Did you know that muscles are metabolic powerhouses that can help prevent diseases like Alzheimer's and diabetes?
Dr. Martin has often referred to muscles as bins for the storage of glycogen. The bigger your bins, the better. That’s why Dr. Martin always tells listeners to get strong. Weight resistance exercises help build muscle and improve overall health.
Muscles also secrete anti-inflammatory myokines, produce testosterone and growth hormones, which ultimately help burn fat. Dr. Martin explains in today’s episode.
TRANSCRIPT OF TODAY'S EPISODE
Announcer: You're listening to The Doctor Is In Podcast, brought to you by MartinClinic.com. During the episode, the doctors share a lot of information. As awesome as the info may be, it is not intended to diagnose, cure, treat, or prevent any disease. It's strictly for informational purposes.
Dr. Martin: Well, good morning everyone, and once again, welcome to another live this morning and hope you're having a wonderful day and a good start to it. And we appreciate you guys coming on and love every one of you. Guys, I'm going to do something this morning on muscles, okay? But before I get that, I got to finish up on Alzheimer's because I was reading another study yesterday and it sort of blew me away. Okay, so this is a study done on amyloid plaque in the brain. Now you and I have been talking about Alzheimer's and going back, you never heard much about Alzheimer's. I'm not kidding you, in the seventies, and you heard about it, but not much. And we went back to two I mean gurus in Dr. Abram Hoffer, a psychiatrist, real smart medical doctor who founded the Orthomolecular Society and trained thousands of doctors to think outside the box. And then Linus Pauling, very, very smart men. And we talked about their findings way back when in Alzheimer's.
Now, one of the things I didn't mention yesterday and I meant to, and even the day before, it was toxicity from medicines. What that does to your brain, and I talked to you about high blood pressure medication, I talked to you about statin drugs. You'll get low cholesterol, all right? But you're going to get a low memory too. Your brain won't operate properly. And one of the others, I meant to mention it and I forgot about it, was PPIs. Okay? And actually a study came out and let me just see if I can find this too. I got all my notes here, guys, on PPIs like Nexium, very much related short-term gain, long-term pain, when you reduce your acidity in your stomach using medication, they're finding that it's very much linked later on to dementia, Alzheimer's.
Medications guys, and again, I'm not telling you to take 'em or not to take, but you need to be aware of side effects and long-term. And PPIs are proton pump inhibitors. They lower your acidity. Why would you have too much acidity? Because your stomach was meant to eat meat, not sugar. And if you don't use it, you'll lose it. You lose that acidity and your body tries to make up for it. Okay? Do you know millions and millions of people every day take PPIs? Look, who wants acid reflux? Nobody. Who wants acid coming up? It affects your quality of life, but you need to change your diet. Anywho.
Now let me get back to finishing up here on Alzheimer's and the new research that came out, and it talked about most doctors, and this was the headline. Most doctors talk about amyloid plaques in the brain. Now, we already went through this, but this study goes into detail. Amyloid plaques might be present, but they're not the cause. They're the symptom. That is the headline. Okay? Now let me just read some of that. And what they're saying here is physicians and researchers miss the link between insulin and plaque. Amyloid beta is a peptide secreted by insulin and accumulates in the brain and the pancreas, and it gums up your memory and cognitive processes, and it also produces oligomers, and they're a multi degrading enzyme. And ordinarily, in the absence of insulin, they'll break down those plaques. But if you have too much insulin, they are preoccupied by cleansing out insulin.
So at the end of the day, to make a long story short and to make it, you can understand it. Insulin, type three diabetes. Insulin resistance in the brain is a major, major factor in Alzheimer's. And unfortunately back in the seventies and the eighties, they just didn't know that. And what we know today about insulin is incredible. Insulin is your best friend until it becomes your enemy because insulin's on your side until it's not. And it all has to do with how much you use it. And we overuse our insulin. We eat way too much crappy carbs. We eat way too much sugar. We are consuming today in a day what our ancestors a hundred years ago were consuming in a month. Your body's not made for that. And we don't read labels. And 93% of the population has developed insulin resistance and they have metabolic syndrome. 93%. I want to be part of the 7%. You? Yeah, me too. I want that. I want to be in the healthy part as much as I can control it. That's me. And I want you in there with me.
I want my audience to be with me and understand food. Not the nonsense, not the propaganda, not the big pharma, not the big food industries, and not the politicians, and not your physicians and not the dieticians and even gurus in food because they believe in moderation and they believe that you need fiber and they believe that you need a certain amount of glucose. Oh, your brain needs glucose. Your brain will take steak and turn it to sugar if it needs it. But we overuse that pancreas, and I was telling you yesterday, even your brain releases insulin. It's so important and it's there to mop up that sugar. It'll mop it up. But if you use it, it's not use it or lose it when it comes to your pancreas, use it and you'll kill yourself. You use it too much and it's the elephant in the room. It's the thing at the end of the day, it's the major cause of heart, cancer, Alzheimer's, diabetes, autoimmune. It's the main driver of those diseases. And that's why we're not winning folks. I mean, we are losing, okay? We're losing the war. We don't even think about it. We're losing that war.
Now, let's get to today's topic. And that is metabolic powerhouse. Metabolic powerhouse. Now, I'm taking out my old atlas that got me through school and I'm going to show you, and for those listening on a podcast, what am I showing? The musculoskeletal system. Okay? Look at all those muscles, and most days, unless they're sore, we don't think about them, okay? But muscles are metabolic powerhouses, and I want to show you in seven ways how they do that. And today, with the high amount of insulin, I want to convince you today that you need muscles. Again, if you go back, go back with me 50 years, okay? In 2024, it'll be 50 years for me when I graduated, okay? 50 years. Holy moly. Time flies when you're having fun. 50 years.
But let me say this, 50 years ago what we knew about muscles, we knew all the muscles in the body, but we didn't know what they did. I mean, obviously they're for movement. You need muscle. Muscles are metabolically one of the most important things you can do for yourself. Sun, steak and steel. S T E E L, get strong. I want to give you seven reasons, okay? I'm going to give you seven reasons this morning and some of this stuff we didn't know, but we know it today, okay? Now, you and I talk about this a lot. That muscles become bins, okay? They're bins. The more muscle you have, the more room, the more bin space you have to store glycogen, okay? You want that storage space. You want bins. Ladies, listen, Linda, okay? You want bins.
Now, you don't need big bins, okay? They don't do it so much today, but I remember in the seventies, eighties, not the Martin women, the last thing you want to do is lift weights because you don't want to be showing any muscle. Well, muscle has become much more acceptable in women today than it used to be, but now we know how good it is for you, okay? How good it is for you. You need muscle. It's a bin. Think of it that way. You see? Remember again, now, insulin is a storage hormone. It's the traffic cop. If you eat a carbohydrate, it's going to be turned to sugar in a rapid nanosecond. Bread, pasta, rice, cereal, sugar, sweets, pastry, juice, milk, alcohol, blah, blah, blah. It needs to be stored. So what your pancreas does and insulin, it's the traffic cop says you can't park in the blood, so come here with me. I'm going to park you elsewhere, and the best place to park glucose, not in your liver, not in fat cells. The best place metabolically for you is if for you have room in your muscles. You have bins. Metabolically, that is a lifesaver for us. Muscles.
I always tell my grandchildren, see grandpa's guns there? I have to get them registered to cross the border. But seriously, guys, stay strong. Metabolically really, really, really good for you. The bigger the bins, the better it is. You have storage space. Most people don't have storage space. They don't have muscle, and in the absence of muscle, insulin's got to do its job. You know what it'll do? It'll store that glucose in the liver as glycogen. Turns to fat, and if there's not enough room in the liver, insulin will create fat cells and they'll put 'em around the liver and when there's no room there, that's what we talked about the other day, visceral fat created by not fat, but carbs, sugars, okay? You want bins.
Two, your muscles are metabolically very active, and the best thing you can do in weight loss is build muscle. Now, listen to what I'm going to say, so you understand, okay? I almost feel like telling people throw away their scales. They won't do it, but they should in a way, because guys, this is one pound of fat, okay? One pound of fat. Do you know that a pound of muscle is about a quarter of that size? See muscle guys, if you build muscle, one of the ways to build muscle, by the way, okay? Yep. Get strong, sun steak and steel. Steel. Do weight resistant exercises. If you don't have barbells or dumbbells or whatever. Don't be a dumbbell. You can use elastic, those tensor bands, you can use your own weight to do pushups. Get strong, okay?
I always used to tell people, don't be a cardio bunny. I wrote that in my book, Sun Steak and Steel, but I've written it in many other books. Don't be a cardio bunny. "Oh yeah, Dr. Martin. I do an hour on the treadmill." I'm not against the treadmill, but you're better off getting strong. You're not getting strong on the treadmill. Everybody thinks cardio. Cardio's all right. I'm not against cardio. I'm telling you, get strong metabolically. You want to build muscle and your diet. This is where diet comes in. This is why I have been a big, big proponent to eating protein. Protein. Protein is the king. Protein and fat is the king of the castle, and carbs are the dirty rascal. Protein, protein, protein. Oh, doc, how much protein can I eat? As much as you want. Your muscles need protein. Okay? It ain't calories, babe. It's not calories. I don't care about calories. I never did. I care about macros. Eat protein. Protein is the king of the castle.
And when I say protein, I mean protein and fat. Put protein and fat together, the best food in the world, eggs, meat and cheese. Nothing, nothing, nothing is superior to that. Nothing. Remember that because you're going to be told by them on the other side, protein, it'll kill your kidneys. Nope. Sugar kills your kidneys. Protein don't kill your kidneys. Yeah, but Dr. Martin, my doctor said I got protein in the urine. Yeah, because you eat too much sugar, you get protein in the urine when you eat sugar, not when you eat protein. You learn that day one in medical school and then they forget it. Protein doesn't come out as protein in the urine. Protein builds muscle protein and fat the way it's supposed to be, and limit the carbs. Every part of your body needs protein, especially your muscles. Okay?
Got number two? Your B M R, your basic metabolic rate will increase with protein. You want to get your body going, give it the right fuel. Muscles are very metabolically active. Stronger you are, the lower your risk for diabetes, lower your risk of high A 1 C. Okay? Here's the third thing. Muscles, do they secrete myokine? You know what myokine are? Yeah. Myokine are anti-inflammatories and they're anti insulin resistance. Myokines actually make your body more insulin sensitive. You don't want to resist insulin. You want to be sensitive. Are you a very sensitive person? Are you sensitive to insulin? Well, if you are, you're not in that 93% of the population that have insulin resistance. They used it too much. You want to be sensitive and muscles. The stronger you are, the more sensitive you become to insulin. You don't need a lot of insulin and you're going to release anti-inflammatories. Your body has anti-inflammatories coming out of your muscles. They're called myokines.
Here's another one. Testosterone. Now you think testosterone men, okay? I'm not talking to Linda so much. I'm talking to Larry, the Larrys, men. Oh, I get so upset. I've been upset for a long time about men because they don't listen. They don't listen, Larry. Get strong. Men have more estrogen than their wives. You need testosterone. Ladies, you need a little bit of it, okay? I don't talk about testosterone so much in women, but testosterone a little bit for a lady is not bad. It helps regulate. It can help balance you out. And ladies look at testosterone in another way. The amount that you need is going to help with your bone health. And I don't want one woman. I don't want any of you Lindas out there to ever take estrogen or testosterone. Don't do it. Oh your testosterone is low, ladies, and then they'll want to give you testosterone. I wouldn't do it with a hundred foot pole. Eat more protein and work out, get strong. You'll get enough testosterone just from doing that. I don't like testosterone in women. I don't like estrogen given to women. I never do. People tell my estrogen is low. Yay. Yeah, it's low. But with women, it's balance.
And the other thing that testosterone does, and remember, you don't have to take it. Just get strong and your body will make it. Don't take it, your body will make it. But when you're getting stronger, your body makes testosterone and that helps produce red blood cells along with B 12. How do you like that? Okay, fifthly. Okay. Growth hormone. And I'm not talking about you have to take a hormone, growth hormone. You don't have to take it. Just get strong and your body makes it. And growth hormone's good for you. It's good for your brain. It's good for your muscle growth. It's good for your immune system. Growth hormone. You don't take it. Your body will make it. But look what metabolically, what happens when you're stronger? And if you're 80 years old and listening to me today, you can still get stronger.
What are the things that medicine, they'll never do it, in my opinion. Okay? I hope they do it, but I don't think they will. I don't think they will include it in vital signs. Okay? What's a vital sign? Why When you take your blood pressure, blood sugar, your breathing, your pulse, your body temperature, these are vital signs, okay? Do you know what a vital sign is that they've been talking about adding as a vital sign, your grip strength? Somebody said to me the other day, I like the way you shake my hand, Dr. Martin. I said, you do? What do you mean by that? Well, you've got a firm grip. That's a vital sign. Now, like I said, don't hold your breath until medicine adopts that, but you should see the research on grip strength. It's a vital sign.
You know what another one was? Get on the floor and try and get up without any help. Not so easy when you get my age, but if you're strong, you see what I'm saying? Yeah. Not only just for growth hormone. It's like a vital sign. It'll give you an indication of what they call all cause mortality. What a powerhouse muscles are metabolically, okay? Fat burning. Now, we already talked on the other one about your B M R, but now I'm going to tell you some real good news. The stronger your muscles, the more you burn fat. Not calories, fat. It's a lipid buster. Muscles are lipid busters in the mitochondria, your battery packs. Isn't that good? Get stronger, get stronger. Get stronger than you are. 80, 85, just get stronger. We can do it.
There's so many people because they're muscles. I used to tell people this in the seventies. You know why you fall and break your hip because you have no muscle. Now I know you can slip on ice and you could be the strongest person in the world and whatever. No, no, no. I'm just talking in generalities. This is true. That skeleton of yours, those bones of yours rely on the strength of your muscles. Osteoporosis. Listen to me. Linda's not that men can't get osteoporosis, they can't, but it's mostly Linda's. And why does that happen? Oh, Dr. Martin, my estrogen went down. Eh, your estrogen's going down. That's normal. You might be still a puppy in my eyes, but get older. You ain't making as much estrogen. That ain't the issue. The issue is muscle strength because your muscles are anchors that anchor into the bone, and the more muscle strength you have, the more the bone strengthens. Your bones love muscle and osteoporosis is sarcopenia.
We talk about this at the Martin Clinic all the time. The horrendous effects of sarcopenia. What is sarcopenia? Weak muscles, muscle wasting. I am a very observant, okay? It's just the way I was trained. My dad was one of the most observant people in the world. He used to tell me, look, look at patients. Look at them. You know how many times I've heard this? It makes me nauseated. You know what? A doctor. You're there and the physician's on their computer, I get a headache, I get a migraine just thinking about it. The doctor's on the computer. Hey, ask me a question while I'm on my computer. What? Turn around and have a look and when I go to a mall or whatever, okay? I can tell you almost invariably, my wife don't like going to the grocery store with me. I read all the labels and she doesn't like going to the mall. I'm always, what are you looking at? Well, I said, that lady has got too much estrogen, or that lady's got no muscle, or that guy has got metabolic syndrome. I can tell I'm observant.
Guys, you need anchors. Your back muscles, your leg, muscles, legs are metabolically. Remember, your biggest muscles are your leg muscles. Those got to be strong. They can make the best bins, but they also anchor the pelvis, the hips. So many people have low back problems and all sorts of problems because they have such weak muscles. Weak muscles, contract. You don't contract your muscles when you work out. You're actually stretching them out. And guys, important, isn't it? Sun. Oh, get in that sun. Steak, oh, eat that red meat and steel. Oh, get strong. Okay, got the memo?
Okay you know what tomorrow is? Question and answer Friday. Are we looking forward to that or not? Did you get our email today about dehydration? Did you, you didn't? Well, you make sure you get it. Check your spam in case you didn't get it. Or sign up athemartinclinic.com. Sign up for those emails. Wow, what a great email on dehydration. Maybe we'll unpack it next week. Okay, guys, love you. Talk to you soon.
Announcer: You've reached the end of another Doctor Is In Podcast, with your hosts, Doctor Martin Junior and Senior. Be sure to catch our next episode and thanks for listening!