ADRENAL FATIGUE VS. STARVATION

Folks, Not eating will not help you lose weight it will only result in a relapse back into the unhealthy lifestyle you were in before.... Not only that you will have many other issue's along with it!!

 As many strive to reach their fitness goals, many lose themselves along the way. As they begin, they have very healthy and balance goals, workouts and nutrition. But somewhere along the way they get caught up in unhealthy practices that cause them to move towards adrenal issues and/or metabolic damage (Metabolic Damage consist of both). When you are working out, your nutrition should be no more than a 500-calorie deficit. This means you have to make sure that whatever calories are burned during your work out, you are adding those back into your diet. This is why a heart rate monitor is so important.

When the body is starving you can see what happens. You don’t have the energy you once did. When you cut carbs too low (with the exception of carb cycling) your glycogen stores are not replenished and you cannot accomplish or reach your goals when building muscle. You will soon become very frustrated and either give up or do unhealthy things. Remember life is about balance and creating a healthy body.

Please feel free to reach out to me, Let me help you change your eating Habits!!!

Fat Follies

Fat Follies
Dr Michael Colgan 8 April 2013
“But rice cakes are mostly air. How can you fail to lose weight on rice cakes?”
Fran, one of our serial dieters, is always searching for the ideal snack to satisfy her cravings. I try to keep a straight face.
“Does that mean if you eat enough of them you’ll float away?”
(Rice cakes are absorbed faster than table sugar and converted straight into glucose in the blood.)

Her belief is one of many common diet myths we hear at the clinic from people who have failed to lose fat. With 70% of the US population overweight, 33% at any one time trying to lose it, and only 3% successful, weight loss is an inexhaustible goldmine for deceitful profiteers. Here are a few common scams and errors and our responses that may help you avoid them.

“I did the whole 30-day, but then the fat came back. I think it was there all the time, just hiding.”
“Where did it hide? In your shoes?” For most people a lot of initial weight loss is water as the liver and kidneys start to operate better, and inflammation (which holds a lot of water) declines. After that, fat loss is much slower but steady. Persistence is the key. There’s no shortcut. After about one year of the right nutrition and exercise, at a steady lower fat level, blood sugar stabilizes, cravings decline, old fat cells die off, new cells grow, and fat stabilizes at a lower level. Being lean is a lifestyle, not a diet.”

“My girlfriend told me to eat a brown rice pudding at midnight. That way you are not hungry on cleanse day.”
“You may be onto something. Keep it up for a month and call me.”

“Russell Crowe says that you can be either skinny or strong but not both”.
“Unfortunately, you can easily be neither. Most people are.”

“My astrologer told me it was not a good time, and she’s really slim”.
“So are more than half the people in Africa, and they don’t have the benefits of astrology.”

“Is it true you can swallow a tapeworm to eat your excess food?”
“Taenia saginata, the beef tapeworm is the most used. It grows to about 30 feet long, up to 15 pounds in weight, and lives about 25 years. It attaches to your intestine with a mouth like something out of Alien, causes enormous bloat and flatulence, and if its eggs invade your brain, you will not be worried about weight loss ever again.”

“I’ve been eating these negative calorie foods.”
Wow! Someone has discovered matter that doesn’t obey the first law of thermodynamics. Physicists are going to be very excited.”

“I know there are no controlled studies, but all my friends are getting HCG injections”.
“As my friend Dr Paul Anderson says, “Using a fertility drug to lose weight: are you out of your mind?”

“I got this white powder on TV. You sprinkle it on your food and you can eat anything you like.”
“I think it used to be called talcum and put on babies’ bottoms. Some scams add a bit of the carbohydrate maltodextrin, and a nudge of caffeine. It might get you a bit of social attention at the local watering hole, but you will not lose any fat.”

“I tried those weight loss patches, even four at a time, but they don’t seem to work for me.”
“They work really well if you stick them over your mouth.”

“I’ve been using GCA (green coffee bean extract) but it’s expensive.”
“I think the coffee traders thought that one up in 2008 when the profit boom after Starbucks and imitators had been slowing down. The chlorogenic acid in coffee mildly inhibits sugar metabolism and mildly improves lipid metabolism. But the GCA does not reduce bodyfat more than having the pleasure of good arabica coffee daily, and certainly not as much as the combined caffeine and EGCG (epigallocatechin gallate) in top class green tea. (1-5)

Weight Loss Drugs
In conclusion, we get many enquiries about anti-obesity drugs. Here’s the short skinny. Rampant side effects cause up to half the patients to withdraw from treatment. They sell very expensively under a wide variety of trade names, but are almost all one of these three drugs. Orlistat, the fat blocker causes extreme flatulence, diarrhea, and intestinal cramps. Sibutramine, thought to reduce appetite, causes rapid heart rate and heart disorders, and most brands are now withdrawn. Rimonabant, an appetite suppressant causes depression and suicidal ideation and is now also withdrawn from FDA approval.
A meta-analysis of 30 double-blind long-term controlled trials of 1–4 years’ duration, covered 16 trials of orlistat on 10,631 patients, 10 trials of sibutramine on 2,623 patients, and 4 trials of rimonabant on 6,365 patients. Withdrawal from treatment averaged 30%–40%. Compared with placebo, orlistat reduced weight by 2.9 kg,(6.4 lbs) sibutramine by 4.2 kg,(9.2 lbs) and rimonabant by 4.7 kg (10.3 lbs). Considering the length of these trials, results are pathetic.(6)
With optimum nutrition and daily exercise, about 99 out of every 100 people can be slim and healthy, and rejoice in their bodies. It’s the greatest lifestyle there is. But market forces work ceaselessly to make us all obese. 24 hours a day we are conditioned by deceit and manipulation of the food supply to become fat and carb devouring machines to raise food market profits. Don’t let them get you. All you really have in life is your body and your word. Keep both intact lifelong.

4. Thavanesan N. The putative effects of green tea on body fat: an evaluation of the evidence and a review of the potential mechanisms. Br. J. Nutr,2011;106:1297–1309. [PubMed]
5. Rains T.M., Agarwal S., Maki K.C. Antiobesity effects of green tea catechins: a mechanistic review. J. Nutr. Biochem, 2011;22:1–7. [PubMed]
6. Rucker D, Padwal R, Li SK, Curioni C, Lau DC. Long term pharmacotherapy for obesity and overweight: updated meta-analysis. BMJ. 2007;335:1194–1199. [PMC free article][PubMed]

Gluten Damages the Brain

Gluten Damages the Brain
Dr Michael Colgan 2 April 2013

We got such an overwhelming response to my recent article on gut diseases caused by the gliaden group of proteins in gluten, it has given me confidence that the public is ready to hear what medical science has known for 20 years about the damaging effects of gluten on the human brain.

The main offenders are wheat, rye, and barley in our food supply. Unfortunately, the cereal grains industry is mammoth business and an extremely powerful political lobby that will do whatever it can to conceal and belittle the evidence. What I love most about science is that the truth eventually outs.

Three things are now occurring to let the facts shine. First is the light-speed development of the internet which makes it increasingly more difficult every day for vested interests to hide evidence. Second is the unprecedented growth in public demand for gluten-free foods. For example, a recent gluten-free trade show in Vancouver planned for 5,000 visitors. More than 25,000 showed up, and most could not even get in. In the US alone, the gluten-free foods industry has grown from small in 2000, to a massive $3 billion a year in 2012.

The third change working to bring the facts about gluten toxicity to public notice is the explosion of controlled studies on gluten in the last decade. One summary paper for example, published in the open-access medical journal, Bio Med Central, Medicine, in 2012, is a collaborative effort of 14 universities, to expose the evidence.(1) We now know for sure that a much larger proportion of the population suffers from gluten toxicity than previously thought.(2)

Controlled studies show that gluten is not only a main offender in the group of disorders now collected under the umbrella of celiac disease (CD), but is also involved in many cases of autism, Asperger’s, and similar disorders, now collectively called autism spectrum disorders (ASD).(3-5)

Gluten is also involved in many cases of cerebellar ataxia from damage to motor controls in the cerebellum of the brain, causing loss of balance, dizziness, learning difficulties, and what we term, “Uncoordinated Child Syndrome” (UCS).(3,5) It is also involved in many cases of peripheral neuropathy (death of peripheral nerves, leading to one or several of a large group of disorders), and multiple cases of herpetiform dermatitis (herpes-like blistering rash mainly on elbow, forearms, and knees, but can occur on the face, buttocks, and other areas) (3-5)

It has taken 20 years to bring to public notice that a dominant food, wheat, (also rye and barley) can produce human disease not only of the gut but also the skin, the peripheral nerves, and the brain. The most unfortunate aspect of the gluten problem is that a child, or an adult, can suffer several different manifestations of gluten toxicity simultaneously, and can easily be mis-diagnosed as suffering from different disorders. World expert on gluten toxicity, British neurologist Dr M Hadjivassiliou, has called for physicians and neurologists to learn more about gluten-caused disorders, and treat them promptly before irreversible brain damage occurs.

A typical case we received is a very bright and pretty teenager, I will call Karen. She had been on the gluten-free diet we recommended, and had become symptom-free but we had not seen her for two years. She had eaten an “organic whole wheat sandwich” at school, thinking it would do no harm. Next day she had intestinal upset, and progressively over four days developed numbness and weakness in her legs, and could barely walk. The neurological report showed a large loss of nerve conduction and almost absent pain and temperature sensation in the legs.

On interview, I noticed some rough skin and scarring on Karen’s elbows, which could have come from gluten dermatitis, and asked whether she had been eating sandwiches before. After much mumbling she admitted that she had occasionally been going with school friends to the local organic restaurant, and having a sandwich, but they were “pure organic bread”.

I asked about the elbows. “Oh, that’s my rash, it comes and goes. I have cream for it.” I asked about any previous leg weakness. “Some days I have jelly legs and awful brain fog.” I discovered that her school work was not going well, and she also had quite a few sick days.

I concluded that the sandwich habit, a natural thing for a teen to do to fit in socially, was more frequent than she admitted. As gently as possible, I explained how she was causing all her symptoms herself, schoolwork problems, being sick, brain fog, gut upsets, elbow rashes. After a few minutes consideration, she said, “OMG, you’re right.” She got back on the gluten-free diet, and, within three months, jelly legs had disappeared entirely and she was back on track at school again.

The message of this case is that Karen had been correctly diagnosed by her physician years before, and the antibody tests confirmed it, because gluten was pretty poisonous to her. But there are thousands of children with less severe reactions who are never diagnosed, who stumble through life, variously considered slow, or weak, or anti-social, or weird, when every day they are being poisoned by their morning bowl of cereal, and lovingly packed school lunch. The antibody tests are widely available now, and could be worth their weight in gold for any child with unexplained disorder in their life.
 
 1. Sapone A, et al. Spectrum of gluten-related disorders: consensus on new nomenclature and classification. BMC Med. 2012; 10: 13. Published online 2012 February 7. doi: 10.1186/1741-7015-10-13 PMCID: PMC3292448
2. Bernini P, et al. Are Patients with Potential Celiac Disease Really Potential? The Answer of Metabonomics. Journal of Proteome Research, 2010; : 101213161430042 DOI: 10.1021/pr100896s
3. Hadjivassiliou M, et al. Gluten sensitivity as a neurological illness. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 2002 May; 72(5): 560–563.
4. Hadjivassiliou M, et al. Dietary treatment of gluten neuropathy. Muscle Nerve. 2006 Dec;34(6):762-6.
5. Hernandez-Lahoz C, et al. Neurological disorders associated with gluten sensitivity. Rev Neurol. 2011 Sep 1;53(5):287-300.

Why Kale Is the Koolest Vegetable

By Abby Phon

It's no secret. I love kale. I have received phone calls, emails, texts and messages from friends and family saying that they just cooked kale for the first time and thought of me; last week a friend called from the grocery store, just because she saw kale and was reminded of me. This is probably a good indication of how I feel about kale.

During the winter months when other leafy greens are out of season, kale is in full bloom, in season, and richest in flavor. This leafy green, cruciferous vegetable is versatile to cook with and can be prepared just like spinach or any other greens. 

As one of the most nutritionally dense foods, Kale scores a perfect 1,000 on the Aggregate Nutrient Density Index (just like the giant banners say at Whole Foods Market). The ANDI score is a food rating system that measures nutrients per calorie. One cup of kale has only 36 calories but it’s chock full of Vitamins K (1328% RDA), A (192%), C (90%), and E (6%). Kale also has calcium (9%), iron (6%), manganese, copper, calcium, fiber (10%), vitamin B6, potassium, iron, phytochemicals and even Omega 3 Fatty Acids (10%). 

Here’s what Kale's nutrients do for YOU!:

Fiber: Kale keeps you fuller longer. That will help keep your snacking and over eating at bay, which keeps your weight down (so kale helps you stay fit and trim!). Diets high in fiber-rich leafy greens, like kale, show decreased risks of cancers (such as colon, breast, prostate, ovarian, bladder and lung), as well as heart disease and osteoporosis.

Phytochemicals: Kale lowers the risk of cataract and macular degeneration because it’s an excellent source of phytochemicals (lutein and zeaxanthin). For optimal eye health, the daily suggested dose of lutein and zeaxanthin is 6 to 15 milligrams. One half cup of cooked kale meets the recommended daily dose of these 2 phytochemicals. Along with lutein and zeaxanthin, Kale also has 45 other flavonoids—powerful antioxidants—linked to the protection against cancer.

Vitamin A: An effective antioxidant, it boosts immunity and maintains healthy bones and teeth.

Vitamin K: Necessary to produce osteocalcin, a protein that strengthens the composition of our bones. Studies show that women with diets low in Vitamin K have significantly lower bone density. Vitamin K also prevents calcium build-up in our tissue that can lead to cardiovascular disease and stroke and is a key nutrient that regulates inflammation in the body. 

Vitamin E: Acts as an antioxidant in brain cells, protecting them from free radicals. This will help keep your mind sharp!

Kale Preparation:

Kale is not fussy. It doesn’t require much prep at all so it’s a really great food friend to have, especially if you’re a busy person on the go (and let’s face it, who isn’t!?). As with all veggies (and especially dark green leafy ones), make sure you wash each leaf in cold water thoroughly.  While they are dripping dry, cut out the big stem in the middle. Or what I do is grab hold of the bottom stem and pull, tearing that stalk out! Viola! Your kale is ready to go! Here are some things to do with it, once you’ve got it in your hands.

Kale Salad: If you’re a raw food purist or just in a warm climate and want something fresh, chop kale finely (amount is up to you!) .  I recommend this lemon/tahini dressing: olive oil,  a spoonful of tahini paste and fresh lemon juice; pour over the finely chopped green leaves and let sit for 15 to 20 minutes. The dressing will ‘marinade’ the leaves, softening them and soaking up the sunny goodness. Top with whatever veggies you like! Some of my favorites are yellow peppers, shaved fennel, avocado, pomegranate seeds and sliced cucumbers!  

Sautéing/Braising: My favorite way to make kale is to sauté it with garlic and coconut oil (great as a side dish or as part of a main dish!). I use 2-3 cloves of garlic and about 1 tbsp coconut oil to one big bunch of kale.  Gently heat the garlic then add the washed and chopped kale to your frying pan.  You want to cook it over a medium-low heat until the leaves soften and wilt. How long you sauté is a personal preference, but I like my kale to keep some of its bright vibrant green color and health benefits so I don’t cook it for more than five minutes (remember, even if you turn off the heat, food keeps cooking!). If you want to go without oil, try braising: simmer in three-quarters of a cup of veggie broth for 20 minutes to soften up the leaves , drain and serve.

Steaming: Cover with a little water and cook until soft. Super healthy.

Kale Chips: I made this for a holiday party. I put out an entire bowl, made someone a cocktail, turned around and the bowl was empty! It is a great alternative for grownups, in place of potato chips. Kids love it too! And it’s super easy. Make sure your kale pieces are thoroughly dried (otherwise you’ll wind up with steamed kale instead!). Toss with olive oil, put in a single layer on a baking sheet and bake in the oven at 350 degrees for about 10 to 15 minutes. Flip the leaves halfway through. (And check them often; you don’t want the leaves to turn brown because they will become bitter.) When the leaves are crispy, sprinkle with sea salt and invite me over. J  

Also: I add chopped kale to soups, stews, grains (like millet and quinoa), mashed potatoes and pasta (about a cup but the amount is up to you!). Last year when I was on vacation in the Caribbean, I had the chef add it to my omelet (delish!) and at home on the weekends I often use it as a bed for poached eggs or toss it in a smoothie.

Some tips:

• Avoid washing kale until just before use, since it will hasten spoilage.
• Kale will shrink during cooking, like spinach does but not as drastically.
• As with any fruit or vegetable, it’s best to buy kale in season. A light frost sweetens kale, so here in NYC, fall or winter is the perfect time to enjoy it.
• Fresh kale should have a bright green color.  Avoid kale with yellow or brown leaves—that means it’s getting old.

Varieties of kale:

• Green kale – the most common variety in the grocery store, has a firm texture and curly leaves.
• Red kale – similar in taste and texture to green kale, but adds a splash of red or purple to your plate. 
• Dinosaur kale (also called Tuscan or Lacinato) –  the leaves are flatter and more tender than the other types.
• Ornamental kale – tougher than other kinds, and available in green, purple, pink and white.  Often sold as decoration for a garden or window box, it’s still edible and makes a great garnish. (I’ve been caught eating the “garnish” off of platters at family functions! They make fun of me but I’m the one feeling awesome the next day!) 

Have fun with kale. Eating more of this good green stuff will make you feel better, more vibrant and have increased energy. Now you have no reason, not to eat your greens!

Muscle Up to Lose Bodyfat

Muscle Up to Lose Bodyfat
Dr Michael Colgan 15 March 2013
 
Kristy came to my gym after spending a couple of years jogging with a local group, unsuccessfully trying to lose 15 pounds of stubborn fat off belly and butt. Her diet was very good; decent protein shakes, meat, fish, fresh veges and fruit, good multi-vitamins/minerals, very little grains or dairy, low-glycemic, alkaline, anti-inflammatory. She had read all our books. So the best I could give her was a resistance program, telling her she had to muscle up in order to slim down.
She wasn’t convinced. saying, “I don’t want muscle; where’s my cardio?” I told her if she wanted cardio as well she should take the dog for a walk, not waste her money paying me to jog uselessly on my treadmills. (Depending a bit on body type, %bodyfat, age and effort, it takes 12-15 hours of treadmill jogging to remove one pound of fat.)
If you are trying to lose bodyfat, resistance exercise offers a huge advantage over aerobic exercise, such as jogging, even if you run 10-milers. Resistance exercise builds muscle. Aerobic exercise does not.
Just having more muscle increases your metabolic rate 24 hours a day, whether you are exercising or not. In science it’s called Resting Energy Expenditure.(1) Your body uses more of its energy during the 4.7 hours per day that the average American watches TV, than during the hour or so you might spend at the gym.
How does it happen? Muscle and bone (and all other tissues) are constantly in a state of breakdown and renewal, replacing billions of cells every day. Removing each worn-out cell and replacing it with a new cell takes energy – lots of energy. Every year you replace about 15% of your entire body. The more muscle you have, the more you have to replace, and the more energy you use day and night, whether you move or not.(1)
An average female athlete who comes to the Colgan Institute has about 33 kg of muscle. Just to maintain itself, that muscle alone uses about 15 calories per kilogram per day, 495 calories every day without moving at all.(3) That’s twice the calories used in a one-hour jog.
We measured Kristy’s fat loss and muscle gain every month or so. She worked hard. In a year of three to four one-hour workouts per week she put on 3.4 kg (7.5 lbs) of new muscle, a much higher than average muscle gain. She also lost 6 kg (13.2 lbs) of fat, dropping to a lean 13% bodyfat.
Does not sound a lot does it? But I have been doing exercise science for more than 50 years, and can tell you that most of the huge fat losses you see reported in the media are totally false. Sure, anyone can starve and dehydrate themselves for a few weeks and get big changes on the scale. But they are always temporary and unhealthy. We are in the health business, so the changes we get are at the pace the body replaces itself. It’s the only way that’s both healthy and permanent.
In terms of calories used per day, Kristy’s 3.4 kg of new muscle gives her a lean body insurance policy. Without moving it, the new muscle requires just over 52 calories every day just to do its basic maintenance. That’s 365 calories each week, 19,000 calories every year.
That extra Resting Energy Expenditure effortlessly prevents a fat gain of 2.2 kg (approximately 5 lbs) every year. In ten years it will prevent a fat gain of 22 kg (48.4 lbs). Over the same 10 years, a girl of the same metabolic type as Kristy, who jogs for the same amount of exercise time will lose considerable muscle. The jogger’s Resting Energy Expenditure will fall, leaving her prey to the fat gain that’s always hiding around the corner just waiting for the chance to plump your pillows. Do the right resistance exercise and dodge the Plumper for life.

1. Wolfe RR. The underappreciated role of muscle in health and disease. Am J Clin Nutr. 2006 Sep;84(3):475-82.

It’s Not Too Late To Save Your Brain

 I realize this is not really about weight loss, but it is a very good read!!

It’s Not Too Late To Save Your Brain

Dr Michael Colgan 13 March 2013

It’s beyond sad to see one of your friends for more than 30 years, a colleague, a brilliant scientist, and a proud and beautiful wife and mother, slowly turn into a shell. Watching her lose her memory was a sight more awful than the foulest cancer. It was wretched hearing the stifled sobs, seeing the tears in her eyes as she realized she had to use her cell phone photos just to remember people, and eventually to remember who she was herself.

Now she no longer remembers how to use a cell phone, and does not know me at all, nor her husband, nor her two children. All the memories, all the years, all the joys of her life and family, are lost to her forever.

She does nothing any more. She watches TV blankly, and cannot even understand the news. Her pealing laughter that would illuminate a room is gone. Her erstwhile smiling mouth is ever set in anguish. The once proud stature bent and trembling, the blazing flame of hair now dank and grey. Despite all the drugs, Alzheimer’s has taken her brain in its deadly grip, a grip that never lets go.

She brought great jewels of laughter,
A million flecks of gold,
And flashing smiles of diamonds,
So dazzling to behold.

But now the house is dismal,
And the wind is heard to grieve,
Where is that lovely lady?
Why did she have to leave?

Don’t let it happen to you. Though I may never have met you, I know exactly where you live. You live in your brain, a mobile house. You can take your brain house anywhere on Earth. But you can never sell it, you can never exchange it, you can never leave it lifelong. So it makes good sense to look after your brain, to nurture and maintain it every day. Yet most people take their brain for granted, and give it less care than they give their teeth.

It may convince you to give your brain more care if you know a few salient facts about memory loss and Alzheimer’s disease. Alzheimer’s has escalated in the US to become the 6th leading cause of death. There is no cure, nor any effective treatment.

In 2011, Barack Obama passed the National Alzheimer’s Protection Act, giving $100 million a year in research grants to find an effective treatment by 2025. Also in 2011, the National Institutes of Health acknowledged that current drugs are ineffective, and changed their long-standing criteria for Alzheimer’s to a focus on prevention. They published voluminous evidence that memory loss, the salient identifying feature of Alzheimer’s, begins to occur in the average American at about age 35.

“Converging evidence from both genetic at-risk cohorts
and clinically normal older individuals suggests that the
pathophysiological process of Alzheimer’s disease (AD)
begins years, if not decades, before the diagnosis of clinical
dementia.” (NIH, 19 April 2011)

The National Institutes of Health also reported that half of all Americans over age 50 will suffer memory loss. Once memory loss progresses to forgetting pots on the stove, the sufferer can no longer live independently, and progresses quickly to total helplessness and 24-hour nursing care, until death.

Since 2011, with modern neuroimaging and cerebrospinal fluid analysis, over 100 controlled studies published in 2012 and 2013, have confirmed the pathological processes that begin in apparently normal people at age 35. Prominent among these is a loss of formation of new neurons (neurogenesis) the normal process that replaces worn-out neurons in the hippocampus, the brain area that is crucial for forming new memories. This loss in one of the earliest events that precipitates a cascade of degeneration in the progression to Alzheimer’s, and very likely the first thing we have to prevent.

The good news is that recent controlled studies also show three interventions that can prevent loss of neurogenesis.

1. Optimum brain nutrition
2. Computerized brain exercises
3. Daily physical exercise with both aerobic and resistance components.

If you can read, understand, and remember this article, it is not too late.
Visit www.stopmemorylossnow.com for more information on how to Save Your Brain.

Garbage Protein Is Trying to Get Yuh

Garbage Protein Is Trying to Get Yuh
Michael Colgan Ph D 6 March 2013

From a blade of grass to the tallest tree, from fleas and frogs, to you and me, all living things are built from instructions written in the universal language of DNA. All are built from proteins made to DNA codes expressed by our genes. And most of the DNA is very similar. 80% of our genes are identical to the genes of a banana, 84% to the genes of a cockroach.

More than half the dry weight of a lean human is proteins. They form the structural framework and operating machinery of all tissues; brain, muscles, organs – the lot. All our thoughts are controlled by enzymes, and all enzymes are proteins. The protein collagen forms the essential structure of skin, tendons, ligaments, and cartilage. The protein hemoglobin is the machine that transports our oxygen. Thousands of different proteins control every nerve and every muscle contraction.

All our hormones are proteins. They form an interconnected information system far more complex that the best computers. All our growth factors are proteins, essential for the body to grow and repair itself. All the soldiers of our immune system are proteins. Proteins are our beams and rafters, architects and engineers, movers and shakers, growers and defenders. And all are made from the proteins that we eat, far and away our most important and most complex nutrients.

The molecular study of genes, (called genomics) got going about 2001, as work on translating the human genome neared completion. For a princely sum you can now get a profile of your own individual genome. Doesn’t mean much. Just when we thought we had hit the mother lode for understanding the basic processes of human life, scientists realized that the study of the proteins encoded by genes,(called proteomics) is much more important.(1)

Dr Hanno Steen, Director of the Proteomics Center at Children's Hospital, Boston sums it up. “To really understand biological processes, we need to understand how proteins function in and around cells since they are the functioning units.”

Proteomics is a lot more difficult than genomics. The human genome is more or less constant. Depending on whose figures you take, it contains between 20 and 40 thousand genes. But these genes can code for 10 to 20 times as many proteins. Some single genes alone can code for over 1,000 different proteins. The Human Proteome Project has recently done a fair count of the proteins in the human body: more than 350,000 different ones.(1,2)

In any protein, amino acids are linked to form long coded chains. The longest is titin, a protein that enables muscles to contract properly. Titin has a chain of 34,500 amino acids. Your body and mine has to make titin exactly every day. Consider how important it is for athletes (and the rest of us) to provide exactly the right raw materials from food proteins, so that the body can make titin precisely to code.

It’s doubtful our politicians understand any of this science, because it has never influenced the food supply to provide us better health. Most of the American food chain today results from the huge profit-driven historical error of agribusiness in the 1950s, that has now destroyed most of the land with NPK fertilizers and pesticides. Through its introduction of toxins and the progressive destruction of nutrients in the soils, crops and livestock, US agribusiness is directly responsible for most of the obesity, diabetes, and Alzheimer’s epidemics now undermining the American dream.(3) Eat their garbage proteins and you will grow a garbage body. No way to avoid it.

If you value the structure of your brain, your organs, your skin, your muscles, your looks, and the rate at which you age, never eat junkfood protein again. That’s all the burgers, hot dogs, battery chicken, turkey, pork, beef, tofu, or whatever.(3) If we were not so brainwashed by false advertising and lobby-driven government humbug, we would vote en masse with our pocketbooks and drive them all out of business.

1. Blackstock WP, Weir MP (1999). "Proteomics: quantitative and physical mapping of cellular proteins". Trends Biotechnol. 17 (3): 121–7.
2. Nature Methods, Editorial. The call of the human proteome Nature Methods, 2010;7,661 doi:10.1038/nmeth0910-661.
3. Salatin J. Folks This Ain’t Normal, New York: Center Street Publishers, 2011.