Six common beliefs addressed, Part 107

1. Before wheat was hybridized, it was fine to eat.

Wheat was never “fine to eat”. It has always been a highly processed food. Just ask the people who ferment and grind their own non hybridized wheat. It is a very time-consuming process. This is because we were simply never meant to eat grains. It supplemented the food supply to prevent starvation, during times of scarcity, and it was much easier than hunting. People rather waste time than energy. 

Agriculture made food predictable and easy. Regardless of how it's processed or how ancient the seeds are, wheat is not the type of food that you want included in your diet. 

2. Are triglycerides a more important measure than blood glucose for determining metabolic health?

That depends. If you suffer from hyperglycemia, you do not want to neglect your blood glucose and only focus on triglycerides. Triglycerides allow you to get a glimpse of how much energy is in your body. They are a measure of blood fats and if you are fasting with a high concentration of them, it means that you are in a state of energy toxicity. But no one marker is good enough to tell you much of anything. You have to have a complete view of your metabolic state by tracking multiple markers. 

For instance, fasting blood glucose tells you nothing on its own. You want to know your insulin levels as well. The same applies vice versa. Knowing your HbA1C, alongside your insulin and blood glucose, also begins to paint a clearer picture of what can be going on in your body. There are very obese people, with extreme hyperinsulinemia, who have perfectly normal triglycerides. Their liver is simply not releasing many lipids into the bloodstream. It’s most likely hoarding them all within itself. So, context is everything. 

You need a complete metabolic panel, with multiple tests, along with body fat percentage, to really get a full picture of your metabolic state. 

3. When I wake up in the morning, I am nice and slim, but by the time evening comes, I look fat and bloated. 

This is normal and happens to everyone. You wake up dehydrated and that’s why your pants fit so nicely, but your busting out of them by nightfall. You even shrink an inch in height, as the day goes on, from the effects of gravity on the body. As you eat your meals during the day, water retention and digestion affects your waist circumference. 

For this reason, you should always measure in the mornings, while still fasting, to get a more accurate reading. 

4. Can supplementing vitamins help improve metabolic disease?

People with metabolic problems are usually deficient in the B vitamins and also in vitamin D, amongst other things. This could be because the person simply loses their ability to uptake these vitamins, due to enzyme depletion, or it could be the result of an overworked metabolism that depletes these vitamins quickly, due to high glucose. It could also be the consequence of insulin resistance. Insulin is required for the uptake of nutrients. The bottom line is that their metabolic problems were not caused by the deficiency. Instead, the deficiency was caused by the metabolic problems. The root cause is the metabolic problem. 

Once metabolism is healed, these deficiencies, slowly but surely, correct themselves unless the person has some other underlying condition, such as celiac disease. So, you can supplement to help your body along, but not with the expectation that it will resolve your metabolic issues. You must resolve your metabolic issues first, before the deficiencies are corrected. 

5. Should you take iodine if you have thyroid problems?

I do not make recommendations for supplements of this type. What I do recommend is that you find yourself a very good endocrinologist. Do your homework and make sure that who you choose is willing to listen to you and take your symptoms into consideration. Personalize your treatment, as much as possible with your doctor. Do not accept cookie cutter diagnosis or treatments. Your doctor should take into consideration your past and current metabolic status in order to determine the right treatment for you because this status changes the context of all treatments. Thyroid treatments that work for a metabolically healthy person, will not for a metabolically abnormal person. 

The thyroid is a major metabolic regulator and so your current metabolic state determines what treatments will be effective. For some people, no treatment is necessary as their thyroid numbers correct themselves when their metabolic state improves and the body adjusts to fat loss. This, of course, would not be the case for autoimmune related thyroid diseases. 

Do not take any type of supplement without discussing it with your doctor first. Certain thyroid diseases become worse with iodine supplementation or the iodine is simply not utilized, making it ineffective and supplementing useless. 

6. Low carb is as easy as just eating foods that are "high in fat and low in carbs".

Low carb is as easy as low carb. It is not more complicated than that. The macronutrient of concern is carbohydrate. Keep carbohydrates low and don’t add fat. Keep fat natural and moderate, as you have always consumed it before going low carb. Fat is not eaten purposely on true low carb diets.