The Carb-Sane Asylum

I think this post has needed a bump for a while.     I also think the data on growing animals eating a keto diet should be cause for at least caution in encouraging such diets for kids, teens or even young adults. ORIGINAL POST DATE 3/20/2012 One of the more difficult things to sort out from the enormous amount of information out there is the actual effect, if any, of dietary composition on resulting body composition.  This is complicated from the get-go by many rodent studies that are done on reproductively mature animals that are still growing.  How to compare this to humans who cease growing vertically once they reach adulthood?  Next we have to sort through the studies that are done, and the implications of them, in the context of weight loss/underfeeding vs. those in the context of weight gain/overfeeding.  Clearly there are compensatory mechanisms at play in both situations that are drastically different.  Lastly, and here's where we probab...

A lot of the metabolism-focused cancer talk seems to coalesce around insulin and its cousin IGF-1  (see for example  colon cancer  ,  breast cancer , or do any Google Scholar search on the topic).   Moreso than glucose lowering or ketone producing, the keto for cancer folks seem to be trying to reduce insulin (see this recent blog post ).   So yesterday when I relistened (because sometimes I just torture myself) to Gary Taubes' walk back his G3P argument, something else caught my ear at the end, especially in light of the earlier convo in the podcast about protein and insulin.  Have a listen [I cropped together just 4 minutes for you :-) ]

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...

Yeah ... I'm off on a tangent again ;-)  In looking at that new LC v. LF study blogged on here and here , I was reminded of a few studies I've looked into previously that actually increase the protein in the diets.  That post is in the works, but in reviewing one study it hit me -- the macro percents were exactly what the recent Swedish study intended  to compare!   This study from Gannon & Nuttall fits the bill perfectly:   Effect of a High-Protein, Low-Carbohydrate Diet on Blood Glucose Control in People With Type 2 Diabetes .  I blogged on this long ago, here . {Aside:  Gannon & Nuttall are the researchers behind the Dreamfields pasta study one of my detractors used to blast the company and its product (I agree with that, BTW). But that study has since been  withdrawn  so another one of my detractors would feel justified in calling them liars.  Sigh.}

Link:  Mark Sisson Ratings: ☼ ☼ ☼  ☼ ☼   Entertainment Value ☼ ☼ ☼  ☼ ☼   Content ☼ ☼ ☼  ☼ ☼  Informational Accuracy ☼ ☼ ☼  ☼ ☼  Overall Summary: It is fair to say that of all the paleo/LC folks with whom I have disagreements with on the substance of their message, Mark Sisson is probably the most enjoyable personality to listen to.  If you know nothing about paleo/primal, this is a good overview of the basics.  If you're familiar with Primal Blueprint at all, there's nothing new here.  The interview is more notable for what it is missing -- any major emphasis on excessive carbohydrate consumption (no carbohydrate curve), minimal mentions of insulin and no mention of fat being locked away.  Not too many overt factual errors or misrepresentations of the science.  Most of all this interview and other recent ones demonstrate Mark's ability to adjust his marketing pitch to the tune of what's going ...

I've blogged previously on the LoBAG diets for treatment of diabetes.   These diets are higher in protein that standard recommendations - 30% vs. 15% - with varying carb content (20,30 & 40% have been studied).  With both of the lower carb diets, this group has achieved good improvements in HbA1c levels in relatively short time (5-10 weeks).  In comparing their diets  they observed: Increasing the protein content of the diet from 15 to 30% resulted in an 35% increase in IGF-I regardless of whether the carbohydrate content was 40%, 20%, or 30% as in the present study. Thus the dietary protein-induced increase in IGF-I is independent of the amount of dietary carbohydrate and fat. I believe the near-OCD obsession with insulin in the LC community overshadows the vast body of research on other hormones and peptides that's out there and their role in metabolism.

Effects of Omega-3 Fatty Acids on Lipids Glycemic Control in Type II Diabetes and the Metabolic Syndrome and on Inflammatory Bowel Disease, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Renal Disease, Systemic Lupus Erythematosus, and Osteoporosis           Summary This is a summary of all the research this group could find about O3's.  Just putting this here to bookmark and FYI.