What has a blocked sewer dran to do with low-carb dieting.

This afternoon I had to call out the local water company to clear a blocked sewer pipe which runs under my property. When the job was done, I asked the foreman what the problem had been. His answer, 'Fat build-up in the drain'.
My response: 'Someone has been putting waste cooking fat down the plughole?'
'No. I mean human waste fat. We can tell by the appearance and the smell that it is fat excreted with human sewage in the natural way.'

I have never heard this explanation before despite having had the blocked drain on three previous occasions. So, is this another grain of proof that the human digestive system expels any fat it doesn't require, rather than laying it down to cause obesity? Is this being overlooked or suppressed? Or have I an over fertile imagination?

Any views?

Cheers.
Wobbly.

Wobblycogs wrote:This afternoon I had to call out the local water company to clear a blocked sewer pipe which runs under my property. When the job was done, I asked the foreman what the problem had been. His answer, 'Fat build-up in the drain'.
My response: 'Someone has been putting waste cooking fat down the plughole?'
'No. I mean human waste fat. We can tell by the appearance and the smell that it is fat excreted with human sewage in the natural way.'

I have never heard this explanation before despite having had the blocked drain on three previous occasions. So, is this another grain of proof that the human digestive system expels any fat it doesn't require, rather than laying it down to cause obesity? Is this being overlooked or suppressed? Or have I an over fertile imagination?

Any views?

Cheers.
Wobbly.

Not something I've heard of before, all I can say is in the nine years of low carb I've not had a problem with blocked drains 
I would have thought on a LCHF most of the dietary fat is used as energy and not much would be excreted, sugar/refined carbs are the main culprit in obesity

You can tell if much fat is going through and coming out again - steatorrhea which I had when I had gallstones and my bile duct got blocked, gassy turds which float and smell really offensive.

It's quite likely you can pass some through in a not so noticeable way if you eat too much and don't metabolise it all. I suspect this happens to unused calories of pretty much any type. Especially sweet corn kernels. OTOH how long since the drain was last cleared? It could have been building up over years or decades. Gut microbes also metabolise fibre into fats in the colon, something that antibiotics disturb, and which may also escape without being metabolised.

Currently my kitchen sink drain is playing up again, I suspect probably coconut oil from cleaning out the frying pan plus bits of carbon from the grill pan etc. which reminds me I must buy some more acid before it is made illegal. I haven't been taking a dump in THERE!

Next time a nurse or dietician explains how saturated fat blocks your arteries just like it blocks the drain, as they do, you should explain that your arteries are NOT at room temperature, and also ask them to put some heart-healthy oatmeal down the drain to see what happens . . .

Wobblycogs wrote:This afternoon I had to call out the local water company to clear a blocked sewer pipe which runs under my property. When the job was done, I asked the foreman what the problem had been. His answer, 'Fat build-up in the drain'.
My response: 'Someone has been putting waste cooking fat down the plughole?'
'No. I mean human waste fat. We can tell by the appearance and the smell that it is fat excreted with human sewage in the natural way.'

I have never heard this explanation before despite having had the blocked drain on three previous occasions. So, is this another grain of proof that the human digestive system expels any fat it doesn't require, rather than laying it down to cause obesity? Is this being overlooked or suppressed? Or have I an over fertile imagination?

Any views?

Cheers.
Wobbly.

"'No. I mean human waste fat. We can tell by the appearance and the smell that it is fat excreted with human sewage in the natural way"

Only a BDA dietitian could believe that statement to be true. Think about it, excreting energy goes against all known science. When we eat excess calories they are stored as body fat, this is how we are supposed to work, without this phenomenon, the human race would have become extinct almost as soon as we evolved. Check out animals in the wild like bears or reindeer. In the summer when food is plentiful they spend much time eating and getting fat, this ensures they can live through the winter when food is very hard to come by. It was the same for human beings, they could survive famines. Those able to get fat, survived. Now most in the western world never have a famine, and many eat too much, hence millions are overweight.

Look at the situation another way. If some bright bugger, came up with a way we could eat what we like, and excrete the excess calories, he would swiftly become the richest man in the world. Excuse the pun, but I think the theory is bullshit.  

Eddie wrote:Look at the situation another way. If some bright bugger, came up with a way we could eat what we like, and excrete the excess calories, he would swiftly become the richest man in the world. Excuse the pun, but I think the theory is bullshit.

Our old mate   Carbo/Tubs used Orlistat to excrete the excess fat 

Actually thinking about it further, we would have evolved to let some fat bypass digestion and make it through the bowel, otherwise taking a dump would be VERY uncomfortable.

graham64 wrote:

Eddie wrote:Look at the situation another way. If some bright bugger, came up with a way we could eat what we like, and excrete the excess calories, he would swiftly become the richest man in the world. Excuse the pun, but I think the theory is bullshit.

Our old mate   Carbo/Tubs used Orlistat to excrete the excess fat 

Self induced dysentery using Oriblistat is not a method of weight reduction I would recommend. As for Carbo, was there ever a more full of shit flog member than that bloke? Also, are these people just excreting dietary fat, or are they forcing all types of food through their systems before being digested properly, how many required nutrients are also going down the karsie?

chris c wrote:Actually thinking about it further, we would have evolved to let some fat bypass digestion and make it through the bowel, otherwise taking a dump would be VERY uncomfortable.

The answer to that situation is mucous membranes. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mucous_membrane. Turds don't need to be greased up to stop eye-watering evacuation of the bowels. And don't start me off on the dietary fibre recommendations from the dietitians.

Yeah, imagine crapping a straw bale. Are your eyes watering?

I WISH you hadn't mentioned blocked drains! Boiling water and detergent failed to clear my sink. Nor did acid. Nor did caustic soda. I think the blockage is too far down the pipe (again) to be reached by anything I pour into the sink until it gets too diluted to work.

I managed to snap the end off my rod (they can't touch you for it!) Then the drain appeared to start working again but actually I had pushed the pipe off the bottom of the sink and everything ran into the cupboard and out into the kitchen floor. Oh well it was overdue for a wash.

To be continued . . .

OK I tried an experiment. Day 1 I made a bolognese type sauce with runner beans and added loads of halloumi. Strange, the following day was one of the three this year I didn't have a dump.

Next day I had the same meal *without* the halloumi. That time everything came through as normal. So proof such as it is that extra fat doesn't go straight through - actually more like proof that even without my gall bladder fat has no effect on my digestion. So much for the doctor's advice - which most people who undergo cholecystectomies are told - about low fat diets for the rest of your life, which is about as valid as the claim that it was fat that caused the gallstones in the first place.

It's actually a lack of fat that causes gallstones - without enough, the gall bladder isn't triggered to contract and expel the bile, which collects and crystallises into the stones, hence why they have become more common following low fat advice. When you already HAVE gallstones is the only time you need to avoid fat, or the bladder contractions will propel the stones down the bile duct which is VERY painful. Trust me on this one.

That reminds me, this week I decided to ring the changes with some Jarlsberg and some Delice De Bourgoigne. Oh damn more decisions,which order to eat them in . . .

Oh man, what a saga!

Last time the sink drain blocked it was a long way down the pipe, which meant pouring acid down the sink had little effect because by the time it got to the blocked bit it was too dilute to do anything.

This time it was much nearer to the sink as not nearly so much water went down before it stopped. The acid only partly unblocked it.

I used to have a pretty good "drain snake" which was made of proper heavy duty spring steel with a heavy end, but it came with a rented flat and I had to leave it there.

I bought one from the local hardware store but it was like an imitation, it was made of flimsy steel which rusted like crazy. They do sell some crap, I bought a garden hose that didn't work too. It *looked* like it had a proper reinforcing wire running through the translucent green plastic but it was actually a stripe of darker plastic, and the hose twisted shut at every opportunity. Finally it split while I had it running through the sunroom to water the front garden and caused a flood. And let's not even mention the brush whose head wasn't nailed on properly.

I thought I'd visit some proper builder's merchants to see if I couldn't buy a drain auger like the Dyno-Rod machine that would fit on my drill. No such luck so I abandoned my "buy local" policy and went online. Got one from Amazon which was only twelve quid, and was much better made than I was expecting for the price. It also had a hand-winding handle so I never had to bother (yet) with the drill.

Well this worked fine on the straight runs of pipe, and with a bit of fiddling it went round the U-bend. However try as I might I couldn't get it to go round the next bend. Guess where the blockage is? The clutch/clamp that holds on to the rod slips, so I could push it without turning, or turn it without pushing. Try to do both, as needed, and the nice strong galvanised "snake" just retreats back onto the drum.

Grrrrr . . . .

Well it's partly unblocked now, thanks to the application of more acid, and boiling water and detergent, so I'm going to bolt the pipe back onto the bottom of the sink and hopefully I can stop doing the washing up in the bath, and when I finally get the kitchen rebuilt I'll make sure the new drains have CURVES.

Meanwhile I didn't bother washing all the lamb fat out of the grill pan, and the sodding thing burst into flames while I was grilling my sausages. My first instinct was to dive for the fire extinguisher, which would have killed the sausages, so I quickly worked out a way of extinguishing the fire without causing a fireball and setting the rest of the kitchen alight. Didn't need the extinguisher in the end, but the sausages were a tad overdone.

... sometimes overdone sausages can taste ok!
Perhaps a glass (or two) of a nice red wine can help.

Talking of which we did enjoy a glass of Côtes du Rhône yesterday evening ... it's a wine we don't often have, don't know why!

All the best Jan

Good point! I think this was one we used to have in the Pyrenees, along with some more local ones whose names I forget now.

Mostly if I get French wine it's Bordeaux. By a strange coincidence I just opened a bottle of Chateau Brassac which is usually pretty good, though not as outstanding as it was a few years back. Otherwise I mostly buy my Chilean Carmenere or Argentinian Malbec, mostly flavoursome and good value. Maybe I'll expand my palate a bit next time I go wine shopping.

Eddie wrote:

Wobblycogs wrote:This afternoon I had to call out the local water company to clear a blocked sewer pipe which runs under my property. When the job was done, I asked the foreman what the problem had been. His answer, 'Fat build-up in the drain'.
My response: 'Someone has been putting waste cooking fat down the plughole?'
'No. I mean human waste fat. We can tell by the appearance and the smell that it is fat excreted with human sewage in the natural way.'

I have never heard this explanation before despite having had the blocked drain on three previous occasions. So, is this another grain of proof that the human digestive system expels any fat it doesn't require, rather than laying it down to cause obesity? Is this being overlooked or suppressed? Or have I an over fertile imagination?

Any views?

Cheers.
Wobbly.

"'No. I mean human waste fat. We can tell by the appearance and the smell that it is fat excreted with human sewage in the natural way"

Only a BDA dietitian could believe that statement to be true. Think about it, excreting energy goes against all known science. When we eat excess calories they are stored as body fat, this is how we are supposed to work, without this phenomenon, the human race would have become extinct almost as soon as we evolved. Check out animals in the wild like bears or reindeer. In the summer when food is plentiful they spend much time eating and getting fat, this ensures they can live through the winter when food is very hard to come by. It was the same for human beings, they could survive famines. Those able to get fat, survived. Now most in the western world never have a famine, and many eat too much, hence millions are overweight.

Look at the situation another way. If some bright bugger, came up with a way we could eat what we like, and excrete the excess calories, he would swiftly become the richest man in the world. Excuse the pun, but I think the theory is bullshit.  

I give up! Experts tell me we must eat whole-grains and roughage et al. Other experts tell me not to touch grains. Others say calories don't count. Some others say eat as much meat and fish and fat as you wish, and you won't put on weight if you avoid stodge.  And yes, I have seen mention that we cannot store digested fat. That is why it doesn't make us fat, when we go low-carb. If fat is not fattening, and can't be stored, what exactly does happen to it?

My diet seems to be working, so from now on, whilst I don't know why it works, I will just accept that it does. If I eat starchy carbs  and sugars, I stop losing weight. When I cut out these foods I start losing again. And if I drink milk, look out bathroom! If excess calories make us obese, (Assuming we don't burn them off) why am I losing weight, despite tucking away all this calorie dense food, such as beef, lamb, pork, bacon, and so on! And I am eating far more calories than when I was easting 'healthily' according to Government guidelines.

As for the calorie theory, when I was young, I had no problems with weight. From my late teens, right up until I was thirty, I stayed between 11.5 and 12 stones. In 1965 I joined the police force and all that lovely walking worked well. I could eat whatever I wished. (Well I always could do anyhow.) When Panda Cars were introduced, I put on a stone in no time. Then I went on the Dog Section. More walking, and the weight came off again. Never went to a gym, as I couldn't see any point. I was in A1 condition; as long as I walked and kept moving. (Okay, I did do a lot of gardening and hand-woodwork. which helped I suppose. But no jogging.) I agree, exercise is important, but somewhere there must be a switch in our metabolism, otherwise we'd waste away!

I heard about 'The first law of thermodynamics'; energy in = energy out. (The calorie balance theory) The problem is, that is true only in a closed system; which the human body is not.  So should I give up low-carb and go over to calorie controlled, eating anything I wish. If the calories in = calories out was true, it should not matter what foods we eat, as long as we burn off what we eat. Let's see where that gets me!!! Somehow I don't think it will work. Low carb works for me, so I don't care whether or not we can expel unused energy. That's what I am sticking with. As Yul Bryner said, in 'The King and I'; 'Is a puzzlement!'

PS I have stopped taking my BS readings. They are high in the morning on an empty stomach. They don't go through the roof if I do eat sugar, and I don't f eel ill when I fancy a wine gum, or two. I take the metformin (500mg) because the Doc asked me to. My blood problems seem to be in regression, and my BP is also normalising. I just wish I had found out about this 20 years ago!

I don't buy into the first law of thermodynamics when it comes to food calories either, I had to increase my my intake when I switched to low carb or I would have lost weight which I don't need nor want to do, I much prefer the "all calories are not created equal" theory which is certainly my experience 

When I was young the (few) fat people often had it blamed on "glands" ie. endocrine. Once again so much that was known and since ignored. Currently I've gone from losing weight while my thyroid was high to regaining it, and more, while it's been low, so insulin isn't the only player, but IME getting the insulin nailed has been key, my appetite started working properly in that I would eat until I was full then not need to eat again until I was hungry - the signalling system started working again. Carbs were the major override, when I ate them in a few hours I would be starving and have to eat more. No other food does that.