The Bioenergetic Explanation of Health
Health isn't just the absence of disease, but a state of unburdened and actualized physiological function. The quest for health requires hard-to-vary explanations.
What is your definition of health? Health, a concept often defined by the absence of disease, is more accurately a state of unburdened and actualized physiological function. The quest for health, akin to the pursuit of truth, requires explanations that are hard to vary, as proposed by physicist David Deutsch.
A similar process is employed when deciding on a dietary approach. One such explanation that has gained traction is the “bioenergetic view/explanation” of health, which holds that impeded energy production (low metabolic function) is the sole cause of disease and degeneration. Thus, optimizing metabolism and minimizing foods that degrade it (for ex. polyunsaturated fatty acids) forms a hard-to-vary explanation of health.
A hard-to-vary explanation1 is one that is very precise. In the context of nutrition, this means describing the exact impact of a compound on an organism. Not just a small part of it. It doesn’t use vague words or unexplained analogies. All of its entities play a functional role in the explanation and correspond closely to reality.
Contrarianism
You may have encountered the notion that seed oils are detrimental, while sugar is not the enemy, that milk is healthy, and a high pulse is good. Maybe you noticed the seed oils and ‘soy boy’ memes (both soy and soy boys are very high in PUFA).
Such claims challenge authoritative health/alphabet soup bodies like the Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
A proponent of these ideas is biologist Dr. Ray Peat, whose thinking starkly contrasts mainstream dietary advice, and who has not profited from his research (unlike other “help experts”).
Critical Rationalism
Peat’s style of thinking is very highly aligned with the philosophy called Critical Rationalism, which I wrote about here on my blog before. This philosophy explains why Justificationism (the belief that knowledge comes from authority) is wrong. Peat writes2 about the same phenomenon leading to learned helplessness:
Professors of medicine see themselves as models of the authority that their students will need to apply in dealing with patients, and the physicians trained in the authoritarian style are likely to see their patients as recipients of their medical knowledge, rather than as occasions for listening and learning something new.
…
When our own steering system is commandeered by the authorities, our patterns of knowledge will be compartmented, and arranged in a fixed pattern. This kind of knowledge either deteriorates, or it seeks more of its own kind.
While self-regulation and the generation of knowledge are pleasurable, having knowledge imposed isn't.
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For Pavlov, the study of psychology or physiology without consciousness was simply crazy. Pavlov said that he studied nutrition to understand consciousness and the nervous system, because eating is our closest interaction with the world. Our brain is part of our digestive system. But eating has become highly institutionalized and influenced by our cultural beliefs. If people begin to think about the meanings of eating, they are beginning a process of cultural and philosophical criticism.
Detailed Explanation
The bioenergetic explanation of health, as advocated by Peat, hypothesizes that the organization and flow of energy gives rise to biological complexity. The decline of this energy flow is the basis of diseases and aging.
This explanation seeks to increase lives processes, diverging from dietary approaches like veganism and the carnivore diet that aim to slow them down3. Increasing the metabolic rate (i.e., cellular respiration) requires eliminating foods that dampen metabolic function and increase inflammation.
Dietary Implications
Avoidance
Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) are molecularly fragile and easily oxidize spontaneously, preventing proper thyroid function4. Examples of PUFA-rich foods are vegetable oils like sunflower oil, corn oil, soybean oil, and fish rich in omega-3 fatty acids like salmon and mackerel.
Consumption
Saturated fats (SFAs), are beneficial for their protective, thyroid-promoting, and pro-metabolic properties. Examples of SFAs are coconut oil, and animal fats like butter and ghee.
Certain simple carbohydrates, such as monosaccharides (glucose, fructose) and disaccharides (sucrose, lactose), have lower glycemic indices due to their processing pathways.
Examples of monosaccharides include glucose found in fruits and honey, and fructose found in fruits, honey, and root vegetables. Disaccharides examples are sucrose (table sugar) and lactose found in milk and dairy products.
Notably, fructose is partly processed by the liver, leading to a slower and more steady rise in blood sugar, thus providing a sustainable source of energy.
This contrasts with polysaccharides (complex carbs) that can lead to rapid spikes in blood sugar levels due to their more direct metabolic pathway.
Milk, packed with balanced macronutrients, calcium, and vitamins A, D, and K, aids metabolism and has been historically used for its therapeutic, anti-stress properties.
Ensure a balanced protein intake from muscle meats and gelatin-rich foods to maintain an optimal amino acid profile and reduce inflammation. Gelatin-rich foods include bone broth, crab meat, shrimp, beef liver and kidney.
Measurement
Gauge metabolism using resting pulse and body temperature (heat is a by-product of energy production) measurements to evaluate the efficiency of your health practices. Any decrease in body temperature after eating may suggest a metabolism that relies on stress hormones.
Summary
The bioenergetic explanation of health offers a potentially superior explanation of health. However, all theories, including those of health, remain fallible. Beyond that, I’d argue, that the quest for ideal health (protocols) is part of the quest for truth.
If this piqued your interest, you should check out the following:
Resources
Introduction
Ray Peat: Where to Start by Yago (article)
Ray Peat Inspired Nutrition (playlist)
Raypeat.com (website)
People to follow
On Milk
On Obesity
Thanks to Noah Glanz, Yago, and Nate Lawrence, for their feedback on drafts of this.
If reacting with oxygen, the resulting oxylipin is inflammatory and anti-metabolic. This is a feature, not a bug; the canonical essential purpose of PUFA is to be enzymatically converted into the same stuff. They can also react with proteins, irreversibly damaging them. This is in contrast to how the medium-chain saturated fats found in dairy and coconut oils are said to be "easily oxidized," meaning they provide quick energy. For more details, see for ex. this explanation: The Worst Food for Your Thyroid (and Doctors Claim It’s “Essential” to Your Health)