Wired to Eat

Turn Off Cravings, Rewire Your Appetite for Weight Loss, and Determine the Foods That Work for You
by Robb Wolf | Harmony © 2017 · 400 pages

Robb Wolf is a former research biochemist and is one of the leading thinkers/writers/practitioners in the Paleo or Ancestral Health movement. The essence of this book is the that while there are general principles of nutrition that work for everyone AND... Ultimately we need to figure out what works best for us as individuals if we want to rock it. Big Ideas we explore include: the fact that one size diets do NOT fit all (remember: "rough" tools vs. precision tools), discordance theory (there's a mismatch between our genes and our environment!), an anti-inflammatory diet (aka Paleo aka Phase I), personalized nutrition (aka 7-Day Carb test aka Phase II), the other pillars of health (sleep, stress, move, connection), and genetic + environmental lotteries (what to do if you lost them--lol).

With Wired to Eat, I attempt to reach people with two key concepts: one, an understanding of the genetic and environmental factors, such as sleep, stress, hyperpalatable foods, and community, that make it easy for us to overeat; and two, the powerful tool of Personalized Nutrition.
Robb Wolf

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Big Ideas

“The Ancestral Health or Paleo diet model I talked about in my first book is incredibly powerful, but these concepts are tools and starting points, not final destinations. As you’ll soon learn, one size does not fit all, and that has never been more evident than now with the newest research on Personalized Nutrition. As you will discover in Wired to Eat, you now have the opportunity to go beyond general guidelines and find which foods, including which carbs, work best for you, regardless of your age, weight, or health status. And that’s what makes the plan in this book so unique. By the end of your journey, you will understand the genetic and epigenetic factors that govern how you are wired to eat, but perhaps more important, you will finally have a plan customized to your body to help you lose weight, regain your health, and live the life you want to live. No more guessing which foods are right for you. In a little more than thirty days, your life and health could be radically transformed for the better as you heal your gut and refine your personal eating plan.”

~ Robb Wolf from Wired to Eat

Robb Wolf is a former research biochemist and is one of the leading thinkers/writers/practitioners in the Paleo or Ancestral Health movement.

The essence of this book can best be summarized by looking at the front and back covers. First, the front cover tells us: “Say Good-bye to One-Size-Fits-All Diets with the 7-Day Carb Test.” Now flip over to the back cover where we find another blurb: “One month to reset your metabolism for lasting fat loss. One week to discover the carbs that are right for you.”

So… Two primary things. 1) There isn’t “one diet” that works for everyone. (Robb walks us through the science of “Personalized Nutrition” and how we can apply it to our lives via his 30-day reboot and then 7-day carb tests.) Yet… 2) There are some general things that apply to EVERYONE that we want to keep in mind. (Broken record: Refined carbs are evil. lol.)

While glancing at the back cover, we’ll also notice some testimonials by authors we’ve featured.

At the top we have Melissa Hartwig whose book It Starts with Food is the most closely aligned with Robb’s. (That book, as I’ve mentioned before, is the one I read 6+ years ago when I ventured out of my low-fat vengangelical phase. See Notes for more.) Then we have a blurb from leading neurologist, David Perlmutter, MD—check out our Notes on Grain Brain, The Grain Brain Whole Life Plan, and Brain Maker. Finally, we have Mark Sisson; we recently did a Note on his great book The Keto Reset Diet.

As always, nutrition discussions can elicit a near-religious fervor. Although I very much lean toward paying attention to carb intake if you have any insulin/weight/energy issues, I’m committed to avoiding dogmatism and currently see my job as sharing the Ideas I find very compelling/worthy of contemplation while personally running experiments on my body (and in our family) while encouraging you to consider doing the same.

With that, I’m excited to share some of my favorite Big Ideas and share some powerful distinctions we can apply to Optimizing our lives and our family’s lives today. So, let’s jump in!

One size Does NOT Fit all

“If I have learned anything over the years, it’s that we all tend to benefit from general guidelines, but our individual needs may be profoundly different than those of our neighbor. This can create a bias that makes us think what worked for us or someone we know will work for everyone. So although we’d like to keep things as simple as possible, when we gear things for an individual’s needs, things can get complex in a hurry. …

There is a (likely) fictional account of the famous artist and inventor Michelangelo that describes how he produced his masterwork sculpture David. He was asked what his process was for creating such detailed lifelike work, and he responded with something to the effect of, ‘I cut away everything that did not look like David.’ Sculptors, woodworkers, engineers, and artisans of all types use a variety of tools and strategies to produce their work. The tools used in the beginning are for the ‘rough work,’ while other tools are used to produce the refined, finished product. As powerful as the Paleo diet or Ancestral Health perspective is, in this book, that strategy is used as a ‘rough’ tool. Ultimately, I will help you find your own customized eating plan that will help you achieve your goals.”

Welcome to Part 1 – “Know Thyself: How You Are Wired to Eat,” Chapter 1: “One Size Does Not Fit All.” Those are the very first words of the book.

Let’s start by focusing here: “If I have learned anything over the years, it’s that we all tend to benefit from general guidelines, but our individual needs may be profoundly different than those of our neighbor.” As we briefly discussed in the intro, that captures the essence of the book: There are general guidelines that apply to everyone AND we need to move beyond that and find what works best for each of us as individuals.

In my work with Phil Stutz, we’ve discussed the same basic theme many times. As Phil says, we need to embrace the paradox that we are all simultaneously EXACTLY the same *and* COMPLETELY different. (Hah. Gotta love paradoxes.)

It’s like two sides of the same coin. In this case, Robb is telling us that the coin has “general guidelines” on one side and “Personalized Nutrition” on the other.

Which leads us to the statue of David and the tools Michelangelo and all craftsman use to create their masterpieces. We start with tools to help us do the “rough work” and then we use different tools to help us polish off those rough edges.

The primary tool Robb provides for the “rough work” is a 30-day reboot (which is kinda like the Hartwig’s Whole30 protocol in which we get rid of sugar, flour and grains). Robb makes the case as to why following that basic approach is a really good idea for everyone.

The primary tool for the next phase of precision work to figure out what works specifically for us is his 7-day carb test in which we test our glucose response to 50 grams of particular carbs first thing in the morning to see what works and what doesn’t. Remember: Despite what many nutrition authorities would like to say, one size does NOT fit all.

P.S. Speaking of David… Jordan Peterson says this in 12 Rules for Life: “It is for this reason that every good example is a fateful challenge, and every hero a judge. Michelangelo’s great perfect marble David cries out to its observer: ‘You could be more than you are.’ When you dare aspire upward, you reveal the inadequacy of the present and the promise of the future.”

P.P.S. You know what moment Michelangelo decided to capture in his iconic statue? It wasn’t the moment of victory. It was the moment of DECISION—the heroic moment when David decided to step up to the challenge. <- Isn’t that amazing?!

Question: What challenge do YOU need to step up to? Is now a good time to do so?

Here’s to the heroic sculpture capturing YOU at your finest moments!!! (You know, the ones right before the infinite (!) number of times you decide to step forward destiny-math style. :)

We will use the 30-Day Reset to get your neuro-regulation of appetite back on track and then we will use the 7-Day Carb Test to precisely dial in the amounts and types of carbs that work best for you.
Robb Wolf
The 30-Day-Reset is incredibly effective at resetting your neuroregulation of appetite, healing your gut, and reducing inflammation. Those are the features; the benefits are that you can get healthy, increase your energy, and lose weight easily.
Robb Wolf
If we consume more calories than we need, we will tend to get fat. If we are insulin sensitive, this fat will tend to be evenly distributed around the body. If, however, we are insulin resistant (for whatever reason—lack of sleep, stress, inflammation) *and* if those calories come in the form of refined carbohydrates, this fat tends to be stored around our internal organs and is called visceral fat.
Robb Wolf

Discordance Theory: The Omnivore’s real dilemma

“The reason we get fat, sick, and broken, the reason it’s so hard to affect change in our diet and lifestyle, is simple: our environment has changed, our bodies have not—at least not enough to forestall the development of a host of degenerative diseases. Our genetics are wired for a time when our meals were relatively simple in terms of flavor and texture. We had access to foods that changed with the seasons, and we always had to expend some amount of energy to get the goods. Now, with the magic of food science, convenience stores, and supermarkets, we have access to every flavor combination imaginable, and many that were not imaginable only a few years ago. More than ten thousand new ‘food’ products are created every year in the United States, and the average grocery store stocks tens of thousands of food options. Do you like nachos? French fries? Then you will love chilli-cheese nacho fries, especially with some mole sauce. Given these complex food combinations and our nearly limitless food options, it’s no wonder we’ve broken the neuroregulation of our appetites.”

That’s from Chapter 3, sub-section “The Omnivore’s Real Dilemma” in which we learn about the “discordance theory” which, basically, says that we’re facing a mismatch between our genetic tendencies and our modern reality.

One of the most frequently-repeated phrases of the book is “the neuroregulation of our appetites.” And, one of the most frequently-repeated words: “hyperpalatability.”

They go together. In short: Want to disrupt the finely tuned “neuroregulation” of your appetite? Just overconsume “hyperpalatable” foods like doughnuts, chips, sodas, and other highly refined CARBAGE. Yep, that will do it.

As I say in pretty much every Note on nutrition, E V E R Y O N E (pretty much) agrees that sugar and flour are toxic. The simplest way to 80/20 Optimize your nutrition and as a result your energy and health and vitality? Eliminate the refined carbage. Period.

We know that sugar, for example, acts on the same addiction centers in our brains (the nucleus accumbens) as drugs like cocaine, tobacco and alcohol.

Check out this +1 (and our Notes) on David Ludwig’s research from Always Hungry? that says our nucleus accumbens light up “like a laser” after fast-acting carbs. Remember: “The nucleus accumbens is considered ground zero for reward, craving, and addiction—including alcohol, tobacco, and cocaine abuse. Activation of this brain region on a weight loss diet would erode willpower, making that sticky bun exceedingly hard to resist.

The concept of food addiction is controversial because, unlike substances of abuse, we need food to live. However, this study suggests that highly processed carbohydrates may hijack basic reward circuitry in the brain, not because they are inherently so tasty (both milk shakes had the same sweetness), but instead because of direct actions on metabolism. Hunger is hard enough to fight under any circumstances, but once the nucleus accumbens joins in, it’s all over.”

Susan Pierce Thompson succinctly echoes this wisdom in her great book Bright Line Eating: “Yup. When it comes to food, these are the two culprits. Sugar and flour. In fact, I want you to consider looking at sugar and flour in an entirely new way. People tend to think of sugar and flour as foods. I invite you to start looking at them as drugs.”

Want a shot at Optimizing your health? Once again, throw out the carbage. Get rid of the “hyperpalatable” foods that disrupt the “neuroregulation of your appetite.” :)

It’s worth remembering that although modern degenerative diseases appear to be quite different (they affect different organs and systems), the root causes tend to be the same: poor blood sugar control, elevated insulin levels, systemic inflammation, and intestinal permeability.
Robb Wolf

An anti-inflammatory diet (aka Paleo)

“One of the greatest challenges surrounding the Paleo diet, both from a research perspective and implementation, is the tendency to make the recommendations written in stone as if it were religious doctrine. I’ll detail where and how this has happened and how this rigidity has created significant drama and confusion. For now, we can look at the Paleo diet in two complementary ways. By inclusion, the plan is generally composed of fruits, vegetables, roots, shoots, tubers, nuts and seeds, meat (including organ varieties), seafood and fowl. By exclusion, a Paleo diet is one that generally avoids grains, legumes, and dairy. If we simply called this way of eating an ‘anti-inflammatory diet’ and then looked at how certain foods cause inflammation, either in the digestive system or the rest of the body, we’d arrive at largely the same place and avoid a lot of the confusion on this topic. Similarly, if this way of eating had been called an evolutionary diet and some specific caveats were applied, we would also likely see less backlash from elements of the research community.”

That’s from a chapter called “Is There a Case for the Paleo Diet?”

Note: Robb Wolf is one of the earliest and most prominent Paleo advocates. And… One of the themes he comes back to a number of times is his disappointment with the dogma that has arisen around the approach.

Alas, again, nutrition discussions can quickly devolve into irrational dogma and cherry-picking feasts. But there ya go. That’s the high-level look at what constitutes a Paleo diet—by inclusion and by exclusion. And… As I said, It Starts with Food was the book that guided me out of the low-fat/high-carb/tons of grains approach I followed for a decade. I got a lot of benefits from it.

I’m smiling as I type imagining how people would respond to this diet if it was called an “anti-inflammatory diet” and/or an evolutionary diet. In any case, the Paleo approach is our “rough tool.” (Check out Robb’s Food Matrix on how to rock it!) Then we remember that one size does NOT fit all as we move on to “Personalized Nutrition.”

This research helps us understand that as long as the carbohydrates we eat are unrefined (and our guts are generally heathy), the amounts of macronutrients we consume may not matter. Conversely, if our guts are damaged and we are suffering from SIBO or related problems, a low-carbohydrate diet (which prunes back the microbiome) may be a smart treatment option, at least until we can fix the gut. Some people (like myself) seem to do better long term by keeping carbs on the low side (100 to 150g/day), while other people find they tolerate larger amounts of unrefined carbs.
Robb Wolf

Personalized Nutrition

“Conventional wisdom would have us believe that ‘a calorie is a calorie,’ and equal amounts of carbohydrate should cause the same blood glucose responses. Clearly, this is not the case. More sophisticated models that look at glycemic load, fiber, and cellular versus acellular refined carbohydrate would tell us that we should see a uniformly better blood glucose response from a banana relative to a cookie. However, this was also not the case. What the heck is going on here? It appears that most of this variability can be ascribed to differences in the gut microbiome. There are trends to this story, with certain species of bacteria being more strongly associated with favorable gylcemic responses, but there was still significant variation. The next bit of information I’ll share with you cements the need to use big-picture nutrition models, even the Paleo diet, with a bit of caution, as even the most benign of foods can prove problematic for some people.”

That’s from a chapter called “Personalized Nutrition” in which we learn about some stunning research that demonstrates the fact that different people respond to the same foods in very different ways—whether we’re talking about bananas or cookies or hummus.

Again: Did I menton the fact that we’re all different. No ONE diet will work for everyone.

As Robb says: “The groundbreaking highlight from this research was that a person’s glycemic response (how much blood glucose increased for a given meal) appeared to be influenced by genetic factors, exercise, body fat levels, and perhaps most interesting, the composition of the gut biome. One of the most interesting findings of the study showed there was a massive variation from person to person in how they reacted to various foods.”

Plus: “It’s perhaps worth noting that the two main variables that determine what foods work best for folks involved eating either more fat and fewer carbs or avoiding problematic foods.”

We talk about a similar idea in our Notes on The Art and Science of Low Carb Performance where the authors tell us about research done in the A to Z Study. Short story: Generally speaking, people lost weight on both a low-fat diet (like Ornish) and a low-carb diet (like Atkins).

BUT… When the data was analyzed based on the individual’s level of insulin sensitivity (vs. resistance), we see that people with unhealthy insulin responses lost 4 times MORE weight on the low-carb diet (11.9 lbs) than they did on the low-fat diet (3.3 lbs).

Again (echo!): One size does not fit all. We need to personalize our nutrition. Rob has his 7-Day Carb Test to help us personalize. Check out the book for more. And… This book isn’t just about nutrition. It’s time to move on to the other areas of our lives we need to Optimize!

P.S. Before we jump into that, know that Robb’s #1 tip for getting started (like all the great nutrition teachers) is to GET RID OF ALL THE JUNK FOOD in your house!! It reminded me of James Clear’s Atomic Habits and his #1 rule to break a bad habit. We need to make it “invisible.” No better way to do that than to throw it all away!!

P.P.S. Robb’s take on ketosis: He sees it as an important tool to have in our tool shed and says: “Five years from now, we will know much more about ketosis, fasting, and the potential use of exogenous ketones. Currently we have far more questions than answers.”

What will the kids eat? Same stuff as you. They need the crap formerly living in your pantry even less than you do.
Robb Wolf
Calories do count, but not all foods produce the same hormonal and metabolic effects. The strict calories in, calories out folks would have us believe that 2,000 calories of sugar are metabolically equivalent to 2,000 calories of pork loin, broccoli or sweet potato. Intuitively, this should smell as bad as products from Fukushima Fish Farms, Inc., but we do not need to rely on intuition—science shows this overly simplistic view, that ‘it’s just about calories’ is simply not true.
Robb Wolf

Sleep, stress, community, and Movement

“We’ve come a long way together, and if you have absorbed 10 percent of what we’ve covered you likely know more practical information about human health than most health care providers. We have clearly focused the bulk of our attention on food, but there are a few other pieces to this story that are of similar, if not greater, importance. The final pieces of the puzzle involve sleep, stress, and social connectivity. …

Before we dig into the topic of sleep I’d like to make an important point: if people ‘just’ slept, we’d likely not need to concern ourselves about diet much at all. I’m not saying you could eat refined junk all day long and not suffer the consequences, but good sleep buys us a lot of latitude in our eating. The opposite is also true, as poor sleep necessitates a fair amount of focus on our food, lest we find ourselves facing some serious health problems. If you want more latitude on your food, you need to sleep better. If you can’t sleep well due to work demands, you really need to pay attention to your food, particularly carbohydrate amount and type. If you want to get the best health and aesthetics possible, you will make both good sleep and good food your priority more often than not.”

We’re now ready for the chapter on “Rebalancing the Pillars of Sleep, Community, and Movement.” It’s packed with a bunch of goodness. Highlights include the fact that sleep is WAY more important for your health/weight/etc. than you may think. Like WAY more important.

Again, rule #1 (see Sleep 101 and all those Notes) is simple: Turn off your electronics. Decide (de-cir!!!) to relentlessly actualize yourself rather than incessantly entertain yourself. (I also turned the temperature down to 66 degrees after reading the book.)

Stress-wise, Robb echoes wisdom we cover in The Upside of Stress. Remember: To a great extent, it’s all about how we PERCEIVE the stress in our lives. (Challenge vs. Threat!) Community-wise: Know that our social connections are SUPER important. Invest energy here.

Movement-wise: Exercise is important but… (another echo!) “we cannot out-exercise a bad diet.” As Jeff Volek and Stephen Phinney tell us, exercise is a WELLNESS tool, not a weight-loss too per se. Key takeaways here: Do something you LOVE not something you think you should do. And, remember that Movement transcends and includes Exercise.

We work much more and sleep much less than we did even in the 1980s, about 2.5 hours less per day on average for most Americans. This change in not only sleep but also our constant exposure to artificial light (which affects every body system you care to consider) is perhaps the most profound change humanity has experienced.
Robb Wolf

Genetic + Early Environment Lotteries

“Some of us won the ‘genetic lottery’ by having super-healthy parents who imparted to us a low likelihood of problems such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, or neurodegeneration. Some of us were additionally lucky in that we had all the early life experiences that seem to set us up for success. Then we have people like me, who appear to come from the ‘shallow end of the gene pool.’ The good news is that even though I do not have optimal genes or a perfect early life story, it may no longer matter. Using our knowledge of Personalized Nutrition, I can monitor my carb intake such that my metabolism functions as well or better than the most genetically talented person. How is this possible? By finding the foods I do best with and largely sticking with those options, I will maintain an optimum blood glucose level while ensuring my gut biome remains healthy and strong.”

That’s from a section near the end of the book when Robb’s walking through “Phase Two” of his approach and playfully asks, “So, Robb, remind me why I should do this?”

If you won the genetic AND the early-environment lotteries and you’ve lived your life like a Blue Zone baby from the moment you were conceived (breastfed, never took an antibiotic, never ate any sugar or refined carbs, etc. etc. etc.), then CONGRATS!! (Seriously. High fives. I’m slightly jealous!) You’re probably doing great and can continue doing what you’re doing.

That wasn’t Robb’s case. And it wasn’t mine. He and I share a similar story—super sick as kids. So… If you, like Robb and me, kinda sorta lost that genetic AND early-environment lottery then you need to do the work to figure out what works for you. :)

Good news, as Angela Duckworth tells us, “effort counts twice.” We can use our vulnerabilities as catalysts to be even stronger than we otherwise would have been—turning poison into medicine and serving as exemplars of what’s possible for our families, communities and the world.

We’re wired to eat and sleep and move and connect with others in a certain way. We’d be wise to step back, figure out where we’re aligned with those ancient rhythms and what needs work.

Here’s to the most Energized version of you giving us all you’ve got!!

As you now know, we have a bit of a challenge as we begin our health and weight loss journey, in that our normal human tendencies (eat more, move less) are quite at odds with our modern world. This is a legitimately complex problem. Therefore, our simple solutions must address this reality and involve eating, sleeping, moving, and loving in a way that works with, instead of against, our genetic wiring.
Robb Wolf

About the author

Authors

Robb Wolf

2x New York Times/WSJ best selling author.
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