BigDyl's Legit Question Thread

[BigDyl]

True Story,


So the question is:


Saturated fats and Cholesterol are potrayed as evil things in the media, YET I constantly hear how you need them for your body to produce testosterone.


From this I would deduce that you should eat a couple of eggs everyday for the cholesterol, and lean ground beef everyday for the sat fats.




DISCUSS.


True Story, and READ SIG vvvvvv

[Nate K]

Alright...I'm going to start eating a couple yolks err day.

[BigDyl]

bump

[Pirate!]

Don't worry about cholesterol intake. Monitor saturated fat intake. Keep it under 10% of total caloric intake, and you're good to go. Saturated fats are non-essential. Your body can produce what it needs. Omega-6 and Omega-3 are essential--you must get them from your diet. Your body will use mono-unsaturated fatty acids to make testosterone. Olive oil and peanut butter are great sources of MUFAs.

[fufu]

Saturated fat has also been an enigma to me.

[fufu]

Don't worry about cholesterol intake. Monitor saturated fat intake. Keep it under 10% of total caloric intake, and you're good to go. Saturated fats are non-essential. Your body can produce what it needs. Omega-6 and Omega-3 are essential--you must get them from your diet. Your body will use mono-unsaturated fatty acids to make testosterone. Olive oil and peanut butter are great sources of MUFAs.

I commend yer post arhh! It be informative!

[Hlanderr]

pound that beef

[Trouble]

What you want to know:

What is the relationship between healthy liver function, adipose and skeletal muscle cell function?

What role does cholesterol biosynthesis play in the regulation of celluar energetics (glucose and fatty acid metabolism), in anabolic processes, and immune function?

And how is cholesterol metabolism attuned to fat and fiber intake, and how does this influence thyroid and adrenal function?

And how does adrenal and thyroid function influence testosterone production and its action on skeletal muscle and fat cell activity?

Is this correct, BigDyl?

[BigDyl]

I... uh...

[Trouble]

First, we need to become modestly familiar with cholesterol biosynthesis, and its connection to bile acids. Bile acids and their receptors in gut adjust cholesterol biosynthesis and the reuptake of bile acids to go back into cholesterol (fat reuse, from a distant time in our past when fat sources in diet weren't always available). Bile acids not only enable us to absorb fat soluble vitamins, but they and cholesterol also play a key role in the synthesis and metabolism of these vitamins. They have also been shown recently to play a role body wide in cellular function through the FXR and RXR gene control motifs receptors.

Cholesterol and bile acid biosynthetic pathways:

http://www.indstate.edu/thcme/mwking/cholesterol.html

Normal liver function also includes drug/xenobiotic compound detoxification, and synthesis of important vitamin cofactors, conversion of unsaturated fats to their eicosanoid (bioactive fatty acids) precursors for synthesis of both inflammatory (repair) and anti-inflammatory agents, and antioxidants that also play an important role as cellular function regulators - in adrenals, thyroids and brain.

The healthy liver is also active in glucose synthesis and energy storage as glycogen. The liver also signals for fat synthesis and storage (lipogenesis) that makes fat cells fatter. It signal for transport of stored fats to mitochondria in many cells, including muscle, for energy production as well.

More importantly for anabolic function and hypertrophy, the liver is the control center for regulation of protein synthesis. The liver also produces important signalling agents that recruit stem cells from various locations and sends them to muscle tissue, to be converted first to satellites (early myocytes) and then thru differentiation into cells that build muscle fiber.

Cholesterol, synthesized in liver, is also the building block for steroids, synthesized in adrenals and sex organs (and also other tissues, including brain). The following web page has a description of steroid hormone synthesis and its regulation.


http://www.indstate.edu/thcme/mwking...-hormones.html

Cholesterol is also the building block for fat soluble vitamins. Water soluble vitamins are also synthesized in the liver and brain.

http://www.indstate.edu/thcme/mwking/vitamins.html#a

These vitamins are critical for health and proper metabolism of all cells, because these vitamins function as energy cofactors for many enzymes. Therefore, they are fundamentally important for our health, They play a crucial role in the synthesis of neurotransmitters, dopamine, serotonin, GABA and NMDA. They also regulate the synthesis of so called excitatory compounds, epinephrine, norepinephrine, aceylcholine, and glutamine.

Two of these vitamins, while considered nonessential, are absolutely vital for balanced function of many neurotransmitters and ion conduction channels in muscle, liver, lungs, brain and nerve tissues that control all organs. Taurine and its counterpart, carnitine are critical to both excitatory glutamine signal control in the brain, and also are building blocks for important antioxidants that have been shown to be important in gene regulation of thyroid hormone synthesis in thyroid, and its step wise conversion in liver and adrenals.

Glutathione and NAC also appear to play a role in thymus function, and thus control immune action, and in pituitary, playing a significant role in thyroid, adrenal and sex hormone synthesis.

Thus, cholesterol back-bone is the precursor (parent) compound for synthesis of a wide variety of highly important control agents. The liver is also the primary site of amino acid synthesis, and these are fundamental building blocks in not only proteins, but also other control agents, lipid like and water soluble, including vitamins and cofactors and neurotransmitters that regulate nervous system function.

The liver is very sensitive to upset by inappropriate sleep pattens, diet, exercise (including lack of aerobic exercise), excess stress, alcohol and drug use.

Time and again, when we see complaints of a lack of hypertrophy, difficulty in controlling fat mass when promoting hypertrophy (bulking), poor immune function, thyroid and adrenal dysfunction, difficulty sleeping, and neurological disorders - the root cause can be traced back to liver biochemistry screwups - mostly self inflicted, and ultimately, leading to chronic and debilitating disease later in life if left unattended.

Thus, your question is timely and important for members of this board.

To read about muscle biochemistry, see: http://www.indstate.edu/thcme/mwking/muscle.html

The main Medical Biochemistry website is (that includes important discussion of cellular energetics): http://www.indstate.edu/thcme/mwking/home.html

[MyK]

[MyK]

so a couple of eggs in the morn is good for you?

[Trouble]

I didn't forget your question about saturated fats and their role as metabolic regulators.

My friend, Dr. Mauro Di Pasquale, wrote an excellent article on fat types and their effect on glucose metabolism and health.

The only quibble I have with this article is that it promotes red meat consumption. Problem is, I know more about dairy and cattle operations and what cattle are fed (and their state of cattle livers, and its impact on muscle and intermuscle lipid stores than the good doctor, and I also know the secret for low body fat among those who use French and Mediterranean diets.

Unsaturated fats are what we want for the vast majority of our fat intake. A small cheat meal, as the French know, is acceptable now and then, but its just that, a *small* infrequent dose, after protein and fiber intake (fiber is the key here).

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/md73.htm

[Trouble]

A couple of omega-3 enriched eggs are perfectly acceptable - if you have lean body mass and decent insulin sensitivity.

If you have problem losing fat, have immune / inflammation problems, resist the urge to use eggs regularly. You probably have more than enough arachidonates in your system to fuel muscle growth. Keep to use of anabolic egg white protein, coupled with whey and oat fiber (and flavoring) in your shakes, or scrambled as a meal.

[Trouble]

Whats with the little green emoticon, MyK?

A little science (knowledge) will put hair on your chest.

[MyK]

Whats with the little green emoticon, MyK?

A little science (knowledge) will put hair on your chest.

I have 2 bachelors and a masters and I dont need anymore hair on my chest!

[largepkg]

I have 2 bachelors and a masters and I dont need anymore hair on my chest!

He's just trying to edumicate you Myk. Maybe he could help you with your PhD?

[BigDyl]

So uh, eggs are bad then?

[tucker01]

He's just trying to edumicate you Myk. Maybe he could help you with your PhD?

She

[Trouble]

No, omega-enriched eggs are fine. The only reason not to eat eggs regularly is the screw-up in insulin management. Along with elevated insulin, you get screwed up fat metabolism and a tendency towards inflammation problems. Whole eggs from hens fed the standard avian diet. In confined egg laying hens and dairy cattle, a diet that promotes high egg and milk production does not produce food products low in saturated fats / inflammation promoting lipids.

If your metabolic house is in order, a couple of omega-3 eggs won't hurt.

[largepkg]

She

I should have known he was talking himself up for a chick!

[DiGiTaL]

I have an egg yolk mixed with a banana with 2 strawberries and whey protein in the morning.
Is that bad or good?

[Trouble]

Mmmmaybe. The benefit of using just the yoke would be the arachidonate (AA) in the yoke, correct?

The rate of protein absorption in consuming uncooked eggs is just a hair above half of that absorbed when eggs are cooked.

If the eggs are irradiated to reduce the chance of salmonella contamination, you might be OK consuming them raw.

I would say the benefit of a single raw egg yolk would be minimal. Two might be better, depending on your bodymass.

I suppose the use of just the yolk is to avoid avidin glycoprotein binding to biotin?

Pasturized eggs whites avoid this issue.

May I suggest that you use the egg yolk, along with the white, in a meal, cooked. Add a small amount of macadamia nut or sesame oil instead, as it will give you a better AA / unsaturated fat value.

Plus, it tastes great. You may be pleasantly surprised at the taste and texture improvement in your morning shake.

[DiGiTaL]

I checked my morning intakes.
And I am currently cutting but when i checked this, just the egg gives me 800+ calories everymorning. Should i stop this?. Should i only have about 1-2 times a week?.

I posted a picture of how much calories i get just in the morning.

[Trouble]

Point 1. Egg yolk (large egg) has about 60 calories. The white has another 15. The egg yolk won't break the bank. It cannot possibly account for 800 calories in your diet.

Point 2: Whats with the goal to cut back to 165 lbs? Are you lifting competitively? If not, aim to reduce fat mass a few percent while adding an equivalent lean mass.

At your height, 180 lbs is good. You can loose a bit of fat mass and improve the quality (increase the probably of keeping lean mass by increasing fiber thickness, eg. muscle density). If you think 180 is too heavy, drop down a few pounds, but I wouldn't aim for 165 at your height unless you have a weight maximum for an upcoming bbing or PLing event.

[DiGiTaL]

Your right, my main goal at first was 170, i changed it. But i'm sticking to 170 now. I need to lose all this fat so I can have some what visible abs. All i can see is fat and im quite chubby.

If Egg has in total about 60 Calories, why would fitday would say its 800?. What do you think is up with that.

EDIT: i fixed it, it says the egg yolk is now 61 fat .

[Trouble]

Since I made that comment about liver health and its effects on certain pathways in liver, I'd like to point out this article:

http://www.homeopathicdoctor.ca/GSDL...eta/ig_dtx.pdf.

It has various supplement recommendations, some of which may help remove metabolic short circuits that *may* impair natural testosterone production.

In other words, if liver biochemical pathways aren't functioning properly - note that dietary imbalance, excess protein intake, and periods of caloric deficit, as well as alcohol and drug use, can cause this dysfrunction - your production of natural testosterone may be low, relative to your age group and physical conditioning.


Trouble Tip of the Day: I guardedly suggest (not everybody needs it) that modest supplementation (1-2 grams, or 1 or 2 1/4 teaspoon doses) with glucuronolactone *may* improve glucose and insulin management, enhance glycogen storage, and restore steroid production, because the cycle it feeds, glucuonyltransferase, plays an important role in the P450 enzymes in adrenal and liver responsible for normal steroidogenesis. It also plays an important role as an anti-viral agent, and so many reduce susceptibility to cold and influenza.

Bulk Nutrition* carries this supplement.

* I am not employed or otherwise renumerated for recommending retail sources for various supplements.

[BulkMeUp]

Since I made that comment about liver health

What indicators would you suggest to look out for to gauge liver health? Lets say, as far as blood work was concerned.

[Trouble]

Problems with digestion of fats, IBS, discomfort after eating, including reflux disease

Susceptibility to colds, influenza, infections

Low energy, hypoglycemia and problems with concentration, insulin insensitivity

Signs of lipid accumulation (eyelids, under eyes)

Bruising, obvious signs of jaundice

Hypogonadal hypoadrenal symptoms, low thyroid function although thyroid panel is normal (euthryoid), problems with body temperature and blood pressure control

Difficulty sleeping

Being constantly on edge, jaw clenching, an

Depression and lethargy

joint, skin, connective tissue, gut inflammation

Susceptability to stress

And a history that includes: regular use of alcohol, recreational drugs, dietary excess and significant weight gain or yo-yo cycles of gain and loss.

There are others symptoms.

[dontsurfonmytur]

wait are egg whites (cooked) bad in anyway