Book Review: Good Energy by Casey Means, MD
Introduction
Casey Means probably wrote the most comprehensive book on nutrition and health that I have ever read, and I have read a lot of books haha. She is able to have a central theme of “good energy”. The opposite of good energy is bad energy. Bad energy leads to three main factors that link the whole book together. 1. mitochondrial dysfunction 2. chronic inflammation 3. oxidative stress. She argues- and I would agree, that everything in our environment from food, to sitting all day, to lack of sleep, to lack of movement all contribute to these things.
Effect of Food on Good Energy:
The molecules that we consume make up the cells of our body, which can be good or bad depending on what you are consuming. Eating a diet for Good Energy can minimize oxidative stress, inhibit inflammation, alter the composition of the microbiome, communicate with cells, create the structure of cells, and many other things. If you are eating well, then your mitochondria should be working well, the antioxidants will help with oxidative stress, and the food will both minimize inflammation in the first place, and help battle the inflammation that’s already present (curcumin for example). The practical takeaways here are honestly just limiting added sugars, seed oils (I plan on doing a whole separate article on this), and refined grains, and just focusing on eating real whole foods.
Effect Sleep on Good Energy:
I already wrote a review on Dr. Mathew Walker's book Why we Sleep which is referenced in this book. She was able to take a different perspective when looking at sleep in terms of its effects on metabolism (which is essentially what Good Energy is about, how to get your metabolism to work as optimally as it should be). She refers to multiple of the same studies that Dr. Walker cited, and rightfully so because they show how even just 1 hour of sleep deprivation can increase inflammation in the body. Consecutive nights of sleep deprivation can lead to a whole myriad of negative effects such as mitochondrial dysfunction and inflammation.
Effect of Movement on Good Energy:
The magic here is muscle contraction. Essentially when there is muscle contraction, your cells can let glucose enter the cell independent of insulin. This has dramatic effects on blood sugar, doing just a 10 minute walk after a meal can decrease the blood sugar spike by 30%. Resistance training and endurance training respectively help create new mitochondria, and create more functional mitochondria. I think movement is still underrated in terms of both weight loss and just health as a whole.
Effect of Environment on Good Energy:
I am really glad she included this section. Other than Dr. Anthony Jay’s book Estrogeneration (which is a must read book) not many people really talk about this. Maybe they talk about plastic being bad, but there is so much more than plastic in the environment. From cleaning supplies, toothpaste, shampoos, water bottles, ect. All of these contain different chemicals (and yes I know technically everything is a chemical, but you know what I mean) some examples include BPA, Phthalates, Paraens, Triclosan, Artificial colors, Dioxins, PCB’s, PFAS, Heavy metals, SLS, ect. The list can go on and on. For a lot of these we don’t even know what they do in the body as they have not been studied. For the ones that have been studied, the research seems clear that they can have negative effects on hormones, insulin sensitivity, immune system, thyroid, there is probably no system in the body they don’t affect.
Conclussion:
This book is probably the most comprehensive book I have read on both health and nutrition. She tells you why you should care about Good Energy, tells you what are the main pillars of obtaining good energy, then gives you a step by step plan at the end of the book to ensure your success.
Amazon link Good Energy by Casey Means, MD
Good Energy by Casey Means, MD