Wise words from Dr. Jay Wortman a lowcarb expert and a type two diabetic !

For people with conditions associated with insulin resistance, a low-carb diet is an alternative to the current approach of high-carb plus meds. I don't see how making this statement is construed as "promoting" a low-carb diet in violation of the forum rules - please clarify.

Metformin is the drug with the lowest risk of hypoglycemia. It reduces glucose output from the liver and improves glucose uptake in the periphery. If you are reducing carbs while taking metformin your chances of having a problem of hypos is not great. Most people, however, should be able to get off their metformin or significantly reduce it. The other drugs that stimulate insulin production, however, will get you into trouble if you continue to take them in their usual dosages when you start a low-carb diet. Same for insulin. Of course, type 1 diabetics will always need some insulin and severe type 2's may need to continue taking some insulin or meds as well. For most people (type 2), however, getting completely off meds and insulin should be the goal of carbohydrate restriction.

An Atkins induction level of carb restriction is not hard to do. I have been doing it for almost nine years now and would not consider any other way of eating.

Great grub tonight !

Pork medallions with mixed roast vegetables. Red, green and yellow peppers with onion, tomatoes and mushrooms. Special guest star, roast cubed celeriac. Lowcarb and tastes great !

Pork Medallions with Mixed Roast Vegetables and Roast celeriac.

Serves 2

Ingredients

Two Boneless Pork Loin Chops or Medallions of pork if your supermarket/butcher has some.
Half a Red Pepper
Half a Yellow Pepper
Half a Green Pepper
Half a Celeriac
1 small red onion
1 Tomato (not the small cherry ones)
4 medium to small sized close cup mushrooms
Salt, Pepper, Mixed Herbs
Olive Oil

Method

Prepare Mixed Vegetables:
Deseed peppers then cut into small ‘squares’
Roughly chop the onion
Cut tomato and mushrooms into four.
The ‘left over peppers’ can be kept for another day in a sealed bowl or just wrap in cling film.
Place these vegetables in a Pyrex or similar oven proof dish, add salt, pepper and mixed herbs to taste.
Splash over some olive oil and bake in a pre-warmed oven for about 40 minutes at 200c. Regulo 6. It is important to turn and baste the vegetables every ten minutes or so to stop them from burning.

Cut celeriac in half and then slice and cut into small cubes. Put in a separate oven proof dish, splash over some olive oil and bake in the oven along with the mixed vegetable. Again baste/turn the celeriac every ten minutes or so.

Prepare and Cook Meat.

Cut off any fat (if you prefer) on the meat using scissors or a sharp knife and cut the remaining meat into chunks. Place in a frying pan with a knob of butter (not too hot) turn continuously for about five minutes. To check it is well cooked cut a medallion in half. It should be lightly pink in the centre only.
When serving add a little gravy.

Eddie

 

Diabetes patients with poor blood sugar control face increased risk of heart failure

"In the 635 patients admitted to hospital with heart failure, HbA1c was associated with a 36% increased risk of heart failure per 1% rise in HbA1c in patients who had a primary diagnosis of heart failure, and a 26% per 1% rise in HbA1c in patients who had a secondary diagnosis of heart failure"

Dr Marcus Lind, a physician at the department of molecular and clinical medicine at the University of Gothenburg, concluded: ‘The positive association between HbA1c and risk of heart failure in fairly young patients with type 1 diabetes indicates a potential for prevention of heart failure with improved glycaemic control.’


Graham

http://www.pulsetoday.co.uk/story.asp?storycode=4129980&cid=Latest_headlines_3_290611&sp_rid=NzQ2NzY2NDAzMAS2&sp_mid=36767041

The Circus Maximus

"We used to have several mods here before the troubles began, they ended up fighting each other and it descended into open warfare and chaos ! That's when the previous Administrator called on Sue and I to sort the mess out and look after the place, till we were booted out for no good reason by a new administrator. Such is life !

Let's dispel this myth that Sue and I were sat in front of our PC's 24/7 every day shall we. Wqe both use technology to its fullest, yes we sometimes gave an hour or so to answering posts but much of the time we were both out and about. This particular message is beingg written on my phone whilst I sit outside enjoying life ! Nowhere near a PC and certainly not 24/7 ! That's how many posts are actually written unless we needed access to some particular research articles."

Update ! The above quoted  post has been deleted. Playing Kenny at his own game, how ironic.

d.co.uk Professionals not wanted !

“With an increasing number of HCP’s, podiatrists, doctors, specialists and other professionals using the site, we were considering changing one of the forum rules to allow such professionals to use the site - and where normally they'd break the rules if they did offer advice.

Do we want advice from professionals ?

A poll was set up and the 30000 plus members had a chance to vote. 67 voted and 39 people 58% were against. As usual the clique mounted a blitzkrieg with Ken bludgeoning all opposition to the clique. Of the 83 posts 40 came from admin and the clique, as usual Ken “who was having a day off” made the most posts 12.

After little over a day the Administrator stated “Seems like a no - so shall lock the topic - we'll put some more thought into this and throw our ideas to the floor again.” Why was this thread started ?


Now I can fully understand Kens stance, It was a Doctor that exposed Kens dietary stupidity and his Stalinist style of moderation, that got the fonts of all knowledge booted out of the mods chairs. As we have seen, the clique will back Kenny no matter how ludicrous his rantings, but Admin ! What’s going on ?

What well run and informative diabetes forum would not want advice from a professional ? notice the word is advice, not diagnosis, not treatment. The admin have allowed Ally to post for three years, in fact she was allowed to make 4 posts in the aforementioned thread. What’s going on here, not for the first time at d.co.uk, fact is stranger than fiction. Is the admin as thick as a plank or is something more sinister going on ?

Do the people who run d.co.uk really want to help people ? Was the appointing of two new mods who clearly cannot control their own BG numbers a smart move ? Especially when their main role is to “ mainly helping those in the Greetings and Newly Diagnosed forums” How long will the largest diabetes forum in the UK with 30,000 members be completely dominated by a disgraced moderator and his cohort clique ?

Eddie

http://www.diabetes.co.uk/diabetes-forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=22180

Senior Mod Material ?

Just when I thought d.co.uk could not get anymore ridiculous !

From the administrator.
　
“Canuck1950 - please follow forum policy; you can discuss extreme low carbing but promotion of it isn't allowed. For more information, please see the forum policy and ethos at the top of every board”

Good grief it beggars belief. For three years the resident dietition and the clique have pedalled garbage, but when a Doctor and type two diabetic tries to promote a method of control that has lead to the salvation of countless diabetics it’s a no no.

Welcome to the crazy world of diabetes.

Eddie

http://www.diabetes.co.uk/diabetes-forum/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=15952&p=200164#p200164

Question to members about contributions from Professionals.

The administrator, Dan I believe, and a non diabetic, has asked the question.

I can remember Doctor Katharine Morrison, a diabetes expert, long gone. Doctor Jay Wortman, trying to enlighten the people who have succumbed to the dogma that has lead to the countless early deaths of diabetics. OK you get my drift.

It seams to me there is an unlimited quantity of ostriches with their heads in the sand, and an unlimited amount of sand out there.


The response so far, 62% of the members feel it is a bad idea, why ? OK, I can appreciate the comments from the resident dietition are about as much use as rubber beak on a woodpecker, but what about the others ?

Great grub tonight !

OK a cheat. Waitrose Charlie Bighams's ready meal, Thai green chicken curry, ten carbs per portion. A high carb meal for me, but I'm feeling lazy. After a very lowcarb breakfast and only a packet of nuts for lunch, it still keeps me well below 50 carbs for the day. The meal tastes fabulous, highly recommended.

Eddie

d.co.uk Stretching Credible Beyond The Extreme !

Hi all, I got home tonight after a long hard day. Booted up the computer and had a look around. What do I see. A truly mind blowing post from the management at d.co.uk.

“Latest moderator to be announced is anna29 - who will be mainly helping those in the Greetings and Newly Diagnosed forums”

“We've received several more applications and are looking to have a team of 8-12 moderators. So still a few more moderators to be announced. If you'd like to be a moderator, please PM me”

So, Anna a diabetic with an HbA1c of 9.7 “who will be mainly helping those in the Greetings and Newly Diagnosed forums” what drugs are the management of d.co.uk on, we need to be told !

Eddie

Is A calorie Just A Calorie, No Way !

Great Grub For A Hot Summer Night.

Not really a recipe but a little tip and a good food idea. Driving around London today the last thing I wanted to eat was hot food tonight. At one point today I saw 31c on my car outside temperature gauge. So tonight’s grub spicy salmon with a nice salad.

If you go to the Sainsbury fresh fish counter they offer a nice free of charge service. Select your fresh  fish and choose from a very nice range of free cooking sauces. The fish and sauce are placed in sealed oven proof bag. Cook as per instructions and save the sauce. Allow to cool, pour the retained sauce over the fish and serve cold with a mixed salad. For me that's a great plate of lowcarb food, enjoy !

Eddie

Summer fruits lowcarb sponge cake.

OK a bumped post, have you tried it ? it's great.
Lowcarb summer fruits


Method:
Mix all dry ingredients in a bowl.
Melt the butter I used a Pyrex jug, add the eggs and cream, then add the dry ingredients and mix thoroughly. Add some lowcarb fruits, blueberries, raspberries and strawberries to the mix and spoon into a baking container. I used a silicone bread mould. Microwave in a 700watt for 6 minutes. Take out of the mould, if still damp place upside down on four layers of kitchen paper and microwave for a further one minute. Allow to cool then spread on a layer of extra thick cream, then add fruits to the top. A little tip, allow to cool on four or five layers of kitchen paper to remove any excess moisture. Serve in a bowl with some double cream. Serves eight.

Ingredients:
200g ground almonds
2 heaped teaspoons baking powder
3 medium eggs
2 tablespoons of butter
2 tablespoons double cream

Eddie

Drug firms 'too heavily reliant on ageing sales portfolios'

"Last year, drug sales were at an all-time high of $856bn (£535bn), but only 5pc of those sales were driven by products launched within the last five years. The struggle companies face in reinvigorating their portfolios was illustrated by the number of "new molecular entities" launched last year dropping to 21, down from 26 in 2009. "

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/pharmaceuticalsandchemicals/8599643/Drug-firms-too-heavily-reliant-on-ageing-sales-portfolios.html

A Clique Members Views on Fat.

　“Personally, I would hate that but that's just me. I like a variety of food in my diet otherwise it can get pretty boring. I also don't like the taste of fat and always cut the fat off before cooking/frying. I tried it a couple of times but I nearly vomited and hat to spit it out again. I don't like eating things like octopus/eal or horse meat either but there are people who love it and eat it by the ton, just a taste thing I guess.”

How many reading this eat tons of horse meat, octopus or eel. None of those foods are used in my diet. How many eating great lumps of fat, I don’t. I do not eat foods like fat laden chops etc. I cut the fat off bacon. Eating lumps of solid fat has never appealed to me. Not that I believe it can harm anyone. I know people that love eating visible fat on meat, good for them. The lowcarb antis love to paint a picture of us gorging on ‘tons’ of fat, we are up to our necks in the stuff, more bullshit. Bullshit is all they talk, and that’s a fact.

The person I quoted say he is uses ‘lots’ of med’s last time I checked his profile, lot’s of med’s to control diabetes is not for us. As the wise know, to control type two diabetes you have two main options, lifestyle or med’s. Years ago us lowcarbers looked at the med’s option, what was available. Avandia, banned, Actos. banned, Glick, knocks your pancreas out. Other type two wonder meds carry black box cancer warnings. And all of these med’s do not reduce blood glucose anywhere near the level of the correct diet and exercise. And one things for sure, even if food comes properly labelled and described, we won’t be seeing black box cancer warnings on broccoli and the like, well I suppose we might if the GM foods sharks get their way.

So my high med’s friend, try some foods like avocado, extra virgin olive oil, nuts and seeds, cheese, cream and butter, go mad and try some 10% fat minced beef or how about really risking life and limb with a few eggs in the morning. I know, you “tried it a couple of times but I nearly vomited and hat to spit it out again”

Get real lad, you look a bigger chump with every post.
　
Eddie

The Clique go into overdrive !

The Clique aka Kenny’s crew or more accurately ex Kenny’s crew. After loosing his mod’s job and unable to ban or delete any post or poster who contradicted his lamentable dietary advice and bizarre logic, i.e. no logic, Kenny has stated he is off, off the forum or off his rocker? I’m still trying to work it out.

Back to the Clique. This bunch of know it all, know nothing blowhards are giving Dr. Jay a hard time, why. Could it be after the abysmal treatment that he received the first time of joining, which lead to Kenny being booted off his mods throne, still sticks in their throats. The Clique were not slow to realise without their demented leader, they were very vulnerable to some commonsense, and very useful and informative posts. The clique doesn’t do sensible, it’s not there to educate or really help anyone, they are wreckers. Hanging on to outdated methods that are doomed to faluire, they push the dogma and the sort of misinformation that leads to the woeful figures published by the NHS. I often wonder if they have any other life other than ‘there’ forum, do any of them work for a living ? If they do, I’m glad they don’t work for me, good grief, some of them appear to be on the forum from dawn to dusk.

When are the people that run d.co.uk going to wise up, do they really want a forum that helps all diabetics get to a safer place, or is the forum a place to gather a mailshot list ? I notice the marketing to members is being ratcheted up with a new forum format, how long before there are more adverts than posts ?

Eddie

Don’t Fear Salt.

Most straight thinking people realise pretty quickly the standard dietary advice for diabetics from most healthcare professionals is wrong very wrong. They realise the carbs have got to go big time. Next the question comes up what about the fats. Everywhere you look it’s low fat this and low fat that. Every food advert almost every packaged food shouts low fat. Low fat factory and prepared food is cheaper to make and if people believe it’s more healthy they will pay more money. It’s a real winner for the food manufacturers. Cheaper to make and premium price leads to bigger profit margins. Again the straight thinking person soon realises there are good fats and bad fats. The straight thinker soon learns the right fats are essential to good health. Next question to address is salt.

For most type two diabetics high blood pressure is part of the diabetes deal. And the standard advice from the medics is drop the salt. Salt they tell us will do our blood pressure no good at all. Excessive levels of salt does no-one any good, very much like insulin levels, but as with insulin, too low a level leads to serious problems. If you start a low carb diet and prepare all your own food and avoid added salt, you may be going too low on salt. Think about it, many of us were eating ready meals and factory made foods before low carbing and many of these foods have a very high salt content. We have quickly gone from a high salt diet to a possibly very low salt diet. Some words from Dr. Jay Wortman a lowcarb expert and type two diabetic on lowcarb and salt.

“When you cut the carbs your kidneys will release sodium. This is why people lose some water initially and why blood pressure also tends to get better on low-carb. If you are not careful to replace the lost sodium sufficiently by adding salt to your food, you will experience the effects of mild hypo-natremia. These are: headache, constipation, weakness, fatigue, low-blood pressure, othostatic hypotension and possibly leg cramps. If you get a blood test you may find that your potassium is low, too. Unfortunately, there is no reliable blood test for magnesium but it may also be low. Supplementing with salt should correct these problems. You don't need to take a potassium supplement, it will correct if you eat enough salt. Some people will have a persistent magnesium deficiency that will require supplements. This would be manifested by leg cramps and hyper-reflexia (something your doctor can check). To correct this you should take a slow-release Mg++ supplement daily.

Many people make the mistake of restricting salt and drinking lots of water when on a low carb diet. This is virtually guaranteed to cause problems. When you look carefully at the studies that report equivocal results with a low-carb diet, this is invariably one of the reasons.”

Eddie

High, Medium and Low GI Foods.

Check out many of the foods regarded as low gi. Ludicrous for any well controlled minimal med's diabetic.

Eddie

http://www.the-gi-diet.org/lowgifoods/

The Glycaemic Index

"Carbohydrates vary greatly with regard to how rapidly they increase blood sugar levels. Some types of carbohydrate food are quickly absorbed and tend to make blood glucose levels increase very rapidly (‘high GI’ foods) while others which release glucose more slowly, have little effect (‘low GI’ foods). To make this easy to understand carbohydrates have been ranked on a scale of 1 to 100. Glucose has a ranking of 100 on this scale and is used as a reference against which the other foods are placed. "

Check out the meal plan at the bottom of this link. Oh dear !


Eddie

http://www.diabetesuffolk.com/livingwithdiabetes/The%20glycaemic%20index.htm

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

The low gi/low fat diet.

"So, if as you say there is no one size fits all solution to blood glucose management, why is low gi/low fat so wrong?"

This came in as a comment and I thought it was worth a new thread or topic. I tried low gi at diagnosis, it helped BG reduce, but 12 was still an average number for me. The same applies to other type two no meds/metformin users I know, including four of the people who write on this blog. To give an idea how sensitive we are to carbs, one slice of white bread will have us all into double figures if consumed for breakfast. For many a carb is still a carb whether low gi or not. The time can vary to reach a peek BG reading, but peak it does, and it is too high for us.

When putting that argument forward in the past, people have often said, ah, but it's all down to portion sizes. Well the portion sizes for many, would need to be so small, they would be at almost starvation level. The beauty of lowcarb, based on many different lowcarb vegetables, then add the proteins and fats is it's so easy to control. I don't eat anything with more than 5-6 grams of carb per 100 grams. I don't count calories these days. It becomes automatic after a while, if you have done a lot of testing in the early days. We know exactly what we can eat and keep low numbers, and we certainly know what will take us not only into and unacceptably high numbers, but also and very importantly, how long we would stay at the number. We would be into complication inducing territory for far too long.

I have just found a gi site that looks very nice and has some recipes I could use, but many recipes contain a whole days carb allowance for me and are a no no. Perhaps the site is not a fair indicator of a low gi diet. If not, please give me some better sites or food lists. Fats, well none of us have any problem with the right fats, and see no reason whatsoever to go low fat. We could not go to 50 carbs per day maximum and go low fat. Others say they can, but no-one has ever proved to me it can be done or have never produced a daily or weekly food sheet. To say low fat low gi could never work would be ridiculous, but for how many ? Very few I think. How do you do it ?Thank you for the comment.

Eddie

http://www.the-gi-diet.org/recipes/

Research Connecting Organ Damage with Blood Sugar Level.

If you fall into the don't want to know category keep well away from the link and the information it contains.


http://www.phlaunt.com/diabetes/14045678.php

It works for me, we are all different, no one size fits all.

Hang around diabetes forums for a while and you will see those phrases many times. Yes we are different, but as far as diabetes goes in many ways we are all the same. We all have to control our blood glucose levels to stay healthy. By and large the foods that raise BG numbers have a similar effect on most diabetics. What varies greatly is the way BG is kept in check. Some control diabetes with diet and exercise. Others prefer or need to use medication. Some insulin users use MDI some use a pump. Many use a combination of methods to control blood glucose. The method of control is not important, if it works and keeps on working. The problem is for many no method appears to work. This is so very obvious when you look at the NHS published data.

NHS Statistics for 2008 2009:

Percentage of Type 1 diabetics with HbA1c greater than 7.5 per cent = 71.4 per cent.

Percentage of Type 2 diabetics with HbA1c greater than 7.5 per cent = 33.4 per cent.

Percentage of Type 1 diabetics with HbA1c greater than 10.0 per cent = 33.6 per cent.

Percentage of Type 2 diabetics with HbA1c greater than 10.0 per cent = 14.3 per cent.

These results are very similar to those found in 2006 – 2007 and 2007 – 2008.

NHS results indicate:
On average Type 1 diabetics have a 20 year lower life expectancy.
On average Type 2 diabetics have a 10 year lower life expectancy.


With relaxing of the NICE guidelines, very poor dietary information for most newly diagnosed, refusal of free test strips. Huge cutbacks in NHS spending including banning of certain drugs because of cost, reduced full bloods and HbA1c testing, the future for many looks bleak. The above NHS data is grim and I cannot see any way outcomes for many will improve.

So, back to we are all different, what does a person do when he knows about the grim and very often unnecessary outcomes for many diabetics and where elevated BG numbers will lead to ? What do you do when you know how to obtain long term non diabetic numbers ? Smile smugly and think I’m ok, hard luck Jack and go quietly on your way to a peaceful life ?

I am beginning to see things in a different way. I am beginning to think the almost unthinkable, that so many diabetics do not care about their outcome and the last thing they want is the truth. I am beginning to think some forums are more of a social club than a place to learn the truth. Am I going over the top ? I don’t think so. Just look at the grief some members get when trying to educate the don’t know and don’t want to know. Just a thought.
　
Eddie

Help her Sid !

Sid instead of wasting your time here perhaps you should consider the plight of Anna who has got big problems, an A1c of 9.7 is not a safe place for any diabetic as I'm sure you'll agree. This is a time to put our differences aside, a fellow diabetic is in need of help and as one of the banned I am not in a situation were I can have a say. You can help her Sid she needs to realise the dangers of high BG levels, it may be that it's related to other factors besides diabetes but she needs to be aware of the consequences. Graham

Page Views For This Blog.

Page views today 873 and going up by the minute, page views yesterday 672, page views last month 14,949. Thank you to all the people that read this blog. I am trying to get away from posting articles about d.co.uk. But as the largest diabetes forum in the UK, much work is still required in my opinion to make it a safe and reliable place for all diabetics, especially the confused and newly diagnosed.

Eddie

Permanently Banned From d.co.uk

Tonight I tried to log in at d.co.uk under my wife’s name, Janet Kay. Only one post had ever been posted under this name. The post.

When considering the low-fat low-carb diet I believe it is impossible for an active person in the long term. I have proved this for myself. When I started low carbing and back in those days three years ago, I had no understanding of healthy fats, I was on a low carb low fat diet of around 1300-1500 calories a day. Like so many I believed that fats were dangerous and to be feared. My BG numbers fell to non diabetic within days and the weight started to fall off at the rate of around 20 lbs per month. Great what more could I want. The problem came around the forth month. I had gone from a 40” waist to 32” lost over 50lbs fantastic, but my weight kept dropping. I was beginning to look very ill, friends and family wanted to know was it the diabetes that was making ill, one friend asked did I have cancer. I was facing a huge dilemma.

I wanted to stay low carbing, my HbA1c had gone from 12 to 5.4 within three months. My second full bloods tests after three months of diagnoses showed not only a huge reduction in HbA1c but improvement in almost every other area. My Doctor was totally amazed at the changes, (it was beyond his experience) I had made in such a short time. After some thought and a little research I realised I had to turn to fats. I was still eating the same protein I had ate all my life and did not want to start eating huge amounts of protein to increase the calories I needed to maintain a good weight.

I discovered there was good fats and dangerous fats. That much of the processed food I had used before low carbing contained trans fats and other ingredients that were unhealthy. I learned the fats in natural foods such as avocado, olives, nuts, seeds, butter and cream were safe and in fact fat in the diet is essential. I did not go over the top with fats I did not need to. I now know that fat has over twice the calories as carbs and protein and it was easy with some tweaking here and there to get back to a food intake that controlled my diabetes and my weight. Three years on I have never had a HbA1c out of the fives and I am happy with my weight. I use around 2300-2500 calories a day. I live a very active life, some days working over 10 hours. I appreciate others for various reasons do not require my level of calories. The attached link may be useful for members.

The response.

You have been permanently banned from this board.

Please contact the Board Administrator for more information.

A ban has been issued on your username.

 So, the gloves can come off. The post I made was within the forum rules. But any post from a banned person is not allowed. Dangerous rubbish can be posted all day long, as long as you curtail to the management.

From the Bonkers one !

"Oh dear, it appears the low carb jackals are after new blood. What a pathetic sight you all make as you circle round the new DCUK moderator. Nothing but vicious losers the lot of you, pathetic. Sid”

Hi Sid you say on here you are lowcarb. What have you got against others who want to go low carb and get an excellent HbA1c as is yours. We need to be told. Get a grip lad, or are you losing the plot big time ! Up the fats, before you end up in the rubber Ramada. Like Kenny your attitude seems to depend on the direction of the wind.

Eddie

Before you accuse me, take a look at yourself !

Just When I Thought It Couldn’t Get Any Worse !

I was looking forward to a lazy weekend. A spot of fishing or long walks down on the south coast. But the R and R might have to go on hold. Some good changes have been made at d.co.uk and the management are doing their best to improve the forum, or so I thought. Having a look over there this morning I was left speechless. Yes I know that doesn’t happen very often. Have a look at this idiocy.

A new member FishingForSouls had stated.

“I have managed to get my HBA1c down to 5.2%, Total/HDL cholesterol ratio down to 3.5, triglycerides down to 0.7 and blood pressure down 115/75.

I eat very low carb, moderate protein and high fat – animal fats, coconut cream, double cream in coffee, olive oil and butter but definitely no margarine.”

Fantastic numbers for a diabetic and far better than many non diabetics. What could be wrong with those numbers and positive good news. Well he/she was greeted with the usual cut and paste job for newbie’s. But FishingForSouls had said he/she was diagnosed four years before and felt the cut and paste job contained very high BG numbers and felt they were numbers he/she hoped never to see. End of story, err no.


A new moderator posted this.

“Hi FishingForSouls

The advice that daisy1 likes to post are only guidelines.......you will find levels of blood sugars which will suit you. For instance my blood sugars shouldn't really go below 6 because i feel bad at that level so my guidelines by my consultant (who i have seen for the 14 years since my diagnosis) is to have my levels between 6 and 11 because that works for me.

You will find loads of good advice and lots of support on the forum.......everyone is different when it comes to what works for them!!!!!!!”
　
Another member posted this.

“Hi fishing for souls, welcome to us all here. Your health care team are working fron NICE rules 7.5[below] acceptable level. You are new to all this n it can and does feel overwhelming to begin with. What the others are trying to say is that for some they can feel really grotty being below 7.5 and their consultant gives them bit of flexibilty to find a more acceptable level they can feel better with. I myself feel awful when go below 7.7 as my body n system are so used to being a lot higher. Hope this reassures you? keep reading and learning as you feel you way along. Any thoughts or concerns just pop back to us with them, n we will try to help, as thats what we are here for. Anna.x HbA1c 9.7

What help will Anna and the new Mod be offering FishingForSouls ? Will they be offering advice that will lead to a bag full of med's, a dangerous HbA1c and an early grave ?

Eddie

Expert sees the lowcarb light !

　
Professor Roy Taylor of Newcastle University is without doubt one of the UKs leading diabetes experts. I would be surprised if anyone knew more about diabetes than him. Roy is very excited at the moment. Why, because he has recently discovered what many of us have known for years. He has discovered lowcarbing can reverse type two diabetes. If diabetes was not such a serious subject I would be falling about laughing, how much money and time was wasted on this trial ?

Professor Roy Taylor of Newcastle University, who led the study and is also Director of the Newcastle Magnetic Resonance Centre, said: “To have people free of diabetes after years with the condition is remarkable - and all because of an eight-week diet.

“This is a radical change in understanding Type 2 diabetes. It will change how we can explain it to people newly diagnosed with the condition. While it has long been believed that someone with Type 2 diabetes will always have the disease, and that it will steadily get worse, we have shown that we can reverse the condition.”

The diet consisted of “Under close supervision of a medical team, the participants’ diet consisted of 600 calories per day of liquid diet drinks and non-starchy vegetables.” in other words extremely low carb. “The volunteers were returned to eating normally but had received advice on portion size and healthy eating.” You can bet your bottom dollar the healthy eating did not include high amounts of high carb/starch food. There is no reference to the word carbohydrates in the article, but we all know what a diet consisting of non starchy vegetables is code for, lowcarb.

With the massive cut backs in NHS spending especially for diabetics, how long before a low carb diet becomes the first line of defence for combating diabetes ? Isn’t it great to find a man of Roy Taylor’s standing finally seeing the light.

DUK as usual prefers to sit on the fence. “Diabetes UK is keen to stress this study involved an extreme diet conducted under close medical supervision. We strongly recommend people do not attempt to lose weight in this way.”

Yes the diet used was extreme and us lowcarbers know you don’t have to drop to starvation levels to get good non diabetic BG numbers, but you do have to be extreme in the cut back of carbs for life, not for a couple of months.

Don't tell Roy about Dr. Richard Bernstein. Bernstein worked this out about thirty years ago.

Eddie

http://www.diabetes.org.uk/About_us/News_Landing_Page/Can-diet-alone-reverse-Type-2-diabetes/

Off topic but as good as it gets !

Sugar not the culprit and Lions make good house pets !

　
According to Andrew Briscoe President and CEO of the Sugar Association, Inc. sugar is not the culprit ! Evidently it’s all down to that arch trouble maker Gary Taubes trying to flog another book.

Briscoe describes table sugar as a natural wholesome food. The last time I checked it contained nothing other than calories, the last thing the typical over weight at diagnosis diabetic requires. Sugar is about as necessary for good health as cocaine and arguably more dangerous.

Keep kicking butt Gary and good luck with your new book.


http://www.inboxgroup.net/sugar/e_article002113402.cfm?x=bjtDCsh,bhMJkrv2

Eureka a Dietition that talks commonsense Ashley Jacob !

“Although most people fear saturated fats, often labelled as "artery-clogging fats," there is no conclusive evidence showing that their consumption is associated with heart disease. In fact, a comprehensive and rigorous meta-analysis published in January 2010 in the "American Journal of Clinical Nutrition" looked at the data from over 347,747 participants followed for five to 23 years and found no correlation between saturated fats and cardiovascular disease. Whether your low-carb meals are high in saturated fats or unsaturated fats, your heart health is not at risk.”

Eddie

http://www.livestrong.com/article/425173-health-risk-of-low-carb-meals/#ixzz1Q36PITe4

Regular sex appears to be good for your heart, at least if you're a man.

"The New England Research Institute reported last year that regular sex appears to be good for your heart, at least if you're a man. Researchers at the institute followed more than 1,100 men for more than 16 years, and found that men who had sex twice a week were as much as 45 percent less likely to suffer a dangerous cardiovascular event than those who had sex once a month or less."

http://www.sportsgeezer.com/sportsgeezer/heart_health/

Daily Calorie Requirement Chart

Add or subtract the specified calories from - to your required daily calorie intake. Note that if you are classed as inactive, you need to subtract calories from your daily allowance to maintain weight. The more active you are the more calories the body needs for energy.

For example if you are a 35 year old women who sits at a computer each day and weighs over 90 kilos - 200 lbs, you would need 2400 calories less 960 to simply maintain your weight. A total of 1440 calories per day.

An example for a male who is over 55, plays golf twice a week is he can consume 2400 calories daily to maintain his weight and on his golf days have a treat equal to 380 calories and not put on weight.

Eddie


http://www.positivehealthsteps.com/calories/daily-required.shtml

Comment on a comment from Sid.

“Hi Eddie, as a member of this so called 'clique' you are so fond of bloging about I thought I might try to put the record straight one last time on who and what I am.

I low carb, yes shock horror I am a low carber and I would guess that every well controlled T2 diabetic is as well, the only point on which we seem to differ is that I don’t eat as low a carb diet as you so I don’t need to consume high fat, why is that so bad that you have to constantly snipe at myself and others all the time. I care not what you do or don’t eat and if your control is good then great, you must be doing something right, why cant you have the grace to accept that I might just be doing something right also?”

Regards

Sid

I have stated many times I believe it is impossible for an active person to go low carb and low fat in the long term. I stand by that statement. Firstly let me state what I consider to be low carb. For me and many others, that is a carb range from 30 to 50 grams of carb per day. At that level of carb and if we can agree low fat is half the daily recommended, this seems to vary between 70 and 90 grams depending on the source. Let’s call low fat 50% of 80 grams i.e. 40 grams of fats per day. Thus 40 grams of fat provide 40 x 9 = 360 calories. Let’s split the difference on the carbs i.e. 40 grams. Thus 40 x 4 =160 calories. So far a total of 520 calories. It is widely accepted the average active man not looking to lose weight, requires approximately 2500 calories per day. 2500 - 520 = 1980 calories. To make up the difference using food from the only major food group left, protein is a non starter for most people, although possibly not impossible. Think about it, if you up the protein with meat, fish, eggs, etc. you are automatically upping the fats. There are of course some exceptions you, Ken, Sue and others. Let’s take a look at your situations as I understand them.


You and Ken took early retirement due to ill health. The last time Sue and I were on speaking terms she was working one night per week. Also I think it is fair to say all of you spend a lot of time on computers and live a sedentary lifestyle. Sue stated recently that she and Ken were trying to lose weight. I can see some people have no need for the average calorie consumption. But are you, Ken and Sue a fair guide as to what constitutes as the average person ? In my opinion no. Type two diabetes was once thought of as an old persons disease, we are now seeing teenagers as type two diabetics. They hopefully will have many years of work in front of them, and it ain’t gonna work on a thousand calories or thereabouts a day.　
Eddie

Two Threats of Legal Action !!

What a night last night eh, not one, but two threats of legal action against me in less than an hour. It nigh near put me off my evening cocoa (low carb of course). I am used to all sorts of threats by anonymous low carb antis, but when I am feared so much that Solicitors want to hide in the shadows, I must be tougher than I thought.

Evidently the people I call the clique are mortified, they feel I have maligned them and they are really a bunch of very nice people. They have via a Solicitor ordered me to remove references to them on this blog, and issue an apology. Not content with railroading members of “their forum” and rubbishing the sensible dietary methods used by countless people to control their diabetes and weight, they want to control this blog. Well they have about as much chance of controlling this blog as the weather, it ain’t gonna happen. No amount of threats, ridicule elsewhere, or legal action will change the way I operate, full stop.

I have said before it is my opinion the resident dietition is a total disgrace to the professional healthcare community, I have seen nothing in recent weeks to change that opinion. It is also my opinion Ken was the worst forum moderator I have ever come across. Furthermore, I believe the clique operate in a pack, this is evidenced by all the locked threads over the last few weeks. And the lunacy they displayed over last weekend.

When someone takes them on at their own game, they bleat like sheep. The only people they convince are the newcomers and confused. Ken weeps I’m a good guy and have been badly treated, get a life mate. It is the eighth wonder of the world how you kept the mods job for so long. But for the almost unbelievable tolerance and loyalty of the new moderators, you would be history as a member.

Forum moderation is often a thankless task, but it is my opinion, and I have seen evidence, the old days of deletion and banning are over. I am seeing freedom of speech (within the forum rules) returning. Back the new mods, report your good news. The most important thing anyone can do is help the newly diagnosed. Help them get to safe BG numbers. Don’t be drawn in to the anti lowcarbers trap. Post good news, help the newbie’s and never never never get involved with the fulltime low carb anti mob, do not respond to them. As you can see, some of them have 18 hours a day to post dross and act like morons. Don’t respond on the forum, don’t fall into their trap ! Stick to the forum rules, don’t let the idiots win ! If you see something you don’t like, tell us about it, we will not be slow to respond.

Eddie

Eggnog anyone ?

http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/eggnog/

Eddie

Christine Cashin Dietition and Director of the British Diatetics Association.

Commenting on a highly respected and qualified Doctor today.

"you are quite right and applies to all HCP - and that includes medics. One problem with doctors giving nutritional advice is that they may not be covered with their professional insurance as they have not undertaken any training! I must admit he amused me with his mumblings about his kids. He will soon learn that not allowing kids some treats will probably result in a rebellion at some point!"

The Doctors credentials were posted here today. No further comment required.

The man Ken calls a fake Doctor.

Dr. Wortman is a Metis physician from northern Alberta. After working in the construction
industry for ten years he returned to school to obtain a BSc in Biology and Chemistry at the
UofA, an MD from the University of Calgary and training in family medicine at the
University of British Columbia. After a brief stint in general practice he began to work in
public health. He was the Associate Director of Sexually Transmitted Disease at the British
Columbia Centre for Disease Control for two years before joining Health Canada as a
program specialist in HIV/AIDS where he developed the Aboriginal component of the
National AIDS Strategy. During that time he also developed the Dr. Peter AIDS Diary, a
regular weekly television appearance by a young physician dying of AIDS which achieved
high acclaim and resulted in an Academy Award nomination for a documentary
compilation of the Diaries. For the past several years, Dr. Wortman has served in senior
management positions in the First Nations and Inuit Health Branch of Health Canada
where he is currently the Regional Director of the Pacific Region. He is presently on a
research interchange at the University of British Columbia Faculty of Medicine where he is
studying the role of traditional diet in the prevention and treatment of obesity, metabolic
syndrome and type 2 diabetes in First Nations.
In 2003, Dr. Wortman received a National Aboriginal Achievement Award, the highest
honour bestowed by the Aboriginal community. Dr. Wortman lives in West Vancouver with
his wife and young son.

Gets you thinking..and its good to think..how about eating food thats got a lot of iodine? Josh

I agree Josh.

As usual the worlds healthiest foods has some great info.

Eddie


http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=nutrient&dbid=69

The Mysterious story of Wrunkelt and Millymole and the Clique.

Over the weekend the forum diabetes.co.uk has been very interesting to observe. Two new members have posted some excellent items. The newcomers were immediately attacked by the clique. The clique comprises of former moderators Cugila and Sugarless Sue, Ka-Mon, Noblehead, Catherinecherub, Ally, Jopar, Sid Bonkers et al. The clique believe they have sole discretion in what gets posted on “their forum” especially where matters of diet and especially articles on saturated fats. Some of the clique are low fat low carb. They usually work in a pack.

For any active low carber a low carb low fat diet is totally unsustainable in the medium and long term. Over the Easter weekend a Dr.Jay Wortman a low carb expert and himself a type two diabetic joined the forum. He pointed out the fact that the low carb low fat diet being promoted by the now ex moderators and the clique was a non runner in the long term. He was right of course. How can you drastically reduce a food group carbs and do the same with fats ? That only leaves the third major food group of protein. I have done the math and consuming a typical diet for a fit and active man say 2500 calories it does not stack up. No normal person would want to consume the protein required to get to 2500 calories. Jay was banned, labelled a troll and his posts deleted.

Some good came from Jays banning. When the facts came to light, the moderators were demoted to the rank of ordinary members. Unfortunately the lunacy continues. After a series of threads being thread locked, mostly due to the antics of the clique. The clique using every tactic to disrupt the forum and get their clique commander in chief reinstated (not a chance) the mayhem continues.

Ken and Sue must have been stunned to see the Wrunkelt and Millymole names being used by the newcomers. The reason, because they were the troll names they used to bring disruption and mayhem to the lowcarb forum lowcarbdiabetes.co.uk. Yes, you read that right, as acting forum mods on one forum, they were elsewhere pushing the sort of dietary idiocy the clique are promoting at d.co.uk. The clique are up to their old game of posting post after post, working as a team to discredit the newcomers and enforce their unsustainable diets on the forum members. Not so long ago banning and deletion of any post that did not sit well with the clique was the norm, but not any more I hope.

The clique are convincing no-one, their predatory tactics are futile, they have been seen for what they are. Cugila has shown to all he was a disgrace as forum moderator and an even bigger disgrace as a forum member. I cannot believe that the new moderators have been blind to what has been going on over the last few weeks. I hope they will allow an open debate, and allow others who are not part of the clique to tell their story and post any item that falls within the forum rules.

Eddie

Why the Low-Fat Diet is Stupid and Potentially Dangerous.

"Low-fat diets should be approached with extreme caution by those with a history of depression, anxiety, overly aggressive behavior or mental illness. Such individuals may be especially vulnerable to the nutritional inadequacies of low-fat diets."

Low fat low carb man

http://www.wanderings.net/notebook/Main/WhyTheLowFatDietIsStupidAndPotentiallyDangerousAnthonyColpo

More on Iodine.

Today's medical establishment is wary of iodine (as they are of most naturally occurring, nonpatentable, nonpharmaceutical agents).

Iodine was used for a wide variety of ailments after its discovery in 1811 up until the mid-1900s, when thyroidologists warned that "excess" amounts of iodine might adversely affect thyroid function. It is effective in gram amounts for treating various dermatologic conditions, chronic lung disease, fungal infestations, tertiary syphilis, and even arteriosclerosis. The Nobel laureate Dr. Albert Szent Györgi (1893—1986), the physician who discovered vitamin C, writes: "When I was a medical student, iodine in the form of KI was the universal medicine. Nobody knew what it did, but it did something and did something good.

http://www.lewrockwell.com/miller/miller20.html

5 steps to reverse diabetes and insulin resistance

Check out this Stellar site.

http://livinlavidalowcarb.com/blog/

Free at last............!!!

Free at last.........!!! the new forum signature for Cugila Ken. Very true, the forum is free from his Stalinist moderation, but not free from his idiotic posts and rants ! Ken and his team are doing their best to wreck the place don't let them win. Join d.co.uk and spread the lowcarb good news. The days of being banned on a mod's whim and post deletion are over. Join the forum, re-join the forum, I have.

(Is this a copywrite infringement of a famous speech by Martin Luther King)

Eddie

The best speech ever made ?


http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkihaveadream.htm

Low-fat diets make you more mentally unstable !

This is a great read and I believe offers some insight into what we have seen ‘elsewhere’ Perhaps someone could start a thread and post a link ‘elsewhere’

Eddie


http://akinokure.blogspot.com/2009/02/low-fat-diets-make-you-more-mentally.html

Is there a diabetes iodine link?

I have been hanging around diabetes forums for three years and have read many thousands of posts, I have posted thousands of posts, but I have never heard of diabetes symptoms being reversed with iodine. Is there a diabetes iodine link? There is some evidence that iodine has a very beneficial effect on blood sugar control.

“In an interview with Jimmy Moore, Dr. Flechas explained the diabetes iodine interaction: "The iodine attaches itself to hormone receptors within the body and increases the sensitivity of the receptor to its associated hormone. In this patient's case, the iodine increased her sensitivity to the hormone insulin to the point of normalizing her blood sugars.”
　
“This woman had come in via the emergency room with a very high random blood sugar of 1,380 mg/dl. She was then started on insulin during her hospitalization and was instructed on the use of a home glucometer. She was to use her glucometer two times per day.”

“Four weeks later during an office visit her glucometer was downloaded to my office computer, which showed her to have an average random blood sugar of 98. I praised the patient for her diligent efforts to control her diet and her good work at keeping her sugars under control with the insulin”

“She then informed me that she had come off her insulin three weeks earlier and had not been taking any medications to lower her blood sugar. When asked what she felt the big change was, she felt that her diabetes was under better control due to the use of iodine.”
　
Please check out the link for more info. Eddie
　
www.healthy-eating-politics.com/diabetes-iodine.html

Carbs may explain ethnic variations in cholesterol.

"South Asians ate the most carbohydrate and had the lowest HDL cholesterol levels, while Chinese individuals ate the least carbohydrate and had the highest levels of the beneficial blood fat, Dr. Anwar T. Merchant of the Population Health Research Institute in Hamilton, Ontario and colleagues found.

Each additional 100 gram per day of carbohydrates was tied to a 0.15 mmol/L drop in HDL cholesterol. Triacylglycerol levels also rose in tandem with carbohydrate intake.
The researchers also found that consuming more sugar-sweetened soft drinks, juices and snacks was tied to a lower HDL level.

"Differences in HDL and triacylglycerols observed in different ethnic groups may be due in part to carbohydrate intake," the researchers write. "Reducing the frequency of intake of sugar-containing soft drinks, juices and snacks may be beneficial."

Eddie

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2007/01/21/health-carbs-cholesterol-dc-idUKCOL96625020070121

And 'they' say higher protein is bad for the kidneys....

The above title is a thread running elsewhere.

 　
The resident Dietition

“There is quite a lot of evidence that excess protein may cause bone demineralisation but that may also be as a result of a reduced calcium intake. A study on eskimos found that they had reduced bone density.

Ref - Dietary protein, calcium metabolism, and skeletal homeostasis revisited Am J Clin Nutr 2003 78: 584S-592”

As usual the Dietitions info is out of date and is in the style lowcarbers have become accustomed to.

Some more recent information.
　
Summary: Recent epidemiological, isotopic and meta-analysis studies suggest that dietary protein works synergistically with calcium to improve calcium retention and bone metabolism. The recommendation to intentionally restrict dietary protein to improve bone health is unwarranted, and potentially even dangerous to those individuals who consume inadequate protein.

http://journals.lww.com/co-lipidology/Abstract/2011/02000/Dietary_protein_and_skeletal_health__a_review_of.5.aspx

Graham

Quote of the week.

"I think the much maligned Ancel Keys had it right, he advocated a type of diet (he actually had it right about a lot of things, including trans fat!)."

From a high carb insulin using pumper.

Nullius in verba

The latest from Jimmy Moore.

"You and I know that carbohydrate-restriction is at the heart of treating diabetes, obesity and heart disease. And yet here’s a seminar dedicated to educating medical professionals on how to help their patients and clients dealing with these issues–AND THEY DON’T EVEN MENTION LOW-CARB DIETS!"


"The irony of this predicament wasn’t lost on my reader. She said Dr. Ratliff could have easily listed the drugs in the syllabus and had everyone Google the side effects later on which would have freed up those two hours for a quality Q&A session where genuine learning could have taken place. My reader who was in attendance was chomping at the bit to combat the misinformation that was spewing forth unchallenged at this workshop meant to educate."

"The science supporting a high-fat, moderate protein, low-carb lifestyle approach is continuing to grow and will become mainstream in our culture when people realize they’ve been bamboozled by the low-fat, high-carb lie that was thrust upon nearly four decades ago. It’s gonna take time, but we must keep our heads held high knowing we have the truth on our side. Our day of reckoning is coming soon. Just you wait".

The Lowcarb News Gets Better By The Day !

"The metabolic, hormonal, and appetite signaling effects of carbohydrate reduction suggest an underlying scientific basis for considering it as an alternative approach to LF, high-carbohydrate recommendations in addressing overweight/obesity and chronic disease in America.

It is time to embrace LC diets as a viable option to aid in reversing diabetes mellitus, risk factors for heart disease, and the epidemic of obesity."

Eddie

http://ncp.sagepub.com/content/26/3/300.abstract

Cameron “many people with diabetes find it an embarrassing illness and something they don’t want to talk about"

Prime Minister David Cameron replied: “I will certainly support this campaign. I think my honourable friend makes an extremely good point which is that many people with diabetes find it an embarrassing illness and something they don’t want to talk about, and yet it’s affecting more and more people. I think we have to find a way of encouraging more people to come forward and say there’s nothing abnormal or wrong about this"

Hi Dave I don’t find it embarrassing and I’ll talk about diabetes.

If you really want to improve the NHS why don’t you take on big pharma and stop them falsifying trial data, coercing Doctors to prescribe drugs that don’t work and kill people. How about forcing food manufactures to put a health warning on foods that are causing the epidemics in obesity, type two diabetes, heart disease and a hundred other serious illnesses !

Diabetes rates are set to double in a few years, how about re-educating the Doctors and Nurses and Dietitions to at least the level of the average diabetic who has spent a few hours on a good diabetes forum. Set up courses, out of normal working hours at Colleges and Night Schools teaching diabetics how to cook and prepare real food that will bring down BG numbers far better than expensive and very often dangerous medication.

If you really want to save a fortune, give every newly diagnosed diabetic a BG meter and five hundred test strips per month for the first six months, thereafter 50 per month. It will save the state a fortune in reduced amputations, kidney dialysis and blindness. The savings in junk meds and welfare payments will be monumental compared to the cost of life saving education and test strips.

Get the medics to stop telling people that diabetes is always progressive, there are far too many people walking around in their seventies and eighties who have had diabetes for fifty years and still living an active and good quality life.

The relaxing of the NICE HbA1c guidelines will prove to be a massive mistake, how could anyone believe it will improve outcomes for diabetics ?

Eddie

Copyright infringement.

If I find anyone nicking my recipes of this blog, I’ll come round your house and eat your lunch….bloody liberty takers !

Mad Mickey (the pliers) Corleonie

Dillinger 3 Cugila nil.

Sorry folks I said we were moving on, but I could not resist this one. Old Kenny boy aka Cugila is having a run in against a copywrite lawyer. Not content with blowing both feet off in recent weeks, he is now trying to blow his own brains out, he blunders on. I know Dillinger and he is a lawyer. Special thanks to the cherub for starting the thread.

Eddie

http://www.diabetes.co.uk/diabetes-forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=21851&p=196688#p196688

The Worlds Healthiest Foods.

Check out this website, put it in your favourites, or better still sign up for the news letters, free recipes and cooking tips. It is my favourite food website. Not all recipes are suitable for lowcarbers, but all can be adapted. The place is crammed with great information for healthy eating. The book is a masterpiece and the best value for money I have ever spent. It weighs a ton and 880 pages. The host George clearly loves food and teaching people a better way to live.

http://whfoods.org/

Lowcarb Antis Proved Wrong Again !

Most people that have hung around diabetes forums have had the ACCORD study rammed down their throats by the lowcarb antis. More than a few forum threads have been titled “Lowering HbA1c Increases Mortality” or the like. A casual look at the ACCORD study by anyone half awake quickly reveals the obvious flaws. The trial ended early due to the subjects dropping like flies, mostly from heart attacks.

The reason was simple, they were treating the patients with a multi med regime and trying to force down HbA1c, add to that many of the participants had one foot in the grave before the trial even started. In short it was a disaster. Also.

“44.7% of subjects in the intensive-therapy group, as compared with 25.2% of patients in the standard-therapy group, received rosiglitazone [Avandia] just before the study transition date. According to the 2008 article summarizing the results of the ACCORD trial up to the point of protocol transition, 91.2% of subjects in the intensive-therapy group, as compared with 57.5% of patients in the standard-therapy group, had received rosiglitazone.”

“Coincidental? I think not. Not with the power GlaxoSmithKline wields with its huge advertising budget and its research grants. No media outlet is going to risk losing those full two- and three- page drug company spreads just to save the limbs, vision and kidneys of a bunch of fat old people with diabetes.”

Avandia is now banned in most countries, and Actos is going the same way. The best HbA1c for a diabetic is non diabetic and that is a very long way from the ridiculous NICE guidelines.

Eddie


http://diabetesupdate.blogspot.com/2011/06/avandia-is-sufficient-to-explain-excess.html

A High-Fat, Low-Carb Diet Explosion Happening In Sweden.

As low-carb books and resources climb to the top of the bestsellers charts there, the gig is up on companies who have relied on the low-fat diet being “heart healthy.” One such company is the UK-based Unilever, the largest manufacturer of margarine in Sweden and around the world. Since the debate over fat became a national issue for discussion last year, sales of margarine have tanked. And just like in America, Unilever has been placing the “heart healthy” symbol on their products for years in a cozy multi-million dollar deal with the Heart-Lung Foundation, Sweden’s equivalent of the American Heart Association.

But not anymore.

The Heart-Lung Foundation has now terminated their relationship with Unilever because of their concerns over the limited scientific support that margarine is healthier than the saturated-fat-filled butter. As Dr. Eenfeldt notes, this is a “big blow for Unilever” who has relied on the public perception that their products are healthy for consumers to market them. Now what are they gonna say to people who are no longer fearful of fat?  Words of Jimmy Moore

Jonas Colting lowcarb world class athlete no sign of scurvy, osteoporosis for this man.



http://eatlikeaswede.wordpress.com/2011/05/14/a-high-fat-low-carb-diet-explosion-happening-in-sweden/



Great grub tonight, Cottage pie/Shepherd’s pie.

Ingredients.

250 grams of minced beef/lamb
One small swede
One tin of chopped tomatoes
One small red onion
100 grams of cheddar cheese
Salt, pepper, dried mixed herbs and a large splash of Lea and Perrins Worcestershire sauce

Chop up a small red onion into small pieces. Add a small knob of butter to a large frying pan. Cook the onions until soft, a few minutes. Add the mince and cook until brown. Add a tin of tomatoes, some dried mixed herbs, some salt and pepper and a large glug of Lea and Perrins Worcestershire sauce, allow to simmer for about ten minutes. Spoon into a ceramic baking dish. Cover with boiled mashed swede and grated cheddar cheese. Place in an oven at 200 degrees. Cook until the cheese is beginning to brown. Low carb and very filling, serves two.

Eddie

Low carbohydrate diet may reverse kidney failure in people with diabetes.

"Our study is the first to show that a dietary intervention alone is enough to reverse this serious complication of diabetes," said Dr. Mobbs. "This finding has significant implications for the tens of thousands of Americans diagnosed with diabetic kidney failure, and possibly other complications, each year."

The ketogenic diet is a low-carbohydrate, moderate protein, and high-fat diet typically used to control seizures in children with epilepsy. Many cells can get their energy from ketones, which are molecules produced when the blood glucose levels are low and blood fat levels are high. When cells use ketones instead of glucose for fuel, glucose is not metabolized. Since high glucose metabolism causes kidney failure in diabetes, researchers hypothesized that the ketogenic diet would block those toxic effects of glucose.

Considering the extreme requirements of the diet, it is not a long-term solution in adults. However, Dr. Mobbs' research indicates that exposure to the diet for as little as a month may be sufficient to "reset" the gene expression and pathological process leading to kidney failure.


http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-04/tmsh-lcd041311.php

The Grim Reality for too many Diabetics !

Lionel Larkman, who lost a limb to Type 1 diabetes, looks up at a 20-ft limb mountain made from mannequin limbs representing the 5000 people who lose limbs from diabetes every year in the UK. The structure was constructed in Trafalgar Square for the launch of Lloydspharmacy's Diabetes - are you at risk? campaign.

Facts and Myths about the Atkins lifestyle.

It is common to hear misinformation about the Atkins lifestyle from almost everyone. What is fact and what is fiction? Many people have been discouraged from continuing to follow this program even when they have been successful losing weight, feeling better and improving their risk factors by uninformed or deliberately misleading comments.

How many people have regained their weight because of giving up the only program that worked for them or that they could follow long term?

Educating people about the facts is what is needed to dispel the many incorrect statements made by medical people, well meaning but uneducated friends or family and of course the media who sensationalizes and cherry-picks what it will report about Atkins.

http://www.controlcarb.com/ccn-myths.htm

Another great video and very funny !

New restrictions, contraindications, and dose limitations for Zocor (simvastatin) to reduce the risk of muscle injury.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is recommending limiting the use of the highest approved dose of the cholesterol-lowering medication, simvastatin (80 mg) because of increased risk of muscle damage. Simvastatin 80 mg should be used only in patients who have been taking this dose for 12 months or more without evidence of muscle injury (myopathy). Simvastatin 80 mg should not be started in new patients, including patients already taking lower doses of the drug. In addition to these new limitations, FDA is requiring changes to the simvastatin label to add new contraindications (should not be used with certain medications) and dose limitations for using simvastatin with certain medicines.

Graham

http://www.fda.gov/Drugs/DrugSafety/ucm256581.htm

So glad to be a type two diabetic.

Yeah I know there are some people think I am off my rocker, that may be a so. I consider my type two diagnosis as a wake up call. Face the facts, this a chronic disease i.e. no cure, but we can control it, and live a long and active life.

Consider this beautiful and brave and very young women, Alice. We have got away very light and should be very, very grateful.

“Hi, I'm 15 years old and live with my parents and sister in Ulverston. I've been fighting cancer for almost 4 years and now I know that the cancer is gaining on me and it doesn't look like I'm going to win this one :( I'm hoping to write in here as much as I can and I'm also going to show my bucket list which I'm trying to get done before I have to go. Hopefully, I'll update as I tick each one off the list J ”

This person shames most of us, and her courage is beyond my imagination.

Eddie

http://alicepyne.blogspot.com/2011/06/oh-dear.html

In a Swedish Poll 1 in 4 Swedes said they follow a High Fat, Low carb diet.

"In December 2005, Dr. Dahlqvist was reported to a government entity called the National Board of Health and Welfare (similar to the U.S. Food & Drug Administration) by a pair of dietitians who claimed she was putting her patients at “severe risk” by recommending a low-carb, high-fat diet for treating diabetes and obesity. An investigation took place to determine whether Dr. Dahlqvist should be stripped of her medical license or if she would be able to continue to use the LCHF approach with patients. While the investigation was ongoing, her employer informed her she could no longer use her low-carb nutritional plan with patients–so she quit and went into practice for herself while awaiting the result of the charges filed against her.

On January 16, 2008, the National Board of Health and Welfare made their decision after carefully examining all of the evidence presented to them and declared publicly that a low-carb diet is “in accordance with science and well-tried experience for reducing obesity and Type 2 diabetes.” WOW! Sweden is likely the first country in the world to have an official government board admit that low-carb is a suitable treatment for diabetes and obesity. Dr. Dahlqvist was willing to put her entire medical career on the line to defend the low-carb nutritional principles she knew was helping her patients. Although the odds were stacked against her, she was confident in the science and stood strong in the face off immense adversity. In the end, she came out of this intense trial victorious as the Swedish government now recognizes healthy low-carb living, albeit begrudgingly. But this was merely the catalyst for some truly great things to come for the LCHF movement that immediately took off in Sweden."

http://healthierhappierwiser.wordpress.com/2011/05/20/the-swedes-are-doing-it-right/

Eddie

The world’s best tennis player: a low carber?

OK worlds best a bit over over the top, but certainly a star sportsman and athlete.

"Novak Djokovic is undefeated this year; he has won 39 matches in a row. Experts believe he will very soon advance from number two in the rankings to become the number one player in the world.

So what is the secret to his form? Many things, no doubt, but maybe this is a big factor: He no longer eats any pizza, pasta or bread."

Eddie

http://www.dietdoctor.com/the-worlds-best-tennisplayer-a-low-carber

What Are The Dangers of Medication?

Headline: "GSK's Avandia banned in Europe on heart worries." The Independent 24 October 2010

Headline: "Actos is 'alternative' to banned diabetes drug Avandia." BBC News Health 18 March 2011

Headline: "Actos banned in Europe after diabetes drug tied to cancer." CBS News June 10 2011

John

Weight and Metabolic Outcomes After 2 Years on a Low-Carbohydrate Versus Low-Fat Diet

Objective: To evaluate the effects of 2-year treatment with a low-carbohydrate or low-fat diet, each of which was combined with a comprehensive lifestyle modification program.


Results: Weight loss was approximately 11 kg (11%) at 1 year and 7 kg (7%) at 2 years. There were no differences in weight, body composition, or bone mineral density between the groups at any time point. During the first 6 months, the low-carbohydrate diet group had greater reductions in diastolic blood pressure, triglyceride levels, and very-low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels, lesser reductions in low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels, and more adverse symptoms than did the low-fat diet group. The low-carbohydrate diet group had greater increases in high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels at all time points, approximating a 23% increase at 2 years.

Conclusion: Successful weight loss can be achieved with either a low-fat or low-carbohydrate diet when coupled with behavioral treatment. A low-carbohydrate diet is associated with favorable changes in cardiovascular disease risk factors at 2 years.

http://www.annals.org/content/153/3/147.abstract?sid=9ab3dc12-4c66-461b-940e-c6c8f2e9aa05

A Must Watch Video. How Bad Science and Big Business Created the Obesity Epidemic

Featured great food of the week Swede.

Americans know it as "rutabaga". The Scottish call it "neeps" and serve it with haggis. The swede, a fairly recent root vegetable, is thought to have originated around the 17th century in Bohemia. In 1620 a Swiss botanist described the root vegetable, believed to be a hybrid of the cabbage and the turnip. By 1664 it was growing in England. A good source of vit.C, fibre, folate and potassium. Low in calories.

 
Wash then peel thoroughly to remove the thick outer skin. Swede can be prepared and served in any of the methods used for potatoes. Swede can be added to soups, stews and casseroles. Use mashed swede instead of mashed potato it has a slightly sweet taste. Swede can also be made into fritters and pancakes. Collins Gem states 2.3 grams of carb per 100 grams. Who needs BG raising spuds ?

Fat was once the devil. Now more nutritionists are pointing accusingly at sugar and refined grains.

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.

"Carbohydrates are a metabolic bully," Phinney says. "They cut in front of fat as a fuel source and insist on being burned first. What isn't burned gets stored as fat, and doesn't come out of storage as long as carbs are available. And in the average American diet, they always are."

Here's how Phinney explains it: When you cut carbs, your body first uses available glycogen as fuel. When that's gone, the body turns to fat and the pancreas gets a break. Blood sugar stabilizes, insulin levels drop, fat burns. That's why the diet works for diabetics and for weight loss.

When the body switches to burning fat instead of glycogen, it goes into a process called nutritional ketosis. If a person eats 50 or fewer grams of carbs, his body will go there, Phinney says. (Nutritional ketosis isn't to be confused with ketoacidosis, a dangerous condition that can occur in diabetics.)

Beyond the fat-burning effects of ketosis, people lose weight on low-carb diets because fat and protein increase satisfaction and reduce appetite. On the flip side, simple carbs cause an insulin surge, which triggers a blood sugar drop, which makes you hungry again.

"At my obesity clinic, my default diet for treating obesity, Type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome is a low-carb diet," says Dr. Eric Westman, director of the Lifestyle Medicine Clinic at Duke University Medical Center, and co-author of the new Atkins book. "If you take carbohydrates away, all these things get better."

http://articles.latimes.com/2010/dec/20/health/la-he-carbs-20101220

In another life part two.

The thick end of thirty-five years ago, I worked as a service engineer for a company based in Lowestoft. It was a small up and coming company and a great firm to work for. The company was doing well, and decided to replace our ancient and way over the hill cars for brand new vehicles. I got an Astra estate 1600, the first new car I had ever driven. We were told to look after our new cars, and I remember driving back to London with super tramp on the stereo playing Long Way Home, motoring nirvana for me back then.

A few weeks later while standing outside head office, next to the Managing Director Bob and Sales Director Gerry, one of my friends the engineering manager drove into the car park with the front of his new car smashed to bits, it was a miracle it was still running.

“Good grief Ray” said the Sales Director “what happened” Ray replied I was driving down the A11 at some speed and a huge pheasant flew strait into the front of my car. To which the Sales Director cried, “geez was it frozen“, the MD immediately responded with. “To do that much damage it must have been hanging up in a butchers front window” I laughed until my insides ached and still laugh to this day. Good times indeed. I miss those guys.

Eddie

In Another Lifetime !

This morning I had a phone call from a friend and ex-colleague in Singapore. He reminded me it was almost 25 years to the day of the "Clark Kent" incident. He asked if I could write it up and send him a copy. I have done so and also to provide a little light cheer from the diabetes sent Eddie a copy for the blog.

Julie and I were living in Holland Village, Singapore. Our apartment (now demolished) was in Merah Saga just up the road from the Chip Bee Coffee Shop. The Chip Bee has a wonderful mix of locals and university ex-pats. The food was so good that, apart from breakfast at home, lunch at the university, we were there almost every night. The food was cooked by the owner’s grandmother and she offered all my favourites –Char Kway Teow, Hokkien Mee, Laksa, Mee Goreng, Masi Lemak, Chicken Rice, etc. It after such an evening meal on a Sunday that Julie and I returned to our apartment. The apartment always had the windows and the balcony French windows left open such that when you entered you were always welcomed by a cooling breeze. Julie had gone for a shower and I had poured a whisky and was sitting out on the balcony when the phone rang.

Over a very bad line a person with a very strange accent (to me at least) said "Hello this is the police sergeant calling from Mersing." Thinking this was some kind of prank I replied "Oh yes and I’m Clark Kent." The person then apologised "Oh sorry I was trying to get in touch with Dr Wilson." What then followed was a dialogue straight from a Monty Python script in which I tried to explain my first response had been a joke and he insisted that he didn’t want to speak to Clark Kent. The issue was only resolved when Julie spoke to him in Malay. He really was the police sergeant from Mersing. A group of friends were trapped on the island of Pulau Sibu south of Mersing. The south-west monsoon had risen and the boat owners felt that they couldn’t safely launch the boat and had radioed Mersing police station. I was to "bluff it out" with the friends work colleagues until the friends could make it back to Singapore. Thinking it would be only a day or two I readily agreed.

Let me now digress and tell you about my first week on the then wonderful island of Pulau Sibu. The journey to Sibu started with a taxi ride to the Singapore side of the causeway, a walk across the causeway, through Malaysian customs and out to pick up a taxi. The fare was always a 100 ringgit, a compilation tape of current western pop music with one passenger in the front and three passengers squeezed in the back. I was very pleasantly surprised when my friends insisted that I take the front seat. However, on the 120 miles to Mersing I began to understand why! I was later to learn that such was nature of the taxi-drivers’ driving skills, the front seat was known as the "suicide seat." Upon arrival in Mersing we would get dropped off at an old colonial Rest House. (A chain of Rest Houses existed in Malaysia for the then travelling government officials in the days of the Empire). The Rest House in Mersing is beautiful with unbroken view of the Padang and the South China Sea. Upon evening a walk into town for an Indian curry. My first meal there a swarm of flying ants were mating above the table. After mating the male dies and drops into the …. Oh well more protein! Upon rising, males were always advised to make sure they had completed a number 2 (females and number 1 and 2). The boats had no toilets (this was one of the many reasons why Julie, ever the Princess, would never go) and if necessary it was a case of pants down and over the side!

My first view of Sibu was the white sandy beach and the backdrop of coconut trees. There was a beach bar/restaurant, a shower block and "A-frames" for sleeping. On the other side of the island was a Malay Kampong (village) which supplied fish and vegetables and whose cattle would wander aimlessly across the beach. Activities consisted of walking barefoot along the beach, snorkelling, viewing the coral and strange tropical fish, reading during the day and eating, drinking ice cold Tiger beer and putting the world to right during the nights.

A few days after my first visit I felt a terrible itchiness in my left foot. Turning the foot over, there seemed to be a huge worm under the skin. Straight down to Dr Chen’s practice (a wonderful old fashioned Chinese gentleman – the practice is still there). I remember him asking me if I had been to a beach and mentioning "hookworm" and he prescribed tablets and cream. I was to crush a tablet, mix with the cream and apply to the foot. Home that evening, I read the information that came with tablets. They were clearly to be taken orally. I then consulted a medical dictionary. Hookworm – average infestation 4000 – 5000 worms –unless treated death within 3, 4 days. Nine am the following morning back at Dr Chen’s practice. He could hardly control his chuckling as he explained that the infestation was animal hookworm from the cattle on the beach. The lifecycle of the worm began when the worm was dropped in the cattle faeces where under the tropical sun the faeces would rapidly decompose. When the cattle would walk over the beach with any little cut in their feet the worm would enter the blood stream, make its way to the liver, breed and the life cycle would repeat. When the worm enters the human foot, with a different blood system, the worms wander around under the skin and the worm is known a "larvae migrant." To ease my worries, Dr Chen wrote me a note for the "skin clinic." Straight out of the practice I made my way to the taxi rank and asked to be dropped at the skin clinic. Entering the building, it did seem a little old fashioned for Singapore health facilities long benches and a machine where you pulled your patient number. Upon hearing my number called I entered the room without noticing the various anatomical diagrams on the walls. The first two lines of dialogue"
"Well let’s have a look, take your trousers down."

"Take, take my trousers down, doctor it’s my foot!"

Now noticing the diagrams on the wall the doctor and I both dissolved into hysterical laughter. He explained that the term "skin clinic" was used by the conservative population as a euphemism for the STD clinic. He then directed me to the brand new University Hospital where I was greeted with the welcome "Could we take a photograph?" and viewed by a long line of junior doctors.

Back now to my friends trapped on Sibu. It was eight days before they could persuade the boatman to attempt the crossing. Like the UK if you are absent from work for more than 3 days you need a doctor’s note. So they too had to troop down to Dr Chen with a sorry tale of a collective bout of "number 2 problems"

Happy days

John