Fasting Blood Sugar & Tooth Enamel, Lp(a) and CVD Risk, Cold Plunge, Carnivore Muscle Soreness, Link Between Sodium Intake and Calcium Excretion

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News topic du jour:

We Broke Phosphorous

"Throughout most of human history, farmers raised crops and animals side by side, which allowed them to easily recycle manure as fertilizer. During the 20th century, however, agricultural specialization separated livestock operations and grain growers, often by distances too large to transport manure.

This geographic rift effectively severed the last remaining strand of the human phosphorus cycle. And it led to a surplus of phosphorus in areas of intense animal agriculture, exacerbating pollution problems in places like the Chesapeake Bay, the waterways of Wisconsin's dairy country, and Lake Erie. According to a recent study by Metson and others, 55 pounds of phosphorus are released into the environment for every pound of phosphorus consumed in U.S.-raised beef, more than half of which comes from manure. (For wheat, the ratio is roughly 2 to 1.)"

1. Fasting Blood Sugar & Tooth Enamel [17:35]

Kara says:

Hi Robb and Nicki,

I have been enjoying the Q&A podcasts and you answered a question recently that is similar to mine. I am writing because I am still struggling. While all of my other readings are in a healthy range, my fasting reading is always in the low 100s. I have tried eating carbs at dinner, taking carbs out of dinner, and more recently extending my fasting window. But I can't get it to go down. My a1c has been creeping up in the past couple years as well. In the summer months, I train in the mornings and eat most of my carbs then. But when I am working (I work a school schedule), I train around 4 in the afternoon and have my carbs at dinner. I sometimes struggle with sleep and I was having a snack before bed. I stopped the snack due to this issue and I often wake hungry, but I don't eat to ensure I have a 12 hour fasting window. I am naturally up between 5/5:30 and I eat breakfast upon waking. When I am working, I have to eat this early, as I get up and leave for work. I have contemplated fasting in the mornings to extend the window longer, but I am truly very hungry when I wake.

Some details about me: I am a 40 year old mother of two boys ages 11 and 9. I had gestational diabetes with both pregnancies. When your book Wired To Eat came out, I read it and immediately got a glucometer. I have been struggling with this fasting number for years. I am 5'6" and 130 pounds. While my job is pretty sedentary, I walk 12-18k steps per day and strength train 3-4 days per week. In my 20's, I had hypothalamic amenhorrhea due to under eating/ over exercising. My body has been very sensitive to stress ever since and I will lose my menstrual cycle very easily if I under eat or over exercise. (I tried to diet recently out of vanity and all it got me was acne and a messed up cycle.). All of the female hormone experts suggest a good serving of carbs at dinner for sleep and hormones. But I have been trying to figure out what is right for me. I eat 75-100 grams of carbs per day. Those 100 gram days are very active days. I have not gone fully Keto because I started having a lengthening of my cycle when I was dropping carbs lower than that. My next physical is in August and I will have more blood work done. But at this point, my doctor thinks I am a hypochondriac because I worry about this, yet I don't look the part. It is frustrating. If you have any other suggestions for lowering the fasting number, I would be so grateful.

As a side, I heard you mention you had enamel loss from apple cider vinegar. Do you have any tips for preventing further loss or rebuilding enamel? I have experienced the same.

Thank you for all you do. Your work has been so helpful to me and I am grateful that I can often refer to your writing when I have questions about my health.

2. Lp(a) and CVD Risk [23:14]

Ben says:

First time, long time! Love the show. It is my go to podcast for workouts (AthleanX) and clinical documentation time (I'm a physical therapist) I'm a 35 y/o male. 5'11" 185 lbs. Not sure on exact body comp, but I have a pretty solid dick root, so it's good. CVD history of bicuspid aortic valve. The way I understand it, I'm staring at increased wear and calcification on that valve as I age. No changes on echocardiogram so far. Ive been eating paleo/primal/occasional keto for 3+ years now and have had great body comp changes abs generally feel pretty damn good. My lipids have been elevated and I opted for an apoB and Lp(a) assay to more accurately assess risk- ApoB - 111 mg/dL Lp(a) - 81 nmol/L Regular lipid panel TC - 251 HDL - 84 TG - 61 LDL - 155

My question(s) to you is, have you come across any Lp(a) lowering protocols? Also, any ideas on reducing general calcium build up over a lifetime? I appreciate all you do. Sacred Cow was awesome!

3. Cold Plunge [30:45]

Hannah says: Last year I used my pool for cryotherapy (cold plunge). This time of year the temperature is 48-50 degrees F. I've been doing it on days I don't lift for five minutes. As I continue to recover and restore my hormones, is this a good practice or too stressful on the body? Would it be better to just stick with the suana or red light therapy? Any passive options I can do to induce a hormetic response on my off days from the gym without stressing my hormones too much?

4. Carnivore Muscle Soreness [36:01]

Bill says: Hope this is the correct forum. My problem is extreme muscle soreness. A little background. I was diagnosed pre diabetic in October. Immediately started low carb primal blueprint, was doing well and learned of carnivore. Started carnivore the day after Thanksgiving. Since carnivore the day after a workout my muscle soreness is way above what it should be. I cut my workouts to about 25% of what I was doing prior to primal to anticipate for the lack of carbs. I'm a 51yo male about 210lbs 6'3" I consume about 200g protein a day and the same in fat. I mix a tsp and a half of salt in water during the day along with a quarter tsp of potassium chloride and about 700mg of magnesium. My question is about the excessive soreness. As an experiment I waited till my legs we're fine and did 10 air squats. The next day the soreness was at about the level of an intense leg day. Is this normal and I just need to wait longer or am I doing something wrong?

5. Link Between Sodium Intake and Calcium Excretion [40:23]

Annie says:

Hi Robb and Nicki

Thank you so much for all the knowledge you provide to your listeners via your awesome Podcast!

Wondering your thoughts on the link between sodium intake and calcium excretion. Knowing your thoughts on sodium and how important it is to maintain electrolyte balance, I was concerned when my endocrinologist recommended I decrease my sodium intake as it maybe contributing to Ca excretion in urine thus increasing risk for OP to my bones. I did a 24 hr urine calcium test and results indicated I was slightly higher than the normal range. I do have osteopenia due to early menopause, 38, and no hormone replacement therapy until 7 years later when I finally realized that my low estrogen needed to be addressed despite my MD telling me that wouldn't help and I would need to go on bone medication. No other health issues and blood sodium last time tested was 138 which is lower end of normal range (low end was 135 for the lab test I used). Also, blood pressure has always been on the low side (90s/60). No issues with light headedness etc. I eat a whole foods diet and was using Redmond's Real salt to taste. I have recently been trying to limit my fluid intake to no more than 80-96 ounces/day. I may have been unintentionally overhydrating in the past- not sure how much this would affect the Ca excretion

Thanks so much for your time!

Kidney and Calcium Homeostasis The effect of dietary sodium on calcium metabolism in premenopausal and postmenopausal women

"As sodium intake increases to higher levels, there appears to be proportionally smaller increases in urinary calcium. It appears that postmenopausal women adapt to a high sodium diet by replacing the increased urinary excretion of calcium with increased bone resorption."

"Studies in young men and women (Breslau et al, 1982) have shown that on high sodium diets of 250 mmols compared with low sodium diets of 10 mmols, urinary Correspondence: Prof R Eastell Received 26 April 1996; revised 3 March 1997; accepted 9 March 1997 European Journal of Clinical Nutrition (1997) 51, 394±399 ß 1997 Stockton Press. All rights reserved 0954±3007/97 $12.00 sodium and calcium excretion increase but so does calcium absorption, showing that an increase in urinary calcium does not necessarily indicate bone loss."

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Spielboys! - Jaws

Gamefully Unemployed

Cultural Reaction and Legacy

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