This blog is a smorgasbord of information about foods, diets and gut stuff … enjoy!
Myths and facts about veganism, as posted on Medium Financial Times, 15 September 2017, asks the question: If you are considering a vegan diet, can you expect health benefits?
And the short answer: Veganism is no more or less healthy than any other kind of diet. Dr Denise Robertson, reader in nutritional physiology at the University of Surrey and a vegan for four years (for ethical reasons), explains: “You can get really good vegan diets and really diabolical ones. Some unhealthy foods, like chips and crisps, are vegan.”
Read more: Myths and facts about veganism
Low Carb, Gluten Free and Vegan: Collard Wraps Are for Everyone writes Katy Killilea on ASweetLife.org, April 2018. Well, maybe for some?
Collard wraps are beautiful, versatile, and convenient. Collard greens are gluten free (these are leaves) and low carb (approximately 1 g CHO per leaf) and they’re also nutritious, with fiber, vitamins, and minerals galore. They’re so useful, they should be ubiquitous by now. Why is our community not more fired up about collard wraps?
Read more: Low Carb, Gluten Free, and Vegan: Collard Wraps Are For Everyone
Carb-Light Diet Helps T1D Patients Achieve Glycemic Control, by Kristen Monaco on MedPage Today, 7 May 2018.
Among people with type 1 diabetes, following a very low-carbohydrate diet (VLCD) can aid in achieving glycemic control, researchers suggested. Responses from an online survey of people with type 1 diabetes found that those who followed a VLCD reported very good glycemic control — a mean HbA1c of 5.67% ± 0.66%, according to the study by Belinda Lennerz, MD, PhD, of Boston Children’s Hospital, and colleagues. Overall, 97% of these participants achieved the recommended glycemic targets of the American Diabetes Association.
However, in an article on Medium (subscription service so I can’t link you to it), Diabetes Can’t Be Cured With Low-Carb Diets – Why the new research everyone is talking about means virtually nothing at all, by Gid M-K, epidemiologist (and you can email him with questions: gidmk.healthnerd@gmail.com).
And now there’s new evidence, reported literally everywhere — from the Guardian to the New York Times — that not only are LCHF diets good for losing weight, they might have a special power: curing diabetes. This is, of course, total nonsense. What was the study?
An opinion survey. An opinion survey of people in a Facebook group who follow LCHF diets, and rate it highly as a method for diabetes control. The researchers asked 316 people who are in a Facebook group dedicated to using LCHF diets to control diabetes whether it helped them control their diabetes, and they responded that it did.
That’s it. THE ENTIRE STUDY.
“I could go in depth into the methods, talk about bias, statistics, and control groups but honestly I don’t think it’s necessary. There’s no point going in-depth talking about an opinion survey, because all that opinion surveys prove is that people have opinions. The researchers spent time confirming these opinions, but whether this is just a small, self-selected group or a real phenomenon is yet to be demonstrated.
This was the equivalent of asking a bunch of cyclists if they thought cycling was a good idea, and then printing news headlines screaming: “CYCLING CURES ALL HUMAN DISEASE, SAYS STUDY”.
I think this is challenging, to stay under 50 grams of carb/day. What do you think? Please share your experiences!
Read more:
- Carb-Light Diet Helps T1D Patients Achieve Glycemic Control
- How a Low-Carb Diet Might Aid People With Type 1 Diabetes
The Untapped Potential of Brazil Nuts, as posted on Odeshe Scientific on the Medium.com, 28 April 2018: Are Brazil Nuts a Natural Health-Resource?
The short answer is YES! 
One of the broadest causes and contributors to many diseases is the process of inflammation. Inflammation is a coordinated response by the body to destroy damaged cells, pathogens or toxins, but this process can often cause collateral damage to the body. Further complications come when something we are allergic to, our diet, or even chronic diseases (like AIDS) trigger this collateral damage in a periodic or continual manner. Where do brazil nuts fit in here?…
Eating 1 brazil nut a day halved multiple inflammation indicators of kidney dialysis patients; after 3 months! Inflammation dictates how chronic kidney disease develops, and inflammation even contributes to diabetes progression, so such a simple intervention is extremely profound. Moreover the natural systems to offset inflammatory damage were increased and activated (i.e. the antioxidant systems). So what’s so special about brazil nuts?
Brazil nuts are the richest known food source of the element selenium (Se), and should probably be classified as a natural resource. Eating 2 brazil nuts daily has been shown to deliver selenium (Se) into the bloodstream. Interestingly, the brazil nuts in this study were slightly more effective than a supplement form of Se in activating the body’s circulating antioxidant power of “glutathione peroxidase” (GPx), even though the supplement contained slightly more Se!
