How to Fight FATflammation with Dr. Lori Shemek

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Hey, it's JJ Virgin. And welcome to the JJ Virgin Lifestyle show where I give you the latest cutting edge intel to help you look, feel and think better. Now, today's show is all about fat flammation.

What?

All right. I'm not even going to tell you what it is. I'm going to let our guest tell you all about it. And I got to tell you, you are about to learn which foods can actually shrink fat cells. Yep, you heard it here. Anyway, you'll just have to tune in here to find that one. But there's some incredible pearls in this interview. Let me tell you a little bit, pal. I'm interviewing today. It's Dr. Lori Shemek and she is a leading fat cell researcher, health expert, weight loss expert, keynote speaker and recognized authority on inflammation and its role in weight loss, preventing disease and optimizing health. She's the best selling author of how to fight Fat flammation and fire up your fat burn. Now I know everybody wants to know more about how to burn fat and we've got it here for you. She's a health Expert, the ABC TV show Good Morning Texas. She's been on CNN, NPR and Fox and Dr. Been in Dr. Oz's Good Life magazine, Health Shape, Women's Day, Prevention, Red Book, Ladies Home Journal, the Huffington Post and more. She's also been recognized by HuffPo as twice by the way, as one of the top health and fitness Experts along with Dr. Oz and David Chinchenko and as one of the top diet and nutrition experts. The woman knows her stuff and I am super excited to share. Dr. Lori, she with you today. All right, let's do it. Dr. Laurie, welcome to the show. I'm so glad you're here with me today.

Well, thank you for having me. It's an honor to be with you, jj.

All right. Well, first of all, I am in love with your book title like title, it's so good. Fat flamation. Fat Flamation. Let's we have to like discuss this fat flammation thing. What, what the heck is Fat Flammation?

Well so we all know what inflammation is pretty much. Okay, so we've got.

Well, maybe we should back up. Like maybe we don't. Let's assume we don't. Let's start there.

Okay, so we've got. There are two types of inflammation. There is acute inflammation. We need it. It's necessary. Without it, we're sitting ducks, really. It heals even though it's uncomfortable, it in the end helps us. It promotes better health. And the next type of inflammation is silent inflammation. And this is the core cause of most illness, disease, faster aging, and weight gain. You can look at silent inflammation as like having a sore on the inside of your body that never heals. It's always there and never goes away. You know, like acute inflammation goes away. Its very silence is the issue. And it is the core cause of diseases that we're all so familiar with, like cancer and Alzheimer's disease, stroke, obesity, diabetes, et cetera. So these are all directly related to low level inflammation in the body. So next we have fat inflammation. So we're talking about inflamed fat cells. And we used to think that our fat was this life jiggly mass that just kind of sat there and didn't look so pretty. Well, we now know differently. Our fat is very much alive. It's our largest endocrine organ, and it's actively sending out messages and more, determining whether to store fat or to release stored fat. But with the types of foods most people are eating, you know, the standard American diet of processed foods, high sugar foods, white bread, sodas, etc. The effect is a powerful impact upon our fat cell, creating a silent inflammation of the fat cell. We have roughly 100 billion fat cells throughout our body, and they're all about the size of a period on the end of a sentence when healthy. But these fat cells become packed full of fat, sugar, and other compounds that then bloat this fat cell. So the cell begins to act as if it's infected. And as this fat mass expands, inflammation increases. One mechanism for this dysfunction may be that the mitochondria, which are our power plants of our cells, are not functioning optimally. Okay, so when you take care of the mitochondria in your cell, you know, the battery, it's what keeps us alive. You increase their capacity to do what they're supposed to do. So essentially, we are our mitochondria. And when they're not working properly, your metabolism runs less efficiently, and this causes weight gain and this vicious cycle of fat formation.

Well, how would you know if your mitochondria like it's hard enough for people to even know what the heck they are, you know, but how the heck, what are some signs that they're sideways?

Well, if you're tired, if you're gaining weight, if everything you're doing to create better health and, and, and lose weight is not working for you, these are signs that your mitochondria aren't working. And you know, when you have inflammation in the body, this affects every area of your, all the cells in your body, including the mitochondria within the cell. And this promotes oxidative stress and it creates this powerful vicious cycle of reducing your metabolism. And then you see the weight gain. So it is a vicious cycle. So the more fat that you pack into those cells, the more inflammatory molecules are released and then your metabolism slows even further. And again, it's a vicious cycle. So that's. We want to make sure that we're taking care of our cellular function. We want to reverse the inflammation within our cells so that, and this includes our fat cells because there are compounds that are stored within the fat cell that are not stored within other cells or that other cells are not affected by. So as much to a greater degree.

Okay, so exactly how, like, what are some ways we can start doing that?

So the first thing to do is we want to make sure that we're eating foods and taking care of, we're sleeping, we're exercising. All of these things really have a market impact upon the inflammation in our body. Our gut health, as we're all getting more familiar with, and I write about in my book, is really the gut, in my opinion, is the epicenter of our immune health, our mental well being and our weight. So if you think about our gut, we have 100 trillion roughly gut bacteria that equates to about 5 pounds of these little critters that we're walking around with. And because again, the diet is so overloaded with poor food choices that we have an overload of bad gut bugs. And these, these foods literally feed these guys. And it promotes again, you know, weight gain and inflammation throughout the body, poor health, brain fog, all of these things can be tracked back to the gut. And so, you know, this is a powerful example of how important our gut health is. Researchers have, they've taken the gut bacteria from a lean person, planted it in that of an obese person, and the obese person lost weight. And they've also replicated this in mouse studies even though the mice were eating less. Okay, that's how, how powerful these bad gut Bugs are. But on the other hand, healthy gut bugs promote a healthier you. And so when you add specific foods into your diet that promote gut health, you're going to create a leaner you, a happier you, and you're going to be healthier.

And you said something that I always love to just kind of drive home is you kind of brought up the C word, calories.

Right, Right. Well, I know you know this jj. So the calorie myth is, you know, most people believe calories in, calories out is what it's all about, right? And but there's a misconception because, you know, for example, one of the first things somebody will do is they'll pick up a package and if they're looking at labels, reading labels, which we all should be doing, they'll notice, they'll go straight to the calories. How many calories does this have? Okay, but here's the thing. Not all calories are created equal. So yes, calories matter. But there's a crucial difference in the way different foods are metabolized. So, you know, and research bears us out. The calorie myth is based on old science from the 1950s. So we need to get back to present research and understand that there really is a difference in different foods the way they're metabolized. So you take diet soda, for example, zero calories. But what does it do? It promotes fat storage, hunger, cravings. You know, 100 calories of leafy lettuce is metabolized, vastly different than 100 calorie snack pack. Okay? So the bottom line is you do not need to count calories. You simply need to need to choose the right anti inflammatory foods that will prevent and reverse inflammation within the fat cell and cellularly throughout the body.

I want to brought something up because you, you threw it out there. And it's one that we get asked all the time and you know, you said yes, we should read labels. So what do you think the key things that someone should be looking for on a label are you.

So I, I go straight to the sugar. Okay. Sugar is the most inflammatory compound anybody can put into Amen. And so we want to make sure that, you know, if, if that food has sugar in it, kick it to the curb. I'm telling you, that is, you know, it's interesting. These, if you're counting, for example, the 100 calorie snack packs, if that is what you're going by, then those foods are packed with white flour, for example, we're fine. That is in fact metabolized very similarly to white sugar.

But this is. This is important, though, because someone's going to look at a package and if you say, okay, watch the sugar, they'd go, well, I looked under sugar and it said one gram. And, you know, it just had white flour. So how. How does someone unravel all of this stuff, right? There's plenty of ways to lie on the labels. I mean, look at. Look at the fact that they can say no sugar added and use fruit juice concentrate. That crazy silliness. So how do you. Unreal. How do you, like, become a health detective for labels and not get duped?

Well, it's important to know that you know what you're looking at. So if you see something that has wheat flour, for example, without the word whole, which we don't want you to eat wheat anyway. But for example, if you see. If you see sugar is in the lineup, if, you know, get to know the different names of sugar, that's very, very important. And the bad fats out there, there are fats that. If we have time, I can get into that.

How would we know which ones are the bad ones? That's what I want to give her. Some key takeaways. Someone's looking at the label and they go, not for me. What are, like, the things that you would. Put it down. Put that down.

Says hydrogenated fat. The word hydrogenated is. Is a key player right there. Get rid of it. If it has any corn oil, vegetable oil, you know, even canola oil, get rid of it. Because these fats are high and these are very inflammatory. They're. They're going to contribute to an excess amount of omega 6 fat in your diet. And omega 6 is an essential fat, but it is still a player in promoting not just weight gain, but core health. And so what I want your. Your listeners to know is that when you have an excess amount of omega 6 fat, I'm on this. This fat track now. You are, Lori, go. Yeah. Okay, so you're. You're creating a compound called arachidonic acid in your body, okay? And the arachidonic acid then gets stored within the fat cell. You don't have to remember the name, but just remember what it does. It promotes inflammatory conditions within the fat cell that has that metabolic effect that's slowing down your metabolism. It. That compound, the fat cell doesn't like it and begins to act sick, if you will. And you know how when you eat something, you don't feel just right? Well, that fat cell is acting in the very same manner with this excess amount of omega 6 in your diet.

So let's just throw a little thing out there again, because I like to hit this especially with that, what the health thing coming out and all the latest ridiculousness stuff from American Heart association that just makes me insane. You know, let's, let's go there with the fat, like, because there's still, I just, I still can't believe that we're getting, getting information out there telling us to eat a low fat diet. Well, let's talk.

Right? So if you look at the American Heart Association's guidelines, they're telling you to eat some of that bad fat, margarine, if you can believe that. And some of the fats that I mentioned, the corn oil, the canola oil, all of that is promoting inflammation within the body. So it's very important to make sure that you read the labels because a lot of, as you mentioned, jj, a lot of food manufacturers, you know, they intentionally try to get you to buy their food if it's either through the makeup, the prescription, if you will, of the food, to intentionally make it desirable and addictive or to bypass some guidelines. So, FDA guidelines. So if, you know, if we all know sugar's not good for us, well, what's the next, you know, oh, it's natural cane sugar or it's beet sugar or something to that effect. So we want to make sure that we're reading labels. Absolutely.

Now let's talk about some of your favorite foods because I always like to like to hear what people have to say here, like, what are your top foods and why?

Well, I like to eat, you know, a lot of. One thing that I love is I make this grain free pizza. Okay. So it's made with a cauliflower crust. And honestly, you cannot even. I've had skeptics want more. Okay. It's that good. So when you're trying to reduce excess carbohydrates in your diet, getting rid of grains, all of that, check out some of those recipes that really help you. I have them in my book as well.

Let's just. How do you make a cauliflower crust?

So what you do is you, you can do it a couple ways. You can chop up in the food processor, the cauliflower, one head of cauliflower, or you can simmer it in water. And the important thing is if you do it that way, you have to squeeze it out really hard, make it kind of dry, and then you add in an egg or two and some parmesan cheese salt to the mix.

Okay. For everyone. Listening though, we could do this without parmesan. Like, I have a lot of people who are egg intolerant or dairy intolerant. I'm assuming that if you had to, you could probably do it with neither of those. It might be a little bit. Require a little more creativity, but.

Right. You could pro. I'm trying to think what you could do it with. But if you are very.

I've been like crazed about cauliflower rice. I'm just amazed at how incredible this tastes. And it literally like, what?

Last night, it's so funny.

I have roasted cauliflower on my book. And I mean, just, you know, to me there's nothing more disgusting. It's then like, well, there's a couple things more disgusting, but raw cauliflower is just like, ugh. But it turns into the most incredible things.

Right, Exactly. And you can say that a lot for different vegetables. But you know, I have to say cruciferous vegetables are key to add to your diet. Very important as they, they promote optimal cellular health and reverse inflammation. Excellent for immune health and again, mitochondrial health. So you want to make sure you add a. That into your diet. You want to add foods that target fat cells that are high in quercetin, for example.

What would those be? Give us a couple of those.

So you want foods that are blueberries, all onions do this. Romaine, lettuce, spinach, hot peppers and apples occasionally. I don't recommend apples all the time. But quercetin helps inhibit the formation of new fat cells.

Wow.

Yeah, so.

So.

And it helps reverse leptin resistance. It again reduces fat cell inflammation. So that's very important. Also, polyphenols help. And this, this is what we're talking about. Help to fight the inflammation within the fat cell. You also want omega 3 fat, particularly the DHA that comes along with eating omega 3s that come from like wild salmon, for example, or grass fed foods. You want spices that specifically shrink fat cells like turmeric. It not only helps reverse inflammation within the fat cell, but throughout the body as well. So you can add turmeric as a spice to foods. Tea, you can add it to smoothies and other spices that fight target fat cell inflammation are garlic and cinnamon, cayenne and ginger. And then we have avocados. We love avocados. So avocados protect our cells, protect our cellular parts like our mitochondria. They destroy free radicals. They, you know, when our mitochondria aren't functioning optimally, this actually again slows the metabolism. So when you're gaining weight you have to look at your. The cell. You have to go to your cells. Okay. Because that is really the foundation of your health. You want to take care of your cells.

And I think what you've really said here that's so critical for people to understand is, you know, I've always said, you know, calories count, but where they come from is what counts most. And I love that, really, that all of this food that, by the way, is what we put in our books with all our recipes also. It's delicious, but it's doing important things in your body to help your, you know, help your body help shrink fat cells. Oh, my gosh. I'd never heard that one. I'm like, okay, you know, wow. You know, so. And reduce inflammation. And this is so key. Now I'm going to throw a curveball at you.

Okay?

So. And this is all about you. What's the one thing that you do every day that you feel makes the biggest difference in your life?

I walk my dog every morning. And seriously, when I haven't been able to do that, it just throws me off. And so I love to walk her. I'm blessed enough to live in an area that's beautiful with the trees. And, you know, when I walk, I do a little gratitude as I walk. And so I'm in the process of, you know, walking my dog, feeling grateful for things, appreciating what I have in my life and. And what's to come.

Awesome. Thank you so much. And I know that you have something super cool for everybody listening. So tell us about it.

Sure. I have two books for all of you, and one book is going. Is going to keep you forever motivated. Okay. So it's going to keep you motivated with optimizing your health and anything else you want to move forward with in life. And also I have another book on nutrition, the essentials of. If you're just starting out learning about nutrition or you want a little bit more information, this will help you do it easily.

I love that because, you know, we all have to take responsibility for our health. You've got to become your own health detective. So the more you know and then put into action, the better you'll be. So thank you for that. Everyone can get that. We'll put that in the show notes and also jjvirgin.com DoctorLori and Lori's name is spelled L O R I. And thank you so much for joining me today, Lori. I super appreciate you. About time we got you on the show. Thank you.

Thank you, jj. It's an honor, really. I appreciate it.

Yay. All right, after the break, I'll be answering a listener's question, so stay with me.

It's scary but true. Sugar is hiding everywhere in diet foods, packaged foods, dressings, and even sugar substitutes. It's not about cutting out all sugar. It's knowing which sugars to choose and which to lose. What if you could drop seven hidden sugars, lose up to ten pounds in just two weeks? JJ Virgin will show you how with a simple four step plan to cut cravings and rev up your metabolism to lose fat fast and forever. Visit jjvirgin.com books and order the Sugar Impact diet. You can shed up to ten pounds in two weeks. Visit jjvirgin.com books welcome back.

All right, this is the time where I answer a listener's question and I always find the ones that fit so well. And this one from Mariana Redland is perfect. And Marianne writes, help. I'm overwhelmed. I hear so many different things about what I need to do to get healthy. I know I need to do all of them, but I don't know where to even start. What do I do? All right. Lori mentioned this on the show, and it's funny because she's really all about fat and eating more fat and what foods can help you shrink your fat cells. But she dropped a pearl in there, and that's what I'm going to use. And today is my recommendation is where to start. And she's like, you know, called out sugar. And so what I tell you, if you're looking for where to start, I built all my programs to help you be your own personal health detective and really connect the dots between what you're eating and how you feel and of course, what you weigh and where. I think the. The thing that can make the biggest shift quickly is lowering your sugar impact. Notice I call it sugar impact, not just sugar, because as we were talking about on the show, when you're reading a label, you gotta look beyond just sugar because all carbs, especially super starchy carbs, turn into sugar quickly in the body. And you want your body to slowly make sugar from the food you eat, not get it mainlined on in. So I'm going to tell you, Marianne, where to start is start with my Sugar Impact diet. Start just tapering down your sugar impact, trading the white pasta for lentil pasta, trading the white rice for brown rice, and then trading it for wild rice. You just start tapering it down and tapering it down, and all of a sudden you'll turn around even in a week or two and go, what the heck happened? My energy's better. I'm losing that belly bloat I'm not craving. And that's what I like to do, is do something that's going to start giving you a win right away. The big, the big takeaway here. And I love that you said it is. You know, when you're overwhelmed, when you feel like there's so much to do, you do nothing. You're like, okay, you throw your hands up in the air. So I want you just to start with one thing. And remember the little hinges swing, the big door. So if you focus just first on tapering down your sugar impact, you'll start to see all those shifts I just talked about. All right, if you'd like to submit a question, easiest place to do is just head on over to my Facebook page at JJ Virgin Official. I do Facebook lives every week. I do my little Facebook Live show there. And I love getting questions and we watch for the ones that are fit so well into everything we're doing. So I would love to, love to love to feature your question. If you're an Instagrammer, you can also go on over to Instagram and put it on in there too. So wherever you feel most comfortable, pop on in. You can even go to my customer service. Email me through my website. My customer experience team, we'll, we'll post it there too. We love to answer your question questions. I love the feedback, love the engagement. And speaking of loving stuff, we love the reviews on itunes. So thank you, thank you, thank you. It makes a big difference. So every show I feature my review of the week. This one is from the Cat with Claws. I love these screen names too. They're so awesome. Says, best podcast for weight loss inspiration. Inspiration is capitalized and says, okay, I have to admit I'm a fan. But honestly, this is one of the best podcasts I've ever heard for getting motivated and staying there. Tons of great info. Yes. Stuff you probably don't know and tools to be well subscribe. It will change your life. Thank you so much. The Cat with Claws. I always want to know the stories behind these. These screen names. Like would love to know what that one is. Anyway, I super appreciate that the whole team gets such a charge out of reading these reviews. So I think super thank you for that. Plus, I know people trying to decide what to listen to. It helps them a bunch. So thank you and thank you for joining me today. And I want to remind you that I strive to bring you information that's not only cool and different than what you've heard out there, but also that you can take immediate action on. Because this stuff only matters. Like, it only works if you work it right. You know, like someone says that program didn't work. Well, you got to work the program. So the information day will work if you work it. So grab a pearl from today and put it into action. And I will see you next week. Bye bye.

Hello listeners. This is Anne Bogle, author, blogger and creator of the podcast what Should I Read next? Since 2016, I've been helping readers bring more joy and delight into their reading lives. Every week, I take all things books and reading with a guest and guide them in discovering their next read. They share three books they love, one book they don't, and what they've been reading lately, and I recommend three titles they may enjoy reading Next. Guests have said our conversations are like therapy, troubleshooting issues that have plagued their reading lives for years and possibly the rest of their lives as well. And of course, recommending books that meet the moment. Whether they are looking for deep introspection to spur or encourage a life change, or a fraud page turner to help them escape the stresses of work, school, everything, you'll learn something about yourself as a reader and you'll definitely walk away confident to choose your next read, with a whole list of new books and authors to try. So join us each Tuesday for what Should I Read Next? Subscribe now wherever you're listening to this podcast and visit our website what Should I read next podcast.com to find out more.