Fat for Fuel

A Revolutionary Diet to Combat Cancer, Boost Brain Power, and Increase Your Energy
by Dr. Joseph Mercola | Hay House, INC. © 2017 · 368 pages

Dr. Mercola is a super-popular alternative health physician who runs the equally popular site Mercola.com. In this book, we get a look at his “Mitochondrial Metabolic Therapy” program. MMT for short. As you could probably guess, this is a high-fat (+ “adequate” protein + low-carb) diet. If that approach fires you up, I think you’ll love the book. If not, well… :) Big Ideas we explore include: meeting our mitochondria (the key to health), why “adequate” protein is where it’s at (not low or moderate or high but “adequate”!), mTOR (the cancer switch), good fats (vs. bad ones), peak fasting, and how to win the urge war.


In recent years, scientists have come to realize that it’s not genetic mutations that cause cancer. We now know that mitochondrial damage happens first.
Dr. Joseph Mercola

“My goal in writing this book is to present you with a clear, simple, and rational explanation based on science that will help you understand how your body works at the biological and molecular level. I will also tell you what foods to eat, practical strategies to follow, and ways to monitor your progress to help your mitochondria thrive—a program I call Mitochondrial Metabolic Therapy (MMT).

Simply put, MMT is a system of eating that will help shift your metabolism from burning glucose as your primary fuel to burning fat to fuel your body. When you make this shift, you optimize your mitochondrial function and protect your mitochondrial DNA from potential damage that could lead to disease.

At its most basic level, MMT is a high-fat, adequate-protein, low-carb diet that is built on eating the highest-quality foods available. It is quite a shift from the typical American diet—which is notorious for its excessive grains, sugars, and low-quality fats. …

Please understand that mitochondrial and metabolic health is an emerging discipline and only a handful of researchers and even fewer practicing physicians are actively involved in its study. But I firmly believe that at some point in the near future, metabolic therapy will be accepted as the standard of care not only for cancer but for most chronic diseases.”

~ Dr. Joseph Mercola from Fat for Fuel

Dr. Mercola is a super-popular alternative health physician who runs the equally popular site Mercola.com.

This is the second book of his we’ve featured. Check out the Notes on Effortless Healing as well.

These days, when I do a Note on Nutrition, I feel like I should make a disclaimer. I’m not attached to any one particular view. I am, however, fascinated by the emerging science and willing to make my body/life a laboratory to test what I think makes sense.

Over the last 15+ years, I’ve tested everything from being a fruitarian for a month (yes, it’s true—not quite sure what I was thinking for that month a couple decades ago—lol) to being a low-fat vegan to Paleo to a current approach that centers on a ton of greens/veggies + high-quality fat + “adequate protein” (love that phrase—we’ll talk about it more) and a lower carb approach (no grains, very little fruit and some sweet potatoes, etc.) with almost no sugar and/or refined foods. Oh, and a Plant Paradoxinspired no-lectins.

If you’re interested in a (currently) cutting-edge ketonic approach I think you’ll love the book. (Get a copy here.) If you aren’t, I don’t think you will. (Laughing.)

Of course, the book is packed with Big Ideas and I’m excited to share a few of my favorites with an emphasis on the Ideas that I’m currently testing in the lab that is my life. So… Let’s jump in!

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About the author

Authors

Dr. Joseph Mercola

Osteopathic physician and health activist.