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Medicine emphasizes that we have been a nomadic and collecting society from our earliest dawn as human beings; It even goes so far as to say that two centuries ago we had better health because we were a sedentary society since we worked the land.

However, before entering the complicated world of biochemistry and why it is not biologically possible to obtain greater health by physically destroying ourselves in a gymnasium, let’s do a simple analysis. What jungle animal does physical exercise for simple pleasure ?. A tiger has never been seen training in the jungle to be fit for the next day’s hunting. In reality, every animal, including the human being, moves only for reasons of survival, that is to say: to look for food and with great intelligence, for mating and to escape its predators or dangers. Outside of these survival reasons, the animal is at rest almost all the time.

If we analyze this in a little more depth, we must focus on the only organelle the mitochondria (eg component of a cell), which allows transforming potential energy sources into kinetic energy (ie movement) especially in muscle tissue, a change that must occur in seconds during a physical effort.

In general, the energy required to carry out all the activities of our body is derived from the breakdown of the single-molecule phosphate bonds, ATP or adenosine tri-phosphate, graphed as follows.

•    Adenosina        PO3          PO3          PO3   (Adenosin Tri-Fosfato)

In activity the body can transform ATP into ADP or adenosine di-phosphate and even AMP or adenosine monophosphate.

•   Adenosina        PO3          PO3        (Adenosin Di-fosfato)
•   Adenosina        PO3         (Adenosin Mono-Fosfato)

With each breakdown of the phosphate radical, 7300 calories of energy are obtained to provoke the contractile activity of the muscle tissue, giving maximum muscle strength for a period of only 3 seconds, in the athlete entering well. In other words, this energy is enough to run 50 meters.

However, within the mitochondria that are a special part of muscle tissue, their predilection for obtaining rapid energy is the Phosgene Energy System; They extract energy by breaking a molecule called phosphocreatine and breaking it down into creatine and phosphate. This mechanism makes available 10,300 cal / mol which can be translated as a high number, but in reality this value implies a muscular contractile force for a maximum of 8-10 seconds, enough to run 100 meters in a trained person.  

As if this were not enough, once the phosgene system is depleted, the muscle can extract even more energy from its own reserves of glucose in the form of glycogen; This process is known as glycolysis and in muscle tissue it occurs without the need for oxygen or in anaerobic conditions.

Normally during glycolysis one glucose molecule breaks down to form two pyruvic acid molecules that will give rise to four (4) ATP molecules. When there is no oxygen, such as at the time of exercise where energy is immediately required, pyruvic acid is converted into lactic acid (which by the way is toxic and very painful) which diffuses into the surrounding tissue of the muscle cell. Lactic acid forms 2.5 times more ATP and in half the time than the phosgene system giving rise to 1.3 to 1.6 minutes of maximum muscular activity but with less force, that is, enough force to run 500 meters.

To recap, the energy for exercise in a trained athlete is obtained as follows:

• Basic break of the ATP 3 seconds (50 mts of race)
• Phosgene System 8-10 seconds (100 mts of race)
• Glycogen / Lactic Acid 1.3 – 1.6 minutes (500 mts of running)

With this basic understanding of energy transformation, it would be foolish to ask a person to make physical efforts of 30 minutes or worse, of an hour or more. The muscle only has enough energy to safeguard life, that is, enough to run away and escape the attack of a predator. So how is it possible that there are athletes who run for hours, even days without dying in the attempt? To explain this interesting modern activity, which has no place in the animal instinct (eg only the human being moves without having to), the books of physiology are based on indicating that during a sustained physical effort (ie they do not refer to what amount of time ) The body uses potential energy reserves in the form of fat collected in fatty or fatty tissue.

Until now this explanation can be obtained from any physiology book, and yet so far no medical student loses his sanity when he should. Imagine that we only have energy for 1.6 minutes maximum and this only in the trained athlete. Knowing this, it would be impossible and inhumane to ask a patient to make physical efforts of 30 minutes or even an hour. So why does the doctor continue to indicate sport to his patients? The answer is simple, because physiology books say that once these energy systems are depleted, the body will automatically begin to use the potential energy stored within of fatty tissue or fatty tissue. All this says the physiology texts, using fatty acids.

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A few days ago the World Health Organization, based on an analysis carried out by its affiliate, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), declared that the consumption of processed meats causes cancer and that meats Red may increase the risk of cancer.

This statement is made based on a review of 700 scientific works carried out by 22 experts in 10 countries, in which it is indicated that there is sufficient evidence to include processed meats in the group of “Carcinogens for the Human Being”, but highlights that there is insufficient evidence to conclude that red meat (eg beef, veal, lamb, horse or goat) is cancer causing, and as such this organism places red meat within the classification “Probably Carcinogenic to humans ” However, IARC Director Christopher Wild is cautious in admitting that red meat has very important nutritional value.

CNN

http://cnnespanol.cnn.com/2015/10/26/oms-la-carne-procesada-puede-causar-cancer-la-carne-roja-tambien-puede-contribuir/

In view of the confusion these claims have caused in our patients, many have asked if they are doing right or wrong, consuming red meat three or more times a week. Regarding this doubt, it is important to emphasize that the human being has been a scavenger carnivore for 2 million years ago, and it was thanks to his ability to consume meat that he managed to improve his brain development and gain dominance in all ecological niches.

In order to keep our brain active, it is necessary to consume a diet with high food quality, that is, it is easily digestible and provides the greatest amount of nutrients. This is only possible through the consumption of meat, such that, with just grams of meat, we can supply our protein, calorie, vitamin and mineral requirements, while if we were herbivores we would need kilos of food to equal the meat. Of course, to achieve this, we developed various adaptation systems for meat consumption, such as: neoglycogenesis, which explains the manufacture of glucose from amino acids, the low presence of vitamin B12 and vitamin A, the difficult manufacture of which is easily supplied by consuming meats, taurine, which is an amino acid very necessary for cellular nutrition and which is also obtained by ingesting meat products, like polyunsaturated fatty acids, leaving iron as the most important point, for this mineral there are specific receptors within our intestines that allow us to absorb it only from our daily diet.

While most products of animal origin, we can provide acids, amino vitamins and minerals, only red meat can give iron intake that is so necessary for growth, cell survival and repair. The increased availability of iron is found in red meat, as the molecular size is much more apt to be absorbed by our intestine, while vegetables and certain grains, the iron content is many times greater than in red meat but its bioavailability is lower, given that the molecules surrounding it are very complex, and as such unrecognizable to our intestinal receptors. On the other hand here’s an interesting fact, cell division requires an adequate source of iron, so that this is carried out with perfection required. If the iron source of a person is suitable, its cells divide and repair optimally, but when iron sources are scarce, the cells may proceed with a partial repair which may deviate and lead to cancer.

Among the recommendations to prevent the progression of a tumor are to completely avoid the consumption of red meat, given that since iron is very necessary for cell division, a cancer cell that is in full development tends to assimilate iron from the diet very greedily and therefore grows. However, by asking the patient not to consume red meat, we also prevent his defense systems, which are also dependent on iron, from eliminating this tumor, and it inevitably grows. The adequate consumption of iron depends not only on the appearance or not of a tumor, but since it is an essential mineral in cell development, it is required in adequate quantity for the brain and body growth of every individual.

As you can see, opting for a diet free of red meat leads to a serious nutritional deficit, which will cause major problems in a person’s health. On the other hand, with regard to processed meats, it has been known for many years that nitrosamine compounds from artificial nitrates and nitrites present in preservatives are cancer-causing.

Nitrosamines are formed when nitrites and amines react with each other in an acidic medium and when these two compounds are subjected to high temperatures, that is, when the preservatives of the sausages that contain nitrites bind to the proteins of the sausage, these to Coming into contact with stomach acid, they cause a chemical reaction that releases a free radical and water.

A wide variety of cancers, caused by nitrosamines, have been found in animals, but in humans, nitrosamines have so far been linked only to gastric cancer.

Knowing then the damage caused by nitrosamines, it is also important to emphasize that any type of health damage is also linked to the dose of nitrosamines consumed in the diet, and as such, detractors of the WHO recommendations have reiterated that in countries where the consumption of processed meats is high, (eg 8 ounces daily) do not have a higher incidence of cancer than the world population.

As a conclusion then, although it is essential to maintain a minimum consumption of 4 ounces of beef three times a week, in order to maintain a proper and optimal cell division, processed meats, as they contain artificial nitrous products, should be consumed in moderation.

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In my practice I view metabolism from a physiological point of view, where there is a need to explain about the “the euthyroid sick syndrome” which gets very little attention in regular medicine.   This syndrome results in the slowing down of our metabolism, and not necessarily due to strenuous factors like intubation or severe burns, but rather, as a simple mechanism of energy saving, produced when we do not eat properly or enough, to satisfy our metabolic needs.

Nowadays the health disorder known as hypothyroidism has become so common that we pay very little attention to it when it happens, and it happens to most of us just as soon as our gut beings to age.  This of course is not coincidence,  in simple terms,  if the amount of nutrients in our food diminishes, and therefore there is not enough food to sustain all of our cellular processes, then it is necessary for our bodies to slow down and function with what little nutrients we can get from our environment, to carry out the least amount of cellular activity possible.

However, it would be very hard for our body to use the thyroid gland to slow down our metabolism, especially when this gland is not a stress gland.  The thyroid gland makes only two types of hormones known as tetraiodothyronine and triiodo thyronine, also known as T4 and T3 respectively.   Hormone T3 activates metabolism, whereas T4 is only a reservoir for making T3 when metabolic activation is required.   

When at any time in our lives a state of cellular hunger occurs, especially when there is a lack of appropriate nutrients, hormone T3 is taken up by our organs and changed to a reversed form of the hormone known as inverse T3 or T3R.  Inverse T3 cannot activate metabolism, in fact it causes nothing and its lack of action causes reduced metabolism.  This in turn is a defense mechanism which forces our bodies, depleted of nutrients, to go into rest avoiding the use of unnecessary energy expenditure.

This change in hormone T3 into T3R, would cause minimal damage if we were to only understand that in the process of aging, our metabolism is bound to slow down, and we should also slow down as well.  The problem however is that this syndrome starts when we are in the peak of our youth, when we are roughly 30 years old.  At this age is when most people being to gain weight or start to present illnesses that tend to disappear for a short while, only to come back again in the form of disease.

Treating slow metabolism requires the understating that nutrition and lifestyle changes are paramount to keep this mechanism of defense at bay.  Therefore our approach is not to treat the thyroid gland, but to treat the malnourishment while creating an environment that will cause the least amount of energy expenditure in the individual,  giving as a result better quality of life and longevity.

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Protein sources. Meat, fish, eggs, cheese, milk, nuts, greens oil beans and lentils Top view on dark stone table

The formation of tissues, organs and their adequate cellular interactions require the interchange between molecules, and for this to happen the atoms making up those molecules come from unbalanced charges.  Thus an atom binds to another depending on what electrons they need to become balanced, and in doing this, they form molecules.   But when it comes to food, the moment we exposed food to heat, we are balancing those molecules, impeding any more atomic interactions, so the question we should ask is why if we need unbalanced or live molecules, do we have to cook our meals?  Aren´t we the only mammals in the entire animal kingdom who needs to cook and prepare their meals before eating them?  And the answer is obviously yes! We are the only mammal who cooks, mainly because we have a very small gut, only 20cms of our entire gut were designed to carry out 90% of nutrient assimilation. And this has been happening since approximately 6 millions years ago, when we became a homo sapiens sapiens, and our survival on this planet depended on the outstanding performance of our brain rather than our muscle. Most of the energy found in the food that we eat is in its majority destined to feed our brain.  When we are very young about 65% of all our food is destined for our brain maturation, neuron formation and connections, and when we age about 40% of all our food is still destined to feed our brains.   In all other mammals this is quite the opposite; their digestive system takes up most of their food´s energy.  And their entire digestive tract also can assimilate nutrients.

Under these interesting circumstances, cooking does not represent a major problem to our nutritional needs until our gut ages,  and this usually occurs at around the age of 30.   This is why when we are young we can eat anything we please in whichever form that we please and we don´t seem to get any problems.  But when we being to age, the same foods do not satisfy our nutritional needs and we being to see a decline in our health. 

A good an balanced diet, composed of all meats, fruits, vegetables and cereals as we saw earlier is not enough, and it is the cause of many of the health problems experienced by the majority of young adults, which include overweight, diabetes and hypertension to mention the most common.  This is something I often observe in my patients, who come to see me usually after trying diets, exercise and medication which only relives some of their symptoms but fail to help them regain their quality of life. 

Regaining health can sometimes be as easy as changing some unhealthy lifestyles, reducing a person´s oxidative stress or cellular death, and complementing their diets with nutritious food, which in my practice is achieved by the consumption of foods made from organic cereals.   These foods are made from a mixture of high quality grains, cultivated under organic farming, without GMO´s and the most important part, the nutrients in those foods are complementary, there is no competition.   When lifestyle changes and these foods are added to my patients diet, along with a well balanced meals based on meats, vegetables and fruits, is when my patients being to see changes in their weight and in their health, which in most cases allows for the removal of some or all of the medication they may be taken, of course all of this is carried out through proper medical care and follow up.  These complementary foods are known by the names of Alen® and Eveliza®, and though Alen® can be consumed by most people,  I have seen most beneficial results in patients with chronic disorders when medical care is applied, and when Eveliza® a medical grade food is used.

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A “lifestyle” is nothing more than how a person or a group of people live, but when we talk about desirable lifestyles for a healthy life, then there is the need to turn to conceptual medicine and view our health not as a gift, but rather as a responsibility where keeping our health in its best possible state, requires learning what could hinder it and what could keep it healthy, so that we can enjoy a happy and long life.

A healthy lifestyle is defined by behaviors that will counteract cellular hunger; keeping in mind that if we want to keep our bodies well nourished we must eat nutritious foods.  And in order to do this we must refrain from eating two types of common foods, which prevent the assimilation of nutrients.  One to these is sugar, including all types of sugars (white, brown, molasses, honey, syrups and natural processed fruit sugars), and the other one is dairy.

We have a very small gut, sure it seems long enough for its 25ft length, but the only area where foods can be assimilated is found in its first portion measuring only 20cms known as the duodenum. Which can only assimilate very small size molecules (e.g. less than 5 molecular units).   This means that food has to be predigested before it is ingested.

Ever wonder why we are the only mammals who need to “cook” their meals?  Our stomach is too small to break down raw food, and in order to make nutrients obtainable, the cooking process allow human beings to break down big molecules into smaller ones, making the nutrients in those foods available to our gut for assimilation.

Nutrient assimilation does not happened in the way water gets absorbed into a sponge, in fact this requires enzymes or transporters, to guide them from the gut into the blood and into our liver.  These enzymes are very specific for fats, carbohydrates, proteins, vitamins and minerals.  These enzymes appear on the border or lumen of our guts, just as soon as food enters into it, and as the process of stomach emptying culminates, they become less available.

Sugar and all of its derivatives are made up of very small and simple molecules, which do not require stomach digestion, so as soon as they are ingested they will pass straight into our guts eliciting the appearance of digestive enzymes.   The presence of any food including sugar within the duodenum will cause the release of all digestive enzymes, even when we would only need the enzymes for carbohydrates.  Once sugar is assimilated all other enzymes will be reabsorbed into the gut´s lumen and by the time the contents which were held in the stomach were ready for release into the gut, they will encounter less amounts of all enzymes, decreasing the amount of essential factors that we could have assimilated had there been no sugar present, and as a result our cells would be deprived of repair material resulting in cellular hunger.

With the consumption of dairy (e.g. all products derived from animal´s milk), we have another counterproductive reaction, which is called gut inflammation.  Proteins in dairy are very large and do not completely breakdown in our gut, some of these large proteins remain in our intestines unassimilated serving as food to our intestinal flora.  This causes gut flora to proliferate leading to inflammation.  An inflamed gut does a very poor job in nutrient assimilation, resulting again in cellular hunger.

If we persistently suffer from cellular hunger, our bodies will be unable to properly repair, and once we´ve reach our intestinal old age, and sadly this happens at around 30 years of age, the result could be the disaster physicians are encountering nowadays, young people which chronic illnesses.

The same can be said regarding strenuous exercise,  (read exercise post) which leads to muscle tissue inflammation and destruction; this practice exploited in the last century under the view of bettering health, does the opposite.  We are thermodynamic beings and just like all living things, we are constantly moving towards disorder, also known as aging.  Every day we grow older and this fact is undeniable and unstoppable, yet, we can control how fast or how slow we move towards our dead.   The more we use up our reserves the faster we will reach our state of equilibrium or dead, but if we are mindful in utilizing our reserves when we really need them, then we will reach our end at a slower pace and without much wear and tear, this translates into a healthier life.

The same is true for smoking and/or drinking, these two unhealthy habits only increase our wear and tear, and cellular destruction.

Lastly root canal treatments, they should not be done, any tooth that is broken or damaged beyond repair, should be removed, not kept in the person´s mouth.  Keeping it can have harmful results such as autoimmune reactions or bacterial leakage into other areas of the body that were not made to sustain such bacterial flora, leading in the long run in most patients, to suffer from a range of chronic complications that have nothing to do with their teeth, for example renal stones, gallstones and even cancers.

Through conceptual medicine, my aim is to help you understand why these simple changes are paramount to reach a healthy life, and why achieving good quality of life is attainable at any age, all it takes is learning and viewing certain aspects of our lives from a different perspective.

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