Monthly Archives: July 2012

Are Dense Acellular Carbohydrates the Primary Cause of Obesity?

Posted on July 31, 2012 | Comments Off on Are Dense Acellular Carbohydrates the Primary Cause of Obesity?

That’s a proposal in a recent scientific article, from which I quote:

The present hypothesis suggests that in parallel with the bacterial effects of sugars on dental and periodontal health, acellular flours, sugars, and processed foods produce an inflammatory microbiota via the upper gastrointestinal tract, with fat able to effect a “double hit” by increasing systemic absorption of lipopolysaccharide. This model is consistent with a broad spectrum of reported dietary phenomena. A diet of grain-free whole foods with carbohydrate from cellular tubers, leaves, and fruits may produce a gastrointestinal microbiota consistent with our evolutionary condition, potentially explaining the exceptional macronutrient-independent metabolic health of non-Westernized populations, and the apparent efficacy of the modern “Paleolithic” diet on satiety and metabolism.

You can read the whole shebang free online.

Steve Parker, M.D.

Bacteria in Petri dish

Reference:  Spreadbury, Ian.  Comparison with ancestral diets suggests dense acellular carbohydrates promote an inflammatory microbiota, and may be the primary dietary cause of leptin resistance and obesity.Diabetes Metab Syndr Obes. 2012; 5: 175–189. Published online 2012 July 6. doi:  10.2147/DMSO.S33473 PMCID: PMC3402009

 

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Nephrologist and Type 1 Diabetic Keith Runyan Tried the Paleo Diet

Posted on July 30, 2012 | 3 comments

Jimmy posted a recent interview with type 1 diabetic Dr. Keith R. Runyan, who is a nephrologist and internist.

Dr. Runyan is training for the Great Floridian Triathlon this coming October so he naturally has a great interest in high level athleticism as it intersects with diabetes.  He fuels his workouts with dietary fats and proteins rather than the standard carbohydrates.

Dr. Runyan’s current carb consumption level didn’t come up specifically in the interview, but his website indicates he’s on a ketogenic diet heavily influenced by Dr. Richard Bernstein.  I figure he’s eating under 50 grams of digestible carbohydrate daily.  He also tried Loren Cordain’s paleo diet; my sense is that it didn’t help much with his diabetes, but perhaps some.  My sense is that he incorporates at least a few paleo features into his current eating plan.

People with type 2 diabetes can probably tolerate a higher level of carbohydrates, compared to type 1’s, generally speaking.  This didn’t come up in the podcast interview.

Overall, the interview strongly supports carbohydrate-restricted eating for folks with diabetes.  Definitely worth a listen for anyone with diabetes who’s not sold on a very-low-carb diet.  If you’re sitting on the fence, at least check out Dr. Runyan’s “About Me” page.

Steve Parker, M.D.

Triathlon: run, swim, bike

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Posted in Diabetic Diet, Exercise, Low-Carb, Paleo Diet, Testimonials

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Quote of the Day

Posted on July 28, 2012 | 1 comment

This one brings the TSA (U.S. Transportation Security Administration) to mind…

Find out just what people will submit to and you have found out the exact amount of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them…. The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress.

—Frederick Douglass, former slave

In olden days, the U.S. Constitition was known as the Supreme Law of the Land

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Video Demonstration of HIIT on Bicycle

Posted on July 27, 2012 | Comments Off on Video Demonstration of HIIT on Bicycle

Classic Tabata intervals use a stationary bike, but this is more fun

Gretchen Reynolds is the Phys Ed blogger at the New York Times.  She posted a short demonstration of high intensity interval training on a stationary bicycle.  It’s narrated by a leading researcher in this type of exercise, Martin Gibala of McMaster University.

No mention of Tabata, as usual.

-Steve

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We’re Fat Because We Eat Too Much

Posted on July 25, 2012 | Comments Off on We’re Fat Because We Eat Too Much

At least one group of hunter-gatherers doesn’t burn any more calories in physical activity than Western cultures.  So much for blaming our fatness on low activity levels and labor-saving technology.

Cliff Notes version from the BBC.

—Steve

h/t Colby Vorland at nutsci.org

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Do Cordain, Wolf, Konner, and Eaton Have It All Wrong?

Posted on July 25, 2012 | 5 comments

The Face of Iconoclasm

In case you missed it, here’s a link to the recent Scientific American article arguing that the paleo diet is vegetarian.  I’ll read it when I have time.

—Steve

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Posted in Paleo Diet, Paleo Theory

Alcohol May Impair Vision In Diabetics

Posted on July 25, 2012 | 1 comment

MedPage Today reported that long-term consumption of alcohol may impair vision in diabetics.  Drinkers performed less well on vision chart tests than non-drinkers. This is not a diabetic retinopathy issue.

Beer and distilled spirits were riskier than wine.

The paleo community is divided on whether alcohol should be part of the program.  Undoubtedly, we drink much more alcohol than did our prehistoric ancestors.  Remember, however, that rotting fruits can provide alcohol.  I remember a news report about an elk in northern Europe who got drunk on rotting (fermenting) fruit and stranded himself in a tree.

The MedPage Today article didn’t comment on the potential health benefits of alcohol consumption. You can bet I’ll keep an eye on this.  (Did you get the pun?)

Steve Parker, M.D.

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Posted in Alcohol, Diabetes Complications

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Buck Fever

Posted on July 24, 2012 | 1 comment

Deer hunters call this “glassing”

I have a mysterious new fascination with deer hunting.

I don’t know why I’ve been thinking about this.  It may be related to a book on raising boys I read about six months ago.  The author talked about rites of passage for adolescent boys.  In his social circle, hunting was one such rite.  Boys on the cusp of adulthood were invited to the hunting camp to mingle with the experienced men and learn about manly things.  My son is almost 14.

Jews have the bar mitzvah.  The rest of us in Western societies don’t have much in the way of a rite of passage for adolescent boys (“young bucks”).  The scarification practiced by some West African tribes is not what I had in mind.  I guess we’ve decided as a culture that adolescent rites of passages aren’t needed any more.  I’m not so sure.

I bet hunter-gatherer societies have rites of passage.

Perhaps my son’s path to Eagle scout will be his rite of passage.  Or maybe it’ll be a deer hunt.

-Steve

PS: I’ve never killed a deer, nor even shot at one.  I went on a deer hunt as a yoot but no one in the party got lucky.  I’ve never even fired a rifle more powerful than a .22.

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Quote of the Day

Posted on July 23, 2012 | Comments Off on Quote of the Day

Your car is designed to run on gasoline.  When you put diesel fuel into its tank, the results are disastrous for the engine.  The same principle is true for us: We are designed to run best on the wild plant and animal foods that all humans gathered and hunted just 500 generations ago.  The staples of today’s diet—cereals, dairy product, refined sugars, fatty meats, and salted processed foods—are like diesel fuel to our body’s metabolic machinery.  These foods clog our engines, make us fat, and cause disease and ill health.

Loren Cordain in The Paleo Diet

Don’t put diesel in this baby!

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Quote of the Day

Posted on July 21, 2012 | Comments Off on Quote of the Day

….built into our genes is a blueprint for optimal nutrition—a plan that spells out the foods that make us healthy, lean, and fit.  Whether you believe the architect of that blueprint is God, or God acting throughout evolution by natural selection, or by evolution alone, the end result is still the same: We need to give our bodies the foods we were originally designed to eat.

Loren Cordain in The Paleo Diet

Lean and fit Australian Aborigine

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