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Summary
On episode 359 of 40+ Fitness, Coach Allan sits down with Dr. Pat Luse, a chiropractic physician and president of Tri-State Physicians and Physical Therapy Clinic who has spent more than 30 years helping patients get well, lose weight, and beat chronic disease.
Pat argues that most weight and health problems can’t be solved by counting calories alone. He lays out 7 interrelated body systems (structural, digestive, delivery, energy, communication, defense, and detox) and explains how a breakdown in any one of them can sabotage progress in all the others.
The conversation moves into practical territory: simple ways to start fasting without going straight to a water-only fast, the real physiological and psychological sources of hunger, and the things that make willpower easier to sustain.
Links
- https://drpatluse.com
Key Takeaways
- Health problems come from breakdowns in 7 interrelated systems, not one isolated cause. Pat’s 7 systems are structural (bone, muscle, fat), digestive (gut and microbiome), delivery (heart and blood vessels), energy (mitochondria), communication (hormones and nerves), defense (immune function and inflammation), and detox. Fixing weight or chronic illness means addressing whichever system is actually broken, not just cutting calories.
- You don’t need a water-only fast to get real benefits. Pat starts patients on lighter fasting-mimicking patterns first: the 17-hour fast (skip breakfast, eat noon to 7pm), the 23-hour fast (one balanced meal a day), and the 5-2 plan (2 non-consecutive days a week at 500 to 600 calories). These ease the body into fasting while still triggering waste elimination, metabolic reset, and lower ghrelin swings.
- Hunger has physiological sources you can identify and address. Ghrelin comes in waves that pass if you ignore them. Angry fat cells overproduce leptin until the brain stops listening to it, which raises appetite and slows metabolism. Bad gut bacteria create cravings for junk food the way good bacteria create cravings for vegetables. Dehydration and low blood sugar can also masquerade as hunger.
- Your stomach has a volume sensor, not a calorie sensor. It never signals “enough calories,” but it does respond to volume, so high-nutrient, high-volume foods create satiety with fewer calories. Pat also notes large meals stretch the stomach over time, requiring more food to trigger the same fullness signal.
- Willpower is a limited resource, not a strategy. It comes from the anterior cingulate cortex, the same brain region that handles emotions, decision making, and past performance, and it fatigues after roughly 15 minutes of use. Pat tells patients from the start that depending on willpower alone will not work.
- 6 willpower helpers make success possible without relying on discipline. They are a strong emotional “why,” new skills and abilities, a cheering section of supportive people, a coach, rewards and incentives along the way, and a health-friendly environment with tempting food removed from the house, car, and workplace.
- Chronic inflammation, driven by your defense system, is the root of most disease. Pat ties inflammation back to antibiotic-resistant bacteria and modern toxin exposure, and argues that calming this system down is central to reversing chronic illness rather than just treating its symptoms.
- Dr. Pat Luse’s three strategies to get and stay well: eat real food built around 10 key food groups and take a good multivitamin, vitamin D, a probiotic, and an omega-3; protect your gut bacteria, which he now ranks as one of the most important levers for health; and balance your hormones, especially insulin (the fat storage hormone) and cortisol (the stress hormone).
“If you are going to depend upon your willpower to succeed, you’re not going to make it. It just will not happen.”
Dr. Pat Luse