Posted 29 May 2004 - 12:08 PM
Sam.
I agree with you. Those of us in the West do eat Very High Carb, High Fat, and/or High Calorie diets. All of these things contribute to Insulin Resistance, which can later, if not controlled, develop into a wide variety of health disorders, some of which are on the rise.
Nearly 2 years ago, I changed my diet. I've made changes before, but never found anything that worked. So I did a form of low-carbing by eliminating gluten. In the begginning, I was eating slightly like atkins (or paleodiet) in regards to the animal protein. It felt wierd though, to just eat the meat with no anything (lettuce leaves wraps are better), plus I've never been a fan of greasy stuff. Regardless, I was consuming more animal protein, incl. eating eggs & bacon nearly every sunday, and that was pretty much the extent of it. As a result of dropping Gluten, I lost fiber (I rarely eat gluten-free whole grains even now or enough vegetables), and so I developed IBS symptoms 3 months later. It was to the point that even my taking Fish Oils capsules, Multiivitamin capsules severely ticked my body off. After doing dozens of various tests (parasites, yeast infections) I was told to take more fiber (that was gut instinct) and whola, those problems went away =)
During that time though, I was following my gluten-free diet, eating a bit more animal fat, consuming fish oil capsules, taking Spironolactone (150mg), and taking Avandia (4mg). Before my dietary changes, I was 75% - 85% clear (85% is during summer only) and my cholesterol levels were in the normal range. After making those changes, while still taking the same drugs, despite lacking fiber, my acne was 95% clear ( 99% for almost 18 months now) and my LDL and Triglycerides were BELOW the normal-low range!
So there is definately something to be said for altering your diets. I no longer take any prescription DHT-inhibitors (stopped 6 months ago) or Insulin Sensitizers (stopped 20 months ago), but I have been working on natural DHT inhibitor solutions for the past 2 months. I don't eat atkins-like now. I actually eat more carbohydrates now than I do animal protein or fats. I think I'm somewhere around:
45% - 50% Carbs + 40% - 45% Protein + 10% - 15% Fats.
Considering that I had to drop 90% of my former processed food (has gluten or bad oils), I definetely consume a lot less animal protein than I used to. Although, I replaced some of that loss with more plant protein (as in nuts). I reduced my carbohydrate intake by 50% so now I consume 200g - 300g a day of Carbohydrates. I don't carb or calorie count though, so I don't restrict myself from eating foods (that don't cause me problems) when I want.
Except for table sugar, I eat tons of high glycemic carbs and I don't react. I think some people are lucky if all they have to do is worry about the Glycemic Load, but I eat foods that defy that logic with no problems (most don't think of mimickers). There are empirically validated studies that show that its OK, and even a good idea, to eat certain high glycemic carbs, over other types, because they (outside of added fiber for some, they can't quite fig. out how), are healthier in regards to controlling our blood sugar and other health disorders!
In regards to this lawsuit, he's hardly asking for much money. I think that unfortunately, he didn't really do his research (can one book have ALL the answers?). After the Induction phase, If I recall correctly, you can go up to eating 150 NET carbs if you like. That's probably about 200g of carbs right there, which is a healthy amount. He may have not been eating enough vegetables or he may have been eating all that low carb junk food (seen the chemicals in that stuff?). Unlike him, if my doctor told me my cholesterol levels were rising, I'd back down some on that fat, and boost my fiber intake.
People do not educate themselves as much as they should and then get upset when something bad happens to them. Or if they do have the knowledge, they scoff and continue doing what they want, and still end up with problems. We were all victims of that game, but we caught on and more of us do our own research now, don't we?
I'm not perfect at this, but as I've become more educated, over time I've learned to increase my veggie intake and eventually I'll be used to eating enough vegetables to where I don't the need fiber supplement. That's the other flaw with these diets and a western diet, we gorge on refined foods, that lack fiber, which is a BIG key at controlling health problems. So an optimum diet, if followed properly, emphasis the importance of consuming plenty of vegetables and some fruit, not just for the fiber, but their phytonutrients (some prevent cancer) also. I actually read that we should eat 4 vegetables for ever 1 fruit we eat. Dang, I need to be consuming 12 - 16 "servings" of veggies some days. ;-)
Take care
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I'm not a member of PETA. I think they do good things..but sometimes they go about it the wrong way.
