Archives for December 2019

What is Post Birth Control Syndrome and Do You Have It?

Today we welcome guest author Dr. Jolene Brighten, functional naturopathic medical doctor and nutritional biochemist with a focus on women’s endocrine health. Listen to her interview on Bulletproof Radio here

So you’ve decided to ditch your hormonal birth control and now you’re breaking out for the first time in your life, your digestion has gone haywire, your mood is tanking, and you’ve got period problems galore.

For many women the only solution they are met with is—get back on the pill, place that patch, get another shot, here’s the ring, or we have an IUD for that. But what is actually going on?

This is known as post-birth control syndrome (PBCS). As defined in Beyond the Pill, it is a constellation of symptoms women experience when they discontinue hormonal birth control that generally lasts about 4-6 months after discontinuing hormonal birth control.

For some women, PBCS symptoms can be the return of the hormonal issues that drove them to take birth control in the first place, but for many, the symptoms are brand new and the result of what years of birth control has done to their body.

Before we dive into specifics, I think it is important to clarify a few things. Firstly, as a physician, I am not anti-birth control. I am pro-informed consent. Secondly, using birth control to manage symptoms or prevent pregnancy is nothing to feel ashamed of. And lastly, as a woman and a first-generation college graduate, I am really grateful that we have access to birth control and would never advocate against access.

Post-Birth Control Syndrome Symptoms

Ways to Conquer PMS and PMDD_estrogen dominance_crampsWhen you understand that every cell in your body has a receptor for natural hormones and that your own hormones impact every system, it isn’t hard to see how synthetic hormones found in birth control can impact every single system in your body. And this is why PBCS can present in different ways for women. Some of the symptoms of PBCS include:

  • Amenorrhea (loss of menstruation)
  • Heavy, painful periods
  • Hypothyroidism
  • Acne, cystic acne, rosacea
  • Migraines
  • Headaches
  • Hair loss
  • Depression
  • Blood sugar dysregulation
  • Anxiety
  • Gas or bloating
  • Changes in bowels
  • Leaky gut
  • Gut dysbiosis
  • Inflammation and other immune imbalances
  • Fatigue
  • Brain fog
  • Adrenal dysfunction
  • Lack of sex drive

Women often find it difficult for a doctor to recognize their symptoms are related to them stopping birth control for two main reasons—1. Doctors often believe that these medications only affect the reproductive system because that is what they are designed to do. 2. Symptoms can show up months to even years after discontinuing.

Having experienced PBCS myself, I am intimately familiar with how quickly a woman’s story can be dismissed. As a doctor, I firmly believe that a woman’s experience has value and her story needs to be considered in our diagnostic workup.

How to bounce back from Post Birth Control Syndrome

Woman exercising outdoorsClinically I have found that women do not heal from the effects of birth control without taking the necessary steps to support their body in the process.

5 Foundations of the Brighten Protocol™ to Heal Post-Birth Control Syndrome

  1. Replenish Nutrient Stores
  2. Identify Your Hormone Imbalance
  3. Heal Your Gut
  4. Post-Birth Control Detox
  5. Metabolic Repair

Replenish Nutrient Stores

12 Best Vegetables and Fruit to Eat Right Now_Sugar Snap Pea and Radish SaladIt is well recognized that hormonal birth control leads to nutrient deficiencies. This information exists in drug handbooks, dietician’s core curriculum, and numerous research studies. The oral contraceptive pill specifically is well recognized to cause deficiencies in folate, B2, B6, B12, vitamin C and vitamin E, as well as minerals such as magnesium, selenium and zinc. In addition, hormonal birth control (including transdermal and vaginal) has been shown to deplete crucial antioxidants like CoQ10, vitamin E and total antioxidant capacity. Hello, mitochondrial health!

On birth control, transitioning off, and reversing PBCS requires eating a whole foods, nutrient dense diet. Aim to include vegetables at every meal. Incorporate high quality fat and protein every time you eat so that you build healthy hormones, optimize blood sugar, and rebuild what was lost on birth control. If you’re using hormonal birth control make sure you are supplementing with a multivitamin or prenatal and adding in CoQ10. This is also a key step that I outlined in Beyond the Pill to help you successfully transition off and avoid PBCS.

Identify Your Hormone Imbalance

Hormonal birth control impacts our ovaries, brain, thymus, pancreas, thyroid, and adrenal glands, which are all pretty much how we make hormones. Is it any wonder that we can end up with HPA dysregulation, thyroid imbalances, period problems, immune dysfunction, or blood sugar dysregulation on birth control or coming off?

In chapter one of Beyond the Pill, I provide a comprehensive quiz to help you identify your hormone imbalance and what to do about it. Yes, we are talking individualized protocols for what you need.

Heal Your Gut

Hormonal contraceptives have been shown to lead to leaky gut (intestinal hyperpermeability), dysbiosis and increase the risk of developing inflammatory bowel disease. It may come as a surprise, but if you want to heal your hormones then you must heal your gut! Those critters in your gut can lead to estrogen dominance just by making too much of an enzyme known as beta glucuronidase, which puts estrogen back into circulation.

Eating nutrient dense, fiber packed foods in addition to fermented foods like sauerkraut, kim chi, and water kefir can help support a healthy microbiome. In addition, seed cycling is a technique that can support gut health and help balance hormones.

Be sure to replenish zinc, which can help heal the intestines, by including foods in the diet like oysters, pumpkin seeds, and red meat. Consuming bone broth can also support gut repair.

Post-Birth Control Detox

Woman sweatingNo, you don’t need to force your body to detox synthetic hormones. Your body detoxes daily on its own, but when it has had crucial nutrient depletions caused by birth control this can be a bit more of a struggle. In addition, the impact of birth control on your gut may impair the elimination of excess hormones. Not to mention that hormonal birth control alters your liver at the genetic and structural level.

Your liver is key in optimizing your hormones. In my medical practice, we have women go through a 14-day food and lifestyle based detox protocol to support what their body does best and undo some of the detox inhibiting effects of birth control.

In it we leverage liposomal glutathione, which is the mother of all antioxidants. It’s one of the fastest ways to love up your liver. Aim to take 100 to 200 milligrams daily. If you’re using glutathione on its own, I recommend the liposomal form because it actually binds to cells and facilitates the delivery of nutrients even more effectively.

N-acetylcysteine (NAC) is an amino acid precursor to glutathione and does a whole lot of really great things like improving mood, fertility, and gut function, and may reduce the risk of miscarriage. Aim to take 600 to 900 milligrams twice daily.

Metabolic Repair

Birth control creates what I call Metabolic Mayhem in our bodies. It is inflammatory, leads to insulin resistance, blood sugar dysregulation, and can lead to high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and increased risk of cardiovascular events. If you’re on birth control, you definitely need to address this now and as you transition off, you’ll have some work to do to reverse metabolic mayhem.

The key steps of the Brighten Metabolic Protocol go by the acronym BEAT:

  • Banish sugar and refined carbs
  • Eat real food with plenty of veggies
  • Activity daily
  • Timed meals

Eliminating blood sugar sabotaging foods like refined carbohydrates and excess sugar are key in fast-tracking your healing. Moving your body daily is essential in sensitizing your cells to insulin and reducing inflammation.

For more tips and a complete protocol to eliminate Post-Birth Control Syndrome please consider grabbing a copy of Beyond the Pill today!

Resources: BRIGHTEN, JOLENE. BEYOND THE PILL: a 30-Day Plan to Eliminate Period Problems, Boost Libido, Improve Mood, Clear Skin, and Ditch the Pill When You’re Ready. HARPER ONE, 2019.

For more information on women’s health, head over to Dr. Brighten’s website.

Overcoming Addictions with Plant Medicine – Gerard Powell – #650

In this episode of Bulletproof Radio, I’m talking to a guest who by all outward appearances had it all. A member of the “one-percent,” Gerard Powell made his millions from creating and selling multiple companies. But his life was a mess in many ways, and he battled multiple addictions.

In his new book, “Sh*t the Moon Said: A Story of Sex, Drugs, and Transformation,” he says, “My many addictions during those years—drugs, alcohol, sex—were certainly destructive to myself and damaging to the people around me. But if there was anything good about that behavior, it would be the fact that I was seeking a different state of consciousness. I was seeking it in all the wrong places, but at least I was a seeker.”

Through plant medicine he mapped a psycho-spiritual path that helped him overcome his addictions and achieve lasting peace. Today, Gerard shares his journey and life-changing experience with ayahuasca—as well as how he now brings what he’s learned to others.

Gerard now is a consciousness thought-leader, entrepreneur, philanthropist, and inspirational speaker. He is the founder and CEO of Rythmia Life Advancement Center in Costa Rica, which is a go-to destination for a spiritually awakening experience.

Enjoy the show!

Listen on Apple Podcasts or iTunesListen on Google Podcasts

Follow Along with the Transcript

Overcoming Addictions with Plant Medicine – Gerard Powell – #650

Links/Resources

Website: rythmia.com
Facebook: facebook.com/pages/Rythmia
Twitter: twitter.com/rythmialac
Instagram: instagram.com/rythmia_
YouTube: youtube.com/rythmialifeadvancementcenter

Sh*t the Moon Said

Instagram: instagram.com/sh*tthemoonsaid
Facebook: facebook.com/sh*tthemoonsaid

Key Notes

  • Gerry had a “very bad start” in life 00:06:45
  • How Gerry used plant medicine to heal 00:15:55
  • Does Gerry worry about mind control aspect of these drugs? 00:20:00
  • People can go crazy from meditation 00:21:30
  • Having visions during breathwork versus plant medicine 00:23:4
  • How do you come back from a trip like this? 00:25:00
  • Why Gerry doesn’t vote 00:30:30
  • How do you know you are “merging with your soul?” 00:32:15
  • What the skeptical science minds say about shamanic practices 00:34:00
  • You don’t have to do drugs! 00:38:30
  • The relationship between addiction and trauma 00:42:00
  • The breathwork that Gerry does 00:46:20
  • Is this really happening or is it a placebo? 00:49:30
  • What are “machine elves” 00:54:20
  • Do people like what they find when they do this work? 00:57:45

Go check out my new book Super Human: The Bulletproof Plan to Age Backward and Maybe Even Live Forever and also “Game Changers“, “Headstrong” and “The Bulletproof Diet” on Amazon and consider leaving a review!

If you like today’s episode, check us out on Apple Podcasts at daveasprey.com/apple and leave us a 5-star rating and a creative review.

9 Intermittent Fasting Podcast Episodes That Will Help You Get Started

[tldr]

  • Fasting has been a part of almost every human culture for centuries — sometimes for spiritual reasons, other times because there wasn’t enough food to feed everyone every day.
  • Intermittent fasting is when you restrict food every day for a period, and eat your food for the day during a shortened window of time.
  • Intermittent fasting results vary, but people report more energy, a clearer mind, immune benefits, better sleep, and more
  • Here are 8 podcast episodes to get you on the right track with intermittent fasting.

[/tldr]

Fasting may seem like it’s on trend at the moment, but it’s nothing new. Fasting has been a part of almost every human culture for centuries — sometimes for spiritual reasons, other times because there wasn’t enough food to feed everyone every day.

Intermittent fasting is when you restrict food every day for a period, and eat your food for the day during a shortened window of time. For example, you’ll take 18 hours off of eating and take in all of your calories for the day in a 6-hour window in the afternoon to evening.

You’ve heard about the amazing benefits — more energy, a clearer mind, reduced disease risk, better sleep. Over the past five years, various guests, from world-class athletes to biochemists to innovative physicians have talked to Dave on the Bulletproof Radio podcast about their experience with intermittent fasting. Their reasons for getting started are as varied as their backgrounds. Ahead, learn more about why you need intermittent fasting in your life, and what you can expect from adopting the practice.

Glow From The Inside Out: Autophagy and Women

Naomi Whittel, author of “Glow15: A Science Based Plan to Lose Weight, Revitalize Your Skin and Invigorate Your Life”

Listen on iTunes

As a pre-teen, the life stage when young girls become hyper-aware of appearance, Naomi Whittel had a few autoimmune conditions that outwardly affected her skin. Like many people with chronic conditions, Whittel experienced frustration of treatment failures followed by eventual success with natural remedies.

Whittel grew up on a biodynamic farm with parents who favored natural wellness, so her life experience primed Whittel to make a career of natural wellness. She started a successful supplements company, sold it to one of the largest supplements companies in the game, and became CEO of that company. She eventually developed the Glow 15 program, an inside-out skincare program based on autophagy – giving your cells the chance to clean out waste and repair themselves for youthful, glowing skin. Much like the Bulletproof Diet, Whittel recommends intermittent fasting and protein fasting to stay youthful inside and out.

What the Godfather of Intermittent Fasting Eats

Mark Mattson, Ph.D.

Listen on iTunes

Vegan meat offers a kill-free source of protein -- but is it healthy? Here’s a look at why plant-based meat might not be better for you (or the environment).Dr. Mark Mattson has been intermittent fasting since before it was cool. For years, he has studied the effects of intermittent fasting and exercise to find out how the brain adapts to mild stressors like fasting and exercise. In this interview, he talks with Dave about what’s happening in your body during a fast, how to choose your fasting period, and what he eats to maximize his own fasting benefits.

Feasting & Fasting

Brad Pilon

Listen on iTunes

Brad Pilon did his graduate work on the effects of short-term fasting and human health. After spending years in the bodybuilding industry, where it is common practice to eat every three hours and mainline protein to prevent your muscles from shrinking, Pilon found that fasting gives you an edge no matter what your health or physique goals are. Dave and Brad discuss old ways of thinking and how research and real-world evidence shatter conventional bodybuilding myths.

Metabolic Flexibility, Fasting & Sleep: A Fresh Look at the Keto Revolution

Mark Sisson

Listen on iTunes 

In this episode of the Bulletproof Radio podcast, Dave and Mark Sisson, author of “The Primal Blueprint” and “The Keto Reset Diet” talk metabolic flexibility — the idea that you know what works for you and you do that most of the time, and you change it up every now and again. Whether you spend some amount of time in ketosis, do an extended fast a few times a year, burn fat for a while, burn glucose for a few days… each period of doing something different teaches your body how to use what’s available. That leads to resilience, which is the best state your body can be in — the state where youadapt to whatever life throws your way.

Climb Everest In a T-shirt & Shorts. Survive Submersion In Freezing Water For Hours

Wim Hof

Listen on iTunes

Best known for plodding through the Himalayas in shorts, Wim Hof is the ultimate example of a resilient human. Using a method of breathing he developed by self-experimentation, he competes in athletic events in extreme conditions without showing the physiological changes that people typically exhibit, like drop in core temperature. He credits intermittent fasting as part of his formula that allows him to access his autonomic nervous system (the system that regulates the things you don’t think about, like heart rate and body temperature) at will, which allows him to persist no matter what he’s up against.

Roundup, Aspartame & Intermittent Fasting

Dr. Joseph Mercola

In this episode of Bulletproof Radio, Dr. Joseph Mercola, DO, explains that if you take care of your insulin resistance, it snowballs and you resolve a lot of health problems since a lot of issues stem from improper insulin signaling. He talks about intermittent fasting as part of the larger goal of improving your insulin sensitivity.

Understanding Fat To Help You Lose Weight

Dr. Sylvia Tara

Listen on iTunes

Dr. Sylvia Tara, PhD dives deep into one of the most misunderstood and demonized nutrients in the human diet, fat. She says that the key to losing weight is understanding the complexities of fat and making it work for you, not against you. Dr. Tara explains how intermittent fasting helps keep your insulin stable so that you lose weight, and she points out special considerations for the differences in the way women store and use fat.

Why You Shouldn’t Fear Fasting

Dr. Jason Fung and Jimmy Moore

Listen on iTunes

If you want a comprehensive overview of the benefits of fasting, give this episode of Bulletproof Radio a listen. Dr. Jason Fung and author Jimmy Moore go deep into the science behind fasting, what’s happening with your hormones and in your cells when you fast, and the amazing results you can experience for yourself.

Toxic Mold, Intermittent Fasting & Vegan vs Low Carb

Dr. Amy Shah

Listen on iTunes

In this episode of Bulletproof Radio, Dr. Amy Shah explains the snags that women often run into with intermittent fasting. Women’s hormones are more sensitive than men’s, so there are steps women can take to get all the benefits of intermittent fasting without the hormone fluctuations and stress on the adrenals. As a bonus, she gets into tips and tricks on how to get kids to choose healthy foods on their own.

Humans are built to fast. You get the signal to eat early in your fast, and later on, you start producing ketones for energy and you don’t feel the need to eat for a while.

That point is when the magic happens. Your cells get a break from digestion and pulling energy out of food, and switch to cleaning, maintenance and repair mode. The result is youthful, healthy cells that make your whole body work more efficiently. There are different ways to do it — the key to success with fasting is to find the right way for you.

 

The Benefits of Exercise You Didn’t Know About

Today we welcome guest author Tara Swart, M.D., Ph.D., a neuroscientist, medical doctor, leadership coach, and bestselling author. She works with high-performing leaders to amplify their brain function, including stress and emotional responses, memory, and cognition. Her new book, “The Source: The Secrets of the Universe, the Science of the Brain,” offers actionable steps to make lasting changes in your brain’s pathways that result in more positivity and ease. 

The Benefits of Exercise You Didn’t Know About

by Tara Swart, M.D., Ph.D.

Photo of Tara Swart

Exercise energizes our body and brain, causing us to breathe more deeply which oxygenates cells throughout our body. It has also been found to improve neuroplasticity – the ability of the brain to change itself well into adulthood.

Regular exercise has a host of tangible health benefits for the brain. The combined results of 11 studies show that regular exercise can reduce the risk of developing dementia by 30 percent.[ref url=”https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/about-dementia/risk-factors-and-prevention/physical-exercise”] It also makes your brain more agile. Those who exercise have better higher-brain functions like emotional regulation and flexible thinking and are better able to quickly switch between tasks.[ref url=”https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21527670″]

Exercise helps grow new brain cells

In a study published in the journal Neuroscience Letters, researchers from the University of Texas looked at the impact of high-intensity exercise on a protein called BDNF, short for ‘brain-derived neurotrophic factor’ which causes new nerve cells to grow.[ref url=”https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27450438″]

BDNF is involved in brain cell survival and repair, mood regulation and cognitive functions such as learning and memory. Low BDNF levels are associated with a host of mental health disorders, including depression, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.

Extra credit: enjoy the type of exercise you do

In the Texas study, all adults who performed a session of high-intensity exercise experienced higher BDNF levels and improvements in cognitive function. But, what about how you feel while you’re doing it? Believe it or not, when we do exercise that we enjoy we release more BDNF than we do when it feels like a chore. Intention appears to be important in brain activity: wanting to do something, characteristic of an optimistic, abundant attitude, makes it more beneficial.

Different types of exercise benefit specific brain areas and functions

Different types of movement involve different parts of your brain. Just as with a muscle, working a specific area of your brain makes that area stronger, building and reinforcing the pathways that you use regularly.

Walking and aerobic exercise for memory, learning, and emotions

Walking and other aerobic exercise has been shown to create changes in the hippocampus – the part of our brain that relates to memory, learning and emotional control.[ref url=”https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29113943″] The increased plasticity in the hippocampus and possible growth of new cells caused by BDNF – and increase in blood vessels supplying oxygen to that area during aerobic exercise – actually leads to growth in the volume of the hippocampal part of the brain. This also prevents the natural atrophy, or wasting away, of brain cells over time. Even a brisk walk is a way of maintaining and future-proofing your brain.

 

Hand-eye coordination activities for social and emotional well-being

Taking up table tennis or any sport that involves coordinating multiple factors as well as a social element, combines hand-eye coordination and socializing, and has been shown to increase brain thickness in the parts of the cortex related to social-emotional welfare.[ref url=”https://www.telegraph.co.uk/health-fitness/body/angela-rippon-what-ive-learned-about-the-science-of-staying-youn/”] Exercise to build muscle that includes variety and coordination, such as dance, also has brain benefits.

Boxing to melt away stress

And finally, my personal favorite for the mind and body is boxing – it involves cardio, muscle toning and is the best stress reliever I have found in all my own experiments with exercise and mindfulness.

Air quality matters

Woman inhaling deeply

Finally, for many of us living in increasingly polluted cities, air quality is the elephant in the room when it comes to well-being, and a subject that we will all be talking about in the near future. It’s one thing we can’t personally control, so it’s often easier to ignore its impact. Exercising in polluted areas actually decreases the secretion of BDNF compared to exercising in a clean environment or not at all!

When we exercise, we breathe deeply, and choosing to do so at the side of a busy road means we’re taking deep lungfuls of highly polluted air filled with toxic microparticles. Monitoring of air quality in the UK (and it is likely to be the same if not worse in US urban areas) concluded that the levels of nitrogen oxide inhaled by pedestrians and motorists were equivalent to smoking four cigarettes per minute – so not promoting the growth or connection of new cells and possibly even inhibiting it.[ref url=”https://uk-air.defra.gov.uk/assets/documents/reports/cat05/0703151041_primno2v3.pdf”]

The good news if you struggle with maintaining good habits around regular exercise, know that inactive people experience higher levels of neurogenesis (growth of new brain cells) when they start aerobic exercise than people who exercise regularly. Start today to feel smarter!

Adapted from THE SOURCE: The Secrets of the Universe, the Science of the Brain by Dr. Tara Swart, copyright 2019. Reprinted with permission from HarperOne, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.

How Foods are Harming Your Kids – Steven Gundry, M.D. – #649

In this episode of Bulletproof Radio, Dr. Steven Gundry is back on the show with new research about how food is affecting our kids.

He’s a renowned heart surgeon, celebrity doctor, and medical researcher with a focus on curing modern diseases via dietary changes. You may know him from his New York Times best-selling books, “The Plant Paradox” and “The Longevity Paradox.” You can listen to Bulletproof Radio episodes #417 and #604 for more information on those topics.

In his latest book, “The Plant Paradox Family Cookbook: 80 One-Pot Recipes to Nourish Your Family Using Your Instant Pot, Slow Cooker or Sheet Pan,” Dr. Gundry revisits his foundational approach and expands it to include the latest nutritional science for kids. He also offers families practical tools for transitioning to the Plant Paradox lifestyle.

As busy and often tired parents with a multitude of responsibilities, we may say to ourselves that it’s ok to grab fast food or order take out. “Well, it’s not okay,” says Dr. Gundry. “The studies show the sooner we start our kids eating properly, the sooner you set them up for a lifetime of successful health.”

Listen on to learn more about the brain-gut-behavior connection and find out ways to protect your kids’ microbiome.

Enjoy the show!

Listen on Apple Podcasts or iTunesListen on Google Podcasts

Follow Along with the Transcript

How Foods are Harming Your Kids – Steven Gundry, M.D. – #649

Links/Resources

Website: drgundry.com
Facebook: facebook.com/DrStevenGundry/
Twitter: twitter.com/DrGundry
Instagram: instagram.com/drstevengundry/
YouTube: youtube.com/channel/UCtxo0nTZjzlKJq5-vJq6s6g
Blog: drgundry.com/blog/
Bulletproof Radio: Healthy Aging Begins and Ends in the Gut – Dr. Steven Gundry – #604
Bulletproof Radio: How Nutrition Can Reverse Disease and the Impact of Lectins – Dr. Steven Gundry – #417

Key Notes

  • Eat foods that you love and love you back 00:07:05
  • Not everyone handles lectins the same 00:08:40
  • What is causing the plaque in children’s hearts? 00:14:40
  • What does bad food do to children’s behaviour? 00:17:10
  • Is it the maternal microbiome that send signals to the fetus? 00:21:15
  • The only purpose of oats is to make horses fat 00:24:00
  • People don’t know what “feeling good” feels like 00:28:20
  • Why you get more sensitive after cleaning up your diet 00:30:50
  • How to deal with a school system that doesn’t get it? 00:33:15
  • How food and bullying go together 00:36:50
  • Why you can’t inoculate kids with peanuts 00:42:10
  • The allergy epidemic 00:44:00
  • What are the most popular food swaps? 00:47:20
  • The best sweeteners 00:50:00

Go check out my new book Super Human: The Bulletproof Plan to Age Backward and Maybe Even Live Forever and also “Game Changers“, “Headstrong” and “The Bulletproof Diet” on Amazon and consider leaving a review!

If you like today’s episode, check us out on Apple Podcasts at daveasprey.com/apple and leave us a 5-star rating and a creative review.

4 Top Antinutrients to Avoid — and Why

  • Antinutrients are chemicals found in plants that keep your body from absorbing essential nutrients from food
  • The key antinutrients that you have to watch out for are lectins, phytates, gluten, and oxalates — though not all of them are bad
  • Some people are more sensitive to antinutrients than others; test your sensitivity with an elimination diet to see if you experience symptoms
  • Eating a steady source of antinutrients can lead to gut issues, inflammation, arthritis, and brain fog, which is why it’s smarter to eat foods that don’t pose potential risks; check out the Bulletproof Diet Roadmap to learn the most nutritious foods that won’t make you feel like crap

Ask a random person on the street what an antinutrient is and he’ll likely shake his head. It sounds like the villain in an eat right PSA aimed at kids. And truthfully, that wouldn’t be too far off.

What are antinutrients?

Antinutrients are compounds found in foods that interfere with the absorption of beneficial nutrients and minerals. They prevent the body from being the efficient micronutrient sponge that it was meant to be. People and animals pull the nourishment we need from our surroundings, but as evolution would have it, many plants developed the capacity to fight back. Nutrient-sapping phytochemicals protect tasty edibles from being devoured to the point of extinction.

This state-of-the-art defense system taught animals that overconsumption resulted in sickness and sometimes death. Animals either evolved to digest the antinutrient-rich plants, or they stopped eating them.

Antinutrients are found in their highest concentrations in grains, beans, legumes and nuts, but can also be found in leaves, roots and fruits of certain varieties of plants.

Do you really need to avoid them?

Not all antinutrients are bad. It’s impossible to avoid them all, and you won’t feel good if you cut out every single one from your diet. Instead, you need to avoid the ones that cause big holes in your gut or the ones that are triggers for you. The Bulletproof Diet is designed to to reduce your exposure to health-sapping foods, placing problematic antinutrients in the suspect to toxic sections of the Bulletproof Diet Roadmap. Only by eliminating a food from your diet and reintroducing it can you determine whether a food is messing with your performance.

Here, the top four antinutrients, how they affect your body, and how to hack their consumption.

Lectins

Avoid Hot Peppers and Other Lectins to Stay Out of the Hospital_headerLectins are proteins that cause trouble in your digestive system by sticking to your intestinal wall and creating intestinal permeability. When food moves through your GI tract, it bangs into your gut’s lining, causing microtrauma. Usually, your cells repair those bumps and bruises before it leads to any real issue. Lectins mess up that process. They adhere to the walls of your gut, preventing repair. The ensuing damage causes low-level inflammation in your GI tract.

When you eat a lot of lectins, your gut wall develops holes, and its contents pours into your bloodstream, causing leaky gut syndrome.

There are thousands of varieties of lectins — they exist in most plant species. Not all of them are toxic or cause intestinal damage. The most common sources of lectins include grains, legumes, and nightshades. These plants contain drastically more lectins than other food sources do, which is why wheat, beans, quinoa, peas, peanuts, white potatoes, tomatoes, and eggplants are suspect on the Bulletproof Diet. The more you eat, the more damage you cause to your body. Instead, concentrate on getting most of your nutrients from foods that come with low risk.

That said, lectin sensitivity varies widely person to person. You might be able to eat lectins morning, noon, and night, and never have a problem, while your friend can’t touch the stuff. You’ll know you have a problem with lectins if you experience inflammation, brain fog, migraines, stomach issues, acne or joint pain after eating a lectin-rich meal. The lectins in nightshades, in particular, are a common autoimmune trigger and can cause sensitivities in a lot of people. To test yourself, fill up on a nightshade-heavy lunch — think tomatoes, peppers, and potatoes — and see how you feel afterward.

For the most part, you can kill or reduce the number of lectins in your food by cooking it first. Bulletproof Radio podcast guest Dr. Steven Gundry (iTunes), renowned heart surgeon, celebrity doctor, medical researcher and author, just released a cookbook for busy families who want easy meals without the negative effects of lectins and other anti-nutrients. He explains how different preparation methods can reduce lectin content, which minimizes the unwelcome effects of anti-nutrients.

“The cool thing about pressure cooking is it will do a pretty doggone good job of destroying lectins. The idea of soaking beans with multiple changes of water definitely decreases lectins. Heat decreases lectins,” explains Gundry. “But there are very valid papers that show that’s probably not enough for very sensitive individuals.”

It’s a good idea to experiment with different foods and preparations to see how your individual biology reacts.

Bulletproof Diet Tips:

  • Choose white rice over brown rice, the lectins are in the hull
  • Sweet potatoes have drastically less lectin content than white potatoes
  • Swap in almond butter for peanut butter; the lectins in peanuts cause an inflammatory response in most people, and they’re not destroyed by heat

Phytic Acid (Phytates)

Phytic acid, also known as phytates, is one of the more infamous antinutrients on the block, blocking the absorption of nutrient heavy-hitters like magnesium, zinc, calcium and iron, amongst others. Found in whole grains, nuts, soybeans, and seeds, phytic acid binds to these minerals, preventing their absorption, so you get little nutrition from the food.

Phytate also inhibits digestive enzymes pepsin, trypsin and amylase. Amylase is required for the breakdown of starch, while trypsin and pepsin are involved in the breakdown of protein. When those enzymes aren’t present in the right amounts, food doesn’t get processed properly, and your body misses out on key nutrients.

Think about it like this, if your body has a huge influx of phytate, it means that there are less nutrients to go around, but the body is also substantially less efficient at breaking down macronutrients into their components.

Your body can handle some amount of phytates, but it’s a good idea to eliminate the main sources so your minerals will be absorbed. Besides, removing them from your diet completely would be impossible.

To build muscle or burn fat, your body needs a certain amount of protein or carbohydrates. However, that amount largely depends on how healthy your gut is. That’s because an optimized digestive system requires less food to fuel the body properly.

Phytic acid is most concentrated in the bran of grains, which is why Bulletproof ranks white rice over brown rice. In legumes, phytic acid is found in the cotyledon layer, which is much harder to remove, hence why legumes like kidney beans, lentils and soy are not on the recommended Bulletproof Diet list.

Cooking certain foods that are high in phytates and then draining the water or soaking them in an acid like lemon or vinegar reduces phytates, but many of the grains and seeds that contain phytates are irritating to the gut even when cooked.

Bulletproof Tips:

  • Skip the canola or other seed oils; cook with avocado oil, coconut oil or butter/ghee.
  • Avoid beans — they’re high in carbs and not particularly rich in nutrients

Oxalic Acid (Oxalates)

Restoring Gut Health After Taking Antibiotics_Eat your veggiesYour beloved spinach and kale green smoothies may be causing more harm than good. Oxalic acid is an antinutrient compound found in many plants, like raw cruciferous vegetables — kale, radishes, cauliflower, broccoli — as well as chard, spinach, parsley, beets, black pepper, chocolate, nuts, berries and beans.

When oxalates bind to calcium in your blood, tiny, sharp oxalic acid crystals form and can be deposited anywhere in the body and cause muscle pain. When this happens in the kidneys, it causes kidney stones. Oxalates also cause a condition in women called vulvodynia, which leads to painful sex because of oxalic acid crystals in the labia.

In sensitive people, even small amounts of oxalates cause burning in the eyes, ears, mouth, and throat. Consuming large amounts may cause abdominal pain, muscle weakness, nausea, and diarrhea. People who eat large quantities of raw vegetables may be particularly susceptible.

Like phytates, oxalates can be reduced by cooking in calcium or baking soda water, and draining the water. Added dietary magnesium and zinc bind to oxalic acid, thus lowering oxalate absorption substantially.

Bulletproof Tips:

  • Never add raw kale, spinach, or chard to salads or smoothies. Steam them first.
  • When seasoning meals, skip the black pepper to avoid oxalates.

Gluten

gluten free diet benefitsGluten is a protein found in wheat, barley, rye and oats that can cause intestinal permeability (i.e. leaky gut). “The problem with gluten is that no human can digest it. It’s impossible to digest the gluten proteins that are in wheat, barley and rye,” certified chiropractic nutritionist Tom O’Bryan, author of “The Autoimmune Fix.” explained on a Bulletproof Radio podcast episode.

The spectrum of reaction to indigestibility of gluten places people into two categories: celiac or non-celiac gluten sensitivity, most of the population being the latter. Indigestible substances in the digestive system cause an immune response, immune responses take the form of inflammation. Inflammation is, more times than not, the culprit behind our brain fog, digestive discomfort and suboptimal nutrient absorption.

Gluten-containing grains break down in the gut into opioid compounds called gluteomorphins that trigger the same brain receptors as opiate drugs like heroin — meaning, they’re highly addictive.

Structurally, gluten is made up of two types of storage proteins, prolamins and glutelins. Wheat-based glutelins are called glutenins, which consist of high molecular weight (HMW) and low molecular weight (LMW) subunits. Wheat products made with higher levels of HMW tend to be more elastic and subsequently more chewy (pizza dough or pretzels); whereas lower levels of HMW tend to take the form of pastries. Originally, giladin (the wheat based prolamin) was thought to be the main antinutrient contributor to gluten, but its been shown that glutenin is equally as toxic. So just because you are eating something that feels lighter, you are still downgrading your digestive system when you eat any form of gluten.

Gluten is hidden in places beyond the obvious sources; products like soy sauce, beer and even processed meats contain gluten that may be downgrading your performance.

Bulletproof Tips:

Start hacking your way to better than standard performance and results.

Receive weekly biohacking tips and tech by becoming a Dave Asprey insider.

By sharing your email, you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy