"Life Without Bread"

Megan said:
There was another quote I wanted to include but couldn't find earlier. This is the first written mention I have seen (that I can recall) that advertisers stand in the way of people's access to vital health information. I have said it myself many times, but I don't think I have ever read it anywhere.

Primal Body said:
Today, there are billions upon billions of dollars—from government agencies, medical-establishment interests, the pharmaceutical industry, organizations such as the American Heart Association, and, let’s not forget, the ever-popular food industry—all invested in the perpetuation of the antisaturated fat and anticholesterol agenda. This sordid history is well documented, though poorly publicized, as the media are beholden to their corporate advertisers.

The problem isn't just that people are eating bad food that makes them sick and kills them. There is a deadly silence surrounding the subject, seemingly one of many deadly silences we have today in this era of global electronic communication.

Yes, it seems that gluten and dairy especially, and high carbohydrate diets are the big pharma's wet dream. Loads and loads of money is made by having us addicted to gluten, dairy and lots of carbohydrates by big pharma and the medical establishments.
 
shellycheval said:
Take heart Gertrudes and everyone who wants better hair.

Thanks for that Shellycheval, it was very useful :D

I have been using organic shampoo and conditioner for a few years, and whenever I tried to not wash my hair for more then 2 days I got extremely oily hair that looked dirty. My hair is relatively long, so not sure whether that's part of the issue.

I didn't, however, try to wash it with conditioner only. I'm going on holidays at the end of August for 2 weeks, and will start a new "shampooless" life following the protocol you described. I feel safer doing it then, just in case.

Sorry for the diversion everyone.
 
Could it be that humans, being omnivorous, have the capability to function very well on several diets under different conditions?

The high fat low carb diet that we are implementing based on the books mentioned in this thread, the Price studies, etc. clearly show that such diets lead to a healthy body and mind and that the degenerative diseases associated with modern life can be avoided. Therefore it is good candidate for an optimal diet.

At the same time, there are other diets that claim some (but not all) of the same health benefits. Sherry Rogers, in her books is a great fan of the macrobiotic diet, that she claims enables the body to heal itself of many modern diseases.

In India, for example, their entire traditional medical system, Ayurveda, is based on the premise that everything that afflicts you is due to something you have taken in (either eaten or through exposure through the skin) and not been able to properly rid yourself of, which is very much along the lines of Detoxify or Die. To the extent that people contract different illnesses, there is a long line of herbal remedies for each condition that can get the body and its detox system back in working order. I know that the Ayurvedic lore has "only" been around for some thousand years and can't compare to the paleo time line but it has been developed after the introduction of agriculture and, as such has found a way to deal with the associated consequences in the body of a high-carb diet.

I guess that what makes my head run in circles is how many people whose advice I have trusted in many things relating to my body and health (Sherry Rogers, Mark Hyman, etc.) can be so off, if it is true that carbs aren't necessary, fiber is bad (haven't read the book yet) and that diets containing vegetables are bad for you. It would make more sense to me if those other diets were also very healthy (maybe not as healthy) as the high-fat low-carb diet under different circumstances and that some of the things incorporated into those diets deal with issues that we are avoiding in other ways.

I am hoping that some of you can help me get my mind around this issues as it has been gnawing at me for some time. Sorry if I'm missing the obvious :huh:
 
Thor said:
Could it be that humans, being omnivorous, have the capability to function very well on several diets under different conditions?

The question you may want to ask is, what are the current conditions (of this existence)? What has worked for hundreds of thousands of years/what diet did we evolve with? Have conditions/genetics changed enough to change the effectiveness of the diet we evolved with?
So far, the evidence would suggest that things have not changed regarding the effectiveness of the diet we evolved with. Working out if we've got it exactly right may be difficult, but again the evidence seems to suggest we are pretty close to it (if not spot on).

So, what are these other 'conditions' you are considering?? Perhaps it is that the programs regarding these other diets (and associated emotions) are causing you to try and justify holding on to them - in order to avoid the emotions beneath them? Diet can be a really big crutch for emotional displacement/buffering (see the Vegetarian thread).
 
Thanks for the excerpts Laura. I ordered the book today. This whole thread is amazing but it just seems to get better and better. At least, a lot of the information being posted and shared rings true with so many ideas and intuitions I've been having over the last few months.
For instance, I recently started to cut out on shampoos and shower gels- I started using pure olive oil soap. It wasn't because I had read the labels; it just made sense considering the whole marketing campaign behind cosmetics. I sometimes think if we are moving into "apocalyptic" or "black death" times which means the breakdown of society, medication, cosmetics etc. - well, how to get by without them. I'm wondering if a proper diet reduces "stinky sweat" and the need for all these soaps too. I recently commented that my halitosis has virtually disappeared on the low carb/sugar diet and I think how paleolithic humans probably didn't use toothbrushes as we know them and definitely not toothpaste! It was probably just as simple as chewing mint or some other plant (I'm now growing mint and parsely as well as sage, rosemary and thyme!). I think that maybe some of these common garden herbs will be very potent medicines in upcoming times. It reminds me of the "Thieves oil recipe".
What you've been saying, Megan, also rings very true with what I've been thinking recently.
Megan said:
Primal Body said:
...By keeping the public focused on the all-importance of genes themselves, the message conveyed to us is one of a basically predetermined helplessness, except through the possibilities afforded by modern medical technology (and its funding thereof). Poppycock. Those with vested interests in keeping you hostage to the illusion of your own inner “genetic threat” would rather you weren’t aware of the fact that there is no drug anywhere that can regulate genetic expression better or more powerfully than your diet can.



...Primal Body, Primal Mind, The Vegetarian Myth, and other books I have been reading have served to expose the extent of the web of lies. (Ironically, the latter book helped confirm some of the truths that the cult had been presenting.) Until now I have had no idea how much I was still being influenced, even though I had supposedly moved on. We have to be constantly vigilant about these pervasive, well-crafted lies emanating, apparently, from 4D STS. And so I don't expect any book to be complete....


...I am learning a lot as I read, but part of the lesson is to read critically. As I come into more and more of the information I have been searching for, I know I have to be ever more alert for the portion of the material that is there to confuse and divert.

Most of what I talk to anybody about lately is diet. And the saddest part is the degree of hypnosis I observe. I eat with people at work and watch the way the addiction to sweets works. Everybody thinks they're eating "healthy" with a salad, carbs and protein main course followed by a low fat yoghurt or some fruit. They openly admit (most of them) that they realize they shouldn't eat fruit on a full stomach anyway but you kind of see them convince themselves that it's still somewhat healthy. Or the "I'll have a bit of chocolate cake today as a treat" thinking that it's not harmful as long as "I don't do it regularly". They all know that the company buys in the cheapest food possible, but as far as I can see, they're just so dumbed down. Governments never needed fluoride. Carbs work just fine, which suggests to me the evil nature behind this. To poison from every angle but then the idea was always "maximum energy transfer". Some people who listen say "well, if what you're saying is true, we might as well give up" and they do.
I guess the really sad part is that when i talk to people, I can see that they recognize the truth in what I say about diet (or at least that I might be right- they don't know) but they always end up repeating some meme such as "a little of everything is the best approach"- it's in moments like these I see evidence of some kind of self-hypnosis- an attempt to reassure themselves. Very sad. Sorry for the rant but no one I know outside of here would understand this!
Anyway, I'm really looking forward to Primal Body, Primal Mind. As I mentioned earlier I've been having a lot of intuitions about diet lately. I suspected for many years that I was gluten intolerant (at least 10 years) yet I behaved like the people I described above. It wasn't until just after I joined the forum and the read the discussions on gluten and dairy and, basically, when I "gained the knowledge" that I was able to make the decision to give it up so all these topics have seemed like a "coming home" to myself. A sort of a confirmation of what the C's said before about how we have all the knowledge we need. As always, I guess it boils down to trusting your intuition and discerning from wishful thinking. :)
 
kenlee said:
Kniall said:
I don't get it :huh: I'm taking lots of magnesium and potassium, have recently increased the amount of salt I'm eating, including it in my water. I also rubbed magnesium oil on both calves yesterday morning and this morning. I can't figure out why this happened to me. Anyone have any ideas? Can leg cramps happen from low calcium? I haven't been taking any calcium, although I did powder some egg shells recently and started putting a pinch in my water. Maybe it's time to start supplementing it more earnestly?

For the past two weeks there has been this constant very intense discomfort and pain in my right shoulder, neck and upper back. It felt like a pulled muscle in that area so I increased my magnesium intake and rubbed some DMSO (50/50 with distilled water) into that area and that did help to take away the muscle pain but the nagging sensation and discomfort of a pulled muscle still remained. Hardly got any sleep for two weeks and going to work was a nightmare! Then yesterday the pain and discomfort just suddenly disappeared. Not sure what was causing the muscle pain but for the past six months or so I have been experiencing pulled muscles in different parts of my body.

Kniall and Kenlee,

A friend of mine has the same problem with cramps. Magnesium alone does not help, but a combination of calcium and magnesium does. Try this!
 
This ordered book arrived today along with 'The Vegetarian Myth'.

Thanks for the thread, look forward to reading these both and checking back here.

A little off topic :offtopic:, but relevant to foods; stopped at one of the stores that is owned by a very nice Korean man who makes great effort in ordering organic tobacco for me; most stores will not do this. He usually gives me a hard time (in a humorous yet condescending way) about smoking, but I make do with his slights. Hi son overheard and commented on tobacco being evil; interesting is that they sell a great deal of chemical tobacco product and what he brings in for me, virtually no one else buys. Anyway, briefly discussed, in an offhand way, tobacco with the son and some of the positive matters not reported in the main - he continued to sneer. Noticed he had an open Pepsi and bag of chips beside his till - asked him to have a look at the shelves in his store and if he thought that they contained probably the most toxic pseudo foods on the planet. He looked around and then said sheepishly, "I see the point."
 
Thanks for posting those excerpts Laura! Wow gluten is really evil, I never knew that it can do that much damage. Redfox I think your right, its been the gluten that's been killing my brain. :/
 
Thor said:
Could it be that humans, being omnivorous, have the capability to function very well on several diets under different conditions?<snip>

I guess that what makes my head run in circles is how many people whose advice I have trusted in many things relating to my body and health (Sherry Rogers, Mark Hyman, etc.) can be so off, if it is true that carbs aren't necessary, fiber is bad (haven't read the book yet) and that diets containing vegetables are bad for you. It would make more sense to me if those other diets were also very healthy (maybe not as healthy) as the high-fat low-carb diet under different circumstances and that some of the things incorporated into those diets deal with issues that we are avoiding in other ways.

I am hoping that some of you can help me get my mind around this issues as it has been gnawing at me for some time. Sorry if I'm missing the obvious :huh:

Perhaps some of the following quotes from "Primal Body, Primal Mind" will answer these questions?

WE ARE CREATURES OF THE ICE AGE

...major cooling and glacial advance begin or end, almost like clockwork, every 11,500 years...

There can be no question that our physiology is profoundly influenced by this climatologic history. We have spent highly significant time periods during our ancestral history locked in the grip of mostly ice and snow, with only the briefest periods of warmer reprieve when edible plant life could have grown over a significant portion of the Northern Hemisphere....

Only those people adapted in their physiology and cunning would have survived such sudden onsets of frigid and unforgiving conditions.... {And if we are truly entering a new ice age now, only those who are adapted will survive... As we have been learning, transitioning is not so easy...}

Studies of ancient human coprolites, fossilized human feces, dating anywhere from three hundred thousand to as recent as fifty thousand years ago, have revealed essentially a complete lack of any plant material in the diets of the subjects studied....

We subsisted for a very significant portion of our evolution largely on the meat and fat of animals we hunted. ...

It was, in fact, our extended dependence on the meat and fat of animals through these frozen winters of unimaginable duration that allowed for the rapid enlargement and development of the human brain ...

Hunting also helped facilitate and develop the very human qualities that we most intrinsically value - cunning, cooperation, altruism, sharing, advanced creativity, the power to foresee the future and to be able to call upon the past in terms of the future, the capacity to evaluate with complexity, and the ability to imagine solutions - qualities not found in other primates {or psychopaths}.

Fat, to all humans, means "survival" to our physiological functioning.

Mass die-offs of megafauna following the last ice age ten thousand years ago ... may have led to an increased dependence on plant foods and ultimately to the development of agriculture. Some people hypothesize that it was an addiction to the exorphins (morphine-like compounds) in grains that sparked this widespread development.

Diets consisting of any significant quantity of carbohydrates are a strictly modern phenomenon, one that our ice age human physiology has evolved little adaptation to - or defense against.

...of all the macronutrients, (protein, fats, and carbohydrates), the only ones for which there are no actual human dietary requirements are carbohydrates. This is a critical and very fundamental point to remember: we don't ever have to eat any sugar or starch of any kind at all in order to be optimally healthy.

Most organs and tissues in the body, including the brain, actually prefer if we let them, to use ketones, the energy-producing by-products from the metabolism of fats.

Okay, those are snips grabbed from all over the early part of the book. She makes the case for this evolutionary history. And she is not the only one. She's cited tons of references in this book, so it is clear that evolutionary biologists with no agenda to support the food industry as the medical profession researchers have, have been researching and writing about this for a long time.

Still, Gedgaudes repeatedly sidesteps exactly what she is writing about our evolutionary food adaptation and tries to pay lip-service to the party line. Perhaps she knows that she would never get the book published if she didn't. Lutz, in "Life Without Bread" generally doesn't compromise on this and a number of the researchers, including Taubes, point out that vegetables of all kinds are just carbohydrates and end up getting converted to sugar anyway.

Anyhow, back to the ice-age. What happens when we eat diets low in fat is that our body thinks we are in a period of famine. There are some interesting things in her chapters on fat and carbohydrates that I'm going to excerpt below.

Diets low in fat cause the body to more easily synthesize fat from other sources, most notably carbohydrates, and to absorb and store this unwanted fat. Diets high in carbohydrates trigger our master hormone, leptin, to become severely dysregulated. Blood sugar surges lead to leptin surges, and ultimately to leptin resistance, in which leptin signaling is no loger effectively heard by the brain. This sends a message of starvation to the hypothalamus, which then reacts promptly with increases in appetite or cravings....

{Now, she repeatedly makes the statement "moderate intake of natural dietary fats" which is, I think, her lip service being paid to the mainstream authorities who would be denouncing her roundly otherwise. Everything else she writes contradicts her "eat lots of veggies and moderate fats" message.}

Moderate intake of natural dietary fat is only potentially problematic or "fattening" in the presence of dietary carbohydrates. Our more primitive ancestors sought out and ate plenty of quality fat, including saturated fat and cholesterol, containing ample amounts of critical fat-soluble nutrients - up to ten times our modern-day intake. They had none of our modern afflictions, including heart disease, diabetes, cancer and obesity. It's no paradox.

All primitive and traditional cultures coveted and revered their sources of dietary fat.

{She's got a cartoon in the book depicting an Eskimo mother teaching her child: "Every day you should eat something from each of the five basic food groups: Fried blubber, boiled blubbber, stewed blubber, baked blubber and raw blubber." Maybe she is trying to say something between the lines?}

Elevated triglycerides, a known marker for increased cardiovascular risk, are generated not by dietary fats, but by dietary carbohydrates. ...

When I see a blood chemistry report with elevated triglycerieds, I know I am looking at the profile of a "carbovore."

Only excess amounts of any dietary saturated fat are likely to be stored on your body, where you least want it. What's excess? Anything well over and above what you need to satisfy your appetite in a low-or-no-carbohydrate meal. Once you add sugar or starch to a meal, you change everything. The less sugar and starch - EVER - the better.

{Again, notice that here she does not acknowledge that the majority of vegetables of all kinds are carbohydrates. She focuses on sugar and starches.}


It is an interesting irony that many of the most vital protective, and supportive nutrients promoted for cardiovascular health in their most usable forms are those found (richly, predominantly, or exclusively) in animal-source foods and/or are best absorbed from these foods, which are typically rich in fat, cholesterol, and complete proteins. These nutrients include CoQ10, taurine, EPA and DHA, conjugated linolenic acid, the key glutathione precursor L-cysteine, L-carnitine, vitamins A, D3, and K2, the antihomocysteine vitamins B6 and B12, folic acid, R-lipoic acid, magnesium, zinc and sulfur, to name a few.

Saturate fat, particularly 18-carbon stearic acid, is the preferred fuel for the human heart, liver, and kidneys.

The younger the child, the more critical fat and cholesterol are to the brain and nervous system's development.

Fats are essential for the absorption of many solely fat-soluble vitamins such as A, E, D and K, as are the many minerals that rely on such vitamins as cofactors...

Vitamin A (retinol) is NOT the same thing as beta-carotene. True vitamin A is found only in animal sources. Vitamin A and D3 were especially high in primitive and traditional diets - often ten times higher than in modern diets. Children under the age of five and people with liver or thyroid impairment cannot convert beta-carotene to Vitamin A. Cod liver oil can be an excellent supplemental source.

The presence of dietary fat is critical for the proper use of dietary protein. We need quality natural fat in significant quantities, if not in abundance, for the optimal functioning of our body and our brain. {Notice that here, there is no more "moderate fat intake" it is significant and abundant!}

The human body and brain's primary source of fuel is designed to be fat in the form of ketones and free fatty acids - not glucose.

Omega-3 fatty acids, which include ALA, EPA and DHA, are easilyt the most deficient nutrients in the modern Western diet. Insufficient intake of these vital and essential dietary components is linked with virtually every modern disease process, weight problem, affective disorder, and learning disability.

At one time in our evolution, these essential fats were so prevalent in our diet that it is hypothesized that they alone were responsible for the threefold increase in the size of the human brain.

As much as 10% of human brain size has been lost in just the last century alone...

Deep within the cells of plankton, green and leafy plants such as grass, and other sources such as walnuts and flaxseed, lies ALA, the parent form of omega-3 fatty acids - called "essential" because our bodies cannot manufacture it and it must be supplied by the diet.

When a plankton eating fish, or a grass eating cow, consumes this ALA in plants, a series of conversions are made by enzymes that turn the ALA into EPA and DHA. Herbivores make this conversion easily though they are only able to make limited amounts of DHA. Humans make these conversions much less efficiently and numerous factors complicate the process.

A critical enzyme called delta-6 desaturase must be present to convert omega-3 fatty acids from ALA to EPA and DHA.

Once the body has either consumed EPA (or manufactured it with delta-6 desaturase), it manufactures a series of eiconsenoids such as series-3 prostaglandins, thromboxanes, and leukotrines. All of these are essential to the funtioning of the human body.

DHA, again, either consumed or manufactured with delta-6 desaturase, makes up the highest percentage of the fatty acids in the human brain. It facilitates visual and cognitive function, forming neuroreceptors for neurotransmitters such as serotonin and dopamine and also can be stored and converted to EPA when needed.

Omega-3 fatty acids also make up a significant portion of all cellular membranes helping facilitate all metabolic and bioelectrical processes.

Increased consumption of grains and legumes as well as nuts, particularly, seeds, and vegetable oils, has added excessive levels of another essential fatty acid: omega 6.

Although Omega-6 fatty acids are needed in balance with omega-3, recent trends... have resulted in dangerous imbalances.

Delta-6 and delta-5 desaturase enzymes are also needed for metabolism of omega-6 fatty acids, and the overabundance of omega-6 means that the omega-3s are not getting converted in the competition.

The result is that omega-6 fatty acids, and trans fats (plastic), dominate the composition of membrane phospholipids found in the brain and nervous system ...

Excess omega-6 fatty acids - PARTICULARLY IN THE PRESENCE OF INSULIN - results in excess production of series-2 prostaglandins ... which promote or exacerbate inflammation...

Deficiencies of biotin, Vitamin E, protein, zinc, magnesium, and Vitamins B12 and B6 all interfere with the action of delta-6 desaturase and other enzymes involved in healthy form of protaglandin production.

Consumption of sugar and starch also interferes with the desaturating enzymes. The production of excess insulin can divert omega-6 fatty acid toward proinflammatory prostaglandin pathways.

Individuals of northern European, coastal Irish, Scandinavian, Inuit and Native American descent may not produce delta-6 desaturase at all. They thus have an increased requirement for EPA and DHA due to genetic adaptation to the abundance of these substances in their ancestral diets. Deficiencies of omega-3 fatty acids and insulin resistance (metabolic disorders) are exceedingly common among these populations.


Sources of EPA and DHA: wild seafood from cold-waters such as salmon, halibut, cod, herring, mackerel, and sardines. Also: grass-fed beef, lamb, venison, buffalo.

Note: Virtually all beef sold, even that labeled "organic" - UNLESS OTHERWISE SPECIFICALLY LABELED - is feedlot finished on grains, corn, and soybeans eliminating virtually all omega-3 fatty acid content of the meat.

It is likely that, for a time, some period of additional supplementation of omega-3 fatty acids EPA and DHA from either fish oil or antarctic krill oil may be necessary.

Supplements of flaxseed and hemp oils are commonly promoted as rich sources of vegetarian omega-3 fatty acids. Although this is true, flaxseed and hemp oils contain omega-3 fatty acid exclusively in its parent form, ALA, and they contain zero EPA or DHA. ALA requires the action of delta-6 desaturase and highly involved metabolic processes in order to be used by the body and brain... These conversions occur very inefficiently, if at all {see above} ... Flaxseed oil is not the most preferable source of omega-3 fatty acids - particularly in a deficient individual.

A little flaxseed oil added to salad dressings is okay, just don't try to use it as a fatty acid source and NEVER cook with it! Efforts by vegans to compensate for low EPA of DHA conversion rates by increasing flaxseed oil consumption proportionally can lead to a dangerously increased risk of stoke and cancer.

Cod liver oil is and excellent source of omega-3 fatty acids, rich in the EPA and DHA forms.

Mercury is generally concentrated in protein and not very fat soluble, so it's usually not considered a significant contaminant risk where fish oil is concerned. Also, sufficient tissue zinc and dietary selenium levels can help mitigate the potential for mercury toxicity and retention.

Standard fish oil capsules contain roughly 180 mg of EPA and 120 mg of DHA. At these concentrations, remediating marked deficiency states of these nutrients involves taking one capsule for every ten pounds of body weight in two divided doses per day. The is 1 teaspoon of liquid form for every 40 pounds of body weight.

Another recommendation: If you are using omega-3 for health, mood, or cognitive enhancement, 2,000 mg per day is adequate.

Still another protocol: research into longevity and life-extension puts the amount at 3000 mg per day. If needed for mood elevation or stabilization in more serious mood disorders or bipolar disorder, 10,000 mg of omega-3 or more may be appropriate for some individuals.

The traditional eskimo diet included at least 14,000 mg per day.

Supplementation of any essential fatty acid should, at least, contain added vitamins D and E with selenium

If using cod-liver oil, start with one to two teaspoons a day for children and one to two tablespoons or more for adults.

Cod liver oil (has omega-3s and vitamins A and D) is best used as an adjunct to other fish oil supplementation when therapeutic doses of omega-3s are needed.

I'll finish later... more to come!
 
Lately I've been having a period of feeling very sleepy after lunch/breakfast. On the on hand I think that I need to try to figure out what is going on, on the other hand it reminds me of the old tradition of having a nap after eating so common amongst certain cultures. Although who's to say that the popular nap doesn't follow a heavily loaded carbohydrate meal?...

Is anyone else experiencing this?
 
Don Genaro said:
I guess the really sad part is that when i talk to people, I can see that they recognize the truth in what I say about diet (or at least that I might be right- they don't know) but they always end up repeating some meme such as "a little of everything is the best approach"- it's in moments like these I see evidence of some kind of self-hypnosis- an attempt to reassure themselves. Very sad.

So true, Don Genaro! I have observed the same thing time and time again. Even people who are aware to some degree at least about the evils of the standard western diet, all will still say something along the lines of "well, moderation is best, etc". It is a form of self hypnosis, they simply cannot accept that everything we are taught about food is one big gigantic LIE! It is very sad, and even those who are able to grasp the truth, don't seem to have the energy or will to change, thus the self calming of the little of everything is best meme.

It's a vicious circle, because the food they are eating is probably a major factor in their lack of energy and awareness that would enable them to take control of their eating and thus their health. :(
 
Continuing on the topic of fats and getting into the topic of Ketosis from "Primal Body, Primal Mind":

So, How Much Natural Fat Do I Need, Anyway?

Recent advances in leptin and life-extension research point to a potentially important value in consuming a relatively higher percentage of fat in our diets (to be elaborated on later in this book). ... the very thing we thought was our worst enemy may well, in fact, be our best friend after all. Eating a diet containing higher percentages of dietary natural fat—using an optimized macronutrient ratio and eating only as much as you really need to satisfy hunger—can actually help reverse disease and support a radically increased healthy life span, but we'll get to that.

Keep in mind that all natural fats have a role to play in our health and that overemphasizing one or another isn't particularly advisable. What is important, certainly, is making sure we get our necessary essential fatty acids (EPA, DHA, and GLA). The rest should simply be fat from a variety of natural and healthy sources: grass-fed meat (beef, buffalo, lamb, elk, pork, yak, venison), pastured poultry (chicken, pheasant, duck, goose—all with skin on), wild-caught seafood, coconut (milk, cream, and oil), avocado, grass-fed butter or ghee, heavy cream (preferably raw), olive oil, sesame oil (in small amounts), tallow, organic lard, nuts, and seeds.

Where omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acid intake is concerned, ... One-to-one ratios are probably more optimal. Higher intake of omega-3 fatty acids may be desirable or necessary for a time (several months) to reverse a deficiency state. ...

Black currant seed oil and evening primrose oil are the best sources of supplemental GLA, an important omega-6 fatty acid derivative. Our ancestors got a lot of this, in the form of DGLA, eating organ meats.

Periodic supplementation with these oils or increased dietary consumption of organ meats may be desirable in cases of GLA deficiency due to impaired delta-6 desaturase activity, which manifests as eczema, skin disorders, hormonal imbalances, mood disorders, and some forms of cognitive dysfunction. Most people with deficient levels of omega-3 fatty acids are also deficient in this very important anti-inflammatory omega-6 fatty acid derivative.

What about Ketosis?


Ketones are a perfectly normal constituent of human metabolism. They are the energy-producing by-products of the metabolism of fats. They are used safely and effectively for energy in all tissues in the body, including the brain. In fact, ketones are the preferred fuel for every organ and tissue, and current research shows that they are a far less damaging source of energy than glucose, far more stabilizing, less excitatory, and may, in fact, even help extend your life span!

One particularly interesting study showed a marked benefit for a ketogenic diet for children with epilepsy. They went on ketosis-inducing diets, and their seizures were either greatly brought under control or stopped altogether (Prasad 1996). In fact, what we refer to today as "a ketogenic diet" was the number one treatment for epilepsy until the drug Dilantin was discovered in 1938. Recently rediscovered, a ketogenic diet is returning to mainstream acceptance and is again recognized as a highly effective therapy for seizure and neurologically related disorders. In fact, there are studies to show the strong benefits of ketogenic diets on virtually every manner of neurological disorder. Some examples of neurologic uses of a ketogenic diet other than epilepsy are migraines, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, Lou Gehrig's disease (ALS), autism, brain tumors, depression, sleep disorders, schizophrenia, post- anoxic brain injury, posthypoxic myoclonus glycogenosis type V, and narcolepsy, to name a few.

All other vital organs are also able to thrive on ketones. The human heart prefers ketones, in fact, to any other fuel. Some evidence also shows that a state of healthy ketosis can help starve cancerous tumors, as they are unable to use ketones for fuel and must rely on glucose.

The vilification of ketosis was popularized by Jane Brody, of the New York Times (a major proponent of low-fat, high-carbohydrate diets), who ridiculously warned of ketones as "toxic compounds."

{The good ole NYT rears its ugly head! I guess ketones are like WMDs???}

Dr. Luber Stryer, professor of biochemistry at Stanford University and the author of the biochemistry textbook used in most medical schools, says ketones are "normal fuels of respiration and are quantitatively important as sources of energy. Indeed, heart muscle and the renal cortex use ketones in preference to glucose."

Drs. Donald and Judith Voet, authors of another popular medical biochemistry textbook, say that ketones "serve as important metabolic fuels for many peripheral tissues, particularly heart and skeletal muscle."

Far from poison. In fact, both mitochondrial function and energy levels actually improve on ketogenic diets.

Dr. Richard Veech, a researcher at the U.S. National Institutes of Health, calls ketones "magic" and has shown that both the heart and the brain run 25 percent more efficiently on ketones than on blood sugar. He said, "Doctors are scared of ketosis. They're always worried about ketoacidosis. But ketosis is the normal physiological state, I would argue that it is the normal state of man" (Taubes 2002).

In the textbook Nutritional Biochemistry and Metabolism, the mobilization of fat for energy and production of ketones is described in detail:

As the body enters the postabsorptive period when glucose is no longer entering the blood from the intestine (so insulin is no longer released), the pattern of fat flow (and glucose) into storage is gradually reversed. As breakdown of glycogen begins in the liver to maintain blood glucose, the liver switches to fat as an energy source, and the same transition is increasingly made by other tissues. Free fatty acids released into the blood travel on albumen to organs, where they diffuse across cell membranes and are carried into mitochondria for oxidation (burning for fuel). Transport across the mitochondrial membrane is accomplished with the help of carnitine (notably found most abundantly in the diet in red meat).

Increasingly, as fasting continues, larger proportions of the free fatty acid in the circulation are converted to ketone bodies, principally in the liver. Ketone bodies are a form of fuel [note that the term used is fuel and not toxic waste product] much more water soluble than fatty acids. The pathway for their synthesis is via acetyl-CoA. These ketones are used as fuel by the muscles and other tissues and, as fasting continues, eventually also by the central nervous system and brain.... Ketone production increases gradually . . . reaching its maximum by about 10 days. The same occurs in individuals consuming little or no carbohydrate . (Linder 1991)

Humans and hominids have been on ketogenic diets for close to the last three million years.

Were ketones dangerous, it is unlikely we as a species would have survived to this day.

In fact, both the body and the brain actually prefer ketones as a fuel to glucose, as they are nonglycating and therefore nondamaging on a cellular level.

Ketones are a steady, long-burning, efficient fuel that we were designed to use as our ongoing primary source of fuel for most things (except in an emergency, which is when glucose gets released as a turbocharged supplemental source of energy). {via insulin, I might add, which is part of the fight or flight system!}

Fat is our safest, most natural, most fundamental aerobic energy source. We always pay a price for the use of glucose as an energy source, even in low amounts. Our red blood cells do need a certain amount of glucose—it is unavoidable—but the less of it we use or depend on, the better. Note that dietary protein in significant excess of what is needed for essential maintenance and repair will convert to glucose and can slow or stop the process of ketosis.

Having said this, it is important to note that there are four possible types of people for whom a state of ketosis is potentially questionable: (1) people with uncontrolled type 1 diabetes (ketoacidosis—a very different, more serious condition of particular concern under certain conditions—is often confused with ketosis), (2) people with renal disease (maybe, depending), (3) people who are pregnant (if they are unaccustomed to being in a state of ketosis), and (4) people who sell diet drugs.

Ketoacidosis, by contrast, is an extreme, abnormal, uncontrolled, and pathological condition in which the body is unable to normally regulate ketone production and accumulates keto acids that plunge the pH levels into a dangerously acidic state. This condition is rare and typically occurs in people with untreated type 1 diabetes.

Normal ketosis resulting from low-carbohydrate diets or fasting, conversely, is completely benign—and entirely desirable. Note, however, that overwhelmingly, even people with type 1 diabetes who apply the principles outlined in this book commonly—and enthusiastically—report nearly miraculous improvement in their conditions. So much for ketone fearmongering. If you have type 1 diabetes and are interested in applying these principles to your diet, I still suggest (to be on on the safe side) consulting a qualified and informed health care provider first.

Ketosis (simply put) is essentially the state in which the body is burning fat for energy instead of carbohydrates. This is the state we all want to be in. Many ancient hunter-gatherers would have lived in a functionally ketogenic state most of the time. There is no evidence that it is a harmful state for normal, healthy individuals to be in at all. To the contrary, the newest longevity and leptin research readily concludes that the more you use ketones for energy in your lifetime as opposed to glucose, the longer and healthier you will live—by far.

For people who are especially overweight and undertaking a more ketogenic diet, the initial excretion of ketones will be greater. During the initial stages of weight loss in an individual who is insulin resistant, the body can be used to using glucose as a more primary and inefficient energy source and may not yet be adept at using ketones or burning fat efficiently. Ketones may initially be excreted as more of a waste product. It takes time for the body to adapt to this change, as little as three weeks in younger individuals and longer in older individuals, but about a month to six weeks for most, on average.

{This last bit is very important! Quite a few of us are having this difficulty in transitioning.}


Certain individuals who have Candida yeast overgrowth, are extremely addicted to carbohydrates, or have undiagnosed or unmanaged food sensitivities may take longer and may need additional supplementation and special attention to help facilitate the necessary metabolic changes.

Care must be taken to drink a good deal of water so that more ketones can be lost through the urine than the breath or skin (which may impart a mildly undesirable odor in the beginning). Adding a squeeze of fresh lemon juice can be additionally alkalinizing and can help somewhat with yeast issues. Sufficient water can also help dilute any toxic material commonly stored in adipose tissue so that it can get released in the bloodstream during ketotic states.

(Note: Excess ketones in the urine may be associated with diabetes and marked insulin resistance. This means that they are excreted rather than burned for fuel and that sugar is being burned, preferentially, instead. Some excess ketones are additionally passed in feces.)

Eventually, when dietary consistency is maintained, the body adapts to the primary use of fat for fuel, and not sugar. People often report that this is the day they feel truly liberated from their need for frequent meals and finally free from uncontrollable cravings.

Using additional herbal and antioxidant detoxification measures and supplements, which support improved insulin sensitivity, can be beneficial in this process. Focusing on healthy and clean sources of fat in the diet is also important for these and many other reasons. If a person is not particularly overweight and is metabolically geared for burning fat instead of sugar, ketosis is a natural state and easily and effortlessly managed.

Supplementing the diet with high doses of L-carnitine (2-5 g per day) can also help minimize any discomfort, maximize energy levels during the initial stages of weight loss, and facilitate the transition to using fat as a primary source of fuel. L-carnitine, which is not an amino acid but a quaternary ammonium compound that is a derivative of amino acid metabolism, assists in transporting fat into the mitochondria, where it can be burned for energy. Supplemental doses of pancreatic lipase can also help better facilitate the proper digestion and use of dietary fats. It's also important not to overconsume dietary protein because protein in significant excess of the RDA (roughly 0.8 g/kg of ideal body weight per day, 25-30 g of pure protein, or 2-3 ounces of meat, fish, eggs, etc., per meal) can convert to sugar and be used in the same way, slowing or reversing the state of ketosis for many people.

{Keep in mind that if you are eating a piece of good meat, a large portion of that meat is fat whether it has obvious fat attached or not, so don't be weighing you pieces of meat by this formula!}

In short, ketones are a natural product of fat burning. When body fat is mobilized for oxidation, ketones are produced. Unless you want to keep all the excess body fat you have, you can't and shouldn't prevent the generation of ketones. Period.
 
Don Genaro said:
"well, if what you're saying is true, we might as well give up"

Have you tried?
"If you want to give up you're welcome to do that. Me, I'm not giving up! Have you seen all this lovely food I'm eating?" :D

Don Genaro said:
"a little of everything is the best approach"

"If a little bit of peanut is enough to kill a nut allergy sufferer, then I'm not sure that's the case."

Gertrudes said:
Lately I've been having a period of feeling very sleepy after lunch/breakfast. On the on hand I think that I need to try to figure out what is going on, on the other hand it reminds me of the old tradition of having a nap after eating so common amongst certain cultures. Although who's to say that the popular nap doesn't follow a heavily loaded carbohydrate meal?...

Is anyone else experiencing this?

Yup! Can't do much about it at the moment due to digestive enzymes giving me diarrhea. I think this will change with time, but for the moment I'm going over those quotes Laura posted and trying to work out how to assist my digestion (perhaps with the raw ingredients my body needs to make stomach acid?).
I find myself wondering about how those in concentration camps who had been starved in WW2 had to proceed slowly to eat food/drink water or it would kill them. Perhaps this tiredness and other effects are our body coming out of starvation mode? Repairs to the body happen best during sleep too.
 
Now we get to the topic of what carbs do in the body:

Carbohydrate Metabolism 101

Annual refined sugar consumption in the United States:
1750: 4 pounds per person, per year
1850: 20 pounds per person, per year
1994: 120 pounds per person, per year
1996: 160 pounds per person, per year

According to the USDA's Economic Research Service, global sugar consumption continues to increase by about 2 percent per annum, and in 2006 and 2007 was expected to reach almost 154 million tons. Note: This does not include the use of other industrial sweeteners such as high fructose corn syrup!

High fructose corn syrup is now estimated to be the number-one source of calories in the American diet\ Increases in obesity, heart disease, cancer, and diabetes correlate almost perfectly with the introduction of HFCS nearly thirty years ago.

The average person is consuming 1/3 of a pound of sugar each and every day, which is 5 ounces or 150 grams— half of which is fructose (sucrose is made up half and half of glucose and fructose). This is roughly 300 percent more than the amount that can trigger biochemical chaos. Our physiology has no defense against this sort of onslaught. Fully 90 cents out of every US food dollar is spent on processed food, and HFCS (the most glycating sugar of them all) is in nearly every single processed food product. Remember, too, that these sugar consumption amounts are considered average and that many consume more than twice this amount. ...

None of these statistics begins to include the amount of sugar in our diets from other sources of dietary carbohydrate—starches such as cereals, bread, pasta, grains, potatoes, rice, or so-called natural sweeteners such as honey, maple syrup, agave, or others—or from excess protein consumption (which significantly converts to sugar). ...

All nonfibrous forms of carbohydrates (from grains, rice, potatoes, and other starch-based foods) in addition to refined sugar and natural and industrial sweeteners (such as high fructose corn syrup) are sugar once they are metabolized by the body. {Here she misses the important point that all vegetables are also carbohydrates.}

The dietary carbohydrate load in the human diet has grown unnaturally, exponentially, and grotesquely from what our Paleolithic ancestors once knew. This includes starchy or complex forms, with the exception of indigestible forms such as fiber, as well as simple carbohydrates found in fruit. {Here she DOES mention the complex carbs! So she knows!}


Wild fruit was a very different food from the modern cultivated varieties (often more tart than sweet, usually much smaller, lower in sugar, and very fibrous) and was only seasonally available, at best.

All nonfibrous carbohydrates stimulate the secretion of insulin, {again, she says it!} which is the fat storage hormone, or damage the body and brain via a process known as glycation (in which sugars in the bloodstream react with proteins and fats and cause them to deteriorate). Among examples of carbohydrate foods in this context are bread, pasta, cereal, rice, potatoes, granola, dried fruit, juices, candy, chocolate, desserts, alcoholic beverages, and even most fresh fruit (an exception being something like avocados). {And here, she tries to separate the starches from all other vegetables. Weird!}

Fructose, the simple sugar in fruit, may not impact insulin much (except when it's in high fructose corn syrup), but it is extremely glycating and damaging. {Actually, I've read elsewhere that fructose has pretty much the same impact on insulin production as table sugar does.} It is also more likely to raise uric acid levels (such as with metabolic syndrome and gout). In this context, the carbohydrates we are talking about here don't include fibrous vegetables and greens, which are very beneficial and have negligible sugar or starch content. {Either she is being deliberately obtuse, or she is pandering to the mainstream diet thought police. A carb is a carb is a carb.}

The body is obsessed with maintaining glucose levels within a minimally necessary range, which can differ from person to person in relative terms, varying on how dependent they have become on glucose for energy and how insulin resistant they are.

There are actually several hormones designed to raise glucose levels and only one that actually lowers them. This is because carbohydrates tended to be an extremely limited commodity in primitive diets, and as such, our ancestors very rarely had an "emergency" need to lower blood glucose levels, as is so common today. The ability to hormonally raise blood glucose levels in an emergency situation, however, is essential to survival.

It is fairly optimal for healthy, insulin- and leptin-sensitive humans to have a blood glucose value of no more than roughly 70 to 85 mg/dL at any given time (without any symptoms of hypoglycemia). The available scientific evidence from studies of human longevity and caloric restriction points to this range as optimal. Some current functionally healthy ranges are established as being more typically between 85 and 100 mg/dL, which is considered more the norm, though lower ranges are by far more desirable for people who normally maintain low insulin levels, even if the higher range is more common in many individuals.

Fasting blood sugar, from a functional standpoint, in excess of 100 mg/dL, is already reflective of dysregulation. The most current human longevity studies indicate that the ability to maintain a fasting blood glucose level between 70 and 85 mg/dL—without accompanying symptoms of hypoglycemia—and not allowing glucose to spike higher than 40 mg/dL over your fasting value following meals has a favorable effect in activating sirtuins (our longevity genes).

A study of nearly two thousand men over a period of twenty-two years showed the startling results that men with fasting glucose levels over 85 mg/dL had a 40 percent increase in risk of death from cardiovascular disease! The researchers conducting this study stated that "fasting blood glucose values in the upper normal range appear to be an important independent predictor of cardiovascular death in non-diabetic apparently healthy middle aged men" (Bjornholt et al. 1999).

What is referred to as hypoglycemia or even reactive hypoglycemia becomes a relative thing, depending on the context. A fasting glucose level of 90 or 100 may feel like marked hypoglycemia and may even induce seizures in someone who is used to levels of 400 mg/dL, as with some diabetics. Someone used to functioning between 85 and 100 mg/ dL may feel reactively hypoglycemic (foggy, emotionally volatile, shaky, fatigued, or irritable) at 70 mg/dL.

A healthy person maintaining consistently low glucose and insulin levels may not exceed 90 or 100 mg/ dL, even following a meal, and may feel absolutely comfortable and symptom-free with fasting blood glucose levels at 70 mg/dL. Again, it is relative and contextual.

{This may explain why so many of us feel tired and lethargic on strictly reduced carbs... we are used to very high levels of blood glucose and all the body's systems are geared to that.}

The rule of thumb is the lower you can maintain your blood glucose levels in a healthy and functional way (that is, without experiencing low- blood-sugar symptoms), the better off you are.

{So maybe those who feel tired and sluggish should increase their carbs slightly and go along for awhile at that level and then try to lower them again later?}

Those people who are more optimally healthy should maintain a range between 70 and 85 mg/dL or lower; this is equivalent to no more than 1 teaspoon of sugar, or about 5 g or 20 kcal, total.

Keep in mind that the body is adamant about maintaining the minimal necessary levels of glucose at any given time because glucose is inherently damaging to vessels, organs, and tissues in the body. The less glucose that is absolutely necessary, the better.

Two slices of bread or a single small bagel contain about 6 teaspoons of glucose—six times the amount normally allowed in the bloodstream! Dietary carbohydrates, with the exception of fiber, are all absorbed by the liver and converted to the simple monosaccharide glucose, which is then released into the bloodstream. {Including vegetables.}

Cereals and potatoes can raise blood sugar levels even faster than a candy bar!

Glucose (and other sugars) in the bloodstream auto-oxidizes, which, in excess, produces potent free-radical activity that damages arterial walls and forms cross-links with proteins called advanced glycosylation (also known as glycation) end products (AGEs). AGEs are known to accelerate the age-associated declines in the functioning of cells and tissues and to cause mutations in DNA. Also, AGEs bind with certain receptors in the bloodstream, appropriately called RAGEs, and induce widespread inflammation, leading to more advanced cardiovascular disease. A simple, inexpensive blood test that can measure up to a three-month window of glycation of red blood cells is called a hemoglobin-Ale test, and it can be used to more accurately monitor these glycation tendencies over time. Fasting blood sugar as a marker is not sufficiently accurate for this.

Glucose is what ages (or AGEs) us. It is an irony that a thing we all need to stay alive, to feed our red blood cells, and to fuel anaerobic processes is what science has discovered is ultimately what degenerates and kills us. We have to have some sugar to fuel our red blood cells, but not so much for our brains, as many people think. Remember, our brain can run beautifully—in fact, better—with mostly ketones, which are the energy units of fat.
Ketones are a much more steady, reliable, and abundant source of fuel for our brain and organs to depend on. Our red blood cells, however, need to burn sugar (glucose) for fuel anaerobically to preserve their precious cargo, which is oxygen, so they burn sugar instead of fats.

Unfortunately, in the end, we pay a price for what is somewhat inevitable. Aging is now being understood by people researching longevity as essentially a gradual process of glycation of all tissues, including the brain. Chronic diseases associated with aging and certain forms of mental decline may be directly associated with these processes. The lower we maintain our blood sugar levels, the slower this process occurs and the longer and healthier we live—and the more gracefully we age.

A more pronounced and advanced state of the consequences of glycation effects can be seen in people with full-blown diabetes. The irony is that, given our most current understanding of how aging (which is now being viewed as a disease process) actually occurs, we can all be technically viewed as having diabetes—only to varying degrees. And the current evidence that even modestly elevated "normal" glucose levels significantly increase disease risk cannot be ignored.

Looking at it this way can really shift your perspective and hopefully your dietary habits. In a study of 33,230 men, high glucose levels were independently associated with a 38 percent increase in deaths from digestive tract cancers (Matthews et al. 2010).

Other studies certainly show that diabetics have even greater increases in cancer risks! What is clear and irrefutable from the current understanding of antiaging medicine and how degenerative processes and DNA mutation (leading to cancer) develop is that the lower the levels of blood sugar we are able to maintain and the less insulin we produce, the longer and healthier we live and the "kinder" and slower the aging process will be. (Note: Glycation and its damage is ultimately a cumulative process, so every bit of sugar or starch we eat eventually counts. Every piece of candy, cookie, bread, or potato, every spoonful of honey, and every drop of soda effectively shortens your life—something to think about. Though some glycation and its effects can be reversed, some cannot. It's all a matter of what you choose to prioritize.)

Another consequence of chronic dietary carbohydrate consumption is Candida yeast overgrowth. Yeast overgrowth is extremely common in those people in the U.S. population eating a high-carbohydrate diet. It is especially common in diabetics and is created by an imbalance of organisms in the gastrointestinal tract as well as antibiotic use, poor diet, and certain exogenous hormone use. Most people with Candida overgrowth have an allergy to yeast, as well. Both can provoke symptoms. Symptoms of yeast overgrowth can include postnasal drip, rectal itching, chronic sinus infections, sinus headaches, congestion, gas, bloating and heartburn, brain fog or spaciness, white tongue, vaginal yeast symptoms, frequent urination, constipation or diarrhea, skin eruptions, water retention, and cravings for sweet, starchy, or "yeasty" foods like breads, alcohol, and pizza. Complete avoidance of sugar- and starch- based foods in addition to most cheeses and sour cream, pickled or fermented foods (including soy sauce), and vinegars is often necessary to get Candida under control.

The Relationship between Insulin and Blood Sugar

Following a meal, significant levels of blood sugar generated above homeostasis stimulate the release of insulin, which works rapidly to remove glucose from the blood. Whatever glucose is not needed immediately—for outrunning, say, a hungry lion via anaerobic energy (i.e., peak, turbo- charged energy output or exertion)—converts rapidly either to glycogen, which is stored in very limited amounts in the liver and muscle tissue for times of extreme anaerobic exertion, or to triglycerides through the activation of an enzyme called glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase, which converts blood sugar into fat, which is then moved into storage via lipoprotein lipase as adipose tissue (body fat).

We need to understand a certain rather major point: our ancient ancestors never really had an emergency need to lower their blood sugar levels. It's critical you understand this.

And here's a news flash: Something even many doctors do not understand is that insulin's actual biological function and purpose is not, in fact, to regulate blood sugar. We have several other hormones actually designed for blood-sugar regulation: glucagon, epinephrine, norepinephrine, cortisone, and growth hormone. The regulation of blood sugar by these hormones is designed to increase blood glucose when we need it.

Insulin, by default, does lower blood sugar (very crudely), but insulin's primary purposes are actually to simply store away excess nutrients in case of a famine and to regulate the coordination of energy stores with life span and reproduction (Rosedale 1999). Blood sugar lowering is a trivial sideline for insulin, a key hormone that has much bigger fish to fry. This is hugely important to understand and a key factor in new understandings by scientists in the quest for advancing human longevity....

The Need for Steady Fuel

Where fueling the fire of our brain and body's metabolism is concerned, carbohydrates can best be described as kindling. Whole grains and legumes are somewhat like twigs; starch, such as in cereals and potatoes, and simple sugars are like paper on the fire; and alcohol might best be described as gasoline on the fire.

If you're relying on carbohydrates as your primary source of fuel, you need to feed that fire often, regularly, and consistently. You will be craving that fuel. Unfortunately, most people today have forcibly adapted their bodies to this sort of an unnatural dependence by overconsuming carbohydrates in their diet.

Most, if not all, alcoholics (for instance) have severe issues with dysglycemia and sugar addiction. Alcoholics are utterly dependent on and regularly seek fast sources of sugar—alcohol being the fastest. This is one reason why they say "once an alcoholic, always an alcoholic." This is because the problem in alcoholism, in fact, isn't really alcohol, per se, but severe carbohydrate addiction. By merely giving up alcohol, one is still left with the real underlying problem: sugar addiction. The typical Alcoholics Anonymous meeting is replete with doughnuts, coffee, and people standing around smoking cigarettes. Even though they may not be drinking alcohol, the damaging, often unconscious, sugar addiction in recovering alcoholics continues.

Alcoholics are typically what I refer to as "carbovores," eating diets largely consisting of carbohydrate-rich foods, relentlessly craving sweets, and additionally relying on stimulants such as caffeine and nicotine to constantly keep blood sugar levels up. The "sweet tooth" doesn't just go away with abstinence from beer, wine, and liquor, hence the ongoing vulnerability to relapse.

Once the cravings for carbohydrates and the dependence on carbohydrates as the primary source of fuel are eliminated, so are the alcohol cravings.

Training the body to depend on ketones rather than sugar for fuel is key to this equation. This essentially means eliminating sugar and starch from the diet entirely.

For those having a greater difficulty adapting to a fat-based metabolism, supplements such as L-glutamine (which the brain can use in lieu of glucose) can help the brain transition away from sugar (sort of like training wheels) while the body adapts to its new, more stable, and long-sustaining source of fuel.

Botanicals such as Gymnema sylvestre can help knock out carb cravings when taken in more-concentrated doses of between 4 and 8 g, three times per day for a month or so while dietary changes are being made. Supplying additional nutrients that have been greatly depleted by alcohol and carbohydrate abuse is also essential to recovery.

One might get a burst or a ball of flame with respect to energy from many carbohydrate sources, but no one can get long-term, sustainable energy. As soon as the flame starts to die out, which doesn't take long, you're stuck with cravings for fuel or stimulants again. It can be quite a roller-coaster ride.

This is why some dietary experts are always telling you to eat every two hours or to eat "numerous small meals throughout the day," If you're sugar dependent—and almost everyone in this culture is victim to that unnecessary reality—then frequent small meals become necessary to maintain an even keel.

If you have ever heated your home with a woodstove, then you know what I mean with the following analogy: If you had to heat your home with that woodstove using paper, twigs, and lighter fluid all day, you'd be a slave to that fire, and you'd need a mountain of fuel handy to constantly feed that hungry beast. You'd be forever preoccupied with keeping that fire going, and you'd have little other life.

In effect, most people in this culture are similarly enslaved by the preoccupation with where their next meal or snack (or caffeinated boost) is coming from.


The food industry and big agribusiness are only too happy to support that enslavement and the perpetuation of the notion that glucose is essential as a primary source of fuel and that frequent eating, snacking, and carbohydrate intake are somehow important to maintain healthy blood sugar levels. This even gets taught in medical schools. It is a lie.

Nature would never have intended for us to constantly live this way. It is a terribly impractical metabolic state to maintain, particularly if you view this from the primitive perspective of ongoing survival in a less certain world where food wasn't constantly available. Our primitive (particularly ice age) ancestors would never have made it this far if carbohydrates were essential to the diet or if glucose (an anaerobic source of rocketlike fuel) were necessary as a primary source of energy all of the time. Nature isn't that crazy or stupid.

Mind you, it is possible to live in a state of primary glucose dependence. People do it all the time. The idea that we are necessarily dependent on sugar as our primary source of fuel is true only conditionally, only if we've metabolicallv adapted ourselves to that unnatural dependence. Most people in this culture are metabolically adapted to that very state. {And that is clearly what we need to un-adapt ourselves to!} And you can go on managing your blood sugar levels all day with frequent meals, snacking, and the eating of more complex carbohydrates {like most vegetables} (i.e., piles of twigs, "eleven servings a day") to keep the fire burning more steadily, but I personally have far better things to do than live my life tending to that woodstove. It isn't necessary or essential at all, and it will age you faster (and cost you much more in grocery bills and health care costs). There is a far better, healthier, and more natural way to live and eat.

Dietary fat, in the absence of carbohydrates, is like putting a nice big log on the fire. Fat's flame burns at a regular, even rate, and is easily kept going. Protein, consumed in moderate quantities, is mainly diverted toward structural repair and maintenance. Only in excess does it convert to sugar.

Fat's even flame keeps the hormone leptin under control, keeps insulin quiet, and keeps our appetite satisfied. Blood sugar, when one learns to depend on this steadier source of fuel, becomes a trivial concern. You become free to live your life instead of being constantly preoccupied with where your next meal or snack is coming from. One can go many, many hours on this longer-burning type of fuel without experiencing any discomfort or cravings at all. You may eventually get hungry if you really go a long time without eating, which is normal, but you are far less likely to experience irritability, dizziness, brain fog, cravings, fatigue, jitteriness, or mood swings because of it.

This is the way it's supposed to be!

What We Have Here Is a Failure to Communicate

Less than 1 percent of the pancreas is devoted to insulin production. Excessive demands for insulin can initially result in gradually reduced sensitivity of insulin receptors, leading to more and more insulin release needed to accomplish the same job.

This is what is termed insulin resistance. In the earlier stages of the pathogenesis of glucose dysregulation, a tendency toward hypoglycemia may be the result. Over time, however, one's cell receptors become increasingly resistant to insulin's constant message, and type 2 diabetes becomes the problem. In more advanced cases, the overtaxed pancreas may ultimately lose its ability to produce sufficient amounts of insulin, and one may actually end up requiring insulin injections. Once thought to be a disease of older adults, type 2 diabetes is increasingly becoming prevalent in young children.

In fact, type 2 diabetes is really a disease not of blood sugar, but of insulin resistance— meaning the breakdown of communication between insulin and glucose. This is important to realize, as drugs that are designed to manage diabetes completely fail to address this issue and instead focus on lowering blood glucose, typically stimulating more storage of sugar as body fat. This does nothing to restore healthy cellular communication or reduce mortality from the disease. Diabetes drugs, though they may lower blood glucose levels initially, ultimately worsen the progression of the disease.

The recent Action to Control Cardiovascular Risk in Diabetes (ACCORD) study was published in The New England Journal of Medicine (Gerstein et al. 2008). Researchers who were following the effects of using insulin to lower blood glucose levels in diabetic patients were surprised to find that increased insulin use (to lower blood sugar levels) caused an increase in death from heart attack and stroke. The study was actually stopped short due to these alarming findings. This unfortunately continues to be the standard in diabetic care—a focus on blood sugar instead of insulin resistance.

Obesity, in many ways, can be viewed as the price we pay for our body trying to stave off diabetes. In the end, however, the issue is one of communication breakdown and insulin resistance. The key is the restoration of insulin sensitivity and cellular communication.

So, how do we do that, you ask?

If you want to change the way any organization works, first you have to go talk to the boss
 
Notice now that twice, Gedgaudas has mentioned L-Glutamine as being very helpful during transition. In the first case, it is recommended for healing the gut. In the second, it is recommended as fuel for the brain. So I think we can figure out that some good fish oil and L-Glutamine are at the top of our list of supplements!
 
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