Health Tips
by Robert Hedges ©

Robert's latest food recommendations | socially healthy AG attendance 1995 | | recent photos from UnivLou | appetite | setpoint | energy balance | starvation | calcium | sugar | carbohydrates | diet | exercise | aging | testasterone | Tgh some more | mitochondrion | fat & carbos | carbo-heart | protein | insulin | ATP | brown fat | water | cellulite | vitamins | Robert's milk consumption | Robert's meals | Ryan's Salads |
This chart will help you understand your metabolism.

ANABOLIC = POSITIVE NITROGEN BALANCE - GAINS
CATABOLIC = NEGATIVE NITROGEN BALANCE - LOSSES.
There is no rest- period, no treading water; the body either gains or loses.

Our body chooses a fat level it feels is optimum for us and works tirelessly to maintain that level. This is the setpoint. It is like a thermostat. Dieting which threatens this setpoint causes the "furnace" to flip on and try to maintain the temperature called for by the "thermostat".

The duration - amount of fat burner enzymes created, # of calories, and the level of fitness all controls the setpoint.
A high setpoint causes an overfat body, which evolutionarily engineered a genetically suitable individual for living in a severe famine enviornment.
A low setpoint indicates an evolutionarily engineered genetically physically fit, traveler, with a need for high mobility.
The parable of the wind and the sun exemplifies reducing the setpoint. Gentle pursuasion to remove fat works best.

The WRM becomes stingy whenever food intake is limited and fat stores are depleted. This is recognized as dangerous (evolutionarily) and the body is directed to change to conserve energy.
Energy conservation causes reduced muscle tissue. A high fat diet and refined sugar diet cause storage in anticipation of hard times ahead.
. . . many smaller meals let the body become sloppy rather than efficient, and therefore less fat is stored for a lean time. The precaution to store fat is an evolutionary survival technique. Alternating between several meals per day and few meals can confuse the storage tendancy and also allow reduced intake for weight loss. . . .cannot correlate on the destruction of or reduced production of new muscle fiber for growth. . . . .
Starvation causes food to be the most important element in your life. Within the the hypothalmus of the brain there are :

Dieting may suppress the metabolic rate up to 30%. On a starvation diet you will lose 40% of any weight loss from catabolized muscle mass. This reduces metabolism more, a vicious cycle. The hunger sensors signal if there is a drop in blood sugar.
Thermogenic beta-3 agonist - counteracts body tendancy to reduce metabolic rate during calorie restriction.

Bone growth continues until age 35. Calcium lowers cholesterol and prevents saturated fat absorption.
Calcium can kill brain cells because nerve signal occurs in calcium changes.
Carnitine is a natural fat-burner amino acid found in milk.
Calcium lowers cholesterol and prevents saturated fat absorption. 1500mg calcium per day is healthy for the spine.
Catabolism had consumed 17% of the calcium in the bones of a Cosmanaut after only 24 days in space. Only high-impact exercises would prevent this loss. Simply exercising hard would not prevent the calcium loss in weightless space.

Sugar.
Insulin shock is cured by sugar. Honey, sucrose, and fruit all arrest the stomach's ability to move it contents. Sugars are not digested in the mouth like cereals, or in the stomach like meat, but enter the small intestine quickly, unless mixed with other food. Sugar and simple carbos cause a letdown because. . . sugar requires insulin to be released by the pancreas and the body stops depending upon stored bodyfat for energy.
Sugar causes rapid fermentation of the meat and refined flour breads which stay in the stomach to be digested. The acid fermentation results in CO2, acetic acid, alcohol, and water. All these are poisons except water. Proteins taken with sugars putrify. They create ptomaines and leucomaines, which are unusable substances, poisons. Bacterial decomposition causes poisons rather than nutriments. Sugar effects females by encouraging menstrual cramps. carbos are alkaline
The brain is energized by carbos, conversely, and you will not be able to think at your best if you are carbo-starved, which can happen. A test for this carbo-starvation would be some carbo-fluid drink, which if it gives you a sudden clarity of thinking, like the cob-webs have been brushed away from your mind, will indicate you need more carbos more frequently. Beer is a fat-free (empty - no vitimin or mineral) carbohydrate. This carbo-need can result in sluggish thinking after a hard work-out. Remember, carbo-up before you resume class. . . .check the glycemic index. . an index under 50 on the scale of 1-100 is low, indicating complex carbos are needed. Hypoglycemia is a reduced blood glucose condition indicated by weakness, hunger, dizziness. - hypoglycemic response is low glycogen, shakes, weakness; - low carbos is ketosis, or characterized by the presence of ketone bodies, the products of incomplete metabolism of fat. . . also dehydration occurrs and the metabolism of protein begins.
Carbos are burned after a meal, and the more time which has elapsed after a meal, the more fat is burned . . . . however, weight lifting is fueled by glycogen, and the body will convert amino acids stored in the muscle into glucose in the liver if needed. . . .low calorie or low carbo meals may reduce glycogen, leading to muscle fiber being consumed. . . .you have a two hour window to replace carbos burned during a workout. . . enzymes are ready to replace glycogen. . . fat formation is unlikely, because glycogen formation is optimal.

Sugar & meat are digested in stomach, while cearls begin to be digested in the mouth and quickly pass into the small intestine. Stick to veggies, fruit, lien protein - egg whites, chicken breast, fish, 93% lien turkey burger. Eat with tiny bites. Drink gallons of water - begin each meal with a glass of H2O to reduce your appetite. Give up fat, dairy and bread for a few weeks, at least. Cut out the three whites , - salt, sugar and bleached flour. - give up anything carbonated and/or bubbly- no soft drinks, no Zima, no champagne, because carbonation promotes cellulite accumulation.

Remember that 3500 calories equals one pound, and you need to deprive yourself of 3500 calories before one pound will melt away.

. . . the body stores fat much easier than having to convert protein or carbos into fat for storage, so reduced fat intake will reduce the available fat to store. Fat burning requires carbos to take place.
lactic acid is the incomplete metabolite of glucose, and it is reconverted to glucose, using up energy in ther process.

insulin and cortisol are metabolized by exercise.
endorphines (morphines) are created by exercise.
We use 3500 calories (one pound of fat) in 11.5 hours of walking, which is 5 calories per minute.
Exercise is necessary to preserve muscle tissue during dieting.
Basal metabolism requires 1640 (male) calories per day as a repair expense when we remain in bed - or 1430 (female) . RMR - resting metabolic rate - accounts for 70% of daily energy expenditures. Moderate exercise raises the metabolic rate 3 to 8 times. The increased metabolic rate after exercise can increase calories burned from 15% - 50%. The hunger sensors signal if there is a drop in blood sugar [glucose]. An endurance athlete may burn 5000-6000 calories per day.
A slender 125 lb woman has roughly 19 lb fat on her body. . . 65,000 calories and about 1800 cal of carbos, which can be depleated in 2 hours of heavy exercise. Sprinting is a fat burner while running is not. Walking will burn fat because the oxygen and time is available to convert the stored energy to a useable form. For fat-reduction increase your metabolic rate by regular exercise.

During your 20s you reach your physical peak. Your measured mental skills reach their peak. Endurance peaks in the late twenties and is sustainable during the mid thirties, then deteriorates at about 1% per year after.

During your 40s you reach your real-life problem solving peak. Bladness (hydrotestasterone) begins to set in. Bone atrophy begins. Cancer is a 1:5000 chance. Strength peaks in the 40s then deteriorates even more slowly than endurance, 1% per yr. Coordination can be maintained at nearly 100% until 50, with a .4% annual decline.

During your 60s you arteries clog; your sex drive wanes; your hair color fades; there is a 70% chance that one mental ability has failed; and you have a 1:600 chance of having cancer.

During your 80s you have lost 25% of your muscle mass; you have arthritis; there is an 85% chance that one mental ability has failed and you have a 10% chance of having Parkinson's or Alzheimer's. You have a 1:250 chance of having colo-rectal cancer.

Increased TgH (testasterone growth hormone) will result in enhansed spatial intelligence, higher bone density, increased strength, better mood, higher libido, higher red blood count, lower cholesterol, and more HDLs rather than LDLs. Increased testasterone will cause skin to thicken; muscle mass will accumulate; fat deposits will dwindle or cease to increase in size. Anything you can do which naturally enhanses your TgH levels, (such as reading erotic literature and looking at erotic images) will make you healthier. Long live the Freedom on the Internet.

A rise in insulin can result in hypoglycemia, which induces TgH release. Acidic blood also induces gH release.
Cortisol is responsible for protein breakdown. Thus you try to avoid high levels of cortisol.
A significant increased exercise triggers production and release of more thyroid hormones. The thyroid wants replacement energy (food), and if no glycogen is available, the thyroid hormone output soon ceases.
T3 is tryodothyronine, and T4 is thyroxine. T3 is very potent, but is made in tiny quantities. Fat inhibits T3 & T4, while carbos and protein food types enhanse it.
T3 causes fatty acids to be released from cells. This allows fat to fuel the mitochondria. T3 raises BMR (basal metabolic rate) by increasing the number of mitochondria, and the ability of the mitochondria to burn calories.
T3 binds to genes in cell nucleii and increases protein synthesis of myosin, a major contractile protein. More muscle energy is available.

The pituitary produces ACTH. ACTH converts cholesterol into pregnevolone, the basic building-block of all natural steroid hormones. Thus cholesterol is reduced, and used in a constructive manner, in gH production.
When prolactin levels rise, TgH is directly reduced. Thus prolactin is undesirable.
When there is a pituitary defecit, then hypothalmic dopamine declines, then LHRH declines (lutenizing hormone releasing hormone) which reduces LH (lutenizing hormone) which results in a decline of TgH production by Leydig cells. The pineal produces LRH. A primary defecit of Leydig cells function causes all of the effects of reduced TgH.

The mitochondria are tiny engines which convert glucose to useable energy. They were originally independent organisms able to convert organic matter to energy without sunlight, as required in the photosynthetic plant process. The champion endurance animals (antelope) have very high numbers of mitochondria.
The original plant host cell was unable to digest some of the mitochondria, and these thrived in a symbiotic relationship as parasites in a much larger cell, thus creating the original animal cells. They became eukaryotes - cells w/ nucleas which had mitochondria.
The mitochondria create free radicals as a by-product of glycogen metabliosm. Beta carotin, and vitimins C & E fight the damage of free radicals.
. there can be noticed a 120% increase in mitochondria followed a 28 week fitness program . . . the higher the number and larger the size of mitochondria, the more the body will rely upon fat rather than carbos to supply energy to your muscles . . . the more easily your mitochondria get fuel [and oxygen via a higher density of capillaries] the more energetic you will feel . . . mostly you will be operating on aerobic muscles, except for your need for explosive bursts of power, which are anaerobic muscle exertions.
There is a direct correllation between the overload you impose on a muscle and how much size and strength it can acquire. The greater the overload imposes, the greater the potential increase in size and strength .

Your heart muscle is a muscle which operates from fat fuel for energy. A fat molecule requires massive amounts of oxygen when it is metabolized. The lungs have allowed the heart muscle to specialize with fat-fuel because they are so near the heart with huge blood vessels allowing the required large oxygen supply.

3-5% of the fat calories are burned in storing of bodyfat because fat is more energy per unit . . . 25% carbo calories are burned in the storing of bodyfat. Carbos provide 6% more energy per unit of oxygen than fat . . . . . . but fat stores much more energy . . total.
That special chemical called colosterum in mother's milk is a fat burner. It allows a baby to metabolize the fat in the milk for rapid weight gain via overall body growth. Medium chain triglycerides are also weight loss aids. Check your diet.

As a comparison, for you exercise majors, if you were in a high altitude climate, and your body were called upon to do very strenuous exercises, what would happen.? Porters, bearers, called shirfers{?} have heart muscles which have evolved to operate upon carbos rather than fat, and thus they have adapted to the oxygen-thin regions of the mountains, by reducing the need for massive amounts of oxygen which fat metabolism would require. This example should convince you that the more oxygen you can have available, the more fat can be metabolized regardless of what type of workout you do. Remember, to utilize fat, you must walk or sprint, but do not presume that constant exertion, running for example, will use fat as well, due to the constant need for massive oxygen supplies for fat combustion, which are sometimes not available while running.

protein is acid
Protein increases metabolic rate faster than carbos or fat, causing a 10% increase. Peptic ulcers need protein. Protein and carbos can be converted into fat, but fat cannot be converted into anything, and it must be burned as fuel. Protein requires carbos for the conversion, or the protein will lose it's nitrogen and be burned as fuel (glycogen). High protein requires high calcium to be metabolized properly.
To get the stimulating effects of tyrosine and the neurotransmitters made from it, eat the protein portion of the meal first then eat the carbo portion of the meal. Milk is 5% protein by volume, 90 % usable, while meat & fish are 20- 30% protein, 70-80% usable and beans are 40% net protein.
Muscle fiber is protein. Protein is largely nitrogen. Urea nitrogen is the lost nitrogen from the body. If you supply your body with enough carbos it will not catabolize some protein in the muscle-building process.

INSULIN enhanses muscle growth. When insulin levels are higher than normal, amino acids enter the muscles more rapidly, and the muscle increases in size. Insulin is a fat stimulating hormone. . . small frequent meals dull the body's hormone responses. Insulin is antagonistic to metabolism. You may stimulate muscle growth by carefully increasing insulin levels. Insulin levels rise (called the insulin spike) when either sugar or carbos enter the system.
Sugar is transported/stored in cells by the insulin - blood sugar drops - then the urge to eat returns.
Anger -> adrenaline -> but no insulin. Blood sugar level rises.
Adrenaline goes away -> insulin rises - excess sugar is suddenly stored as fat.
Sugar shock - insulin shock-ringing ears - pounding heart - also high glucose causes aging- glycolysatin.
Raw sugar fights insulin shock, which results from a high insulin level, with no purpose.
Caffine stimulates insulin production.
There is a hunger suppression hormone.
Insulin, adrenaline & cortisol are metabolized by exercise. White flour, as used in bread, are refined carbos which effect insulin quickly. While these fuels are available fewer fat molocules are burned - insulin clamps onto fat cells and stores sugar in them, thus lowering blood sugar levels - high insulin means that there are decreases in the total fat burned.
Sugar, that is sucrose, [soft drinks, sweets, candy] quickly increase insulin, but soon after leave the sugar-user in a low insulin trough, seeking more food.

Fat and carbos must be converted into adenosine triphosphate or ATP which releases a burst of energy when it breaks down, in the little cell furnaces called a mitochondria. You break down glucose into ATP. Hard training requires ATP. You cannot get ATP from fat stores. Oxygen requirements are too high, and mobilization of fat stores takes too long. There is only one other substrate, from which you can get ATP. That is sometimes why your body catabolizes itself. You strip and consume muscle tissue to get ATP. Muscle's first choice of fuel is glucose. Carbos are stored as glycogen [glucose] when stored in the liver or muscle. You must keep glycogen [carbos stores] up to prevent your muscle tissue from being recruited as an energy source. Raise your glycemic carb level to minimize protein [muscle] catabolism.

Brown Adipose Tissue - BAT
This common tissue type has a decreased metabolic efficiency via heat production [thermogenesis] which does not contribute useable energy to the body - you consume calories, but your body does not get as much actual use out of those calories, except to keep warm. The evolution in tribes in climates of various types result in the difference in BAT amounts on the hereditary level. BAT cells burn calories to produce heat without using energy to store fat. BAT tissue will create a hot spot on heat sensitive film. Naturally-lean people have more BAT tissue, which has been known to increase on those persons who participate in cold activities or have cold-related occupations. Did you ever wonder why women expose their legs in cold weather.? They burn more calories, and maybe create more BAT tissue, which makes them thinner.

If you experience thirst, you are already about 2 quarts low on water. Active people sweat 5-10 quarts per day so you need adequate hydration. The weight loss of water loss, sweat and transpiration to humidify breathed air, is not real weight loss. You need 1/2 oz water @ lb @ day. 100 lbs = 50 oz water, and 3 grams water per gram carbos per day for maximum glycogen storage. One pound of fat = 3500 calories. 1 lb fat burns 2 calories per day, while 1 lb muscle burns 20-25 calories per day. 2.5 lbs of fat per week is all a person should set a goal for as loss.

Cellulite - Do you want to rid yourself of unsightly cellulite. ? Work out for 45 minutes per day, five days per week, and do repetitive exercises which was leg muscles exclusively. Alternate between biking, stair-climbing, running, walking, plie squat with good squeezes [30 reps], etc. -

Robert grew up on milk, which came from the farm in buckets every few days. Soft drinks were only a Friday night treat. Garden food was the norm, and junk food (chips, dips, burgers, shakes, fried food) was not on the menu.
Carnitine is an amino acid found in milk, and is natural fat-burner.
Cataracts have been linked to galactose, which metabolizes lactos - galactose-glucose.
Robert began to drink a gallon of (store) milk per day in 1985, after a few years of having only sporadic food supplies reduced his weight to 150 lbs. His neck size was much-reduced by then. The term pencil-neck-geek comes from those who have no muscle mass, and thus have a small neck. This can be the result of starvation and catabolization of muscle which may have once existed. He had weightd 150 lbs when he was drafted while his height was 5 ft 7 in. An attractive nurse near a construction site convinced him that whole (100% butterfat) milk was too much fat and he began to buy 2% gallons of milk. Then in 1993, a physiology major in the UnivLou weight room persuaded him to reduce his fat intake still further, by buying 1% milk, and forgoing peanut butter and cheese, as well as other fat sources.

Robert began to eat more carbohydrates also, which reduced his catabolic reactions (shrink/reabsorb) to muscle growth.
He soon noticed his thinking grew clearer, and he does not shift into overdrive when he drinks a beer (a carbo drink, of 7 calories per gram, which should effect persons who are experiencing carbo-starvation) which resulted in a feeling that a wet washrag had just passed through his brain, and all the cob-webs were brushed and washed away.
21.1% of the population of 250M of the USA drink alcohol one or more times per week.
Robert is very mildly hypoglycemic, with higher insulin levels and occasional low blood sugar.

Robert eats oatmeal for breakfast, microwaved, one cup + water in a two-cup pyrex mug, 2.5 minutes, with lots of milk.

Lunch is 12 oz potato, 12 oz rice or 12 oz macaroni, with one can 6.5 oz tuna, or 1/2 can of 15 oz sardines, 15 oz jack mackerel or 15 oz salmon (salmon is a third-choice high-fat fish). Milk gives the potato a better flavor, but is a welcome addition to all variations. Water is a suitable drink when milk is not easily obtainable.

Supper is the same as lunch.

A frequent midnight snack is 6 egg whites, microwaved in the pyrex mug, with maybe some salsa flavoring.

Veggies are a catch-as-catch-can thing, usually a can of corn, beans, peas, carrots, etc. all at once. A salad once a week is the catch up time for the missing stuff. An apple or two and several oranges a day are a recent addition.

Once a week a feast adds variety to this mix.

Vitamins each day are essential.

An example of a recommended 2800 calorie diet is :

An example of a recommended 5000 calorie diet is :

Robert's recent staple food is a fish, bean and rice mix, and is recommended highly.
Start with about five or six dry pounds of rice, boiled/cooked for about an hour in a big pot. Have four or five 15.5 oz cans of both fish (jack macrel, sardines, tuna, [salmon is very fat] works well) and beans (lima bean protein is a very low fat protein source). Mix twenty-four ounces of cooked rice with one each drained cans of beans and fish, and put the mixed fish-bean-rice mix in a three pound plastic (peanut butter, deli-salad, etc.) food container. The mixture will feed one for about a week with sixteen ounce meals, scooped into a plastic lunch bowl, and tossed in a back-pack for school, for microwaving on the run.
Robert has a stew called "starving student stew" that is a croc-pot dish. It is :
  • 1 large can pork-and-beans type beans
  • 1 can tomato soup or paste
  • 1 can button mushrooms
  • 1 package spices (barbq- sloppy joe, etc.)
  • 1 half jar green salad olives
  • 1 green pepper diced
  • meat such as ground turkey or beef-cooked and drained/squeezed out well.
  • On the second day you put it on bread and toast under the broiler in an electric oven for a pizza -like result.

    It works very well on rice also. A 12 oz rice + stew mix cover becomes a 2.25 lb bowl of foodstuff.

 Robert's favorite restaurant is Ryan's Steak House. The salad bar is excellent. The little old ladies who cook it up each day are very good cooks, and it resembles a holiday family dinner every day, with all you can eat.

This sounds like an advertisement but it is a testimonial, well earned by all the pleasure that the Ryan's Mega Bar has given him.

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Last modified: June 1997