17 - Nature wants you to be fat and dealing with anxiety
Nature Wants Us to Be Fat
For a dense science book, it wasn’t a hard read. In a very brief nutshell Dr. Johnson puts his theory forward that fat gain is mother nature’s defense mechanism to help us survive tough times. The plot twist though is that the foods we love are triggering that same switch on all the time. It causes a rise in our uric acid levels, and we gain weight. So, what are these triggers?
Fructose. This includes fruit!
Alcohol because it metabloizes to fructose
High glycemic carbs like white flour because it metabolizes to fructose.
Umami (savory) foods like red meat or beer.
Highly salty foods like processed or fast-food meals
Johnsons talks about evolutionary biology, anthropological examples, and lots of research including from his own labs. The main driver of fat gain is the liver metabolizing fructose. That sends a signal to the body through an internal system to shuffle calories to fat storage. Johnson’s advice is to eat a diet to minimize those foods and to exercise moderately for an hour a day at least several times a week.
The most fascinating study mentioned in the book is how mice that were genetically altered unable to metabolize fructose never gained weight or developed diabetes no matter how sugar laden their diet became. Johnson mentioned pharma companies are investigating this as a potential treatment in humans. Could there be a day where we could pop a pill and never worry about weight? One can wish!
My own biggest take away from this book:
Cut out sweets as much as possible. I was eating honey, maple syrup, or jam daily as an oatmeal topping and stopped.
Cut back on fruit. I was eating several servings of fruit a day. Easily three or more. I’ve now cut back to around one serving a day.
I switched out white bread, box cereal, and crackers for pumpernickel bread and oat bran.
I learned that alcohol really does create a “beer gut”. It’s no better than drinking pop and in some ways worse.
I’m drinking more water and trying to avoid overdoing salt intake, especially in packaged foods.
Coffee and green tea are good for you because of their natural compounds. Drinking up to six cups of coffee a day can help keep uric acid levels down. That’s good news for me as I drink those daily.
Take a daily 500mg vitamin C supplement. Johnson tells how the human body poorly metabolizes it because of a mutation from millions of years ago and he recommends taking a supplementation of it daily.
It’s too early to tell if taking these measures will help me but they’re simple changes and I want to see if there’re any benefits.
30 Days to Taming Worry and Anxiety
I found this book in my mom’s collection. It’s a short and pleasant daily read for 30 days. It includes little stories, Bible scriptures, and a short prayer each day. I like the way Deborah writes—she gets to the point quickly and explains it well. There’s nothing in this small book that’s a groundbreaking discovery but it’s a terrific reminder about the basics of well-being that are so easy to forget. It is Christian centered book, but a lot of the advice is helpful for anyone. I enjoyed reading it each morning with a cup of coffee and I think I will revisit this book again in the future to remind myself of these lessons again.
My biggest takeaway from the book is to learn to let go of attachment or concern about everything and to prioritize your own needs and health. Easier said than done but I found the examples and daily lessons helpful encouragement.
Podcast Recommendation
Remember Jerry Seinfeld from the hit TV show named after him? I was surprised to hear how a successful comedian thinks like a productivity guru!
He talks about how he tries to systemize or gamify everything
How spending 30-minute increments solely focused on something makes an enormous impact when consistently done
Don’t attempt anything with open ended time and always set a limit
How he credits writing and journaling as the main reason he’s sucessful
He recommends an exercise book, Body for Life, from over 20 years ago as changing his life
Practicing Transcendental Meditation helps keep him mentally balanced
How Jerry dealt with people who tried to roadblock him, especially a mean LA club owner who wanted to derail his career for no reason
While the mind is infinite, the brain is a like a dumb animal and must be trained
Click here to listen — https://tim.blog/2020/12/08/jerry-seinfeld/
I found this podcast from this blog post - https://ebizfacts.com/jerry-seinfeld-treat-your-brain-like-a-dog/