MCT for Health

So I was going through some older studies I had saved, and this one caught my attention. I don't remember seeing it at all, but it illustrates beautifully how deceptive things can be. What is it about? Essentially, it is a study of how adding fiber (fructo-oligosaccharide, FOS) to the diet favorably affects metabolism. Perfect. Opinions on fiber vary widely. My view is that fiber in the large intestine triggers signaling similar to overeating. The presence of undigested food in the large intestine signals that we have eaten more food than would have been necessary, and so the intestinal bacteria feed on it as well. What comes out of this is quite a lottery, because each of us has a different composition of bacteria in our gut, so we don't know what those bacteria will actually produce. If things turn out well, the bacteria produce acetate (and other short-chain fatty acids, SCFAs), and this signals to the body that there is indeed enough fuel, and the body adjusts accordingly. ...

The hormone leptin is produced by fat cells and is known to normally reduce the need to eat. In obese individuals, however, this mechanism does not work properly. They have higher leptin levels yet still consume more food than necessary. This condition is called leptin resistance; the body simply does not respond to leptin's signal, the signal that sufficient fuel is stored in the body. It appears that this condition is closely linked to improper protein/enzyme folding and to endoplasmic reticulum stress (ER stress), which is where enzymes are created and folded within the cell. What substances can trigger such stress? How about aldehydes formed by the autooxidation of linoleic acid? Could it be 4-hydroxy-2-nonenal (HNE)? Would activating the enzyme that breaks down HNE, namely aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH2), help? Would this also work to reduce leptin resistance? Perhaps the most serious effect of the increased presence of the toxic aldehyde HNE, derived by the autooxidation of li...

If you think that vegetable (seed) oils protect your blood vessels, that is probably not true . This is suggested by studies examining their effects in older age or looking at lifespan. Vegetable oils may lower cholesterol, but low cholesterol levels are associated with shorter lifespan. But what would you say to the information that simply adding 1% of a special mixture of polyunsaturated oils—specifically processed linoleic acid—to the diet causes vascular plaque to disappear in an animal model within a few weeks! However, the processing of these vegetable oils was not carried out by any industrial food company. No—the processing was performed by bacteria in the cow’s stomach! The resulting product is called CLA, conjugated linoleic acid. There are several types, but the most interesting is rumenic acid, c9,t11-CLA. Another is t10,c12-CLA, but the first one is found in butter at ten to twenty times higher levels than the second. Could it be, then, that full-fat dairy products—especia...

Overweight and obesity are fairly common nowadays, much more common than they were, say, fifty or a hundred years ago. There are many opinions on the causes, but to me it currently appears to be the result of poisoning from food, drink, or the environment—whether the air we breathe or contamination by foreign electromagnetic signals. I assume that the environment and food simply play a role. Let’s review the most important processes that influence fat storage and obesity. First of all, rapid and easy storage into adipose tissue does not cause a problem and quickly removes fats from the blood. To achieve this, it is necessary to maintain metabolically healthy adipose tissue protected by the glutathione antioxidant system. How much fat will be stored is determined by excess—some fat is constantly being burned, and excess is stored. So it is determined by the ratio at which fats and glucose are burned. With any change in the ratio of fats and carbohydrates in the diet, suppression of fat...

Many times here I have come across the idea that processes usually considered negative are actually perfect regulatory loops, i.e., processes that respond in a controlled way to the surrounding environment. They are not random malfunctions or mistakes of nature. They are long-tested regulatory processes. Today we will look at intestinal permeability and the endocannabinoid system (eCB). Nowadays, no one doubts intestinal permeability anymore; that is a great success. I remember how about 20 years ago it was a topic that all professionals in the field laughed at, and only a few individuals (e.g., Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride ) tried to convince them to take a closer look, that it is very important. It took a long time, but eventually they did look into it, and intestinal permeability really began to be thoroughly studied. This is also evidenced by the study that will be discussed today . But as usual, I will again try to bring a few of my own thoughts into this issue. It simply seems st...

Aging of the organism appears to depend on food intake. I have previously pointed out that prolonging life can probably be achieved by preventing any overeating, even short-term . During a discussion on the X network, the well-known blogger Peter ( @Peter_InNorfolk ) shared a study examining the lifespan of rats on three diets: a standard diet (16% of calories from fat), a moderately high-fat diet (35% of calories from fat) without quantity restriction, and the same diet but restricted to the same caloric intake as the standard diet. He mainly commented on the shortening of lifespan on the unrestricted high-fat diet, which he attributes to the relatively high content of omega-6 linoleic acid in the fat, i.e., in lard. Control – low-fat pellets, IHF – high-fat diet with isocaloric restriction, FHF – high-fat diet without restriction, experiment performed on male rats. The high-fat diet without restriction (FHF) slows metabolism and reduces heat production. However, from the previous pos...