In this edition of Biohacking Weekly:
1. Sleep optimization hacks from Bryan Johnson
2. Physical exercise and a keto diet will increase muscle mitochondria
3. Dr Rhonda Patrick: All centenarians have one thing in common: low inflammation
4. A new medication may help beat the obesity epidemic
5. Berberine - Ayurvedic medicine with an antidiabetic effect
Low-carbohydrate and high-fat (LCHF) diets are increasing in popularity as new research continues to emerge disproving the the merits of the low-fat dogma that has shaped Australian dietary guidelines and those of most of the western world since the 1960s. The counterargument has been packaged in various forms like paleo, primal, ancestral and keto. As we rediscover these traditional ideas of food consumption, so too are we seeing the resurgence of a healthy population.
The ketogenic diet is a low-carbohydrate, high-fat, adequate protein diet. This dietary pattern changes the way our body produces energy – its basic principle is to get your body into a metabolic state known as ketosis where carbohydrate stores are depleted and fat becomes the main energy source. The name ketosis comes from the molecules that the liver starts to produce from fat to be used as fuel - ketone bodies or ketones.
Ketone-fuelling has become a lifestyle approach of choice because it allows fast weight loss with no harm to physical or mental performance and resistance. In fact, an effective transition to ketosis may actually improve these outcomes.
On a regular or high-carbohydrate diet, our body is in a state optimized for the use of dietary carbohydrates. But in a continuous state of carbohydrate restriction, the body puts its plan B in motion, switching gears such as to become more efficient at using fat as the main energy source. Ketosis boosts the body's capacity to use fats as fuel.
Back in April 2012 I was on the tail end of a debaucherous Fiji holiday (which was precluded by a stressful time at work so I hadn’t been taking v. good care of myself in the weeks leading up to it either - it happens from time to time!), being a fairly impatient person I felt like I needed a bit of a jump start to get back into the swing of things. Enter the Bulletproof Diet “Rapid Fat Loss Protocol”…
Feeling fairly stress free on the tail end of the holiday the idea was to use the RFLP as a way to jumpstart my way back into a healthy physical state. The diet is basically a cyclic ketogenic diet with some systems thinking put into supplementation and food quality to ensure that it isn’t unnecessarily stressful on your body and also to address vitamin/mineral deficiencies that appear when you limit your diet to butter coffee and MCT oil.
