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.

You just THINK you're low-carb

You just THINK you're low-carb

27. February 2010 William Davis (72)
Systematically checking postprandial (after-eating) blood sugars is providing some great insights into crafting a better diet for many people.

I last discussed the concept of postprandial glucose checks in To get low-carb right, you need to check blood sugars.

Here are some important lessons that many people--NON-diabetic people, most with normal blood glucoses or just mildly increased--are learning:

Oatmeal yields high blood sugars. Even if your fasting blood sugar is 90 mg/dl, a bowl of oatmeal with skim milk, walnuts, and some berries will yield blood sugars of 150-200 mg/dl in many people.

Cheerios yields shocking blood sugars. 200+ mg/dl is not uncommon in non-diabetics. (Diabetics have 250-350 mg/dl.)

Fruits like apples and bananas increase blood sugar to 130 mg/dl or higher.

Odd symptoms, such as mental "fog," fatigue, and a fullness in the head, are often attributable to high blood sugars.

A subset of people with lipoprotein(a) can have wildly increased blood sugars despite their slender build and high aerobic exercise habits.


Once you identify the high blood sugar problem, you can do something about it. The best place to start is to reduce or eliminate the sugar-provoking food.
Tags :

Comments (72) -

  • Lou

    2/27/2010 2:18:18 PM |

    Hi Dr. Davis,

    What is the maximum postprandial glucose level that we can see without seeing increased risk of heart/diabetes problems? I thought I saw 120 mg/dl somewhere. Is that it? It's hard to keep track of hundreds of blogs. I just learned about Heart Scan Blog last week.

  • Tony

    2/27/2010 2:37:06 PM |

    I have tested my postprandial glucose per your suggestion, and it has been very helpful, but I wanted to note that neither oatmeal (1/2 cup dry) or bananas & apples raise my blood sugar above 115.

  • Anonymous

    2/27/2010 2:57:36 PM |

    Truly normal, non-diabetic people will rarely if ever see a postprandial glucose peak much above 125, even with Cheerios.

    Postprandial hyperglycemia is widespread in populations eating an industrial diet. Those of us who have been officially diagnosed with diabetes are just the tip of the iceberg.

  • Stan (Heretic)

    2/27/2010 3:16:38 PM |

    It is interesting that you confirm that thin slender people which  you identify as "Lp(a)" types are so much less tolerant against high refined carbohydrates!

      In my subjective observation some of the most robust people on the standard (high carb medium fat) diet are of heavy set build ( Kapha/Phlegmatic).  

    They are able to easily increase their adipose tissue which probably is their main defense against high blood glucose.

    This protection comes at the price of putting up weight, sometimes a lot of weight. In some  rare cases their body weight can grow above 500lb before this protection mechanism stops, their adipose tissue stops expanding, and then - and only then - they get diabetes!  Not before, not while their fatty tissue is still growing!

    In my personal opinion the only difference between the heavy set type people and us ("ascetic" body types) is that our adipose tissue is for some reason (genetic?) incapable of growing beyond a minimum (in my case I was only able to put up ~10lb extra at most) therefore our fatty tissue  is not able to scoop up as much excessive glucose out of our bloodstream as their therefore we get diabetes, on a very high refined carb diet, earlier and more severe than them.  

    Our ONLY defense is as you have found too - minimize consumption of high carb food such as cereals, wheat, but also fruit and starches! I personally replaced such food with animal fat, eleven years ago and all my health problems, including mild angina, disappeared as if by miracle.

    Regards,
    Stan (Heretic)

  • Ellen

    2/27/2010 3:37:17 PM |

    So, Dr. Davis, would you say that one should never have foods that raise blood sugar?  I have a 1/2 banana and rice cake post workout with protein. Do you think I should stop this practice?

  • Aliceq

    2/27/2010 4:04:02 PM |

    I might add that the Thanksgiving post-feast lethargy, conventionally attributed to tryptophan-overload, is likely due instead to carb overload (stuffing, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, two helpings of pie). Since I've been low carb, I've generally filled up on turkey and salad at such meals (much more turkey than my dining companions), and also had much more post-prandial energy.

  • switters

    2/27/2010 4:29:41 PM |

    Why in the world would anyone put skim milk in oatmeal (or anything else, for that matter)? Drinking skim milk and consuming lean protein without adequate fat is an excellent way to spike your blood sugar and deplete your body's fat soluble nutrients.  I'd be curious to see how much oatmeal raises blood sugar when eaten with butter and cream. Maybe I'll do that experiment myself.

  • Lou

    2/27/2010 4:50:15 PM |

    I forgot to add that I tried cheerios experiment. My BG went from fasting 86 to PPG 140. I do stay active (lifting weights and running) but lately my diet has been terrible past two years. I actually used to follow low to moderate carbohydrates but being married and having an infant to deal with knocked me off the wagon. I recently got back on the wagon but I have to admit it, it has been rough start... Just have to make it to day 14th (I always found it to be much easier after 14th day or so).

  • Jolly

    2/27/2010 5:33:14 PM |

    Should we check our blood glucose 1 hour after the start of eating, or 1 hour after the end of our meal?

  • Anonymous

    2/27/2010 6:02:41 PM |

    Is this a one-hour reading or a two-hour reading that we're talking about?  And is 120 the best cut off to use?

  • B.K.

    2/27/2010 6:07:06 PM |

    We have several 'feral' apple trees around the property here. They don't make large fruits, but I've eaten up to 3 at a time (golf ball sized) and they never made me have a +40 spike. Other varieties of large store apples do, however. I was taught that the ADA recommends a 1 hour reading of no more than 180, and a 2 hour reading of no more than 140, where the 'after' reading is also less than 40 points higher than the beginning reading. So if you began at 100, you should never break 140. My standards, however, are quite a bit lower. Bring on the bacon and eggs, and I'll wait until Nature here provides me with small apples.

  • Jenny

    2/27/2010 6:32:44 PM |

    Technically, if a person gets two random blood sugars over 200 mg/dl it is enough to diagnose them as diabetic. That's according to the diagnostic criteria published by the ultra conservative American Diabetes Association.

    Based on the research I've seen on this topic, any blood sugar over 163 mg/dl one hour after eating a high carb meal and/or over 120 mg/dl at two hours after the meal is abnormal.

    Truly normal people will be back into the mid 80s two hours after eating a high carb meal. Their highest blood sugar will be about 120, which not so incidentally, is the level at which the incretin hormones seem to kick in and stimulate insulin release.

  • Beth@WeightMaven

    2/27/2010 7:45:44 PM |

    Dr. Davis, love the blog, am learning lots. And per your suggestion, have picked up a blood glucose meter to check how I respond to various carbs.

    Just a minor title quibble tho. Are there really a lot of people eating oatmeal, Cheerios, apples or bananas that think they are low-carb?

  • craig&jan

    2/27/2010 8:03:10 PM |

    Amused and surprised that you have Quaker Oats ads running between your posts...flashing images of huge bowls of oatmeal filled with fruit.  I know it costs money to run a blog but how about screening advertisers to those who promote what you believe in and are advising folks to do?

    Yes, it does show how corporate America lies to the public, but in a way you are assisting them with a platform.  Would you accept ads from Lovaza, Niaspan, etc?  

    I guess it demonstrates why doctors partner with big pharma and others even when they know it's not beneficial...$$$.

  • craig&jan

    2/27/2010 8:03:10 PM |

    Amused and surprised that you have Quaker Oats ads running between your posts...flashing images of huge bowls of oatmeal filled with fruit.  I know it costs money to run a blog but how about screening advertisers to those who promote what you believe in and are advising folks to do?

    Yes, it does show how corporate America lies to the public, but in a way you are assisting them with a platform.  Would you accept ads from Lovaza, Niaspan, etc?  

    I guess it demonstrates why doctors partner with big pharma and others even when they know it's not beneficial...$$$.

  • Anna

    2/27/2010 8:54:10 PM |

    Tony,

    You probably still have an intact glucose regulation system, so your insulin production is robust and your insulin sensitivity is good.  You might be lucky enough to always have intact BG with grains.  

    Many don't, though, and furthermore, most don't know it.  Insulin insufficiently and insulin resistance are very, very common.

    I know from experience that one can seem to be quite healthy yet BG trouble is brewing below the surface for many years.  Even with a history of gestational diabetes (treated well with a LC diet), my doctors later had no idea how high my post-prandial BG goes (Cheerios can raise it to the mid-200s) because they tend to only suspect BG issues in obese patients and  they only checked FBG, which remain at the high end of normal because of my low carb intake.  

    My own testing with Cheerios leads me to view it and other cold breakfast cereals as bowls of predigested sugar that creates roller coaster BG levels that don't feel good at all.  Steel-cut cooked oatmeal result in somewhat less high BG, but it still goes too high for too long.  For my own long-term health, my glucose meter tells me to ditch the cereals.

  • Jazwaza

    2/27/2010 9:10:44 PM |

    Those foods you listed Dr. Davis are not low-carb at all. I never eat them. What makes you think those are low-carb? Cheerios? Bananas? Oatmeal?

  • Dr. William Davis

    2/27/2010 10:06:22 PM |

    Switters--

    Although I do not advocate using skim milk, most people do. So I chose that because it's so common.


    Ellen--

    No, I would regard that as a very high-sugar breakfast. It eventually catches up to you.


    Beth--

    Yes. While YOU may realize they do not belong in a low-carb diet, an incredible number of people think they do.

  • DrStrange

    2/27/2010 10:26:34 PM |

    "Should we check our blood glucose 1 hour after the start of eating, or 1 hour after the end of our meal?"  I am bumping this question up as i would also love to have a definitive answer on it.  I know two people can sit to eat identical meals and one finish in 15 minutes and the other take 45-60.  This would make a large difference in the measurements depending on where you start time "zero"

  • mikeak

    2/27/2010 11:45:35 PM |

    Oatmeal & banana/blueberries ups my count by only 10 or so, less if I use oat bran; but I always have high-quality whole milk yogurt as the dairy portion.

  • Anonymous

    2/28/2010 1:25:16 AM |

    Is there an A1C level that good glucose control would correspond to, given that your recommendations for post prandial glucose are significantly lower than the usual 140/1hour and 120/2 hour?

  • Bobby

    2/28/2010 1:27:39 AM |

    Dr Davis: I am confused how large populations of Chinese and Japanese people who eat a high starch diet continue to have relatively low rates of heart disease. I would think that white rice would cause a high post postprandial response.
    I enjoy your posts but I need a full explanation to be convinced that you are correct on this point. Very sincerely, Bobby

  • stelladwn

    2/28/2010 3:29:46 AM |

    Ok..., I'm really lost. Recently diagnosed with type 2 on oral meds and Byetta. I don't want my children to follow my path. Thought I was being a good Mom feeding them Cheerios and Oatmeal. So now what??? WHAT DO I FEED THEM???? DR. DAVIS WHERE DO I FIND A DIET PLAN FOR THEM???

  • Ateronon

    2/28/2010 4:42:30 AM |

    I thought oatmeal was ok for some reason, because it's oatmeal, you know like what grandpa ate?
    Spiked my sugar to 190.

    I haven't eaten cereals, white breads or any potato products only for the last 3 weeks and my blood sugar has responded favorably.
    Morning test was usually a 100-105 (yikes) now it's 85-90. I'm not sure of the ideal low end but maybe I can see 70 in a few months.

    Great blog on diabetes, Jenny.

  • Peter

    2/28/2010 12:58:05 PM |

    I wonder which yields a more accurate view of what's likely to happen as you get older?

    Fasting blood sugar.
    Post-prandial blood sugar.
    Ha1c test.

  • Dr. William Davis

    2/28/2010 2:42:55 PM |

    All of these issues, including when to check blood sugar, what constitutes a desirable number, etc. are all addressed in detail in the Track Your Plaque Special Report, Postprandial Responses:
    Part 3 - Carbohydrates and postprandial blood sugar at http://www.trackyourplaque.com/library/fl_04-022postprandialcarbs.asp in the open content section (first 8 or so pages).

  • ATHiker95

    2/28/2010 5:17:39 PM |

    Here's a comment on oatmeal - BG before breakfast - 125. Bowl of Quaker weight control Maple and Brown Sugar oatmeal (29 carbs, 6 g fiber, 1g sugar), 1 tablespoon of chia seeds (4 carbs,4 g Fiber), 1 scoop of flax seed (5 carbs, 4 G Fiber). Handful of pecans, splash of 2 percent milk.  BG reading 2 hours later - 181. No doubt, 210+ after an hour, but I didn't check then.  Despite all the fiber and the pecans as a source of fat to slow down the sugar rush, still no go. Moral of this story (for me) - back to eggs and meats. Smile

  • Bobby

    2/28/2010 5:57:38 PM |

    Dr Davis: I have read the entire report and it doesn't address the issue that was the basis of my question: Why do starch based oriental cultures have a low incidence of heart disease. They also eat a low fat diet.
    I look forward to your response. Many thanks, Bobby

  • Lori Miller

    2/28/2010 6:24:23 PM |

    Add me to the ranks of the low-carb eaters. I was taking Aciphex for acid reflux and discovered that PPIs have side effects such as osteoporosis, iron deficiency anemia and hip fracture. Other side effects of low stomach acid are too numerous to list here. I stopped taking them and read that high-glycemic foods (read: starchy, sugary carbs like fruit and grains) cause reflux. (See http://heartburncured.com/) By experimenting with my diet the past few days, I've found this to be true. Goodbye, starches and sugars.

    I'm making a believer out of my diabetic mom, too. The other day, she had a few bites of a bagel, some apple sauce, oatmeal--and BG of 268. She slept all day, stoned on sugar. Today, after I told her 100 times that it's the carbs, she's having bacon, cottage cheese and an egg--and a lucid state of mind.

  • Lou

    2/28/2010 10:40:50 PM |

    Bobby,

    It could be that they are not really consuming high amount of starch carbohydrates. Media always made it sound like they consume a lot of carbohydrates but the reality is that they may not really be consuming. However, things are changing as it's cheaper to produce processed foods so things will likely change for those people one day. It could be that they are more active as well slowing down heart disease progression. Cancers may get them first before heart disease happens. It's hard to know unless you actually travel there and observe them in person. It may not be what you think. It's really apple vs orange. Dr. Davis is specifically talking about USA population.

  • Patri Friedman

    2/28/2010 11:06:25 PM |

    Do you think that postprandial glucose response to a fixed meal is a good way to evaluate the effectiveness of a diet regimen?  I'm wondering how I can compare various diet alternatives (intermittent fasting vs. paleo, for example, because I don't have the willpower to do both) with simple tests.  Blood glucose tests are very appealing to me because they are easy to do at home.

    http://patrissimo.livejournal.com/1313795.html

  • DrStrange

    2/28/2010 11:14:58 PM |

    I feel like I am whipping a dead pony here but feel I must repeat this:  Increasing dietary fat increases insulin resistance.  It takes several weeks (at bare minimum 10-14 days) of dietary fat intake of 8-10% (and no more fat than that) for the body to adjust.  Once that happens, your readings will be totally different for a high UNrefined carb meal.  And I must emphasize that only one higher fat meal may re-establish your previous level of insulin resistance for several days to weeks once again.  Eating eggs, meats, high fat diet day after day and then one high carb meal is an altogether different experiment and does not tell you in any way how you would fair on a consistently low fat, high UNrefined carb diet.

    Really, once insulin resistance is reduced you will get totally different readings even for a refined carb meal as in a glucose tolerance test.

  • Anna

    2/28/2010 11:46:14 PM |

    Bobby,

    There's so much more to it than simply the amount of starch in the diet.  Starch is probably fine if the metabolism is functioning as it should.  But western diet and lifestyles often lead to a high amount of metabolic dysfunction, which eventually progresses to impaired glucose (& starch)  tolerance and finally diabetes.  Note that even in industrial Japan (where the diet has changed much in the past several decades), the rate of T2 diabetes incidence is quickly rising in the young.  

    This is a huge topic and there isn't enough discussion about it when various "traditional" diets are compared.

  • Dr. William Davis

    3/1/2010 1:28:15 PM |

    Dr. Strange--

    Sorry, but I don't buy it.

    I've seen the opposite effect play out countless times: High fasting glucoses and high postprandial glucoses normalize with reductions in carbohydrates, increases in fats.

    I saw this effect in myself over 15 years ago when I was diabetic. Now, I am no longer diabetic due to increased fats, dramatically reduced carbohydrates.

  • Dr. William Davis

    3/1/2010 1:31:16 PM |

    Bobby--

    Perhaps a topic for a future discussion.

    Being part Japanese, I can tell you that rice is typicaly eaten sprinkled with rice vinegar. That alone can modify glycemic responses.

    Also, I don't believe that the Japanese diet is that high-carbohydrate. Miso, nori, mebushi, fish, natto, tofu, etc.--aside from rice, these staples are low-carb or zero-carb.

    Also, check your blood sugar after rice; Nothing like wheat or sugars.

  • Bobby

    3/1/2010 1:55:03 PM |

    Dr. Davis: Thanks for the reply. I would love you discuss this topic in more detail in the future.
    Respectfully, I do take issue with your statement that the Japanese diet is not primarily a high carb diet. I lived in Japan for a few months and even lived with a family there. Our diet was primarily rice. Seaweeds and small amounts of fish were added, but it was basically a low carb, low fat diet. I absolutely agree that wheat played not part in their diet.
    I have enjoyed the topic. Bobby

  • DrStrange

    3/1/2010 3:33:23 PM |

    Dr.Davis, yes of course your blood sugar normalized when you drastically reduced carbs and increased fat!  You stopped eating foods directly convert to blood glucose!  The body can run on primarily glucose from carbs or by converting fats via ketosis, yes?

    What I am talking about takes a couple weeks at minimum to occur and that is a dramatic reduction in insulin resistance when dietary fats are consistently reduced to 8-10% total calories.

    The body seems to work either way, running primarily on carbs OR primarily on fats BUT NOT on both at once.  That seems to be where the big problems arise and is the SAD, high carb/high fat diet.  Also of course, SAD is high junk, fake food which greatly exacerbates the problems.

    The misunderstanding comes and is continually repeated because people try one meal of high carb after eating high fat over time so their body has fairly high IR.  You must eat very low fat, every single meal, for a couple weeks minimum to see the effect I am talking about and some people take longer than that for their bodies to loose the IR

  • Kamila

    3/1/2010 3:59:00 PM |

    Of topic, for which I apologise Dr. Davis, but here is an article in the mainstream media which questions the efficacy of omega-3 likening the taking of it to a "cult". - The cult of omega-3

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/8543172.stm

    From the article: "There's no evidence that omega-3 reduces the risk of death or heart attack or stroke or anything like that in those of us who have not recently had a heart attack,"

  • Anonymous

    3/1/2010 4:13:35 PM |

    Somewhat tangential, but anyone see the report on President Obama's cholesterol checkup:

    138 LDL
    62 HDL
      9 (calc from TC)

    209 TC

    It is interesting that even the President gets just the same old calculated rather than measured cholesterol test.

  • Dr. William Davis

    3/1/2010 6:21:10 PM |

    Dr. Strange--

    Fifteen years ago, I went on the Ornish diet: no meat, no oils, just vegetables, fruits, legumes, and whole grains. I also jogged 5-8 miles per day.

    I gained 30 lbs and became diabetic with blood sugars of 167 mg/dl or so.

    While my personal experience does not prove or disprove the concept, I've witnessed this phenomenon many, many times.

    Conversely, I have never seen anybody become a diabetic on a high-fat diet.

  • Beth

    3/1/2010 7:42:38 PM |

    FWIW, I measured BG before & after a breakfast of 1/2 cup oatmeal -- 94 before, 115 (1 hour) after.  That was with 1/4 cup ground flax, a handful of frozen cranberries (whole, no sugar) and 2 T of heavy cream.

    I have read that eating fat with carb lowers the effective glycemic index, which may help explain why the BG didn't rise much.

    Beth

  • Anonymous

    3/1/2010 11:20:00 PM |

    I learn so much from your blog here and at Health Central, Dr. Davis.  Thank you for the time you put into these free blogs.
    I am not diabetic but had gestational diabetes with each of my three pregnancies so I am very interested in doing things to help me not become diabetic.  I have tested my blood sugar after eating old fashioned oatmeal with nuts and a dash of milk and it stays below 100, very surprising.  However if I eat a meal of tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwich it will go over 160.  In testing like I do, I am learning what I can eat and what food combinations work for now.  I'll keep checking as time goes on.
    Char

  • Sifter

    3/2/2010 3:36:18 AM |

    Well, I bought a $10 'True" meter at Walgreens. Fasting reading after 9 hours of no food or drink,(morning) 91.  Ate two eggs cooked in butter, had a bagel ( I know, I know) with Skippy peanut butter on it. Waited 70  minutes, got a reading of 93. Hmmmm......I'm pretty sure everything is calibrated right. Does that second reading make sense?

  • westie

    3/3/2010 8:41:33 AM |

    Dr Strange:

    "The body seems to work either way, running primarily on carbs OR primarily on fats BUT NOT on both at once."

    That's right but how can you control how much fat or glucose your body uses? As Dr. Davis mentioned Ornish type diet + aerobic exercise does not work.

    I don't say that you are complete wrong of course. Insulin resistance is usually related to increased fatty acid avaibility and that will lead to the wise comment made by Stan (Heretic). When your subcutaneous adipose tissue functions normally you do not accumulate visceral fat and get metabolic syndrome and/or T2DM.

    I don't know if low carb will eventually restore health but it will certainly give more time and low blood glucose rapidly. But there may be limitations to low carb also since you have only limited access to decide what your body does with ingested foods.

  • DrStrange

    3/3/2010 9:17:04 PM |

    Westie, actually an Ornish type diet does work IF you do NOT eat refined carbs.  You have to only eat real, whole plant foods, as close to intact as possible.  Refined carbs will alway spike bg and raise triglyerides etc.  Some people do not do well on low carb diets.  I did Bernstein's version, very strict, for about 9 months and felt worse and worse as time went on.  Low low energy, irritable, post exercise exhaustion that would last 24-48 hours, absolutely no endurance.  Yes my blood sugar was good but it is even better on McDougall (Ornish type) diet.  My lipid profile is good.  I feel much better in every respect, much more healthy.  The diet does work and well!

  • westie

    3/4/2010 8:29:37 AM |

    DrStrange, loss of energy is very bad thing and I'm glad you found a way to overcome that.

    McDougall diet sounds very...hmmm...American. Avoiding fats and cholesterol seems to be a main goal. That seems to me quite stupid but I'm not a doctor so lack of knowledge could explain that.

    Like most diets designed by professionals McDougall diet has very good points but McDougall +fat +cholesterol +animal protein could do better.

    I don't know where these guys have come to the conclusion that if you don't eat fat you don't "have it". Every day most of the energy one uses comes from fats even on a McDougall diet.

  • DrStrange

    3/4/2010 3:06:13 PM |

    McDougall diet does not avoid fat, only no added, extracted fat.  Whatever is present already in plants is good for you and necessary.  Some people (me)(not all) add an ounce or so of flax or chia to get some additional omega 3 to balance the predominance of omega 6 in most veg and grains.  And no, you are not getting most of your calories from fat as the starches in the complex carbs convert quickly directly to glucose which is your energy source.  If you stuff yourself and overeat and get too many calories, then yes you get conversion of glucose to fat but it will go to storage.  Eating that kind of diet, your physiology is tuned to burning glucose and you will have plenty of glucose to burn, so you will store that fat.  Also, if you eat refined carbs, added sweeteners, dried fruit, things that spike blood sugar too high, then some of that will be converted to triglycerides and fat.

    Dr McDougall calls his diet "starch centered" as that is the source of fuel, starch converted to glucose.  This as opposed to a fat centered diet ie low carb, where you get your calories from burning fat.  Really not "American" but global as most traditional diets were/are starch centered with small amounts of animal products and mostly a wide variety of produce.

  • Drs. Cynthia and David

    3/4/2010 8:42:22 PM |

    DrStrange- you seem to be ignoring Dr. Davis's comment- Ornish did not work well for him (or for most people that I'm aware of).  I can't imagine anyone with "normal" metabolism who would not do better on a low carb diet.  There are people with carnitine defiencies or genetic defects that reduce fatty acid translocation across the mitochondria (such as palmitoylcarnitine transferase deficiency) who cannot use fatty acids effectively for fuel and must eat a high carb diet for energy.  But those people and types of metabolism are rare.  Perhaps you are one of them.

    Cynthia

  • westie

    3/5/2010 8:27:16 AM |

    DrStrange, if you eat low fat de novo lipogenesis increases automaticly. Fatty acid formation increases both in liver and in adipose tissue. With healthy insulin  sensitivity there are no problems with that. It's totally fine and healthy.

    Thinking that avoiding fat and staying on starch keeps fat out of the body is simple wrong and it is usually part of intentional marketing or unintentional black & white type thinking (stupidity?).

    Avoiding fat in fact leads to "hardening" of your lipid profile in AT since glucose is metabolized to palmitic acid in the liver and then transported to storage.

    McDougall diet has excellent ingredients but thinking that cholesterol or animal fat will automaticly lead to overweight and disease is truely false. You can claim it to be true and believe it but I'm sorry to say it seems to be false.

    Glucose and fats both makes important fuels and I personally love them both.

    Cynthia wrote:

    "I can't imagine anyone with "normal" metabolism who would not do better on a low carb diet."

    If a persons health is dependent on some kind of a restricting diet can you say that person has a healthy metabolism? It can be seen as "normal" but it sure isn't healthy. For type 2 diabetics low carb will bring lot of help and quite fast but will it make carbs bad? Not in my opinion.

    Things that cause metabolic syndrome, heart disease or other illnesses should be blaimed. Loss of insulin sensitivity is bad and restricting low calorie diets are bad. Most natural way to heal your metabolism is not through restriction, but through giving your body what it needs to recover and stay in good health and shape.

  • darloudasha

    3/6/2010 10:25:53 PM |

    I use to be a vegetarian.  I went months of eating nothing but whole grain (not just "brown" but things like millet and such) and veggies and fruit along with low or no fat protein sources like beans (I soaked them myself so they weren't even canned).  The only oils came from the very small amount of olive or canola oil I used in cooking.  My total fat was right about 10%.  After about 6 months my triglicerides had skyrocketed, my cholesterol was the same as it was before I started, my weight had increased and I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism, which I believe was directly correlated with the amount of "healthy, whole, natural" carbohydrates in my very low fat "healthy" diet.  I subsequently was also diagnosed diabetic.  I am now a 2 year low-carber.  My triglicerides have plummeted, my cholesterol is lower, and my HgA1C is under 6.0.  I have also lost 70 lbs.  Some people may or may not do better with low fat, non-refined carbs, but for me it not only did not improve my health, it nearly killed me.

  • phishery

    7/9/2010 3:12:34 PM |

    Here is a link from my website (www.dsolve.com) with some charts/graphs of what normal blood sugars look like compared to diabetics:
    http://www.dsolve.com/news-aamp-info-othermenu-60/23-diabetes-solution/159-news

    Hope this is a useful reference for what is "normal".

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    Oatmeal yields high blood sugars. Even if your fasting blood sugar is 90 mg/dl, a bowl of oatmeal with skim milk, walnuts, and some berries will yield blood sugars of 150-200 mg/dl in many people.

  • Jack

    11/24/2010 4:00:02 PM |

    Um. What is it with all this talk of skim milk and 2%? Are you guys serious? I don't mess around with that white poison anymore. Use raw milk or cream. Never pasteurized milk.

    Also, soaking oats in an acidic base drastically changes the composition of the oats, reducing phytates and improving digestion and nutrient absorption.

    Here's my oatmeal:
    - soak raw oats in raw whey overnight
    - dehydrate at 150 degress until crisp/dry
    - one cup of prepared oatmeal in a bowl.
    - one tablespoon of grass fed pasture butter
    - three tablespoons of heavy cream (no additives of any kind) or raw grass fed whole milk.
    - one teaspoon of raw unprocessed honey and maybe a pinch of pure stevia powder.

    optionals:
    - 4 or 5 soaked/dehyrdated raw almonds or pecans
    - 4 or 5 blueberries

    Carb heavy? maybe a bit, but it's also loaded with high quality fats and proteins.

    I certainly wouldn't eat this daily because it's too many carbs and too much fiber, but 1-2 times a week of this type of oatmeal is fine and quite nutrient dense.

    Smile

  • Jack

    12/6/2010 9:15:52 PM |

    Wow! even better. Don't dehydrate the oats. Just drain after soaking in water (with whey) and put the soaked oats in a glass casserole dish.

    Add in some coconut oil, maybe a bit of raw honey and/or stevia, cinnamon, real vanilla, and bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes.

    Cut a nice piece out and add some cream and pasture butter, maybe a few blueberries.

    #1 your whole house will smell like the holiday season.

    #2 you will have a nutrient filled serving of soaked oatmeal.

    I'd imagine though, with the honey and the oats, that even a normal sized serving will be on the higher side in carbs, so you wouldn't want to eat this all the time and you wouldn't want to have carb heavy foods for the remainder of your day.

    I know Dr Davis doesn't recommend oatmeal or butter, but if you're gonna do it you may as well do it right and I think this is leagues better than the instant garbage most people eat every single day. blucchhkk!

    -Jack K.

  • My Blog

    3/10/2011 3:29:13 PM |

    Dr Davis,

    What do you recommend for carbs for athletes?

    I work out 5 days, extremely hard (crossfit/weightlifting type of stuff)

    If I dip too low, I am super sluggish. Even after months of trying to be very high fat Paleo.

  • Geoffrey Levens

    3/10/2011 3:50:50 PM |

    My Blog, low carb-high fat never worked for me.  I struggled with it and tried to "make" my body adapt for 9 months and just continually felt worse and worse.  If I worked out even moderately for an hour or so I would have to sleep after and then be wasted the rest of the day and sometimes even part of the next day.

    I now eat the diet proposed by Joel Fuhrman, M.D. (Eat to Live aka ETL) with zero refined carbs but a lot of carbs some starchy vegetables and lots of beans. Raw seeds and nuts for fat and EFA.  I do supplement omega 3 (vegan DHA) and vitamins D and B-12. I do eat meat but only very small amounts occasionally.  I have plenty of energy and all my test numbers are excellent.

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