Posted on 07/08/2003 12:20:27 PM PDT by Nov3
Diabetes diet war By Dara Mayers
The nutrition advice given to most diabetics might be killing them
The bible says "make starches the star." That's the Diabetes Food and Nutrition Bible, published by the American Diabetes Association. "Grains, beans, and starchy vegetables form the foundation of the Diabetes Food Pyramid. The message is to eat more of these foods than of any of the other food groups." For 17 million Americans with diabetes, diet is a crucial part of treatment, And what the ADA bible preaches, many doctors, nutritionists, and patients believe.
But what if the ADA's high-starch diet--another way of saying high-carbohydrate--is not healthy for people with diabetes but harmful to them instead?
This possibility is now the source of heated debate in the diabetes community. It is "the most controversial aspect of diabetes treatment today," says Scott King, editor-in-chief of Diabetes Interview magazine. How controversial? "Malpractice!" is how physician and diabetes specialist Lois Jovanovic, chief scientific officer of the Sansum Medical Research Institute in Santa Barbara, Calif., describes conventional high-carb nutrition advice.
Excerpted, click for full article
(Excerpt) Read more at usnews.com ...
Starting with tomorrow's dinner (too late for tonight), I'll try having my wine at dinner (30 minutes after I start eating) and my second glass right after dinner.
You mention that wine is better than water for digesting food. I've heard that before. In many cultures, a jug of wine at the dinner table is mandatory and even the kids imbibe. In fact, wine used to be used for purifying drinking water up until the. Many people back then would never drink a glass of pure water. If they didn't have wine to dilute their water with, they wouldn't drink it.
I think it has to do with our DNA. The cavemen that were able to store fat survived lean times, just as people whose immune systems were able to pass through the plague lived to reproduce. (Africa did not have the black death-one reason why AIDS has spread so swiftly through Africa, and not as swiftly through Europe.)
So now our "good" genes are working against us, as we efficiently store fat and become a nation of diabetic lard butts. (I also had gestational diabetes.)
But my brother is the same height as me (6'3") and he looks thin as a rail at 215. So maybe I'll stop at 215. I just don't know yet. It's been nearly 15 years since I've been at the weight I'm at now. So I don't remember what I looked like last time I weighed 215. If I keep losing, fine. I'll go down to 185 if I can. But if I flatten out at 215, I'll take that too. Much better than sitting at 300!
Your diet is, well, interesting. But who am I to judge. I was much, much more overweight than you!
Like you, I started this program low-key. Didn't tell anybody. Not even my wife. I just went out and started doing it and waited for people to notice. It didn't take long. But by that point, it was too late for them to give me advice because I was already doing something that was working. Nobody's going to argue with you or criticize your plan when you're losing 2-3 pounds (or more) week after week after week.
But I don't drink before 7 or 8 at night now, and always, like you, red or chardonnay, or, occasionally, a sauvignon blanc. I've been experimenting with ways to have my wine and not gain weight, as I was doing before Christmas. So, I've been experimenting with different ways of drinking it, a couple of weeks at a time.
I always had a glass of wine at the stroke of 6, on an empty stomach, and would put on a pound or two a week.
Started drinking at dinner, stopped putting on the weight.
Started drinking later in the meal, lost a pound a week.
Started drinking 30 minutes after the meal, lost two pounds over about ten days.
Now, I could probably lose more weight if I stopped drinking altogether, but I'm convinced of the cardiovascular benefits of wine, and it's my only vice, so I'm not giving it up.
I'm in maintenance on Atkins, but I know how easy it is to let a pound or two turn into ten.
I am catching up with this thread from yesterday and saw your response re: prayer.
Strangely enough, "The Carbohydrate Addicts" Heart Healthy Diet is one of the few diet books that mentions prayer. The way I stumbled across it was an answer to prayer and in the strange "God-incidence" way He has of confirming things for us, I wound up with 2 copies.
The book has been a God-send for us, not just vanity wise, but health wise. I found it in the cheap section of Barnes and Noble.
Amen Unfortunately that goes both ways. Thank God the weight came off faster than it went on.
I see it as a quality of life issue. There are three pleasures in the world that I would never want to give up. My music. My books. And my two glasses of beer or wine in the few hours between dinner and bedtime. All three of these pleasures have benefits to my health and well-being as well. Music soothes and relaxes me. Books educate and entertain me. And the two drinks improve my health and well-being.
There was a low-carb book I recently read in which the author states that she would never give up her two glasses of wine either. Like you, she is convinced of the health benefits of wine and if it keeps her from losing a few more pounds, it's well worth it. She also states that it is probably not healthy to be "toothpick" thin in the first place. It's much more important to have a healthy body, free of things like obesity, heart disease, high blood pressure and diabetes. The author's name was Dana Carpender, I believe.
Lastly, I should mention that beer is increasingly less appealing to me on this low-carb diet. I still enjoy it but it doesn't quite taste the same anymore, nor does it go as well with the food I've been eating. The other night, I had steak, mushrooms and my own version of jalapeno "poppers" (grilled jalapenos wrapped in slices of Swiss cheese). The Australian Shiraz I was drinking went great with that meal! So I might eventually become an all-wine drinker myself.
I tried it, loved it, and now, since I drink less, buy the "Reserve."
It's the best bottle of wine for the money I've ever found.
Thanks.
Smart! I made the mistake of telling my husband this evening, and he had grabbed the book and blabbed about my plan to everyone. I scolded him, because now everyone will be looking at me and judging me.
I had that problem at Weight Watchers (where I was very successful). Pretty soon everyone around me was analyzing every morsel that went into my mouth. Either they wanted to talk diet all the time, or they wanted to criticize the program. It gets really boring after a while.
And then there is the problem that men usually lose weight faster than women (he wants to do it too) and that is really discouraging. I just wanted to work at this and wait for people to notice.
Soy's Negative Impact on The Thyroid
Soy's Thyroid Dangers
A Look at the Dangers of Soy to the Health of Your Thyroid
by Mary J. Shomon
Health and nutrition magazines tout the benefits of soy as a cure-all for women's health, hormonal problems, cancer prevention, weight loss, and many other problems. The reality, however, is that promotion of soy may be more a matter of business and marketing, rather than recommendations based on sound scientific evidence.
Isoflavones, the key components of soy that make them so potent as a possible substitute for hormone replacement, mean that soy products, while touted as foods and nutritional products -- often are used and act like a hormone.
If you have a diagnosed or undiagnosed thyroid problem, or a history of autoimmune disease, overconsumption of soy isoflavones can potentially trigger a thyroid condition. Soy foods can worsen an existing diagnosed thyroid problem in many people. In both cases the symptoms such as fatigue, weight gain, and depression or moodiness are often overlooked and hard to diagnose.
A recent study found that as millions of Americans -- perhaps as many as more than 10 million -- have an undiagnosed thyroid condition. The vast majority of thyroid patients are women over 40. This is the same group that, responding to marketing claims that promote soy as helping to prevent breast cancer, reducing the risk of high cholesterol or heart disease, or as a treatment for symptoms of menopause, are turning to soy foods and isoflavone supplements in vast numbers.
Here is more information regarding soy and its relationship to the thyroid.
FDA's Soy Experts Speak Out Against Soy
"There is abundant evidence that some of the isoflavones found in soy, including genistein and equol, a metabolite of daidzen, demonstrate toxicity in estrogen sensitive tissues and in the thyroid. This is true for a number of species, including humans.
Additionally, isoflavones are inhibitors of the thyroid peroxidase (TPO) which makes T3 and T4. Inhibition can be expected to generate thyroid abnormalities, including goiter and autoimmune thyroiditis. There exists a significant body of animal data that demonstrates goitrogenic and even carcinogenic effects of soy products. Moreover, there are significant reports of goitrogenic effects from soy consumption in human infants and adults."
Official Letter of Protest to the FDA
Letter of protest from researchers Daniel Doerge and Daniel Sheehan, two of the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) key experts on soy, to the FDA, protesting the health claims approved by the FDA on soy products.
America's Foremost Alternative Doctor Warns:
RE: Soy
America's leading alternative doctor, Dr. Andrew Weil, has said about soy, at his Ask Dr. Weil website:
"…you're unlikely to get too many isoflavones as a result of adding soy foods to your diet -- but you probably will take in too much if you take soy supplements in pill form. At this point, I can only recommend that you avoid soy supplements entirely."
Study Shows That Too Much Tofu Induces "Brain Aging"
From the Honolulu Star-Bulletin
"A Hawaii study shows a significant statistical relationship between two or more servings of tofu a week and "accelerated brain aging" and even an association with Alzheimer's Disease, says Dr. Lon White." "...these are not nutrients. They are drugs. They will have some benefits and some negative things."
Don't Go Overboard With the Soy Foods!
David Zava, Ph.D., a biochemist and an experienced breast cancer researcher stated in an interview:
"In studying the literature on soy I found there are about five types of plant chemicals [antinutrients] in the soybean that can be toxic to humans if they are not removed by special processing… the fifth antinutrient in soybeans is called a goitrogen.
This is a chemical that latches on to iodine, preventing it from absorbing into the body from the gastrointestinal tract. Iodine is needed to make thyroid hormone. Low thyroid function has been associated with poor brain development.
Anyone who has been deficient in thyroid hormone understands quite well what impact this can have on normal brain function, especially at a time in life as we grow older and "fuzzy thinking" creeps into our vocabulary."
North American Menopause Society Won't Endorse Soy Products
In a press statement, the North American Menopause Society has said:
"Our review found that scientific data are inconclusive regarding whether the observed health effects in humans are attributable to isoflavones alone or to isoflavones plus other components in whole foods… women may wish to consume whole foods that contain isoflavones, especially for potential cardiovascular benefits. However, scientific data supporting the use of isoflavones for hot flashes are conflicting, and inadequate data exist to evaluate their effect on breast and other female cancers, bone mass and vaginal dryness… Our evaluation also pointed out that a level of caution needs to be observed, especially in the use of isoflavone supplements, powders and pills…More studies documenting benefits and safety need to be conducted.''
Research Shows Soy's Effects
American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol 68, 1431S-1435S:
"Effects of soy-protein supplementation on epithelial proliferation in the histologically normal human breast"
-- Study showed that short-term use of dietary soy stimulated breast cell proliferation, which can increase the risk of breast cancer.
Anti-thyroid isoflavones from soybean
November 1997 article from Biochem Pharmacol in which "it was observed that an … extract of soybeans contains compounds that inhibit thyroid peroxidase- (TPO) catalyzed reactions essential to thyroid hormone synthesis."
Breast and soy-formula feedings in early infancy and the prevalence of autoimmune thyroid disease in children
April 1998 article from the J Am Coll Nutr. that documents the association of soy formula feedings in infancy and autoimmune thyroid disease.
Leading Expert Warns of Soy-Thyroid Connection in Bestselling Book
In the bestselling book - "Living Well With Hypothyroidism: What Your Doctor Doesn't Tell You . . . That You Need to Know", leading soy expert Dr. Mike Fitzpatrick was profiled.
"Dr. Mike Fitzpatrick is an environmental scientist and phytoestrogen researcher who has extensively researched the issue of soy formulas, and the impact of soy consumption on thyroid function. Dr. Fitzpatrick introduced me to a little-known fact that can have substantial impact on people with hypothyroidism and the population in general -- overconsumption of soy products has the potential to impair thyroid function.
Dr. Fitzpatrick is so concerned that he is calling for soy formula manufacturers to remove the isoflavones -- the agents that are most active against the thyroid -- from their products.
There are also concerns for adult consumption of soy products. One UK study involving premenopausal women gave 60 grams of soy protein per day for one month. This was found to disrupt the menstrual cycle, with the effects of the isoflavones continuing for a full three months after stopping the soy in the diet.
Another study found that intake of soy over a long period causes enlargement of the thyroid and suppresses thyroid function. Isoflavones are also known to modify fertility and change sex hormone status, and to have serious health effects -- including infertility, thyroid disease or liver disease -- on a number of mammals… Dr. Fitzpatrick believes that people with hypothyroidism should seriously consider avoiding soy products, and predicts the current promotion of soy as a health food will result in an increase in thyroid disorders."
Soy Researcher is Even 'Very Concerned'
"There's a tendency in our culture to think if a little is good, then a lot's better," says Mary Anthony, a soy researcher at Wake Forest University School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, N.C. "But I personally am very concerned about isoflavone pills and soy protein supplemented with extra isoflavones."
Isoflavones, after all, seem to act like hormones or drugs in our body--even if for regulatory purposes they are classified as "Nutritional Supplements."
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