Does anyone know in person our fellow EEVBlog forumer "Amspire" aka Richard ? - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: BravoV
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 04, 2013, 08:39:52 am
content: He had been very active here in the past and very helpful to others, and very knowledgeable as well.Just worry if he is ok ?His profile ->https://www.eevblog.com/forum/index.php?action=profile;u=10201and last active in this forum was November 27, 2012.

author: EEVblog
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: January 04, 2013, 09:01:38 am
content: I'll email him...Dave.

author: Mr Smiley
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 04, 2013, 03:36:14 pm
content: This is from his profileLast Active:Today at 12:44:07 PM

author: amspire
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 04, 2013, 04:29:28 pm
content: I am still alive - just a bit distracted lately.Part of the reason is I have to do a crash course in some software that has taken a huge amount of time, but the other reason is I decided to do a whole lot of research into another area, and that had been using up my spare time.About a year and a half ago, I was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes and initially I followed all the standard medical advice precisely. But around September last year, I started looking at the medical research. It takes a lot of time, because it is confusing and contradictory until you get the hang of it.What I found is that the advice from the doctors, diabetes consultants, Diabetes Australia, the Heart Foundation (what a disaster!), etc was not just wrong but dangerously wrong. Their recommendations make many people fatter and sicker. After making my own dietary changes based on the science and the medical advice that made sense to me rather then the standard medical advice, I have been off all diabetes-related medication since October, my blood sugar never goes above a respectable peak value of 6 mmol/L (108 mg/dl) and I have lost over 20Kgs. I have zero risk of hypoglycemia (very low blood sugar) that is a serious danger for diabetics. I am still a diabetic but only just - when I loose another 5kG, I will be under the threshold of the definition of type 2 diabetes.I don't want to pollute this forum with medical matters, but the poor science in the interpretation of some areas of medical research is just staggering. I am not trained in medicine, but I do not need to be to see errors in logic that lead to unsafe conclusions.It is not the research I have a problem with. There are some amazing researchers. It is the interpretation of the research results that is often lacking in good science. In electronics, mistakes are often rewarded by the smell of burning components, whereas in the medical world, errors in science have lead to incomes in the $10 billions to $100 billions for some single products.Yes. I am a little angry and frustrated. I honestly did not know things were this bad.I can't wait to get back to some healthy electronics. I have a lot of catching up to do.Sorry for being absent for a few months.To Dave and BravoV, thanks a lot for thinking of me. I appreciate it.Richard.PS If anyone can tell me what sort of meter I need to check my diet is balanced, I would be interested. The dieticians keep forgetting to explain how to precisely measure the balance of a meal, and to what tolerance I need for such a meter. Next time I hear about a healthy "balanced diet", I want to be able to pull out my Cat IV rated Agilent Dietary Balance Meter with an accuracy of at least 0.1%.

author: SeanB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 04, 2013, 04:47:59 pm
content: Nice to hear you are well, and are getting better. Speak to Randall Schwartz or look at his G+ posts about feeling better, it may help you.

author: quarks
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 04, 2013, 05:13:18 pm
content: Hello Richard,It is sad to hear about your health, so I wish you all the best and hope you get better soon.Best regards and many thanks for your many great posts here in the forum.Marcus

author: robrenz
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 04, 2013, 05:45:35 pm
content: You are missed Richard, Glad to hear things are going a better direction now. I look forward to when you can participate more.

author: darrylp
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: January 04, 2013, 05:55:48 pm
content: Well surely fluke do such a meter ;-) ?Darryl, all the best on keeping it under control.

author: zaoka
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 04, 2013, 05:58:35 pm
content: Amspire,Since this post is about you could you tell us what exactly did you do? Do you exercise, what do you eat?Ever heard of kangen water, Xtend-life supplements, starting to eat only fresh fruits and vegetables, water fasting (Genadii Malahov)etc.I wish you the best!

author: EEVblog
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: January 04, 2013, 08:45:38 pm
content: Glad to hear you are doing well.Now you MUST post all this info so others can investigate too.Dave.

author: PA0PBZ
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 04, 2013, 09:35:29 pm
content: QuoteDon't worry, for the moment there is a lot of interest, and when it gets boring there will sure be someone to tell you

author: grumpydoc
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 04, 2013, 09:46:15 pm
content: QuoteThe Snake Oil thread is thataway ----->To Richard - congratulations indeed on loosing the weight, improving your diet and getting your blood glucose under control without medication - it's what every newly diagnosed type 2 diabetic should aspire to. Well done!I hope that you manage with diet control for many years to come.

author: EEVblog
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: January 04, 2013, 10:18:12 pm
content: Quote from: grumpydoc on January 04, 2013, 09:46:15 pmMedication should always be the last resort.This is a problem that is almost always fixable through proper diet.I am surprised to hear that the various professions have it "so wrong" in terms of diet advice thoughI would be keen to hear more.You could do a lot worse than subscribe to the Natural Health Society:http://health.org.au/P.S I've helped edit an e-book version of Roger French's book (he runs the society):http://health.org.au/index.php/natural-health-society-online-store/product/101-how-a-man-lived-in-three-centuries-the-complete-guide-to-natural-health/category_pathway-12.htmlAnd am an admin on their new forum they are trying to set up (empty so far).Dave.

author: grumpydoc
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 04, 2013, 10:46:56 pm
content: QuoteAgree on the last point and I also would be interested to know what advice Richard received.As to the first two - yes, starting with dietary control is almost certainly the preferred option but sometimes drugs are needed and diet alone is insufficient. I've seen any number of Type 2 diabetics whose blood glucose is elevated even if they are fasting. There is also the Type 2 equivalent of diabetic ketoacidosis (well, sort of, in the sense that it makes diabetics bloody ill) - the delightfully named HONK syndrome (hyperosmotic nonketotic coma) which, trust me, is no fun at all.Type 2 diabetes is a complex and progressive disease consisting of both insulin resistance caused by as yet (AFAIK) unknown changes in the insulin receptor coupled with reduced insulin secretion. Most patients are obese and increased amounts of fatty tissue is associated with an increase in plasma free fatty acid levels, which increases hepatic glucose production and inhibits peripheral glucose utilization thus raising plasma glucose levels. It is Richards weight loss which has been as important in tipping things in his favour as much as the more traditional advice about trying to reduce sugars in the diet which I'm sure he's had and probably followed in one form or another.Diabetes may indeed be "preventable" - the disease has a long preclinical course due to gradually reducing "pancreatic reserve" - there was a study a few years ago which looked at the prescription of Metformin along with lifestyle and diet changes. The Metformin+personal trainer group (IIRC) had a statistically significant delay in the onset and severity of diabetes but it was an intensive programme so I think the conclusion was that it would not be practical on a large scale.But I still think that Richard deserves praise for tackling his diabetes in the way I'm sure all healthcare professionals would like to see but which is only rarely achieved.

author: digsys
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: January 04, 2013, 10:58:59 pm
content: Great news, love your story. It's almost like I have a twin :-) .. except mine started 4-5 yrs ago and still not under proper control.But in my case, I can't believe it's a diet thing, I've been a really good boy for over 14 yrs (since my heart attacks :-) )And you're right about "facts and advice" that's out there !! I had 3yrs at Uni (medicine) so when I did all the classes, it was VERYapparent of the amount of bulls***t that gets flung around. They sure hate to be questioned !!Still proud of being thrown out of a few diabetes programs / classes for pointing out serious errors, incl blood testers etcFaulty /misleading information, often for personal gain, is my biggest peeve. It sure is a case of "heal thyself".Good luck .. and If you ever decide to write about your experience, I'd definitely be interested.

author: rollatorwieltje
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: January 05, 2013, 12:20:41 am
content: Quote from: EEVblog on January 04, 2013, 10:18:12 pmI think doctors just don't bother prescribing a diet and some exercise anymore, as people don't seem to stick to it anyway. Just look at the amount of obese people, practically everybody can fix their own condition if they really wanted to. It doesn't even take that much effort to maintain a reasonable weight.People these days live a completely passive life (bed-car-office-car-couch-bed sounds familiar?), even a tiny bit of exercise would help a lot. Dave as a fitness instructor can probably tell a lot more about that thoughAnyway, congratulations to amspire for improving his condition

author: ivan747
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 05, 2013, 12:50:08 am
content: Speaking about health, I heard Dave is a certified gym instructor. Dave (and Richard too), do you participate in a forum of that sort you can recommend?If not, what about a good book or website on strength training? Sorry for getting a bit off topic.

author: free_electron
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 05, 2013, 01:23:43 am
content: @richard : care to post your dietary changes. i could loose a bit of 'spare tire'...

author: Mechatrommer
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 05, 2013, 04:15:20 am
content: Quote from: EEVblog on January 04, 2013, 10:18:12 pmthis confirmed the old statements i've been informed...1) every desease has its cure, except death.2) 99% of desease comes from your stomach, in other word, ie diet.so if diet cannot fix it, go to medication almost certain you should find the cure

author: EEVblog
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: January 05, 2013, 07:42:55 am
content: Quote from: ivan747 on January 05, 2013, 12:50:08 amSorry, no, it's been a long time since I was involved in any fitness type forum.QuoteThere are a zillion of them. But big Arnies New Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding is kinda like the Art of Electronics of the fitness industry.Start there as a baseline.http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0684857219/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=ee04-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0684857219Dave.

author: GEuser
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 05, 2013, 08:10:13 am
content: DiabetesIMO is1- A Virus2- MMR actually is the cause or onset of said virus (and plenty of other stuff ie-deafness , OCD , Autism , etcetera)3- Science is Lying as they know it (just like global warming is "YOUR FAULT")I'm not posting to argue as i just could not be bothered , but look up the Law judgment recently passed in the UK that said MMR undoubtedly caused brain damage to a person at childhood ,MMR effects the gut , destroys the natural bugs in there , poisons the individual (although everyone will respond differently due to Genes) and eventually fries the brain in different ways but lives on to Diabetes someone later .The offspring of 2 MMR experiment subjects (everyone) will also have a increased intolerance to MMR due to the passed on Genome therefore making it more Toxic to every passed on next generation explaining all the current OCD/deafness/brain damage and the likes (autism), its a lottery , and they know it! , Doom is here...Paul.ps-^Not true? , they said that about Thalidomide too!

author: EEVblog
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: January 05, 2013, 09:22:30 am
content: Quote from: GEuser on January 05, 2013, 08:10:13 amSorry, but opinions matter precisely squat in cases of scientific consensus and fact.Good luck posting peer reviewed scientific studies backing up your claims.As for your claim about MMR causing autism:http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8493753.stmDave.

author: BravoV
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 05, 2013, 09:33:00 am
content: Richard,Glad to hear from you, sorry to hear what you've been through.All best wishes and hoping you will get well and better soon.Quote from: amspire on January 04, 2013, 04:29:28 pmGood to know you still can make a humor, thats a good sign.

author: GeoffS
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: January 05, 2013, 09:36:36 am
content: I can sympathise with Richard as I was diagnosed with Type II diabetes about 6 months ago.Not on medication just a reasonable diet and regular exercise keeps the blood sugar down below whatever the hell it should be (depends on who you listen to).Definitely a lifestyle related cause, too many years of not enough exercise and a poor diet (IT and electronics can do that!). It's OK when you're young but once you get over a 'certain' age, it comes back to bite you.

author: SeanB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 05, 2013, 09:51:34 am
content: But now living in Tassie you can walk a lot.

author: GeoffS
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: January 05, 2013, 10:00:20 am
content: Quote from: SeanB on January 05, 2013, 09:51:34 amActually, when I lived in Sydney, I walked a lot more because I didn't have a car. Shops were walking distance (1km or so) which I did every day.Moving down here with a vehicle means I drive to do the shopping.Mind you the scenery is much better for walking through down here.

author: Precisiontools
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: January 05, 2013, 10:18:46 am
content: This guy has written a good book, lots more like it out there.http://drrosedale.com/index.htm

author: SeanB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 05, 2013, 10:40:45 am
content: If you keep up with the veggie garden ( nice blog, nice scenery there) you will do a lot of exercise inadvertently while doing so. Mowing the jungle and such will also help. If it is anything like here the grass and brush grow a foot a week.

author: GeoffS
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: January 05, 2013, 10:40:55 am
content: Quote from: Precisiontools on January 05, 2013, 10:18:46 amNot another doctor pushing his ownultimatediet!Your own GP can provide all the dietary advise you need for nothing, even a referral to a trained dietitian costs nothing, or is subsidised by your health fund.TheCSIROhave an excellent, scientifically proven, diet that is better than anything some self promoting quack can provide.

author: cwalex
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 05, 2013, 12:06:19 pm
content: The china studyhttp://www.bookdepository.co.uk/China-Study-Colin-Campbell/9781932100662Is a very interesting book.

author: Mechatrommer
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 05, 2013, 01:05:52 pm
content: doing "2x prostration + 1x bend over hand to the knee" 2x in the morning, 4x noon, 4x 3pm, 3x evening and 4x at night is another good exercisei only do it once in a week sometimecan keep me out of my high blood pressure trouble (so far) i'm planning to do it as prescribed in the future. of course there are zillions other exercises type that can burn calories. YMMV.

author: ivan747
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 05, 2013, 02:12:41 pm
content: Thanks for the link, Dave.Back on topic, I'm starting to get into the conclusion that all fields have their audiophools. It's good to see Richard back

author: TerraHertz
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 05, 2013, 02:58:22 pm
content: Some may find the connection between HFC (High Fructose Corn Syrup) and diabetes interesting. A few links here:http://everist.org/archives/conspiracy/medical/Fructose_Diabetes/Another related issue is the sweetener Aspartame. Quite an amazing story there.http://everist.org/archives/conspiracy/medical/Aspartame/

author: GK
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 05, 2013, 03:40:55 pm
content: Quote from: GEuser on January 05, 2013, 08:10:13 amSo how many injections did they give you then?

author: grumpydoc
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 05, 2013, 04:29:21 pm
content: QuoteActually his first suggestion is not as far off the wall as it sounds - there has been some interest and research into viral agents as triggers for Type 1 diabetes and there may be an association between cytomegalovirus and Type 2 in elderly patients (remember folks, correlation != causation) - and probably more if I could be bothered to look.In fact we don't understand the full role that viruses play in the aetiology of chronic disease, including cancers, but increasing numbers of associations are cropping up (eg the now very well understood link between Human Papilloma Virus and cervical cancer).It's a pity that the post goes downhill somewhat precipitously from there.Oh, and I'm fairly sure that the "Law judgment  recently passed in the UK" was, in fact, in Italy.

author: amspire
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 05, 2013, 04:52:17 pm
content: It is hard to encapsulate about 4 months of research, so I will start out with the number one faulty premise that diets like the CSIRO Diet, Government Advisory bodies and about 99% of medical research projects assume - the diet we should be eating needs to include protein, "healthy carbs" like low GI whole grains, fruit, vegetables sugars in moderation and a small amount of fat. The thing is this is not investigated to see if it is valid, it is assumed to be valid, and so tests for drugs, etc are all based on the fact you are eating such a "healthy diet".And for some people, this can be a great diet. Fantastic for them. For some people this is a terrible diet, and so doctors say that they have a health problem and give them drugs to "treat" their misbehaving and faulty body. I mean how could it possibly the very excellent diet I described above - it must be that the people are just faulty.I apologist now for the length of what is about to follow, but it dangerous to over simplify. I need to try and keep as accurate as I can.Has anyone ever wondered why the body was not designed a bit better so that when you have eaten exactly the right amount of food, you should feel full, so you should never become overweight? Why doesn't the body work like that?I am now going to ask everyone to put their engineers hat on and try and forget what you have been told about diets and health. Question everything I say, and everthing you have been told. There were time as I was plowing through the research papers when I thought I must be getting this totally wrong, but from my results, it does not appear I have.A bit about type 2 diabetes.Type 2 diabetes is at the end of a chain that starts with changing from lean to accumulating a bit of extra fat. Just about everyone who is overweight suffers from a similar issue - just less sever.Your body needs insulin to be able to process glucose in the blood stream. Without insulin, your blood glucose keeps rising to the point you can get organ failure and die. Insulin is made by the pancreas.Type 2 Diabetes is the result of becoming resistant to insulin, so you body needs more and more insulin to process the blood sugar. This insulin resistance is caused by fat deposits in muscles and organs that block insulin receptors. In diabetics, it has reached a point where the glucose levels can no longer be regulated satisfactorily.The main reason for very high glucose levels is that you have eaten dietary carb. Startch (bread, potatoes, etc) gets quickly converted into glucose. Sucrose and High Fructose Corn Syrup are about half glucose, and half fructose ( fructose meets the medical definition for a toxin. It can only be processed by the liver and that is another huge story).So as an engineer, it makes sense that if my body cannot process carbs properly, I have a carbohydrate intolerance. There is no medical term "carbohydrate intolerance" because carbs are supposedly an essential part of the diet. But I am an engineer, so I can use the term.So what diet is generally recommended to diabetics and overweight people who are probably partially carb intolerant?High carb - low fat diets. I am not kidding.Is it possible to lower my blood sugar level by eating a very low carb diet?I cannot eat a high protein diet as excess protein gets converted into glucose by the liver and I am back to high sugar levels. Since I need to get energy from somewhere, I would have to eat a high fat diet. When I reach a target weight, I would need for fat to be 50% to 70% of the calories.Doesn't a high fat diet make you fat and give you heart attacks?If you watch Biggest Loser or TV medical/diet shows, then you know absolutely the answer is a big YES.If you look at the actual research, the answer seems to be no. Funny that.But aren't there essential carbs?No, there are absolutely no essential carbs. You will get some anyway if you eat green vegetables, but the body functions great if you have zero carbs.Aren't carbs an essential source of energy?No, you body functions better from fat, ketones, and a small amount of glucose that your liver is able to make from protein or fat.But hang on, doesn't the brain need glucose to run?Only about 30% of its energy and the liver can easily supply that. When it runs mainly on ketones, it functions better, it doesn't have sugar crashes, if you are prone to seizures, then running you brain of ketones is probably the best cure. I could go on.Aren't Ketones Bad? Can't they lead to Ketoacidosis that can Kill You?Dietary Ketosis in a low fat diet is almost the opposite of ketoacidosis. ketoacidosis is a very serious condition where your pancreas stops making insulin causing the blood glucose levels to rise uncontrollably, and without insulin, the body cannot use the blood glucose as a fuel. The body panics and starts making ketones at a massive level, and the resulting blood acidity can get to a point it can destroy organs. Dietary ketosis can only happen at very low blood glucose levels, and if you are eating low carbs, there is a much lower need for insulin, so it is far less likely that the glucose levels will start increasing uncontrollably. i did check up the research into dietary ketosis and when you are in dietary ketosis, your blood acidity is normal. There is no known dangers at all and it seems to be a normal state of the body.But saturated fats are still really bad, right?No, saturated fats and monounsaturated fats are good for you. In recent studies that have attempted to show how bad saturated fats, they keep finding that the higher the saturated fat in the diet, the healthier the test subjects are.But it is still better having vegetable oil based polyunsaturated fats, right?No, no, no. Chuck the rotten stuff out. It is the least stable of the fats, so when you cook with it, it oxidizes causing toxic effects. It does not have the complex nutritional benefits of natural saturated and monounsaturated fats. Lard is a complex of health saturated and monounsaturated fats that is exceptionally good for you. Oils like sunflower, safflower and many of the other processed birdseed oils are largely Omega 6, and it impedes the extremely beneficial effects of the omega 3 oils found in seafood, some vegetables and to a limited extent in red meat. The ideal is to get your total omega 6 consumption down to the same level as your omega 3 consumption.But this cannot be right - isn't there study after study showing you need to reduce your fat consumption?Now we are getting to the crux of the problem. If you eat a high carb diet and you are type 2 diabetic or insulin resistant, your insulin levels go way up in your body. When your insulin levels are high, hormone-sensitive lipase is turned off, so your body cannot break down fat for fuel. If you get your insulin levels low (because either your body is very insulin sensitive or you eat few carbs), any fat you eat can be efficiently broken down for use as fuel rather then stored as fat. If you eat a high fat-low carb diet, the triglycerides (fat transported in the blood) reduces to an average 50% of its high carb value according to all the research papers, but if you don't sneak grains back in to the diet, a drop to 30% of its high carb diet level is likely.So yes, if you eat your recommended high carb diet and you are insulin resistant, your insulin levels are so high that you cannot handle fat. If you lower the dietary carbs enough, your body will thrive on fat.And guess what, once you cut out the carbs, then when you eat enough fat and protein, you feel full. Because fat is a long term energy source, you still do not feel hungry 3 hours later. Your body has very limited glucose stores, but absolutely massive fat stores - even if you are lean. You do not feel like you need snacks at morning and afternoon tea. Or late at night. Your body actually works properly. But what about the carb cravings - bread, sugar, biscuits? They usually just go away. Sugar can have an addictive effect on the brain, but when you stop dumping loads of sugar into the brain, then addiction just dissipates. You don't count calories and starve yourself. You eat enough to make you feel full. If you eat the steak with a butter sauce and vegies, you will not overeat, but if you add fries to the plate, you probably will want to overeat.The research that shows problems caused by dietary fat are ones when the test subjects are eating a lot of carbs in the diet.But aren't low GI whole grains OK?Not if you are insulin resistant. The peak glucose level is a little lower, but the glucose level stays too high for twice as long, and during this time, the high glucose levels is damaging the artery and vessel walls. This inflammatory effect is the prime reason of the common end symptoms of diabetes: vascular disease, kidney failure, poor circulation leading to amputations, strokes.When you were at school, really fit, your glucose level probably never got above 6.5 mmol/L even if you just ate a supersize serving of popcorn along with the supersize Coke (in the US, this would be 120mg/dL). If you are overweight, you probably are getting peak glucose levels over 10 mmol/dL and your chances of a heart attack will be far higher. Also because your insulin levels are high, you kidney retain salt, and as a result your body retains more water increasing your blood pressure (hypertension). So your doctor tell you to take statins (cholesterol lowering drugs), blood pressure drugs, and you are told to cut back on salt consumption. Go on a low carb diet and you will probably not need that garbage, and you will have to go back to adding salt again as your kidneys will not be retaining salt.Doesn't saturated fat increase bad cholesterol?It can, but the low carb diet will significantly increase the good cholesterol and greatly lower triglycerides. Looking at the ration of HDL cholesterol to total cholesterol is a much better health indicator then the LDL cholesterol. The target is a total cholesterol to HDL ratio of about 3:1. All the stuff about chemically lowering your LDL cholesterol with a statin drug is non-science promoted by the statin industry to justify selling over half a trillion dollars from a drug that can cause diabetes (they forgot to tell you that I guess). There is no evidence that the cholesterol lowering effect of a statin is any benefit at all. A statin is an anti-inflammatory, and so if your glucose levels are high enough to be inflammatory, the statin will help to counteract this. Now wouldn't it be a good idea to just eat an noninflammatory low carb diet instead if you are insulin resistant?But what about the Asians - they live off rice.Yes and they are usually not fat so they probably are not insulin resistant. The villains in becoming insulin resistant seems to be eating lots of processed sugar, processed flour (and all forms of wheat - wheat is pretty bad stuff), alcohol and fruit drinks. If you want fruit, eat fruit where the sugar is bound in fibre but do not drink fruit juice where the sugar is in solution. Rice is far less likely to cause insulin resistance, as long as you do not add the junk in our western diet.But hang on - don't I get fat by eating to much fat?No - your body turns carbs and alcohol into fat, and as I pointed out, if your insulin levels are high, it cannot burn fat efficiently. It is forced to store the excess fat rater then use it as fuel. You will probably find it very hard to each too much fat in a low carb diet.But I am told that carbs are the preferred energy source of the body. Yes, dieticians and doctors love to come out with this pseudoscience - it sounds like a fact if you say it in the right tone of voice. Yes it is true that glucose is toxic if you have more then about a spoonful in your blood, and it enters the bloodstream very quickly. So your body does have to process the sugars immediately. It can take its time with the fats. If you are on a low carb diet, your body will preferentially use fat for fuel, and not the blood glucose. It is true that you will probably not win an Olympic gold medal if you are on a low carb diet. I have seen that as a reason why you shouldn't eat a low carb diet.Are there other benefits. of a low carb diet?Plenty. You have much more endurance. I find that training is much easier, probably because I have gone from badly using carbs as an energy source to efficiently using fat as an energy source. There are lots of health benefits. I have heard it curing Attention Deficit Disorder in kids - even to the point that the child's handwriting noticeably changes within a week of a diet change. Isn't it better trying a diet change before using mind altering drugs on the poor kid?What is the best place for anything marked Low Fat?The bin. In many cases, sugar is added and perhaps something like cornstarch. I used to buy low fat milk until I realised that it has higher sugar (lactose) levels, and because it was low fat, I was using more of it. Once I went back to normal full fat milk, I was using much less milk, so I was getting much less lactose and spending less money.Do I have to worry about the cholesterol levels in foods?Absolutely not. The cholesterol levels in foods can have perhaps a maximum of a 10% effect on your body's cholesterol levels - the rest is made by your body. Anyway, all cholesterol is essential to your body. It is just a matter of getting your body working correctly again.So in conclusion, I am not following any published diet - there is no one diet that is right for everybody. I see what works for me, and measuring my blood glucose levels is a pretty good guide. While I am trying to loose weight and improve my diabetes, I have eliminated all sugar, grains and starchy vegetables. No more than 1 piece of fruit a day. I do have dairy, but for some people, dairy is a problem. Basically I look for a meal that only increases my blood glucose from, say, 4.5 mmol/L to 5.3 mmol/L peak. With numbers like that, my insulin levels are probably low, and I am burning fat. Diet is the main tool for loosing fat and I do not recommend lowering calories. You want to get your body running as it is meant to, and that means eat proper meals. The weight loss will follow. Your body is designed to be a healthy weight when it is running as it was designed to run. When I am at a target weight, I will probably add some sweet potato, occasional rice and perhaps some more fruit, but fruit is not essential. Basically I will experiment and see what works.Check out Low Carb diets for guide, but I don't like Atkins, Rosedale or whatever. Find out what works for you. With Atkins, the results show people lose a lot of weight for the first two months when they are on an extremely restrictive "induction phase", then they put a lot of the weight back on when they start eating grains again.Paleo diets are an excellent alternative - they are all about eating foods that could have been part of the diet going back thousands of years. Eliminate all processed and engineered foods. The results are very similar to a low carb diet - perhaps better.IMPORTANTIf you change to a low carb diet, you may find in the first few weeks that you feel tired, dizzy, constipated, you are regularly going to the bathroom and a whole lot of other symptoms. Guess what - your salt level is too low. The best cure is make a broth using a stock cube. If you need to regularly get up in the middle of the night, the cure is to drink more water before going to bed. You may not believe me, but it works.When you get a blood test done for your doctor, ask the doctor for a printout of all the results. I never did that in the past, but I always do it now.Before I started these changes, was getting to a point when I was feeling that my health was only going to get worse pretty rapidly - I would never be able to loose weight, and diabetes with the recommended diet is a deteriorating condition. I cannot tell you how much better it feels to go from feeling dependent on prescription medicine that probably doesn't work to taking control of your own health. I now tell the doctor what I am doing - I do not need his permission or agreement. Since my numbers are improving so much, he cannot really complain. I check up the research into drugs, and it often is pretty shocking. In many cases the research is only done over weeks - sometimes a year, and based on this, you are meant to take a drug for many years. You don't know it, but you are the experimental guinea pig.Instead I am now easily loosing weight, my fitness is improving very quickly since exercising is now easier for me then at any time in the last 20 years (I am 57). I do not know my maximum exercising heart rate yet, but after a gradual start over 3 months, I can go up to 150bpm without any discomfort. I can exercise for an hour or even two with no energy crash. It is just pretty easy.I have gone off all my prescription drugs except for thyroid medicine, and even that has been reducing in dose. I am going back to the doctors in a few weeks to see if the dose needs to be reduced further.The only supplements I am taking are 5000UI Vitamin D, 3 grams of Omega 3 oil, Magnesium (not Magnesium Oxide - one of digestible forms) and a vitamin B complex. The goal will be to get all these from diet and the sun after I reach a target weight. Much better for you that way. For example, there is something like 3000 types of vitamin D, but a vitamin D tablet has only one kind. When your body makes Vitamin D, it makes it from cholesterol, so it may be that being out in the sun lowers your blood cholesterol.There are some good doctors who support a low carb approach but they are rare.There are a surprising number of diabetics who have had to take control of their own health like I am doing, and this is largely possible due the the Internet. It would have been really hard to do before the internet. There are forums, and there are some great youtube podcasts. I might dig up some linksEven though this is long, I have still had to greatly simplify the descriptions on how the body works. It gets really, really complicated, but I hope I have been accurate enough.Richard

author: grumpydoc
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 05, 2013, 05:11:12 pm
content: Interesting post - sorry that I've only skimmed it. You appear to have rediscovered the advice that used to be given to diabetics 20, maybe 30 years ago which was always to switch calories to fats but then the whole fat=bad thing swept everything like that out of the way.You ask why we don't eat "just enough" and don't get overweight. I'm sure that the problem (which I think you allude to) is that the western diet is just too calorie dense (whether carb or fat). The sugary additives don't help but in fact neither does cooking which allows us to get nutrition much more effectively from cooked food than from raw. That last bit falls into "pet theory" category by the way so I don't necessarily expect to find any evidence to support it.

author: IanB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 05, 2013, 06:12:04 pm
content: Quote from: amspire on January 05, 2013, 04:52:17 pmI think you mean it is not sufficient just to count calories without considering the bigger picture of diet and lifestyle? Because it is always true that if you persistently eat more food than you need then you will tend to put on weight.Exercise is important too as you mention. It is going to be nearly impossible to make big improvements to your health without doing reasonable amounts of exercise as part of the program.

author: ampdoctor
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 05, 2013, 07:13:27 pm
content: Edit:This is NOT for diabetics, this is for people that want to avoid becoming diabetic. I don't totally buy the low carb/no carb approach. Our natural diet without the supermarket is heavy on fruits and vegetables. Note that i did not say bread and pasta. I went the no carb route for a while and yes i lost some weight but I also felt like shit.The biggest problem with "modern" nutrition science is that people think too much. To find the answer to a truly healthy diet and lifestyle is to think like a caveman and NOT like an engineer. Our bodies are fundamentally unchanged since prehistoric times and our bodies are calibrated to function on the same diet and lifestyle as cavemen. In the modern world in which we live, everybody spends the vast majority of their time inside parked in front of a computer or trapped in a cubicle. Our lives are in chaos and we live on fast food, coffee, meals ready to eat or meals we can slam together quickly. We get very little fresh air or exercise and we're all overweight. With all that going on in our lives we're surprised that we're getting diseases, are sick all the time, or just generally feeling like shit?! Having said all that here's my personal formula for healthy living that seems to be working out fairly well for me at least.I like to eat roughly a 40/40/20 percentage mix of animal proteins, low glycemic index carbs, and fats. Avoid processed foods, and eat more whole grains. Anything that's been processed to the point where it's white or near white is generally a poor choice. And RUN from white bread! Stay away from canned fruits and veggies in favor of fresh or frozen. Canned veggies tend to be high in salt due to the canning process, the vitamins have degraded and broken down, and worse off, the linings of the cans themselves can leech toxic chemicals into the product themselves.Also avoid GM foods and those loaded with hormones. that's almost impossible to do in the States, but it seems to be easier to accomplish as Europeans.You also want to eat smaller meals of the same size and eat often. Usually around 4-5 times a day in 400ish calorie serving sizes. This keeps your blood sugar levels stable, provides a constant source of energy, and you won't feel hungry over the course of the day.Now, everybody's body is a bit different so it's important to note that you always want to pay attention to what your body is telling you and make adjustments as necessary. some people may need more proteins than carbs or vice versa. Your body will tell you when something is slightly out of whack so pay attention when it starts talking to you.Next thing is to get your ass off the couch go outside and get some exercise! if there's a silver bullet that does it all to change your life this is it. I do about an hour to an hour and a half of cardio and strength training 6 days a week along with cycling and walking a few times a week. While you don't necessarily need to do that much, you need to get some sunlight, break a good healthy sweat, and move around daily for at least an hour or two. This strengthens your immune system, muscular system, increases bone density, cardiovascular system, relieves the pain of arthritis, and most importantly great reduces your stress levels and virtually eliminates depression without taking any drugs whatsoever. The list of positives things exercise does for you is almost endless.Lastly, and this is a bit controversial for some is to get off all those fucking drugs!!!!!!! Ridilin, Paxil, anti-depressants, sleep aids, cholesterol lowering meds, pain killers, even flu shots. The amount of shit people shovel into their bodies is endless and the side effects are worse than what you're taking them for. Eat right and get some exercise and you won't need any of them, or at least very few with the exception of very few required for a particular condition which was probably caused by not eating well to begin with. They had an ad on tv for a prescription flu medication with the side effects being headache, nausea and diarrhea! Most of the anti-depressants and ADHD drugs have side effects that include anxiety, thoughts of suicide, and violent behavior. Think about it...WTF! Lord only knows what that stuff is doing to your body and your ability to think with clarity.So in short, you want to eat reasonably, eat less, get a good sized daily dose of sun, fresh air and exercise, and detoxify your body. Within a month you'll start to notice a radical change in how you feel...i guarantee it! It's not rocket science.

author: madworm
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 05, 2013, 07:52:03 pm
content: I don't buy it that real 'cavemen' ate any substantial amount of bird-food (i.e. grains, seeds of grasses).I find the low-carb approach simpler. There are no carbs to speak of, so nothing to worry about sugar-highs or lows. No need to eat 5 times a day to keep the blood sugar balanced. The liver can do that as well if it is not pestered with HFCS.Whatever you do, just eat real food and cut out the processed crap. Oh and toss the food-pyramid. Someone in some youtube video said: "Eat like a pyramid, LOOK LIKE a pyramid!"

author: EEVblog
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: January 05, 2013, 09:11:44 pm
content: Quote from: ivan747 on January 05, 2013, 02:12:41 pmAbsolutely no doubt!And it can make it hard to support groups and people etc too, when some percentage of what they say is correct and/or you agree with, but other parts are just quackery and wishful thinking.Dave.

author: Lightages
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: January 05, 2013, 09:20:56 pm
content: Buy your own raw ingredients and learn how to cook. Stop eating processed food. Stop eating so much. Eat less meat and instead more of the other things the earth has to offer. Move, as in move your body. If everyone followed these simple rules instead of all the other nutbar ways of trying to lose weight, then everyone would be healthier. Eating and living would cost less too!There is no magic, just common sense.The problem is with common sense is that it isn't......

author: IanB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 05, 2013, 10:01:06 pm
content: And then we have news stories like this that make me just sigh in despair:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-20914685Make "unhealthy" food illegal...

author: Precisiontools
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: January 05, 2013, 10:42:45 pm
content: Great post by Amspire. The book I recommended on the previous page is one of 5 that Steve Gibson recommends in his 3 part series; "The Sugar Hill" on the Twit network. Amspire pretty much exactly shadows Steve's advice here.I'm not obese, my cholesterol is under half of the maximum recommended, I was under no risk of diabetes, but my triglycerides were high - not excessive but high. I followed Steve's recommendations after a bit of research and everything he said would happen happened to me (your mileage may vary:)), Triglicerides are fine now and I dropped 15 kilos in 3 months with NO exercise.The body self regulates and does what it supposed to do as long as you feed it the right fuel.I have read it in a couple of books, and I think even Gibson may of quoted that doctors in the 'States (probably here as well) graduate with no formal training in nutrition. If this is correct then I wouldn't put too much faith in what they recommend.

author: G7PSK
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 05, 2013, 10:45:01 pm
content: We are born nearly 100% human DNA by weight but by the time we die we are nearly 98% virus and bacterial DNA by weight a very large chunk of this is of course in the gut but by the time we are adults our cells are outnumbered by bacteria and viruses most of which are beneficial if not essential to us if the balance gets upset for some reason that can lead to a lot of problems. In 2009 I had to have a kidney removed due to cancer this requires disturbing the intestines which puts them int spasm for a few days, so for 4 days after the operation I was not allowed to eat(not that I felt like it) no food and high levels of antibiotic totally screwed my intestinal flora such that even now it is not back to as it was making it impossible for me to eat meat or anything with dried fruit without getting stomach cramps and terrible wind.

author: amspire
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 05, 2013, 11:33:43 pm
content: Quote from: ampdoctor on January 05, 2013, 07:13:27 pmThis can work for some people. If you can loose weight eating a lot of fruit, go for it. As I said, watch out for fruit jiuce though - eat the fruit along with all the fibre, and don't tough the reconstituted orange and apple juices.One of the issues with the low carb diet is that most doctors and dieticians know nothing about it, so if you feel like shit, they can't tell you what is going wrong.Did you drink a salty broth every time you felt like shit?QuoteThere is a lot of truth in what you say, but for people like me who have become insulin resistance, it is not enough to blame the lifestyle.I previously went on a weight loss program which included exercise, masses of walking, a low fat diet of 1500 calories a week and at the end I had lost about 3kgs. When your insulin levels are high because you are insulin resistant, fat is still getting stored even when you feel like you are starving (and actually you are starving which is very bad).A very obese person can often need to eat a huge amount of food if they are a carb rich diet to just get enough nutrients to function. The fact that most of the eaten food is going to fat is a really bad side effect, but to tell them to just stop eating as much and start exercising is cruel and wrong. If they change the diet to lower carbs, they can easily reduce the food consumption without starving. as their body will not be storing most of the food as fat.QuoteThis is a real problem in the US as no labeling is required for GM foods. There is a GM corn that has been modified to add a gene from Bacillus thuringiensis so that is is toxic to borers. Growers can claim that no insecticide were used in growing the corn. Cross pollination means that nearby non-GM corn often show a presence of the same gene.A 2011 Canadian study found that in a study of women, 93% of pregnant women and 80% of fetuses had the presence of this toxin from the corn in their blood. It is expected that the borers will become resistant to this particular toxin, but unfortunately people may not be as lucky.The long term health implications are totally unknown.QuoteHere is the amazing thing about eating a very low carb diet - less then 40g of carbs a day in my case. After your body has become adapted to using fat and ketones as the primary energy source, the sugar levels in the blood do not go up and down. If I do strenous exercise for an hour and a half such as 20km on a stationary cycle set to a mid resistance, my blood sugar levels do not drop and I do not feel hungry or in need of a energy boost at the end.If you diet includes over 100g of carbs a day, it may not get adapted to ketones, and you may have to keep you sugar levels up with snacks or energy supplements.QuoteAnti-cholesterol drugs are bad news, but if you have been on them a long time talk with your doctor or cardiologist before going off them. Once you have started on them, going off them may put you at risk of a heart attack. It is better to never start taking them. As I said, the science behind these biggest selling drugs of all time is very flawed and this is an inexcusable situation.The approach to approval of mind altering drugs like Ritilin and anti-depressants is just a total disaster. In many case these drugs are prescribed with no actual medical diagnosis of the preexisting condition. For example when you are prescribed seritin-altering anti-depressants, there is no test done to see if your seritin levels were wrong.Middle of last year, I was put on an antidepressant called Cymbalta when I was a bit low - a fairly expensive drug making bucket loads of money for its maker.Even though it has a very short half life in the body of maybe a day, up to 80% of the people who try and go off it experience brain zaps that are like little electric shocks in the brain for a typical period of about 3 weeks. Some people have reported problem still exists after 4 months. The manufacturer has absolutely no idea what causes these brain zaps but they did have a brilliant solution. They renamed Cymbaltla Withdrawal Syndrome to Cymbalta Discontinuation Syndrome so that if you search for Cymbalta and Withdrawal, you will not find all the papers discussing the Cymbalta Discontinuation Syndrome.Pure genius.Some people even get the withdrawal symptoms if they are 2 hours late in taking the drug. You better never run out.The maximum length of clinical studies I could find into this drug were just 12 month trials, and yet some people are going through absolute hell trying to go off this stuff after being on the drug for several years. After researching it, I weaned myself of it (saving a lot of money) and I can verify the brain zaps.The best advice I saw is that these type of drugs should only be taken as an absolute last resort after you have tried every possible alternative including dietary, exercise and checking your cellular magnesium levels. They should never be the first option.Richard.

author: jhalar
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: January 05, 2013, 11:55:31 pm
content: Thanks Amspire for the info.I too am a Type 2 diabetic. Was diagnosed in 1994. After 18 months on insulin I managed to keep the sugars under control on diet alone for about 8 years untilthe time came that I had to go on a drug mix of Metformin and Amaryl. Diet alone doesn't seem to do it for me lately. I had found that different doctorstell you different things about diets. One said you need carbos, one said that high protein is better. Frankly I don't know who to believe anymore. The answer isto find something that works for me.I did have a long term effect from Metformin after 5 years on it. It reduced the absorption of Vitamin B12 in my body badly. I now take Vit B complex every day.

author: amspire
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 06, 2013, 12:07:34 am
content: Quote from: Precisiontools on January 05, 2013, 10:42:45 pmSteve did some great work, but just as a warning, some of his claims are hard to verify and may not actually be true.Once you get a situation when bad science from the medical community is countered by bad science from the critics, things can degenerate into an ideological slanging match where the truth become the casualty.Steve's explanations are always fantastically well structured and have great clarity, but when you go to the research backing up many of his ideas claims, it is nowhere near as clear.He does give the impression that just about everyone should be on a low carb diet, and yet for many people, they can thrive on a high carb diet.If you are overweight, you are probably not one of those lucky people.QuoteCongratulations.What I have found is that dieticians and doctors do have to basically follow the official dietary recommendations, or they can be guilty of failing in their duty of care. It is just tragic that most official dietary recommendations are so flawed and are not based on good science. This is particularly true if you do have a serious condition like diabetes. I think the health authorities are so set on providing a non-confusion simple guideline for everybody that they refuse to admit that it cannot be done.Good advice for one person can be really bad advice for the next.

author: amspire
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 06, 2013, 01:00:23 am
content: Quote from: jhalar on January 05, 2013, 11:55:31 pmI have to admit I am lucky to learn about all this within a year of my diagnosis.I didn't know about the long term effects of Metformin - I thought it was the one "good" drugs and I hadn't herd about side affects.There is a real problems with the sulfonylurea family of drugs like Amaryl as they boost the level of insulin production from your pancreas, and as you know, in diabetics that pancreas is under a lot of pressure already. Some practitioners do not believe the sulfonylurea drugs should ever be prescribed as there is hope that a treatment will be found to get pancreas beta cells to regrow as long as you do not burn off all the beta cells in your pancreas. No-one quite knows exactly why pancreas beta cells start dying off in diabetes sufferers but it does seem that if you can get your sugar and insulin levels down, and the pancreas is not continually running flat out, the degradation of the pancreas slows right down.I think the reason people go to a high protien diet is they are trying to avoid a high fat diet because the stigma of a high fat diet. There are some serious issues with a high protein diet.I would recommend you get the bookDr Bernstein's Diabetes Solution(4th edition 2011) by Richard K. Bernstein. He is an amazing story. Back in 1969 he was an engineer and a long term type 1 diabetic. Around then, portable blood glucose testers were becoming available, but only doctors were allowed to purchase them. He managed to get hold of one, and started testing what foods were good for low sugar levels, and he started writing to the Diabetics groups to promote the idea of self glucose testing for diabetes sufferers. His ideas were firmly rejected as he wasn't a doctor, and the idea of a non-doctor testing glucose levels was totally unthinkable at the time. So at the age of 45. he went and got a medical degree and since about 1985, he has run a medical practice treating diabetics with a low carb diet. He believes that every diabetic should be able to get a fasting blood glucose level of about 80 mg/dL (under 4.5 mmol/L) with a peak level under 120mg/dL and this is only possible with a low carb diet. A couple of research projects tried to do the same with the officially recommended high carb diet and increased meds, and the projects had to be aborted as people were dying.A very low carb diet greatly reduces the amount of diabetes meds you need to take, lowers your fasting blood sugar levels significantly, and greatly reduces your risk of hypoglycemia.Dr Bernstein is now about 90, is extremely healthy and is still practicing I think. Someone with Type 1 diabetes for almost 80 years should be dead by now based on the conventional treatments. If you want the opinion of someone who really knows what he is talking about, he is the best starting point.Richard.

author: cwalex
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 06, 2013, 01:46:56 am
content: Quote from: G7PSK on January 05, 2013, 10:45:01 pmThere are even life saving transplants in people where intestinal contents are taken from a donor and put into into the bum of a patient to restore the intestinal bacteria. ( a poo transplant)

author: GK
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 06, 2013, 02:31:04 am
content: Quote from: amspire on January 05, 2013, 11:33:43 pmYes; chicken soup. I think this one has been known for a century or two at least.

author: IanB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 06, 2013, 02:47:48 am
content: Quote from: amspire on January 06, 2013, 12:07:34 amUnfortunately it seems that medicine in the USA and perhaps other places is treated as a skilled occupation rather than a science or a profession. Treating it as a skill means you are supposed to do what you are taught and not reason things out for yourself. I encountered this when I consulted a cardiologist whose pre-medical qualifications included a PhD in electrical engineering. His advice to me about treatments was always expressed in terms like "I was taught this" or "we are taught such-and-such". I got the strong impression he preferred not to give his own opinion on particular questions and didn't want to go off script.

author: Sedly
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: January 06, 2013, 03:49:16 am
content: My experience is similar to Amspire's. I'm not diabetic but have struggled with weight control for years with the trend always heading in the wrong direction. I did have concerns that I might end up diabetic if I didn't take action I listened to Steve Gibson's "Over The Sugar Hill" podcasts and read two of the recommended books (referenced below).In April last year I changed diet to a very low carb, limited protein and higher fat regime. I've lost 35 pounds to date and am now maintaining a healthy weight. I feel better than I have in years. All aspects have been positive except the cost of new clothes. I'm planning to stay low carb indefinitely since it's working great for me.Good Calories, Bad Calories -- Gary Taubeshttp://www.amazon.com/Good-Calories-Bad-ebook/dp/B000UZNSC2/ref=dp_kinw_strp_1The Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate Living -- Volek & Phinneyhttp://www.amazon.com/The-Science-Carbohydrate-Living-ebook/dp/B005CVV2AE/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1357440080&sr=1-

author: ampdoctor
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 06, 2013, 04:39:40 am
content: Quote from: amspire on January 05, 2013, 11:33:43 pmI didn't mean to infer that my diet is intended as a means for weight loss, though I'm sure most people would lose a fair amount of weight over time. And I would never advocate drinking fruit juice. Too damn much sugar and to my palate it's just sickeningly sweet. I prefer just straight up water, with maybe a shot of lemon juice for a bit of flavor. No, never did try upping my salt intake. Actually, your mention of it is the first time I think I've ever heard it brought up.QuoteClearly people with type 2 are special cases. All I'm saying is that so many people have been living very questionable lifestyles which are exacerbating many of the health problems we're seeing today. And one of the biggest problems is that a lot of people are completely misinformed through no fault of their own, and in some cases conditioned to make poor health choices. And a little bit of education will go a long way toward people having a greatly improved quality of life. As an aside, one of my favorite statements that I like to quote is "don't eat anything your great grandparents wouldn't recognize!"QuoteI live in a rural community smack dab in the middle of the corn belt and you don't even want to know what gets sprayed onto the corn and soybeans let alone what they till into the soil in the spring! Finding non-GM foods in the states is pretty much impossible. Even if you want to grow your own food, all the seed is GM and the sale or transport of heirloom seed is against the law in many areas. They're trying to get rid of small farmers markets and ban the sale or even use of raw milk due to potential health issues even though every problem that's come up in the food supply has been traced to corporate farming. Thank you Monsanto!The best solution would be to live primarily on hunted game meats, fresh fish, and heirloom gardening. But that's a tall order for most people and outright impossible for most people living in urban areas.QuoteIm not sure exactly how many grams of carbs I'm eating in a day but as a general reference today's breafast consisted of a 2 egg omlette with green pepper onion and cheddar cheese, two mid day snacks of a scoop of cottage cheese and a pear, then a small salad with tuna, and for dinner I had a cube steak with sautee'd mushrooms and onions, about a cup of broccoli and a small steamed sweet potato. I'm never hungry, I've got plenty of energy, dinner was a damn sight cheaper than going to McToxicWaste for a quarter pounder, and it took about half an hour to prepare. Plus it was all natural and I knew exactly what was going into my body.QuoteI've heard any number of "experts" say that anti-depression drugs only work in about 25% of the cases, and that daily exercise has a much higher sucess rate. Then in the same breath, the so called expert proceeds to say that if your anti-depressant drug isn't working you should look into trying a different drug or change the dosage. Didn't you just say that exercise is more effective than the drug?!

author: GEuser
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 06, 2013, 05:25:06 am
content: Quote from: grumpydoc on January 05, 2013, 04:29:21 pmhttp://www.wellsphere.com/autism-autism-spectrum-article/uk-vaccine-injury-win-mmr-caused-brain-damage/12115062008Not recently and this above still is not the one i had seen , the individual was permanently wheel-chaired with severe brain damage for ROL (rest of life) .At the others- No argument as i mentioned from me , as by the time everyone finds out it'll be all over and billions will be ded and Earth not long afterYaY!

author: Mechatrommer
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 06, 2013, 06:26:44 am
content: thank you amspire for taking time making that long post and other people too who brought up low-carb diet issue. yes our body is complicated stuff even doctors dont understand them well, more like introducing more harm into it by this so called "scientific methodology research" stuffs. my mom was a nurse i'm fortunate she is a health aware person, since i'm going overweight route she used to advice me on low-carb diet, eat less rice but more fruits. but since fruits, protein and veggies are more expesinve nowadays compared to rice, its hard to get into the habit. its possible and easy for us here to self grow our own fruits and veggies, but get into the habit is also a chore, same as going out exercise regularly, esp for me who always sit infront of PC and also now got infected by "eevblog" more time sitting on the lab bench tinkering and foruming.

author: grumpydoc
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 06, 2013, 11:57:11 am
content: QuoteOK, missed that one.However one legal judgement is alongway from demonstrating that the MMR vaccine causes autism. Even if a link is ever proven (and it's so much in the statistical noise that it will take huge numbers) the research by Wakefield was revealed to have been intentionally fraudulent so I'm not sure the "right to be concerned" observation is valid.Actually measles vaccination occasionally causes an acute encephalitis and this has been fatal - there are a few reports in the medical journals and I doubt the association is controversial but it doesn't seem to have been seized upon by the anti-vaccination brigade. We are, of course, in the benefit-vs-harm territory again (why this seems to be a difficult concept I don't know). Measles itself can cause encephalitis as a complication and measles encephalitis has a 15% mortality. It also causes a rather nasty complication called subacute sclerosing pan-encephalitis (SSPE) which is treatable if picked up early but universally fatal if left to the later stages. The risks of either are much higher than the risks from the vaccine, even when combined in MMR.Of course vaccination programmes tend to be victims of their own success as they reduce the incidence of the disease and therefore its complications. In those circumstances it is reasonable to try to reduce the risk from the vaccination but I think one should keep in mind that having the disease "naturally" almost always poses more risk.

author: G7PSK
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 06, 2013, 04:11:13 pm
content: Quote from: cwalex on January 06, 2013, 01:46:56 amDone to treat IBS, Pioneered in Australia and largely only done there, but look how long it took the rest of the medical world to start treating stomach ulcers with antibiotics even now in the UK the first line of treat will be proton pump blockers such as Lansoprazole try to get any other form of treatment and you will behttps://www.eevblog.com/forum/Smileys/default/bangheadonwall.gifat doctors for many months.

author: grumpydoc
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 06, 2013, 04:55:25 pm
content: QuoteYou might findthis pageuseful, both for your own interest and for some hints as to when your GP should stop empirical treatment with a PPI and do something else (which you can quote at him if need be).But the bottom line is that for simple dyspepsia a short course of a PPI will usually suffice. Prolonged use of PPI's is probably a bad idea.If your dyspepsia is caused by GORD (or GERD as our stateside cousins like to call it) there is come (conflicting) evidence that suggests H. Pylori eradication mayworsensymptoms.The trouble is that Medicine is not electronics - things are rarely black and white there are too many shades of grey and value judgements. That's one of the reasons medical training tends to take a very long time.

author: jerry507
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: January 07, 2013, 04:08:57 pm
content: And most engineers aren't researchers. The vast majority of us use tons of rules of thumb and can't fully explain the theory of what's going on.Doctors are trained on mass and need to deal with the entire population. There are researchers that do nothing but research the best ways of training all those doctors with up to date information. It's inevitable that as you train more people with the same resources (time, money) they will not know as much. There isn't a single field that is immune to this problem.And lumping all medications together is ridiculous. Comparing ibuprofen to anti-depressants is just silly. Same with the mass of heart medications. There is definitely bad clinical research for drugs but there is also plenty of good research. It's easy to look at anti-depressants and decry the industry, but all the work put into cardiac research has had clearly beneficial empirical results. Is it better to not get that bad in the first place? Obviously. But if you're already there, it's better to not die than take some "moral" high ground on medications.

author: amspire
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 27, 2013, 11:54:21 pm
content: Quote from: jerry507 on January 07, 2013, 04:08:57 pmThere is an old phrase "the beg the question" that used to have the meaning of to ask people to accept a statement as the truth when it cannot be proven at the current time. I know that the meaning is now been corrupted to the more useless meaning "to ask the question" but I like the original meaning.For some reason that I do not know, much of the medical research since the 1950's seems to beg the questions (the old meaning) that fat , particularly saturated fat is bad, and that grains are a necessary part of a good diet. After over 50 years of research including some of the biggest and most expensive research projects in medical history, no proof of either statement has been found, and yet the questions are still begged.Doctors and Dieticians seem to have a license to make the most outrageously unsupported statements about fat and essential carbs without criticism. If someone in electronics said that relays are good, and electronics switches are bad and should never even be considered as a solution, they would be laughed out of the room. It is as if trillions of dollars are being spent on how to make relays work in all situations without looking at the use of solid state switches in the research as an alternative.Why this is a tragedy is that most research into drugs and treatments is done with a high cab diet rather then testing with very low carb diets as well, and so most of the research only applies to high carb diets, and the question of whether a better result would be achieved with a low carb-high fat diet is not even asked. This is a truly incredible omission.If you are on a very low carb diet, you are actually in a position where for most drugs, there is usually no research at all to test whether the drug is safe or if it should be used at all. No drug approval authority requires a drug to be tested for a very low carb diet.When you look at all the research into new drugs for lowering triglycerides (fat) in the blood, they do not have any test subjects groups on a very low carb-high fat diet which naturally lowers the triglyceride level better then any currently known drug. In about5 years, we will probably have doctors prescribing us triglyceride lowering meds along with the dangerous cholesterol lowering drugs, and both will be treatments that would not even be considered if the question had not been begged that "fat is bad".QuoteThere has been a fantastic improvement in keeping people with heart diseases alive over the last 40 years, but unfortunate there has also been a disastrous increase in heart disease - it is an epidemic. The standard explanation is that our lifestyle has become more sedentary, but this assumes that our bodies are so badly designed that without a high activity lifestyle, we get sick. If you just remove this assumption, then it is clear from the evidence that a high carb low fat diet greatly increases your chance of heart disease. If you want to each such a diet, you probably have to do heaps of extra exercise if you want to attempt to stay healthy.So the improvement in the treatment of heart disease is great, but it would have been much better if we got the right advice so we didn't get it in the first place.It would be much better for people with heart disease if the use of a low inflammatory high-fat diet had been thoroughly researched rather then putting people on a high inflammatory low fat-high carb diet, and then make them take a a very expensive cocktail of drugs and surgical procedures to try and compensate for the vascular-damaging diet. I am not making any controversial assertions here - when you eat high carb foods, your blood glucose and insulin levels increase, and high glucose and insulin levels are both very well known to be inflammatory and to damage the vascular system. As far as I know, there is no known inflammatory effect of fat, except for the case of oxidised fats resulting from cooking - and this happens the most with polyinsaturated fats and trans-fats.Richard.

author: Marco
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 28, 2013, 01:20:35 am
content: Quote from: amspire on January 27, 2013, 11:54:21 pmNow you're begging the question.I'll readily agree that grains have some pretty nasty anti-nutrients and other contents meant to make it unattractive to eat ... but their dietary intake has not shifted sufficiently from >40 years ago to support your conclusion, at least not for the majority of poor people (ie. the majority of people). My grand parents (and their parents before them) ate just as much or more bread and potatoes ... cause they were the cheapest calories, fat and meat were relatively expensive. We haven't been hunter/gatherers in a long long time.The massive increases of sugar/salt intake and obesity are a more likely explanation IMO.PS. the over-subscription of statins is bloody criminal, ruined nearly a year out of the life of my father.

author: amspire
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 28, 2013, 02:46:41 am
content: Quote from: Marco on January 28, 2013, 01:20:35 amI have never said that no-one should eat grains but they are a much bigger health concern then the good fats - the saturated and monounsaturated fats with a little omega 3 oil.The German dietary researchers (who were leading the field up till the second world war) had found that there was a noticeable deterioration of health with the introduction of refined flour and sugar into a community.When your grandparents were growing up, they probably had less total wheat flour, particularly in processed food, less sugar, less processed potato, less polyunsaturated fat, absolutely no "Low Fat Yogurt" and the other low fat rubbish. Fat from cooking would be been kept for reuse for the next dinner instead of using vegetable oils. No bottled orange juice for breakfast.The local food stores would not have had about 80% of the shelves full of processed food.Their diet was probably not ideal, but much better then the average diet today.The incidence of cardiovascular disease would have been much lower then today, but probably still higher then it should be.QuoteAbsolutely with the statins and sugar.Salt only becomes a big problem when your kidneys retain it - because your insulin level is too high. This happens when your blood glucose levels are too high, which happens when you are very stressed, or more usually, you have eaten lots of carbs. When the body is working correctly, the kidneys can get rid of excess salt.

author: Mechatrommer
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 28, 2013, 03:54:12 am
content: sir, if its not bothering you too much, i wish you can give some very brief and quick explanation of your psu design inhttps://www.eevblog.com/forum/beginners/please-teach-me-how-amspire's-psu-works, just for a moment sir, only if its not affecting your health too much, thanks and i hope you in good condition.

author: ee851
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: January 28, 2013, 04:08:16 am
content: Richard,Just found this thread today. So very happy to hear you discovered Dr. Bernstein. I started his diet in January 2005 and am on it for life.

author: amspire
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 28, 2013, 05:01:35 am
content: Quote from: Mechatrommer on January 28, 2013, 03:54:12 amI will take a look later today. I put it aside trying to come up with a good way to control the supply without putting too much effort into displays and controls. I have an idea now that might be workable.Richard.

author: Marco
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 28, 2013, 01:39:07 pm
content: Quote from: amspire on January 28, 2013, 02:46:41 amThat's an entirely different argument than saying the increase in heart disease is evidence that "high carb low fat diet greatly increases your chance of heart disease." though. Basically we have been on that diet for generations.