The Carb-Sane Asylum

I just bit the big financial bullet and, upon discovering that it is available in Kindle form, purchased William Banting's Letter on Corpulence on Amazon.com (it's only $2.99, or you can read it online at Eades' site which I found later, it's also available in full text here  - ht C.Grashow).  I do not think there's a low carb diet book and/or author that hasn't at least referred to Banting's weight loss as the quintessential example of low carb in all it's glorious action. "I am now nearly 66 years of age, about 5 feet 5 inches in stature, and, in August last (1862), weighed 202 lbs., which I think it right to name, because the article in the Cornhill Magazine presumes that a certain stature and age should bear ordinarily a certain weight, and I am quite of that opinion. I now weigh 167 lbs., showing a diminution of something like 1 lb. per week since August, and having now very nearly attained the happy medium, I have perfect confidence th...

Now that I've got your attention ... Another day, I'll have a few more words to say about the recent editorial in the British Medical Journal "exonerating" saturated fat, but for now, one of the things that stuck out at me was the following (I broke the paragraph up a bit): Indeed, recent prospective cohort studies have not supported any significant association between saturated fat intake and cardiovascular risk. Instead, saturated fat has been found to be protective.

Does elevated glucose cause dementia?  Even in non-diabetics? This would seem to be the initial conclusion based on a recent study published in the NEJM: Glucose levels and risk of dementia .  

Traffic Bump! Occasionally I see traffic to old posts whilst perusing stats.  I saw this was getting a few hits and decided to bump it.  Especially since the fervor for finding the single bogeyman dietary agent of all doom seems to be hitting a fever pitch lately.  Even Dr Oz is getting on board, and as the Judith Mazel of the low carb world tells us: Dr Oz is one of the most well respected conventional doctors—and he has major influence because he is educating millions of people every single day on his show. {you can stop laughing now ...}

I want to begin this post by apologizing to Tyler LeBaron for dragging him inadvertently into this "controversy" of sorts.  As I understand it, Tyler has done the chemical analyses on the water produced by the Alkaway filter, and can attest to its chemical properties, but has no other connection to this company.  After trading comments in my last post, we decided that speaking on the phone might be a more efficient way to discuss the science and misunderstandings.  From his point of view it seemed like I was dissing hydrogen water and the science there.  From mine, largely based on the electrolysis video, I thought he was misrepresenting the science.  As it turns out, neither of those impressions are true.  I also admit to baiting Ian in the comments about ORP and such, and this unfortunately snared Tyler.  As always, my comments are open to Tyler to expand/clarify/etc. whatever I've written here.   I hope this clears things up a bit anyway. ...

What duping?  Was he was duped, or does he dupe people?   Roughly 10 months ago, Robb Wolf posted the first installment on his "current" views about carbohydrates in the diet:   Low Carb And Paleo: My Thoughts Part 1 .  In it, Robb describes his changing views on dietary composition and body composition through his personal prism of going from highly active, running a gym, etc. to a more sedentary lifestyle involving lots of writing time.  As he relates: I had a tough time remaining lean. I’d cut carbs…but to no effect on body composition. Slowly I realized, both by experimentation and by really looking at the literature: CALORIES MATTERED MORE THAN CARBS FOR BODY-COMP. I have to say this was a pretty big shake-up for me. I’d assumed one could eat as much fat as one desired and STILL get leaner .

If this post seems a bit out of the blue, it's because it was written a while ago and I'm currently going through the draft bin attempting to publish up some of that mostly done stuff. First, it is important to note that there are actually three versions of The Perfect Health Diet book (perhaps four, I am unsure if the Kindle version was updated from the first print version, but I'll refer to the self-published Kindle version as v.2).  I mention this because the first ebook was published in 2010 as was the self-published paperback and the latest version was completed late in 2012.  While there are some minor changes, the core of the basis for the PHD has not changed much, if at all and if there were major changes I would expect Paul to highlight them in his various appearances.  So, in v.1 and v.2  the rationale behind the macronutrient content was put forth in a very straightforward manner in a section entitled: Four Reasons to Believe in a 20-65-15 Ma...

The Swedish Diet Doc (does he have any patients?) has been on a roll of late, and it's reached a point where I just have to comment. For starters, although it would be impossible for every bariatric doc or even a small minority of them to be real-life examples (in the been there, done that department) to be able to promote what has worked for them, at least one might expect that such a doctor wouldn't hold such disdain for them.  When you think about it, medicine is one of those professions where the experts rarely have first-hand knowledge of the fields in which they are often doling out the most personal of advices.  But if you don't like "fat people" then why are you making a living off of "treating" them and dissing them behind their backs (and to their faces)?   Diet Doc even has a label:  Why Americans are Obese.  Sounds OK though.  Yeah, obese is the technical term.  But here is one of the posts on that label:  http://www.dietdoct...

Wasn't sure where to discuss this, but I figured it might as well be on the blog.  A week or so ago, I blogged on Paleo Water .  James Fell also blogged on this atrocity that popped up in ads on Jimmy Moore's Livin la Vida Low Carb blog.  His post:   Paleo has jumped the shark .   At that time, the Paleo Water page was green and looked like a spoof.  There was a caveman top left, Jimmy Moore's eight year old "thinker pose" photo on top right with “As recommended by Jimmy Moore of Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb” .  It then listed, along with alkalinity, all the ways paleo water was more like the water our paleolithic ancestors drank.  Free of bacteria and parasites, the water was touted as "as close as scientifically possible to the water our genetic blueprint demands – but no longer receives".  

Before Paula Deen got in hot water over racial issues, she was the subject of controversy a few years back with her belated disclosure that she had Type 2 diabetes, and then became a spokesperson for Novo Nordisk's Victoza.  The "mainstream" balked, including rebukes from fellow celebrity chefs for using so much butter in her cooking while hiding the effect it had on her health.  When the news hit the LC community, it of course went nuts.  I discussed this pretty thoroughly HERE .  A quick summary might be that the low carbers didn't like that people blamed the fat in her foods and finger pointed at the carbs (ignoring sedentary lifestyle entirely).  Further, they didn't like that she was dieting per mainstream guidelines and using Victoza rather going on a LC diet.   Stress certainly has taken a toll on Deen, but she seems to have maintained her weight loss, perhaps even losing a few more pounds.  It would be interesting to get an update on her con...

In the Center Ring: Jimmy Moore was on the Christian Broadcast Network's 700 Club yesterday.  I was going to leave this just for the social media stuff, but the appearance was quite disturbing in a few ways so I thought I'd share a few thoughts on that.  

I noticed a little traffic blip to my posts here on SuperStarch   scamming which reminded me that AHS13 panel member on keto diets for athletes, and woo woo peddler , Ben Greenfield, would have completed his ketogenic diet fueled triathlon by now.   He has .  And for $9.99 you can get the full scoop on how it went.  No thanks.  Still, from reading the comments, one can surmise how he fared. First, let me say this.  My hat goes off to anyone that can complete one of these races in any amount of time, etc. and all that jazz.  But at Ben's level, people don't generally compete in these things for recreation, there's money at stake -- whether it be endorsements/sponsorships or less directly involved in promoting his business.   So this was yet another publicity stunt, which is fine, but it doesn't seem to have been a success from any other viewpoint.   I'm not a fan of his delivery, but Durian Rider is in fine form there in comments la...

Bump ... Does dietary protein raise blood glucose?  Not in normal or Type 2 diabetics it doesn't.  This will be the topic of a post today or tomorrow.  There is a disturbing, in my opinion, trend in the low carb community to now demonize protein.  Your usual Atkins style diet is no longer "good enough" or "well formulated" enough for most.  This keto kraze has gotten really krazy! As far as I'm concerned, the danger of people like Jimmy Moore is no better epitomized than by this trend.  You have lots of people regurgitating his claims that his liver makes too much glucose out of protein and this is implicated in his weight issues.  Nevermind all of the evidence to the contrary.  Leaving weight loss aside, yes, this is anecdotal, but we have no other "evidence" to go by!  Long term low carbers seem to have worsening glucose tolerance over time.  Almost to a one, and these are people who were not diabetic or in some cases even IR (by...

A quickie here, but I know many of my readers don't do the whole social media thing and this is just too something for words (can't even think of a good adjective there!)   I try and read Jimmy's stuff in a reader to avoid the ads, but there it was ... screenshot right. So I couldn't resist clicking ... and no, it's not April Fool's Day and no it's not a spoof!  Awww shucks ... you go to the link  today and the paleo header is not displaying at the moment :(  It was a Geico-style cave man juxtaposed with Jimmy Moore's "The Thinker" and the LLVLC promo.  Hope they bring it back!!