The Carb-Sane Asylum

T his mix of snarkasm and practical advice is brought to you by Facebook Memories reminding me of a post I made around a year ago -- The #LCHF Weight Loss Industry & Evangelizing Low Carb  -- and the upcoming Keto Clarity Academy event featuring Melanie Miller and Jimmy Moore "influencing" people on how to stay healthy for the holidays. The holiday season will be soon upon us, and even those who celebrate no December holidays will likely still have to navigate related social engagements.  Let me preface this by saying that I recognize there are a number of people who absolutely cannot, or probably should not, stray from their dietary regimen.  There are others who, when they do, have a much harder time getting "back on the wagon" compared to whatever issues staying on plan will cause.  If you are any of these people, this blog post is not for you.  This blog post is aimed at all of those who are angst-ridden going into and through the upcoming holi...

BUMP NOTICE:  I'm bumping this post due to some recent discussions on social media regarding the reversibility of Type 2 Diabetes and the role of low carbohydrate diets in the growing "curing diabetes" paradigm.  Recently Dr. Roy Taylor (the investigator I most closely associate with the crash diet, though this is an extensive group) and colleagues, who implemented a "crash diet" to cure diabetes -- by reducing pancreatic and hepatic (liver) fat concurrently with rapid weight loss -- published the following in BMJ:   Beating type 2 diabetes into remission .    The criteria are non-diabetic markers for a period following reversal of the progression.  Here is where various low carbohydrate interventions "fail", as many are able to maintain normoglycemia only by avoiding carbohydrates.  The question remains if this is effectively the same as other reversals.  I contend it is not, as normal pancreatic function -- specifically GSIS -- has not ...

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...

Bumping Again! New Article in BMJ:   Analysis: Beating type 2 diabetes into remission * The original posting of this was shortly after the first papers published on the success of a very low calorie diet -- essentially a 6-800 calorie protein-sparing-modified-fast, protein shakes + non-starchy veggies -- in curing diabetes in relatively short order.  You may also be interested in the following posts: The Diabetes "Crash" Cure Revisited  (a follow-up to this one) Diabetes "Crash" Cures: VLCal vs. VLCarb Check Featured Comment (if any) for further updates from me. *In light of commentary below, I'll add that I am not a fan of using the term remission here.  Cancer does seem to strike at random most times and recurrence seems to be equally random.  At best we have few if any ways to predict who will see cancer return etc.  But Type 2 diabetes doesn't work that way in most.  The source of the beta cell dysfunction is pretty well k...

Blogstress Note:  I'm trying to finish up a project outside the Asylum, have had lots of computer issues that have made this frustrating to say the least, coupled with family obligations and "real job" starting back up.  An unfinished, older, now past-its-shelf-date post went live the other day that I have since unpublished.  I may or may not re-publish it merged with another at some point. I've been meaning to weigh in on the whole Keto Clarity Academy launched by Jimmy Moore and Melanie Miller (of Evangelizing Low Carb fame), and a more in depth look will have to wait until higher priorities are fulfilled.   Here is the current front page of Keto Clarity Academy.  Finally, the stock photos have been replaced, though at this time we still don't have bios and official roles of the four ladies joining Jimmy and Melanie in this endeavor. For $75 (down from $100) you can take KETO 101 based on Jimmy's book.  The blurb on the bottom reads: ...

Let me preface this post by saying I'm a bit time constrained, and computer issues have made my life miserable these past few days.   However a new article from the PURE study was recently published in Lancet, and I wish to add some limited commentary to the mix.   First things first, the links: Associations of fats and carbohydrate intake with cardiovascular disease and mortality in 18 countries from five continents (PURE): a prospective cohort study The first study:   The Prospective Urban Rural Epidemiology (PURE) study: Examining the impact of societal influences on chronic noncommunicable diseases in low-, middle-, and high-income countries Secondly, I've tweeted these links out.  Commentary by others: Kevin Klatt:   On PURE Nutrition Wonk:   Research Review The 5 Continent (PURE) Study: A Prospective Cohort Study And now for my favorite headline!

S ummary: A white paper has been published by the True Health Initiative attempting to set some things straight vis a vis Ancel Keys and his Seven Countries Study Such discussions will always involve the erroneous conflation of that 1970s study and Keys' 1953 "Six Countries Plot" ANCEL KEYS DID NOT CHERRY PICK.   In 1953, it was "possible to get fully comparable dietary and vital statistics data from 6 countries" from 1948-9.   Yerushalmy originally put forth data from 12 and then 22 countries.   These data were from different sources and for different classifications of disease vs. that used by Keys. NEITHER set of data used by Y&H even existed in 1953, so it could not have even been available to Keys. Zoe Harcombe is a terrible researcher at best.  Some institutions will give a PhD to pretty much anyone these days.