Join Dr. Martin as he follows up from last episode talking about the importance of muscle in metabolic health. Muscle is the most metabolically active tissue we have and Dr. Martin is blown away by the amount of new research that’s coming down the pipe.
Dr. Martin also shares two other studies on prescribing exercise and the benefits of daily going for a 20 minute walk. All of this 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, good afternoon. I'm so used to saying good morning. How are you guys? Thank you for coming on this afternoon. We appreciate it big time. Let's do a little wee bit in the first half here. Let's do a little follow up to what we talked about yesterday, and that is muscle, okay? And again, it really is becoming a vital sign your muscle, and I can't emphasize enough, the newest research coming down the pipe on the importance metabolically of your muscles. It blows me away guys. It really blows me away. A thing that you can help. We talked about metabolic syndrome and we did a whole webinar on it and we talked about, obviously you have to start in the kitchen. You start with food for sure. Okay? You can't out muscle a bad diet. You can't out supplement a bad diet. You can't out medicate a bad diet. You just can't.
And it's amazing to me that we're still at a point in history of mankind that the vast majority of physicians know nothing about nutrition or very little. Isn't that incredible that we're at this day and age that in medical school, even today, they get less than an hour of nutrition. They wouldn't know a macro if it slapped them. The difference between protein, fat, and carbohydrates, all they know is moderation and protein is hard on your kidneys, and it's just the opposite. People that know nothing about nutrition will tell you that protein is hard on your kidneys. I hear it every day, seven days a week. If you have any kind of kidney trouble, well you better cut back on your protein and red meat. It's the opposite. You never got kidney trouble because you were eating too much protein. I haven't met the person yet, and I been around a long time. Not one. I'd never seen a case of.
Oh, I know why you got bad kidneys. I know why you need dialysis. You know the people that needed dialysis? They were diabetic. And the problem was in a diabetic is they don't eat enough meat. They eat way too many carbs. I haven't met a diabetic that was a big meat eater. They were eating junk and sugar a hundred percent, no exceptions. I was a good eater and I became a diabetic. Nah, that don't happen because diabetes, like we explained the other night, is an allergy to carbohydrates. So I don't know how I got off on this tangent. I was talking about muscle, but coming back, by the way, the number one food for muscle building, if you're going to eat, you need protein.
And again, usually, and again, I'm going to make a blanket statement, there's exceptions. Women are the worst for eating protein. They never get enough. They're scared of it, they're scared of eggs. Too many. They count calories and they're not thinking of their protein intake. They need protein and fat the way God put food together. Think of what an egg is. Think of what meat is. Think of what cheese is that dairy, it's a combination of fat and protein. The worst combination is sugar and fat, carbs and fat. And we see that in the middle aisles of your grocery store. And the worst fat on the planet is the hydrogenated oils. The oils from canola, my hateful eight, canola, safflower and rice brand and soy oil and this stuff belongs in your car, my friend, and not in your body because it is so pro-obesity and inflammation. Inflammation, the worst thing. Think of donut. What is a donut comprised of? Carbs and fat. That's the worst thing. Okay, you want to fatten up a mouse, you give them a donut. It's called rat chow.
Okay, now muscle. Okay, let me just repeat from yesterday and I'll make a couple of points and I promise to move on. Muscle is the most metabolically active tissue we can have. I mean, that's mind blowing. The more muscle you build, the better your metabolic health will be. That's a statement that I wrote in our new book, Sun Steak and Steel. And can I ask you a question? Why don't you have a copy of that book? I know most of you do. Okay, so one of the things, let me just read another quote on muscle because I didn't get it in yesterday. This is the Cancer Journal for Physicians, "an exercise prescription to build muscle could lower the risk of developing breast, colon, endometrial, kidney, bladder, esophageal, and stomach cancer," according to the Cancer Journal for Physicians. An exercise prescription. You know what they're saying to the physicians? Would you please tell your patients to exercise?
And the best exercise, okay, there's good, better, best. The best is muscle building. And we spent a lot of time working on that yesterday. Harvard Health said resistant training is arguably the most important interventional strategy for overall health and wellbeing. And a large percent of the population isn't aware of its vast benefits. Harvard Health, resistant training. Resistant training, folks. I hope you got the memo. Now I want to encourage you because here's some stuff on walking. Okay? Two new studies on walking a 20 minute walk a day. 20 minutes is enough. This is a new study out of the British Journal of Sports Medicine. 20 minutes of walking a day is enough to counteract the negative health effects of sitting all day. Now, that's one of the problems. If you go a hundred years, go back a hundred years, you don't have to go that far back, but let's say you did, the world has changed. And one of the things that really has changed in the world is that we are a population, especially in North America of sitters, not babysitters, but we sit a lot. Okay?
Now I got to admit I was part of that because even in my practice I sat a lot. I saw a lot of patients, but I wasn't going to stand up and talk to them like they were down there. They were sitting, I was sitting most of the day and I knew it wasn't the best thing for me, but it was my job. So I sat most of the day. But what this study is saying that 20 minutes of walking can undo the side effects of sitting all day. Isn't that good news? Aren't you happy about that? So if you can walk, and a lot of people have trouble, they get bad hips and knees and yeah, they can't move around. Well, you get strong then. You can do resistant exercises sitting if you have to or standing in place where you don't have to walk or whatever. But if you can walk 20 minutes a day is tremendous and it will undo all that sitting, okay? It will undo all that sitting. Okay?
Now I'm going to tell you that was out of the British Journal of Sports Medicine. This one here is walking 10,000 steps a day. Now, do you have a watch, a Fitbit? Walking 10,000 steps a day. Journal of the American Medical Association Neurology says if you walk 10,000 steps a day, you get a 51% lower risk of dementia. Walk and you preserve your brain. Now, that's worth it, guys. You know that. Dr. Mackewn and I are going to team up to write a book on mental health, brain health. And this is an important thing for the memory, isn't it? Think about that. 51% decrease if you walk 10,000 steps a day. That's fabulous. That's fabulous.
So if you want to measure out, a lot of people like measuring. I don't. Okay? Journal of American Medical Neurology, Association Neurology and the British Journal of Sports Medicine are telling us to walk. I love walking by the way. My days off from the gym are walking. I love walking. Okay? And we talked about this the other night, that walking after a meal really helps to regulate blood sugar. And if you can regulate blood sugar rapidly like that with a walk, just think of what it's doing to keep your insulin resistance down. Now remember the other night we spent the vast majority of our time talking about insulin resistance because at the end of the day, that is what the cause of metabolic syndrome, that 93% of the population suffer from. Great studies, right?
Okay, now I'm going to do another one and I'm going to surprise you with this. I'm going to talk about coffee. Surprise. I never talk about coffee. Tony Jr. the other night, he turns to me and we're starting off with talking about supplements for metabolic syndrome, "and Dad, what are your favorite supplements?" And the first thing I said out of my mouth, he knew it. And he said, what's your favorite supplement? I said, coffee. Guys, if you have known me for any length of time, I thank you for all the new folks coming on, by the way, and I never talk about coffee and I should. No, I'm being facetious, okay? I always talk about coffee, but they made a new discovery. I didn't even know. Who knew? I didn't even know.
Like I said, if you follow for me for any length of time, radio show for 20 years, I used to double down. And remember we did a live program. People come in and they want to challenge me on the coffee thing because they thought I was crazy and they're probably right that I'm crazy, but they were wrong about coffee. And I used to say, no, it's not acidic. Okay? It is not acidic. That's why they thought it was so bad for you. And then they had caffeine. And caffeine kills you and it's hard on your kidneys and it's dehydrating and you're going to strip away all your electrolytes. And I heard it all, every excuse. And I was always pushing back against that. Always say, no, you're not right about that.
And isn't it interesting that we've really turned the corner on coffee? There's a lot of people that's got converted to coffee's actually very good for you. Forget about the nonsense you hear, because it is nonsense. It's not backed up by science. Coffee is not acidic. If the bean is acidic, I can tell you by the time it gets into your gut and gets into your body, it will become alkaline. Coffee is so good for you. It's not acidic. It does not make your body acidic at all, the opposite. Okay, back to the headlines. Back to the headlines. New study done on coffee. And by the way, listen to this. I didn't know this statistic until I read this article. It said that 81% of Americans, so I don't know what it is in Canada, but Canada's famous for coffee too. Tim Hortons.
Now my hometown, for all you people listening, Tim Horton grew up and played his hockey. He was a hockey player. And then he developed a Tim Horton franchise. He was a hockey player that lived about 60 miles north of where I grew up, and I practiced for many years. Tim Horton. Now, why did I tell you that? I don't know. I just wanted to tell you that. But Canada's famous for coffee. You think Dunkin Donuts, you think Starbucks in Canada, we think Tim Horton's. Okay, now, 81% of Americans, okay, 81% of Americans drink on average two cups of coffee a day. 81%. That's incredible. That's good. Now, depending on what you put in your coffee, and I'll talk to you about that in a minute.
Now, back to the study. Brand new study on coffee and memory. Is walking good for your memory? Yep. 10,000 steps a day. 51% decrease in dementia, walking, walk and coffee. Now, this article goes on to say about coffee and I love it. It goes on to say, 81% of Americans drink at least two cups of coffee a day. And that's a good thing, new compound that they found in coffee. Now what have I been telling you guys? There are over a thousand phytonutrients in coffee, okay? A thousand. And that's why I call it the real vitamin C. Vitamin C, ascorbic acid doesn't measure up to a cup of coffee. Isn't that good news? Think about that for a minute, especially if you love coffee. Think about that because people have been, oh, that coffee not drink too much. It's going to kill you. It'll put you in the grave. No, it won't. It'll keep you out of the grave.
And coffee is good. And here's another study to prove it. It says in this study that found a compound in coffee, it's a form of niacin. Niacin is what vitamin? Somebody tell me what vitamin niacin is. Okay? You guys are the smartest guys on the planet. So niacin is a vitamin, right? Which one? CJ B1, close. Lisette, you got it. B3. Okay, niacin is B3. Okay? And guys, what have I always told you about the B complexes? Eat eggs, meat and cheese. You get all the B vitamins, all of them including B3, niacin, all of them. You get all of them. But coffee delivers a new compound, which is a form of niacin, B3 that they just discovered. It's called trigonelline, T-R-I-G-O-N-E-L-L-I-N-E, if you want to pronounce it. I don't know. I called it trigonelline, vitamin B3. Niacin. I knew it had B3, but I didn't know it had trigonelline or whatever I just said, okay, a unique form of B3. And they've shown when you consume coffee, you are getting a B3 vitamin, the specialized form of it that helps your brain. And one of the best things it does, it keeps your inflammation down in your brain, neuroinflammation.
Now guys, you know this, but it's worth repeating. Inflammation is not Houdini. When you hear that inflammation is at the root of all disease, it's not. It's involved, but it's not the root cause because inflammation just doesn't appear out of nowhere. There's a reason for it. One of the biggest reasons for inflammation. Silent. Destructive. It destroys your blood vessels. It destroys tissue in the brain. It destroys your mitochondria, it destroys your battery packs in your brain. It really disrupts the energy and the neurons and all of the neurotransmitters, the grid up here and coffee because of this one. I mean, there's a lot of other reasons. Coffee is very anti-inflammatory of the brain because of its form of niacin called trigonelline, who knew? I love coffee.
What's the best way to drink coffee? Black. Okay, now look, don't put milk in coffee. Don't put oat milk in coffee. Don't put any plant milk in coffee. Lay off that stuff. Don't touch it. If you got to put some stuff in your coffee, put cream in it. And this is what I've always told my patients over the years, because unlike Dr. Mackewn, I don't have a degree in psychology. I took enough psychology in university just to be dangerous. But here's what I understood. In human psychology and human behavior, it takes three weeks to form a habit. And I used to tell my patients, suck it up buttercup, because I want you to cut out your sugar from your coffee. Oh, Dr. Martin, how can I drink coffee without sugar? Well, you'll get used to it. You'll get used to it. Suck it up buttercup. You're going to form a habit in three weeks. You're going to lose that sweet taste. And I used to promise my patients, you'll give me a high five if you just trust me for three weeks. You'll find it too sweet to put any sugar in coffee. Don't put sugar in coffee and then negate the benefits of it. You're negating the benefits of it.
Okay, isn't that good news? And I know people are going to ask, how much coffee doc can I have? Look, here's the sweet spot. If I put all the research for coffee together, all of it, and my personal clinical experience. Four cups of coffee a day, okay? Now you can have less. You can have a little bit more. But four is the sweet spot. Four cups of coffee a day. Most of the research is based on four cups of coffee a day. The benefits. Now you get benefits just from drinking coffee. Don't you love coffee? Isn't that good news? Imagine coffee being a supplement. Ooh, don't let the Canadian government get ahold of it. Maybe they're going to need a prescription to drink it. Ooh, okay. Now I might test you on that. What form of B3 is found in coffee? It is not found in tea. By the way you teetotalers. I feel sorry for you. I always have. Why would you drink tea when you can have a coffee? Anyway, I get it. Some people just don't like coffee. But remember, you're in the minority. 81% of Americans drink at least two cups of coffee a day.
Guys, thanks for watching today. We appreciate it so much. You have no idea how much we appreciate it. We love you so dearly and I mean that, okay. When I say I love you, do you think I'm just kidding? I love you. And have I told you lately how smart you are? You guys are unreal. I don't have to wait long to get the right answer when I do a little quiz with you. You're so stinking smart. And for those new folks that have come on, of course, so many people, we just never see their name or whatever. And that's good. That's alright. We love you. If you don't say hello, we still love you. And tomorrow, if you can, I'll be back in the morning and I always say, Lord willing, because who knows? But tomorrow morning is question and answer Friday. It's always fun. And we're going to round up the questions as soon as we can from the seminar. We didn't even, the webinar, we didn't answer half of them. Guys, we love you dearly. We'll 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!