Category Archives: Around the Web - Page 3

Around the Web; Davy Jones Goes to His Locker Edition

Posted by on March 3, 2012 30 comments

The Paleo Summit continues: today we have Cate Shanahan, Keith Norris, and Daniel Chong; tomorrow the summit wraps up with Jimmy Moore, Stephanie Greunke, and Dean Dwyer.

To download the full set of videos, you can buy the Paleo Summit upgrade package:

[1] Music to read by: Davy Jones passed away at 66 from a heart attack:

He looked good 8 months ago, just overweight:

One more for the road:

[2] Interesting items:

Beth Mazur organized discussions at PaleoHacks for each of the Paleo Summit talks. Here is a list:

Jimmy Moore asks, “What’s With The Antagonism About Low-Carb From The Paleo Community Lately?”

Richard Nikoley‘s ideas have been sipping scotch in the back of his mind, and now that his safe starch experiment is going well, they’re ready to come out:

Four days in, and I’m averaging 300-400 calories below what I was averaging before. I feel more full on average, more satisfied, sleep WAY better, and have a mental go-for-it attitude I haven’t felt since I was on that high-fat diet, in caloric deficit and losing 60 pounds.

I’ve lost between 2 and 3 pounds since weighing in Saturday morning when this all began.

SCD Kat is giving up starches after contracting appendicitis. Get well soon, Kat!

J Stanton gives us the next big thing: the Australopithecine Paleo Diet.

Conner Whitney, cancer survivor, chef, and author of Zest for Life: The Mediterranean Anti-Cancer Diet, explains healthy ways to create processed meats, including home-made bacon.

Bruce Charlton reports that nerve function has degraded 35% since the 1880s. He thinks it’s due to genetic changes; I would put my money on dietary changes and the evolution of chronic infectious pathogens since the invention of plumbing and water treatment.

Fight Aging! notes a 1929 study in which rats lived 10% longer when some of their dietary wheat was replaced with milk. Elsewhere, Fight Aging! notes that HDAC inhibitors can reverse Alzheimer’s in a mouse model. This is interesting, because many foods contain HDAC inhibitors, and HDAC inhibitors are also effective against cancer, as I will blog about in my next cancer post.

We’re pleased to be featured in “Dan’s Report”.

Dan’s Plan reprints a post by JD Moyer that starts with the links between Toxoplasma infection and traffic accidents, and ends by saying you should drag your doctor into the modern era.

A Mongolian-trained Harvard doctor thinks modern milk has too much progesterone. Mongolian milk is much healthier.

Cate Shanahan thinks that the elevation of rT3 and decrease of T3 thyroid hormone sometimes seen on extreme low-carb diets is due to abrupt reduction in carb intake. I think it’s due to the body being unable to manufacture enough glucose to meet its needs.

Jack Kruse offered two posts: First, why you shouldn’t eat a banana if you find yourself in Calgary, Canada on Dec 31st. Second, why the death of a patient from cold taught him that we should expose ourselves to cold. Melissa McEwen thinks Jack’s posts deserve criticism. Melissa’s post has a vigorous comment thread that includes comments by me, Chris Kresser, Kurt Harris, Steve Parker, and others.

Walking the dog can be hazardous to your health.

The New York Times reports: postprandial blood glucose will be better regulated if you keep moving.

Stephan Guyenet reports that more palatable foods are less satiating.

More on food reward: The history of toothpaste shows that the Flavorists were already getting started in the early 1900s.

Paleo ideas are going mainstream: FoxNews has a slide show featuring nutritionist Carol Cottrill’s advice to avoid processed foods.

Dr Steve Parker reviews Mark Hyman’s book, which is #1 on Amazon.

Robert Su asks: what does it mean if you can hear your heartbeat?

Judy Tsafrir discusses the FODMAP diet.

Via Ruthie, cuddling dying pets can sometimes give the owner a life-threatening infection. A hospital in Akron, Ohio, saw three such cases in a year.

Jennifer Fulwiler remarks upon a photo series of New Yorkers eating dinner: “I was surprised by the number of people who ate alone and/or who watched TV or used the computer during dinner.” New York is a lonely place.

[3] Cute animals: Looking for ideas to treat the mange on your baby sloth?

Also, be careful in Calgary: Stabby’s Japanese cousin is visiting.

[4] Only in Japan: Japan is a special culture. Many tsunami survivors lost all their family photos in the flood, and Japanese photographer Nobuyuki Kobayashi, with the help of hair and makeup volunteers and a legion of grade school students, decided to make up the loss with professional portraits and letters of support from schoolchildren. Here’s a slideshow.

This is Katsuko Abe, age 71, with her dog Kaede, getting ready for her portrait:

[5] Giving up weight for Lent? In the same post I linked above, Jennifer Fulwiler shares some good news:

As I look for something to wear this weekend, I’m reminded that I am in the middle of the wardrobe crisis that I’ve been waiting to have for ten years: all my clothes are too big. I don’t mean a little loose; I mean I perpetually look like I’m headed out to an M.C. Hammer costume contest.

Over the past few months I’ve lost 25 pounds. That’s a good thing, mainly since the drop on the scale was more of a side effect of lifestyle changes that have left me with more stamina and energy than I had when I was 20….

It’s too long a story to explain in detail here, but the short-short version is that it was Perfect Health Diet + rethinking what a reasonable portion size looks like + accepting that spiritual warfare really does come into play with getting healthy + learning to depend on a good jog for an energy boost.

[6] More on pork: Via Dan Moffet, another reason to avoid undercooked pork:

[7] Not the weekly video: Via Chris Highcock, Jeb Corliss makes a spectacular base jump in a wingsuit:

This was in Switzerland. On 16 January 2012, Jeb suffered multiple leg fractures in a similar jump off Table Mountain, Cape Town, South Africa.

[8] Shou-Ching’s Photo-Art:

[9] Weekly video: The Dance of the Water Sleeves:

Around the Web; Paleo Summit Edition

Posted by on February 25, 2012 30 comments

Thank you to all readers who have helped out on the Q&A thread! I have been exceedingly busy and am still behind on some important obligations, so it is difficult to find time to answer questions. But I do intend to respond to everyone’s questions. I’m grateful to those readers who are sharing their knowledge to help others.

[1] Paleo Summit starts tonight:

Sean Croxton’s Paleo Summit begins at midnight tonight with presentations by Mark Sisson and Diane Sanfilippo. Presentations are free for 24 hours, when a new set of presentations appears. The summit will continue until interviews with 23 speakers, including myself, have appeared.

There is a Summit Upgrade package of videos, audio files, transcripts, and bonuses that will go on sale Tuesday.

It’s a mini-Ancestral Health Symposium, but without the travel. I understand that 14,000 people have already registered. Check it out!

[2] Music to read by: The Seekers perform “I’ll Never Find Another You” in 1993:

Judith Durham’s voice is as lovely as ever, and she looks fantastic. Compare how she looked in the 1960s:

Nowadays when I see someone who’s aged gracefully I wonder what her diet is like.

[3] Raw Milk Debate: I was privileged to attend a recent debate over raw milk at Harvard Law School (site of the upcoming Ancestral Health Symposium), featuring Sally Fallon Morell of the Weston A Price Foundation and three others, two on each side. All of the panelists were great and the debate was excellent. And it’s available on video:

[4] Interesting posts this week:

I was in New York for a business trip on Thursday and was able to stop by at CrossFit NYC to talk to some of their members. John Durant was there and mentioned my ranking of the different meats in his Friday post.

Good news for Court Wing, head trainer and co-owner at CrossFit NYC: walking speed is a good indicator of future lifespan.

The Daily Mail wonders why today’s women are developing gray hair in their 20s. Michael A Smith wonders whether tyrosine can reverse it.

The New York Times reports on a study showing that the aging eye blocks blue light, so that the elderly need more sunlight and blue light to maintain their circadian rhythms and health.

Chris Kresser asks: Is chlorine in shower water making you sick?

Huffington Post reports that BPA’s Obesity And Diabetes Link Strengthened By New Study.

Gregory Cochran: Doctors aren’t innovators and don’t generate new knowledge.

J Stanton informs that some Japanese with yeast infections get drunk from rice; in extreme instances blood ethanol concentrations may reach fatal levels of 80 mg/dl or almost 1% blood alcohol concentration.

Seth Roberts explains what Richard Bernstein taught the world.

ScienceDaily reports that Vitamin D up to a serum 25(OH)D level of 50 ng/ml helps reduce inflammation.

Fight Aging! reports that stem cell transplantation extends lifespan in mice.

Bix reports that glycogen in the brain is increased by exercise.

Prof Dr Andro says that slower weight loss works better. We argued that in our book also. Focus on health first, weight second, and you’ll lose weight more successfully.

Peter Janiszewski reports that food reward is self-regulating: The more you eat something, the less you like it.

Julianne Taylor has lost an inch from her waist and improved her Raynaud’s. Paleo Pepper has benefited from adding carbs to her diet: “Since adding carbohydrates to my diet– call me crazy– I’ve been less sickly.  The acne scars on my face heal much more quickly than they used to.  Most importantly, my breasts and hips have gotten larger, and my thighs a bit I guess, but my stomach has stayed flat flat flat.  How nice is that?”

Greatist.com has released an infographic, The Ultimate Guide to Eating Paleo.

Coming soon: Test-tube meat.

Via Newmark’s Door, “How Cancer Drugs Make Cancer Worse and Kill Patients.”

In North Carolina, a child’s homemade lunch was seized and the child forced to buy chicken nuggets because her lunch didn’t comply with Federal guidelines.

In a post relevant to my conversation with the Peat-atarians, Stephan Guyenet asks whether fructose sugar can cause obesity. His answer:

[H]igh-sugar diets don’t necessarily produce body fat accumulation in humans, and they can even allow body fat loss under some circumstances, but are there situations where sugar can cause fat accumulation?  The answer is an emphatic yes….

[E]xcessive consumption of refined sugar can promote elements of the metabolic syndrome, and this is due specifically to its fructose content.

Fortunately, Stephan projects that US sugar consumption won’t reach 100% of calories until 2606.

Good news for pet lovers: Cats can serve as blood glucose monitors.

[5] Cute animals:

Via Aravindan Balasubramanian.

[6] The competition is heating up: Hitler has decided to start a Paleo blog:

(Via Stabby.)

[7] How the brain ages: A fascinating plot at Marginal Revolution:

[8] Not the Weekly Video: I hope this Chinese candy artist is using safe sugars!

[9] Shou-Ching’s Photo Art:

[10] Weekly video: We might as well wrap up the pork series with evidence that pigs will eat almost anything:

± I.M.F. ± from PlusqueMinusque on Vimeo.

Via Naked Capitalism

Around the Web; Happy Valentine’s Day!

Posted by on February 14, 2012 19 comments

Happy Valentine’s Day, everyone!

[1] Paleo Summit: Sean Croxton is about to launch his “Paleo Summit”. It features multimedia interviews with 23 speakers, including myself. It’s a mini-Ancestral Health Symposium, but without the travel. Check it out!

[2] Dan’s Plan: I’ve agreed to become a scientific advisor to Dan’s Plan.

Dan’s Plan is a promising young startup founded by Dan Pardi, one of the rising stars of the ancestral health community. Dan’s Plan is pioneering “Quantified Paleo,” the use of Quantified Self tools to help members adopt an ancestral lifestyle and to support self-experimentation and group experimentation that can solve health problems.

Dan’s Plan provides content modules in three areas: Eat, Sleep, Move. “Eat” is about diet, of course; “Move” about fitness; and “Sleep” about lifestyle generally – how do you support healthy circadian rhythms?  We’ll be contributing Perfect Health Diet-based content, such as meal plans, to the “Eat” section.

One of the things that has me excited about Dan’s Plan is the potential for us to do science together as a community. Quantified Self tools make it easy to record data and upload them to a database. Suppose Dan’s Plan ends up with content modules for a half dozen different diets. The Dan’s Plan database may be able to track results for every diet, charting out weight loss results, quit rates, and other data for the community. Is it normal to gain a few pounds at the start of the diet? All kinds of questions can be answered with this kind of data, and we can more effectively find out what really works.

I’ll have more to say about Dan’s Plan and what we’ll be doing with them later. For now, I’d just like to encourage anyone who’s curious to become a member. Membership in Dan’s Plan is free.

[3] Other news: I had a very fun interview last week with Andy Oudman and Pam Killeen of 1290 AM CJBK, London, Ontario. Pam is associated with the Weston A Price Foundation and will be speaking at this year’s Wise Traditions conference; Andy is the most popular radio host in London and extremely entertaining. Thanks, Pam and Andy!

Also, Constantin Gonzalez has published a German language review of our book. (English-language translation)  Constantin also produced a German-language version of our food plate. Thanks Constantin!

[4] Music to Read By: These are the Valentine’s dreams you will savor:

[5] Cute Animals:

Via Jasmyn Campbell.

[6] Interesting recent items:

Steph is ready for a bright, shining world.

The Atlantic has a great story on a topic we’ve discussed previously: Toxoplasma gondii infections alter behavior. One claim: Toxo may kill as many people as malaria, a million people per year, when you account for its induction of reckless behavior.

Via John Hawks, malaria kills twice as many people as previously thought. They were only counting deaths from acute infection, but chronic infection kills too.

But it’s not all bad news: T. gondii makes you have car accidents, but soil bacteria puts you in a good mood.

Did biological warfare win the Stalingrad campaign?

Mark Sisson discusses the “Asian Paradox”: how can Asians eat rice in the “insidious weight gain” calorie region, and not gain weight?

Ann Marie Michaels, aka Cheeseslave, explains why she ditched low carb. Barry Cripps of Paleo Diet News also benefited from increasing carbs. Julianne Taylor disputes the “carbs can kill” meme.

Matt Metzgar reviews our book; he wants us to go higher carb. Joanne Eglash gives us a mention in examiner.com.

Speaking of reviews, I reviewed Richard Nikoley’s new book on Amazon. I think it’s an excellent introduction to “Paleo 1.0”.

New research may explain why the zebra got its stripes. Revisions may be necessary to this book.

Monsanto is coming out with genetically engineered omega-3 producing soybeans.

FoodSnipps has recipes for Perfect Health Dieters. Mike Skiff is starting a 30-day experiment. JD Moyer discusses the benefits of intermittent fasting, with a link to us.

Dennis Mangan wonders: What’s behind the obesity epidemic in pets?

Bruce Charlton argues for electroconvulsive therapy, nicotine patches, and caffeine against Parkinson’s.

Congratulations, Razib!

The Flavorists have triumphed: the many flavors of Chinese potato chip.

Mayonnaise is even more dangerous than I thought. (Via Rantburg.)

Stephan Guyenet wonders if smoking delayed the obesity epidemic by keeping people in the 1950s and 1960s lean. I wonder if smoking epigenetically modified the children, promoting obesity in the next generation.

J Stanton sends me a link: pork is good for – stanching nosebleeds?

Visiting social web sites relaxes the heart.

Dr Briffa shares a picture of a man who injected insulin in his belly repeatedly.

Finally, Chicago magazine has an article on Dr Mercola. I thought his history was interesting:

At first, he was a traditional drug-prescribing doctor…. “I thought drugs were the answer,” he says with a shrug.

That changed in the early 1990s, when conventional treatments failed to help a young patient with recalcitrant diarrhea. Flummoxed, Mercola found a possible answer in a book called The Yeast Connection. After he tried the all-natural protocol the book recommended, he says, “the kid had a miraculous recovery.”

Over the next several years, Mercola began networking with a number of like-minded physicians “who were getting pretty good results with nontraditional therapies.” He grew increasingly skeptical of traditional medicine and interested in treatments designed, he says, to “treat the whole person” rather than just symptoms….

In 1997, as a way to share what he had found that would be “useful and helpful,” he started Mercola.com. It proved a hit.

[7] Bonus animal: We all need a hug now and then:


Via Godvine.com.

[8] Comments:

Sofie recommends fasting for avoidance of jet lag.

Connie Warner tells about an unexpected food contaminant: “I remember hearing from an FDA food safety chemist that he wouldn’t eat shrimp because the rat urine from the ship rats wouldn’t wash out of the shrimp.”

Josh Almanza on Facebook presents evidence white rice is better than brown rice.

[9] Honorable mention: An article about us appeared in the February edition of Healthy Cells magazine: “What’s For Dinner?” by Sandra Bender, BSN, PhD, on pp 8-9:

My husband and I chose the Perfect Health Diet after cancer treatment because we feel healthier than on the plant-based diet, we enjoy the food – and my long-lived grandparents ate this. Daily, we eat about four ounces meat, four ounces fish, ¾ cup cooked rice or potatoes, eggs, cheese, and whole fermented milk (kefir), lots of vegetables, and fruit for dessert, all organic. We eat fat with meat and dairy, butter, gravy, or coconut sauces on everything. Once a day we have a half-ounce dark chocolate, an anti-cancer antioxidant. Yummy! After eating this way for two years, my cholesterol and triglycerides are excellent and inflammation markers and insulin are low. My omega 3:6 is balanced.

[10] Not the Weekly Video: Max Ehrmann’s “Desiderata”:

Desiderata from R Smittenaar on Vimeo.

[11] Shou-Ching’s Photo Art:

[12] Weekly video: Dr Thomas Tartaron lectures on Ötzi the Iceman. Interesting aspects: Ötzi had Lyme disease and intestinal whipworm parasites; he had atherosclerosis and calcified coronary arteries despite a “healthy” (but grain-rich) diet and plenty of exercise.

Via Dienikes.

Around the Web; Why I Blog Edition

Posted by on January 29, 2012 51 comments

[1] Why I Blog: A few weeks ago Joan asked my advice for her sister, who has suffered from eczema for over 40 years:

My 59 year old sister has Chronic Fatigue Syndrome…. Since her teens she has had from time to time small scaly patches that resolve with omega-6 supplementation…. At the present time she is taking 2 tablespoons of organic cold-pressed safflower oil 4X a day to control it. If she misses a dose her arms and face rapidly develop eczema which in a short time opens up and oozes.

As it happens, the primary symptom of an omega-6 deficiency is eczema. We discuss this in the book on p 55:

In humans, the main symptom of an omega-6 deficiency is a dry scaly skin rash. In the 1940s and 1950s, it was common to feed infants a fat-free milk formula – skim milk with sugar.  After some months, these infants developed eczema which could be cured by providing lard, which is about 10% PUFA.

Why was she becoming omega-6 deficient despite eating 8 tbsp (120 ml) a day of safflower oil? If omega-6 is deficient the body won’t consume it for energy. But omega-6 (and omega-3) fats are also destroyed by oxidation; our book discusses this on pp 65-67. Controlled oxidation of the longer 20-carbon omega-6 fatty acids to eicosanoids is exploited by the body as a signal of infections and stimulant of immune activity. Uncontrolled oxidation turns omega-6 fats into dangerous aldehydes.

To destroy 100 ml of safflower oil per day requires a huge level of oxidative stress. It indicates some sort of infection, and a severe deficiency of antioxidants. So I advised supplementation with zinc, copper, selenium, vitamin C, vitamin E and glutathione, as well as vitamins D, A, and K2 which help fight infections.

This week Joan gave us an update:

Hi Paul,

You will remember 12 days ago I asked you about my sister who has CFS and was taking 100 mls a day of safflower oil to keep eczema under control….

Your advice was spot on and the results have been miraculous. She started supplementation with zinc, copper, selenium, vitamins C, E, D and K and NAC. Within 24 hours her eczema was much improved and she began reducing the safflower oil. Now 10 days later she is down to 10 mls of safflower oil and is confident she can discontinue it completely in a few days. Her eczema has completely cleared and her skin is looking good.

Not only that, but some of her CFS symptoms have improved. Her constant headache is not as severe, irregular heartbeat episodes have almost completely stopped and she is tolerating slightly more physical activity. Needless to say she is absolutely delighted and wants me to pass on her deepest gratitude to you. Her words are, “It’s a miracle”. Once again Proverbs 13:12 springs to mind. “Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.” Her sense of despair and resignation has gone and you have given her hope of a better future. Words seem inadequate to express thanks for that.

Congratulations, Joan’s sister! And thank you, Joan, for passing on your sister’s results. It made my day. And that’s why we blog – to try to develop and share knowledge of dietary and nutritional healing methods that, without our work, would be overlooked, leaving people to suffer needlessly.

[2] Vigilance is the Price of Liberty: Steve Cooksey, Diabetes Warrior, is being threatened by the North Carolina Board of Dietitians for giving dietary advice without a license. His crimes can be seen on this notice from the official investigation review:

If people are writing you with diabetic specific questions and you are responding you are no longer just providing information – you are counseling – you need a license to provide this service.

Here you are giving this person advice based on what she has said to you…. Counseling/advising requires a license.

You guided her (for her friend) to your meal plan – indirectly you conducted an assessment and provided advice/nutritional counseling.

The director of the Board of Dietitians consoled him: “even IF convicted, it would only be a misdemeanor.” Steve is looking for an attorney.

Of course, laws like this would make it illegal for me to respond to questions too. “Miracles” like that of Joan’s sister would be outlawed, in the hope that a few politically connected dietitians might make a few more dollars.

And it doesn’t end with licensing. The licensees get subject to standards of practice and have to conform or risk loss of their livelihood. Their ability to innovate is stifled; in time bureaucraticized medicine can sap even their will or ability to serve patients.

All of us should be outraged at these corrupt attempts to deprive us of freedom of speech, and of freedom to enter a profession as entrepreneurs with innovative approaches.

[3] Music to Read By: Rhapsody in Blue, played by piano and tap shoes:

[4] Interesting Items this Week:

Friend of the blog Allan Balliett is up and running with his Biodynamics Now podcast at www.bdnow.org. He’s kicked off the podcast with two star guests: Joel Salatin, self-described “Christian-libertarian-environmentalist-capitalist-lunatic-Farmer,” and Sally Fallon Morell, leader of the Weston A Price Foundation. An interview with Dr Thomas Cowan, author of The Fourfold Path to Healing and a Weston Price Foundation affiliated doctor, is coming up soon; visit Allan’s blog to leave questions for Dr Cowan.

Via Allan’s interview, I learned that Sally Fallon has fulfilled a dream. She owns a farm and is making cheeses.

We were very happy to see our diet mentioned in the Sunday, Jan 22, 2012 US Wellness Meats newsletter. GrasslandBeef.com, of course, is a great source of PHD-compatible food.

Chris Kresser has a new podcast: Why It’s So Hard To Lose Weight – And Keep It Off.

Prof Dr Andro compares BPA, soy, and corn oil: which is the best endocrine disruptor?

Via Russ Farris, a new paper suggests that high levels of vitamin D increase inflammation and raise CRP.

Dan’s Plan credits bacon with saving the life of a 4 year old boy.

Chris Masterjohn says zinc defends against AGE production, and that vitamins A and D protect against autoimmune disease.

Michael Ellsberg explains how he overcame bipolar disorder.

Gary Taubes has an update. His colleague Peter Attia is blogging at “The War on Insulin” and they are starting an “insurgency” to wage this war. Meanwhile, a medical student at Virginia Commonwealth, Larry Istrail, has started the Ancestral Weight Loss Registry.

Seth Roberts defends personal science.

It pays to have a good marriage: an 85-year-old woman beat off a moose attack on her 82-year-old husband.

Future Pundit gives us an interesting fact about autism: the twin with the smaller birth weight is more likely to become autistic.

Iodide heart scans confirm that it’s risky to suddenly increase iodine intake: people who take a high dose of iodine for imaging studies are more likely to develop thyroid disease in subsequent years. Iodine is good for us, but protect your thyroid by starting low, combining it with selenium, and increasing the dose very slowly.

A testimonial at robbwolf.com: Paleo works better than immune suppression for ulcerative colitis.

Homeopathy for nematodes? Drinking 0.01 proof alcohol is sufficient to extend the lifespan of worms.

A mystery illness is afflicting upstate New York teens. Video at the link. Erin Brockovich is involved.

Jamie Scott continues his series on the adipogenic nature of omega-6 fats.

Emily Deans reports that Lactobacillus rhamnosus knows how to control our mood.

CarbSane reports that saturated fat is more likely than polyunsaturated fat to induce gestational diabetes.

Stephan Guyenet adds a nail to the coffin of the insulin-obesity hypothesis, but Peter Dobromylskyj pulls one out: he shows that adipose tissue needs insulin receptors if hypothalamic damage is to be obesogenic in mice.

Via Shari Bambino on Facebook, it seems you can’t trust cheap supermarket olive oil. Much of it is soybean oil mixed with low-grade olive-pomace oil.

Mat Lalonde critiques evolutionary arguments for Paleo, but some of his counter-arguments are just as flawed as the views he criticizes.

Steve Phinney and Rick Johnson discuss ketogenic diets.

[5] Cute animal:

Via naked capitalism.

[6] Dr Mercola finds our dietary advice helpful: The “safe starches” debate is still making converts:

After trying both approaches, my experience suggests that Dr. Jaminet’s position is more clinically relevant….

When I eliminated all my grains and starchy vegetables, I actually experienced some negative effects. My energy levels declined considerably, and my cholesterol, which is normally about 150, rose to over 200. It appears I was suffering a glucose deficiency and this can trigger lipoprotein abnormalities. It also seemed to worsen my kidney function. So, while carbohydrate restriction is a miracle move for most people, like most good things in life, you can overdo it.

This information really underscores how important glucose is as a nutrient, and some people can’t manufacture glucose from protein as well as others, so they need SOME starches in their diet or else they will suffer from metabolic stress….

My experience now shows me that I need to have some source of non-vegetable carbs. I still seek to avoid nearly all grains, except for rice and potatoes. I typically limit my total carbohydrate calories to about 25 percent of total daily intake, and my protein to about 15 percent, with the additional 60 percent coming from healthful fats like butter, egg yolks, avocados, coconut oil, nuts and animal fat.

However, that is what works for me. You must listen to YOUR body and perform your own experiment. The bottom line is how your body responds, and you’re the ONLY one who can determine that.

On Facebook, A.b. Dada noted health improvements when adding rice and potatoes to a too-low-carb diet:

I added back white potatoes and even white rice based on Dr. Harris’ advice and definitely feel better (less orthostatic hypotension) — plus I’m actually slimmer than I’ve ever been, yet my muscles are much stronger.

Low carb for 12 years before this year!

There were a lot of nice comments on the “Is It Good to Eat Sugar?” post, including good ones from ET and Jim Jozwiak that I’ll probably discuss this coming week.

[7] More cute animals: From the BBC, “That’s Life,” 1986:

[8] Shou-Ching’s Photo Art:

[9] Weekly Video: Jazz concert: