Over the past several years I have found that I have taken several different approaches to the low carb high fat (LCHF) diet and kind of put them all together to create what ended up being a complete and perfect plan for me and one that also seems to work best for many.
In my "Revering Diabetes" facebook group we direct most new members to Dr. Eric Westman's "No Starch, No Sugar" plan because he has a great video and a food list that goes along with it. It is an easy place to start and is very understandable to most. He does not recommend limiting protein for diabetics which is something that I think is hindering the fine tuning of blood sugar control for some. I think that protein does need to be limited.
I also point people to Dr. Richard Bernstein's plan which is a bit higher carb and focuses more on blood sugar control with "the law of small numbers" for glucose control. His books and lectures are more directed to the type 1 diabetic.
Rosedale, Volek & Phinney fine tune the ketogenic diet at a more scientific level where fat, protein and carb ratios are more regulated and fine tuned for better blood sugar control and lower insulin levels. Lower insulin levels have been shown to reduce inflammation in the body, lessen free radical damage, slow the aging process and reduce the risk of heart disease, cancer and Alzheimers disease's
I have spent over 4 years of N=1 experimentation on myself. In the process I have shared this in my three facebook groups of over 10,000 other diabetics. I believe wholeheartedly in the plan of attack against diabetes that I have chosen to use and to teach. A scientifically formulated ketogenic diet works if you DO the work. It is not exactly the same for everyone. We all have different levels of insulin resistance and so the diet should be tailored to each person. It is still very basically the same for most. 5% carbs, 15-20% protein and the remaining 70-75% fat is what works for most. It is proven over and over again to do so. I do agree that there are exceptions. In some cases gut health, enzymes, hormones and nutritional deficiencies may be hindering the process or a diagnosis of type 2 diabetes may have been an incorrect diagnosis. You then need to get more testing for LADA (type 1.5). All of these things have to be addressed for those who are not successful after doing LCHF correctly.
Fasting seems to have come in to vogue now with the popularity of Dr. Jason Fung and his protocol as well a the lesser known Roy Taylor's very low calorie diet that mimics gastric bypass surgery. Both of these can be useful for the diabetic for blood sugar and insulin control. Some seem to prefer these methods instead of working out the ratios of the ketogenic diet for themselves. Others find that it is the final step to getting optimal control of diabetes where they are looking to be in a completely non-diabetic A1c range of under 5.0
I wanted to address this mainly so that those following in my facebook groups could understand that my approach is not simply that of Westman or of Volek and Phinney or Rosedale. I lean towards Volek and Phinney's "The Art & Science Of Low Carbohydrate Living" because it brought me to a new place in my level of blood sugar control and it did so in a matter of days. It is a book that I recommend for any who want to understand the science of how and why the ketogenic diet works and what mistakes keep it from working.
I suggest the following websites for more information on the science of the LCHF Ketogenic diet.
Ellen Davis's Ketogenic Diet Resource is a great place to start.
Here are some others:
Ruled Me
Cave Man Keto,
Second Opinions, UK
Ron Rosedale , MD
Dsolve.com
Mendoza.com
Keep fighting the good fight!
Monday, June 29, 2015
Monday, June 8, 2015
Is The Key To Diabetes In The Gut?
A famous quote by Hippocrates (460 – c. 370 BC" is “All disease begins in the gut.” Ongoing medical research is now showing how true that statement really may be. Is it possible that many of our medical issues can be at least partially solved by focusing on ways to heal our gut health rather than trusting in allopathic medicine and drugs?
New studies and research are re-exploring how our gut flora is linked to diseases ranging from autism and depression to autoimmune conditions like Hashimoto’s, inflammatory bowel disease and type 1 diabetes. Dr. David Perlmutter has written a new book on this called Brain Maker. Dr. Nicholaus Gonzalez of New York says that "The gut has it's own active nervous system and also has an active immune system. Scientists never used to think of the gut as an immune organ, but now we know that it is." If this is the case then we had better think about what we are feeding our gut on a daily basis!
This article from Feb. 2015 suggests that the lack of a gut microbe, Lactobacillus gasseri is tied to type 1 diabetes and possibly type 2 as well.
Dr Mercola addressed gut microbiota in his article: "Gut Bacteria Differs Between Diabetics and Non-Diabetics"
We are living in a time where drugs are now our medicine instead of food. For thousands and thousands of years people relied on foods, herbs, Chinese medicine and other natural therapies for healing. Now, since about the 1940's we have been taught to rely on drugs and eat junk food. We have been duped into believing that food is not medicine for our bodies but only a emotional comforting and social thing. The quality of our food and our gut health is no longer considered.
I am currently reading a new book by Suzanne Somers called TOX-SICK: From Toxic to Not Sick. It is a great book that discusses how our modern environment full of toxins in our air, our foods, and in our water are causing a whole host of modern epidemics. Even our children's DNA is being altered by these toxins while they are forming in the womb. This generation of children is expected to have the diseases of the elderly in their 30's and 40's. Toxins and GMO's are affecting our gut heath, our immune systems and our brains.
I have experienced a change in myself in the past year since I started to make my own fermented vegetables and Ginger Kombucha. Although I had been on the LCHF ketogenic diet for a year or more I still found my fasting blood sugar to be in the 90's (5-5.5 mmol/l) and after meal daily blood sugars always hovering around the 100 (5.5) mark even 4-5 hours after eating a meal. I really had no idea why this was continuing to occur but I wanted better results.
I started the fermented foods more for the purpose of general overall health rather than to help correct a blood sugar issue. I never really thought about the potential effects that it would have on blood sugar. I still can't "prove" that a change in my gut bacteria had anything to do with it but if not then it is a coincidence that I can't explain.
When I started eating my homemade Kimchi I had a rumbling taking place in my tummy. It was a feeling like little mice were doing somersaults in there. It was a bit weird but I knew that it meant something good was happening. I added the kombucha to my diet a few months later to introduce a different type of bacteria to my gut. I had some new and even more aggressive tummy rumbling going on and had to go very slowly with it.
I began to get morning blood sugar readings from 69-79 (3.8-4.4) at that time. I also began to lose some weight again which was an added benefit. See this article from Chris Kresser: A healthy gut is the hidden key to weight loss.
My daily between meal blood sugars began to drop. I was seeing blood sugar readings in the 80's four hours after a meal. Mostly 90's but some nice surprises. It seemed to be a new level of normal and I liked it! In 6 months my A1c went from 5.6 to 5.1 which is closer to my goal of being in the 4.8 range.
I am only skimming the surface of this vast topic. There is so much more and I wish I had the time to learn it all. I am very intrigued by it and will continue to study it. I hope to post more on gut health and it's numerous benefits in the future. It may well be the key to both our physical and mental heath!
More Resources:
GT's Kombucha- A good store bought brand
Probiotics on Amazon
Studies and articles on Gut health
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2551660/
http://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/33/10/2277.full
http://bodyecology.com/articles/the-truth-about-diabetes-the-relationship-between-gut-health-and-disease
New studies and research are re-exploring how our gut flora is linked to diseases ranging from autism and depression to autoimmune conditions like Hashimoto’s, inflammatory bowel disease and type 1 diabetes. Dr. David Perlmutter has written a new book on this called Brain Maker. Dr. Nicholaus Gonzalez of New York says that "The gut has it's own active nervous system and also has an active immune system. Scientists never used to think of the gut as an immune organ, but now we know that it is." If this is the case then we had better think about what we are feeding our gut on a daily basis!
This article from Feb. 2015 suggests that the lack of a gut microbe, Lactobacillus gasseri is tied to type 1 diabetes and possibly type 2 as well.
Dr Mercola addressed gut microbiota in his article: "Gut Bacteria Differs Between Diabetics and Non-Diabetics"
We are living in a time where drugs are now our medicine instead of food. For thousands and thousands of years people relied on foods, herbs, Chinese medicine and other natural therapies for healing. Now, since about the 1940's we have been taught to rely on drugs and eat junk food. We have been duped into believing that food is not medicine for our bodies but only a emotional comforting and social thing. The quality of our food and our gut health is no longer considered.
I am currently reading a new book by Suzanne Somers called TOX-SICK: From Toxic to Not Sick. It is a great book that discusses how our modern environment full of toxins in our air, our foods, and in our water are causing a whole host of modern epidemics. Even our children's DNA is being altered by these toxins while they are forming in the womb. This generation of children is expected to have the diseases of the elderly in their 30's and 40's. Toxins and GMO's are affecting our gut heath, our immune systems and our brains.
I have experienced a change in myself in the past year since I started to make my own fermented vegetables and Ginger Kombucha. Although I had been on the LCHF ketogenic diet for a year or more I still found my fasting blood sugar to be in the 90's (5-5.5 mmol/l) and after meal daily blood sugars always hovering around the 100 (5.5) mark even 4-5 hours after eating a meal. I really had no idea why this was continuing to occur but I wanted better results.
I started the fermented foods more for the purpose of general overall health rather than to help correct a blood sugar issue. I never really thought about the potential effects that it would have on blood sugar. I still can't "prove" that a change in my gut bacteria had anything to do with it but if not then it is a coincidence that I can't explain.
When I started eating my homemade Kimchi I had a rumbling taking place in my tummy. It was a feeling like little mice were doing somersaults in there. It was a bit weird but I knew that it meant something good was happening. I added the kombucha to my diet a few months later to introduce a different type of bacteria to my gut. I had some new and even more aggressive tummy rumbling going on and had to go very slowly with it.
I began to get morning blood sugar readings from 69-79 (3.8-4.4) at that time. I also began to lose some weight again which was an added benefit. See this article from Chris Kresser: A healthy gut is the hidden key to weight loss.
My daily between meal blood sugars began to drop. I was seeing blood sugar readings in the 80's four hours after a meal. Mostly 90's but some nice surprises. It seemed to be a new level of normal and I liked it! In 6 months my A1c went from 5.6 to 5.1 which is closer to my goal of being in the 4.8 range.
I am only skimming the surface of this vast topic. There is so much more and I wish I had the time to learn it all. I am very intrigued by it and will continue to study it. I hope to post more on gut health and it's numerous benefits in the future. It may well be the key to both our physical and mental heath!
More Resources:
GT's Kombucha- A good store bought brand
Probiotics on Amazon
Studies and articles on Gut health
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2551660/
http://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/33/10/2277.full
http://bodyecology.com/articles/the-truth-about-diabetes-the-relationship-between-gut-health-and-disease
Saturday, May 2, 2015
Yearly Wellness Exam With Some Surprises- The good and the bad!
Every year my husband's insurance does a wellness program. This year they offered some additional tests that I decided to take advantage of. There were some good results and some surprises too.
My HDL is 10 points higher than it was in Jan. of this year. My total cholesterol remains the same as in Jan at 221 even though my LDL is about the same as Jan and my triglycerides are lower at 110 now vs. 120 in January. So the great news is that my LCHF diet continues to affect my lipids in a positive manner.
My A1c (3 month indicator of average blood sugar) went from 5.3 in Jan to 5.1 at the end of April. That indicates an average blood sugar of 97 (5.4 mmol/l) per the ADA's ADAG formula of measuring and 101 (5.6 mmol/l) according to Dr. Bernsteins preferred DCCT formula.
Due to one of the "surprises" in my blood tests I discovered that my A1C runs high which I have always suspected. I will explain more a bit further down on the page.
Another test result was for that of kidney function. For as long as I can remember, going back to at least my pre-diabetic days, my e-GFR (estimate of kidney function) has always been at the lowest level of normal. I never knew why but my score was always right at 59 or 60. e-GFR levels below 59 are indicative of a low kidney filtration rate and early stage renal malfunction. I was never told that I had any kidney issue by my doctor but I was always concerned about my lower test numbers.
My new e-GFR test came in at 88! That's great! It means that I am no longer borderline and my kidneys are working better than they have in years!
Now for the not so happy surprises! I had vitamin and mineral testing done. I have been taking a B vitamin formulation with all of the B vitamins and folate for about 7 months. Even so, the tests showed that I am still borderline deficient in both B-12 and Folate, more so in the B-12. This probably explains my morning fatigue. I have been taking the active forms of the vitamins so I was surprised at this result. My B-12 formula contains 1667% of the active methylcobalamin B-12. I actually was concerned that I was getting too much! I guess I need more than I thought!
My magnesium level is borderline even though I take it daily so I need to up that too. I didn't expect to see that after a few years of supplementation.
The final surprise was that I have more red blood cells than most people and they are larger than normal in size. This wasn't a big surprise to me as I have suspected this for a few years. This could be due to the B-12 levels being low (anemia) or my ancestry as I have some Indian in my DNA. These larger RBC's affect the A1c test because more total hemoglobin is in my body. I have always known that my A1c test was higher than it should be based on my meter averages and my fasting numbers in the 70's (4 mmol/l) I was correct in my suspicions. I am going to try to learn more about this.
Read about A1c issues here and here.
The last important test was an RA Factor test for Rheumatoid Arthritis or other autoimmune conditions. It did show a fairly high level of RA or autoimmune issues. I guess that would account for my degenerative disk disease and my "bad" knees although it doesn't seem to slow me down at all. I guess I will need to address this with some additional anti-inflammatory nutrition and supplements and also look into what else I can do for this.
Overall I am pleased. Besides good lipid results and a reduced A1c, I learned more about my body and can address the deficiencies. I never feel depressed by any negative test results. Instead I always feel empowered! You can't fix something if you don't know it's broken!
If it were not for the Wellness exam I would have never had these tests. It was nice that they were done at no cost to me. Now I think that it may be worth the cost in the future to be able to address any deficiencies.
I hope this blog post is helpful to you. Feel free to comment!
.
My A1c (3 month indicator of average blood sugar) went from 5.3 in Jan to 5.1 at the end of April. That indicates an average blood sugar of 97 (5.4 mmol/l) per the ADA's ADAG formula of measuring and 101 (5.6 mmol/l) according to Dr. Bernsteins preferred DCCT formula.
Due to one of the "surprises" in my blood tests I discovered that my A1C runs high which I have always suspected. I will explain more a bit further down on the page.
Another test result was for that of kidney function. For as long as I can remember, going back to at least my pre-diabetic days, my e-GFR (estimate of kidney function) has always been at the lowest level of normal. I never knew why but my score was always right at 59 or 60. e-GFR levels below 59 are indicative of a low kidney filtration rate and early stage renal malfunction. I was never told that I had any kidney issue by my doctor but I was always concerned about my lower test numbers.
My new e-GFR test came in at 88! That's great! It means that I am no longer borderline and my kidneys are working better than they have in years!
Now for the not so happy surprises! I had vitamin and mineral testing done. I have been taking a B vitamin formulation with all of the B vitamins and folate for about 7 months. Even so, the tests showed that I am still borderline deficient in both B-12 and Folate, more so in the B-12. This probably explains my morning fatigue. I have been taking the active forms of the vitamins so I was surprised at this result. My B-12 formula contains 1667% of the active methylcobalamin B-12. I actually was concerned that I was getting too much! I guess I need more than I thought!
My magnesium level is borderline even though I take it daily so I need to up that too. I didn't expect to see that after a few years of supplementation.
The final surprise was that I have more red blood cells than most people and they are larger than normal in size. This wasn't a big surprise to me as I have suspected this for a few years. This could be due to the B-12 levels being low (anemia) or my ancestry as I have some Indian in my DNA. These larger RBC's affect the A1c test because more total hemoglobin is in my body. I have always known that my A1c test was higher than it should be based on my meter averages and my fasting numbers in the 70's (4 mmol/l) I was correct in my suspicions. I am going to try to learn more about this.
Read about A1c issues here and here.
The last important test was an RA Factor test for Rheumatoid Arthritis or other autoimmune conditions. It did show a fairly high level of RA or autoimmune issues. I guess that would account for my degenerative disk disease and my "bad" knees although it doesn't seem to slow me down at all. I guess I will need to address this with some additional anti-inflammatory nutrition and supplements and also look into what else I can do for this.
Overall I am pleased. Besides good lipid results and a reduced A1c, I learned more about my body and can address the deficiencies. I never feel depressed by any negative test results. Instead I always feel empowered! You can't fix something if you don't know it's broken!
If it were not for the Wellness exam I would have never had these tests. It was nice that they were done at no cost to me. Now I think that it may be worth the cost in the future to be able to address any deficiencies.
I hope this blog post is helpful to you. Feel free to comment!
.
Saturday, April 18, 2015
It's All About You!
There seems to be a tendency among human
beings in general to follow the successful ideas of others. We
know that because there are so many successful "do as I do" courses,
classes, get rich quick seminars, etc. Look at the way that product
sales soar if Dr Oz recommends it on his TV show! An unknown herb or
supplement can become high in demand overnight!
Of course it is also this way in the diabetic community. A new diabetes drug is approved and advertised on TV, marketed to your doctor and the next thing you know either your doctor is giving you a sample or you are asking him about it yourself. When somebody posts a cinnamon "cure"or an okra in water "cure" on facebook every one lines up for it. When someone else posts on a blog that their blood sugar goes down by 40 points when they walk a mile or pull weeds for 30 minutes you may think that you should try it yourself. Another diabetic may post that their morning blood sugar is always lower when they eat peanut butter before bed. You want to try that too!
Disappointingly you may have found that you've tried many of these things that are working for others and instead of lowering your blood sugar it raises it or does nothing for you at all. That bottle of Bitter Melon capsules is now sitting unused in your cupboard because it raised your blood sugar even though Dr Oz told you how successful it would be at lowering it! It can be so frustrating!
 |
| Why isn't this working! |
We are all individuals! Let's not forget that! Your body is not Bob's body or Sue's body. Your liver function is not the same as Bob's and your cortisol (stress) hormones don't respond like Sue's.
Sue can eat peanut butter and you can't. Bitter Melon worked wonders for Bob but it worked like a placebo for you. Someone posted a perfect blood sugar reading on facebook after eating a 10 oz steak with a heap of onions on top. At the same time you're upset because you just had a 30 point rise from your 3 oz piece of "plain Jane"chicken thigh! It's no wonder you are ready to throw in the towel!
Well, don't do that! Instead take some time to focus on learning how YOUR body works!
How do YOU respond to stress? How does YOUR body respond to a one mile walk or raking the leaves?
What is the meat or vegetable portion size that YOU can tolerate for steady blood sugar control? Maybe you can eat a tomato or perhaps you can't. So how do you know?
"Nothing worth while is ever easy and nothing easy is ever worthwhile" as the saying goes. This is true or it wouldn't be quoted often. You are your own N=1 experiment. (N meaning the number of people in the experiment).
You may want to stock up on an extra inexpensive meter and additional strips like the Reli-On meter and strips from Walmart. It costs about $16.00 for the meter and only $9.00 for 50 strips. You will need to use these for your experiments.
Here is a helpful article to get you started in checking your personal responses to exercise, stress and carbs or other foods. Believe it or not, some people get a high blood sugar from beef but not from chicken so you may even want to do testing of various proteins on your N=1.
Click on the link below to see some examples of how to run some personal tests on yourself. These are examples but you can think of more.
What You Can Do to Stop the Blood Sugar Rollercoaster - By Sheri Colberg, PhD
Dr. Brian Mowll of Sweetlife Diabetes Center has a short 9 minute video above on how to test your own responses. He also explains some common terms.
To finish this up I want to encourage you to make this a journey of discovery of yourself. In the case of blood sugar control, that is, YOUR personal blood sugar control; it is all about you! It is not about the other guy!
Do not follow the leader! Become the leader of your own journey!
Do not follow the leader! Become the leader of your own journey!
Thursday, March 26, 2015
Bye Bye Meter!
A few days ago I made a change in my daily routine that has given me a feeling of freedom from bondage.
I have stopped checking my blood sugar! Yup! You heard that right! Let me clarify though. I am randomly checking once a day or once every other day to make sure that I am remaining on track.
A few weeks ago I posted a nice chart of my steady blood sugar readings. It was only a two week snapshot. I looked back over the last 5 months and realized that I had met some major goals in my nearly non-diabetic life. The goal met is to have basically normal blood sugar from 65-110. The 110 a post meal goal.
For five months I have mainly met that goal. That is not to say that I haven't had a few higher numbers. I do when I am ill or when I do strenuous exercise or I have a very high amount of stress. Those highs are short lived and not very often. Perhaps once or twice a month at best and an occasional 120 isn't really even a "high" sugar.
After 27 months of a ketogenic diet, (The Art & Science Of Ketogenic Living, Volek & Phinney)
I have learned what to eat for my own personal body. I no longer need to test post meal spikes because I don't eat foods that are questionable. I no longer need to adjust portion size because I have learned MY OWN personal portion size. I have learned what kind of snacks are best for my metabolism. Along the way my liver and pancreas have begun to dance well together again.
So I have a new found freedom to not have to think about my meter at every meal and not to think of myself as a diabetic every time I see my meter laying on my bathroom counter. I have put it in a drawer now. It waits for my random test and I go happily about my days not focusing on what was nearly an attachment for me. Happy Day!
What is in this post for you, my readers? Don't think that your body is someone else's body. Do not mistake your insulin resistance for someone else's insulin resistance. Do not think that someone elses portion size should be your portion size. You are unique. Your Diabetes management is unique. Learn your own body. Eat to YOUR meter. You will get there! This all takes time and effort but your day to put the meter in the drawer may also come!
I have stopped checking my blood sugar! Yup! You heard that right! Let me clarify though. I am randomly checking once a day or once every other day to make sure that I am remaining on track.
A few weeks ago I posted a nice chart of my steady blood sugar readings. It was only a two week snapshot. I looked back over the last 5 months and realized that I had met some major goals in my nearly non-diabetic life. The goal met is to have basically normal blood sugar from 65-110. The 110 a post meal goal.
For five months I have mainly met that goal. That is not to say that I haven't had a few higher numbers. I do when I am ill or when I do strenuous exercise or I have a very high amount of stress. Those highs are short lived and not very often. Perhaps once or twice a month at best and an occasional 120 isn't really even a "high" sugar.
After 27 months of a ketogenic diet, (The Art & Science Of Ketogenic Living, Volek & Phinney)
I have learned what to eat for my own personal body. I no longer need to test post meal spikes because I don't eat foods that are questionable. I no longer need to adjust portion size because I have learned MY OWN personal portion size. I have learned what kind of snacks are best for my metabolism. Along the way my liver and pancreas have begun to dance well together again.
So I have a new found freedom to not have to think about my meter at every meal and not to think of myself as a diabetic every time I see my meter laying on my bathroom counter. I have put it in a drawer now. It waits for my random test and I go happily about my days not focusing on what was nearly an attachment for me. Happy Day!
What is in this post for you, my readers? Don't think that your body is someone else's body. Do not mistake your insulin resistance for someone else's insulin resistance. Do not think that someone elses portion size should be your portion size. You are unique. Your Diabetes management is unique. Learn your own body. Eat to YOUR meter. You will get there! This all takes time and effort but your day to put the meter in the drawer may also come!
Saturday, March 14, 2015
The Art And Science Of Using Food Logging Apps For Eating LCHF
Many who begin the Ketogenic LCHF way of eating find that in the beginning they need to use a food logging app. It is a helpful tool to keep you on track and it aids in the learning process of how to do the Ketogenic diet correctly especially when the main goal is to reverse high blood sugar and insulin resistance.
It may be helpful to weigh your protein portion sizes in the beginning so that you learn what 3 ounces of chicken or a 3 ounce hamburger looks like. As a general rule, meat that is 3 oz raw will be about 2 ¼ to 2 ½ ounces ounce cooked and a lot depends on the amount of fat in the meat. The more fat, the more it will shrink. Keep this in mind as you log cooked foods too!
In the past few years I have often offered my help for those who have struggled to understand why the diet doesn’t seem to be working as well as they had hoped. I find that in many cases the ratios of fat to protein to carbs is off and a few simple changes make a huge difference for many people. In helping others I have also seen a lot of food diaries from various food tracking apps like FitDay or My Fitness Pal. I have noticed that many of these food logs are not really what the person is actually eating and a lot of things are missing or short cuts are made for time sake. It leaves a lot of questions about whether or not the food portions and ratios are correct.
The question on how to log foods seems to come up regularly in my groups so I thought that a bit of a tutorial might be helpful. I will provide some sample daily food logs to show that it makes a difference when you take short cuts in logging your food items and meals.
Tips for logging your food items:
1. If you eat something often like a ham & cheese omelet and you always make it the same way then use the recipes tab. Create your recipe and then save it. You can quickly enter it.
2. Enter all of your ingredients separately rather than pick an item that seems close to what you have eaten. For example, don’t pick ground beef patty-1 patty from the list. What does this tell you? Is it a 3 oz patty? 1/3 pound? Does it have fillers? If you are making it yourself at home you need to know the portion size so look for something like ground beef patty, homemade and make sure that you can enter ounces or grams. Don’t pick “scrambled eggs”. The carb count may include milk when you didn’t use any. Choose the actual items you used.
3. Don't pick restaurant items unless that is what you are actually eating. If you made a BLT salad from scratch don’t pick “Applebees BLT Salad”. You have no idea what they put in it!
4. Don’t skip items due to time constraints. It is okay to skip a spice or a sprinkle of lemon juice but don’t skip added items like sauces, condiments or fats. Yes this takes time but you may not see your total carb count or fat content.
5. Pick the right portion sizes. You can be easily led astray here! If you ate ½ of an avocado make sure that is what you enter. You may have to change it to 0.5 of 1 Avocado.
6. If you ate at Subway and bought a sub but ate it without the bread you can’t just enter “6 inch Subway Turkey & bacon Sub”. This is going to completely ruin your food diary and there is no way that you will know what your true carb count is for the day. Try to calculate how much meat, lettuce, condiments etc. were on the sub and enter them separately as best you can.
I have made up two sets of examples here. In each set of examples the first one shows how to log correctly and the second one shows the incorrect logging of food. I hope these examples are helpful.
Example 1
Correct
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1U4qilB3SRybmRlSXVVOUc0akk/view?usp=sharing
Incorrect
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1U4qilB3SRyUE5PTm1aOEV6bWs/view?usp=sharing
Example 2
Correct
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1U4qilB3SRyemM0M3haODRXTEE/view?usp=sharing
Incorrect
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1U4qilB3SRyVkk5c1NyX0djSzA/view?usp=sharing
I do hope that this is helpful. I have had many requests for this type of help. Thanks for reading! Your comments are welcome!
It may be helpful to weigh your protein portion sizes in the beginning so that you learn what 3 ounces of chicken or a 3 ounce hamburger looks like. As a general rule, meat that is 3 oz raw will be about 2 ¼ to 2 ½ ounces ounce cooked and a lot depends on the amount of fat in the meat. The more fat, the more it will shrink. Keep this in mind as you log cooked foods too!
In the past few years I have often offered my help for those who have struggled to understand why the diet doesn’t seem to be working as well as they had hoped. I find that in many cases the ratios of fat to protein to carbs is off and a few simple changes make a huge difference for many people. In helping others I have also seen a lot of food diaries from various food tracking apps like FitDay or My Fitness Pal. I have noticed that many of these food logs are not really what the person is actually eating and a lot of things are missing or short cuts are made for time sake. It leaves a lot of questions about whether or not the food portions and ratios are correct.
The question on how to log foods seems to come up regularly in my groups so I thought that a bit of a tutorial might be helpful. I will provide some sample daily food logs to show that it makes a difference when you take short cuts in logging your food items and meals.
Tips for logging your food items:
1. If you eat something often like a ham & cheese omelet and you always make it the same way then use the recipes tab. Create your recipe and then save it. You can quickly enter it.
2. Enter all of your ingredients separately rather than pick an item that seems close to what you have eaten. For example, don’t pick ground beef patty-1 patty from the list. What does this tell you? Is it a 3 oz patty? 1/3 pound? Does it have fillers? If you are making it yourself at home you need to know the portion size so look for something like ground beef patty, homemade and make sure that you can enter ounces or grams. Don’t pick “scrambled eggs”. The carb count may include milk when you didn’t use any. Choose the actual items you used.
3. Don't pick restaurant items unless that is what you are actually eating. If you made a BLT salad from scratch don’t pick “Applebees BLT Salad”. You have no idea what they put in it!
4. Don’t skip items due to time constraints. It is okay to skip a spice or a sprinkle of lemon juice but don’t skip added items like sauces, condiments or fats. Yes this takes time but you may not see your total carb count or fat content.
5. Pick the right portion sizes. You can be easily led astray here! If you ate ½ of an avocado make sure that is what you enter. You may have to change it to 0.5 of 1 Avocado.
6. If you ate at Subway and bought a sub but ate it without the bread you can’t just enter “6 inch Subway Turkey & bacon Sub”. This is going to completely ruin your food diary and there is no way that you will know what your true carb count is for the day. Try to calculate how much meat, lettuce, condiments etc. were on the sub and enter them separately as best you can.
I have made up two sets of examples here. In each set of examples the first one shows how to log correctly and the second one shows the incorrect logging of food. I hope these examples are helpful.
Example 1
Correct
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1U4qilB3SRybmRlSXVVOUc0akk/view?usp=sharing
Incorrect
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1U4qilB3SRyUE5PTm1aOEV6bWs/view?usp=sharing
Example 2
Correct
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1U4qilB3SRyemM0M3haODRXTEE/view?usp=sharing
Incorrect
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1U4qilB3SRyVkk5c1NyX0djSzA/view?usp=sharing
I do hope that this is helpful. I have had many requests for this type of help. Thanks for reading! Your comments are welcome!
Wednesday, February 25, 2015
My Issues With The New Proposed Dietary Guidelines
The media is touting the positive changes made in the "new" dietary guidelines for Americans. They have not really recognized what the real goals of these new dietary guidelines are.
The new proposed guidelines have a few good changes. They suggest that we can eat more cholesterol from eggs, and they suggest limitations on sugar and sugary drinks suggesting that water be offered more often in school cafeterias and vending machines.
Here is one of those mainly positive reviews that I have read:
http://www.medicaldaily.com/new-dietary-guidelines-bring-back-saturated-fat-cholesterol-why-experts-dont-owe-323038
If you look into the new dietary guidelines further however; you will find that they have have also doubled down on their recommendations to increase polyunsaturated fats and reduce saturated fats and even reduce red meat consumption or to avoid it altogether.
The new guidelines lean towards vegetarianism and the DGAC has suggested the reduction or elimination of red meat consumption for mostly environmental reasons. This has been ignored by many of the writers reporting on the new recommendations.
Here are a few articles that explain:
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2015/02/150219-dietary-guidelines-sustainable-environment-ngfood/
http://www.salon.com/2015/02/19/major_dietary_guidelines_report_recommends_decreasing_meat_consumption/
I find that the consideration of the environment (green house gases) in determining our consumption of meat to be suspect. In the same recommendations there is no mention of the effect of GMO crops or ingredients or the use of pesticides, round-up (glyphosate) and other poisons on our fruits and vegetables. There is also no recommendations to label GMO foods products.
The recommendation that 50% of the American diet continue to be made up of whole grains will remain as the core of the diet. They suggest increasing fruit and vegetable portions even higher than previous guidelines have suggested. As for dairy, low fat and skim will continue to be recommended to the masses. They continue to suggest very little use of fats, oils or butter on vegetables.
Although the new guidelines will now list sugar as empty calories they have lumped sugar together with saturated fat from meats and tropical oils like coconut oil. It's new recommendations now state that sugar and saturated fats are both "empty calories" providing NO nutritional value.
I beg to differ! Saturated fats from meat and coconut oil,etc. provide essential nutrients called fatty acids that are needed for the continuation of life and for brain function!
The continued suggestion for low fat high carb whole grain diets while suggesting that meat and saturated fat needs to continue to be curtailed even seems almost to be criminal to me!
In my opinion the proposed dietary guidelines do not properly address the health crisis that we are facing in this country. They suggest the same song and dance as before. Beyond that, they are suggesting food policies that will continue to make our children fatter and sicker.
Their report acknowledges major vitamin and mineral deficiencies in our population.
From the report:
"DGAC determined that vitamin D, vitamin E, magnesium, calcium, vitamin A and vitamin C were shortfall nutrients and that there may be a high prevalence of inadequate dietary intake of these nutrients. Of the nutrients with an AI (vitamin K, choline, dietary fiber, and potassium), the DGAC determined that a low proportion of the population had fiber and potassium intakes above the AI and so potassium and fiber were therefore considered to be under-consumed."
The dietary suggestions to address these deficiencies is to eat more "healthy" fortified whole grain breads and cereals in place of non-whole grain breads and cereals. They will be suggesting that the food companies put more effort into making more fortified whole grain products and put more money and effort into marketing them.
http://health.gov/dietaryguidelines/2015-scientific-report/04-integration.asp
Comments are being taken on the guidelines and will be considered. I find this comment from a physician to be a good one:
http://health.gov/dietaryguidelines/dga2015/comments/readCommentDetails.aspx?CID=1339
Comments will be taken through April 8th, 2015. Comments from health providers with proven benefits of diets including meat and saturated fats may sway the committee although that seems doubtful.
Once these new guidelines are approved and implemented we will have 5 more years of the continuing failed experiment of high carb low fat diets on our children and grandchildren. We will also have five more years to continue our fight to restore dietary sanity to our world!
You may submit or read comments in regard to the proposed guidelines here:
http://health.gov/dietaryguidelines/dga2015/comments/
The new proposed guidelines have a few good changes. They suggest that we can eat more cholesterol from eggs, and they suggest limitations on sugar and sugary drinks suggesting that water be offered more often in school cafeterias and vending machines.
Here is one of those mainly positive reviews that I have read:
http://www.medicaldaily.com/new-dietary-guidelines-bring-back-saturated-fat-cholesterol-why-experts-dont-owe-323038
If you look into the new dietary guidelines further however; you will find that they have have also doubled down on their recommendations to increase polyunsaturated fats and reduce saturated fats and even reduce red meat consumption or to avoid it altogether.
The new guidelines lean towards vegetarianism and the DGAC has suggested the reduction or elimination of red meat consumption for mostly environmental reasons. This has been ignored by many of the writers reporting on the new recommendations.
Here are a few articles that explain:
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2015/02/150219-dietary-guidelines-sustainable-environment-ngfood/
http://www.salon.com/2015/02/19/major_dietary_guidelines_report_recommends_decreasing_meat_consumption/
I find that the consideration of the environment (green house gases) in determining our consumption of meat to be suspect. In the same recommendations there is no mention of the effect of GMO crops or ingredients or the use of pesticides, round-up (glyphosate) and other poisons on our fruits and vegetables. There is also no recommendations to label GMO foods products.
The recommendation that 50% of the American diet continue to be made up of whole grains will remain as the core of the diet. They suggest increasing fruit and vegetable portions even higher than previous guidelines have suggested. As for dairy, low fat and skim will continue to be recommended to the masses. They continue to suggest very little use of fats, oils or butter on vegetables.
Although the new guidelines will now list sugar as empty calories they have lumped sugar together with saturated fat from meats and tropical oils like coconut oil. It's new recommendations now state that sugar and saturated fats are both "empty calories" providing NO nutritional value.
I beg to differ! Saturated fats from meat and coconut oil,etc. provide essential nutrients called fatty acids that are needed for the continuation of life and for brain function!
The continued suggestion for low fat high carb whole grain diets while suggesting that meat and saturated fat needs to continue to be curtailed even seems almost to be criminal to me!
In my opinion the proposed dietary guidelines do not properly address the health crisis that we are facing in this country. They suggest the same song and dance as before. Beyond that, they are suggesting food policies that will continue to make our children fatter and sicker.
Their report acknowledges major vitamin and mineral deficiencies in our population.
From the report:
"DGAC determined that vitamin D, vitamin E, magnesium, calcium, vitamin A and vitamin C were shortfall nutrients and that there may be a high prevalence of inadequate dietary intake of these nutrients. Of the nutrients with an AI (vitamin K, choline, dietary fiber, and potassium), the DGAC determined that a low proportion of the population had fiber and potassium intakes above the AI and so potassium and fiber were therefore considered to be under-consumed."
The dietary suggestions to address these deficiencies is to eat more "healthy" fortified whole grain breads and cereals in place of non-whole grain breads and cereals. They will be suggesting that the food companies put more effort into making more fortified whole grain products and put more money and effort into marketing them.
They propose that food companies, stores and other vendors change to lower sugar and higher healthy grain products and that our schools cafeteria's increase fruits & vegetables while decreasing meat and fat. It's no wonder that our children's little brains can no longer function and we are facing an epidemic of ADHD and other brain problems that affect a child's ability to focus!
I have read these new guidelines in depth. I realize that most don't want to go through pages and pages of dogma so here is an overview of the proposed guidelines:http://health.gov/dietaryguidelines/2015-scientific-report/04-integration.asp
Comments are being taken on the guidelines and will be considered. I find this comment from a physician to be a good one:
http://health.gov/dietaryguidelines/dga2015/comments/readCommentDetails.aspx?CID=1339
Comments will be taken through April 8th, 2015. Comments from health providers with proven benefits of diets including meat and saturated fats may sway the committee although that seems doubtful.
Once these new guidelines are approved and implemented we will have 5 more years of the continuing failed experiment of high carb low fat diets on our children and grandchildren. We will also have five more years to continue our fight to restore dietary sanity to our world!
You may submit or read comments in regard to the proposed guidelines here:
http://health.gov/dietaryguidelines/dga2015/comments/
Saturday, February 14, 2015
Why Isn’t The LCHF Ketogenic Diet Working for Me? Common Mistakes- Part Two
First here is a summary of Part 1.
Some of the most common mistakes that are made while following a LCHF Ketogenic diet are:
1- Not being aware of hidden sugars.
2- Too many carbs or using “net” carbs.
3- This must be good for me because it is healthy.
4- Portion Sizes and timing issues.
See part one here:
http://ketodiabetes.blogspot.com/2015/02/why-isnt-lchf-ketogenic-diet-working.html
My Disclaimer- I am not a doctor or a science writer. I blog about my experiences and the experiences of others. This is not medical advice and should not be taken as such!
Now let’s move on to the next and perhaps the most common two mistakes made.
Not eating enough fat!
That is the most common mistake made and I find myself addressing it with newcomers to the diet on a regular basis. For most it is very hard to get this part down without using some kind of food tracking app. At least that is the case at first. After a while you get a feel for it.
In order to lower blood sugar and lower insulin resistance fat needs to be as high or higher than 70% according to "The Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate Living”, a book written by Steve Phinney and Jeff S. Volek. They point to some studies including one of Dr. Phinney's.
A small study of insulin resistant patients showed that insulin resistance (high blood sugar) was not improved until fat in the diet was at least 70% and carbs were less than 20 gr. per day. At lower fat percentages (35-60%), insulin resistance DID NOT improve! This is key for diabetics to really see good control! They discuss this in their book.
Here are some tips to add more fat to your diet every day.
*Add butter, lard or bacon drippings to bone broth, chicken broth, etc.
*Add extra melted lard or bacon dripping to ground beef before cooking or making your burger patties or meatloaf, etc. You can add ground flax to meat patties too.
*Add heavy cream and butter to chicken broth to make a cream soup
*Pour pan drippings over a side salad and over vegetables
*Mix coconut oil into almond butter and make a dip for celery sticks
*Mash avocado into your scrambled eggs or omelets
*Use an extra yolk with your eggs, toss the extra white or use it elsewhere.
*Top eggs and meats with sour cream or mayonnaise or avocado ranch sauce.
*Top steaks and chops with a seasoned cream cheese spread, feta or bleu cheese
*Add cream cheese and lots of butter to mashed cauliflower or make a cheesy creamed cauliflower dish
*Cream your veggies-creamed green beans, creamed spinach, creamed brussel's sprouts, etc.
*Drizzle extra fats or flavored oils over your meats and vegetables. Garlic, tuscan, lemon, etc.
*Roast vegetables in the oven with oils rather than cooking
*Add avocado and olives or egg yolks to your salads
*Make a sour cream gravy by adding a few Tbsp. of sour cream to the meat drippings in a warm pan.
*Coconut oil in coffee, tea or in warm homemade lemonade
*Fat bombs made with coconut oil, butter, almond butter and some stevia
*Flax cereal/pudding with butter and cream. Add a few berries if you like. (breakfast or a snack) *Make a creamy berry ice cream. I use a small custard cup and just make up one serving. Mash a few berries, mix in 1/3 cup cream, 1 tsp melted coconut oil and stevia. Freeze and stir regularly until nearly frozen. Eat this while still semi soft and creamy.
I hope this is helpful! Now, let’s move on to my final point.
Protein!
The most common mistake in regard to protein is either eating too much protein per day/per meal or not considering the amount of protein that may be in high fat foods like bacon or avocados. This is often the final thing that has to be tweaked and sometimes it needs to be tweaked several times because it is so easy to eat more than your body needs to provide your essential amino acids and repair tissue. This part of the equation is so individual that your really can’t follow someone else’s ratios. Do not listen to others tell you what works for them. You must figure this out for yourself. I like to use this calculator as a beginning point to determine protein levels.
http://ketodietapp.com/Blog/page/KetoDiet-Buddy
Do not make the mistake of under-calculating your BMI. Here are some tools to help you. http://ketodietapp.com/Blog/page/KetoDiet-Buddy#bodyfat
I find it works best to take the minimum requirement and subtract 10%. Make that your starting point. Personal testimonies from others in my face book groups seem to indicate that blood sugar issues do not resolve completely by using the standard protein requirements suggested.
The requirements for non-insulin resistant people seem to be too high for diabetics. Many diabetics or insulin resistant people who are eating low carb seem to be more adept at converting protein to glucose. Often the body is stubborn and wants to continue to use glucose for fuel rather than change over to fat burning. You will continue to be a carb burner rather than a fat burner as long as you have excess protein available to be stored in your liver.
http://authoritynutrition.com/5-most-common-low-carb-mistakes/
Some of the most common mistakes that are made while following a LCHF Ketogenic diet are:
1- Not being aware of hidden sugars.
2- Too many carbs or using “net” carbs.
3- This must be good for me because it is healthy.
4- Portion Sizes and timing issues.
See part one here:
http://ketodiabetes.blogspot.com/2015/02/why-isnt-lchf-ketogenic-diet-working.html
My Disclaimer- I am not a doctor or a science writer. I blog about my experiences and the experiences of others. This is not medical advice and should not be taken as such!
Now let’s move on to the next and perhaps the most common two mistakes made.
Not eating enough fat!
That is the most common mistake made and I find myself addressing it with newcomers to the diet on a regular basis. For most it is very hard to get this part down without using some kind of food tracking app. At least that is the case at first. After a while you get a feel for it.
In order to lower blood sugar and lower insulin resistance fat needs to be as high or higher than 70% according to "The Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate Living”, a book written by Steve Phinney and Jeff S. Volek. They point to some studies including one of Dr. Phinney's.
A small study of insulin resistant patients showed that insulin resistance (high blood sugar) was not improved until fat in the diet was at least 70% and carbs were less than 20 gr. per day. At lower fat percentages (35-60%), insulin resistance DID NOT improve! This is key for diabetics to really see good control! They discuss this in their book.
Here are some tips to add more fat to your diet every day.
*Add butter, lard or bacon drippings to bone broth, chicken broth, etc.
*Add extra melted lard or bacon dripping to ground beef before cooking or making your burger patties or meatloaf, etc. You can add ground flax to meat patties too.
*Add heavy cream and butter to chicken broth to make a cream soup
*Pour pan drippings over a side salad and over vegetables
*Mix coconut oil into almond butter and make a dip for celery sticks
*Mash avocado into your scrambled eggs or omelets
*Use an extra yolk with your eggs, toss the extra white or use it elsewhere.
*Top eggs and meats with sour cream or mayonnaise or avocado ranch sauce.
*Top steaks and chops with a seasoned cream cheese spread, feta or bleu cheese
*Add cream cheese and lots of butter to mashed cauliflower or make a cheesy creamed cauliflower dish
*Cream your veggies-creamed green beans, creamed spinach, creamed brussel's sprouts, etc.
*Drizzle extra fats or flavored oils over your meats and vegetables. Garlic, tuscan, lemon, etc.
*Roast vegetables in the oven with oils rather than cooking
*Add avocado and olives or egg yolks to your salads
*Make a sour cream gravy by adding a few Tbsp. of sour cream to the meat drippings in a warm pan.
*Coconut oil in coffee, tea or in warm homemade lemonade
*Fat bombs made with coconut oil, butter, almond butter and some stevia
*Flax cereal/pudding with butter and cream. Add a few berries if you like. (breakfast or a snack) *Make a creamy berry ice cream. I use a small custard cup and just make up one serving. Mash a few berries, mix in 1/3 cup cream, 1 tsp melted coconut oil and stevia. Freeze and stir regularly until nearly frozen. Eat this while still semi soft and creamy.
I hope this is helpful! Now, let’s move on to my final point.
Protein!
The most common mistake in regard to protein is either eating too much protein per day/per meal or not considering the amount of protein that may be in high fat foods like bacon or avocados. This is often the final thing that has to be tweaked and sometimes it needs to be tweaked several times because it is so easy to eat more than your body needs to provide your essential amino acids and repair tissue. This part of the equation is so individual that your really can’t follow someone else’s ratios. Do not listen to others tell you what works for them. You must figure this out for yourself. I like to use this calculator as a beginning point to determine protein levels.
http://ketodietapp.com/Blog/page/KetoDiet-Buddy
Do not make the mistake of under-calculating your BMI. Here are some tools to help you. http://ketodietapp.com/Blog/page/KetoDiet-Buddy#bodyfat
I find it works best to take the minimum requirement and subtract 10%. Make that your starting point. Personal testimonies from others in my face book groups seem to indicate that blood sugar issues do not resolve completely by using the standard protein requirements suggested.
The requirements for non-insulin resistant people seem to be too high for diabetics. Many diabetics or insulin resistant people who are eating low carb seem to be more adept at converting protein to glucose. Often the body is stubborn and wants to continue to use glucose for fuel rather than change over to fat burning. You will continue to be a carb burner rather than a fat burner as long as you have excess protein available to be stored in your liver.
http://authoritynutrition.com/5-most-common-low-carb-mistakes/
You
should also consider your activity level.
Body builders, runners or those doing extreme exercise may need to allow
for a bit larger protein portions in this case but according to Volek &
Phinney that is not necessarily the case.
Volek himself seems to limit his daily protein requirements to below 60
grams. http://www.meandmydiabetes.com/2011/04/14/steve-phinney-low-carb-preserves-glycogen-better-than-high-carb/
Tips for avoiding too much protein:
Weigh your meat portions until you learn to eyeball portion sizes or limit to the size of your closed
fist.
If
your carb and fat ratios are good and you have adjusted them well but your
blood sugar is still higher than you like and you seem to be seeing your bloods
still rising at 2.5 or 3 hours post meal this may be a sign of excess protein consumption.
Make sure that you add up ALL of the protein on your plate! Two eggs and 3 slices of bacon may be too much. Bacon can have up to 50% protein It is not pure fat! Add the protein from avocados and even vegetables and cheese sauces or sour cream.
Make sure that you add up ALL of the protein on your plate! Two eggs and 3 slices of bacon may be too much. Bacon can have up to 50% protein It is not pure fat! Add the protein from avocados and even vegetables and cheese sauces or sour cream.
Stick
to easily calculated meals at first. It
is difficult to determine totals of LCHF casseroles or hot dishes. It is easier to count meat, fats and salads
or hot vegetables and the oils you use on them.
Use a calculator like Fit Day, My Fitness Pal or even Spark People to get the total of your meals. Do this before you eat, not after. You may find that you need to cut something out in the meal that you have planned.
You will not need to do this forever! You will learn these things as you go and soon you will no longer need to be as vigilant once you will learn the LCHF ropes!
Use a calculator like Fit Day, My Fitness Pal or even Spark People to get the total of your meals. Do this before you eat, not after. You may find that you need to cut something out in the meal that you have planned.
You will not need to do this forever! You will learn these things as you go and soon you will no longer need to be as vigilant once you will learn the LCHF ropes!
Back
to Part 1 of “Why Isn’t The LCHF Ketogenic Diet Working for Me? Common
Mistakes” http://ketodiabetes.blogspot.com/2015/02/why-isnt-lchf-ketogenic-diet-working.html
Thursday, February 5, 2015
Just One More Travesty Of The FDA and the USDA- Almonds In The USA
Metformin, the most used diabetes drug is now being promoted as a cancer preventive drug. The drug companies are urging doctors to give it to patients at pre-diabetes levels to not only help with blood sugar control but also as a cancer preventative. It is an inexpensive drug and therefore affordable to even those who do not have insurance.
http://www.lef.org/Magazine/2012/2/Can-Diabetes-Drug-Prevent-Cancer-Death/Page-01
There is no doubt that there are some studies that show the effectiveness of Metformin. It works somewhat in the same fashion as a LCHF diet or caloric restriction does. It activates AMPK which kills or inhibits cancer cell growth.
http://www.cavemandoctor.com/2013/01/01/an-introduction-a-ketogenic-diet-for-cancer/
Of course because Metformin is a drug and the pharmaceutical companies can make money selling it, it will be used as a "cancer" preventative in order to make more sales.
A vitamin called B-17, also known as Laetrile, is a naturally occurring vitamin that has been shown to be very effective on cancer. It is banned in the U.S. because the drug companies can not profit from the sale of it.
This is so wrong! Vitamin B-17 used to be in our B Complex formulas before they banned it in the 1970's. It harmed no one but because it was such a successful cancer treatment it was made illegal.
I just discovered yesterday that almonds, a top source of B-17, have to be pasteurized in the U.S. Pasteurization makes the B-17 and the other vitamins and minerals mostly unavailable to the body. Did you know that even raw organic almonds are pasteurized? In most cases a chemical process called PPO (toxic fumigation treatment with propylene oxide).
http://www.livingnutz.com/2011/04/the-truth-about-almond-pasteurization-methods/
The FDA claimed that the pasteurization was needed because some people were sensitive to the small amount of Aflatoxins and could cause Salmonella.
Aflatoxins can occur in other foods, such as groundnuts, tree nuts, (hazelnuts, pistachios, etc.) maize, rice, figs and other dried foods, spices and crude vegetable oils, and cocoa beans, as a result of fungal contamination before and after harvest. Any of these foods can potentially cause a Salmonella outbreak as well but they are not pasteurized to "protect" us. These other foods do not have high levels of Vitamin B-17.
In September of 2007, the F.D.A. claimed that raw almonds had been linked to two salmonella outbreaks in five years, and that all almonds needed to be pasteurized, because they were suddenly a danger to the nation's health. These salmonella outbreaks were not due to any organic almonds.
http://healthwyze.org/index.php/component/content/article/251-forbidden-fruits-whatever-medicinal-foods-the-fda-forbids.html
Aflatoxins can occur in foods, such as groundnuts, tree nuts, (hazelnuts, pistachios, etc.) maize, rice, figs and other dried foods, spices and crude vegetable oils, and cocoa beans, as a result of fungal contamination before and after harvest. It is also found in animal feeds if the grain was damp at harvest.
If the aflatoxin concern was truly the case, why aren't figs, other nuts, rice and these other foods pasteurized as well? Main reason? They don't have high levels of the illegal vitamin B-17 as almonds do. In fact almonds are the second highest source of B-17. Other seeds containing the highest sources are apricot and peach seeds and apple seeds. Many cultures do eat these seeds. They open them up and take out the soft center of the seeds. We in the U.S. throw them out so there is no reason to make them illegal or pasteurize the fruit.
Another popular Almond now illegal to sell in the U.S is the Bitter Almond and bitter almond trees are now illegal in the United States. These bitter almonds have a higher concentrate of B-17 than regular almonds and were a very popular alternative cancer treatment being used in the United States until they were banned in 1995.
According to the modern FDA., bitter almonds are poisonous, but somehow bitter almonds became a serious health danger just after it was also discovered that they contain the cancer destroying vitamin. Coincidence? Bitter almonds had been eaten by humanity unimpaired during the previous 9,000 years of history.
In Europe the batches of almonds and other foods are simply tested for the level of Aflatoxins in all tree nuts ,including nuts that are imported from other countries. They also test animal feed. They do not pasturize almonds as the U.S does and therefore if you live in Europe you have the benefit of the B-17 vitamin that is cancer protective.
http://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/topics/topic/aflatoxins.htm
Now I need to reconsider the use of chemically processed almonds in my diet unless they are steam pasteurized. Very few places sell the steam processed almonds as it is more expensive process.
Thanks FDA for ruining one more food that I thought was actually good for me and may have prevented cancer in the masses! But heh, I guess I can buy some Metformin instead!
Here is a website that gives some links to find truly unpasteurized almonds in the U.S.
http://ducknews.oneluckyduck.com/2012/11/09/the-raw-deal-on-almonds/
Wednesday, February 4, 2015
Why Isn’t The LCHF Ketogenic Diet Working for Me? Common Mistakes- Part One
Part One
I must get this question at least 10 times a week. It is a common issue that diabetics wrestle
with. They really believe that they are
doing everything right but in most cases I can spot the problem pretty quickly
if I get to see a day or two of menus.
Here are the most common mistakes that I see being made.
1- Not being aware of hidden sugars. I will put a link to hidden sugars below.
If you are buying products off of the grocery store shelf be aware that just because it says sugar free or gives a low carb count that is not always correct. There are certain “sugars” that do not have to be counted as a carb or a sugar on the label. That doesn’t mean that it isn’t sugar! It just means that the FDA and the USDA has allowed some rule bending for the sake of the food companies profit line! Look for ingredients that end in “ose” or “tose” or “dextrin”. These are sugars that will raise a diabetic’s blood sugar higher than table sugar and the food manufacturers do not have to tell you! You will also find these sugars in vitamins and other supplements.
Here are the most common mistakes that I see being made.
1- Not being aware of hidden sugars. I will put a link to hidden sugars below.
If you are buying products off of the grocery store shelf be aware that just because it says sugar free or gives a low carb count that is not always correct. There are certain “sugars” that do not have to be counted as a carb or a sugar on the label. That doesn’t mean that it isn’t sugar! It just means that the FDA and the USDA has allowed some rule bending for the sake of the food companies profit line! Look for ingredients that end in “ose” or “tose” or “dextrin”. These are sugars that will raise a diabetic’s blood sugar higher than table sugar and the food manufacturers do not have to tell you! You will also find these sugars in vitamins and other supplements.
Watch out for marketing gimmicks like Glucerna “diabetic friendly”
shakes, Atkins bars and shakes or other things that make claims that they will keep
your blood sugar balanced. They will
keep it balanced all right! Balanced sky high! Check ingredients in all store bought
products! Don’t fall for these marketing
hypes. They love to put this stuff right
over there where you are purchasing your meters, test strips and other diabetic
devices.
Here is the Glycemic Index of common sweeteners. The higher the number the more that it raises
blood sugar. http://www.sugar-and-sweetener-guide.com/glycemic-index-for-sweeteners.html
2- Too many carbs or
using “net” carbs.
This is a common mistake.
It’s all over facebook low carb groups and the Atkins diet and other low
carb diets suggest using a formula that allows you to subtract fiber from total
carbs and get net carbs. This makes it
seem like you will be able to eat it without much of a blood sugar rise. You may find yourself sadly
disappointed!
While some diabetics can use this formula successfully I wouldn't recommend it for the majority of insulin dependent people. It is another marketing trick and companies
like Dreamfields Pasta company and the
Julian Bakery have gotten fined by the USDA or sued for false advertising. There are many breads and wraps on the
market that claim to be low carb because you can subtract the fiber. Don’t fall for it! Fiber will slow down the digestion of carbs
and you may find that your blood sugar will not only go up but it may stay up in
an unhappy range for as long as 24-48 hours.
In order to be successful on a LCHF diet you should
initially count all carbs. Perhaps later on in your Ketogenic journey when
blood sugars have stabilized you can test some of these other items.
3- This is good for
me because it is healthy
Is it really? Remember
that your primary goal is to reduce blood sugar and insulin resistance. It doesn't matter how healthy a food is if
it keeps you diabetic! I hear this from
someone every week! Even too many
servings of salad greens could potentially add up to too much! I hear things like:
“I’m trying to get some yogurt into my diet because it has
good healthy probiotics”
“I need to eat a half of a banana because I need the
potassium”.
“I’m drinking green smoothies for the healthy vitamins and
minerals.”
Others make the mistake of eating allowed fruits like berries but eat them with abandon or find that they can’t stop putting them in their mouth. You need to know what pushes your carb craving buttons and get it out of your pantry or refrigerator.
You are not going to be healthy if your blood sugar and
insulin levels are up and you will not have success on the Ketogenic diet by
eating foods that will not allow your body to be running in a fat burning state of ketosis. This
is what we have to aim for.
There are plenty of healthy “super foods”. They don’t have to be high carb or high
sugar. Avocados are a power food packed
with potassium and other good stuff! Greens
and green vegetables pack a punch and they also add fiber. We were never meant to “eat” our vegetables
juiced! Our ancestors didn't have
juicers in the woods now did they?
Consider carefully how many carbs you want to allow yourself
for something that seems to be healthy but in your case may not be because it
will keep you from your greater goal!
Please use this handy guide to find nutrients in foods! http://www.whfoods.com/nutrientstoc.php
Please use this handy guide to find nutrients in foods! http://www.whfoods.com/nutrientstoc.php
4- Portion Sizes and timing issues.
Are you simply eating too much food or eating food too
often? We have had it pounded into our
heads forever that we “need to eat often” to stay satisfied and keep our
metabolism going. That is a bunch of nonsense!
Our ancestors didn't graze! They hunted all day, maybe even two days,
then dragged the animal home and everyone sat down to eat it. The remaining was often eaten for breakfast
the next day and then off they went again to find more. The women gathered seeds, nuts and berries
in season. They were not the big luscious
sweet berries of the modern world. They
were tiny wild berries and sharing them it probably didn't amount to a
lot.
There is a side of broccoli or there is a plateful of broccoli. The plateful is going be too much and can keep you from attaining the blood sugar control you want and may hinder weight loss that you are trying to achieve. If to you a 12 ounce Sirloin is a portion you are not going to see the results you want.
I will discuss how protein can inhibit ketosis in part two. I will address the mistakes made eating fat in my next post too! For now, take a bit of time to consider if any of these four mistakes are hindering your LCHF journey to health!
Go to part two here:
http://ketodiabetes.blogspot.com/2015/02/why-isnt-lchf-ketogenic-diet-working_14.html
Wednesday, January 14, 2015
25 Months On A LCHF Ketogenic Diet- Update!
It's been two years and one month since I read Dr. Jeff Volek and Stephen Phinney's book called "The Art And Science Of Low Carbohydrate Living". I will state without any hesitation that it was the pivotal turning point in my diabetic life! It changed my entire concept of health and it also changed the lives of countless others who have joined my "Reversing Diabetes" facebook group since then.
At the time that I read that book I was eating a low carb and low fat type of diet and had about 500 members in my facebook group. I remember one of my admins in the group at the time, a great guy and a mentor, Geoff S. would post about eating a ketogenic diet. I kind of thought it was on the extreme end of the scale and didn't promote it much. I have to admit that It actually scared me a little bit!
Fast forward two years later! Geoff was a very wise man and he knew of what he spoke! He helped me along in my early days of eating this way! I am forever grateful to you Geoff!
Today I eat a fully ketogenic diet as Volek and Phinney write of and my facebook group now has more than 5200 members and a countless number of successful LCHF participants! I have since added two more successful facebook groups with an additional 1500 members or so.
At the time that I read that book I was eating a low carb and low fat type of diet and had about 500 members in my facebook group. I remember one of my admins in the group at the time, a great guy and a mentor, Geoff S. would post about eating a ketogenic diet. I kind of thought it was on the extreme end of the scale and didn't promote it much. I have to admit that It actually scared me a little bit!
Fast forward two years later! Geoff was a very wise man and he knew of what he spoke! He helped me along in my early days of eating this way! I am forever grateful to you Geoff!
Today I eat a fully ketogenic diet as Volek and Phinney write of and my facebook group now has more than 5200 members and a countless number of successful LCHF participants! I have since added two more successful facebook groups with an additional 1500 members or so.
After reading Volek and Phinney's book, I began my own experiment which I documented for about 5 months. I upped my fat intake, I lowered my protein intake, experimented with portion sizes and foods even using a food scale for a while! It was a lot of work in the beginning but now it is simply my way of life!
Within days I was blown away by my blood sugar numbers and I have never turned back! Now in Jan. 2015 it has been 25 months of this way of eating along with thousands of others doing this with me! It is humbling to say the least!
I just had my yearly "preventative" exam. I say that because I no longer have to have diabetes follow-up exams. My doctor has declared me to be no longer diabetic "on paper" as she says. She was completely blown away by my recent labs and could hardly believe my numbers!
A1c 5.3
Homocysteine is down to 9.8 from 11.8 in 2013. This is a marker for heart disease. Below 10 is fine. Over 13 or so is concerning although most physicians don't seem to take much notice until you have a reading of 15 or higher!
All of my liver enzymes are improved over the past 3 years. So much for the propaganda saying that a high fat diet causes fatty liver!
LDL/HDL ratio is: 1.152 - (preferably under 5.0, ideally under 2.0) IDEAL
Triglycerides/HDL ratio is: 1.304 - (preferably under 4, ideally under 2) IDEAL
Within days I was blown away by my blood sugar numbers and I have never turned back! Now in Jan. 2015 it has been 25 months of this way of eating along with thousands of others doing this with me! It is humbling to say the least!
I just had my yearly "preventative" exam. I say that because I no longer have to have diabetes follow-up exams. My doctor has declared me to be no longer diabetic "on paper" as she says. She was completely blown away by my recent labs and could hardly believe my numbers!
Fasting Blood Glucose on day of testing was 74 (4.1 mmol),
A1c 5.3
Vitamin D level is stellar at 74, which is up from last years 52 (most people are under 40!)
Homocysteine is down to 9.8 from 11.8 in 2013. This is a marker for heart disease. Below 10 is fine. Over 13 or so is concerning although most physicians don't seem to take much notice until you have a reading of 15 or higher!
All of my liver enzymes are improved over the past 3 years. So much for the propaganda saying that a high fat diet causes fatty liver!
Total Cholesterol of 222 is BORDERLINE (225 last year) Of course it is higher due to the higher "healthy" HDL
LDL of 106 is NEAR OPTIMAL (down from 144)
HDL of 92 is OPTIMAL (UP 40 points from last year)
Triglyceride level of 120 is NORMAL (145 last year)
LDL of 106 is NEAR OPTIMAL (down from 144)
HDL of 92 is OPTIMAL (UP 40 points from last year)
Triglyceride level of 120 is NORMAL (145 last year)
RATIOS:
Total Cholesterol/HDL ratio is: 2.41 - (preferably under 5.0, ideally under 3.5) IDEAL
Total Cholesterol/HDL ratio is: 2.41 - (preferably under 5.0, ideally under 3.5) IDEAL
LDL/HDL ratio is: 1.152 - (preferably under 5.0, ideally under 2.0) IDEAL
Triglycerides/HDL ratio is: 1.304 - (preferably under 4, ideally under 2) IDEAL
The calculator I used to figure my ratios is here. http://www.hughcalc.org/chol2013.php
I am so happy to share my results after 2 years of eating a LCHF Ketogenic diet and my hope is that it will inspire others and take away some possible fear that you may have about how a high fat diet affects your lipids!
For those of you who read this post whose life has also been changed by using the ketogenic diet for your health I would love it if you would comment on this post!
For those of you who read this post whose life has also been changed by using the ketogenic diet for your health I would love it if you would comment on this post!
Sunday, February 16, 2014
My Experiment With First & Second Phase Insulin Response
"Huh, what?" you ask! What are you talking about? Well it's a bit complicated and you can read about it for yourself at Jenny Ruhl's "Blood Sugar 101" web page here: "How Blood Sugar Control Works- And How It Stops Working"
I was reading Jenny's hard copy "Blood Sugar 101" book for the second time through and I just wanted to wrap my head around this and try to understand it. I also became very interested in what my own responses were.
Most of us type 2's don't follow our blood sugar too closely. We may test in the morning or perhaps after a meal so we have a general idea of what our average blood sugar may be. The quarterly or twice yearly A1C gives us another indication. But what is really going on with our insulin response. What happens in those few hours after a meal when we aren't testing? How good or bad is out insulin response?
These were the questions I wanted to answer about my own body. Do I have impaired phase one insulin response? Failed phase 2 insulin response? Both?
I was surprised after doing both experiments. A bit disappointed too!
The first picture is one testing my 1st phase insulin response by taking 1-1/2 tsp of sugar right after testing my fasting blood sugar. This is equal to about 7-8 grams of carbs which was certainly not carb loading. It mimicked an average carb meal for me. I started out with a nice 76 mg/dl (4.2 mmol). In the picture you can see the rise at 15 minutes. At 30 minutes it is already on it's way down. At 90 minutes my blood sugar it is back nearly to where it started at 80 mg/dl (4.3 mmol).
.png)
Go to the larger Google Drive chart here.
This was shocking to me! Looking at this you would question if I even was diabetic! This is exactly the way a non-diabetics blood sugar would respond in 90 minutes or so. The increase to 96 a half hour later may have been due to a glucose dump by the liver after blood sugar went below 80.
Exciting news, right! But here is the not so exciting news. My other experiment didn't fare so well.
Here is a chart of two meals eaten yesterday. These were both usual meals for me. I weighed the protein portions to be exactly 3 ounces since that is what I have determined is the right amount for my diet. Both meals were LCHF ketogenic meals with added fats. I stopped taking all of my supplements for this experiment as well so that I could get a true picture of how my body handled the meals without help from anything else.
Lunch was a salad with sour cream chipotle dressing , vinegar, macadamia oil and 3 ounces of Kielbasa sausage. Supper was 3 ounces of baked haddock with butter and lemon olive oil with 7 spears of roasted asparagus. I also had 3 ounces of V-8 juice (3.5 grams carbs) at the beginning of the supper meal thinking that it might get the insulin going faster.
.png)
See full chart in Google Drive here
Normally, I test before and after a meal. Sometimes only after the meal. I was making an assumption that my blood sugar would rise mostly the first hour to 45 minutes and then start coming down. When I usually do my post meal test at 2-1/2 hours it is around 105-115 or so. Sometimes it is lower, which is nice!
What I didn't realize is that my blood sugar is only first peaking at the 2 hour mark! This was shocking to me! When I test at 2-1/2 hours I am only just beginning to come down from my "high". Granted my peak is still below 130 which is certainly not anything to be concerned about but this whole experiment now leaves me with more questions to be answered! After both meals my blood sugar didn't come down to a "normal" range below 100 mg/dl (5.5 mmol) for over four hours!
What does this tell me? Well, I guess I am diabetic for one! I knew that already! (smirk) I show a very slow and impaired secondary insulin response. I also wonder why it seemed like there was no 1st phase insulin response to the meals. Is it because it took that long for my pancreas to recognize that I ate carbs? I don't have the answers to these questions so on to more research!
I was reading Jenny's hard copy "Blood Sugar 101" book for the second time through and I just wanted to wrap my head around this and try to understand it. I also became very interested in what my own responses were.
Most of us type 2's don't follow our blood sugar too closely. We may test in the morning or perhaps after a meal so we have a general idea of what our average blood sugar may be. The quarterly or twice yearly A1C gives us another indication. But what is really going on with our insulin response. What happens in those few hours after a meal when we aren't testing? How good or bad is out insulin response?
These were the questions I wanted to answer about my own body. Do I have impaired phase one insulin response? Failed phase 2 insulin response? Both?
I was surprised after doing both experiments. A bit disappointed too!
The first picture is one testing my 1st phase insulin response by taking 1-1/2 tsp of sugar right after testing my fasting blood sugar. This is equal to about 7-8 grams of carbs which was certainly not carb loading. It mimicked an average carb meal for me. I started out with a nice 76 mg/dl (4.2 mmol). In the picture you can see the rise at 15 minutes. At 30 minutes it is already on it's way down. At 90 minutes my blood sugar it is back nearly to where it started at 80 mg/dl (4.3 mmol).
Go to the larger Google Drive chart here.
This was shocking to me! Looking at this you would question if I even was diabetic! This is exactly the way a non-diabetics blood sugar would respond in 90 minutes or so. The increase to 96 a half hour later may have been due to a glucose dump by the liver after blood sugar went below 80.
Exciting news, right! But here is the not so exciting news. My other experiment didn't fare so well.
Here is a chart of two meals eaten yesterday. These were both usual meals for me. I weighed the protein portions to be exactly 3 ounces since that is what I have determined is the right amount for my diet. Both meals were LCHF ketogenic meals with added fats. I stopped taking all of my supplements for this experiment as well so that I could get a true picture of how my body handled the meals without help from anything else.
Lunch was a salad with sour cream chipotle dressing , vinegar, macadamia oil and 3 ounces of Kielbasa sausage. Supper was 3 ounces of baked haddock with butter and lemon olive oil with 7 spears of roasted asparagus. I also had 3 ounces of V-8 juice (3.5 grams carbs) at the beginning of the supper meal thinking that it might get the insulin going faster.
See full chart in Google Drive here
Normally, I test before and after a meal. Sometimes only after the meal. I was making an assumption that my blood sugar would rise mostly the first hour to 45 minutes and then start coming down. When I usually do my post meal test at 2-1/2 hours it is around 105-115 or so. Sometimes it is lower, which is nice!
What I didn't realize is that my blood sugar is only first peaking at the 2 hour mark! This was shocking to me! When I test at 2-1/2 hours I am only just beginning to come down from my "high". Granted my peak is still below 130 which is certainly not anything to be concerned about but this whole experiment now leaves me with more questions to be answered! After both meals my blood sugar didn't come down to a "normal" range below 100 mg/dl (5.5 mmol) for over four hours!
What does this tell me? Well, I guess I am diabetic for one! I knew that already! (smirk) I show a very slow and impaired secondary insulin response. I also wonder why it seemed like there was no 1st phase insulin response to the meals. Is it because it took that long for my pancreas to recognize that I ate carbs? I don't have the answers to these questions so on to more research!
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