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Apr18

Is Sugar Toxic? Gary Taubes’ Lab Reports

Posted in: High Cholesterol, Obesity and Weight Loss, Wellness and Health

Gary Taubes blew the top off the New York Times readership with his carefully researched “What if it’s all been a big fat lie?” about fat and heart disease in 2002 (translation: it’s the type of fat that matters, not total fat).

He’s doing it again with “Is Sugar Toxic? (translation: yes, it’s poisoning you now).

Now he posts his state-of-the-art lipid lab results (which I also order for patients) to prove his minimal heart disease risk. He eats primarily meat and eggs.

Any of my patients would be proud: (except one thing: the CO2 of 19, which is probably because he’s often ketotic, and has to blow off CO2 to normalize his blood pH).

Three questions:

a. What is the effect of sustained ketosis on heart disease risk?.

Ketosis mimics starvation, pushing the body to burn fats rather than carbs (because there are no carbs!) for fuel. Fatty acids and ketones result.

Ketogenic diets work in about 50% of kids with specific seizure conditions. They reduce appetite but are difficult to sustain (Atkins is a modified ketogenic diet). In a small study in kids, there were worrisome cardiac changes: I don’t know of adult cardiac data.

b. What are the other heart disease risk factors? Smoking, high blood pressure, diabetes and pre-diabetes, sedentariness, family history of early heart disease, high waist-to-hip ratio.

Let’s assume these are not a problem for Mr. Taubes. But not so for everyone else. Some of these have to do with food, and some not. Even if sugar is the problem. And it might be.

c. Is it practical?

To eat without most carbs and sugar, especially fructose, is virtually impossible in the U.S. and even more so abroad.

But Taubes’ idea that “we all respond to the carbohydrate/insulin effect differently”, and for weight loss “getting rid of all the grains and much or most of the fruit, and then eating more of whatever foods they happen to eat or like that provide protein and fat” deserve exploration.

People with celiac disease learn to cook, to read labels, to avoid gluten, because it’s toxic to them. Will we see the same for obesity, heart disease and sugar? Let’s hope so.
Mar4

Do We Need a Cholesterol Registry?

Posted in: High Cholesterol, Wellness and Health

The National Weight Control Registry (NWCR) has documented exactly what people do who have lost weight and kept it off. Over 5000 people have lost an average of 66 lbs and kept it off for 5.5 years.

The research of the weight control registry helps me coach my clients to long term weight loss too. I use it every day both in ChefMD and in Chef Clinic.

Many of my patients have lowered their LDL cholesterol levels by 50% and raised their HDLs by 40% with diet and lifestyle changes.

So I thought it might be helpful to create a site like NWCR which told the stories of people who have been successful, including changing the shape and size of their cholesterol, from unhealthy to healthy.

Chef Clinic is teaming up with nutrition firm Provident Clinical Research to work together to make this a reality. If you’re in the Chicago area, Provident is offering free cholesterol screenings currently.

I mention the idea of a cholesterol registry in my first PBS Special, raising money for public TV (the Special airs nationwide starting March 5 2011: @EatCookHealthy has local PBS broadcast times a few hours before air time; Super Healthy Combo pledge gifts here; video preview available).

What should a cholesterol registry do? Should it do research, offer testing, tell best stories, create or rank supplements, give best recipes, or give discounts on meds and tests? What would interest you?
Feb15

How To Recognize If Your Child Is Obese: Results from a Pediatrician’s Office

Posted in: Child Obesity, High Cholesterol, Obesity and Weight Loss

Many studies now show parents underestimate their overweight kids’ weight.

A New York pediatrician’s office shows that barely 10% of parents of overweight kids actually thought their kid was overweight.

In contrast, fully 60% of parents of normal-weight kids knew that their kid’s weight was normal. Parents of overweight kids were off by an average of 45%tile.

Parents of normal-weight kids who underestimated are more likely to be concerned about their child’s weight than parents who get it right.

Parents most likely to make changes are those who knew that they themselves were overweight, had overweight kids over 8 years old, and those who thought their kid had a health problem.

Obese children have a high risk of diabetes, high cholesterol and metabolic syndrome. These are all disorders thought only to occur in adults–like my patients–until several years ago.

Bottom line: parents have a hard time discerning when their child is overweight, and it is different for adults than for kids. For kids, use the BlubberBusters BMI for kids calculator: good, clear explanations and info.
Jan20

Is Walmart Better-For-You? Yes, Nutritionally.

Posted in: Aging and Costs of Aging, Child Obesity, High Cholesterol, Obesity and Weight Loss, Uncategorized, Wellness and Health

As Marion Nestle points out on NPR’s piece on Walmart’s nutrition initiative, farm subsidies are what drives the availability of processed foods over whole, fresh foods. We often don’t eat and cook healthy because it’s cheaper not to. And kids too often suffer.

But what she missed is the difference between philosophy and practice. Whether better-for-you processed foods are good is not just a philosophical question. It’s a practical one. The answer is “Yes,” though the processed products are not ideal. At least for my patients with hypertension, heart disease and high cholesterol.

Walmart’s economies of scale will drive down whole veggie prices to consumers, and that’s more important than the salt and sugar subtractions on processed foods.

Broccoli may be presented not wilted in a package or dessicated in a boxed dinner, but as a head. And with cheaper, whole vegetables should come cooking lessons, kitchen innovations, cutlery, spice mixes and ways to put veggies on the plate, quickly.

Because time is the most precious commodity. When you’re working 3 jobs and taking 4 buses in a day, it’s hard to find time to cook. But Walmart can help solve that problem for many of its customers too.

Only 26 percent of the nation’s adults eat vegetables three or more times a day, including lettuce on a burger. Walmart (and soon to follow Walgreen’s, Kraft, Target, and more) can and will help.
Dec21

Treating Overweight Kids…With What?

Posted in: Child Obesity, High Cholesterol, Obesity and Weight Loss

Dr Molly Ferguson is a naturopath in Michigan who is courageous enough to discuss treating childhood obesity.
Video: Treating Childhood Obesity

Putting kids on a diet has long been terrifying to physicians because we are frightened about creating eating disorders (the other way!)

But there is good data to show that the suggestions she makes: “eating the rainbow”, “eating fewer processed foods”, and “avoiding chemical additives” can have beneficial effects on kids’ health: improving immunity, increasing energy level at school, reducing hyperactivity symptoms.

Is there a good diet for overweight kids? If there were just one, all kids would be on it.

Childhood obesity has leveled off in kids ages 2-5, because Moms are super concerned, and have more control over what there is to eat. The next frontier: kids ages 6-11 or 12.

I think teaching kids about food and the basics of how to cook would transform family lives: treat Mom’s diabetes, and Dad’s cholesterol and heart disease, and Sis’ asthma.

Eating and cooking healthfully to lose weight has worked for adults enrolled in Chef Clinic, and in adults who make big lifestyle changes.

Should overweight kids be on a diet? And if so, what would one look like?