Nutrition

Introduction to Food

Food is one of the main pillars of the UpRiver philosophy because it is one of the most important factors in our health. The poor state of most people’s mental and physical health can very often be mainly attributed to poor food choices. As the father of nutrition once said, “Let food be thy medicine.”

1. Which Diet Is Best? Understanding the Basics of Food

TL;DR: Rather than try to follow the hype of each new diet you hear of from vegetarian, Mediterranean, paleo, keto, and even carnivore, go with common sense and evaluate diets based on 5 timeless factors: “Naturalness”, Nutrient Density, Anti-nutrients, Variety, and Real Life Application.

5. Do We Really NEED Fiber?

TL:DR: Fiber, the long-touted digestive aid daytime television always told us we needed more of and should supplement, may not be as essential as once thought to human wellness. Reexamine your diet to determine if fiber is really all that necessary for optimizing your health.

6. Benefits of Fasting

TL;DR: Fasting offers benefits to the human body that on the whole improve one’s health. As these benefits include hormone regulation, inflammation reduction and increased levels of autophagy etc., to optimize one’s health, fasting in its many forms is an important addition to a biohacker’s life.

8. Benefits Of A Gluten-Free Diet

TL;DR: Gluten and gliadin are themselves proteins that the body always perceives as a virus or bacterium. As a result, the overall state of one’s health is decreased by gluten’s ingestion.

9. High Protein Foods for Fitness

TL;DR: When looking to lose fat and preserve as much muscle as you can, it's best to go for high-quality protein sources like beef, poultry, and eggs that don’t exceed a significant caloric density.

10. Dietary Fat Sources for Fitness

TL;DR: While your body needs dietary fat to maintain vital hormone production, not all fat sources are made equal. Choose those that maximize health benefits while also potentiating your body’s ability to build lean muscle and drop body fat.
Were Hunter-Gatherers Healthier Than Us?

12. Were Hunter-Gatherers Healthier Than Us? Carnivore Deep Dive Pt. 2/6

TL;DR: Yes. Anthropological evidence points to the fact that human brains rapidly increased in size due to consuming meat, delta-15 nitrogen levels indicate our ancestors were apex level carnivores, and as we switched from a meat-based diet to a grain-based diet roughly 10k years ago our height shrank and we became more susceptible to illness.
Do plant foods have a dark side?

13. Do Plant-Based Foods Have a Dark Side? Carnivore Deep Dive Pt. 3/6

TL;DR: The only evidence that plants are good for us are correlation studies confounded by the healthy user bias. Plants have several classes of compounds that cause inflammation and disease flavonoids, oxalates, lectins, isothiocyanates, salicylates, and tannins. Humans aren't truly designed to eat a large amount of plants like herbivores are.
Is Red Meat Bad For You?

15. Is Red Meat Actually Bad For You? Carnivore Deep Dive Pt. 5/6

TL;DR: The only evidence that red meat is bad for you stems from extremely poor and outdated science, and there is much stronger research to show that red meat actually one of the healthiest foods available, even in "blue zones". Contrary to popular belief, high LDL cholesterol levels are good for us so long as we don't already have insulin resistance from excessive processed carbs, which almost 90% of the population does.

Introduction to Supplements

Tremendous strides have been taken in all sectors of the nutritional supplement industry - some good, some bad. Notwithstanding, it's very important to understand that supplements remain exactly that, supplements. They are not essential, despite their very real ability to change our lives when chosen correctly, and used correctly.

1. Are Supplements Good for You?

TL;DR: Many people are deficient in Vitamin D, K, Iron, Calcium, Magnesium, Potassium, and Vitamin C. Eating real foods is the best way to fill these gaps, but for cases where this may be impractical supplements can be helpful.

2. The Dangers of Supplements

TL;DR: Supplements are unregulated so make sure yours are approved by a trusted organization and don’t contain any dangerous ingredients before taking them.

3. Choosing the Right Supplements

TL;DR: When choosing supplements, choose Vitamin D3 over D2 and take it with K2, choose Folate over Folic acid for B9, use ascorbic acid for Vitamin C if your stomach can handle it, use either Methylcobalamin or Cyanocobalamin for B12 depending on your preference and stay away from Vitamin A, E and Calcium supplements.

4. Do Multivitamins Work?

TL;DR: Most multivitamins don’t work, so research for one that does, or make your own custom "stack" from individual supplements as it suits your needs. Plugin your typical diet to a nutrition tracker to see your gaps.