Mastering Nutrition

In this episode I describe why a set of two yoga blocks has beenone of my best low-cost investments in the last year, playing avariety of unexpected roles around my apartment, and allowing me tomake major strides in increasing the diversity of positions I canwork in to get a healthier level of hip mobility. A standing deskis not enough, and yoga blocks allow me to rest in a squattingposition or sit with greater external rotation in my hips, therebygently challenging the range of motion that sitting so much hastaken its toll on over the years. Access the show notes, transcript, and comments here: https://chrismasterjohnphd.substack.com/p/007-the-many-uses-of-yoga-blocks

In this episode, I respond to a listener's question aboutwhether glycation is a good argument against a high-carbohydratediet. I agree that we should avoid refined carbs and emptycalories, but in this episode I describe why "glycation" is reallya misnomer and why carbohydrate is actually likely to protectagainst glycation. Glycation can be driven by the metabolism ofprotein, carbohydrate, and fat. Insulin protects against glycationfrom all three sources, and insulin signaling is strongest aftereating carbohydrate. In fact, glycation may actually serveimportant physiological roles under conditions of low insulinsignaling, so it is important not to view it as an intrinsically"bad" process. Although there are many unknowns, the evidence, evenif relatively weak, suggests that restricting carbohydrate is morelikely to increase glycation rather than decrease it. Access the show notes, transcript, and comments here: https://chrismasterjohnphd.substack.com/p/006-why-glycation-is-a-bad-reason

In this episode I describe how I have designed my evening and morning routines to maximize my quality sleep and productivity. I include the roles of blue-light deprivation using f.lux, iOS 9.3 Nightshift, blue-blocking amber fits-over glasses and lights from lowbluelights.com. I also include the roles of list-making, television, movies, video games, paperback fiction, making the bed, morning walks, and low-decision, high-nutrition, time-saving breakfasts. Access the show notes, transcript, and comments here: https://chrismasterjohnphd.substack.com/p/005-my-evening-and-morning-routines

I am often asked what I eat, so here is my answer. To simultaneously meet the goals of productivity, fat loss, and good nutrition over the last few months, I get most of my food through Thrive Market and Whole Foods via Instacart, use Epic Liver Bites, Kettle and Fire broth, fresh meats, eggs, cheese, starches cooked in big batches, and supplemental fruits and vegetables. I also discuss how I have been maintaining protein and calories for fat loss and use MyFitnessPal to track my calories, and how that has helped me sleep. Access the show notes, transcript, and comments here: https://chrismasterjohnphd.substack.com/p/004-what-ive-been-eating-and-how

In his April 7, 2016 piece in The Guardian, "The Sugar Conspiracy" Ian Leslie argues that the politics of nutrition has blinded us to the fact that sugar is more deserving than saturated fat of the status of dietary arch-villain and that the politics continue but the status of sugar and saturated fat are starting to switch. But we need to move beyond nutritional boogeymen, not switch one for another. Our sense of history and physiology -- key concepts about the historical role of Ancel Keys, the rate at which sugar is converted to fat in a process called de novo lipogenesis, and whether insulin's stimulation of fat storage can offer a plausible explanation of obesity -- get distorted when we try to make a public enemy out of sugar, just as they do when we make a public enemy out of saturated fat. It's time for a more nuanced view. Access the show notes, transcript, and comments here: https://chrismasterjohnphd.substack.com/p/003-the-sugar-conspiracy-trading

Is it really true that saturated fatty acids (SFAs) are the "bad fats" and polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) are the "good fats"? Christopher Ramsden uncovered previously unpublished data undermining the conventional wisdom that we should replace saturated fats with polyunsaturated vegetable oils to lower cholesterol and prevent heart disease. The public health establishment dismissed the findings. Here's my take. Access the show notes, transcript, and comments here: https://chrismasterjohnphd.substack.com/p/002-as-the-cholesterol-consensus

Why I drink coffee and won't apologize for it, but why I'm skeptical of the large body of literature associating coffee consumption with reduced disease risk. Do we drink coffee by choice? Sort of. I discuss why our genes may play a role in our coffee consumption and may be the ultimate influence on the risk of diseases that ultimately cannot be changed by coffee consumption. Access the show notes, transcript, and comments here: https://chrismasterjohnphd.substack.com/p/001-coffee