Episode Summary: In this episode of Blasphemous Nutrition, Aimee shares two key questions that can simplify meals and improve overall health. She emphasizes the importance of protein and produce as the foundation of nutrition, based on her 30 years of study and two decades in practice. Aimee discusses the impact of protein on weight management, blood sugar stability, and satiety and highlights the dose-dependent relationship between produce consumption and reduced mortality from all causes. She then provides practical tips for incorporating protein and produce into meals, both at home and when dining out.
Key Takeaways:
Protein and produce are the two most important components of a healthy diet.
Protein preserves lean muscle mass, aids in glucose tolerance, and provides satiety.
Consuming more produce is associated with reduced mortality from all causes.
Aim for one quarter to one third of your plate to be filled with quality protein sources.
Incorporate four to five servings of produce per day, focusing on green, yellow, and orange vegetables.
If these nutrient-dense foods give you tummy troubles, seek professional assistance so that you can resume a broader diet.
Notable Quotes:
"When people make a commitment to produce and aim to make up to half of their plate from vegetables and a smattering of fruit, they find that they ache less, their labs normalize, their energy stabilizes, and their cravings plummet." - Aimee
"Protein is a powerful tool for a healthy weight as it preserves our lean muscle mass, which then has a huge influence on our ability to tolerate glucose and our overall metabolic health." - Aimee
"Vegetables can play a multifactorial role in keeping us vital into our elder years." - Aimee
Elango, Rajavel et al. “Evidence that protein requirements have been significantly underestimated.” Current opinion in clinical nutrition and metabolic care vol. 13,1 (2010): 52-7. doi:10.1097/MCO.0b013e328332f9b7
Kurata, Hideaki et al. “Dietary protein intake and all-cause mortality: results from The Kawasaki Aging and Wellbeing Project.” BMC geriatrics vol. 23,1 479. 9 Aug. 2023, doi:10.1186/s12877-023-04173-w
Aune, Dagfinn et al. “Fruit and vegetable intake and the risk of cardiovascular disease, total cancer and all-cause mortality-a systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis of prospective studies.” International journal of epidemiology vol. 46,3 (2017): 1029-1056. doi:10.1093/ije/dyw319
Breakdown of the Aune paper with most prote
HOW TO RATE AND REVIEW BLASPHEMOUS NUTRITION Leaving a Review on Apple Podcasts Via iOS Device 1. Open Apple Podcast App (purple app icon that says Podcasts). 2. Go to the icons at the bottom of the screen and choose “search” 3. Search for “Blasphemous Nutrition” 4. Click on the SHOW, not the episode. 5. Scroll all the way down to “Ratings and Reviews” section 6. Click on “Write a Review” (if you don’t see that option, click on “See All” first) 7. Rate the show on a five-star scale (5 is highest rating) and write a review! 8. Bask in the glow of doing a good deed that makes a difference!
Episode Summary: In this episode of Blasphemous Nutrition, Aimee shares two key questions that can simplify meals and improve overall health. She emphasizes the importance of protein and produce as the foundation of nutrition, based on her 30 years of study and two decades in practice. Aimee discusses the impact of protein on weight management, blood sugar stability, and satiety and highlights the dose-dependent relationship between produce consumption and reduced mortality from all causes. She then provides practical tips for incorporating protein and produce into meals, both at home and when dining out.
Key Takeaways:
Protein and produce are the two most important components of a healthy diet.
Protein preserves lean muscle mass, aids in glucose tolerance, and provides satiety.
Consuming more produce is associated with reduced mortality from all causes.
Aim for one quarter to one third of your plate to be filled with quality protein sources.
Incorporate four to five servings of produce per day, focusing on green, yellow, and orange vegetables.
If these nutrient-dense foods give you tummy troubles, seek professional assistance so that you can resume a broader diet.
Notable Quotes:
"When people make a commitment to produce and aim to make up to half of their plate from vegetables and a smattering of fruit, they find that they ache less, their labs normalize, their energy stabilizes, and their cravings plummet." - Aimee
"Protein is a powerful tool for a healthy weight as it preserves our lean muscle mass, which then has a huge influence on our ability to tolerate glucose and our overall metabolic health." - Aimee
"Vegetables can play a multifactorial role in keeping us vital into our elder years." - Aimee
Elango, Rajavel et al. “Evidence that protein requirements have been significantly underestimated.” Current opinion in clinical nutrition and metabolic care vol. 13,1 (2010): 52-7. doi:10.1097/MCO.0b013e328332f9b7
Kurata, Hideaki et al. “Dietary protein intake and all-cause mortality: results from The Kawasaki Aging and Wellbeing Project.” BMC geriatrics vol. 23,1 479. 9 Aug. 2023, doi:10.1186/s12877-023-04173-w
Aune, Dagfinn et al. “Fruit and vegetable intake and the risk of cardiovascular disease, total cancer and all-cause mortality-a systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis of prospective studies.” International journal of epidemiology vol. 46,3 (2017): 1029-1056. doi:10.1093/ije/dyw319
Breakdown of the Aune paper with most prote
HOW TO RATE AND REVIEW BLASPHEMOUS NUTRITION Leaving a Review on Apple Podcasts Via iOS Device 1. Open Apple Podcast App (purple app icon that says Podcasts). 2. Go to the icons at the bottom of the screen and choose “search” 3. Search for “Blasphemous Nutrition” 4. Click on the SHOW, not the episode. 5. Scroll all the way down to “Ratings and Reviews” section 6. Click on “Write a Review” (if you don’t see that option, click on “See All” first) 7. Rate the show on a five-star scale (5 is highest rating) and write a review! 8. Bask in the glow of doing a good deed that makes a difference!
Hey Rebels, welcome to Blasphemous Nutrition. Consider this podcast your pantry full of clarity, perspective, and the nuance needed to counter the superficial health advice so freely given on the internet. I'm Amy, the unapologetically candid host of Blasphemous Nutrition and a double degreed nutritionist with 20 years experience. I'm here to share a more nuanced take. On living and eating well to sustain and recover your health. If you've found most health advice to be so generic as to be meaningless, We're so extreme that it's unrealistic, and you don't mind the occasional f bomb. You've come to the right place. From dissecting the latest nutrition trends to breaking down published research and sharing my own clinical experiences, I'm on a mission to foster clarity amidst all the confusion, and empower you to have the health you need to live a life you love. Now let's get started.
MacBook Air Microphone-1:
Welcome back to Blasphemous nutrition. I'm your host, Aimee. And I'm not above drinking my morning coffee in the shower. Today, I want to share with you one of the most valuable tips I offer my patients and clients. Implementing this tip, which consists of two key questions is an effective strategy to simplifying meals and narrowing in on the two things, which I believe matter most to improving or keeping your health, reducing blood pressure, normalizing weight, and stabilizing blood sugar. Emerging research suggests defining your meals around these two questions will prevent age-related decline from all causes and keep you kicking ass into your octogenarian years, if not longer. These two questions are number one, where is my protein? And number two. Where is my produce? Protein and produce is the best foundation to nutrition that I have found after 30 years of study and two decades in practice. When I first began. I was using the calories in calories out model of nutrition. Split into portion sizes dictated by the food guide pyramid. And while this worked well for some, it is, as you probably know, by now, Complicated to implement and tends to leave one feeling hungry or perpetually concerned about overdrawing, their caloric account. Fortunately less than a decade into practice. I was introduced to the concept of hormonal fat loss as coined by Jade Teta. He was finding great success with focusing on produce a non starchy veggies, coupled with a strength based program to achieve healthy weight in adults. And he wrote this book about it, that was called Metabolic Effect. This completely transformed how I worked with weight loss clients and has held the test of time for the last 15 years. It was my introduction to how foods impact satiety hormones and the impact on insulin on one's ability to lose weight. I had the fortune of learning from Jade for several years and emerging research. Since that time has largely confirmed what he taught me. When I entered grad school, I encountered a piece of research that changed things for me yet. Again. A systematic review and meta analysis of observational research across many nations came to the conclusion that there was a dose dependent impact of produce. On reducing all cause mortality. This effectively meant that each serving of produce reduced your relative risk of dying from anything by about 5%. Peaking at 10 servings per day limited only by the fact the questionnaire often used in studies didn't have a category higher than 10 servings to ascertain if that trajectory continued. So the idea was that. If you have one serving of produce per day, it impacts your relative risk of dying from anything by, you know, this much. If you have. Two servings. It's more, if you have three servings, it's even more, and that this was a linear relationship between the doses of produce consumed and one's relative risk of dying from any cause. Now the power of produce appeared unparalleled and throughout grad school, I saw consistent research demonstrating the impact of produce on a multitude of diseases. Implementing what I learned. I began to help clients get off of their blood pressure medications and prevent prescriptions to cholesterol medications and blood sugar medications or reduce the dose that they were currently being prescribed by giving them the tools that they needed to successfully implement a high produce diet. Now the existing research is strongest in looking at the observational data. When looking at singular compounds or smaller, more controlled studies the data are not as consistent, which I'll speak to in a moment. Multiple observational studies do suggest that there is this dose response relationship between produce consumption and reduced inflammation, heart disease, stroke, metabolic syndrome, and diabetes. Even among those with diabetes, those who consume the most produce often have lower blood sugar as well as lower inflammatory markers suggesting better glucose control and reduced disease severity. There are not nearly as many randomized controlled trials for produce intake as these are not going to lead to any sexy new drugs in the marketplace, they are very costly to produce and they also have the limitation of a short duration. Most interventions, which are considered long-term studies. And again, this is an intervention study, not an observational study. Uh, long-term interventional studies tend to be three to six months at most, and this may not be sufficient time to see overt changes in disease. Although some markers and indicators like glucose levels, C-reactive protein, total cholesterol. You know, there's sufficient time for improvements in these areas. So our most valuable research to date across the lifespan is seen in these observational studies that I mentioned earlier. Uh, another thing that amuses me. Is when science tries to isolate a single compound to find out what that magic factor is. And then the results tend to be null, or they find a compound and they. Ascertain there is this magical element to it, but then when it's isolated into a compound and put into a supplement form, then it has no effect, right? This is most likely due to a synergistic collaborative impact of consuming the entire food that is dismantled and destroyed when we isolate these compounds. And this is one of the limitations of having a single cause, single outcome approach to what we call gold standard science. We can lose the forest for the leaves in that kind of scenario. Human beings are complex biological systems within a single organism. Right? Our walking, neat sack as it were. And we're having this complex relationship, this complex communication with other complex biological systems that we call food. So. It gets really confusing very quickly because there are so many factors at play. And this is one of the reasons why, when we're looking at research in health and wellness, Things tend to be super confusing, super muddled and unclear. And you'll see this flip-flop happening in how research is reported. You know, eggs are gonna kill you. No eggs are fine. Be worried about your cholesterol. Oh, well, you don't actually need to be worried about your total cholesterol. Just this aspect. And then, oh, well, It's more than that. So as we learn more I think we're getting better able at transmitting the nuance that is in our biological system as we get increased awareness around it. But when it comes to understanding the role that food plays in health, we are not likely to find the answers to the big questions through this kind of one cause one outcome approach. Now again, what I consistently see in my practice is that when people make a commitment to produce and they aim to make up to half of their plate from vegetables and a smattering of fruit, they find that they ache less, their labs normalize, their energy stabilizes and their cravings plummet. And then they come back and they're like, I just feel better. Nine is the consistent thing that I hear. I feel better. It's the easiest way to convey it. And what feeling better? Means their personal experience of feeling better is often a mix of feeling physically better in their body and having more energy as well as feeling emotionally better. And. There is, you know, kind of some signal that, Eating in this way, can improve mood and can stabilize mood. But there's so many confounding variables with that, that I, I don't like to lean too heavily in. Saying that vegetables will make you a happier person, even though honestly, I see that all the time. So anyway, getting back to the question at hand. Protein and produce. This is key. Where is my protein? Where's my produce. Here's how it works in the real world. At the start of each meal, or when you're thinking about planning your meals for the week, ask yourself, where am I going to get my protein? Where will I get my produce? If you're at a restaurant, you open up the menu. Look for the produce first, because that tends to be the thing that's hardest to find. And then look for the protein. Right. And see if you can find a meal that has both of those present. Now protein is a powerful tool for a healthy weight as it preserves our lean muscle mass. Which then has a huge influence on our ability to tolerate glucose. And our overall metabolic health and it's very satiating. So it keeps you fuller longer. Protein also provides a more subtle gentle rise and fall in blood sugar and helps to prevent the spikes and crashes that happen. If we just have a carbohydrate focused meal where protein has largely absent. How much protein we need varies, depending upon a whole lot of things like body size, hormone status, stage of life, health goals. But generally speaking, getting one quarter to one third of your plate from quality protein sources is a good idea. This is larger than the deck of cards, portion that you may have been taught at weight Watchers or in a nutritional class. While there's not any overt signs of change coming in our current protein requirements from a government standpoint the data are showing that nearly all humans across the lifespan will do better if they get more protein than the current recommended dietary intakes that are encouraged by the U S government. Evidence suggests that we do better with maybe 20 to 50% more than current recommendations of 0.8 grams per kilogram for a sedentary adult. Now if you are a young male an older human or an active human, your needs may be higher. Still. So aiming for that one quarter to one third of a typical dinner plate would be a good place for you to start. If you're not achieving this already. While research on protein and disease are mixed. There is clearer evidence that elders definitely benefit from a higher protein diet to prevent all cause mortality. However exact numbers of what is optimal are still being hashed out. Now protein usually shows up as a feature in most meals. When you're dining out, you may need to ask for an extra portion of it to ensure that you get enough protein. As the standard serving in many ethnic restaurants, for example, or fast food places is three to four ounces. And that is sub optimal for most people. Getting produced can be more difficult, especially if you do not do a lot of cooking yourself. However, when you're dining out, you can look for produce focused side dishes. And choose mains that come with produce. Don't be afraid to ask for an extra serving of vegetables with your main meal or to sub out the starch side for an additional vegetable. If you're falling short that day. And if you are having a starch based meal, like pasta include a solid with protein as a starter, such as a shrimp Caesar salad. Or ask for extra veggies or protein to be added to that pasta meal as well. Now our vegetables supply the most nutrients needed to maintain health per calorie. They're a volumous they fill the stomach without exceeding our personal carbohydrate or caloric needs. And they have loads of fiber, which contribute to a healthy microbiome. Emerging research and gut health suggests that the composition of our gut microbiome actually directly impacts glucose tolerance as well as our ability to regulate weight. So vegetables can play a multifactorial role in keeping us vital into our elder years. Admittedly breakfast is an area where a lot of people struggle to get vegetables in. And this is where fruit becomes a preference for many. I tend to encourage citrus, fruits and berries as optimal choices due to the research, showing that these tend to be especially helpful for reducing stroke risk, and for sustaining cardiovascular health. Both are rich in antioxidants that reduce inflammation. Additionally, adding spinach, chard, zucchini, or frozen cauliflower to your morning smoothie is a great way to get extra produce in without thinking too much about it. They blend to a smoothie very easily and they don't contribute a great deal of flavor to the end product. You could also add sauteed peppers and onions or spinach to your eggs in the morning. If you're making that from scratch. Now, if you're having breakfast on the run and you can't get fruit or veg at that morning meal, then make it a non-negotiable to include it as a snack midday. Raw veggies and dip such as hummus or a homemade ranch dip from blended cottage cheese and a ranch mix is great. having an apple with a handful of almonds or Greek yogurt with some berries, these are all pretty easy to take with you to work and they fit the bill nicely. And so you may be wondering what is a serving of produce anyway, and how much counts. That paper that I read in grad school was a statistical review and meta analysis. And, um, I cannot pronounce the researcher's last name. And do it any justice, but his first name is Dagfinn. And I'll link it to the show notes. So you can take a look at it yourself, but in this paper, They found that 800 grams of produce a day. Was the most impactful. So this amounts to about four to five cups of cooked vegetables. A serving of produce, believe it or not is not actually standardized, or decided upon it varies between countries and research authors. Generally speaking, it's about 80 to 90 grams of produce counts as one serving. And this amounts to about half a cup cooked veggies or fruit, one cup of berries, two cups of greens or one cup of any other raw vegetable. Now I like to simplify this even further by using something that we carry with us everywhere, our hands. For most adults, their hand is about the size of one cup, if you are a small female. Up to two cups if you're a larger male, you can take a measuring cup and estimate the size of your fist to the size of the measuring cup and then take it from there. And if you're like most adults, you will be somewhere between say one and a quarter to one and a half cups per fist. So make your vegetable portions to be about one fist and then aim to get four to five fists per day. That will put you in the upper echelon of produce consumers and totally blow your peers straight out of the water. As most Western diets contain one to three servings a day, depending upon the nation. Finding specific stats is actually pretty challenging as data are stronger on what we've purchased, but what we put in our basket or our trolley is not necessarily what actually gets eaten. Right. Australians and British estimates are upwards of three to four servings of fruit and veggies a day. So good on y'all for fairing better than the U S. That said, national reports from Canada, Australia, and the UK report falling produce consumption over the last five to 10 years and currently less than one third of Brits reportedly get the recommended five a day. So it's in the best interest of these nations, not to rest on their laurels and to reverse that trend, if they don't want to take on more of America's health crisis. And that right there is a great example of my personal bias. So the paper that, uh, Dag Finn Aune, I'm going to call it. I'm going to say Aune. That research paper by Dagfin Aune and team found that the following fruits and vegetables may be the most impactful to prevent heart disease, stroke, cardiovascular disease, and early death. These were apples and pears, citrus fruits, salads, and leafy green veggies like spinach and chicory, cruciferous veggies like broccoli, kale, cabbage, and cauliflower. And they also found that green veggies such as spinach, green beans, as well as yellow veggies like peppers and carrots and cruciferous veggies can potentially reduce cancer risk. So one of the ways of making it easy to think about how to choose your vege is to make sure you have one to three servings of green veggies daily, and then make sure that the yellows and the oranges show up as well. Like, let's take the advice that Skittles gave us to taste the rainbow, but get it from veggies instead. Now, if you have digestive issues that make increasing your protein or your produce difficult. It is important to address that and this is something I also do in clinical practice. If you're interested in personalized guidance, please reach out to me to address this. It should not be ignored as the impact on your longterm health and longevity is pretty significant. Digestive issues are a common reason why people visit their doctor and over the counter medications, such as antacids can actually reduce your ability to absorb important vitamins and minerals leading to anemia and osteoporosis over time. So medicating the symptoms away doesn't get at the root cause, right? And sometimes there are negative impacts of doing so. Bloating and pain from veggies is often a sign of an imbalanced microbiome. And there are multiple ways to ease that imbalance so that you can return to a produce rich diet. If protein foods are the ones that just sit really heavily in your stomach, that's a sign that your digestive capacity is compromised at the level of the stomach not necessarily the level of the intestines and the solution to this may not be as complicated, but it's definitely worth exploring. As always links to research and my recommendations are in the show notes. If you have any questions or you would like me to expand on a specific topic in a future episode, reach out to me here directly by emailing me@blasphemousnutritionatgmail.com or via sub stack. And while we're at it, if you would do me a favor and leave a review of this show in iTunes or Spotify, that would be fantastic. I actually have a goal to get to 50 iTunes reviews this year so that I can interview more popular names in the field and get their take on nutrition trends. Many bigger shows will not even look at you. If you have less than 100 reviews. So it's my aim to be tiny but mighty, and I totally need her help to achieve that. Has a thank you for taking the time to do this favor to me, you can email me a screenshot. And I will send you my guide on five smoothie, free salad, free ways to increase your produce intake by five servings a day. Your support means the world to me. And I thank you so much for listening. Thanks. Again, my salty friends.
Any and all information shared here is for educational and entertainment purposes only and is not to be misconstrued as offering medical advice. Listening to this podcast does not constitute a provider client relationship. Note, I'm not a doctor, nor a nurse, and it is imperative that you utilize your brain and your medical team to make the best decisions for your own health. The use of information on this podcast or materials linked to this podcast are at the user's own risk. No information nor resources provided are intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Be a smart human and do not disregard or postpone obtaining medical advice for any medical condition you may have. Seek the assistance of your health care team for any such conditions and always do so before making any changes to your medical, nutrition, or health plan. If you have found some Nuggets of Wisdom, make sure to subscribe, rate, and share Blasphemous Nutrition with those you care about. As you navigate the labyrinth of health advice out there, remember, health is a journey, not a dietary dictatorship. Stay skeptical, stay daring, and challenge the norms that no longer serve you. If you've got burning questions or want to share your own flavor of rebellion, slide into my DMs. Your stories fuel me, and I love hearing them. Thanks again for tuning in to Blasphemous Nutrition. Until next time, this is Amy signing off, reminding you that truth is nuanced, and any dish can be made better with a little bit of sass.