Low-carbohydrate Diet
Not to be confused with slow carb diet. This article is about low carbohydrate diets as a lifestyle choice or for weight loss. For low-carbohydrate dietary therapy for epilepsy, see Ketogenic diet. Low-carbohydrate diets or low-carb diets are dietary programs that restrict carbohydrate consumption. Foods high in easily digestible carbohydrates (e.g., sugar, bread, pasta) are limited or replaced with foods containing a higher percentage of fats and moderate protein (e.g., meat, poultry, fish, shellfish, eggs, cheese, nuts, and seeds) and other foods low in carbohydrates (e.g., most salad vegetables such as spinach, kale, chard and collards), although other vegetables and fruits (especially berries) are often allowed. The amount of carbohydrate allowed varies with different low-carbohydrate diets.[1] Such diets are sometimes 'ketogenic' (i.e., they restrict carbohydrate intake sufficiently to cause ketosis). The induction phase of the Atkins diet[2][3][4] is ketogenic. The term "low-carbohydrate diet" is generally applied to diets that restrict carbohydrates to less than 20% of caloric intake, but can also refer to diets that simply restrict or limit carbohydrates to less than recommended proportions (generally less than 45% of total energy coming from carbohydrates).[5][6] Definition and classification[edit] Low-carbohydrate diets are not well-defined.[7] The American Academy of Family Physicians defines low-carbohydrate diets as diets that restrict carbohydrate intake to 20 to 60 grams per day, typically less than 20% of caloric intake.[8] A 2016 review of low-carbohydrate diets classified diets with 50g of carbohydrate per day (less than 10% of total calories) as "very low" and diets with 40% of calories from carbohydrates as "mild" low-carbohydrate diets.[9] Used for Continue reading >>
Review On "atkins Diabetes Revolution: The Groundbreaking Approach To Preventing And Controlling Type 2 Diabetes" By Mary C. Vernon And Jacqueline A. Eberstein
Review on "Atkins Diabetes Revolution: The Groundbreaking Approach to Preventing and Controlling Type 2 Diabetes" by Mary C. Vernon and Jacqueline A. Eberstein Arora and McFarlane; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.2004 Vernon MC, Eberstein JA: Atkins Diabetes Revolution. The Groundbreaking Approach to Preventing and controlling Type 2 Diabetes. William Morrow; 2004, 538. ISBN 0-06-054008-7 Before beginning the review of this book, we had no particular opinion about the role of low carbohydrate diets in diabetes. In order to write a fair and unbiased review, we have done a rather extensive search on the subject. One of the most disturbing findings of our search is the amount of hostility towards low carbohydrate diets that is on the web and in the scientific literature. We found several sites that present no scientific arguments but are, rather, full of ad hominem attacks. This was particularly disturbing in that we are in the midst of a growing epidemic of obesity and diabetes with very alarming figures and projections from all over the world. Any intervention that has the potential for helping curb this dangerous epidemic which claims thousands of lives every day should be looked at with a great deal of objectivity. The low carbohydrate approach, in fact, is not new and was used in England more than a century ago, made popular by William Harvey [ 1 ], an ENT surgeon. He prescribed a low carbohydrate diet for William Banting, an obese carpenter who had been having a great difficulty losing weight. Banting was able to lose weight and as a service, he published in 1863 a small booklet entitled Letter on Corpulence Addressed to the Public [ 2 ], the first book to be published on obesity and one which popularized low carbohydrate diets. He has been called "Father of low carbohy Continue reading >>
Do Low-carb Diets Help Diabetes?
diabetesdiabetes follow very low carbohydrate diets? The American Diabetes Association (ADA) says "no", but a small study from Sweden suggests such a diet may be one of the best ways to manage the disease and reduce the need for medication. In the study, 16 obese patients with type 2 diabetes followed a calorie- and carbohydrate-restricted diet for 22 months. Most showed continuing improvements in blood sugar that were independent of weight lossweight loss; the average daily dosage of insulin among the 11 insulin-dependent patients was cut in half. "Many people are essentially cured of their [type 2] diabetes by low-carbohydrate diets, but that message is not getting out," says low-carb proponent and biochemistry professor Richard Feinman, PhD, of the SUNY Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. While agreeing that carbohydrate restriction helps people with type 2 diabetes control their blood sugar, ADA spokesman Nathaniel G. Clark, MD, tells WebMD that the ADA does not recommend very low-carb diets because patients find them too restrictive. "We want to promote a diet that people can live with long-term," says Clark, who is vice president of clinical affairs and youth strategies for the ADA. "People who go on very low carbohydrate diets generally aren't able to stick with them for long periods of time." In the Swedish study, obese patients with type 2 diabetes were asked to follow two different low-calorie diets for 22 months. Sixteen patients were told to restrict carbohydrates to just 20% of their total calorie intake, with carbohydrate consumption limited to vegetables and salads. Bread, pasta, potatoes, rice, and breakfast cereals were not allowed. Fifteen more patients were asked to follow a low-fat diet, which had the same number of calories -- 1,800 calories- Continue reading >>
Is Low-carb Eating Really Better For Blood Sugar?
A review of popular low-carbohydrate diets finds that while restricting carbs can reduce blood sugar in the short run, evidence in support of long-term benefits is lacking. While very low carbohydrate diets (LCD) promise to cut blood sugars, a review of popular LCDs finds that while very low-carb eating can reduce blood sugar in the short run, little evidence exists to show long-term benefits. The study, published online in the Journal of the American Osteopathic Association, reports that while LCDs may be “slightly better than low fat diets for weight and triglycerides management” they are “not superior for the management of blood glucose, blood pressure, or cholesterol levels.” However, researchers note that physicians should be aware that “available evidence for LCDs is limited because of variable definitions, lack of long-term studies, and lack of patient adherence.” Diets considered ranged from very low carb—less than 20 to 60 grams per day—to less restrictive diets that averaged about 130 grams per day. The American Diabetes Association says diets should be tailored to individual needs, but recommends starting at 45-60 grams of carbohydrates per meal. “Patients can likely follow a version of the low carbohydrate diet for longer than the studies suggest, but we don’t know the health effects of a very low carbohydrate ketogenic diet of less than 20 grams of carbs per day,” says Heather Fields, MD, an author of the study and a doctor of integrative medicine at the Mayo Clinic in Phoenix, Arizona. “With so few people adhering to a truly ketogenic diet long term [more than a year], we will likely never be able to study the health effects in a meaningful way.” Dr. Fields finds that if type 2 patients have not had success with a plant-based, who Continue reading >>
Hypoglycemia And Low-carb
Many people know that low blood sugar or hypoglycemia (HG) is usually associated with persons with type-1 diabetes. Their blood sugars are often very labile –going too high and dropping too low. In this situation HG not only causes severe symptoms that diminish one’s quality of life but can be lethal. One of the benefits of carbohydrate restriction in a person with type-1 is that blood-sugar swings even out with more moderate highs and far less hypoglycemic reactions. One reason why this happens is because we are able to decrease medications including insulin that a person with type-1 diabetes must take. Reactive Hypoglycemia: Lots of People Have It The purpose of this article is to talk about reactive hypoglycemia (RHG), a far more common occurrence. It is often unrecognized and undiagnosed. It is not likely to cause death but is associated with a long list of symptoms that can interfere with everyday life. Symptoms of RHG are often treated with prescription drugs but because it is the result of lifestyle it should be treated with lifestyle changes. Reactive hypoglycemia or low blood sugar is not the opposite of diabetes (high blood sugar). It is the same condition just an earlier phase. When one eats too many carbs, especially simple sugars and starches, glucose is digested and dumps in the blood quickly. The body responds by making insulin to carry glucose into the cells for energy. Any excess glucose is stored as glycogen and when the glycogen store is full, the glucose gets stored as fat in fat cells. There are a number of factors than can lead to diabetes. If a person has a genetic risk for diabetes they are likely to be carbohydrate intolerant to some degree. This means their cells may be resistant to the effects of insulin requiring more and more to be produ Continue reading >>
Why Low-carb Diets Aren’t The Answer
What raises blood sugar? The simple answer is carbohydrates. So why not just yank them out of your diet like weeds in your garden? Why not quash blood sugar by swearing off bread, pasta, rice, and cereal? Been there, done that. The low-carb craze is on the downswing, and that’s a good thing because over the long haul, very low carb diets simply aren’t good for you, as you’ll discover in this chapter. That doesn’t mean it’s not smart to cut back on carbs—but don’t go crazy. When low-carb diets first became popular, they seemed to be a breath of fresh air after the low-fat (and high-carb) diets that preceded them. Remember low-fat cookies, lowfat snack cakes, and low-fat everything else? With low-carb diets, suddenly people could load up on bacon and still lose weight as long as they were willing to eat hamburgers without buns and pretty much give up sandwiches and spaghetti. People were amazed at how effective these diets could be. Weight loss could happen very quickly, sometimes within days. And amazingly, it often seemed to come with added health benefits, including lower cholesterol, blood pressure, and triglycerides (blood fats linked to heart attacks.) The most extreme kind of low-carb diet was pioneered by the late Robert Atkins, M.D., whose first book, Dr. Atkins’ Diet Revolution, came out in 1972. It promised quick and long-lasting weight loss and prevention of chronic disease, all while allowing high-fat steak and ice cream. Since then, other, more moderate low-carb diets have allowed small amounts of carbohydrate-rich foods, but they still cut out most grains as well as starchy vegetables and even fruit. The Downsides of These Diets The Atkins diet and the many other low-carb diets that followed in its footsteps have turned out to be less effect Continue reading >>
How To Reverse Type 2 Diabetes
Do you have type 2 diabetes, or are you at risk for diabetes? Do you worry about your blood sugar? Then you’ve come to the right place. The disease diabetes (any type) means that you have too much sugar in your blood. This page will show you how to best check this. You can normalize your blood sugar naturally as needed – without pills, calorie counting or hunger. Many people have already done so. As a bonus, a normalized blood sugar usually makes you healthier and leaner. Table of contents: A disastrous epidemic Two types of diabetes Normalize your blood sugar Become your own evidence A disastrous epidemic What’s wrong? Why do more and more people become diabetic? In the past, before our modern Western diet, diabetes was extremely rare. The disease is now becoming more and more common. Around the world, more and more people are becoming diabetic: The number of people with diabetes is increasing incredibly rapidly and is heading towards 500 million. This is a world epidemic. Will someone in your family be affected next? Your mother, father, cousin, your child? Or you? Is perhaps your blood already too sweet? Those affected by the most common form of diabetes (type 2) normally never regain their health. Instead, we take for granted that they’ll become a little sicker for every year that goes by. With time they need more and more drugs. Yet, sooner or later complications emerge. Blindness. Dialysis due to faulty kidneys. Dementia. Amputations. Death. Diabetes epidemic causes inconceivable suffering. Fortunately, there’s something that can be done. We just need to see through the mistake that has led to the explosion of disease – and correct it. This can normalize your blood sugar. Many have already succeeded in doing this. If you already know that you are diabe Continue reading >>
Physicians: Ketogenic, Paleo, Atkins Diets Curb Alzheimers, Diabetes & Aid Weight Loss
Physicians: Ketogenic, Paleo, Atkins Diets Curb Alzheimers, Diabetes & Aid Weight Loss The high-fat, low-carb ketogenic, Paleo and Atkins diets can prevent Alzheimers disease and promote rapid weight loss, say physicians. Low-carb, high-fat diets such as the ketogenic, Atkins and Paleo diets have proven effective for promoting rapid weight loss, but can also prevent Alzheimers, heart disease and dementia, say physicians. Reducing carbs and increasing fat intake protects brain health and reduces inflammation, which is what fuels many diseases. Neurologist Dr. David Perlmutter, author of the bestseller, Grain Brain, said theres a perfect correlation between sugar and Alzheimers disease. Indeed, studies show there are similarities between the brain cells of Alzheimers patients and individuals with type 2 diabetes. Dr. Jay Lehr is a 79-year-old Ironman triathlete who credits a low-carb, high-fat ketogenic Paleo diet for his health and vitality (Jay Lehr). According to Perlmutter, a grain-heavy, high-carb diet causes brain shrinkage and leads to weight gain, diabetes and almost every degenerative disease known to man. A high-carb diet fuels blood-sugar surges, which cause inflammation, which in turn has a catastrophic impact on brain cells and the entire body, explained Perlmutter. Carbs are devastating for the brain, Perlmutter told Examiner. Even slight elevations in blood sugar have been shown to increase the risk of Alzheimers disease. Perlmutter says we can ward off and in some instances reverse heart disease, diabetes and ADHD by following a low-carb, high-fat diet. The Brain Thrives On Fat-Rich, Low-Carb Diet Perlmutter said high-quality saturated fats have neuroprotective properties that have been shown in numerous studies to prevent dementia and other brain disease Continue reading >>
Studies Proving The Safety And Efficacy Of The Low Carb Diet
You may have been told that low carb diets are "dangerous" and can cause heart disease. This is because for many years it was a matter of religious belief that the Low Fat diet reduced heart disease and since people with diabetes are prone to get heart disease, the assumption was that anything but a low fat diet would be dangerous for them. This turns out to be the single most damaging non-truth ever told to people with diabetes. $415 Million Dollars and 49,000 Women Show No Benefits to the Low Fat Diet In 2006, The Women's Health Initiative, a $415 Million dollar, eight year study of almost 49,000 middle aged women, which had been designed to prove the health benefits of the Low Fat diet, was forced to publish these conclusions: Over a mean of 8.1 years, a dietary intervention that reduced total fat intake and increased intakes of vegetables, fruits, and grains did not significantly reduce the risk of CHD, stroke, or CVD in postmenopausal women. Low-Fat Dietary Pattern and Risk of Cardiovascular Disease:The Women's Health Initiative Randomized Controlled Dietary Modification Trial None of the heart health claims that had been made for the Low Fat diet held up. Though diehards immediately announced that maybe further study of the Low Carb fad diet would still show results in some OTHER group, no rational person can still believe that the very high carb, Low Fat diet has any health benefits. The same study also found that "In this study, a low-fat dietary pattern intervention did not reduce the risk of colorectal cancer in postmenopausal women during 8.1 years of follow-up." And, "Among postmenopausal women, a low-fat dietary pattern did not result in a statistically significant reduction in invasive breast cancer risk over an 8.1-year average follow-up period." The sing Continue reading >>
How To Start A Low-carb Diabetes Diet
There is strong evidence that eating fewer carbohydrates helps improve blood sugars. This makes sense intuitively: carbohydrates are broken down by the body into sugar, directly leading to high blood sugars. Eat fewer carbohydrates and you will typically end up with less sugar in your blood. For those with type 2 diabetes or are newly diagnosed with type 1, fewer carbohydrates mean that your body’s natural insulin production will have an easier time processing your blood sugars. If you take insulin, you will have a much easier time taking the appropriate amount of insulin. Before you start a low-carbohydrate diet, talk with your healthcare provider. If you are taking blood sugar-lowering medications, then eating fewer carbohydrates without lowering your medication dosage may cause dangerous low blood sugars. There are studies that show that people with diabetes can achieve success on both low-carbohydrate and high-carbohydrate diets. Those pursuing high-carb diets are often primarily eating more vegetarian or vegan diets that are high in complex carbohydrates and fiber. They are also frequently athletes who burn large amounts of sugar during exercise. We will look at other dietary approaches in a future article. If you would like to dive into the research on low-carb diets for diabetes, please skip to the last section in this article. Also, be sure to read Key Facts About Carbohydrates Everyone with Diabetes Should Know. What Is a Low-Carb Diet? There are many different ways to define and follow a low-carb diet. In this article, we are generally looking at people who wish to eat fewer carbohydrates than they are currently eating. There is no one way to follow a low-carb diet. Generally, people try different amounts of carbohydrates until they reach an amount per day t Continue reading >>
Diabetic Transforms His Health With A Low-carb Diet, And His Doctor Urges Him To Eat More Carbs
I got an interesting email over the weekend from a 56-year-old type 2 diabetic. He was diagnosed at age 42. He initially managed this as he was advised: with a high carbohydrate, low fat diet. He moved to ‘healthy’ grains that were ‘less refined’ and ate sourdough bread. In his own words: “And despite all of this, I saw no improvement, in fact I gained weight to around 90 kg before changing my diet at the start of the year.” The man in question ended up reading the book Primal Body, Primal Mind by Nora T Gedaudas after hearing her featured on a podcast. After reading Nora’s book, he followed most of her advice and then slowly extricated himself from the wheat and grain-dominated foods that he “was supposed to eat to obtain energy and remain healthy.” He started eating animal fats for the first time in years and gave up alcohol. Here’s his email to me: I had my 6 monthly diabetes check-up last Wednesday. The diabetes consultant was really happy with all of my figures on cholesterol, triglycerides, blood pressure, weight (I’ve lost another 4 kg since February without really trying), kidney and liver function are excellent – in fact he was really impressed and asked me what I was doing to get these improvements. Simple, I said, I’ve stopped eating wheat in all its forms and grains in general, I avoid rice and all potato products. I eat animal fat and the only oil that I use is extra virgin olive oil. Breakfast is typically a one-egg omelette and with a small amount of bacon, smoked salmon or Parma ham. I have spinach or other leafy greens and tomatoes. Lunch is often not taken as I do not feel hungry until 6.00 pm when I have my evening meal. Another small portion of meat and plenty of veggies. The only fruit that I have are a few blueberries, wil Continue reading >>
Apps To Help Prevent & Reverse Diabetes
According to the Center for Disease Control and prevention, it’s estimated that 86 million Americans have prediabetes, a condition of high blood sugar levels that could turn into type 2 diabetes within 5 years. But studies have shown that prediabetes (and even full-blown Type II diabetes) can be reversed or prevented through healthy diet and exercise. In a TEDx talk at Purdue University, Dr. Sarah Hallberg cited that as much as 50% of the population could have insulin resistance to some degree even if their blood sugar levels still test normal. With insulin resistance, insulin cannot process the high amounts of sugars and carbohydrates, and the glucose gets stored as fat. As a society, a lot of our diet is made up of carbohydrates — from potato chips and pretzels to bread, pasta, rice and more. Add in the sugars from desserts and store-bought snacks and the hidden sugar in condiments like ketchup, and it's easy to exceed the USDA's recommended 225 grams of carbs per day. Over time, this can cause a condition called insulin resistance or prediabetes. Dr. Hallberg cites success in reversing pre-diabetes and Type II diabetes with a low sugar, low carbohydrate diet. And she’s not alone. There is a wealth of studies supporting her findings (see an overview of the efficacy of low-carb diets by the American Diabetes Association). So when I was diagnosed with prediabetes, I knew that it was time to seriously change the way I ate. I chose a diet high in vegetables, protein and healthy fats and low in starch and sugar (i.e., a low-carb diet). In search of information, recipes, and support, I found the four apps that were the key to my success — Low Carb Info, Carb Counter & Diet Tracker by Atkins, Calorie Counter & Diet Tracker by MyFitnessPal, and MyDietician. MyDieticia Continue reading >>
A Guide To Healthy Low-carb Eating With Diabetes
Diabetes is a chronic disease that has reached epidemic proportions. It currently affects over 400 million people worldwide (1). Although diabetes is a complicated disease, maintaining good blood sugar control can greatly reduce the risk of complications (2, 3). One of the ways to achieve better blood sugar levels is to follow a low-carb diet. This article provides a detailed overview of low-carb diets for managing diabetes. If you have diabetes, your body cannot process carbohydrates effectively. Normally, when you eat carbs, they are broken down into small units of glucose, which end up as blood sugar. When blood sugar levels go up, the pancreas responds by producing the hormone insulin. This hormone allows the blood sugar to enter cells. In healthy people, blood sugar levels remain within a narrow range throughout the day. In diabetes, however, this system doesn't work the way it is supposed to. This is a big problem, because having both too high and too low blood sugar levels can cause severe harm. There are several types of diabetes, but the two most common ones are type 1 and type 2 diabetes. Both of these conditions can be diagnosed at any age. In type 1 diabetes, an autoimmune process destroys the insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas. Diabetics must inject insulin several times a day to ensure that glucose gets into the cells and stays at a healthy level in the bloodstream (4). In type 2 diabetes, the beta cells at first produce enough insulin, but the body's cells are resistant to its action, so blood sugar remains high. To compensate, the pancreas produces more insulin, attempting to bring blood sugar down. Over time, the beta cells lose their ability to produce enough insulin (5). Of the three nutrients -- protein, carbs and fat -- carbs have the grea Continue reading >>
Low-carb Diets For People With Diabetes (may 2017)
Save for later Diabetes UK has put together this position statement to explain how low-carb diets might be used to help manage diabetes. We used the best level of evidence to inform the recommendations and conclusions. Where available, we used evidence from systematic reviews and meta-analyses, but also included good-quality randomised controlled trials. The current evidence suggest that low-carb diets can be safe and effective for people with Type 2 diabetes. They can help with weight loss and glucose management, and reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. So, we can recommend a low-carb diet for some people with Type 2 diabetes. But there is no consistent evidence that a low-carb diet is any more effective than other approaches in the long term, so it shouldn't be seen as the diet for everyone. At the moment, there is no strong evidence to say that a low-carb diet is safe or effective for people with Type 1 diabetes. Because of this, Diabetes UK does not recommend low-carb diets to people with Type 1 diabetes. Evidence for low-carb diets in children reports adverse effects such as poor growth, a greater risk of cardiovascular disease, and psychological problems. So, we don't recommend low-carb diets for children with diabetes. People should be encouraged to eat more vegetables, fruits, wholegrains, pulses, seafood, nuts, and to eat less red meat and processed meat, sugar-sweetened drinks, sugar-sweetened foods, and refined grains such as white bread. Douglas Twenefour, dietitian and Deputy Head of Care at Diabetes UK said: "It is extremely important that dietary recommendations are based on good evidence rather than individual opinions. This position statement has been put together using the best evidence available, taking into consideration anecdotal reports and f Continue reading >>
Effect Of The Atkins Diet, Long-term, On Mood
The latest study to compare low fat with low carb diets came up with the finding that long term the Atkins diet caused more mood problems than the low fat diet. This has caused a flurry of posts from LC bloggers and forum participants dissing the study. But I've had a good look at it and I think people are missing some very important things when they dismiss this study outright. The full text is available online here: Long-term Effects of a Very Low-Carbohydrate Diet and a Low-Fat Diet on Mood and Cognitive Function. Grant D. Brinkworth et al. Arch Intern Med 2009;169(20):1873-1880. The most significant finding of this study, which seems to have escaped everyone who has written about it, is that it contradicted the earlier, and very heavily publicized, finding that the low carb diet caused problems with memory and thinking. This year-long study found Working memory improved by 1 year (P < .001 for time), but speed of processing remained largely unchanged, with no effect of diet composition on either cognitive domain. So that should put to rest any concerns you might have had about the impact of eating a very low carb diet on your ability to think clearly. Now let's see what else the study found. Unlike many studies of supposedly "low carb" diets, this diet was indeed a very low carb diet with a composition that matched that described in the most recent Atkins book. The nutrient breakdown was: 4% of total energy as carbohydrate, 35% as protein, and 61% as fat (20% saturated fat), with the objective to restrict carbohydrate to less than 20 g/d for the first 8 weeks and with an option to increase to less than 40 g/d for the remainder of the study. This study also limited saturated fat which is not characteristic of classic Atkins, but the direction the Atkins brand has mov Continue reading >>
