The upper class (doctors, lawyers) consumed more food then the working class because they could afford it, yet there was no obesity.
It's not about calories.
It's not about sugar.
It's the PUFAs making us fatigued and sick.
PUFAs are the evolutionary signal for the coming winter and they reduce our metabolic rate which ultimately leads to sickness.
All mammals seek PUFAs when they want to go into hibernation and if you give them a PUFA free diet they will burn through their fat-stores within days.
Listen to this for the quote in the subject: https://youtu.be/QmNzV15Wads?list=PL_7Y5WbwJV_uFMcCRNFbEhmEfV9bLyw2m&t=2142
Then listen to the whole conversation or start at 24:40 to skip the first topic which is specifically about kids.
There are two great channels: "David Gornosksi Fan Favorites" and also "Danny Roddy".
These are the people they have lot's of conversations with:
Brad Marshall (Ex-Keto. Cook, Pigfarmer, Geneticist.) https://fireinabottle.net/
Dr. Ray Peat (Ph.D. in Biology) http://raypeat.com/
Georgie Dinkov http://haidut.me/
Excuse my ignorance about PUFAs but is that just like in non-animal fats? I’ve heard a lot recently about ditching seed oils, and I’ve been doing that. I’ve been eating a lot healthier but I’ve been using tallow, ghee, lard, butter, but also coconut and avocado (both low temp or no heat) but they’re on the PUFA list.
Should I ditch the avocado and coconut?
How about tahini? It’s cold ground sunflower and has oil in it. I love hummus but like I’ve already got some great results from severely reducing and eliminating soy and vegetable oils so I just need to see if I need to take it further.
Edit just to clarify I’ve looked at these links but I don’t really know a lot of chemistry so like slowboy answers appreciated.
PUFAs are poly-unsaturated fats, they are in both animals and plants.
All fats in animals and plants are a mixture of saturated, mono-unsaturated and poly-unsaturated. The classification into "animal" and "plant" is therefore useless.
2 properties distinguish fatty acids:
1.) length (short chain fatty acids, medium, long)
2.) number of unsaturated bonds, which gives them a bend each
Saturated fats are straight, which makes them hard at room temperature (higher density). The more unsaturated a fat is the more bends it has and the lower the melting point is.
In nature there is a important factor that determines your composition of fats and that's temperature.
All warm animals and tropic plants have lots of saturated fats.
All cold animals (fish) and plants have lots of unsaturated fats.
Fortunately grains are still fine because the poly-unsatured parts of the plant are discarded in processing and it has little fat anyway. Same for rice or potatoes.
Avocado and Coconut are great, you will see that they are very high in saturated fats (because they are tropical plants).
The reasoning behind warm animals and plants having different compositions is - among others - the cell membrane. A cell membrane is made mostly of fatty acids and it needs to have a very specific consistency to work. Too hard - doesn't work - dead. Too soft - doesn't work - dead. Your cell membrans would be stiff in a fish and it would die because you have more saturated fats. The cell membrane of a fish in your body would become liquid because it has more unsaturated fats and you'd die as well.
This explains it very well: https://fireinabottle.net/lets-talk-about-fat/
I’m just trying to know what to avoid, is there anywhere where I can find that more simply. I visited that page and read what you wrote. I am not saying this without putting forth a good faith effort. I’m gonna be honest I still don’t understand. I’m not good at chemistry.
I just wanna eat a little better and maybe I'm too dumb for this conversation.
Don't worry, when i listen to these guys don't understand most of it either.
The worst PUFA offenders are sunflower oil and corn oil (see https://fireinabottle.net/lets-talk-about-fat/ in the middle of the article).
Listen to this part again: https://youtu.be/QmNzV15Wads?list=PL_7Y5WbwJV_uFMcCRNFbEhmEfV9bLyw2m&t=2387
I know it sounds weird, i did keto and carnivore for the last 10 years.
Note however that today the feed of pigs and chicken is high PUFA (corn) and therefore the best choice would be ruminant meat. Some say it's not a big deal or they eat leaner meat and add butter or tallow.
Thank you I really appreciate your insight.
Pig feed is high pufa though and they are not able to convert it to saturated fats. Same for chicken.
Until recently i would have dismissed that and it's still difficult (i did keto and carnivore for the last 10 years!).
What they say is that starch turns into 100% saturated fats in your body (which is not saying it makes you fat) and the less PUFAs you have in your body the leaner and healthier you get. Not because of calories but because it increases your metabolic rate.
More info?
I know certain foods such as coffee contribute to cortisol levels which are assisted with reduced testosterone and weight gain
Something about caffeine and neurotransmitters causing cortisol to dump. Apparently it's not a big a deal if you wait an hour after waking up
What do you do for protein in this scenario?
The whole concept of a "food calorie" probably has some relation to the use of energy in the body, but it is certainly not direct and may be entirely useless. Calories in food are measured using a device called a "bomb calorimeter", which measures the total heat content of a food sample by reducing it to ashes.
Does your digestive system function like a bomb calorimeter? If it does, I suggest you go see a doctor.
And he will give you all kinds of great advise to keep you healthy.
Of course! Who could doubt it? He's got a white coat and "Doctor" in front of his name and everything.
I eat about 5000 calories a day too 💪🏻🦵🏻💪🏻🦵🏻
He wrote an article about it a while ago, it even includes a source to the original USDA article in the Yearbook Of Agriculture from 1939, check it out:
https://fireinabottle.net/torpor-sloth-and-gluttony-part-1-americans-ate-a-lot-in-1939/
He did mention that publication specifically, maybe you overheard it :-)
And yes, the left guy is just the interviewer. Brad ist the guy on the right and Ray Peat is audio only.
Not sure if it's ever mentioned, but did the means of calorie measurement change since then? 1939 was during the great depression and people, on average, were smaller in stature than today. Theoretically, that would mean they would have required less calories to exist/maintain the same muscle mass over time. I can understand folks back then being far more active, but even with a high activity level, calorie burn/day is only increased as a fraction of a much bigger total required to simply "exist"...the brain, heart, and other organs still burn the predominance of one's calories consumed.