Diabetes Health Leaders Finally Realizing Low-Carb Diet Has Merit

When I asked Dr. Richard D. Feinman, professor of biochemistry at SUNY Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn, New York and renowned low-carb researcher, about when he thought diabetes health leaders--including the American Diabetes Association (ADA)--would start realizing livin' la vida low-carb has merit during my interview with him in June 2006, his answer was hopeful.

"With diabetes, carbohydrate restriction has been a traditional treatment and because the underlying physiology is obvious and accepted. Since low carbohydrates stabilize glucose and insulin excursions, we can expect progress pretty soon. Even the ADA is probably trying to back into carbohydrate restriction with a minimum of losing face."

Well, it's about to happen and none too soon.

According to my friend and fellow low-carb blogger Laura Dolson from the About Low-Carb Diets web site, there are "potential changes in ADA recommendations" to be announced in January 2008. It seems they are FINALLY listened to those of us who advocate carbohydrate restriction and are are going to abandon their high-carb recommendations. So much for people like Hope Warshaw dictating what diabetes policy looks like in the United States and it's about time.

Coming in January 2008, the ADA is expected to publish new dietary guidelines for people suffering with diabetes where livin' la vida low-carb will be acknowledged and promoted as one way to improve the symptoms of this awful disease. A talking head from the ADA states "there is growing recognition that a variety of diets including low carbohydrate diets, can achieve weight loss [and] improve postprandial blood glucose." We'll definitely be looking forward to the new ADA dietary guidelines coming in the January 2008 issue of Diabetes Care and report to you any positive changes they are expected to make. Stay tuned!

In the meantime, the paradigm shift is also happening in the grassroots among those who are passionate about helping people with diabetes. Take Jackie Eberstein, co-author of Atkins Diabetes Revolution and who worked directly with the late great Dr. Robert C. Atkins for three decades, for example. In celebration of National Diabetes Month in November, she wrote an outstanding positive message on carb control for diabetics.

Her overall message is one of prevention--knowing the warning signs BEFORE you are diagnosed with diabetes, changing your lifestyle to put yourself in a better position to avoid it, and take the subject of diabetes health as serious as your heart health. Essentially, diabetes has become a rampant disease of modern society because of our poor dietary habits and over 1 in 5 have no idea they have it (a dangerous place to be in considering carbohydrates--poison for diabetics--are the primary macronutrient in most American households).

Untreated diabetes leaves a haunting trail of obvious symptoms:

"Once the disease has progressed common symptoms such as extreme thirst, extreme hunger, frequent urination, unexplained weight loss, unusual fatigue, blurred vision and the slow healing of cuts and bruises makes the diagnosis easier," Eberstein explained. "But by the time these symptoms are apparent, blood sugar levels have been elevated for a long time causing silent damage to every cell in the body."

These are merely precursors to the even worse damage that can happen to your body, including cancer and Alzheimer's disease--something neurologist Dr. Larry McCleary describes in his book The Brain Trust Program as "Type 3 diabetes."

Eberstein expresses her concern that the ADA has traditionally recommended a low-fat, low-calorie diet that includes too many carbohydrates for a diabetic causing them to rely on upwards of 3-6 medications to keep their disease moderately controlled. She is deeply disturbed by the potential and known side effects of these drugs while the ADA has turned a blind eye to the negative impact extra sugars and refined flour have had on this. I know she will be anxious to see the new changes in the ADA recommendations come January.

Be sure to check out all the diabetes risk factors that Eberstein notes for people with Type 2 diabetes in her column. It very well could save your life or the life of your loved one.

Another exciting development regarding the embracing of the low-carb message for diabetics comes from the top diabetes blogger online today--Amy Tenderich from Diabetes Mine. Although I was less than impressed by her lack of even a single acknowledgment of livin' la vida low-carb for people with diabetes in her 2007 book release Know Your Numbers, Outlive Your Diabetes, I was blown away to see Tenderich was willing to at least hear what actual low-carbers have to say about what they eat to control their diabetes with the low-carb lifestyle when she requested recipes from the members of my new "Livin' La Vida Low-Carb Discussion" forum.

She was so moved by my readers that she reprinted the column "Low-Carb Favorites, from the Devotees" at MyDiabetesCentral.com. THANKS Amy and I'm happy to see your openness to new ideas that go against everything you've ever known to be true in the past. That takes courage and strength beyond the scope of modern journalism to do and I applaud you for it.

But Tenderich didn't stop there. Check out her recent guest post at Diet-Blog where she lists "10 Ways to Treat Diabetes With Diet." She particularly points out that diabetics need to watch their carbs to control their A1c levels, be aware of the carb content in the foods they eat, avoid "carb-heavy choices," watch out for corn syrup on nutritional labels, not equate sugar-free with carb-free, and the best one of them all--CURB THE CARBS (go straight to #7 for this one!). Sure, she still sticks with the low-fat mantra that has been what she's known for years, but at least Tenderich is moving in the right direction.

Her conclusion regarding past ADA recommendations is spot on:

"There’s a lot of controversy over the ADA's food pyramid for people with diabetes, because they recommend more breads, grains, and starches (carb-heavy foods) than anything else," Tenderich stated. "We have to side with the patients-in-the-know: keep the carbs low for better control of blood sugar."

And that, my low-carb friends, is what I call progress in this effort to bring legitimacy and practicality to the world of diabetes health. This is merely the beginning of a major change in health policy that could very well cascade into the general dietary recommendations at some point in the future. First things first, though. Let's get diabetics eating this way and vastly improving their health and then the turnaround will speak for itself.

Diet-Blog's Jim Foster Says Frustrated Dieters Should Try A 'Controlled-Carb Approach'

I have a lot of personal respect for Jim Foster's work at Diet-Blog

If you have ever found yourself scouring the Internet for information about diet, weight loss, health, nutrition, and fitness, then undoubtedly you have come across a really neat web site called Diet-Blog. It is run by a man named Jim Foster and is an excellent resource for news and information about just about anything and everything related to this subject.

In fact, Diet-Blog is among an elite group of health and fitness blogs designated as the Forbes.com Best of the Web. These kudos are well-deserved and I have long admired the work that this average Joe puts into his web site. Like me, Jim is not a health professional, but is simply interested in helping people find what works for them and then encouraging them to do those things to stay healthy.

The prestigious and leading health blog has been getting recognition from a couple of his peers this month in two separate interviews appearing at Charles Stuart Platkin's Diet Detective as well as Amy Tenderich's Diabetes Mine.

In the Diet Detective interview, Jim answers the question "When someone you know asks for diet advice what do you tell them?" in as pithy a response as I've ever seen.

"Eat more whole foods like fruit and vegetables. Eat less junk and fast food."

Enough said, huh? :) I like Jim because he's one of those fellas who when he says something, it makes you think. Challenging conventional wisdom and getting people to stop seeing through their own narrow-minded kaleidoscope about life is one of the things that sets him apart from other health bloggers.

Take this latest post he wrote about pole dancing for children? Outrageous? Yep! But Jim takes it even one step further in his short, but to the point commentary.

1. Pole “work” is inextricably linked to exotic dancing. It would be difficult to break this stigma.
2. With young girls already being perpetually fed messages about “being” and “acting” sexually, would these types of classes perpetuate that message?
3. If the class were called “fitness with a vertical bar” would people still be outraged?
4. Is pole fitness a unique way for children to bolster their strength, flexibility and coordination, or is it simply an industry trying to broaden their marked by capitalizing on a hot concept?

It's these kind of crack-your-brain blog posts that has made Diet-Blog one of the most widely read health web sites on the Internet today. Jim Foster and his lineup of contributors have their finger on the pulse of what is happening in this industry and cover it all. He even recently weighed in on the "Kimkins Disaster" after it was featured on a local Los Angeles television news report.

Foster's interview with Diabetes Mine will be of interest to those of us who are livin' la vida low-carb because he addresses the issue of carbohydrate restriction in a way that should bring a smile to your face. The author of that blog, Amy Tenderich, is no fan of low-carb, although she was open to hearing from my readers recently for suggestions about low-carb foods.

But check out Foster's answer to this one posed by Tenderich: Give us a sense of your approach to carbs: good carbs, bad carbs, low carbs, no carbs?

Here was his brilliant response:

Carbohydrate-based foods are cheap. Next time your are eating at a "large-portioned" restaurant -- look at what fills your plate. Highly refined carbs are easy to overeat and often lack the satiety of certain fats and proteins. Recent data has shown that sweetened soft drinks contribute 10% of all calories in the American diet.

So, having said this, I feel we tend to eat too many refined carbs and sugars. However, nutritional advice for the last few decades has focused exclusively on fat. Someone forgot to mention that we also need to moderate carbohydrate intake.

As for heavily restricting carbs, I believe there is a place for it in certain situations. And rather than being a target for derision -- a controlled-carb approach needs to be offered as an option -- particularly to those with any blood sugar issues.

I have my own experiences with this: I struggled with hypoglycemia for years. A nutritionist advised that I needed to be snacking and grazing more throughout the day. The suggested snacks were all carbohydrate-based foods. My symptoms persisted until I began to include a strong protein component in my snacks. Now the glucose wasn't hitting my body in a rush, and it helped to balance out the wild blood sugar swings.

INCREDIBLE! You go Jim! That response is very reasoned and cuts to the chase. But he wasn't done yet. Tenderich asked a follow-up question: The "eatwell plate" you featured from the UK food authorities seems to recommend a very large proportion of carbs. Are you on board with that?

Oh, you're just gonna stand up and cheer after you read Jim's response:

I'm not out to antagonize public health authorities - however I feel we as consumers don't need any encouragement to eat more carbs. If anything we need more education on the different kinds of carbohydrates - and the impact on satiety.

AMEN, brother! Although, personally, I don't mind antagonizing the self-proclaimed health "experts" when they deserve it! That's why Jim does what he does and I do what I do. We all serve a good purpose in the health debate which hopefully is being impacted for the better through the efforts of people like Jim Foster.

I have invited Jim for an interview at my blog to ask him more questions about livin' la vida low-carb, fat, cholesterol and all sorts of other subjects to return the favor for his interview with me last year. We'll bring that to you if he agrees. :D

Got a comment or question for Jim Foster? You can reach him through this contact page at Diet-Blog. Be sure to thank him for articulating the concepts of the low-carb lifestyle and being respectful enough of it to defend it publicly.

LLVLC, Protein Power Among NOEDb's Top 100 Health and Wellness Blogs List

The "Livin' La Vida Low-Carb" blog has once again been recognized by a respected health web site to be one of the best of the best on the Internet today. I am always surprised when something like this happens because I am only one person with my own opinions and experiences about the subject of diet and health. It is what I learn from my faithful readers on a daily basis that warrants praise. So this is for YOU!

In August, my blog was featured at HealthCentral.com as one of the Top 5 "Diet And Exercise" web sites of 2007 and what an honor that was. Now the Nursing Online Education Database (NOEDb) has tipped their hat to my blog in their list of the "Top 100 Health and Wellness Blogs" among the distinguished "weight loss blogs" included.

There were other categories in the list, including an overall top ten, diet blogs, nutrition, walking & hiking, faster than walking, general fitness, physical health, strength training, medical outlooks, and alternative health. It was quite an undertaking to compile such a comprehensive list of 100 blogs, which also happened to include one of my favorite blogs in the whole world: Drs. Michael & Mary Dan Eades from Protein Power were listed among the top "nutrition" blogs. CONGRATULATIONS Dr. Mike and MD! You DESERVE it for your contributions to the low-carb community!!!

Other blogs of note that I recognized on the list from fellow bloggers I have dealt with include Amy Tenderich's Diabetes Mine (who recently featured my blog and forum), Steve Vaught's Fat Man Walking (I featured his amazing weight loss journey in this blog post last year), and Jim Foster's Diet-Blog (who was kind enough to publish an interview with me last April). I'm proud of you Amy, Steve, and Jim! Keep up the fantastic work you are doing for the sake of health!

It seems the staff over at NOEDb had some rather specific criteria on which they judged potential blogs to include on their prestigious list. This wasn't just thrown together real quickly, but rather there was a methodical set of requirements that needed to be fulfilled before the site would be considered.

They are:

1. Must include contact information.

"After all, you don't want to take advice from someone who wants to remain anonymous, do you?"

2. Exhibits a sense of humor.

"Losing weight, getting fit, and learning about diseases is serious enough - a laugh or two can provide some good medicine along the way."

3. Popularity among users and personal success.

"Both as professionals and as individuals who have changed or who are publicly changing lifestyles and overcoming their diseases and disabilities."

So there you have it! Special THANKS to Jimmy Atkinson from the Nursing Online Education Database (NOEDb) for honoring the readers of the "Livin' La Vida Low-Carb" blog with this and I encourage everyone to show their appreciation to him for naming two low-carb blogs--mine and Drs. Mike & Mary Dan's--in the Top 100 Health and Wellness Blogs of 2007.

You can e-mail Jimmy Atkinson at contact@noedb.org. Let's flood NOEDb with positive messages of support for the work they are doing to educate their readers on other health options for those seeking education, encouragement and inspiration in their personal health journey. THANK YOU!!! :D

Diabetes Mine Diggin' The 'Enthusiasm' Of The Low-Carb Community

I recently blogged about my fellow health blogger Amy Tenderich from the uber-popular "Diabetes Mine" blog and her rather humorous post about obsessing over carbs as a Type 1 diabetic.

She made some excellent points in that column, although she is not an advocate of livin' la vida low-carb as a lifestyle change per se. The Know Your Numbers, Outlive Your Diabetes author and I don't always see eye-to-eye on the definition of a healthy diet, but that doesn't stop us from mutually sharing in our mission to help educate, encourage and inspire our readers to improve themselves.

In that spirit, Amy recently asked me the following question in an e-mail:

"Since most diabetics seem to struggle with restricting carbs and figuring out what in the heck they can eat, I need your help. Could you share your TOP 20 FAVORITE LOW-CARB MEALS & SNACKS with me to share with my readers?"

Since I've been eating this way for nearly four years, it would have been pretty easy for me to come up with a quick 20 list for Amy to share with her readers. But, instead, I decided to let the members of my new "Livin' La Vida Low-Carb Discussion" forum take a stab at it since they all have a wealth of knowledge and experience in this area--particularly my low-carb recipe moderator Linda.

So I pitched it to my forum readers and boy did they ever come through with some OUTSTANDING suggestions for Amy to share with her readers. Diabetics and low-carbers alike would be proud to eat those foods early and often and I'm thankful for their input (that includes so many of YOU here at my blog, too, so THANK YOU!!!).

Amy featured those in a post today at her blog entitled "Low-Carb Favorites, From The Devotees." Check out this amazing list of MEALS and SNACKS that my forum readers came up with. Incredible work you guys and I'm so proud to see you recognized for your healthy efforts on such a major diabetes web site. EXCELLENT!

Amy was a bit concerned as she expressed in her post why livin' la vida low-carb is so hard for her.

"Thanks so much for the suggestions, Guys! But I also see my problem right there; I am sick to death of skinless chicken, eggs, and salad, salad, salad. I can't stand cauliflower. Steak and pepperoni are too fatty for my poor sensitive stomach to take very often... whine, whine, whine... I know."

You are hilarious, Amy! But there is a happy medium when counting carbs that I hope you can find in your own journey to control blood sugars naturally through this way of eating. But I was encouraged to hear Amy was spurred on by the "enthusiasm" of my forum readers to get excited about controlling her carbs again.

WOO HOO! She even gave some rather high praise for the support the forum is providing people who need it when they're getting down and out.

"It's sure nice to know there's a whole community out there to fall back on whenever you feel you might be 'losing it.'"

YEAH! THANK YOU Amy for those very kind words and I'm sure my forum readers will be thrilled to know you felt the positive impact they are having there. It's one of the most caring and loving group of people I've ever been a part of and we've grown so fast, too! Over one-third of a million views in just about six weeks...and STILL growing!

Got any favorite low-carb snack or meal ideas that might have been missed? Feel free to share those in the comments section below. See, livin' la vida low-carb can be an exciting and viable way to lose weight, control blood sugars, and get healthy while still being enjoyable. No other way I'll ever eat again, baby! :D

Low-Carbonanza: Carbs, Diet Soda, And Children

I have a little mix 'em up, match 'em up of topics to share with you in this blog post today, so let's get started!

First up is a neat column on carbs from friend and fellow blogger Amy Tenderich from the "Diabetes Mine" blog who asks "Why Did God Make Carbs So Yummy?" As a diabetic seeking to control blood sugar levels through carbohydrate restriction, Amy has a rather humorous look at those darn carbs! I'm sure my readers will get a big kick out of this post!

Next, we have a rather alarmist column on diet sodas entitled "Is Your Favorite Drink Toxic?" from Dr. Jonny Bowden. Jonny's main issue with the sugar-free, bubbly soft drinks has more to do with the use of the artificial sweetener aspartame (which I call NASTY-tame!) in them than anything else. And yet he came down rather harshly against them as a whole in this article.

So I e-mailed Jonny to inquire about my favorite diet sodas sweetened with Splenda and the new ones that will be coming out sweetened with stevia. Here was his response:

"Obviously stevia is a no-problem, no-brainer. The problem for me is I hate the taste and aftertaste, but I see no health problems whatsoever with it.

Splenda SO FAR seems to me pretty innocuous. I know my friend Dr. Joseph Mercola doesn't agree, but I've looked like mad and can't find any really good, responsible argument against it that can be substantiated.

That does NOT mean I won't be proven wrong in a year and I reserve the right to change my mind if there's more compelling stuff coming out. But right now I see it as the least bad of the choices."

Fair enough, Jonny! THANKS for the clarification.

Finally, I received an e-mail from someone about whether livin' la vida low-carb is appropriate for feeding young children or if it's better to wait until the children become adults. Here's the e-mail:

My wife & I are in the process of adopting a child from Russia. We're tentatively thinking that we'll be standing in Red Square by Fall. It's understandably an exciting time for us and we're doing as much preparation, planning, and research as we can to be ready for this addition to our lives.

With that in mind...

We're also both in the early phases of going low-carb (although my loving wife is having a tougher time making this commitment than I am) and I'm wondering how much of our newfound low-carb eating habits should we try to encourage with our new child, when he arrives?

The established dietary guidelines for toddler's are quite carb-heavy with lots of fruits & grains, but I'm wondering if that's okay due to the unique dietary needs of a developing post-infant-aged child. Now sure, I know that we can steer some of those choices in better directions by choosing more nutritionally-dense fruits (like raspberries or melon instead of sugary raisins or apples) and vegetables (maybe broccoli instead of carrots?) but should we do more than that?

Ultimately, I guess I'm asking, at what age is it appropriate to begin limiting carbs and/or emphasizing protein consumption with the goal of sorta having the whole family eating similar foods.

As soon as I got this e-mail, I knew EXACTLY who to ask--my reader Valerie Jacobsen who is the mother of ELEVEN CHILDREN!!! Yep, I'd say she qualifies to answer this one. :D

Forget the Brady Bunch, Valerie's even got them beat! See a picture of her robust family before the newborn arrived a few months back by clicking here. She's quite the knowledgeable one regarding livin' la vida low-carb, so there was nobody else who could answer this question quite like Valerie. Here's her response:

How thrilling! Thank you for giving a home to a child who needs one!

I'll just share my experience and opinions, because there is no definite, clear, research-based answer on this. Also, you should know that while our children have never had refined carbs in significant amounts, their mommy just started eating low carb in 2003. I am definitely still learning!

We have 11 children ages 17 years to 6 months. I woke up this morning to see the box of 5 dozen eggs open on the counter with a beautiful tray beside it arranged with browned ground turkey, sliced cheddar cheese, and sliced red and yellow peppers. A bag of frozen broccoli was steaming in the microwave. This all for made-to-order omelets already in preparation.

Children in cultures all over the world have eaten diets based on combinations of protein, fat, vegetables and fruits in season for thousands of years. We don't have sufficient, recent, long-term controlled studies to satisfy the American Academy of Pediatrics that this is a healthy way to eat, but one of the joys and blessings of being a parent is doing your own research, knowing your own child well (you will!), and making your own best decisions.

Given adequate calories and abundant fat and no portion control, this parent believes that low-carb food choices are fine for toddlers--and the AAP does not have long-term controlled studies to show me otherwise. ;-)

I like to have my children avoid artificial sweeteners and low-carb "products" with the exception of rare treats until near adulthood--but that's me. You'll know your own child, you'll observe his growth and watch how he reacts to different foods--and you'll make your own good decisions based on your observations. Even without AAP oversight for every decision, this is what loving parents do.

While I think that a low-carb diet is a healthy choice even for toddlers, my husband and I do believe that healthy, active children are able to safely consume more carbs than most adults--provided that those carbs are unrefined and eaten as close to their natural state as possible. Low-sugar fruits and modest amounts of whole grains probably don't cause obesity in active children--but I definitely wouldn't want to build in them a taste for junk.

We do allow birthday cakes (a dozen a year!) and occasional whole grain cookies. (My eldest daughter's first birthday cake was a whole grain carrot cake sweetened with stevia. You may or may not want to do something like that in your family, but this kind of rare treat is at least not the kind of white flour + white sugar + fluorescent food coloring garbage that builds an appetite for a lifetime of eating trash!)

We encourage our kids to eat all different kinds of vegetables. When a child meets a veggie that he doesn't like, I just tell him, "Well, that's because your tongue is still little and it hasn't learned to like broccoli yet. If you help your tongue practice, then you will see that it will learn as it grows. Try just one bite." And I tell him, "Remember, your tongue is not the boss of what you eat; YOU ARE!" :-)

When we go to the grocery store, even my tiny children will point at the refined carbs and say, "THAT'S not our kind," with a tone implying wonder that anyone would want to eat it.

We also encourage our children to be active explorers of their environment--to take family nature hikes, play in the back yard, build things, dig holes, play kickball, play volleyball, play sports. Part of the low-carb healthy lifestyle is to live an active life! We have no video games and very little TV here. It's not that I think they are poison, necessarily, I just don't want those things to take the place of better, more healthy life experiences!

These are just my thoughts. I think you can invite your child to your table to eat what you eat. If he needs something more or different, you'll know it. One of the reasons that I can have 11 children without tearing my hair out is that I believe caring for them is far less complex and more intuitive than a mountain of childcare experts would lead us to believe. :-)

THANK YOU for sharing your experiences, Valerie! By the way, are you going for a full dozen? LOL! Wish you could spread the wealth a little with me and Christine. :D

That's it for my little low-carbonanza! Gotta go for now, but we'll do this again real soon. Ya'll come back now, ya hear?