1. Dietary fat, whether saturated or not, is not a cause of obesity, heart disease or any other chronic disease.
2. The problem is refined carbs in diet, their effect on insulin secretion & the hormonal regulation of homeostasis.
3. Sugars - sucrose, high-fructose corn syrup specifically - are particularly harmful, the combination of fructose & glucose simultaneously elevates insulin levels & overload liver with carbs.
4. Through their direct effects on insulin & blood sugar, refined carbs, starches, sugars are the dietary cause of coronary heart disease & diabetes. They are likely dietary causes of cancer, Alzheimer's & other diseases.
5. Obesity is a disorder of excess fat accumulation, not overeating.
6. Consuming excess calories does not cause us to grow fatter.
7. Fattening & obesity are caused by an imbalance in the hormonal regulation of adipose tissue & fat metabolism. Fat synthesis & storage exceed the mobilization of fat from adipose tissue & its subsequent oxidation.
8. Insulin is the primary regulator of fat storage. When insulin levels fall, we release fat from fat tissue.
9. By stimulating insulin secretion, carbs make us fat.
10. By driving fat accumulation, carbs also increase hunger & decrease the amount of energy we expend in metabolism & physical activity.
Extract from the book The Diet Delusion page 454 by Gary Taubes ISBN-978-0-09-189141-1
Saturday 26 November 2011
Friday 18 November 2011
Dr. Malcolm Kendrick M.D. looks at Cholesterol
As a Scotsman of a certain age, I have always found heart disease fascinating. This is possibly because of the fact that, in my youth, Scotland had the highest rate of death from heart disease (by which I mean coronary artery disease/ atherosclerosis) in the world.
When I went to medical school I was told that the very high rate of heart disease in Scotland was caused by a diet containing far too much saturated fat. This raised our Scottish cholesterol levels. The excess cholesterol was, in turn, deposited in the artery walls, thus narrowing them to the point where they blocked up - causing angina, heart attacks and death.
For years I did not question this orthodoxy. Then, one day, I was on holiday in France. Whilst chewing on a fatty steak, dripping in butter, it suddenly struck me that the French ate rather a lot of saturated fat. As I peered through the smoke filled restaurant I also recognised that they smoked quite a bit too. However, their rate of heart disease was one tenth that of Scotland (age and sex-matched).
I then looked at the other classic ‘risk factors' for heart disease in France e.g. blood pressure, HDL ‘good cholesterol' levels, body mass index (BMI), amount of exercise taken. I found that, in comparison to the Scots, the French ate significantly more saturated fat, had the same cholesterol levels, the same blood pressure and the same HDL ‘good cholesterol' levels. They also had the same average BMI and took slightly less exercise (on average). They smoked considerably more. In short, much worse classical ‘risk factors,' one tenth the rate of heart disease.
When I tell people that the higher their cholesterol level they longer they will live, they look at me in a way that suggests they believe that my medication is clearly not working.
Now that I know that cholesterol has nothing to do with heart disease, and that lowering it with statins is a complete waste of time, I find myself in the position of the little boy who points out that the Emperor has no Clothes. With one rather important difference.
Even though the ‘experts' have been made aware of it many times, they care not that this particular emperor has no clothes. Or, to be more accurate, they cannot and will not allow themselves to accept that it might be true. For to accept this would be far too humiliating for the great and the good. Which, I suppose, is why people become so enraged when anyone dares to point out the truth.
Some extracts from a must read article by Dr. Malcolm Kendrick.
http://www.spacedoc.com/malcolm_kendrick_cholesterol
When I went to medical school I was told that the very high rate of heart disease in Scotland was caused by a diet containing far too much saturated fat. This raised our Scottish cholesterol levels. The excess cholesterol was, in turn, deposited in the artery walls, thus narrowing them to the point where they blocked up - causing angina, heart attacks and death.
For years I did not question this orthodoxy. Then, one day, I was on holiday in France. Whilst chewing on a fatty steak, dripping in butter, it suddenly struck me that the French ate rather a lot of saturated fat. As I peered through the smoke filled restaurant I also recognised that they smoked quite a bit too. However, their rate of heart disease was one tenth that of Scotland (age and sex-matched).
I then looked at the other classic ‘risk factors' for heart disease in France e.g. blood pressure, HDL ‘good cholesterol' levels, body mass index (BMI), amount of exercise taken. I found that, in comparison to the Scots, the French ate significantly more saturated fat, had the same cholesterol levels, the same blood pressure and the same HDL ‘good cholesterol' levels. They also had the same average BMI and took slightly less exercise (on average). They smoked considerably more. In short, much worse classical ‘risk factors,' one tenth the rate of heart disease.
When I tell people that the higher their cholesterol level they longer they will live, they look at me in a way that suggests they believe that my medication is clearly not working.
Now that I know that cholesterol has nothing to do with heart disease, and that lowering it with statins is a complete waste of time, I find myself in the position of the little boy who points out that the Emperor has no Clothes. With one rather important difference.
Even though the ‘experts' have been made aware of it many times, they care not that this particular emperor has no clothes. Or, to be more accurate, they cannot and will not allow themselves to accept that it might be true. For to accept this would be far too humiliating for the great and the good. Which, I suppose, is why people become so enraged when anyone dares to point out the truth.
Some extracts from a must read article by Dr. Malcolm Kendrick.
http://www.spacedoc.com/malcolm_kendrick_cholesterol
Intensive Diabetes Therapy Protects Type 1 Diabetics' Kidneys, Study Shows
People with type 1 diabetes are at high risk of developing kidney disease, but no therapies are proven to prevent impaired kidney function in these patients.
Over an average of 22 years in DCCT/EDIC, intensive therapy was more effective at preserving long-term kidney function in study participants. A total of 24 participants assigned to intensive therapy and 46 assigned to conventional therapy developed impaired kidney function, meaning that intensive diabetes therapy reduced patients' risk by 50%. Of those with impaired kidney function, 8 assigned to intensive therapy and 16 assigned to conventional therapy developed kidney failure.
"This study demonstrates that impaired kidney function can be prevented in type 1 diabetes and reinforces the importance of maintaining good glucose control early in the course of type 1 diabetes to prevent long-term kidney complications," said Dr. de Boer.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/11/111112145357.htm
Over an average of 22 years in DCCT/EDIC, intensive therapy was more effective at preserving long-term kidney function in study participants. A total of 24 participants assigned to intensive therapy and 46 assigned to conventional therapy developed impaired kidney function, meaning that intensive diabetes therapy reduced patients' risk by 50%. Of those with impaired kidney function, 8 assigned to intensive therapy and 16 assigned to conventional therapy developed kidney failure.
"This study demonstrates that impaired kidney function can be prevented in type 1 diabetes and reinforces the importance of maintaining good glucose control early in the course of type 1 diabetes to prevent long-term kidney complications," said Dr. de Boer.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/11/111112145357.htm
Friday 11 November 2011
Low carbohydrate diets for diabetes control. Katharine Morrison, Principal GP
Despite the growing incidence of type 1 and 2 diabetes and the accelerating cost of the resources needed to monitor and treat these patients, we are obviously not succeeding in reducing either the number of people affected or the severity of the complications of these conditions.
Yet there is a simple, effective, low-cost strategy that is proven to work with diabetes: reduce the amount of sugar and starch in the diet.
The lower the carbohydrate consumed the less insulin is needed for type 1 diabetics and the less hard the pancreas has to work for type 2 diabetics. For example, insulin dependent diabetics can expect to half or third their insulin requirements. Less insulin injected results in more predictable blood sugars and less hypoglycaemia.
How long can we as a profession afford to keep our heads in the sand regarding the benefits of low carb diets for diabetics?
The words of Dr. Katharine Morrison
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1570767/
Eddie
Cholesterol and Heart Disease. Dr Malcolm Kendrick
We are constantly told high cholesterol levels will lead to heart disease, is this true ?
This video lasts 1 minute 17 seconds, you may find the information very surprising !
Eddie
Dr.Jay Wortman another ex-Engineer.
In a former working life, Jay was an engineer. Dr Richard Bernstein was an engineer. Bob Krause was an engineer too. Is this just a coincidence? Perhaps not. This is purely anecdotal, but I have found that many of the most creative-thinkers in the area of health and nutrition have a background in engineering.
One of the sharpest minds in the blogosphere is Dr. Michael R. Eades. I’m sure you’re aware of his site, and would agree with him on most things regarding diet and health. He, too, began his career as an engineer.
Engineers must weigh different design choices on their merits and choose the solution that best matches the requirements. Their crucial and unique task is to identify, understand, and interpret the constraints on a design in order to produce a successful result. In other words, they make things work. Well the Doctors certainly make things work when it comes to the control of weight and diabetes.
Jay is not only a medical Doctor he is also a type two diabetic. He controls his diabetes with a lowcarb diet, exercise and no meds. Jay is fortunate to be on first name terms, with some of the people on the cutting edge of lowcarb research. Jay is far more knowledgeable than most Doctors regarding the lowcarb lifestyle, he knows it works, full stop. He is totally convinced it is the way to go, for diabetes and weight control. He also knows lowcarbing is 100% safe. How do I know that ? Because his wife and children are lowcarbers. Would a man with access to information many lay people never see, encourage his family to lowcarb, when he had the slightest doubt regarding long term safety, not in a million years.
Check out Jays blog here http://www.drjaywortman.com/blog/wordpress/
Eddie
One of the sharpest minds in the blogosphere is Dr. Michael R. Eades. I’m sure you’re aware of his site, and would agree with him on most things regarding diet and health. He, too, began his career as an engineer.
Engineers must weigh different design choices on their merits and choose the solution that best matches the requirements. Their crucial and unique task is to identify, understand, and interpret the constraints on a design in order to produce a successful result. In other words, they make things work. Well the Doctors certainly make things work when it comes to the control of weight and diabetes.
Jay is not only a medical Doctor he is also a type two diabetic. He controls his diabetes with a lowcarb diet, exercise and no meds. Jay is fortunate to be on first name terms, with some of the people on the cutting edge of lowcarb research. Jay is far more knowledgeable than most Doctors regarding the lowcarb lifestyle, he knows it works, full stop. He is totally convinced it is the way to go, for diabetes and weight control. He also knows lowcarbing is 100% safe. How do I know that ? Because his wife and children are lowcarbers. Would a man with access to information many lay people never see, encourage his family to lowcarb, when he had the slightest doubt regarding long term safety, not in a million years.
Check out Jays blog here http://www.drjaywortman.com/blog/wordpress/
Eddie
Saturday 5 November 2011
New method to test blood sugar
Children with type 1 diabetes in Oxfordshire are to be the first patients in England to have their blood sugar levels tested using their breath.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-15605323
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-15605323
Friday 4 November 2011
Petition to make test strips available to all diabetics on the NHS
I don't know if you've seen this http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/20537 Petition to make test strips available on NHS! All diabetics need to test to maintain good control. Please sign the petition.
Ray
By Donald Miller
When I was the director of the heart institute at Swedish Medical Center in Seattle in the 1990s I looked into establishing a Dean Ornish Program for Reversing Heart Disease at Swedish. The Ornish Program limits fat intake to less than 10 percent of calories in the diet, with, as one study shows, only 1 percent saturated fat. I had a cardiologist at Swedish accompany me to New York to visit the leading Dean Ornish Program there. We came back and recommended that Swedish establish one in Seattle.I was wrong.
Several years later, after leaving Swedish and rejoining the faculty the University of Washington, I came upon an article by Dr. Mary Enig and Sally Fallon titled “The Oiling of America” that was published in the magazine Nexus in 1999. It stimulated me to look more carefully into this subject."
"Evidence against fat wilts upon close scrutiny. In his Six Country Study, Ancel Keys ignored data available from 16 other countries that did not fall in line with his desired graph. If he had chosen these six other countries [on the left side], or even more strikingly, these six countries [on the bottom right] he could have shown that increasing the percent of calories from fat in the diet reduces the number of deaths from coronary heart disease."
"Then, in 1992, in the Archives of Internal Medicine, the third director of the study, Dr. William Castelli, reported: “In Framingham, Mass., the more saturated fat one ate, the more cholesterol one ate, the more calories one ate, the lower the person’s serum cholesterol” [emphasis in original]… We found that the people who ate the most cholesterol, ate the most saturated fat, ate the most calories, weighed the least, and were the most physically active.” (Arch Int Med 1992;152:1271-2)
Most doctors have not heard about these findings because medical organizations, notably the American Heart Association, government agencies, and the pharmaceutical industry have ignored them. After all, prescribing statin drugs to lower cholesterol is a $25 billion/year industry."
A long read but well worth reading and keeping !
Donald Miller is a cardiac surgeon and Professor of Surgery at the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle.
http://healthimpactnews.com/2011/enjoy-saturated-fats-they%e2%80%99re-good-for-you/
Several years later, after leaving Swedish and rejoining the faculty the University of Washington, I came upon an article by Dr. Mary Enig and Sally Fallon titled “The Oiling of America” that was published in the magazine Nexus in 1999. It stimulated me to look more carefully into this subject."
"Evidence against fat wilts upon close scrutiny. In his Six Country Study, Ancel Keys ignored data available from 16 other countries that did not fall in line with his desired graph. If he had chosen these six other countries [on the left side], or even more strikingly, these six countries [on the bottom right] he could have shown that increasing the percent of calories from fat in the diet reduces the number of deaths from coronary heart disease."
"Then, in 1992, in the Archives of Internal Medicine, the third director of the study, Dr. William Castelli, reported: “In Framingham, Mass., the more saturated fat one ate, the more cholesterol one ate, the more calories one ate, the lower the person’s serum cholesterol” [emphasis in original]… We found that the people who ate the most cholesterol, ate the most saturated fat, ate the most calories, weighed the least, and were the most physically active.” (Arch Int Med 1992;152:1271-2)
Most doctors have not heard about these findings because medical organizations, notably the American Heart Association, government agencies, and the pharmaceutical industry have ignored them. After all, prescribing statin drugs to lower cholesterol is a $25 billion/year industry."
A long read but well worth reading and keeping !
Donald Miller is a cardiac surgeon and Professor of Surgery at the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle.
http://healthimpactnews.com/2011/enjoy-saturated-fats-they%e2%80%99re-good-for-you/
Dietary fat and Women
One of the biggest reasons, a low carb diet is not promoted by most Healthcare Professionals is dietary fat. On forums, websites and in the media, fat is demonised 24/7. Pick up a news paper and there’s a very fair chance an article will shout out at you “ Cut back on the fat if you don’t want a heart attack” turn on the TV, and the morning news will be running an article on obesity, and of course “It’s the fat that’s making people err, fat” Check out ceefax and it’s the same. Dietary saturated fat will kill you, and the obesity it brings about, will require eight muscle bound weight lifters, to carry your coffin to an early grave !
In short, the media and most of our HCP’s does its best to convince us, eating too much fat is about as dangerous as playing Russian roulette, or developing a crack cocaine habit. Personally, I’ve got nothing against a massive heart attack. Think about it, a few minutes of agonising pain, then the lights go out, and its goodnight Vienna. I would much rather settle for that, than run high BG numbers for years and slowly go blind, or sit around on a commode, watching my feet turn into twenty pounds of condemned corned beef, but I appreciate, it’s very a personal issue.
So, by definition, if eating to much saturated fat is bad, and will bring about a heart attack, eating less must be good eh. Unfortunately no, as it turns out.
A Randomized controlled trial of 48,835 postmenopausal women, aged 50 to 79 years, of diverse backgrounds and ethnicities, who participated in the Women's Health Initiative Dietary Modification Trial, mean follow-up in this analysis was 8.1 years. The objective of the trial, was to see if a cut back on dietary fat, would improve health, and reduce the risk of cardio vascular disease or stroke, it did not !
Eddie
http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=202339
In short, the media and most of our HCP’s does its best to convince us, eating too much fat is about as dangerous as playing Russian roulette, or developing a crack cocaine habit. Personally, I’ve got nothing against a massive heart attack. Think about it, a few minutes of agonising pain, then the lights go out, and its goodnight Vienna. I would much rather settle for that, than run high BG numbers for years and slowly go blind, or sit around on a commode, watching my feet turn into twenty pounds of condemned corned beef, but I appreciate, it’s very a personal issue.
So, by definition, if eating to much saturated fat is bad, and will bring about a heart attack, eating less must be good eh. Unfortunately no, as it turns out.
A Randomized controlled trial of 48,835 postmenopausal women, aged 50 to 79 years, of diverse backgrounds and ethnicities, who participated in the Women's Health Initiative Dietary Modification Trial, mean follow-up in this analysis was 8.1 years. The objective of the trial, was to see if a cut back on dietary fat, would improve health, and reduce the risk of cardio vascular disease or stroke, it did not !
Eddie
http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=202339
Ketosis and why lowcarbing works.
Ketosis occurs when your intake of carbs drops below the point where there is enough glucose coming in to fuel your brain. Your brain cannot burn fuels other than glucose or ketones. When your carb intake drops below that point your liver starts to make ketones from fat. Your brain can get 75% of its energy from ketones. The remaining 25% can come from glucose which is also produced in the liver (from protein). The muscles will burn fat or ketones. There are actually very few tissues that must have glucose. These include the renal cortex, red blood cells and lens of the eye. All their needs can be supplied by the liver. This is why there is actually a zero requirement for dietary carbohydrates. Most people need to get below 100 gm of carbs per day to achieve ketosis. For people with severe insulin resistance, the carbs would need to be much lower to achieve normal blood sugars and to get off the meds. I avoid meds by eating less than 50 gms and usually well below that.
Unlike low fat diets, low-carb is very effective at burning off the fat around the middle. Properly done it will also spare muscle loss and may even cause muscle growth along with fat loss. For type 2 diabetics, I recommend the most recent Atkins book which was authored by three scientists who do research on ketogenic diets (Westman, Phinney and Volek). I get the best results by staying on the induction phase of the diet indefinitely. I have done this for over 8 years. I asked the authors why they didn't recommend this in the book. They said that they actually had written a chapter on this but that the publisher removed it for fear it might confuse people. Phinney and Volek have recently written a guide for physicians on how to properly administer a low-carb diet. It will be published as an e-book and will be available soon via Amazon.
The words of Dr. Jay Wortman. Type two diabetic and lowcarb expert.
Carbohydrates not essential !
"There are three kinds of foods--fats, proteins, and carbohydrates. All of these provide calories. But the carbohydrates provide calories and nothing else. They have none of the essential elements to build up or to repair the tissues of the body. A man, given carbohydrates alone, however liberally, would starve to death on calories. The body must have proteins and animal fats. It has no need for carbohydrates, and, given the two essential foodstuffs, it can get all the calories it needs from them."Sir Heneage Ogilvie, former vice president of the Royal College of Surgeons, England.
The earliest and primary proponent of an all animal-based diet was Vilhjalmur Stefansson, a Canadian explorer who lived with the Inuit for some time, and who witnessed their diet as essentially consisting of meat and fish, with very few carbohydrates - berries during the summer. Stefansson and a friend later volunteered for a one year experiment at Bellevue Hospital in New York to prove he could thrive on a diet of nothing but meat, meat fat and internal organs of animals.
His progress was closely monitored and experiments were done on his health throughout the year. At the end of the year, he did not show any symptoms of ill health; he did not develop scurvy , which many scientists had expected to manifest itself only a few months into the diet due to the lack of vitamin C in muscle meat. However, Stefansson and his partner did not eat just muscle meat - they ate fat, raw brain, raw liver (a significant source of vitamin C and others), and other varieties of offal. The no-carbohydrate and low carb diet often reverses type two diabetes.
We do not advocate a no carb diet, although this has been proved to be safe, it would be a very boring way to live. Some of us think of our way of life as being meat eating vegetarians. No, we are not trying to wind up vegetarians, but we base our food on fresh vegetables, then add high quality protein, then good fats. If you are consuming around 30-50 carbs per day, all from non starchy vegetables, you have a very large range to chose from. By eating the colours of the rainbow, and eating small portions, of many different types, you can get all the nutrients you need to stay healthy.
The earliest and primary proponent of an all animal-based diet was Vilhjalmur Stefansson, a Canadian explorer who lived with the Inuit for some time, and who witnessed their diet as essentially consisting of meat and fish, with very few carbohydrates - berries during the summer. Stefansson and a friend later volunteered for a one year experiment at Bellevue Hospital in New York to prove he could thrive on a diet of nothing but meat, meat fat and internal organs of animals.
His progress was closely monitored and experiments were done on his health throughout the year. At the end of the year, he did not show any symptoms of ill health; he did not develop scurvy , which many scientists had expected to manifest itself only a few months into the diet due to the lack of vitamin C in muscle meat. However, Stefansson and his partner did not eat just muscle meat - they ate fat, raw brain, raw liver (a significant source of vitamin C and others), and other varieties of offal. The no-carbohydrate and low carb diet often reverses type two diabetes.
We do not advocate a no carb diet, although this has been proved to be safe, it would be a very boring way to live. Some of us think of our way of life as being meat eating vegetarians. No, we are not trying to wind up vegetarians, but we base our food on fresh vegetables, then add high quality protein, then good fats. If you are consuming around 30-50 carbs per day, all from non starchy vegetables, you have a very large range to chose from. By eating the colours of the rainbow, and eating small portions, of many different types, you can get all the nutrients you need to stay healthy.
Saturated Fat does not cause Heart Disease !
For decades we have been brainwashed into believing saturated fat causes heart disease. So many people believe this a fact. This is arguably, the most ludicrous piece of dietary information and biggest scam ever hoisted on the medical profession and general public.
A meta-analysis published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, pooled together data from 21 unique studies that included almost 350,000 people, about 11,000 of whom developed cardiovascular disease (CVD), tracked for an average of 14 years, and concluded that there is no relationship between the intake of saturated fat and the incidence of heart disease or stroke.
Conclusions: A meta-analysis of prospective epidemiologic studies showed that there is no significant evidence for concluding that dietary saturated fat is associated with an increased risk of CHD or CVD. More data are needed to elucidate whether CVD risks are likely to be influenced by the specific nutrients used to replace saturated fat.
http://www.ajcn.org/content/early/2010/01/13/ajcn.2009.27725.abstract
A meta-analysis published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, pooled together data from 21 unique studies that included almost 350,000 people, about 11,000 of whom developed cardiovascular disease (CVD), tracked for an average of 14 years, and concluded that there is no relationship between the intake of saturated fat and the incidence of heart disease or stroke.
Conclusions: A meta-analysis of prospective epidemiologic studies showed that there is no significant evidence for concluding that dietary saturated fat is associated with an increased risk of CHD or CVD. More data are needed to elucidate whether CVD risks are likely to be influenced by the specific nutrients used to replace saturated fat.
http://www.ajcn.org/content/early/2010/01/13/ajcn.2009.27725.abstract
Dr.Jay Wortman on reversing type two diabetes.
Dr.Jay Wortman on reversing type two diabetes, a must watch !
Don't fear salt !
Most straight thinking people realise pretty quickly the standard dietary advice for diabetics from most healthcare professionals is wrong very wrong. They realise the carbs have got to go big time. Next the question comes up what about the fats. Everywhere you look it’s low fat this and low fat that. Every food advert almost every packaged food shouts low fat. Low fat factory and prepared food is cheaper to make and if people believe it’s more healthy they will pay more money. It’s a real winner for the food manufacturers. Cheaper to make and premium price leads to bigger profit margins. Again the straight thinking person soon realises there are good fats and bad fats. The straight thinker soon learns the right fats are essential to good health. Next question to address is salt.
For most type two diabetics high blood pressure is part of the diabetes deal. And the standard advice from the medics is drop the salt. Salt they tell us is will do our blood pressure no good at all. Excessive levels of salt does no-one any good, very much like insulin levels, but as with insulin, to low a level leads to serious problems. If you start a low carb diet and prepare all you own food and avoid added salt, you may be going to low on salt. Think about it, many of us were eating ready meals and factory made foods before low carbing and many of these foods have a very high salt content. We have quickly gone from a high salt diet to a possibly very low salt diet.
Some words from Dr.Jay Wortman a lowcarb expert and type two diabetic on lowcarb and salt.
“When you cut the carbs your kidneys will release sodium. This is why people lose some water initially and why blood pressure also tends to get better on low-carb. If you are not careful to replace the lost sodium sufficiently by adding salt to your food, you will experience the effects of mild hypo-natremia. These are: headache, constipation, weakness, fatigue, low-blood pressure, othostatic hypotension and possibly leg cramps. If you get a blood test you may find that your potassium is low, too. Unfortunately, there is no reliable blood test for magnesium but it may also be low.
Supplementing with salt should correct these problems. You don't need to take a potassium supplement, it will correct if you eat enough salt. Some people will have a persistent magnesium deficiency that will require supplements. This would be manifested by leg cramps and hyper-reflexia (something your doctor can check). To correct this you should take a slow-release Mg++ supplement daily. Many people make the mistake of restricting salt and drinking lots of water when on a low carb diet. This is virtually guaranteed to cause problems. When you look carefully at the studies that report equivocal results with a low-carb diet, this is invariably one of the reasons.”
Eddie
For most type two diabetics high blood pressure is part of the diabetes deal. And the standard advice from the medics is drop the salt. Salt they tell us is will do our blood pressure no good at all. Excessive levels of salt does no-one any good, very much like insulin levels, but as with insulin, to low a level leads to serious problems. If you start a low carb diet and prepare all you own food and avoid added salt, you may be going to low on salt. Think about it, many of us were eating ready meals and factory made foods before low carbing and many of these foods have a very high salt content. We have quickly gone from a high salt diet to a possibly very low salt diet.
Some words from Dr.Jay Wortman a lowcarb expert and type two diabetic on lowcarb and salt.
“When you cut the carbs your kidneys will release sodium. This is why people lose some water initially and why blood pressure also tends to get better on low-carb. If you are not careful to replace the lost sodium sufficiently by adding salt to your food, you will experience the effects of mild hypo-natremia. These are: headache, constipation, weakness, fatigue, low-blood pressure, othostatic hypotension and possibly leg cramps. If you get a blood test you may find that your potassium is low, too. Unfortunately, there is no reliable blood test for magnesium but it may also be low.
Supplementing with salt should correct these problems. You don't need to take a potassium supplement, it will correct if you eat enough salt. Some people will have a persistent magnesium deficiency that will require supplements. This would be manifested by leg cramps and hyper-reflexia (something your doctor can check). To correct this you should take a slow-release Mg++ supplement daily. Many people make the mistake of restricting salt and drinking lots of water when on a low carb diet. This is virtually guaranteed to cause problems. When you look carefully at the studies that report equivocal results with a low-carb diet, this is invariably one of the reasons.”
Eddie
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