Dynamic Dialogue with Danny Matranga - 393: “Animal Based Diets” + Losing Weight WITHOUT Losing Muscle?

Episode Date: November 13, 2024

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Hey everybody, welcome in to another episode of the Dynamic Dialogue Podcast. In this episode specifically, I will be discussing the carnivore diet or an animal-based diet. We'll talk about losing weight without losing muscle, artificial sweeteners, and their effect on insulin and insulin resistance, as well as some other things. I think this should be a fun one. Hope you guys enjoy the episode. This episode is brought to you in part thanks to some of our amazing partners like LMNT. LMNT makes the best electrolyte product on the market. In fact, I've actually started drinking my Alimenti each

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you put your box together, you can get a free sample pack containing all of elements, amazing flavors like mango, chili, citrus, raspberry, orange, and more to get access to this free gift with purchase. Scroll down to the show notes and check out using the special link for dynamic dialogue listeners Okay, so these are questions all of the things we're gonna talk about today guys These are questions from you that you've thrown me over on Instagram So if you want your question featured on the podcast that is still the best way to do it It's where you'll find me probably most of the time in terms of social media.

I'm spending less time on it in general, but I do think my favorites are probably the meta products, Facebook, Instagram, threads. Although with the election getting closer, I am spending more time on the hellscape that has Twitter slash X. So the first question comes from Kth

C Cathay fit and the question is what do you think of an animal based diet? And so I'm going to give my opinion on two types of eating here One is the animal based, quote unquote, animal based, and the other is carnivore, which kind of is where animal based came from. So we'll start with carnivore because it's the harbinger of this new animal based thing. And carnivore is an all meatmeat diet, an all-animal product diet, so eggs are good, milk is good, yogurt is good, cheese is good.

Carnivore seems to be most popular with males for reasons that I could elaborate on in detail that are entirely subjective. However, it does appear to me that most people who choose a carnivore diet are male. And given the diet's high amount of saturated fat, particularly the saturated fat that is found in many of the more popular products, such as ruminant meat and dairy,

might not be a great option for that population specifically. It is in my opinion the case that most American men probably eat too much saturated fat and probably consume too many foods that are low in fiber or do not contain fiber and that is a feature of this diet. It is a fiber-free, plant-free diet. And I think one change most people could make, especially men, to markedly improve their health

is increasing fiber and decreasing saturated fats, especially from processed foods. Saturated fats from high-quality animal proteins are, of course, very different from saturated fats from ultra quality animal proteins are of course very different from saturated fats from ultra processed foods. But you know, the saturated fat in bacon is the same quote unquote saturated fat that's in a lean pork chop. But you know, it's pork fat, pork fat. But I do believe the food matrixes are different. So if you eat a carnivore diet where in which you focus on extremely lean cuts of ruminant meat, poultry, and salmon as well as things like shellfish and include things like yogurt, you'll probably

be getting a lot of nutrition from calcium to various micronutrients to a ton of protein and obviously enough fat, but you won't have carbohydrates, which I think are very valuable. You won't have fiber, which I think is incredibly important, and you will not have a few micronutrients if you do not supplement. So diets that tend to quote unquote require supplements because they cannot hit all of your micronutrient goals are not things I'm crazy about. Now, many of the most hardcore carnivore components on the internet, many of these people I think are engaged in some type of performance art where they are quite literally playing the character of an adult who does not eat vegetables.

And in an effort to play this character and project this lifestyle into the ethos that is the internet, they tend to, you know, take on a caricature almost. You know, the liver king is quite frankly the best example of this, but you'll see plenty of people on the internet who have carnivore in their username and tout the benefits of this diet. I don't think it's a great dietary approach for most people. I don't think it's a great dietary approach for most men, and I don't think it's a great dietary approach for most people. I don't think it's a great dietary approach for most men. And I don't think it's a great dietary approach

even for people who are obese. People always say, oh, well, anything's better than a traditional standard American diet, right? And I'm like, yeah, but a meat-only is like not far off from being like pretty incomplete in my in my book So I this pivot that we've seen from some of these characters Who were once carnivore enthusiasts? I'll use Paul Saladino as an example of somebody who once used to just rant and rave about plants defense chemicals and who once used to just rant and rave about plants, defense chemicals, and who is somebody in the fitness and health space who I believe is quite intelligent

and probably given his existing, or I don't know if it's existing any longer, but previously existing business relationship with the person, his liver king, it kind of communicates to me that, you know, there is an awareness that some of this is a shtick, some of this is in a way a grift. It's a way of projecting that,

oh yeah, I'm all meat all the time. And many of these people, not just Paul Saladino, have now kind of transitioned into being what they call animal based. I'm using Paul as an example, not because of any personal distaste I have for him, but more because I saw a video recently of his where in which he was kind of mixing up these

spaghetti squash into a spaghetti. And that would look kind of good, but when he threw some butter on it and called it animal based, I think that's where we would have had a little bit of an agreement. I would say that spaghetti made from vegetables is plant based and adding butter to it doesn't change

the fact that it is mostly plants. It is now food that contains zucchini squash or what is it? Spaghetti squash and butter, which is fine. I think that's great. And I actually like that Paul has kind of transitioned to including more plant foods, specifically fruit and fruit juice in his diet. I think that's a great message for a health-centric audience

because eating animal-based, if that means most of my diet is protein, maybe from lean high quality meats, eggs, and yogurt, that could be a really good quote unquote base for a diet. So think about this. You're're basically gonna have a situation Where your food let's say it's plant-based Okay, quote-unquote plant-based that could mean only plants that could mean the base of the diet is plant I think a diet that is based around either high protein foods or high fiber plant foods or ideally both is Definitely going to be better than the standard Western diet or the traditional American diet.

So I am of the opinion that a mostly animal diet with fruits, vegetables, even in small amounts, is better than a standard American diet. I think a vegan diet that's high in protein could be okay too. But I often opt and recommend to you listeners what I would call like practical omnivorism. Let's look at all of the fucking fields of biology that can, or I shouldn't say fields of biology, I should say let's look at all of the kingdoms in the living world that can

contribute nutrition to the human diet. Plants, animals, fungi. All three categories have shit that will kill you, but a lot of it is safety consumed. And a lot of what's safe to consume in its natural form is pretty nutrient dense. Whether it's an egg, whether it's a mushroom, whether it's a piece of steak, whether it's a vegetable, we can source valuable macro and micronutrients from all of these kingdoms in the animal kingdom. You could even, or in the living biological kingdom,

you could even argue that bacteria, specifically things like probiotics, yeast, nutritional yeast, et cetera, Even microorganisms have unique beneficial abilities to communicate health benefits to humans. They could also kill you. Right? So there's dangerous plant foods, dangerous animal foods, dangerous fungi, dangerous bacteria, and there's good ones.

I want all the options on the table personally. I want to be able to source my nutrition from everywhere conceivably safe. So I like high quality nutrient dense plants. I like high quality nutrient dense carbs. I like high quality nutrient dense meats and proteins and yogurts. If I see something as being fairly nutrient dense, it gives me macronutrients in a key category that can help my performance, whether that's protein, carbs, or fats. I want that to be an option. I don't want to remove anything from my diet on the basis of its category. I could be plant-based and eat 80% from the

plant category, 10% from the fungi category, and let's say 5% from the fungi category and let's say 5% from the animal category with 5% coming from just like junk or processed foods. I would argue that could be like really healthy even though the diet is only 5% animal. If you were 40% animal, 20% carbohydrate, vegetable, starch, whatever, 20% fungi, 5% fungi, 25% junk, that could be OK too. But really what we're aiming for is keeping the category of food that are the percentage of our food intake

that's coming from junk down and getting the percentage of our food and dietary intake coming from one of those categories of like, obviously you don't go eat poisonous mushrooms or vegetables or try to like fight a bear to get your meat. But if you're eating good meat, good vegetables, throwing in some other stuff like from the living world, I know that sounds goofy, but like single ingredient, minimally processed foods that probably resemble the way they look naturally. Okay, a pick an orange, I know what it looks like. Lettuce, I know what that looks like. Bananas, I know what those look like. You know, that's how I like to do it.

And you got to remember folks, for the clients that I work with online, there's a high degree of competency when most clients come to me to work online. They understand macros, they understand training. That's really important. They have the concepts, so we can do something that's remote and highly efficient. But when somebody comes to see me in person, it is very often the case that that individual has very little, if any, experience with food and nutrition. And so I have to come up with things that are practical.

I can't even give them macros. I say, hey, I want you to eat more meat, yogurt, and eggs. I want you to eat more fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. I want you to eat more mushrooms, drink more water, and I specifically want you to try to eliminate ultra-processed junk food. What's going on, guys? Coach Danny here, taking a break from the episode wants you to try to eliminate ultra processed junk food. What's going on guys, Coach Danny here, taking a break from the episode to tell you

about my coaching company, Core Coaching Method, and more specifically, our one-on-one fully tailored online coaching program. My online coaching program has kind of been the flagship for Core Coaching Method for a while. Of course, we do have PDF programming and we have app-based programming. But if you want a truly tailored one- one experience with a coach like myself or a member

of my coaching team, someone who is certified, somebody who has multiple years of experience working with clients in person online, somebody who has licensed to provide a macro nutrition plan, somebody who is actually good at communicating with clients because they've done it for years, whether that be a be via phone call, email, text, right? This one-on-one coaching program is really designed to give you all the support you need. With custom training designed for you, whether you're training from home, the gym, around your limitations, and your goals. Nothing cookie-cutter here. As well as easy to follow, macro nutrition programs that are non-restrictive. You'll get customized

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And if we have spots available, we'll definitely reach out to you to see if you're a good candidate. And if we don't, we'll put you on a waiting list, but we'll be sure to give you the best shot at the best coaching in the industry. So head over to corecoachingmethod.com and apply for one-on-one coaching with me and my team today. That's a lot to focus on, right? That's those, just those things are a lot to focus on before we even get to counting macros. So I push for practical omnivorism I think having a diet based around animal foods is better than processed foods

But I also think you can have a great diet that's built around plants foods, but I would focus on balance Okay, next question from Emily and Moses. How do I lose 20 pounds of fat without losing muscle gains? So I think this is a great question. I think it's important to examine that first we're talking about a very specific rate or a very specific amount of fat loss. That's 20 pounds. The deficit required to lose 20 pounds is substantial, but it is not so substantial that you'll be guaranteed to lose muscle. So you have to get into a deficit to lose 20 pounds. Anytime you get into an energy deficit, you'll lose fat, bone, water and muscle. But, and we say this a lot on the podcast, if you focus on getting a high

amount of dietary protein, which when you're in a calorie deficit probably needs to be more than 0.6 grams per pound of body weight I would push that as close as I could to one gram per pound of body weight in protein now if you're heavier You can use goal weight or lean mass, but the goal is we want the highest dietary protein conceivably possible That doesn't bring us into the territory of like we get nothing out of this So it seems to be the case that beyond like a gram per pound of body weight We're probably getting no additional return other than fullness Which isn't bad if you're aiming for a deficit But we gotta aim first and foremost if muscle matters and weight loss matters

And we know we have to be in a deficit for weight loss. We've got to drive, drive, drive up, up, up, up, up, the protein. Now, outside of protein, there's lifestyle stuff we can do to hold on to muscle. The most obvious thing is weight training, specifically resistance training. Now, not all resistance training builds muscle. All

resistance training stimulates muscle. And that's really important to remember. Resistance training stimulates muscle. Resistance training close to failure builds muscle. If you're not training close to failure and you go into a calorie deficit and you train close to failure, you might build a little muscle even if it's tiny. So remember the reps that are the best at stimulating muscle are probably like the reps one, two, three, two, one or zero reps from failure. They have a particularly high rate of challenge. There's a lot of mechanical tension that's accumulated in the muscle if you're that close to failure, right? Those two things, getting high protein intake and training in a way that stimulates your muscle, those two things alone should objectively reduce the risk of

muscle loss considerably. There is one more thing you can do that makes a really big difference, and this shows up quite a bit in the literature about dieting or like the literature on fat loss, meaning when we examine how people's bodies respond to fat loss, scientifically speaking. I'm of the opinion that sleep is huge. Huge, huge, huge. Sleep just really puts people in a position, I think, to succeed with their diet for multiple different reasons, specifically like willpower and the ability to say no to junk food in

this obesogenic environment, but it's vital for building and growing muscle, right? It's vital. So we absolutely need to get sleep. If you want to lose 20 pounds without losing muscle, we need sleep, we need training, we need protein, and of course, we need a calorie deficit. Okay. This question comes from deficit. Okay, this question comes from Sybil Hackfield and the question is, do artificial sweeteners cause insulin resistance? And so here's what we have to remember about insulin, insulin sensitivity, and insulin resistance. Okay guys, when we eat carbohydrate rich foods, generally speaking, we're gonna release insulin unless we're a type 1 diabetic

who no longer produces insulin. Now, if you are insulin sensitive, it means when you eat carbohydrates, you release insulin very rapidly and get those excess carbohydrates out of your bloodstream, returning to a state of normal blood sugar quickly. If you are insulin resistant, you might be pre-diabetic or type 2 diabetic. And this means that you simply do not have a strong enough insulin secretory response. You don't secrete enough insulin in the presence of elevated blood sugar

to get it down in an amount deemed reasonable or healthy. Now, many foods have an influence on blood sugar, not just foods with carbohydrates, but it seems to be the case that ultra-processed junk food and sugary snacks really spike blood sugar. And for people who are overweight, under-muscled, clearing that blood sugar can be hard. I am of the impression, after looking at at the literature that artificial sweeteners might influence our insulin response, but I don't think they spike it. If you were to drink a regular soda and actually I might just continue with this

as an answer. This, this is an actually fairly easy to conduct experiment that you could do yourself for anyone listening. I want you to, if you're interested, you because I believe that everybody's insulin response is different, but I believe that if a hundred of you tried this, a hundred of you would get similar results, find your favorite soda and your favorite diet equivalent of that soda. For me, it's root beer. So I'm going to get a root beer and a diet root beer. I'm going to spread this test out across maybe two hours based on my current fitness, but what I'm going to do is I'm going to take forty.

I'm going to take do this for Americans. I'm going to take four ounces of soda, pour it in a cup and four ounces of diet soda and pour it in a cup. I'm going to get a diabetes blood sugar reader. You might know somebody who has one of these, a blood sugar monitor, not a continuous glucose monitor. You might be able to get like a cheap one touch blood test, blood sugar testing thing that people use before the CGMs. They're pretty cheap. Okay, and here's what you're gonna do. You are going to, in a fairly fasted state, so probably within like one to two hours of waking,

you're gonna prick your finger and you're gonna get your baseline blood sugar, okay? Then what you're gonna do is you're gonna drink the four ounces of regular soda. Give it five to ten minutes. Prick your finger again. Take the number that you get. That will definitely be a higher number when you test your blood glucose fasted. You'll get a way higher number when you test it after the soda Continue to sample blood sugar Every 10 minutes until it reaches zero

Okay, and I want you to log how long it takes for someone like me It doesn't take long because I'm very insulin sensitive. I can clear the blood glucose fast Now do the same thing once you've hit that baseline number, whatever you tested at, you might not get back to it for a while if you're not metabolically healthy. Do the same thing, could be later in the day. Four ounces of diet soda, okay? I know I'm at baseline, I tested. Now I'm doing the diet soda. Wait five to 10 minutes, test your blood sugar. It might not move an inch. If it does, I would say that it is perhaps possible that the consumption of something sweet had an influence on your blood sugar. I think that's the only way to test it. I haven't really seen that show up in the literature.

My understanding is that these artificial sweeteners do not spike insulin, but it could be the case that maybe the presence of these artificial sweeteners trigger some things inside of you. So that could be a fun experiment. But guys, in general, when we think about insulin resistance, it is usually not only caused by eating super sugary foods that lead us to produce insulin over and over and over again until the response gets dampened. It is often caused by low levels of muscle, low levels of activity, and consuming too

many calories and sugars in a state where we probably already have too much body fat. Okay, this question comes from Rachel MMA. The question is, can you explain the benefits of a pre-workout without caffeine? Yes, yes, yes, I can. So a lot of this is subjective, but pre-workouts are half about the tingles and half and 25% about the ritual and like 25% about the ingredients in them, I swear. A lot of the pre-workout kit comes from like the beta-alanine tingles. I think that's why you see it in so many products. Not only does it help with buffering certain markers of fatigue, but it definitely provides like a

woof, I felt that. I think the ritualistic piece is key. I'm drinking it. You know, things like L-citrulline, L-tyrosine, L, you know, they often throw taurine. They throw alpha GPC in a lot of them. My favorite stimulant free pre-workout is mostly betaine, beta-alanine, citrulline, and alpha GPC, focus, pump stuff. So the benefits of course are like, okay, I get focus and I get pump, which is the same shit you get from pre-workout, focus and pump, but you might get more energy from pre-workout, focus and pump. But you might get more energy from pre-workout because it has certain ones that have caffeine. But if you just want focus and pump, and you don't need caffeine, these stimulant-free

pre-workouts allow you to maintain the ritual. They allow you to maintain kind of the, I'm getting my tingles, like I'm mixing up my pre-workout. That's an experience for people. It's ritualistic in a way. And while it's absolutely unequivocally not necessary to use a pre-workout or a stimulant-free pre-workout, I actually like it. And you want ingredients like beta-alanine, betaine, and L-citrulline. Specifically, I like citrulline because it helps me get a pump. I like Betaine because it helps me push.

I like AlphaGPC because it helps me focus. But you guys probably don't need this stuff, but if you want a good one, try Legion's Pulse Stem Free. That's my go-to. All right, folks. Thanks so much for listening to this episode of the podcast. If you enjoyed it, please tune in, please hit subscribe, leave me a five-star rating and review on Apple, and I'll catch you on the next one.