Podcast Transcription: Nutrition 101: Part 2: Everything You Always Wanted To Know About Nutrient Optimization

Ted Ryce: What's up my friend. Welcome back to another episode of the Legendary Life podcast. I'm health expert, Ted Ryce.

If you haven't listened to part one, what we did is we covered fat loss basics, we covered the five most important aspects of nutrition when it comes to fat loss. So you want to go back and listen to that if you haven't already.

So today it's going to be about nutrient optimization. What does that mean? I wish I could come up with a better name for it, but basically I'll say it like this, so if you haven't listened to the first one, one of the most important things that you can do with nutrition, is maintain a healthy weight and healthy body fat percentage.

So there's some nuance there that I'm not going to go into, go back and listen to the first one, but why am I saying that? Why am I talking to you about this? Because when I speak to people and they were like, I eat pretty good, I have a green smoothie in the morning, and then I have a salad at lunch with salmon, and then I eat this.

I'm like, listen, you're fat. I don't say it quite like this because it's a little bit coarse, a little bit crude, a little bit rude to say this to people, but I say this and mostly I say it to guys, because guys are always trying to impress me with their choices for nutrition.

And of course, I don't talk to women that way, I don't want to say things like that, I just wanted to let you know, but I do get people straight.

And so, I was having a conversation with, well, I've had many conversations like this, but someone was telling me how they were eating so good, and I was like, what's your body fat percentage? Most of the time, people don't know, but I was like okay, if they knew their body fat percentage and they're over 20%, it's like, you're overweight.

And if you're over 25% and this is for men, by the way, then you're obese. And if you have a BMI of a certain range, I forget what the cut-off is, slipping my mind right now. But then you're overweight or obese, you're not in a low risk weight or a healthy weight.

So it really doesn't matter what you say you're eating, Now, this is crucial, and if I sound like I'm condescending a little bit, believe me I'm not, because I used to believe in all this stuff. I was 23% or 22% body fat at my fattest, I was 210 pounds, and I was eating all this stuff, I was spending my whole pay-check at whole foods.

So this is the most important one: the fat loss, maintaining a healthy weight. If you're not doing that, it doesn't matter what you say you're eating or what you're actually eating or how much money you spend at Whole Foods, or the types of exotic nutrient rich, super foods that you’re eating. It just doesn’t matter.

Are we clear on that now? Cool.

Because we're going to move on to the second most important thing which is nutrient optimization: So after we get into a healthy weight, or healthy body fat percentage, again, some nuance there and both are important. Those huge rioted out muscle guys, that isn't healthy for you even though if they have low body fat levels. So, just to throw that out there.

So weight is important as is body fat, and if you know your weight, which 99 point 9% of people do, because we all have scales in our bathrooms or it’s somewhere easily available to us, and we all know what we weigh, make sure you know what your body mass index is, your BMI, and then beyond that, if you want to take things a step further, get your body fat tested.

Get your body fat tested, and I'll tell you, I have every single coaching client get their body fat tested, and they're always surprised at how it's always higher than what they think. So if you think you've got just 5 or 10 pounds, or maybe even 15 to lose, it's much higher, I guarantee you, much higher than what you think it is. Don't believe me? Go get an embody or DEXA scan or a Bob pod.

So beyond that, let's get to what today is about is nutrient optimization, and what are we really talking about? After fat loss and maintaining a healthy weight, what we need is to make sure that we're getting adequate nutrients from the foods that we do eat that help us maintain a healthy body fat and healthy weight, why?

Two big reasons: nutrient deficiencies. So people are deficient. In fact, we're going to cover the top five common nutrient deficiencies. The ones that I look up and the ones that are most common and I think are most relevant to you, and we're also going to cover something called triage theory.

Now, triage theory is something that you may not have heard of before, but the idea is this: Triage theory says, and it's developed by Bruce Ames, and if you're familiar with Dr. Rhonda Patrick, which we really shouldn't call her doctor, but Rhonda Patrick PhD, she learned from Bruce Ames, and Bruce Ames is the main guy.

One of the top researchers, when it comes to nutrition, he came up with this idea, this hypothesis that turned later into a theory because there's evidence to support it, that the body uses whatever nutrients are available to ensure that the most basic and important metabolic functions are fuelled first.

For example, if you need a nutrient that isn't available, the body compromises long term health to ensure short-term critical function. So in other words, maintaining the pH of your blood is more important than your bones, because the pH of your blood, if it's off, can be a huge deal. Bones get brittle later on in life, but it's not, that's long-term health, but short term health is more important, does that kind of make sense?

And this is analogous to the triage situation in an emergency room. I don't know if you've ever been, probably, or at least you've taken your kids and you realize when you sit down with the nurse at the beginning or doctor, they prioritize a patient's needs based on the severity of his or her situation

In the same way, our bodies naturally triage on a daily basis. So, cells will sacrifice nutrients from non-survival functions for immediate physiological needs, and I've always already given the idea of using calcium to balance out the pH in your blood versus the calcium being used in your bones to maintain strong bones. Blood pH takes precedence over strong bones.

Another example is that: nutrients will be diverted from tissue repair to meet more critical needs, such as fighting off an infection or secreting cortisol, stress hormones to deal with an imminent threat. So you're not concerned about repairing your muscles, if you're fighting off an infection, it's a more pressing concern, so your body knows the difference, it knows without you having to think about it. It knows the difference between an immediate threat and something that's more long-term.

So the thing is here, however, is that when there's not enough nutrients available, this often leads to, or let me say it like this. So we are living in a world where we're not running from the Saber-toothed tigers, we do get sick, we do have high cortisol levels because of our mortgages, our kids, the drive to work, but we're not suffering from the same situation that we used to suffer from in palaeolithic or even Neolithic era when we were hunter gatherers or even farmers, the early farmers.

What we are dealing with now is, we have an overabundance of food, but it can be quite easy to not get enough of specific nutrients because of poor food choices or because we don't vary our foods enough. Now I'm not a person who is really into, oh I make sure I eat different things all the time, I think it's more convenient and works better to eat the same thing regularly.

That said, we do need to be aware of certain things. So let's dive into it, let's dive into the top five common nutrient deficiencies here.

So, the first one that I want to talk about is magnesium: Now magnesium, I'm bringing up first, not because it's the most common deficiency, but I think it's one of the most important deficiencies to deal with in our modern world, because magnesium is a key mineral in your body. It's essential for bone and teeth, it's also evolved in more than 300 in somatic reactions, and the issue here is that almost half of the United States population consumes less than the required amount of magnesium according to this study in Pub med.

So, low intake of Magnesium and low blood levels of Magnesium are associated with type two diabetes, metabolic syndrome, heart disease, and osteoporosis, and not only that, but Magnesium is something that, if you feel like you're under a lot of stress, or if you are someone who has trouble sleeping, magnesium can help with that.

In fact, some of the main symptoms of, this is severe magnesium deficiency, but they include abnormal heart rate, muscle cramps, restless leg syndrome, fatigue, and migraines. So magnesium is something that I take every day before I go to bed, because while I do go out of my way to try to eat a dark chocolate, which is very high in magnesium, I go out of my way to eat a lot of dark green leafy vegetables, and almonds happened to be quite rich in magnesium, it's still hard to do.

For example, I haven't been eating that many green leafy vegetables recently, although I have had quite a bit of, I travel with cocoa by the way. So I travel with cocoa powder, and I just finished this dark chocolate drink, so that's a great way of getting in magnesium and I'll give you a little tip here, a little bonus tip.

Is that for my coaching clients, what I tell them, if they need a chocolate fix, get baking cocoa powder, which is cocoa powder and mix it in warm, almond milk, warm, unsweetened, almond milk, and even though it's unsweetened, just a combination of almond milk and the cocoa powder, it has this natural sweetness, but it's very low calorie and you get a nice, you get your chocolate fix, you get some magnesium and it's a way to keep the calories low and the nutrients high.

So there you go, that's the first deficiency that I think we should all pay attention to because it's one of those things that's involved in stress, in sleep and that's something that, I don't know one person in the modern world who isn't dealing with that. Do you?

So the next one I want to talk about is vitamin D deficiency: Vitamin D, because it's really important. So vitamin D is a fat soluble vitamin that functions like a steroid hormone. In fact, it's not truly a vitamin at all, it is a steroid hormone.

Now, don't misunderstand or get it twisted as the cool kids say. It's not a steroid like injecting testosterone or something like that. It's steroid, is just a class of hormones, it's the chemical structure of the hormone. So vitamin D acts like a hormone, travels through your bloodstream and into the cells, telling them to turn genes on or off, and almost every cell in your body has a receptor for vitamin D.

Now here's where it’s really important: Vitamin D is produced by exposing your skin to sunlight and then using the cholesterol that's in your skin. So most of us, there's a big fear in the West, of sun and it leads to people with lower vitamin D levels.

And the best way to do this, is just to get your vitamin D levels checked, and usually, if you have a good doctor, he'll be doing that or she actually, honestly I prefer women doctors, not guys, best doctors I've ever worked with were women, and it's kind of a thing that I'll go out of my way to do, so just FYI, a little tangent, but FYI.

So anyway, this can be an issue, especially if you live North of the equator and, or you have darker skin, because the reason, the true reason that human beings have darker skin or lighter skin has to do with where they evolved, and the amount of sun exposure in that area, and who they had babies with too, but that’s for another podcast that will never be done actually.

So, that's the reason, some of us have higher amounts of melanin, which gives people their dark skin tone. So if you are a darker skin tone, whether you're from India or Africa, or if you have indigenous heritage, what am I trying to say here?

If you're South American, perhaps, and you have darker skin tone, because you have a history of native South Americans, or native Americans. If you have darker skin tones, you're going to want to be more cognizant of this. If you live in an area where there's less sunlight or it's farther away from the equator, you want to pay attention to this, or if you're like this, a lot of people I know, you just stay and doors all the time, even if you live in a sunny area and you barely get out at all, you want to pay attention to this.

And again, the best way to do this is just to have your vitamin D levels checked when you go to the doctor, and although vitamin D deficiency is common, it's not obvious, and the symptoms are subtle and develop over years or decades.

So adults who are deficient in vitamin D experience muscle weakness, bone loss, and an increase in fractures in children, it can mess with their growth and soft bone. So if you're one of those parents who are like no little Johnny, never go out in the sun, you're going to get cancer, so that's something that you want to be aware of, don't mess your kids up because you think you know something about sun exposure and cancer.

Actually, I'm not going to talk about this right now, but I will say this. It is not chronic low level sun exposure that is the problem, that means, oh, I will go outside, I get about 10 minutes of sun, and this is what I personally do by the way to top off my vitamin D levels.

It’s getting burned is the problem, not whether you have sun on your skin or not. So if you're getting burned regularly because you don't get any sun and then you go on vacation in Cancun and you don't put suntan lotion on your kids and you don't put it on yourself or you don't put it on frequently enough and you get really red, and your skin peels, you've messed up in increased your chance of getting cancer.

But if you just get out there and get sun exposure and get a slight tan, there's no problem. In the future, I'll get someone on who really has dove into the science of that, because it's such an important thing, but I just wanted to tell you that, Now look, very few foods contain significant amounts of vitamin D.

So you can take Cod liver oil, you can eat fatty fish and you can eat egg yolks, but the problem is it's really questionable, and obviously you can take a supplement, but it's questionable, supplements are questionable because it seems like people who raise their levels naturally, has a different effect versus taking a supplement.

Now it's still better to take a supplement and to eat your Cod liver oil or whatever to try to raise your levels, instead of just having low levels, but probably the best way, because before all the scare mongering about sun came about, we were doing things outside for the majority of human history.

Yes, we want to be mindful of skin cancer and the excessive skin exposure, excessive sun exposure that causes it, but we don't want to be all or nothing. And obviously check with your doctor, and if your doctor says something silly, fire him, get a new one and that's all I'm going to say about that.

So the next thing I want to talk about, the next deficiency here that I want to cover is calcium. Calcium is really important: In fact, one of the things that's a bit different than what I'm used to, coming back to the states, is that the food choices here are so different.

So let's talk about calcium: It is easy to get calcium in Thailand, where I spent most of the time, but just in Asia in general, because you're eating a lot of, for example, a lot of things have bone broth and you'll have bones in it, and a lot of things have bones in it and you can eat the bones, so let's talk about calcium.

Calcium is essential for your bones, as you know, although your bones are mostly a collagen protein, but calcium is essential for bones, it's essential for every cell in your body. It’s especially essential during times of rapid growth, so for your children, and it also is a signalling molecule that helps your heart, muscles and nerves work properly.

In fact, your heart, muscles, and nerves, wouldn't be able to function, we're not going to go into that. But another thing is that, as I mentioned earlier: the calcium concentration in your blood is tightly regulated and any excess is stored in your bones. So if your intake is lacking, your bones will release calcium, and that’s an example of the triaged theory that I mentioned at the very beginning.

And that's why most common symptom of calcium deficiency is osteoporosis, which is, as you know, or osteopenia, which is characterized by softer and more fragile bones.

So one survey in the United States found that: fewer than 15% of the teenage girls, fewer than 10% of women over 50 and fewer than 22% of teenage boys and men over 50 met the recommended calcium intake. So even though calcium supplementation can increase numbers slightly, a lot of people just still aren't getting enough.

And so, if you're having an issue with osteoporosis, osteopenia, obviously it can be a bit more in-depth more complicated, there's hormonal reasons this stuff happens, especially in women, but one of the things that you can do is make sure you're eating more calcium.

So boned fish, like sardines, something that I eat regularly, eating more bones is what it really comes down to. You can even eat bone meal, and I mentioned this in part because there's a big scare about dairy, actually, my dad asked me, because I'm in Vero beach visiting my dad, he's like, hey, I just heard that yogurt is one of the worst things you can eat, is there any truth to that?

I said, whatever idiot that is that said that, the research is pretty solid, that for most people, for people who are not lactose intolerant, dairy is associated with higher calcium intakes, better body composition, so many positive things.

So that whole thing like, don't drink milk because what other animal drinks milk? Do you know any other animal that drinks milk beyond being a baby? Do you know any other animal that drinks another animal's milk? It's like, yeah, do you know any other animal that flies halfway across the planet in 15 hours? You know any other animal that argues online on Facebook?

Look, it's just not a good argument. I used to believe that I used to think there was merit to that argument, but there really isn't. So it doesn't have to do with our ancestral practices, although there's a lot of good things from the ancestral practices.

What it also has to do with is, what are the actual effects based on the studies? On the more recent scientific studies, and I'll just tell you this. It is pretty clear that eating dairy is a good thing just beyond the calcium supplements.

So I want to say this, some studies, because some people will want to take calcium supplements or if you're a vegetarian and you don't eat dairy or a vegan, you're like, well, I get enough, I eat kale, spinach, bak choi, broccoli, et cetera. You're not going to get enough from that, and you may resort to calcium supplements.

Some interesting studies have demonstrated that there's an increased risk of heart disease in people taking calcium supplements. Although there are some other studies have found no effects. So, I'm just kind of saying here, it's best to get calcium from food rather than supplements.

These supplements seem to benefit people who aren't getting enough calcium in their diet, but I would go for the real deal instead of taking supplements, just as a general rule. Magnesium is a bit different and that's one of the only exceptions I would say.

So let's talk about the next nutrient deficiency, which is iron deficiency: Iron deficiency is important, especially because it's an essential mineral, it's the centre of your red blood cells.

And really important, there are two types of dietary iron: There's haem iron, which is very well absorbed and it's only found in animal foods, especially in red meat

And then there's non-haem iron: This is found in both animal and plant foods and it's more common, but it's not as well absorbed. Now I'll tell you this, iron deficiency is one of those common nutrient deficiencies in the whole world, affecting more than 25% of people.

So this is a big deal, especially for women, because around 30% of menstruating women may be deficient as well, due to monthly blood loss and up to 42% of young pregnant women may be deficient as well.

Vegetarians and vegans obviously have an increased risk of deficiency, because they only consume non-haem iron, so they’re getting iron from beans, for example, but it's just not as well absorbed as haem iron. So what are the most consequences? How do you know that you have an iron deficiency?

Well, the most common is anaemia, which is the number of your red blood cells and your body's ability to carry oxygen. So you can easily do a test at your doctor to figure this out, and symptoms of this include tiredness, weakness, a weakened immune system, impaired brain function, so this is really important stuff.

And the best sources of haem iron, so the better absorbed iron is red meat, organ meat, shellfish, and actually canned sardines are really good as well, but red meat in organ meat. So, I respect vegans and vegetarians, it's a very difficult diet to do, but I was a vegetarian for a year until I realized it just was not for me, and that was when I was, I think 19 actually, but I know how hard it can be, I don't think it's optimal for health, but most people do it because, so don't listen to what the health or any of those other Cowspiracy, or any of those other things.

Red meat, there's no issue with eating it, unless we're talking about processed red meat, and maybe you don't want to eat it all the time because you can actually get too much iron, for example, there's hereditary hemochromatosis, which actually my father has, he's asked to give blood because iron levels get too high and iron can get into your joints and cause problems and just cause problems with your heart, so he's actually has to give blood.

So again, this is about having the right amount of iron and actually he might be more at a benefit from being a vegetarian in that instance. So those people might actually benefit from having more non-haem iron and less haem iron in their diet, but that's a specific situation, so if you don't have hereditary hemochromatosis, then it's not something you really need to worry about.

So, of course you get non-haem iron from things like dark leafy greens, some seeds, like pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, and from beans. A lot of people say, oh, how to get your iron, just eat beans, but again, it's that non-haem iron

And either way, what about supplements? Well, you shouldn't, supplement with it unless you’re working with a dietician. So in other words, someone who really understands the medical side of things, I'm not that person by the way, I don't help my clients, I don't treat medical situations with nutrition.

So you would want to talk with your doctor or really, a registered dietician about that because too much iron can be very harmful, you don't want to supplement with it. Also, just keep in mind, vitamin C can enhance the absorption of iron, so if you're eating vitamin C rich foods or taking, like a kale is quite high, actually red bell peppers are crazy high in vitamin C.

Guava is super-duper high in vitamin C. I was eating a lot of guava in Southeast Asia, just delicious guava, but taking that alongside iron rich foods can help maximize your absorption. And obviously supplementing with vitamin C is one of the things that I actually recommend as well. So doing that can enhance iron absorption.

So if you're a vegetarian, or if you're having problems with iron levels, making sure you're getting enough vitamin C can help a lot.

And so, the last deficiency we're going to go into is a B12 deficiency: Now vitamin B12, or also known as cobalamin is a water soluble vitamin, it's essential for brain function, nerve function, blood formation, every cell in your body needs B12 to function normally, and your body is unable to produce it.

So therefore you got to get it from your food or you got to supplement with it. The thing is that B12 is only found in sufficient amounts in animal food, although, certain types of seaweeds have a bit more.

And I say this, because I know that vegetarianism and veganism is kind of on the rise, there's all these documentaries that are getting people to consider plant-based eating, and I think eating more plants is good, I think eating only plants is not as good, I think it's the extreme. It's like the reverse of the keto diet or the carnivore diet, I think it's fine to be an omnivore, but a lot of people do it for very different reasons, and I respect that.

And let me tell you, I've been to some markets in Asia, where they chop up animals and you see all the different parts of the animals, and I think a lot more people would probably be vegans and vegetarians if they saw what I saw, but we buy our packaged pork chops and ribeye steaks and chicken breasts and chicken wings at the grocery store, and we're completely naive and protected really from the truth about the butchering that goes on with animals, it's the right word to use. So I get it, for all the vegetarian and vegan listeners out there.

So, which there's more than a few, I've had many emails from you, so appreciate you and glad you're listening, and I do my best to kind of step out and help you as well, as well as explain this to the people who aren't vegans and vegetarians, but it can help them understand things better.

So really important, B 12 absorption is a little bit more complex than other vitamins because there's a protein involved, known as intrinsic factor, and some people are lacking in this protein, and so you may need higher doses of B12, or even injections.

So, what are some common symptoms of vitamin B12 deficiency? Well, there's megaloblastic anaemia where your red blood cells are enlarged, there's symptoms like impaired brain function, elevated homocysteine levels, and which is a bit controversial, I'm not going to go into it.

So where do you get the vitamin B12? Well, obviously, if you're a vegan or vegetarian, you're going to have to supplement with it because the main sources are shellfish, like oysters, clams, organ meats, red meat, eggs, and milk products.

And one thing I want to tell you is vitamin B12 isn't considered harmful in large amounts because it's often poorly absorbed and you get rid of it. In fact, that's the joke when you take vitamins, is that you're creating expensive urine, so that's kind of the situation there.

And I just want to finish up by talking about triage theory, and about super foods and functional foods, just very briefly, so really important that we can lose fat, but if we're deficient in vitamins, we're not getting optimal mounts, which we're not getting to get into what are optimal amounts, because nobody knows, nobody’s quite clear on that, but it can lead to long-term problems.

Now I want to talk about super foods for a second. Now I want to tell you this, superfoods is, there's not really any super foods, there's foods that are more nutrient dense. In other words, you get a lot of nutrients for very little calories, and then there's nutrient poor calorie dense foods, where you get a lot of calories and think about sugar, sugar doesn't have any, even, people say, oh, but honey, it's natural and it's loaded with potassium. No, it's not, no, it's not, it's mostly just sugar. It just has a little bit, and you would have to eat a ton of honey to get any real meaningful vitamins and minerals from it.

Now, if you're eating, I don't want to get into this, but if you're eating like the Royal jelly or something like that, you may get some other things, some of the enzymes, but that's not what we're talking about, we're talking about vitamins and minerals.

So focusing on nutrient dense foods is a good thing, right? So people say super food, but what is super food? It's just a food that's very nutrient dense.

And I want to talk about something called functional foods very briefly, because there is a class of foods, now superfoods, it's kind of bullshit. I'll use it sometimes because I think it sounds cool, but it's really a marketing term, is that clear?

But there's something called functional foods, that I want to just briefly describe it for you: It's a type of food that has properties, health properties that go beyond just the nutrient value of the food.

I'll give you an example: Watermelon is my favourite functional food. Watermelon has potassium in it. Watermelon, which all fruit has, watermelon has lycopene in it, which many different vegetable or fruits have, for example, tomatoes has lycopene. It has fructose in it, so it has carbohydrates, which there's nothing wrong with fructose, unless you're already overweight and your fat stores are full and your liver is getting fatter, because you can get non-alcoholic fatty liver disease if you're over eating fructose, but it only happens if you're already fat.

So there's no problem with the fructose in the fruit, so just kind of being comprehensive here, saying that for comprehensiveness.

But why is watermelon a functional food, if other foods have fructose, have lycopene, have potassium?

Well, watermelon is the highest natural source of the amino acid, called L-citrulline: So L- citrulline in high amounts can improve your blood flow, and L-citrulline has been proven to improve erectile dysfunction and improve, basically circulation and everything related to circulation.

Now, you could supplement with citrulline, but you could also get enough citrulline from watermelon because it's a nitric oxide precursor, so that's an example of functional foods.

Spirulina is another one. So there's foods that have benefits beyond their nutrients and this is different than superfoods, does that make sense? Now? I'm not going to go too into functional foods today.

If you're interested, maybe I can do a functional food podcast, sometime if that's something you're interested in, but what I want to tell you right now is, if you are confused about this stuff, if this seems like a lot to do on your own, and you know that having a coach is the fastest way to get the best results in your nutrition to transform your body, to optimize your energy levels so that you can kick some serious ass in life, and you'd like me to be your coach. go to Legendary Life program.com/apply.

That's Legendary Life program.com/apply. Now, if you'd like to see what I do with my clients and how I get them amazing results, how I create body transformations, as well as all the internal transformations, the emotional health that they build with working with me and going through my program, go to Legendary Life podcast.com/free to watch my free master class.

So that's what I have to say, we will go into gut health in the next instalment of what really matters when it comes to nutrition.

So I hope you enjoyed this, and remember, if you're looking for someone to help you with this stuff, go to Legendary Life program.com/apply to apply for my coaching, either my group or one-on-one coaching.

And if you're new to the show and you want to learn a little bit more about what I do, to see if my approach is right. Go to legendary life podcast.com/free, watch my free masterclass. Again, there's one for men, one for women, there's nothing to buy on the masterclass. Although there's an invitation to hop on a call with me to apply for the coaching group, if you resonate with what you see in the masterclass.

So that's all I've got for today, hope you enjoyed this. I've got a great one coming on gut health, so you want to stay tuned for next week when that gut health one comes out, can't wait.

Hope you enjoyed it. Have an amazing week and I'll speak to you soon.