by Dr David Minkoff March 03, 2024 4 min read
Bulking and Cutting has been around for decades now.
We workout hard, we count our macros and eat and eat and eat, and build lots of muscle.
But at the same time that we’re building muscle, we also build body fat. And we build each at about the same rate, a pound of muscle for a pound of fat.
Then we do a cut, cutting back on our calories, and in some cases starving ourselves (which is never necessary).
And, of course, we do a lot of extra cardio — running, biking, sprints, etc. — all to lose that extra body fat we gained.
And hopefully we don’t lose too much of our muscle gains in the process.
Now, I have no problem if someone enjoys that. Many people do. But many others don’t.
And the thing is, this isn’t necessary.
At all.
by Dr David Minkoff February 25, 2024 7 min read
It hasn’t been understood by most people just how vital our gut health is to our heart health.
But in truth, it’s key. If our gut health is good, and our digestive tract working properly, the risk of poor heart health is much lower.
If our gut is in poor condition, however (heart burn or acid reflux often, bloating, pains, regular diarrhea, or worse), then this will, over time, lead to poor heart health.
But gut health among Americans has diminished drastically in recent times, worsening every year mainly due to our processed foods and sugars, and the 50x increase in toxins in our environment in the last 7 decades.
Now, younger and younger people every year are experiencing more and more gut issues which were rare even in older individuals in earlier generations.
This is something we need to address now, for each of us, to ensure a long and healthy life.
by Dr David Minkoff February 22, 2024 6 min read
Approximately 1.2 million Americans suffer a heart attack every year. That’s about 1 in 300.
But of those who die each year, about 50% of them have, but ignore, the warning signs that a heart attack may be coming.
In the last article we covered how cardiovascular disease, or heart disease, comes about in the first place.
In this article we go deeper into what happens here, what the aftermath is, what the warning signs are (which can be minutes, hours, days or even weeks beforehand), and what the best prevention is.
This is an important one.
by Dr David Minkoff February 20, 2024 8 min read
Cardiovascular Disease, or Heart Disease, is the number one cause of death not just in the US, but in the world.
And, despite spending more on medical treatment for this, per person, than any other country, the US has one of highest rates in the world, higher than most so-called developing countries that don’t have the same money to spend on medical treatment for it.
As of 2019, approximately 7,617 in 100,000 Americans had heart disease. And many more are on the path to it, with this number growing every year.
Compare that to the early 1900s when there was very little heart disease.
(This is actually a created problem, and we’ll get to that.)
But the saddest thing is that while it is, in most cases, preventable (even when we’ve already started on the path to it), the solutions provided only allow us to “manage it” or slow it to a degree. Not reverse or prevent it.
And they don’t even do that very well.
If we want to lower our risk of heart disease, then we need to know the exact factors that do cause it so we can prevent them.
And it starts inside our blood vessels, at a very thin mucous lining that runs all along the inside walls of these blood vessels, protecting them from harm.
by Dr David Minkoff February 18, 2024 7 min read
In the last article in the Heart Health Series we covered how consuming cholesterol is not actually the cause of heart disease.
And how lowering cholesterol levels with drugs, to lower high blood pressure, actually increases the risk of heart disease among those 60 and above.
But while the idea that cholesterol intake causes heart disease may be a myth, heart disease itself is quite real.
In this article we’ll dive more into this, covering what high blood pressure is, why and how it occurs, and what’s actually behind it.
by Dr David Minkoff February 15, 2024 6 min read
Before we cover what actually causes Heart disease, I want to cover something that doesn’t, or at least not in the way most people think: cholesterol.
You’ve probably heard of the Cholesterol Hypothesis.
This hypothesis states that higher levels of cholesterol, particularly LDL Cholesterol, are associated with higher rates of Heart Disease.
To prevent heart disease then, we take drugs known as statins that lower our liver’s ability to produce cholesterol.
This hypothesis has been so deeply ingrained in our understanding of how the body works, that the idea of challenging it is almost laughable. (Even though it’s still just a hypothesis after all this time.)
However, over the last decade, more and more scientists and doctors have been doing just that, and for one very glaring reason: there is no evidence to support the hypothesis.
Let's see what's happening here.
by Dr David Minkoff February 12, 2024 5 min read
Well done on completing the 30 Day Fat Loss Challenge!
This is no small achievement!
And while you may feel and look different on the outside... on the inside things are even more different.
We’ve balanced hormones and repaired or replaced trillions of cells.
We’ve removed fat not only from our fat cells, but from our blood vessels, where it can thicken our blood, causing more work for our heart.
We’ve removed fatty deposits from our organs such as our liver and kidney, where it can make them less efficient or prevent them from doing their job. (Not good.)
We’ve built lean muscle and, at least to a degree, changed our body form.
We’ve improved digestion and the microbiome, the most important gatekeepers for our overall health.
And we've set ourselves up, if we maintain our current lifestyle, for not only sustainable fat loss, but a long and healthy life.
In short… we’ve done a lot!
But what do we do now?
Are we done? Are we not done? Is there something else to help lose those last stubborn bits for the lean toned body we want?
Let's see.
by Dr David Minkoff February 11, 2024 4 min read
Welcome to the final week of the 30-Day Fat Loss Challenge!
During this challenge we’ve had our ups and downs as cravings came and went and hormones began to balance.
But by Week Four things have evened out or soon will.
Energy levels rise, mood may become more even, sleep becomes more restful, digestion improves, and overall health rises.
And, of course, we’ve lost a significant amount of body fat.
Make sure to take new measurements to compare to your original measurements!
As always, if you need any help, be sure to reach out in the VIP Group so we can answer any questions and assist however we can.
But I want to quickly cover what’s happening in this final week.
by Dr David Minkoff February 07, 2024 5 min read
There are two main things driving obesity rates in America today, the exact things which make it easy to gain body fat and hard to lose it: processed sugars… and soy- and corn-based processed foods and meats.
Each of these increase cortisol levels more than almost anything else in our diet, and each for their own reasons.
We’ve already covered processed sugars.
Now let’s cover processed foods.
The use of corn and soy in our diet, and the diets of our cows and chickens, has grown steadily over the last hundred years.
But in the last several decades its use skyrocketed. And this is one of the key factors behind obesity rates in America today.
Today about 80% of what our livestock is fed is soy and corn. And corn and soy are also used as a base for almost all processed foods.
But while they are high in carbohydrates, and that increases body fat creation, they’re also high in something else: Omega 6 fatty acids.
And high omega 6 levels lead to high cortisol levels. And that leads to high body fat creation, high stress levels, poor sleep and recovery, and a host of other physical conditions now prevalent in society today.
Let’s dig in and see how this works.
by Dr David Minkoff February 04, 2024 4 min read
As we near the end of the Fat Loss stage of this or any protocol, fat loss will slow.
We’re at or near our personal goal.
We might still have some extra fat, but it’s not coming off or it’s coming off very slowly — and frustratingly.
Also, we’re getting hungry. Not for sugar or junk food or more food when we’re already stuffed, but hunger as in our body needs more food.
At this point it’s counter-productive to carry on with Fat Loss, even if we have a bit more to lose.
Our hormones have re-balanced to the point that they’re functioning correctly.
Our cells have majorly restructured, cutting out their addiction to sugar, and becoming able to use fat and amino acids for energy more easily.
If this hadn’t happened, you wouldn’t have lost body fat.
But we’ve also built muscle, something that helped us with our fat loss and which is what will carry us over the finish line.
by Dr David Minkoff February 04, 2024 6 min read
Now we’re into Week Four of the 30-Day Fat Loss Challenge and we need to pull back for a moment and see where we're at.
For some, if there was significant insulin resistance to overcome, we may still be getting over the last of our cravings.
For others, we’re past that, but our hormones are still re-balancing.
In either of these cases we’re losing body fat the whole way, but we have more to go and we should continue.
But depending on how much body fat we had to lose at the start of this, some of us may have already achieved our goals... or at least, fat loss has slowed and hunger has returned.
And we need to know what to do when we hit this point, whether now, or a few weeks from now.
Because carrying on with the same macros after this point will cause us trouble.
by Dr David Minkoff February 01, 2024 6 min read
We covered cortisol, a hormone which, among other things, acts to break down our muscle, breaking down the proteins in it into amino acids, which are then converted to energy sources such as sugar.
At the same time, it holds onto body fat and acts to raise body fat levels, while also preventing protein synthesis for new muscle growth.
As the more muscle we have, the more fat burning takes place, anything which would prevent muscle creation hinders fat loss.
Even more, cortisol acts to lower key muscle building and fat loss hormones: testosterone (in men and women), Growth Hormone, and IGF.
And that can stop fat loss cold.
So let’s cover what those are and how to maximize their production and use within the body for best results.
by Dr. David Minkoff
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