Zoë Harcombe: Battling to lose weight? 12 top diet myths that keep you fat – busted!

Do you believe that to lose weight, you just have to eat less, and exercise more? That you must avoid saturated fat like the plague, because it clogs your arteries and causes heart disease? That meat is bad, carbs are good, and you should eat at least five-a-day fruit and veg? These are among many diet myths that make you fatter and sicker, and contribute to the obesity and Type 2 epidemics across the globe, says top British nutrition specialist, author, and obesity researcher Zoë Harcombe. She demolishes those and other myths in her brilliant little book, 20 Diet Myths – Busted (see details below). Here, she gives 12 of those myths in bite-size. MS

Myth No 1: Energy in equals energy out

Diet advisors love to say “energy in equals energy out”, and “you can’t change the laws of the universe.” They clearly don’t know what the laws say. There are four laws of the universe. None says energy in equals energy out. Two laws can be ignored by the dieting world. Two need to be taken into account. The first essentially says energy can be changed from one form to another. The second notes that energy will be lost during the process of energy changing form (we boil the kettle, electricity heats the water and steam is lost in the process.) These “laws of the universe” are about energy, not weight. They were never intended to become fundamental principles of dieting. They have some relevance to dieting, but only when correctly applied, and when all the caveats are allowed for.

Myth No 2: Eating less will make you weigh less

Doing more will not make you weigh less. Both the eating less and doing more beliefs make the massive and wrong assumption that the body is able to burn fat. The body can only burn fat when there is no glucose/glycogen available. Modern man rarely, if ever, allows his body to get to the state where it can burn its own fat – let alone will. Think about it: you lose your job, you don’t automatically dip into savings, you cut back on expenditure; the body does exactly the same.

Myth No 4: Weight gain is the result of too many calories in

Weight gain is from fat being stored, not too many calories in. Equally, weight loss is about fat lost, not fewer calories in. The perfect way to store fat is to eat carbohydrates. It’s the carbs that count, not the calories.

Myth No 5: One pound equals 3,500 calories

One pound does not equal 3,500 calories. One of the most commonly held diet myths is: “To lose one pound of fat you need to create a deficit of 3,500 calories”. It is actually worse than a myth – it is one of the cruelest lies we have told desperate dieters. The myth that one pound equals 3,500 calories is wrong at every level. You will see this formula in government literature, in just about every diet book, in private health booklets and all over the Internet. The next time you see it, or hear it, ask where it comes from. You will not get an answer.

Myth No 6: Cholesterol will kill you

Cholesterol is life critical – not the bad guy in any way, shape or form. You would literally die without cholesterol. It is a key part of the structure for every cell in your body. Cholesterol is so vital that your body makes it, and cannot risk leaving it to chance that you would get it externally from somewhere. Statins stop the body from producing the cholesterol – they literally stop one of your fundamental body processes from being able to function. One in 500 people has familial hypercholesterolemia, and may have a problem clearing cholesterol in their body (rather like type 1 diabetics who can’t return blood glucose levels to normal). For anyone else to be actively trying to lower their vital and life-affirming cholesterol levels is deeply troubling.

More Myths here: http://www.biznews.com/

This is what she he puts the twit in twitter has to say about  Zoe, who unlike carbsane posts photos of herself for all to see, could it be that CS is to embarrassed by her weight to do the same. 

If you don't understand the laws of physics (m.t. thermo), don't write about them. It's embarrassing

Graham 

The CEO’s Dilemma

You are a management consultant and have been hired by a very worried and newly appointed CEO of a very large company with sales outlets in most of the towns and cities in England and Wales. The cause of the CEO's worries is that, in spite of the expenditure of increasing amounts of cash and manpower, sales do not seem to be improving

One of your first tasks was to review the performance of the sales teams and produce the following graph.

In the course of reviewing the performance of the sales teams you were shocked to find:

1. The sales targets were set by senior sales team staff without regard for the profitability of the company.
2. The means of achieving the sales team targets were set by senior sales staff without regard for the feasibility of achievement.
3. The means of achieving the sales team target figures were now firmly entrenched among the sales team members.
4. The company had operated for over a decade without any signs of significant improvement (and  you wondered in what other organisations would such a situation be allowed to continue?)

.What advice would you give the CEO?

The low carb high fat food pyramid for safe diabetes control if it ain't broke don't try to fix it !

When I first looked at this food pyramid I thought it looked light in vegetables, but in terms of calories it's probably about right. Most vegetables are low calorie and fats are high calorie. 

Fat has more than twice as many calories per gram as carbohydrates and proteins. A gram of fat has about 9 calories, while a gram of carbohydrate or protein has about 4 calories. In other words, you could eat twice as much carbohydrates or proteins as fat for the same amount of calories.

For us diabetics with good control we need to stick to the same amount of carbs per meal or day to maintain that control. I call this the magic number, when you have found your magic number, stick to it. I have seen people sometimes years into being a diabetic, meddling with the magic number and reporting double numbers on their BG meters. Why they do this is beyond my understanding, when you find something that works stick with it, if it ain't broke don't try to fix it !

Eddie

Quote of the day

Train - Angel in Blue Jeans (starring Danny Trejo & Hannah Simone)

Don't think I'd mess with Danny Trejo good lip sync though.
Graham

Saturday night is music night

Graham

Baked Shrimp with Tomatillos

Ingredients serves four

2 Tbsp vegetable oil

1 medium onion, chopped, about 1 cup

1-2 jalapeno chiles, seeded, minced

3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

1 lb tomatillos/baby tomatoes chopped

Salt

1/2 cup clam juice OR 1/4 cup water*

1 lb shrimp, cleaned

1 cup Cotija queso seco cheese (can substitute feta)

1/4 cup chopped cilantro

Lime juice

Black pepper

An oven-proof sauté pan or cast iron pan

Method

1 Heat oil in the pan you will use for baking. Add the onions and jalapeños, cook for 5 minutes on medium high until the onions begin to brown. Add the garlic and cook a minute more. Add the tomatillos, reduce heat to medium and cook for 10 minutes, until the tomatillos are cooked through, but still hold their shape. Sprinkle salt over the tomatillos as they are cooking.

2 If using clam juice, add to pan, turn up the heat and reduce by half. If using water, just add the 1/4 cup of water without reducing.

3 Add the cheese and shrimp. Cook in a preheated 425°F oven for 10 minutes.

4 Remove pan from the oven. If using a pan with a handle, such as a cast iron frying pan, I recommend cooling the handle with ice for safety; it's so easy to forget that pan has just come out of the oven, and you grab the hot handle by mistake.Right before serving, mix in the cilantro and sprinkle with lime juice and freshly ground black pepper.

Yet again a wonderful recipe from the fabulous Simply Recipe site here.

All the best Jan

Carbsane aka Evelyn Kocur quote of the month !

"Seriously though, I have no idea what drives him, nor do I really care."

Says the bloated blogger who hangs on Jimmy Moore's every word and has devoted much of her life to writing about him. Come on Evie, fess up, you probably dream about the man.

Eddie

Came in as a comment but worthy of a new thread.

I suppose that the late (and greatly missed) Barry Groves was one of the pioneers of the low carb movement: he started in the 1960's. But; whilst low carb is likely the only way to live if you are a Type 2 Diabetic; certain elements within our diet that were not strictly low or no carb did give extraordinary health benefits to ancient society's. These included porridge, rye bread, fermented vegetables and a number of other food stuffs that have vanished from our modern diets in the form we used for some thousand years or more. The single truth about these, was that they were used in their completely unadulterated form by peoples that did not usually posess the APOE4 allele which the 'hunter gatherers' did.

This 'conservation' genetic trait, is that which helped keep them alive in times of famine and will pile on the weight even when they are eating virtually nothing in modern civilisations. Of course, with modern foodstuffs, especially the highly processed carbs, like white flour, polished rice and other processed grains and of course sugar. we have all of the glucose forming components with none of the macronutrients found in their original forms, which for some peoples provided the basic foodstuffs that allowed them to flourish and procreate. But; all of these 'tribes' also consumed considerable dairy or animal fats as well; even blood, and there is little to no evidence that any society flourished without a source of fat soluble Vitamins. It must also be remembered that where animals were consumed, they were eaten 'nose to tail' with often the cuts we use today; the muscle meats, being discarded or fed to the dogs and 'game' was often quite low in fat, except in the organs we today shun.

We need to take account of Ancient Traditions in our quest for better health and all Diabetics should probably live like our Ancestors so far as diet is concerned but seek and use those elements of our diet that can still be obtained, such as liver, kidneys even hearts. Eat plenty of butter, eggs and cheese, especially some of the very yellow grades high in K2 precursors: we need K2 to enable D3 to undertake it's role in systems of strengthening bones and teeth and keeping calcium in our skeleton and not our arteries.

Sources of the nutrients we all need are becoming scarce in the supermarkets, so we do need to be inventive and be careful we are not consuming meat and fats raised with soy and corn meal instead of grass and fodder. The process of converting grass to carbohydrate is the ruminants role in our food chain and that is being progressively adulterated by 'Big Foods' animal feeding protocols. So, beware of the high Omega 6 content of some meats that look perfectly fine but conceal their contribution to inflamation in our systems.

Thom Berry.

Arguments against Low-Carbing

Stop me if you’ve heard these ones before!

This is from an older post; which may or may not have been deleted in the other forum so I thought I'd resurrect it.

I thought I’d look at a few of the common arguments we get here and elsewhere about various low-carbohydrate issues and try and deal with them in one post.  

We are all different!

Well, on a superficial level we are; we have different names and you and I are more handsome than Eddie, for instance, but on a biological level we are most certainly not different.  Our metabolisms work in exactly the same way; what we eat and what energy we expend will differ but it’s the same processes running.  You and I, at the most dissimilar end of the scale, share  99% of our DNA; when I say ‘share’ I don’t mean the gene sequences are similar – they are identical.  This means that the way you metabolise glucose is exactly the same way as I do.   What works for you, will work for me unless there is some additional factor operating.  So, if the logic of a low carb diet works for one person it will also work for another.  The cry of ‘we are all different’ then is really just a way of saying; ‘I don’t want to do what you are suggesting’; it is no more a counter argument against a low-carb approach than saying  ‘I don’t like the colour blue’ is an argument about the qualities of the colour blue.

The only measurable difference between diabetics is the degree to which their pancreatic function has declined (from not very much to completely) and their varying levels of insulin resistance.  That will affect how sensitive to carbohydrate we are but it does not mean that those that are less sensitive would not benefit from avoiding carbohydrates. Which leads to the next point:

I eat carbohydrates and get good results so why should I stop eating them?

I ate 50 grams of carbohydrate at every meal from the age of 10 until about 30.  I did not die.  I got quite good diabetic control according to my check-ups; normally in the 7’s and some high 6’s.  I also developed peripheral retinopathy and mild nephropathy.  And so there is your answer right there.  On a low-carb diet those ‘irreversible conditions’ are improving.  The levels we are being given to aim for are wrong and are far far too high.

Most people, to be fair, who use the above argument though are either type 2 or type 1.5 who still have some pancreatic function; they can eat carbs because their bodies are still trying to cope with the glucose peaks and troughs that inevitably follow.  They are not lying; they probably can eat cereals and toast and the like and still get good HbA1cs.  The point being though, that things would be much better for them if they gave their poor beaten exhausted pancreas a break and just stopped eating all that stuff in the first place, because sooner or later something is going to give.  

The last segment of people who say this are those who are unable to make the mental jump from the world of plenty of starchy food to low carbing.  Have a look at their HbA1c’s if they’ll tell you them (which they often won’t) and/or look at what diabetic complications they are labouring under.  Those people who have gone through all the facts that we have and yet still won’t try to control their condition by dropping carbs are the people worry me the most; they are the Monty Python & The Holy Grail Black Knights; ‘it’s just a flesh wound...’.  It’s good to be positive of course, but not when you’ve just had your arm chopped off; denial comes in many forms I fear.

I’m not going to let diabetes rule how I live my life

I’m not going to let speeding traffic rule how I chose to walk across this motorway.  I’m my own person, blah, blah, blah. Crunch.  Dead.  Diabetes is a chronic complaint, it needs to be treated with some respect or else it will get you and it will do you in just as surely as that speeding car you are ignoring will.

Cheesecake is what insulin is there for! 

This is from an actual forum quote.  I can’t really bring myself to say much about this; I wish I could eat cheesecake; I can’t.  You make a choice; if you want to eat this stuff then your health is going to suffer; even if you get your balancing doses perfectly pitched.  Insulin is a necessity, but we don’t want too much of the stuff slushing  around in our bodies laying down fats and doing its thing.  And by the way; you won’t perfectly pitch your balancing dose.

Carbohydrate is an essential part of a balanced diet

Nope, we’ve talked about this so many times.  Google it; and open your eyes.  This is where Karl Popper and his black swan theory comes in; it goes like this; if you make a statement such as ‘all swans are white’ as soon as you find a single example disproving the statement then the whole statement collapses.  If out of 1,000 swans one is black then the ‘all swans are white’ hypothesis must fail.

If carbohydrate is an essential part of a balanced diet then anyone who can eat a healthy diet without carbohydrate is the carb black swan equivalent; it only takes one person.  And if you want we could start with Stefansson and his all-meat diet study in the 1920’s and have him as that one person.  But really there’s no need; as we all obviously know of thousands and thousands.  Let’s not make statements using the word ‘essential’ here anymore then eh?

There are no carbohydrate deficiency diseases; we need a limited amount of glucose but that can be made by our livers from protein. We need no carbohydrate at all.

If you low carb then you will be eating fats and protein which will damage your heart and kidneys respectively

May I introduce you to my friends ‘cause’ and ‘effect’?  Damaged kidneys cannot process protein as effectively as undamaged kidneys.  You can alleviate the problem by eating less protein so that the failing kidneys won’t fail to process the protein to such a degree.  What damages kidneys is not eating protein though; it is uncontrolled blood sugars.  Damaged kidneys are the effect of blood glucose imbalance.  Protein is not the cause.

On the heart side the longest running dietary study in the world (correct me if I’m wrong!) the Framingham study in Massachusetts concluded that ‘there is, in short, no suggestion of any relation between diet and the subsequent development of CHD in the study group… ’.  Now, we are seeing the drip drip drip of positive news about saturated fats turn into a trickle, soon hopefully into a flood and then 10 years from now the NHS will revise their wrong-headed stance.

If you don’t eat fruit you’ll get scurvy

One of the key things our friends on the other side of the chasm bring up is the 'fact' that a low-carb diet is lacking in variety and essential vitamins.  By this they mean vitamin C as that is the only one that is possibly limited in a diet consisting mostly of protein and fat. Now, I know that most of us feast on green vegetables too, but that would spoil even the vitamin C deficiency point from our beloved dietician friends. So let's pretend for the moment that we do only eat meat. 

This would presumably lead to scurvy as vitamin C is contained in animal foods in such small quantities that nutritionists have considered animal foods to be insufficient as a viable source for it.

However the famous Stefansson all-meat diet study (mimicking the Inuit diet) in the 1920's showed that no vitamin deficiency arose after a year of a monitored tested and controlled all meat diet.

Gary Taubes in his rather wonderful ‘The Diet Delusion’ provides an explanation of this as follows: ' The vitamin-C molecule is similar in configuration to glucose and other sugars in the body. It is shuttled from the bloodstream into the cells by the same insulin-dependent transport system used by glucose. Glucose and vitamin C compete in this cellular-uptake process, like strangers trying to flag down the same taxicab simultaneously. Because glucose is greatly favoured in the contest, the uptake of vitamin C by cells is "globally inhibited" when blood-sugar levels are elevated. In effect, glucose regulates how much vitamin C is taken up by the cells according to the University of Massachusetts nutritionist John Cunningham. If we increase blood-sugar levels, the cellular uptake of vitamin C will drop accordingly. Glucose also impairs the re-absorption of vitamin C by the kidney, and so, the higher the blood sugar, the more vitamin C will be lost in the urine. Infusing insulin into experimental subject has been shown to cause a 'marked fall' in the vitamin C levels in the circulation'.

He goes on to say; ' in other words, there is a significant reason to believe that the key factor determining the level of vitamin C in our cells and tissues is not how much or how little we happen to be consuming in our diet, but whether the starches and refined carbohydrates in our diet serve to flush vitamin C out of our system while simultaneously inhibiting the use of what vitamin C we do have.'

So, if you eat your balanced diet you have to eat fruit and vegetables to make up for the flushing of vitamin C from your system, if you drop the carbs then the vitamins will take care of themselves.

So carbs are not only bereft of vitamins they help get rid of the ones we've already consumed...!

If you low carb then you will be calcium deficient

Here is Lisa Shea from Bella Online on this and she makes good sense to me;

“A myth still believed by some is that a diet that has large amounts of protein will somehow "leach" all the calcium from your bones. This has been proven NOT to be true.

The root of this myth is a study done in the 80s with fractionated protein powder. Apparently people who took this powder then experienced calcium loss from their bones. Note that these people weren't taking vitamins to supplement their diet.

As just about any nutritionist can tell you, eating powders of food parts is NOT the same as eating the real, nutritious original food item. Also, having an issue arise when you eat one thing (powder) INSTEAD OF another (real meat) could be really showing that it was the LACK of the second food that caused the problem.

So to further explore the issue, long term studies were done with regular meat-eaters who ate meat in a normal way - whether it was burgers, grilled steaks, pork chops or whatever. The studies found that there was NO calcium loss, either in the short term or long term. 

What the studies showed was that calcium (and other minerals) in your body need to have vitamins A and D in your system in order to be used properly. Protein powder doesn't have those vitamins, while animal fats do. So a person just taking protein powder in essence suffered from a vitamin A and D deficiency because they no longer were getting an adequate supply of those vitamins in their diet. They lost the calcium from their system because of the vitamin deficiency. A person eating a normal diet of beef, pork and chicken gets vitamin A and D from the fats in those meats, and therefore does NOT experience the vitamin deficiency syndrome.

Pretty much the only natural sources of Vitamin D are animal fats, fish fats and fish oils. Most adults are at least mildly lactose intolerant, so the Vitamin D artificially added into milk does us little good.

Vitamin A is found primarily in eggs, liver, meats, cheese and milk. It is also found in carrots, spinach and kale.

So the primary message of the studies on protein and calcium is to TAKE YOUR VITAMINS because it is a lack of vitamins that causes problems for your body. The secondary message is that eating meats does NOT cause any calcium issues. If anything, eating meats helps ensure that you get your nutrients in a natural manner, rather than in a pill form.”

Next...

Fibre, fibre, fibre

I’m running out of steam a bit now; but when you think about it; what is the point of eating something that isn’t absorbed and potentially damages your colon?  Here’s a link to Dr Mike:

http://www.proteinpower.com/drmike/fiber/a-cautionary-tale-of-mucus-fore-and-aft/ 

My doctors and dietician are highly trained professionals; who am I to question what they tell me? 

You are absolving responsibility for your own health and wellbeing to someone else; we should by all means listen to advice we are given, but advice is different from an order.  We need to assess and to question what we are told if we to gain knowledge and move forward.  There is such a thing as bad advice.

To back this up; here is something I lazily copied from the internet;

“The June 10, 2000 issue of the British Medical journal reports on an interesting statistic that has occurred in Israel. It seems that three months ago physicians in public hospitals implemented a program of sanctions in response to a labour dispute over a contract proposal by the government.  The article stated that the Israel Medical Association began an action in March to protest against the treasury’s proposed imposition of a new four year wage contract for doctors. Since then, the medical doctors have cancelled hundreds of thousands of visits to outpatient clinics and have postponed tens of thousands of elective operations. 

To find out whether the industrial action was affecting deaths in the country, the Jerusalem Post interviewed non-profit making Jewish burial societies, which perform funerals for the vast majority of Israelis.  Hananya Shahor, the veteran director of Jerusalems Kehilat Yerushalayim burial society said, "The number of funerals we have performed has fallen drastically."  Meir Adler, manager of the Shamgar Funeral Parlour, which buries most other residents of Jerusalem, declared with much more certainty: "There definitely is a connection between the doctors sanctions and fewer deaths. We saw the same thing in 1983 when the Israel Medical Association applied sanctions for four and a half months."”

If you feel you really must listen to and do exactly as highly trained professionals say, might I just interject here; I am a highly trained lawyer and I advise you to send me all your money; sell everything, liquidate all your assets and send it to me.  You’ll feel better having done what you’ve been told.  If you won’t do that, then why should you do anything else a professional tells you?  If you will do that – pm me and I’ll send details of where to forward my money…

Best

Dillinger

Posted by Dillinger on the Low Carb Diabetic Forum which is here.

The country with the best healthcare spends less than half what the US does.

Takeda, Lilly lose bid to overturn $9 billion award for hiding Actos cancer risk

(Reuters) - Takeda Pharmaceutical Co Ltd and Eli Lilly & Co lost a bid to overturn a combined $9 billion punitive damage award by a U.S. jury for hiding cancer risks associated with their Actos diabetes drug, according to a court ruling.

"Plaintiffs have pointed to sufficient evidence from which the jury could have concluded that the 'information' about bladder cancer contained in Actos labels did not adequately warn of the increased risk of cancer," U.S. District Judge Rebecca Doherty of the Western District of Louisiana said on Wednesday.

The development is a setback for Takeda but leaves open the possibility of a retrial or reduced verdict, for which Japan's top drugmaker made a separate appeal in April.

A spokeswoman called the latest ruling "unfortunate", adding that Takeda continued to hope for an outcome in its favor on the separate appeal. Takeda reiterated its intention to keep fighting in court rather than settle.

Legal experts have said it was unlikely that such a large award would stand after challenges in court by both companies.

Lilly, which co-promoted Actos from 1999 to 2006, was not immediately available to comment. The company has previously said it will be indemnified by Takeda for its losses and expenses from the litigation based on the terms of its agreement with Takeda.

Shares in Takeda reacted little to the news, rising 0.4 percent on Friday afternoon, against a slight fall in the broader Tokyo market.

Actos, an oral Type 2 diabetes medication that regulates blood sugar levels, has been on the market since 1999.

Takeda on Friday separately announced findings of a 10-year epidemiology study that concluded that there was no evidence to suggest that taking Actos led to an increased risk of bladder cancer.

Data from the study, conducted by the University of Pennsylvania and Kaiser Permanente Northern California, was submitted to regulatory authorities in the United States, Europe and Japan, it said.

This is the first federal case to be tried in consolidated multidistrict litigation comprising more than 2,900 lawsuits. In all three previous Actos trials, Takeda has said, judgments were entered in its favor.

http://www.reuters.com/

There's no get out of jail free card with diabetes

Graham

Effectiveness and Safety of the NHS treatment of blood glucose in Type 2 diabetes

The NHS treatment of blood glucose in Type 2 diabetes may be illustrated by means of a flowchart of embedded tests of HbA₁c tests and appropriate prescription of oral medications and (if necessary) insulin. Examples of such flowcharts are given by:

http://www.npc.nhs.uk/merec/cardio/diabetes2/resources/merec_briefing_no25.pdf

and

http://www.heatherwoodandwexham.nhs.uk/sites/default/files/services/BE_diabetes_201306.pdf

Two issues arise with oral medications: effectiveness and safety. A recent paper addressing these issues is “Comparative Effectiveness and Safety of Medications for Type 2 Diabetes: An Update Including New Drugs and 2-Drug Combinations” and available from:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3733115/

Effectiveness

1.       Most 1-drug medications decreased the HbA_1C by about 1 percentage point.

2.       Most 2-drug medications decreased the HbA_1C by about a further 1 percentage point.

3.       Metformin decreased low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels compared with pioglitazone, sulfonylureas, and DPP-4 inhibitors.

Safety

1.       Sulfonylureas had a 4-fold higher risk for mild or moderate hypoglycaemia than metformin alone and, in combination with metformin, had more than a 5-fold increased risk compared with metformin plus thiazolidinediones.

2.       Thiazolidinediones increased risk for congestive heart failure compared with sulfonylureas.

3.       Thiazolidinediones increased risk for bone fractures compared with metformin.

Further discussion on the safety of oral medication (and usefully expressed in layman terms is given by:

http://www.phlaunt.com/diabetes/sp2index.php

Like Eddie and Graham I was diagnosed almost 75 months ago and needing to achieve a greater HbA_1C decrease than 2% and also not wishing to suffer hypoglycaemia or other adverse side effects I implemented a low carb lifestyle. The results: 75 months with HbA_1C averaging 5.4% with lowest 5.1% and highest 5.7% (Christmas and Chinese New Year).

John

A Mothers Musings

I've always liked this picture by Don Hatfield, we bought a print of it years ago, and it holds many special memories of times and years pleasantly spent by the sea as the children were growing up.

The years go by so quickly. I think it is important to hold on to special memories, the good and the not so good, that is what makes our life.

All too soon those young children have grown and fled the nest .....and they have children of their own. Suddenly it's Grandma and Grandad as well as still being a mum and dad. Sometimes it means children at University - for some it may mean sons/daughters going into our armed forces. Whatever path our children take our love is always with them.

But what do you do when your nest is empty, you may feel un-balanced, there is an uncanny silence about the place. Circumstances may mean you have to move house, downsize ......which could result in more anxiety. 

You want to call ...but at the same time realise that growing children do need their space, they also need to settle into their lives, wherever it takes them. Still you worry - it's what mothers do and I suspect fathers do too.    

Perhaps, I'll just send a text - say hello and how are you? A phone call may be too intrusive? Yes, a text will be fine and it's so nice to hear 'yes I'm fine mum'. Of course if I hear more, that's good too, in fact some of the text messages we share make me smile 'out loud' so to speak

Such a simple contact with a loved one (or good friend) just eases the mind, everything is OK and life continues down it's winding path. 

It's good to know that we are in each others thoughts, that contact is there and of course when you speak on the phone, or see them, even better.

I've always enjoyed being a mum and now a Grandma, I've been privileged.

Thanks for reading this ...... 'Mothers Musings'

All the best Jan

DCUK Quote of the day !

"To my surprise, he said the NHS advice was all wrong, that recent studies are saying a lower carb, higher fat diet is better for BG control and weight loss, both in the long and short term. He says he can't understand why things haven't changed in the NHS yet, but seems to think they will as more and more studies with larger sample groups are being published. He said the eat well plate was a load of tosh! He also said fats have been demonised and we should all be eating more of them...yay, I'll go get me some cheese.

Result!"

A DCUK member talking about her meeting with a dietitian that is up to speed with the best way to control diabetes, not to be confused with so many at the BDA.

BTW who worked overtime for years flogging the lamentable eat well plate to their members, you've guessed folks, those caring sharing guys and gals running the forum of flog. Oh dear, don't ya just luv it !

This way to the shop expensive Frisbee's if you want my opinion.


Eddie

Gary Taubes: Why Atkins-style high fat low carb diet wins for weight loss

Dr. Robert Atkins wrote his first weight loss book advocating high fat low carb diets in 1972. While dieters loved the message to enjoy their fill of formerly forbidden foods like butter, bacon and eggs, other physicians generally reacted with scorn and horror. Now, more than four decades later, a growing number of experts are admitting that Dr. Atkins was right, said low carb diet expert Gary Taubes in an Aug. 25 interview with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Taubes created his own carbohydrate controversy when he dared to challenge the low-fat diet guidelines from organizations such as the American Heart Association with two books citing research showing that a high fat low carb diet was a more effective way to lose weight. Get details about his books and his views on them by clicking here: "Why We Get Fat: And What to Do About It” and “Good Calories, Bad Calories: Fats, Carbs, and the Controversial Science of Diet and Health."

He has become famous for taking clinical trials and boiling down the scientific jargon into consumer-friendly weight loss wisdom.

Recalling how it all began, Taubes describes how, in 2002, he discovered "five clinical trials that...this low-carbohydrate, high-fat, eat-as-much-as-you-want diet to low-fat, calorie-restricted diets that the American Heart Association wants us all to eat. In all five studies, the Atkins [-style] diet did much better -- better heart disease risk factors and better weight loss."

Although the research studies favoring Atkins-style low carb diets range from clinical trials on diabetes to meta-analyses of heart disease, Taubes says it boils down to one key message. "Refined grains and sugars are the cause of obesity, diabetes, heart disease and any diet that restricts them will be healthier," he summarizes.

Neurologist Dr. David Perlmutter agrees, but he takes the diet advice one step further: Eliminate grains and sugar completely. He contends that by eating a high fat low carb diet without grains and sugar, you can significantly reduce your risk of dementia and Alzheimer's disease, reported ABC News affiliate WWSB on Aug. 25.

"Your key to weight loss is to eat more fat. Eat fat, get thin!" he promises. Dr. Perlmutter echoes the Paleo diet message in recommending unprocessed foods as well. He is the author of “Grain Brain: The Surprising Truth about Wheat, Carbs, and Sugar–Your Brain’s Silent Killers.”

"For more than 99 percent of our time on this planet, we were on a high fat low carb, virtually gluten-free diet," he points out. Hence, he agrees with the Ancestral Health movement that returning to the diet of our prehistoric ancestors provides the key to weight loss and health.

Feeling hungry and coping with cravings rank as two of the most common complaints from dieters. But Linda O’Byrne, Atkins nutritionist, says that the high fat low carb diet eliminates those problems. It's based on theprinciples of nutritional ketosis.

By following a ketogenic diet, your body shifts to fat-burning mode. Although it might take a few days to adapt, the diet is safe to follow and highly effective for weight loss because it maintains muscle mass while burning fat, said Linda.

"Following Atkins eliminates hunger for two reasons," she said in an exclusive interview. "Reducing carb intake stabilizes blood sugar. Carbohydrates cause insulin spikes and then ultimately crashes, and this is what leads to cravings and hunger. Therefore, without carbs, dieters don't experience extreme changes in blood insulin levels and the cravings go away."

In addition, foods high in fat help dieters feel full for longer periods of time. Snacking is allowed, and Linda recommends consuming small protein-rich snacks between meals, such as turkey and cheese rolls.

http://www.examiner.com/

Graham

Low Carb Diabetic Forum

The only dedicated low carb forum for the control of diabetes and weight loss in the UK has got off to a great start. Run by diabetics for diabetics, but all most welcome. It's early days, but already some very well known people on the UK diabetes forum and blog scene have joined up. People from as far away as Australia and the US are also posting some great information. 

Why not go over and take a look, better still join up, it's free and we have no ties to any commercial organisations. Tell us about your success with low carb in either the control of your diabetes, weight control or other health related issues, we would love to hear from you. Why not chill out in Thommo's bar and coffee shop.

Newly diagnosed especially welcome, let us help you on the road to improving your life and controlling your diabetes the natural way. Eat whole fresh foods, more drugs are not the answer.

The Low Carb Diabetic forum is here.

Join today and join a happy and helpful community, you know it makes sense, why fight it.

Eddie

The Low GI Index diet does not work here's why !

Duggies daily diary day ? plus 1

Still here peeps and still posting complete crap.

Well, what did you expect, it will take more than a semi comatose mod like Osidge to shut me up ! Keep this to yaselves but I think big Giv fancies me.

Where was I, oh yes, found a great Chinese takeway yesterday dumplings are back on the menu, gawd knows what the carb content is, but you know me, worrying about BG numbers is for wimps. Get those double numbers on ya meter, let's face it, your a long time dead.

Gotta admit those pot noodles ain't hitting the spot anymore, if I see another one this week I'll throw up. Did I tell ya I went skiing on Monday, good grief my arse is still in tatters, and my legs feel like Frankie Frazer has had the pliers on 'em. This bullshit lark is one tough gig, but at least Forge is swallowing it hook line and sinker.

Back tomorrow with more shite than you can wave a stick at.

Duggie.

What's the Deal With Coconut Oil?

Elle Penner 

Registered dietitian; Food and nutrition editor at MyFitnessPal, the world's leading nutrition and fitness app.

I admit I was late to join the coconut oil craze but it's quickly become a staple in my pantry, and not just because it's delicious.

But coconut oil is very high in saturated fat (about 90 percent) -- a type of fat that has, for quite some time, been associated with elevated blood cholesterol levels and increased heart disease risk. The Dietary Guidelines tells us to limit this nutrient, yet a growing body of research has caused a rethink of whether saturated fat is actually bad for us at all.

So what is the deal with coconut oil then?

Well, while it's high in saturated fat, we know that not all saturated fats are created equal -- and this is where some of the believed health benefits of coconut oil come into play.

To simplify things, here's an overview of some of the coconut oil's most noteworthy benefits:

Easy-to-Use Energy Source
Lauric acid, the predominant saturated fat in coconut oil, is a medium-chain fatty acid. The body uses these types of fatty acids differently than the long-chain fatty acids that make up a large percentage of other dietary fats. Medium-chain fatty acids are processed by the liver and are quickly converted into energy by our cells, which is why studies like this one from 2003, and another from 2008, suggest that these particular fatty acids may be beneficial for weight loss -- in moderation of course.

Good Cholesterol Booster
As far as blood cholesterol levels are concerned, consumption of solid fats like coconut oil that are rich in lauric acid have been linked to increases in both "good" (HDL) and "bad" (LDL) cholesterol levels. Though your "bad" cholesterol may go up, so should your good cholesterol. The evidence suggests coconut oil may have a neutral, or even slightly beneficial effect on cholesterol levels when used in place of other saturated, ortrans-fats.

Antimicrobial and Antioxidant Advantages
Coconut oil has long been revered for its bug-fighting properties. Though more research needs to be done in this area, coconut oil contains compounds thought to prevent or fight certain viral, bacterial and fungal infections like the flu, bronchitis, yeast infections, acne and more. Additionally, coconut oil, particularly unrefined or virgin coconut oil, contains phenolic compounds which have protective, antioxidant properties.

Convenient for Cooking
As far as cooking benefits are concerned, coconut oil is a more solid oil that is both mild in flavor and fairly heat stable. It works well for a variety of dishes, particularly baked goods and medium-heat sautes. The mild taste makes it a popular choice for curries or other dishes that benefit from a hint of tropical flavor.

Simple Skincare Solution
Coconut oil has benefits beyond food and nutrition. It doubles as a great make-up remover and moisturizer, especially during cold winter months when skin is more susceptible to dryness and cracking.

So, is coconut oil all it's cracked up to be?

Due to its high lauric acid content, virgin coconut oil is a great substitute for other types of saturated fats, such as lard and butter, and trans fats, such as vegetable shortening. But, despite having several great qualities, coconut oil is still a fat, and all fats are calorie-dense so it's best to use in moderation.

Which brings me to my next point. It's great for cooking, but should it be the only oil you use?

For beauty purposes it can be, but it's probably best not to rely on just one cooking oil. Using it in addition to other types of cooking oils will not only produce better results depending on the type of dish you're preparing, but will also provide a variety of other important fats, like those heart-healthy Omega-3s.

Bottom Line: If it's not in your kitchen cabinet already, consider adding coconut oil to your collection.

Shopping Tip: Choosing unrefined, or "virgin" coconut oil will provide the most benefits since processing practices can negate its favorable properties.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/

Graham

Fish Curry With Coconut and Spinach

Can you handle 5.8 ?

5.8 being the number of carbs per serving in this lovely recipe Libby at 'Ditch the Carbs' recently posted. I've quoted her below and you can see how simple this lovely recipe is. My only suggestion would be if you like rice why not have cauliflower rice ......the low carb alternative?

Serves: 6

INGREDIENTS

1kg firm white fish cut into cubes
2-4 tbs curry paste of choice
400ml coconut cream
400ml water
500g spinach washed and sliced
oil of choice

INSTRUCTIONS

Heat the oil in a large saucepan, add the curry paste and fry on a moderate heat for 2-3 minutes to activate the spices.

Add the coconut cream and water, and bring to the boil.

Carefully add the fish pieces and reduce the heat. Simmer for 10-15 minutes.

Add the prepared spinach and cook for another 3-4 minutes, or until the spinach has wilted. Serve in large bowls.

"I've never fancied curried fish, but thought I would give it a go. It’s always nice to find different ways to include more fish in our diet. I made this Fish Curry with Coconut and Spinach using hoki, which is a New Zealand firm white fish. Any firm fish would be suitable, just not salmon because the curry would overpower the delicate salmon flavour. I served the fish curry in bowls with no rice, as rice is an unnecessary carbohydrate which generally bulks up the meal and bulks out the nutrition. By having a bowl just of the curry, we have doubled the fish and spinach we would have eaten. I remember giving up rice, and trying to get my head around that rice was a huge part of the meal, but actually, it shouldn’t be. We now eat curry, or a stir fry alone, or we add vegetables on the side. The children especially, have increased their vegetable and meat intake dramatically by doing this. I especially found my youngest would eat the rice, and leave the meat or vegetables on one side, kind of defeating the purpose of dinner.

Fish curry with Coconut and Spinach is low carb, simple, easy and incredibly nutritious. The recipe can be varied by adding green beans, coriander, cashews, prawns or ginger. Not only is this a simple and easy curry to make, there is one saucepan to clean up afterwards, and all served in one bowl per person."

Words and recipe taken from here.

All the best Jan

Quote of the day

“You have to believe in yourself”  Sun Tzu

Ben Goldacre: AllTrials: Doctors are being misled

AllTrials: Medicine is broken

Graham