A Modified Keto Diet for Optimal Cellular Health

Sidenote: it’s also easier than a strict ketogenic diet….

Caring for our bodies and our brains takes a great deal of effort, and it starts with a nourishing, healthy diet. Consuming tasty, nutrient-dense foods is crucial to supporting and optimizing our cellular function, which in turn builds a strong foundation for overall wellness.

While we all know that we must eat well to live well, understanding how can be complicated by misinformation. Dietary fads, such as low-fat or vegetarian diets, are often not based on supportive medical literature; while those that are, like a strict ketogenic diet, are almost always too challenging and impossible to follow.

But that shouldn’t be. Science has repeatedly verified that high-lipid, low-carbohydrate diets are an intelligent way to address health challenges. Such research is the foundation of BodyBio’s Membrane Stabilizing Diet; and for the past twelve years, physicians around the world have recommended it to their patients to help them heal both mind and body.

Developed by BodyBio, the Membrane Stabilizing Diet presents a modified approach to the keto diet. Like keto, it encourages consumption of unprocessed organic food that is free of noxious oils, added sugars, and artificial elements. However, it takes a less strident approach to limiting consumption of carbohydrates and protein, eliminating only those carbohydrates that are known to spike insulin and are suspected of harboring mycotoxins, as some grains do.

Instead, ketosis is rapidly achieved by introducing foods rich in essential fatty acids (such as BodyBio Balance Oil) and phosphatidylcholine (BodyBio PC) into the diet.

These nutrients are vital to the repair of the cell membranes. For many years, scientists believed that the nucleus of a cell told it what to do; but we have since discovered that nucleus only tells it what it is. It’s the cell membrane that dictates what the cell should do and when to do it — making it all the more important that the membrane be unimpaired.

The Membrane Stabilizing Diet aims to supply the body with enough quality nutrients to build and maintain the membranes of trillions of cells, as well as a healthy gut microbiome. That also means avoiding foods that will cause harm.

No Commercial Oils

Most supermarket oils not only possess questionable ancestry, quality and age; they are also rancid. While olive oil and other monounsaturated fats are touted for their cardiac friendliness, it’s the polyphenols in authentic products that provide the benefit — and these are compromised by processing and heat extraction. Instead, look for bioactive oils that contain omega-3s and omega-6s, such as safflower and flaxseed. And if you need a product to cook with, your best option is organic coconut oil.

No GMO Foods

Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are foods that carry a gene from another species — sometimes plant, sometimes animal, sometimes bacterial or viral. Corn, for example, might carry a gene from a bacterium known to be toxic to insects by destroying their digestive tracts. While this microorganism may have no direct impact on your health, it could wreak havoc on your gut microbiome and lead to a host of intestinal concerns. Time will tell whether GMO foods are harmful or not — but if governments are wary of them, you should be, too.

No Processed Foods

It’s well-established that trans-fats are toxic to the liver and brain, as well as to the cardiovascular system. However, a food label may list them as absent if the amount is lower than 0.5 gram in a serving. Two servings, then, can add up to nearly a whole gram of trans fats — and eating a few processed foods with half-grams adds up to several. Too many trans fats can lead to fatigue, neurodegeneration, hyperactivity, and learning disabilities.

No Grains

Some grains — especially from countries lacking sanitation — may be contaminated with any variety of mycotoxic bodies, ranging from ochratoxins in oats to fumonisins in corn. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (UNFAO) also notes that developed nations are not immune to these fungi. As careful as we consumers might be, there is little regulatory oversight to mycotoxicity in cereal products. In fact, a 2017 study found all baby cereals were laden with fungal toxins: oats being worst, followed by mixed grains. (Cappozo 2017). One way farmers forestall fungal attacks on their grains? Spraying them with desiccant herbicides like glyphosate.

With the commercial food landscape riddled with so many minefields, it can be difficult to know where to begin. But the Membrane Stabilizing Diet was designed to make it easier.

Once you have eliminated or restricted your intake of harmful foods, your cells will begin to heal and your body as well as your brain will start to reap the benefits. At the same time, you should also adjust your eating habits to optimize your digestive health; which is not only impacted by toxicity, but timing, stress, and medications such as antibiotics.

Proper digestion is paramount to receiving optimal nutrition. Indigestion, heartburn, diarrhea, constipation, reflux, abdominal pain, colitis, hemorrhoids, nausea, bloating, gas, and belching are all common ailments and symptoms that many people accept as ‘normal’ — yet they are far from that. Rather, they are indicative of the overall health of our microbiome: 100 trillion microorganisms inhabiting the human body, found primarily in our gut.

So in addition to following the food recommendations of the Membrane Stabilizing Diet, try doing the following:

  • Give yourself at least 30 minutes to eat. It takes 20 minutes for your brain to tell your gut that you’re satiated.
  • Take small bites of food, and chew food thoroughly (30x per bite). That might sound excessive — but give it a chance! It has a truly positive effect on health and weight.
  • Stop eating when you are full. This easier to do when you eat slowly.

You may also seek digestive support from a licensed dietician or healthcare practitioner, who may have additional recommendations based on your individual disposition. Natural probiotics include bitters (dandelion, arugula), homemade kefir, fermented vegetables, bone broth, and peppermint and coconut oils. Common supplements also include bile salts, butyrate, balanced electrolytes, magnesium/potassium/sodium bicarbonates, mastic gum, phosphatidylcholine, balanced essential fatty acids (such as SR3 oil); and supplements like Visbiome™: a colonizing lactic acid bacteria.

It takes a lot of determination, patience, and perseverance to change one’s lifestyle and eating habits. The Membrane Stabilizing Diet was designed to help you do both, by offering new ways to prepare food and digest it properly. Your life depends on your cell membranes, and taking good care of them is an important part of any healing process. Precise nourishment with a targeted neurometabolic diet that is organic, low-carb, and nutrient-dense; along with supportive lipids and other nutrients, will ensure that your cells are both cleansed and nourished.

 

 

 

References

ABSTRACTS

Annu Rev Public Health. 2002;23:255–86. Epub 2001 Oct 25.

Dietary interventions to prevent disease.

Bowen DJ, Beresford SA.

Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, 1100 Fairview Avenue North, MP 900, Seattle, Washington 98109–1024, USA. dbowen@fhcrc.org

Changing dietary behaviors to prevent chronic disease has been an important research focus for the last 25 years. Here we present a review of published articles on the results of research to identify methods to change key dietary habits: fat intake, fiber intake, and consumption of fruits and vegetables. We divided the research reviewed into sections, based on the channel through which the intervention activities were delivered. We conclude that the field is making progress in identifying successful dietary change strategies, but that more can be learned. Particularly, we need to transfer some of the knowledge from the individual-based trials to community-level interventions. Also, more research with rigorous methodology must be done to test current and future intervention options.

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Nutr J. 2014 Jun 6;13:56. doi: 10.1186/1475–2891–13–56.

A systematic review of types of healthy eating interventions in preschools.

Mikkelsen MV, Husby S, Skov LR, Perez-Cueto FJ.

Development of Planning and Development, Research group for Meal science and Public Health Nutrition — MENU, University of Aalborg, A,C, Meyers Vaenge 15, Copenhagen SV 2450, Denmark.

BACKGROUND:

With the worldwide levels of obesity new venues for promotion of healthy eating habits are necessary. Considering children’s eating habits are founded during their preschool years early educational establishments are a promising place for making health promoting interventions.

METHODS:

This systematic review evaluates different types of healthy eating interventions attempting to prevent obesity among 3 to 6 year-olds in preschools, kindergartens and day care facilities. Studies that included single interventions, educational interventions and/or multicomponent interventions were eligible for review. Included studies also had to have conducted both baseline and follow-up measurements.A systematic search of the databases Scopus, Web of Science, CINAHL and PubMed was conducted to identify articles that met the inclusion criteria. The bibliographies of identified articles were also searched for relevant articles.

RESULTS:

The review identified 4186 articles, of which 26 studies met the inclusion criteria. Fifteen of the interventions took place in preschools, 10 in kindergartens and 1 in another facility where children were cared for by individuals other than their parents. Seventeen of the 26 included studies were located in North America, 1 in South America, 5 in Asia, and 3 in a European context.Healthy eating interventions in day care facilities increased fruit and vegetable consumption and nutrition related knowledge among the target groups. Only 2 studies reported a significant decrease in body mass index.

CONCLUSIONS:

This review highlights the scarcity of properly designed healthy eating interventions using clear indicators and verifiable outcomes. The potential of preschools as a potential setting for influencing children’s food choice at an early age should be more widely recognised and utilised.

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J Food Prot. 2017 Oct;80(10):1628–1634. doi: 10.4315/0362–028X.JFP-16–559.

Reduction of Ochratoxin A in Oat Flakes by Twin-Screw Extrusion Processing.

Lee HJ, Dahal S, Perez EG, Kowalski RJ, Ganjyal GM, Ryu D.

Ochratoxin A (OTA) is one of the most important mycotoxins owing to its widespread occurrence and toxicity, including nephrotoxicity and potential carcinogenicity to humans. OTA has been detected in a wide range of agricultural commodities, including cereal grains and their processed products. In particular, oat-based products show a higher incidence and level of contamination. Extrusion cooking is widely used in the manufacturing of breakfast cereals and snacks and may reduce mycotoxins to varying degrees. Hence, the effects of extrusion cooking on the stability of OTA in spiked (100 μg/kg) oat flake was investigated by using a laboratory-scale twin-screw extruder with a central composite design. Factors examined were moisture content (20, 25, and 30% dry weight basis), temperature (140, 160, and 180°C), screw speed (150, 200, and 250 rpm), and die size (1.5, 2, and 3 mm). Both nonextruded and extruded samples were analyzed for reductions of OTA by high-performance liquid chromatography, coupled with fluorescence detection. The percentage of reductions in OTA in the contaminated oat flakes upon extrusion processing were in the range of 0 to 28%. OTA was partially stable during extrusion, with only screw speed and die size having significant effect on reduction (P < 0.005). The highest reduction of 28% was achieved at 180°C, 20% moisture, 250 rpm screw speed, and a 3-mm die with 193 kJ/kg specific mechanical energy. According to the central composite design analyses, up to 28% of OTA can be reduced by a combination of 162°C, 30% moisture, and 221 rpm, with a 3-mm die.

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J Agric Food Chem. 2015 Nov 4;63(43):9404–9. doi: 10.1021/jf505674v. Epub 2015 Feb 23.

Significance of Ochratoxin A in Breakfast Cereals from the United States.

Lee HJ, Ryu D.

Ochratoxin A (OTA) has been found in all major cereal grains including oat, wheat, and barley worldwide and considered as a potential concern in food safety. A total of 489 samples of corn-, rice-, wheat-, and oat-based breakfast cereal were collected from U.S. retail marketplaces over a two-year period, and OTA was determined by high-performance liquid chromatography. Overall, 205 samples (42%) were contaminated with OTA in the range from 0.10 to 9.30 ng/g. The levels OTA were mostly below of the European Commission Regulation (3 ng/g) except in 16 samples of oat-based cereals. The incidence of OTA was highest in oat-based breakfast cereals (70%, 142/203), followed by wheat-based (32%, 38/117), corn-based (15%, 15/103), and rice-based breakfast cereals (15%, 10/66). On the basis of the incidence and concentration of OTA, oats and oat-based products may need greater attention in further surveillance programs and development of intervention strategies to reduce health risks in consumers.

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J Food Prot. 2017 Feb;80(2):251–256. doi: 10.4315/0362–028X.JFP-16–339.

Occurrence of Ochratoxin A in Infant Foods in the United States.

Cappozzo J, Jackson L, Lee HJ, Zhou W, Al-Taher F, Zweigenbaum J, Ryu D.

Ochratoxin A (OTA) is a possible human carcinogen and occurs frequently in cereal grain, soy, and other agricultural commodities. Infants and young children may be more susceptible to contaminants than adults because of their lower body weight, higher metabolic rate, reduced ability to detoxify food toxicants, and more restricted diet. The purpose of this study was to investigate the occurrence and levels of OTA in infant formula and infant cereal products available in the U.S. market. In the present study, 98 powdered infant formula (milk- and soy-based) samples and 155 infant cereal (barley-, rice-, oat-, wheat-, and mixed grain-based) products were collected from different retail locations in the United States over a 2-year period. OTA levels were determined by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. Although OTA was not detected in any of the infant formula samples, 47 (30%) of 155 infant cereals were contaminated with OTA in the range of 0.6 to 22.1 ng/g. At present, there is no regulatory limit for OTA in the United States. However, all of the positive samples were above the maximum level set by the European Commission (0.5 ng/g) for OTA in baby foods. OTA was detected in all types of infant cereals, but the highest incidence and concentrations were found in oat-based infant cereals (59%), followed by mixed grain cereals (34%). Increased surveillance and monitoring of OTA levels in grains used in infant foods may be needed to reduce exposure of infants and young children to OTA from cereal products.