What about postings?

As stated in the previous entry, most of my activity is being devoted to postings on my Eco-Logic blog, as well as my weekly column on Health News Digest, all mirrored here.

On the diabetes front, I have aligned with Diane Kress, who slays the bad dragons on a daily basis.   I will cut to the chase…

Lower your carbs, monitor your blood glucose; you may be able to get off the drugs.  The ADA’s diet (consisting of about 50% carbs) is guaranteed to make you sicker.  While all the major disease trade associations are evil and self-serving, the American Diabetes Association is by far the worst, since the advice they give you will make you sicker—-from the very first day.

A look at hyperglycemia

Yes, I’m still around, but have been posting on other blogs, such as Shaw’s Eco-Logic.  An article with the above title appeared a few weeks ago on Health News Digest, which I mirrored on my main company website.

If I say so myself (and I have to, since no one else will), this piece should be required reading for type 2′s.

In the article, I cover such things as

• The very shaky “research” behind blood sugar number that define diabetes in the first place.  Although not mentioned specifically in the piece, I looked at the three “major” studies that established these numbers, and they are truly crapola.  The actual measured advantages of glycemic control to prevent morbidity are miniscule. Also, the ACCORD study blows them out of the water anyway, but good luck getting anyone in the industry to comment on that. I will probably have more to say about all this in a few weeks.
• The fact that there is no definition of a cure for type 2, even for those who can bring their numbers below 125 without drugs.  Thus, your insurance will be permanently “rated” by a single above 125 glucose finding, even if it is never above that level again for the rest of your life.
• A few choice remarks on the diabetes industry

The sad fact is that given the supposed prevalence of diabetes (easy to do if you keep defining down the numbers), and its reliance on drugs and easy-to-measure blood numbers, diabetes therapy is probably the most abused and over-hyped modality in all internal medicine.

Read the complete article.

They’re here: New editions of two classics

I’m talking about these two very useful books:

The Diabetes Counter and  The Protein Counter

Both of these are written by Karen J. Nolan, PhD and Jo-Ann Heslin, MA, RD—The Nutrition Experts.

Highly recommended.

Dr. Whitaker talks about insulin and the Type 2

Vitamin D

I’m in the midst of my own clinical trial on Vitamin D—a supplement that has been linked to all sorts of wonderful health benefits.  I had read about possible indications for diabetes.

Currently, I’m on a regimen of 7,000 I.U. per day, and this will soon increase to 10,000.

Early findings suggest that glycemic control is enhanced.  Specifically, the fasting blood glucose in the morning is now somewhat lower.  (10-15 points)

More findings to come…

Yet more on exercise and blood glucose levels

As we have said in earlier postings, exercise will usually have the net effect of lowering blood glucose.  However, depending on stress, or if you really worked out hard, the levels can actually increase.

The point is—and stop me if you’ve heard this before—regulation of the blood glucose level is extremely complex.

I mention all this because I had been in the habit of doing the following:

1.     Take a reading just before I leave the house in the morning for my workout.

2.     Get to the office, and, before I eat anything, take the “post-exercise” reading.

After maintaining this routine for well over a year, here are the findings:

If my first reading is higher than normal, exercise will tend to lower it, usually by more than 20 points.  But, if the reading is not so elevated, exercise will not lower it very much.  In fact, it may actually increase.

However, as I have emphasized, there are many confounding factors, so establishing a trend here was becoming increasingly frustrating.

Finally, I talked this over with a few experts, who advised me that the best way to avoid the frustration was to simply not take that post-exercise reading anymore!  After all, I had already concluded—based on hundreds of data points—that this was becoming a fool’s errand.

Far better for me to take another reading later in the day, a few hours after a meal, to monitor glycemic control.

BTW–The only reason that the fasting reading first thing in the morning is a sort of “gold standard” is that this is the easiest way to ensure patient compliance.  Imagine if the instructions instead were to wait four hours (or whatever) after any meal…

Eating out with diabetes

Jo-Ann Heslin is a registered dietitian (RD), certified dietitian/nutritionist (CDN), and author of several best-selling books.  She’s also a fellow columnist on Health News Digest.

The title of this blog posting is the title of her latest HND article, and I’ve grabbed some of the good stuff from that piece…

Menu selections that tend to have less calories and fat are: au jus (in its own juice), baked, boiled, broiled, cooked with lemon juice, cooked in wine, deviled, fresh, grilled, julienne, lean, marinara, poached, roasted, steamed and stir fry.

Menu terms that signal more calories are: au gratin, battered, buttered, breaded, casserole, cheese sauce (mornay), cream sauce (a la king), creamy (béchamel), crispy, deep fried, escalloped, fried, in gravy, hollandaise, kiev, parmigiana, in pastry, pot pie, prime cuts of meat (heavily marbled with fat), remoulade, and rich.

All restaurants have low calorie and no calorie sweeteners. Most carry sugar-free syrups and jelly, lowfat or nonfat salad dressings, nonfat milk, and diet drinks.

Menu choices such as salads, fish, broiled lean meats, vegetables, fresh fruit, and whole grain breads are readily available. Do not be afraid to take control, ask questions, suggest substitutions, and be creative in putting together a meal you’ll enjoy that fits into your daily carb and calorie budget.

Think before you drink. When it comes to alcohol, there is good news and bad news. The good news is that light to moderate use of alcohol lowers the risk for diabetes and raises your HDL (good) cholesterol. The bad news is that heavy drinking increases the risk for prediabetes and diabetes.

Read the complete article for more practical advice.