Friday, February 19, 2010

Importance of the Basal Metabolism

Here's a follow-up podcast on the topic of the week - the basal body temperature and its importance in preventing everything from bacterial infection to degenerative diseases, healing wounds, improving the health and strength of hair, skin, and nails, improving white blood cell counts, lowering cholesterol, lowering triglycerides, burning fat more efficiently, and more. 

17 comments:

  1. Do you think this is why the milk diet has been used so effectively in the past--because of the link to a higher metabolic rate?

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  2. Absolutely.

    And I think it raises the metabolic rate because it:

    1) Creates a calorie surplus
    2) Provides tons of iodine
    3) Restores the adrenal glands
    4) Is extremely low in omega 6

    Here are the nutrition stats for a male doing the milk diet according to standard nutrition stats:

    http://www.180degreehealth.com/uploads/ESHA%20files/milk%20diet.pdf

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  3. Actually, in the nutrition stats above I used standard whole milk, which, in that quantity, has a considerable amount of omega 6, albeit at less than a 2:1 ratio to omega 3.

    But Porter and MacFadden recommended low-fat or near skim milk, which would cut back the 8 grams of omega 6 at least in half or greater - right in line with the level of omega 6 restriction that you might see from Ray Peat to boost body temp. or Fuhrman or Barnard.

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  4. "pseudo-high metabolism"

    Tell that to Jillian Michaels and the Biggest Loser cast!

    Scott

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  5. Ah yes, the temporary high metabolism supported mostly by the overworked, soon to crash adrenal glands.

    And also Elizabeth, on the topic of the milk diet, one cannot ignore the micronutrient surplus. It is huge, and could easily be one of the most important factors in raising basal metabolism.

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  6. Matt, I've thought the same thing. In fact, I think raw milk does a great job of balancing minerals with fluid. I've heard concerns about chugging to much plain water and upsetting the electrolyte/mineral balance (especially in those with adrenal fatigue). Milk seems to solve that problem pretty well: fluid and minerals in one package.

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  7. Really? Damn, I hope that's not true... I drink about 3 Liters of water (sometimes even more) a day. I don't do it to meet some recommended H2) requirement, I just drink to thirst like I eat to hunger.

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  8. Genial brief and this enter helped me alot in my college assignement. Thanks you as your information.

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  9. i bought the pink Mabis Helthcare family planning basal thermometer!! Going to start checking mine soon!! I couldn't find the vicks underarm one.

    troy

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  10. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  11. Elizabeth-

    That is true to an extent with the water thing. I once made a point to do a blog post about it. Since then (2007) I've filed water phobia at the very bottom of my list of "health and nutrition minutiae." That's something people really shouldn't bother even thinking about. Do what Rosenfeltc does. Drink when you're thirsty. Stop when you aren't thirsty anymore. All creatures drink water.

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  12. Matt, I agree about drinking when you're thirsty, though I think for some adding in some sea salt now and then might be beneficial for some folks. I don't focus on drinking water, or not drinking it. I just drink as needed. I see a lot of people who are obessed about drinking a *certain* amount of water every day--so much so they're constantly chugging bottles of it! I'm sure it's not excessively harmful, but it seems to be overkill.

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  13. Perfectly put sister. There are definitely some water nerds out there, toting around bottles everywhere they go. I've been there, done that.

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  14. Yeah, I would second that sea salt thing. I noticed that if I don't add salt to my water it seems to "pass right through me" as I don't seem to be able to hold onto water very well.
    Adding a little salt completely eliminates that problem though. As far as I'm concerned this is some adrenal issue.

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  15. Milk from grass-fed cows should have less omega 6 than what the nutrition stats show for standard whole milk, which is likely taken from grain-fed cows. With some small variations depending of the kind of grass and breed, the proportion of linoleic acid can be around 1.5% of total fatty acids from milk of grass-fed cows:

    http://jds.fass.org/cgi/reprint/82/10/2146.pdf
    http://www.karlloren.com/diet/p100.htm

    This would provide an amount of omega 6 of 3-4 grams for 4099 calories of whole milk, which would be around 0.75% of total energy.

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  16. Thanks anonymous. There is definitely a viable reason to choose grassfed milk over grain-fed milk when following a milk diet if this is indeed the case.

    When it comes to the average American consuming 18 grams of omega 6 per day, a squabble over grassfed vs. grainfed is a real waste of energy - as making a switch from grainfed to grassfed beef is pretty inconsequential. You'd have to eat 5-10 pounds of grain fed beef per day just to get the average amount of omega 6 that an American eats, making both grassfed and grainfed beef very low sources of omega 6 - and the same goes for the dairy products that stem from the dairy cows.

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  17. There are other reasons to choose grassfed and avoid grainfed beef. See http://www.westonaprice.org/Splendor-From-the-Grass.html

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