A Reason to Consider a LCHF Food Plan

In the year since I had helped this person get her VA benefits and her original doctor had gotten her an appointment with an endocrinologist, we have stayed in contact infrequently until this month. Now she was seeking my assistance in avoiding statins as her cholesterol levels had taken an upward trend and her regular doctor has prescribed a statin. She knew that she could not avoid them as the readings for her lipid panel had jumped way over the upper limit and her triglycerides were way too high – almost 400.

I asked her what her recent A1c's had been and these were 5.7%, 5.5%, and 5.9%. Very good and gave no indication on why her cholesterol could have increased so dramatically. My next question was about changes in her food plan and what had changed there. The next email started with an Ohh, No, and she admitted that she had increased the number of carbs she was eating, but had thought with the amount of fat she was consuming that she would be okay.

I suggested that she continue with the statin and start lowering the carbohydrates she was consuming. I also suggested that she pay attention to the amount of protein she might not be eating. Then I suggested that she have her doctor refer her to a nutritionist for more balancing of her food plan. The next day I received an email from her doctor asking if I knew of a nutritionist as he did not and he knew I was not referring to a dietitian.

I called my cousin and asked her if she could do this. She said she would as another of our cousins lived in the same town and she was overdue for a visit. I gave her the doctor's email and phone number and she said she would call him. I sent my friend an email saying the doctor could be calling shortly with a referral and that it would be with a cousin of mine. Our emails crossed and she was letting me know she had an appointment for Saturday at her house. She was wondering why on the weekend and at her house.

I had just about finished a response, when I received another email. She was excited and had heard from my cousin by phone and why she wanted it at her home. She asked why I had not told her about a cousin (also a second cousin) that lived in her town. She was glad I had someone to refer to her doctor and even if it was a relative. She knew from my blogs that I had a cousin that was a nutritionist, but had not expected her to want to travel that far.

I completed my response and said that she was the only one I was aware of and I was happy that she was given the phone number to call her directly as I was going to have her call me and give me her my phone number so that I could set up a three way call. Now I did not need to and this was good.

I said that I was not sure where my other cousin lived, but knew she could be in the same part of the state. I have too many second and third cousins and am not sure where many of them live, as we haven't kept in close contact.

She answered that she would let me know how things went and would give my cousin permission to talk to me.

Managing Diabetes When Money Is Limited

Many people just do not understand how to manage diabetes when money is very limited. This doctor, writing for the Empower Our HealthMagazine of the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists starts the topic off on the right note, but fails to cover many possibilities. I will cover what the doctor says and then in other blogs cover some of the many points she ignores.

For a doctor on a fellowship that says she was focusing on how to help the low-income, uninsured persons struggling to maintain their health, I don't understand why she totally ignores some points. Then she makes some statements that I am sure time and experience will correct. She says that even on limited income, there are many cost-effective ways to control diabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol. I have no disagreement so far, but when she says increasing physical activity, I have to wonder why there is no precaution of with the doctor's permission.

The other statement is one that I have a constant complaint with all doctors and that is the salt debate. It seems this is so standard and not reflective of many recent studies.  It is obvious that the doctor does not know diabetes and does not make any precautions about blood glucose levels safe for exercising. This also seems standard for most doctors, as even simple precautions are seldom included in any discussion.

I am surprised in her cost-saving tips for medications, but apparently, she is not aware of programs available from drug manufacturers that can help save money. There is nothing wrong with generics, but sometimes there is none that can be used. This is when manufacturer programs can be valuable.

I have no complaints about her discussion of treating high blood pressure. While some of the foods listed need to be avoided by people with diabetes, the rest of her advice should be followed. Of course, the salt should be moderate and this debate is still on going.

“Exercise, minimizing salt in your diet, losing weight and minimizing stress are important ways to prevent as well as treat high blood pressure. The same exercises used for treatment of diabetes can be used for hypertension. Foods such as tamarind drink, spinach, beans, sunflower seeds, bananas, spinach, squash, cantaloupe, garlic, celery, lemon, honey, ginger, cumin seeds, and cayenne pepper may help to reduce blood pressure because they are rich in magnesium and potassium. Also, avoid over indulging in alcohol — it can increase blood pressure. For those requiring medication, splitting higher dose pills to get a smaller prescribed dose is another means for cost savings, but this should not be done with pills marked as “extended release” or “slow release.””

When Dr. Noorhasan talks about cholesterol, she does not push statins, yet. Again, she promotes exercise, herbs, and foods which can reduce cholesterol. These include dandelion root, pumpkin seed, oats, sunflower seeds, whole grain breads, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, oranges, and salmon. Of course, whole grain breads, oats, carrots, and oranges need to be limited or avoided by people with diabetes.

There is much research needed for more blogs, but I will eventually have more.

Why Not Eat the Egg Yolks

This is about a book and the reviews are very explicit. I do not disagree. Over the last few years, I have been learning about low carbohydrate food plans, Paleo food plans, and a few other food plans promoted away from the media.

Our news media today just doesn't report anything that they can't sensationalize, or to cause (events, especially in newspaper reports) to seem more vivid, shocking, etc, than they really are. They will parrot (to repeat or imitate without thought or understanding) from a press release and overstate this in the headline. They like sexy headlines and seem to care less about the truth of what they report.

Now some of our medical news sources are doing the same and this is becoming disgusting. I will admit that there have not been many interesting facts to report about diabetes in the last month or even health news.

Therefore, it is with some reluctance that am blogging about a book that I have ordered before reading it. The title of the book is Eat the Yolks by Liz Wolfe and is available only from Amazon. Yes, there is a Kindle edition.

Stone Hearth News just parroted the review from Amazon, which shows how lazy their reporters are. They do this for every article they publish, but often I can find other sources, which confirm what they parrot. I seldom use them for a source because of this. If I am interested in something they report, I wait until I find the information in other sources that are not parroting the same press release. Or, I email the corresponding author for a digital copy of the study. If I can't locate one and nothing further is released, the delete key does the rest.

I liked the review, which is why I ordered the book.

I will do a proper review after I have read the book.