Went to Another Conference

Metabolic Health Summit

Yep.

Last week I went to the MHS, aka Metabolic Health Summit.

It took place in Florida, I think Clearwater. I say I think because I attended virtually. I actually was only able to watch 2/3 of the conference live, but I will finish the rest as soon as the recordings are available thru February.

So I will let you know a few interesting things from MHS, in no particular order

1. If there is ever a conference in the Winter and somewhere warm like Florida, go to the warm place. I stayed home and watched virtually this time. I will try not to make that mistake again.

2. You can eat too much fat and overload your fat cells causing some inflammation. But this occurs less in exercise trained individuals as they have better metabolic flexibility. You also want to stick to natural animal based fats and avoid vegetable and seed oil fats as non animal based fats are MORE inflammatory.

3. Exercising muscles sends all type of healthy signals throughout your body, some from your muscles (myokines) and another called BDNF (brain derived naturetic factor). BDNF helps the brain regenerate neurons, repairs the brain, improves cognition and mood. So raising BDNF naturally is a good good thing to do.

4. Ketogenic diets can be helpful for Sleep Apnea.

5. Too much Fructose, sugar from fruit, alcohol and Big Food sweeteners such as high fructose corn syrup is a metabolic hazard. It slows down mitochondrial function. Mitochondria are responsible for our energy production so you really really don’t want slow mitochondria. Excess Fructose can also continuously stimulate your appetite meaning you are hungrier and consume more food. Not something you want if you are already overweight or have Insulin Resistance.

6. In people who fit into the LMHR phenotype (Lean Mass HyperResponders), you now have a new way to lower your LDL cholesterol, if you want to for a party trick. But please, Do NOT try this at home.

   

   LMHR’s are generally lean, athletic, exercise a lot, and have very high total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol and HDL cholesterol, but very low Triglycerides. Most also have low Insulin levels. A one person study showed that adding 10-12 Oreo cookies a day to a ketogenic diet of a LMHR could lower cholesterol much more than the most popular cholesterol medication Crestor (Rosuvastatin). I am NOT joking here and this is NOT an April Fools prank. This is true.

7. The health benefits of Fasting and the health benefits of Exercise are separate and should not be conflated.

8. Ketones improve the function of T-cells, a part of the immune system much needed for protection against respiratory illness and viruses.

9. MCT oil could be helpful initially in a Keto diet, as can Carnitine.

10. If you are planning on getting pregnant in the future, look for books by Lily Nichols, RDN. She is an expert on proper nutrition prior to and during pregnancy.

11. Intermittent Fasting, Time Restricted Eating both can improve cognition.

12. Increasing Brain Ketones can decrease inflammation, increase brain blood flow, be used as an alternate clean fuel source for brain energy, balance neurotransmitters and help increase BDNF.

So that’s it for now, but that was plenty. If there is anything else from the presentations I missed , I’ll let y’all know in a future Common Sense Health and Wellness newsletter.

My next conference I am flying to Nashville for Genetopia.

They will doing a dive into testing for certain genes, both good and not so good, and discussing lifestyle adjustments to correct for any genes that are not helpful. It’s an area I want to learn more about, so off I go to Nashville. I do not know how to line dance, 🕺, but hopefully I will return home with a good story or at least a cowboy 🤠 hat and shoes, and even more hope for a good Nashville wall sign.

Anyone know of any good Carnivore and Gluten Free restaurants in Nashville? We usually just eat one meal a day when at a conference, unless something smells really really good and I am extra hungry. I made it through the Vegas conference in December with just one meal a day, so my hopes and intentions are good.

Why one meal a day?

That usually helps get into ketosis, meaning keto. As you may have just learned, ketones reduce excess inflammation while greatly improving brain health. A Keto brain can better take information in and speeds up learning, at least mine. I kind of like my brain better when it works well, so…….

As always, comments and questions welcome and encouraged.