Brian (1s):
Hello and welcome to the Get Lean and EATCLEAN podcast. My name is Brian Gryn. I'm a certified health coach, trainer and author, and this podcast is for middle aged men and women looking to optimize their health and get their bodies back to what it once was 10 to 15 years ago. I will give you simple, actionable items to get long term sustainable results. Thanks for listening and enjoy the show.
Brian (25s):
All right, Welcome to the Get Lean Eat Clean podcast. My name is Brian Gryn. I hope you had a great weekend and hope you had a chance to listen to my interview with former FBI, chief of Staff for Counter turned certified holistic health coach Holly Bertone. We discussed how Holly overcame emotional eating for years, how to stop the cycle of restricting, binging, and beating yourself up. Why willpower doesn't work when it comes to controlling your eating and much, much more. So if you haven't already, I highly recommend my interview with Holly Bertone. Now on today's micro podcast, we are going to get into Dr. Ray Pete and his nutrition philosophy, his perspective on how food can impact cellular energy, hormones and overall health.
Brian (1m 8s):
And this has been a topic that I think has been trending in the health industry for quite a while Now. I've had quite a bit of pro metabolic individuals on my podcast and I've been basing a lot of my eating around it as well. And so it's always good to revisit this. I get questions surrounding his philosophy. I won't even call it a diet, but you know, his ideas around saturated fats, carbohydrates, polyunsaturated fats. And today we're gonna break it down, get into some of his core principles and then some foods you could eat that will be based around his philosophy. So you know, at the heart of it, really it comes down to the belief that food should support your cellular energy production and reduce stress at the hormonal level.
Brian (1m 50s):
Unlike certain, I guess you could say diets, low carb carnivore, you know, high protein diets that has been dominating the wellness trends. Dr. Pete promoted a different formula based around his research for optimal health and some of his core pillars when it comes to his diet turp philosophy are to prioritize easily digestible carbohydrates. So Dr. Pete advocates for consuming natural sugars, particularly fruits honey and dairy. According to him, these carbohydrates effectively fuel the body by supporting glucose metabolism while reducing stress hormone production such as cortisol.
Brian (2m 32s):
And you know, one of the things that Pete talks about was, you know, not necessarily demonizing carbs, which has been sort of this trend that has been going on in the health space for a while now. And carbs can do a lot of wonders when it comes to reducing stress related cortisol spikes that can happen after intense exercise. Cortisol can rise due to physical stress and consuming carbs post-workout can help replenish glycogen stores, but also lower cortisol as well. Also, if you're dealing with low blood sugar, hypoglycemia also triggers cortisol rele release as part of the body's stress response. Eating carbohydrates can help stabilize blood sugar, which is something he talks a lot about, preventing this cortisol spike.
Brian (3m 12s):
So number one is prioritizing easily digestible carbs. We'll get into some of those in a minute. Next is choosing saturated fats as far as cooking and, and also consuming over polyunsaturated fats and saturated fats found in sources like butter, coconut oil and animal fats are sort of the central tenet of Pete's diet to theory because he was very anti polyunsaturated fatty acids seed oils, which I've done plenty of videos on. So he believed that polyunsaturated fatty acids are harmful in the sense that they promote oxidative stress and inflammation potentially disrupting cellular energy production. And the thing about polyunsaturated fats is you're never gonna avoid them altogether. They're actually in some natural foods such as meat and even some fish.
Brian (3m 57s):
So prioritizing easily digestible carbs, choosing saturated fats over polyunsaturated fats, and also just focusing on nutrient optimization, which is a great way to go about deciding what you're going to eat. I talked about this with Kathleen Stewart, essentially not only looking at your macros but also your micronutrients and are you getting your B vitamins? Are you getting enough calcium essential nutrients that Dr. Pete talks about? Were calcium vitamin A, potassium recommending foods like high quality dairy, even orange juice to meet these, the, these demands. So finding foods that tools for balancing your hormones and for supporting your metabolism. And one of the ways you can do this is, you know, if you have like chronometer as you put foods in, you know, it'll not only track obviously your macronutrients but also your micronutrients and you can sort of see like, well, am I getting enough of these certain nutrients that are recommended as like the daily allowance?
Brian (4m 51s):
So good way to construct a meal is that way. So those are the main three tenets of his dietary philosophy. And you know, like I said to you before, they're grounded all about Dr. Pete's theories are all grounded in concepts of maximizing cellular energy production, emphasizing the critical role of your mitochondria playing in converting glucose efficiently into energy. He also emphasized the critical role that mitochondrial play in converting glucose effectively into energy along with reducing stress and preventing premature aging. So here are three of the main tenets that he talks about when it comes to the signs behind his recommendations. One is focusing on improving mitochondrial respiration, which involves converting glucose and oxygen into A-T-P-A-T-P is sort of the body's energy currency and he argues that toxins from polyunsaturated fatty acids, the environment increased stress hormones disrupt the process leading to fatigue, slowing metabolism and chronic disease.
Brian (5m 48s):
Next is hormonal regulation, something he talks a lot about and basing foods around their ability to re reduce stress hormones such as cortisol and boosting protective hormones such as progesterone and thyroid hormones. For instance, calcium from dairy may lower parathyroid hormone, reducing inflammation and improving metabolic health. Number three is focusing on these anti-inflammatory foods and avoiding these polyunsaturated fatty acid heavy foods. So opting for options like saturated fats and fruits. His approach really promotes resilience at the cellular level. So those are the the three main tenets behind his recommendations. Cellular respiration, energy, hormonal regulation, and anti-inflammatory focus.
Brian (6m 30s):
So as far as foods to favor, you know, he never really had a diet per se, it was more of a framework of how to go about constructing one, some of the specific foods that he talks about incorporating in order to optimize your health. Now granted, I don't like to make a generalization, so everyone's a little bit different on how different foods affect him and but basing your plate around nutrient-dense foods that really deliver benefits to your cells, I think is a great way to go. And not just cutting out certain macronutrients because someone tells you to number one, dairy, which is always a controversial topic. A lot of people like to turn to raw dairy, especially if they are actually sensitive to pasteurized dairy, but that's something that you'll have to self experiment with cheese due to the calcium content.
Brian (7m 20s):
And he was a big believer in the fact that this would play a role in reducing inflammation, supporting bone health and stabilizing hormones. Now not everyone reacts the same to dairy, so if you don't tolerate it, totally understandable, I actually tolerate dairy fairly well, so I've incorporated this from time to time into my diet. Next is fruits. Fruits, he was a big advocate for, and you're actually seeing fruits come back a lot, especially even in the carnivore space with Dr. Paul Sino. I know Mark Bell is implementing lots of sugars into his diet and he talked about the fact of the ease of digestion with fruits for most of 'em, some are easier to digest than others. Things like oranges, papaya, mango, and with the natural sugars and vitamins in those ripe fruit, obviously easier to digest and metabolically supportive food as well.
Brian (8m 4s):
Can combat stress, fuel the brain, help maintain hormonal balance. So he also favored fruits that are actually higher in sugar content, lower in acidity and lower in irritating fiber. So some examples like for vitamin C, citrus fruits like guava, kiwi, mango, you know, can help lower inflammation support collagen production. So vitamin C is a big one, potassium like bananas, dates, melons, a balance of sodium and supports cellular energy. And then lastly, like B vitamins, especially ripe fruits that can aid in energy metabolism as well. So I like to incorporate some of those. I I, I do love having bananas throughout the day. Blueberries, raspberries, big fan of those as well. Pineapple from time to time.
Brian (8m 45s):
Next is honey, and this is something you'll see a lot of people utilize as well who are trying to implement easily digestible carbohydrates. Raw honey makes the cut as like a natural sugar that can boost glycogen stores in the liver. There's a lot of other benefits like prebiotics to nourish beneficial gut bacteria, also antimicrobial properties as well. So you'd wanna make sure you sort of choose a raw and unfiltered organic honey. And I've been actually using raw honey for quite a bit now. Typically I'll have that with like a Greek yogurt experimenting with a lower fat Greek yogurt, trying to keep my fat content not crazy high and add in some of these these beneficial carbohydrates. Next he talks a lot about, you know, shellfish white fish, mainly actually staying away from the fattier fish that are higher in polyunsaturated fatty acids.
Brian (9m 33s):
I've talked about this with Jay Feldman on the in the past. So things like shellfish, whitefish, shrimp, oysters, mu muscles, they have great mineral content, high nutrient dense foods, iodine, zinc, selenium, th things that are tough to get from certain foods and these are essential for thyroid health and even immune fun immune function as well. You know, as far as foods to avoid, and we talked about them already, vegetable oils, nuts, seeds, fatty fish that are high in polyunsaturated fatty acids are sort of the top of his avoid list. He argues that these fats are unstable, highly susceptible to oxidation, leading to inflammation, hormonal disruption, and reduce cellular efficiency at the mitochondrial level. So as I've said to you a bunch in the past already, if you could avoid cooking in vegetable oils, that would be great and not going crazy with nuts and seeds and other items such as fatty fish that are really high in polyunsaturated fatty acids is something Dr.
Brian (10m 25s):
Pete really stood by. Also, not getting too crazy with fiber, you know, fiber obviously is in a lot of the fruits, but I think if you're having a lot of like raw greens and spinach, you know, which are high in antinutrients whole grains can some for some people, tax digestion and gut health. So depending on the individual you wanna sort of try to find these easily digestible carbohydrates and, and raw vegetables can not always agree with a lot of people when it comes to gut health. So maybe stick to more like fruits or fruit juices or even rice is a great one. White rice is a great one as well when it comes to protein sources. He wasn't totally adverse from having muscle meats, but he talks about how they have a high phosphorus content and lack of balanced nutrients and he recommends more.
Brian (11m 12s):
So getting your proteins from dairy, eggs, gelatin, and shellfish mainly for their nutrient profile. But having muscle meats from time to time is not totally unavoidable when it comes to Dr. Pete's philosophy. I think he just leaned more towards dairy, eggs, gelatin, and shellfish when it came to protein, protein sources. So as far as implementing Dr Pete's principles, like into your lifestyle, I think I would just start slow and take a few of his philosophies, one thing at a time. One of them could be just swapping your coconut cooking oils for butter or coconut oil, but to reduce the pufa exposure. I think that could be a good place to start. And then maybe taking some snacks that you would've maybe had instead of like nuts and seeds and transitioning over to fresh fruit and maybe some raw honey.
Brian (11m 58s):
And if something that if dairy, something that does agree with you, maybe start incorporating a little bit of dairy into, you know, maybe like a low fat cottage cheese or a Greek yogurt is a great place to start maybe living yourself with, with raw greens and just lightly cooking your vegetables. Another thing you can, you can dive into if you haven't already is explore some mineral rich seafood. Things like oysters, shrimp, some white fish from time to time if this is something that you haven't done already. So I think the key is just to slowly implement some of his philosophies is if this is something that you wanna try out. I've had plenty of guests on the podcast to to discuss these as well. The main thing to take is that a lot of his philosophy is rooted in science of increasing cellular energy production and hormonal stability and based around high sugar, incorporating some saturated fats in a lower fiber approach.
Brian (12m 47s):
And I would say moderate protein. So whether you're looking to optimize energy, enhance hormonal health, or simply just explore an alternative perspective on nutrition, I definitely think diving into Dr. Pete's philosophy may be beneficial and offer a ton of insights of how to balance your hormonal health, thyroid health, and increase energy production. If you have any questions regarding Dr. Pete's philosophy, feel free to reach out to me at Brian at Brian Gryn dot com and I look forward to talking with you later in the week with another great interview. Thanks so much for listening and have a great rest of the day.
Brian (13m 19s):
Thanks for listening to the Get Lean EATCLEAN podcast. I understand there are millions of other podcasts out there and you've chosen to listen to mine and I appreciate that. Check out the show notes@briangrin.com for everything that was mentioned In this episode. Feel free to subscribe to the podcast and share it with a friend or family member that's looking to get their body back to what it once was. Thanks again and have a great day.
