For the sake of convenience: Commercial sources of prebiotic fibers

3. May 2015 William Davis (0)
Our efforts to obtain prebiotic fibers/resistant starches, as discussed in the Cureality Digestive Health Track, to cultivate healthy bowel flora means recreating the eating behavior of primitive humans who dug in the dirt with sticks and bone fragments for underground roots and tubers, behaviors you can still observe in extant hunter-gatherer groups, such as the Hadza and Yanomamo. But, because this practice is inconvenient for us modern folk accustomed to sleek grocery stores, because many of us live in climates where the ground is frozen much of the year, and because we lack the wisdom passed from generation to generation that helps identify which roots and tubers are safe to eat and which are not, we rely on modern equivalents of primitive sources. Thus, green, unripe bananas, raw potatoes and other such fiber sources in the Cureality lifestyle.

There is therefore no need to purchase prebiotic fibers outside of your daily effort at including an unripe green banana, say, or inulin and fructooligosaccharides (FOS), or small servings of legumes as a means of cultivating healthy bowel flora. These are powerful strategies that change the number and species of bowel flora over time, thereby leading to beneficial health effects that include reduced blood sugar and blood pressure, reduction in triglycerides, reduced anxiety and improved sleep, and reduced colon cancer risk.

HOWEVER, convenience can be a struggle. Traveling by plane, for example, makes lugging around green bananas or raw potatoes inconvenient. Inulin and FOS already come as powders or capsules and they are among the options for a convenient, portable prebiotic fiber strategy. But there are others that can be purchased. This is a more costly way to get your prebiotic fibers and you do not need to purchase these products in order to succeed in your bowel flora management program. These products are therefore listed strictly as a strategy for convenience.

Most perspectives on the quality of human bowel flora composition suggest that diversity is an important feature, i.e., the greater the number of species, the better the health of the host. There may therefore be advantage in varying your prebiotic routine, e.g., green banana on Monday, inulin on Tuesday, PGX (below) on Wednesday, etc. Beyond providing convenience, these products may introduce an added level of diversity, as well.

Among the preparations available to us that can be used as prebiotic fibers:

PGX

While it is billed as a weight management and blood sugar-reducing product, the naturally occurring fiber--α-D-glucurono-α-D-manno-β-D-manno- β-D-gluco, α-L-gulurono-β-D mannurono, β-D-gluco-β- D-mannan--in PGX also exerts prebiotic effects (evidenced by increased fecal butyrate, the beneficial end-product of bacterial metabolism). PGX is available as capsules or granules. It also seems to exert prebiotic effects at lower doses than other prebiotic fibers. While I usually advise reaching 20 grams per day of fiber, PGX appears to exert substantial effects at a daily dose of half that quantity. As with all prebiotic fibers, it is best to build up slowly over weeks, e.g., start at 1.5 grams twice per day. It is also best taken in two or three divided doses. (Avoid the PGX bars, as they are too carb-rich for those of us trying to achieve ideal metaobolic health.)

Prebiotin

A combination of inulin and FOS available as powders and in portable Stick Pacs (2 gram and 4 gram packs). This preparation is quite costly, however, given the generally low cost of purchasing chicory inulin and FOS separately.

Acacia

Acacia fiber is another form of prebiotic fiber.  RenewLife and NOW are two reputable brands.

Isomalto-oligosaccharides

This fiber is used in Quest bars and in Paleo Protein Bars. With Quest bars, choose the flavors without sucralose, since it has been associated with undesirable changes in bowel flora.

There you go. It means that there are fewer and fewer reasons to not purposefully cultivate healthy bowel flora and obtain all the wonderful health benefits of doing so, from reduced blood pressure, to reduced triglycerides, to deeper sleep.

Disclaimer: I am not compensated in any way by discussing these products.

How Not To Have An Autoimmune Condition

20. April 2015 William Davis (0)

Autoimmune conditions are becoming increasingly common. Estimates vary, but it appears that at least 8-9% of the population in North America and Western Europe have one of these conditions, with The American Autoimmune Related Diseases Association estimating that it’s even higher at 14% of the population.

The 200 or so autoimmune diseases that afflict modern people are conditions that involve an abnormal immune response directed against one or more organs of the body. If the misguided attack is against the thyroid gland, it can result in Hashimoto’s thyroiditis. If it is directed against pancreatic beta cells that produce insulin, it can result in type 1 diabetes or latent autoimmune diabetes of adults (LADA). If it involves tissue encasing joints (synovium) like the fingers or wrists, it can result in rheumatoid arthritis. It if involves the liver, it can result in autoimmune hepatitis, and so on. Nearly every organ of the body can be the target of such a misguided immune response.

While it requires a genetic predisposition towards autoimmunity that we have no control over (e.g., the HLA-B27 gene for ankylosing spondylitis), there are numerous environmental triggers of these diseases that we can do something about. Identifying and correcting these factors stacks the odds in your favor of reducing autoimmune inflammation, swelling, pain, organ dysfunction, and can even reverse an autoimmune condition altogether.

Among the most important factors to correct in order to minimize or reverse autoimmunity are:

Wheat and grain elimination

If you are reading this, you likely already know that the gliadin protein of wheat and related proteins in other grains (especially the secalin of rye, the hordein of barley, zein of corn, perhaps the avenin of oats) initiate the intestinal “leakiness” that begins the autoimmune process, an effect that occurs in over 90% of people who consume wheat and grains. The flood of foreign peptides/proteins, bacterial lipopolysaccharide, and grain proteins themselves cause immune responses to be launched against these foreign factors. If, for instance, an autoimmune response is triggered against wheat gliadin, the same antibodies can be aimed at the synapsin protein of the central nervous system/brain, resulting in dementia or cerebellar ataxia (destruction of the cerebellum resulting in incoordination and loss of bladder and bowel control). Wheat and grain elimination is by far the most important item on this list to reverse autoimmunity.

Correct vitamin D deficiency

It is clear that, across a spectrum of autoimmune diseases, vitamin D deficiency serves a permissive, not necessarily causative, role in allowing an autoimmune process to proceed. It is clear, for instance, that autoimmune conditions such as type 1 diabetes in children, rheumatoid arthritis, and Hashimoto’s thyroiditis are more common in those with low vitamin D status, much less common in those with higher vitamin D levels. For this and other reasons, I aim to achieve a blood level of 25-hydroxy vitamin D level of 60-70 ng/ml, a level that usually requires around 4000-8000 units per day of D3 (cholecalciferol) in gelcap or liquid form (never tablet due to poor or erratic absorption). In view of the serious nature of autoimmune diseases, it is well worth tracking occasional blood levels.

Supplement omega-3 fatty acids

While omega-3 fatty acids, EPA and DHA, from fish oil have proven only modestly helpful by themselves, when cast onto the background of wheat/grain elimination and vitamin D, omega-3 fatty acids compound anti-inflammatory benefits, such as those exerted via cyclooxygenase-2. This requires a daily EPA + DHA dose of around 3600 mg per day, divided in two. Don’t confuse EPA and DHA omega-3s with linolenic acid, another form of omega-3 obtained from meats, flaxseed, chia, and walnuts that does not not yield the same benefits. Nor can you use krill oil with its relatively trivial content of omega-3s.

Eliminate dairy

This is true in North America and most of Western Europe, less true in New Zealand and Australia. Autoimmunity can be triggered by the casein beta A1 form of casein widely expressed in dairy products, but not by casein beta A2 and other forms. Because it is so prevalent in North America and Western Europe, the most confident way to avoid this immunogenic form of casein is to avoid dairy altogether. You might be able to consume cheese, given the fermentation process that alters proteins and sugar, but that has not been fully explored.

Cultivate healthy bowel flora

People with autoimmune conditions have massively screwed up bowel flora with reduced species diversity and dominance of unhealthy species. We restore a healthier anti-inflammatory panel of bacterial species by “seeding” the colon with high-potency probiotics, then nourishing them with prebiotic fibers/resistant starches, a collection of strategies summarized in the Cureality Digestive Health discussions. People sometimes view bowel flora management as optional, just “fluff”–it is anything but. Properly managing bowel flora can be a make-it-or-break-it advantage; don’t neglect it.

There you go: a basic list to get started on if your interest is to begin a process of unraveling the processes of autoimmunity. In some conditions, such as rheumatoid arthritis and polymyalgia rheumatica, full recovery is possible. In other conditions, such as Hashimoto’s thyroiditis and the pancreatic beta cell destruction leading to type 1 diabetes, reversing the autoimmune inflammation does not restore organ function: hypothyroidism results after thyroiditis quiets down and type 1 diabetes and need for insulin persists after pancreatic beta cell damage. But note that the most powerful risk factor for an autoimmune disease is another autoimmune disease–this is why so many people have more than one autoimmune condition. People with Hashimoto’s, for instance, can develop rheumatoid arthritis or psoriasis. So the above menu is still worth following even if you cannot hope for full organ recovery

Five Powerful Ways to Reduce Blood Sugar

4. April 2015 William Davis (0)
Left to conventional advice on diet and you will, more than likely, succumb to type 2 diabetes sooner or later. Follow your doctor’s advice to cut fat and eat more “healthy whole grains” and oral diabetes medication and insulin are almost certainly in your future. Despite this, had this scenario played out, you would be accused of laziness and gluttony, a weak specimen of human being who just gave into excess.

If you turn elsewhere for advice, however, and ignore the awful advice from “official” sources with cozy relationships with Big Pharma, you can reduce blood sugars sufficient to never become diabetic or to reverse an established diagnosis, and you can create a powerful collection of strategies that handily trump the worthless advice being passed off by the USDA, American Diabetes Association, the American Heart Association, or the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

Among the most powerful and effective strategies to reduce blood sugar:

1) Eat no wheat nor grains

Recall that amylopectin A, the complex carbohydrate of grains, is highly digestible, unlike most of the other components of the seeds of grasses AKA “grains,” subject to digestion by the enzyme, amylase, in saliva and stomach. This explains why, ounce for ounce, grains raise blood sugar higher than table sugar. Eat no grains = remove the exceptional glycemic potential of amylopectin A.

2) Add no sugars, avoid high-fructose corn syrup

This should be pretty obvious, but note that the majority of processed foods contain sweeteners such as sucrose or high-fructose corn syrup, tailored to please the increased desire for sweetness among grain-consuming people. While fructose does not raise blood sugar acutely, it does so in delayed fashion, along with triggering other metabolic distortions such as increased triglycerides and fatty liver.

3) Vitamin D

Because vitamin D restores the body’s normal responsiveness to insulin, getting vitamin D right helps reduce blood sugar naturally while providing a range of other health benefits.

4) Restore bowel flora

As cultivation of several Lactobacillus and Bifidobacteria species in bowel flora yields fatty acids that restore insulin responsiveness, this leads to reductions in blood sugar over time. Minus the bowel flora-disrupting effects of grains and sugars, a purposeful program of bowel flora restoration is required (discussed at length in the Cureality Digestive Health section.)

5) Exercise

Blood sugar is reduced during and immediately following exercise, with the effect continuing for many hours afterwards, even into the next day.

Note that, aside from exercise, none of these powerful strategies are advocated by the American Diabetes Association or any other “official” agency purporting to provide dietary advice. As is happening more and more often as the tide of health information rises and is accessible to all, the best advice on health does not come from such agencies nor from your doctor but from your efforts to better understand the truths in health. This is our core mission in Cureality. A nice side benefit: information from Cureality is not accompanied by advertisements from Merck, Pfizer, Kelloggs, Kraft, or Cadbury Schweppes.

Cureality App Review: Breathe Sync

7. March 2015 William Davis (0)


Biofeedback is a wonderful, natural way to gain control over multiple physiological phenomena, a means of tapping into your body’s internal resources. You can, for instance, use biofeedback to reduce anxiety, heart rate, and blood pressure, and achieve a sense of well-being that does not involve drugs, side-effects, or even much cost.

Biofeedback simply means that you are tracking some observable physiologic phenomenon—heart rate, skin temperature, blood pressure—and trying to consciously access control over it. One very successful method is that of bringing the beat-to-beat variation in heart rate into synchrony with the respiratory cycle. In day-to-day life, the heart beat is usually completely out of sync with respiration. Bring it into synchrony and interesting things happen: you experience a feeling of peace and calm, while many healthy phenomena develop.

A company called HeartMath has applied this principle through their personal computer-driven device that plugs into the USB port of your computer and monitors your heart rate with a device clipped on your earlobe. You then regulate breathing and follow the instructions provided and feedback is obtained on whether you are achieving synchrony, or what they call “coherence.” As the user becomes more effective in achieving coherence over time, positive physiological and emotional effects develop. HeartMath has been shown, for instance, to reduce systolic and diastolic blood pressure, morning cortisol levels (a stress hormone), and helps people deal with chronic pain. Downside of the HeartMath process: a $249 price tag for the earlobe-USB device.

But this is the age of emerging smartphone apps, including those applied to health. Smartphone apps are perfect for health monitoring. They are especially changing how we engage in biofeedback. An app called Breathe Sync is available that tracks heart rate using the camera’s flash on the phone. By tracking heart rate and providing visual instruction on breathing pattern, the program generates a Wellness Quotient, WQ, similar to HeartMath’s coherence scoring system. Difference: Breathe Sync is portable and a heck of a lot less costly. I paid $9.99, more than I’ve paid for any other mainstream smartphone application, but a bargain compared to the HeartMath device cost.

One glitch is that you need to not be running any other programs in the background, such as your GPS, else you will have pauses in the Breathe Sync program, negating the value of your WQ. Beyond this, the app functions reliably and can help you achieve the health goals of biofeedback with so much less hassle and greater effectiveness than the older methods.

If you are looking for a biofeedback system that provides advantage in gaining control over metabolic health, while also providing a wonderful method of relaxation, Breathe Sync, I believe, is the go-to app right now.

Amber’s Top 35 Health and Fitness Tips

7. November 2014 Amber B (0)
This year I joined the 35 club!  And in honor of being fabulous and 35, I want to share 35 health and fitness tips with you! 

1.  Foam rolling is for everyone and should be done daily. 
2.  Cold showers are the best way to wake up and burn more body fat. 
3.  Stop locking your knees.  This will lead to lower back pain. 
4.  Avoid eating gluten at all costs. 
5.  Breath deep so that you can feel the sides or your lower back expand. 
6.  Swing a kettlebell for a stronger and great looking backside. 
7.  Fat is where it’s at!  Enjoy butter, ghee, coconut oil, palm oil, duck fat and many other fabulous saturated fats. 
8.  Don’t let your grip strength fade with age.  Farmer carries, kettlebells and hanging from a bar will help with that. 
9.  Runners, keep your long runs slow and easy and keep your interval runs hard.  Don’t fall in the chronic cardio range. 
10.  Drink high quality spring or reverse osmosis water. 
11.  Use high quality sea salt season food and as a mineral supplement. 
12.  Work your squat so that your butt can get down to the ground.  Can you sit in this position? How long?
13.  Lift heavy weights!  We were made for manual work,.   Simulate heavy labor in the weight room. 
14.  Meditate daily.  If you don’t go within, you will go with out.  We need quiet restorative time to balance the stress in our life. 
15.  Stand up and move for 10 minutes for every hour your sit at your computer. 
16. Eat a variety of whole, real foods. 
17.  Sleep 7 to 9 hours every night. 
18.  Pull ups are my favorite exercise.  Get a home pull up bar to practice. 
19.  Get out and spend a few minutes in nature.  Appreciate the world around you while taking in fresh air and natural beauty. 
20.  We all need to pull more in our workouts.  Add more pulling movements horizontally and vertically. 
21. Surround yourself with health minded people. 
22. Keep your room dark for deep sound sleep.  A sleep mask is great for that! 
23. Use chemical free cosmetics.  Your skin is the largest organ of your body and all chemicals will absorb into your blood stream. 
24. Unilateral movements will help improve symmetrical strength. 
25. Become more playful.  We take life too seriously, becoming stress and overwhelmed.  How can you play, smile and laugh more often?
26.  Choose foods that have one ingredient.  Keep your diet simple and clean. 
27.  Keep your joints mobile as you age.  Do exercises that take joints through a full range of motion. 
28. Go to sleep no later than 10:30pm.  This allows your body and brain to repair through the night. 
29. Take care of your health and needs before others.  This allows you to be the best spouse, parent, coworker, and person on the planet. 
30.  Always start your daily with a high fat, high protein meal.  This will encourage less sugar cravings later in the day. 
31. Approach the day with positive thinking!  Stinkin’ thinkin’ only leads to more stress and frustration. 
32. You are never “too old” to do something.  Stay young at heart and keep fitness a priority as the years go by. 
33. Dream big and go for it. 
34.  Lift weights 2 to 4 times every week.  Strong is the new sexy. 
35.  Love.  Love yourself unconditionally.  Love your life and live it to the fullest.  Love others compassionately. 

Amber B.
Cureality Exercise and Fitness Coach

To Change, You Need to Get Uncomfortable

25. September 2014 Amber B (0)
Sitting on the couch is comfortable.  Going through the drive thru to pick up dinner is comfortable.  But when you notice that you’re out-of-shape, tired, sick and your clothes no longer fit, you realize that what makes you comfortable is not in align with what would make you happy.   

You want to see something different when you look in the mirror.  You want to fit into a certain size of jeans or just experience your day with more energy and excitement.  The current condition of your life causes you pain, be it physical, mental or emotional.  To escape the pain you are feeling, you know that you need to make changes to your habits that keep you stuck in your current state.  But why is it so hard to make the changes you know that will help you achieve what you want?  

I want to lose weight but….

I want a six pack but…

I want more energy but….

The statement that follows the “but” is often a situation or habit you are comfortable with.  You want to lose weight but don’t have time to cook healthy meals.  So it’s much more comfortable to go through the drive thru instead of trying some new recipes.   New habits often require a learning curve and a bit of extra time in the beginning.  It also takes courage and energy to establish new routines or seek out help.  

Setting out to achieve your goals requires change.  Making changes to establish new habits that support your goals and dreams can be uncomfortable.  Life, as you know it, will be different.  Knowing that fact can be scary, but so can staying in your current condition.  So I’m asking you to take a risk and get uncomfortable so that you can achieve your goals.  

Realize that it takes 21 days to develop a new habit.  I believe it takes triple that amount of time to really make a new habit stick for the long haul.  So for 21 days, you’ll experience some discomfort while you make changes to your old routine and habits.  Depending on what you are changing, discomfort could mean feeling tired, moody, or even withdrawal symptoms.  However, the longer you stick to your new habits the less uncomfortable you start to feel.  The first week is always the worst, but then it gets easier.

Making it through the uncomfortable times requires staying focused on your goals and not caving to your immediate feelings or desires.  I encourage clients to focus on why their goals important to them.  This reason or burning desire to change will help when old habits, cravings, or situations call you back to your old ways.
Use a tracking and a reward system to stay on track.  Grab a calendar, journal or index card to check off or note your daily successes.  Shoot for consistency and not perfection when trying to make changes.  I encourage my clients to use the 90/10 principle of change and apply that to their goal tracking system.  New clothes, a massage, or a day me-retreat are just a few examples of rewards you can use to sticking to your tracking system.  Pick something that really gets you excited.  

Getting support system in place can help you feel more comfortable with being uncomfortable.  Hiring a coach, joining an online support group, or recruiting family and friends can be very helpful when making big changes.  With a support system in place you are not alone in your discomfort.  You’re network is there for you to reach out for help, knowledge, accountability or camaraderie when you feel frustrated and isolated.  

I’ve helped hundreds of people change their bodies, health and lives of the eleven years I’ve worked as a trainer and coach.  I know it’s hard, but I also know that if they can do it, so can you.  You just need to step outside of your comfort zone and take a risk. Don’t let fear create uncomfortable feelings that keep you stuck in your old ways.  Take that first step and enjoy the journey of reaching your goals and dreams.  

Amber Budahn, B.S., CSCS, ACE PT, USATF 1, CHEK HLC 1, REIKI 1
Cureality Exercise Specialist

The 3 Best Grain Free Food Swaps to Boost Fat Burning

25. September 2014 Lisa G (0)
You can join others enjoying substantial improvements in their health, energy and pant size by making a few key, delicious substitutions to your eating habits.  This is possible with the Cureality nutrition approach, which rejects the idea that grains should form the cornerstone of the human diet.  

Grain products, which are seeds of grasses, are incompatible with human digestion.  Contrary to what we have been told for years, eating healthy whole grain is not the answer to whittle away our waists.  Consumption of all grain-based carbohydrates results in increased production of the fat storage hormone insulin.  Increased insulin levels create the perfect recipe for weight gain. By swapping out high carbohydrate grain foods that cause spikes in insulin with much lower carbohydrate foods, insulin release is subdued and allows the body to release fat.

1. Swap wheat-based flour with almond flour/meal

  • One of the most dubious grain offenders is modern wheat. Replace wheat flour with naturally wheat-free, lower carbohydrate almond flour.  
  • Almond flour contains a mere 12 net carbs per cup (carbohydrate minus the fiber) with 50% more filling protein than all-purpose flour.
  • Almond flour and almond meal also offer vitamin E, an important antioxidant to support immune function.

2. Swap potatoes and rice for cauliflower

  • Replace high carb potatoes and pasta with vitamin C packed cauliflower, which has an inconsequential 3 carbs per cup.  
  • Try this food swap: blend raw cauliflower in food processor to make “rice”. (A hand held grater can also be used).  Sautee the “riced” cauliflower in olive or coconut oil for 5 minutes with seasoning to taste.
  • Another food swap: enjoy mashed cauliflower in place of potatoes.  Cook cauliflower. Place in food processor with ½ a stick organic, grass-fed butter, ½ a package full-fat cream cheese and blend until smooth. Add optional minced garlic, chives or other herbs such as rosemary.
3. Swap pasta for shirataki noodles and zucchini

  • Swap out carb-rich white pasta containing 43 carbs per cup with Shirataki noodles that contain a few carbs per package. Shirataki noodles are made from konjac or yam root and are found in refrigerated section of supermarkets.
  • Another swap: zucchini contains about 4 carbs per cup. Make your own grain free, low-carb noodles from zucchini using a julienne peeler, mandolin or one of the various noodle tools on the market.  

Lisa Grudzielanek, MS,RDN,CD,CDE
Cureality Nutrition Specialist

Not so fast. Don’t make this mistake when going gluten free!

25. September 2014 Lisa G (0)
Beginning last month, the Food and Drug Administration began implementing its definition of “gluten-free” on packaged food labels.  The FDA determined that packaged food labeled gluten free (or similar claims such as "free of gluten") cannot contain more than 20 parts per million of gluten.

It has been years in the making for the FDA to define what “gluten free” means and hold food manufactures accountable, with respect to food labeling.  However, the story does not end there.

Yes, finding gluten-free food, that is now properly labeled, has become easier. So much so the market for gluten-free foods tops $6 billion last year.   However, finding truly healthy, commercially prepared, grain-free foods is still challenging.

A very common mistake made when jumping into the gluten-free lifestyle is piling everything labeled gluten-free in the shopping cart.  We don’t want to replace a problem: wheat, with another problem: gluten free products.

Typically gluten free products are made with rice flour (and brown rice flour), tapioca starch, cornstarch, and potato flour.  Of the few foods that raise blood sugar higher than wheat, these dried, powdered starches top the list.

 They provide a large surface area for digestion, thereby leading to sky-high blood sugar and all the consequences such as diabetes, hypertension, cataracts, arthritis, and heart disease. These products should be consumed very rarely consumed, if at all.  As Dr. Davis has stated, “100% gluten-free usually means 100% awful!”

There is an ugly side to the gluten-free boom taking place.  The Cureality approach to wellness recommends selecting gluten-free products wisely.  Do not making this misguided mistake and instead aim for elimination of ALL grains, as all seeds of grasses are related to wheat and therefore overlap in many effects.

Lisa Grudzielanek MS, RDN, CD, CDE
Cureality Health & Nutrition Coach

3 Foods to Add to Your Next Grocery List

25. September 2014 Lisa G (0)
Looking for some new foods to add to your diet? Look no further. Reach for these three mealtime superstars to encourage a leaner, healthier body.

Microgreens

Microgreens are simply the shoots of salad greens and herbs that are harvested just after the first leaves have developed, or in about 2 weeks.  Microgreen are not sprouts. Sprouts are germinated, in other words, sprouted seeds produced entirely in water. Microgreens are grown in soil, thereby absorbing the nutrients from the soil.

The nutritional profile of each microgreen depends greatly on the type of microgreen you are eating. Researchers found red cabbage microgreens had 40 times more vitamin E and six times more vitamin C than mature red cabbage. Cilantro microgreens had three times more beta-carotene than mature cilantro.

A few popular varieties of microgreens are arugula, kale, radish, pea, and watercress. Flavor can vary from mild to a more intense or spicy mix depending on the microgreens.  They can be added to salads, soup, omelets, stir fry and in place of lettuce.  

Cacao Powder

Cocoa and cacao are close enough in flavor not to make any difference. However, raw cacao powder has 3.6 times the antioxidant activity of roasted cocoa powder.  In short, raw cacao powder is definitely the healthiest, most beneficial of the powders, followed by 100% unsweetened cocoa.

Cacao has more antioxidant flavonoids than blueberries, red wine and black and green teas.  Cacao is one of the highest sources of magnesium, a great source of iron and vitamin C, as well as a good source of fiber for healthy bowel function.
Add cacao powder to milk for chocolate milk or real hot chocolate.  Consider adding to coffee for a little mocha magic or sprinkle on berries and yogurt.




Shallots

Shallots have a better nutrition profile than onions. On a weight per weight basis, they have more anti-oxidants, minerals, and vitamins than onions. Shallots have a milder, less pungent taste than onions, so people who do not care for onions may enjoy shallots.

Like onions, sulfur compounds in shallot are necessary for liver detoxification pathways.  The sulfur compound, allicin has been shown to be beneficial in reducing cholesterol.  Allicin is also noted to have anti-bacterial, anti-viral, and anti-fungal activities.

Diced then up and add to salads, on top of a bun less hamburger, soups, stews, or sauces.  Toss in an omelet or sauté to enhance a piece of chicken or steak, really the possibilities are endless.  

Lisa Grudzielanek,MS,RDN,CD,CDE
Cureality Nutrition & Health Coach

3 Band Exercises for Great Glutes

15. August 2014 Amber B (0)
Bands and buns are a great combination.  (When I talk about glutes or a butt, I use the word buns)  When it comes to sculpting better buns, grab a band.   Bands are great for home workouts, at gym or when you travel.  Check out these 3 amazing exercises that will have your buns burning. 

Band Step Out

Grab a band and place it under the arch of each foot.  Then cross the band and rest your hands in your hip sockets.  The exercise starts with your feet hip width apart and weight in the heels.  Slightly bend the knees and step your right foot out to the side.  Step back in so that your foot is back in the starting position.  With each step, make sure your toes point straight ahead.  The tighter you pull the band, the more resistance you will have.    You will feel this exercise on the outside of your hips. 

Start with one set of 15 repetitions with each foot.  Work on increasing to 25 repetitions on each side and doing two to three sets.



Band Kick Back

This exercise is performed in the quadruped position with your knees under hips and hands under your shoulders.    Take the loop end of the band and put it around your right foot and place the two handles or ends of the band under your hands.  Without moving your body, kick your right leg straight back.  Return to the starting quadruped position.  Adjust the tension of the band to increase or decrease the difficulty of this exercise. 

Start with one set of 10 repetitions with each foot.  Work on increasing to 20 repetitions on each side and doing two to three sets. 



Band Resisted Hip Bridge

Start lying on your back with feet hip distance apart and knees bent at about a 45-degree angle.  Adjust your hips to a neutral position to alleviate any arching in your lower back.  Place the band across your hipbones.  Hold the band down with hands along the sides of your body.  Contract your abs and squeeze your glutes to lift your hips up off the ground.  Stop when your thighs, hips and stomach are in a straight line.  Lower you hips back down to the ground. 

Start with one set of 15 repetitions.  Work on increasing to 25 repetitions and doing two to three.  Another variation of this exercise is to hold the hip bridge position.  Start with a 30 second hold and work up to holding for 60 seconds.

To get low-carb right, you need to check blood sugars

To get low-carb right, you need to check blood sugars

19. January 2010 William Davis (60)
Reducing your carbohydrate exposure, particularly to wheat, cornstarch, and sucrose (table sugar), helps with weight loss; reduction of triglycerides, small LDL, and c-reactive protein; increases HDL; reduces blood pressure. There should be no remaining doubt on these effects.

However, I am going to propose that you cannot truly get your low-carb diet right without checking blood sugars. Let me explain.

Carbohydrates are the dominant driver of blood sugar (glucose) after eating. But it's clear that we also obtain some wonderfully healthy nutrients from carbohydrate sources: Think anthocyanins from blueberries and pomegranates, vitamin C from citrus, and soluble fiber from beans. There are many good things in carbohydrate foods.

How do we weigh the need to reduce carbohydrates with their benefits?

Blood sugar after eating ("postprandial") is the best index of carbohydrate metabolism we have (not fasting blood sugar). It also provides an indirect gauge of small LDL. Checking your blood sugar (glucose) has become an easy and relatively inexpensive tool that just about anybody can incorporate into health habits. More often than not, it can also provide you with some unexpected insights about your response to diet.

If you’re not a diabetic, why bother checking blood sugar? New studies have documented the increased likelihood of cardiovascular events with increased postprandial blood sugars well below the ranges regarded as diabetic. A blood sugar level of 140 mg/dl after a meal carries 30-60% increased (relative) risk for heart attack and other events. The increase in risk begins at even lower levels, perhaps 110 mg/dl or lower after-eating.

We use a one-hour after eating blood sugar to gauge the effects of a meal. If, for instance, your dinner of baked chicken, asparagus brushed with olive oil, sauteed mushrooms, mashed potatoes, and a piece of Italian bread yields a one-hour blood sugar of 155 mg/dl, you know that something is wrong. (This is far more common than most people think.)

Doing this myself, I have been shocked at the times I've had an unexpectedly high blood sugar from seemingly "safe' foods, or when a store- or restaurant-bought meal had some concealed source of sugar or carbohydrate. (I recently had a restaurant meal of a turkey burger with cheese, mixed salad with balsamic vinegar dressing, along with a few bites of my wife's veggie omelet. Blood sugar one hour later: 127 mg/dl. I believe sugar added to the salad dressing was the culprit.)

You can now purchase your own blood glucose monitor at stores like Walmart and Walgreens for $10-20. You will also need to purchase the fingerstick lancets and test strips; the test strips are the most costly part of the picture, usually running $0.50 to $1.00 per test strip. But since people without diabetes check their blood sugar only occasionally, the cost of the test strips is, over time, modest. I've had several devices over the years, but my current favorite for ease-of-use is the LifeScan OneTouch UltraMini that cost me $18.99 at Walgreens.

Checking after-meal blood sugars is, in my view, a powerful means of managing diet when reducing carbohydrate exposure is your goal. It provides immediate feedback on the carbohydrate aspect of your diet, allowing you to adjust and tweak carbohydrate intake to your individual metabolism.
Tags :

Comments (60) -

  • Anne

    1/19/2010 3:29:13 PM |

    I can attest to the fact that doctors ignore what happens to blood glucose after eating. My fasting BG has always been normal but my glucose tolerance tests have always been high. My last glucose tolerance test a few yrs ago went to 201. My doctors told me I had some insulin resistance but assured me that I did not have to do anything about it because my fasting was OK.

    About 1 year ago, after reading this blog and others, I bought a glucometer. Yes, my fasting was "normal" but I could easily push it up to 200 by eating. I did just what Dr. Davis recommends. I used the glucometer to figure out what I can eat and how much I can eat. I am able to keep my blood glucose below 120 now. The glucometer is a powerful tool.

    Is it possible my ignored elevated post meal blood sugars did damage? Well, lets see, I have peripheral neuropathy and have had cardiac bypass. Giving up gluten 6 yrs ago greatly improved my PN and relieved my of shortness of breath and pitting edema. Getting my blood glucose down will make a difference too.

    I recommend Blood Sugar 101 http://www.phlaunt.com/diabetes/

  • sdkidsbooks

    1/19/2010 5:09:59 PM |

    Going to get a glucose meter today and start checking.  Is there a desirable number or range for glucose before and after or is it about how much or how little it rises without regard to the number?
    Seems like somewhere around a 100 is what you are advocating.  

    If a person is not diabetic, is it helpful at all to know your A1C when getting routine blood work done?  Just wondering...

    Thanks.

    Jan

  • Anonymous

    1/19/2010 6:38:43 PM |

    You can get Wavesense Keynote test strips from Amazon for about 35 cents per strip -- the best deal I've ever seen.  (The meter is about $35 there.)  

    I am curious about the right time to test.  If blood sugar goes to 160 at 30 minutes, but is down to, say, 100 at one hour, is that ok? Why is one hour (not 30 mins or 2 hours) the key number?

  • Gretchen

    1/19/2010 7:02:35 PM |

    Ground meat is often cut with breadcrumbs. I won't eat ground meat or meatloaf at a restaurant or potluck supper.

    Balsamic vinegar contains up to 3 g of glucose per tablespoon. And most people do add sugar to salad dressings. One restaurant I went to boiled down cider vinegar until it was sweet.

    You can use those urine glucose test strips to test foods for the presence of glucose before you eat them. If it's starch, you have to chew the food a bit first to break down the starch. See Richard Bernstein's "Diabetes Solution."

  • Anonymous

    1/19/2010 7:16:36 PM |

    When exactly do you take the measurement?  One hour after the start of a meal or one hour after the end?  Sometimes when we eat out, a meal can take an hour or more to finish.

  • DrStrange

    1/19/2010 7:48:44 PM |

    One caution is that blood sugar meters are only accurate to plus or minus 20% which is a huge variance.  Also, many (probably worst w/ the Walmart Relion or similar budget meters) are not very consistent so you can't just compare to a lab test and calibrate.  

    What I generally do is take 3 (or even 4) readings within a few seconds of each other, toss any wild outliers, then average what is left.  If you try this a few times, depending on your meter, you may be shocked at how much difference there is between the readings.

  • Calvin

    1/19/2010 7:51:01 PM |

    Dr. Davis--Great post--I totally agree. Even if someone isn't diabetic or prediabetic (myself),  investing in a glucose meter, then self-testing (especially post postprandial) has got to be one of the absolute best investments one can make in personal health.

    I once read that if most diabetics (and I'll add prediabetics too) had invested in a meter years before their diagnosis, mostly likely they could have/would have avoided many of their accompanying negative health conditions today.  

    That said, there is still a lot of "cognitive dissonance" with regards to diet and health--I think the meter really helps to reinforce the cognition portion of that phrase thereby reducing the dissonance half.  

    And using a glucose meter can actually be fun!

  • Future Primitive

    1/19/2010 10:33:28 PM |

    Here's an example of carbo loading on yam and plantain - there was a 7 hour "fast" prior to eating and then taking the measurements.

    http://tinyurl.com/bg-set-001

    mg/dL is marked at a few key points on the right hand side.

    What I don't get is how to interpret the second rise and fall after the two hour mark ... though it is still inside the post-absorptive window (which closes 3-5 hours after eating, IIRC).

    I'm pretty certain a glass of red wine explains the initial drop to 65 mg/dL, btw.

    Also, for those that would like to make their own graph, it's easy to grab the url and fill in your own data (it's a google charts thing).

  • notrace

    1/20/2010 12:04:01 AM |

    Will there still be production of small LDL from excess blood glucose even if there is ample available glycogen storage space? That is, will the liver simultaneously manufacture LDL and glycogen?

  • Anonymous

    1/20/2010 2:37:04 AM |

    When do you start to count your one hour.  From the time of your first bite of food, or when you have  finished your last bite.  Since it takes about 20-30 minutes to finish eating, when to start the one hour count down is important.

  • Dr. William Davis

    1/20/2010 2:58:57 AM |

    Hi, Anne--

    What a perfect example of the power of postprandial testing!

    Yes, Jenny Ruhl at http://diabetesupdate.blogspot.com  provides a wealth of insight into blood sugar issues. We will also be releasing an in-depth Special Report on this issue on the www.trackyourplaque.com website.

  • Dr. William Davis

    1/20/2010 3:00:50 AM |

    In answer to the questions on timing of blood sugar checks:

    I am guilty of oversimplification. The peak timing of blood sugar varies on the foods consumed and the mix of foods consumed. It will also vary from individual to individual. I believe a reasonable way to start out is to check 60 minutes from the completion of a meal. Even better, you might occasionally perform your own time-course study: Check blood sugars every 30 minutes to determine when you tend to peak.

  • Coach Jeff

    1/20/2010 12:58:55 PM |

    Since an LC diet causes insulin resistance, (Actually a GOOD and protective thing within the context of an LC diet)wouldn't a long-term low carber get a sort of "false positive" reading of high blood sugar from ANY high carb meal?

    Also, what do you think of the theory (that seems to really be gathering momentum lately) that fructose is the actual cause of insulin resistance, while on a "high carb" diet, and that glucose/starch is relatively benign?

  • Anonymous

    1/20/2010 1:12:53 PM |

    I got a blood glucose monitor after I starting taking niacin for HDL (had read that niacin could raise blood glucose) and it was an eye opener. Now I know what foods to avoid.

    Jeanne

  • Dr. William Davis

    1/20/2010 1:43:47 PM |

    Gretchen--

    Great thoughts. I forgot about the bread crumbs in ground meat issue.

  • Dr. William Davis

    1/20/2010 1:45:17 PM |

    Coach--

    I think it's a matter of degree: While fructose is clearly a very bad player, glucose/starch are not benign, just less bad. Look at the responses we can generate with glucose tolerance testing using 75 grams of glucose.

  • Peter

    1/20/2010 2:55:25 PM |

    Since a simple way to reduce after-meal glucose readings is to eat smaller meals and eat more often, I don't quite understand why you think it's a bad idea.

  • Anonymous

    1/20/2010 3:27:43 PM |

    Bloodsugar101 suggests timing from the start of the meal. I always set a timer anyway, and it is easier to do before beginning to eat than at the end of the meal. This can feel awkward at first in restaurants, but I look at it as a way to get the word out.

    The occasional checks every 30 minutes is an excellent suggestion. Anytime you go over 140, you're causing damage. Even if it is only for brief periods, you want to be sure this is not one of your staple foods!

  • Anonymous

    1/20/2010 8:07:02 PM |

    What has happended to your trackyourplaque forum? I can't reach it anymore? Server crash without any backups? :-(

  • P

    1/20/2010 9:26:25 PM |

    hmmm. How painful is it to check the blood sugar that often?

  • Anonymous

    1/20/2010 10:13:42 PM |

    I'm curious to know how to interpret blood sugar readings on the background of a healthy weight and a low-carb diet, with no known diabetes.  

    My fasting sugar is the same as it was before going low-carb (mid-70s).  However, it now takes a lot fewer carbs to spike my postprandial sugars.  

    An example: after 25 grams of carb in the form of a small serving of sweet potato with butter, my 45 minute postprandial reading, measured in triplicate, was 135.  I'm guessing the peak was even higher.  In case it matters, I'm a 36yo woman with a BMI of 18.9.  

    Should I be unconcerned by this kind of spike as long as my typical meals don't spike my sugar?  Is this just the normal insulin resistance caused by a low-carb diet, as Coach Jeff mentioned in his comment?

  • Anonymous

    1/20/2010 11:06:20 PM |

    Dr. Davis, you said, "While fructose is clearly a very bad player, glucose/starch are not benign, just less bad. Look at the responses we can generate with glucose tolerance testing using 75 grams of glucose."

    This does not prove anything about what causes insulin resistance in the first place though.  The person having a response to glucose during a tolerance test may have originally gotten their insulin resistance from fructose.  You can't use fructose in the test since it doesn't raise blood sugar, you can only use glucose.  

    To put it another way, people who don't have insulin resistance don't have abnormal responses to glucose during glucose tolerance tests.  Does that exonerate glucose?  Not really.  

    What I'm saying is you can't indict glucose OR fructose based solely on what is seen in a glucose tolerance test.

  • Dr. William Davis

    1/21/2010 11:59:56 AM |

    Anon--

    Blood sugars are too high. Either too much carbohydrate in the diet or something has caused an abnormal insulin response. While the dangers are not acute, there are long-term consequences of blood sugars this high.

  • frogfarm

    1/21/2010 3:02:19 PM |

    Dr. Davis, if you can spare a moment I hope you would comment on this:

    http://fanaticcook.blogspot.com/2010/01/should-you-take-vitamin-d2-or-vitamin.html

    where Dr. Michael Holick (Mr. Vitamin D, from the look of his pedigree) claims D2 is equally as effective as D3 in raising and maintaining 25OHD levels?

  • DrStrange

    1/21/2010 3:43:05 PM |

    There are two main causes of insulin resistance, dietary fat and possibly fructose.  Fructose is not a cause for many as they can eat a mostly fruit diet without issues but for some it is a big factor.  There are "must have" essential fatty acids needed in proper amounts and ratio, perhaps a bit more fat is needed.  Beyond that minimum amount, any additional adds to insulin resistance. The amounts and ratios are all present in an all plant diet without the addition of any add oils or fats and that w/ minimal nuts/seeds (maybe an ounce of flax).

    After being on strict McDougall diet (total dietary fat approx 10% and no refined carbs, no animal products, no junk) for about 18 months, I did a 75 gm glucose tolerance test and had them do an extra point at 30 minutes just in case. My highest peak was 114.  Previously, on low carb diet I would go to 185 or higher. [I am 5'3" and 110 pounds so small body mass; lbs body per gm glucose if that makes any difference]

  • TedHutchinson

    1/21/2010 8:49:40 PM |

    @ frogfarm said...
    I find it very strange people take this particular study seriously.

    At the end of the trial none of the participants had 25(OH)D levels above 30ng/ml, so they all remained vitamin D insufficient.
    IMO it is unacceptable medical practice to knowingly give people an amount of a supplement that leaves them at such a low 25(OH)D level they remain unable to properly absorb calcium and well below the 58.8ng/ml level at which human breast milk flows replete with D3.
    So too little vitamin D of any kind leaves you vitamin D deficient.
    Is that such a remarkable finding?

    BUY DISCOUNT Ostoforte 50,000 IU (also called Drisdol) ONLINE 50,000 IU (100 capsules)  $168.99 USD
    or you can choose
    Vitamin D3 $26.95 for 100 X 50,000iu capsules.
    Who, but a fool, chooses to pay $169 when there's a better, cheaper alternative costing only $27?
    Or choosing an oilbased gelcap still saves loads of money.
    Healthy Origins, Vitamin D3, 10,000 IU, 360 Softgels $23.95

    I'm not sure of the point or the common sense, involved in trying to prove a synthetic drug, humans have to convert to D3 anyway, may, in trivial amounts too low to get anybody out of insufficiency, may be as good as a natural, cheaper, product or that equivalence seen in a few persons at a very low dose level, also applies at the sensible, natural levels, desirable for optimum health outcomes.

    While there are cases like this listed in Pubmed it is clear some people do not absorb nor are able to use Vitamin D2.
    We report a case of a 56-year-old woman who received supratherapeutic doses of ergocalciferol (150,000 IU orally daily) for 28 years without toxicity.

    A small trial of just 68 people is unlikely to pick up cases like the above.

    Grassrootshealth Banner Graph shows the amounts people have been taking and the 25(OH)D levels they have achieved.
    6000~8000iu approx 1000iu/daily for each 25lbs you weigh generally produces a natural level at which the body is able to store a sufficient reserve of D3 to be effective at times of crisis.
    This LEF study is another example showing 5000iu/d is not sufficient to get most people above 50ng/ml.

    As Holick knows perfectly well human skin naturally makes 10,000iu/daily given a few minutes full body UVB exposure. It does that for a purpose. Only when researchers start using equivalent EFFECTIVE amounts of the same NATURAL Vitamin D3 biologically identical to the form human skin NATURALLY makes, will we see an improvement rates of chronic illness.

  • Anonymous

    1/21/2010 9:13:05 PM |

    Dr Strange, if you're eating low carb, you have to prep for a GTT by carb-loading for 3-5 days beforehand.  Your pancreas won't be prepared to handle 75g of carb unless you give it a few days to rev up insulin production first.

    The reason that you had no problem with the GTT while McDougalling was that your body was used to high-carb loads, and so the test posed no challenge to your pancreas.

  • TedHutchinson

    1/21/2010 9:33:39 PM |

    Testing in Pairs
    Although this idea is for diabetics I feel it may also be useful for others wanting to see how particular food/exercise choices affect their numbers.
    There is also a short video, a downloadable record form and an example to consider.

  • Anonymous

    1/22/2010 5:22:55 AM |

    I can support what others are saying: before I went low carb, I could eat carbs and my blood glucose would never go above 120; now I eat pretty low carb and a single sweet potato can take me to 150.  I guess one should either eat extremely low carb or extremely high carb to avoid glucose spikes.

  • Dr. William Davis

    1/22/2010 3:04:13 PM |

    I worry that chronically eating high-carbohydrate, while generating an "accommodation" response that blunts postprandial blood sugars, will generate pancreatic BURNOUT by constantly challenging the pancreas to overproduce insulin.

  • Vladimir

    1/22/2010 3:47:56 PM |

    I too find that my post-meal glucose goes up much more after I do have carbs, if I'm eating low carb than high carb.  It's kind of amazing, and a little worry-some.

    However, if I eat very low carb, my fasting glucose is in the low 80s, while if I have more carbs, it's in the high 90s the next morning.  For example, I have (following the blog's advice) had absolutely no wheat and minimal sugar since Dec 27.  My fasting glucose had fallen into the low to mid 80s.  Two days ago, I had a large cookie after lunch --  My first wheat/sugar in 3 weeks.  The next morning, my fasting glucose was 98.

  • DrStrange

    1/22/2010 3:57:49 PM |

    Insulin resistance is the key here and dietary fat is a major contributor to IR.  I simultaneously took insulin levels w/ the blood sugar readings in the 75 gm glucose tolerance test above, and they were consistently low normal to slightly below normal, starting w/ undetectable level at fasting. Readings were:

    fasting < 2
    30 minutes = 3
    60 minutes = 5
    120 minutes = 14
    180 minutes = 8


    reference ranges given on lab report:
    fasting  < 17
    30 minutes = 6-86
    60 minutes = 8-112
    120 minutes = 5-55
    180 minutes = 3-20


    Doesn't seem like too much risk of burn out there!  And again, the reason for the low insulin output generating a fairly flat and low sugar curve was that without excess dietary fat (7-10% of total calories), there is dramatically reduced insulin resistance.

  • Matt Stone

    1/22/2010 6:47:00 PM |

    Thanks for bringing up the importance of blood sugar levels. I've done the same thing with my followers in my recent eBook on type 2 Diabetes, Metabolic Syndrome, and Prediabetes.

    What I have done is take it a step further. Instead of noting what my blood sugar reaction is to a large meal full of high GI starch and trying to avoid it, my focus has been finding ways to improve my glucose tolerance to such a meal.

    My glucose response to food is now far better than any single person following the advice of this blog. That much I can guarantee. It is not luck. It is not genetics. I watched my numbers fall as I followed insights that I gained from several years of intense investigation on the subject.

    The big thing that low-carb authors are missing is that unrefined carbohydrates can improve glucose response to food, even if they cause a larger rise in blood sugar in the short-term.

    My blood sugar now peaks at levels below 80 mg/dl after meals, something that the medical and nutrition-sphere probably considers to be impossible. But it's not. It's glucose metabolism perfection, but it's not achieved through limiting glucose intake. In fact, that can make your response to glucose worse, not better.

  • I Pull 400 Watts

    1/22/2010 9:58:30 PM |

    When you say low carb, what percentage of your calories are coming from carbs? Talking under 30% here?

  • Ateronon

    1/23/2010 6:43:30 AM |

    Off topic here but wish you would discuss salt and its effect on heart disease. There has just been a well publicized news story on it:

    http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/01/21/salt.intake/

    Do you recommend cutting salt intake to your patients?

    Great blog!

  • DrStrange

    1/23/2010 9:38:02 PM |

    "...if I eat very low carb, my fasting glucose is in the low 80s...  Two days ago, I had a large cookie after lunch -- My first wheat/sugar in 3 weeks. The next morning, my fasting glucose was 98."

    Yes, the high fat content of low-carb diet causes insulin resistance!  If you ate low fat (around 10% total calories max) for a couple weeks then you would maintain the lower fasting sugar after a carb load. Though if that cookie had a lot of fat in it, that could be enough to kick up the insulin resistance again.  One other possibility is if you are gluten intolerant, the stress to your system of eating wheat cookie could make fasting bg higher.

  • Vladimir

    1/24/2010 3:28:38 AM |

    Dr. Strange, Do you have any evidence that a diet high in healthy fats -- I'm a vegetarian, so I get little saturated fat -- causes insulin resistance?  I've never seen that theory propounded, and the mechanism seems implausible to me.

  • Matt Stone

    1/24/2010 5:57:21 PM |

    Dr. Strange-

    Interesting thoughts and you are right to question low-carb dogma as well as to show that insulin resistance is the core problem - and that a very high-fat, low-carb diet worsens the core problem.

    Anyone questioning this has not researched the issue thoroughly enough.


    However, you are making the same mistake. Eating a high-carb, low-fat diet for an extended period of time, while lowering your fasting glucose and insulin levels, also makes your glucose tolerance worse.

    Let me explain...

    If you have a basline meal, let's say, a slab of baby back ribs with cornbread and baked beans, and your 1-hour pp is 140 mg/dl, fasting the next day is 100, then you have good base numbers to track improvement.

    Eat low-carb, high-fat for 10 weeks, eat that same meal (ribs), and both your fasting and pp glucose levels will be higher than they were before you went low-carb. This means you're in worse shape than before the experiment.

    If you eat low-fat, high-carb for 10 weeks, and you eat a slab of ribs, cornbread, and baked beans...
    You're pp and FG will measure into the stratosphere (my 1-hour pp actually hit 173 mg/dl breaking a low-fat escapade...nutritarian).

    Both diets made your glucose metabolism worse in response to your baseline meal.  In other words, both strategies give you better numbers in the interim while making you fundamentally unhealthier (not to mention eating low-fat will make you crave more fat and low-carb will make you crave more carbs).

    What I've found is how to improve your glucose levels and insulin sensitivity in response to normal mixed food ratios. That's where real healing is achieved. A low-carber or a "low-fatter" will never get to a point where he or she can eat a large mixed meal with lots of fat, carbohdyrates, protein, and calories without having high postprandial spikes and high fasting glucose levels. Only someone who can eat 2 baked potatoes with 2T of butter and an 8-ounce untrimmed ribeye with fasting levels in the 70's and pp's in the 70-90 range is truly healthy and free of insulin resistance. I've found the secret to achieving that, and it is not low-fat, low-carb, or low-calorie.

    If such a meal sends your blood sugar half way to Mars, then you need to fix that!  Not avoid it!

  • Anonymous

    1/24/2010 11:32:13 PM |

    @ Matt Stone:

    Stop spamming! Yes, "everyone is wrong but I have figured it all out but for won't tell you what it is unless you go to my web site and pay me" is a spam, plain and simple. Please stop it.

  • DrStrange

    1/25/2010 12:42:19 AM |

    MattStone said: "Only someone who can eat 2 baked potatoes with 2T of butter and an 8-ounce untrimmed ribeye with fasting levels in the 70's and pp's in the 70-90 range is truly healthy and free of insulin resistance."

    That is somewhat how I used to eat and my fasting sugar level was creeping skyward.  Switched to low carb and felt gradually worse and worse for the 9 months I did it.  Switched to low-fat/starch based diet and have been feeling very well and not craving fat at all.  I do eat a little over an ounce per day of flax and pumpkin seeds for EFA boost.

    On 4 different occasions over the past couple years I have sent my blood sugar way up from one meal of moderate fat intake.  One was from eating all the seeds in a medium sized Delicata squash in one meal, maybe 1/2 cup or a bit more.

    Admittedly my liver is not in the best of shape due to much solvent exposure working in surfboard industry years ago and this my contribute...

    Don't have evidence handy but my understanding is that saturated fat is the biggest contributor to IR, much more so than unsaturated. There is some saturated fat in veg foods, some are very high in fact like coconut.

  • DrStrange

    1/25/2010 1:53:35 AM |

    Matt, Have read some on your blog site and think I get the overall picture of what you are doing but...

    What about the demographic data showing increasing cancer rates w/ increasing consumption of animal protein?  And the at least transient damage from meals high in sat. fat?:

    http://content.onlinejacc.org/cgi/content/short/48/4/715
    Consumption of Saturated Fat Impairs the Anti-Inflammatory Properties of High-Density Lipoproteins and Endothelial Function
    CONCLUSIONS: Consumption of a saturated fat reduces the anti-inflammatory potential of HDL and impairs arterial endothelial function. In contrast, the anti-inflammatory activity of HDL improves after consumption of polyunsaturated fat. These findings highlight novel mechanisms by which different dietary fatty acids may influence key atherogenic processes.

    And this one is a little concerning (its title tells the tale):
    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18263705
    Glucose and leptin induce apoptosis in human beta-cells and impair glucose-stimulated insulin secretion through activation of c-Jun N-terminal kinases.

    More on low fat diet and atherosclerosis:

    http://www.heartattackproof.com/resolving_cade.htm

    It is a fascinating concept that increasing leptin dramatically reduces insulin resistance.  Leptin secretion seems to be induced by increasing glucose level, so eating starch (unrefined carbs like potatoes, whole grains, etc)which converts directly to glucose, should raise leptin level.  What I do not understand is the need for high fat and saturated fat in the diet, nor the need for "overfeeding."  We do need a certain amount of fat in our diets, but a plant based diet, with the addition of an ounce or so of selected seeds/nuts does seem to cover the 10-15% calories from fat we need without the increased disease risks of higher fat intake, and the risks from intake of large amounts of animal protein.

  • billye

    1/25/2010 5:03:20 PM |

    All 42 comments are amazing,

    Lots of varied comments here.  How do you suppose we all arrived here in the first place?  Our genes traveled through the ages,  without the benefit of all of this information.  How did they do this you might ask?  Simple, our ancient ancestors ate what their genes required for survival, full fat wild animal product, supplemented by a few wild not very starchy roots pulled from the ground, and seasonal wild not very sweet tree fruit.  This progressed throughout the last 2.5 million years.  That is how we got here.  Where we went wrong is when agriculture and farming started about 10,000 years ago followed by industry.  Our genes did not change much in the last 2.5 million years of eating high saturated fat including all high fat organs and marrow from the bones, with limited seasonal veggies and fruit.  They did not have the benefit of the sage advice of modern traditional medicine, or electronic devices to guide them, relative to the easy to treat by lifestyle change metabolic syndrome diseases.  Weren't they lucky?  Lest you think I am disparaging all doctors, I am not.  G-d forbid you have a broken leg or a disease that is congenital or inherited  that is difficult or near impossible to treat and need a physician, this group of dedicated highly trained professionals are  a life raft, and much appreciated.  I practice what I preach.  I went from a very ill patient to one that has reversed many of the metabolic syndrome illness that I suffered.  I trust the wisdom of my ancient ancestors and my doctors who practice out of the box evolutionary medicine to guide me.

    Billy E

  • Jared

    1/25/2010 5:04:46 PM |

    The information and anecdotes you provide about various heart disease issues is very interesting and useful. There is a registered dietitian in the Kansas City Area that has produced a series of informational videos about weight loss, nutrition and healthy living that you may be interested in. Here is her latest Nutrition 101 Video Series: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7KZCjcCTCOE&feature=related

    Thank you and happy heart month!

  • TedHutchinson

    1/25/2010 5:44:47 PM |

    @ Dr Strange
    Nutrition and Metabolism  Dietary fat research
    Perhaps you haven't yet read the Meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies evaluating the association of saturated fat with cardiovascular disease Patty W Siri-Tarino, Qi Sun, Frank B Hu, and Ronald M Krauss, Jan. 2010
    showing there is no significant evidence for concluding that dietary saturated fat is associated with an increased risk of CHD or CVD.

    With reference to Consumption of Saturated Fat Impairs the Anti-Inflammatory Properties
    The mitochondria of people new to consuming coconut oil will not be  adjusted to it. It takes time to acquire appropriate gut flora. A single ingestion of an unfamiliar dietary substance will have different effects from long term use of the same substance.

    Any single trial comparing an omega 6 frequently consumed with a type of saturated fat the general public are not generally accustomed to will fail to spot the long term benefits of MCT (coconut oil, saturated fat) consumption.
    MCTs suppress fat deposition through enhanced thermogenesis and fat oxidation. MCT's preserve insulin sensitivity. MCTs regulate production of adipocytokines (e.g., adiponectin.

  • DrStrange

    1/26/2010 12:37:51 AM |

    Billye, you might want to read these.  It is true that ancestors ate full fat wild game, which is very very lean.  Also, 100% of it ate its natural diet and not corn, soy, and synthetic supplements and drugs.  Also, they most likely ate primarily a lot of starchy roots, leaves, flowers, insects, whatever they could collect and some meat when they could get that.  The meaty, beefy, caveman is a romantic fantasy.  They also did not live very long so degenerative diseases of aging were not an issue

    http://diabetesupdate.blogspot.com/2009/09/lets-not-twist-history-to-support-our.html

    http://diabetesupdate.blogspot.com/2009/11/saying-something-over-and-over-doesnt.html

  • billye

    1/26/2010 2:06:40 PM |

    Dr. Strange,

    The reasons that ancient peoples expired at a relatively young age was because diseases that are cured today through the use of antibiotics such as malaria along with the many natural disasters that occurred throughout the ages account for this fact.  However, what they did not die from were the diseases of the metabolic syndrome that you attribute inaccurately to degenerative diseases of old age. They are brought on by the standard American diet.  The degenerative diseases that you mention are first found in ancient egyptians from about 12,000 years ago after the advent of agriculture.  The patients can do their own trials under the watchful eye and monitored by their doctors.  The plain fact is that when switching to an ancient evolutionary lifestyle most of the diseases of the metabolic syndrome  reverse themselves.  This is being accomplished by thousands of people all over the world today, including my self.  You might read the well documented by clinical trials, Good Calories Bad Calories by G. Taubes, and Trick and Treat by B. Groves.  

    Billy E

  • billye

    1/26/2010 3:30:08 PM |

    DR.Strange,

    This is a P.S.  Archaeologists have found many human bones that had cut marks inflicted by other waring clans, along with the fact that the population of those times was very small compared to today's populations.  This is in contrast to the huge carnivore animal populations that walked the earth devouring humans who were in their food chain.  Also of note was the proven fact that ancient populations prized the fattest parts of the animal, brains, organs, and marrow from the bones etc.

    Billy E

  • donny

    1/26/2010 4:33:37 PM |

    Dr Richard Bernstein is in his mid-70s, and has type I diabetes. His diet is around 30 grams of carbohydrate a day, and he has no fear of saturated fat. It beggars the imagination that a man like him, whose pancreas hasn't produced any of it's own insulin in over half a century, should live to a ripe old age (as a male type one diabetic, he's already done this, and he ain't done yet.), but that the same diet should be deadly to the non-diabetic. Maybe he's lucky; but, before he learned to tightly control his own blood sugars, (and with as little insulin as possible), he suffered all kinds of complications, hardening of the arteries, high triglycerides, low hdl, early kidney disease, etc. I think Dr Bernstein and his patients provide proof of concept for what Dr Davis is trying to accomplish here for those suffering insulin resistance, whether they happen to be diabetic or not.
    Matt, you can't test insulin levels with a glucose meter. You also can't test any possibly progressive damage to glucose homeostasis that *might* be caused by a high everything diet over the course of years or even decades in a matter of weeks or months. Nor can you say flat out that your metabolism has been "healed" by such a diet. Has your system healed, or was it just healthy enough in the first place that over time it was capable of making the hormonal adjustments necessary to function well on a mixed diet? Can everybody make that leap?
    The thing about leptin and insulin resistance... one of the effects of leptin is to decrease the appetite for carbohydrate. (Maybe by increasing ketosis? or at least lipolysis.) It's almost like carbohydrate restriction is built right into the system.;)

  • DrStrange

    1/27/2010 12:22:58 AM |

    "...of note was the proven fact that ancient populations prized the fattest parts of the animal, brains, organs, and marrow from the bones..."

    Proven?  How they do that?

  • Anna

    1/27/2010 5:12:13 AM |

    FYI, a few tips I have picked up in the years I have been testing my BG,

    For the least amount of pain sensation when lancing my finger, I take the blood sample from the *side* of my finger tip, *not* on the pad or the tip.    

    If you have chronially cold hands it can be hard to get a good enough sample.  Wash hands with warm water first, dry well.  Swing arm in a big arc few times if necessary, to force more blood to the hands.  Sometimes my house is a bitt chilly but my car is warm from the sun in the driveway.  A few minutes sitting in the sunny car warms up my hands considerably, making a blood drop easy to get.

    It's ok to slightly "milk" the finger from the palm to the tip once, but with warm hands and a few pre-lancing "swings" (described above), that shouldn't be necessary.  It shouldn't take a lot of "milking" to get a good enough sample.

    There's no need to change the lancet tip for each test sample if you are the only one using the lancet (with clean hands, of course).  In fact, the lancet tips become more comfortable with use.  I change the tip only when it becomes dull and uncomfortable.  It goes without saying the lancet tip should always be changed if it is used to get a blood sample for another person.

    Speaking of clean hands, be sure there is no sugar on your hands or it can affect your results.  Wink

  • TedHutchinson

    1/27/2010 1:04:07 PM |

    @ Anna
    Thanks for tips. I've just started testing (following Dr D's suggestion)
    Bit surprised at some of the numbers.
    5.7=102mg/dl premeal
    8.1=146mg/dl 1hr after meal
    Chicken portion in curry sauce + carrots
    Probably tikka sauce (bought ready meal sugar listed 3rd in marinade and in sauce. Won't buy that again.
    Generally between 6.1 and 6.9 110mg/dl~125mg/dl

  • billye

    1/27/2010 2:20:12 PM |

    Dr. Strange,

    There is so much Paleolithic archaeological proof that ancient populations prized brains, organs, and marrow from bones, that it boggles the mind.  Have you not read about the thousands of bones along with tools found in ancient caves? They were smashed to get at the brains and marrow.  I call your attention to the Quarterly Review Of Biology, Vol 79, No1 March 2004, one of the many studies and reports out there.  Meat eating - dietary shift to increased regular consumption of fatty animal tissues in the course of hominid evolution as mediated by selection for "meat adaptive" genes.  This selection conferred resistance to disease risks associated with meat eating also in life expectancy.  The data was produced at the University of southern California, Los Angeles California.  This argument is long over, unless you wish to ignore all of the indisputable archaeological proof available.  Lets get on with out of the box medicine which supports health.  

    Billy E, nephropal.com

  • The Accidental Farmer

    1/29/2010 12:30:13 PM |

    Coach Jeff said: Since an LC diet causes insulin resistance, (Actually a GOOD and protective thing within the context of an LC diet) . . .

    I am new to this blog, got the link from the Taubes Talk yahoogroups board, and I am curious about this statement.  Why is IR good and protective?  I eat a very high fat diet, as well as low carb, as that is what seems to control my hypoglycemia the best, and so this statement seems counter-intuitive.  Or am I mistaken in thinking that hypoglycemia is a sign that one is developing insulin resistance?  If so, then it would seem that if something relieves the symptoms of hypoglycemia, then it is not leading to further insulin resistance.

  • TedHutchinson

    2/9/2010 3:09:04 PM |

    Following Dr Davis's suggestion I bought a Lifescan Onetouch Ultraeasy from Ebay.
    With too many readings higher than I expected, I needed a better way of recording numbers.
    The people at the freephone number at this link
    Lifescan Onetouch will send a cable and software to load and record your readings quickly and easily directly from the meter together with a simple Quick Start Manual.
    As they don't charge for the disk it's quicker and easier than downloading the software, the cable makes the data transfer from meter even quicker.

    People with different makes of meter may like to download the software anyway and enter their figures manually.
    When you have entered a few days readings, the graphs make it easier to see trends.

  • Ron

    2/11/2010 3:09:33 PM |

    I've always been skeptical about the concept that saturated fat increases insulin resistance and here's an article that addresses that fact directly:

    http://wholehealthsource.blogspot.com/2010/02/saturated-fat-and-insulin-sensitivity.html

  • DrStrange

    2/11/2010 8:01:33 PM |

    "I've always been skeptical about the concept that saturated fat increases insulin resistance..."

    Compared to mono fat, not much if any difference.  Try comparing to very low fat diet ie about 10% of total calories and you will clearly see that fat in and of itself, if too much in diet, will indeed greatly increase IR.

  • Andreas

    2/15/2010 12:57:46 PM |

    Dr. Davis, I followed your advice and bought a glucometer. I got severe cravings from time to time. So last time I could not resist I checked my blood sugar. That was after I ate about 300g of nuts, drank a bottle of red wine and ate a big family chocolate bar. The glucometer showed 86 mg/dl which is within normal range. How is that possible?

    Do you have any further recommendations what to look out for in a case like this? I would really like to find the reason and overcome those cravings. I'm not overweight, in fact more the athletic kind of guy. I started eating paleo/EF about a year ok and am doing mostly great except for the cravings.

    Thank you!
    Andreas

Add comment

Loading