The SHN #34: Fat Loss, Tyler Durden, and Gelatin

Welcome back to The Synergetic Health Newsletter! 

In this edition, we’ll learn about Alan Aragon and how to efficiently lose body fat.

After that, a lesson from Tyler Durden.

Then comes a nutrition powerhouse you may want to consider.

Finally, I’ll include some links to things I’ve found particularly interesting recently.

Joe Burt

💪 How To Lose Fat in the Most Efficient Way Possible

Alan Aragon has over 30 years of experience in the nutrition field. He is one of the most influential figures in the health and fitness world, specializing in evidence-based information.

His client list includes the likes of Pete Sampras, Stone Cold Steve Austin, and Derek Fisher.

Aragon writes a popular monthly research review, has 26 published peer-reviewed studies, performs speeches all over the world, and is commonly featured in publications such as Men’s Health, Bodybuilding.com, NSCA, NASM, and more.

His 2022 book, “Flexible Dieting: A Science-Based, Reality-Tested Method for Achieving and Maintaining Your Optimal Physique, Performance and Health”, “is a research-based, field-tested approach to nutrition that focuses on macronutrient balance and proper food sourcing that will help you achieve your dietary and physical goals at your own pace.”

In a recent interview with Max Lugavere, Aragon talks about a step-by-step guide for losing fat in the most efficient way possible.

Here is what Aragon says about fat loss in that interview:

The Non-Negotiables

Creating a Caloric Deficit: You need to consume fewer calories than you expend. This can be achieved by either eating less or increasing energy expenditure through exercise.

Focus on Overall Fat Loss: You cannot target fat loss in specific areas, such as the belly. To lose belly fat, you need to focus on losing overall body fat through a caloric deficit.

Maintain Lean Mass: It's important to retain lean muscle mass while losing fat. This can be achieved through resistance training and consuming sufficient protein.

Set a Realistic Rate of Fat Loss: It's recommended to aim for a fat loss rate of half a percent to one percent of your total body weight per week. Rapid weight loss can increase the risk of losing muscle mass.

It’s Not Just “Eat Less and Move More”

Simply telling someone to eat less and exercise more without considering the specific strategies and knowledge needed for successful weight loss can be ineffective.

It’s necessary to understand the mechanics of fat loss, such as creating a caloric deficit and preserving lean mass, as well as utilizing strategies like proper protein intake and resistance training.

These factors go beyond the simplistic notion of "eat less and move more" and require a more nuanced and individualized approach to achieve optimal results.

You CAN Lose Fat Without Losing Muscle

Aragon suggests that a combination of strategies can help in achieving this goal.

First, imposing a caloric deficit (eating fewer calories than you expend) is essential for fat loss. However, it's important to do this in a controlled manner to minimize the risk of muscle loss.

Additionally, maintaining sufficient protein intake and engaging in resistance training are crucial. Consuming enough protein supports muscle retention, while resistance training stimulates muscle growth and preservation. Aragon also suggests that maintaining a moderate rate of weight loss (around half a percent to one percent of total body weight per week) can reduce the risk of muscle loss.

It's important to note that individual factors, such as starting body composition, training status, and diet adherence, can influence the rate of muscle loss during fat loss.

Be Intentional About Your Protein Intake

According to Aragon, the timing and distribution of protein intake throughout the day is an important consideration for maximizing muscle protein synthesis and optimizing body composition. While total daily protein intake is ultimately the most important factor, he suggests that spreading protein intake across multiple meals can have additional benefits.

Aragon recommends aiming for at least 20-40 grams of protein per meal, as this has been shown to maximize muscle protein synthesis in younger individuals.

For example, if you're aiming for 120 grams of protein per day, you could divide it into 30 grams of protein per meal spread across four meals. This way, you ensure that you're getting the most out of each protein feeding and maximizing muscle protein synthesis response.

Protein Is Satiating

Protein has a higher satiating effect compared to carbohydrates and fats, meaning that it can help to promote feelings of fullness and reduce overall calorie intake. By including sufficient protein in your diet, you can potentially curb hunger cravings and make it easier to adhere to a caloric deficit, which is necessary for fat loss.

Therefore, while protein itself may not directly burn fat, it can indirectly support fat loss goals by increasing energy expenditure and promoting satiety, leading to better adherence to a caloric deficit.

You can watch more interviews with Aragon, follow him on X, follow him on Instagram, and read his books.

To help you achieve fat loss, I recommend using some form of nutrition tracking application. At least at first, these help you understand how many calories and macronutrients you are really consuming each day.

The two I like the most are RP’s Diet App and Carbon.

🎬 A Lesson From Tyler Durden

I don’t typically revisit movies, but recently, I found myself drawn back to Fight Club.

Remember the scene where Tyler drags the convenience store employee into the back parking lot, holding a gun up to his face?

In that intense moment, Tyler Durden, portrayed by Brad Pitt, challenges the employee on whether he's truly living the life he once envisioned. Surely, he had grander dreams than manning a cash register during the night shift at a roadside convenience store.

Durden's lesson to the worker is simple: WAKE UP. Break free from the monotony, stop coasting on autopilot.

His intention is to interrupt the robotic programming that this particular employee was operating off of. To wake up out of the dream of a passive life and instead follow what excites you.

Being ripped awake is a transformative experience. It’s why near-death experiencers suddenly change course in dramatic ways afterwards.

Durden sought to instigate a similar awakening in this employee, whose true desire was to become a veterinarian, not a 7-11 clerk.

Isn’t it more enlivening to make decisions based off what energizes you, what gives you excitement?

Even if those decisions may not be the most conventional or expected?

What if we all took a moment to step back and question our own lives? Are we living the life we truly desire, or are we merely following a script written by societal expectations?

Maybe it's time to channel our inner Tyler Durden, minus the guns and chaos, and ask ourselves the tough questions. What are our dreams, our passions, the things that make our hearts race with excitement? Are we awake, fully engaged in the pursuit of our own fulfillment, or are we sleepwalking through a life that doesn't align with our true desires?

Tyler Durden might be a fictional character, but the lesson he imparts is undeniably real: wake up, shake off the cobwebs of complacency, and start living a life that excites you.

Life is too short to be lived on autopilot.

🧫 Gelatin: The Powerful Protein You’re Not Getting Enough Of

Gelatin is derived from collagen, which is the most plentiful protein in humans and animals. Because most modern cultures have lost the practice of eating nose-to-tail, we typically eat much less gelatin than our ancestors did.

This is why supplementing with gelatin powder makes sense. This is the kind I use, although I can’t find it in Argentina.

Since gelatin balances out your meat intake, I usually mix 1 TBSP with 2-3oz of apple juice once a day with a meal containing meat or eggs.

Muscle meats and eggs are high in methionine, which raises homocysteine levels in the blood. It becomes important, then, to ensure you get glycine in your diet to balance out the amino acid profile. This is achieved nicely by eating gelatin.

There are several other health benefits with gelatin, which include healing your gut, promoting skin health and collagen production, protecting your joints, and helping you sleep.

You can go here to read about these benefits in depth and navigate to the relevant studies proving gelatin’s efficacy in those areas.

If you’re already eating a ton of skin, gelatinous meats, and bone broths, you may not need to supplement with gelatin. If you don’t, it’s a worthy addition to your diet.

👍 Stronger gut. Healthier skin. Resilient joints. Better sleep.

 𝕏 Thread of the Week

🍠 Increasing Carbs Reduces Stress: A study found that increasing carbohydrates, but not protein or fat, “may reduce circulating cortisol and dampen psychological stress-related cortisol responsiveness.” The researchers found an 8-week reduction in salivary cortisol with increases in dietary carbohydrate. There is no reason to fear carbs… especially when you are stressed.

💡 Artificial Light at Night— Still BAD: This study showed that artificial light at night (ALAN) messes with the natural day-night patterns of heart-related factors in animals. This throws off the body's coordination and makes it harder to predict cardiovascular stress and potential issues. In the short term, ALAN increases blood pressure and heart rate during the day for some animals.

Excessive artificial light at night can negatively affect autonomic activity, reflected in increased heart rate and blood pressure, and reduced heart rate variability (HRV). Reduce screen time and unnatural sources of light at night, wear blue-blocking glasses to reduce ALAN’s effects on your health.

💧 Bottled Water Contains Up to 100 More Microplastic Particles Than Previously Estimated: A new study, utilizing advanced techniques, shows that popular water brands contain an avg. of 240,000 microplastic particles per liter. This is 10-100x higher than past estimates!

“For a long time before this study, I actually thought that what was inside bottled water [in terms of] nanoplastics was just a few hundred PET particles,” said Naixin Qian, a Columbia chemistry graduate student and the study’s lead author. “It turns out to be much more than that.”

🔬 Science Is Not a Foundation: “People think that science is the thing which you should base your decisions and your life on…. but science changes all the time, so the idea that you should build on that is ridiculous.” I enjoyed this short clip from theologian Jonathan Paguea, who offers a contrary take to the science-focused health researchers I reference often in this newsletter.

🤨 Raw milk is illegal in BC, Canada (Link) but fentanyl is legal (Link)

💤 The future of sleep optimization (Link)

🔝 Top 5 regrets of dying people (Tweet)

🩻 The ribcage and pelvis are the foundational pieces of movement (Tweet)

🍽️ “A huge percentage of the nutrition advice you see from coaches (and even nutritionists) on social media, comes from people who are suffering from severe eating disorders.” (Tweet)

👣 The spiritual path shouldn’t be so serious (Tweet)

🧘‍♂️ Short list of things that left me after awakening (Tweet)

💬 “Find problems where you expect to have fun whether you solve them or not.” (Tweet)

🕹 The simulation hypothesis documentary (Video)

📅 My Scheduling Page: Go here to book a 15-minute free call to chat about my awareness teaching and energy healing services.

✔️ That will do it for this time! Hopefully you got some value out of it. If you have any questions/comments/things you’d like to learn more about please don’t hesitate to reach out.

🔗 If you know anyone who loves learning about these types of topics, send them this link!

📰 To read all past newsletters, go here.