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Friday 31 January 2014

Sugar on trial: What you really need to know

It has been called toxic, addictive and deadly, the driving force behind obesity, heart disease and diabetes. Is sugar really so bad?

IMAGINE you are sitting at a table with a bag of sugar, a teaspoon and a glass of water. You open the bag and add a spoonful of sugar to the water. Then another, and another, and another, until you have added 20 teaspoons. Would you drink the water?

Even the most sweet-toothed kid would find it unpalatably sickly. And yet that is the amount of sugar you are likely to eat today, and every day – usually without realising it.

Sugar was once a luxury ingredient reserved for special occasions. But in recent years it has become a large and growing part of our diets. If you eat processed food of any kind, it probably contains added sugar. Three-quarters of the packaged food sold in US supermarkets has had sugar added to it during manufacturing. You can find it in sliced bread, breakfast cereals, salad dressings, soups, cooking sauces and many other staples. Low-fat products often contain a lot of added sugar.

It's hardly controversial to say that all this sugar is probably doing us no good. Now, though, sugar is being touted as public health enemy number one: as bad if not worse than fat, and the major driving force behind obesity, heart disease and type II diabetes. Some researchers even contend that sugar is toxic or addictive.

As a result, health bodies are gearing up for a "war on sugar". The World Health Organization wants us to cut consumption radically. In the US, doctors and scientists are pressing food companies to reduce sugar and be more open about how much they add; in the UK a group called Action on Sugar has just launched a campaign to ratchet down sugar. Politicians are mulling taxes on sugary drinks. But is sugar really that bad? Or is it all a storm in a teacup – with two sugars please?

When nutrition scientists talk about sugar they are not fretting about sugars found naturally in food such as fruit and vegetables, or the lactose in milk. Instead they are worried about added sugar, usually in the form of sucrose (table sugar) or high-fructose corn syrup (see "Sugar basics").

Our early ancestors would have been totally unfamiliar with these refined forms of sugar, and until relatively recently sugar was a rare and precious commodity. Only in the 1700s, after Europeans had introduced sugar cane to the New World and shackled its cultivation to slavery, did it become a regular feature of the Western diet. In 1700, the average English household consumed less than 2 kilograms of table sugar a year. By the end of the century that amount had quadrupled (see diagram).

The upward trend has continued largely unbroken ever since. Between the early 1970s and the early 2000s, adults in the US increased their average daily calorie intake by 13 per cent, largely by eating more carbohydrates, including sugar. In 1996, the average US adult swallowed 83 more calories per day from added sugar than in 1977. Today, yearly sugar consumption in the US is close to 40 kilograms per person – more than 20 teaspoons a day.

The sugar rush has many causes, but one of the most important was the invention of high-fructose corn syrup in 1957. HFCS is a gloopy solution of glucose and fructose that is as sweet as table sugar but has typically been about 30 per cent cheaper.

Once this source of sweetness was available, food manufacturers added it liberally to their products (see charts). "Because hunger is no longer an important factor in most developed countries, what can make people eat more?" asks Serge Ahmed, a neuroscientist at the University of Bordeaux, France. "Food pleasure. And what creates food pleasure? Sugar."

Unfortunately, it is a guilty pleasure. Not all scientists see eye to eye on the health effects of sugar but there is one point on which most agree: we don't actually need it. Luc Tappy, a physiologist at the University of Lausanne in Switzerland, sums it up: "You cannot live without essential fats. You cannot live without protein. It's going to be difficult to have enough energy if you don't have some carbohydrate. But without sugar, there is no problem. It's an entirely dispensable food."

All that unnecessary sugar adds calories to our diet, so it is no surprise that the rise in consumption coincided with the rise of obesity and related problems such as type II diabetes. In 1960, around 1 in 8 US adults was obese; today more than a third are. Since 1980, obesity levels have quadrupled in the developing world to nearly 1 billion people. One recent study found that for every additional 150 calories' worth of sugar available per day in a country there is an associated 1.1 per cent rise in diabetes.

2016 Summer Olympics in Rio Bans Horse Meat Diet !

Competitors in the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio, Brazil will have to go through more tests than any event to date.
"We do not want there to be any cheating here", says Spokesman Fabio Guaray. "If you plan to cheat, stay home. You will embarrass your country."
In fact, the Olympics is calling itself the "First True Olympics Ever!"
Not only will there be tests for drug abuse, steroids and other illegal substances but there will be a close examination by officials to make sure males are males and females are females.
"All sporting events in the world should follow our example", stated the spokesman.
Runners Geoffrey Mutai who won the 2011 Boston Marathon in fastest time ever run at the time and American, Ryan Hall, admit that they had been on a horse meat diet for years.
"That has never been banned as far as I know", stated several others.
"It will be in Brazil in 2016", stated Fabio.
Source of information here.

Featured food of the day Low carb fruits

Some low carb fruits strawberries 6gm blackberries 5.1 gm raspberries 4.6gm of carbohydrate per 100gm weight.



Ingredients:
100g ground almonds
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon of melted butter
2 tablespoons of double cream

Method:
Mix all dry ingredients in a bowl.
Melt the butter I used a Pyrex jug, add the eggs, cream, then add the dry ingredients and mix. Microwave in a 700watt for 3 minutes. Allow to cool and cut in half. Spread on extra thick cream and some sliced strawberries. Serves four. Less than five carbs per portion

Strawberries have grown wild for millennia in temperature regions throughout the world. While cultivation of strawberries doesn't date back this far, it still dates back hundreds and hundreds of years.

It was not until the 18th century, however, when cultivation of strawberries began to be pursued in earnest. In 1714, a French engineer sent to Chile and Peru to monitor Spanish activities in these countries "discovered" a strawberry native to this region that was much larger than those grown in Europe. He brought many samples back to France, which were subsequently planted. These plants did not originally flourish well until a natural crossbreeding occurred between this species and a neighboring North American strawberry variety that was planted nearby in the field. The result was a hybrid strawberry that was large, juicy and sweet, and one that quickly grew in popularity in Europe.

More great strawberries information can be found at the
Worlds Healthiest Foods site here. WHF is a not for profit goldmine of great food information.


All the best Jan

A Picture Worth A Thousand Words

My youngest just sent me this.





John



Graham


Shall I be mother - can I pour you a cup of tea ?

I've written before about how you start your day. Do you eat breakfast ? Do you prefer tea or coffee?

Well I saw this article in the HuffPost Lifestyle and thought that's definitely worth a read.

For me the day does not start well without a nice cup of tea, although I guess a mug of tea would be quite acceptable. If like me you are a tea drinker this article tells more about people's views on what and how to make that perfect cup !

When you click on to read the article you will find a link to 'biscuits' best to ignore this bit ...... that carbohydrate / sugar will not do you any favours, especially if you are diabetic.

Well any time of day is a good time for a cup of tea - so I'm off to boil the kettle, and as that old saying goes. If someone says 'let me be mother' or 'shall I be mother', they are offering to pour out the tea from the teapot. Enjoy your cuppa.

All the best Jan


link to article here

CarbSane takes some time out to visit her shrink Hannibal Lecter !


A blast from the past. The Silence Of The Spams !

Oh no Evelyn, your ham fisted riposte just won’t do, I had expected so much more from you. Do you think you can dissect me with your fly blown blog. You know what you look like to me Evelyn, with your bag of donuts and packets of crisps? You look obese, overweight, and a high carb low fat failure. Good nutrition’s given you some length of bone, but too many carbs have lead to your downfall. You’re not more than one box of chocolates away from your next hyper, are you, Evelyn.

Evelyn, and that accent you've tried so desperately to shed, pure West Bronx. You know how quickly the tuck shop found you, all those tedious sticky fumblings at the back of the class, with Krispy Kreme do-nuts and chocolate digestives, While you could only dream of getting out…... Getting…anywhere.….getting all the way…….to the weight watchers club.

You see a lot Dr. Lecter but can you …….shut it Evie !

An low carb anti dietitian once tried to test me, I ate her laptop with some fava beans and a nice Chianti.

Tell me Evelyn why do you spend so much time rubbishing others, don’t lie because I will know, why do people hate you? Err Err I accuse too many people of untruths and have pissed off too many people. And why is your blog sinking without trace. Err Err because people have seen through me and won’t buy the bullshit anymore.

First principles Evelyn, Simplicity. Read Marcus Aurelius. Of each particular thing ask: what is it in itself? What is its nature? What do you do, what do you seek? Err sticky buns, NO ! What is the first and principal thing that drives you? cakes. NO !, err err….lots of girl on girl action with Melissa McEwen, NO !, that is incidental. You covet, that is your nature. And how do we begin to covet, Evelyn ? We covet with our eyes. What needs do you serve by rubbishing Jimmy Moore and Gary Taubes? Anger, um, social acceptance, and, huh, sexual frustrations, NO, We begin by coveting what we see every day. Don't you love eating those donuts and chocolate biscuits Evelyn? and don't your eyes seek out the things you want ? Err yes.

Why do you hide out on your blog, encouraging dullards and wasters to bad mouth good people. Winding up that awful Richard Nikoley is understandable, but why the others ?

Err because people like them and they make a living from what they do and they have passion. I haven’t even got the courage to say what I really think, so I let my lap dogs and lickspittles do my really dirty work. I think I am a scientist and know it all but I can’t lose weight myself.

Do you want to be helped Evelyn ? Yes I need help, I’m becoming a fruit cake. That has been your downfall Evelyn too many cakes, biscuits and fries. What can I do ?

Look for severe childhood disturbances associated with roast spuds, rice, and junk food. You wasn't born a glutton, and an anti low carber Evelyn. You was made one through years of systematic sugar and starch abuse. You hate your own identity, you see, and you think if you can bring everyone down to your level, you will feel good about yourself. That you won‘t wake up in the middle of the night, screaming and craving sticky buns, you won’t be the only one raiding the biscuit barrel, and shovelling pies and cakes down your neck, you won't be the only one that can’t say no to Robb Wolf. Am I right, or am I right?

You are right Hannibal. Thank you Evelyn

Evelyn, one more thing, hate your pants.



Graham's Chocolate Sponge Pudding.

Having worked as an Engineer most of his life, it was after Graham retired he found his true calling. While meddling around in his kitchen and looking for the perfect after dinner low carb dessert, he invented the now legendary, lowcarb chocolate sponge pudding. Overnight he became one of the most sort after chefs in the world, and to this day, he is the only man ever to hold five Michelin Stars. Ladies and Gentlemen, I take great pleasure in presenting to you, the Chocolate Sponge Pudding Le Magnifique!


Ingredients:
25g ground almonds
1 teaspoon baking powder
Pinch of salt
4 heaped teaspoons of xylitol
I large egg
1 tablespoon of butter
1 tablespoon double cream
1 level tablespoon of cocoa

Method:
Mix all dry ingredients in a bowl.
Melt the butter I used a Pyrex jug, add the egg, cream, then add the dry ingredients and mix. Microwave in a 700watt for one minute 20 seconds.


Eddie

Thursday 30 January 2014

DCUK from Jopar !

"That's how it should be, as the likes of Bernstein, Briffa, Wortman are just as bad as my first consultant/team back in the days when you has the patient had little say..."  From Jopar the expert on diabetes control."



Jopar low fat high carb, the picture of health (err not) is on the right. Who looks around twenty years older than Jay, who is in fact around 20 years older, but looks many years younger, and in a different tangent fitness wise to Jopar (death warmed up). But hey, follow Jopar and you too can look many years older than your age.

Link to national news item here.

Eddie

My friend Jay Wortman low carb high fat type two diabetic and low carb expert at 60 odd years of age, legs of iron and balls of steel.


Takeda Jury Can Hear Claims Over Destroyed Actos Files

Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. (4502) must let a jury hear claims that it intentionally destroyed files related its Actos diabetes drug, a judge ruled before the first federal trial over allegations the pills cause bladder cancer.

Officials of Osaka, Japan-based Takeda admitted they can’t find files compiled by 46 current and former employees involved with the development, marketing and sale of Actos, including those of two directors, U.S. District Judge Rebecca Doherty said. Some files were deleted from company computers after executives warned employees to retain Actos-related material, the judge said.

“The breadth of Takeda leadership whose files have been lost, deleted or destroyed is, in and of itself, disturbing,” Doherty wrote in a Jan. 27 filing.

Takeda, Asia’s largest drugmaker, is preparing for the federal-court trial in Lafayette, Louisiana, about a month after it scrapped development of another diabetes drug when research linked it to liver damage.

To punish the company, the judge will let lawyers for an ex-Actos user suing Takeda over his bladder cancer tell jurors about the document destruction at his trial next month. Mark Lanier, a lawyer for plaintiff Terrence Allen in the Lafayette trial, declined to comment on Doherty’s ruling.


Downplayed Concerns

Former Actos users contend that Takeda researchers ignored or downplayed concerns about the drug’s cancer-causing potential before it went on sale in the U.S. and misled regulators about its risks.

“We will address and comment on this issue in the trial, but we believe it would be inappropriate to comment outside of that forum at this time,” Kenneth Greisman, general counsel of Takeda Pharmaceuticals U.S.A., said in an e-mailed statement.

Sales of Actos peaked in the year ended March 2011 at $4.5 billion and accounted for 27 percent of Takeda’s revenue at the time, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Actos has generated more than $16 billion in sales since its 1999 release, according to court filings. The company now faces generic competition from Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd. (RBXY)

The consolidated Actos cases in Louisiana are In Re Actos (Pioglitazone) Products Liability Litigation, 11-md-02299, U.S. District Court, Western District of Louisiana (Lafayette). Allen’s case is Allen v. Takeda Pharmaceuticals North America Inc., 12-cv-00064, U.S. District Court, Western District of Louisiana (Lafayette).

http://www.bloomberg.com/


Many Dietitians other HCPs and phoenix advocate a diet for Type 2 diabetics that would necessitate the use of Actos and other drugs that have been connected with serious side effects. This is why we stick with LC which has for us proven to be a far safer way of keeping blood glucose under control.

Graham


Post edit.

But phoenix is a carboholic drug shill, flogging carbs and meds at every opportunity. Only the slow of thought do not see through this angel of death.

Eddie

Luvin it, and I'm a hit whore !


Jeez what a day. We post all sorts of stuff, but low carb high fat is what we are about. If you want to get pageview reads, kick some butt. This screen shot at 9pm with three hours to go.

Welcome to the crazy world of diabetes and low carb.

Eddie

Great grub or lots of drugs, you choose !


While douglas at diabetes.co.uk plays with himself, guzzling statins and black box cancer warning drugs. We are sticking with whole fresh foods and exercise.

Salmon with pesto topping, mashed swede with carrot (lots of butter) and white cabbage.

Eddie

Chinese New Year 2014 or 4712

Chinese New Year 2014 or 4712 - The Year of the Horse

With Chinese Tennis Player Li Na recently winning the Women’s Australian Open got me thinking. Was she born in the Year of the Horse? No Li Na was born 26 February 1982, in the Year of the Dog.
                      
Chinese New Year is the longest and most important celebration in the Chinese Calendar. The Chinese year 4712 begins on January 31st 2014, so on my calculation it‘s Chinese New Year‘s Eve tonight - as this goes to press!

One in every six people in the world celebrate Chinese New Year. Although customs may vary in different parts of the world, you will find everywhere, the main idea is to remember family and wish everyone peace and prosperity in the coming year.

Chinese months are reckoned by the lunar calendar, with each month beginning on the darkest day. New Year festivities traditionally start on the first day of the month and continue until the fifteenth, when the moon is brightest. In China, people may take weeks of holiday from work to prepare for and celebrate the New Year.

Reading all sorts of great articles courtesy of ‘google’ it gives details that according to legend, in ancient times, Budda asked all the animals to meet him on Chinese New Year. Twelve came, and Buddha named a year after each one, the twelve animals represented are the Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, Boar, Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit and Dragon. He announced that the people born in each animal's year would have some of that animal's personality. Those born in horse years are cheerful, skillful with money, perceptive, witty, talented and good with their hands. Rembrant, Harrison Ford, Aretha Franklin, Chopin, Sandra Day O’Connor, and President Theodore Roosevelt were born in the year of the horse.

I also read, that at Chinese New Year celebrations people wear red clothes, decorate - with poems on red paper, and give children "lucky money" in red envelopes. Red symbolizes fire, which according to legend can drive away bad luck. The fireworks that shower the festivities are rooted in a similar ancient custom. Long ago, people in China lit bamboo stalks, believing that the crackling flames would frighten evil spirits. This year because of the bad air pollution the people have been asked to use flowers as a means of celebration. Time will tell whether this was so, and will they be red flowers?

So to conclude … wherever you are … whatever nationality … at this time I would join in the Chinese custom and wish everyone peace and prosperity in the coming year. Maybe we should add good health too.

With special mention to our good friends John (low carb team member), Julie and family.



Julie’s family home decorated for the Lunar New Year

All the best Jan

Am I having my melon squeezed ?

The last time I had my melon squeezed this hard was by Kman at the forum of flog. Surely 100% bullcrap. One minute bring on the morphine, next fooling around like a drunk on street meds. Call me what you like, but Jeez, I know when someone is squeezing my melon !

Last post from Kman a man dying and close to deaths door.

"Slept, peacefully, but not for long enough unfortunately, and mummy i think i'll go back to mostly calling you Mud or by your real name in PMs, BUT i still Love you as my SQUISHY MUMMY ok. !"

Bring on the puke bags. Over at the flog in the 'Terminal and scared thread' Anyone noticed no long term or member with a brain has gone near this thread?

Email received today.

Eddie


Post edit

"who or what is edward? l am wanting to deal see this person"

Dream on baby.

Eddie

I AM THE MANAGER IN CHARGE OF AUDITING AND ACCOUNTING SECTION SOCIETE GENERALE DE BANQUES AU BURKINA,
OUAGADOUGOU, BURKINA FASO, WEST AFRICA,


Dear Friend,
STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL,

I am the Manager in charge of Auditing section of Societe Generale de Banques au Burkina (SGBB), I Hoped that you will not expose or betray this trust and confident that I am about to repose on you for the mutual benefit of our both interests. I need your urgent assistance in transferring the sum of Five Million United State Dollars Only (US$5,000,000) immediately to your nominated bank account in your country or else where. Please note that there is no risk because I already arranged everything perfectly for the success of this transfer.

I want you to apply for release of the fund to you as the nearest person to our deceased customer Dr. George Brumley from Atlanta (the owner of the account) who died a long with his supposed next of kin and family in Kenyan plane crash on July 21 2003. I don't want the fund to transfer into our Bank treasury as an abandoned fund (unclaimed fund), so this is the reason why I contacted you, so that my Bank will release the fund to you as the nearest person to the deceased customer.

Please I would like you to keep this proposal as a top secret or delete it if you are not interested to do it with me. Upon receipt of your acceptance I will send you the application form you will fill and send to the bank for transferring of the fund into your bank account and also note that you will have 45% of the above mentioned amount if you agree to help me execute this business together with the handling of the expenses and on our success to this transfer we will donate 5% to any charitable Organization of our choice in your country or in my country and remaining 50% is for me as the originator. I am waiting your information so that I will send you the application form. 

INFORMATIONS NEEDED BELOW

Your Full Name:
Your Home Addresses:
City:
Country:
Home Telephone:
Private Telephone:
Fax No: 
Marital Status:
Age:
Occupation:
Religion:
International Passport or ID card:

Am Waiting for your urgent reply so that we will starts immediately,

Best Regards,

Mr Harouna Ouedraogo 


Featured food of the day Salmon


Salmon is rich in omega 3 and is highly beneficial in warding off cardio vascular disease, heart attack, strokes, and high blood pressure.

Please hop over to recipe and low carb food idea blog here. 


Intake of fish rich in omega-3 fat (including salmon) is associated with decreased risk of numerous cardiovascular problems, including: heart attack, stroke, heart arrhythmia, high blood pressure, and high triglycerides in the blood. Intake of omega-3-containing fish is also associated with improved metabolic markers for cardiovascular disease. Some cardiovascular benefits from omega-3 fat in fish like salmon start with only one omega-3 fish meal per week. Most of the benefits, however, start to show up in research studies with somewhat higher fish intake, along the lines of 2-3 times per week. In most studies, one serving of fish is approximately 6 ounces. Studies of fish intake and cardiovascular risk sometimes measure benefits against total grams of omega-3 fats obtained in the daily diet. In many of these studies, a daily minimum of 2 grams of omega-3s is required for measurable cardiovascular protection. (Remember that this 2-gram amount is the amount contained in approximately 4 ounces of cooked salmon.)

More great salmon information can be found at the
Worlds Healthiest Foods site here. WHF is a not for profit goldmine of great food information.


All the best Jan

Chimps wimps and arch masturbators !

Over at the forum of flog douglas is creaming his silk panties. Evidently the program on the BBC (yet to be watched by me) gives low carb a good kicking. As usual it appears the diet discussed had little to do with the low carb diet our team uses.


I expected even the Gumps of this world would have latched on to the fact vegetables (low starch) are the mainstay of our diet, indeed I have stated in the past, I am a sort of meat eating vegetarian. Every blog and our website shows pictures of err veg. Everyday we post items on vegetables. With 50 carbs per day almost all from vegetables, that's a lot of vegetables.


So I have a couple of days away and return to noise. douglas making all sorts of noise on the flog re me. As  xyzzy said " and of course he can't defend himself on here now so he's such an easy target for you." douglas could come over here and argue his case and defend my lampooning of him but he won't, because he knows nothing about good diabetes control, nothing about a good diet for a diabetic and is gutless. He flits from thread to thread making a lot of noise, but says nothing of any value.

As Ray (another banned member of the flog said in a comment) douglas gets through a lot of tissues.


It's great to be back.

Eddie

Post edit.

Hat tip to Tess re the Dr. John Briffa post shredding the posts that the statin using black box warning, cancer using drugs douglas chooses as the safe option to control his diabetes. Stick with your methods douglas, you are one less on the pension payroll I will have to contribute to.

Eddie

Happy Memories and all that Jazz !



I don’t know about you but I have lots of photo’s which bring so many happy memories. The truth is I have too many photographs …. But am so loathe to throw any out. In the early days (and being 60 ….sshh I didn’t tell you that!) I religiously put them in photo albums, which is good … only trouble is those photo albums do take up quite a bit of space. One of our sons, bless him, has now kindly agreed to store some of them, on a semi permanent basis, whilst I take time to sort them out. Notice it’s ‘I’ because they are mostly mine from my earlier years. Goodness did my hair really look like that !

My aim, and I think it’s a good one …. is to trim down my photo collection (sorry if it sounds like a diet!) so that I have a ‘Keepsakes’ type box of the most cherished. But where do I start they are all cherished. My earliest go back to my grandparents, when they were young. They are black and white photographs …. which I just love. There is so much character in the differing shades. In one of them - my grandfather who was a chauffeur looks wonderful in his uniform and such an old fashioned and distinguished looking car … just like he looks in his uniform. I’m so sorry I can’t share this with you ….. but if I do get a copy done and copied in a digital format I guess it can be shared via the net? Who knows ….


There are bloggers ‘out there’ who do like sharing photographs, which I think is brilliant. Am I nosy …. NO …. but I am interested in other people. Who they are, What they are, Their feelings, Their thoughts, it is what makes us and we are all unique. WE are all our own person … now being our own person when growing up can bring about many anxious moments, indeed, this can follow us through until adult hood. Throughout my  life my approach has always been to try and help people. It is something my parents deeply believed in … and to this day my father, now almost 90 yrs, does each day. He takes time to make sure his neighbours are ok. Oh that we could all do this.

Just yesterday I was in my local supermarket and the guy on the check out said, “you’re in a good mood, how nice to meet you, why can’t everyone be like you?“ All I had done was to smile at him and say “hello”. Is this asking too much of anyone? Well sad to say in ‘real life’ it still is ….. BUT onwards and upwards my smile is constant and I do my best to help family, friends and sometimes people I don’t even know.

During school life and beyond when I look back I’ve always been a helper, at times a teacher but always given my time to help others.  There have been times when I’ve received phone calls from parents at the ‘end of their tether’ I sincerely hope in their time of need I have helped them.

Well, have I come full circle ….. No. My life is not a circle it’s one that has followed a path (often winding) but I’ve kept on it and true to my beliefs …. If we can each only help one person a day think of what we have achieved.

So similar to what J F Kennedy once said “ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country“. I would simply ask … what can you do today, to help someone?

Wherever you live, whatever you do MAKE THIS DAY COUNT.

All the best Jan

Look after your feet don't become a victim !

 Poor control of blood glucose can lead to this gruesome complication.


Diabetic foot


Drawing of a woman dressed in a bathrobe who is sitting in a chair and checking the bottom of her left foot.
Look at your feet every day to check for problems.

  • Wash your feet in warm water every day. Make sure the water is not too hot by testing the temperature with your elbow. Do not soak your feet. Dry your feet well, especially between your toes.
  • Look at your feet every day to check for cuts, sores, blisters, redness, calluses, or other problems. Checking every day is even more important if you have nerve damage or poor blood flow. If you cannot bend over or pull your feet up to check them, use a mirror. If you cannot see well, ask someone else to check your feet.
  • If your skin is dry, rub lotion on your feet after you wash and dry them. Do not put lotion between your toes.
  • File corns and calluses gently with an emery board or pumice stone. Do this after your bath or shower.
    Drawing of a nail clipper and an emery board.
  • Cut your toenails once a week or when needed. Cut toenails when they are soft from washing. Cut them to the shape of the toe and not too short. File the edges with an emery board.
  • Always wear slippers or shoes to protect your feet from injuries.
    Drawing showing two feet clad in slippers
    Always wear slippers or shoes to protect your feet.
  • Always wear socks or stockings to avoid blisters. Do not wear socks or knee-high stockings that are too tight below your knee.
  • Wear shoes that fit well. Shop for shoes at the end of the day when your feet are bigger. Break in shoes slowly. Wear them 1 to 2 hours each day for the first few weeks.
  • Before putting your shoes on, feel the insides to make sure they have no sharp edges or objects that might injure your feet.

    More good information here.
    Eddie

Wednesday 29 January 2014

SGLT2 Inhibitors May Up Glucose Production

Although they increase the amount of blood sugar dumped into the urine, the newest class of diabetes drugs appears to increase endogenous glucose production, two studies found.
Sodium glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors increased endogenous glucose and raised levels of the hormone glucagon, which prompts the body to produce glucose, according to the studies in theJournal of Clinical Investigation.
This is "clearly a surprising finding that would be considered a paradoxical response," William Cefalu, MD, of Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Louisiana, said in an accompanying editorial.
Two SGLT2 inhibitors are now available on the U.S. market -- canagliflozin (Invokana)and dapagliflozin (Farxiga).
In one study, Ralph DeFronzo, MD, of the University of Texas Health Sciences Center in San Antonio, and colleagues performed a euglycemic hyperinsulinemic clamp on 18 men with diabetes who were given either dapagliflozin or placebo for 2 weeks.
They found that the drug did what it's supposed to do -- increase renal glucose excretion in the urine and lower fasting plasma glucose.
But it also substantially increased endogenous glucose production, which was accompanied by an increase in glucagon levels, although these levels didn't change in patients on placebo.
The increase in endogenous glucose production offset about half the amount of blood sugar dumped into the urine by inhibiting SGLT2, they reported.
"If the increase in endogenous glucose production would have been prevented," they wrote, "the decrease in fasting plasma glucose caused by dapagliflozin would have been approximately double."
Ele Ferrannini, MD, of the University of Pisa in Italy, and colleagues made similar observations in their study of 66 patients with type 2 diabetes who were given empagliflozin(25 mg) for 4 weeks.
They had mixed-meal testing with a double tracer technique at baseline, after a single first dose of the drug, and then after 28 days of daily therapy.
By the end of the study, the researchers found that the drug was also effective at excreting blood glucose through the urine, but, as with dapagliflozin, both endogenous glucose production and glucagon levels were increased.
They wrote that the rise in endogenous glucose production exactly balanced the glucose lost through the urine, suggesting the glycosuria "results in a compensatory increase in endogenous glucose release ... as a consequence of lower glucose and insulin levels and higher glucagon levels."
In the editorial, Cefalu said it "would be expected that SGLT2 inhibition would decrease endogenous glucose production."
"The observation that neither dapagliflozin nor empagliflozin reduced endogenous glucose production despite the lowering of blood glucose is clearly a surprising finding that would be considered a paradoxical response," he wrote.
He noted that if the findings are replicated, clinicians may want to use SGLT2 inhibitors together with incretin therapies, which have effects on glucagon and could attenuate the increase in endogenous glucose production, although further metabolic studies are needed.
Graham

Sorry to disappoint Douglas99

Douglas you can!



But you will have to wait a while, in meantime enjoy your rusks that is of course assuming you have been weaned!

Linky thingy to douglas99

"Mind you, the funniest thing tomorrow will be watching Eddie throw all his toys out.

Worth it for that.
It'll be even better than the BBC show."

"Edward is in England, he'll be glued to it tomorrow, expect his rant about 2 minutes later. Best part of the show I reckon."
 "Sadly, they seem to have put his muzzle on, and kept him on a short lead tonight.

Ah well."

Update
"I see Edward has slipped his leash again.
The chomping has started.
Ignore his bile about kman if you do read his blog, it is quite offensive, even by his standards."


Featured food of the day Onions


French onion soup recipe from the wonderful Simply Recipes site here.


Unlike the research on garlic and its cardiovascular benefits, research specifically focused on onion has mostly been conducted on animals rather than humans. In animal studies, there is evidence that onion's sulfur compounds may work in an anti-clotting capacity and help prevent the unwanted clumping together of blood platelet cells. There is also evidence showing that sulfur compounds in onion can lower blood levels of cholesterol and triglycerides, and also improve cell membrane function in red blood cells.

More great onion information can be found at the
Worlds Healthiest Foods site here. WHF is a not for profit goldmine of great food information.

All the best Jan

Mini quiches a marvelous midweek recipe !


Midweek already, and so far it’s been a good one. I do hope it has been for you to? If you are stalling and thinking … What can I prepare and cook for a quick and tasty low carb lunch … well I may just have the answer. It’s a recipe I saw on ‘The CARB syndrome project blog‘, which you can see in our sidebar, so please hop over I’m sure Dr Bill Wilson will give you a warm welcome.

Here’s the recipe, I’ve amended the words slightly, so please see the Docs blog for the original.

The recipe below uses courgettes (zucchini) but you could also use broccoli, red peppers, asparagus, mushrooms. Depending on what fillings you use, this recipe will make 36–48 mini-quiches. Bake them in mini-muffin tins then pop them out onto a serving tray. May be made ahead, chilled and reheated a few moments in the oven before serving.

Ingredients: 


2 small uncooked courgettes (zucchini), finely chopped
1 large uncooked onion, finely chopped
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese, about 3 oz
6 large eggs, beaten
6 large egg yolks, beaten
2/3 cup whole milk
2/3 cup double (heavy) cream
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup grated cheddar, or gruyere cheese
1/4 cup basil, fresh, finely chopped
3 Tbsp olive oil, extra virgin

Instructions:


Preheat oven to 375°F. Coat two 24-hole non-stick mini muffin pans with butter.
Combine all ingredients in a large bowl, and mix very well.
Spoon about 1 heaped tablespoon egg mixture into each prepared hole, do make sure to stir mixture after filling each one.
Bake until bottoms are golden brown and the quiche are cooked through, about 15 minutes.
Remove pan(s) from oven and let quiche cool for a few minutes in their pan(s).
Remove quiche to a wire rack to cool more, repeat with remaining ingredients if necessary.

Wow, these are so tasty, and although I mentioned lunch they can be eaten anytime of the day. I am sure you will enjoy them.

By the way did I mention they were low carb ……. LOL !

All the best Jan

Glucose Monitoring Devices Market

Glucose Monitoring Devices Market: Asia-Pacific to Boost Moderate Growth by 2019
NEW YORK (GBI Research), 28 January 2014
The global glucose monitoring devices market value will experience a moderate increase from $9.9 billion in 2012 to $13.7 billion by 2019, at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 5%, forecasts business intelligence provider GBI Research.
According to the company’s latest report*, emerging countries, such as China and India, show the most potential for market growth, as they have the largest diabetic populations consisting of 92 million and 63 million people, respectively.
In fact, the Asia-Pacific market for glucose monitoring is expected to double from $1.5 billion in 2012 to $3 billion by 2019, at a CAGR of 10%. Still, the US and Europe will continue to lead this setting by 2019, with shares of 34% and 40%, respectively.
Srikanth Venkataraman, Analyst for GBI Research, says: “Rapid urbanization and changes in lifestyle habits have made people in developing countries especially vulnerable to disorders such as diabetes. However, poor healthcare infrastructure, urban-rural disparity and a lack of skilled healthcare professionals have previously limited the adoption and use of devices for the prevention and treatment of diabetes in these markets.”
GBI Research now expects the increasing awareness of the importance of glucose monitoring, along with technical innovations minimizing the blood required for glucose testing, to drive the adoption of such devices in the Asia-Pacific region during the forecast period.
Venkataraman says: “One of the key technological developments in the diabetes care industry is Continuous Glucose Monitoring (CGM), which helps patients to measure glucose levels regularly, unlike traditional devices. CGM devices are programmed to alert users to low or high glucose levels, allowing for timely medication and reducing any risk of associated complications due to undesired changes in glycemic levels.”
With diabetes becoming an increasingly major burden globally, GBI Research believes that early detection through regular monitoring can improve the control and treatment of the disease.

-ENDS-
-NOTES TO EDITOR-
This report provides information on market size for the three glucose monitoring devices market segments: blood glucose meters, blood glucose testing strips, and lancets. Countries covered include the US, Canada, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, the UK, Japan, China, India, Australia and Brazil.
This report was built using data and information sourced from proprietary databases, primary and secondary research, and in-house analysis co

Eddie

Five years of at least 40 eggs per month and still alive !

Since becoming a diabetic I have read enough dietary bilge to sink a ship. Eggs are killers, eggs are safe, dietary cholesterol will send me to boot hill swiftly. Over 80% of cholesterol is made in the body. Eat a nil cholesterol diet and your body will make what it needs. And it certainly needs cholesterol if you want to stay alive. Jeez, I have seen people on forums stating my total cholesterol is three, and I am hoping statins will take it lower.


The optimum total cholesterol levels are between 5 and 6. Low cholesterol levels are indicative of cancer and other very serious health problems. In postmenopausal women, higher cholesterol levels are linked to the longer they are likely to live. Low cholesterol levels in men has been strongly linked to depression, suicide and violence.


So folks, unless you suffer from a rare condition called hypercholesterolaemia, (very high cholesterol levels), keep on eating eggs, and keep a million miles away from statins. High HDL cholesterol (the so called good stuff) and very low trigs (the lower the better) is a feature of a low carb, low sugar, low starch diet. As are low blood glucose numbers, low blood pressure, and a low or nil medication way of life.

It's a free world, sort of, make your choice, the right food and exercise or more big pharma drugs for countless millions, for life, the choice is yours.

Eddie

Tuesday 28 January 2014

5 shady ways the drug industry is influencing your doctor

Big Pharma can entice medical practitioners to prescribe expensive patent drugs -- even when they're dangerous

Until 2010, when the Physician Payments Sunshine Act passed, requiring doctors to disclose payments, the only thing better than working for Pharma was being a doctor wined and dined by Pharma.
Pfizer jetted 5,000 doctors to Caribbean resorts where they enjoyed massages, golf and $2,000 honoraria charges to sell its painkiller Bextra (withdrawn from the market in 2005 for heart risks). GSK sent doctors to lavish resorts to promote Wellbutrin, the Justice Department chargedJohnson & Johnson bestowed trips, perks and honoraria on Texas Medicaid officials to get its drug Risperdal preferred on the formulary, a state lawsuit charged. Bristol-Myers Squibb enticed doctors to prescribe its drugs with access to the Los Angeles Lakers and luxury box suites for their games, California regulators say. In China GSK is charged with using a network of 700 middlemen and travel agencies to bribe doctors with cash and sexual favors, and Victory Pharma, an opioid drugs maker, was charged with treating doctors to strip shows. Nice.
Of course, Pharma reps did as well as the doctors. Thanks to their Barbie and Ken doll looks and the free samples, gifts and lunches they would bring medical staff, they would often waltz in to see the doctor before the sick and waiting patients. Some had their own lounges at medical offices. Since the 2010 sunshine law, part of the Affordable Care Act, went into effect in 2013, drug companies must display the doctors and groups they pay on their websites. That includes their payments to faux grassroots groups like Go Red For Women and the National Alliance on Mental Illness, or NAMI, which are widely seen as Pharma fronts. But will it make a difference? For years, doctors have also begun presentations with slides detailing their Pharma funding but it doesn’t seem to alter their credibility or audience cynicism.
When it comes to acknowledging the influence of gifts and money on behavior, doctors, like everyone else, suffer from self-delusion. Most say they believe it affects the other guy, not them, and many become offended at the idea that they are “for sale.”
“My prescribing never changes because once a month a drug rep brings in a tray of sandwiches,” Maria Carmen Wilson told the Tampa Bay Times. (Wilson was Eli Lilly’s number-two earner in Florida in 2009, the paper reports.) It’s tempting to ask such doctors that if the largesse doesn’t affect them, when was the last time they prescribed the competitor’s pill? Would anyone believe or even read the journalism of a reporter who accepted an honorarium or speaker’s fee from the subject she reported on? Even if she claimed it didn’t influence her?
Trips to resorts and strip clubs will likely continue to diminish under the Physician Payments Sunshine Act, but there are many other ways, often sneaky, that Pharma can entice doctors to prescribe its expensive, patent drugs.
1. Spying on Prescribing
Like the NSA spying program, shameless spying on doctors’ prescribing habits spares almost no one. Recently, the full sweep of IMS Health Holdings’ prescription data mining was revealed by ProPublica, which reported that its collection includes over 85 percent of the world’s prescriptions and “comprehensive, anonymous medical records for 400 million patients.” In 2007, there was a backlash against another seller of medical information: the AMA itself. By selling the names, office addresses and practice types of almost every doctor in the US to marketing firms the AMA netted almost $50 million a year, the American Medical Student Association and the National Physicians Alliance charged at the AMA’s convention. The database of 900,000 doctors does not violate privacy, counters the AMA, since doctors can opt out.
Psychiatrist Dan Carlat wrote in the New York Times that he was “astonished at the level of detail that drug companies were able to acquire about doctors’ prescribing habits” and that his drug reps told him “they received printouts tracking local doctors’ prescriptions every week.” A 2011 Supreme Court ruling found the collection and dissemination of prescribing behavior was “speech” and protected by the First Amendment. (See: a corporation is a person.)
2. Continuing Medical Education Courses
In order to keep their state licenses and satisfy insurance regulations, doctors must enroll in a certain amount of CMEs—continuing medical education courses. Not surprisingly, these classes are often “taught” for free by Pharma-funded specialists, sparing doctors from having to pay for them but providing the objectivity of a time-share presentation.
One such class, “Atypical Antipsychotics in Major Depressive Disorder: When Current Treatments Are Not Enough,” funded by Seroquel maker AstraZeneca was taught by former Emory University psychiatrist Charles Nemeroff, who lost his department chairmanship due to unreported Pharma income. Another CME  called “Bipolar Disorder: Individualizing Treatment to Improve Patient Outcomes,” was “taught” by Trisha Suppes, who admits to funding by Abbott, AstraZeneca; GlaxoSmithKline, Janssen, Novartis, Pfizer, Wyeth, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Eli Lilly, Shire and four more Pharma companies. Another CME, “Individualizing ADHD Pharmacotherapy with Disruptive Behavioral Disorders” was taught by the Johnson & Johnson-funded Robert L. Findling and refers to Risperdal or its generic version, risperdone, 13 times. Many CMEs teach doctors about the lucrative new disease category of Adult ADHD and how to keep kids from going off their ADHD meds when they get to college. Ka-ching.
3. Ghostwriting
Being published in medical journals is essential to academic doctors but researching, writing and reworking papers is a formidable job. Luckily for doctors, Pharma is willing to help—as long as they write what Pharma wants. In just three years, medical writers associated with Parke-Davis, which became Pfizer, wrote 13 papers extolling the benefits of Neurontin, including in the prestigious Cleveland Clinic Journal of Medicine, in the names of the “author” doctors. Medical writers at Wyeth, also now Pfizer, wrote more than 50 papers pushing the now discredited Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) in the names of doctor “authors.”
“Is There an Association Between Hormone Replacement Therapy and Breast Cancer?” asked one article in the Journal of Women’s Health. Guess what it concludes? “The Role of Hormone Replacement Therapy in the Prevention of Postmenopausal Heart Disease,” another ghostwritten paper is titled, despite HRT’s established heart risks, appearing in the Archives of Internal Medicine. And despite HRT’s links to dementia, another paper, which also ran in the Archives of Internal Medicine, was titled “The Role of Hormone Therapy in the Prevention of Alzheimer’s disease.”
4. Speakers Bureaus
Few things combine the ego stroking and fast cash of being paid to speak—and Pharma has no trouble finding takers at $750, $1000 and more per pop. Psychiatrist Dan Carlat wrote in theNew York Times that his experience speaking about Wyeth’s Effexor degenerated as he sensed skepticism and contempt in the audience. “I feared I had become—a drug rep with an M.D.” A district manager soon expressed reservations (“My reps told me that you weren’t as enthusiastic about our product at your last talk”) and Carlat ended his speaking career.
In her book, The Truth About Statins, cardiologist Barbara Roberts echoes Carlat’s experience. She agreed to speak about Pfizer’s Lipitor and gender-specific aspects of heart disease in women, but told Pfizer “that I wasn’t interested in just getting up in front of a bunch of doctors and plugging one or another of Pfizer’s medicines.” Declining to use Pfizer-supplied slides, she created her own slides for the speeches “until one night a regional manager attended one of my talks—and suddenly I was no longer invited by Pfizer to give lectures.”
Carlat and Roberts are in the minority. Despite academic restrictions, faculty at many top institutions including division chiefs “stay on the industry lecture circuit, where they can net tens of thousands in additional income,” reported ProPublica in 2010. Even at the prestigious Cleveland Clinic where the chairman of cardiovascular medicine, Steven E. Nissen, calls industry-paid speakers “whores,” the practice flourishes, ProPublica reported.
5. Clinical Trials
Pharma-funded clinical trials can be paydirt to doctors, yielding as much as $10,000 per patient in some cases. In 2010, Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) addressed the frequent conflict of interest of doctors accepting major Pharma revenue while also accepting NIH money, our tax dollars. The medical institutions where the doctors work also are swimming in Pharma money. It is a situation exacerbated by the “technology-transferring” Bayh-Dole Act of 1980 which dangled the riches of “industry” before medical institutions just as the former were floundering and the latter was booming, says Marcia Angell, former editor-in-chief of the New England Journal of Medicine. ”Harvard’s Clinical Research Institute (HCRI), for example, originally advertised itself as led by people whose ‘experience gives HCRI an intimate understanding of industry’s needs, and knowledge of how best to meet them,’” writes Angell, “as though meeting industry’s needs is a legitimate purpose of an academic institution.”
Not all clinical trials are kosher. Another sneaky way Pharma gets doctors to prescribe its drugs is to set up faux clinical trials to influence doctors. A 1995 study billed as assessing the safety, efficacy and tolerability of Neurontin was nothing but a ruse to get the 772 participating doctors to prescribe the drug, said an article in the Archives of Internal Medicine, because it gave them familiarity and experience with the drug. (This indirect sales job parallels what is said to happen with speaker’s bureaus: the speakers may not convince anyone else, but they begin prescribing the drug themselves.) In addition to misleading the doctors who thought the trials were valid, the study also misled the patients who did not know it was a marketing, or “seeding” study, and whose participation was overseen by investigators with insufficient training and clinical experience. Eleven of the 2,759 patients in the trials died, 73 suffered severe adverse events and 997 experienced less serious side-effects.
Graham