Metabolism is much more important than many people realize. High quality energy production in your cells can fuel your metabolism to support both energy to do and energy to rebuild.

METABOLISM

THE ENERGY OF DOING:

This includes all activities from walking, running and dancing to talking, singing and thinking. The cell has to put out energy to support whatever you do.

DID YOU KNOW?

Did you know that your brain uses more energy than any other organ in your body? And did you know that the fuel your brain requires to function is sugar (glucose or fructose)?

Sugar equals high energy!

IT'S TIME TO RETHINK THE ROLE OF SUGAR

The Contra Diet recommends eating two to three times the amount of recommended carbs in relation to protein, unlike low carb diets that promote higher levels of protein and fat in proportion to sugar. It is time for you to rethink the role of sugar in your diet!

THE ENERGY OF RELAXATION:

The cell needs to relax to recover from an output of energy, and this recovery is called repolarization. This needs to be happening moment to moment in a constant cycle. The heartbeat is a perfect example. First, the heart beats systolically during depolarization and then there is a diastolic beat during repolarization. Over time if the repolarization phase becomes weaker, you may develop an irregular heartbeat. In a worst case scenario, this might lead to heart failure.

DID YOU KNOW?

A good metabolic rate will allow your cells to recover by relaxing. But if you are not making enough thyroid hormone and your cells are not able to produce steady fuel from good oxidative metabolism, adrenaline will need to kick in to keep them going. For example, if you have to do what feels like a million things in a short period of time like rush home from work, pick up the kids from school, make dinner, go to an appointment or sports practice and so on, you may be in adrenaline overdrive and unable to relax. This stress isn't just in your mind. It is affecting repolarization of all your cells. You may appear to have lots of energy but excessive use of adrenaline can ultimately lower your metabolism and is not good for you.

THE ENERGY TO SUPPORT STRUCTURE:

This means that your cells are able to renew, regenerate, heal and grow. Proteins are the necessary building blocks for this process but sugar enables your cells to have the energy to heal and regenerate. One of Dr. Ray Peat’s core contributions to our understanding of metabolism is that ENERGY AND STRUCTURE ARE INTERDEPENDENT AT EVERY LEVEL.

This article delves into the physiology that explains why the Contra Diet recommends specific foods in specific ratios. It also incorporates the Four Cornerstones of the diet that are listed on the homepage of the website: calcium, fructose, stable fats and antifungal and antibacterial fibers.

We will illuminate the chemical processes in the cells that, in turn, produce the energy that creates the foundation for a strong metabolism. This is the path to living a healthy, vibrant life.

As part of this process, we will also investigate serious factors that can block a strong metabolism such as certain fats, low calcium diets and constipation. These things can lead to a myriad of imbalances creating fatigue, chronic illness and disease. Having steady, strong energy levels and healthy cell structure are vital keys to health. They are not separate but rather, they are interdependent.

Our body’s energy is measured in ATP molecules (adenosine triphosphate). ATP captures chemical energy derived from the breakdown of food molecules that have combined with oxygen molecules and releases it to fuel other cellular processes. You want your body to make lots of ATP molecules because the more you have, the more you can make, creating an upward spiral of energy.

The Contra Diet recommends eating two to three times more of the recommended carbs than proteins or fats.

When sugars or fats combine with oxygen in your cells, it is called oxidative metabolism. The key here is that sugar produces more ATP (energy packets) per unit of oxygen than fat. So, don't you see that sugar produces energy faster and the more energy the better!

We are not recommending eating high fructose corn syrup or a ton of starch. We recommend eating naturally sweetened foods that contain fructose sugar such as fruit, fruit juice, honey, maple syrup and even a little white sugar. With the exception of white sugar, these foods also supply your body with essential vitamins and minerals. White sugar, however, does provide good fuel through the fructose and sucrose sugars that it contains. We have been led to believe that sugar is bad for us but if we eat the simple sugars like fructose and sucrose found in the right foods, we will be supplying our cells with the raw materials for the fastest production of energy. Simple sugars provide us with the foundation for steady energy, a strong metabolism, repolarization of cells, cell growth and cell regeneration.

Fats are a secondary source of fuel and fat burning very much affects your metabolism. It is important to understand that you cannot burn fat and sugar at the same time. (This is described in the Randle Cycle.) Ideally, you want to burn carbs when you are actively living your life. However, during the night levels of fat burning may increase in your muscles and liver when you are at rest as well as during times of the day when you are resting. If you start eating approximately more than 30% fat in your diet, you may be pushing yourself into excessive fat burning. This can lower your metabolic rate because, as stated above, fats cannot produce energy as fast as carbs can. Sugar equals fast energy production promoting a strong metabolism.

DID YOU KNOW?

Your whole metabolism depends upon sugar in every way. If there isn’t enough sugar, your body goes into a stress mode to get glucose levels up. Sugar is so vital that if you run out, your own body tissue like muscle, for example, will need to be converted into sugar to supply fuel.

In this process, when your sugar levels have dropped, cortisol, a stress hormone, rises. Cortisol directs the breaking down of protein in your thymus gland, your muscle tissue and other tissues like your skin and bones. As a very final resort, tissue in vital organs like your heart can be used. (A tragic example of this may have been Karen Carpenter, the famous singer, who battled with anorexia and died of cardiac arrest at the age of 32.)

SUGAR IS KEY TO STRONG MUSCLES

You may be surprised to learn that SUGAR SPARES PROTEIN.

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?

It means that if you have enough sugar from eating plenty of carbs, protein does not need to become a backup fuel and can do its primary job of building and repairing muscle tissue and all body structure. You need a lot of muscle to be healthy and not just strong. Muscle produces energy at the highest level. Therefore, keeping your metabolism strong. However, without enough protein and sugar, there isn’t any way your body can build healthy muscle tissue.

HIGH PROTEIN, LOW CARB, KETO-LIKE DIETS HELP YOU LOSE WEIGHT

These types of diets initially enable you to lose weight but what is the catch? Your metabolism will tank!

These diets MAY work for the first few weeks to months. Initially and you may lose weight and feel better BUT the tragic flaw is that you lower your metabolism because without fuel like sugar, you cannot keep energy levels high and you start to rely on your stress hormones to fuel you.

Your metabolism drops so that when you go back to eating more carbs, you start to gain weight because of your inefficient oxidative metabolism.

The low carb/high protein diets have been promoted for many years going back to1972 with the publication of Dr. Atkins’ Diet Revolution, a best seller endorsed by many celebrities. Currently the paleo diet is popular. If you are younger, you may be able to get away with a low carb/high protein diet for a while. This is because you may have more muscles to start with and higher levels of protective hormones like progesterone, DHEA or testosterone that can help keep you strong. So you may have youth on your side but as you age and hormones shift, your needs for more carbs, less protein and less fat can increase. Unfortunately, we have been led to believe that sugar is bad and that fats and high protein are okay, but this does not bear out when we look at the physiology of energy production! Contrary to many scientific beliefs and marketing science, where food companies attempt to influence what you think is healthy and/or acceptable food, the Contra Diet recommends the following ratios:

Carbs: 50-75% Protein: 15-25% Fat: 10-30%

Now let’s look at what blocks energy production and metabolism for anybody and not just those on a low carb/high protein program. Blocks can be linked to any imbalances in the four cornerstones of the Contra Diet: calcium, fructose, stable fats and antifungal/antibacterial fibers.

CALCIUM

Most calcium should be found in your bones and teeth but some is needed in circulation to assist blood vessel contraction and dilation, muscle function, blood clotting, secretion of hormones and nerve stimulation. Calcium that is in the wrong place can cause tremendous stress to the cells, e.g., when it gets taken from the bones and is deposited into soft tissue like your arteries, kidneys or heart. This can lead to complications like arteriosclerosis, kidney stones and fibrosis of any tissue. Misplaced calcium weakens the cells and can also cause cell damage and stimulate the production of nitric oxide. This can slow down metabolism by interfering with energy production.

When calcium is in the bones and in low levels of circulation, ideally it can enter the cell in the right amount during metabolic oxidation and the production of ATP molecules and CO2. It should then be carried out of the cell and back into circulation where it will be deposited into the bones or teeth. No matter how healthy you are though, you will probably always get some calcium deposits in the tissues but at a low level that your body can handle. However, if you have a low metabolic rate with low energy production, the trouble can start. .

FRUCTOSE

The importance of fructose was explained in detail at the beginning of this article. Remember this: If you do not have enough glucose, cortisol rises and stimulates the breakdown of protein, particularly in muscle. Many of the amino acids are then converted into sugar. Long term use of protein as a fuel source can lead to lowered metabolism and high cortisol. In turn, this can lead to a breakdown of the thymus gland, muscle tissue and more. If that keeps going, you can begin breaking down the structure of your body.

Fat can be used as a secondary fuel source but excessive use of it can also lead to a lowering of your metabolic rate. This is because per unit of oxygen, fat does not produce the same amount of energy as sugar. Sugar equals HIGHER energy!

STABLE FAT VERSUS PUFAS

To understand how polyunsaturated fats (PUFAS) can block oxidative metabolism, you need to know a little about the three phases of energy production that are involved: glycolysis (when glucose is the fuel) or beta oxidation (when fatty acids are the fuel), the Kreb cycle and the electron transport chain. (This is a very basic explanation. If you would like a deeper understanding of the science, we suggest reading some of Ray Peat’s online articles and newsletters and listening to his interviews.)

ANTIFUNFAL AND ANTIBACTERIAL FIBER

Good metabolism begins in the digestive tract where carbs are converted into sugars like fructose and glucose, proteins are converted into amino acids and fats are converted into fatty acids. The movement of food through your digestive tract is called peristalsis. If peristalsis is too slow, your food can rot in your intestines. It is interesting that this is more common with foods like undercooked vegetables, grains and legumes than with fruit or meat. Bacteria will come to feast on the rotting food and release bacterial toxins into your digestive tract, e.g., endotoxin. If you have a lot of endotoxin it will, in turn, slow down peristalsis creating a vicious cycle.

The right kind of fiber can enable the digestive tract to absorb toxins that come from excess bacteria. It can carry the toxins out of your body through your stools instead of letting them get into circulation and into the cells where they could block cell function and metabolism. Ideal sources are root vegetables (especially raw carrots), cooked mushrooms, canned bamboo shoots and cooked oat bran cereal. Be sure to check out our recipes in the cookbook.

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