This article isn’t about alcohol tolerance. It’s about your liver.
Tl;dr: with a basic knowledge about alcohol metabolism and ketoadaptation, drinking on keto gives me pause.
It might be nothing, but it gives me pause.
Alcohol is metabolized primarily by alcohol dehydrogenase, producing acetaldehyde and reducing equivalents as NADH. This pathway produces energy.
Or more specifically, ketone monoesters and carbs. Literally, this study was a high-dose ketone monoester supp sans caloric or carb restriction. I know, weird right?
Non sequiter nutrition notes, #context, etc.:
1) ketone esters =/= ketone salts. Ketone salts are either sodium or potassium-dominant. Ketone esters are essentially salt-free. Possibly helpful background reading here.
2) nutritional ketosis =/= starvation ketosis =/= ketone supp ketosis. Because #context.
Starvation ketosis, but not nutritional ketosis, is muscle-sparing. Ketone supps sans carb restriction might be.
3) the theory of ketone supps for sport is: 1) ketones are an energetically favorable fuel; and 2) they’ll spare glycogen, theoretically allowing prolonged duration of moderate-to-high intensity performance. Adding in carbs will likely further this.
4) I have no studies to support this, but the idea of ketone supps in the #context of high carb doesn’t sit will with me. Seems like high levels of both substrates = mitochondrial overload and oxidative stress. Maybe.
5) there’s a gradient of fuel use during exercise:
-explosive power: creatine, anaerobic
-high intensity: glycogen, anaerobic
-low intensity: fatty acid oxidation, aerobic
But it’s a gradient with a lot of overlap, and ketoadaptation further blurs the lines.
Posted in Advanced nutrition, Dietary fat, endurance, Energy balance, Exercise, fat, insulin, Ketosis, muscle, Protein, TPMC
Tagged calories proper, carbs, diet, energy balance, exercise, fat, insulin, ketogenic, ketones, ketosis, muscle, nutrition, sugar
The circadian proteins Bmal and casein kinase (CK) enhance and degrade Period (PER), respectively, by completely different mechanisms. Both are necessary, but at different times of day… #context
Gross oversimplification: the Bmal party is kicked off in the morning by LIGHT, and acts to increase PER by night (among many, many other things). As the day progresses, REV-ERB the Repressor slowly shuts down Bmal, so that peak PER occurs in the evening and doesn’t carry over until the next morning. GSK3b activates REV-ERB the Repressor. Lithium puts the system in fast forward, leading to phase advance* and ZZZ’s when timed right, at night… I think
Posted in angiotensin, Bromocriptine, Cabergoline, chronopharmacology, circadian, diabetes, Dopamine, insulin, melatonin, mortality, Sun, vasopressin, Vitamin D
Tagged carbs, circadian rhythm, insulin, ketosis, melatonin, nutrition
Recent comments about FASTER have upgraded this study to “the only long-term study on fat-adaptation.” Needless to say, I disagree. Again.
Side note: FASTER had no randomization or intervention (ie, confounded by selection bias, among others); they basically recruited long-term low carb & high carb ultra-endurance runners and measured the stuffings out of ’em.
Ultimately, they showed a very high maximal fat oxidation rate in low carb ultra-runners, 1.5 grams per minute. This is important because MAXIMAL HUMAN FAT BURNING CAPACITY
In previous studies on SAD (Standard Athletic Diet haha), maximal fat oxidation at similar VO2max% has been reported to be much lower, <1 g/min (eg, Hetlid et al., 2015 and Volek et al., 2016).
Dr. Johnson’s recent paper is nothing short of a monster. They did a TON of experiments. Here, I only want to focus on one aspect.
The insulin-obesity hypothesis in a nutshell (very oversimplified): more insulin = more fat mass and vice versa.
I know I know, it was mice fed standard rodent chow, but also included models relevant to human biology like reduced insulin and caloric restriction, which may reflect certain aspects of ketogenic diets and intermittent fasting… and some of the results actually do reflect what happens to humans. Some.
Posted in Advanced nutrition, diet, empty calories, Energy balance, insulin, Ketosis, Leptin, TPMC
Tagged body composition, calories, carbs, diet, energy balance, energy expenditure, insulin, ketogenic, nutrition, obesity
Study: a handful of average-bodied Crossfitters in their mid-30’s were recruited and told to either: 1) keep doing what they’re doing; or 2) go full keto. Crossfit 4x/week. Strength testing before and after 6 weeks (Gregory et al., 2017).
I’ll start with the best part: KETOADAPTATION IS A REAL TRUE THING THAT WORKS (P<0.05). Otherwise, this group’s performance would’ve plummeted. It is known.
The performance test was time to complete a 500-meter row, 40 body weight squats, 30 abdominal mat sit-ups, 20 hand release pushups, and 10 pull-ups.
Tl;dr: both groups knocked about a half a minute off their time!
The key here is duration: 6 weeks of ketogenic dieting is adequate to restore performance back to baseline. <3 weeks is not.
Here’s the downside (sort of):
Basically, the keto group dropped carbs and failed to compensate by upping other calories. I know I know, spontaneous ad lib appetite reduction, but this is a study on PHYSICAL PERFORMANCE.
And in further support of “muscle growth sans carbs,” keto dieters upped protein by 15% and this still wasn’t enough to compensate for the reduction in carbs/insulin: they still lost a bit of lean mass (NS). Imagine if they hadn’t increased the brotein? yikes
so basically, they lost body fat because CICO and retained lean mass because exercise and protein haha jk
Admittedly, it was cool to see the body comp changes, but we know fat loss eventually plateaus and people start eating maintenance calories again (maybe a bit more if Ebbeling can be believed). And this is where they remain for the rest of their lives (hopefully). So at 6 weeks, they were still losing weight, nowhere near where they’re going to be for the rest of their lives, but THAT’s where I’d like to see performance testing (ie, at a stable body weight). Don’t get me wrong, I hate myself in advance for making this critique: the researchers should’ve pushed more calories in the keto dieters bc this is a confounder in a study on PHYSICAL PERFORMANCE… but this doesn’t really matter in the big scheme of things because Blackburn’s group did that and showed the results were the same haha
On another note, I don’t think people should expect an additional performance boost from being more ketoadapted (or more fat-adapted or whatever), primarily because whether the study is 3 weeks or 6, performance never really gets better than baseline in experienced athletes. With more advanced training techniques, sure (and I think this is common), but not more keto- or fat-adaptation.
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Posted in Advanced nutrition, diet, Dietary fat, Energy balance, Ketosis, muscle, Protein, TPMC
Tagged Atkins, body composition, calories proper, carbs, energy balance, energy expenditure, exercise, insulin, ketogenic, ketones, ketosis, muscle, nutrition, protein
Some people believe insulin resistance (IR) causes obesity, and they are not pleased when I say this is actually a controversial topic in the field…
“Bill isn’t toeing the company line. Again.”
So I asked a simple question: if IR causes obesity, how?
There are insulin sensitive obese people & IR lean people.
Tell me again how insulin resistance causes obesity?
??????
— Bill Lagakos (@CaloriesProper) June 5, 2016
The Common Response: 1) IR -> 2) hyperinsulinemia -> 3) more insulin = more fat mass.
However, this is flawed.
Easiest rebuttal (somewhat of a strawman, but whatevs): Barbara Corkey and her group has done a lot of work showing that insulin hypersecretion (caused by dietary additives, preservatives, weird chemicals, etc.) may actually precede & causes IR… not enough insulin hypersecretion to induce hypoglycemia, just enough to induce IR.
So that basically breaks the 1st step in the Common Response, but doesn’t really disprove the possibility that IR still causes obesity (or can cause obesity).
In any case, check out Corkey’s 2011 Banting Lecture. Highly recommended, a lot of food for thought.
Posted in Advanced nutrition, angiotensin, Bromocriptine, Cabergoline, chronopharmacology, circadian, diabetes, diet, Dietary fat, Dopamine, insulin, Leptin, Protein, TPMC
Tagged calories proper, carbs, circadian rhythm, diet, empty calories, energy balance, insulin, ketosis, leptin, melatonin, nutrition, obesity
T.S. Wiley wrote a lot about the protein-rich breakfast; here’s my understanding of her take on it.
N.B. I highly recommend her book, Lights out: sleep, sugar, and survival.
Quotes are mainly taken from the text. I’ve tracked down some of the cites; the rest are in the back of the book, albeit somewhat unorganized :/
Part 1. We naturally have a cortisol spike first thing in the morning, known as the Cortisol Awakening Response (CAR). This peak, which can be screwed up by artificial light at night or a big evening dinner, helps support morning light-induced dopamine.
Dopamine is great, but may induce impulsivity if it’s unfettered.
Enter: the protein-rich breakfast. It provides tryptophan and a bit of insulin to promote serotonin synthesis (eg, Manjarrez-Gutierrez et al., 1999).
Not enough serotonin to make you crazy, just enough to balance the dopamine = impulse control.
~ circadian balance achieved ~
Posted in Advanced nutrition, angiotensin, Bromocriptine, Cabergoline, chronopharmacology, circadian, diet, Dopamine, fat, Fish, insulin, Leptin, melatonin, Protein, sex, sleep, Sun, TPMC, Vitamin D
Tagged carbs, circadian rhythm, diabetes, energy balance, fat, insulin, ketosis, leptin, melatonin, muscle, nutrition, Paleo, protein
…but it isn’t dead, imo, because that would be really hard to do. Like, seriously.
Wait, which “insulin hypothesis” was falsified? pic.twitter.com/31pOP9B6Ff
— Bill Lagakos (@CaloriesProper) May 11, 2016
side note: please consider the modern views of Taubes, Lustig, Gardner, Attia, and others on Carbs™. They’re less “Carbs-cause-obesity, keto-for-all, etc.,” and more thinking it might not be Carbs™ per se, but rather processed and refined foods. And #context… And I tend to agree at the moment (nuances and caveats are subject to change, as more evidence accumulates).
disclaimer: I haven’t seen the full text of Hall’s recent study, but that’s not really relevant to what I want to discuss. In other words, I don’t think the full text will provide any additional details on this particular point.
Tl;dr: this study was not designed to prove or disprove metabolic advantage or the insulin-obesity hypothesis.
It’s in the study design: four weeks of low fat followed by four weeks of low carb. We KNOW that weight loss slows over time (especially if calories are controlled, as they were in this study). It has to do with the order of treatments.
Weight loss-slowing over time in the Minnesota Experiment:
Posted in Advanced nutrition, diabetes, diet, Dietary fat, empty calories, Grains, insulin, Ketosis, Leptin, Protein, sleep, Sun, TPMC
Tagged calories, carbs, diet, empty calories, energy balance, fiber, grains, insulin, ketogenic, ketones, ketosis, leptin, nutrition, obesity, Paleo, processed food, protein, sugar, trans fat
The history of low fat diets is riddled with crappy low fat food-like products.
Food quality matters.
Free full article on Patreon! <- link
Take a group of obese people and assess insulin sensitivity however you like: some researchers demand nothing less than a hyperinsulinemic-euglycemic clamp (Gold Standard), others are OK with insulin levels during an oral glucose tolerance test.
Next, divide the people up based on this — there are a few ways you can do it. You can: take the top half vs. the bottom half (a method which includes everyone); take the top third vs. bottom third (excluding the middle third); take the top quarter vs. bottom quarter (excluding the middle 50%), etc.
THIS MATTERS because in referencing this topic, many people claim most obese are insulin resistant. They may be more insulin resistant than lean people, but even within obese people, there’s a spectrum, and the spectrum matters in this #context.
Posted in Advanced nutrition, diabetes, diet, Dietary fat, empty calories, Energy balance, fat, fiber, insulin, Ketosis, Protein, Sugar
Tagged Atkins, body composition, calories proper, carbs, diet, energy balance, fat, insulin, ketogenic, nutrition, processed food, protein, sugar