Paleo Diabetic

No electricity

From the Journal of Pineal Research:

Key to the transition of humans from nomadic hunting-gathering groups to industrialized and highly urbanized societies was the creation of protected and artificially lit environments that extended the natural daylight hours and consolidated sleep away from nocturnal threats. These conditions isolated humans from the natural regulators of sleep and exposed them higher levels of light during the evening, which are associated with a later sleep onset. Here we investigated the extent to which this delayed timing of sleep is due to a delayed circadian system. We studied two communities of Toba/Qom Argentina, one with and the other without access to electricity. These communities have recently transitioned from a hunting-gathering subsistence to mixed subsistence systems and represent a unique model in which to study the potential effects of the access to artificial light on sleep physiology. We have previously shown that participants in the community with access to electricity had, compared to participants in the community without electricity, later sleep onsets and shorter sleep bouts. Here we show they also have a delayed dim light melatonin onset (DLMO). This difference is present during the winter but not during the spring when the influence of evening artificial light is likely less relevant. Our results support the notion that the human transition into artificially lit environments had a major impact on physiological systems that regulate sleep timing, including the phase of the master circadian clock.

Source: Access to electric light is associated with delays of the dim light melatonin onset in a traditionally hunter-gatherer Toba/Qom community – PubMed

Steve Parker, M.D.

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Carnivore diet, but not raw

At Diabetes Warrior:

In this post I will be discussing my latest experiment. I am calling it “Diabetic Carnivore 2.0”. It’s 2.0 because I went ‘full-carnivore’ in 2017 for about three years, before tapering off earlier in 2020.

I’ll answer these questions in this post:

1) What is a carnivore in the context of this dietary experiment?
2) Why am I going ‘full-carnivore’ again?

*  *  *

Had we only grown lower carb, leafy green vegetables in our garden, I’d still be eating them probably … but we didn’t. We also grew higher carb vegetables and fruits like tomatoes, beets, turnips, onions and carrots.

We started out eating collards, chard and turnip green salads … all was well. Then I began easing turnips, carrots, beets, and tomatoes into our slaw. Small portions at first… but then the ‘carb creep’ happened. I would add more and more of the sugary, starchy veggies and fruits to the slaw, as well as eat more and more of them.

I only tracked my daily intake of carbs from the vegetables and fruits once. That one day, my carb totals were in the 70 gram range! Not a lot compared to ‘Standard American Diet’ but a lot compared to my typical ‘near zero carb’ meal plan.

Just like a previous high carb experiment (see this post, “Very Low Fat (and high carb) Experiment“), my body handled the sugar and starches from the vegetables pretty well at first but then the fasting blood sugars began to creep up.

Read on to see the connection to COVID-19.

In case you’re wondering, a carnivore diet is not a typical paleo diet.

Steve Parker, M.D.

Click pic to purchase book at Amazon.com. E-book versions available at Smashwords.com.