Gliclazide friend or foe ?

　
How it works.

Gliclazide binds to sulfonylurea receptors on the surface of the Beta islet cells found in the pancreas. This binding effectively closes the K+ ion channels. This decreases the efflux of potassium from the cell which leads to the depolarization of the cell. This causes voltage dependent Ca++ ion channels to open increasing the Ca++ influx. The calcium can then bind to and activate calmodulin which in turn leads to exocystosis of insulin vesicles leading to insulin release.

Pretty impressive eh.

That was a copy and paste job from Wikipedia, oh that I could recite that sort of jargon without notes. So the bottom line is, Gliclazide works by forcing the already damaged and overworked pancreas into outputting more insulin. It does this even if more insulin is not required to bring down blood glucose levels, hence the often reported hypos. A heavily overweight type two diabetic often has three times the serum insulin levels as a slim non diabetic, the last thing many type two overweight diabetics need, is more insulin sloshing around their system. More insulin inhibits stored fat burning and very often increases weight, thus reducing insulin sensitivity, and the vicious circle continues.

So apart from knocking out the pancreas, causing hypos and very often increasing weight, it’s not got a lot going for it. It will come as no surprise to some that world renowned diabetes expert Dr. Richard Bernstein refuses to prescribe Gliclazide. As with many type two diabetes medications, there is often a high price to pay for only a modest reduction in HbA1c. Other than insulin, nothing comes close to reducing blood glucose numbers compared with diet and exercise. To date, I can find no downside or side effects in the consumption of quality non factory produced food and a brisk two mile walk.

Eddie

Dietitians and Antis "Let them eat cake"

It’s no accident that this blog and our website features vegetables prominently. When some of us started low carbing, (getting on for three years ago), we were often told by a demented dietitian, scurvy was on it’s way. We were also eating so much protein, our kidneys would be wrecked in no time, and the amount of fat we were consuming, was a one way ticket to the knackers yard. With no shortage of low carb antis (some suffering from diabetic complications and high BG numbers) joining the chorus of doom, pushing a lowcarb lifystle was not the most relaxing of pastimes.

What seemed to escape the antis, was that we realised very quickly, that high BG numbers were highly dangerous and our first priority was to reduce them, if possible, to non diabetic. If we could do that with no or minimal medication, so much the better. Within a week, all of us saw our BG numbers plummet. At our next hospital blood tests, our home BG testing and great results were confirmed, lowcarbing was the way to reverse our type two diabetes, please note ! I did not say cure.

After reversing our diabetes, we were not slow in realising, what was the point of obtaining non diabetic blood numbers, at the expense of nutrient deficiency and leaving ourselves open to other health problems. The foods that were dropped, bread, pasta, rice, potatoes, high carb/starch, the sort of foods most dietitians, the NHS and DUK tell us we should eat, the foods that guarantee highly elevated BG numbers and expensive medication to control (often failing), are nutritionally very poor. Check out the “lowcarb diets-what are we missing" post at the beginning of this blog.

Still with me ? Good.

So, back to vegetables. Fresh vegetables are now the mainstay of our diets, in fact one of our team is a vegetarian. We add high quality protein foods, fruit (mainly berries) seeds and nuts. Total calories are topped up, with the fats that man has eaten for hundreds of thousands of years, before obesity, heart disease and type two diabetes became the huge epidemics they are today.

One more point. The dietitian, who can be spotted around various forums, squawking “it’s the junk” or “Wales are playing today” or “LOL” stated this week. “I have been misquoted by the press on several occaisions so now if they ask me for a comment i am very caeful what I say - I am a dietitian by the way!” and “Constipation is a problem for alot of low carbers - it is obvious why the fibre intake is low.” is wrong as usual. With our high vegetable intakes and the use of seeds such as ground flax, constipation is not a problem for us. Perhaps she could send her clients over here and we can put them straight ! And no, we are not laughing out loud. For us diabetics, diabetes is a very serious subject. Something the dietitian should take on board!


"Let them eat cake" supposedly spoken by "a great princess" upon learning that the peasants had no bread. Although they are commonly attributed to Marie Antoinette there is no record of these words ever having been uttered by her.

Excess dietary carbohydrates and deficiency in dietary fats and cholesterol linked to Alzheimer's !

　
Alzheimer's disease is a devastating disease whose recent increase in incidence rates has broad implications for rising health care costs. Huge amounts of research money are currently being invested in seeking the underlying cause, with corresponding progress in understanding the disease progression. In this paper, we highlight how an excess of dietary carbohydrates, particularly fructose, alongside a relative deficiency in dietary fats and cholesterol, may lead to the development of Alzheimer's disease. A first step in the pathophysiology of the disease is represented by advanced glycation end-products in crucial plasma proteins concerned with fat, cholesterol, and oxygen transport. This leads to cholesterol deficiency in neurons, which significantly impairs their ability to function. Over time, a cascade response leads to impaired glutamate signaling, increased oxidative damage, mitochondrial and lysosomal dysfunction, increased risk to microbial infection, and, ultimately, apoptosis. Other neurodegenerative diseases share many properties with alzheimer's disease, and may also be due in large part to this same underlying cause.
  　
Recent population studies have confirmed a correlation between low blood serum cholesterol and both dementia and Parkinson's disease. A study published in 2007 compared three elderly population groups: subjects with dementia, subjects with depression, and controls. They found that those with dementia and depression had significantly lower serum cholesterol levels than the controls. Another study looking at Parkinson's disease among the elderly showed that those with the lowest LDL had 3.5 times the risk of Parkinson's disease compared to those with the highest serum LDL levels.

"Simple dietary modification, towards fewer highly-processed carbohydrates and relatively more fats and cholesterol, is likely a protective measure against Alzheimer's disease." 


 http://people.csail.mit.edu/seneff/EJIM_PUBLISHED.pdf


　

Breakfast Shake

1/4 cup coconut milk
3/4 cup water
2 heaped tablespoons whey powder
1 tablespoon of coconut or olive or macadamia oil
handful of berries (blueberries, raspberries etc)
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
sweetener if needed

Place all ingredients in blender and whizz.

If you want additional fibre in your day sprinkle a tablespoon of LSA on top when serving in a glass or stir in a tablespoon of psyllium husk.

Diabetes.co.uk

These days, I’m in a transition period and trying to see good in almost all. My old friends at D.co.uk sent me a message today, stating and I quote.“High cholesterol is bad for everyone, diabetic or not.

High cholesterol levels should be treated seriously, because they strongly contribute to two of the most common types of death amongst people with diabetes; heart attack and stroke.”

If this is true, how come the French and the Swiss have far higher cholesterol levels than the average UK person, yet have far less heart attacks and strokes. The people that have the lowest cholesterol levels, the Australian aborigines have a heart disease rate around 30 times that of France and 15 times the  UK, fact.


Cholesterol levels have absolutely zilch correlation regarding the levels of heart disease, full stop! The awake and enlightened medics know this, full stop ! The lower the measured cholesterol levels, the higher the risk of serious health problems, full stop ! Check out the WHO’s MONICA study !

Check out Dr. Malcolm Kendrick, a UK Doctor who has forgotten more than the average HP will ever know regarding cholesterol levels and heart disease.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8SSCNaaDcE

Heart Surgeon Admits Huge Mistake !

By Dwight Lundell, MD

Part 1 of a 2-part article (see part 2 in link below)

We physicians with all our training, knowledge and authority often acquire a rather large ego that tends to make it difficult to admit we are wrong.  So, here it is I freely admit to being wrong.  As a heart surgeon with 25 years experience, having performed over 5,000 open-heart surgeries, today is my day to right the wrong with medical and scientific fact.

I trained for many years with other prominent physicians labeled "opinion makers."  Bombarded with scientific literature, continually attending education seminars, we opinion makers insisted heart disease resulted from the simple fact of elevated blood cholesterol.

The only accepted therapy was prescribing medications to lower cholesterol and a diet that severely restricted fat intake. The latter of course we insisted would lower cholesterol and heart disease.  Deviations from these recommendations were considered heresy and could quite possibly result in malpractice.

It Is Not Working!

These recommendations are no longer scientifically or morally defensible.  The discovery a few years ago that inflammation in the artery wall is the real cause of heart disease is slowly leading to a paradigm shift in how heart disease and other chronic ailments will be treated.

The long-established dietary recommendations have created epidemics of obesity and diabetes, the consequences of which dwarf any historical plague in terms of mortality, human suffering and dire economic consequences.

Despite the fact that 25% of the population takes expensive statin medications and despite the fact we have reduced the fat content of our diets, more Americans will die this year of heart disease than ever before.

Statistics from the American Heart Association show that 75 million Americans currently suffer from heart disease, 20 million have diabetes and 57 million have pre-diabetes. These disorders are affecting younger and younger people in greater numbers every year.

Simply stated, without inflammation being present in the body, there is no way that cholesterol would accumulate in the wall of the blood vessel and cause heart disease and strokes.

Without inflammation, cholesterol would move freely throughout the body as nature intended.  It is inflammation that causes cholesterol to become trapped.

Inflammation is not complicated -- it is quite simply your body's natural defense to a foreign invader such as a bacteria, toxin or virus.  The cycle of inflammation is perfect in how it protects your body from these bacterial and viral invaders.

However, if we chronically expose the body to injury by toxins or foods the human body was never designed to process, a condition occurs called chronic inflammation. Chronic inflammation is just as harmful as acute inflammation is beneficial.

What thoughtful person would willfully expose himself repeatedly to foods or other substances that are known to cause injury to the body?  Well, smokers perhaps, but at least they made that choice willfully.

The rest of us have simply followed the recommended mainstream diet that is low in fat and high in polyunsaturated fats and carbohydrates, not knowing we were causing repeated injury to our blood vessels.  This repeated injury creates chronic inflammation leading to heart disease, stroke, diabetes and obesity. 

Let me repeat that. The injury and inflammation in our blood vessels is caused by the low fat diet that has been recommended for years by mainstream medicine.

What are the biggest culprits of chronic inflammation? Quite simply, they are the overload of simple, highly processed carbohydrates (sugar, flour and all the products made from them) and the excess consumption of omega-6 vegetable oils like soybean, corn and sunflower that are found in many processed foods.

See part 2 in link below !

http://members.iimetro.com.au/~hubbca/new_page_1.htm

Fate !

I have just watched a program on Graham Hill, one of the best racing drivers of all time. Very rarely, his son Damon, went on to also become a world champion Grand Prix driver. I used to fancy myself as a star driver, until I went down to Le Mans, before they put the kinks in the Mulsanne straight, and watched in awe, as drivers drove at well over 200 hundred miles an hour, at night, in the rain. A reality check for sure.

A truly great driver, Wyn Percy, although not so well known, once crashed on the Mulsanne straight at well over 200 hundred miles an hour. His car turned over, and for a very long while skidded on its roof. When the car finely come to a halt, the roof had worn away. Not only that, his helmet had worn away to the inner material. He walked away unhurt. That very week, his son was killed in a slow speed road accident near Ringwood, Hampshire. Another reality check.

Featured great food of the week

Asparagus

Asparagus is a great tasting food and packed full of great nutrients, with next to no effect on blood glucose levels. Go for it, add some butter and it can be a good meal in itself.

Visit the great website, a veritable treasure chest of useful and highly informative information. Please note not all foods or recipes are suitable for diabetics.

http://whfoods.org/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=12



"Fat is not the problem," says Dr. Walter Willett

Most people can count calories. Many have a clue about where fat lurks in their diets. However, fewer give carbohydrates much thought, or know why they should.

But a growing number of top nutritional scientists blame excessive carbohydrates — not fat — for America's ills. They say cutting carbohydrates is the key to reversing obesity, heart disease, Type 2 diabetes and hypertension..

"Fat is not the problem," says Dr. Walter Willett, chairman of the department of nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health. "If Americans could eliminate sugary beverages, potatoes, white bread, pasta, white rice and sugary snacks, we would wipe out almost all the problems we have with weight and diabetes and other metabolic diseases."

As nutrition scientists try to find the ideal for the future, others look to history and evolution for answers. One way to put our diet in perspective is to imagine the face of a clock with 24 hours on it. Each hour represents 100,000 years that humans have been on the Earth.

On this clock, the advent of agriculture and refined grains would have appeared at about 11:54 p.m. (23 hours and 54 minutes into the day). Before that, humans were hunters and gatherers, eating animals and plants off the land. Agriculture allowed for the mass production of crops such as wheat and corn, and refineries transformed whole grains into refined flour and created processed sugar.

Some, like Phinney, would argue that we haven't evolved to adapt to a diet of refined foods and mass agriculture — and that maybe we shouldn't try.


www.latimes.com/health/la-he-carbs-20101220,0,5464425.story?page=1

The Wanderer

Many years ago, and when a young man, I read a book by the actor Sterling Hayden called the Wanderer. It had a profound effect on me then, and to this day . A passage from this great book.

“So it is no wonder that the mass of people regard the wanderer as a cross between a romantic vagabond and an irresponsible semi-ne’er-do-well who can’t-or won’t-fit in. Which is not to say that those who are fated to stay at home and toe the line do not look at the wanderer with envy and, yes, even awe, for he is doing what they would like to be doing, and something tells them they will never do it unless they either “strike it rich” or retire -and once retirement rolls around, chances are it will be too late. They know that too.

This would seem to mean that the whole thing is largely a matter of luck, with which I would be the first to agree, having been blessed with good fortune through most of my working life. But I would be remiss if I didn’t add that if you want to wander, you’re going to have to work at it and give up the one thing that most non-wanderers prize so highly-the illusion of security.

I say “illusion” because the most “secure” people I’ve encountered are, when you come right down to it, the least secure once they have been removed from job and home and bank account. While those unfortunate enough to be locked into some despised and unrewarding job are even worse off. And if I have been favoured with good luck all down the years, I can also quickly single out scores of men and women spread around this beleaguered old world who, without “luck”, have managed to live lives of freedom and adventure (that curious word) beyond the wildest dreams of the stay-at-homes who, when fresh out of school, opted for that great destroyer of men’s souls, security.”

In my opinion a truly great book, and the way I try to live my life.

ISBN 978-1-57409-048-2

Only half the message and half the truth !

Time and time again, I read posts on forums where people state they followed the eat starchy carbs advice and their diabetes control went nowhere. One very high profile forum monitor (now on 30 carbs a day) soaked up hook line and sinker, the diet of death, and followed the NHS and usual dietician advice re. carbs for over ten years. After a myriad of serious health problems, he saw the light re. carbs and starchy foods.

However, he states at every opportunity, he is also low fat. This guy has rejected, totally, his advisers re carbs. but believes what his healthcare professionals have told him re. saturated fat and cardio disease. I would like to ask him two questions.

1. Why when you readily admit your healthcare professionals led you so far astray re. carbs. do you accept their advice on saturated fat ? Surely, such bad advice in one area, would make the average thinking person, highly suspect, on accepting more advice from the same people that got it so wrong before, i.e. Healthcare Professionals !

2. If you are on a Bernstein low, carb intake, and on low fat, what do you eat ? It seems to me you must be consuming very little other than protein, or have you discovered a food group unbeknown to the rest of the human race ?

I would of course, ask the guy myself, but as with others who put him straight re. carbs, I am banned from his forum.

Welcome to the crazy world of diabetes.

The fats from meat, fish, eggs, milk, nuts and seeds have been the staple diet of man for millions of years, would any of us be here today, if man had evolved on hydrogenated fats and sugar, I think not.

When man goes against nature, he will always lose !!


Eddie

Is a calorie just a calorie ?

Many people believe a calorie is just a calorie and eating more calories than get burnt will lead to weight gain. Is this true and are all calories the same ? Check out this ten minute video.


http://www.youtube.com/user/undergroundwellness#p/u/85/tdMjKEncojQ

You don’t need the brain of Albert Einstein !

In the late eighteen and early nineteen hundreds, sugar consumption in the US was around 15 lbs per capita, much of it molasses. Today, the total consumption of added sugar is around 200 lbs per capita, much of it high fructose corn syrup.

In 1910 the lifetime risk of type II diabetes was 1 in 30. The lifetime risk today, is 1 in 3 according to the Centre for Disease Control in Atlanta.

The American food pyramid, adopted here, of basing meals on starchy carbohydrates and dropping saturated fat, found in foods like eggs, full fat milk, cheese and butter, has led to an epidemic of obesity and type two diabetes.

Early anthropologists, found cancer, heart disease and type two diabetes, extremely rare in tribes and peoples who had not been exposed to the white mans diet. When indigenous people started eating the white mans food, and adopted our life styles, the rot set in.

This we call, progress !

Even Your Doctor has Been Mislead About Cholesterol

That said, aside from taking CoQ10 if you're on a statin, your diet really should be your primary source of nutrients. (For vitamin D, you'd ideally get it from sun exposure.) Supplements are just that; supplemental to an otherwise healthy diet.

"I think that when you have a statin associated muscle or nerve or even brain dysfunction, this is where you've got to go because that's where the trouble is," Dr. Graveline agrees.

"If it's cholesterol inhibition, you just eat more eggs… I can't believe I went 17 years and never ate an egg. I can't believe how gullible I was. I was this young medical doctor; I marched to that band of the cholesterol-causation people… I did everything I was supposed to do, and it was all wrong. I can't believe that I was led astray, maybe for 25 years of my practice! It's so bad to have to look back and realize you've been treating cardiovascular disease erroneously because you were doing what you were asked to do.

The sad truth is that cholesterol, our supposed enemy for 35 years, has nothing to do with cardiovascular disease. it is the most important biochemical in your body.

　

We all listened to what amounts to brainwashing. The brainwashing that we got from 1955 on, to just recently… They have liberalized the diet stuff recently though, so people are back to eating eggs and drinking whole milk and eating butter. I went around recommending margarine for so long, and margarine is what's causing disease—butter is what's helping to cure it. It's incredible!"

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2011/02/12/dr-duane-graveline-on-cholesterol-and-coq10.aspx

The insulin index and protein

In the days when I spent too much time on diabetes forums, a very common post went alone the following lines.

“I have been lowcarbing for around three months, I have lost around three stone in weight and my numbers are good, however, I seem to have stalled on my weight loss and would like to lose another stone”

Have you considered your protein intake ?

We all know carbs require the most insulin to control, then protein, then fat. But how many of us type two’s consider the protein ? Below is a link to an insulin index for various foods, most of the information comes as no surprise, but check out some of the insulin responses to protein foods, a bit of an eye opener eh.

Ok, you may not be seeing too much in the way of a blood glucose spike, but what about the serum insulin levels, could this be causing a weight stall ?

Maybe a reduction in protein, could kick start that weight reduction, and reduce the load on the pancreas.

Eddie

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insulin_index

“It's not rocket science” Professor Charles Clark

Nutrition expert Professor Charles Clark gives advice on the controversial topic of the best diet for diabetes.

“The most effective diet that has been demonstrated to lower insulin levels, reduce blood glucose, reduce triglycerides and increase HDL is the GI diet. Unfortunately there are several different GI diets available, and some are definitely more effective than others.

To add to the confusion, a GI diet can be both low-carb (as it is lower in refined carbohydrates such as bread, rice and pasta) and high-carb at the same time (as it is high in unrefined carbohydrates by incorporating almost unlimited vegetables). The net effect of a properly managed GI diet is that the patient has:

• more stable glucose levels • lower insulin resistance in patients with type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome (and therefore reduced requirement for oral medication) • reduced requirement for insulin in a type 1 diabetes patient • reduction of serum triglycerides and increase in high-density lipoproteins, significantly reducing cardiovascular risk.”

In Professor Charles Clark’s excellent book The Diabetes Revolution he states around 60 carbs per day as a minimum, around double the recommended by Dr. Richard Bernstein. Either way, a drastic reduction in carbs to the usual recommendations trotted out by most Doctors and dietitians.

www.pulsetoday.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=18&storycode=4011172

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Diabetes-Revolution-groundbreaking-reducing-dependency/dp/0091912644/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1297431602&sr=8-5
　
　

After statins for all, comes bariatric surgery for all !

"Under current guidelines, bariatric surgery is only indicated for the treatment of severe or morbid obesity, defined as having a body mass index (BMI) of 35 or greater. By contrast, the new study is open to patients with a BMI as low as 26. Normal-weight individuals have BMI ranging between 19 and 25 and overweight individuals have BMI between 26 and 29, whereas a BMI above 30 defines obesity. Patients with a BMI below 26 and above 35 will not be considered for enrolment in the trial.

The global prevalence of Type 2 diabetes is rising dramatically. "If proven successful, diabetes surgery has the potential to help millions of patients in the U.S. and worldwide," Dr Rubino says."

How long will the medical profession ignore the totally obvious ? As the diabetes epidemic gathers new recruits by the minute, and the cash registers keep ringing, the eat starchy carbs with every meal con will continue, until the money runs out !
　
　
　
www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/02/110210184417.htm

Featured great food of the week.

The cauliflower is one of the most versatile foods in the low carbers recipe book. From cauliflower cheese to finely grated as a rice substitute or mash with butter and use as a topping for shepherds and fish pies etc. With minimal carb content and over three times the vitamin C as potatoes, a truly great food.
 

                                                            Cauliflower

 　Visit this great website, a veritable treasure chest of useful information. Please note, not all foods or recipes are suitable for diabetics.

http://whfoods.org/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=13　

        

　

Tastebook

Tastebook, check out this great site, obviously many recipes not suitable for diabetics or low carbers. Just substitute or avoid the usual high starch/sugar suspects.
　
　“We started with a very simple idea—to remix the cookbook. As a group of food-loving, culinary junkies who aspire to become great cooks someday, we set out to create the perfect cookbook:
We knew we had something, except for one small detail—where would the recipes come from? Sure, we all have a funky folder in our kitchen with our tried-and-true recipes. But how would we turn those recipes into cookbooks and how would we get our online faves from the computer screen to the printed page?

The answer was easy: Partner with top chefs, cookbook authors, and some of the best recipe web sites, including Epicurious, Food Network, MyRecipes, Better Recipes, Food & Wine, and Better Homes and Gardens. TasteBook now features more than 100,000 tested recipes from professional chefs and home cooks alike, and magazines such as Gourmet, Bon Appétit, Cooking Light, Oxmoor House, Sunset, Southern Living, and Coastal Living.

And then we took it one step further. Why not pair up with cookbook authors, editors, and bloggers, call them Guest TasteMakers, and have them create TasteBooks anyone can order or remix themselves? Oh, and yes, we definitely wanted to be able to add recipes from that funky folder. Now that's tasty.

Introducing TasteBook - the easiest way to collect, organize, and share your favourite recipes so you can create stunning family cookbooks. Like most recipes you try the first time, the TasteBook experience probably needs a few tweaks. So send us food for thought; we love feedback, comments, stories, and questions. We're cooking this up for you. Hope you like it.” 　
　
www.tastebook.com/about_us

The Glycemic Index not the most effective nutrition therapy intervention.

Based on the above reviews, the ADA position is that there is not strong supporting evidence for the use of a low-GI diet as a primary nutrition therapy strategy. The meta-analysis by Brand-Miller et al. provides support for this recommendation. They report that implementing a low-GI diet will have a small effect on overall glycemic control in diabetes; low-GI diets reduce overall HbA_1c by 0.43% units compared with high-GI diets (representing a 7.4% reduction in HbA_1c/fructosamine). In patients with type 1 diabetes, HbA_1c was reduced by ~0.4% units and in subjects with type 2 diabetes by ~0.2% units. This latter result is surprising, as one would expect a greater response in subjects with type 2 diabetes who, because of loss of first-phase insulin response, might be expected to benefit more from a low-GI diet than subjects with type 1 diabetes in whom mealtime insulin can be adjusted to control postprandial glycemic responses.

 http://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/26/8/2466.full

Diabetes can be reversed through major diet, lifestyle changes !

The mainstream media is just now catching on to what NaturalNews and other natural health advocates have been saying for years: type 2 diabetes can be reversed through dietary and lifestyle changes, and without the need for lifelong drug interventions. A recent report by CNN says that improving one's diet, keeping off excess weight, and regularly exercising, can help millions of people with diabetes get rid of it for good.

"We have seen numerous people reverse their condition," Dr. Michelle Magee, director of the MedStar Diabetes Institute in Washington, is quoted as saying by CNN "But it takes a real dedication for the rest of their lives."

www.naturalnews.com/031233_diabetes_lifestyle.html

Wife of Health Secretary, Andrew Lansley, gave lobbying advice

The wife of Andrew Lansley, the Health Secretary, is running a public affairs business which boasts about advising drug and food companies, it emerged last night.  In a section of its website marked “Who do we do it for?” Low Associates lists a range of clients, including drug companies SmithKline Beecham, Unilever and P&G. It also states that its staff had advised the Conservative Party and worked for Kraft and General Foods.

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/8305506/Wife-of-Health-Secretary-Andrew-Lansley-gave-lobbying-advice.html

The idiotic dietary advice we give to diabetes patients !

　
It is true that in people who do not have diabetes, eating a high-carbohydrate diet probably does little harm – although there are some who believe that a switch from fat to carbohydrate in the diet has driven the current surge in obesity levels.


But in type 2 diabetes, a high-carbohydrate diet puts increased stress on the ß cells and will worsen insulin resistance. In fact, the only pathway the body has for getting rid of excess glucose – when liver and muscle stores are full – is to convert glucose into fat in the liver, then export this fat via VLDL/triglycerides to adipose tissue.

And this is a process driven by high insulin levels. In short, if you have type 2 diabetes and you eat a high-carbohydrate diet, you will push up blood glucose levels and blood insulin levels.


You will also create hypertriglyceridaemia and, due to protein transfer from HDL to VLDL, a low HDL level. Which is the exact metabolic state now known to be associated with CHD – metabolic syndrome, or syndrome X.

You will probably also create non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), as the liver fills with fat generated from glucose.

If, on the other hand, you eat fat, this cannot have any impact on blood glucose levels. While glucose can be converted to fat, fat cannot be converted back to glucose.

A high- fat diet also has no impact on raising insulin levels, as absorption of fat into adipose tissue requires only a low background insulin level. A high-fat diet will not raise VLDL levels or lower HDL levels either.

In short, a high-fat diet is theoretically perfect for people with type 2 diabetes. But a high-fat diet raises LDL levels, doesn't it? We are repeatedly told this, but it doesn't happen to be true.

Here, for example, is a quote from Dr William Castelli, director of the Framingham study, one of the longest-running and most widely quoted studies in the world. 'In Framingham, Massachusetts, the more saturated fat one ate, the more cholesterol one ate, the more calories one ate, the lower people's serum cholesterol' – by which he means LDL2.
Dr. Malcolm Kendrick
　
www.pulsetoday.co.uk/story.asp?storycode=4010381　

Low fat/low cholesterol diet is ineffective !

This article is by a Consultant Cardiologist from Guys Hospital.

Conclusions

The commonly-held belief that the best diet for the prevention of coronary heart disease is a low saturated fat, low cholesterol is not supported by the available evidence from clinical trials. In the primary prevention, such diets do not reduce the risk of myocardial infarction or coronary or all cause mortality. Cost-benefit analyses of the extensive primary prevention programmes, which are at present vigorously supported by Governments, Health Departments and health educationalists, are urgently required.

Similarly, diets focused exclusively on reduction of saturated fats and cholesterol are relatively ineffective for secondary prevention and should be abandoned. There may be other effective diets for secondary prevention of coronary heart disease but these are not yet sufficiently well defined or adequately tested. The circumstantial evidence of benefit from oils, particularly olive oil, vegetables, fruit and fish is strong.

http://www.omen.com/corr.html

Featured great food of the week.

“Avocados contain oleic acid, a monounsaturated fat that may help to lower cholesterol. In one study of people with moderately high cholesterol levels, individuals who ate a diet high in avocados showed clear health improvements. After seven days on the diet that included avocados, they had significant decreases in total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol, along with an 11% increase in health promoting HDL cholesterol.
Avocados are a good source of potassium, a mineral that helps regulate blood pressure. Adequate intake of potassium can help to guard against circulatory diseases, like high blood pressure, heart disease or stroke.”
　　　

Avocado Pear with Prawns, a splash of 1000 Island Dressing and Paprika



Typical nutritional values per 100 grams

Avocado Pear

Calories: 190, Protein: 1.9g, Carb: 1.9g, Fat: 19.5g, Fibre: n/a

Prawns (boiled)

Calories: 99, Protein: 22.6g, Carb: nil, Fat: 0.9g, Fibre: n/a

Visit this great website, a veritable treasure chest of useful information. Please note, not all foods or recipes are suitable for diabetics.

http://whfoods.org/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=5

More good news thanks to lowcarb !

Last week we mentioned a serious non retinopathy eye condition glaucoma. We received this great news at the weekend as part of a friends good news story.
　
“My family has a history of glaucoma and I have an annual eye check to ensure my eye pressure hasn’t increased. My job involves working with children with a visual impairment and I am well aware of how precious sight is. Interestingly my eye pressure had risen the year before diagnosis, but after 3 months low carbing it had dropped and earlier this month when I saw my optician he couldn’t believe how much further it had gone down. I told him that I was convinced that it had gone up due to high blood sugars and that it was now much improved due to good blood sugar control, which he thoroughly agreed with, another bonus.”
　
　
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glaucoma

Good news from a lowcarb friend.

Some good news came into today from one of our lowcarb friends John (Wallycorker). He has been suffering a bit lately from forum fatigue, and is having a break. His health is great. I quote  “By the way, I'm now off metformin altogether since October - recent HbA1c was 5.5%” Great news John, but with respect, we are not surprised, you’re a lowcarb star and a great example to us all.


John holds the unique distinction, of being banned from the same forum twice under the same name. Now getting banned from some forums is not the hardest thing to achieve, but twice under the same name takes some doing. Now I know I can go over the top, and it’s been open season for hunting me by the lowcarb antis for a long time, but what was John’s crime ? other than to spread the lowcarb message and welcome newbie’s with kindness and sound advice, none that I know of. Always a gent, a shinning example for what can be achieved with the right information, some self discipline, and the courage to go against the woeful main stream advice. What a crazy old world eh, but that's some forums for you.
　
When it comes to being banned, thread locked, deleted etc. etc. I believe I hold the enviable record of top gun. In fact, I am beginning to feel if you haven’t been banned from at least three forums, you’re not fighting for the cause hard enough. Believe it or not, some time ago, I was asked “if you was offered a moderators job would you accept ?” my first comment was, Jeez have you run out of human beings. The logic was explained to me, that sometimes making a bit of a maverick the captain, often makes him more of a team player, and makes him toe the party line. Common sense prevailed, and the subject was not mentioned again. I expect on retrospect, the person who asked the question, must be heaving a sigh of relief eh !
　
Well I am a team player now, and we have no need for captains, big white chiefs or fancy titles. Every one of us have worked hard to bring the truth to fellow diabetics. Some have been banned, some have been ridiculed, thread locked and edited etc. All have diabetes under control, all have seen a huge improvement in their health, in every measurable way, all are feeling better and looking better than they have in years. The big question is, how are our detractors and the antis doing ?
　
Good luck and good health to all, Eddie