(Part 11 of 12 in series, Stephan Guyenet's "Whole Health Source")

I think that overall, the evidence suggests that polyphenol-rich foods are healthy in moderation, and eating them on a regular basis is generally a good idea. Certain other plant chemicals, such as suforaphane found in cruciferous vegetables, and allicin found in garlic, exhibit similar effects and may also act by hormesis. Some of the best-studied polyphenol-rich foods are tea (particularly green tea), blueberries, extra-virgin olive oil, red wine, citrus fruits, hibiscus tea, soy, dark chocolate, coffee, turmeric and other herbs and spices, and a number of traditional medicinal herbs. A good rule of thumb is to “eat the rainbow”, choosing foods with a variety of colors.

~ Stephan Guyenet from, http://wholehealthsource.blogspot.com/2011/02/polyphenols-hormesis-and-disease-part.html

This is part 2 of the best series on polyphenols I have ever found. I bet they don’t work the way you think they work… and they’re NOT antioxidants, except in your digestive tract, where they actually help prevent YOUR OWN GUT from creating trans fats …and they’re actually a toxic stressor… oh, just click already :P

ɕ

(Part 10 of 12 in series, Stephan Guyenet's "Whole Health Source")

Then how do so many people maintain a stable weight over years and decades? And how do wild animals maintain a stable body fat percentage (except when preparing for hibernation) even in the face of food surpluses? How do lab rats and mice fed a whole food diet maintain a stable body fat percentage in the face of literally unlimited food, when they’re in a small cage with practically nothing to do but eat?

The answer is that the body isn’t stupid. Over hundreds of millions of years, we’ve evolved sophisticated systems that maintain “energy homeostasis”.

~ Stephan Guyenet from, http://wholehealthsource.blogspot.com/2010/11/twinkie-diet-for-fat-loss.html

This is why I’ve been losing weight, slowly for years now. Lots of little changes that shift the balance.

ɕ

(Part 9 of 12 in series, Stephan Guyenet's "Whole Health Source")

Choline is an essential nutrient that’s required for the transport of fat out of the liver. NAFLD (non-alcoholic fatty liver disease) can be caused, and cured, simply by removing or adding dietary choline, and it appears to be dominant over other dietary factors including fat, sugar and alcohol. Apparently, certain researchers have been aware of this for some time, but it hasn’t entered into the mainstream consciousness.

~ Stephan Guyenet from, http://wholehealthsource.blogspot.com/2010/11/choline-and-fatty-liver.html

Choline? I don’t think I’ve even heard of Choline. *sigh* Another new thing to learn about…

ɕ

(Part 7 of 12 in series, Stephan Guyenet's "Whole Health Source")

The diet-heart hypothesis is the idea that saturated fat, and in some versions cholesterol, raises blood cholesterol and contributes to the risk of having a heart attack. To test this hypothesis, scientists have been studying the relationship between saturated fat consumption and heart attack risk for more than half a century. What have these studies found?

~ Stephan Guyenet from, http://wholehealthsource.blogspot.com/2009/12/dirty-little-secret-of-diet-heart.html

ɕ

(Part 6 of 12 in series, Stephan Guyenet's "Whole Health Source")

Body fat produces a hormone called leptin, which signals to the brain and other organs to decrease appetite, increase the metabolic rate and increase physical activity. More fat means more leptin, which then causes the extra fat to be burned. The little glitch is that some people become resistant to leptin, so that their brain doesn’t hear the fat tissue screaming that it’s already full. Leptin resistance nearly always accompanies obesity, because it’s a precondition of significant fat gain.

~ Stephan Guyenet from, http://wholehealthsource.blogspot.com/2010/01/body-fat-setpoint-part-ii-mechanisms-of.html

This part of his series is short and non-technical. But his whole series is, probably, the greatest explanation of why one gets fat which I have ever read.

ɕ

(Part 5 of 12 in series, Stephan Guyenet's "Whole Health Source")

The bottom line is that experimental models of atherosclerosis appear to rely on overloading herbivorous species with dietary cholesterol that they are not equipped to clear. SFA does exacerbate the increase in LDL caused by cholesterol overload. But in the absence of excess cholesterol, it does not necessarily raise LDL even in species ill-equipped to digest these types of fats. Dietary cholesterol has a modest effect on LDL cholesterol in humans, and it has even less effect on LDL particle number, a more important measure. So there may not be a cholesterol overload for saturated fat to exacerbate in humans.

~ Stephan Guyenet from, http://wholehealthsource.blogspot.com/2009/07/animal-models-of-atherosclerosis-ldl.html

In the context of actual amounts that you can actually consume (animal studies feed cholesterol to herbivores as if you eat 20+ eggs EVERY day) there is no evidence (not in animal studies and certainly not in human studeis) that cholesterol and saturated fat cause atherosclerosis. If you think eating cholesterol or saturated fat is bad, I hope you’ll investigate where you obtained that knowledge, and look into the factual basis of that knowledge. If you’re avoiding cholesterol and saturated fat, what are you replacing it with?

ɕ

(Part 4 of 12 in series, Stephan Guyenet's "Whole Health Source")

Do whole grains prevent smoking too? An alternative explanation is that the women who were eating whole grains were all-around more conscientious and concerned about their health than those eating refined grains. And why not? They “knew” from mainstream diet advice that whole grains are healthier than refined grains. When is the last time you saw someone smoking a cigarette while eating whole grain muesli with skim milk and half a grapefruit for breakfast? Is it easier to imagine someone smoking while eating a donut and sweetened coffee?

~ Stephan Guyenet from, http://wholehealthsource.blogspot.com/2009/04/modern-diet-health-epidemiology-self_09.html

I recommend reading everything on the Whole Health Source blog; Very science-intensive, but you’re life will be imrpoved. And, the above piece is a great explanation of things like “correletion”, “confounding factors”, and more. But, there’s also a HUGELY useful take-away that he doesn’t explicitly state:

By being health-conscious — reading, learning, making small changes — you’re going to have a huge affect on your health. In the long run, you don’t need to learn every little scientific nuance (because who has time for that, right?) Instead, you learn a little each day and continuously work to make small improvements.

ɕ

(Part 3 of 12 in series, Stephan Guyenet's "Whole Health Source")

Between 1970 and 1980, something changed in the U.S. that caused a massive increase in obesity and other health problems. Some combination of factors reached a critical mass that our metabolism could no longer tolerate.

~ Stephan Guyenet from, https://wholehealthsource.blogspot.com/2008/12/us-weight-lifestyle-and-diet-trends.html

ɕ

(Part 2 of 12 in series, Stephan Guyenet's "Whole Health Source")

1970: 42.5 lb/year of added fructose.
2007: 50.6 lb/year of added fructose.
At 19%, it’s not a staggering increase, but it’s definitely significant. I also think it’s an underestimate, because it doesn’t include fruit juice or total fruit consumption, both of which have increased. Other notable findings: grain intake has increased 41% between 1970 and 2005, due chiefly to rising consumption of processed wheat products. Added fats and oils have increased 63% in the same time period, with the increase coming exclusively from vegetable fats. The use of hydrogenated shortening has more than doubled.

~ Stephan Guyenet from, https://wholehealthsource.blogspot.com/2008/05/us-fructose-consumption-trends.html

And the amount of average exercise has INCREASED as well since the 70s. We [Americans] have not become sedentary… our diets is killing us, and we’ve been partly stemming the tide through exercise. Reduce your added sugar intake, reduce your processed grains intake. You don’t have to go to extremes… just make small changes. ‘Big ship, small rudder’ but you are still at the helm.

ɕ