Be fit and eat fat!

Bodyweight progression chart: Squats & Lunges

How do you know what bodyweight exercises are harder than others? How do you know what one to do first? It’s easy to know how to progress when you’re lifting weights. You just want to lift heavier weights, more times. But when the only weight you have is your bodyweight, you have to change to doing a new exercise every time one becomes too easy. It can be confusing to know where to go.

This chart (which I drew up in Powerpoint earlier today) roughly details the progression from easier to harder lower body pushing exercises. The levels on the right hand side are somewhat arbitrary, but should correspond to how difficult each exercise is. In a level 1 exercise, you’ll only be lifting part of your bodyweight with both your legs. By the time you get to level 5, you will be lifting your entire bodyweight with just one leg.

Leg exercises are usually the easiest of the bodyweight exercises, because your legs are the strongest part of your body and even in daily life you will use them to push your entire bodyweight around (whenever you go up stairs or run, for example). So while some upper body bodyweight exercises could go up to level 20 without needing additional weight, for leg exercises you’ll need to add weight (or, in the case of plyometrics, height) to make the exercise any more difficult than level 6.

In theory, you could use additional weight for any exercise in the progression to make it harder. Traditionally, it is the bodyweight squat that is weighted by adding a weighted barbell to the back: the back squat. A back squat with your bodyweight added to the bar would roughly be a level 5-6 on this chart.

The fats in the Mediterranean diet(s)

The Mediterranean diet is a modern dietary recommendation. Despite the name, this diet is not actually particularly common for most of the Mediterranean. The French, for instance, eat quite a lot more animal fat and yet still (traditionally) remained quite healthy – the so-called French paradox.

The Mediterranean diet is partly based on the traditional cuisine of the poor citizens of southern Italy and the Greek island of Crete. The most popular form of this diet is as follows:

• high consumption of fruit and vegetables
• high consumption of whole grains and legumes
• olive oil as the main source of fat, other minor sources of fat are cheese/yogurt, eggs and fish
• low consumption of red meat
• low to moderate consumption of wine
• almost no sugar (except for fruits and honey)

But this is just how one particular area of the Mediterranean eats (or used to eat). Other Mediterranean countries eat quite differently (and diets are constantly changing):

• In North Italy, lard and butter are commonly used in cooking. Olive oil is used, but usually as a dressing. Rice and corn (polenta) and pastas/breads made from refined wheat flours are important staples.
• Spanish cuisine makes use of a lot of pork and game meats. Lard is a common cooking fat, as is olive oil. Potato and rice are the important staples.
• French cuisine involves a lot of dairy fat or goose/duck fat (in the South-West, around Gascony), with olive oil being used relatively infrequently. Meat is also more common, with beef, pork and poultry as well as game being common.  Breads made from white (wheat) flour is an important staple.
• North African nations consume more red meat, less fruit, and often use suet (from the tails of sheep) or clarified butter in cooking. Whole grain consumption is quite common. Cheese and pork consumption is rare.
• Arab nations extensively use dairy products, and meat from sheep, goats and poultry. Clarified butter is the most common cooking fat, though olive oil is used among Jewish households (to avoid mixing meat and dairy). Wine and pork are extremely rare.
• Adriatic countries consume a lot of dairy, and beef is more commonly consumed. Legumes and olive oil are only moderate components of the diet. Breads and flatbreads made from white wheat flour (pitta) is a common staple.

So as you can see, there are a few differences. Whole grains and legumes aren’t eaten universally, mostly only in North Africa and South Italy, with refined carbohydrates common elsewhere. Red meat consumption is much higher in some places. Wine is sometimes not consumed at all. And perhaps the biggest difference is in the fat consumption. Although olive oil is common among many Mediterranean countries, it’s not universal. And there are many other traditional cooking fats in use: lard, dairy, suet, goose fat, duck fat, etc

On the other hand, what sort of fats are Americans being told to eat, to best emulate the healthy Mediterranean diet?

Let’s see what the Mayo Clinic says:

Key components of the Mediterranean diet

The Mediterranean diet emphasizes: 

· Getting plenty of exercise
· Eating primarily plant-based foods, such as fruits and vegetables, whole grains, legumes and nuts
· Replacing butter with healthy fats such as olive oil and canola oil
· Using herbs and spices instead of salt to flavor foods
· Limiting red meat to no more than a few times a month
· Eating fish and poultry at least twice a week
· Drinking red wine in moderation (optional)

Wait, canola oil? Where did that come from? The fact that the CAN in canola is short for Canada should reveal that canola (a type of rapeseed) is very much a North American invention, not part of the Mediterranean cuisine. Rapeseed oil was originally far too bitter to be consumed by humans or animals, and was used mostly as an engine lubricant until some Canadian scientists in the 1970s bred a variety that didn’t taste disgusting (and now it’s the third largest source of vegetable oil in the world). Certainly not a traditional Mediterranean cooking oil, but rather an American cooking oil.

Maybe the British, being much closer to the Mediterranean, will have a much better idea of what the Mediterranean diet is. Let’s look at British website Patient.co.uk

Mediterranean diet:

· Maximise your intake of vegetables, legumes, fruits and whole grain cereals.
· Limit your red meat intake - fish and poultry are healthy substitutes.
· Where possible, use mono-unsaturated olive oil or rapeseed oil in place of animal fat such as butter or lard.
· Limit your intake of highly processed ‘fast foods’ and ‘ready meals’, where you cannot tell saturated fat and salt intake.
· Eat no more than moderate amounts of dairy products, and preferably low-fat ones.
· Do not add salt to your food at the table - there is already plenty there.
· Snack on fruit, dried fruit and unsalted nuts rather than cakes, crisps and biscuits.
· Drink (red) wine during meals, but no more than three small glasses per day if you are a man and no more than two small glasses per day if you are a woman.
· Water is the best ‘non-alcoholic beverage’ (as opposed to sugary drinks), although health benefits have also been claimed for various teas and coffee.

It’s that pesky rapeseed oil again! In place of the animal fats traditionally used in many Mediterranean countries? Could this advice get any worse?

Oops, spoke too soon. Emedicine says this:

The traditional Mediterranean diet calls for:

· Eating a variety of fruits and vegetables each day, such as grapes, blueberries, tomatoes, broccoli, peppers, figs, olives, spinach, eggplant, beans, lentils, and chickpeas.
·Eating a variety of whole-grain foods each day, such as oats, brown rice, and whole wheat bread, pasta, and couscous.
· Choosing healthy (unsaturated) fats, such as olive oil and certain nut or seed oils like canola, soybean, and flaxseed. About 35% to 40% of daily calories can come from fat, mainly from unsaturated fats.
· Limiting unhealthy (saturated) fats, such as butter, palm oil, and coconut oil. And limit fats found in animal products, such as meat and dairy products made with whole milk.
· Eating mostly vegetarian meals that include whole grains, beans, lentils, and vegetables.
· Eating fish at least 2 times a week, such as tuna, salmon, mackerel, lake trout, herring, or sardines.
· Eating moderate amounts of low-fat dairy products each day or weekly, such as milk, cheese, or yogurt.
· Eating moderate amounts of poultry and eggs every 2 days or weekly.
· Limiting red meat to only a few times a month in very small amounts. For example, a serving of meat is 3 ounces. This is about the size of a deck of cards.
· Limiting sweets and desserts to only a few times a week. This includes sugar-sweetened drinks like soda.

Canola, soybean and flaxseed?! If that’s the traditional diet of any country, it’s the diet of Americans in the last 40 years. Americans eat over 1000 times more soybean oil now than they did just a century ago (from 9g a year to 12,000g a year). Soybean oil alone accounts for 65% of dietary fat consumed in the US, making it the fourth greatest source of energy in the American diet (after grains, sugar and dairy, in that order). Canola and soybean oils are NOT components of any Mediterranean diet. Rather, they’re components of the modern American diet, which I think we’ll all agree has a pretty atrocious record in terms of being healthy.

The various traditional diets of the Mediterranean emphasise monounsaturated and saturated fats, with very little polyunsaturated fats. Indeed, this is mostly true of almost every traditional diet. In contrast, both canola oil and soybean oil are very high in polyunsaturated fats, 28% and 57% respectively. In contrast, the traditional Mediterranean choice of olive oil has only 10% polyunsaturated fat. The other traditional fats have similar low amounts of polyunsaturated fats. Lard and goose fat are comprised of only around 11% polyunsaturated fats, and both butter and suet have even lower levels (around 5%) of polyunsaturated fats. 

So I think if you’re going to change anything about the Mediterranean diet, it should be to incorporate aspects of all the other other traditional cuisines around the Mediterranean. Use olive oil, but also cook with butter, suet and lard. Don’t incorporate aspects of the modern American diet. Refined vegetable oils, like canola and soybean, don’t have any place in the Mediterranean diet.

New page! Why eat fat?

I’ve added a page to my blog, explaining the main reason why I say “Eat fat!” in my blog name. At the moment it details why you should eat fat in your diet, and what fats to eat.

Anyway, you can read it here: http://befiteatfat.tumblr.com/abouteatingfat

It’s simplified, and I’m in the process of writing a much more detailed piece on various health claims about fats and fat metabolism. (I’m trying to keep it simple, without getting into molecular biology or physiology. But honestly it’s a bit like trying to explain to somebody that they’re using the wrong fuel in their nuclear reactor, without getting into detail about nuclear physics. I can throw science at them, or just ask them to trust me, or I can wait for the nuclear meltdown and say “Told you so”)

Staying healthy when life gets stressful

You know that when things get really hectic, you’ll just be ordering fast food or snacking on junk food instead of bothering to eat healthy. In the time before life gets really busy (for instance, each weekend, or many weeks before exams), invest some time into your diet so that later when you’re super busy, you can take advantage of that time you invested earlier. If you have a supply of healthy food available, and you’ve managed to avoid buying junk food, then suddenly the healthier option becomes the easy quick option.

• Plan ahead – Having an idea about what you’re going to be eating can take the stress out of a busy time in your life. You don’t necessarily need to plan precisely what you will eat for every meal, but have 3-4 recipes that you can make quickly with ingredients you usually have. You might not have time during busy periods to risk trying a new recipe, but if you’ve spent the time learning some easy meals then you’ll be able to cook them without taking much time or brainpower.
• Cook ahead – It usually takes only slightly more time to cook more portions than you need, and fridges and freezers (the latter especially) are great for storing leftovers. Most foods can be refrigerated for at least a few days, so if you roast a piece of meat or boil some eggs you can be eating them cold (or re-heated) for the next few days. Some dishes can be frozen for a few months. Meats, soups, stews and sauces freeze especially well, and many of them can be made in one pot with minimal actual working kitchen time (aside from stirring it every few minutes). With a freezer stocked full of meals, you’re only a few minutes in the microwave oven away from a meal, far quicker and healthier than fast food.
• Prep ahead – Even if you don’t go making entire meals to store in the freezer, you can make (or even buy) partly prepared foods. These include frozen pre-cut vegetables that can be cooked directly from frozen, canned fruits that can be eaten directly, frozen or packaged stocks/broths that can be easily turned into soup, canned or frozen meats for emergency protein, frozen doughs or pizza bases that only need to be baked, or sauces that can be added to dishes at the last minute for extra yumminess. Buying these will be more expensive, but they will still be cheaper than eating out.
• Get ahead (on your goals) – If you feel your health is going to go downhill the moment life gets too busy, make sure you make the most of your holidays, weekends and the less-stressful periods in life to build a base of fitness. If you’re far ahead of your goals, then you won’t feel bad if you accidentally slide backwards a bit (but don’t let this be an excuse to let yourself go!).
• Get ahead (on your work/study) - This is more about reducing your stress, than coping with it. If you’re ahead on your work or have studied far before exams, you’ll be far less stressed in the few weeks before deadlines or exams. Less stress means you’ll feel better and have more time to focus on your health.

When life gets hectic, you’ll still want to make the effort to look after yourself. You might not have the time to learn new skills or set personal records, but you should still be able to keep fit. The healthy food and exercise will help you cope with stress and to think more clearly, giving you the best chance of getting through the stressful parts of your life.

• Remember to eat - Your body needs food, and the hungrier you are the less willpower you will have to force yourself to study or to resist the temptation of junk foods.
• Remember to choose healthy - Whether you’re shopping for groceries, searching the pantry for snacks or you’ve been forced to order fast food, choose the healthiest of the options you have.
• Remember your blender - The blender is loved by busy people who still want to eat healthy food. Some fruit, green vegetables, protein powder, dairy or coconut milk (or, if you’re like me, cream) and you’ve got yourself a delicious meal replacement.
• Remember to exercise - Exercise will reduce your stress for days after leading to more productivity in the long run. If it helps you can multi-task your exercise, by making phone calls as you go for a walk or doing a workout as a study break. I used to see lots of students studying in between sets at the gym.
• Remember to rest - Sleep deprivation can leave you irritable and hungry with too little motivation to actually exercise. Having a good night of sleep will enhance your ability to do work or study, and do so much more efficiently than caffeine.

And finally, remember these words of wisdom (from here):

Stress sometimes leads to weight gain due to the fact that the person eats, not by hunger but by a desire to make an evil being.

Don’t make an evil being!

Downsides to losing fat and gaining muscle

I thought I’d post something more light-hearted today :) 

• You will likely outlive all your less healthy friends 
• People who used to know you really well might not recognize you
• Your bed will seem harder without your fat to act as extra cushioning
• People will ask you to help them lift things or to open tight jars, often saying  “it’s just like a workout”
• You will need to buy new clothing because nothing in your wardrobe that still fits you will be fashionable (Remember, this might even include rings and watches)
• Clothes won’t fit you as they do on an average person, so a pair of jeans that fits your trim waistline will be tight around your butt/thigh/calf muscles
• The crisper section of your fridge won’t be big enough to hold all the fruit and vegetables you eat in a week
• You will have to work harder to stay afloat when swimming, because muscle is denser than water (whereas fat floats)
• You will be more vulnerable to punctures and bullet wounds without your buffering layer of fat
• You will have to buy new shoes more often due to all the walking and running you do (unless you go barefoot, that is)
• You willl be more vulnerable to hypothermia without your insulating layer of blubber
• You will feel very restless if you go even a few days without working out
• You might feel sick if you eat processed crap instead of the real food that your body is used to digesting
• You’re more likely to die of starvation if you’re somehow unable to access food but have an ample supply of fresh water

Don’t say I didn’t warn you!

But the government can’t be wrong

One of the questions I’m asked when I tell people that I don’t think saturated fats are bad for you is “How can the government be wrong?”

This is probably a fair question, seeing as saturated fats are considered an ‘unhealthy fat’ by the US Department of Health and Human Services, Health Canada, the UK Food Standards Agency, the Australian Department of Health and Aging, the New Zealand Ministry of Health…etc etc

It’s important to remember, however, that nobody (not even the government) is perfect. And I have a really good example to prove it: what happened with trans fats?

Trans fats are currently considered to be extremely unhealthy, more so than saturated fats. But this wasn’t always the case. 

Trans fats, created by hydrogenation of vegetable oils, were first invented in 1903. This enabled the production of solid vegetable spreads and shortenings, and margarine went from being essentially never consumed to become more common than butter in the late 1950s. In 1961, the American Heart Association advised the people consume margarine as a healthier alternative to butter. Some studies in the 1960s and 1970s started to show a cholesterol-elevating effect of trans fats, but not all studies could replicate this effect. The issue of trans fats remained controversial, so even as late as 1985, the FDA concluded:

trans fatty acids as consumed in hydrogenated vegetable oil appear to be the equivalent of oleic acid in their cholesterolemic properties in humans

(Translation: trans fats are as good for you as olive oil)

And although the FDA advised reducing dietary fat in general, in 1985 they only cautioned against saturated and heavily hydrogenated vegetable oils, and not partially hydrogenated oils. Because of this, it was in the 1980s that many fast food chains switched from frying with beef tallow (a saturated fat) to partially hydrogenated vegetable oils.

It wasn’t until one really good study in 1990 that the scientific community started to agree that trans fats have a negative health effect that is far worse than any other source of dietary fat. Though in the mid 1990s many manufacturers moved to create trans-fat-free margarines, leading to a decline in average consumption of trans fats, most shortenings and fast foods were and are still produced with trans fats. It was not until after 2001 that the prevailing government opinion on trans fats was that they should not be consumed at all. Some European countries effectively banned trans fats, with Denmark the first in 2003. Health Canada and the USFDA required trans fats be listed on packaged foods in 2005 and 2006 respectively, but in the UK, Australia and many other countries the labelling of trans fats is still optional.

So, after that story, you can see that:

1. The government can be wrong if it picks the wrong side of a scientific controversy
2. It can take decades for a scientific controversy to be settled
3. Even after scientific consensus is reached, it can still take over a decade for the government to really switch its tune on dietary advice

If, back in the 1980s, you blindly followed the government and switched your saturated fats for trans fats, you would have actually been doing more harm than good. Trans-fats, after all, were not a natural part of the human diet until they were invented, so it doesn’t surprise me that they’re unhealthy. My contention is that the current push for polyunsaturated fats (e.g. soybean, corn and canola oil) is equally misguided, because polyunsaturated fats were also never significant part of the human diet until the industrial revolution found ways to extract them in sufficient quantities.

Maybe I’m wrong, but I’m reading the literature and making up my own mind instead of trusting the government. If you don’t want to do either, well, I’d just say go back to how people used to eat before they even had governments in the first place (good old-fashioned natural food)!

Omega-6 polyunsaturated fats are not ‘heart-healthy’

Ok, I don’t agree that saturated fats are bad (Mediterranean diet has plenty of cured cheeses, high in saturated dairy fat), but maybe this new review will stop people from saying the bogus phrase “heart-healthy canola oil”?

New insights into the health effects of dietary saturated and omega-6 and omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids

Cardiovascular diseases and cancers are leading causes of morbidity and mortality. Reducing dietary saturated fat and replacing it with polyunsaturated fat is still the main dietary strategy to prevent cardiovascular diseases, although major flaws have been reported in the analyses supporting this approach. Recent studies introducing the concept of myocardial preconditioning have opened new avenues to understand the complex interplay between the various lipids and the risk of cardiovascular diseases. The optimal dietary fat profile includes a low intake of both saturated and omega-6 fatty acids and a moderate intake of omega-3 fatty acids. This profile is quite similar to the Mediterranean diet. On the other hand, recent studies have found a positive association between omega-6 and breast cancer risk. In contrast, omega-3 fatty acids do have anticancer properties. It has been shown that certain (Mediterranean) polyphenols significantly increase the endogenous synthesis of omega-3 whereas high intake of omega-6 decreases it. Finally, epidemiological studies suggest that a high omega-3/omega-6 ratio may be the optimal strategy to decrease breast cancer risk. Thus, the present high intake of omega-6 in many countries is definitely not the optimal strategy to prevent CVD and cancers. A moderate intake of plant and marine omega-3 in the context of the traditional Mediterranean diet (low in saturated and omega-6, but high in plant monounsaturated fat) appears to be the best approach to reduce the risk of both cardiovascular diseases and cancers, in particular breast cancer.