Diabetes Diet War (Hint: High carbing doesn't work)

US News ^ | 7/14/03 | Dara Mayers

[Nov3]

Diabetes diet war
The nutrition advice given to most diabetics might be killing them

By Dara Mayers
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

[najida]

Good post and on the money!

[Investment Biker]

Just a couple of comments regarding this artice from a type 1 diabetic.

Low carb works well for diabetics. It takes the swings out the sugar readings and aids in the loss of weight which reduces insulin requirements even further. I lost over 70lbs without really trying by following the advice in Dr. Berstein's book, Diabetes Solution. It changed my life.

I will reserve my caustic comments for the American Diabetes Association. The ADA will never admit that they are wrong. They would have to change all of their cookbooks. They also would loose most of their donors as people lost weight and became non-diabetic. And then what would they do? Did you know that the ADA spends less than 20% of money received on research. They use children extensively in their ads to get people to donate but do almost nothing for type 1 reseach. Type 1 being the type that impact children that they exploit in their ads. They are a complete and total waste and anyone that gives money to them is a fool.

[EggsAckley]

You, Sir, are my inspiration! You've proven that it CAN work, and also that it's EASY. Just keep the carbs down. Count carbs like you count the change in your pocket.

[lelio]

The ADA is a little behind the curve!
Behind the curve, or is ADM setting the throttle of the Amreican diet's car? / tinfoil and mixed metaphor

[Investment Biker]

Correction: Dr. Bernstein's (not Berstein) book: Diabetes Solution

[netmilsmom]

You should have met my mom.
She took 6 gm. or thyroid hormones per day.
She walked before it was popular to walk.
She lived on chicken and tomatoes to lose 25 lbs for a surgery.
She died at 250 pounds but was married in 1950 at 89 lbs. She had a goiter and it blew her thyroid gland.
You sound like a typical fat bigot.
If it was all calories in, calories out, I would be dead from the 8 months I lived on popcorn and diet coke and minored in dance in college.
My hair was falling out, my electrolytes went out of balance and I was fainting, but damn I was thin!
People who believe that everyone just needs to cut back on calories to lose weight is deluded.

[cubreporter]

I'm sorry you lost your beloved mother. She was trying hard for sure. Prayers for her and for you.

[texasbluebell]

Gubmint spent millions (or more) and how many decades developing the carbo-rich food pyramid on one hand, and is now braying about obese Americans!

You got it! They pushed grains on the populace for decades, and we are now reaping the results of that.

As a freeper pointed out some time ago on another thread, just take a look at what farmers feed their cattle to fatten them up for the market...hint...it's not beef and chicken.

[Jeff Chandler]

My family switched to a low-carb diet five weeks ago. We have a list of high-carb foods taken from the Atkins list, and determined what a "portion" of high carb food would be. For instance, a slice of bread would be a portion. We allow ourselves three high carb portions a day. That's all we do-no counting carbs or calories, no deal-a-meal, no low-fat worries-just restrict the very high carb foods. The idea is to change our eating habits in a way that is so simple that we can actually follow through.

I have lost 10 pounds, my daughter has lost 10 pounds, and my wife has lost 25 pounds. Five weeks, during which none of us suffered or went hungry. We just cut down on the bread, potatoes, rice, soda, etc..

Oh, yeah, we allow ourselves one meal a week where we eat anything we want(in moderation) so that we can enjoy holidays and special occasions.

[texasbluebell]

I never did the Atkins plan with the ketosis and all. But I did cut carbs out of my diet as much as I could as well as all junk and processed foods (which are loaded with carbs). I now have eggs every morning for breakfast and lots of steak and other meats. What a difference. Wish I'd done this 10 years ago.

My own doctor convinced me to just cut out "white foods" as he calls them, most of the breads, pastas, rice, and potatoes--we can really do without most of that. He said he'd rather see someone eating a big steak than a pasta dinner.

[Gary Boldwater]

I'm missing something here. If one doesn't gain weight from food, then what does one gain weight from?

[Jeff Chandler]

God rest your mother's soul.

She is the exception to the rule, however. Most overweight people eat too much-too much of the wrong foods- and execise too little. That's not bigotry, that's life.

[Jeff Chandler]

>>He said he'd rather see someone eating a big steak than a pasta dinner.<<

Here's a dirty little secret: a small amount of fat in food will keep you full for a long time, while carbohydrates make most people hungry.

[retrokitten]

I lost about 25 pounds on Atkins about a year and a half ago and have since gained it back. I just started yesterday to get back on program. The first 2-3 days are the hardest!!! My husband is one of those people who can eat anything and not gain a pound. It really pisses me off (I can put on muscle really easily and that pisses him off LOL!).

The first few days when the carbs are leaving my system I crave really strange things that I don't normally eat. Like cherry pie, frosting in the can, and tiramesu (sp?). Has anyone else had that kind of experience?? It goes away after about 48-72 hours, but it's a real uphill battle during that time.

[SauronOfMordor]

Actually, the problem is not really carbs but food that are high on the glycemic index.

For the past couple of years, I've been having to manage my hypoglycemic daughter's blood sugar level. What works is a diet high in meat and low in refined flour and sugar. The reason it works is that meat and cheese digest slowly, resulting in a more gradual insertion of glucose into the bloodstream. Eating a diet full of refined carbs would give her a glucose spike, followed by a crash, with all sorts of resulting behavior problems (which the idiots at the public school wanted to handle thru Ritalin)

[Investment Biker]

Your statement was: Most overweight people eat too much-too much of the wrong foods- and execise too little.

Consider my experience. The first year that I was diagnosed as a type 1 diabetic (meaning I have no natural insulin production and must take insulin) I rode my bicycle 10,000 miles. Is that enough exercise for you? I watched my diet religiously as it is necessary to control blood sugar. I also followed the ADA diet. The result was I gained 10 pounds the first year and each year after that with or without exercise until I had gained about 100lbs. Now I am on a low carb and the weight falls off. My insulin requirement is 1/2 of the former amounts needed. My blood pressure is normal versus 40mg of lisinopril to control it. And my blood fats are as good as they have ever been. I try to stay under 30gms of carbs a day from all sources. Now my question for you is how did I gain so much weight even with exercise and following the "correct" diet? If you can't answer that then I think you should change your assumptions.

[A_perfect_lady]

But....Dr. Atkins DIED! Proof that his diet is dangerous!

I'm convinced that PETA had a hit out on him.

[Jeff Chandler]

>>I lost about 25 pounds on Atkins about a year and a half ago and have since gained it back. <<

That's the problems with most diet plans- they are too difficult to maintain.

The goal should not be weight loss, but a lifelong change in eating HABITS. Bad eating habits must be replaced with good ones, and the plan must be simple. If you have to carry a carb or calorie chart and calulator around with you it won't last. Sooner or later you will backslide and just put the weight back on.

[Ancesthntr]

Congrats on your amazing progress, and good luck getting to your goal. But tell me, how have the eggs and steak been for your cholesterol and, more specifically, your HDL/LDL balance? I have a sneaking suspicion that you're going to tell me that they're much improved, but I need to see it. I would also presume that your triglycerides dropped like a rock.

I was (and still am, thanks to the conditioning of the AMA and the various "health" publications) also a low -carb skeptic, but the more that studies show that it works, the more that I want to give it a serious try (I don't have THAT much to lose, maybe 15-20 lbs., but I LOVE my pasta, cereal, lowfat popcorn, etc).

BTW, several years ago I tried a "diet" pushed by some guy at Vanderbilt University (while I attended), who pushed a high complex carb diet for weight loss because "your body has to burn more calories to digest them than fat or simple carbs. I religiously ate spaghetti at least 4x/week for several months, plus lots of other similar stuff (all low fat, of course), and wondered why I not only didn't lose weight, but had a triglyceride level of over 600. Now I know.

[texasbluebell]

Yes, carbs do seem to not satisfy for very long. Other than filling you up quickly, the effects are not lasting.

I can eat a small steak for dinner with a salad, and it lasts me for hours. No hunger pangs all evening.

But we don't want any ADA spies to hear that...they'd blow a gasket.