The topic of this edition of the “Daily BS” is a paper, “Effect of low carbohydrate diets on insulin resistance and the metabolic syndrome“.
There are MANY golden nuggets of truth in the paper and I suggest you read it in it’s entirety … just understand that there are areas oozing with ‘conventional wisdom’ with which I disagree.
I’ll just be addressing the highlights.
“Humans are not designed for modern living.“
Boom!
We were ‘designed’ to be outside, in sunlight, hunting and gathering!
We were NOT designed to live a sedentary existence, spending all day and night inside buildings with artificial lights… staring at screens emitting artificial lights… while we consume ‘fake’ foods packed with glutenous, sugary, seed oil laden ‘ingredients’.
The further we move away from our ancestral past… the more bad things happen.
What is Metabolic Syndrome?
People throw the phrase around but what does it mean?
The paper talks about what MetSyn is, using a lot of medical jargon. It states the central features of MetSyn as:
insulin resistance
visceral adiposity (belly fat)
elevated levels of LDL and triglycerides
endothelial dysfunction (a form of coronary heart disease)
Other medical experts include elevated blood sugars as a condition, fasting blood sugars over 100 mg/dl (5.5 mmol/l).
I am glad to see Insulin Resistance was at the top of the list!
Insulin resistance and elevated blood sugars are associated with, or are the causes of many modern diseases, including Metabolic Syndrome (MetSyn)… in my opinion.
I explain more about insulin resistance in “Daily BS” #8, including how to tell if you might be insulin resistant.
Now that we know what Metabolic Syndrome is (kind of), let’s get busy!
Paper: The effect of Low Carb on Insulin Resistance and Metabolic Syndrome
“The narrative surrounding Metabolic Syndrome and Insulin Resistance needs to change from progression to remission. We need to act on patient's early metabolic derangements and address ‘false wellness’ before end organ damage ensues.”
ABSolutely agree!
Insulin resistance is a progression! For many of us, the progression begins early in life and continues to progress until the escalating levels of insulin and blood sugars cause a host of modern diseases.
People don’t wake up one day with insulin resistance.
People don’t wake up one day with Type 2 diabetes.
These conditions progress over decades of poor diets, too little exercise and too little outdoor play in the sun.
False Wellness
I love the ‘false wellness’ phrase they used — because that’s what people are lead to believe, they are lead to believe they are well.
They believe they are well … until the wheels fall off and they are diagnosed with diabetes or any of the other diseases of modern living.
I know, because that’s what happened to me.
Hell… I know diabetics right now, who think they are doing ‘well’ because their doctor said so, and they are living with elevated blood sugars… and their diseases progress, day after day.
“… a low carb diet can be used safely and effectively, with improvements seen in just 1 month.”
ABSolutely agree!
Personal Experience: I began to feel better within days of going low carb, as a freshly diagnosed diabetic. In one month, I began feeling like a new man.
Within 1 1/2 months, I’d weaned off ALL DRUGS and ALL insulin shots.
More from the paper:
What the … did I read that right?
”Type 2 diabetes remission is now a realistic target for patients and clinicians.”
Love to see this from a medical research paper!
Even today many diabetics are still being told that diabetes is a debilitating disease … it is NOT!
Diabetes certainly can be debilitating if you continue eating high carb foods, with elevated blood sugars.
What IS A LOW CARBOHYDRATE DIET?
**DANGER, DANGER**
If you are thinking about going ‘low carb’ … congrats! However, I disagree with this section of the paper. They are calling 130 grams of carbs per day as ‘low carb’ …
I DISAGREE! Statements like the above are why I usually say, ‘truly low carb’, to differentiate from the ADA’s version of low carb, which isn’t low at all. It is lower than the Standard American Diet, but 130 grams of carbs per day is NOT low carb.
The first couple of years I ate less than 30g of carbs per day, and since then, for the last 10 years I have typically eaten 5-15 grams of carbs per day. Here’s the meal plan I’ve followed for over 12 years… and I thrive!
And the fact that the authors mention the American Diabetes Association as supporting ‘low carb’ diets for diabetes is ludicrous, but I’ll save that rant for another day.
I think the authors of the paper are on the right path…
“The concept of a LCD [low carb diet] is simple. Reduce dietary intake of glucose to improve hyperinsulinaemia.”
That statement is ok … but I would have preferred,
“The concept of a low carb diet is simple. Reduce dietary intake of carbohydrate to reduce elevated blood sugars and elevated insulin levels, thereby improving hyperinsulinaemia and insulin resistance.”
Results of Low Carb Diets
“Real-world evidence in support of a LCD reports 93% remission of prediabetes and 46% drug-free remission of T2DM over a 6 years period in an NHS primary care setting. This was achieved through standard 10 min appointments with regular follow-up, the option of attending group classes and a series of patient information sheets and illustrative infographics to explain the role in which starchy carbs can have on blood sugar [28▪▪].”
Wow, 93% remission of prediabetes and 46% drug-free remission of Type 2 diabetes… impressive!
I’ll end with this quote:
“The narrative surrounding MetSyn and IR [Insulin Resistance] needs to change from progression to remission. We need to act on patient's early metabolic derangements and address ‘false wellness’ before end organ damage ensues.
Although not the only option available for patients, a LCD [low carb diet] can be used safely and effectively, with improvements seen in just 1 month.”
I would only add that the improvements the authors report in MetSyn and Insulin Resistance would be EVEN BETTER if the Medical Industry (including the ADA) promoted a TRULY low carb diet … like mine, “A Meal Plan You Can Live With”.
Until next time! … truly normal blood sugars for you all!