Well, I may have Hemochromatosis and Diabetes

[redrumloa]

Here's one on Mediterranean diet being better on diabetes then low fat or low carbs.

From what I understand about the Mediterranean diet, I have nothing against it. By the nature of it, it shares many traits with low carb.

Here's a 2003 study on Atkins directly At 1 year there was no difference.

Results Subjects on the low-carbohydrate diet had lost more weight than subjects on the conventional diet at 3 months (mean [±SD], –6.8±5.0 vs. –2.7±3.7 percent of body weight; P=0.001) and 6 months (–7.0±6.5 vs. –3.2±5.6 percent of body weight, P=0.02),

and

Conclusions The low-carbohydrate diet produced a greater weight loss (absolute difference, approximately 4 percent) than did the conventional diet for the first six months

and

Adherence was poor and attrition was high in both groups.

So both groups fell off the wagon and after a year they both were in poor shape. This is human nature, not a condemnation of Atkins IMO.

This line is good.

The low-carbohydrate diet was associated with a greater improvement in some risk factors for coronary heart disease.

That flies against the long held belief that low carb, high protein diets increase risk of heart problems.

 

[Wayne]

Wayne,
Do you have insurance through the temp job atm? I guess probably not I'm curious, do you have the print out of your blood test results? I wonder if they did an "iron panel". BTW, check your email, I am sending you something.

No, but I'm still covered through COBRA for the next what.. 17 months pending the ability to pay for it?

Doc did about 35 different tests and said that almost everything (save where noted) looked normal. I'm sure if otherwise, there would be more drugs involved.

Wayne

 

[redrumloa]

/me sees Wayne is tinkering with the site

An iron panel is rarely done and even when it is doctors rarely diagnose iron overload properly. It's your health, obviously, but it might be worth digging out the paperwork if given to you and requesting it.

 

[redrumloa]

The pitfalls of genetic testing:

http://i39.tinypic.com/35l4tbr.jpg

Yet due to my "iron panel" blood test, I am diagnosed with the disease. I believe I am getting more tests for additional mutations of the HFE gene, but only because I already have the symptoms and com plications. DNA testing is no slam dunk.

 

[Wayne]

DNA testing is no slam dunk.

.. but it is a great cash cow for the industry.

Just wait until we all have national ID cards with DNA strands embedded..

Wayne

 

[cecilia]

how about doing something intelligent and only eat FRESH vegetables and fruits.

and only a little bit of meat if you really must (like how they have it in the 'Mediterranean diet')
never drink soda or any sort of fake 'food'. If it didn't grow out of the ground of off a tree/bush it's probably not real and should be avoid like the plague.

and pay no attention to negative thinking. that's a {bleep} waste of time.

I mostly agree with your post Cecilia. I am surprised how negative most of the classes were and how counter intuitive their dietary recommendations were. Sadly, I am no longer eating red meat. I do still eat poultry and pork, but to a lesser extent. Vegetables are good and I eat a lot more salads. I am trying to mix some of the aspects of the Mediterranean diet into my own low carb plan. At this point I am avoiding most fruit, but eventually some will be added back in. I have to closely restrict vitamin C intake, due to the fact it increases iron absorption. For the most part I try to follow the rule of "shop only in the perimeter of the grocery store, avoid the center isles". Processed food is bad, agreed. Thank you for your thoughts.

I'm glad to hear it.

Positive thinking is what you need in the in quest for knowledge. And Knowledge is POWER.
No one in my family has diabetes so I know very little about that.

What annoys me about the way that make foods these days is that you get 'extra' stuff in food you would never expect to find it. I read the ingredients for some brands of yogurt and they had put fructose corn syrup in it!!

same with some brands of peanut butter! I mean, WTF????
when was sugar supposed to be in peanut butter?
That really pisses me off.

and now I've seen they have an ad where they claim that "in moderation" fructose corn syrup is ok. well, of course, but how can you have that shit in moderation when it is found in Everything??

are they mad?

I want to kick these assholes.

 

[redrumloa]

What annoys me about the way that make foods these days is that you get 'extra' stuff in food you would never expect to find it. I read the ingredients for some brands of yogurt and they had put fructose corn syrup in it!!

same with some brands of peanut butter! I mean, WTF????
when was sugar supposed to be in peanut butter?
That really pisses me off.

and now I've seen they have an ad where they claim that "in moderation" fructose corn syrup is ok. well, of course, but how can you have that shit in moderation when it is found in Everything??

are they mad?

I want to kick these assholes.

Bingo, completely agreed. High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) is in everything alright! Pick up pre-packed lunch meat and HFCS is towards the top of the ingredients. It is no different than the cigarette companies adding ingredients to increase the addictiveness of cigs, HFCS blocks the receptors that make you feel full so you eat more. The obesity problem in the USA can be traced back to when soda companies started putting HFCS in their pop instead of sugar. The commercials stating it is safe makes me yell at the TV, total BS!

 

[faethor]

A couple of the questions discussed here has been... Should the government encourage healthy behavior? What is the best method to do this?

A recent study indicates Taxing Soda improves health.

 

[Wayne]

Speaking of the mother of all flubs..

Last night, in search of low carb cheesecake at Publix, I walked through their "health food" isle, noticing that they had granola bark which if you're unfamiliar, is like the granola equivalent of peanut brittle, meaning big break-off chunks in sheet form. So, assuming that "health food" was accurate, I picked up a small bag which I pretty much ate for my dinner.

Now.. At a store called "The Fresh Market" where I normally buy granola, theirs is bound with honey which my diabetic body can tolerate fairly well. Upon finishing the small bag of Publix brand however, I crumple the bag, only to find a label listing the ingredients hidden on the bottom.

Primary ingredients? You guessed it. Sugar and high fructose corn syrup. How in the holy bleep is that "health food"???

Needless to say that I feel miserable this morning and I've had what is considerably the worst night since discovering I was diabetic in June. Moreso because in the 1/2 pound of granola, I'm sure I consumed about a cup of sugar and corn syrup which probably screwed my sugar levels beyond imagination...

Never did get their so-called "low carb" cheese cake as it turns out the only way they can claim "low carb" is by offering essentially bite-sized "slices" at 16 carbs per (or 60 carbs by the time you eat the equivalent of a real slice).

 

[redrumloa]

@Wayne

You've got to read every label and I mean every one before you buy anything, sad to say. I am now real good at this, but even this morning I found out I had been making a mistake. The old lady bought me a couple 4 packs of Atkins shakes for mornings I really had to run and couldn't make a breakfast. On the way to the lab this morning I read the label and find out it is fortified with Iron (25% RDA) and a good amount of vitamin C :!: Both of those are bad news for someone with HH, combined is even worse. I would not have expected iron to be added to something like that, but there you go.

A couple thoughts:

I definately wouldn't recommend swinging from "low carb" to high carb from meal to meal or day to day. That could be a very bad formula. Carb counting as they recommend for diabetics is something you could do, but I personally don't believe in. Atkins style low carb has some specific guidelines that if not followed, you could be doing more harm than good (high carb + high fat + high protein all at once is a horrible combination).

Cheesecake that claims to be "low carb" often are very misleading, so so be careful. That said the "net effective" carbs may not be as high as the total carbs. In a plan like Atkins, you can use net effectve carbs. Fiber usually gets deducted from the total carbs and "sugar alcohols" can usually be deducted from total carbs. Sugar alcohols have their own considerations though. Everyone handles them differently, but as a rule of thumb eating too much could cause diarrhea, stomach cramps and other issues. This is all explained better in the Atkins book than I could explain.

 

[redrumloa]

A couple of the questions discussed here has been... Should the government encourage healthy behavior? What is the best method to do this?

A recent study indicates Taxing Soda improves health.

I think it is a very bad idea as what may be considered healthy or unhealthy may be way wrong. Also dietary considerations will vary from person to person. Soda (with HFCS) is an easy target, but they won't stop there. OTOH specific ingredients like HFCS or transfats which are NOT organic basic foods, but modified monstrocities should be regulated. HFCS has been shown to be a posion and some researchers want it labeled a narcotic. It gets stickier though because at one time transfats were thought to be healthier than normal fats, which proved to be deadly nonsense.

So all in all, I'd say no. Personally I would only like to see HFCS banned, doing so would not deprive anyone of anything. HFCS is fake sugar, companies could go back to using real sugar as many already have. I couldn't imagine anyone except corn growers and companies that willingly pump this nonsense into our foods being upset. Every day consumers would go from apethetic to happy. What consumer would be angry?

 

[ilwrath]

I couldn't imagine anyone except corn growers and companies that willingly pump this nonsense into our foods being upset.

Give him a gold star. Corn farming is one of the few things we still DO in the US, hence lobbyists inform the lawmakers it would be better to increase taxes on all soda rather than corn syrup products, in general.

 

[redrumloa]

I was tempted to make a new thread in Sports, but I guess here would be more appropriate.

Packers Loyalty Saved Man's Life
http://www.myfoxboston.com/dpps/sports/ ... 15_6572652

Being a Green Bay Packers fan for more than six decades has given Jim Becker decades of excitement, heartache and may even have saved his life.

Becker, 79, of Racine, Wis., attended his first Packers game in 1941 when he was 11. He attended games every season from 1952 to 2008.

While watching Green Bay greats like Ray Nitschke and Bart Starr, he and his wife Patricia also raised 11 children – all Packers fans. Money was tight so instead of taking from the family budget to buy Packers season tickets, Becker would sell his blood for $15 a pint, according to the Packers Web site .

That just may have saved Becker's life.

While filling out a questionnaire about his family history during a routine physical exam, the doctor noticed Becker had written that his father died at age 43 of hemochromatosis. Testing showed that Becker also had the condition, in which excessive amounts of iron are retained in the blood.

It turned out that the only way to remove the excess iron was to give blood. By that time Becker had donated some 145 pints of blood to pay for his season tickets.

"If he hadn't, he very well may have died like his father. His love of the Packers saved his life. To this day he still donates three to four times a month," reads a submission nominating Becker as the 12th member of the Green Bay Packers FAN Hall of Fame.

Becker indeed was selected out of 10 finalists by some 40,000 votes submitted by fans from throughout the United States and the world. He was formally named the 12th fan Friday during Packers Fan Fest at the Lambeau Field Atrium.

"I just thought I was lucky," Becker told WDJT-TV in Milwaukee of the unintended benefit of his Packers devotion. Added his wife, Patricia: "His giving that blood saved his life."

I must say this was an interesting coincidence. I was sitting in the doctor's office when a little blurb about this came on the TV in the waiting room. The TV didn't mention HH, just "an iron disorder". I knew what it must be so I googled it and got this. Sadly what happened to his father is all too common even in 2010. Besides myself and Fluffy, there is a good chance by percentage at least one or two more Whyzzat members is at least a silent carrier, if not already with symptoms. Caucasians from western or northern Europe have at least a 1 in 10 chance of being at least single gene carrier, which alone greatly increases risk of developing the disease.

 

[Wayne]

@Wayne

You've got to read every label and I mean every one before you buy anything, sad to say.

Yeah, I know that. What I didn't find earlier this OBVIOUSLY hand-packed little bag was the small-printed label hidden in the bottom of the package. My mistake, but it's really weird to note my body's reaction to sugar/corn syrup now that I've been at least trying to be good for so long.

It's like my body has become uber-sensitive whereas before it was always so flooded with sugar/syrup that I never realized I felt crappy before...

Wayne

 

[redrumloa]

It's like my body has become uber-sensitive whereas before it was always so flooded with sugar/syrup that I never realized I felt crappy before...

Yes, that will happen. Years ago when I first went on Atkins, I behaved and almost reached my target weight. This is obviously years before I was diagnosed with Diabetes. I avoided sugar 100% the entire time, about 1 year. If I went to a resturant and they added sugar to something unexpected, I could tell as I would feel like crap. Even without Diabetes, your body becomes sensitive to it after not using for a long time.

 

[Glaucus]

Since someone brought up diets and low carbs, thought I'd mention a product that I've been buying when ever I get the opportunity: Mountain Wheat Bread

As you can see it's more of a wrap then your typical loaf of bread. However, unlike most wraps which have the same amount of carbs as two slices of toast and more then twice the sodium, these wraps have the carbs of one slice of bread and far less sodium. These wraps are paper thin and yet quite large so you can stuff them full of goodies. You can even bake with them, I used them for apple turnovers once (not bad).

Of course if you want these you may have to get over some personal political issues (if they apply). First, they're from Australia. So if you're absolutely against globalization, then keep looking. The other, is that they're just hard to find and the only place I find them with a 50% reliability is at costo (however it might be a completely different story in the US, check their website). But if you can get past those two things, they're really worth a shot as it can cut your carb intake in half while still being able to eat a nice sandwich! Anyway, I buy them in bulk and throw them in the freezer. Each package comes in a self zip-locking bag and they keep for a long time.

 

[cecilia]

by the way, there is only one real use for fructose corn syrup.

making fake film blood.

seriously

 

[Wayne]

@red,

You should feel proud. Apparently hemochromatosis is all the rage now. The victim on NCIS suffered from it tonight..

Wayne

 

[faethor]

Give him a gold star. Corn farming is one of the few things we still DO in the US, hence lobbyists inform the lawmakers it would be better to increase taxes on all soda rather than corn syrup products, in general.

Well er sorta. Bush tried to fix this 'problem'. Under Bush was the first time the US imported more food than we exported. Also, Bush was working to import ethanol from foreign nations. Why? Cheaper than American farmers. Way to support the home team. :roll:

 

[redrumloa]

@red,

You should feel proud. Apparently hemochromatosis is all the rage now. The victim on NCIS suffered from it tonight..

Wayne

I'm glad the name is getting out there at least.