Ultrametabolism; Tune yourself to lose weight;

Mark Hyman MD is the author of this new look at the various options to take an organized and thorough approach to what needs to happen to your body to enhance weight loss with optimal health. This is certainly not a "fad diet", rather it's a look from the eyes of a physician who has integrated Complementary & Alternative Medicine with Traditional Medicine to provide an overall look at what techniques work and how to optimally put them together. More information is available @ www.ultrametabolism.com .

He starts his book reviewing the "7 Myths That Make You Gain Weight".

The Starvation Myth of eating less to weigh less including the fact that caloric restriction slows our metabolism. If we take in fewer calories daily than our resting metabolic rate, our bodies are designed to go into "survival mode" by slowing metabolism down so we don't starve to death.

The "Calorie Myth" shows us that food contains information for our genes that control our metabolism. Certain foods can speed our metabolic rate to promote weight loss. "Whole-foods" that are unprocessed and balanced in terms of Protein, Fat, Fiber & Carbohydrates are essential to good health and weight loss.

The "Fat Myth" long supported by the American Heart Association ignores the fact that fats are essential in our diet, provide a feeling of satiety or fullness at the end of the meal and provide us with essential Omega-3 fats that we need and which promote weight loss. It also exposes the danger of the hydrogenated "Trans-Fats" present in processed foods that impair metabolism causing inflammation & diabetes, these should never be eaten.

The "Carb Myth reviewing that carbohydrates are the single most important food we can eat for long-term health and the good carbs that come from whole plant foods that provide fiber and vital trace nutrients that we get nowhere else in our diet. The concept of Glycemic Load is very important; the higher the glycemic load, the more rapidly the calories are assimilated into the blood stream to be changed into fat as they can't be processed any other way. Simple sugars also cause us to eat more food, fiber is the secret that slows absorption and lowers the glycemic load, promoting weight loss and increasing the metabolic rate.

The "Sumo Wrestler Myth" reviews the importance of avoiding most calorie consumption before bed, to wait at least 2-3 hours before sleep after a large meal.

"French Paradox Myth" shows that despite high intakes of saturated fats, alcohol etc these people don't look as fat as we'd expect. They tend to exercise, especially walking more. They also eat more slowly and savor their food. Meals are events that allow time to spend with family and friends in a comfortable, relaxed atmosphere. To contrast, we tend to gulp down fast foods to "fuel up", generally choosing more convenience than nutrition and relaxation.

The "Protector Myth" is that government is the solution, quite the opposite of many of us have found! So much of a nations GNP goes into feeding it, this means that there's more money in that sector of the economy than just about anywhere else. This means politics will abound and is no guarantee that government policy will support sound nutrition where there are votes and dollars at stake. The government's "Food Pyramid" suggests six to eleven servings of bread, rice & cereal daily contributing to the obesity epidemic. Even Omega-3 essential & healthy fats are to be avoided in this scheme which relies heavily on the processed fake foods guaranteed to profit the food industry. Turning the food pyramid upside down will do more to promote long-lasting health and weight loss.

There are 7 Keys to Weight Loss;

These Keys are essential to getting the weight off. Each of us may be more prone to one problem than another. We will all need to find the key/keys that help each individual start shedding the pounds. We need to pay attention to all of the keys at the same time however to create our own ultrametabolism.

His "First Key" is to control the appetite and metabolism by understanding how the brain, gut & fat cells communicate through hormones and neurotransmitters in the brain to drive eating behavior. This key has several steps;

Step 1 Compose healthy meals; real foods, right fats, balanced diet with low glycemic index (avoid sugar & especially High Fructose Corn Syrup [HFCS] at all costs!)

Step 2 Eat early and often

Step 3 Enjoy foods that control your appetite and avoid foods that send it out of control

Step 4 Use herbs to optimize your hormonal balance

Step 5 Use supplements to control appetite and balance brain-fat-gut cell communication

Step 6 Consider appropriate medical testing to find the cause of an out of control appetite.

Beware if artificial sweeteners which are toxic and of HFCS.
The Metabolic Syndrome is a good indicator that your metabolism is out of control. This combination of obesity, high blood pressure, cholesterol & triglycerides with altered lipoprotein profiles is a dangerous precursor to diabetes

Herbs such as Ginseng, Green Tea, Fenugreek & Cinnamon can help reduce appetite, Glutamate can help diminish carb-craving.

The "Second Key" reviews the roll that stress plays in raising your body's cortisol production which tends to make us pack on the pounds through the brain-fat-gut network. Herbs such as Ginseng, Rhodiola, Siberian Ginseng, Ashwagandha & Licorice can help reduce stress. Adrenal testing such as saliva cortisol testing, 24 hour urinary cortisol testing and IGF-1 level testing can help determine how much stress may be contributing to your obesity.

The "Third Key" factors inflammation caused by fat into the complex equation of what sets our metabolism awry. Stress, and obesity all by themselves cause inflammation. Antioxidants can help reduce inflammation as can exercise. Certain foods can cause inflammation. We all know that if a person is allergic or sensitive to a given food, that food will trigger inflammation. Allergies are mediated by IgE antibodies, there are also sensitivities mediated by IgG that may not signal problems until several days after a single episode of consumption of them. Blood testing will help reveal these hidden saboteurs. High glycemic load foods such as table sugar & HFCS are another major source of inflammation. Gluten, the protein in grains such as wheat, rye, barley, spelt, kamut & oats affects 1% of the general population yet is often undiagnosed as the testing hasn't been done. Testing such as hs-CRP can help diagnose general inflammation levels. Herbs such as Capsaicin, Green Tea, Ginger, Quercitin, Turmeric & cocoa (yes, chocolate can be GOOD for you!) will help quell inflammation. Inflammation is also related to Alzheimer's disease, arthritis, allergies, autoimmune disorders, cancer, diabetes & heart disease. Inflammation and obesity are tied together and create a vicious cycle in which one causes the other triggering the first as they as well as your weight and health spiral out of control. This is reversible with appropriate diagnosis and therapy.

Oxidative Stress, or "Rust" is the "Fourth Key" that needs to be controlled. Free radicals are highly reactive & damaging molecular components that damage everything that they come into contact with. Think of a fireplace spitting sparks out onto and scarring a carpet. Free radicals are those sparks at the molecular level. Our cells have mitochondria that "burn fuel" to get energy to keep us alive. This fuel creates free radicals as it burns. It is becoming clear that atherosclerosis or "hardening of the arteries" is more likely due to problems with inflammation and oxidation than simply cholesterol; this "causes the inside of your pipes to rust". These are controlled by our "anti-oxidant" system. Without this healthy intact system we have many problems such as fatigue, poor concentration & memory, weakness, aches, digestive problems, anxiety, depression, headaches, hypoglycemia and a myriad of other symptoms that may sound familiar to you... To many calories without adequate antioxidants in our food are the source of these problems. Even lack of exercise will play a role in this problem. Tests such as evaluate of serum or urine lipid Peroxides (TBARs), urinary 8-hydroxy-2-deoxyguanosone, Ferritin, Iron, Vitamin A, Carotene, Vitamin E, CoQ10 can help elucidate the problem. Herbs such as Ginkgo, Ginger, Green tea, Pycnogenol, Milk Thistle, Rosemary & Turmeric can be helpful antioxidants. Supplements such as reduced glutathione, N-Acetyl Cysteine (NAC), Alpha-lipoic acid & CoQ10 can also help. Remember that reduce rust = reduced weight and that processed foods usually have the antioxidant processed right out of them.

The "Fifth Key" involves turning calories into energy by increasing your metabolic power. It's time to go have fun! We need to get moving to turn up our metabolic rate. The reason that muscle burns a lot more energy than fat lies in those mitochondria. The more active we are the more energy creating, fuel burning mitochondria we have and the more activities we'll be capable of. They need adequate oxygen to be able to burn that fuel too. Even those with lung disease benefit from exercise as it helps the body to become more efficient; this means we can burn more fuel (fat)! Aerobic exercise burns fuel at a rate that allows your oxygen intake system (lungs etc) keep up with the amount being used by our cells, Anaerobic exercise is a brief spurt of exertion that exceeds the amount of oxygen required. This requires your cells to create an oxygen debt and burn fuel inefficiently which is good for weight loss. Interval training is the concept of aerobic exercise (Eg. walking) with brief periods of higher speed (running or power-walking) that leave you short of breath (a sign that you've successfully created oxygen debt). If you're older than 50 and perhaps out of shape, you may want to have a stress test done first to figure out how much you can safely exercise. Testing with an Organic Acids urine test can give an idea of how efficiently your mitochondria are performing. Supplements such as NAC, Acetyl-L-Carnitine, Alpha Lipoic acid, CoQ10, NADH, Creatinine, Asparginine, Aspartic Acid & D-Ribose can all help improve mitochondrial function.

The "Sixth Key" involves ensuring that your thyroid is doing it's job. Many foods such as gluten and to much soy protein can interfere with thyroid function. There are many environmental toxins that can damage the thyroid as can stress. Your immune system may have set itself out to damage your thyroid as well. None of this will be found without appropriate testing.