…increasing the risk by almost 50%. Click for details.
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Tagged omega-3 fatty acids, prostate cancer
…at The Guy Can Cook. Volume and weight measuring devices, thermometers, etc. Well worth a read if you’re new to cooking. If you’re trying to lose excess weight and keep it off, you need to be cooking at home more than the average person. Darrin writes:
It’s easy to romanticize the image of the chef who does every thing by instinct.
He knows just how much ingredients to add, how long to cook it, and the exact moment that it’s done.
But we mere mortals are different, and there’s no need to bash our heads against the wall while we consistently ruin dishes that could have been saved with just a bit of science.
In this context, “science” means measuring devices.
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That’s my primary assessment of an article I read in Current Opinion on Clinical Nutrition and Metabolic Care. The title is “Low-carbohydrate ketogenic diets, glucose homeostasis, and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.”
Don’t assume mouse physiology is the same as human’s
The article’s more about mice than my patients.
The authors share some stats about nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD):
The Washington University School of Medicine authors say good things about low-carbohydrate ketogenic diets for weight loss and seizure control. They spend the rest of the article talking about rodent physiology and lab chows—right up Carbsane Evelyn‘s alley. But not mine. Bores me to tears.
They do mention the small Browning study that showed a very-low-carb ketogenic diet superior to a calorie-restricted diet for reducing liver fat in humans. Weight loss by various methods is a standard recommendation for humans with NAFLD; I wouldn’t be surprised multiple different diets worked. It may be the weight loss, not the diet, that does the trick. We have just one human study thus far indicating a ketogenic diet is more effective short-term.
Here’s the full Browning study if you care to read it yourself.
If I were obese and had NAFLD, I’d go on a very-low-carb ketogenic diet (like this one).
Reference: Schugar, Rebecca, and Crawford, Peter. Low-carbohydrate ketogenic diets, glucose homeostasis, and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. Curr Opin Clin Nutr Metab Care, 2012, vol. 15. doi: 10.1097/MCO.0b013e3283547157
![MPj04384870000[1]](http://diabeticmediterraneandiet.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/mpj043848700001.jpg)
A recent Swedish study suggests that low-carbohydrate/high protein diets increase the risk of cardiovascular disease in women. I’m not convinced, but will keep an eye on future developments. This is a critical issue since many women eat low-carb/high protein for weight loss and management.
Researchers followed 43,000 women, 30–49 years of age at enrollment, over the course of 16 years. In that span, they had 1,270 cardiovascular events: ischemic heart disease (heart attacks and blocked heart arteries), strokes, subarachnoid brain hemorrhages, and peripheral arterial disease. Food consumption was estimated from a questionnaire filled out by study participants at the time of enrollment (and never repeated).
In practical terms, … a 20 gram decrease in daily carbohydrate intake and a 5 gram increase in daily protein intake would correspond to a 5% increase in the overall risk of cardiovascular disease.
So What?
To their credit, the researchers note that a similar analysis of the Women’s Health Study in the U.S. found no such linkage between cardiovascular disease and low-carb/high protein eating.
The results are questionably reliable since diet was only assessed once during the entire 16-year span.
I’m certain the investigators had access to overall death rates. Why didn’t they bother to report those? Your guess is as good as mine. Even if low-carb/high protein eating increases the rate of cardiovascular events, it’s entirely possible that overall deaths could be lower, the same, or higher than average. That’s important information.
I don’t want to get too far into the weeds here, but must point out that the type of carbohydrate consumed is probably important. For instance, easily digested carbs that raise blood sugar higher than other carbs are associated with increased heart disease in women. “Bad carbs” in this respect would be simple sugars and refined grains.
In a 2004 study, higher carbohydrate consumption was linked to progression of blocked heart arteries in postmenopausal women.
It’s complicated.
PS: I figure Swedish diet doctor Andreas Eenfeldt would have some great comments on this study, but can’t find them at his blog.
Reference: Lagiou, Pagona, et al. Low carbohydrate-high protein diet and incidence of cardiovascular diseases in Swedish women: prospective cohort study. British Medical Journal, June 26, 2012. doi: 10.1136/bmj.e4026
Posted in Coronary Heart Disease, Heart Disease, Low-Carb Eating
Two diet books in one: 1) portion control, and 2) ketogenic
Ketogenic diets help many folks lose excess weight, return blood sugar levels toward normal, and move HDL cholesterol and triglycerides to a healthier range. I include a ketogenic diet as an option in my Advanced Mediterranean Diet (2nd Ed.). They are not for everybody.
Read about Franziska Spritzler’s experience with a ketogenic diet (not my version). Some quotes:
Well, after consistently consuming 30-45 grams of net carbs a day for six months, I have only positive things to say about my very-low-carb experience. Not only are my blood sugar readings exactly where they should be — less than 90 fasting and less than 130 an hour after eating — but I truly feel healthier, less stressed, and more balanced than ever.
My diet consists of lots of fat from avocados, nuts and nut butters, olive oil, and cheese; moderate amounts of fish, chicken, beef, Greek yogurt, and eggs; and at least one serving of nonstarchy vegetables at every meal and a small serving of berries at breakfast. It’s truly a rich, satisfying, and luxurious way to eat.
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Posted in Ketogenic Mediterranean Diet, Low-Carb Eating, Weight Loss
Tagged Advanced Mediterranean Diet, blood lipids, Franziska Spritzler, ketogenic diet, weight loss
…according to an article in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. In addition, mitochondrial content fell by 4.5% over the 12-week course of exercise. Mitochondria are the power plants of our body cells.
h/t David Mendosa
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“The Heritage Foundation recently launched an informational campaign to raise awareness of overprosecution and regulatory overreach, appropriately called “USA vs. You” (www.heritage.org/usavsyou). Heritage reports there are now more than 4,500 federal criminal laws on the books, and a whopping 300,000 federal criminal regulations. Throw in state statutes and local ordinances, and our governments have criminalized everyday life to the point that everyone is breakin’ the law — and subject to egregious abuses of authority.
Take the 2011 case of 11-year-old Virginia resident Skylar Capo. She rescued a baby woodpecker from a cat and brought the bird inside a home improvement store, so it wouldn’t suffer in the heat of her mother’s car. A U.S. Fish and Wildlife agent also was at the store, Heritage reported, and read the riot act to Ms. Capo and her mother for violating the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. The Capos released the bird upon returning home and notified the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Yet that same agent, with a Virginia state trooper as backup, showed up at their house two weeks later to serve notice of a $535 federal fine and possible jail time. Public backlash led to all charges being rescinded.
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Whitecoat has the details, calling flip flops the orthopedist’s favorite footwear. They’re good for business.
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Nathaniel Givens explains nearly all of it in a blog post.
Imagine if grocery shopping worked like health insurance. Let’s call it “food insurance”.
First of all, you’d better hope that you’re not self-employed or unemployed. You see, way back in World War II the United States created strict wage controls as part of theStabilization Act of 1942. Since employers still wanted to compete for the best employees–even in wartime–they had to get creative. Instead of offering higher salaries (which was now illegal), they began to offer fringe benefits. The most important of these was healthcare insurance. Let’s pretend that food insurance started in the same way. That would mean that, today, if you get your food insurance through an employer-provided plan you not only get a nice tax advantage on your own premiums, but you can also rely on the employer to pay some of your costs as a matter of traditional expectations. But if you’re self-employed, you not only lose the tax-advantage, but also the ability to get the lower rates that come with buying insurance for bigger groups.
Now let’s imagine what actually shopping for groceries would look like.
One thing Nathaniel left out is the cost of our legal system, which is significant. Adopting the “English Rule” (loser pays legal fees) would be a major step in the right direction.
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Posted in Economics, Healthcare Reform
Tagged Nathaniel Givens
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Click the pic to purchase at Amazon.com. E-book versions also available at Smashwords.com.
Advanced Mediterranean Diet 