The Great Carbohydrate Debate – How to Lose Weight VIII
In the ongoing effort to lose weight, the uncontroversial first step is to reduce added sugars. The next step is to reduce refined carbohydrates. There are many diets that advocate increasing carbohydrate intake instead. And some of them do indeed work. Controversy surrounds the humble carbohydrate. Is it good or bad? From the mid 1950’s...
Wheat – How to Lose Weight VII
Wheat is one of the most vilified foods in the nutritional world. From gluten concerns to obesity, the poor fellow doesn't have a friend to call his own. Yet wheat, along with rice and corn, is one of the most ancient domesticated foods in existence. The original Paleo - if you will. How can wheat...
Reduce Added Sugars – How to Lose Weight IV
The first step in virtually any weight loss program is to reduce added sugars. Sugar is particularly fattening because it increases insulin both immediately and insidiously over the long term. Sugar is comprised of equal amounts of glucose and fructose. Glucose, as a highly refined carbohydrate, will immediately raise blood sugar levels and directly stimulate...
The MultiFactorial Nature of Obesity – How to Lose Weight II
The multifactorial nature of obesity is the crucial missing link. There is no one single cause of obesity. Do calories cause obesity? Yes, partially. Do carbohydrates cause obesity? Yes, partially. Does fiber protect us from obesity? Yes, partially. Does insulin resistance cause obesity? Yes, partially. Does sugar cause obesity? Yes, partially. All these factors converge...
How to Lose Weight I
We start 2015 with a new series - How to Lose Weight. Probably what many people wonder about this time of year. First and foremost, any rational weight loss program starts with a thorough understanding of what causes weight gain in the first place. What is the Aetiology of Obesity? We've spent the previous year...
IDM Patient Profile December 2014 – Margaret
This month our patient profile Margaret who joined the Intensive Dietary Management Program in April 2014. At her first appointment, she was taking 120 units of insulin a day with an additional 2000 mg of Metformin to stabilize her blood sugar levels. Her HbA1c, a 3 month average of blood sugars was 7.0%. Her skin...
Sleep Deprivation and Obesity – Hormonal Obesity XXXXI
One of the major causes of chronic stress in the modern environment is sleep deprivation and disturbance. Even a single day of sleep deprivation can increase cortisol levels by over 100%. Sleep duration has been declining over the last few decades. In 1910, people slept 9 hours on average. By 1960, surveys indicated that Americans...
A Closer look at Cortisol – Hormonal Obesity XXXX
I can make you fat. Actually, I can make anybody fat. How? It is very simple. I prescribe prednisone, a synthetic version of the human hormone cortisol. Prednisone is used to treat many different types of inflammatory diseases, including asthma, rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, psoriasis, inflammatory bowel disease, cancer, glomerulonephritis and myasthenia gravis. Cortisol makes you...
The Two Big Lies of Type 2 Diabetes – Video Lecture
At the Intensive Dietary Management Clinic we treat many people with type 2 diabetes. Patients often come to our clinic with two ‘facts’ established in their minds. The first is that type 2 diabetes is a chronic and progressive disease. They are often told that they will have the disease for the rest of their...
IDM Patient Profile November 2014 – Kirk
Our patient profile this month is Kirk, who I have been following for a number of years. Over that time, he had always been quite heavy. He was diabetic on several medications and developing all the usual insults of obesity and diabetes. We had started to develop our Intensive Dietary Management Program several years ago...
Cardio-protective effect of Saturated Fats – Hormonal Obesity XXXIX
Saturated fats turned out to be not quite as toxic as we had believed once the trans fats were stripped out. But many studies pointed out the fact that there is a chance that they may actually be protective against heart disease. The study "Dietary fats, carbohydrate, and progression of coronary atherosclerosis in postmenopausal women" examined...
Polyunsaturated Fats – Hormonal Obesity XXXVIII
As Dr. Keys warned Americans about the dangers of saturated fat, consumption of animal fats and butter declined. The main component of animal fats is saturated fats. Omega 6 fat content is vanishingly low. Both butter as well as beef tallow are similar in composition. Vegetable oils such as corn, by contrast have low level...
