Dairy is a highly debated topic, especially as it relates to weight loss within the Paleo, Primal and whole foods communities. Does dairy slow weight loss? Is it fat loss friendly? Does it increase blood sugar? Does it influence insulin, the master fat loss hormone? Some of the answers might surprise you and we’re going to answer all your questions & then some in today’s episode!
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In today’s episode, I’ll be going through the following 10 statements in more detail. Don’t miss the full episode!
The intended purpose of milk, from any mammal, is to deliver nutrients to and accelerate the growth of an infant
Milk & most milk products contain sugar in the form of lactose. Though “sugar” might not be listed on the label, that does not mean there is not sugar within. The carbohydrates contained within come from this milk sugar. Any sugar reflected on the label is added sugar in addition to the lactose.
Though dairy products (excluding those with added sugar) don’t produce much of an increase in blood sugar, they do elicit an insulin response. Typically, glycemic index and insulin index are similarly impacted but this is not the case with dairy products. They have a unique insulin reaction that I explain in this episode. Individuals who are insulin resistant should consider limiting dairy for this reason.
The hormones produced by the mammal which produced the milk are often still contained within the milk. If you drink the milk, you ingest said hormones. This is, of course, a dose-dependent relationship and the hormone content depends on many different factors including the quality of the product, the type of product and the hormone levels (natural & artificial) of the animal.
Casein, the predominant protein in milk products, is a major allergen for many people.
Not all animal milks are created equal. Goat’s milk, for example, is higher in fat and lower in casein and lactose.
Nut milk is not milk. While this seems obvious to many, it is not to all and is worth a discussion.
Whether or not you can or should tolerate dairy products depends in large part on your individual gut health/permeability.
Your bacterial balance (or imbalance) will have a lot to do with your body’s response to dairy consumption.
Lactose content, casein content and insulin impact depend on the type of dairy consumed.
If you are concerned about calcium intake, consider these non-dairy options which are good sources of calcium:
Low carb keto bread! Dude. I’m happy. This is good.
Let’s get something out of the way right off the bat: if you love bread then enjoy amazing, bakery fresh bread every once in a while. There’s nothing wrong with that. Of course. This recipe is not meant to imply that you can never enjoy wonderful bread. This is not a baguette. It is not a replacement for a delicious, fresh baguette. Clear? K good. Plus, I’m not a chef. I’m all about simple and easy. I liked this because it was really straight forward and it allows me to enjoy amazingly good breakfast sandwiches and grilled cheese! Ah! Yes!
Here’s how it went down: I was skimming through Jimmy Moore’s Ketogenic Cookbook and I saw a recipe for Keto Bread. It was eggs and protein powder. That’s it. I made it. It was ok. Don’t get me wrong – it wasn’t bad, but I try to only eat things I really love and I didn’t love it. It was very “eggy”.
However, I was encouraged by the idea & determined to play with it & make it work for my tastes.
I went to Vitamin Shoppe and found a new product from Quest Nutrition – Powdered MCT Oil. If you aren’t sure why I was so excited, here’s why I freakin’ love MCT oil. And this was a powder! And the container said “Perfect for Baking”!!!! So duh. I bought it and went straight home to play.
Because I’m not a chef, I tend to start with an idea from someone else. In this case, it was a combination of Quest’s recommendations for their new product and Jimmy Moore’s Ketogenic Cookbook. I wanted to stay away from bread recipes that use lots of almond flour or other flours because those, while more bread-like, are SUUUUUPER energy dense. For me personally, they also increase my cravings. This one that I’m sharing today does NOT make me crave more carbs. That’s a big deal for me. Either way, I’ll link to a few of those breadier types if you want a more dense bread option (physically dense and energy dense).
Here’s what you’ll need:
* 6 eggs, separated
* 1/4 cup unflavored whey protein powder [ http://amzn.to/1OzuP9x ] (I used Tera’s Whey)
* 1/4 cup MCT Oil Powder [ http://www.questnutrition.com/protein-powders/mct-oil-powder/ ]
Preheat the oven to 325 and grease a loaf pan with oil or butter.
Using a mixer, beat the 6 egg whites until they form STIFF peaks. You gotta go all the way here. Then gently stir in (with a spoon) the two powders. Gently is the key here! You’ll lose some volume from the egg whites but you don’t want to take all the air out. Then, again gently, fold in the egg yolks. Nice and easy. Do not use the mixer for this part. Use a spoon or spatula.
Transfer to the greased loaf pan and bake for 30-35 minutes until golden brown (see pic below). Now listen! When you take it out of the oven, LET IT COOL. Don’t touch it until it’s totally cool. Yes, it will deflate a tiny bit but if you remove it from the pan before it is really cool it will totally collapse. Then I’ll have to say, “I told you so!”
It’s very light and airy – kinda like angel food cake in texture. I let my butter soften before making grilled cheese. And when I made the egg sandwich, I melted the butter in a skillet and then just put the bread down into it.
PS: You guys know I’m not a calorie or macro counter and here’s why, but I know I’ll get asked so here’s the deal. If you cut it into 6 slices (you can certainly do smaller slices if you wish), here’s what you’re looking at per slice:
178 cals
13g fat
< 3g carbs (half of which is from fiber)
13g protein
To kick off the New Year, I am doing a series called Fat Loss Basics! In the first episode, we talked about calories & hormones and the requirements for fat loss.
In today’s episode we’re taking a deep dive into carbohydrates including:
What are they?
How do different types of carbs impact fat loss?
How do carbs impact metabolism?
What are the best carb strategies for fat loss?
You can get a cheat sheet overview of all this info as soon as you get on the free VIP email list . Plus, every Sunday I send out my weekly workouts, recipes, meal ideas, info & motivation!
To kick off the New Year, I am doing a series called Fat Loss Basics! This is the first episode of the series and I’ll be covering all the basic information about calories, hormones, fat loss foods & fitness.
Today we will establish when calories matter and why a calorie deficit is not sufficient for fat loss.
In this first episode of the Fat Loss Basics series, we go into detail on a few fat loss truths. Definitely listen to the entire episode to understand them in their entirety and be sure to listen to the whole series as it becomes available!
A calorie deficit is required for fat loss
A calorie deficit does not ensure fat loss
Fat burning is turned on & off by your hormones
The two primary hormones in control of fat loss are glucagon & insulin
We can control both insulin & glucagon with our food choices
Insulin is an important & necessary storage hormone. Insulin is responsible for delivery fuel to our cells & ushering excess fuel to storage sites within the body (this can be muscle storage or fat storage).
Without insulin, our cells would starve & we would die.
The presence of insulin informs the body that there there is ample fuel in the body and therefore fat burning is not required.
Glucagon works opposite of insulin.
Glucagon responds when there is no fuel available from food. The presence of glucagon allows fat to be released from storage and burned to provide energy to the body.
A calorie deficit alone is not enough to instruct glucagon to do it’s job.
You need a calorie deficit & control of insulin/glucagon.
Here are a few ways you can control insulin & glucagon to maximize your fat burning potential:
Given that, I thought it would be fun to do a follow-up episode answering the most common questions about breakfast and sharing some of my favorite fat loss breakfast recipes and meal ideas.
