A
Facebook friend recently noticed my blog on nutrition and that I posted it to
Facebook (when I remember to). He then said, “Your diet is very restrictive.” I
objected! Of course, I was being defensive. My diet is “very restrictive” in
the general sense, especially to someone who eats a diet “without restriction”
and who appears to be able to “get
away with it.” And that appears to
apply to a fairly large segment of the population. It includes everyone who is
of “normal” weight and/or who is not a diagnosed pre-diabetic or type 2
diabetic. And that’s probably still almost half of us.
Lest
these ones who appear to be healthy
take comfort from this, I am reminded of a quote from Dr. Dwight C. Lundell, MD, author of The
Cure for Heart Disease and The Great
Cholesterol Lie, on pg. 36 of Cholesterol
Clarity by Jimmy Moore with Eric
C. Westman, MD: “Our diet is not working because 70% of us are overweight and
obese, we have 29 million diabetics and 75 million pre-diabetics, and the rest of us don’t even know we’re
pre-diabetic”(my emphasis). Lundell continues, “People are realizing that
what we are doing is not working, and they are looking for other ways around
this. That’s where do-it-yourself healthcare and self-monitoring will become
the norm.”
And
do-it-yourself healthcare begins with diet. See The Nutrition Debate #173, “Anyone can be a doctor....” So, if you fall into the 70%, even if just by
virtue of being a little overweight, it is your
diet that you should address to “fix” your health. And if you are among the
30% “who don’t even know (you’re) pre-diabetic,” then it is your diet that you need to address to
“fix” that. If I haven’t made myself clear yet: Everyone needs to look at their diet and change it. But how? That’s
the question. The most reliable way, as Dr. Lundell says, is “self-monitoring.
The
best markers are blood glucose (fasting and, importantly, hg A1c), HDL
cholesterol, triglycerides, LDL particle size and type, and chronic, systemic
inflammation (hs C-reactive protein or CRP). Forget Total Cholesterol and LDL
cholesterol. Of course, you’ll need to see a doctor to get these lab tests
(except blood glucose), but, if you are in the 70%, or he/she suspects that you
are, most of these tests will be ordered anyway. Ask for a copy of your lab
test, and learn your markers.
So,
how do you fix these markers? By
changing your diet. I am not talking about eating less and exercising more.
A growing consensus is emerging that the dietary advice we are getting from our
government and our healthcare providers is what is causing the 70% already afflicted and the 30% who are not, yet, as well, i.e., “the rest of us (who)
don’t even know we’re pre-diabetic.” Of course, I knew I was a type 2 diabetic
when I changed my diet 12 years ago (in 2002). I had been since 1986. And I
changed my diet, at my cardiologist doctor’s suggestion, to Atkins Induction (20g of carbohydrate a day) and lost 60 pounds in 9 months
(without hunger). I later switched to Bernstein's
Diet for diabetics and lost 110
pounds more.
But
the big change from eating Very Low Carb (VLC) was in my diabetes health and my
lipid chemistry (cholesterol tests). Immediately, from day 1 on VLC, I started
getting hypos (low blood sugar symptoms: sweating, light-headedness), so the
doctor eliminated first one of the oral diabetes meds I took. A day or so
later, he cut the other two in half, and a few days later, in half again.
Eventually I eliminated a 2nd med, and today I take just a minimum
dose of Metformin. Of course, my hg A1c’s dropped dramatically to a level in
the mid 5s. Note: a doctor examining me today would say I was “non-diabetic.”
Even
more amazing were the changes in my lipid chemistry. Over the course of time my
HDL more
than doubled (from an average of 39 to an average of 81). My latest HDL-C was
90. And my triglycerides
declined by almost 2/3rds from 137 average to 49 average. My latest TG was 34.
Total Cholesterol remained about the same and my LDL inched up slightly but now
they are Pattern A (of the large, fluffy buoyant type). The latest test results
were TC = 207 and LDL-C = 110.
I’m
now working on getting my chronic, systemic inflammation marker (hs CRP) down
to below 1.0, the ideal target. My latest test result was 1.2, but it has been
as low as 0.3 and even 0.1, so I have a ways to go. So, how do I do it? By
eating a restrictive diet, obviously. I’m not perfect. I cheat all the time.
But I have a paradigm that I strive to follow, and I do follow it, for the most
part. But you’ve gotta have a life (hopefully, a long and healthy one). So,
what are my guidelines/goals? My target macronutrient ratios: 75% fat; 20%
protein; 5% carbohydrate. Two or 3 small meals a day, spaced at least 5 hours
apart; no eating less than 3 hours before bedtime; no snacks, except sometimes
a small snack an hour or so before dinner.
Breakfast:
3 fried eggs, 1 strip of bacon, and a large cup of coffee with stevia extract
and half and half; Lunch (when I eat it): 1 can of sardines in olive oil.
Sometimes I add a tsp. of coconut oil. Dinner: a small portion of protein and a
large vegetable serving (with butter added or roasted in olive oil). I also
take a bunch of supplements, but that’s another story.
My
cheats: a square (or two) of 85% cocoa dark chocolate a couple times a week; a
glass (or two) of red wine a couple times a week; one or two Perfect Rob Roys -
up with a twist - and a garlic crouton (or two) with a Caesar Salad in a
restaurant. (I always “forget” to say “hold the croutons.”) I drink
artificially sweetened ice tea or diet tonic with lunch/dinner or with a
pre-dinner snack. Water would be better, but as I said, I’m not perfect. Anyway,
this is what I strive to eat, most of
the time.
From reading people's success stories on one of the paleo sites, there seem to be a lot of athletic people of normal weight who have been suffering for years from the SAD and don't even know it until they've changed and suddenly feel much better. Low carb is not just to lose weight and control blood sugar, it might help a lot of so-called "normal" people enjoy their lives more, too.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree, Jan. And judging by the popularity of my post #175 http://www.thenutritiondebate.com/2014/01/the-nutrition-debate-175-your-blog-is.html (the most 'hits' of any of the last 10), 'the people' agree with us too.
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