Originally posted by Dumbfirefly
reply to post by DevolutionEvolvd

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I had read elsewhere that hyperinsulinemia commonly presents in those with diabetes mellitus type 2 and insulin resistence, both of which are commonly caused by obesity.

Insulin is produced as a response to what is eaten, as you correctly mentioned earlier, often the wrong foods that cause sugar/insulin spikes etc. The exacerbation of insulin production and its effects on blood glucose are what cause the insulin conditions. Not the other way around as my obese family members would have everyone believe

Or if you eat excess carbohydrates which cause the insulin elevation in the first place. Cause and effect.

I think the problem that this topic highlights more is the need for education; we wouldn't be trying to find the solution for eating an excess of a given food group if people were educated (not just by being told, but as a cultural practice) not to do so in the first place.

This sort of undermines the whole idea of medicalising this problem. It is admitted that if you regulate your intake, then you regulate your fat storage

but the proposal is to medicalise it anyway? Regulating your insulin should not become the next way to stop being fat. Not when traditional methods - when applied earnestly and correctly - work equally well (and I would argue, more healthily).

But I would not try to stop the hormone from storing; I would simply give it less to store.

In 1990, a groundbreaking study published in Lancet concluded that a low-fat, vegetarian diet can reverse heart disease, and scientific studies have appeared every year since then showing this approach is best for long-term health and weight loss. During the same period of time, numerous studies have been published linking heavy meat consumption to serious illness. For example, a Harvard study published earlier this year in Annals of Internal Medicine showed that high-protein diets may cause permanent loss of kidney function in anyone with reduced kidney function. It is important for dieters to take this into account since as many as one in four Americans may already have renal problems. Other studies conclude that meat-heavy diets significantly increase one’s risk of colon cancer and osteoporosis.

Low-carbohydrate diets could pose a serious health risk and are not a safe way to lose weight, according to a new report.

Writing in this week's issue of the Lancet, US doctors report a "life-threatening complication" of the Atkins diet observed in a 40-year old obese woman.

The patient was admitted to the intensive care unit in a New York hospital with dangerously high levels of acids in her blood caused by starvation, said Professor Klaus-Dieter Lessnau of the New York School of Medicine.

The woman, who had been strictly following the Atkins diet for a month and had lost 9kg, had become increasingly short of breath five days before being admitted to hospital. She had lost her appetite and had vomited four to six times daily.

According to Lessnau and his colleagues, she was suffering from severe ketoacidosis, a condition that occurs when high levels of acids called ketones build up in the blood. Ketones are produced in the liver as a result of diabetes or starvation.

According to the doctors, a low carbohydrate diet such as Atkins can lead to ketone production- in fact, the Atkins diet book recommends regular monitoring for ketones in the urine to confirm adherence to the diet.

Belinda Linden, head of medical information at the British Heart Foundation, holds similar views. "The new studies do not indicate a dramatic weight loss for excessively obese people," she said. "Previous studies have shown that weight loss from the Atkins Diet may involve muscle loss rather than body fat. Another potential problem is that it is so far unclear from studies whether weight loss is sustained over a longer period than six months. One of the studies shows no significant difference at 12 months."

She added that, "With minimal fruit and vegetables included in the diet, it holds serious implications for coronary heart disease and cancer. Diets need to be varied to protect against these conditions - and this one isn't. This diet requires further long term and larger studies before its effectiveness can be confirmed."

Originally posted by ImaginaryReality1984
reply to post by DevolutionEvolvd

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www.healthboards.com...

www.newswise.com...

In The Name of ‘Responsible Medicine’ The Public is Ill-Served
A LowCarbiz Rebuttal to The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine Report on Health Concerns Pertaining To Low-Carbohydrate Diets
By Dr. Michael R. Eades and Dr. Mary Dan Eades
© 2003 LowCarbiz/Michael R. Eades, M.D. and Mary Dan Eades, M.D.

Ten Rebuttal Points:
• PCRM uses what is at best anecdotal information and presents it in the guise of a scientific investigation.
• At least a dozen studies have been conducted recently in major medical and scientific research institutions and published in top-notch journals that confirm the lowcarbohydrate diet is superior to the low-fat diet in multiple respects.
• The respondents to the PCRM poll would represent only 0.00001125% or one onethousandth of one percent of individuals following a low-carbohydrate diet.
• Researchers from Harvard recently reported that subjects could eat 300 calories more per day on a low-carbohydrate diet than those following a low-fat diet and still lose the same amount of weight over a 12-week period.
• Dieters would prefer to lose fat rather than lean tissue, which is precisely what happens with low-carbohydrate diets.
• Virtually every study done on low-carbohydrate diets shows that weight loss is accompanied by either an improvement or no change in heart disease risk factors.
• Low carb dieters who consume green leafy and colorful vegetables and low-glycemic fruits are not at risk of osteoporosis (long-term bone loss).
• The whole idea that protein in the amounts eaten in modified low-carbohydrate diets damages kidneys is a vampire myth that refuses to die no matter how many stakes have been driven through its heart by a multitude of medical studies.
• Overall there is no evidence that meat causes colon cancer, or any other cancer, for that matter. Actually many cancer-fighting nutrients are in meat and a reduction in meat intake might be more likely to increase cancer risk.
• As the data continues to accumulate and the studies increase in number, the efficacy of the modified low-carbohydrate diet will finally be established to the satisfaction of all.

www.foodnavigator-usa.com...

A number of blood lipids have been implicated in coronary disease, but none more substantially than the blood cholesterol content. That blood cholesterol is somehow intimately related to coronary atherosclerosis in no longer subject to reasonable doubt…

Most of what we know about the effects of diet factors, particularly the saturation of fat and cholesterol , on serum lipid parameters derives from metabolic ward-type studies. Alas, such findings, within a cohort studied over time have been disappointing, indeed the findings have been contradictory. For example, in Framingham, Mass, the more saturated fat one ate, the more cholesterol one ate, the more calories one ate, the lower the person’s serum cholesterol.

Myth: Atkins is a nutrient-poor program.

Fact: Even on Induction one consumes 4 to 5 servings of low glycemic, high nutrient vegetables daily. In addition, fruits such as tomato, avocado and olives are included. According to the CDC only 27.2% of Americans eat 3 or more servings of vegetables daily.

Myth: Most of the weight you lose on Atkins is water.

Fact: A portion of the initial weight lost is water just as it is on any diet. It takes about 4 days for most people to switch to burning fat once carbs are cut low enough.

Myth: Eating more protein will cause kidney damage.

Fact: There has never been a study that demonstrated that increasing protein intake damages healthy kidneys. In fact, a review published on the Nutrition & Metabolism site in September 2005 states that there is no evidence that a higher protein intake is a concern in this regard.

In none of the studies conducted on the low carb diet has there been evidence of kidney damage.

However, people who already have severe pre-existing kidney disease often require a more limited protein intake along with regular monitoring of kidney function.

People with diabetes are at risk for kidney disease. Not because of eating protein but because of the damaging effects of high levels of blood sugar. Controlling carbohydrates is a good strategy for improving blood sugar control in people with type 2 diabetes thus decreasing the risk of kidney complications as well as other complications of diabetes.

Myth: Following the Atkins diet leads to bone loss and osteoporosis.

Fact: This rumor has been circulating since Dr. Atkins first book was published in 1974. Bone loss is supposed to occur because the diet is considered a high protein diet. This itself is a misconception although protein intake is higher than the 15% usually recommended.

A few inconclusive short term studies showed increased calcium excretion with a high protein intake from protein powder (not an Atkins program). This was then extrapolated to mean osteoporosis would result even though bone mass was not measured.

This study was repeated using meat rather than protein powder. It showed that after 2 weeks the body adapted to a higher protein intake normalizing calcium excretion.

Myth: A diet high in fat causes cancer.

A 2004 study published in the International Journal of Cancer showed a relationship to prostate cancer risk when consuming foods with a high glycemic index and glycemic load. Another study published in Gastroenterology found a protective effect from meat in pancreatic cancer. In 2008 a report in The American Journal of Gastroenterology found both the intake of refined carbs and total carb intake correlated with increased risk of esophageal cancer. The International Journal of Cancer reported a study that demonstrated a decreased risk of breast cancer in women eating a diet high in animal products and no relationship with a meat-rich, saturated fat diet and ovarian cancer. A positive correlation to increased cancer risk was demonstrated with a starch-rich diet- 34% higher risk for breast cancer and 84% increased risk for ovarian cancer.

While epidemiological studies cannot prove cause the evidence continues to accumulate that

controlling both the quality and quantity of carbs can normalize insulin levels; successfully address obesity and likely decrease risks for a variety of cancers and other chronic health concerns.

Myth: Atkins stresses the liver and can cause liver damage.

Fact: There has never been any research to support this. It is likely another theory that because Atkins allows a higher fat intake it will cause fatty infiltration of the liver. All of the studies done on people doing Atkins have examined liver function tests and have shown it to be safe. In years of clinical practice there has been no indication of liver damage. Many people have fatty infiltration of the liver as a complication of obesity. It is called non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. It can become as severe as to cause serious complications. When treating people with elevated liver enzymes on a low carb plan it is common to see normalizing liver tests often within a short period of time, even before significant weight loss occurs.

Myth: The higher fat intake allowed on Atkins causes heart disease.

Fact: The idea that dietary cholesterol and saturated fat leads to heart disease is a hypothesis. There is a weak association at best. Much of the research underlying the hypothesis is based on epidemiological research that does not prove cause. It points to an association with numerous confounders such as manufactured trans fats and a high carb intake as factors. For an eye-opening and interesting discussion how this theory came to be adopted read Good Calories, Bad Calories by Gary Taubes.

Natural fats have been part of our diets since the beginning of the human race. We are genetically programmed to be carnivores. Our caveman ancestors had a low carb diet. They did not have processed foods, refined flour, high fructose corn syrup or other items that pass as food today.

Recent research done on Atkins-type diets have shown interesting and to some surprising results.

Low carb diets decrease cardiovascular risks by:

· Re-balancing blood sugar/insulin

· Lowering triglycerides

· Increasing HDL cholesterol better than any drug available

· Shifting LDL particles from small, dangerous types to large, buoyant particles

· Decreasing inflammatory chemicals

· Lowering blood pressure, decreasing fluid retention

· Improving the processing of saturated fat

· Inhibiting the manufacture of fat

· Improving the clearance/use of saturated fat

It appears to be the amount of carbs especially those that have the most negative impact on insulin and blood sugar regulation that plays a role in cardiovascular disease.

The fundamental reason why the metabolism of ketone bodies produce an increase of 28% in the hydraulic efficiency of heart compared with a heart metabolizing glucose alone is that there is an inherently higher heat of combustion in Image-β-hydroxybutyrate [a ketone] than in pyruvate, the mitochondrial substrate which is the end product of glycolysis.

2) How is it that people who religiously follow a low fat, high carb diet and include exercise do lose weight, often significant weight?

Exercise alone (ND) appears to have minimal impact on measured outcomes with positive outcomes apparent when exercise is combined with a hypoenergetic diet. Greater improvements in waist circumference and body composition occurred when carbohydrate is replaced in the diet with protein. Weight loss in all diet groups (VLCHP, LCMP and HCLP) was primarily fat and stimulated improvements in markers of cardiovascular disease risk, body composition, energy expenditure and psychosocial parameters.

3) Whilst i agree insulins role has been overlooked, don't you think it is sort of letting people off the hook to put such emphasis on it as you have? Especially when we already have a working model for weight loss (see question 2).

”When we meet a fact which contradicts a prevailing theory, we must accept the fact and abandon the theory, even when the theory is supported by great names and generally accepted”

"The doubter is a true man of science: he doubts only himself and his interpretations, but he believes in science."

"They make poor observations, because they choose among the results of their experiments only what suits their object, neglecting whatever is unrelated to it and carefully setting aside everything which might tend toward the idea they wish to combat"

Intelligent people will look at this tightly-controlled study and say, Hmm, mice that ate a ketogenic diet gained less weight than genetically-identical mice eating the same number of calories but of a different composition. There must be something different about the way a ketogenic diet works because it provides a metabolic advantage, i.e., the animals that followed it gained less than those that didn’t and didn’t do anything volitional to keep from gaining the weight.

At least that’s what the authors of the study said. And one assumes that they are reasonably intelligent. Specifically, they concluded that:

"feeding of a ketogenic diet with a high content of fat and very low carbohydrate leads to distinct changes in metabolism and gene expression that appear consistent with the increased metabolism and lean phenotype seen. Through a specific dietary manipulation, weight loss can occur secondary to distinct metabolic changes and without caloric restriction"

These data indicate that dietary manipulation is capable of altering energy balance and metabolic state. In these experiments a high-fat, ketogenic diet not only failed to cause obesity but was capable of reversing diet-induced obesity in mice. These data suggest a more complex relationship between fat consumption and obesity than previously thought. Further investigation as to the mechanisms of energy balance in these animals may provide new targets in obesity research.