Introduction To Jay and The Food Macro-Nutrients
My name is Chef Jay Lipnicki. I’ve been a professional cook for over 15 years and have been on the Stop and Regrow program for a couple of months.
Food has always been an integral part of my life and it has meant very different things for me at different times. Meeting Dr Nettles happened just around the time a few things other things in my life changed as well, that made our meeting all the more poignant. At the time I was suffering from anxiety, fatigue, low sex drive and I’m about 15lbs overweight.
I first started cooking with my Grandmother in her kitchen and learned quickly how social cooking is at its core and how it has the ability to bring people together. After high school when I was in the Navy, I used to have decent sized dinner parties ultimately leading me to Culinary school and a career in food.
Nowadays, although I still work partially in the professional restaurant environment, I have been doing a lot of private chef meal work including meal delivery systems working closely with a nutritionist. I’ve always understood that you are what you eat, but I never really understood the biology of it until Dr Nettles broke it down for me.
What Is Food?
To start with, everything you eat can only be one of three things: protein, fat and sugar. There is nothing else. So why do we eat? Most people would say they eat for enjoyment, for the pleasure of taste. We forget that we eat so our bodies can take those nutrients and turn them into us. Most people know about the energy or calories we get from food that keeps us moving, but even more important is what we make from the proteins and fats we ingest.
Protein
You really are what you eat, literally! Your skin, muscles, organs are all are made of protein, as are your hair and nails. What you maybe didn’t know however is that the neurotransmitters in your brain that help you think clearly, remember well and keep your mood stable are also made of protein, as are the antibodies in your immune system that fight infections and disease.
Fat
Most of everything else in our bodies is made of fat. We are each made of 100 trillion cells. All those cells are different, ie: a brain cell is not the same as a skin cell, as a liver cell. However, every one of those cells has a cell wall. We all know about our skin cells turning over and being replaced, and we help that process along with dermabrasion. But did you know that every cell in your body turns over at least once every 7 days? Who knew that we are completely new people every week? If we don’t eat enough fat then we can’t turn over all our cells and they will age us more quickly. Plus if we bring in the wrong kind of fat, such as LDL (bad) cholesterol rather than HDL (good) cholesterol, which cells do you think function better?
Sugar
Sugar or carbohydrate is the macronutrient that has the most mis-information about it. Everyone knows that carbs are bad now right? Well what I learned from Dr Nettles was that besides the vitamins and minerals they contain (most of which can also be found in proteins also by the way), once they are in your body they are broken down into sugar. Yes that’s right, sugar. And what’s worse your body can’t tell the difference between the sugar from carbohydrates (including those from fruits and vegetables – yes I did say vegetables) and the white refined sugar you might put in your coffee or that occasion can of beer or Dr Pepper.
My Food Story
Interestingly for me, who thought that I ate really healthily, was that what I thought would be my problem – too much of the wrong kind of fats, wasn’t as bad as I thought due to me taking in also a fair amount of the good cholesterol. It’s my sugar level which is my main problem. Plus, I do need to eat a little more protein too. I’m not alone however. According to Dr Nettles the vast majority of people have protein deficient diets.
Over my next series of articles, I’ll be providing some great tips (including some recipes) for how to eat healthier and feel better.
Lastly, if you don’t know where you stand biochemically, or you haven’t had the right kind of bloodwork done recently, I urge you to contact Dr Nettles office as soon as you wish to feel better or to improve your quality of life. Dr Nettles Biochemical Report Card already has and continues to prove, that science and better information, leads to better decisions, ultimately allowing our bodies to thrive in their natural state.
Until next time,
I wish you good health and tasty food!
Chef Jay Lipnicki