Hope Warshaw, a self styled diabetes expert and big pharma shill (check the link below). No Hope Warshaw a woman who I have stated as being more dangerous than Osama Bin Laden (deceased). Yes I was serious, the likes of Warshaw kill more people every month than terrorists kill in a decade. Hope believes low carb is the old dogma, and diabetics should eat up to 65% of their food in carbs. Don’t panic she says, there are lot’s of drugs that help you eat the food that lead to your obesity and diabetes.
"Old Dogma: People with type 2 diabetes should follow a low carbohydrate diet.
New Reality: Nutrition recommendations for people with type 2 diabetes from the American Diabetes Association and other health authorities echo the recently unveiled U.S. 2010 Dietary Guidelines (1/31/11) for carbohydrate : about 45 to 65 percent of calories. (Americans currently eat about 45 to 50 percent of calories as carbohydrate--not a "high carb" intake.)"
Link to the lunacy here.
Eddie
Please check out our website www.lowcarbdiabetic.co.uk We created and maintain this site without any help from anyone else. In doing so, we do not receive direct or indirect funding from anyone. We do not accept money or favours to manipulate the evidence in any way. Please visit our Low Carb food and recipe blog www.lowcarbdietsandrecipes.blogspot.com
Sunday, 31 January 2016
Statins double risk of diabetes.
The research, published in a leading journal examined 25,970 patients over ten years and discovered statin users had a higher incidence of diabetes and also weight gain.
Patients using the drugs also had more than double the risk of diabetic complications including eye, nerve and kidney damage.
Scientists say the new research published in the leading Journal of General Internal Medicine, confirms a long suspected link between statin use and diabetes.
Professor Ishak added: “There is not enough funding to carry out studies to assess these long term effects that are not funded by drug companies and therefore clouded by conflicts of interest.”
And he said drugs may be doing more harm than good for people at low risk of heart disease: “I am sceptical about the prescribing guidelines for people at lower risk (of heart disease). I am concerned about the long term effects on the huge population of healthy people on these drugs who continue for many years.”
And Dr Malcolm Kendrick, who has studied statins and heart health said: “There have been a number of small studies that have suggested an increase in the risk of diabetes and statin use. However this large and long term study has confirmed this is a significant problem. “
He added: “This study demolishes the argument that these drugs should be prescribed to anyone, as the harms may outweigh previously suggested benefits.”
More on this story here.
Eddie
Pork stewed in tomatoes, oregano and cumin with fresh sweetcorn
What an eye catching meal, just look at the colours... and perhaps picture the scene, as there you are sharing this lovely pot-full of food ...
Serves 6
5.2 g carbs per serving
4 tbsp olive oil
1 kg pork shoulder, cut into 3-4cm pieces
2 onions, thinly sliced
3 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
3 tsp dried oregano (more if using fresh)
2 tsp ground cumin
900g cherry tomatoes, halved
salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 corn on the cobs (2 with the kernels sliced off, 1 cut into 6 pieces)
sugar (if needed - see point 5 below)
To serve:
Chopped fresh coriander
1 red chilli, thinly sliced
Here is what you do:
Recipe from here
5.2 g carbs per serving
4 tbsp olive oil
1 kg pork shoulder, cut into 3-4cm pieces
2 onions, thinly sliced
3 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
3 tsp dried oregano (more if using fresh)
2 tsp ground cumin
900g cherry tomatoes, halved
salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 corn on the cobs (2 with the kernels sliced off, 1 cut into 6 pieces)
sugar (if needed - see point 5 below)
To serve:
Chopped fresh coriander
1 red chilli, thinly sliced
Here is what you do:
1. Heat the oil in a wide saucepan that has a lid, then brown the pork in batches and set aside in a bowl.
2. Add the onions to the pan with a splash of water and some more oil if it’s looking too dry. Cook gently for 10-15 minutes until very soft and starting to brown at the edges. Add the garlic, oregano and cumin and cook for a couple of minutes, then throw in the tomatoes and let them break down on a moderate heat for 5-10 minutes before returning the pork and any juices to the pan.
3. Stir through a good few pinches of salt and some grinds of black pepper. Cover with the lid and cook gently for 1 to 1 1/2 hours until the pork is tender.
4. Once the meat is tender, stir in the corn kernels and the cob pieces and cook, without the lid, for another 5-10 minutes until the corn is done.
5. Taste for seasoning: if your tomatoes were quite acidic, you may need to add a little sugar to balance them. Serve garnished with some chopped coriander and a few chilli slices.
2. Add the onions to the pan with a splash of water and some more oil if it’s looking too dry. Cook gently for 10-15 minutes until very soft and starting to brown at the edges. Add the garlic, oregano and cumin and cook for a couple of minutes, then throw in the tomatoes and let them break down on a moderate heat for 5-10 minutes before returning the pork and any juices to the pan.
3. Stir through a good few pinches of salt and some grinds of black pepper. Cover with the lid and cook gently for 1 to 1 1/2 hours until the pork is tender.
4. Once the meat is tender, stir in the corn kernels and the cob pieces and cook, without the lid, for another 5-10 minutes until the corn is done.
5. Taste for seasoning: if your tomatoes were quite acidic, you may need to add a little sugar to balance them. Serve garnished with some chopped coriander and a few chilli slices.
Recipe from here
Do you think a Chianti may suit this dish? Just a thought ...
... this blog does offer a wide variety of recipe ideas, for your consideration, and by doing this it should be pointed out that not all may be suitable for you. If you may have any food allergies, or underlying health issues these must always be taken into account. If you are a diabetic and not sure how certain foods may affect your blood sugars, test is best, i.e. use your meter ...
All the best Jan
Saturday, 30 January 2016
Lissie - Nothing Else Matters (Metallica live cover)
Yet another cover of Metallica's Nothing Else Matters, as much as much I like the original this is not a bad cover enjoy
Graham
Graham
Air Supply I'm all out of love
This song put a hook in me years ago, still one of my favourite songs. Eddie
Wonderful Life
Saturday night again and music night on this blog. Another sad week in the music business. Colin Vearncombe the singer known as Black who wrote Wonderful Life died this week two weeks after a car accident RIP. Eddie
Saturday Supper Ideas
The weekend is here once more. In fact this will be the last weekend of January, because on Monday we will be seeing the 1st February on our calendars - time certainly does fly by. But back to this weekend ... I wonder if you may have a lot planned and have a long list of things you must do ... or perhaps you are just planning a more quiet time, with a favourite TV programme or DVD to watch. Whatever your plans how about considering one of these meal suggestions, I very often find they are perfect for a relaxed evening watching a little TV.
Sausages are (Sainsbury’s) very lowcarb, ultimate outdoor bred 97% pork, at 1.2 grams of carbohydrate per 100 grams, i.e. 3 sausages 200 grams 2.4 grams of carb. Add the mashed celeriac and fennel. A very tasty meal and very lowcarb, a very easy to prepare meal.
Peel a celeriac and cut into small chunks around an inch square, about 25mm in new money. Boil or steam for around 15 minutes. Drain off water and mash with a couple of knobs of butter. Place the sausages in a Pyrex dish and add the fennel with a little butter. Roast at 200c for around thirty minutes, turning every 10 minutes, ladle some fat over the fennel. Warm up the mashed celeriac in a micro wave for a couple of minutes. Pour over some gravy (a beef oxo cube) Voila, a great lowcarb and tasty meal.
We have featured this meal before and here are some of the comments we received about this meal.
"This looked so tasty, we had it for dinner tonight was very pleased with the recipe.Thanks for another good idea."
"You just can't beat a good old fashioned British meal. You did have me fooled at first as I thought it was going to be potato! What a great idea to use celeriac."
"Yummy had some of these lovely sausages for supper tonight. Great British Grub."
Serves Two Decent Sized Burgers
250/300 gram lean minced beef
1 red onion chopped
1 egg yolk
1 - 2 tsp olive oil
1 tsp dried mixed herbs *
Salt and pepper to season
* I used dried herbs but if you have fresh ones even better
Simple Method
Just place all the ingredients in a mixing bowl, then stir very well making sure it is well mixed. Using your hands divide the mix and shape into two equal sized burgers. Place on a baking tray and cook in a pre-heated oven at 200 or Gas Mark 6 for approx 30 minutes. All ovens vary so check burgers at about 20 minutes and adjust cooking time as necessary. When cooking burgers in the oven it may be an idea to grease or line your baking tray …. helps with the washing up afterwards!
Optional
You can either have plain burgers or why not put some stilton cheese on top of the burgers, for the last 10 minutes of cooking and let it melt - it makes the burgers that extra delicious.
We enjoyed this dish served with some mushrooms cooked in butter, I use a small frying pan, with melted butter and cook on top of the hob. For the cheesy leeks, I just sliced up two leeks (wash them first) placed them in a small ovenproof dish. Covered them with double cream and cooked in the oven for approx 15 minutes. Take leeks out of oven and sprinkle with some grated cheddar cheese, return to oven for further 5 minutes or until the cheese has melted and it’s a slight golden brown colour - the leeks should be just soft.
Peel a celeriac and cut into small chunks around an inch square, about 25mm in new money. Boil or steam for around 15 minutes. Drain off water and mash with a couple of knobs of butter. Place the sausages in a Pyrex dish and add the fennel with a little butter. Roast at 200c for around thirty minutes, turning every 10 minutes, ladle some fat over the fennel. Warm up the mashed celeriac in a micro wave for a couple of minutes. Pour over some gravy (a beef oxo cube) Voila, a great lowcarb and tasty meal.
We have featured this meal before and here are some of the comments we received about this meal.
"This looked so tasty, we had it for dinner tonight was very pleased with the recipe.Thanks for another good idea."
"You just can't beat a good old fashioned British meal. You did have me fooled at first as I thought it was going to be potato! What a great idea to use celeriac."
"Yummy had some of these lovely sausages for supper tonight. Great British Grub."
250/300 gram lean minced beef
1 red onion chopped
1 egg yolk
1 - 2 tsp olive oil
1 tsp dried mixed herbs *
Salt and pepper to season
* I used dried herbs but if you have fresh ones even better
Simple Method
Just place all the ingredients in a mixing bowl, then stir very well making sure it is well mixed. Using your hands divide the mix and shape into two equal sized burgers. Place on a baking tray and cook in a pre-heated oven at 200 or Gas Mark 6 for approx 30 minutes. All ovens vary so check burgers at about 20 minutes and adjust cooking time as necessary. When cooking burgers in the oven it may be an idea to grease or line your baking tray …. helps with the washing up afterwards!
Optional
You can either have plain burgers or why not put some stilton cheese on top of the burgers, for the last 10 minutes of cooking and let it melt - it makes the burgers that extra delicious.
We enjoyed this dish served with some mushrooms cooked in butter, I use a small frying pan, with melted butter and cook on top of the hob. For the cheesy leeks, I just sliced up two leeks (wash them first) placed them in a small ovenproof dish. Covered them with double cream and cooked in the oven for approx 15 minutes. Take leeks out of oven and sprinkle with some grated cheddar cheese, return to oven for further 5 minutes or until the cheese has melted and it’s a slight golden brown colour - the leeks should be just soft.
and it's optional but you may wish to enjoy a glass of Merlot with your meal
Enjoy your weekend
All the best Jan
Friday, 29 January 2016
The association between dietary SFA and ischemic heart disease depends on the type and source of fatty acid
European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition–Netherlands cohort
Abstract
Background: The association between saturated fatty acid (SFA) intake and ischemic heart disease (IHD) risk is debated.
Objective: We sought to investigate whether dietary SFAs were associated with IHD risk and whether associations depended on 1) the substituting macronutrient, 2) the carbon chain length of SFAs, and 3) the SFA food source.
Design: Baseline (1993–1997) SFA intake was measured with a food-frequency questionnaire among 35,597 participants from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition–Netherlands cohort. IHD risks were estimated with multivariable Cox regression for the substitution of SFAs with other macronutrients and for higher intakes of total SFAs, individual SFAs, and SFAs from different food sources.
Results: During 12 y of follow-up, 1807 IHD events occurred. Total SFA intake was associated with a lower IHD risk (HR per 5% of energy: 0.83; 95% CI: 0.74, 0.93). Substituting SFAs with animal protein, cis monounsaturated fatty acids, polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), or carbohydrates was significantly associated with higher IHD risks (HR per 5% of energy: 1.27–1.37). Slightly lower IHD risks were observed for higher intakes of the sum of butyric (4:0) through capric (10:0) acid (HRSD: 0.93; 95% CI: 0.89, 0.99), myristic acid (14:0) (HRSD: 0.90; 95% CI: 0.83, 0.97), the sum of pentadecylic (15:0) and margaric (17:0) acid (HRSD: 0.91: 95% CI: 0.83, 0.99), and for SFAs from dairy sources, including butter (HRSD: 0.94; 95% CI: 0.90, 0.99), cheese (HRSD: 0.91; 95% CI: 0.86, 0.97), and milk and milk products (HRSD: 0.92; 95% CI: 0.86, 0.97).
Conclusions: In this Dutch population, higher SFA intake was not associated with higher IHD risks. The lower IHD risk observed did not depend on the substituting macronutrient but appeared to be driven mainly by the sums of butyric through capric acid, the sum of pentadecylic and margaric acid, myristic acid, and SFAs from dairy sources. Residual confounding by cholesterol-lowering therapy andtrans fat or limited variation in SFA and PUFA intake may explain our findings. Analyses need to be repeated in populations with larger differences in SFA intake and different SFA food sources.
Full study PDF: http://ajcn.nutrition.org/
Graham
Seared scallops with leeks & lemon chilli butter
Here is what you'll need to serve four:
(obviously amend amount of ingredients to suit)
4 young, but not baby leeks, trimmed12 scallop, roes on or off
1 tbsp light olive oil
lemon wedges to serve
For the butter:
250g pack butter, softened1 red chilli, de-seeded and finely chopped
2 garlic clove, crushed
zest 2 lemons
bunch parsley, leaves chopped, plus extra to serve
Here is what you do:
1. For the butter, mix all of the ingredients together in a large bowl, then beat well with a wooden spoon until there are no lumps of butter left. Spoon onto a large sheet of cling film, then wrap tightly in a sausage shape. Chill until firm (or put in the freezer if you’re short of time).2. Set up a pan with a steamer or suspend a heatproof colander over the top of a pan. Cut the leeks in half lengthways, then slice into long strips, about the thickness of tagliatelle. Cover, then steam for 6 mins until tender, with no signs of squeakiness. Season, then set aside.
3. Dry the scallops on kitchen paper and season. Heat a heavy-based pan, then add the oil. Once hot, add the scallops, keeping them close together – this helps the sides to stay straight and tall rather than sagging. Sizzle for 2 mins until caramelised and you can see the heat creeping up the outside. Turn over with a palette knife, then fry for 1 min more. Take off the heat, then add a few good slices of the butter to the pan, spooning over the scallops as it melts.
4. To serve, wind a nest of warm leeks in the centre of 4 plates, top each with 3 scallops, spoon over the buttery sauce (it looks smart trickled around the plate), then sprinkle with the remaining parsley. Squeeze over a little lemon juice before you tuck in.
Tip:
The leftover butter will keep in the fridge for up to a week, or can be frozen in portions for up to a month. Try it tossed though pasta or courgetti, also nice with crab-meat or prawns, and why not stir it through some steamed green vegetables!
Thursday, 28 January 2016
McDonald’s Japan Puts a Sweet Spin on a Golden Arches’ Classic with the New McChoco Potato
January 19, 2016 Today, McDonald's Japan announced the latest fry innovation to hit their menu- a tasty twist on one of the Golden Arches' classics. Everyone’s favorite French fries received the ultimate chocolate makeover with the introduction of the McChoco Potato.
Japanese customers can now enjoy an ideal combination of McDonald’s French fries drizzled with two types of chocolate sauces - chocolate with cacao flavor and white milk chocolate. Customers will find McChoco Potatoes enjoyable for different occasions, as it also makes for a great dessert. The combination creates a wonderful salty and sweet harmonious taste. This limited-time menu item is a creative way of enjoying McDonald’s delicious French fries.
McDonald’s Japan continues to introduce surprising and unique menu items that exceed customers’ expectations. This isn’t the first time McDonald’s Japan offered customers a different way to enjoy French fries. Previously, they offered Shaka Shaka Potato fries topped with cheese sauce or bacon.
The McChoco Potato is available at participating McDonald’s restaurants across Japan starting January 26.
Graham
Broccoli Facts and Recipe Ideas
Did you know that Broccoli contains almost 5 times as much vitamin C, 8 times as much Calcium,
and almost 2.5 times as much Fibre as Potato.
and almost 2.5 times as much Fibre as Potato.
Broccoli:
Pronounce it: brok-o-lee
Like cabbage and cauliflower, broccoli is a brassica and is sometimes known by its Italian name, calebrese. It has tight clusters of deep green buds and thick, edible stems and was developed from the more loosely packed purple sprouting broccoli. There's little to choose between the two in terms of flavour or nutrition.
Availability:
All year round, but at its best from the end of July to the end of October.
Choose the best:
Go for firm, bright green, undamaged heads (if it's yellow its already past its peak) and firm stalks. As broccoli deteriorates faster when in contact with the air, supermarkets often wrap it in cellophane - always choose the unwrapped type if you can as, if it still looks good, you can be sure that it has been recently picked.
Prepare it:
Trim any woody stem ends or tough leaves with a knife. Divide into small, individual florets, each with a short stem, and diagonally slice the thicker stems. Rinse under cold water. Broccoli boils or steams in 3-6 minutes, depending on the size of floret. In stir-fries, cook it for a couple of minutes, until tender.
Store it:
In an airtight bag in the fridge.
Cook it:
Cook and drizzle with olive oil or melted butter or a handful of grated parmesan; add to a cheesy pasta bake; stir-fry in groundnut oil with chopped garlic and dry fried cashews, adding a drizzle of sesame oil to the pan just before cooking ends.
Alternatives:
Try purple sprouting broccoli or cauliflower.
Some words above from here
Pronounce it: brok-o-lee
Like cabbage and cauliflower, broccoli is a brassica and is sometimes known by its Italian name, calebrese. It has tight clusters of deep green buds and thick, edible stems and was developed from the more loosely packed purple sprouting broccoli. There's little to choose between the two in terms of flavour or nutrition.
Availability:
All year round, but at its best from the end of July to the end of October.
Choose the best:
Go for firm, bright green, undamaged heads (if it's yellow its already past its peak) and firm stalks. As broccoli deteriorates faster when in contact with the air, supermarkets often wrap it in cellophane - always choose the unwrapped type if you can as, if it still looks good, you can be sure that it has been recently picked.
Prepare it:
Trim any woody stem ends or tough leaves with a knife. Divide into small, individual florets, each with a short stem, and diagonally slice the thicker stems. Rinse under cold water. Broccoli boils or steams in 3-6 minutes, depending on the size of floret. In stir-fries, cook it for a couple of minutes, until tender.
Store it:
In an airtight bag in the fridge.
Cook it:
Cook and drizzle with olive oil or melted butter or a handful of grated parmesan; add to a cheesy pasta bake; stir-fry in groundnut oil with chopped garlic and dry fried cashews, adding a drizzle of sesame oil to the pan just before cooking ends.
Alternatives:
Try purple sprouting broccoli or cauliflower.
Some words above from here
Here are two recipes that use broccoli you may wish to try
Chicken Fillets with Cheesy Stuffed Mushrooms, Broccoli, Green Beans and Peas
Ingredients
serves two
serves two
350g chicken fillet roughly cut into cubes
little olive oil for use in frying pan
salt, pepper and mixed herbs to taste
4 chestnut mushrooms stuffed with cream cheese
selection of green vegetables - broccoli, green beans, peas
chicken stock
little olive oil for use in frying pan
salt, pepper and mixed herbs to taste
4 chestnut mushrooms stuffed with cream cheese
selection of green vegetables - broccoli, green beans, peas
chicken stock
See method here
Broccoli and Smoked Salmon Omelette
Ingredients
Serves One
1 tbsp olive oil
100g Tenderstem® Broccoli, each piece cut into 3
Half a small red onion, finely sliced
3 large free-range eggs
Knob of butter
2 tbsp cream cheese
1 tbsp chopped chives
Salt and pepper
50g smoked salmon, cut into strips
Serves One
1 tbsp olive oil
100g Tenderstem® Broccoli, each piece cut into 3
Half a small red onion, finely sliced
3 large free-range eggs
Knob of butter
2 tbsp cream cheese
1 tbsp chopped chives
Salt and pepper
50g smoked salmon, cut into strips
See method here
Hope you may enjoy some broccoli soon !
All the best Jan
Wednesday, 27 January 2016
Sport nutrition: could carb-loading be at an end for triathletes?
New research into sports nutrition reveal the benefits of switching from a high-carb to a high-fat diet
Endurance athletes who restrict carbohydrates burn more than twice as much fat as high-carbohydrate athletes.’ The headline-grabbing study from Ohio University made news as ‘fat expert’ professor Jeff Volek proclaimed it the highest fat-burning rates he’d ever seen.
The study involved 20 top-end ultra-endurance runners. One group of 10 were habitual low-carb consumers, their daily diet consisting of 70% fat, 19% protein and just 11% carbs. The 10 high-carb athletes’ fuelling plan comprised 59% carbs, 25% fat and 14% protein.
Volek had the subjects run at 64% of maximal oxygen capacity for 3hrs to determine metabolic response. The low-carb group’s fat-burning rate was 2.3 times higher than the high-carb – 1.5g per minute compared to 0.67g.
“This represents a paradigm shift in sports nutrition,” says Volek. “Maybe we need to re-examine what we’ve been telling athletes about carb-loading for the last 40 years.”
Volek’s suggestion that endurance athletes switch from a high-carb to a high-fat diet to race stronger for longer isn’t confined to the labs. Cycling teams such as Tinkoff-Saxo and Team Sky are known for fuelling their winters on a high-fat diet… then reverting to a high-carb diet as the race season approaches.
The study revealed that during sub-maximal exercise, fat contributed to 88% of the low-carb group’s expenditure compared to 56% in the
high-carb group. Ultra-endurance athletes, such as recent Deca Worlds victor Dave Clamp, race at a lower intensity than a sprint- or Olympic-distance athlete. The shorter, faster distances demand a more maximal effort and there’s irrefutable proof that at high exercise intensities (over 80% of VO2max), carbohydrate is the main fuel regardless of diet. This might not be a problem. “Keto adaption [your metabolism shifting from relying on carbs to fat] increases fat oxidation across intensities,” says Volek.
Volek’s findings also showed that the fat-burning group had normal muscle glycogen levels.
So what does all this mean for you?
High fat isn’t the green light to pop out the Pringles. Look for good fats from foods such as avocados, nuts, coconut oil and pumpkin seeds.
If you’re wholly committed to keto adaption, beware of creeping carbs. Shop-bought salad dressings, tomato sauce and milk substitutes (such as almond milk) contain significant quantities of carbs.
While the jury’s still out on athletes going high-fat all year round, periodising your nutrition might work better. Choose nutrients to match the demands of training. In winter, when workouts are less intense, choose quality fats. As intensity rises, up the carbs.
Endurance athletes who restrict carbohydrates burn more than twice as much fat as high-carbohydrate athletes.’ The headline-grabbing study from Ohio University made news as ‘fat expert’ professor Jeff Volek proclaimed it the highest fat-burning rates he’d ever seen.
The study involved 20 top-end ultra-endurance runners. One group of 10 were habitual low-carb consumers, their daily diet consisting of 70% fat, 19% protein and just 11% carbs. The 10 high-carb athletes’ fuelling plan comprised 59% carbs, 25% fat and 14% protein.
Volek had the subjects run at 64% of maximal oxygen capacity for 3hrs to determine metabolic response. The low-carb group’s fat-burning rate was 2.3 times higher than the high-carb – 1.5g per minute compared to 0.67g.
“This represents a paradigm shift in sports nutrition,” says Volek. “Maybe we need to re-examine what we’ve been telling athletes about carb-loading for the last 40 years.”
Volek’s suggestion that endurance athletes switch from a high-carb to a high-fat diet to race stronger for longer isn’t confined to the labs. Cycling teams such as Tinkoff-Saxo and Team Sky are known for fuelling their winters on a high-fat diet… then reverting to a high-carb diet as the race season approaches.
The study revealed that during sub-maximal exercise, fat contributed to 88% of the low-carb group’s expenditure compared to 56% in the
high-carb group. Ultra-endurance athletes, such as recent Deca Worlds victor Dave Clamp, race at a lower intensity than a sprint- or Olympic-distance athlete. The shorter, faster distances demand a more maximal effort and there’s irrefutable proof that at high exercise intensities (over 80% of VO2max), carbohydrate is the main fuel regardless of diet. This might not be a problem. “Keto adaption [your metabolism shifting from relying on carbs to fat] increases fat oxidation across intensities,” says Volek.
Volek’s findings also showed that the fat-burning group had normal muscle glycogen levels.
So what does all this mean for you?
High fat isn’t the green light to pop out the Pringles. Look for good fats from foods such as avocados, nuts, coconut oil and pumpkin seeds.
If you’re wholly committed to keto adaption, beware of creeping carbs. Shop-bought salad dressings, tomato sauce and milk substitutes (such as almond milk) contain significant quantities of carbs.
While the jury’s still out on athletes going high-fat all year round, periodising your nutrition might work better. Choose nutrients to match the demands of training. In winter, when workouts are less intense, choose quality fats. As intensity rises, up the carbs.
Graham
Eating Whole Fresh Foods So Healthy : Markets Can Be Worth A Visit
whether you are in the UK, or the US
or Valencia, Spain
or even Saint - Malo, France
Wherever you are, I'm sure there will be a market just around the corner ...
... well certainly near you
so you can go and buy some whole fresh foods !
Then make something very tasty with them like this Cauliflower Cheese
for the recipe use this link here
Or this fish and leek dish
see the recipe for this easy bake and reasonably priced meal here
You may prefer a Chicken Dish ...
Dijon Chicken With Mushrooms is nice - see the recipe here
the possibilities are endless, and so tasty
Just eat whole fresh foods
All the best Jan
Tuesday, 26 January 2016
Do medications commonly prescribed to patients with peripheral arterial disease have an effect on nutritional status?
Abstract
Background
Polypharmacy is common amongst patients with peripheral arterial disease (PAD) with a combination of medications used for risk factor modification and medical management of the disease itself. Interaction between commonly prescribed medications and nutritional status has not previously been well described.
Aim
This review aims to critically appraise evidence exploring associations between medications commonly prescribed to patients with PAD and nutritional status and provide recommendations for practice.
Methods
A comprehensive literature search was conducted to locate studies relating to nutrient interactions among lipid-lowering, anti-hypertensive, anti-platelet and oral hypoglycaemic drug classes. Quality of the evidence was rated on the basis of recommendations by the National Health and Medical Research Council.
Results
A total of 25 articles were identified as suitable and included in the review. No studies were specific to patients with PAD and hence findings highlighting risk of ubiquinone (CoQ10) depletion with lipid-lowering medications, zinc depletion with anti-hypertensive medications and vitamin B12 depletion with oral hypoglycaemic medications are extrapolated from heterogeneous groups of patients and healthy adults. The body of evidence ranged in quality from satisfactory to poor.
Conclusions
High quality research is required to confirm the interactions suggested by the included studies in patients with PAD specifically. It is however recommended that patients with PAD that are long term consumers of the selected medications are monitored for CoQ10, zinc and vitamin B12 to facilitate early identification of deficiencies and initiation of treatment. Treatment may involve dietary intervention and/or supplementation.
http://www.annalsofvascularsurgery.com/
Graham
Background
Polypharmacy is common amongst patients with peripheral arterial disease (PAD) with a combination of medications used for risk factor modification and medical management of the disease itself. Interaction between commonly prescribed medications and nutritional status has not previously been well described.
Aim
This review aims to critically appraise evidence exploring associations between medications commonly prescribed to patients with PAD and nutritional status and provide recommendations for practice.
Methods
A comprehensive literature search was conducted to locate studies relating to nutrient interactions among lipid-lowering, anti-hypertensive, anti-platelet and oral hypoglycaemic drug classes. Quality of the evidence was rated on the basis of recommendations by the National Health and Medical Research Council.
Results
A total of 25 articles were identified as suitable and included in the review. No studies were specific to patients with PAD and hence findings highlighting risk of ubiquinone (CoQ10) depletion with lipid-lowering medications, zinc depletion with anti-hypertensive medications and vitamin B12 depletion with oral hypoglycaemic medications are extrapolated from heterogeneous groups of patients and healthy adults. The body of evidence ranged in quality from satisfactory to poor.
Conclusions
High quality research is required to confirm the interactions suggested by the included studies in patients with PAD specifically. It is however recommended that patients with PAD that are long term consumers of the selected medications are monitored for CoQ10, zinc and vitamin B12 to facilitate early identification of deficiencies and initiation of treatment. Treatment may involve dietary intervention and/or supplementation.
http://www.annalsofvascularsurgery.com/
Graham
DCUK Forum of flog issues warning.
"If you are looking into LCHF for your child, please speak to your child's diabetes consultant and paediatrician first.
There are indeed many benefits to LCHF - however, a substantial dietary adaptation should not be undertaken by children without appropriate input and monitoring from a health team to ensure the child's growth is normal and their nutritional needs are being met at all stages of their childhood.
By all means, ask questions, share your views and engage in discussion - but please speak to your child's diabetes team too."
This is somewhat surprising, because so impressed are the forums management with the LCHF diet for adults, they have put together their own training program for low carb. Admittedly, it is primarily a marketing tool, to extract ever more private information from the members. Clearly, they have publicly given low carb their seal of approval, but why the warning? Keep in mind, low carb higher healthy fat promoters are recommending eating whole fresh food, and staying well clear of factory produced high sugar/starch junk.
There are indeed many benefits to LCHF - however, a substantial dietary adaptation should not be undertaken by children without appropriate input and monitoring from a health team to ensure the child's growth is normal and their nutritional needs are being met at all stages of their childhood.
By all means, ask questions, share your views and engage in discussion - but please speak to your child's diabetes team too."
Posted by the diabetes.co.uk forum administrator 26th. January 2016 here.
The forum known as the 'Flog' because it tries to sell products and services to it's members at every opportunity. When it is not selling members private information to big pharma companies for drug trials, issues a warning re. the Low carb higher fat diet to parents of diabetic children.
Is this a back covering exercise? DCUK must know the majority of 'experts' are against LCHF for adults, let alone children, although this attitude is changing fast. The low fat high carb diet has proved to be an unmitigated disaster, for not only diabetics, but the general population. The forum management should also know, some of the best controlled type one diabetic children in the world, are low carbers, as can be seen by clicking on the links below.
It seems fair to me, the management should consider posting up the links below, on their forum. It offers balance to their post today, that's if they believe a whole fresh food approach is the way forward for diabetics. All diabetics, including children.
Eddie
Typeonegrit the Facebook site of the low carb type one diabetic children, holding blood glucose numbers very few diabetics ever achieve is here.
It seems fair to me, the management should consider posting up the links below, on their forum. It offers balance to their post today, that's if they believe a whole fresh food approach is the way forward for diabetics. All diabetics, including children.
Eddie
Typeonegrit the Facebook site of the low carb type one diabetic children, holding blood glucose numbers very few diabetics ever achieve is here.
Dr Malhotra featured in Debrett’s 500 most influential people in Britain.
I am delighted to share that this week I was named in the “Debrett’s 500 most influential people in Britain” featured in the Sunday Times.
To be included in a list of 19 of the most influential people in science and medicine, including physicist Stephen Hawking, is a great honour. The list expands across: music, sport, politics, philanthropy, stage and screen included the likes of Adele, Andy Murray, Boris Johnson, Malala Yousafzai and Daniel Craig.
Most importantly I perceive this as a tribute to the message behind the campaign to strive for greater transparency in nutritional science and medicine. This year I will do my utmost to ensure that we not only improve the current dietary guidelines, which in my view are a root cause of the obesity and type 2 diabetes epidemic, but also I will continue to push international governments to introduce health policies that have the potential to save millions of lives globally.
To be included in a list of 19 of the most influential people in science and medicine, including physicist Stephen Hawking, is a great honour. The list expands across: music, sport, politics, philanthropy, stage and screen included the likes of Adele, Andy Murray, Boris Johnson, Malala Yousafzai and Daniel Craig.
Most importantly I perceive this as a tribute to the message behind the campaign to strive for greater transparency in nutritional science and medicine. This year I will do my utmost to ensure that we not only improve the current dietary guidelines, which in my view are a root cause of the obesity and type 2 diabetes epidemic, but also I will continue to push international governments to introduce health policies that have the potential to save millions of lives globally.
I hope that a documentary I have co-produced with filmmaker Donal O’Neill on the truth about heart disease, to be released in the next few months, will catalyse that process.
More on this story here.
Eddie
Monday, 25 January 2016
Pharmaceuticals to Cure Marijuana Dependence and Abuse? You've Got to Be Kidding
One drug slightly reduces pot smoking, but can cause depression, anxiety and "unusual sensations." Any takers?
Researchers looking for a drug to treat "marijuana dependence and abuse" may have found one, but the cure could be worse than the disease.
A team of scientists at Brown University conducted a pilot study to determine whether topiramate, an epilepsy drug marketed as Topamax, could be combined with motivational enhancement therapy to make MET more effective in reducing marijuana consumption.
Researchers seem to hope Topamax can be a silver bullet addiction cure. Scientists, including a member of the Brown team, have studied it as a potential treatment for alcohol and nicotine dependence and cocaine addiction, and now they are turning their sights on weed.
The pilot study consisted of 66 volunteers aged 15 to 24 who smoked at least twice weekly but who were interested in receiving both psychological and drug treatment. Some participants got Topamax alone and some got placebos, while all got MET counseling. The researchers found that participants who got Topamax didn't smoke less often, but they did smoke less. They called the findings statistically significant, even though the amount of decrease was 0.2 grams per use session, little more than a couple of healthy tokes.
“The positive news is it did seem to have some effect and that effect seemed to really be focused on helping people reduce how much they smoke when they smoke,” said Robert Miranda, Jr., lead author of the study in the journal Addiction Biology and member of the Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies in the Brown University School of Public Health. “It’s promising in the sense that it suggests that medications can help, but it asks questions about for whom it might be most effective because many people can’t tolerate the medication.”
Well, yes, there are some pesky side-effects. In fact, they're so nasty that more than half the subjects taking Topamax dropped out of the study, with two-thirds of them citing side effects like depression, anxiety, trouble with coordination and balance, weight loss, and "unusual sensations."
Maybe they're better off smoking pot. The subjects in the study certainly voted with their feet when it came to staying with Topamax.
Or maybe, despite volunteering for the study, they weren't really dependent on marijuana, especially since the study accepted subjects whose dependence could be based on smoking pot as infrequently as twice a week.
Indeed, only half the participants even met the DSM-V clinical criteria for cannabis use disorder, "a problematic pattern of cannabis use leading to clinically significant impairment or distress," whose markers include smoking more pot than you think you should and wanting to smoke pot, as well as getting too high too regularly to do the things you need to do, smoking pot even though you know it makes you crazy, and getting into work, legal or relationship trouble because of marijuana use.
And the DSM-V is pretty straight-laced. It considers being high ("cannabis intoxication") to be a "cannabis-related disorder" (code 292.89).
There are substance abuse disorders and there are substance abuse disorders. It may be worth pondering whether relatively benign marijuana dependency merits being attacked with pharmaceutical drugs. So far, the cure has been worse than the disease.
Researchers looking for a drug to treat "marijuana dependence and abuse" may have found one, but the cure could be worse than the disease.
A team of scientists at Brown University conducted a pilot study to determine whether topiramate, an epilepsy drug marketed as Topamax, could be combined with motivational enhancement therapy to make MET more effective in reducing marijuana consumption.
Researchers seem to hope Topamax can be a silver bullet addiction cure. Scientists, including a member of the Brown team, have studied it as a potential treatment for alcohol and nicotine dependence and cocaine addiction, and now they are turning their sights on weed.
The pilot study consisted of 66 volunteers aged 15 to 24 who smoked at least twice weekly but who were interested in receiving both psychological and drug treatment. Some participants got Topamax alone and some got placebos, while all got MET counseling. The researchers found that participants who got Topamax didn't smoke less often, but they did smoke less. They called the findings statistically significant, even though the amount of decrease was 0.2 grams per use session, little more than a couple of healthy tokes.
“The positive news is it did seem to have some effect and that effect seemed to really be focused on helping people reduce how much they smoke when they smoke,” said Robert Miranda, Jr., lead author of the study in the journal Addiction Biology and member of the Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies in the Brown University School of Public Health. “It’s promising in the sense that it suggests that medications can help, but it asks questions about for whom it might be most effective because many people can’t tolerate the medication.”
Well, yes, there are some pesky side-effects. In fact, they're so nasty that more than half the subjects taking Topamax dropped out of the study, with two-thirds of them citing side effects like depression, anxiety, trouble with coordination and balance, weight loss, and "unusual sensations."
Maybe they're better off smoking pot. The subjects in the study certainly voted with their feet when it came to staying with Topamax.
Or maybe, despite volunteering for the study, they weren't really dependent on marijuana, especially since the study accepted subjects whose dependence could be based on smoking pot as infrequently as twice a week.
Indeed, only half the participants even met the DSM-V clinical criteria for cannabis use disorder, "a problematic pattern of cannabis use leading to clinically significant impairment or distress," whose markers include smoking more pot than you think you should and wanting to smoke pot, as well as getting too high too regularly to do the things you need to do, smoking pot even though you know it makes you crazy, and getting into work, legal or relationship trouble because of marijuana use.
And the DSM-V is pretty straight-laced. It considers being high ("cannabis intoxication") to be a "cannabis-related disorder" (code 292.89).
There are substance abuse disorders and there are substance abuse disorders. It may be worth pondering whether relatively benign marijuana dependency merits being attacked with pharmaceutical drugs. So far, the cure has been worse than the disease.
Graham
Avocado filled with Cajun Chicken : Just right for a lovely lunch
Avocados are nutritious, low in carbs and ready in just a few minutes!
If you'd like to read twenty good reasons to love avocados then have a read here ... but back to the recipe ...
This is what you need:
This is what you do:
1. Cut or shred the cooked chicken into small pieces.
2. Add the mayo, sour cream (or cream cheese), thyme, paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, cayenne pepper... lemon juice and season with salt to taste.
3. Combine well.
Serves Two
1 extra large or 2 medium avocados (300 g / 10.6 oz)
210g / 7.4 oz cooked chicken
58g / 2oz mayonnaise
2 tbsp sour cream or cream cheese
1 tsp thyme, dried
1 tsp paprika
½ tsp onion powder
½ tsp garlic powder
¼ tsp cayenne pepper
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
¼ tsp salt (or slightly more) to taste
1 extra large or 2 medium avocados (300 g / 10.6 oz)
210g / 7.4 oz cooked chicken
58g / 2oz mayonnaise
2 tbsp sour cream or cream cheese
1 tsp thyme, dried
1 tsp paprika
½ tsp onion powder
½ tsp garlic powder
¼ tsp cayenne pepper
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
¼ tsp salt (or slightly more) to taste
This is what you do:
1. Cut or shred the cooked chicken into small pieces.
2. Add the mayo, sour cream (or cream cheese), thyme, paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, cayenne pepper... lemon juice and season with salt to taste.
3. Combine well.
4. Scoop the middle of the avocado out leaving ½ - 1 inch of the avocado flesh. 5. Cut the scooped avocado into small pieces. Place the chopped avocado into the bowl with the chicken and mix until well combined.
6. Fill each avocado half with the chicken & avocado mixture.
7. Serve and enjoy!
Hope the table is ready!
Original recipe from Martina
All the best Jan
Sunday, 24 January 2016
Are clinical drug trials more marketing than science?
What factors influence the design of a clinical trial? Research published today in Trials examined reports of randomized controlled trials to deduce what characteristics appear to be influenced by marketing considerations over science. Here, co-author Professor Carl Heneghan discusses what the research found.
To date, internal company emails identifying marketing employees’ involvement in the design of trials from high profile legal cases, have been the only worthwhile evidence to understand the existence and features of marketing trials.
Such trials, also referred to as seeding trials, are primarily intended to encourage the use of study drugs by doctors, and try to convert them into promoters of the drug to increase uptake.
Our paper, on the characterization of marketing trials, published today in Trials, therefore set out to determine if medical journals actually publish such trials, asking how often they occur and describes their important features.
From the 194 randomized drugs trials, published in 2011, in the top six medical journals a team of clinicians, journal editors and medical researchers independently judged whether a trial had components that were more marketing than science.
We then extracted the trial characteristics, comparing those that were marketing to those that were not and analyzed if they clustered together into certain groups, which could make future identification easier.
From our judgments, we found 1 in 5 trials were more likely to be designed for marketing purposes when compared to those that were not.
Marketing trials were more likely to have noteworthy manufacturer contributions to the authorship, data analysis and the reporting.
The numbers of centers recruiting participants were also much higher in marketing trials (median 171 versus 13 for those that definitely were not marketing trials). At times this didn’t seem logical: many of these trials were for common diseases and each center could have easily recruited more people, making the logistics and oversight much easier.
Marketing trials were more likely to focus on surrogate and composite outcomes (though not necessarily use as the primary outcome measure). These endpoints are often not important to patients, are less likely to influence practice and have beenextensively criticized for their overuse.
Marketing trials were also more likely to include generalizable language when it came to describing the intervention in everyday practice, potentially encouraging its use outside of the researched study population.
There were, however, some positive features of the marketing trials when compared to non-marketing trials: they tended to be better reported in terms of blinding, safety outcomes, and adverse events.
To find out more about the characteristics of the marketing trials we also wrote to the editors to ask their viewpoints.
Of those that responded, they reported marketing considerations played no part in their publications and that the novelty of the science was the major component of the decision to publish or not.
Editors were also not willing to share peer reviewers’ reports, which is disappointing, given they might provide more insight to the components we described in our paper.
We also emailed the corresponding authors of all 194 trials: 11 of which resulted in a delivery failure. Of the remaining 183 trials, only 55 authors responded and many of these only completed part of the questionnaire. Such a low response rate and the quantity of missing responses meant we did not analyze these results due to the inherent bias.
Why authors didn’t want to discuss their trials was unclear. If they did, it would manifestly make it easier to understand what is going on, particularly given the importance to practice of this topic.
Further investigations are therefore required – if not essential – to verify the extent of the problems and to genuinely elucidate what is going on, especially given the novelty of our approach and some of the limitations in our study, including the subjectiveness of our decision making at times.
If you wanted to identify marketing trials what should you therefore look out for? Our cluster analysis proved to be disappointing as there is no pattern that would consistently identify such studies.
However, marketing trials often include manufacturers as authors with input to many parts of the study, they use a lot of centers for recruitment, and at times, they suggest using the drug in populations that were not actually included in the study.
Based on what we found, marketing trials probably occur more often than I first thought. Perhaps, because clinicians who are involved in a company-sponsored clinical trial significantly increase their prescribing preferences for the sponsor’s drug, irrespective of international guidelines, which is deeply disturbing when you think about it.
To date, internal company emails identifying marketing employees’ involvement in the design of trials from high profile legal cases, have been the only worthwhile evidence to understand the existence and features of marketing trials.
Such trials, also referred to as seeding trials, are primarily intended to encourage the use of study drugs by doctors, and try to convert them into promoters of the drug to increase uptake.
Our paper, on the characterization of marketing trials, published today in Trials, therefore set out to determine if medical journals actually publish such trials, asking how often they occur and describes their important features.
From the 194 randomized drugs trials, published in 2011, in the top six medical journals a team of clinicians, journal editors and medical researchers independently judged whether a trial had components that were more marketing than science.
We then extracted the trial characteristics, comparing those that were marketing to those that were not and analyzed if they clustered together into certain groups, which could make future identification easier.
From our judgments, we found 1 in 5 trials were more likely to be designed for marketing purposes when compared to those that were not.
Marketing trials were more likely to have noteworthy manufacturer contributions to the authorship, data analysis and the reporting.
The numbers of centers recruiting participants were also much higher in marketing trials (median 171 versus 13 for those that definitely were not marketing trials). At times this didn’t seem logical: many of these trials were for common diseases and each center could have easily recruited more people, making the logistics and oversight much easier.
Marketing trials were more likely to focus on surrogate and composite outcomes (though not necessarily use as the primary outcome measure). These endpoints are often not important to patients, are less likely to influence practice and have beenextensively criticized for their overuse.
Marketing trials were also more likely to include generalizable language when it came to describing the intervention in everyday practice, potentially encouraging its use outside of the researched study population.
There were, however, some positive features of the marketing trials when compared to non-marketing trials: they tended to be better reported in terms of blinding, safety outcomes, and adverse events.
To find out more about the characteristics of the marketing trials we also wrote to the editors to ask their viewpoints.
Of those that responded, they reported marketing considerations played no part in their publications and that the novelty of the science was the major component of the decision to publish or not.
Editors were also not willing to share peer reviewers’ reports, which is disappointing, given they might provide more insight to the components we described in our paper.
We also emailed the corresponding authors of all 194 trials: 11 of which resulted in a delivery failure. Of the remaining 183 trials, only 55 authors responded and many of these only completed part of the questionnaire. Such a low response rate and the quantity of missing responses meant we did not analyze these results due to the inherent bias.
Why authors didn’t want to discuss their trials was unclear. If they did, it would manifestly make it easier to understand what is going on, particularly given the importance to practice of this topic.
Further investigations are therefore required – if not essential – to verify the extent of the problems and to genuinely elucidate what is going on, especially given the novelty of our approach and some of the limitations in our study, including the subjectiveness of our decision making at times.
If you wanted to identify marketing trials what should you therefore look out for? Our cluster analysis proved to be disappointing as there is no pattern that would consistently identify such studies.
However, marketing trials often include manufacturers as authors with input to many parts of the study, they use a lot of centers for recruitment, and at times, they suggest using the drug in populations that were not actually included in the study.
Based on what we found, marketing trials probably occur more often than I first thought. Perhaps, because clinicians who are involved in a company-sponsored clinical trial significantly increase their prescribing preferences for the sponsor’s drug, irrespective of international guidelines, which is deeply disturbing when you think about it.
Graham
Porcini mushroom Pork wrapped in Parma ham
Ingredients:
Serves Four
Ready in approx 45 minutes
4 British pork boneless loin steaks, trimmed of fat
4 Parma ham slices
4 tbsp porcini mushroom paste
60 g Taleggio (or similar) cheese, grated
7.5 g fresh thyme
2 tbsp oil
(1 kg Désirée potatoes, scrubbed and roughly chopped)
4 British pork boneless loin steaks, trimmed of fat
4 Parma ham slices
4 tbsp porcini mushroom paste
60 g Taleggio (or similar) cheese, grated
7.5 g fresh thyme
2 tbsp oil
(1 kg Désirée potatoes, scrubbed and roughly chopped)
(2 tbsp milk)
1 large swede, washed, peeled and chopped
butter to add to swede when mashing
500 g leeks, washed, trimmed and thickly sliced
100 g young-leaf spinach, washed
butter to add to swede when mashing
500 g leeks, washed, trimmed and thickly sliced
100 g young-leaf spinach, washed
freshly ground black pepper, to season
Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 180ºC, fan 160ºC, gas 4. Put the pork loin steaks between two sheets of cling film and bash with a rolling pin until they're 1cm thick. Remove from the clingfilm.
2. Lay each slice of ham on to a board, put a pork loin steak on top of each one and spread each of them with a tablespoon of the mushroom paste, then a quarter of the cheese and a sprinkling of thyme leaves (reserve a good pinch of thyme leaves for the leeks). Roll each one up and then secure with a cocktail stick if needed.
Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 180ºC, fan 160ºC, gas 4. Put the pork loin steaks between two sheets of cling film and bash with a rolling pin until they're 1cm thick. Remove from the clingfilm.
2. Lay each slice of ham on to a board, put a pork loin steak on top of each one and spread each of them with a tablespoon of the mushroom paste, then a quarter of the cheese and a sprinkling of thyme leaves (reserve a good pinch of thyme leaves for the leeks). Roll each one up and then secure with a cocktail stick if needed.
3. Heat half a tablespoon of the oil in a pan and cook the pork parcels for 1 minute on each side, until golden. Place on to a baking tray, transfer to the oven and bake for 15 minutes, until the pork is cooked through.
4. Meanwhile, put the (potatoes) swede in a pan of cold water, cover with a lid and bring to the boil. Simmer for approx 15 minutes until tender, then drain and mash with (1 tablespoon of the olive oil and the milk if using potatoes) butter if using swede. Season with freshly ground black pepper.
5. Heat the remaining oil in a frying pan, add the leeks and remaining thyme leaves and cook for 10 minutes. Stir through the spinach leaves for the last minute, and allow to wilt. Slice each pork loin in half and serve with (creamy mash) buttery swede and vegetables
Original recipe idea here
Hope you enjoy it!
All the best Jan
Saturday, 23 January 2016
Glenn Frey - You Belong To The City
As Eddie said another great musician passes away. RIP Glenn
Graham
Graham
Matt Monro - Love Is a Many Splendored Thing
This is Jan's choice for tonight. It is one of her favourite songs and plays it often. Every time she hears it she cry's, that's Women for you. No wonder Men are clueless and find Women un-fathomable. Eddie
The Eagles - Hotel California - Concert Live Acoustic
Saturday night and music night again on this blog. Another week goes by and another great musician passes away. The Eagles, easily one of the best bands of my generation, Jan saw them as teenager, one of our favourite bands. Glenn Frey RIP. Eddie
Announcing The DCUK Carboholics Symposium 2016
Hello my carboholic friends this is the one you have all been waiting for. Sponsored by Krispie-Krap donuts and Gluggo Pharmaceuticals, this is the carb blow out of the year. Awarded five stars in the DUK good grub guide for ten years in a row, this is the big one. Win a £1000 in the 'Who has the highest BG number contest' and the Gluggo award is up for grabs for the diabetic who consumes the most medication on the day.
We have all your old favourite guest speakers plus a few new up and coming stars.
Phoenix has some great new ideas on basing your diet on 60% + carbs and will debut the latest Gluggo insulin pump, the first pump to hold one thousand units of insulin. Phoenix will be telling us why Hope Warshaw is her number one Guru. Check out her Carbsane impersonation, it’s truly side splitting. Phoenix will also show you how to wipe the smile off the face of a lowcarber, just when they have achieved non diabetic BG numbers on nil meds. Check out her technique for finding out of date discredited rat studies, and her method of posting live links to misinformation is a master class.
World renowned portion control expert Professor Sid Bonkers has some great money saving tips, and will demonstrate, how to eat well for a month on one grain of rice, three cornflakes and a splash of low fat milk. Old timers know the Prof is the worlds leading expert in forum thread sabotage, don’t miss Sid’s lecture, book early it’s always a sell out. Sid, last years winner in the donut eating contest, is fresh out of rehab, and is odds on favorite to take the title this year, although rank outsider, A M Breadvan has been tipped as a possible winner.
Old favourite Nobhead will be back, and those that have not seen his act are in for a big treat. Nob, some of you may know is famous for his catch-phrase ‘I agree with Sid’ and is without doubt the best straight man's stooge in the world. Long accepted, as the worlds leading expert in talking, but saying nothing, his toadying up to the forum admin is legendary, don’t miss Nob’s talk.
Back by popular demand is the Cherub. Holding HbA1c for over three years of 4.9, and only increasing to 5.1, when we commented on this blog re. her uniquely stable control, her low GI lecture is a must. Holding non diabetic numbers for over five years, on nil meds, and the worlds most secret daily food plan and diet, will this be the year this miraculous information is released. We wait with baited breath.
For all you budding forum mods, we have ‘Anna the banner’ to give you all the tips you need. Long regarded as the worlds thread lock Queen, and holder of the Cugila lifetime achievement award for Stalinist forum moderation, she is not to be missed. Anna will teach you how to spot a low carber from a mile away, and why they must be banned, thread locked and post edited at the earliest opportunity.
Backing up Anna will be the big pharma shill known as the Osidge. The Osidge has some fantastic ideas for taking the piss, and will show you how to get your forum members wound up and leaving in droves. Together they make a fantastic double act.
Daisy, long time forum mod and ex Kenny boy shill, is the three word game master, and is the cut and paste (dross to the newly diagnosed) supremo, she will teach you how to post year in and year out, with not one original idea in your head.
Well folks that’s this years line up. We have assembled some of the most vehement anti lowcarbers and craziest forum mods in the world. Stand by for confirmation regarding the man with the 'Shiny White Teeth' special guest star appearance.
Don’t be a Muggo shoot up with Gluggo. You know it makes sense, why fight it !
Greg Gluggo CEO Gluggo Pharmaceuticals Inc.
We have all your old favourite guest speakers plus a few new up and coming stars.
Phoenix has some great new ideas on basing your diet on 60% + carbs and will debut the latest Gluggo insulin pump, the first pump to hold one thousand units of insulin. Phoenix will be telling us why Hope Warshaw is her number one Guru. Check out her Carbsane impersonation, it’s truly side splitting. Phoenix will also show you how to wipe the smile off the face of a lowcarber, just when they have achieved non diabetic BG numbers on nil meds. Check out her technique for finding out of date discredited rat studies, and her method of posting live links to misinformation is a master class.
World renowned portion control expert Professor Sid Bonkers has some great money saving tips, and will demonstrate, how to eat well for a month on one grain of rice, three cornflakes and a splash of low fat milk. Old timers know the Prof is the worlds leading expert in forum thread sabotage, don’t miss Sid’s lecture, book early it’s always a sell out. Sid, last years winner in the donut eating contest, is fresh out of rehab, and is odds on favorite to take the title this year, although rank outsider, A M Breadvan has been tipped as a possible winner.
Old favourite Nobhead will be back, and those that have not seen his act are in for a big treat. Nob, some of you may know is famous for his catch-phrase ‘I agree with Sid’ and is without doubt the best straight man's stooge in the world. Long accepted, as the worlds leading expert in talking, but saying nothing, his toadying up to the forum admin is legendary, don’t miss Nob’s talk.
Back by popular demand is the Cherub. Holding HbA1c for over three years of 4.9, and only increasing to 5.1, when we commented on this blog re. her uniquely stable control, her low GI lecture is a must. Holding non diabetic numbers for over five years, on nil meds, and the worlds most secret daily food plan and diet, will this be the year this miraculous information is released. We wait with baited breath.
For all you budding forum mods, we have ‘Anna the banner’ to give you all the tips you need. Long regarded as the worlds thread lock Queen, and holder of the Cugila lifetime achievement award for Stalinist forum moderation, she is not to be missed. Anna will teach you how to spot a low carber from a mile away, and why they must be banned, thread locked and post edited at the earliest opportunity.
Backing up Anna will be the big pharma shill known as the Osidge. The Osidge has some fantastic ideas for taking the piss, and will show you how to get your forum members wound up and leaving in droves. Together they make a fantastic double act.
Daisy, long time forum mod and ex Kenny boy shill, is the three word game master, and is the cut and paste (dross to the newly diagnosed) supremo, she will teach you how to post year in and year out, with not one original idea in your head.
Well folks that’s this years line up. We have assembled some of the most vehement anti lowcarbers and craziest forum mods in the world. Stand by for confirmation regarding the man with the 'Shiny White Teeth' special guest star appearance.
Don’t be a Muggo shoot up with Gluggo. You know it makes sense, why fight it !
Greg Gluggo CEO Gluggo Pharmaceuticals Inc.
Chocolate and Walnut Fat Bombs : Simply delicious and low carb too
The remainder of this post was one I posted last March. These 'Fat Bombs' are very popular and with Valentines Day in a few weeks time, February 14th in the UK, these could also make a nice gift ... or why not a Mothers Day gift?
So once again I must thank Libby for her article and recipe, which I have linked to below.
"Are you over your fear of fat? If you are hungry do you reach for carbs, protein or a healthy fat? If you want to keep your carbs low, you must limit your carbs and protein, so fat bombs are the secret to keeping hunger at bay. Remember these 2 vital points – before you increase your healthy fat intake you MUST lower your carbs otherwise you are back on the standard American diet (SAD) which is high fat and high carbs AND the fat you eat must be a healthy fat, coconut oil, butter, extra virgin olive oil, etc.
Fat bombs are kept in the fridge until you want to eat them, otherwise the coconut oil will melt or soften. You can make them as a dessert or just to keep when hunger strikes.
INGREDIENTS
125g coconut oil
25g cocoa powder
1 tbs granulated stevia, or sweetener of choice to taste
25g walnut pieces
+/- 1 tbs tahini paste
INSTRUCTIONS
Serves 14
Warm the coconut oil until melted.
Add all the other ingredients and allow to cool slightly so the ingredients don't settle and sink to the bottom of the fat bomb..
Pour into ice cube trays and refrigerate until semi set.
Once almost set, place a half walnut on to of each fat bomb.
NOTES
The taste of fat bombs is incredibly personal. How sweet you like them depends on how your sweet tooth has adapted, and if you are a dark chocolate or dairy milk chocolate lover.
The carbs in the fat bomb come from the walnut so you can delete these if you want to.
1 Fat Bomb = 1.2 g carb "
Once again thanks to Libby at 'Ditch the Carbs' blog, which can be found here
All the best Jan
Friday, 22 January 2016
Welcome to the rehab clinic where sugar addicts learn to go clean
We think we know what an addict looks like. It is the emaciated man on a bare mattress in a grotty room, a syringe dangling from his arm. It is the woman who stumbles home every night, who can’t stop having ‘one too many’. It is the bullied teenager who stops eating to get some kind of control over their life. But the guy who has three sugars in his coffee? The busy mum who devours a chocolate bar at the end of the working day? The kid who whines for a cola? The student living off ready meals?
According to Karen Thomson, founder of Cape Town’s Help (Harmony Eating and Lifestyle Program), sugar is as real an addiction as heroin, alcohol or anorexia. The only rehab centre in the world to offer a programme specifically tailored to sugar and carbohydrate addiction, Help uses traditional rehabilitation techniques to treat sugar addiction. ‘When clients arrive they are at rock bottom, like any other addict,’ says Thomson. ‘They are depressed, anxious and hopeless. They have lost their sense of purpose, sense of self and drive to live.’
It’s odd to think of an addict hankering after a cupcake rather than a crack pipe, but increasing evidence seems to show that sugar may trigger the same responses in the brain as more typical sources of addiction. PET scans have shown that the same neural pathways in the brain light up when an obese child is exposed to sugar as when an alcoholic has a drink. (That said, sugar is not classed as an addictive substance — instead, like gambling, its hit of pleasure is merely seen to lead to addictive behaviour.)
The ‘No Sugar’ movement, led by Dr Robert Lustig, has been gaining traction with its claim that sugar is actually the world’s leading health risk, responsible for heart disease, diabetes and obesity. His video Sugar: The Bitter Truth has more than six million views on YouTube. To add credence to their argument, campaigners point to Sweden, where the low-carb/high-fat diet is already long-established, and where rates of obesity have now stabilised.
Increasing numbers of health specialists are recommending we cut down on sugar, too. Mandy Saligari, the founder of the Charter Harley Streetrehab centre in London, is one. ‘Addicts tell themselves “I can’t control myself”,’ she says. ‘They find it unbearable to be in their own skin. They would rather have the negative feeling of the thing they use — getting fat, wired, spotty — than tolerate living with their emotions. That is the real damage of addiction.’
Although Charter does not treat sugar addiction per se, Saligari believes that it plays a huge role in eating disorders in general, and sometimes even in alcoholism. ‘Alcohol is packed with sugar. When people stop drinking they often turn to fizzy drinks, which leave the neural pathways open for relapse.’
Thomson doesn’t claim that sugar is a problem for everyone, but ‘for certain individuals, this is very real’, she says. One such individual is Amy, 34, based in London. She went to the Help centre when she realised that she had replaced her alcohol and drug addictions with sugar. ‘Even after two years “clean”, I was in a total mess,’ she says. ‘It was like a game of whack-a-mole: one addiction goes down and another pops up.’ She enrolled in the 21-day inpatient programme at Help after reaching a low point and calling a helpline. She describes her state when she arrived: ‘I was broken, lost, full of shame and self-hatred. I was a walking zombie, dead behind the eyes. I had given up on myself.’
Thomson is adamant that sugar addiction is treated in the same way as other addictions at her centre. A recovering alcoholic and cocaine addict herself, she is a proponent of the Minnesota model, otherwise known as 12 steps. The clinic has a 24-hour nursing staff, medical doctor, a detox unit, clinical psychologists, psychiatrists, trauma specialists and addiction counsellors.
The programme itself consists of one-on-one therapy sessions, lectures on nutrition, intensive trauma therapy, group therapy, 12-step facilitation and visits from a dietician. Meals are all prepared and are low-carb, high-fat. A typical menu for a day might be avocado and eggs for breakfast, tuna salad for lunch and chicken curry for supper, with nuts and biltong as snacks. Clearly, relapse is a worrying issue, as sugar is so widely available, but Help offers a comprehensive after-care programme with online support, free Saturday sessions for those who live in Cape Town, Skype calls with counsellors and WhatsApp groups.
Amy was so inspired by Help that she is now training to become a therapist herself, studying for a diploma in therapeutic counselling and working with other sugar addicts. ‘I love being part of the sugar free revolution,’ she says. ‘I feel like a modern-day suffragette. My roar keeps getting louder!’
Graham
Salmon with Red Pepper Pesto : A Super Friday Fish Dish
Can you believe it, Friday is here again, and for many it's the last day of the working week. What better day than to enjoy this fish dish! It's simply salmon with a red pepper pesto, simply served with spinach ... or vegetables of your choice. Do you see the optimum word 'simply' - well the last thing you want is to spend hours in the kitchen, especially on a Friday night ... you just want to sit, relax and enjoy a good meal ... and yes, why not enjoy a glass of wine with it too ... the choice is yours dear reader.
Ingredients:
Serves 4 (serving size: 1 fillet and 3 tablespoons pesto)
2.4 g carb per serving
4 (6-ounce) fresh or frozen sustainable salmon fillets (such as wild Alaskan)
3/4 teaspoon (kosher) salt, divided
Cooking spray
1/3 cup chopped bottled roasted red bell peppers, rinsed and drained
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil
7 whole blanched almonds
1 garlic clove
Preparation:
1. Heat grill pan over medium-high heat. Sprinkle fish evenly with 1/2 teaspoon salt. Coat pan with cooking spray. Arrange fish in pan; cook for 4 minutes on each side or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork or until desired degree of doneness.
2. While the fish cooks, combine remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt, bell peppers, and remaining ingredients in a blender or food processor, and process until smooth.
Serve pesto over fish.
Sustainable Choice: Look for salmon that's labeled "wild Alaskan," and you can be sure that you're getting a sustainable option.
Sustainable Choice: Look for salmon that's labeled "wild Alaskan," and you can be sure that you're getting a sustainable option.
Tip:
If you don't like the bite of raw garlic, drop the clove in boiling water for 1 minute to blanch, then proceed with the pesto.
Original recipe idea here
... Cheers
All the best Jan
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