October 24, 2020

My friend Ron Penna recently emailed me about a guy named Brad Marshall who…

“…has a fascinating take on why we get fat called the ROS (Reactive Oxygen Species) Theory of Obesity and how ROS signaling as a result of eating saturated fats is critical for satiety. Provocative stuff and the more I read the more I’m pretty sure he is onto something. Joel Greene thinks Brad is crazy on this point but I have a feeling he will end up being right on most if not all of it. You can read more here: “The ROS Theory Of Obesity”

Essentially, our entire meat supply (pork and chicken especially) is much higher in polyunsaturated fats than they should be and the only real way to change it is to change what we feed them. He is also starting to offer meats that are fed properly to ensure lower levels of PUFA.  He also has been working on how eating croissants is the key to leanness. It has to be wrong but he makes VERY interesting arguments about it.”

Naturally, I just had to get this guy on the show. Brad Marshall is the author of the Blog Fire In A Bottle and the creator of The Croissant Diet. Mildly obsessed with food and its history, his work focuses on trying to place current ideas about diet, including keto and carnivore diets, into the framework of traditional dietary patterns.  For instance, the French diet before 1970 combined flour, sugar, butter, and wine, and the population was lean.

Brad wrote The ROS (Reactive Oxygen Species) Theory of Obesity, which posits that ROS generation in the mitochondria of fat cells could provide the mechanism that explains why a traditional Chinese peasant diet (low fat with 85% of calories from starch), a French diet combining butter, wine, and flour, and a modern keto diet could all be expected to produce leanness but combining flour with polyunsaturated fats is a recipe for obesity. The core idea comes from the Protons thread of Peter Dobromylskyj’s blog Hyperlipid. Brad tested this hypothesis with his dietary experiment The Croissant Diet.

He is also the founder of Firebrand Meats, which is dedicated to producing pork and poultry products that are low in linoleic acid, the n6 polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) whose intake has seen a dramatic worldwide increase in the last century. Animals cannot make PUFAs, so Firebrand Meats raises pork and chicken that are nearly free of them. “You are what your animals eat.”

Brad has a genetics degree from Cornell, a certificate from The French Culinary Institute, has studied cancer at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, and worked as a programmer for the Berkeley Drosophila Genome Project. He spent the last 15 years raising rotationally grazed pastured pork on his farm in upstate New York while running a butcher shop, local food restaurant, and USDA-inspected meat processing facility.

During our discussion, you'll discover:

– Brad's background in molecular biology and cooking…8:00

• Studied Biology at Cornell, and attended culinary school in NYC
• Developed interest in French cuisine and agriculture
• Introduction into raising pigs puts together Brad's varied interests
• Connection between what you feed the pigs and the quality of the meat
  • Pigs fed corn had soft fat; barley resulted in firmer fat
  • Corn-finished pork fetch a low price compared to barley finished pork
  • Linoleic acid bioaccumulates in the meat
  • Corn is 5-6% oil while barley is 2-3% oil
  • PUFAs accumulate in the meat
• What you eat affects your body composition
• Ketogenic diet wasn't working and losing weight became harder as he aged
• Rediscovering the “Protons” thread of Peter Dobromylskyj's blog “Hyperlipid”

– The production ROS and the ROS Theory of Obesity…18:43

• The ROS Theory of Obesity
  • ROS production is a signal to the cell that mitochondria are burning fat
• ROS is not bad, as you may have heard, but are simply messengers
  • Redux sensors monitor intracellular concentration of ROS and react to different signals from the ROS
• Achieving “redux balance” or homeostasis in an oxygenated environment
• Too many antioxidants can be a bad thing (for example, in cancer)
  • Cancer cells accumulate antioxidants to prevent themselves from being killed by the immune system
• ROS is a dynamic system
• Long-chain saturated fats in connection with ROS
• Fat cells, free fatty acids, lipolysis, insulin, and blood glucose levels all connected to hunger
• Study in Spain – Butter versus different oils connection to free fatty acids add to satiety
• With a diet rich in long-chain saturated fats, ROS can cause a temporary state of insulin resistance (good!) and appetite stays satiated for longer on fewer calories
• This insulin resistance is different from the pathological version of type II diabetes
• The Randle Cycle – Shifting states of nutrient utilization
  • BGF podcast with Denise Minger
• From a chemical standpoint, unsaturated fats (fish, seeds, nuts, avocado oil, olive oil, peanut butter, peanut oil) do not cause the body to shift into a state of insulin resistance or fatty-acid utilization as readily as the consumption of long-chain saturated fats

– Unsaturated fats vs saturated fats in connection to ROS production and satiety…34:25

• Unsaturated fats don't create the insulin resistance effect and can, in fact, inhibit it
• Chicken and non-ruminant animals in American diet can be high in polyunsaturated fats
• What pigs and chickens eat matters, especially ethanol byproducts (concentrated corn oil)
• Pork as the other white meat; selecting lean pigs for meat production in the 1990s
• Soft pig fat in the meat is a sign of polyunsaturated fat content
• Most chicken and pork are higher in polyunsaturated fat than canola oil
• Good pork versus the other white meat
• US Wellness Meats

-What this all has to do with croissants…44:45

• Cognitive dissonance, because of the traditional French diet in connection with French health and fitness; doesn't jibe with current nutritional thinking about starch consumption
• The question of how the French remain lean eating starch and butter combined
  • The French Diet in France
  • The French Diet in upstate New York
• Stearic acid (Fire In A Bottle – 92% pure food grade) is the longest chain commonly found saturated fat; must be rendered to a ghee
• Starch in the croissants – a publicity stunt?
• Brad wanted to prove you can lose weight eating starch and fat together
• Blood glucose rise with starch consumption connected to satiety in calorie-restricted diets
• Using beef suet as a frying fat (use code BEN to save 15%)
• Brad's Feasting Mimicking Diet

-The Croissant Diet…58:25

• Overeating and satiety on a diet of long-chain saturated fats and starch
• Forgetting to eat – satiation
• Feasting Mimicking Diet – More information about macros, calories, blood glucose, ketones, etc.
• Testimonial: Emmy's story – Struggling to lose weight before trying the Croissant Diet
• Foods high in stearic acid – Elk back fat, higher in stearic acid than butter and cocoa butter

– Whether you should worry about endotoxemia with a diet high in saturated fats…1:03:45

• Look out for brain fog, inflammation, and gut health
  • BGF article: Eat Yourself Smart
• Dairy-based cultures around the world have eaten like this historically; butter and starch together
• Carbohydrates may not have been the problem; it might be too much linoleic acid
• Limiting lipopolysaccharide response with supplements

-The Wine Diet…1:09:30

• Wine fasting
• Ethanol does not stimulate insulin release, and for some suppresses hunger
• Devil's advocate – Might wine consumption make one hungrier?
• Some people become hypoglycemic when they consume alcohol, but regular drinkers usually don't experience that
• Doing what works for you even if it might be controversial
• Wine fasting article on Fire In A Bottle blog
• Brad's newest work on vegans versus carnivores – Both can be disconnected from the basics of agriculture
• Ben asks: Is this too good to be true? (Ben being a “calories in/calories out” guy)
• Firebrand Meats and Keto Brick
• Fish oil in natural foods is probably OK as well

Click here for the full written transcript of this podcast episode.

Resources from this episode:

– Brad Marshall:

• The Croissant Diet
• Fire In A Bottle
• Firebrand Meats
• Facebook
• The ROS Theory Of Obesity

– BGF Podcasts & Articles:

• 278 Pounds Of Fat Magically Disappears In Just One Year…On A High-Carb, Low-Fat, Sugar-Laden Diet? With Denise Minger.
• The Croissant Diet & The French Paradox (How Changing Your Fat Ratios Can Put You Back In Charge Of Your Waistline) by Brad Marshall.
• Eat Yourself Smart: 10 Foods That Can Destroy Your Brain & How To Fuel Your Brain With The Best Cognitive-Boosting Alternatives.

– Food & Supplements:

• Stearic Acid from Fire In A Bottle
• US Wellness Meats Beef Suet (use code BEN to save 15%)
• LivingFuel Superessential  Fish Oil

– Other Resources:

• Peter Dobromylskyj’s blog, Hyperlipid
• Article: ROS as signalling molecules: mechanisms that generate specificity in ROS homeostasis
• Article: High–Saturated Fat Diet Increases Endotoxemia Fat influences absorption of lipopolysaccharide
• Article: Enterosgel toxin binder (for post-meal lipopolysaccharide endotoxemia)
• Article: Bilberries Reduce Low-Grade Inflammation in Individuals With Features of Metabolic Syndrome
• Article: The Endotoxemia Marker Lipopolysaccharide-Binding Protein Is Reduced in Overweight-Obese Subjects Consuming Pomegranate Extract by Modulating the Gut Microbiota: A Randomized Clinical Trial
• Article: Polyphenol extracts interfere with bacterial lipopolysaccharide in vitro and decrease postprandial endotoxemia in human volunteers
• Article: Sulforaphane Protects Small Intestinal Mucosa From aspirin/NSAID-induced Injury by Enhancing Host Defense Systems Against Oxidative Stress and by Inhibiting Mucosal Invasion of Anaerobic Enterobacteria
• Article: Role of Sulforaphane in Protection of Gastrointestinal Tract Against H. pylori and NSAID-Induced Oxidative Stress
• The Randle Cycle
• Saturated Fat thread on reddit

– Keto Bricks

On a recent week-long New Mexico elk hunt with tons of aerobic walking, hiking, and carrying, I decided to try an experiment… After hearing from several folks in the keto sector (most notably my friend Dominic D’ Agostino) about these newfangled nutrition bars called “Keto Bricks,” I took the plunge and actually tried to sustain myself purely on Keto Bricks and meat for my hunt.

Let's just say, I was blown away by the stable energy levels and satiating nature of Keto Bricks.

So what are Keto Bricks? Essentially, they are a high-calorie meal replacement “brick” (think of an energy bar you know of, then quadruple the size). They are 1,000 calories each, so obviously created for adventures and hefty activity days for which you want tons of calories but barely any carbohydrates (roughly 90g Fat, 30g Protein, and 14g TOTAL, not net, Carbs!.

The ingredient profile is impressive. Here are the ingredients of what I found to be my favorite flavor (Mocha):

Raw organic cacao butter, plant-based protein powder (pea protein isolate, organic brown rice protein concentrate, natural chocolate mocha flavor, cocoa, stevia leaf extract, gum blend (konjac gum, guar gum, and tara gum), organic sacha inchi, sea salt, monk fruit extract, and digest-all (a vegan enzyme blend)), MCT powder (MCT oil, acacia fiber), organic golden flaxseed meal, raw organic fermented cacao nibs, ground coffee beans, ancient sea salt.

These things are addictively flavorful and contain no allulose, erythritol, or any other potentially gut-bloating sweetener. They are shelf-stable at room temperature, and shelf-stable *above* room temperature as well.

If you are an active person who needs massive amounts of keto calories for mountaineering, hiking, hunting, etc. I cannot recommend these highly enough. You can get them here, and when you use code BEN you'll be automatically entered to win a free month of Keto Bricks.

Episode sponsors:

–Kion Immunity Bundle: Support your immune system from all angles with vitamin C and zinc, grass-fed colostrum, and organic oregano oil. Take 10% off your order when you visit the Kion website today!

–Butcher Box: Delivers healthy 100% grass-fed and finished beef, free-range organic chicken, and heritage breed pork directly to your door on a monthly basis. All their products are humanely raised and NEVER given antibiotics or hormones. 

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-Beekeeper's Naturals: A wellness company specializing in innovative nutraceuticals made from healing hive compounds and plant-based ingredients. Get 15% off your order when you use discount code BEN.

Do you have questions, thoughts, or feedback for Brad or me? Leave your comments below and one of us will reply!