foods!

[Bill Ryan]

Posted by Alan (here)
I'd -maybe- be a little concerned about the high triglycerides. How is your seed oil consumption?

Exactly zero, if 'seed oils' = canola, sunflower, grapeseed, cottonseed, safflower, soybean and corn oils. Just never. I do add chia seeds to everything, but as best I understand they really can't be counted as a 'seed oil' issue. And none of the other reported causes of high triglycerides apply to me, except possibly the keto-related intake of saturated fat. (I'm guessing it's just that.)
I'm not going to worry too much about this. It just seemed like a possible concern, and I've learned a lot already after sharing my question. (The video that Miller posted above was very useful. )