Soy protein is problematic and not because of what you may have heard online. So, I am not going to get into claims of soy protein containing lectins and protease inhibitors, which interfere with the absorption of nutrients. Nor will I get into the controversy surrounding the phytoestrogens in soy or the fact that soy is highly genetically modified (GMO). Nor will I debate whether fermented soy is better than convention soy. Whether true or not, it is all irrelevant for this conversation, since we know that there are populations that consume diets rich in soy and are not walking around with burnt thyroids, radioactive eyes and man boobs.
Okinawans, for example, are the longest living people on earth and consume a diet that is rich in soy. But, Okinawans have also genetically adapted to their staple diet and their bodies most likely break down soy and use it differently than individuals who never had generations of exposure to soy. This is why it irks me when people point to others as examples of why certain foods should or should not be eaten.
So, I am going to discuss soy only in the context that matters for metabolism, as this is not a nutrition blog, but a metabolism blog. If you want to build or preserve muscle, the driver of metabolism, whey protein is the way to do so. Why? Because -
- Soy is inferior to whey when it comes to synthesizing protein for muscle. This could be due to digestion rate or leucine content in soy versus whey.
- Whey is better at blunting the stress hormone cortisol, which only helps break down muscle, not build it.
- Soy does not have the nitrogen retention, for muscle building capacity, of whey or meat sources of protein, partly due to containing lower levels of methionine.
- Soy protein is slow absorbing with a significantly lower biological value than that of whey and animal foods. This might affect insulin release, which is necessary for muscle building.
- Whey protein has superior effects on muscle protein synthesis, during rest, as well as after resistance exercise.
2. Collagen can count towards my protein goals.
Collagen is not a complete protein. Complete protein refers to the building blocks of protein, which are amino acids. There are 20 different amino acids that can form protein - alanine, arginine, asparagine, aspartic acid, cysteine, glutamine, glutamic acid, glycine, histidine, isoleucine, leucine, lysine, methionine, phenylalanine, proline, serine, threonine, tryptophan, tyrosine and valine.
Nine of these amino acids cannot be produced by our bodies and are called essential amino acids, because we must get them from our diet - histidine, isoleucine, leucine, lysine, methionine, phenylalanine, threonine, tryptophan and valine. When a protein is "complete" it's because it contains these 9 amino acids that we can't make. Collagen only contains 8 of these 9 essential amino acids. It is missing tryptophan. Also, the amino acids that it does contain are not equally balanced.
For this reason, you should never replace whey or casein protein with collagen. Though collagen is an important protein for health, you should not count collagen towards your protein goals.
If you would like more detailed information on protein use and muscle building, you might benefit from reading a body building blog or website, which has the expertise and experience on this subject matter.
3. Insulin has nothing to do with the development of obesity/metabolic syndrome/diabetes.
I get a kick reading posts and comments from "weight loss coaches and doctors" giving their two cents on obesity, which by the way, is a condition they absolutely have no clue about. If they just took the time to learn enough to increase their knowledge, one fraction above what they currently have, they would have to close shop or refuse to treat obese people, since they would realize their approach is wrong.
The simplest way to reveal the role of insulin in the development of abnormal metabolic states, such as obesity/metabolic syndrome/diabetes, is by looking at Type 1 diabetics - outliers.
Type 1 diabetics often develop a condition known as "double diabetes". This is when they develop Type II diabetes from years of high insulin dosing to control blood sugar. This is a perfect 'in vivo' example of how metabolic syndrome/diabetes occurs directly through chronic hyperinsulinemia, whether the hyperinsulinemia is the result of endogenous insulin production or exogenous insulin dosing. The common denominator is the insulin. Serum insulin levels do not even have to be chronically high for there to still be chronic insulin expression.
The other common denominator is why such high amounts of insulin are needed in the first place and that's simply a result of blood glucose dysregulation caused by diet. We know this because Type I diabetics that are on low carb diets, do not require such high insulin doses and are not at risk of developing "double diabetes". Outliers always set the rules.
4. Insulin cannot grow body fat, as it has no energy.
But everything else you eat does. You would have to stop eating all together, forever, for this statement to be of any value.
This is why caloric restriction has a short term effect on weight loss. Caloric restriction affects blood glucose and blood glucose affects insulin. So, caloric restriction works directly on insulin. It just doesn't sustain a positive effect on blood glucose long enough to make enough of a difference.
Normal rises in insulin do not interfere with blood glucose homeostasis. Only abnormal, chronic insulin expression does. Insulin on its own is not an obesity hormone, but abnormal insulin absolutely contributes to obesity. No insulin = no obesity.
5. People who practice extended fasting are severely obese, but they claim fasting can make you lean.
People don't understand why people who practice extended fasting are so incredibly fat, and don't seem to be losing a pound, regardless of how many years they adhere to these protocols. If anything, they appear to just get fatter. Many accuse these people of "cheating" or "lying", but in reality, I do not believe it's either. They are just true believers in their failed tactic, because they simply don't understand obesity or how metabolism works. Even though many of these obese extended fasters display disordered eating habits, that's not really "cheating". There is something else occurring, which falls under their radar due to ignorance or inconvenience, because it doesn't fit the narrative they are trying to sell.
People who fast chronically for long periods of time, through “extended fasting”, are adapting their metabolism for better fat storage and metabolic thrift. Fasting is a stressor, so the body must adapt mechanisms in order to survive each time it occurs. The fattest survive famines best, so the body must get better at fat storage, the more frequently it’s exposed to fasting. The body must also adapt to extracting as much energy as possible, for this storage, every time it eats. This is why people who fast often and for extended periods of time, store more fat, when they eat again, than those who don't.
For these reasons, they find it easier and easier to fast, the more they do it. The “fasting muscle” is just metabolic adaptation to energy conservation. The person is simply getting better at getting fatter.
6. People who practice "keto" are severely obese, but they claim "keto" can make you lean.
The fad "keto" diet that's being promoted online has the similar effect that extended fasting has, described above.
Insulin resistance is a disease of blood glucose dysregulation. The person is unable to regulate their blood glucose properly so that their metabolisms remain in homeostasis. This has a direct negative affect on insulin function commonly referred to as "insulin resistance". The person cannot resolve their insulin resistance, because now dietary fat is also contributing to its dysfunction. This is not even mentioning the very low protein intake, in these fad diets, which only turns the person into a ball of fat, both inside and out. Couple this failed dietary approach alongside extended fasting and you just gave steroids to your fat mass.
So, there's a lot of issues going on, at once, with these failed protocols, which cause these people to be uber fat. The fattest people on the planet are doing "keto" and "extended fasting". If they weren't obese before, you see them at every low carb convention slowly packing on the pounds towards obesity. If you haven't done a carbohydrate restricted diet, please don't go to a low carb convention for inspiration or even information.
It is so embarrassing to introduce new people to low carb dieting, because the first thing they do is go online for "more information" and then they see what I wish they never had to see - butter chugging, bacon by the pound eating and mock "ketofied" foods. Not to mention the ridiculous, almost laughable, quackery of 400 pounders chasing "autophagy". It would be funny if it wasn't so pathetic. Then everyone comes back to me with a puzzled look, on their face, and I have to explain some pretty technical metabolic facts, that makes everything sound much more difficult than it has to be.
The low carb community is ruining low carb. They are their own worst enemies. It's not the vegans, not the American Diabetes Association, not The Dietary Guidelines, not mainstream doctors, but what's staring back at them in the mirror. If they were not a bona fide scam before, they certainly are now. I'm here to try and save what's left of low carb dieting.
Normal rises in insulin do not interfere with blood glucose homeostasis. Only abnormal, chronic insulin expression does. Insulin on its own is not an obesity hormone, but abnormal insulin absolutely contributes to obesity. No insulin = no obesity.
5. People who practice extended fasting are severely obese, but they claim fasting can make you lean.
People don't understand why people who practice extended fasting are so incredibly fat, and don't seem to be losing a pound, regardless of how many years they adhere to these protocols. If anything, they appear to just get fatter. Many accuse these people of "cheating" or "lying", but in reality, I do not believe it's either. They are just true believers in their failed tactic, because they simply don't understand obesity or how metabolism works. Even though many of these obese extended fasters display disordered eating habits, that's not really "cheating". There is something else occurring, which falls under their radar due to ignorance or inconvenience, because it doesn't fit the narrative they are trying to sell.
People who fast chronically for long periods of time, through “extended fasting”, are adapting their metabolism for better fat storage and metabolic thrift. Fasting is a stressor, so the body must adapt mechanisms in order to survive each time it occurs. The fattest survive famines best, so the body must get better at fat storage, the more frequently it’s exposed to fasting. The body must also adapt to extracting as much energy as possible, for this storage, every time it eats. This is why people who fast often and for extended periods of time, store more fat, when they eat again, than those who don't.
For these reasons, they find it easier and easier to fast, the more they do it. The “fasting muscle” is just metabolic adaptation to energy conservation. The person is simply getting better at getting fatter.
6. People who practice "keto" are severely obese, but they claim "keto" can make you lean.
The fad "keto" diet that's being promoted online has the similar effect that extended fasting has, described above.
Insulin resistance is a disease of blood glucose dysregulation. The person is unable to regulate their blood glucose properly so that their metabolisms remain in homeostasis. This has a direct negative affect on insulin function commonly referred to as "insulin resistance". The person cannot resolve their insulin resistance, because now dietary fat is also contributing to its dysfunction. This is not even mentioning the very low protein intake, in these fad diets, which only turns the person into a ball of fat, both inside and out. Couple this failed dietary approach alongside extended fasting and you just gave steroids to your fat mass.
So, there's a lot of issues going on, at once, with these failed protocols, which cause these people to be uber fat. The fattest people on the planet are doing "keto" and "extended fasting". If they weren't obese before, you see them at every low carb convention slowly packing on the pounds towards obesity. If you haven't done a carbohydrate restricted diet, please don't go to a low carb convention for inspiration or even information.
It is so embarrassing to introduce new people to low carb dieting, because the first thing they do is go online for "more information" and then they see what I wish they never had to see - butter chugging, bacon by the pound eating and mock "ketofied" foods. Not to mention the ridiculous, almost laughable, quackery of 400 pounders chasing "autophagy". It would be funny if it wasn't so pathetic. Then everyone comes back to me with a puzzled look, on their face, and I have to explain some pretty technical metabolic facts, that makes everything sound much more difficult than it has to be.
The low carb community is ruining low carb. They are their own worst enemies. It's not the vegans, not the American Diabetes Association, not The Dietary Guidelines, not mainstream doctors, but what's staring back at them in the mirror. If they were not a bona fide scam before, they certainly are now. I'm here to try and save what's left of low carb dieting.
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