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Chapter 2
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OPERATION : SAVE DAVE has begun! Dr. Val reveals her daring rescue strategy! Dave learns about food while going through detox. Doc shares the secret of living to 120 and takes down Big Peanut!
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Transcript
Dave's Challenge with New Eating Habits
00:00:01
Speaker
Welcome back everyone to Dr. Val Saves Dave. It's been a full week of implementing my new eating habits, or as we say, my body, but her rules. I've basically had to stop eating everything I enjoy eating, and it's not as easy as I'd hoped it would be. But Dr. Val's hand is steady on the rudder, and now she's going to teach me a bit more about the food we eat.
00:00:22
Speaker
and she'll share the secret of living a very long and healthy life. How? Don't ask me. Let's find out together in chapter two of Dr. Val Saves Day.
00:00:38
Speaker
Hey, everybody, have you heard the news? Dave's turning 50, and he's got the blues. He's out of shape, and this is true. He needs help. He has no clue. He grabs his phone, and she can't quit. Dr. Val will do her trick. She'll be tough. There's no free pass. Come on, Dave. Get off your ass. Dr. Val, can you save Dave? He's quite alive.
Detox Struggles and Support from Dr. Val
00:01:22
Speaker
Well, hi doc.
00:01:24
Speaker
Well, hello, Dave. It's so great to see you alive and well. Yeah, yeah. I got some bones to pick with you, I'll tell you, this week. But first things first, hello, listener. Those of you joining us, welcome to chapter two or week two. Well, technically week one, chapter two. I don't know where we are in my life or what's happening. That's how rough a week this was.
00:01:50
Speaker
you have listened to episode one this is episode two but my first the end of my first week of what was a challenging week of change withdrawal detox bad sleep bad life bad everything um how about you how was your week well mine was fantastic because i'm not detoxing oh great super duper good for you but let's hear about you
00:02:16
Speaker
Well, I don't know if you've ever tried quitting everything before, but apparently, your body notices. Yeah, yeah. So yeah, basically, as the listener knows, last week, we basically told you you have to stay away from everything except for water and air. And so, how's that going? Well, I was hungry. I was hungry.
00:02:44
Speaker
There's a lot I want to talk about. I'm not sure where to start. I was surprised at the amount of withdrawal I was experiencing. And we'll have to catch our listeners up on all the different things we cut out. But I'll just tell you what, folks, it was everything. Life. Everything. Was it alive? No caffeine, no dairy. So right away, let's start with the morning. OK, no coffee, no cream.
Understanding Liver Detox and Withdrawal
00:03:20
Speaker
Well, as you recall, your liver was not happy with you. That's your opinion. You've done a little bit of damage, had some elevated liver enzymes. And so the first thing that we wanted to do is do what we call a liver detox. So when you detox, you've been retoxing for a whole long time. So now we do the detox. And the reason that we do that is to help your liver so we don't kill it, right? Yeah. But see, the rest of me runs on toxins.
00:03:36
Speaker
Yes. No milk. Why? Why did you do that?
00:03:48
Speaker
Apparently. So this is why you've experienced over the last week, something we like to call in our industry, a healing crisis. We don't call it withdrawal. We call it a healing crisis. A healing crisis. A healing crisis. Oh, well, isn't that a pretty way to say, yeah, misery? Pretty much, yes. A miserable time. Yes, a healing crisis. Okay. You can expect to feel worse before you feel better.
00:04:10
Speaker
Great, super, super duper. Yeah, so you wake up not feeling great and you can't have your morning coffee. So caffeine is tough on the liver, is what we're saying. Or caffeine is a toxin. Where are we going with this? Well, sure. The liver has to break it down and get rid of it.
00:04:26
Speaker
And so there's parts of liver detoxification that get rid of different types of chemicals and substances in your body. And it gets rid of hormones. It gets rid of vitamins. It gets rid of waste products within your body. The liver is really great. If you can think about it, it's like a great big, huge bathtub for your body. So anything that's dirty gets rid of it. And so the coffee will affect liver detoxification. The caffeine will. So we take out the caffeine.
00:04:52
Speaker
Plus what caffeine can do for some people is unbalance their blood sugar levels and it can increase cortisol levels. So cortisol is that bad stress hormone that causes weight around the midsection. So we just want to rest your liver, rest your adrenal glands, help them rebuild.
00:05:09
Speaker
Rest
Debunking Coffee Myths for Liver Health
00:05:10
Speaker
your pancreas, so that's why we say take out the coffee, even decaf. Well, you know what the number one source of cortisol was for me this week? It was you taking away everything I enjoyed. Yes, but on the bright side. So I'm not sure if all your detected work. On the bright side, coffee can also increase cholesterol levels. One cup of coffee will increase cholesterol levels for up to 18 hours.
00:05:32
Speaker
Your cholesterol levels were a little dodgy. So we want to make sure that when we test them again, they're doing fine. So we take out the coffee and help your liver repair and help those cholesterol levels come down. Now I didn't even think to ask this, but could I have had decaf coffee then? Is it the coffee beans themselves or is it the caffeine?
00:05:50
Speaker
it's the caffeine and something else in the coffee called theobromine, and that's in decaf coffee as well. So the best to take out decaf coffee. If it's easier, like some people, they say, okay, well, I'm just going to wean off the caffeine by going to a decaf first, but I would prefer green tea because green tea, unlike coffee, upregulates part of the liver called phase one, for those of you who are geeks like me. Well, I did.
00:06:18
Speaker
drink some green tea this week, doc. Yes, it's lovely. And I can tell you what, it does not kickstart your day the same way at all. Well, it has some caffeine, so you don't have the really bad caffeine withdrawal. Not enough. It doesn't affect cortisol the same way. It has L-theanine in it, so you just chill out at the same time. You just relax. See, I miss my bro Theo.
00:06:46
Speaker
You like the adrenaline rush. Yeah, my bro Theomy and he and I like to get the day started. Yeah, my bro Theomy and I hit it hard. Althea and I, we just kind of, I don't know. Yeah. It feels like a dog versus a cat kind of situation. Yeah. It felt very, very pleasant. But I also would have a headache from all the withdrawals because I also had no dairy. Yes. Right. So, and I wasn't having any grains or oats.
00:07:17
Speaker
Uh, you were okay with certain types of grains, but the ones with gluten, we pulled out and oats too, and corn. Definitely. Those are really irritating to the system for most people. So we just pull them out. So we want to do what's called, we want to clean out your liver. So we're doing a liver detox. We're, we're helping to support good gallbladder function. But at the same time, we're taking out foods that cause inflammation and foods that you're most likely to have a sensitivity or a reaction to.
00:07:45
Speaker
So a lot of people who have sensitivities to foods like gluten, for example, that aren't celiacs, that don't have an allergy to gluten, but they're still sensitive. So what we wanna do is we wanna cut the noise.
00:07:56
Speaker
So you've had 20 years on the road. 25 years in stand-up comedy, eating absolute garbage late at night and drinking a ton. So it's like eight million kids grabbed the same Etch A Sketch and tried to play with it at once. And what we want to do is we want to take it away from the kids because you can imagine the lines on it and we want to shake it clean.
00:08:22
Speaker
so that once it's clean we can start putting those foods back in and putting things back in and your body will see what it likes and what it doesn't.
Impact of Lifestyle Choices on Health
00:08:30
Speaker
You'll be able to know, okay how is my body reacting to this? Does it like it yes or does it like it no? Because right now you can't tell. It's a really good way to explain it but I got hung up on the way you described 25 years as like a negative. I was like that sounds great good for me. Is that what I
00:08:50
Speaker
drinking and eating bad foods. Fantastic way to go champ.
00:08:57
Speaker
It's called having a successful career for many people, however. Yeah. A lot of people don't survive 25. It's not for everyone. It's going to be tough to handle the road life. Exactly. One of the sources of stress this week is exactly this though. I wake up in the morning and I don't know what to do. You know, you go, here's all my habits, right? Okay. So I can't have a coffee. Well, that's the first thing. I can't have a bowl of cereal. That would be the next thing. So you're already scratching your head going, well, what am I supposed to do now?
00:09:26
Speaker
Some fruits were okay. Some fruits were not. So let's talk about fruits for a second here because I'm assuming there are some people listening to this right now who are like me maybe. Here's the confession. I don't really understand food. I don't really understand the body.
00:09:43
Speaker
I don't really know how either one of those things work or how they work together, okay? What I know is the little snippets I pick up along the way, and they keep changing the breakfast rules. Yes. Sometimes cereal's good for you with milk. It depends on the type of cereal. Sometimes eggs are good, sometimes eggs are bad. Some people say coffee's good, some say it's bad. Everywhere I go, I get different intel.
00:10:07
Speaker
You're right. And it's going to depend on each individual person because in terms of coffee, it can be a powerful antioxidant. And there are great studies saying it can improve blood flow to the brain.
00:10:19
Speaker
So there are people who use it to increase blood flow to the brain. But when we're looking at your particular individual, unique biochemistry, we're saying, okay, wait a minute. Your liver is not doing its job. Well, your cholesterol is elevated and the coffee is going to be a problem for that. So let's pull it out temporarily. I'm not saying pull it out forever. You can never have it either. This was the weekend.
00:10:40
Speaker
But that's what the morning tonic was for. Well, we'll get to that. Why couldn't I have a bagel, for example? Bagel with cream cheese. That sounds like a very reasonable breakfast for somebody who's already not having a bowl of cereal. Sounds incredibly inflammatory. What if I got poppy seed instead of sesame seed or whatever? They sell all kinds. You're telling me none of those bagels would have been good for me? Well, all of those bagels turn into sugar really quickly in your body.
00:11:06
Speaker
So what happens is we have something called the glycemic index, which basically looks at different foods and tells you how fast it's going to turn into sugar and how fast it's going to show up as sugar in your bloodstream. So we now know that when we're looking at health, the hormone balance is critical. And if you're looking at weight loss, for example, which a lot of people are around the middle years, like 50,
00:11:29
Speaker
they're getting a little bit of like the extra spare junk in the trunk, the extra spare tire, right? So when you're looking at how the body is going to lose weight, you have to say, okay, the fat cells are actually part of the endocrine system.
Managing Sugar and Insulin Spikes
00:11:43
Speaker
So we think of, when we think of organ systems like your heart and your liver, we think of fat, like what organ systems that part of? It's part of what's called the endocrine system, which is hormones. So the fat cells all have to do with hormone balance, not with calories. So insulin is a hormone.
00:11:59
Speaker
There's a fantastic doctor out there called Dr. Fung, who talks about this as well. And he talks about how if you have a big insulin spike, that leads to ill health, diabetes, weight gain, cholesterol issues, et cetera. So what we want to do is we want to make sure that you're not having this great big, huge spike in sugar, which you're going to get when you have a bagel, because it's just digested so quickly. It shows up as sugar really quickly. You get the big insulin spike, big insulin crash, and you're just craving more foods later on.
00:12:28
Speaker
But then it also has gluten in it, which you're potentially sensitive to. We want to make sure that that's not an issue for you. And then it also has dairy, which is really inflammatory. And so we want to decrease the inflammation in your body right now.
00:12:42
Speaker
So basically I've been on fire for the last 25 years, is that what you're saying? Yes. Because everything I've been taking was inflammatory? Yep. I see. All right. So fruit then, back to fruit. I could have berries. Yes. And not the smooth ones, right? Mostly the fellas with sections, the sectional berries, as we call them, the backup kids. Well, you could have strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, blueberries. Blueberries are smooth. Oh, blueberries were okay? Yeah, blueberries are okay.
00:13:11
Speaker
Grapes are no good. No, that's right. Okay, so full stop right here. First you take away the wine. And then you take away the grapes or the very essence of the wine. I couldn't even out that. Now why are grapes different than the berries?
00:13:29
Speaker
how the body processes them. So when you think about fruit, a really positive health benefit is the antioxidants. And the more colorful a fruit is, the more antioxidants it has, which is fantastic. But we want a lot of fiber in that fruit because otherwise the fruit sugar just gets digested quickly, shows up in your bloodstream quickly. Then you get insulin spike, insulin crash, right?
00:13:53
Speaker
or sugar spike, sugar crash, right? And you don't want to do that. There's green and red grapes. There's colors. You said colorful. They are colorful, but there's not the same fiber. There's blue ones. They're not the same fiber, so they just turn into sugar so quickly. Okay, so the fiber is hidden in the raspberries and the blackberries? It is.
00:14:11
Speaker
And so that slows down how those sugars show up in the bloodstream. And so there's also less of those sugars that are in the berries. So they're better for balancing out your blood sugar levels, resting your pancreas. So then I could have had a blueberry bagel with raspberry cream cheese. Nope. Why? Because it's wheat and dairy. Yeah, but we've added the fiber, we're slowing it down now. You want the actual berries.
00:14:35
Speaker
Do you know what fake blueberries are actually made from? It's really gross. First of all, I don't know what anything's really made from. I don't know what fake blueberries are made of. A lot of the blueberries that are in the waffles or muffins or in those types of blueberry bagels. They're from the eyeballs of dead white walkers? Yes, they are. Cockroach parts.
00:15:00
Speaker
Yeah, no wonder they made it. Yeah, well, quite often they're made of a lot of different sugars and just a lot of chemicals, but they actually can be made up literally of like, they can take like little beetle coloring from beetles and
00:15:14
Speaker
And now I want to bowl them. Yeah, it's just really gross. Eat real food.
Keys to a Long, Healthy Life
00:15:20
Speaker
So if you learn nothing else, okay, here, I'm going to tell you, here's the secret to living to 120 and still, you know, doing all of your activity and staying vibrant. So if you want the secret to longevity, here is eat real food, drink pure water, get the right amount of sleep, not too much, too little, get the right amount of exercise, not too much, not too little, the right amount for your body.
00:15:44
Speaker
Have a social life and have a spiritual connection. That's it. It's that simple. But can you eat real food anymore? You can't. So hard. Well, what are we going to talk about for the next five and a half months now? I know how to find real food. That was the secret of life. And we're two episodes away.
00:16:07
Speaker
It's been great to have you on this journey. Now get out there and do whatever the heck she just said. What the heck? Doc, we're supposed to build a little build up here. Well, let me see. Here's the thing. Because here's what you're going to go through. The challenge. Your challenge. Of finding real food? Yeah. Okay. So let's talk about that because this was part of my week. Now, the first couple of days I was at home, you know what? We'll get to the road. I struggled with my sleep.
00:16:31
Speaker
for
Sleep Challenges without Substances
00:16:32
Speaker
the first time. Now this is for a select portion of our audience, but I don't know if you've ever tried to go to sleep sober. But wow, first of all, the whole concept of it. Here's how you sleep when you're a bit of a drinker or when you work at night like I do. You go until you can't. And then you find a bed or someplace flat and you sleep until you can't.
00:16:59
Speaker
That's your system. But now suddenly you take away the booze, you take away the late night snacking and whatnot. You know, I'm not having a cheeseburger or half a pizza at one in the morning, so there's no gut bomb to put you out. So basically now under your new system, I'm supposed to just go, well, time for bed.
00:17:19
Speaker
go and fall asleep. Are you crazy bodies don't work like that. You can't just choose a random time and go lay down in the room in the dark and expect all your systems to shut down. That's madness. See, this is what healthy bodies like to do. They like a little bit of a lead in to bedtime, right?
00:17:39
Speaker
So they like you to start to quiet down, turn off all the noise, get rid of all the blue light, put your cell phone away. Don't watch TV. Just relax. Maybe, you know, take a hot bath, maybe wash your face, brush your teeth, do your routine, and then get into bed at the same general time. Close your eyes and then just fall asleep. And then you have the same time that you wake up in the morning. That's what bodies actually like. This is my routine.
00:18:06
Speaker
All right, Arielle, I don't know what process exists that you live in, but you obviously haven't stayed in some of the hotels that I've stayed at because you're not exactly just sliding into that bubble bath and relaxing. Okay, it's a lot. I don't know what's happened in this crime scene of a bathroom, but I am not putting my person sitting down on that stuff, nor do you have a nice, relaxed routine. Okay, you get in, you throw the bags down, you put on the TV for half a heartbeat to see what's going on in the city you're in.
00:18:34
Speaker
And then you ask for a wake-up call because you have a flight coming first day of the morning and you got to keep moving. So it's not like that. Anyway, I struggled with sleep all week as I adjusted. Also, you know, cause I was, you know, what basically fetal and shaking from all the detox and cravings. I got to tell you the worst of all of them just randomly, but of all the things I didn't have cause I was off red meat as well.
00:19:06
Speaker
Lots of things are part of dairy, I didn't realize. It's not as obvious as you think, by the way. What's the number one hidden dairy item out there in the world that people wouldn't think dairy? For example, the bagels, I suppose it's in the eggs that go in the flour or what? Eggs actually are from chickens. They're not dairy. And we didn't take eggs out for you. No, eggs were great. So I'm just guessing on what was in the bagel, the butter. Yeah, that's where it was. So there was no butter.
00:19:34
Speaker
There was no butter this week, which was a big hit as well, but it didn't matter because there was no toast. There was no burgers. There was no french fries. Of all the things, for whatever reason, the biggest craving was a
Eating Healthy on the Go
00:19:46
Speaker
double cheeseburger. That was the one all week that I wanted so bad. Anyway, being at home, okay, you adjusted these things. You can cook for yourself. You can try to make some healthy food. But then I had to go on the road. And not to brag, ladies and gentlemen, but it was too white horse.
00:20:01
Speaker
Yay! Thank you. For those of you who aren't from Canada, you left Google it, but Whitehorse is off of the Yukon territory. It's ways away from Toronto, where I live, and so it was multiple hours of flying both directions. So airports, you might be surprised to discover, not the best place to eat. Healthy.
00:20:22
Speaker
Yeah, they're setting you up for failure. So this is my beef with the entire food industry. Yes, pun intended. I was done intentionally. This is why I'm not the comedian. That's why I never went into your line of work.
00:20:39
Speaker
I'll stay the doctor. Apologies, everybody listening. Sorry about that. We're trying to clean it up as we go on here, but she did give you the secret of life. I'm just a wild guard. Let's let her have her puns. She's going to keep us all alive. It's fine. It's a trade-off.
00:20:55
Speaker
So where I get so upset is that the food industry is horrible for hiding toxins in food. We're being poisoned everywhere we go. And even if you think something looks healthy, the marketing is just a flat out lie. And so whether you look at a lot of the nutrition information that's out there, whether you look at some of the stuff that are quote unquote, that are being quoted as studies that are out there,
00:21:20
Speaker
They're lying. They're misrepresenting the truth or they're bending the truth. So they're marketing, they're switching things around. So we can't say they're directly lying.
00:21:29
Speaker
But if you look at something like an airport, here's what I noticed when I travel. There's a lot of booze. They want you to be medicated and out on those flights. They want you to be so happy that you get on that plane and you fall asleep. So they've got all this awful processed fast food that's going to make you feel tired and gross. And then you're going to drink right in the airport and then you're going to get on the plane and they want you to sleep.
00:21:56
Speaker
So that's basically what they're doing. But the wonderful thing about Canada is any of the airports that I've ever been to in Canada, they love to sell smoked salmon. So it's like one of those little packets that's like, hey, if you're a visitor to Canada, look at our specific smoked salmon, it comes in a special little box. So you can always go to one of those gift stores and get real food.
00:22:19
Speaker
But that's about the that's it's really hard. You got to kind of go around and see. Sometimes you can get those little eggs that are already hard boiled and peeled. Sometimes you can find little things of fresh vegetables that are kind of off in a corner, so maybe a little bit of a hummus dip. But it's challenging to find real food. Yeah, yeah, it is obviously. But one of the issues, of course, when you're not drinking, all of a sudden reading those things is to basically you sent me into a house of mirrors.
00:22:49
Speaker
As everywhere I walk, I'm like, oh, there's a place he could get a drink. I remember there was one gentleman who'd just gotten a fresh golden lager. He happened to have a window seat, so the sun was coming in and hitting this beautiful, stunning beer, the light coming off it. My gosh, it was glorious. And we had, I don't know, 9, 10 a.m. to make her as an airport. There's no rules in the airport, okay? That's the other thing about this.
00:23:19
Speaker
can have. It's like a cruise ship out there. There's no time. You're on international waters when you're up there. International time. International drinking time. Great. Here's another thing you've learned on this podcast. Listen, I don't understand this timed drinking theory of yours because I'll tell you, there's only two times, okay? There's now and there's later.
00:23:38
Speaker
Those are the only two times that ever really exist. The rest is a construct. But before, you don't need that. That's not going to help you in this moment. Do you want to drink now? Hey, if not, you can have one later. But suddenly it was no, not at all. And no burger, no anything, of course. So yeah, I did try to find, I had this little scavenger hunt that Doc put me on to try to find some salmon, which by the way, not all airports.
00:24:04
Speaker
I'll have you though. Certainly not all terminals, not all kiosks. There's a good bit of walking. So I don't know if this was just a trick to sneak some exercise in. Of course. I was able to find a couple of hard boiled eggs. Boy, oh boy. Doesn't that hit the spot at about 35,000 feet when the cart comes by and you say, Oh no, thank you. I'll have none of what you're offering. I have these two hard boiled eggs. They don't have green tea in the sky. I'll have you know.
00:24:33
Speaker
So yeah, just water and eggs for a good time, Charlie, over here. Suffering is withdrawal at 30, on our way to 30, whatever, thousand feet.
00:24:43
Speaker
only to land in Whitehorse, of course, where you can't. Well, here's what happened. So the organizers said, hey, great, come on by to the room. We're going to get you lunch. It was a charity fundraiser for prostate cancer. It was awareness for prostate cancer, a ride for dads, great people up there who treated us wonderfully, but of course they wanted to look after us. So they took us out for lunch and a lovely little pub.
00:25:12
Speaker
lovely old gal waitress there running this thing and all three of them got the cheeseburger the bacon cheeseburger because it was the house specialty and so three people and then I got to be that guy because I said oh I'll have the salad is it possible to add a chicken breast to that but what dressing
00:25:35
Speaker
is available. I'm sorry, I'm not going to be able to have that dressing. Would you have to have any olive oil back there? I could have some olive oil. Maybe a lemon, could I trouble you for a lemon as the record needle scratches and all these lumberjacks look at me across the pub. I had to declare to everybody, look, I don't like me right now either.
00:25:57
Speaker
judge away, I totally get it. Everybody's rolling their eyes at Big City here with his salad requests. Anyway, a couple minutes go by, they bring the food. They're very kind and gracious and did their best. But as they come to serve the food, the cheeseburger gets floated right past my face.
00:26:19
Speaker
on the way to the window there. Fries. I almost ate her arm. I almost bit her entire hand off. Did you drool on her? No, that was blood and my own lip. I think I bit everything I could of my face.
00:26:36
Speaker
It was a horrific moment. And then, of course, just gnawing on this lettuce, just, oh, I'm going to go at it. Explain to me, so I know going forward, give me a mental trick, mental talking to how I can feel better about myself than these people who are having what I'd like to be eating.
00:26:56
Speaker
And how am I supposed to convince myself that this dry salad with no dressing, because they didn't have olive oil in the end. So I just had the lemon squeezed on it. How am I supposed to convince myself that this is great? Yay me.
Motivation and Dietary Goals
00:27:11
Speaker
Well, the first week that you're making those changes, you're going to be going through a lot of a detox. So it's great to remember your why. Like what is the motivation that is getting you to want to make those changes? So you've procrastinated for a long time. Thank you. And you know that by 50, like that's the goal. Like I want to walk into 50 rocking it and just have that superhero body.
00:27:37
Speaker
So remembering that why is going to be really important, but then also thinking those people that are eating that are so close to a heart attack and you're walking away from the heart attack.
00:27:50
Speaker
So now you want me to sit there watching people die, hoping they're going to. But you also don't know what they've eaten before and they may have eaten super clean up until that point. And they may have been eating clean for like two or three weeks and then just decided this is going to be my cheat meal, my once a month or once every couple of weeks cheat meal. What I need to hear right now is that I haven't had my last cheeseburger.
00:28:17
Speaker
No, you haven't. Okay. That's what I need to hear right now. I can suffer through this for a little bit. Yeah. But I need to know. And so I'll tell you, go ahead. I was going to say, this is the whole premise. You know, you've done the retalks, then you do the detox, and then eventually you can retalks again. So right now you're in a healing phase. Everything that we're doing is to get your body to heal and start working at its optimum efficiency.
00:28:42
Speaker
So eventually all of those foods are going to come back in because all foods are life like foods that are healthy, not junk foods. We're not going to bring in like the, the, the processed stuff, but real foods, absolutely. They'll all come in, but we want to get your body to be able to digest it, to absorb it, to utilize the nutrients. And we want to be able to have it be fuel for your body rather than something that is going to move you closer to disease. So any food you eat,
00:29:13
Speaker
can take you towards your health goals, can keep you where you are, or can take you away from your health goals. These are all taking you towards. The thing is, honestly, I think my body had learned to run.
00:29:27
Speaker
on just absolute garbage or whatever. But I figured I would assist him, it turns out, through salt and fat and gravy for the fries, of course, to compensate for the beers and whatnot so that it could all work together in a beautiful harmony that has now been completely disrupted.
00:29:46
Speaker
So when you start adding healthy food, my system has no idea what to do with it. They had no idea where to put it. It was literally having a panic attack. And when you finish eating, it's like, great, when do we eat? Where's all the stuff that fills us? So I was hungry most of the week. I was, as far as I'm concerned, malnourished, underfed, poorly slept.
00:30:12
Speaker
Well, we shouldn't have been hungry because you should be able to eat as much as you want and keep eating, especially protein, like eating lots of protein to help stabilize the blood sugar levels. Again, I'm not walking around with a grocery store on my back when I'm traveling in this situation. So no, you can't just eat what you want, when you want, or all the time.
00:30:31
Speaker
our medical disclaimer. Welcome to Dr. Val Saves Dave, where a naturopathic doctor and a comedian team up together to tickle your funny bone and maybe even teach you a thing or two about health. But hey, before you go down the rabbit hole of kale smoothies and laughter yoga, a quick reminder, we're not your doctor. We might have the prescription for a good joke, but when it comes to your health, consult the pros. So laugh and learn, but keep that stethoscope handy, just in case.
00:31:03
Speaker
One thing that I found interesting though was on my return flight. So interesting thing that happened. I've been traveling 25 years. This has never happened. I had a connecting flight in Vancouver. I flew from Whitehorse to Vancouver. The flight was delayed. And so I was going to be very close to my connecting flight. Now of all the luck in the world, the connecting flights were at gates right beside each other. And so when I walked off my flight,
00:31:31
Speaker
My next flight was boarding literally at the gate right beside me. So I did a U-turn, showed my boarding pass, went right back on the next plane. So I got off on plane, walked right onto the other. Now I had not eaten on the first flight because airplane food was no option. And I didn't have a chance to go on your little scavenger hunt to try to find eggs or salmon hidden in the back of the Oscar some terminal.
00:31:55
Speaker
Go to game 43 or whatever it was. So I get on the plane. Now there was no non-bred option. There was no option to eat something that wasn't in some way carved up or whatever. So if you'll recall, I texted you and said, here's the situation. I'm in a no-win situation here.
00:32:19
Speaker
So how about if I just don't eat? And this surprised me because I was, I was braced listener. I'm telling you, I was braced to fast. I was like, fine. I'll just try to sleep. I'll get through this. And, you know, not knowing anything. I was like, well, if I don't eat, that's better for weight loss than eating.
00:32:35
Speaker
And I was shocked to discover that you felt the opposite, that I had to eat in order to continue to lose weight. Now that blew my head apart. So why don't you walk me through that again and explain to other people who are also going, wait, what? How is it that eating was going to help me lose weight better than not eating? So weight loss, when we think of it,
00:32:59
Speaker
We are told and programmed to believe that it's about calories. Calorie in, calorie out. So you eat less calories and you exercise more and you lose weight. That's not it. The fat system in the body is part of what's called the endocrine system. So your fat cells have hormones that they secrete and that they respond to.
00:33:19
Speaker
So it really is more about your hormonal control. And so we have what we call muscle mass. Men have a lot more muscle tissue than women. And that's why when men and women try to lose weight together, men lose weight so much faster. But here's the thing. If you go too long without eating, you'll start to break down your own muscle tissue.
00:33:40
Speaker
So you actually start losing, you start dropping your metabolic rate.
Maintaining Muscle Mass and Metabolism
00:33:44
Speaker
You can't burn off as many calories as well. If you're under a whole lot of stress and your cortisol levels come up, you're going to be burning off a lot of the muscle tissue too. So the foods that you're eating, you're not really utilizing. So when your stress levels are up, which they would have been, right?
00:34:01
Speaker
Quite. If you eat protein, it's going to help in terms of fueling your body and sparing that muscle tissue. But if you don't eat something with protein, if you don't eat at all, or if you eat something really carby or something that's high fat, it's actually not going to protect the muscle tissues. Cortisol is just going to store the carbohydrates and the fat as a fuel source.
00:34:22
Speaker
So by eating more protein, you're actually stabilizing your blood sugar levels, fueling those protein levels and helping kind of program the body and tell the body, this is safe, it's good. So we don't want you starving. Now, intermittent fasting and fasting in general can be really good at very specific points in time to help in terms of health, absolutely. And we'll get to that later. But when you're in a healing stage,
00:34:49
Speaker
and want you eating tons of protein because it's really great for liver detoxification. And it's really good for supporting building good muscle mass and stabilizing blood sugar levels, which is really what we're doing. But we want good quality proteins, lean proteins, and real food. Yeah, well, I tell you what, I got a real headache. I had real issues and I had a real bad flight. What I ended up doing
00:35:20
Speaker
roast beef sandwich, I got the charcuterie and I picked up the hummus and breadsticks. What I did was open up the sandwich, took one of the breadsticks, used that to scrape the mayonnaise off the roast beef. So I just had some plain roast beef. I opened up the charcuterie and picked the meat out of that. So I left behind the bread, the breadsticks and the crackers and I just had meat
00:35:44
Speaker
with hummus on it because aren't I a good time. Now you might be surprised to discover because I don't like waste any more than any other slightly socially aware person would. I felt bad wasting all this food. You'd be amazed how hard it is to give away cheese and crackers on a plane. They're
00:36:05
Speaker
Don't even try to offer them a mayonnaise covered sandwich. Nobody wants that. But these were some lovely cheese and crackers that there are no takers. So either everybody's on your payroll. I stacked the plane. Yeah. Dave's coming. Yeah, that's right. Don't.
00:36:24
Speaker
So be supportive, guys. Nobody eat any bread. No, the smell of pizza was everywhere. Somebody brought some French fries on from the plane. Ah, it's terrible. I'm sure this is going to get better. Well, listen, if anybody from the airline industry is listening, your food is toxic. Please change it. This just in. If you're playing food, maybe not great. We'll be right back with Ronald Reagan's inauguration.
00:36:52
Speaker
1981. Airplane food. What's the deal? Now, I always thought they're talking about taste, but it turns out, actually, it's of poor nutritional value. Is that the way you would say it? Yes. Well, I believe that topic. And I don't think there's any options for celiacs or people who have dairy sensitivities or gluten sensitivities.
00:37:22
Speaker
wheat and dairy and everything. Yeah, no, it was tough to, as the car came down, there was nothing licorice.
00:37:29
Speaker
That's about that. It was a strawberry flavored because I had the licorice. Nope. Made from wheat. Made from wheat. Okay. I wouldn't know that one. Yeah. Wheat and sugar, huh? Okay. All right. Now, what if I was in a situation where I couldn't have done what I did though, there was no just protein option. You do the best that you can. So I might've had to have
00:37:53
Speaker
Now, I want you to know, folks, I have done nothing that I wasn't supposed to. His body, her rules, that's the deal. I have not had so much as one French fry. I didn't steal one off a plate. If I had had five French fries, 10 French fries, would I have sent my system into a new shock? Would I have undone all my work? You wouldn't have undone all of your work. You would have set it back a little bit.
00:38:17
Speaker
That big an impact, just a couple of fries is enough to be bedlam down below. It's all ambulances and fire trucks. It can for you right now because you're in a healing phase. Your body can't tolerate what it will when it's healed. Here's what we're going to work towards. We're going to work towards developing something called metabolic flexibility. I love this.
00:38:40
Speaker
because what happens is, okay, we get you eating separately. Because it's not science-y. That's why you like it. You like dropping your terms. Metabolic flexibility, okay? I like, that's what I call it. Hang on, let's, let's all brace ourselves to learn something new. It's like the yoga of nutrition. It's metabolic flexibility. Metabolic flexibility. Walk me through it.
00:38:55
Speaker
Okay. So right now we're putting your body through the nutritional protocols that it needs to heal. Once it starts healing, you're going to be in tune with your body. And there are days and times where you're going to go, Oh, my body's craving protein. I need more protein today.
00:39:11
Speaker
And there's other days and times we're going to go, Oh, I don't really feel like eating very much today. It needs less food today. Oh, there's other days where you're going to be like, I need more carbs today. And you're going to understand what your body's asking for nutritionally. And when you eat those foods, you're just going to lean out. And then every once in a while you're going to be just like, okay,
00:39:29
Speaker
It's time to do a blowout and just go for like the junk food and you're going to have it and your body's going to tolerate it. And that's fine. But at first, when you do that, um, after you've been clean for a while, it's going to feel awful.
00:39:46
Speaker
Well, it already feels awful. So you will feel better. Yeah. Uh-huh. I gotta believe you. I have no choice, but I'm just, I was surprised at how much discomfort I was in this week. I would have thought I'd be able to switch gears a lot easier, but it goes to show the level of addiction that there is for first fat, salt, you know, dairy, alcohol, all the,
00:40:13
Speaker
Boy, you've been saying it now. I'm like, yeah, that sounds like a good time. All the things that light up dopamine in your brain. That's fantastic. Yes, I love those things. We need some dopamine for sure.
00:40:24
Speaker
So yes, we talked about the fact that we need whole foods, but you can't always get foods. So there were some supplements. Now, obviously, based on what Doc was just saying about how I'm eating, because I'm healing. In other words, don't try this at home, everybody. Do not put yourself through this discomfort unless you absolutely have to, as directed by a medical professional, as I am currently being. But so I took some supplements. I took some
00:40:53
Speaker
A protein shake was available and I took some greens plus. I'm not going to name brand names until they pay us to. But over the counter, this was all over the counter stuff that I could take. Not to mention aloe vera gel. Now, there will be a video that I will share on Instagram of me drinking aloe vera gel. I don't know if you've ever had aloe vera gel. Apparently it's good for the stomach. Can you walk me through what that does for you?
00:41:21
Speaker
It is. It's great for the skin, which most people know you can put it on topically. But if you there's certain ones that you're supposed to put it on.
00:41:31
Speaker
not the one that you were doing. But there are some that are topical, but you don't want to get those to take internally. There's ones that are very specific that you can drink. And when you drink it, it's very good for boosting the immune system, but it also is very healing for the for the intestinal tract. So it suits it, it coats it, it helps promote good gut microbiome and really good digestion and good bowel movements.
00:41:53
Speaker
Okay. Well, I'll look forward to those. Yes. Boy, that's one thing about getting close to 50. You start talking about bowel movements, and they become that, bowel movements or BMs, as we use in the industry charting now. They used to be taking a dump or a crap or having a shoot. Now it's just BMs. How are you BMs? Well, fine. Thanks. Great BM today.
00:42:18
Speaker
Did someone slip into your BM? Because that's not a good thing. No. I'm going to DM you my BMX. How about that? There we go. That seems fair. Yeah, I'm stopping myself from saying gross thanks, which is a sign of maturity, I think. Thank you for the filter. You're very welcome. Unfortunately, you won't be getting one in your DFS. There will be photos, and maybe I'll be all compliment.
00:42:44
Speaker
You know how my body's adjusting to this new horrific plan you just put me on. Anyhow, yeah, I started buying these supplements and these powders and whatnot. And I'll tell you folks, not cheap, but when I'm saving on booze, I'm still up on the week. So taking the supplements, I'm into the program. I'm doing the thing. When will this turn around? When do I get to start feeling better for all this, uh, uh, what I'm going through?
00:43:12
Speaker
For most people, you'll start feeling better pretty quickly, actually. Yes, you can be going through a bit of the detox, a bit of the healing crisis, especially the first couple of days, and then you should start feeling better and better.
00:43:25
Speaker
really the second week, once that hits, we should see a lot more energy, a lot more vibrancy, a lot more vitality. By the three week mark, we should see, you should have people really commenting on your skin. You should look younger, you should feel more energetic, and you should be feeling like you're in part of the best health, shape, and fitness of your life. You should feel better and better each week. Well, rest assured, I got none of those compliments this week.
00:43:52
Speaker
This is the week where you look young and just delightful to be around. One thing we didn't touch on that I was curious about, nuts.
Nuts in Diet: Omega-3s vs. Unhealthy Fats
00:44:04
Speaker
Everybody says nuts are a good thing to eat when you're, you know, they fight off appetite. They're good for you, right? You got cashews. You got almonds. You've got, well, peanuts, obviously, which I know you have a bone to pick with already. I hate peanuts. But almonds are supposed to be very healthy. Why wouldn't I have been eating almonds this week?
00:44:24
Speaker
couple of reasons. The main reason right now is because we're doing a bit of an elimination diet. So or I don't like to call it diet, let's call it eating paradigm. So we're taking the nuts out right now, because a lot of people are very sensitive or have intolerances to nuts are very likely to have allergies or sensitivities to it.
00:44:43
Speaker
So let's just pull it out temporarily, and then we'll put it back in and see how your body reacts. Most people tolerate the seeds much better. So almonds can be a really, really healthy source of fat. They're a source of monounsaturated fats, and the monounsaturated fats are what's in the Mediterranean diet, along with some of the omega-3s as well, but they can be very healthy for the heart. So it can be a very good, nutritious thing to eat for healthy fats. It's not a protein. Let's be really clear about that.
00:45:12
Speaker
And we just want to take it out in the short term just to make sure that your body is tolerating it well. We know your thyroid is okay. That is for noticing. Yes. But with people who have thyroid function, almonds are what we call goitrogenic. They shut down thyroid function. So for someone with a thyroid function issue, we'd also take out the almonds because it would affect their thyroid. But Joe Public, who doesn't have my particular issues or isn't going through a cleanse, almonds would be the healthiest of the nuts.
00:45:42
Speaker
Almonds, walnuts are really healthy as well because they're full of omega-3s. Macadamia nuts are really healthy. They're also another monounsaturated nut.
00:45:53
Speaker
most of the other nuts are actually really bad for you. So, um, do you want to do this? Well, we can do a couple of things here cause it's, there's omega three fats and there's omega six fats and most of the nuts and seeds and vegetable oils are these omega six fats. And we're getting way too much exposure to the omega six fats. So, and not enough of the omega threes and the imbalance now is leading to a lot of inflammation, a lot of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer, chronic diseases.
00:46:23
Speaker
So we used to blame our meats and that type of saturated fat and say, that's really unhealthy. And what we're finding now is like, wait a minute, if you do a beef product or a lot of those meats that are organic and farm raised and
00:46:40
Speaker
come from happy cows with happy farmers. They're going to be okay. They're not really the cause of cardiovascular disease that we thought, but these Omega-6s can be. Now, the other thing that can be is there's a type of fat that can be, that's a bad fat, and it can be in some red meats, but it's in peanuts. It's called arachnonic acid, and it causes inflammation in the system.
00:47:03
Speaker
And peanuts are one of the worst things you could ever eat. Human beings should not be eating peanuts. They're not healthy for you. Do not believe the hype. Okay. Whoa, whoa, whoa. First of all, uh, this is going to be a big, this is our big sound bite of the week here. I'm sure this is the big thing. We're going to, we're taking an anti-peanut stance. Very much. Arachidonic acid. Fear of spiders is something to do with peanuts. Yes. How does that work?
00:47:31
Speaker
Because the oil, the bad fat is called arachidonic acid. It must be. So say it again, arachidonic? Arachidonic acid. Arachidonic, that's a lake just north of Toronto. Arachidonic, those are a type of chair.
00:47:47
Speaker
Sorry, that's Adirondack. I'm being ridiculous. I'm so silly, but I'm starved for food and humor here. Clearly. Arachidonic. You're saying that all right? You are. Arachidonic acid, that's what's in peanuts. Exactly. It's a really bad fat that promotes inflammation in the body, that causes inflammation. If you have arthritis, you're going to feel worse eating them.
00:48:09
Speaker
It's going to make cancer worse. It's going to cause weight gain. But what if I go down to one of these healthy organic stores and I grind my own peanut butter. So it's super healthy. I'm not eating the insert brand name here with the sugary peanut butter. I'm eating that good, awful looking taste and paste that they assure me is the healthiest. It's just peanuts. Yeah. So this is what I learned. I took a class called Toxological Aspects of Nutrition when I was in
00:48:37
Speaker
Oh, I missed that one. It was so fun. Yeah, I took Jim. Yeah.
00:48:43
Speaker
If you missed a riot of a class, it was hilarious. So one of the things that we learned, we learned several things about peanuts, but they're toxic because they are very moldy. They're actually a legume and they grow very close on the ground in very moldy or very human environments. So there's tons of mold on it. And the mold produces a toxin called aflatoxin. So it's literally illegal to sell a peanut for human consumption that hasn't been roasted at some point in time.
00:49:11
Speaker
because they have to kill off the the toxin the aflatoxin and the mold right so when you get a peanut that's out of its shell it's probably been roasted within its shell and they pull it out and then you grind it you're still getting some of the aflatoxin in it now it's less but you're still getting some so countries that consume the highest amount of peanuts have the highest amount of liver cancer
00:49:31
Speaker
Not good for your liver. Then you have the arachidonic acid in it, which is also a very bad and unhealthy fat for the body. And that is going to contribute to inflammation. So peanuts are not a really good source of nuts. And so if you want a better source, why wouldn't you go to an almond, which has monounsaturated oils, which we know lower cholesterol and we know benefit heart health. Why wouldn't you go to a macadamia nut, which doesn't have the mold content, which again has a good fat
00:50:00
Speaker
We know some of the monounsaturated fats in the macadamia and the almonds can help people lose visceral fat. We know as well, walnuts. They are full of your omega-3 essential fatty acids, which are anti-inflammatory. So go to those wonderful nuts instead. And also, okay, let's just address the elephant in the room. Peanuts are not a source of protein. Whoa.
00:50:26
Speaker
Okay, first of all, I thought it was spiders we were dealing with. Now it's elephants. Yeah. So I was still trying to keep up with the fact that the spiders haven't figured out that there's macadamias and almonds out there. I just focused on the peanuts. But now you're telling me there's an elephant in this room. And just hold the phone for a second. Peanut butter or peanuts in general are not a source of protein. Exactly. No, time out.
00:50:50
Speaker
when i was eating bananas before as an athlete they were saying that you had to have it with protein to get the health benefits so i used to have make sure i had peanut butter with bananas i would have a spoonful of peanut butter for the protein everybody my whole life peanut butter and peanuts have been protein yeah so how is it that i've been misled my whole life no one did the math
00:51:12
Speaker
Who's no one? Apparently the people who are saying this is a good source of protein. Who's allowed to say that? I know. Nutritionists, I see it all the time. I see my patients come in and say, this nutritionist, or I read this article and this study and it says peanuts, like everybody at the gym says peanuts are a good source of protein.
00:51:30
Speaker
It's not. It's a good source of fat. If you actually do math and very simple math, because I'm not necessarily really great at math, but let's just look at a nutrition label. If you look at a nutrition label and you look at the number of calories that are in one tablespoon, it's a little less than 100. We'll call it 100 just to be on the safe side.
00:51:56
Speaker
So when you look at the calories that actually come from fat, it's about 80 to 90%, a little over 80%. And so if you look at the protein content in one tablespoon, it's only four grams of protein. So it's a very, very small percentage. Okay, so there is some protein in there. You're just saying it's more. So 80% of the tablespoon is fat.
00:52:24
Speaker
A very small amount, like a couple of percent is protein. So how is that a source of protein? Like meat is protein. Like if you had a chicken breast, it's not 80% fat. It's not 80% a carbohydrate. It's all, it's good, a good percentage of it's mostly
00:52:48
Speaker
Protein.
00:53:02
Speaker
They're trying to say that, Hey, this must be high protein, but it's not. So when you think of how much your protein, your protein, your body needs in a certain, so let's talk about that. So if you're going to eat a meal, how much protein does your body need? Let's break it down to, yeah, exactly. That's my point. So how much protein does your body need to have in a day? How many grams? So if you take your body weight and divide it in half, that's the number of grams you need per day. So break that down into three meals.
00:53:32
Speaker
or three meals and two snacks. And then you think of how many grams you're going to need at a serving versus a little like, you know, couple grams of protein in a tablespoon. It's nothing. It's not even close to what you need. So when you look at the peanuts and the peanut butter, 80% of it is fat. It's mostly fat. When you're eating nuts, you're eating a source of fat. It could be a healthy source of fat. It could be an unhealthy source of fat, depending on which peanut you choose.
00:53:59
Speaker
If you choose peanuts, if you choose walnuts, they're very different. Walnuts, you get the good fat. Peanuts, you get the bad fat. Well, stop the presses, everybody, because peanuts are bad now. I've just learned this. Now I can't even look forward to a PB&J sandwich, which was a staple in life, and something I put in the golf bag is a nice, healthy thing to keep it going. Wow. I don't know where we go from this one, Doc. That's heavy.
00:54:28
Speaker
That's a heavy change. Okay. Oh yeah. I think we're going to have to end there this week. That's a lot. As you process the peanuts. Yeah. And I got to tell you, I'm, I'm tired. Um, well I'm on a positive note. Uh, and this is just one metric, but I lost four pounds this week. Congratulations. Thank you. Uh, I'm sure it was from the stress.
00:54:58
Speaker
I'm sure I just vibrated them all as I was sitting in my airplane chair there, tweaking. I'm sure they all thought I was a heroin junkie, peeling the meat off and petting it like I was. But as far as our goal of this July of
00:55:18
Speaker
We had started at 2.20, we're down to 2.16. Now you still seem to think I can lose over 20 pounds, no problem. Yes. Yeah. Okay. And you think it'll happen. So let the record show we are down four pounds in the first week to be continued. I have no choice but to believe you because you seem to know what you're talking about and I certainly don't know enough to argue with you on a lot of these points.
00:55:42
Speaker
Somebody out there might disagree. I'm sure you can email us and let us know your arguments. I'm not qualified. Some of you might be shocked to discover, as I was, that peanuts are bad and that eating more than not eating is going to help me with weight loss. These are my big takeaways from this. Outside of that, change is very difficult. Well, actually, as I like to put it from golf, change feels strange.
00:56:07
Speaker
That's the biggest thing. So I went through a lot of changes this week. It felt strange. I was lost. I was afraid. I was confused. I've heard times where I wanted it to be over, but I've stayed the course. I mean, obviously, I don't want to quit week one. There goes our podcast. Yeah, week two where I just went, you know what? Screw it. I'm going to keep eating. This is dumb.
00:56:35
Speaker
We'll never even hear this, people, because I'm not going to release a show where I fail. But I'm staying with it. I'm staying, of course, and hopefully I'll feel better soon and enjoy this. But thanks, Doc, for the wisdom.
00:56:53
Speaker
And to you listener, thanks for coming along on this journey. To be continued, I'll let you guys all know how we're doing next week. Doc, anything you want to tell these folks going into the week?
00:57:07
Speaker
Just have a fantastic week. Follow my wonderful tips for longevity. Eat real food, drink pure water, get the right amount of sleep, the right amount of exercise, the right types for your body. Make sure you have a good social connection. Make sure you've got a spiritual connection and well, really grateful for having you here. In other words, don't become a comedian. That's sweet. We'll catch you guys next time.
00:57:37
Speaker
Dr. Val, can you save Dave? Do you think that he'll behave? Or do you think he will cave? Listen, and he's back in school! It's his funny, but it's Dr. Val's rules!