Dr. Mason's Fat Burning Rules

In a health report card published in September, titled "F as in Fat," the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Trust for America's Healthshow American are fatter than ever, and it is predicted to get much worse. Health care costs will soar if we don't get a handle on this! Heart disease, stroke, diabetes, etc are all increased risk with obesity.

Article Summary:

• The most recent health report card issued for the US predicts that half of all American adults will be obese by 2030. Obesity-related illness is predicted to raise national health care costs by $48 billion annually over the next two decades by adding another 7.9 million new cases of diabetes, 5 million cases of chronic heart disease and stroke, and 400,000 cancer cases
• Recent research suggests that if obesity rates were to remain at 2010 levels, the combined savings in medical expenditures over the next two decades would be $549.5 billion. This is shocking because 2010 levels were anything but healthy
• Two of the best ways to determine whether or not you may be overweight is by measuring waist circumference and/or body fat percentage. Your waist size is also a powerful indicator of insulin sensitivity, as studies clearly show that measuring your waist size is one of the most powerful ways to predict your risk for diabetes

My State, Tennessee, is one of the worst!

Washington, D.C. July 7, 2011 - Tennessee was named the fourth most obese state in the country, according to the eighth annual F as in Fat: How Obesity Threatens America's Future 2011, a report from the Trust for America's Health (TFAH) and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF). Tennessee's adult obesity rate is 31.9 percent.

Adult obesity rates increased in 16 states in the past year and did not decline in any state. Twelve states including Tennessee now have obesity rates over 30 percent. Four years ago, only one state was above 30 percent. Obesity rates exceed 25 percent in more than two-thirds of states (38 states)

This year, for the first time, report examined how the obesity epidemic has grown over the past two decades:

• Over the past 15 years, seven states have doubled their rate of obesity. Another 10 states nearly doubled their obesity rate, with increased of at least 90 percent, and 22 more states saw obesity rates increase by at least 80 percent
• Fifteen years ago, Tennessee had an obesity rate of 16.4 percent and was ranked 10th most obese state in the nation. The obesity rate in Tennessee increased more than 90 percent over the last 15 years.
• Since 1995, obesity rates have grown the fastest in Oklahoma, Alabama, and Tennessee, and have grown the slowest in Washington, D.C., Colorado, and Connecticut.
• Ten years ago, no state had an obesity rate above 24 percent, and now 43 states have higher obesity rates than the state that was the highest in 2000.

"Today, the state with the lowest adult obesity rate would have had the highest rate in 1995," said Jeff Levi, Ph.D., executive director of TFAH. "There was a clear tipping point in our national weight gain over the last twenty years, and we can't afford to ignore the impact obesity has on our health and corresponding health care spending."

A Change in Direction is Strongly Needed...Let's Change the Prediction!

Dr. Mason's Fat Burning Rules

These rules maximize fat burning and minimize fat storage (and yes, require change):

1) Never eat after dinner.

Never go to bed on a full stomach.

Try to finish eating dinner at least 3 hours before bed.

Try to allow 11-12 hours between dinner and breakfast.

2) Eat only 3 meals per day.

Try to allow 4-5 hours between meals; eating a minimum of 20 grams of protein with each meal will help one do this.

3) Do not eat large meals, and when you eat, eat slowly. It takes 20-30 minutes for the leptin signals to turn off the hunger centers of the brain.

4) Never skip breakfast, and make sure breakfast contains at least 20 grams of protein.

5) Do not eat refined carbohydrates; this is the most important rule: Sugary drinks including juice (8 oz of pure/bitter pomegranate juice or pure/bitter cranberry juice are rare exceptions), all sugary foods, breads, pastas, white potatoes, rice.

6) Do not consume MSG or aspartame. They damage the brain so that the brain thinks you are hungry and you will eat more food. Remember that MSG has dozens of names on food packaging (see www.truthinlabeling.org).

7) Do not consume high-fructose corn syrup. It causes insulin resistance, producing more insulin and increased storage of fat. Same reasoning for cutting down on sugary and processed/refined high-carb foods.

8) Do not consume grains because they are carbohydrates. "Cutting out grains is a very important factor in getting someone into fat burning."

9) Do not drink alcohol. This includes wine and beer.

10) Keep your stress as low as possible.

11) Eat lots of raw and steamed vegetables, some fruits-especially apples, and raw nuts. These fruits are NOT okay because they are high in sugar and low in fiber: bananas, dates, figs, raisins, canned fruit, dried fruits and mangoes.

12) Exercise. A combination of weight training and aerobics is best.

13) Sleep a minimum of 7 hours every night.

14) Avoid abnormal sources of estrogen and estrogen-like compounds:

• Birth-control pills.
• Hormone-replacement therapy.
• Soy based foods.
• Eat organic produce only. If the foods you are eating are NOT organic fruits, vegetables, and meats, you are consuming foods that have been exposed to pesticides, insecticides, antibiotics, herbicides, fungicides, and estrogens. All of these stop fat burning and increase fat storage.
• Plastics that contain the chemicals Bisphenol-A and phthalates. The adverseness of these chemicals in increased by a factor of 55 if the plastic contains hot liquids or is microwaved. Many skin creams, makeup, shampoos, and perfumes contain these chemicals and are easily absorbed through the skin.

15) Take the anti-inflammatory dose of fish oil in supplements. This requires 3 grams (3,000 mg) per day. Search for high-grade molecularly distilled/pharmaceutical grade fish oil that has minimal mercury/toxins, is pure from wild-caught cold water fish, and has a 2:1 EPA:DHA ratio. We stock Complete Omega 3 Essentials by Nutri-West (which is the best in my opinion)

16) Take a multivitamin/mineral supplement every day.

I understand this plan isn't easy in a fast paced lifestyle we all live in. There are times when some of these rules are not an option, however, the more of these rules one can adhere to, the better and quicker the fat burning results will be.

"God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference."~Reinhold Niebuhr~

Yours in Health,

Dr. David Mason

References

How Fit is Your Fat?

Byron Richards, 2006

The 7 Principles of Fat Burning
Eric Berg, 2008