Nutrition - CrossFit

Nutrition: Avoiding Metabolic Derangement (continued.)Responsible Diet BooksThese authors understand the double-edged nature of blood glucose control, i.e., hormonal regulationand caloric restriction. Our cast includes a lipidologist, cardiologist, psychiatrist, nephrologist, an exercisephysiologist, pathologist, practicing and research endocrinologists, biologists, an attorney, journalist, andfalconer. They largely quote the same published research and have come to the same conclusion: the lowfat/high carb diet is lethal.The first book listed for each author is linked to Amazon.com.Barry Sears PhD:Enter the ZoneA Week in the ZoneThe Top 100 Zone FoodsThe Age-Free ZoneThe Soy ZoneMastering the ZoneZone Food BlocksZone-Perfect Meals in MinutesThe Omega Rx Zonerights.) The A.M.A. is not likely to reverse its negativeimpact on human health in a thousand years of gooddeeds.William Dufty:Sugar BluesSugar Blues published in 1975 proclaimed that sugarwas a poison responsible for unimaginable disease andsuffering. A million copies of this little book were soldand the medical establishment laughed. Oooops, he wasright! To read Sugar Blues in light of modern research, amore enlightened medical community, and the legacy ofthe high carb/low fat diet is spine chilling.Robert Atkins, M.D.:Dr. Atkins Diet RevolutionDr. Atkins New Diet RevolutionDr. Robert Atkins held fast to the notion thathyperinsulinism brought on by excess carbohydrateconsumption was at the root of obesity and other riskfactors for coronary heart disease in spite of a torrentof criticisms and claims of quackery heaped on by thecollective medical establishment. His citing of studiesand his super impressive clinical record carried littlesway among the mainstream advocates of the high-carb/lowfat fad diet.Drs. Michael and Mary Dan Eades:Protein PowerDr. Atkins first book, Dr. Atkins’ Diet Revolution,contains his responses to the American MedicalAssociation’s condemnation of his diet and thesubsequent investigation of his regimen by the SenateSelect Committee on Nutrition and Human Needs.Remember from Gary Taubes that it was this SenateSelect Committee, chaired by George McGovern thatlargely sponsored, promoted, and funded the low fathigh carb diet that has destroyed the health of countlessmillions. (It’s not surprising to see that socialists throughtheir collective vision for us all have done for health andnutrition what they’ve done for economics and humanMichael Norden, M.D.:Beyond ProzacThe Protein Power Lifeplan Michael Eades is a verygood writer, and Protein Power has been an accessibleintroduction to responsible nutrition. The Eades’examination of research on diet and heart disease isoutstanding. The book is great; the diet is good. Formany this book has resonated where the Zone mayhave been impenetrable.Dr. Michael Norden, a psychiatrist and pioneerresearcher, explains in Beyond Prozac how the highcarb/low fat diet is directly responsible for a pandemicof mental illness and mood disorder ranging fromalchoholism to depression and anxiety attacks. Nordenreveals that the Zone Diet has to date been the mosteffective clinical treatment for a long list of psychologicalmaladies.continued page. of 11 CrossFit is a registered trademark of CrossFit, Inc. 2006 All rights reserved.Subscription info at http://store.crossfit.comFeedback to feedback@crossfit.com

Nutrition: Avoiding Metabolic Derangement (continued.)Responsible Diet BooksMaximum LifespanThe 120-Year Diet.continued from page We’d seen this effect of the Zone Diet long beforeBeyond Prozac was published. We had a file full oftestimonials regarding mitigation of mental disordersafter following the Zone and weren’t sure what to makeof them until this book hit the market in 1996.Uffe Ravnskov, M.D., PhD:The Cholesterol MythsDr. Ravnskov has “no dog in this fight”. He advocates nodiet, but what he does say and quite convincingly is thatthe connection between the consumption of saturatedfats, high cholesterol and cardiovascular disease, knownas the “diet-heart” idea, is built on a house of sand.Ravnskov has impeccable credentials as a researcherand clinician and his understanding of the researchsurrounding the statins, cholesterol management, andcardiovascular disease is unrivaled. Ravnskov brings anunderstanding of experimental protocol and design tothe discussion that is also singularly unique.Drs. Richard and Rachael Heller:The Carbohydrates Addicts DietHealthy for LifeThe Heller’s bring an amazing personal and professionalhistory to the understanding of hyperinsulinism. TheHeller’s are both distinguished professors of medicineat Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York.Ray Audette:NeanderthinNeanderthin is a delightfully written presentation of thepaleodiet position: “if a caveman could hunt it or gatherit to eat, so can you.”Loren Cordain, PhD:The Paleo DietDr. Cordain is widely acknowledged as the world’sleading authority on Paleolithic nutrition. The Paleo Dietelaborates brilliantly on the discordance brought on bya diet sharply at odds with our biological developmentand design.Roy Walford, M.D.:The Anti-Aging PlanDr. Walford is the undisputed leader of longevityresearchers. This U.C.L.A. pathologist has been studyingand thinking about longevity since high school. It isimpossible to research caloric restriction and longevitywithout finding his work.Calvin Ezrin, M.D.:The Endocrine Control DietThe Type 2 Diabetes Diet BookCalvin Ezrin discovered the thyrotroph, the cellswithin the pituitary gland responsible for productionof thyroid stimulating hormone, as a young researcherunder Banting and Best, the discoverers of insulin. Apioneering endocrinologist, Dr. Ezrin has never founda physician willing to publicly and directly answer hisclaims of the entirely beneficial effects of ketogenicdiets. It has long been easier to ignore this scientist andphysician than to take him on.The Endocrine Control Diet and the Type 2 Diabetes DietBook are one and the same book. In his book, Dr. Ezrin haspublished a letter, “Doctor to Doctor” in which he offershis help in understanding benign dietary ketosis and offersassistance to any physician willing to contact him.We’ve found Dr. Ezrin to be of enormous benefit toevery diabetic we’ve sent his way.T.S. Wiley and Bent Formby, PhD.:Lights Out: Sleep, Sugar, and SurvivalWiley and Formby continue in the vein of Norden’sBeyond Prozac with compelling evidence of the scientificlink between insufficient sleep and the metabolicderangement of hyperinsulinism. This is a powerfulpremise with strong support.Gerald Reaven, M.D., Terry Kristen Strom, M.B.A.,Barry Fox, PhD.:Syndrome XNobody has done more scientific research on the metabolicderangement caused by hyperinsulinism than Dr. Reaven.This derangement is widely referred to as “syndrome X” inmedical circles, a label first given by Dr. Reaven.continued page. of 11 CrossFit is a registered trademark of CrossFit, Inc. 2006 All rights reserved.Subscription info at http://store.crossfit.comFeedback to feedback@crossfit.com

Nutrition: Avoiding Metabolic Derangement (continued.)Responsible Diet Books.continued from page Dr. Reaven has been rabidly critical of every attempt tomitigate “syndrome X” by reducing carbohydrate intakeuntil he published his book in 2000. He repeatedly citesstudies that show that weight loss is equivalent withisocaloric diets of varying macronutrient composition. Itis hard to believe that a man of Reaven’s background andknowledge doesn’t know that all twenty-pound weightlosses are not equally beneficial. This, and his harshcriticism’s of Atkins and Sears, suggest the possibility ofan integrity problem with Dr. Reaven.Diana Schwarzbein, M.D.:The Schwarzbein PrincipleThe Schwarzbein Principle IIDiana Schwarzbein is an endocrinologist sub-specializingin diabetes, osteoporosis, menopause and thyroidconditions.Mauro DiPasquale, M.D.:The Anabolic DietThe Metabolic DietPhD, Kaye Foster-Powell, M. Nutr. & Diet., StephenColagiuri, M.D.:The New Glucose RevolutionThis book bills itself as “The Authoritative Guide to theGlycemic Index”. It may be just that.Rob Faigin, J.D.:Natural Hormonal Enhancement (NHE)Natural Hormonal Enhancement owes considerablymore to Mauro DiPasquale and the Anabolic Diet thanits author credits. An entertaining compendium ofresponsible works, NHE leaves us with the suspicionthat Faigin, an attorney, hasn’t been able to separatetheory from effective programming.Although none of the nutrition gurus reviewed here’sexercise advice matches the quality or effectiveness oftheir nutritional regimens, but Faigin’s exercise viewscome right from the muscle magazines. NHE is anexciting brew of sound science, untested theory, andthe best of the bodybuilding magazines.Dr. DiPasquale is the father of the cyclical diet of whichNatural Hormonal Enhancement is an indistinguishablevariant. In practice this diet looks like Atkins with oneor several nasty cheat days per week. The Anabolic Dietcrowd found strong and articulate proponents amongacademics, coaches, and athletes interested in powersports. The debates between the Zone crowd and theAnabolic crowd have been destructive of both campsand resolved nothing.Dr. DiPasquale’s knowledge of and position as anauthority on anabolic steroids and the unfortunatepublic association of the word “anabolic” with steroidsprobably doomed his diet to obscurity. It works, andworks very well.Christian Allan, PhD, Wolfgang Lutz, M.D.:Life Without BreadLife without bread is an excellent presentation ofthe scientific literature on carbohydrate metabolism– a subject to which both authors have dedicated theirscientific careers.Jennie Brand-Miller, PhD, Thomas M.S. Wolever, M.D., of 11 CrossFit is a registered trademark of CrossFit, Inc. 2006 All rights reserved.Subscription info at http://store.crossfit.comFeedback to feedback@crossfit.com

Nutrition: Avoiding Metabolic Derangement (continued.)Cholesterol MythsEveryone knows by now that the consumption of animalfats and cholesterol causes heart disease. There is,though, one simple problem with this knowledge: it isabsolutely, positively, dead wrong, and no one can makethis point more convincingly than Dr. Uffe Ravnskov inhis wonderful book The Cholesterol Myths.Dr. Ravnskov armed with a brilliant mind, a PhD inchemistry, an M.D., and an unassailable record ofpublished medical research is the medical counterpartto science journalist Gary Taubes in loudly yelling “TheEmperor has no Clothes!!”Here, thanks to Dr. Ravnskov, are some importantcholesterol facts and their scientific support. There ismore research available through this portal than couldbe studied in a year. Enjoy!Here is an excerpt from an excellent review ofCholesterol Myths off of the Weston A PriceFoundations website by Stephen Byrnes, N.D.,RCNP:“Would you buy a book that was literally set onfire by its critics on a television show about it inFinland? I would and so should you. The longawaitedEnglish version of debunker extraordinaire Dr. UffeRavnskov’s notorious book is now available fromNewTrends Publishing.Ravnskov, a medical doctor with a PhD in chemistry,has had over 40 papers and letters published inpeer-reviewed journals criticizing what Dr. GeorgeMann, formerly of Vanderbuilt University, oncecalled “the greatest scam in the history of medicine,”namely the Lipid Hypothesis—the belief that dietarysaturated fats and cholesterol clog arteries and causeatherosclerosis and heart disease.Equipped with a razor-sharp mind and an impressivecommand of the literature, Ravnskov methodicallyslaughters the most famous sacred cow of modernmedicine and the most profitable cash cow forassorted pharmaceutical companies. Sparing no one,Ravnskov again and again presents the tenets of theLipid Hypothesis and the studies which supposedlyprove them, and shows how the studies are flawed orbased on manipulated statistics that actually provenothing.”Cholesterol Facts1Cholesterol is not a deadly poison, but a substancevital to the cells of all mammals. There are no suchthings as “good” or “bad” cholesterol only density.Mental stress, physical activity and change of body weightmay influence the level of blood cholesterol. A highcholesterol is not dangerous by itself, but may reflect anunhealthy condition, or it may be totally innocent.2A high blood cholesterol is said to promoteatherosclerosis and thus also coronary heart disease.But many studies have shown that people whose bloodcholesterol is low become just as atherosclerotic aspeople whose cholesterol is high.3Your body produces three to four times morecholesterol than you eat. The production ofcholesterol increases when you eat little cholesteroland decreases when you eat much. This explains whythe ”prudent” diet cannot lower cholesterol more thanon average a few per cent.4There is no evidence that too much animal fat andcholesterol in the diet promotes atherosclerosis orheart attacks. For instance, more than twenty studies haveshown that people who have had a heart attack haven’teaten more fat of any kind than other people, and degreeof atherosclerosis at autopsy is unrelated with the diet.5The only effective way to lower cholesterol is withdrugs, but neither heart mortality or total mortalityhave been improved with drugs, the effect of which ischolesterollowering only. On the contrary, these drugsare dangerous to your health and may shorten your life.6The new cholesterol-lowering drugs, the Statins,do prevent cardio-vascular disease, but this isdue to other mechanisms than cholesterol-lowering.Unfortunately, they also stimulate cancer in rodents.7Many of these facts have been presented in scientificjournals and books for decades but are rarely told tothe public by the proponents of the diet-heart idea.8The reason why laymen, doctors and most scientistshave been misled is because opposing and disagreeingresults are systematically ignored or misquoted in thescientific press. of 11 CrossFit is a registered trademark of CrossFit, Inc. 2006 All rights reserved.Subscription info at http://store.crossfit.comFeedback to feedback@crossfit.com

Nutrition: Avoiding Metabolic Derangement (continued.)Beyond ProzacIn Beyond Prozac, Dr. Michael Norden, a clinical associate professor of psychiatry at the University ofWashington, developed the idea that the all-important eicosanoids which Barry Sears has written of andresearched, play an essential role in brain function.Dr. Norden’s hypothesis is that low fat/high carbohydrate diets have contributed substantially to mentaldisorders that can be treated effectively by Prozac. It is his contention that the Zone diet is an effectiveclinical treatment for these maladies.As if heart disease, diabetes, and cancer weren’t enough, here is a list of disorders from Dr. Norden’s bookthat Prozac can mask, but that the Zone diet can treat and might cure. We’d laugh at this list but we’ve seenthe benefit with about a dozen of these maladies in our clinical practice. AlcoholismAnorexia nervosaAnxietyArthritisAttention deficit disorder/hyperactivity disorderAutismBipolar disorderBody-dysmorphic disorderBorderline personalitydisorderBulimiaCataplexyChronic painDepersonalization disorderDiabetic neuropathy DysthymiaElective mutismEmotional labilityEnuresisGilles de la lsive aggressionIntention myoclonusLate luteal dysphoricdisorderMajor depressionMigraineOncyophagiaDog Food Obsessive-compulsivedisorder Panic disorder Paraphilia Pathologic jealousy Post traumatic stressdisorder Premature ejaculation Raynaud’s phenomenon Schizophrenia Seasonal affective disorder Self-injurious behavior Social Phobia Syncope Trichotillomaniamouthful of fangs – to ward the chickens off the corn,not to eat them!Carnivore or Cornivore?The lead ingredientin most dog foods iscorn. For a lot moremoney we can upgradeto rice.At first we had troubleimagining the nicheof a corn eating, or“cornivorous”,dog,but with a little workwe got it. In nature corn eating dogs would use theirtiny little front teeth to denude the cob of kernel.But, there’s competition for the corn among othercornivores, like chickens. It is for these competitorslike the chicken that our corneating dog would need aTake any dog food manufacturer’s claimed caloricrequirements for a dog and place an amount of naturallyavailable biomass equivalent to that load at sixty toseventy percent carbohydrate and place it on a tarp.Now find a dog that will eat that much grass andvegetation. It would take a goat.The premise of a dog requiring a high carbohydratediet is patently absurd. The industrialization of food hasproduced faire that neither man nor dog should eat.Athena, the CrossFit mascot, doesn’t like corn. Shewon’t eat it. She also won’t eat rice, potato chips, most“doggie treats”, or “dog food”. She does like chickenlegs though, and she eats them raw. She eats everydayon average 3-5 chicken legs, a little grass, a multivitamin,and 2 fish oil-caplets. of 11 CrossFit is a registered trademark of CrossFit, Inc. 2006 All rights reserved.Subscription info at http://store.crossfit.comFeedback to feedback@crossfit.com

Nutrition: Avoiding Metabolic Derangement (continued.)Gary TaubesThere are many heroes in the diet wars among scientists(Ravnskov and Sears to name but two) and clinicians(Atkins and Eades), but among journalists Gary Taubesstands alone.In large measure the fleecing of the public with the lowfat/high-carb diet was a collaboration of politicians, thefood processing industry, and the media. The scientificcommunity was never as sold on the low fat diet to theextent that the media portrayed.Endeavoring to root out the source of the low fatphenomenon, we found that the overwhelming majorityof physicians came to their position on diet not throughpeer reviewed literature or experiential knowledgebut through the popular media. We’ve heard countlesstimes from M.D.’s that “everyone knows that fat makesyou fat.” When asked to name a scientific study thatsupported the notion the overwhelming response wassomething to the effect that “I don’t know but there arethousands.”Over the last 18 months there has been a sea change ofawareness regarding the shallowness of the low fat/highcarbohydrate diet and much of this change can be rightlyattributed to Gary Taubes.In March of 2001 science journalist Gary Taubes publishedan article in the highly esteemed peer reviewed journalScience entitled “The Soft Science of Dietary Fat”. Theessence of this article was that “mainstream nutritionalscience has demonized dietary fat, yet 50 years andhundreds of millions of dollars of research have failed toprove that eating a low-fat diet will help you live longer”.The evidence in this article was so compelling thatthe National Association of Science Writers awardedMr. Taubes its coveted Science in Society JournalismAward. The Soft Science article and the acclaim Taubesreceived for it was tantamount to a crack in the popularacceptance of the fad low fat/high carbohydrate dietfoundation.Every major media outlet covered the story and Dr.Atkins ended being a runner up for Time Magazine’sPerson of the Year Award for 2002. It was obvious thatTaubes’ articles were enticing a second look at the muchmaligned Dr. Atkins. Before the end of this decade, Dr.Atkins will be held in the highest regard and his long timedetractors will largely lie about their condemnation of iswork. There’s a recurring theme in medicine and publichealth that major advances are fought tooth and nailby the medical establishment while quackeries rise toaccepted practice largely unchallenged.The flap over Gary Taubes’ “What if It’s All Been a BigFat Lie?” among vocal supporters of the low fat diet wasfascinating. Reason Magazine (an otherwise outstandingmagazine) published a poorly researched and stronglybiased criticism of Taube’s work by Michael Fumento inMarch of 2003 entitled “Big Fat Fake”. Mr. Fumento wassuffering the embarrassment of having written a bookextolling the virtues of low fat eating and several poorlyresearched articles on nutrition that revealed his deepignorance on the subject. “Big Fat Fake” is so bad it hasto be read.But, even more entertaining and informative was Mr.Taubes’ rebuttal to Michael Fumento’s criticisms and thesubsequent reply by Mr. Fumento to Taubes’ rebuttal.Gary Taubes’ “What if It’s All Been a Big Fat Lie?”,Michael Fumento’s response “Big Fat Fake”, and theensuing exchange between the two are exemplary ofthe arrogance, hostility and muddle headedness of thelow fat camp. For many of our contacts the exchangebetween these two was personally decisive in resolvingthe diet wars.Then on July 7, 2002 New York Times published aseco

Robert Atkins, M.D.: Dr. Atkins Diet Revolution Dr. Atkins New Diet Revolution Dr. Robert Atkins held fast to the notion that hyperinsulinism brought on by excess carbohydrate consumption was at the root of obesity and other risk factors for coronary heart disease in spite of a torrent of criticisms and claims of quackery heaped on by the .