Sugar Alcohol Facts
Sugar alcohol sweeteners (also known as polyols) usually contain less calories than regular sugar, and have virtually no impact on blood sugar and dental health. Sounds great, except for some disclaimers: since they can't be digested in the human digestive system, these sweeteners can cause gut issues such as flatulence, bloating and diarrhea. In addition, most of these sweeteners are excreted in the urine, which increases the amount and frequency of urination. This increased urination will result in a higher loss of body minerals such as calcium, magnesium and potassium and possibly cause muscle cramping. At higher intake amounts, this effect is more pronounced, and in rat studies, has resulted in changes in kidney function and structure. (See this reference: Nutrient Requirements of Laboratory Animals,: Fourth Revised Edition, 1995, page 22). Some people with blood sugar issues may experience blood sugar spikes after eating these sweeteners, but this is an individual response. Since all of these types of sugar substitutes contain some calories and carbs, be sure to count them into your daily totals if you are on a low carb diet plan. Below is an overview of the most common sugar alcohol sweeteners: Erythritol Erythritol has about 3/4 the sweetening power as regular sugar, with only a tenth of the calories. One cup of erythritol contains about 10 grams of carbohydrate, and 40 calories. This sugar alcohol is best used in conjunction with other sugar substitutes such as stevia, sucralose and glycerin. Lauren over at the Healthy Indulgences Blog suggests using erythritol in desserts which are of a moist consistency for best results, since erythritol does not attract moisture as regular sugar and some other sweeteners do. Hence, it has a tendency to dry out the foods to wh Continue reading >>
8 Natural Remedies To Fight Kidney Stones At Home
Kidney stones are a common health problem for many people. Passing these stones can be incredibly painful. And, unfortunately, people who have experienced kidney stones are more likely to get them again (1). However, there are a few things you can do to reduce this risk. This article explains what kidney stones are and outlines 8 dietary ways to fight them. Also known as renal stones or nephrolithiasis, kidney stones are composed of hard, solid waste materials that build up in the kidneys and form crystals. Four main types exist, but about 80% of all stones are calcium oxalate stones. Less common forms include struvite, uric acid and cysteine (2, 3). While smaller stones are usually not a problem, larger stones may cause a blockage in part of the urinary system as they leave the body. This can lead to severe pain, vomiting and bleeding. Kidney stones are a common health problem. In fact, about 12% of US men and 5% of US women will develop a kidney stone during their lifetime (3). What's more, if you get a kidney stone once, studies suggest you are up to 50% more likely to form another stone within 5–10 years (4, 5, 6). Below are 8 natural ways you can reduce the risk of forming another kidney stone. Kidney stones are firm lumps formed from crystallized waste products in the kidneys. They are a common health problem and passing large stones can be very painful. When it comes to kidney stone prevention, drinking plenty of fluids is generally recommended. Fluids increase the volume and dilute the stone-forming substances in urine, which makes them less likely to crystallize (3). However, not all fluids are equal for this purpose. For example, a high intake of water is linked to a lower risk of kidney stone formation (7, 8). Beverages like coffee, tea, beer, wine and oran Continue reading >>
Empiric Use Of Potassium Citrate Reduces Kidney-stone Incidence With The Ketogenic Diet
Abstract OBJECTIVE: Kidney stones are an adverse event with the ketogenic diet (KD), occurring in ∼6% of children who are started on this therapy for intractable epilepsy. Potassium citrate (Polycitra K) is a daily oral supplement that alkalinizes the urine and solubilizes urine calcium, theoretically reducing the risk for kidney stones. METHODS: Children who started the KD from 2000 to 2008 at Johns Hopkins Hospital, with at least 1 month of follow-up, were evaluated (N = 313). From 2000 to 2005, children were treated with daily Polycitra K at 2 mEq/kg per day only in the setting of identified hypercalciuria, whereas, since 2006, it has been started for all children empirically at KD onset. RESULTS: Polycitra K was administered to 198 children preventatively overall, 4 (2.0%) of whom developed kidney stones, compared with 11 (10.5%) of 105 who did not receive Polycitra K (P = .003). Two children since 2006 refused Polycitra K, 1 of whom developed a kidney stone. Successful empiric administration of Polycitra K at KD onset resulted in a kidney-stone incidence of 0.9% (1 of 106) compared with administration only because of hypercalciuria, 6.7% (13 of 195; P = .02). Polycitra K resulted in less acidic urine (mean pH: 6.8 vs 6.2; P = .002) but not reduced serum acidosis. No adverse effects of oral citrates were reported. CONCLUSIONS: Oral potassium citrate is an effective preventive supplement against kidney stones in children who receive the KD, achieving its goal of urine alkalinization. Universal supplementation is warranted. Abstract OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to compare on a national cohort of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) the concurrent use of ≥3 psychotropic medications between children in foster care and children who have disabili Continue reading >>
- A Novel Intervention Including Individualized Nutritional Recommendations Reduces Hemoglobin A1c Level, Medication Use, and Weight in Type 2 Diabetes
- A Novel Intervention Including Individualized Nutritional Recommendations Reduces Hemoglobin A1c Level, Medication Use, and Weight in Type 2 Diabetes
- The effect of a low-carbohydrate, ketogenic diet versus a low-glycemic index diet on glycemic control in type 2 diabetes mellitus
Quieting The Bipolar Mind: Can A Ketogenic Diet Stabilize Mood?
Disclaimer: Please note that I am in no way endorsing nutritional ketosis as a supplement to, or a replacement for medication. There is very little data actually supporting the use of a ketogenic diet as a treatment for bipolar, and a well-documented case where a bipolar patient on valporic acid developed full-blown mania with psychosis after starting a ketogenic diet (thanks to @neurocritic for pointing me to this report; read about it below). This post talks about the theory behind using keto for bipolar disorder and a few recorded clinical cases. Bipolar disorder is often described as a dizzying, sinister and emotionally draining roller-coaster ride. It is marked by dark periods of severe depression interspersed with mania or hypomania – insane energy levels, difficulty concentrating, distorted thinking, euphoria and thoughts that tumble around and around in the brain. To date there is no cure for bipolar disorder, but mood swings can be managed effectively with lithium or anti-seizure medication, such as valporic acid. While effective in many cases, these drugs unfortunately come with a price: in some women lithium may lower thyroid levels causing rapid cycling of depressive-maniac cycles; valporic acid may increase the level of testosterone in young women leading to disruption of menstrual cycles and excess body hair. Many drugs also suffer from the “rebound effect”, where suddenly stopping the medication may worsen bipolar symptoms. In many cases, using a lower drug dose may minimize side effects, but sometimes at the cost of decreased efficacy. What if there’s an alternative way –say, a diet – to stabilize mood in conjunction with drugs? Lucky for mood clinicians, there is in fact a successful pre-existing case: the use of the ketogenic diet to treat Continue reading >>
Obesity And Fitness Are Revolutionized By Reddit, Not Doctors
From reading the article I get the impression that the author isn't that familiar with the scientific literature at all. The evidence he presents against the usefulness of cardio for weight loss compares a group of weightlifters against a group of runners who ran only 20km per week and they still lost marginally more weight than the weightlifters! Cardio really should be a minimum of an hour per day, at least 5 days a week if weight control is the goal. Health benefits accrue much sooner, though. Science certainly hasn't weighed in on favor of high protein diets or abandoning cardio unless you cherry pick specific smaller studies to get what you're looking for. On the other hand there are HUGE studies supporting cardio, both for weight loss and for health. I've written about this many times before on HN: According to the 32,000 person study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (1999), "fit persons with any combination of smoking, elevated blood pressure, or elevated cholesterol level had lower adjusted death rates than low-fit persons with none of these characteristics". The same study found that aerobic fitness had a far more important impact on longevity than obesity did. Fantastic Voyage, Kurzweil and Grossman, Chapter 22. Here's a report on a study that monitored over 100,000 people: Paul Williams, Ph.D., author of the study, found that men who ran two or more marathons per year were 41 percent less likely to suffer from high blood pressure, 32 percent less likely to have high cholesterol, and 87 percent less likely to be diabetic than non-marathoners. Those who ran only one marathon every two to five years also had significantly lower risk for these conditions than non-marathoners. The benefits of running marathons were largely independent of total number Continue reading >>
Nigeria: Furore Over Ketogenic Diet
It is the latest weight loss fad in town. Some Nigerians have successfully used ketogenic or keto diet to achieve weight loss, but leaving them with sagging skin. Recent studies have shown that ketogenic diet, which is high in fat, could also help beat epilepsy and seizures, increase lifespan, and boost memory. However, there are fears that these benefits may come at a cost- constipation and kidney stones. CHUKWUMA MUANYA (Assistant Editor) and STANLEY AKPUNONU write. Can a low-carb, high fat diet help you lose weight, improve health, and beat diseases such as diabetes, cancer, epilepsy and Alzheimer's disease? Assistant Director, Dietetics, Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital (OAUTH), Ile Ife, Dr. Obinna Ogbonna, said that naturally, the ketogenic diet has its own advantages especially for children having common seizures like epileptic seizures, as it has been proven to help in frequent seizure. Ogbonna lamented that recently, so many adults are now going in to it because they want to use it as a weight reduction measure. The dietician, however, said one of the problems it might create is that the immediate effect would not be known because it is more fatty oriented. Ogbonna explained: "You must balance your diet because various nutrients have its functions in the body and fats are not supposed to be used as a form of energy really. "We discovered that in the keto, it is more of the fat, the fatty level is high and the carbohydrate is lesser than what it should be. The carbohydrate should be used as energy, so during the process the body might be tasked to use other forms of energy, we call it gluco-neogenesis. It produces more of its energy through that fats and that is not the best. "The long term effect is what people have not known and it is hazardous. The Continue reading >>
Celebs Over 40 Are Obsessed With The Keto Diet. Here’s Everything You Need To Know Before Trying It.
There was once a time when low-fat cookies, chips, and peanut butter were considered “healthy choices.” Oh, how times have changed! Ever since studies began surfacing showing that low-carb, high-fat diets can be more effective for weight loss than low-fat plans, more and more health-conscious folks have fully embraced fat. Sales of whole-fat milk and yogurt have soared in recent years, and most nutritionists now tell their clients to incorporate fatty foods like fish, avocado, and olive oil into their diets. The reemergence of all this creamy goodness has led to a century-old diet making a major comeback: the ketogenic diet. Celebrities including Gwyneth Paltrow and Mick Jagger are both rumored to have taken the plan for a test drive. (Got 10 minutes? Then you've got time to lose the weight for good with Prevention's new 10-minute workouts and 10-minute meals. Get Fit in 10: Slim and Strong for Life now!) Those following the keto diet plan eat a lot of fat and just a few carbohydrates. More specifically, 80% of the diet is comprised of fat, 15% is protein, and a mere 5% of calories come from carbohydrates. For someone on a 1,500-calorie diet, that translates to 19 grams of carbohydrates per day, which is less than what you find in a cup of green peas. (For some context, most people’s diets contain 55% carbohydrates, 30% fat, and 15% protein.) The idea is that if you deplete yourself of carbohydrates, the brain’s preferred fuel source, your body will start breaking down fat for energy. When this occurs, the body goes into a state of ketosis. But does this really fuel weight loss or make us healthier? According to one Spanish study of 20 obese adults, the answer is yes. For the study, participants were put on a low-calorie keto diet and lost an average of 40 pound Continue reading >>
My Ketogenic Mediterranean Diet: Day 54 + Potassium Deficiency
Weight: 154 lb Transgressions: TNTC (too numerous to count) Exercise: none Comments The Potassium Problem My current food intake on the Ketogenic Mediterranean Diet appears to be low in potassium, which might have long-term health consequences if followed for many months or years. According to the Linus Pauling Institute’s Micronutrient Information Center, adequate potassium intake apparently decreases blood pressure, reduces salt sensitivity, decreases risk of kidney stones, and protects against osteoporosis and stroke. These associations between higher potassium intake and lower condition rates are based mostly on observational studies of populations in which some people eat little potassium and others eat a lot. It’s assumed that people with higher potassium intake are eating more fruits and vegetables, not taking supplements. The Linus Pauling Institute agrees with the U.S. Institute of Medicine’s “Adequate Intake” value for potassium of 4,700 mg daily for average adults. The current U.S. Food and Drug Administration Daily Value is about 3,500 mg. I’m only getting 2,000 mg/day now. Multivitamin/multimineral supplements in the U.S. provide a maximum of 99 mg potassium (by law?). I bought a potassium gluconate supplement at CVS Pharmacy last night: 90 mg potassium, a drop in the bucket. I dropped into a Hi Health vitamin store (health food store?) today and would swear I saw a combined magnesium and potassium supplement that contained 150 mg potassium. Excess potassium intake can be life-threatening in certain situations such as kidney impairment and use of medications like potassium-sparing diuretics and ACE inhibitors. Relatively high meat intake tends to create an acidic environment in the body, which our bones help to buffer or counteract. In the proce Continue reading >>
How To Maintain Ketosis
The ketogenic diet is all the rage right now, and more people are learning about the benefits of ketosis on their health and weight loss goals. However, there’s still some confusion around the process itself and the correct ways to maintain ketosis. This information will help you maintain a steady state of ketosis safely and efficiently, no matter your needs. Getting into Ketosis First things first. Before we can maintain ketosis we have to get understand what is ketosis and get into this primal metabolic state. Ketosis occurs when the body has little to no access to carbohydrates, its normal source of fuel, and begins breaking down and burning fat for energy instead. The ketosis process can have many benefits including: Curbed hunger and faster weight loss Improved blood sugar regulation Enhanced cognitive performance Better mental focus Less chance of inflammation Reducing risk for conditions like type II diabetes When the body’s in ketosis, fats are broken down and ketone bodies, or “ketones,” are created for the body to use for energy. Three Main Ways of Maintaining Ketosis Long-term Short-term Cyclical The way you use the ketogenic diet depends on your specific needs, but what’s important is making sure you maintain a state of ketosis during the full time you’re on keto. This is not the same as simple going low-carb, and it requires some extra effort and tracking. However, the results are worth the extra work! Short-Term vs Long-Term Ketosis Just as it sounds, the only difference between short- and long-term ketosis is the amount of time you properly follow the ketogenic diet. The standard version of the ketogenic diet involves eating around 20-50 grams of net carbs per day to keep the body in ketosis, although the exact amount depends on each person. C Continue reading >>
Ketogenic Diet Faq: All You Need To Know
Below is an list of the most commonly asked questions about the ketogenic diet. Simply click on the question you're interested in and it will take you right to the answer. If you have any more questions, please let me know by leaving a comment and I'll add it to the list! KetoDiet Basic Facts Foods & Diet Plans Health Concerns Troubleshooting 3 free diet plans to help you kickstart your diet, lose weight and get healthy Recipes, giveaways and exclusive deals delivered directly to your inbox A chance to win the KetoDiet app every week KetoDiet Basic Facts Why is it that conventional diets don't work? Most of us would say we get fat simply because we get lazy and eat more. But what if it's the other way round? What if we just get fat and as a result we eat more and become lazy? For the last decades we have been given wrong advice about nutrition and effects of fatty foods on putting on weight. What if the main problem is that due to our modern diets we cannot satisfy our appetite? A study on this subject concluded with a surprising result: the fatter people get, the more inactive they become, not the other way round. And what if the interests of the authorities offering advice are influenced by economic reasons? To learn more about this, I recommend you watch The Food Revolution on Youtube Ketogenic diets are, in fact, closely related to the Paleolithic diet. Both exclude carbohydrates and aim at eating real food. Today carbohydrates make the majority of our diet and have significant implications for our health including hormone balance. For example, insulin, which is responsible for storing fat in our body, is greatly affected by excessive carbohydrate consumption. Carbohydrates are without doubt the most fattening element in our diets. Based on studies performed over th Continue reading >>
Vegan Keto Experiment : Week One – Food, Info, Ratios
First of all, a disclaimer: I am not a physician. I am not a nutritionist. I’ll admit to having an academic understanding of biochemistry, and the human body, but I wont delve into it too much for brevity. This is anecdotal single trial human experimentation. For me, this is a temporary experiment, and not something I’d consider as a permanent lifestyle change. I’m also not encouraging this or discouraging it. This is my experience so far. Your millage may vary. I’ve spent the last 7 days doing a Vegan Keto style diet with JC’s brother. He has been doing a non-veg keto for around a year now, and I’ve been curious about how it would work veganized. Like most low carb, high fat, high protein diets, at first glance, it doesn’t really look very vegan friendly. I enjoy the occasional challenge, and I’ve been feeling stuck in a rut with my food choices lately. I felt like I could use some dramatic food changes in my life, so this week, I’ve done that pretty successfully. I’m not really one for “going on a diet”, but I am and have been very curious to see how this one would feel and what changes I would experience. I think one of the major benefits of doing it vegan style is the complete elimination of cholesterol, one of the cited issues people mention with low-carb diets. The con of doing it vegan style is that a suddenly a not-so-limited diet (plant based), becomes a lot more limited, and it becomes really essential to make your own food (something that is admittedly easier with a standard keto diet.) What is the premise of a ketogenic diet/benefits? As far as I can tell, a ketogenic diet is used by two main groups of people. Those looking to lose weight or people with refractory epilepsy. The latter is the one I found most fascinating when researchi Continue reading >>
10 Proven Health Benefits Of Low-carb And Ketogenic Diets
Low-carb diets have been controversial for decades. They were originally demonized by fat-phobic health professionals and the media. People believed that these diets would raise cholesterol and cause heart disease because of the high fat content. However… times are changing. Since the year 2002, over 20 human studies have been conducted on low-carb diets. In almost every one of those studies, low-carb diets come out ahead of the diets they are compared to. Not only does low-carb cause more weight loss, it also leads to major improvements in most risk factors… including cholesterol. Here are the 10 proven health benefits of low-carb and ketogenic diets. 1. Low-Carb Diets Kill Your Appetite (in a Good Way) Hunger is the single worst side effect of dieting. It is one of the main reasons why many people feel miserable and eventually give up on their diets. One of the best things about eating low-carb is that it leads to an automatic reduction in appetite (1). The studies consistently show that when people cut carbs and eat more protein and fat, they end up eating much fewer calories. In fact… when researchers are comparing low-carb and low-fat diets in studies, they need to actively restrict calories in the low-fat groups to make the results comparable (2). Bottom Line: When people cut carbs, their appetite tends to go down and they often end up eating much fewer calories without trying. 2. Low-Carb Diets Lead to More Weight Loss Cutting carbs is one of the simplest and most effective ways to lose weight. Studies show that people on low-carb diets lose more weight, faster, than people on low-fat diets… even when the low-fat dieters are actively restricting calories. One of the reasons for this is that low-carb diets tend to get rid of excess water from the body. Bec Continue reading >>
Hypercalciuria And Urolithiasis In Patients On The Ketogenic Diet 1652
The high fat, low carbohydrate ketogenic diet is increasingly used for management of difficult to control seizures. In recent years 4 patients with stones on the ketogenic diet have been reported (3 uric acid and 1 mixed calcium phosphate, calcium oxalate stone). We have recently seen 11 additional patients of approximately 100 on the ketogenic diet, who developed microscopic or gross hematuria. Five patients, all with gross hematuria, had renal stones. Two of the stones were mixed calcium phosphate, calcium oxalate stones. Three stones were uric acid stones. Ten of the 11 patients who developed hematuria on the ketogenic diet had evidence of hypercalciuria (urine calcium:creatinine>0.2) on a fasting spot urinalysis. To further evaluate this phenomenon, we are now prospectively screening all patients embarking on the ketogenic diet for the development of hematuria and hypercalciuria. In this prospective study, half of the patients (n=2) had hypercalciuria prior to embarking on the diet. After 3 months on the diet, an additional patient developed hypercalciuria, and another maintained normal calcium excretion on the diet. Low urinary flow rates, low urine pH, and hypercalciuria probably contribute to kidney stone formation in children on the ketogenic diet. Physicians placing children on the ketogenic diet should be aware of this potential complication and screen for it. Continue reading >>
What Is The Ketogenic Diet? A Crash Course To Eating Keto
The ketogenic diet is a low carbohydrate, high fat diet that provides substantial amounts of protein. Although it has recently gained a great deal of popularity, the keto diet has been used for treating various illnesses for thousands of years. Ketogenic diets and similar versions have been traced back as far as 500 BC. In 1910, the first studies were performed on fasting as a treatment for epilepsy in France. It was concluded that seizures ceased completely during fasting. Later studies revealed that starvation enhanced mental activity significantly. However, fasting cannot go on indefinitely.In 1924, Dr. Russell Wilder at the Mayo Clinic developed a treatment plan for patients with epilepsy using a ketogenic diet. He had previously used it to prolong ketosis in diabetic patients. Around the same time, physicians at Johns Hopkins Department of Pediatrics, Howland and Gamble, noted that “prayer, a water diet and three to four weeks of fasting” reduced seizures in one pediatric patient. The diet became commonly prescribed treatment for epilepsy by the 1930s. A study performed by Dr. Livingston at Johns Hopkins found that 1000 patients following a ketogenic diet confirmed that their seizures were under control. Treatment using ketogenic diets began to decline with the development of anti-seizure medications. What is Keto? Keto is derived from and commonly used to refer to the word ketone. A ketone is an organic compound composed of a carbonyl group bonded to two hydrocarbon groups. There are many different types of ketones including sugars. In the body, ketones are produced when fat is broken down to supply energy. They are essentially small fragments of carbon. Typically, the body gets energy from carbohydrates in the diet. If there is a deficiency in carbohydrates, Continue reading >>
Evaluation Of Nutrient Intake Of Patients On Ketogenic Therapy: A Pilot Study
Abstract Background Ketogenic Therapy (KT) is prescribed as a ratio of fat to protein plus carbohydrate focusing on seizure control. KT is the only source of nutrition, but the nutrient intake at the amino acid and fatty acid level is often less of a focus. Objective Develop and pilot a method to evaluate the details of nutrient intake. Methods Nutrition Data System for Research was used to analyze 24-hour diet recalls. Amino acid intake was compared to dietary reference intake (DRI) and individual polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) intake was determined. Results Six months of 24-hour diet recalls of 2 oral feeders (OF) and 2 tube feeders (TF) were evaluated for percent of recommended Calories (Cal), percent of DRI for protein (Pro) and essential amino acids (EAA), and mg/kg/day of linoleic acid (LA), alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), DHA, and EPA. Patients receiving adequate protein and Calories with a prescribed KT ratio between 3.0 and 4.0 may have intakes of individual PUFAs that vary several fold. Conclusion KT with similar diet prescriptions may show different nutrient intakes and should be evaluated at the level of the amino acid and fatty acid profile. Supported in part by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and National Center for Research Resources (NCRR) CTSA grant 1UL 1RR029890 Continue reading >>
