Hi folks,

I just read this article, I am not saying I agree with it or not, it just gives another view on the low fat vs. high fat diets. The author has some cool health and nutrition articles on his website.

Fat for Energy and Raw Athletic Power

Eating fat in general does not make you fat. Eating unhealthy fat does. Knowing the difference between the types of fat will ensure that you do not suffer from deficiencies in fat soluble vitamins such as A, D, E and K. The consequence can be obesity, low energy, poor concentration, unsightly skin complexion and depression. Clinical manifestations include insulin resistance, type II diabetes, heart disease and even cancer.

Healthy fat is essential for proper growth, development, athletic performance and maintenance of good health. It provides your body with vital energy without causing you to gain weight. In sharp contrast to carbohydrates and sugar, healthy fat tells your body to burn fat and makes you feel fuller quicker! These positive attributes of fat are often overlooked. But they are real.


Most important, consuming healthy fat does not cause a spike in the fat storing hormone known as insulin. Instead, it keeps insulin levels low (or controlled) relative to sugar and carbohydrate (carb) consumption. When insulin is controlled, the body is better equipped to take part in fat burning courtesy of “thermogenesis.”


Thermogenesis is the conversion of fat to heat and physical energy (lipolysis). The best athletes in the world have mastered thermogenesis — either through diet, supplementation, or both.


Thermogenesis is a powerful effect for athletes who consume healthy fat rather than gobs of sugar (sucrose, fructose, high-fructose corn syrup), artificial flavors and carbs. Sparking it (either by diet or supplementation) is the Holy-Grail for eliciting lean muscle mass, energy and raw athletic power. Let me clarify this very important point.



When thermogenesis is active, the body can utilize fat as a substrate for heat production as well as ATP production. ATP is the chief energy and strength producing molecule within the body. The more you have, the better you perform.



A single fat molecule can produce a whopping 129 molecules of ATP. In contrast, if thermogenesis is not being activated the body is forced to utilize an inferior source of ATP production — carbohydrates. A single carbohydrate molecule produces a paltry 38 molecules of ATP! Do the math.



The difference between fat and carbohydrates as fuel substrates is the difference between athletic excellence and mediocrity. It’s the difference between sustained energy and “bonking.” Promoters of sports gels and sugar fortified energy bars and drinks ignore this basic biochemistry — or don’t understand it.



In sum, healthy fat doesn’t make you fat, it satisfies and energizes. Healthy fats can be obtained from coconut oil (in tea or used for cooking), flax seed oil, hemp seed oil, avocados (omega-9), nuts, seeds and algae.


Unhealthy fats make you fat, sick and weak. These are the much talked-about trans fats. Trans fats are the top contributors to obesity and the medical complications that follow. They have given fat in general a bad name. Habitual consumption of trans fats leads not only to obesity but also heart disease and type II diabetes.



Foreign to the human body, trans fat consumption obstructs proper metabolism and thermogenesis. Specifically, trans fat invades cell membranes. Once incorporated into the membrane, cells become brittle and unresponsive to insulin and glucose. Blood levels of insulin and glucose skyrocket. Instead of being renewed by food, cells are resistant to essential nutrients. Obesity, malnutrition and pre-mature aging set in. This is the underlying cause of the impending health crisis that looms over an estimated 90 million Americans — insulin resistance. It is also the cause of weakened athletic ability.



Trans fats are made when food manufacturers increase the shelf life and stability of their foods. The process is known as “hydrogenation.” To discover if a food contains trans fat look at the ingredient list on the food label. They are listed as; “shortening,” “partially hydrogenated vegetable oil” or “hydrogenated vegetable oil.” Ingredients are listed in descending order of predominance on a food label. Smaller amounts are present when the ingredient is close to the end of the list.

If you eat fast food or anything out of a “box” beware! You are mainly consuming trans fats! Other bad fats are found in vegetable oils such as corn oil (due to high content of carcinogenic omega-6 fatty acids).

Adhere to this basic nutrition and watch your energy and athletic ability soar.


About the Author: Shane Ellison, M.Sc.
Shane holds a Master's degree in organic chemistry. He is an internationally recognized authority on therapeutic nutrition and author of Health Myths Exposed and The Hidden Truth about Cholesterol-Lowering Drugs.

I found his photo:


I wonder how he would fare on raw? (His teeth are very white - are they bleached?)

Gosia


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I often wonder about the value and relevance of research performed on cooked foods based "nutrition". I look forward to seeing more research that studies raw foods based nutrition.

Gosia


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Vlassara is finding that extensive cooking is definitely harmful, especially for fats and moderately so for proteins. She has caused diabetes in normal rats by giving them diets high in advanced glycation end products. I think it is reasonable to assume that raw would provide extra insurance from developing type II diabetes.

But she has not shown that light cooking (steaming, etc.) is significantly more harmful than uncooking.

The cancer protection epidemiology is showing that raw vegetables may be significantly more protective than cooked ones.

Raw foodists also have better antioxidant status. I am beginning to strongly dislike this work, antioxidant, because it's probably not the only function of such compounds. Many of them are cofactors for certain enzymes, they may have roles in relieving stress from heat shock and other adverse stimuli, they strengthen the immune system, etc. in ways that have nothing to do with antioxidant activity per se.

For the CHD/CVD/heart/circulatory health studies it does not seem to matter much if f+v are cooked or raw. Probably the fiber is the main thing.

Some of the food science papers are also interesting. Levels of many of the protective phytochemicals are diminished on cooking. But some scientists are claiming that higher levels can be released from the food matrix on cooking (i.e. ferulic acid from cooked corn, lycopene from cooked tomatoes). You have to actually read the study (not just the abstract), though, to see what they compared. Were they equal kcal servings? Equal phytochemical servings? Equal volume servings? They don't always make "fair" comparisons.

I think for max uptake it's probably best to use raw, but to puree/blend/food process.

Raw foodists tend to be lighter, and we know that restricting calories (i.e. being thin while maintaining a high quality diet) provides powerful protection from disease, but some might have trouble maintaining adequate body mass and some females stop menstruating.

Raw vegans tend to have lower methionine intakes, and this might be a life-extender and provide additional protection from cancers.

Raw vegans tend to have lower levels of IGF-1 and this might also provide powerful protection from cancers.

And then there are the simple facts of the nutrients we take in: raw f+v that are edible when raw tend to be more nutrient-dense (with only a few exceptions: B12, D, zinc, DHA). Raw vegan diets also tend to be higher in fiber.

Regarding the health claims of some types of uncooked, unprocessed or minimally processed fats, I think that many of them are overstated, such as for virgin coconut oil. It might not be as bad as butter but it's still a cholesterol raiser. And extra virgin olive oil is tasty and it helps the veggies to go down easy but it's basically empty kcals.

A few things that give me pause about all raw are

-the amount of chewing required (can get around this with juicing/pureeing)
-the volume of food required if one limits fat to a reasonable intake (can get around this with a dehydrator)
-the difficulty in getting enough of certain minerals

All in all I find it very exciting and I am certain there will be much more study in the future providing more details as to the hows and whys of protection. But it seems to me that currently most of the money for research is not in whole food patterns but specific substances that can be patented and sold for profit.

I visited Shane Ellison's website. I like his thoughts on using drugs.

Gosia


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definitely bleached teeth, he has a nice tan wonder if its real too?

It seems that he did make a realization about raw fat being healthier than processed, cooked fat. But he did not make a similar connection about carbohydrates yet. Perhaps one day?

Gosia


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