How Jesus Got His Six Pack
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Last summer, I attended a Greek food festival
hosted at a large Greek Orthodox church.
In between the dancing and baklava gorging, I took a guided tour of
their place of worship. It was
absolutely stunning. Orthodox Christians
tend to be quite elaborate in their decoration of the house of the Lord. The architecture was dramatic, the statues
were gold plated, and intricate murals covered the walls and ceilings. In fact, a world renowned artist with
expertise in the traditional Orthodox paintings had been commissioned from
Greece to do the work. Our tour guide
was extremely knowledgeable and fielded all sorts of deep theological questions
from fellow tour mates. I knew my
question was ridiculous, but I needed to satisfy my curiosity. I was struck by the fact that in all the
topless depictions of Jesus, he had a full six pack – in fact, he was kind of a
stud. This is a very conservative and
traditional branch of Christianity, and I was surprised to see Jesus portrayed
in such a sexually attractive way.
Clearly, there was a lot of reverence and tradition behind these
paintings, so it must have been intentional.
Gingerly, I raised my hand, “Why was Jesus drawn with a six pack?” Our guide thought for a bit amongst the
group’s snickers, and eventually answered, “Well, I suppose that is just how he
looked. I guess he was in great
shape.” Jesus was a carpenter by trade,
and many of his disciples were fishermen and day laborers, so it is natural to
assume they were quite strong. But if
you ask any weightlifter or body builder, being strong and having chiseled
abdominals do not always go hand in hand.
Diet plays a huge role. So, I
started thinking about the major components of Christ’s diet. The geographical location in which his life
unfolded and the profession of several of his disciples suggest that fish
constituted a major part of his food intake.
Which led to my next question: will eating more fish help ME to get a
six pack?
I. Crash course on fats
There
are 4 major types of fat: saturated fats, polyunsaturated fats, monounsaturated
fats, and trans fatty acids. Fat is not
the enemy. In fact, fats are quite
awesome. We cannot function without them
as fats are a vital part of every cell in our body. When eaten properly, they can help to reduce
body fat and improve hormonal balance.
But not all fats are created equal.
Trans fatty acids are the worst and should be consumed under no
circumstances. Saturated fatty acids
should be limited in the diet (aim for less than 15% of fat intake). However, the situation is complex as short
chain saturated fatty acids are excellent additions to healthy diets (just to
clarify, this refers to fats from coconut and avocados, not French fries and
chicken nuggets). Monounsaturated fats
represent a relatively good choice. The
most popular of this kind is olive oil.
II. What makes fish special?
Fish
are set apart from other plant and animal foods because of their unique fatty
acid content. Fats are vital to our
health as they provide the raw material for a variety of hormones and signaling
proteins, in addition to being a necessary component of every cell in our
body. But not all fats are created
equal. Humans are unable to synthesize long
chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC-PUFA) of the omega-3 and omega-6 series,
thus we must obtain them from our diet. Fish
are one of the richest sources of omega-3, such as eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA),
and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) due to the large role phytoplankton play in the
marine food chain. Emerging research
confirms that it is not just about absolute value of omega-3 and omega-6 you ingest; the ratio in which they are consumed
is what matters most. The metabolism of
omega-3 and omega-6 LC-PUFA are
intimately linked. While they both give
rise to different end products, the enzymes involved in their metabolism are
shared. In essence, omega-3 and omega-6
are in constant competition. This is
important because the ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 in the modern diet of fast,
convenient food has greatly increased compared to the time of Jesus, who ate
lots of fish. This is of concern to
those desiring a six pack as research shows that high omega-3 intake, and a low
ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 is associated with a reduction in body fat.
III. I wish my fat would just melt away……could it
actually be that simple?
It
is important to differentiate between the two different types of fat in the
body: brown adipose tissue (BAT) and white adipose tissue (WAT). The role of BAT is to maintain body
temperature through non-shivering thermogenesis. Basically, they are energy consuming cells
that utilize our fat stores to create heat.
On the other hand, WAT (the stuff that gathers on our stomachs and
thighs), only uses the energy from its fat stores when there is a metabolic
need (ie. when we are working out). I am
going to use an analogy to illustrate just how incredible this is: if BAT and
WAT were both mustangs, and their fat stores were gasoline, BAT depletes its
fuel by simply revving its engine. It
doesn’t actually do any work, just creates some heat. On the other hand, the only way for WAT to
use its fuel is to put it to work by driving around town. In essence, BAT melts itself away.
WAT
is not a dormant storage tissue. Rather,
it is an active hormonal participant and it is centrally involved in the
regulation of energy balance. It decides
whether to store fat, or to use it as fuel.
There are major differences
between the WAT in obese people, and WAT in lean people.
1)
The physical structure of the fat cells look
different under microscope. For example,
the fat cells in lean people are loaded with mitochondria whereas the fat cells
of obese people have very few
2)
Fat cells communicate with the body through
secretions. The secretory profile of WAT
from lean people is different from the secretory profile of obese people.
3)
At a molecular level, different cell signaling
pathways are activated in the WAT of lean people versus obese people.
In summary, the WAT of lean people acts more like BAT, the
fat storages that tend to melt themselves away.
We
all have that annoying pal who is forever lean.
The good news is that our fate is not automatically predetermined by our
genes . Current research shows that by
eating certain foods, we can start transforming our WAT to look and behave more
like BAT. This can be accomplished by increasing
our intake of omega 3 fats, specifically DHA and EPA. Keeping in mind that the majority of the
research to date has been done on mice, the most effective way to improve your
six pack with fish oils is to look for a supplement with a high concentration
of DHA, along with EPA, and to consume an amount equivalent to 0.7mg DHA/day.
This is the
summary version. For the full version,
along with footnotes, please send me a message via twitter @RunJumpStefReid
