PMR #309: For optimal health and body composition, focus on gaining energy before losing fat: Dr. Cate Shanahan

Losing fat is always a thing, and so many diet books focus on the fat loss itself, forgetting that arriving at a point where fat can actually be burned is a separate process. A better approach would be to ask how we can create a lifestyle where we have optimal and consistently high energy, with the intention of becoming more able to exercise and be less dependent on food. Today’s guest is Dr. Cate Shanahan, a staple in the ancestral health world and the author of Deep Nutrition and The Fatburn Fix. In today’s episode, we speak about the detriment that polyunsaturated fatty acids have on our health, and some of the ways we can shift our thinking around diets to be found in The Fatburn Fix. Her book makes a case for high fat, low carb, whole foods approach built around each person’s unique physiology. 

We talk to Dr. Shanahan about how it takes a while for a body to be in the position to even be able to lose fat. She gives us some brilliant insights into the physiological processes behind this, speaking to the cause of inflammation, the build-up of toxic fats, and the difference between healthy hunger and ‘hangryness.’ She gives listeners some great tips about how to reverse the process where the body’s fat has become toxic, and the solution mostly comes down to diet. Our conversation covers the benefits of an ancestral diet, and we hear about its four pillars, one of which is organ meat, which of course leads to a great chat on this topic. Tune in to find out how to start feeling great and watch the results that follow!

DOWNLOAD THE FULL TRANSCRIPT

 

Key Points From This Episode:

Dr. Shanahan’s transition from being a doctor to doing health consulting for ABCFWS staff. How Dr. Shanahan can have deeper relationships with her clients in her new job. Dr. Shanahan’s culinary solution to unhealthiness mainly caused by fast food. The number one most important health factor: are you burning your body fat? What The Fatburn Fix talks about: how to get into the position where you can lose fat. How most bad fat comes from refined, bleached, deodorized seed oils high in PUFA. The idea that changing diets, losing fat, and skipping meals is harder due to toxic fat. Worse metabolism caused by fat that has become polluted resulting in relying on blood sugar. How the body craves carbs and breaks muscles down into sugar due to metabolic disruption. Knowing that PUFAs are bad for us due to increases of them in food in recent years. Seeing cellulite as an indicator of lack of supporting tissues, i.e., that PUFAs are too high. Fat toxicity: PUFAs making fat unable to store new shipments of energy from the arteries. Saturated and monounsaturated fats that dilute PUFAs effectively reversing fat toxicity. The idea that PUFAs aren’t actually toxic, but are bad due to high concentrations. How to know a product has bad fats in it by looking for three C and three S oils on the label. Changes Dr. Shanahan made to Lakers players’ health by giving them healthier fat diets. Processed dairy’s allergy-causing ability and why Dr. Shanahan supports unprocessed dairy. Why the carnivore diet helps: many people aren’t allergic to whole meat proteins. How dog food contains many of the exact ingredients that processed human food does. Four pillars of the human diet: fresh & fermented greens, meat on the bone, and organ meat. The value of culinary adventure; how great organ meats make you feel.

 

Tweetables:

“There used to be this thing called cooking.” — @drcateshanahan [0:10:52.3]

“My patients with weight problems, diabetes, cancer, and auto-immune diseases, they all could not burn their body fat.” — @drcateshanahan [0:14:31.1]

“Cellulite is kind of a warning sign that your body fat is not as healthy as it should be.” — @drcateshanahan [0:32:01.1]

 

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Dr. Cate Shanahan — https://drcate.com/

Deep Nutrition — https://www.amazon.com/Deep-Nutrition-Your-Genes-Traditional/dp/1250113822

The Fatburn Fix — https://www.amazon.com/Fatburn-Fix-Great-Weight-Using/dp/1250114497/

LA Lakers — https://www.nba.com/lakers/

ABCFWS — https://www.abcfws.com/

Ancel Keys — https://www.thelancet.com/pdfs/journals/lancet/PIIS0140673604175788.pdf

Mark Sisson — https://www.marksdailyapple.com/

Primal Kitchen Mayo — https://www.marksdailyapple.com/primal-kitchen-mayo-is-now-available-plus-a-chance-to-win/

Jeremy Lin — https://www.jlin7.com/

Weston Price — https://www.westonaprice.org/

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