The Scientific Evidence in Favor of Low Carb for the Prevention and Treatment of Diabetes Continues to Build

The American Diabetes Association has opened the floodgates by finally admitting that low-carbohydrate diets are “as effective for weight management as low-fat.” This dramatic turn-around was part of its 2008 clinical practice recommendations. The headline on Adam Campbell’s story about the ADA’s lukewarm endorsement was, “Apparently, Hell Just Froze Over.” Here’s the link for Adam’s article: http://thefitnessinsider.menshealth.com/2007/12/apparently-hell.html

Now that people have officially been given permission to try a diet that naturally lowers blood glucose and insulin levels, there will be no going back. It will be proof enough when symptoms improve or disappear altogether, but the real revelation will come when they experience the other benefits of a low-carb/high-fat diet, such as an improvement in lipid profiles, weight loss, and a reduction in the markers for inflammation.

The scientific evidence in favor of carb restriction for the prevention and treatment of diabetes has been growing, and finally someone is listening. Here are several studies that have been released in the last few months:

1. A study published in the January 2008 issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association assessed the effects of restricting carbohydrates in the management of diabetes. The analysis included data from 13 individual studies in which lower-carb diets were compared to higher-carb diets. The lower-carb diets used in these experiments varied in carbohydrate content from 4 to 45 percent, so while some were actually low-carb, others were only slightly lower than conventional diets.

The lower-carb diets led to significant improvements in blood glucose levels, HBA1c levels, and levels of unhealthy blood fats known as triglycerides. Overall, blood sugar levels fell by 15 percent, HbA1c levels by 9.4 percent, and triglyceride levels dropped by a third compared to the higher-carb diets.

Read it here: http://www.adajournal.org/article/S0002-8223(07)01928-1/abstract

Source: “Restricted-Carbohydrate diets in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes: A Meta-Analysis”
Kirk, JK., Graves, DE., et al, Journal of the American Dietetic Association, Vol.108, pages 91-100, January 2008.

2. A study published in the February 2008 issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition sought to determine if low-carb diets increased the risk for type 2 diabetes.

Individuals who ate diets that were the lowest in carbohydrates were not found to have an increased risk of diabetes. When all factors were accounted for, individuals with diets with the highest glycemic load were found to be about 2½ times more likely to develop type 2 diabetes compared to those who ate diets with the lowest glycemic load. The analysis also revealed no link between the intake of animal fats and diabetes risk.

Link to the study: http://jn.nutrition.org/cgi/content/abstract/138/3/574

Source: ”Low-carbohydrate-diet score and risk of type 2 diabetes in women”Am. J. Clinical Nutrition, Feb 2008; 87: 339 - 346, Thomas L Halton, Simin Liu, JoAnn E Manson, and Frank B Hu

3. A study published in the March 2008 Journal of Nutrition, found that a higher intake of vegetables cut the risk of type 2 diabetes by almost 30%. However, an increased consumption of fruit did not show any benefits in this study of 64,191 middle-aged Chinese women.

Link: http://jn.nutrition.org/cgi/content/abstract/138/3/574

Source: "Vegetable but not fruit consumption reduces the risk of type 2 diabetes in Chinese women," Journal of Nutrition, Volume 138, Pages 574-580, 2008R. Villegas, X.O. Shu, Y.-T. Gao, G. Yang, T. Elasy, H. Li, W. Zheng

4. Here’s a study that was published in the February 2008 issue of Diabetes Research and Clinical Practice. Its aim was to assess the long-term effect of loose restriction of carbohydrate intake compared to a conventional diet in type 2 diabetes.

One hundred and thirty-three outpatients took part in the study. After two years, the participants on the conventional diet showed no change in glycemic control, body mass index, serum cholesterol, and dosage of diabetes medications. The reduced carbohydrate group showed significant improvement in HbA1c levels, a decrease in BMI, a reduction in medications, and significantly improved serum cholesterol profiles.

You can read it here: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleListURL&_method=list&_ArticleListID=696803369&_sort=d&view=c&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=6035645a2620b6c9664fc7e678d0882f

Source: “Long-term effects of a diet loosely restricting carbohydrates on HbA1c levels, BMI and tapering of sulfonylureas in type 2 diabetes: A 2-year follow-up study,”Diabetes Research and Clinical Practice, Volume 79, Issue 2, February 2008, Pages 350-356, Hajime Haimoto, Mitsunaga Iwata, Kenji Wakai, Hiroyuki Umegaki

Here’s another bit of encouraging news, two long-time, low-carb advocates are among the five nominees for Diabetic Educator of the Year: Dr. Mary C. Vernon, president of the American Society of Bariatric Physicians, and Dr. Richard Bernstein. Take a bow; you both deserve to win.

"My first line of treatment is to have patients remove carbohydrates from their diets. This is often all it takes to reverse their symptoms, so that they no longer require medication." Dr. Mary C. Vernon

Too Good to be True? Chocolate is Good for You!

Can a gift of silky, sensuous, melt-in-your-mouth chocolate possibly get any better? How about if it were good for you, AND IT HELPED YOU LOSE WEIGHT? It’s not science fiction; it’s not fantasy—it is a dream-come-true called Chocoperfection.

These unbelievably tasty chocolate candy bars were the brainchild of Mary Jo Kringas. Mary Jo started working in her father’s candy store when she was five years old, so it’s easy to understand why she struggled with her weight. Since chocolate was the one food that she could not live without, she did us all a favor and invented a healthful, sugar-free, all natural, chocolate bar and made it the centerpiece of her own successful, low-carb, weight-loss story. This can be your secret weapon for weight loss too. How could you possibly suffer from diet fatigue or deprivation when you can have delicious Chocoperfection bars every day?

Chocoperfection comes in three flavors: Milk Chocolate, Dark Chocolate, and Jimmy Moore’s favorite, the new raspberry-flavored Livin’ La Vida Low Carb Bar. The main sweetener in these delectable bars is oligofructose made from chicory root. It is classified as a “prebiotic fiber” because it nourishes the beneficial microbes that live in the intestinal tract. It strengthens the immune system and supports weight loss. It has a glycemic index of zero and will not raise blood sugar levels. Each 1.8-ounce bar has 2 digestible grams of carbohydrate and 14 grams of fiber.

Chocoperfection, made by Low Carb Specialties Inc.™, can be purchased online from: www.lowcarbspecialties.com/ or by phone at: 800-332-1773; and from www.carbsmart.com/, www.amazon.com/, www.netrition.com/, www.lo-carbu.com/, and www.low-carb.com/. It is also available in specialty retail stores nationwide.

About Chocolate:

According to Greek mythology, the gods consumed special foods, called ambrosia and nector, which imparted immortality, but it was the native people of Mesoamerica in the New World who knew what it was. The Aztec believed that their god of the air, Quetzalcoatl, shared this magic food with man. The botanical name for the cacoa tree is Theobroma cacao, which means "drink of the gods."

Cocoa beans are not legumes but the seeds of a fruit. (Legumes are seeds that grow in pods that split on two sides.) Chocolate contains copper, magnesium, potassium, and calcium and is rich in beneficial flavonoids like those found in cranberries, blueberries, purple grapes, red wine, and tea. It contains a natural antidepressant similar to Prozac® and has traditionally been used as an aphrodisiac.

Cocoa butter, the fat found in chocolate, contains a mix of good, natural fats. It is 36% oleic acid, a monounsaturated fat like olive oil, 35% stearic acid, which is converted into oleic acid by the body, and 25% palmitic acid. The remaining 3% is polyunsaturated linoleic acid. A ½ ounce serving of unsweetened chocolate contains 17 mg of caffeine, about the amount in one cup of decaf coffee. (A regular cup of coffee contains about 135 mg.) Chocolate also contains theobromine, which has been used to treat arteriosclerosis and high blood pressure. Studies suggest that theobromine may have anti-cancer effects and help with weight loss.

So, eat your chocolate! It's good for you.

Chocolate-Dipped Strawberries on Better TV

Better TV is showing the demo that I did with Audra Lowe about how to make sugar-free, chocolate-dipped strawberries. Here is the link to the clip:
http://www.better.tv/bettertv/?lid=1328166604&tid=1406224178.

A more detailed recipe is on my Website at: http://www.carbwarscookbook.com/choc_dipped.html.

Two Articles from "Indy Sports, The Men's Magazine"

Here is a link to two articles that were featured in Indy Sports, The Men's Magazine.

"How to Read Labels; Advice from Judy Barnes Baker and Carb Wars."

&

"Healthy, Hearty Holiday Recipes for the 'Meat and Potatoes' Man," by Teresa Tanoos

www.carbwarscookbook.com/indy_sports_article.html

CRN Interview

I got up early this morning, poured myself a cup of tea, and sat by the phone waiting to talk to Mike and Paul on the What's Cooking Show on CRN digital talk radio. When I tuned in, an interview with chef Rocco DiSpirito was underway. He was scheduled to be the "challenge" on The Biggest Loser: Couples show tonight. The hosts asked about the food he prepared for the contestants on the show. He explained that the trainer had given him a big challenge too; he had to cook with zero fat and zero salt to insure maximum weight loss for the participants who were due for a weigh-in. Much to my surprise, he ended his interview with a warning about sugar. He said everyone tries to avoid fat, but they don't realize that sugar is a problem. "If you watch out for sugar and drink a little less, you should be OK," he said. Then he even added a comment about how "sugar provokes insulin, and insulin is the fat-storage hormone." What a perfect lead-in for me!

I'm not a fan of The Biggest Loser, as I've said before. The show gives the impression that six hours of extreme exercise per day is necessary for weight loss. When the contestants are fed a low-calorie, low-fat diet, with the majority of the calories from carbs, weight loss is going to be unnecessarily difficult. The truth is, if you cut out the sugar and starch and add a healthful amount of good, natural fat, you can skip the agony, the hunger, and the drama. Low carb makes for a great life, but it would be lousy TV: much too easy.