Tuesday, February 18, 2014

dietary tweak?

This is something I've been speculating on for a LONG time....

Having read the Archevore archives in toto last week, I just started at the beginning of Hyperlipid -- this is gonna take a LOT longer!

One of my favorite series, over there, is on the FIAF:  fasting-induced adipose factor.  It begins by talking about this hormone and what it does

"Fiaf (amongst its many other actions) blocks the action of lipoprotein lipase, that enzyme which packs on the pounds of fat in humans. Fiaf is normally made by our liver, muscles and in particularly by our gut wall in times of starvation. It appears to be a signal to the body to stop storing fat, crank up blood triglycerides and start running metabolic processes on fat, but fat derived from our adipocytes (obviously, it's a starvation hormone, there is no dietary fat).

"But Fiaf from the gut wall is under the control of the gut bacteria. Active bacteria stop Fiaf production, inactive (hungry) bacteria allow Fiaf to be produced. It's pretty obvious that starvation gives quiescent gut bacteria, to the point where starvation actually mimics not having any gut bacteria at all.

"Germ free mice really do have no gut bacteria at all, so they produce lots of Fiaf, all of the time. This suppresses their LPL and so they are slim, whatever they eat! Bacteria added to their gut immediately suppress Fiaf production from the intestine wall and so allow recently colonised (ex germ free) mice to store fat as soon as ever they have access to food. Lots of fat.

"Also the mice rapidly become insulin resistant as well as obese. That's interesting.

"But under more standard laboratory conditions Fiaf is ONLY produced from the gut of normal animals in times of starvation. My presumption here is that it is the hunger of the GUT BACTERIA that allow Fiaf levels to rise, which allows the stored fat of the host to be burned, in order to keep their microbial bioreactor (our colon) alive. A dead host is of no use to a bacterium."

I've long wondered if alternating dietary schemes might be a good idea -- let your body get used to one sort of fuel, then flip to another one.  I've seen success in miniature, as have many other people -- merely requiring our bodies to adapt to a different fuel seems to cause a wastefulness of resources.  This concept seems to prove itself as "new-vegan high," the fat-loss people sometimes see in adding fiber/resistant starch, a first-time Atkins convert, et al. 

But in reading Peter's post YET AGAIN, after learning more about WHAT plant foodstuffs do WHERE in our guts, I just had a revival of interest and a clearer idea of something I might try.  If I still continue a low-carb diet but increase the soluble fiber and resistant starch, I will surely encourage my colon-ies (pun intended) to reproduce.  If I then drop back to ZC, they SHOULD think that the food supply just ran out, and pour on the FIAF!

Hmmmm....  Is this what salad-lovers are doing when they eat "mostly plants" and grow thinner and thrive on Atkins?  For me, with my generalized vegetable "intolerance" it's going to be tricky, but definitely worth an experiment.

9 comments:

  1. Ha, reading Peter's posts from the beginning is something I've been meaning to do for a long time. I've started a few times, but it's just too much, especially with the comments. Very interesting to read the comments though from all these big names in Paleo that have now mostly gone vegan, or food reward, or high carb, or whatever. Peter's one of the few voices of reason left.

    That FIAF post is great, and I recently reread it a few times in light of the RS hype. This line of thinking appears lost on some of the RS promoters, yet it is important to keep it in mind.

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    1. Peter is consistent, because he doesn't have an axe to grind or hypothesis to prove right! I think, if he found real evidence that refuted his beliefs, he'd be man enough to retract what he's said.

      ...but of course, he's right about almost everything.... ;-)

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  2. Now you see I will eat salad 'til it's coming out of my ears .... as the saying goes! The only item I have to be careful with is cucumber ....

    Those that do not suffer allergies or adverse effects to certain foods, do we really appreciate that those who do must take more precaution?

    All the best Jan

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    1. I see teamwork potential -- you eat the lettuce and i'll eat the cucumbers! :-)

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    2. I wish we all would loose that sat of mind that some foods are holy pure full of antioxidant treasures. It is better to keep an open mind, or it is easy to overlook an obvious negative reaction. Chocolate(paleo-friendly as claimed on paleo bloggs) is a good example. It is much better to eat broccoli on the side of your chicken in most cases, but it is not the medicine which would keep you alive and cancer-free forever.

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    3. Peter's old posts about fruits and vegetables leave no doubt in my mind that they're hugely over-rated by nutritionists. Obviously, the more of them we eat, the more of certain vitamins and minerals we require, JUST LIKE the more carbs we eat the more insulin and thyroid hormones we have to produce, just to metabolize them.

      A little of these plant-source foods go a very long way. A half-cup, which USED TO be a "standard" serving has morphed to a gigantic pile of green stuff on your restaurant plate. Just like, a serving of orange juice was about 4 oz. when I was a child, and is often a full pint now. And a baked potato used to be about the size of my fist, and now they're outrageously huge.

      I'm not one to claim that the developed world is now fatter because we're eating more quantity, but DAMN....

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    4. I think the world is fatter now due to the combination of factors - first of all the current diet recommendations keep people hungrier and they see the world with hungry eyes, plus the constant information about that or this food to be the fountain of youth and health creates a subconscious set of mind that the more you eat of it, the better, and fat-free food is just free of calories.

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    5. Some people consider fries and corn to be vegetables. *shudder*

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    6. it's sad (SAD -- irony!) how ignorant of dietary knowledge people are! :-(

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