Mastering Nutrition

In this episode, I weigh in on the American Heart Association's new Presidential Advisory and Dietary Fats and Cardiovascular Disease, and all the headlines that have been spinning on the supposed risks of coconut oil. This episode is brought to you by US Wellness Meats. I use their liverwurst as a convenient way to make a sustainable habit of eating a diversity of organ meats. They also have a milder braunschweiger and an even milder head cheese that gives you similar benefits, as well as a wide array of other meat products, all from animals raised on pasture. Head to grasslandbeef.com and enter promo code “Chris” at checkout to get a 15% discount on any order that is at least 7 pounds and is at least $75 after applying the discount but under 40 pounds (it can be 39.99 lbs, but not 40). You can use this discount code not once, but twice! The show notes for this episode can be found at chrismasterjohnphd.com/41. In this episode, you will find all of the following and more: 03:55 The recent headlines on coconut oil 04:52 The American Heart Association’s new Presidential Advisory, “Dietary Fats and Cardiovascular Disease” is not centrally about coconut oil, but it laments its the popularity of coconut oil. 07:10 This is a position paper reinforcing the conventional view about saturated fat as the stance against it within the scientific community has begun to soften around the edges. The 2015 dietary guidelines and the 2016 Ramsden paper reflect that softening. 14:39 The inclusion and exclusion criteria of the “4 core trials” of the AHA meta-analysis 16:38 The 4 core trials 17:00 The Finnish Mental Hospitals Study makes the largest contribution to the AHA conclusion but was not a randomized controlled trial and doesn’t belong in this list. 23:44 The Oslo Diet-Heart Study was included and made a contribution, yet other trials were excluded on the basis of confounding that were far less confounded than Oslo. 27:38 The LA Veterans Administration Hospital Study showed that a vitamin E-deficient diet makes you vulnerable to the heart disease-promoting effects of smoking, and that vegetable oils cause more cancer than cigarettes. 36:41 The Medical Research Council study showed a trend toward a benefit of soybean oil that was not statistically significant. Lack of heat damage to the fats in the diet, coenzyme Q10, and omega-6/omega-3 balance could have played a role in the trend. 41:12 Exclusion of Rose 1965 and Minnesota Coronary Survey from the “4 core trials” was fair. 42:33 Controversy over the possible contribution of trans fats to the results of the Sydney Diet Heart Study. But this as a basis for exclcusion could have excluded the LA Veterans Administration Hospital Study as well. 47:59 The impact of including or excluding MRC and Sydney shows how the conclusions are driven not by the cumulative data but on the qualitative decisions about which studies to include. 52:02 The observational studies are hopelessly confounded by popular campaigns about the heart-healthiness of replacing saturated fat with polyunsaturated fat. 56:08 The experiments in monkeys using lard, palm oil, and dietary cholesterol to bring their plasma cholesterol to 300-400 mg/dL. 58:33 The oxidation of lipoproteins drives atherosclerosis and polyunsaturated fats drive the oxidation. This is embraced by the leading conventional thinkers. 1:06:00 The AHA position on coconut oil is based on its effect on LDL-C, explicitly arguing in favor of ignoring its effects on HDL-C, and explicitly acknowledging the complete absence of clinical evidence. 1:13:12 Coconut oil has benefits unrelated to heart disease, such as the antimicrobial (antifungal and antibacterial) effects of lauric, capric, and caprylic acids, and the increased energy expenditure and decreased appetite caused by capric and caprylic acids. 1:17:00 Coconut oil could protect against heart disease due to its low polyunsaturated fat content. 1:19:32 Traditional Pacific island diets were far higher in saturated fat than the standard American diet, yet heart disease was absent. 1:22:09 The Tokelau Migrant Study showed that the freedom from heart disease on Tokelau, where coconut consumption pushed saturated fat over 50% of calories, was not due to genetics or age. Access the show notes, transcript, and comments here: https://chrismasterjohnphd.substack.com/p/041-is-coconut-oil-killing-us

Analia Camarasa asked this question on Facebook: Ever since you’ve mentioned PTH on your podcast we’ve been measuring it in the office. It’s nice to see that when patients come in on high doses of D supplementation their PTH is maximally suppressed, as it should be. I wish you could talk about the outliers briefly, normal D at 31 ng/mL and PTH outside of the range eating a healthy WAP diet, for example. Watch the video for my response.   Access the show notes, transcript, and comments here.

Vitamin D deficiency and calcium deficiency look very similar, and poorly interpreted blood tests can easily mislead us into taking the wrong supplements. Here’s how to tell them apart. Access the show notes, transcript, and comments here.

This podcast discusses glutamate sensitivity and the potential use of oxaloacetate supplements to address it. Glutamate is a savory flavor found in protein-rich foods, but some people may experience symptoms like headaches and allergies. Oxaloacetate supplements, supported by vitamin B6, can help clear glutamate. The episode explores the benefits, dosage, and potential side effects of these supplements.

If you’ve got high cholesterol then this video is for you. Access the show notes, transcript, and comments here.

In episode 31, I explain why glutathione survives digestion and can be absorbed intact, and why supplementing with it or eating it in foods helps support your health. My recommended supplements: Jarrow Reduced Glutathione and Core Med Science Optimized Liposomal Glutathione. In most cases, save money by trying Jarrow first. Use the discount code from this episode to sign up for Masterclass With Masterjohn Pro with a $20/year lifetime discount, offer ending May 13. This episode is a companion to Consuming Glutathione in Foods and Supplements, which has a searchable database of glutathione in 285 foods. This episode is brought to you by US Wellness Meats. I use their liverwurst as a convenient way to make a sustainable habit of eating a diversity of organ meats. They also have a milder braunschweiger and an even milder head cheese that gives you similar benefits, as well as a wide array of other meat products, all from animals raised on pasture. Head to grasslandbeef.com and enter promo code “Chris” at checkout to get a 15% discount on any order that is at least 7 pounds and is at least $75 after applying the discount but under 40 pounds (it can be 39.99 lbs, but not 40). You can use this discount code not once, but twice! In this episode, you will find all of the following and more: 0:00:38  Cliff Notes 0:08:22  What is glutathione and why is it important? 0:13:33 Special Masterclass With Masterjohn Pro discount for Mastering Nutrition listeners 0:20:10  Why does glutathione survive digestion? 0:20:50  How is glutathione absorbed intact? 0:35:48  Evidence for intact absorption of glutathione 0:36:00  Oral glutathione increases tissue glutathione in animals when glutathione synthesis is blocked with BSO. 0:38:12  Glutathione crosses CACO-2 monolayers, a model of human intestinal absorption, even when glutathione breakdown is inhibited with acivicin and glutathione synthesis is inhibited with BSO. 0:39:25  Isotopically labeled glutathione fed to mice enriches labeled glutathione in liver and red blood cell with no signs of the label in glutathione digestion products. 0:40:30 Glutathione supplements increase glutathione status in humans. 0:41:10  Caveats and contrary evidence. 0:48:15  What form of supplement (sublingual, liposomal, regular) is best? 0:56:10  What are the best specific supplements? 0:58:10  What dose should you use, and how should you know if you should use it? 0:58:43 Anecdote: 1 gram of glutathione relieves laughing-induced wheezing.  1:02:50  Glutathione in foods: reduced glutathione, total glutathione, glutathione-reactive substances, net glutathione 1:08:25  Glutathione content foods is not the be-all end-all of whether a food boosts glutathione status or whether it's healthy, but it's notable and important. Access the show notes, transcript, and comments here: https://chrismasterjohnphd.substack.com/p/040-why-you-should-eat-glutathione

Tracking calories can be really hard, but here’s how to make it easy. Like, easy easy? Easy easy easy easy? Well, no, not easier than not tracking calories. But far easier than you would expect if you haven’t tried it. And thousands of times easier than some other methods of tracking calories. Access the show notes, transcript, and comments here.

This is how I recommend losing weight if you want a method that is reliable and easy to optimize over time. Access the show notes, transcript, and comments here.

The effect of sprouting on the folate concentration of legumes is incredible. It peaks on the fourth day of sprouting, though, according to a recent study. But is it always the fourth day in every legume under any condition sprouted in a home kitchen? Are the sprouted legumes on the store shelf four-day sprouts? Right now there are more questions than answers, but I believe that opting for sprouted legumes is a good way to supercharge your folate status as long as you still make an effort to get 2-3 servings of folate-rich foods per day. I cover this and another way to supercharge your folate status — eating egg yolks from pasture-raised chickens — in today’s Chris Masterjohn Lite video. Access the show notes, transcript, and comments here.

Did you realize even washing vegetables causes loss of folate? Learn everything you need to know to get enough folate from picking the right foods to avoiding loss in the kitchen in this five-minute video. Access the show notes, transcript, and comments here.