Nutrient-rich, low-calorie diets actually reprogram fat cells to keep the body thin

by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor

(NaturalNews) A study appearing in the American Chemical Society’s Journal of Proteome Research has given further insight into the correlation between calorie restriction and weight loss. While it is known that calorie-restricted diets are effective at helping people to lose weight, it has now been found that fat cell proteins play an important role in regulating bodily fat stores and extending life.

Dr. Edwin Mariman and his research team sought out to further understand the relationship between fat cell proteins and weight loss. Prior animal studies have shown that low-calorie diets rich in valuable nutrients are effective at maintaining proper bodily weight and lengthening life span.

In order to understand how it works in humans, the team investigated the subcutaneous fat cells of a group of obese people that followed a five-week calorie-restricted diet. Besides the fact that the average participant lost over 20 pounds, researchers discovered that six fat cell proteins in participants’ bodies had changed their composition throughout the course of the diet.

The significance of the discovery is that fat cell proteins instruct the body when and how to store fat. The composition change indicated that the low-calorie diet had actually restructured the proteins, signaling them to store less fat and to use it differently than before. Researchers believe the bodies of the study participants will now regulate themselves better, leading to better health and longer life.

According to researchers, being able to observe the marked changes in fat cell proteins will help verify the effectiveness of various methods of cutting calories to lose weight and gain better health.

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Comments by John Allen Mollenhauer, Founder NutrientRich.com.

I agree with Mike Adams comments on this subject, fat cells are not “stupid cells”. They morph and adapt, just like other cells, when the environment they are subject to changes. In this case when the diet being consumed is of higher quality and doesn’t fuel the need for fat cells to bloat and get bigger to store excess energy, let alone foreign matter that the body does not need, or to hold substances like excess sodium in solution and away from vital organs, they thin out. How else can you explain in simplistic terms, why, the moment you start eating more nutrient rich, healthy promoting foods and less calorie dense foods at the base of your diet, your weight goes down, even  before you you’ve begun exercising!

Have you heard this term, a “Plant Based Diet”?

It’s being used in ever more ways these days, fueled by the every expanding interest in eating more nutrient rich foods, and nutrient rich diets which are plant based.

In our last post T Colin Campbell, who was on Larry King Live in the segment titled “Is Meat Safe”, used the term “Plant Based Diet” as he took part in a panel to discuss the safety of eating meat.

This post is about the plant based diet, and what it really means, particularly when making the point that is it’s not safe to be eating meat based diets. Not just because of potential contamination, but because meat based diets are not health promoting.

First a little insight:

Clearly the trend is away from meat-based diets, and toward plant based, nutrient rich diets.

Why, because animal products are nutrient poor!

Of course, not if you listen to the meat industry pundits or the Nutrient Rich Food Coalition funded largely by the beef and dairy board (both Associations who are desperate  to have their products be known as nutrient rich); or, you have such a limited definition of “nutrient rich” that you think a food simply is Nutrient Rich because it is rich in a single or series of nutrients from one or two nutrient categories. (it’s not)

We ended that last post by my saying – “In my next post I’m going to share what I think the argument Dr Campbell should have been making and what I think Dr Campbell needs to delve into next time he gets this opportunity.”

So, let’s get into it.

In the segment, Dr Campbell makes one mistake that I see plant based diet advocates make all the time.

The Chef was right, “people like animal foods”. I even like animal foods; I was brought up on them, but that doesn’t necessarily make them a healthy part of peoples diets “in significant quantities” (key words here). Just because a food may taste good and offer up some nutritional value does not mean it should be eaten in significant quantities, let alone as the base of your diet.

To make the point in an extreme way, if Krispy Kreme donuts were injected with vitamin C would it make sense to eat more of them? No.

But Plant Based Diet advocates (of which I am one) think it’s all or nothing, and promote vegan and vegetarian diets (which I support for the most part) as the definition of plant based diet and they fight that fight amongst an entire population that is largely eating animal products, likes them, has a vested interest in them (just listen to the CNN panelists) and is slow to change.

I fought that fight for years, until I realized that it’s not the best way to promote a plant based, nutrient rich diet. Suggesting that the meat industry just close shop is not the way to win friends and influence people on a mass scale and help people start making the change to a nutrient rich diet.

I understand where Dr Campbell was coming from on this, but I feel his case for eating a plant based diet could have been made based on the basic evidence of The China Study, about the detriments of animal protein and the nutrient profiles of foods alone and that, that would have been even more powerful.

First, a  “Plant Based Diet” is a plant “based” diet.

Last time I checked, ‘based’ meant something that provides the foundation for… in this case your diet. And plants need to be a  very hearty base of your diet. As The China Study – the most comprehensive study of nutrition ever conducted- reveals (amongst thousands more, easily accessible studies, let alone common sense) without a shadow of a doubt… we need to be eating a predominantly plant- based, nutrient rich diet, upwards of 90% or more if we are going to be healthy.

The reason is, plants are where all the nutrients come from, including protein. Yes, protein!

A plant based nutrient rich diet means you are getting all the nutrients (healthy promoting protein, real food carbohydrate, essential fat, water, fiber, vitamins and minerals, phytochemicals, enzymes etc) that you need to function and perform well, from ALL the nutrient categories and you don’t get what you don’t need (saturated fat, cholesterol etc). This is is what defines a Nutrient Rich whole food!

Chicken for example, doesn’t meet (meat) that quality standard, even if raised organically.

• Almost No water,
• No fiber
• Almost no carbs
• No phytochemicals
• No Enzymes
• Yes, some vitamins and minerals
• Fat is mainly saturated
• Protein is not health promoting (causes rapid growth, rapid aging, more hormonal response, greater stimulation (coffee effect), gives off lots of toxic metabolites (even if it’s organic)…
• …

Now why would you want to “base” your diet on meat, including chicken and fish? A meat based diet is a nutrient poor diet, rich in some nutrients, but as a whole food… nutrient poor.

Wouldn’t you want to “base” your diet on nutrient rich foods first, and then if you want to eat nutrient poor foods, you eat them in smaller quantities?

Of course!

That’s the simple argument and one to get excited about!

A plant-based, Nutrient Rich diet promotes your health, takes into consideration taste and far more than protein, weight loss or dietary convenience alone to create an ideal diet which can include small amounts of animal products and still be health promoting.

You can eat small amounts of nutrient poor foods and still be eating a nutrient rich diet on a total dietary intakes basis. What constitutes “small amounts” is up for debate, but The China Study does the best job at giving us the data. I for one, eat less than 5% of my diet from animal foods and at times, will go months without eating any!

Telling people not to eat meat though is not the way to reduce the consumption of animal products which IS the objective here.

John Robbins, Author of Diet for a New America (1990) stated that a reduction in animal product consumption of a mere 10% world wide would ensure that no one in the world went hungry, simply because land resources would be better used to produce plant foods. That alone should prompt everyone on the face of the earth to consume at least 10% less animal foods and add to their base of plant foods.

Small amounts of animal products, less than 10%, are usually fine (check with your health care practitioner) when your diet is 90% Nutrient Rich whole foods based in greens, beans, fruits, raw nuts and seeds and whole grains.

Even DrFuhrman is on board with this formula and he’s the leading advocate for nutritional excellence in the world!

So why aren’t we fighting a battle we can win? Why don’t we send a message that people can digest, and take to new levels of success!

Suggesting that we eliminate the meat industry is not the way!

Remember, as Dr Campbell also said, (and I paraphrase) “the transition to a plant based diet does not and is not going to happen overnight”, but suggesting that we damn the meat industry isn’t making the right argument. Those people are putting kids through school too, and they are friends, so the mere suggestion is going to cause ridicule.

Its the economy stupid! ~Al Gore.

Clearly most of the CNN panel, were making their living from vested interests in nutrient poor nutrition (the nutritionist), production of animal foods (the pundit), the preparation of “great tasting” animal foods (the chef), or was not yet educated enough to make a stronger argument (the newbie vegetarian).

If there had been a hospital industry rep on the panel, they would have been promoting the American Heart Associations recommendations – consume  only 30% of calories from fat (animal fat), because their philosophy is also based on nutrient poor nutrition which inevitably and predictably fills hospital beds because it basically promotes a meat based diet.

If there had been a representative from the Dole company they would have been promoting fruits and vegetables, and staid out of the argument. After all they source most of the nutrient rich foods we eat.

Only those people who are truly advocates for health and are progressive in learning nutrient rich nutrition are going to be fully on board with a plant based diet; but for the sake of success, we need to get our definition straight on what it means to being eating “Plant Based” and make the process consumable.

We need to be eating a plant based diet with a goal of at least 80-90% or more nutrient rich foods. You can take it as far as you want, but this objective would truly change the health of the world and everyone in it!

I think we need to stop making the wrong argument, and start sending the message to eat more nutrient rich foods every day and then explain why. The China Study supports what basic nutrient profiles show us and that is -  it’s not how much we eat, but the qualities of the foods we eat that makes the difference.

We also need need to get aware that there are health promoting forms of protein (plant based) and those that you can survive on and also enjoy, that also happen to promote disease – protein from a meat based diet.

A 90% nutrient rich plant-based diet with smaller amounts of nutrient poor animal products (if you eat them) and even smaller amounts of nutrient barren refined foods (if you eat them at all),  is the ideal way to look at the argument.

But we don’t have to say, don’t eat animal products or refined books. At the end of the day, that’s up to people themselves. After all, people are going to do what they choose to.

Let me know your thoughts.

John Allen Mollenhauer

Real health reform is not about your prescription drug plan, it’s about your lifestyle – how you think and live.

Now as someone who lives a PerformanceLifestyle, I am very aware of the various aspects of a balanced and healthy lifestyle and how to apply the various skills needed to stay that way in the relentlessly demanding culture we live in to function and perform “well”. I know how to achieve my goals without trading my health for it as so many people do.

As big part of a PerformanceLifestyle is a plant-based nutrient rich diet; but PerformanceLifestyle is not what this article is about.

This post is about people who have not made the connection between their lifestyle and whether or not they achieve their goals in life in a balanced and healthy way. It’s about people who are caught up in an entirely different conversation of prescription drugs, medicine, and the inevitability of diseases such as diabetes mellitus.

The reason why they are caught up in that conversation is simple; they have no idea that they have significant control of their own health and are towing the country line that says one out of two will diet of cancer, heart disease and diseases like diabetes mellitus because they haven’t yet discovered the power of a plant based diet; just one aspect of a PerformanceLifestyle, albeit one that can dramatically improve your health!

Of course they are also eating a nutrient barren diet filled with refined foods, rich in refined sugar.

I was reading the web this morning and found an article on the Huffington Post called “A Solution for Diabetes: A Plant Based Diet – an article which 5 years ago, or so you would have never scene in the mainstream media, but now, since we are steeped in a discussion of health reform, you are seeing it.

In my opinion, this article is about real health reform and can get you started on the path to not only getting free of diseases such a diabetes mellitus, but creating a lifestyle that delivers a quality of life few experience.

A plant based diet is exactly that; a diet based in plant foods. It may not be 100% food from plants, but the majority of the diet is from nutrient rich foods such as vegetables, fruits, beans, raw nuts and seeds and whole grains and or the endless stream of meals and menus that can be created by the hundreds of foods in these first class food categories.

Here’s and excerpt from the article.

NB: Yes. When people begin a healthful diet, most see big improvements in weight, cholesterol, and their blood sugar. Their need for medications diminishes, and some may not need medications at all. In some cases, you would never know they had had diabetes. However, I caution people not to simply throw their medications away. They need to speak with their doctors so they can alter their medication regimens only when and if it is appropriate.

Let me describe a case: A man named Vance joined our study. His father was dead by age 30, and Vance was 31 when he was diagnosed with diabetes. As our study began, he started a low-fat, vegan diet and gradually lost about 60 pounds over a year’s time. His blood sugar control returned to normal, and his doctor discontinued his medications. Imagine what it feels like to see family members assaulted by this disease, but then to realize that you have effectively tackled it by making healthful adjustments to your diet.

Continue reading…

Read this article; one of the most influential reasons why people start to change their lifestyle is they no longer want to experience diseases of lifestyle like diabetes mellitus and this ends up leading them to  the healthiest lifestyle in the world.

The road often begins with a plant-based nutrient rich diet!

John Allen Mollenhauer

This is the wrong interpretation of a Nutrient Dense or “rich” diet.

A few months back I was debating a student of mine in PerformanceLifestyle training on the concept of whether or not, one diet was right for everyone. Many times a “Nutrient Rich diet” is confused for being a specific diet that everyone must follow, when it’s not.

My debate companion (as opposed to an opponent) is a very open-minded individual and stated that “we have more in common than not”, I agree with him. But I feel he has been hooked on the idea that eating Nutrient Rich is a one-diet-fit’s-all way to eat, meanwhile, nothing could be further from the truth.

I and those I collaborate with have an intention as thought leaders around this idea of eating Nutrient Rich and that is to help people eat the best quality diet possible improve their health, and live at or near their ideal weight free of disease.

Towards that end, we objectively review the literature, test, corroborate, read, and come to sound conclusions. We are heavily influenced by, but not limited too, the work and practice of Joel Fuhrman MD whom I worked for and am a protege of, The China Study (the most comprehensive study of nutrition ever conducted, and factor in broader interests as well, such as what’s best too, for the environment…

We are open minded, we are members of the National Health Association, and frankly if there was a better way to eat, we would find it and will find it if it’s out there.

To our benefit, we are backed by the principles of Nutrient Density, and a world wide movement towards Nutrient Rich eating, which includes the development of the Nutrient Rich food coalition formed by both animal and plant food producers around an idea who’s time has come, the basic science of nutrient profiling and assessing food quality to determine the best foods to eat.

But nutritional value doesn’t always determine the way someone eats; biases, desires, unnatural influences, modern day story and marketing, convenience, addiction, detoxification, culture, tradition etc, affect what why and how we eat as well.

So Nutrient Rich is a quality standard, not a specific diet per say, like vegan or vegetarian or carnivorous etc, and especially not an “eat less” or restricted diet. It’s an intelligent mindset and approach to eating. Matter of fact the only golden rule is that you can eat whatever you want. If you break this rule, you are dieting and that mindset does not promote well being.

A Nutrient Rich diet is generally a plant “based” diet. What this means, is that your diet is at least 90% or more, derived from plant food categories – vegetables, fruits, beans, raw nuts and seed, whole grains…

Why?

You’ll see below, but simply put, these are the most Nutrient Rich foods. As part of an successful lifestyle, when people eat these foods they tend to thrive.

But still, uniquely we don’t dictate specifically how people eat, we simply inspire, educate and support people to eat better, to go from a nutrient poor diet style to a Nutrient Rich diet style that promotes health, the ability to function and perform better, and success, including natural weight loss.

Simply put, eating a Nutrient Rich diet, does not mean you don’t or can’t eat any animal products; as there are many animal foods that are rich in some nutrients and they can be eaten in small quantities without a significant health or environmental effect; but there are reasons why there is so much resistance to animal product consumption.

So we don’t promote animal product consumption as necessary for nutritional reasons, because nutritionally speaking, they are not required for healthy development and they contain substances our body does not need. – See the Food Class System for a complete understanding of the nutrient profiles of foods.

My debate companion comes from another school of thought, influenced by the Weston Price “wise or nourishing” traditions movement in our society that is the “other camp”, who believes that an animal product based diet versus a plant based diet is the healthiest diet around.

Of course, plant vs animal is the big nutritional debate. It’s one that I have tried to steer clear of as I don’t see it as clear cut as that, but if I were to take a side, it would be hands down, plant-based, which is not only about your health first and foremost, living at or near your ideal weight; it’s also healthy for the planet.

Now, having been around a while, I’ve been privy to the low-carb, high animal protein regimen for weight management for a long time, heck, I used to be a bodybuilder who lived by this mantra, but that’s not what this movement is talking about.

Weston Price devotees are promoting an animal products based diet as the healthiest diet and using the research of a dentist (Weston Price) and stated with no derogatory inflection, who states that squatted faces and straight teeth are the hall mark of healthy meat-eating people (major generalization), whereas the elongated faces of vegans and vegetarians who have bad teeth (another major generalization) are the hall mark of eating an unhealthy diet, “loaded with sugar”… as if either were a true premise for either camp.

Now before I go on, let me be clear – a Nutrient Rich diet, does not need to be vegan diet or a vegetarian diet, although a Nutrient Rich diet has more “in common” with a vegan diet than any other because the most nutrient rich foods come from plants..

As a matter of fact, all nutrients come from plants with the exception of b-12, which comes from the small insects and bacteria that are on plants as they grow.

While I am not a vegan per say, I eat a diet that’s probably 95% or more plant-based and most of the time (not all) raw, simply on the basis that I, like millions of others, like to eat the most nutrient rich foods determined by their nutrient profiles and the state in which you eat them, not guesswork or idealism and it’s convenient!

From time to time I will eat some animal products for one reason or another… but why, is another post.

Note: I am not a raw foodist so to speak, or any other but we support such perspectives as they all have value, including the perspective that some people want to consume and consume more animal products than others. You can eat what ever you want.

We I and my team are most concerned with is promoting, all things considered, the best definition for eating Nutrient Rich, and then let people make decisions for what they will eat, who they will follow, what they want their regimens and ways of life to be. At the end of the day, we don’t dictate that. It’s your lifestyle and you are responsible for it.

So, recently, I went to a Weston Price Foundation-based presentation, by a promoter of a diet “the Liberation Diet“, inspired by the Weston Price “wise traditions” philosophy that my debate opponent was defending; defending as a “nutrient dense” diet. Note: I realize that this particular diet promoter, may or may not be extreme and of course, he is not Weston Price and may have his own skews.

What I discovered was one of the most porous arguments I have ever heard. Aside from the fact that they were selling nutrient rich supplements, Mangosteen and other mineral drinks along side the nutrient poor diet they were promoting, I have never been presented with a more un-appealing diet in my life.

Mind you, I happen to like many animal foods, but this just didn’t seem right; even as a layman this might seem a little off base.

Let me know what you think.

– 80% fat
– butter, as much as you want to eat
– lard
– pig fat,
– duck
– goat
– cheese
– insects,
– pickled foods
– organ meets, particularly liver,
– steak,
– raw milk
– eggs
– small amounts of vegetables and
– even smaller amounts (at the top of the pyramid) of seasonal fruits. “according to the Liberation diet, they have to much sugar).
- No refined food, other than process bread, home made.

The argument was that these foods are high in vitamin A, D and “activator x) vitamin K. Just 3 of the 4 vitamins and minerals (only two of the roughly 10 categories of nutrients) and that’s where the argument stood. These foods are rich in some nutrients, even more than was accentuated, but still animal products are nutrient poor foods as a whole for 3 reasons:

1) The quality of the nutrients and their effects (i.e animal protein) are cancer promoting – ref The China Study…
2) These foods are missing whole categories of nutrients, in particular phytochemicals, hence the need for supplementation.
3) These foods contain substances our body doesn’t need from dietary sources – saturated fat, cholesterol etc..

This gentleman, who is the owner of www.VisionaryTrainers.com and a registered dietitian, had some really good things to say and was very respectable – the whole story about how Crisco was inspired by the creation of Edison’s light bulb because there was no longer a need to rely on candles (made from lard) for light, which gave way to hydrogenation and the creation of trans fat as “a healthier fat” when compared to animal fat (stated at that time), which of course inspired the refined rood revolution and increased hard attacks… is not in debate.

I know long sentence.

But to think that the rise in heart attacks, diabetes and obesity… is only about eating too much trans fat, is just short sighted.

What knocked me off my chair was this; the argument was, there were no heart attacks before 1901 and people were eating the “wise tradition” of meats and butter etc (see dietary recommendations above), before heart attacks began to rise; so therefore in short, we should not only return to eating those foods, but they should be 80-90% of our diet.

The more the better!

Does anyone else think this is crazy?
80% fat?

Well, I think it is crazy, the nutrient profiles of foods say it’s crazy, years of reflection after Robert Atkins died of his own diet say it’s crazy, objective science says it’s crazy, even marketing says it’s crazy!

When’s the last time you saw an advertisement promoting “nutrients” that had “liver” as a promotional photo??

I am reading more from those who promote high fat diets to become even more versed in this, and to be able to articulate why some people who eat these diets may see health improvements, but there are just too many arguments against such a diet that do not support it’s sensibility. Nonetheless, I will learn more as I eat Nutrient Rich clean foods.

As I listened to this presentation, I was surrounded by the same group of people I remember seeing at Atkins events years ago (I used to attend for insight into that trend)… overweight people who are being misled by other overweight people who have good intentions but seemingly need to open their minds and understand more than weight management and observational science, and the nutrient poor model of nutrition.

A Nutrient Rich Diet, is a predominantly plant based diet. You can take it as far as you want and become a vegan, but you don’t have too. That’s entirely up to you.

Once you understand the nutritional qualities of foods and the practical influences on living healthy in todays day and age, factor in good science, and use your common sense, most people arrive at eating a diet that is at least 90% plant based or more.

When you focus on eating better, not less, you enter into the realm of not only having a healthier body, but a healthier mindset that’s good for you and the planet (another post). You also learn how to lose weight the Nutrient Rich way.

So be very careful about the story you buy into. This article does not provide sufficient data for you to know 100% or not it’s truth, so, I would suggest you begin reading this site, and other sites such as www.diseaseproof.com and like me, get educated on both sides of fence, that way you can come to your own conclusion.

At NutrientRich.com we are more interested in debate and seeking best practices, than dictating how a person individually eats. Part of the fun is the learning and discovery process. But in the end we are for defining and eating the most Nutrient Rich diets possible, the results of such a diet are usually great!

~ John Allen Mollenhauer

Many people believe any excess weight gained will be composed of fat created by eating too many calories and this is often true. But in fact, all weight gains are comprised of 3 components, fat, water and lean muscle weight and the factors leading to increased fat and water weight in particular (even lean muscle gain) vary.

As weight is gained all 3 components vary according to several factors; the most common include genetics, the personal energy level, diet quality and activity level, and environment.

If a persona has a predisposition to gain weight relatively easily, their personal energy is low (burn out), food energy intake is too high, physical activity is low and the time its taken to gain weight is over a longer term, as much as 90% of the excess weight will be made up of mostly extra fat stores. However, a small percentage of any gain will comprise lean weight and water.

When weight gain is short term, all other lifestyle factors aside; it’s not just the food, it is the affect of the food that really makes the difference. This is a major diet trap.

For example, a gain in water weight is often due to an increased daily sodium intake.

Sodium in the body is mainly found in the fluids that surround the body’s cells, such as the blood and lymph fluid. When sodium intake exceeds the amount the body can handle it builds up within the interstitial areas and the kidneys have to work extra hard to excrete a constant rise in daily sodium intake. A build up may cause the body to hold extra fluids in the blood and around the cells which contributes to increased blood pressure and also excess weight gain from water.
Daily sodium intake will always be high in the standard western diet.

The average diet in the western world is commonly made up of fast, packaged or convenient foods with long shelf life due in part to preservation affects of sodium. These typically nutrient poor foods, typically again, consist of high levels of salt and salt contains sodium. If a diet is mainly composed of high sodium foods then naturally the sodium intake also rises thus extra weight is gained quickly as the body holds onto water. It has been estimated that many people in the UK and USA may be carrying up to 5 pounds of extra weight due to the effects of a high sodium intake.

The opposite effect also happens when an individual reduces food intake in order to lose weight quickly. A percentage of the loss will be water because a reduction in high sodium foods means a reduction in daily sodium intake which results in water loss as the kidneys have a chance to finally rid the excess sodium from the body. This also helps partly explain why a dieter may experience the yo-yo effect when dieting, water weight is lost with food reduction or a temporary change in food quality, but quickly regains the weight when old eating habits are back to normal and daily sodium intake rises once more.

Here’s the reality.

Just because you eat a food that has 200 calories for example, does not mean if you were overeating, you would gain .057 lbs of weight – 200/3500 calories (the amount of calories in a pound).

If that food is very high in sodium, and depending on how your body reacts, you could gain many pounds as your body holds excess water to keep the excess sodium away from negatively affecting the function of the cells. This throws many people off, particularly those who eat packaged diet foods, or unknowingly eat less of foods that are very high in sodium.

According to Joe Fuhrman M.D. we don’t need more than 1000 mg of sodium per day, (which would probably increase if you were an athlete); basically, the amount of sodium you would get eating a 2000 calorie nutrient rich diet, full of nutrient rich foods that have natural sodium levels approx, 1/2 mg per calorie.

If you are eating a nutrient poor diet, and not eating for health, it’s not uncommon to be eating foods that take your sodium intake upwards of 2000 – 3000 – 5000mg of sodium and that’s is a formula for major weight gain, even if the excess calorie intake does not equal the amount of pounds gained.

It’s not just the food and its calories, it’s the quality of the food and it’s affects on the function and performance of your body, that often determines weight gain and of course, your health.