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Monday 31 January 2011

Who should we believe ?

A quote from EUFIC

“Type 2 diabetes has a strong genetic base and the onset of symptoms is linked to age, obesity and lack of physical activity. There are no causal links between sugar intake and diabetes. Nowadays, moderate amounts of sugars, as a part of a balanced diet, are approved in the diets of well-controlled diabetics.”

Yes, and the moon is made of cheese and lions make good house pets.
 
EUFIC is supported by companies of the European food and drinks industries, and receives project funding from the European Commission. It is governed by a Board of Directors which is elected from member companies. Current EUFIC members are: Cargill, Cereal Partners, Coca-Cola HBC, Coca-Cola, Danone, DSM Nutritional Products Europe Ltd., Ferrero, Kraft Foods, Mars, McDonald's, Nestlé, PepsiCo, Pfizer Animal Health, Südzucker, and Unilever.

www.eufic.org/page/en/page/ONEUFIC/

Low-carbohydrate diets better for diabetes patients

Dr Malcolm Kendrick, a GP in Macclesfield who advocates a high-fat, low carbohydrate diet in patients with diabetes, said the study’s conclusions should encourage GPs to reject the conventional wisdom.

“The reality is that over the years, and around the world we have killed literally millions of diabetics by advising them to eat a high-carb diet and avoid fats. Only now is it being recognised that previous advice was and remains useless, dangerous and scientifically illiterate.The authors of this Cochrane review should be applauded for taking the fist step on a path that will, inevitably, result in the destruction of the nonsense.”

A readers comment.
 
I was diagnosed as diabetic type 2 in 1992 and injected insulin for fourteen years twice a day. I was approaching 90 units of insulin each day when I decided that I would try something different, initially to reduce my weight and increase exercise and at the same time increase the number of blood glucose tests so that I could see if specific foods elevated my glucose levels higher and for longer.

As my weight reduced I could gradually decrease my insulin intake and initially guided by my meter eliminated bread and potatoes. Within six months I no longer need to inject insulin or take diabetic medication and now two years and seven months later with my HbA1c varying downwards from 6.8, 6.1, 5.8 and an expectation that I will get below five, My healthy eating is targeted on a wide variety of vegetables, fruit & nuts. Reducing the starchy carbohydrates and sugar in our diet would at least minimise the collateral damage of diabetes.
 
 
www.pulsetoday.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=23&storycode=4121682

Illustrated History of Heart Disease 1825-2015

Please check out the link below, it gives some excellent information and charts our downward spiral into obesity, heart disease and type two diabetes.  A fascinating if rather scary read.
 

"In 1910 the lifetime risk of type II diabetes: 1 in 30. The lifetime risk today is 1 in 3 according to the Center for Disease Control (CDC) in Atlanta." .

www.dietheartpublishing.com/diet-heart-timeline

Low fat diets could increase heart disease risk!

There is strong evidence that replacing fat with carbohydrates could be harmful to health, according to nutrition experts at the American Dietetic Association (ADA) conference in Boston last week.

During a symposium at the ADA’s Food and Nutrition Conference and Expo called “The Great Fat Debate:  Is There Validity In the Age-Old Dietary Guidance?” four leading experts presented evidence suggesting that low fat diets may be less healthy than those containing a higher amount of fat. In particular, all four agreed that replacing saturated fat with carbohydrates – as is currently recommended in the proposed 2010 Dietary Guidelines - is likely to raise the risk of cardiovascular disease.

Dr, Walter Willett, Chairman of the Harvard School of Public Health’s nutrition department, said: 

“If anything, the literature shows a slight advantage of the high fat diet,” he said. “The focus on fat in dietary guidelines has been a massive distraction…We should remove total fat from nutrition facts panels on the back of packs.”

He added that the official Dietary Guidelines that direct people to eat fat sparingly and to load up on non-fat products and starch was a great boon to the Big Food Industries:  “The food industry quickly realized sugar was cheaper than fat and laughed all the way to the bank.”


http://www.dietheartpublishing.com/node/248

Saturday 29 January 2011

What is Hyperglycemia ?

 “Hyperglycemia is the term for expressing high blood sugar is accepted as being when blood glucose levels are higher than 10 mmol/L. Although blood sugar levels exceeding 7 mmol/L can damage internal organs, symptoms may not develop until blood glucose levels exceed 15 mmol/L.” See link to DCUK below.

The dangers of blood sugar levels that exceed 7 mmol/L have been shown in many clinical studies, in fact some put the figure at lower than 7 mmol/L.

Whilst it's good to see DCUK are highlighting this information on the main website, it's a different story on the Forum where NICE guidelines of 8.5 mmol/L for 2 hour post prandial are being cited, not only is this 1.5 mmol/L above the levels, that according to DCUK can damage internal organs, it also increases the odds of seeing sugar levels higher than 10 mmol/L at 1hour PP, if a high carb meal was consumed. If a meal containing a high fat and carb content was consumed, a BG spike could appear later than two hours. 8.5 is not a number, a well controlled diabetic wants to see on their BG meter, and should not be considered a safe target.
 

http://www.diabetes.co.uk/Diabetes-and-Hyperglycaemia.html

Friday 28 January 2011

Low fat diet, you can stick it !

Low fat began in 1977 when Senator George McGovern’s bi-partisan Committee on Nutrition and Human Needs – without scientific consensus - recommended a low fat diet for all Americans over age 2, including up to 11 servings of grain everyday. As Americans adopted the new dietary guidelines – restricting fat and eating more carbohydrates – we gained girth.

We set out on this slippery slope of ever expanding chronic disease – the high carb road to ruin - when we started replacing our traditional foods like butter and eggs with highly processed vegetable fats, refined grains, and cereals. Children are eating Pop Tarts and sugary cereals when they should be eating nutritious eggs scrambled or fried in butter.

“Don’t eat eggs and butter” is a catastrophic mistake. If you cut down on fat you’ve got to eat something and that something has been sugar, starch, and thousands of easily-digested “low fat” grain products, usually made with industrially rancid vegetable grease and high fructose corn syrup, now constituting up to 10 percent of American calories.

The proposed 2010 Dietary Guidelines – like the original low fat 1980 Dietary Guidelines - will only fuel chronic disease. Because 80 percent of diabetics die of heart disease, we are also facing an unprecedented surge in diseases of the heart - the number one Medicare expenditure; the number one cause of death.

Once we identify excess carbohydrates and the highly processed vegetable fats as the common denominators of chronic disease, we will then be able to cut carbs, fix our fats, and switch back to America’s traditional high fat diet. I want a real Happy Meal please - three eggs scrambled in butter!


http://www.dietheartpublishing.com/

'Statins for all' – and billions for drug firms

Prescribing them to the healthy may not have saved lives, but it certainly made money

Back in 1975, Henry Gadsden, the chief executive of the drug company Merck, expressed his frustration that the market for his company's products was limited to those with some treatable illness. Ideally, he said, he would like to "sell to everyone".

Three decades later, his dream would seem to have come true – epitomised by the most profitable class of drugs ever discovered, the cholesterol-lowering statins that are taken by an estimated seven million people in Britain, and tens of millions worldwide.
 
 
www.telegraph.co.uk/health/8270156/Statins-for-all-and-billions-for-drug-firms.html


Please check out our website at http://www.lowcarbdiabetic.co.uk/

Thursday 27 January 2011

Anonymous said, regarding a post I made today.

“What you seem to fail to realise, highly processed foods actually contain a combination of high fats and your carb consumption was well over the top. So the fat you ate on your unhealthy diet caused your problems.
You have no knowledge what so ever about diet.”


Let’s break those comments down.“What you seem to fail to realise, highly processed foods actually contain a combination of high fats” One the contrary. I now realise exactly how dangerous most processed foods are, that’s why I no longer eat them. In the days when I was eating highly processed foods, they contained a great deal of Trans fats, which most food manufacturers and retailers have dropped. “your carb consumption was well over the top” true, but no more than many others I suspect. “So the fat you ate on your unhealthy diet caused your problems.” . Trans fats have now been proved to be a killer, not saturated fats, and as we know highly processed foods and ready meals, also contain very high levels, of sugar and salt.



“You have no knowledge what so ever about diet.” Can’t argue with that point. I have no formal training in diet or nutrition whatsoever. I will tell you what I know about a diet for the control of type two diabetes. That basing meals on starchy carbohydrates, the sort of diet pushed by the majority, but not all dieticians, is lamentable. It will not lead to a reduction of weight when applicable, it will not lead to safe BG numbers, it will not lead to a none or minimal meds. situation, it will not lead to safe lipid numbers. On the contrary, for many it leads to more weight, more medication and dangerous BG numbers, a worsening of lipid numbers, and for many, an escalation to often dangerous medication, and for many type two’s, injected insulin.


I repeat, so many dieticians, masquerading under the guise of healthcare professionals, have not got a clue re. the correct diet for a diabetic. At times I wonder are they undercover reps for the junk food mobs and big pharma. The big questions are these, do dieticians understand the damage done by highly elevated BG numbers ? And if so, why do they recommend a diet that cannot fail (without for many, unnecessary medication) to keep BG numbers high. The correct food and exercise is the best way to control diabetes, with meds kept to a minimum. Until the so called experts realise this, the lack of progress will continue, as outlined in the published NHS diabetes data.

Please check out our website at  http://www.lowcarbdiabetic.co.uk/

Low Carb Myths !


Low Carb Myths !
 
If you spend much time around diabetes forums, you can’t fail to notice the topics causing the most controversy, they are low carbing and dietary fat. So many myths, and so much misinformation, it’s easy to see why a newbie, to the world of diabetes, and some forums can be very easily confused.
Lowcarbers have been informed, by a (healthcare professional) can succumb to scurvy. Well, we expect almost any one, could go down with scurvy, if they had a dangerously low level of vitamin C intake. But if you check out the chart on this blog, comparing potatoes (a food usually dropped by low carbers) compared to broccoli, you will see scurvy is unlikely to be a problem to a green vegetable eater. Then we are told osteoporosis may come our way, again the broccoli blows that one out of the water. Another old chestnut that comes up time and time again, is constipation, again totally unfounded.

broccoli contains almost 5 times as much vitamin C as potato
broccoli contains 8 times as much calcium as potato
broccoli contains almost 2.5 as much dietary fibre as potato

 
The next old myth is low carbers are eating to much protein, and it will knock our kidneys out. The medical evidence, informs us protein will not damage healthy kidneys, although people with kidney problems, should seek advice from experts when considering protein intake. Why do anti low carbers assume low carbers are shovelling protein down their necks all day. Most low carbers we know, have ate the same amount of protein all their adult lives. There has certainly been no massive increase in the use of high protein foods.

Causing almost as much argument as carb levels, comes saturated fat, and the threat of heart disease. Again, the medical evidence suggests otherwise, in fact some studies have pointed to a low fat diet as causing heart disease, especially when accompanied by a high carb diet. It’s a fact, while the intake in dietary fat has gone down, and the intake of highly processed, high carb/sugar foods has gone up, obesity, type two diabetes and CV disease has also gone up. No doubt the misinformation mob will continue to confuse, no problem to us, but what damage is being done to the newly diagnosed or some forum newbie’s ?
 

Comments received in the last week.


Thank you to all the people who have sent us some very encouraging news re. lowcarbing. Very good news included great progress being made in the fight against poor kidney function and a non retinopathy, but very serious eye condition. These posts will be going on our website as a permanent feature. As you would imagine, not all comments were positive. Most of the negative stuff gets deleted, but the comment below was kept, and I feel warrants a serious reply.

“So ediot, what was the cause of you needing stents?” I reported some time ago, on a diabetes forum, a serious heart defect had been found, while under going some standard tests involving my type two diabetes. Two arteries had very severe blockages. Fortunately for me the blockages were very small in length, and although probably life threatening and certainly life changing, were repaired with stents. This has caused great amusement among the low carb antis and other low life’s I take on, on a regular basis. To be fair to the anonymous poster who posted the comment in bold ( there always anonymous, never even a forum name) I feel an explanation is required.

Around twenty years ago, my work meant I had to stay away from home, living in Hotels for weeks on end with fellow workers. One morning a colleague joined me for breakfast, and looking down at my full English breakfast made the following comment “still eating that heart attack on a plate Eddie” that remark struck a chord. My friend was eating the “healthy option“, 3 or 4 slices of toast with margarine, a big bowl of cornflakes with skimmed milk and a couple of glasses of fresh orange juice. From that day on, I went for the “healthy option” and only had my much loved grease up on Saturday mornings as a treat.

My heart problem was picked up around nine month after I started low carbing, less than a year after my diabetes diagnosis. While laying on an operating table in the Southampton University Hospital, I asked the Consultant Cardiologist treating me, did he feel that my condition had come about in less than a year, he did not, and stated this condition builds up slowly over time, and until it manifests itself, often in the form of “in my case angina” it goes undetected for many, for a long time. I had been unknowingly suffering angina for years, and had dismissed it as acute heart burn.

I know it was the high carb/sugar food that lead to my obesity, heart disease and type two diabetes. Imagine starting the day with around 150 carbs, all turning to sugar in no time at all. Then for the rest of the day, eating foods such as chips, rice, more bread and pasta, the mind boggles. I was living on sugar, low fat and paying little attention to the crap I was eating. It’s high carb/sugar that kills, not saturated fat.

Eddie

Apologies for the poor grammar and spelling, the antis like to refer to this on a regular basis. Still, if they can’t put up an argument against low carb, they have got to talk about something.

Saturday 22 January 2011

More good news re. saturated fat.

"Faulty thinking about saturated fats has caused many supposed health experts to redirect people towards other types of fats, including mono-unsaturated and poly-unsaturated fats. While these other fats are not inherently bad, replacing necessary saturated fats entirely with these leads to other health problems, including a heightened risk of cardiovascular illness."


http://www.naturalnews.com/029930_saturated_fat_health.html


Please check out our website at http://www.lowcarbdiabetic.co.uk/

Friday 21 January 2011

Saturated fat does not cause heart disease !

For decades we have been brainwashed into believing saturated fat causes heart disease. So many people believe this a fact. This is arguably, the most ludicrous piece of dietary information and biggest scam ever hoisted on the medical profession and general public.

A meta-analysis published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, pooled together data from 21 unique studies that included almost 350,000 people, about 11,000 of whom developed cardiovascular disease (CVD), tracked for an average of 14 years, and concluded that there is no relationship between the intake of saturated fat and the incidence of heart disease or stroke.

Conclusions:A meta-analysis of prospective epidemiologic studies showed that there is no significant evidence for concluding that dietary saturated fat is associated with an increased risk of CHD or CVD. More data are needed to elucidate whether CVD risks are likely to be influenced by the specific nutrients used to replace saturated fat.


http://www.ajcn.org/content/early/2010/01/13/ajcn.2009.27725.abstract

Tuesday 18 January 2011

ADA's Woeful Relationship with the Food Industry

Ever wondered why so many diabetics fail to get to a safe place ? Could this be one of the reasons ?

“Maybe the American Diabetes Association should rename itself the American Junk Food Association,” said Gary Ruskin, director of Commercial Alert, a consumer advocacy group.

As our NHS data shows, progress is not being made in the UK.

www.dsolve.com/news-aamp-info-othermenu-60/1-latest/16-news7


Please check out our website at http://www.lowcarbdiabetic.co.uk/

Glaxo facing a £2bn bill over diabetes drug !

Hardly a month goes by without more horror stories concerning the pharmaceutical industry. Glaxo are back in the frame with another massive amount of money set aside for compensation. GlaxoSmithKline has set aside a further £2.2bn to cover the mounting bill for the controversial diabetes treatment Avandia. The drug killed thousands of people.

The latest hit follows a damaging US investigation last year, which found the drug increased the chances of a heart attack in patients. The damning verdict triggered an avalanche of litigation against Glaxo, which took a £1.57bn hit in the summer largely to pay for the Avandia debacle.
 
“We recognise that this is a significant charge, but we believe the approach we are taking to resolve long-standing legal matters is in the company’s best interests.

Glaxo added: ‘We have closed out a number of major cases over the last year and we remain determined to do all we can to reduce our litigation risk”

I bet they are, and if it includes lying and falsifying trial data, it won’t be the first time. It is amazing the amount of type 2 diabetics, that have such faith in pharma drugs, especially when the reduction  in HbA1c they produce are minimal, yet the risks are so often very high. The corruption and exploitation continues.


Please check out our website at http://www.lowcarbdiabetic.co.uk/

Friday 14 January 2011

Flax bread

Flax bread has to be one the greatest low carb foods, I have come across in almost two years. Not only does it taste good and is very easy to make, it is also packed with great nutrients. When I read about this bread, and the claims made for it, I was sceptical. To many times in the past, claims have been made re. certain foods, and what seemed to be too good to be true, usually was. This bread is very different.

Flaxseeds contain every essential amino acid and are packed with protein. The seeds contain lots of essential fatty acids and are rich with omega 3. I believe it is the high alpha linolenic acid content that drives BG numbers down. Flax seeds are very rich in essential fibre, the list of good news goes on and on. A true wonder food and being able to eat lots of bread, that will not raise BG numbers, but can actually lower them, has to be something very special indeed. I will report back on this star, low carb food in due course.

For the recipe and cooking instructions please click on the link below.

Nutritional Information: If you cut this loaf into 12 thick slices each slice has less than 1 gram of effective carbohydrate, 5 grams fibre, 6 grams protein, and 185 calories. Flax meal loaf. Weight of cooked loaf 742 grams.

www.lowcarbdiabetic.co.uk/Recipes.htm



Please check out our website at http://www.lowcarbdiabetic.co.uk/
 

Friday 7 January 2011

The Worlds Healthiest Foods.

Check this site out, a massive amount of great food information. Not all recipes are suitable for diabetics. Great food ideas and videos, one of the best in my opinion.
 
http://whfoods.org/

Tuesday 4 January 2011

Kale a true wonder food !

Kale a true wonder food !
 
Sainsbury’s is selling Kale in 200 gram packs, for a £1.00, a true wonder food. A new food to me, but check out the link below, a fantastic food packed full of great nutrients and anti-oxidants.
I steam mine with a little grated cheese and some mixed herbs. Tastes good and a true lowcarb star.

http://whfoods.org/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=38#healthbenefits