This is one of the dumber things I've seen lately

"Textured Soy Protein" (texturedsoyprotein)
02/01/2018 at 13:22 • Filed to: None

The sales lady at the BMW dealer who sold me my 135is back in 2013 wanted to connect with me on Linkedin, and for whatever reason I accepted the invitation. Normally she posts about buying BMWs from her, but today I saw she posted !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! .

What the hell is this? It’s Prüvit, some bullshit fad Keto supplements that cost giant piles of money and maybe this BMW sales lady is trying to sell on the side, I’m not sure exactly, she was vague in her Linkedin post.

Keto is the new diet fad that’s not actually all that new, just a new name for the same old high fat/low carb combo that’s been part of diets like Atkins and Paleo for decades. Keto is the new more science-y sounding version of the same idea.

Our bodies process different nutrients into energy at different rates. Broadly speaking, we can most easily process carbs, then fats, then protein. Our digestive systems convert carbs into glucose, which circulates in our blood. Our cells then take this glucose and through cellular respiration, produce ATP, the chemical they use for energy.

The digestive system breaks fat and protein down into smaller compounds that are used mostly for other purposes than energy, but I’m not going to bog you down with these. But one example is proteins are broken down into smaller blocks which our bodies use to build muscle.

If we eat more fat or protein than what our body needs to support its non-energy needs, or if we don’t eat enough carbs to meet our energy requirements, our bodies can convert fat and/or protein to glucose, which our cells use for energy.

If, for whatever reason, we have too much glucose in our blood, our body will eventually take that glucose and convert it into stored fat which can then be turned back into glucose at some point down the road if, for whatever reason, we don’t have enough blood glucose.

Ok, that’s the foundation. So what the fuck is Keto? Our cells are like flex-fuel cars: in the absence of glucose in the blood, our cells can also convert compounds called ketones into energy. As needed, our livers convert stored fats into ketones and then our cells fuel themselves off those ketones instead of glucose.

This is the pathway that all these low-carb diets exploit. By limiting the supply of readily-available glucose, these diets trick our bodies into converting stored fat into ketones to fuel our cells. Call it Atkins, call it Keto, whatever, it’s all the same trick.

The only difference with Keto is now they’re pushing goofy overpriced supplements that are either magic compounds that will supposedly encourage your body to be more inclined to use ketones for energy, or a bunch of supposedly-optimal fats that your body can use for fuel.

So, back to this Prüvit shit the BMW lady posted. I checked out their website, and the different supplements they sell cost anywhere from $80 to $130 a pop! We’re not talking for some bulk quantity either, that’s for a 20-serving package.

Unlike what most of the Keto gimmickry out there will tell you, our cells do not operate exclusively on either glucose or ketones. Our metabolic pathways adapt to our food intake and create whatever energy sources are easiest to accomplish.

Yes, if you force your cells to run on ketones through restriction of carbs, you will burn stored fat. All you need to do if you want to do this is limit your carbs and make sure the fats and proteins you eat are from high quality sources. Your body will take care of the rest, unless you have a metabolic disease like diabetes.

BUT, forcing your body into ketosis by limiting carb intake is not the only way to lose weight. Any time you don’t eat enough to support your body’s energy requirements, i.e. it’s burned up all the available blood glucose, your body will make up the difference by directing your liver to turn stored fat into ketones to fuel your cells. So, reduce your food intake, or increase your energy requirements through more activity, and you will lose stored fat.

Sure, you can try to optimize the balance of what you’re eating, and watch your macros (carbs/fat/protein) to try and accomplish this. But there’s no magic formula that is going to unlock your inner extra-turbo fat burning mechanism, because that mechanism doesn’t exist. Ketosis is something our bodies do naturally, all the time.

Taking magic(ally expensive) supplements to supposedly trick your body into ketosis, or eating magic(ally expensive) pre-packaged fats is not going to produce any different of a result. All that shit up top about boosting your brain and repairing DNA is not going to happen. Don’t buy that $130 pile of nonsense.

DISCUSSION (22)

benjrblant > Textured Soy Protein
02/01/2018 at 13:26

Seems like the type that bought a Juicero.

Bman76 (hates WS6 hoods, is on his phone and has 4 burners now) > Textured Soy Protein
02/01/2018 at 13:31

Some of my female coworkers sell Mary Kay/Young Essentials/ other junk on the side and it frustrates me to no end.

Future next gen S2000 owner > Textured Soy Protein
02/01/2018 at 13:31

If you don’t eat, you can’t get fat. True scientific fact.

TheRealBicycleBuck > Textured Soy Protein
02/01/2018 at 13:32

This is why I don’t link to anyone I haven’t worked with and would be willing to vouch for. I’ve had a couple of acquaintances ask for links, but I told them no thanks. It’s led to some awkward conversations.

“But why won’t you connect to me?”

“I haven’t worked with you and I only link to people that I have worked with.”

“But you know me. I’m a hard worker!”

“I know you, but I’ve never had to work with you in an office environment. Would you be willing to recommend me as a surgeon?”

“But you aren’t a surgeon.”

“Exactly.”

Textured Soy Protein > TheRealBicycleBuck
02/01/2018 at 13:34

I work in recruiting, I’ve got hundreds of random-ass connections I don’t know.

Textured Soy Protein > Bman76 (hates WS6 hoods, is on his phone and has 4 burners now)
02/01/2018 at 13:35

Hey, at least with Mary Kay you get something that actually does something.

Azrek > Textured Soy Protein
02/01/2018 at 13:35

The Raw Water fad a few weeks back was the dumbest thing by far...

As a guy who is working on a Water degree, that shit made me laugh so hard.

crowmolly > Textured Soy Protein
02/01/2018 at 13:36

That advanced DNA repair claim makes me want to call the FTC.

At this point I have seen decades of horseshit health and sports products. It comes in waves. But now they use science words!

It’s like the “protein products” out there now.

Cake bites! Ice cream! Pancakes!

Quite literally all they do is add protein concentrate to an existing product and *boom* it’s magically power packed for the super fierce bear in you.

TheRealBicycleBuck > Textured Soy Protein
02/01/2018 at 13:37

That sucks. I have a friend who is President of a national organization. He has thousands of links and is a big part of why I don’t.

TheRealBicycleBuck > Azrek
02/01/2018 at 13:39

Drinking the water made other people do other things so hard....

Textured Soy Protein > crowmolly
02/01/2018 at 13:42

A few months ago I was in the break room at work and some not-very in shape dude was talking about how he was doing keto this keto that blah blah blah.

I try very hard to avoid saying anything that could come off as condescending about fitness because I’m a former fat kid myself and everyone has to start somewhere. It was all I could do to not say anything at all, just get my coffee and move along.

Azrek > TheRealBicycleBuck
02/01/2018 at 13:42

I do internships at water treatment plant...and I’ve seen the things these folks are ingesting and it looks like something out of a sci-fi movie. Enjoy it!!

Chariotoflove > Textured Soy Protein
02/01/2018 at 13:44

This is why I don’t do Linked In, Facebook, Twitter, or any of that noise.

Also, when I taught metabolism, I had a slide called “why the Atkins diet is stupid”. The success of all these BS products and diets is one of the things that tells me how bad the state of science education is in our population.

diplodicus > Azrek
02/01/2018 at 14:02

I had to look that up. “Tap water? You’re drinking toilet water with birth control drugs in them,” Mukhande Singh, the founder of the Live Water startup, told the Times . “Chloramine, and on top of that they’re putting in fluoride. Call me a conspiracy theorist, but it’s a mind-control drug that has no benefit to our dental health.”

This guys charging $37 for 2.5 gallons! Shouldn’t it be cheaper since they aren’t doing anything to it? Plus I’m pretty sure there are multiple studies that show fluoride does help our enamel stay intact.

brianbrannon > Textured Soy Protein
02/01/2018 at 14:27

Ask someone who is suffering from low blood sugar symptoms because they haven’t had a carb fix in three hours why their ketone pathway isnt working. Eating low carb works because of the millions of years that humans evolved eating in environments without readily available sugar

Textured Soy Protein > brianbrannon
02/01/2018 at 14:34

Are you implying that these bullshit $130 supplements actually do something?

Azrek > diplodicus
02/01/2018 at 15:00

I apologize for making your brain retreat in horror....but these people seem to exist in this world.

CaptDale - is secretly British > Textured Soy Protein
02/01/2018 at 17:08

My roommate sells and swears by this crap.

Overpriced water flavoring if you ask me

Textured Soy Protein > CaptDale - is secretly British
02/01/2018 at 17:44

Nothing like combining bullshit psuedoscience fad diets with multilevel marketing!

CaptDale - is secretly British > Textured Soy Protein
02/01/2018 at 17:51

Dude right? You think you would catch on. The sad part is she is really really smart, but this is “so in line with her life” or some bs.

brianbrannon > Textured Soy Protein
02/02/2018 at 21:30

I’m implying that you don’t know about ketosis

Textured Soy Protein > brianbrannon
02/03/2018 at 10:10

I already said that eating low carb works. This is about bullshit overpriced multilevel-marketed supplements.