January 8, 2024 • 19 mins
You likely know people who engage in strenuous exercise—a marathon, triathlon, long-distance biking, even just day-to-day exercise—or perhaps you do so yourself. In anticipation of the need for a great deal of energy to engage in such an effort and to increase endurance and performance, many people follow a practice called carb loading. While there are number of protocols for doing so, for most people carb loading typically consists of a large serving of pasta consumed the day before, followed by liberal consumption of sugary soft drinks and sugary energy bars, all designed to maximize liver and muscle glycogen stores that can be burned for energy.
Is carb loading safe? Is it necessary? In this episode of Defiant Health, let’s discuss how and why carb loading is an unhealthy process with some effects that are irreversible. I’ll also discuss how you can maintain or increase performance without relying on this unhealthy practice.
I also want you to consider supporting the sponsors of this Defiant Health podcast, Paleovalley and BiotiQuest. Choosing high-quality products to support your health journey is important. This is why Paleovalley is a supporter of my Defiant Health podcast. Their grass-fed pasture-raised beef sticks, for instance, are fermented, unlike nearly all other beef sticks. If you haven’t tried their pasture-raised pork sticks, you are in for a real treat, as they are irresistibly delicious. And BiotiQuest, also a sponsor of this podcast, provide unique probiotic products that, in my experience and the experience of the followers of my program, are unlike all other probiotics, as they are crafted using the scientific insights of academic microbiologist, Dr. Raul Cano, an innnovator in the concept of collaborative effects among microbes.
_____________________________________________________________________________
For BiotiQuest probiotics including Sugar Shift, go here.
A 15% discount is available for Defiant Health podcast listeners by entering discount code UNDOC15 (case-sensitive) at checkout.*
_________________________________________________________________________________
Get your 15% Paleovalley discount on fermented grass-fed beef sticks, Bone Broth Collagen, low-carb snack bars and other high-quality organic foods here.*
For 12% off every order of grass-fed and pasture-raised meats from Wild Pastures, go here.
*Dr. Davis and his staff are financially compensated for promoting BiotiQuest and Paleovalley products.
Books:
Super Gut: The 4-Week Plan to Reprogram Your Microbiome, Restore Health, and Lose Weight
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
You likely know people who engage in strenuous
exercise marathons, triathlons,long-distance biking, even just
day-to-day exercise or perhapsyou do so yourself in
anticipation of the need for agreat deal of energy to engage
in such an effort and toincrease endurance and
performance.
Many people follow a practicecalled carb loading.
(00:26):
While there are a number ofprotocols for doing so, for most
people carb loading typicallyconsists of having a large
serving of pasta the day before,followed by liberal consumption
of sugary soft drinks andsugary energy bars, all designed
to maximize liver and muscleglycogen stores that can be
burned for energy.
Is carb loading safe?
(00:47):
Is it necessary?
In this episode of DefiantHealth, let's discuss how and
why carb loading is an unhealthyprocess with some effects that
are irreversible.
I'll also discuss how you canmaintain or increase performance
without relying on thisunhealthy practice.
I also want you to considersupporting the sponsors of this
(01:07):
Defiant Health podcast PaleoValley and BiodaQuest.
Choosing high-quality productsto support your health journey
is important.
This is why Paleo Valley is asupporter of my Defiant Health
podcast.
Their grass-fed, pasture-raisedbeef sticks, for instance, are
fermented, unlike nearly allother beef sticks.
If you haven't tried theirpasture-raised pork sticks,
(01:29):
you're in for a treat, as theyare irresistibly delicious.
And BiodaQuest, also a sponsorof this podcast, provides unique
probiotic products that in myexperience, in the experience of
the followers of my program,are unlike all other probiotics
as they are crafted using thescientific insights of academic
microbiologist Dr Raul Kennel,an innovator in the concept of
(01:52):
collaborative effects amongmicrobes.
So the whole notion of carbloading got its start around 60
to 70 years ago when studieswere performed very small
studies were performed, lookingat elite athletes mostly, who
were deprived of carbohydratesfor typically three to four days
(02:13):
, and they were tested beforeand then after this experience
of limiting carbs, and they sawthat the athlete's performance
declined.
They couldn't go as hard, theycouldn't go as far, and so they
added back carbs and performancewas restored.
And more recently there havebeen studies where there have
been muscle biopsies performedand it was clear that carb
(02:34):
loading, or restoration of carbintake, increases muscle
glycogen.
And so this was the birth ofthe notion that if you want to
have high performance, both inendurance as well as speed or
intensity, you carb load.
And so modern people who engagein such things as marathons,
triathlons, long distance biking, long distance swimming and
(02:56):
some people who do it routinelyjust for their regular workouts.
So people typically dosomething like have a large
serving of pasta the nightbefore with lots of bread and
perhaps other sugary foods, andthen, on the day of the event or
prior to their workout, they'llengage in drinking lots of soft
drinks with a lot of sugar inthem, or have so-called energy
(03:16):
bars, also rich in sugar andcarbohydrates, all in the hopes
of loading up both their liverand muscle with glycogen to draw
from for energy, for enduranceand for performance.
What they failed to recognize inthese very short, three or four
day long studies is that hadthey deprived the elite athletes
of carbohydrates for a longertime period of more like four to
(03:38):
six weeks, they would see thatperformance returned to that
experience prior to reducingcarbs and sometimes even
exceeded their prior performance.
In some studies, there wasactually a greater endurance and
higher intensity after thatobligatory four to six weeks of
not having carbs.
That's the time period requiredfor your body to adjust
(03:59):
so-called fat adaptation.
In other words, it's the timerequired for your body to
convert from drawing on glycogenfrom muscle and liver and to be
more effective, more efficient,at mobilizing energy from fat
cells.
So when you reduce carbohydrateintake, performance returns
after that obligatory periodrequired to convert to fat
(04:19):
adaptation, of courseeliminating the need for
carbohydrate loading.
So what is wrong with this?
What is wrong with loading upon carbohydrates to increase
glycogen stores?
Well, there's plenty wrongbeyond being unnecessary and
being due to a misinterpretationof the evidence short term
evidence but it has nothing todo with glycogen.
So one of the problems thatdevelops when you load up on
(04:41):
carbs to a high degree is thatyou glycate proteins.
What that means is that glucose, because blood glucose goes
really high after carb loading.
After the pasta, there's asustained high blood sugar, high
blood glucose.
After those drinks and energybars, there's once again high
blood glucose.
The high intake of sugar andother solutes also cause an
(05:04):
osmotic diarrhea.
So it's not uncommon to seepeople having to stop during
their event in thoseporta-potties on the side of the
road because the osmotic effectof so many electrolytes or
solutes in the stuff they'reeating and drinking causes an
osmotic diarrhea.
But the real danger here isthat the high blood glucose.
So it's not uncommon to have ablood glucose, say, of 140, 190,
(05:26):
really high.
Whenever blood glucose exceeds100 milligrams per deciliter,
you provoke an irreversiblereaction called glycation or
endogenous glycation, and whatthat means is there's an
irreversible change in theproteins of the body.
If you glycate, for instance,the proteins and the lenses of
your eyes, you accelerate thedevelopment of cataracts,
(05:49):
opacities in the lenses.
If you glycate collagen,collagen is all throughout the
body, especially in the skin andin joint.
The joint cartilage collagen isunusually glycation prone and
when collagen becomes glycatedit becomes very brittle and
stiff and gets degraded byenzymes.
In the skin, for instance,glycated collagen causes thinned
(06:12):
, brittle skin, aging andwrinkles and crepey skin In
joints.
It causes joint cartilage tobecome very brittle and less
able to deal with wear and tearand it erodes and breaks down,
leading to bone on bonearthritis.
Other tissues are glycationprone, such as kidney tissue,
and you can cause long termkidney impairment, kidney damage
(06:34):
over time from glycation.
So every time blood glucosegoes above 100 milligrams per
deciliter, as it does with anenergy bar or those sugary soft
drinks or pasta, you glycateproteins throughout the body and
that accelerates all theseprocesses, including accelerates
all the phenomena of aging.
One of the other proteins thatis very prone to glycation are
(06:57):
the proteins in lipo, proteins,that is, these are the things in
the bloodstream fat carryingproteins that are glycation
prone, especially small LDLparticles.
Think about this for a momentSmall LDL particles, the real
cause for coronary disease, notLDL cholesterol.
Ldl cholesterol is meant to bea very crude and indirect way to
(07:19):
guesstimate the number of LDLparticles.
But we can measure those LDLparticles and specifically we
can measure the small proportionof small LDL particles.
So you eat pasta or you have asugary drink or energy bar and
your liver converts the sugarsinto triglycerides or fats.
That process is called liver denovo lipogenesis.
(07:40):
All that means is your liver isvery good at converting
carbohydrates or sugars totriglycerides, making new fats,
de novo lipogenesis.
When your liver makes thosetriglycerides, those
triglycerides enter thebloodstream as very low density
lipo proteins, vldl.
They're low density becausethey're rich in triglycerides or
(08:01):
fats and you, as you likelyknow, when you have salad
dressing, for instance, the fator the oil always goes to the
top and the water or the aqueouspart goes to the bottom.
Same thing here.
Lipoprotein particles rich infat are very low in density.
So those VLDL particles aredirect causes of heart disease,
coronary heart disease, andthose VLDL particles like to
(08:26):
interact with LDL particles.
Now, when VLDL particles richin triglycerides interact with
LDL particles, the VLDLparticles contribute or transfer
triglycerides to that LDLparticle.
Then that LDL particle goesthrough a series of what are
called remodeling reactions thatreduces the size of the LDL
(08:47):
particle, making it a small LDLparticle.
So consumption of carbs andsugars causes a rise in VLDL.
That in turn leads to theformation of small LDL particles
.
Now that small LDL particle isnow very prone to glycation and
that activates it to be able tocause coronary heart disease.
So consumption of the carbscauses VLDL.
(09:09):
That in turn causes small LDL,and that small LDL particle is
in turn very glycation prone andmuch more capable of forming
atherosclerotic plaque in yourcoronary arteries.
Small LDL particles also persistfor an extended period.
So a large LDL particle formedby consumption of fat is
(09:29):
recognized by the liver andcleared within 24 hours.
Small LDL particles, incontrast, are poorly recognized
by the liver.
That's because the recognitionprotein on that particle on the
small LDL particle, it's calledapoprotein B is partially
concealed and the liver cannotsee it easily.
And so that small LDL particlepersists for five to seven days
(09:51):
not the 24 hours of a large andbenign LDL particle, but five to
seven days, giving it plenty ofopportunity to circulate around
and around and around andeventually gain access to the
walls of arteries, especiallythe coronary arteries, the
heart's arteries, where ittriggers formation of
atherosclerotic plaque.
It triggers inflammation andover time accumulates this
(10:11):
plaque that can rupture andcause heart attack and other
kinds of cardiovascular events.
So when someone carb loads,whether it's past the evening
before, or those energy drinksor bars, you provoke formation
of tons of small LDL particlesthat give you at least a week of
increase, markedly increasedcardiovascular risks.
(10:31):
You can imagine, if you do thisrepeatedly, provoking formation
of small LDL particles, you areexposing yourself to a big rise
in cardiovascular risk andheart attack, sudden cardiac
death or the development ofsymptoms that require some like
bypass surgery or stentimplantation.
Now let me pause for a moment totell you something about
Defiant Health Podcast sponsorsPaleo Valley and Biodquest.
(10:54):
The Defiant Health Podcast issponsored by Paleo Valley,
makers of delicious grass-fedbeef sticks, healthy snack bars
and other products.
We're very picky around hereand insist that any product we
consider has no junk ingredientslike carrageenan,
carboxymethylcellulose,sucralose and, of course, no
(11:16):
added sugars.
All Paleo Valley productscontain no gluten nor grains.
In fact, I find Paleo Valleyproducts among the cleanest in
their category.
One of the habits I urgeeveryone to get into is to
include at least one, if notseveral, servings of fermented
foods per day in theirlifestyles.
Unlike nearly all other beefsticks available, paleo Valley
(11:37):
grass-fed beef sticks are allnaturally fermented, meaning
they contain probiotic bacterialspecies.
And now Paleo Valley isexpanding their Wild Pastures
program that provides 100%grass-fed, grass-finished,
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And they just added wild-cutseafood caught from the waters
(12:00):
of Bristol Bay, alaska.
Among their other new productsare pasture-raised fermented
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And new essentiallyelectrolytes in powder form to
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And for the fall and winterseason they've brought back
(12:23):
pumpkin spice superfood bars.
Listeners to the Defiant Healthpodcast receive a 15% discount
by going to paleo valley dot com.
Backwards slash defiant healthand I'd like to welcome Defiant
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I've had numerous conversationswith Biodicuest founders Martha
Carlin, an academicmicrobiologist, dr Raul Kenno.
(12:46):
They have formulated uniquesynergistic probiotic products
that incorporate what are calledcollaborative or guild effects,
that is, groups of microbesthat collaborate with each other
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They have designed their sugarshift probiotic to support
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(13:08):
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And antibiotic antidotedesigned to support recovery of
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(13:31):
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Another problem that develops asa consequence of carb loading
is that you introduce changesinto the gastrointestinal
(13:52):
microbiome.
That is, the flood of sugarsprovokes changes.
One thing that happens is thatyou cause proliferation of fecal
microbes in the colon.
These are species like E coliand Seminella and Campylobacter,
so they over-proliferate in thecolon.
That has health implications.
But even worse, when you havean overgrowth of fecal species
in the colon, you give them theopportunity to ascend into the
(14:16):
24 feet of small intestine up tothe ileum, jejunum, duodenum
and even stomach and whathappens is that you have now 24
feet of over-proliferate fecalmicrobes in the small intestine.
You may recall, the smallintestine is very permeable by
design because that's where youabsorb nutrients like amino
(14:36):
acids, fatty acids, vitamins andminerals.
So the small intestine is bydesign very permeable, but when
it's occupied, when it'sdominated by fecal microbes from
the colon that live and dieover short periods like several
hours, they shed their toxins,specifically something called
lipopolysaccharide or LPSendotoxin, and that LPS
(14:58):
endotoxin is able to enter thebloodstream through the
permeable wall of the smallintestine and enter the
bloodstream and that over timeleads to all kinds of adverse
effects such as rise in bloodsugar, rise in insulin
resistance, rise in bloodpressure, increase potential for
cognitive impairment, increaserisk for coronary disease and
(15:19):
heart attack, increase risk forstroke, increase risk for breast
cancer and numerous otherconditions.
So that's in the world ofbacteria in the gastrointestinal
microbiome.
But there's also proliferationof fungal species like candidate
albicans.
So candidate and other fungithrive on sugars.
When you feed yourself, whenyou feed your gastrointestinal
(15:40):
tract large quantities of sugars, you promote the proliferation
of fungal species and you canlead to fungal overgrowth in the
colon.
You can lead to fungalovergrowth in the small
intestine, so-called CFO orsmall intestinal fungal
overgrowth, and that has its owncollection of concerns,
including an increase in sugarcravings oddly Also irritable
(16:02):
bowel syndrome type symptomslike bloating, diarrhea,
abdominal discomfort, and it'slikely this is still being
worked out it's likely thatfungal overgrowth in the
gastrointestinal tract likelyallows fungi to translocate or
export fungal species to otherparts of the body, such as skin
or sinuses, and there's emergingevidence that may even
(16:24):
translocate fungi into the brainand that may be a player role
in the development ofAlzheimer's dementia, because
fungi are recovered in manypeople's brains after death, of
course, of people withAlzheimer's dementia and it
doesn't take many bouts ofincreased exposure to sugars and
carbs to cause these changes inthe microbiome.
Now this is speculation, but Ihad a nice conversation with the
(16:47):
founder of the companyBioticuest, the sponsor of this
Defiant Health podcast and alsoa friend, martha Carlin.
Martha's story is that herhusband was diagnosed with
Parkinson's disease at age 44.
So she left her job in realestate and became devoted to
exploring the microbiome assolutions for Parkinson's
disease.
One of the things she'sobserved over the years is
(17:10):
because of her husband she has alarge, she participates in a
large Parkinson's diseasecommunity and she's noticed that
many of the people who haveParkinson's most of the people
in her community who haveParkinson's disease were former
long distance athletes who carbloaded.
Now she speculates that becausethere's a marked increase in
intestinal permeability,especially in the 24 hours after
(17:33):
any kind of strenuous effortsuch as a marathon, that the
combination of carb loading andthe changes in the microbiome,
coupled with the expected markedincrease in intestinal
permeability in the aftermath,the 24 hours after a strenuous
event, that that combination maybe lethal and may be the
underlying process.
This speculation has not yetbeen proven.
(17:53):
It's a tough thing to prove.
We'd have to have people runmarathons right Carb load, run a
marathon, measure intestinalpermeability and then follow
them for 20, 30, 40 years see ifthey become demented.
So an impractical study toperform.
So it's speculation, but itseems to make sense right Like
that, this effort at longdistance exercise, coupled with
a terrible practice of carbloading and the expected
(18:15):
increase in intestinalpermeability that follows
strenuous exercise and, by theway, it takes about 20 minutes
to start an increase to provokean increase in intestinal
permeability of strenuousexercise.
And the longer you go, theharder you go, the more
intestinal permeabilityincreases.
So bear in mind with yourexercise efforts Exercise is
good for you.
It yields many positive changes.
But just be careful.
(18:36):
Exercise taken to extremes,such as a marathon or a
triathlon, may actually haveadverse effects, including we
wonder if it has effects oncentral nervous system health,
such as Parkinson's disease andother conditions.
So I think you can surmise whatI'm going to say you should do
if you want to avoid all theseconsequences of car loading.
Don't car load, but giveyourself the time minimum of
(19:00):
four weeks as much as six weekson a low carb effort, such as on
my programs, and allow yourbody to become fat adapted and
more effectively, moreefficiently draw from energy in
the fat stores.
Of course, it's a better way tolose weight if you need to,
also because you preferentiallymetabolize fats and not the
glycogen stores in liver andmuscle.
(19:21):
By doing so, you stop glycatingthe proteins of your body and
you remove a major disruptivefactor on the composition of
your gastrointestinal microbiome.
Now, if you learned somethingfrom this episode of Defiant
Health, I invite you tosubscribe through your favorite
podcast directory.
Post a review.
Post a comment.
Help us build this community oflike minded people interested
(19:43):
in self empowerment and healthto minimize your reliance on the
healthcare system.
Thanks for listening.
You likely know people who engage in strenuous
exercise marathons, triathlons,long-distance biking, even just
day-to-day exercise or perhapsyou do so yourself in
anticipation of the need for agreat deal of energy to engage
in such an effort and toincrease endurance and
performance.
Many people follow a practicecalled carb loading.
(00:26):
While there are a number ofprotocols for doing so, for most
people carb loading typicallyconsists of having a large
serving of pasta the day before,followed by liberal consumption
of sugary soft drinks andsugary energy bars, all designed
to maximize liver and muscleglycogen stores that can be
burned for energy.
Is carb loading safe?
(00:47):
Is it necessary?
In this episode of DefiantHealth, let's discuss how and
why carb loading is an unhealthyprocess with some effects that
are irreversible.
I'll also discuss how you canmaintain or increase performance
without relying on thisunhealthy practice.
I also want you to considersupporting the sponsors of this
(01:07):
Defiant Health podcast PaleoValley and BiodaQuest.
Choosing high-quality productsto support your health journey
is important.
This is why Paleo Valley is asupporter of my Defiant Health
podcast.
Their grass-fed, pasture-raisedbeef sticks, for instance, are
fermented, unlike nearly allother beef sticks.
If you haven't tried theirpasture-raised pork sticks,
(01:29):
you're in for a treat, as theyare irresistibly delicious.
And BiodaQuest, also a sponsorof this podcast, provides unique
probiotic products that in myexperience, in the experience of
the followers of my program,are unlike all other probiotics
as they are crafted using thescientific insights of academic
microbiologist Dr Raul Kennel,an innovator in the concept of
(01:52):
collaborative effects amongmicrobes.
So the whole notion of carbloading got its start around 60
to 70 years ago when studieswere performed very small
studies were performed, lookingat elite athletes mostly, who
were deprived of carbohydratesfor typically three to four days
(02:13):
, and they were tested beforeand then after this experience
of limiting carbs, and they sawthat the athlete's performance
declined.
They couldn't go as hard, theycouldn't go as far, and so they
added back carbs and performancewas restored.
And more recently there havebeen studies where there have
been muscle biopsies performedand it was clear that carb
(02:34):
loading, or restoration of carbintake, increases muscle
glycogen.
And so this was the birth ofthe notion that if you want to
have high performance, both inendurance as well as speed or
intensity, you carb load.
And so modern people who engagein such things as marathons,
triathlons, long distance biking, long distance swimming and
(02:56):
some people who do it routinelyjust for their regular workouts.
So people typically dosomething like have a large
serving of pasta the nightbefore with lots of bread and
perhaps other sugary foods, andthen, on the day of the event or
prior to their workout, they'llengage in drinking lots of soft
drinks with a lot of sugar inthem, or have so-called energy
(03:16):
bars, also rich in sugar andcarbohydrates, all in the hopes
of loading up both their liverand muscle with glycogen to draw
from for energy, for enduranceand for performance.
What they failed to recognize inthese very short, three or four
day long studies is that hadthey deprived the elite athletes
of carbohydrates for a longertime period of more like four to
(03:38):
six weeks, they would see thatperformance returned to that
experience prior to reducingcarbs and sometimes even
exceeded their prior performance.
In some studies, there wasactually a greater endurance and
higher intensity after thatobligatory four to six weeks of
not having carbs.
That's the time period requiredfor your body to adjust
(03:59):
so-called fat adaptation.
In other words, it's the timerequired for your body to
convert from drawing on glycogenfrom muscle and liver and to be
more effective, more efficient,at mobilizing energy from fat
cells.
So when you reduce carbohydrateintake, performance returns
after that obligatory periodrequired to convert to fat
(04:19):
adaptation, of courseeliminating the need for
carbohydrate loading.
So what is wrong with this?
What is wrong with loading upon carbohydrates to increase
glycogen stores?
Well, there's plenty wrongbeyond being unnecessary and
being due to a misinterpretationof the evidence short term
evidence but it has nothing todo with glycogen.
So one of the problems thatdevelops when you load up on
(04:41):
carbs to a high degree is thatyou glycate proteins.
What that means is that glucose, because blood glucose goes
really high after carb loading.
After the pasta, there's asustained high blood sugar, high
blood glucose.
After those drinks and energybars, there's once again high
blood glucose.
The high intake of sugar andother solutes also cause an
(05:04):
osmotic diarrhea.
So it's not uncommon to seepeople having to stop during
their event in thoseporta-potties on the side of the
road because the osmotic effectof so many electrolytes or
solutes in the stuff they'reeating and drinking causes an
osmotic diarrhea.
But the real danger here isthat the high blood glucose.
So it's not uncommon to have ablood glucose, say, of 140, 190,
(05:26):
really high.
Whenever blood glucose exceeds100 milligrams per deciliter,
you provoke an irreversiblereaction called glycation or
endogenous glycation, and whatthat means is there's an
irreversible change in theproteins of the body.
If you glycate, for instance,the proteins and the lenses of
your eyes, you accelerate thedevelopment of cataracts,
(05:49):
opacities in the lenses.
If you glycate collagen,collagen is all throughout the
body, especially in the skin andin joint.
The joint cartilage collagen isunusually glycation prone and
when collagen becomes glycatedit becomes very brittle and
stiff and gets degraded byenzymes.
In the skin, for instance,glycated collagen causes thinned
(06:12):
, brittle skin, aging andwrinkles and crepey skin In
joints.
It causes joint cartilage tobecome very brittle and less
able to deal with wear and tearand it erodes and breaks down,
leading to bone on bonearthritis.
Other tissues are glycationprone, such as kidney tissue,
and you can cause long termkidney impairment, kidney damage
(06:34):
over time from glycation.
So every time blood glucosegoes above 100 milligrams per
deciliter, as it does with anenergy bar or those sugary soft
drinks or pasta, you glycateproteins throughout the body and
that accelerates all theseprocesses, including accelerates
all the phenomena of aging.
One of the other proteins thatis very prone to glycation are
(06:57):
the proteins in lipo, proteins,that is, these are the things in
the bloodstream fat carryingproteins that are glycation
prone, especially small LDLparticles.
Think about this for a momentSmall LDL particles, the real
cause for coronary disease, notLDL cholesterol.
Ldl cholesterol is meant to bea very crude and indirect way to
(07:19):
guesstimate the number of LDLparticles.
But we can measure those LDLparticles and specifically we
can measure the small proportionof small LDL particles.
So you eat pasta or you have asugary drink or energy bar and
your liver converts the sugarsinto triglycerides or fats.
That process is called liver denovo lipogenesis.
(07:40):
All that means is your liver isvery good at converting
carbohydrates or sugars totriglycerides, making new fats,
de novo lipogenesis.
When your liver makes thosetriglycerides, those
triglycerides enter thebloodstream as very low density
lipo proteins, vldl.
They're low density becausethey're rich in triglycerides or
(08:01):
fats and you, as you likelyknow, when you have salad
dressing, for instance, the fator the oil always goes to the
top and the water or the aqueouspart goes to the bottom.
Same thing here.
Lipoprotein particles rich infat are very low in density.
So those VLDL particles aredirect causes of heart disease,
coronary heart disease, andthose VLDL particles like to
(08:26):
interact with LDL particles.
Now, when VLDL particles richin triglycerides interact with
LDL particles, the VLDLparticles contribute or transfer
triglycerides to that LDLparticle.
Then that LDL particle goesthrough a series of what are
called remodeling reactions thatreduces the size of the LDL
(08:47):
particle, making it a small LDLparticle.
So consumption of carbs andsugars causes a rise in VLDL.
That in turn leads to theformation of small LDL particles
.
Now that small LDL particle isnow very prone to glycation and
that activates it to be able tocause coronary heart disease.
So consumption of the carbscauses VLDL.
(09:09):
That in turn causes small LDL,and that small LDL particle is
in turn very glycation prone andmuch more capable of forming
atherosclerotic plaque in yourcoronary arteries.
Small LDL particles also persistfor an extended period.
So a large LDL particle formedby consumption of fat is
(09:29):
recognized by the liver andcleared within 24 hours.
Small LDL particles, incontrast, are poorly recognized
by the liver.
That's because the recognitionprotein on that particle on the
small LDL particle, it's calledapoprotein B is partially
concealed and the liver cannotsee it easily.
And so that small LDL particlepersists for five to seven days
(09:51):
not the 24 hours of a large andbenign LDL particle, but five to
seven days, giving it plenty ofopportunity to circulate around
and around and around andeventually gain access to the
walls of arteries, especiallythe coronary arteries, the
heart's arteries, where ittriggers formation of
atherosclerotic plaque.
It triggers inflammation andover time accumulates this
(10:11):
plaque that can rupture andcause heart attack and other
kinds of cardiovascular events.
So when someone carb loads,whether it's past the evening
before, or those energy drinksor bars, you provoke formation
of tons of small LDL particlesthat give you at least a week of
increase, markedly increasedcardiovascular risks.
(10:31):
You can imagine, if you do thisrepeatedly, provoking formation
of small LDL particles, you areexposing yourself to a big rise
in cardiovascular risk andheart attack, sudden cardiac
death or the development ofsymptoms that require some like
bypass surgery or stentimplantation.
Now let me pause for a moment totell you something about
Defiant Health Podcast sponsorsPaleo Valley and Biodquest.
(10:54):
The Defiant Health Podcast issponsored by Paleo Valley,
makers of delicious grass-fedbeef sticks, healthy snack bars
and other products.
We're very picky around hereand insist that any product we
consider has no junk ingredientslike carrageenan,
carboxymethylcellulose,sucralose and, of course, no
(11:16):
added sugars.
All Paleo Valley productscontain no gluten nor grains.
In fact, I find Paleo Valleyproducts among the cleanest in
their category.
One of the habits I urgeeveryone to get into is to
include at least one, if notseveral, servings of fermented
foods per day in theirlifestyles.
Unlike nearly all other beefsticks available, paleo Valley
(11:37):
grass-fed beef sticks are allnaturally fermented, meaning
they contain probiotic bacterialspecies.
And now Paleo Valley isexpanding their Wild Pastures
program that provides 100%grass-fed, grass-finished,
pastured beef and pasturedchicken and pork raised without
herbicides or pesticides.
And they just added wild-cutseafood caught from the waters
(12:00):
of Bristol Bay, alaska.
Among their other new productsare pasture-raised fermented
pork sticks, chocolate-flavoredgrass-fed bone broth protein and
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And new essentiallyelectrolytes in powder form to
add to potassium and magnesiumintake, available in orange,
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And for the fall and winterseason they've brought back
(12:23):
pumpkin spice superfood bars.
Listeners to the Defiant Healthpodcast receive a 15% discount
by going to paleo valley dot com.
Backwards slash defiant healthand I'd like to welcome Defiant
Health's newest sponsor,biodicuest.
I've had numerous conversationswith Biodicuest founders Martha
Carlin, an academicmicrobiologist, dr Raul Kenno.
(12:46):
They have formulated uniquesynergistic probiotic products
that incorporate what are calledcollaborative or guild effects,
that is, groups of microbesthat collaborate with each other
via specific metabolites,potentially providing
synergistic benefits.
They have designed their sugarshift probiotic to support
healthy blood sugars.
Simple slumber to support sleep.
(13:08):
Ideal immunity to support ahealthy immune response.
Heart centered that supportsseveral aspects of heart health.
And antibiotic antidotedesigned to support recovery of
the gastrointestinal microbiomeafter a course of antibiotics.
The Biodicuest probiotics are,I believe, among the most
effective of all probioticchoices for specific health
(13:31):
effects.
Enter the discount codeundock15, undoc all caps 15, for
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Another problem that develops asa consequence of carb loading
is that you introduce changesinto the gastrointestinal
(13:52):
microbiome.
That is, the flood of sugarsprovokes changes.
One thing that happens is thatyou cause proliferation of fecal
microbes in the colon.
These are species like E coliand Seminella and Campylobacter,
so they over-proliferate in thecolon.
That has health implications.
But even worse, when you havean overgrowth of fecal species
in the colon, you give them theopportunity to ascend into the
(14:16):
24 feet of small intestine up tothe ileum, jejunum, duodenum
and even stomach and whathappens is that you have now 24
feet of over-proliferate fecalmicrobes in the small intestine.
You may recall, the smallintestine is very permeable by
design because that's where youabsorb nutrients like amino
(14:36):
acids, fatty acids, vitamins andminerals.
So the small intestine is bydesign very permeable, but when
it's occupied, when it'sdominated by fecal microbes from
the colon that live and dieover short periods like several
hours, they shed their toxins,specifically something called
lipopolysaccharide or LPSendotoxin, and that LPS
(14:58):
endotoxin is able to enter thebloodstream through the
permeable wall of the smallintestine and enter the
bloodstream and that over timeleads to all kinds of adverse
effects such as rise in bloodsugar, rise in insulin
resistance, rise in bloodpressure, increase potential for
cognitive impairment, increaserisk for coronary disease and
(15:19):
heart attack, increase risk forstroke, increase risk for breast
cancer and numerous otherconditions.
So that's in the world ofbacteria in the gastrointestinal
microbiome.
But there's also proliferationof fungal species like candidate
albicans.
So candidate and other fungithrive on sugars.
When you feed yourself, whenyou feed your gastrointestinal
(15:40):
tract large quantities of sugars, you promote the proliferation
of fungal species and you canlead to fungal overgrowth in the
colon.
You can lead to fungalovergrowth in the small
intestine, so-called CFO orsmall intestinal fungal
overgrowth, and that has its owncollection of concerns,
including an increase in sugarcravings oddly Also irritable
(16:02):
bowel syndrome type symptomslike bloating, diarrhea,
abdominal discomfort, and it'slikely this is still being
worked out it's likely thatfungal overgrowth in the
gastrointestinal tract likelyallows fungi to translocate or
export fungal species to otherparts of the body, such as skin
or sinuses, and there's emergingevidence that may even
(16:24):
translocate fungi into the brainand that may be a player role
in the development ofAlzheimer's dementia, because
fungi are recovered in manypeople's brains after death, of
course, of people withAlzheimer's dementia and it
doesn't take many bouts ofincreased exposure to sugars and
carbs to cause these changes inthe microbiome.
Now this is speculation, but Ihad a nice conversation with the
(16:47):
founder of the companyBioticuest, the sponsor of this
Defiant Health podcast and alsoa friend, martha Carlin.
Martha's story is that herhusband was diagnosed with
Parkinson's disease at age 44.
So she left her job in realestate and became devoted to
exploring the microbiome assolutions for Parkinson's
disease.
One of the things she'sobserved over the years is
(17:10):
because of her husband she has alarge, she participates in a
large Parkinson's diseasecommunity and she's noticed that
many of the people who haveParkinson's most of the people
in her community who haveParkinson's disease were former
long distance athletes who carbloaded.
Now she speculates that becausethere's a marked increase in
intestinal permeability,especially in the 24 hours after
(17:33):
any kind of strenuous effortsuch as a marathon, that the
combination of carb loading andthe changes in the microbiome,
coupled with the expected markedincrease in intestinal
permeability in the aftermath,the 24 hours after a strenuous
event, that that combination maybe lethal and may be the
underlying process.
This speculation has not yetbeen proven.
(17:53):
It's a tough thing to prove.
We'd have to have people runmarathons right Carb load, run a
marathon, measure intestinalpermeability and then follow
them for 20, 30, 40 years see ifthey become demented.
So an impractical study toperform.
So it's speculation, but itseems to make sense right Like
that, this effort at longdistance exercise, coupled with
a terrible practice of carbloading and the expected
(18:15):
increase in intestinalpermeability that follows
strenuous exercise and, by theway, it takes about 20 minutes
to start an increase to provokean increase in intestinal
permeability of strenuousexercise.
And the longer you go, theharder you go, the more
intestinal permeabilityincreases.
So bear in mind with yourexercise efforts Exercise is
good for you.
It yields many positive changes.
But just be careful.
(18:36):
Exercise taken to extremes,such as a marathon or a
triathlon, may actually haveadverse effects, including we
wonder if it has effects oncentral nervous system health,
such as Parkinson's disease andother conditions.
So I think you can surmise whatI'm going to say you should do
if you want to avoid all theseconsequences of car loading.
Don't car load, but giveyourself the time minimum of
(19:00):
four weeks as much as six weekson a low carb effort, such as on
my programs, and allow yourbody to become fat adapted and
more effectively, moreefficiently draw from energy in
the fat stores.
Of course, it's a better way tolose weight if you need to,
also because you preferentiallymetabolize fats and not the
glycogen stores in liver andmuscle.
(19:21):
By doing so, you stop glycatingthe proteins of your body and
you remove a major disruptivefactor on the composition of
your gastrointestinal microbiome.
Now, if you learned somethingfrom this episode of Defiant
Health, I invite you tosubscribe through your favorite
podcast directory.
Post a review.
Post a comment.
Help us build this community oflike minded people interested
(19:43):
in self empowerment and healthto minimize your reliance on the
healthcare system.
Thanks for listening.
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