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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: Epiphany Sunday Edition

Posted by on January 8, 2012 46 comments

A few announcements: We have a first draft of an Index to the book on the Errata+Index page. Leave requests for additional keywords in the comments. Also, Australian readers can now buy our book at TheNile.com.au.

[1] Thank you, Dr Mercola and Mercola.com readers: I was delighted to talk to Dr Mercola; he is a gracious host and has a great ability to distill complex ideas down to essentials. His article and video yesterday make a great introduction to our ideas.

This blog and our book are a scientific enterprise: our goal is to prove that a multi-step process, beginning with diet and nutrition and often culminating in diagnosis and treatment of infections, is the best way to prevent and heal chronic disease. Convincing evidence that this is true can be gathered only if large numbers of people to try our diet. So we’re very happy and excited to be able to share our ideas with Dr Mercola’s audience.

[2] About that study:  Several readers emailed to ask for a link to the Japanese study, mentioned in my interview with Dr Mercola and highlighted in his headline, showing reduced IQ in wheat eaters. Here it is:

Taki Y et al. Breakfast Staple Types Affect Brain Gray Matter Volume and Cognitive Function in Healthy Children. PLoS One. 2010 Dec 8;5(12):e15213. http://pmid.us/21170334. Free full text.

[3] Music to Read By: “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” was the first dance at our wedding, and we honeymooned in Hawaii, so this is double good:

[4] New this week:

Mark Sisson says body fat setpoint is “so 2011”. Heh! Thanks Mark.

Chris Masterjohn drops a bombshell: The textbooks are wrong, we can make glucose from ketones. This helps resolve a problem I’ve been puzzling over: given the physiological need for glucose, why aren’t zero-carb diets catastrophically unhealthy? And why do they seem to be tougher for skinny folk to tolerate than the overweight?

Dr John Briffa’s new book, Escape the Diet Trap, is out in the UK. Unfortunately it’s not yet available in the US, but Americans can check out John’s blog, which I rely on for regular reminders to stay hydrated, plus lots of other good advice.

Melissa McEwen explains why Paleo didn’t fix her IBS.

I was intrigued by the sample Perfect Health Diet meal plans at PaleoHacks. Heather said, “I was strictly PHD and took all the supplements for awhile and it really helped me get out of a scary place health-wise.”

Pepsi claims that Mountain Dew dissolves flesh. No, not in advertising; it is their legal defense to a lawsuit claiming a mouse was found in a can of Mountain Dew.

Seth Roberts is in Tokyo, which has some of the best food in the world. His findings remind me of our discussions of “gourmet Paleo”: simple food can be incredibly tasty:

I had seven dishes. Every one surprised me and tasted great….  No meal at Chez Panisse or anywhere else has pushed me to do two new things….

There are so many great restaurants [in Tokyo] it doesn’t matter…. [T]his “plain” meal, with cheap ingredients and relatively little labor, will continue to influence and teach me …

Speaking of Japan, Dennis Mangan finds a paper claiming that mortality increased slightly when the Fukushima radioactive plume reached the United States. This is a surprising result.

Gary Taubes has a journalism piece in Science about insulin and cancer.

Gary’s petition to the New York Times has almost 400 signatures from low-carb and Paleo community members. I wish the petition had said something like: “Low-carb and Paleo diets have been shown to alleviate many pathologies associated with obesity, including dyslipidemia and metabolic syndrome. Many dieters have found low-carb and Paleo diets an effective aid to weight loss. It would be interesting for the Times to continue its investigation of ‘The Fat Trap’ by looking at whether low-carb and Paleo diets can help the obese escape the trap.” Unfortunately, the petition had a number of statements I felt were inappropriate, so I didn’t sign.

CarbSane has her own objections to the petition.

Dallas and Melissa Hartwig have kicked off 2012 with Version 5.12 of their “Whole30” program. I hear through the grapevine that a few knock-offs are being developed. Stabby Raccoon is doing the “Perfect30”: a Whole30 with rice, potatoes, butter, and sour cream. Aravindan Balasubramanian is developing the “Good Enough 30.”

The Scientist looks at how parasites exert mind control.

Stephan Guyenet had a good holiday: his TEDx Harvard Law School talk came out, and so did a paper on which he was fourth author.

Stan the Heretic looks at ketones, histone deacetylation, and schizophrenia. If ketones are effective deacetylase inhibitors, they would be helpful against cancer too.

ItstheWooo found that supplements cured her hypoglycemia.

Epstein-Barr Virus has always been closely linked to multiple sclerosis, and new research clarifies a mechanism.

Dr Emily Deans has a rant. My reaction is similar to Jamie Scott’s.

Jamie also has a nice piece on how dietary fats modulate intestinal barrier integrity.

Steven Hamley has a lot of ideas about obesity.

Better nourished elderly have better brain health.

Cate Shanahan thinks the Middletons are an example of “second sibling syndrome.”

Via Instapundit, mice whose food is supplemented by extra vitamins, ginseng, and garlic live longer and maintain better cognitive function than mice on ordinary chow. I take this as proof that standard lab chow is malnourishing.

Via cillakat, Psychology Today discusses research showing that progesterone can heal damaged brains.

Cancer Research UK presents a graph showing things you can do to reduce cancer risk.

I’m sorry to hear that Venus Williams has Sjogren’s syndrome, but I doubt her new vegan diet is the solution.

[5] Cute animals:

[6] Cute animal woman of the year:

[7] Via erp:

[8] Magnesium and vitamin B6 calm over-excitable children: So says this paper. But would it work on this girl?

[9] Interesting comments:

  • Ken offers some natural therapies for FMS/CFS.
  • Callie found that melatonin can cause depression.

[10] Not the Weekly Video: You’ve heard of the genome, proteome, and glycome … now, the newest frontier of medical research: the beardome:

[11] Shou-Ching’s Photo Art:

[12] Weekly Video: If the winter has you pining for the tropics, here’s a look at Fiji and Tonga:

2011 in Review: Top Posts

Posted by on December 31, 2011 15 comments

It’s been a great year for us, full of fun and learning. In this last post of 2011 I’ll review the year’s most interesting posts. Early next week, I’ll add a few more thoughts about 2011 and preview our plans for 2012.

But first let me give a shout out to Stabby Raccoon’s “Guide to Binge Drinking,” at the new group blog “Highbrow Paleo.” If you plan to drink alcohol on New Year’s Eve, either for pleasure or to raise your HDL, you might want to look up Stabby’s advice.

The Puzzle of High LDL on Paleo

One of the more interesting puzzles we delved into this year was the problem of high LDL on Paleo.

Reader Larry Eshelman had this problem, and gathered a large number of examples of low-carb Paleo dieters with high LDL: Low Carb Paleo, and LDL is Soaring – Help!, Mar 2, 2011. We suggested a possible remedy – repairing deficiencies in micronutrients known to be crucial to vascular function – in Answer Day: What Causes High LDL on Low-Carb Paleo?, Mar 3, 2011.

That remedy worked for Larry, and we’ll do an update on his case soon. But it wasn’t the whole story, and later in the year we looked at another cause of high LDL on Paleo – low thyroid hormone levels – in High LDL on Paleo Revisited: Low Carb & the Thyroid, Sep 1, 2011. Going too low-carb causes a reduction in T3 thyroid hormone levels, which leads to inactivation of LDL receptors and potentially large increases in LDL levels. Gregory Barton shared his case history.

Blood Lipids as Diagnostic Tools

We were also led to think about blood lipids because lipoproteins are immune molecules of considerable importance in fighting infectious diseases. We talked about the immune functions of HDL in HDL and Immunity, Apr 12, 2011, and HDL: Higher is Good, But is Highest Best?, Apr 14, 2011. We talked about the immune functions of LDL, VLDL, and Lp(a) in Blood Lipids and Infectious Disease, Part II, Jul 12, 2011.

With help from blogger O Primitivo, we looked at what serum lipid levels optimize health in Blood Lipids and Infectious Disease, Part I, Jun 21, 2011. It’s higher than most think: TC between about 200 and 240 mg/dl is optimal.

We discussed ways to improve immune function by raising HDL in How to Raise HDL, Apr 20, 2011.

Don Matesz objected that newborns have very low serum cholesterol, so we looked at Low Serum Cholesterol in Newborn Babies, Jul 14, 2011. Breast-fed babies achieve normal serum cholesterol of about 200 mg/dl at age six months, which is also when their immune function normalizes.

Another objection was based on the claim by Paleo pioneers Boyd Eaton and Loren Cordain that hunter-gatherers had low serum cholesterol. That led us to a number of posts: Did Hunter-Gatherers Have Low Serum Cholesterol?, Jun 28, 2011; Serum Cholesterol Among the Eskimos and Inuit, Jul 1, 2011; Serum Cholesterol Among African Hunter-Gatherers, Jul 5, 2011; Serum Cholesterol Among Hunter-Gatherers: Conclusion, Jul 7, 2011. The upshot: healthy hunter-gatherers had normal serum cholesterol, with TC usually over 200 mg/dl. The cases of low serum cholesterol were either in stale samples collected from remote sites in the 1930s to 1950s without use of refrigeration and delays of weeks to months in measurement, or from hunter-gatherers with high rates of infectious disease from parasitic protozoa or worms.

This literature survey led us to the belief that there are really only two common causes for low total serum cholesterol (not counting statin consumption): eating a lipid deficient diet, such as a macrobiotic diet; or having an infection with a eukaryotic pathogen.

This means that anyone eating a high-fat diet who has low serum cholesterol should get checked out for eukaryotic infections, probably protozoa or worms. We’ve encouraged half a dozen people or so to do this.

Brendan is a great example. He first left a comment in May asking for advice:

I have rosacea, puffiness in my cheeks, post-nasal drip, frequent headaches, severe constipation (IBS), hypothyroidism, extremely low cholesterol, and a variety of neuropsychiatric symptoms (depression, anxiety, insomnia, and cognitive and motor problems).

“Extremely low cholesterol” is the tell-tale clue. He reported back in December: he did indeed have whipworm and entamoeba infections, and is now seeking treatment.

I like this story because it is a great example of what we’re trying to achieve on this blog. Diet, nutrition, and infections interact to product one’s health; we want to understand how to troubleshoot any problems. I’m excited that blood lipids are turning out to be good diagnostic markers for certain types of infection that are often overlooked.

The Challenge of Obesity

Our diet was designed to help people become healthy; it was not designed as a weight loss diet. Nevertheless, Shou-Ching and I were well aware of the failure of most weight loss diets to cure obesity – rather they tend to produce temporary weight loss followed by yo-yo weight regain – and we strongly suspected that a diet designed for general health might be the best strategy for long-term weight loss. So entering 2011, we were very curious how our diet would work for people trying to lose weight.

From Atkins to the Dukan Diet, recently embraced by Kate Middleton, popular diet books generally recommend high protein consumption, which seems to be very effective at promoting short-term weight loss. A few posts explored the place of protein in a weight loss diet, and whether there are alternatives to high protein: Protein, Satiety, and Body Composition, Jan 25, 2011; Low-Protein Leanness, Melanesians, and Hara Hachi Bu, Jan 27, 2011.

A few people who transitioned to our diet from very low-carb diets noticed an immediate gain of 3 to 5 pounds. This caused us to look into the issue of water weight: Water Weight: Does It Change When Changing Diets? Does It Matter?, Jan 14, 2011.

We also did a bit to link obesity to our favorite causes of disease – malnutrition, toxins, and infections – in Why We Get Fat: Food Toxins, Jan 20, 2011. Another post along this line was Obesity: Often An Infectious Disease, Sep 20, 2010.

Losing weight is especially hard for post-menopausal women, especially if they can’t exercise. Calorie needs may be as low as 1500 calories per day, making it hard to be well nourished on a calorie-restricted diet. The case of erp, a 76-year-old women with bad knees who needed to lose weight for knee replacement surgery, led us to clarify where the calories should come from when few can be eaten: Perfect Health Diet: Weight Loss Version, Feb 1, 2011.

We were happy that erp did indeed lose weight, dropping from size 16 to size 6. Another impressive case of weight loss was recorded by Jay Wright, who started our diet in March at 250 pounds and reached his goal weight of 170 pounds in October. Jay generously shared his story: Jay Wright’s Weight Loss Journey, Dec 1, 2011.

Stephan Guyenet, one of the finest diet and nutrition bloggers, introduced us to “food reward” and to the role in obesity of the brain modules that manage appetite and energy homeostasis. He had a back-and-forth with Gary Taubes over their differing views. I chimed in on a few occasions, notably in Gary Taubes and Stephan Guyenet: Three Views on Obesity, Aug 11, 2011, and Thoughts on Obesity Inspired by Stephan, Jun 2, 2011.

The Guyenet-Taubes debate gave me an opportunity to present a figure from a classic study by Maria Rupnick and colleagues. Giving or withholding an angiogenesis inhibitor causes ob/ob (obesity prone) mice to cycle between obese and normal weight:

It is hard to see how either a brain-centric view or a carb-and-insulin-centric view can account for this. I see this data as testimony to the complexity of biology.

I’m going to be developing my own theory of obesity in 2012; I previewed this theory in my talk at CrossFit NYC on November 19. One element was the subject of a 2011 post: How Does a Cell Avoid Obesity?, Jan 18, 2011. Leptin resistance and insulin resistance – two of the hallmarks of obesity – are symptoms of the disease of obesity, not its cause.

Therapeutic Ketogenic Diets

Ketogenic diets are potentially highly beneficial to neurological function, and are an under-utilized therapy for neurological conditions.

One reason they’re under-utilized is that clinical ketogenic diets have been poorly designed and malnourishing. We discussed how to make a diet ketogenic while minimizing health risks in Ketogenic Diets, I: Ways to Make a Diet Ketogenic, Feb 24, 2011, and Ketogenic Diets 2: Preventing Muscle and Bone Loss on Ketogenic Diets, Mar 10, 2011.

But the goal is to demonstrate that ketogenic diets can be therapeutic for various conditions. We had several great stories from people trying our version of the ketogenic diet.

Kate was able to relieve migraines and anxiety: A Cure for Migraines?:, Mar 29, 2011.

In a poignant story, we learned about a genetic disorder called NBIA (Neurodegeneration with Brain Iron Accumulation). Children with this disorder develop extremely painful muscle spasms and are usually in agony from around age 6, before dying in their teens. It turns out that a ketogenic diet effectively prevents the spasms and pain. Two parents of NBIA children shared photos of their kids in Ketogenic Diet for NBIA (Neurodegeneration with Brain Iron Accumulation), Feb 22, 2011. From being in constant pain, the boys had gone to “smiling and laughing all the time”:

Hypothyroidism

Thanks to our resident expert on hypothyroidism, Mario Renato Iwakura, we had a number of excellent discussions of how to optimize diet and nutrition for hypothyroidism.

First, Mario defended our support of selenium and iodine supplementation in cases of hypothyroidism, including Hashimoto’s autoimmune hypothyroidism, with a thorough review of the literature: see Iodine and Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis, Part I, May 24, 2011, and Iodine and Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis, Part 2, May 26, 2011. It is crucial to get selenium in the range 200 to 400 mcg per day, and to avoid an iodine deficiency. With optimal selenium, a wide range of iodine intakes are healthy, including quite high iodine intakes.

Later in the year, readers asked us to address claims by Anthony Colpo that low-carb diets would lead to “euthyroid sick syndrome,” a condition of low T3 thyroid hormone. We found support for that idea, but only for “very low-carb” diets, ie those with carbs below 200 calories per day (more in athletes or those with inadequate protein intake). Thyroid problems were also exacerbated when omega-6 fat intake was high. A literature search was unable to find instances of thyroid problems on low omega-6 and adequate carb diets. The main posts: Low Carb High Fat Diets and the Thyroid, Aug 18, 2011; Carbohydrates and the Thyroid, Aug 24, 2011; Mario Replies: Low Carb Diets and the Thyroid, II, Aug 30, 2011.

This was a useful discussion, as it led us back to the problem of high LDL on Paleo due to low T3 thyroid hormone levels caused by very low carb consumption.

The Place of Starches in a Paleo Diet

Given that some carbs should be eaten, what form should they take? There are two main food types of carbohydrate, sugars and starches.

I was surprised by the vehement opposition to starch consumption displayed by many low-carb advocates polled by Jimmy Moore in October. Most low-carb diets support the eating of sugary fruits and vegetables, and I would have thought that opposition to starches would be no greater than opposition to sugars. How wrong I was!

My original reply to the many low-carb gurus polled by Jimmy can be found here: Jimmy Moore’s seminar on “safe starches”: My reply, Oct 12, 2011. A week later I added a discussion of why the glycemic index or starches doesn’t matter when they are eaten the way we advise eating them: How to Minimize Hyperglycemic Toxicity, Oct 20, 2011. Dr Ron Rosedale enthusiastically continued the conversation, and I replied to Ron: Safe Starches Symposium: Dr Ron Rosedale, Nov 1, 2011.

Shortly afterward I spoke at the Wise Traditions conference of the Weston A Price Foundation – a great meeting! – and was asked about the GAPS diet of Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride. It is an excellent diet which embodies a lot of clinical lore about how to heal gut dysbiosis, but its recommendation to avoid starches, while usually helpful, is not always the best course. There are pathogens capable of exploiting every human ecological niche and diet, including very low-carb or fructose-containing diets, and so there is no one diet that is perfect for every patient. Some cases of gut dysbiosis actually benefit from added starch. There seemed to be a bit of controversy about what I said, and I clarified my off-the-cuff comments here: Around the Web; Revisiting Green Meadows Farm, Dec 3, 2011.

Infectious Diseases

I thought I was going to blog a lot more about infectious diseases in 2011, but didn’t get around to it. Still, I got started in February with a few posts: They’ve Got Us Surrounded, Feb 8, 2011; Jaminet’s Corollary to the Ewald Hypothesis, Feb 11, 2011; and Evidence for Jaminet’s Corollary, Feb 15, 2011.

Circadian Rhythm Therapies

I’ve known for a long time that circadian rhythms were important for health. Disruption of circadian rhythms, for instance, by night shift work, is associated with higher rates of disease.

What I didn’t know, until I began to read Seth Roberts, is that simple dietary and lifestyle tactics can have a big impact on circadian rhythms. Seth Roberts and Circadian Therapy, Mar 22, 2011, looks at Seth’s work; “Intermittent Fasting as a Therapy for Hypothyroidism,” Dec 1, 2010, applies circadian rhythm therapies to hypothyroidism.

Cancer

We made a start toward discussing how to eat if you have cancer in two posts: Toward an Anti-Cancer Diet, Sep 15, 2011, and An Anti-Cancer Diet, Sep 28, 2011. Cancer is another disease in which circadian rhythm therapies seem to be important.

However, there’s much more to be said about cancer. We’ll probably discuss HDAC inhibition and anti-viral dieting in 2012.

Miscellaneous Disorders

Check out the “Diseases” categories in our Categories list for other disorders we’ve blogged about. A few items from 2011: Causes and Cures for Constipation, Apr 4, 2011; An Osteoarthritis Recovery Story, May 17, 2011; Around the Web; and Menstrual Cramp Remedy, Mar 5, 2011.

A Year of Food

In 2011, we decided to write a cookbook, and made an earnest start by posting a recipe once a week. Some of our favorite food posts:

Ox Feet Broth, Miso Soup, and Other Soups, Jan 2, 2011

Homemade Seasoned Seaweed, Jan 9, 2011

About Green Tea, Jan 30, 2011

Dong Po’s Pork, Feb 13, 2011

Pho (Vietnamese Noodle Soup), Feb 27, 2011

Pacific Sweet and Sour Salmon, Apr 10, 2011

Crème Brûlée, May 29, 2011

French Fried Potatoes and Sweet Potatoes, Jul 17, 2011

Chicken Wings, Sep 19, 2011

Sarah Atshan’s Lovely Food, Sep 11, 2011

Bi Bim Bap, Oct 16, 2011

Fermented Mixed Vegetables, Nov 27, 2011

Bengali Fish Curry (Machher Jhal), 2: The Recipe, Dec 27, 2011

Art

Shou-Ching wanted to be an artist but settled for being a scientist. This year she began to share some of her art work. We showed some of her paintings in Thank You From Shou-Ching, April 24, 2011, and her Photo Art appears weekly in our Around the Web posts. A complete compilation can be found on the Photo Art page.

Cute Animals

There were too many cute animals in the Around the Web posts to pick a favorite; but here’s one of my favorite places – Logan Pass, Glacier National Park, Montana:

Conclusion

It was a delightful year for us. We made a lot of new friends. Best of all, our diet seems to have improved the health of hundreds, maybe thousands, of people – often dramatically.

We wish all of our readers a very happy New Year! May all of us enjoy improved health in the year to come.

Around the Web; Revisiting Green Meadows Farm

Posted by on December 3, 2011 36 comments

A few months ago we toured Green Meadows Farm; I wrote about it here. Tomorrow, Shou-Ching and I will be there at 3 pm for a casual talk, Q&A session, and book signing. We’ll discuss what evolution tells us about the optimal diet, and the PHD food plate; but mostly we’ll just be chatting with whoever shows up. Green Meadows Farm also has a great farmstand where you can buy organic food of all kinds.

Green Meadows Farm is located at 656 Asbury Street, South Hamilton, MA. Directions are available on their web site.

Also, Jimmy Moore has just informed me that I was voted #4 guest of the year by Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb readers and will be back for “Encore Week” in January. Thanks, LLVLC fans! I’m excited to talk to Jimmy again, this will be a fun interview.

Sometime this month we’re also going to put together a 7-day meal plan for anyone who wants to try our diet for weight loss. But Jay Wright beat us to the punch, sharing the meals that helped him lose 80 pounds in less than eight months.

[1] Music to read by: From Enya:

[2] Interesting posts this week:

Pal Jabekk explores what happens when you can’t utilize glycogen.

The possibility that XMRV, a new human retrovirus, might cause chronic fatigue syndrome has degenerated into a fiasco. Judy Miskovitz, the principal investigator, has been dismissed from the Whittemore Peterson Institute and arrested on charges of stealing her research notes, which WPI claims belong to them. Dr. Jamie Deckoff-Jones, a chronic fatigue sufferer herself, offers her view of the affair.

Emily Deans discusses mitochondrial dysfunction and depression.

NPR notes that the innate food reward system drives kids to eat more carbs than adults. No surprise there: breast milk is 40% carbs, and we know that’s optimal for infants; the optimum for adults is probably significantly lower.

Stephan Guyenet summarizes some new review papers on the food reward theory of obesity. Dr. Srdjan Ostric comments on the role of food reward in obesity.

Jamie Scott, That Paleo Guy, comments on the circadian variability of sun damage risk. What’s the best time of day to go to the beach?

Canadian political philosopher Colin Farrelly quotes Leonard Hayflick in Nature writing that “Prehistoric human remains have never revealed individuals older than about 50 years of age.” Can this be true? Can bones reveal the age of death so precisely?

The New York Times reports that exercise improves memory.

Seth Roberts reports on a rat who favors pate, salmon sashimi, and scrambled eggs. What a lucky rat!

Japan Times reports on Japanese research indicating that beef and pork consumption is associated with colon cancer risk.

Vitamin B12 deficiency can cause skin lesions.

Dienekes points out that African-Americans are losing the genes that give Africans resistance to malaria.

Dr Briffa reports that low-carb diets look good for cancer patients.

Barry Sears discusses how contestants on “The Biggest Loser” eat.

Wired asks if the obesity epidemic could be due in part to over-use of antibiotics.

Cheeseslave reports that intermittent fasting gave her insomnia and belly fat, perhaps because fasting led her to drink alcohol, and alcohol can induce zinc and magnesium deficiencies.

Steph at Midlife Makeover Year found that eliminating fructose, even from fruit, eliminated her eczema.

Dr David Brownstein argues that the optimal sodium intake is 4 to 6 g/day (1.8 to 2.7 tsp salt).

USA Today reports benefits from a ketogenic diet for Parkinson’s patients.

More pregnancies, more health? Reason at FightAging! reports that fetal stem cells can repair the mother during pregnancy.

[3] Cute animals: Odd couple:

Via Yves Smith.

[4] Me and the GAPS Diet at Wise Traditions: Foot in mouth disease?

Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride, originator of the Gut and Psychology Syndrome (GAPS) diet, has done a tremendous job refining the Specific Carbohydrate Diet and helping a number of people recover from gut dysbiosis. She is also one of the most popular speakers at the Weston A Price Foundation Wise Traditions conferences – deservedly so, from what I was able to see of her talk.

There was a lot of interest among the Wise Traditions attendees in what I thought of GAPS. Many people came up to me to ask about it, and the first question posed in the question and answer session asked what I thought of GAPS. I tried to make the point that there are many pathogens that can afflict the gut and, while GAPS is great for many gut disorders, no single dietary prescription is going to be perfect for all of them. The GAPS prescription of eschewing starches and obtaining carbs from sugary sources like honey is one of those prescriptions: often beneficial in gut disorders, but not always.

A few PHD readers, whose cases are listed on our “Results” page (see Angie and Bella), had trouble on GAPS and were able to fix their problems by adding starches. I suspect their diets had been ketogenic without starches and the ketones were feeding eukaryotic infections; adding starches eliminated the ketone production and helped them overcome the infections.

Apparently I gave the impression – no doubt I mis-spoke in some fashion – that I thought GAPS was a ketogenic diet. Dr. Tom Cowan spoke to me about it soon afterward. Dr. Judy Tsafrir, who uses the GAPS diet in her psychiatry practice, heard about the episode and wrote about it. I wrote a comment on Judy’s post clarifying my perspective.

I’d like to reprint that comment here, so that my attitude toward GAPS can be placed more prominently into the public record. I have the utmost respect for GAPS; with lore derived both from the Specific Carbohydrate Diet and from years of clinical experience by Dr. Campbell-McBride herself and other nutritionists, it is arguably the leading methodology available today for dealing with gut dysbiosis.

Here is my comment from Judy’s site:

Hi Judy,

A few clarifications. It is not starches per se that are protective of the gut, but glucose; this is needed for mucus production, for preservation of the intestinal barrier, and for immune function. It is possible in very low-carb diets, especially if protein intake is limited, to significantly reduce mucus production and impair the integrity of the gut mucosa and barrier.

Both starches and sugars (such as are found in honey, squash, and carrots) are possible sources of glucose. In cases of gut dysbiosis, one wants to avoid foods that feed pathogens. Both starches and sugars can do this.

Some pathogens benefit from fructose, and fructose malabsorption is very common in bowel diseases.

Many pathogens can also benefit from resistant starch, or the branched structures in starch that humans cannot digest. Starchy foods tend to be fiber rich. As such, they are often problematic in bowel disorders.

I often recommend dextrose or rice syrup, which is readily digestible to glucose only, for bowel disorders. This seems to be the safest glucose source.

There is such a diversity of pathogens in bowel diseases, that no single dietary prescription is universally safe. Zero-carb diets are potentially problematic due to glucose deficiency or ketosis that favors certain pathogens; and for any given carb source, there is a pathogen that can flourish on it.

GAPS came up in my talk in response to a question someone asked. I had recently had two people on GAPS diets report that when they added starches, in line with our recommendations, their health improved and they were able to clear lingering gut problems, including fungal infections. Of course I have no idea how faithfully they were following Dr Campbell-McBride’s recommendations; but I think their cases illustrate the points you make in your final two paragraphs. Every pathology is unique, and diets have to be tailored to individual needs.

I am not quite sure what I said, since this was extemporaneous and I haven’t watched the video, but the symptoms those two readers had were ones that tend to develop on ketogenic diets. If they were excluding fructose because it gave them gut symptoms, then their diet could easily have become ketogenic. I do not think that GAPS is ketogenic in general, but in at least those two cases its attempted application seems to have been so.

I have the utmost respect for Dr Campbell-McBride and I am well aware of the many people her diet has helped. I hope no one thinks that I was in any way denigrating her diet or her very valuable work. I was able to attend part of her talk at Wise Traditions and thought it was the most valuable talk I saw at the conference.

Best, Paul

[5] Interesting comments this week:

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[8] Weekly Video: Dr Terry Wahls treats her multiple sclerosis effectively with a high-vegetable Paleo-type diet: