Diabetes

Cold Thermogenesis 4: The Holy Trinity

I just want to thank Sean Croxton for asking me to present at Paleo Summit today. The ideas discussed began with a podcast I did with Jimmy Moore, #474. Before I begin here today, I strongly suggest you listen to the Jimmy Moore podcast I did in May of 2011 as a primer for this blog post. It’s going to be a long one, so open a glass of wine as the sun sets tonight. However, I think you need to hear it all tonight since I have your attention from the Paleo Summit. I have planned for this day for some time. I am humbled to share this with you all. It was hard for me to write. If any of you remember when I first gave my initial thoughts on leptin publicly, it was on a podcast I did with Jimmy Moore in May 2011. I discussed the things that transformed my thinking back then. Most of the time I spent with Jimmy, we talked about leptin. In the beginning of the podcast, I mentioned a person who saw me injure myself as I stood up to give a lecture, and told me she knew precisely why I hurt my knee. At the time, I thought I had a good handle on these modern medicine principles she mentioned so I was a skeptical of her thoughts. She told me when I got home she was going to send me a few papers and a book to read. The book was called “The Monk Who Sold his Ferrari.” She was emphatic that I read the book before the papers. Then, she told me to read six specific papers in the order they were numbered and then reflect on what I had just read.

Cold Thermogenesis 3

Evolutionary strategy is based upon finding an environmental niche and exploiting it. Evolution is based upon change and the natural adaptations to it. Today, we are going to explore how some environmental triggers might open a “biochemical trap door.” Why is circadian biology critical? For evolution to work, a cell first must adapt to its environment. So the first thing any living cell would see in an earth day is a period of day and night. It also has to find food to make energy (ATP). In addition, it has to control its own cellular division. The epic battle for the cell is the circadian cycle has to “yoke” the metabolic cycle to its growth cycle. Most people know that the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN), is the circadian pacemaker that monitors this dance between darkness and light and the seasonal cold and hot temperatures in our environment. Evolution apparently agreed with this assessment, because we now know it to be true. What most people do not know is how leptin plays a massive role in regulating it. Research has revealed that leptin can induce expression of a neuropeptide gene called vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) through the VIP cytokine response element. VIP actually is what sets the circadian pacemaker to light. Leptin yokes metabolism and sleep to the light and dark cycle. When temperature becomes the dominant environmental trigger and not light cycles, leptin induces endothelial nitric oxide synthetase (eNOS), that shuts down the photic effects of VIP on the SCN. This means that leptin forces the SCN not to be able to use light any longer to yoke circadian cycles! Once temperature begins to yoke the circadian rhythms, some very special things happen to our biochemistry that normally does not occur in other environments. These are ancient epigenetic programs that are hardwired into the DNA of every descendant of a eutherian mammal. We are descended from these animals.

By Jack Kruse|February 23rd, 2012|Cancer, Circadian Cycle, Cold Thermogenesis, Colon Cancer, Diabetes, Epi Paleo, Epigenetics, Leaky Gut / Grain Brain, Mitochondria, Optimal Pillar 1, Optimal Pillar 4, Series: Cold Thermogenesis, The Importance of Sleep, The Leptin Prescription, The Optimal Paleo Diet|234 Comments

Cold Thermogensis 2

Now that you understand that I believe cold environments were how life first evolved, what implications does this hold for all life and humans today? I think with this thought experiment we need to begin to talk about another aspect of evolution to fully conceptualize how cold works for biology. Let’s talk about sleep for 4 short minutes. First, I want you to watch this video before you proceed. Recently, one of my readers pointed out he was confused by Dr. Gamble when she said the normal pattern of sleep in a natural environment had two cycles. He wanted to know why her version and my version for sleep as written in my post “Rx for the Leptin Rx” were not congruent. It was a great question that really opens the discussion to the idea of evolutionary mismatches. These mismatches occur in many modern systems of biology, and they are actually increasing in frequency and severity as time elapses. The reason is quite simple. Evolution is constantly getting faster as time goes on, relative to the current state of our genome. This is really how the “cellular theory of relativity” is currently affecting our own genome today. The speed of evolutionary change has far out stripped the ability of our paleolithic genes to catch up. This mismatch causes major problems for modern humans. When they further exacerbate the system with choices not congruent with our biology, the results are magnified in disease incidence and prevalence. She also mentioned in passing, early in her talk, that people who went deep into the ground have been found to be “very productive” while in a cold dark environment. She did not expand on this concept at all, but I would strongly suggest you remember this as the cold thermogenesis series progresses on. There is a deep biologic reason this occurs. As we use this pathway, lots of things improve that we do not expect.

By Jack Kruse|February 22nd, 2012|Alzheimer’s, Circadian Cycle, Cold Thermogenesis, Diabetes, Epi Paleo, Epigenetics, Heart Disease, Inflammation, Leaky Gut / Grain Brain, Optimal Pillar 1, Optimal Pillar 4, Series: Cold Thermogenesis, The Importance of Sleep, The Leptin Prescription, The Optimal Paleo Diet|Comments Off

PERI-OPERATIVE OPTIMAL SURGICAL CONSIDERATIONS

READERS SUMMARY: What might you consider pre and post op before your surgery? These all need to be cleared with your surgeon before starting! In an ideal situation, patients undergoing surgery will have adequate time before the operation to prepare themselves emotionally and physically. This preparation will likely include dietary supplementation, as well as mental [...]

By Jack Kruse|February 20th, 2012|Cold Thermogenesis, Diabetes, EMF, Heart Disease, Longevity Principles, Nutrients and Supplements, Optimal Pillar 2, Optimal Pillar 3, Optimal Pillar 4, Osteoporosis, Series: Miscellaneous, The Importance of Sleep|Comments Off

The Cold Thermogenesis Protocol

The Cold Thermogenesis Protocol should be added gradually to the Leptin Rx rest protocol. This blog post is additive to the Leptin Rx, and is an evolution extension of it for those who need it. I hope you all realize that not everyone will need it. Some will need it because they have special needs that they face. This blog is designed for those who have been previously left out of the reset protocol. Those people are gastric bypass patients, HCG users, those on exogenous steroids, chronic pain patients, and those with T2D and metabolic syndrome, as a few examples. Prolonged and controlled local peripheral skin cooling can induce selective “damage,” and increased hypothalamic signaling by forcing adipocyte apoptosis and subsequent loss of subcutaneous fat without damaging the overlying skin or the underlying muscle layers. This means that acute cold cause rapid leptin sensitivity! It means that fat is forced to liberate leptin from fat cells to slowly lower its serum levels as long as the cold stimulus is applied safely. This is new scientific information that was first carried out in pigs in 2008, and subsequently tested in humans and found to be quite effective for fat removal in certain selected areas of the body.

Rewiring The Leptin Rx Reset

Evolutionary strategy is based upon finding an environmental niche and exploiting it. Evolution is based upon change and the natural adaptations to it. Today, we are going to explore how some environmental triggers might open a “biochemical trap door” that will allow me to add a new recommendation for you to consider adding to the Leptin Rx reset protocol for those who are LR. I am beginning a series on circadian biology to show you how this all ties in together. Today, I will give you a very cursory review of why circadian biology, leptin, and environment are critical to using the Quilt to obtain your Optimal life. Why is circadian biology critical to humans? For evolution to work Optimally, a cell first must adapt to its environment. The first situation any living cell would be subjected to in an earth day is a period of day and night. Over time it would also be subject to the seasons in our environment because of the earth’s revolution, tilt, and angulations of the sun. As time continued on, further life would have been subjected to solar variations and would have had to account for it. It also has to find food to make energy (ATP) to survive, and it also has to control its own cellular division. The epic battle for the cell is to have the regularly expected circadian cycles found in our environment and ”yoke” those signals to its metabolic cycle and to its growth cycle. Most people know that the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) in the brain is where the circadian pacemaker lies in humans. It monitors this dance between darkness and light, and the seasonal cold and hot temperatures in our environment to help control and monitor our own growth and development. Evolution apparently agreed to use these signals in all living things because this is what it uses for all life on earth today. What most people do not know is how leptin plays a massive role in regulating it. Many people and physicians think it plays a small role. Recent research has revealed that leptin can induce expression of a neuropeptide called vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) through the VIP cytokine response element. This is an epigenetic modification from our environment directly signaling the master hormone in our body. So what does VIP actually do?

Osteoporosis 3: Related Drugs and Diseases

What are some of the medical conditions that are associated with osteopenia or osteoporosis? 1. Excessive alcohol intake- greater than two drinks a day consistently will do it. 2. Tobacco use- This causes a 100 fold increase in bone loss. Oral tobacco is worse than inhaled smoke 3. Stress- any cause be it emotional, physical, mental, psychic all raise cortisol chronically and kill bone 4. Lack of physical activity increases obesity risk, which increases cortisol from leptin resistance 5. Low calcium intake or absorption from gastrectomy or low acid production from any reason 6. Reduced strength and activity due to a chronic illness or a sedentary life (checked with a grip test) 7. Small build or leanness naturally – correlates with BMI below 19 for women and men. 8. Asian women have a particular propensity to osteopenia genetically and from their diet. 9. Drug therapy, for example, long-term use of corticosteroids such as prednisone-used to treat rheumatoid arthritis, asthma, celiac disease, autoimmune diseases, Crohn’s disease, IBD, and ulcerative colitis. 10. Low Magnesium, strontium, boron, Vitamin D3, Vitamin K2, elevated PTH levels, low sex steroid levels, high insulin levels, low progesterone levels, any cause of a leaky gut. 11. Menopause 12. Andropause 13. Any cause of chronic inflammation (perimenopause can cause severe acute bone loss) 14. Disuse atrophy from any cause (space travel) 15. Paralysis 16. High carbohydrate diets 17. Veganism or a plant based diet. 18. A diet high in whole grain (carbohydrates) is especially risky due to mineral malabsorption in gut 19. A diet lacking in animal protein and animal fat and cholesterol. 20. Excessive use of statins and thyroid hormone can cause osteoporosis 21. Age and sex: the older one is predisposes to osteopenia. Women lose 1-3{a7b724a0454d92c70890dedf5ec22a026af4df067c7b55aa6009b4d34d5da3c6} of their bone density ever year after their last period. 22. Chronic endurance athletics of any type cause severe bone loss due to chronic cortisol elevations 23. Gastric bypass patients carry enormous osteopenic risks. 24. Severe liver or kidney disease; Renal insufficiency can lead to osteodystrophy. 25. Diabetes 26. People with scoliosis of unknown cause (idiopathic scoliosis) also have a higher risk of osteoporosis. I believe this is because most of these children have severe underlying Vitamin D deficiency and a leaky gut, but this has never been studied in the spine literature. Any time I see a scolisosi patient, I always screen for low sex steroid hormones, low Vitamin D levels, and low Carboxylated osteocalcin levels. Bone loss can be a feature of complex regional pain syndromes.as they develop over time. It is also more frequent in people with Parkinson’s disease and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease as well.

Osteoporosis 2: The Vitamin K2 Story

In the first blog on osteoporosis, we focused in on how to stimulate bone mass accrual via our diet. This is by far the best way to fight osteoporosis and least used way, but it is not the only way to treat it. Eating a diet that is plentiful in proteins and saturated fats are smart moves to stave off bone loss as one ages. Eating a diet laden in carbohydrates or filled with a lot of fowl like turkey and chicken is not going to help your bone mass in the long run. The last blog demonstrated that vitamin K2 supplementation (for just 4 weeks) will not only increase your insulin sensitivity, but raise your sex steroid hormones as well to support your bone metabolism. Both mechanisms seem to be related to increased amounts of serum carboxylated osteocalcin (cOC), is made rather than just modulating inflammation in our body. The study I mentioned in part one, had too small a sample size to make firm interpretation on Î²-cell function result for a population, but the implications are huge for T2D with bad bone, bad heart or bad teeth. It is clear that vitamin K2 is biochemically quite helpful to a T2D with bone loss. The results of this study are consistent with previous studies found in the literature that demonstrated improved insulin resistance by treatment with vitamin K1 or vitamin K2, respectively. The preponderance of the research to date, is pointing out to us that cOC rather than uncarboxylated OC, is the endocrine hormone that increases insulin sensitivity in humans and eventually leads to increased bone mass. It appears the underlying mechanism for this uses inflammatory cytokines and involves leptin receptor dysfunction. It appears that cOC and/or vitamin K2 likely modulates several adipokines and inflammatory pathways other than the classic IL-6 pathways to offset bone loss seen in leptin receptor disease states. Since Vitamin K2 is a critical component of arterial, gut, and bone health, we need to spend some time talking about how the human body handles vitamin K2 in part two of this series. Vitamin K2 up regulates testosterone and it helps both sexes remain somewhat hydrated. This will become important when we hit quantum biology in the blog.

By Jack Kruse|November 8th, 2011|Diabetes, Epi Paleo, Gallbladder, Heart Disease, Hormones & Methylation, Inflammation, Leaky Gut / Grain Brain, Nutrients and Supplements, Optimal Pillar 4, Optimal Pillar 5, Osteoporosis, Series: Osteoporosis, The Leptin Prescription, The Optimal Paleo Diet|78 Comments

Osteoporosis Part 1

In my day job as a neurosurgeon, I operate on a lot of diseased spines. In the last 12 years, I have repaired over 1000 vertebral fractures from osteoporosis. If you remember back to my podcast with Jimmy Moore, I mentioned in the talk that the changes I had seen in osteoporosis incidence and prevalence is what made me look for the underlying cause. This ultimately led me to leptin and our diet. Many people think since bones are hard and used for support that they are not an active tissue. Bone is a very active tissue in the body that is constantly turned over. We constantly lay down new bone to stressors and resorb bone from areas that are not stressed. Since bone is so active, it uses massive amounts of energy. This is where leptin comes in. Any tissue that requires a ton of energy is coupled to leptin biochemistry. The story on bones and osteoporosis, however, is a very complicated one. I am going to give you a flavor of just how complicated. This osteoporosis series will have many twists and turns. Most seasoned spine surgeons wont know much of what you are going to learn here about bone. Most don't know that osteoporosis is caused by leptin resistance. Just ask one and see if I am correct. Most will tell you to take Calcium, Vitamin D, and exercise a bit to treat osteoporosis. They may mention a Rx for a bisphosphonate class of drugs too. I don't use these drugs at all. If you do just that, you can bet you won't cure a thing and you might even make the problem worse. Spine surgeons are taught a law called Wolff's law in reference to bone metabolism. It says the more stressed a bone is, the more bone is laid down and the stronger the bone is. This law is why most spine surgeons don't think that obese folks will have osteoporosis when they come to see us, much less test for it. These are the people who are experiencing a silent epidemic of this condition. Their numbers have exploded over the last thirty years. I mentioned that in my career I have seen a tremendous increase in this disease. In medical school, I think I had a one hour lecture on this disease. Now it is involved in close to 80{a7b724a0454d92c70890dedf5ec22a026af4df067c7b55aa6009b4d34d5da3c6} of the cases I see in my clinic. Few spine surgeons expect to see osteoporosis in our younger patients because most think this is predominantly a disease of old women with low estrogen levels. We are not taught to look for it in its correct biologic context, so it is often missed as a diagnosis, but often found on MRI imaging as loss of mineral content and more fat present in the marrow space. Spine surgeons must be more vigilant about this disease, because if it's tied to the leptin hormone, it points to the fuels we are putting in our Ferrari's! I will show you why diet is a huge factor in the development of metabolic bone disease that you should consider. This is why I treat osteopenia and osteoporosis a lot differently than conventional wisdom you will hear from other sources.

By Jack Kruse|November 1st, 2011|Diabetes, Epi Paleo, Heart Disease, Hormones & Methylation, Inflammation, Leaky Gut / Grain Brain, Menopause / Andropause, Nutrients and Supplements, Optimal Pillar 4, Optimal Pillar 5, Osteoporosis, Series: Osteoporosis, The Leptin Prescription, The Optimal Paleo Diet|106 Comments

THE “TEETH” IN DISEASE?

READERS SUMMARY: 1. HOW SCIENCE PRESENTS A CURVEBALL YOU DID NOT SEE COMING? 2. HOW YOUR MOUTH MIGHT BE THE KEY TO DIABETES, OBESITY AND INFLAMMATION? 3. IS THERE A HYPOTHALAMIC PAROTID AXIS? 4. IS THE PAROTID GLAND THE MOUTH'S PANCREAS? Most of you may not know that before I was a neurosurgeon I [...]

By Jack Kruse|October 22nd, 2011|Cancer, Diabetes, Hormones & Methylation, Inflammation, Leaky Gut / Grain Brain, Longevity Principles, Mitochondria, Optimal Pillar 4, Pancreatic Cancer, Series: Miscellaneous, The Digestion Connection, The Leptin Prescription, The Optimal Paleo Diet|144 Comments