Polish study: half of diabetics on HF LC diet declared themselves cured

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"The effects of so called 'optimal diet' on health status, physical activity
and selected civilization diseases", by Przemysław Fabijański et al., Hygeia Public Health 2011, 46(1): 51-56, www.h-ph.pl, 28.01.2011

"HF LC diet" = High Fat Low Carbohydrate diet (dr. Jan Kwasniewski's "Optimal Diet")

Quotes:

Introduction. So called “optimal diet” – a low-carbohydrate, high-fat
diet, different from Atkins diet – has become very popular in Poland
during the last 20 years. It is very controversial; official dietetics in
Poland claim it is extremely noxious.

Aim [Objectives]. To check what are the effects of so-called “optimal diet” on
health status, frame of mind of people, their physical activity and
diseases including type 2 diabetes.

Material and methods. 436 persons aged 20-75 years, both
women (247) and men (189) were examined. 231 of them applied
“optimal diet” and 205 did not. 86 confirmed they suffered from
type 2 diabetes. All examined persons were inquired with our own
questionnaire.

Results. Quite a lot of statistically significant dependencies were
found to exist. They show us that persons applying the “optimal
diet” might be physically active longer than the persons not applying
it. The majority of the “optimal diet” users claim they got rid of
overweight owing to this diet. Quite many of them claim they
cured themselves of the diabetes or at least the diabetes distress
has distinctly diminished.

Conclusions. The persons applying the “optimal diet” claim they
got rid of overweight or even cured themselves of the diabetes
owing to the diet. Our data do seem to confirm the last reports
(Al-Khalifa et al. 2009).

Fig.1 and Fig.2




Explanations to Fig.1:

"stosujący DO" = Using Optimal Diet,
"nie stosujący OD" = Not using Optimal Diet.

Horizontal axis:

Answers to the question: “Are you suffering from diabetes at present?”

 "Tak" = Yes,
 "Nie, ale kiedyś chorowałem/łam" =  No but I used to suffer from it.


Explanations to Fig.2:

"stan cukrzycy nie zmienił się" = diabetes status hasn't changed

"cukrzyca zaczęła spadać" = diabetes started to recede

"praktycznie cukrzyca zniknęła" = diabetes practically disappeared


Translation of the text between Fig.1 and Fig.2:

"Over half of the respondents were able (in their opinion)
to heal themselves of diabetes using the so-called optimal diet [OD], but it was not possible for anyone (according to respondents' opinions) who did not follow the OD."

-----

Nail to the coffin of prof Campbell's theory of cancer supposedly triggered by protein

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A long-time vegan diet promoter Prof-emeritus T.C Campbell of Cornell University, author of The China Study book, used to claim in his studies that adding protein to high carbohydrate mice diet does trigger the cancer while removing it reduces the frequency and size of cancerous tumors. Campbell argues that casein, a protein found in milk from mammals, is "the most significant carcinogen we consume" (see Wiki T. Colin Campbell and Talk by T. Colin Campbell Archived 2011-04-17 at the Wayback Machine, Google Videos, 20:24 mins, accessed December 3, 2010.).

Campbell's theory has been questioned for some time. Most notably, Denise Minger has posted some very in-depth and thorough analyses on-line discussing what exactly may have gone wrong with Campbell's research.

This study found that the reality is in fact quite the opposite to the scientist's claim, showing that a high protein low carbohydrate diet had in fact almost completely protected the genetically-modified cancer-susceptible mice against getting cancer (while the high-carbohydrate control group got 50% cancer!)

"A Low Carbohydrate, High Protein Diet Slows Tumor Growth and Prevents Cancer Initiation", by
Victor W. Ho, Kelvin Leung, Anderson Hsu, Beryl Luk, June Lai, Sung Yuan Shen, Andrew I. Minchinton, Dawn Waterhouse, Marcel B. Bally, Wendy Lin, Brad H. Nelson, Laura M. Sly and Gerald Krystal, Published in Cancer Research/AACR, July 2011


Quote

Abstract

Since cancer cells depend on glucose more than normal cells, we compared the effects of low carbohydrate (CHO) diets to a Western diet on the growth rate of tumors in mice. To avoid caloric restriction–induced effects, we designed the low CHO diets isocaloric with the Western diet by increasing protein rather than fat levels because of the reported tumor-promoting effects of high fat and the immune-stimulating effects of high protein. We found that both murine and human carcinomas grew slower in mice on diets containing low amylose CHO and high protein compared with a Western diet characterized by relatively high CHO and low protein. There was no weight difference between the tumor-bearing mice on the low CHO or Western diets.

Additionally, the low CHO-fed mice exhibited lower blood glucose, insulin, and lactate levels. Additive antitumor effects with the low CHO diets were observed with the mTOR inhibitor CCI-779 and especially with the COX-2 inhibitor Celebrex, a potent anti-inflammatory drug. Strikingly, in a genetically engineered mouse model of HER-2/neu–induced mammary cancer, tumor penetrance in mice on a Western diet was nearly 50% by the age of 1 year whereas no tumors were detected in mice on the low CHO diet. This difference was associated with weight gains in mice on the Western diet not observed in mice on the low CHO diet. Moreover, whereas only 1 mouse on the Western diet achieved a normal life span, due to cancer-associated deaths, more than 50% of the mice on the low CHO diet reached or exceeded the normal life span. Taken together, our findings offer a compelling preclinical illustration of the ability of a low CHO diet in not only restricting weight gain but also cancer development and progression. Cancer Res; 71(13); 4484–93. ©2011 AACR.

What was also interesting that an addition of an anti-inflammatory COX-2 inhibitor drug (Celebrex, 1g/kg body) slowed down the tumor growth by about a half, regardless of a diet! Not sure how to interpret it, perhaps that inflammation accelerates the tumor growth in general?

How ketogenic diet protects against vascular aging

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It has been noticed that ketone bodies producing diets such as calorie-restricted diet and ketogenic diets exert some anti-aging effects (on test animals). This study, see the article linked below, pinpoints the mechanism of this effect to the specific ketone body molecule: β-Hydroxybutyrate.

Natural “Fasting” Molecule Exerts Anti-Aging Effects to Protect Vascular System
By NutritonReview.org - May 16, 2019


Quote:

In their study, the research team explores the link between calorie restriction (eating less or fasting) and delaying aging, which is unknown and has been poorly studied. The findings are published in the journal Molecular Cell.

The researchers identified an important, small molecule that is produced during fasting or calorie restriction conditions. The molecule, β-Hydroxybutyrate, is one type of a ketone body, or a water-soluble molecule that contains a ketone group and is produced by the liver from fatty acids during periods of low food intake, carbohydrate restrictive diets, starvation and prolonged intense exercise.

The researchers reported that β-Hydroxybutyrate delays vascular aging by providing a chemical link between calorie restriction and fasting and the anti-aging effect.

This compound can delay vascular aging of the endothelial cells, which line the interior surface of blood vessels and lymphatic vessels, preventing a type of cell aging called senescence, or cellular aging.

Senescent cells can no longer multiple and divide. The researchers found β-Hydroxybutyrate can promote cell division and prevent these cells from becoming old. Because this molecule is produced during calorie restriction or fasting, when people overeat or become obese this molecule is possibly suppressed, which would accelerate aging.

In addition, the researchers found when β-Hydroxybutyrate binds to a certain RNA-binding protein, this increases activity of a stem cell factor called Octamer-binding transcriptional factor (Oct4) in vascular smooth muscle and endothelial cells in mice.

Stem cell factor Oct4 increases a key factor against DNA damage-induced senescence, which can keep blood vessels young.

Reference:

1. "β-Hydroxybutyrate Prevents Vascular Senescence through hnRNP A1-Mediated Upregulation of Oct4",
Young-min Han et al., Molecular Cell, VOLUME 71, ISSUE 6, P1064-1078.E5, SEPTEMBER 20, 2018.

Example of a ketogenic (high fat low carb) dish.  Ketogenic diet has been described by some as BBB diet, meaning Butter, Bacon and Brie.  It is not limited to that!  

Schizophrenia put into remission on keto diet

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Chronic Schizophrenia Put Into Remission Without Medication/New research suggests ketogenic diet may play a role in treating schizophrenia.
by Chris Palmer, M.D., Apr 06, 2019

Quotes

An 82 year old woman with chronic paranoid schizophrenia since age 17

The first patient documented in the Schizophrenia Research article is a woman who spent nearly her whole life suffering chronic, treatment-resistant schizophrenia. For more than 50 years, she endured paranoia, disorganized speech, visual and auditory hallucinations. By the time she was 70, she was suicidal and had been hospitalized repeatedly for psychosis or suicide attempts. She had been treated with over ten different antipsychotic and mood stabilizing medications, including regular antipsychotic injections. None of them helped her symptoms. She was unable to care for herself and had a court-appointed guardian and home health services.

At the age of 70, weighing 330 pounds, she went to a medical weight loss clinic and was started on a ketogenic diet. Within two weeks of starting the diet, she reported a noticeable reduction not only in her weight but also her psychotic symptoms. Within several months, she started to feel so much better that she was able to stop taking her psychiatric medications while remaining on the diet. Over time, her mood stabilized, and her hallucinations and paranoia remitted completely. She was no longer suicidal. Her case was first reported in 2009.

Today, 12 years later, she has lost a total of 150 pounds and remains on the ketogenic diet. She takes no medications and remains symptom-free. She was able to regain her independence, no longer requiring the guardian and the home health care team. When I recently spoke with her, she recalled her decades of suffering and hopelessness, and said that since starting the diet, she has had a "new life," and is happy to be alive.

A 39 year old woman with schizophrenia for 20 years

The second patient described in the article is a thirty-nine year old woman who suffered from depression, anxiety, anorexia nervosa, hallucinations and paranoia since her teens. As patients sometimes do, she concealed her psychotic symptoms when she was initially treated for depression and anorexia. When she finally reported her psychotic symptoms later in her twenties, she was diagnosed with schizophrenia. For the next ten years, she was treated with 7 different antipsychotic medications—including clozapine (called the “gold standard antipsychotic medication”) - along with antidepressants and anti-anxiety medications. Nevertheless, she continued to have symptoms.

She was having chronic gastrointestinal problems, so she saw a doctor who recommended the ketogenic diet. Noticing some improvement of her symptoms and being frustrated with all of her psychiatric medications, she unwisely stopped taking all 14 of her medications “cold turkey.” This sent her into severe psychosis requiring an extended hospitalization. In the hospital, she was re-medicated with Haldol-decanoate (an injectable medication which had not worked for her previously) and she continued the ketogenic diet. Within a month on both Haldol and the ketogenic diet, she reported complete remission of her psychotic symptoms for the first time since she was 14. Over the following year, she slowly tapered off Haldol, and remained free of psychotic symptoms. Of note, she lost 70 pounds from the diet, which exacerbated her anorexia. She has since regained 30 of those pounds and maintains a healthy weight today. 5 years after starting the ketogenic diet, she is off all antipsychotic medications, remains on the diet, and is free of all psychotic symptoms. She has since finished graduate school and now works full time.

Interestingly, these aren’t the first reports of the ketogenic diet for schizophrenia
While inspiring, these two case reports join a growing body of evidence supporting the use of the ketogenic diet in the treatment of schizophrenia.

Schizophrenia in 1965

In 1965, ten women hospitalized with schizophrenia who were already receiving medications and electroconvulsive therapy (ECT or “shock therapy”) were also placed on the ketogenic diet for a month. The researchers reported that their symptoms improved after two weeks on the diet, but then returned back to their baseline level of symptoms after the diet was stopped.

Schizoaffective disorder in 2017

In 2017, I reported two other cases of schizoaffective disorder improving significantly on the ketogenic diet. Schizoaffective disorder is a diagnosis that includes both a mix of schizophrenia and a mood disorder, often bipolar disorder. One man and one woman, both in their 30’s, had suffered treatment-resistant schizoaffective disorder for years. On the diet, their symptoms were greatly improved, and they both lost significant amounts of weight. Off the diet, their symptoms returned.

Schizophrenia in Ecuador

In 2018, two Ecuadorian twins, one male and one female, diagnosed with schizophrenia since the ages of 14 and 18 were started on a 6-week trial of the ketogenic diet. This study had a psychiatrist rate each twin’s symptoms while being unaware of their diet status. Interestingly, only when the patients were compliant with the diet did their symptoms improve. They also both lost weight. When they stopped the diet at the end of the study, their symptoms returned to their baseline level.

Stan's comments: - who were the medical criminals who stopped their patients' treatment as the article described, in spite of the clear improvement and despite of no viable alternatives? Why there was no information published and made available over the years, to other patients suffering from this debilitating disease, and their families? It is very symptomatic of a very serious disease rotting the medical system from within, in all countries. What have the government departments in charge of public health policies done to make that treatment available? Why did the judicial system refrain from punishing the people involved in maintaining this information hidden or even actively discouraging it by denigrating all ketogenic diets, all high fat low carbohydrate diets publicly and in the media? Who were the people, and who financed those who campaigned in the media smearing Drs. Yudkin, Atkins, Bernstein and others and why did public prosecutors and politicians allowed that to continue?

More connections between metabolic disorder and psychiatric/neurological conditions:

"Impaired insulin signaling in unaffected siblings and patients with first episode psychosis", by Virginie-Anne Chouinard et al., Mol Psychiatry. 2018 Mar 9


Quote

Patients with psychotic disorders are at high risk for type 2 diabetes mellitus, and there is increasing evidence that patients display glucose metabolism abnormalities before significant antipsychotic medication exposure. In the present study, we examined insulin action by quantifying insulin sensitivity in first episode psychosis (FEP) patients and unaffected siblings, compared to healthy individuals, using a physiological-based model and comprehensive assessment battery. Twenty-two unaffected siblings, 18 FEP patients and 15 healthy unrelated controls were evaluated using a 2-hour oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT), with 7 samples of plasma glucose and serum insulin concentration measurements. Insulin sensitivity was quantified using the oral minimal model method. Lipid, leptin, free fatty acids and inflammatory marker levels were also measured. Anthropometric, nutrient and activity assessments were conducted; total body composition and fat distribution were determined using whole-body dual energy x-ray absorptiometry. Insulin sensitivity significantly differed among groups (F=6.01, P=0.004), with patients and siblings showing lower insulin sensitivity, compared to controls (P=0.006, and P=0.002, respectively).

Comment: Comparison between people diagnosed with psychiatric disorder and their sibling who were not diagnosed and therefore not affected by psychiatric drugs, showed the common underlying metabolic disorder involving insulin insensitivity and high risk of developing diabetes type 2.

--------------------
Update 11/04/2019 Another interesting paper on this subject. A different angle:

"Psychosis and Symbiosis: Microbiome and Schizophrenia. Fascinating new research links the gut and brain in sickness and health.", by Emily Deans M.D., Posted Mar 31, 2019

Quote:

Those mice that received the transplants from schizophrenic patients had higher levels of glutamine in the serum and hippocampus, decreased glutamate in the hippocampus, and increased GABA in the hippocampus. These difference were localized to areas of the brain particularly rich in glutamate and its metabolites (i.e., the outer shell of the brain and the hippocampus). This means that a transplant of a different microbiome led to different GABA-glutamate-glutamine neurotransmission in mouse brains. Corresponding human brain areas are related to memory, neuron repair, and executive functioning, all significantly impacted in schizophrenia.

In addition, the schizophrenia microbiome recipient mice had different behaviors than the healthy control mice, with exaggerated startle response and increased activity.

Diabetes T2 reversal by diet

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From us gov link

SARAH HALLBERG: Don’t manage diabetes, reverse it


Quote:

Diabetes is reversible. That’s the exciting conclusion of a study I’m leading at Indiana University Health.
Two hundred and sixty-two patients with type-2 diabetes recently completed one year of a clinical trial examining the impact of a low-carbohydrate diet, which limits foods like grains and pasta while boosting consumption of healthy fats like avocados and butter. The diet didn’t restrict calories.
...
A full 94 percent of patients on the low-carb intervention have been able to reduce or eliminate their need for insulin. For six in ten patients, average blood sugar levels fell so low that technically, they had reversed their diabetes.
...
With conventional treatment regimens, according to a study in Diabetes Care, only 0.1 percent of patients achieve complete remission.

Hunter-gatherers diets are low to moderate in carbohydrates

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Reposted from Frédéric Leroy‏ @fleroy1974

Higher fish consumption less depression

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Original picture

Everybody must watch The Magic Pill movie!

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Unsurprisingly, wheat and carbohydrate-pushing Australian Medical Association and fake pardon - mainstream media slammed it with unsubstantiated accusations:

'It's patently ridiculous, harmful and mean': Doctors slam celebrity chef Pete Evans' new paleo documentary that claims the 'caveman' diet can treat chronic diseases

Quote:

A new documentary by controversial celebrity chef Pete Evans which claims the paleo diet can treat chronic disease has been slammed by Australia's top doctors.
The film, The Magic Pill, claims people suffering from illnesses such as diabetes, cancer and autism can reduce their symptoms and reliance on prescription drugs by adopting the diet for just five weeks. Australian Medical Association president Michael Gannon has compared the documentary to controversial anti-vaccination film, Vaxxed, and said the two were competing 'in the awards for the films least likely to contribute to public health'. 'Elements of the discussion are just plain hurtful, harmful and mean,' Dr Gannon told The Daily Telegraph.

The AMA's outburst came after Evans stood by his outspoken views on the paleo diet during an interview on Channel Seven's Sunday Night program.
'This way of eating reverses Type 2 diabetes. And guess how quickly it takes? Six to eight weeks. Maybe three months,' he said.

Great Awakening has been going on for some time! I was regarded eccentric 19 years ago when I started eating this style - then I discovered that telling people to renounce the official "food pyramid" guidelines to cure their diseases was met with greater opposition than if I told them to renounce "Jesus". It is strange how people are addicted to carbs and to their diseases! You want to regain health - get rid of all that mainstream garbage!

Heretic

Silicon Valley's elite are flocking to an extreme high-fat diet in hopes of living longer

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They flipped! Finally it happened!!! Since its on television then it has to be true (hey Mr. Citizen now you can believe it!)

Silicon Valley's elite are flocking to an extreme high-fat diet in hopes of living longer


Me first, then my wife and our four girls begun following the high animal fat, moderate protein low carb diet, based on dr. Jan Kwasniewski's "Optimal Diet", in July 1999, and stayed on it ever since. Initially I started it a fact finding mission after one of our friends enthusiastically recommended it, saying that it cured his liver cirrhosis in 6 months!

Actually it did!

I couldn't believe it since it violated every common medical "wisdom" raining down on us from every media outlet, as well as all doctors we spoke to. I like that aspect... After two weeks I felt better, stronger, more energy, clearer thinking, no tiredness - better than I ever did since my 20-ties! In addition a number of ailments went away, for example dry eye condition, afternoon tiredness, persistent (but not acute) intestinal inflammation etc.

Then my wife and our children begun eating this style, then my mother who lived with us. She begun a month after me, begrudgingly after we ran out of bread since my wife stopped buying it. How my mom recovered her chronic health problems on the high fat diet and what exactly happened - that's another story! We continuet that eating style ever since. It works for us. Back in 1999 everybody thought I was crazy, they were seriously expecting me to drop dead withing months (which, to their surprise, did not happen!)  When I begun my day job in 2009 half of my work colleagues were on some kind of "healthy" low fat salads and fruit for lunch or skim milk cereal diet, many were vegetarians (although there are fewer now) who wouldn't talk to me when I revealed my "orientation". Some still don't !    😊

Heretic

High fat diet appears to regenerate diabetic pancreas

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Is this possibly a cure for diabetes type 1 ?    According to this BBC article and the quoted study, it may be so!

Interestingly, dr. Jan Kwasniewski , creator of the "Optimal Diet" has always claimed that such diet can virtually cure about 9 out of 10 of diabetes type 1, based on his personal patient's records from his own medical practice during 1970-ties and 1980-ties. The reason, according to him, is that in most cases, there are at least residual 10% of the pancreatic beta cells still intact allowing the patient to survive on the high fat diet, on about 6 insulin units per day, which is about 10% of the normal (on a high carb diet) insulin production. Such low insulin requirements is only attainable on a diet that is very low in carbohydrates, low in protein and therefore - high in fat. Dr. Kwasniewski always recommended to eat mostly animal fat and saturated fats, with a minimal to none contents of polyunsaturated vegetable oils. This is interesting because that was back in the days when the  negative impact of polyunsaturated oils upon health was not as widely known as it is now. I always admired his medical insights ever since I learned about and adopted his diet in 1999. Since I don't normally trust opinions and always try to "touch the wound", so to speak, I always made efforts to verify and test all his claims. Every time when I thought he may have been wrong about some details such as vegetable fats issue or his preference on saturated fats, or insistence that cholesterol is a good thing and egg yolks are the best food (back in the 1970-ties!) - sooner or later he turned out to have been correct!

Heretic

Low fat diets are useless - new study

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... a recently published study has found.   The Telegraph article  on the same topic:
Cut out carbs, not fat if you want to lose weight, Harvard study finds

Wiki Cereal

 The analysis of 53 studies, involving 67,000 dieters found who cut back on fat were two and a half pounds heavier after a year than those who embraced a “low carb” approach.

...
Dr Deirdre Tobias at Bingham's Division of Preventive Medicine said: "Despite the pervasive dogma that one needs to cut fat from their diet in order to lose weight, the existing scientific evidence does not support low-fat diets over other dietary interventions for long-term weight loss." "In fact, we did not find evidence that is particularly supportive of any specific proportion of calories from fat for meaningful long-term weight loss.” The study found low carbohydrate diets were the most successful.

Longevity genes, glucose and insulin sensitivity

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Some of the most interesting longevity research concerns FOXO3A (homozygotic GG) and SIRT6 genes. In the case of FOXO3A, it seem to be associated also with the improved insulin sensitivity (thus allowing the body to maintain consistently LOW insulin level, reducing the risk of insulin resistance, metabolic factor and diabetes t2) throughout one's life. In the case of SIRT6 which plays a major role in DNA repair process, it appears to be upregulated with lower glucose consumption. Insulin and carbohydrates, carbohydrates and insulin...

Lots of unanswered questions: is the link accidental or not? Which is the primary and which is the secondary factor in the longevity?
Is (a) FOXO3A the primary cause of longevity while in addition improving also the insulin sensitivity? - Or, (b) is the improved insulin sensitivity and low glucose caused by the gene (or by whatever other factors...) - the primary longevity factor?

So far, the second answer (b) seems to be already demonstrated for the SIRT6 while there seems to be a growing suspicion that it is may be so for the FOXO3A as well!

This situation reminds me that the life forms may deals with any adverse environmental threat in the two-fold fashion: - either evolving a special resistance against a threat or simply avoiding the threat (in this case by not consuming the excessive carbohydrates...)

So, you either may already have the protective genes and in this case you can safely consume whatever high carbohydrate food is being marketed your way, or you minimize or avoid that stuff altogether. Everybody has a choice - and that's excellent news!


More links:

Bradley Willcox et al., "FOXO3A genotype is strongly associated with human longevity", PNAS, September 16, 2008, vol. 105 no. 37

Quote:

Human longevity is a complex phenotype with a significant familial component, yet little is known about its genetic antecedents. Increasing evidence from animal models suggests that the insulin/IGF-1 signaling (IIS) pathway is an important, evolutionarily conserved biological pathway that influences aging and longevity.
...
Long-lived men also exhibited several biological markers indicative of greater insulin sensitivity and this was associated with homozygosity for the FOXO3A GG genotype.

I also posted on this subject in post. See the following quote from this article about the SIRT6 gene:

Quote:

...
One explanation for this failure may relate to SIRT6’s critical role in DNA repair. Several studies have indicated that SIRT6 helps catalyze repair of the damage at numerous types of DNA lesions, including single- and double-strand breaks. A characteristic feature of aging cells is an increase in the amount of DNA damage.
...
While overexpression of SIRT6 may not be tractable in a therapeutic context, SIRT6 activity can be increased by caloric restriction, reducing glucose consumption, or increasing NAD+ bioavailability (**) - interventions that have already shown promise in increasing longevity in animal models. (Such interventions are also showing promise in slowing the progress of some age-related neurodegenerative disorders.

Alzheimer's and lack of arginine

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Arginine is especially abundant in common food such as dairy products, meat, nuts and chickpeas!

(from Dairy Council of California)

Recent study described here:

Alzheimer's breakthrough: Scientists may have found potential cause of the disease in the behaviour of immune cells..

Quote:

They observed that in Alzheimer’s, immune cells that normally protect the brain instead begin to consume a vital nutrient called arginine.

My comment:

Probably because arginine is an essential nutrient for all cells including immune cells. If there is not enough, immune cells will sequester what is available.

Arginine is an amino acid and an essential nutrient for several bodily processes, including cell division, healing and immune responses.

It is found in food, including dairy products, meat, nuts and chickpeas, but the team at Duke said that their study did not suggest eating more arginine would have an impact on Alzheimer’s risk. The blood-brain barrier regulates how much arginine can enter the brain, and the immune response that breaks down arginine would remain the same even if confronted with higher levels of the nutrient.

Really?  Dr. Pickett must be a very wise man knowing that upfront and thus excluding that therapeutic option by his statement, without doing any testing!

“The study suggests that low levels of arginine in the brain could contribute to the death of nerve cells in Alzheimer’s, but there is much more we still need to understand about how and why nerve cells die in the disease,” she added.

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Ketogenic diet slows progression of 5 neuro degenerative diseases

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SCIENCE SUPPORTS THE ANTI-AGING AND ANTI-DEGENERATIVE PROPERTIES OF KETOGENIC DIETS!

Slowing down of neuro-degenerative disease by ketogenic diet was claimed in the recent paper:
Nourishing the Aging Brain, By Morten Scheibye-Knudsen,  The Scientist, March 2015

( in pdf format )


Quotes (see here ):

ALS:
Increased basal metabolism
Caloric restriction exacerbates progression
Ketogenic diet slows progression

ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE:
Normal or lowered basal metabolism
Caloric restriction slows progression
Ketogenic diet slows progression

PARKINSON’S DISEASE:
Increased basal metabolism
Caloric restriction slows progression
Ketogenic diet slows progression

HUNTINGTON’S DISEASE:
Increased basal metabolism
Caloric restriction may slow progression
Ketogenic diet slows progression

COCKAYNE SYNDROME [accelerated aging disease]:
Increased basal metabolism
Caloric restriction exacerbates progression
Ketogenic diet slows progression

[added on 6/03/2015, from the same source]

And the low carbohydrate (or low glucose) nutrition appears to contribute to longevity by increasing the SIRT6 activity (*), according to this paper, from the same issue of The Scientist magazine:

Wrangling Retrotransposons, by Michael Van Meter, Andrei Seluanov, and Vera Gorbunova | March 1, 2015

Quote

Perhaps the best evidence for the retrotransposon’s role in aging comes from the link between the activity of a longevity gene, SIRT6, and the repression of L1 in somatic tissues. SIRT6 encodes an enzyme critical to the forestallment of aging: it maintains telomere length, promotes DNA repair, regulates metabolism, opposes tumorigenesis, and attenuates inflammation—all processes associated with the prevention of age-related decline. Mice lacking SIRT6 suffer from a severe premature aging syndrome, while mice that overexpress SIRT6 enjoy extended life spans.

...

One explanation for this failure may relate to SIRT6’s critical role in DNA repair. Several studies have indicated that SIRT6 helps catalyze repair of the damage at numerous types of DNA lesions, including single- and double-strand breaks. A characteristic feature of aging cells is an increase in the amount of DNA damage.

...

While overexpression of SIRT6 may not be tractable in a therapeutic context, SIRT6 activity can be increased by caloric restriction, reducing glucose consumption, or increasing NAD+ bioavailability (**) - interventions that have already shown promise in increasing longevity in animal models. (Such interventions are also showing promise in slowing the progress of some age-related neurodegenerative disorders.

Notes:

*) Underexpression or removal of SIRT6 gene is linked to accelerated aging disease, while overexpression of SIRT6 has been shown to extend the lifespan, in mice studies, see Wiki.

**) Niacin is one of the precursors of NAD+, another one is tryptophan.

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Bad science and politically motivated low fat dietary guidelines finally exposed and ditched!

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Recent (20/02/2015) New York Times article by Nina Teicholz (**):

The Government’s Bad Diet Advice

Quotes

First, last fall, experts on the committee that develops the country’s dietary guidelines acknowledged that they had ditched the low-fat diet. On Thursday, that committee’s report was released, with an even bigger change: It lifted the longstanding caps on dietary cholesterol, saying there was “no appreciable relationship” between dietary cholesterol and blood cholesterol.
...
Instead of accepting that this evidence was inadequate to give sound advice, strong-willed scientists overstated the significance of their studies.
Much of the epidemiological data underpinning the government’s dietary advice comes from studies run by Harvard’s school of public health. In 2011, directors of the National Institute of Statistical Sciences analyzed many of Harvard’s most important findings and found that they could not be reproduced in clinical trials.
...
In 2013, government advice to reduce salt intake (which remains in the current report) was contradicted by an authoritative Institute of Medicine study[*]. And several recent meta-analyses have cast serious doubt on whether saturated fats are linked to heart disease, as the dietary guidelines continue to assert.

Uncertain science should no longer guide our nutrition policy. Indeed, cutting fat and cholesterol, as Americans have conscientiously done, may have even worsened our health. In clearing our plates of meat, eggs and cheese (fat and protein), we ate more grains, pasta and starchy vegetables (carbohydrates). Over the past 50 years, we cut fat intake by 25 percent and increased carbohydrates by more than 30 percent, according to a new analysis of government data. Yet recent science has increasingly shown that a high-carb diet rich in sugar and refined grains increases the risk of obesity, diabetes and heart disease — much more so than a diet high in fat and cholesterol.

It’s not that health authorities weren’t warned. “They are not acting on the basis of scientific evidence, but on the basis of a plausible but untested idea,” Dr. Edward H. Ahrens Jr., a top specialist at Rockefeller University and prominent critic of the growing doctrine on dietary fats and cholesterol, cautioned back in the ’80s.
...
Since the very first nutritional guidelines to restrict saturated fat and cholesterol were released by the American Heart Association in 1961, Americans have been the subjects of a vast, uncontrolled diet experiment with disastrous consequences. We have to start looking more skeptically at epidemiological studies and rethinking nutrition policy from the ground up.
Until then, we would be wise to return to what worked better for previous generations: a diet that included fewer grains, less sugar and more animal foods like meat, full-fat dairy and eggs.

Other links:

*) She probably meant this report: Sodium Intake in Populations: Assessment of Evidence (14/05/2015)

**) Nina Teicholz, author of “The Big Fat Surprise: Why Butter, Meat and Cheese Belong in a Healthy Diet.”

http://stan-heretic.blogspot.ca/2015/02/useless-low-fat-dietary-guidelines-by.html

http://stan-heretic.blogspot.ca/2015/01/salt-intake-not-correlated-with.html

http://stan-heretic.blogspot.ca/2015/01/are-some-diets-mass-murder.html

http://stan-heretic.blogspot.ca/2013/05/dietary-fats-undeserved-bad-reputation.html

http://stan-heretic.blogspot.ca/2013/10/lesson-from-medical-history-beware-of.html



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More starch more breast cancer recurrence

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New analysis based on WHEL study titled "Starch Intake May Influence Risk for Breast Cancer Recurrence" presented at the 2011 CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, held Dec. 6-10, 2011.

Quotes:

“The results show that it’s not just overall carbohydrates, but particularly starch,” said Jennifer A. Emond, M.S., a public health doctoral student at the University of California, San Diego. “Women who increased their starch intake over one year were at a much likelier risk for recurring.”
Researchers conducted a subset analysis of 2,651 women who participated in the Women’s Healthy Eating and Living (WHEL) Dietary Intervention Trial, a plant-based intervention trial that enrolled about 3,088 survivors of breast cancer. WHEL researchers studied breast cancer recurrence and followed the participants for an average of seven years.
...
The change in starch intake was “independent of dietary changes that happened in the intervention arm,” Emond said. “It is independent of more global changes in diet quality.”

I have to comment on the following quote: . “The WHEL dietary trial, even though it focused on fruits and vegetables, fiber and fat, didn’t really have a specific carbohydrate goal,” Emond said.

Time and time again studies focus on some secondary issues such as which particular vegetable or fruit selection affects some outcome while at the same time ignoring a major issue of macronutrient ratios! Such analyses often come as afterthoughts and end up using incomplete or partial data, just because the study proponents didn't bother to measure a major variable.  Now they seem surprized finding an "elephant" in their  lab! The biggest kicker is that vegetables - the one "healthy" diet aspect that they WHEL study authors did focused to the detriment of other more real issues, turned out to be irrelevant as far as cancer was concerned! (see the study I discuss further down)

Even though the results suffer from the fact that the original study methodology wasn't properly focused on the issue that mattered, the results are consistent with other studies. For example this one:

"Carbohydrates and the Risk of Breast Cancer among Mexican Women"
Isabelle Romieu, Eduardo Lazcano-Ponce, Luisa Maria Sanchez-Zamorano, Walter Willett and Mauricio Hernandez-Avila

The study showed a very strong breast cancer promoting effect of carbohydrate consumption: for every additional 1% of carbohydrate calories consumed above 52%, the relative risk of breast cancer was incrementally increasing by about 10%!

Consistent also with the Italian data:

"Dietary glycemic index, glycemic load, and the risk of breast cancer in an Italian prospective cohort study", Sabina Sieri et al.

The study showed that a 56% higher glycaemic load (from 96g/d to 150g/d) produced 2.53 times higher relative risk of breast cancer among Italian women.

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The following paper (also based on the same WHEL study as the headline study!) demonstrated that a low fat high vegetable diet was useless for fighting cancer!

"Influence of a Diet Very High in Vegetables, Fruit, and Fiber and Low in Fat on Prognosis Following Treatment for Breast Cancer." John P. Pierce, PhD; Loki Natarajan, PhD; Bette J. Caan, et al. The Women's Healthy Eating and Living (WHEL) Randomized Trial. JAMA. 2007;298:289-298.

Quote:

Among survivors of early stage breast cancer, adoption of a diet that was very high in vegetables, fruit, and fiber and low in fat did not reduce additional breast cancer events or mortality during a 7.3-year follow-up period.

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Similar pattern with the ovarian cancer:

"Nutrient dietary patterns and the risk of breast and ovarian cancers." Edefonti V, et al., Int J Cancer. 2008 Feb 1;122(3):609-13.

... Cases were 2,569 breast cancers and 1,031 ovarian cancers hospitalized in 4 Italian areas between 1991 and 1999. Controls were 3,413 women from the same hospital network. Dietary habits were investigated through a validated food-frequency questionnaire. ... The animal products pattern and the unsaturated fats pattern were inversely associated with breast cancer (OR = 0.74, 95% CI: 0.61-0.91 and OR = 0.83, 95% CI: 0.68-1.00, respectively, for the highest consumption quartile), whereas the starch-rich pattern was directly associated with it (OR = 1.34, 95% CI: 1.10-1.65). The vitamins and fiber pattern was inversely associated with ovarian cancer (OR = 0.77, 95% CI: 0.61-0.98), whereas the starch-rich pattern was directly associated with it (OR = 1.85, 95% CI: 1.37-2.48). In conclusion, the starch-rich pattern is potentially an unfavorable indicator of risk for both breast and ovarian cancers, while the animal products and the vitamins and fiber patterns may be associated with a reduced risk of breast and ovarian cancers, respectively.

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[side issue: carbs and HDL putting it here as a reminder for myself to write some more on it]
"Carbohydrate intake and HDL in a multiethnic population." Am J Clin Nutr. 2007 Jan;85(1):225-30.

"Previous research has identified ethnic differences in cholesterol and other blood fat levels that couldn't be explained by genes, obesity, lifestyle factors or diet, Merchant and his team note, but these analyses usually looked at dietary fat, not carbohydrate consumption"

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Another Italian study, similar pattern:

"Intake of macronutrients and risk of breast cancer."
Franceschi S, Favero A, Decarli A, Negri E, La Vecchia C, Ferraroni M, Russo A, Salvini S, Amadori D, Conti E, Montella M, Giacosa A.
Lancet. 1996 May 18;347(9012):1351-6.

... FINDINGS: The risk of breast cancer decreased with increasing total fat intake (trend p ? 0.01) whereas the risk increased with increasing intake of available carbohydrates (trend p=0.002). The odds ratios for women in the highest compared with the lowest quintile of energy-adjusted intake were 0.81 for total fat and 1.30 for available carbohydrates. Starch was the chief contributor to the positive association with available carbohydrates. ... Conversely, the intakes of saturated fatty acids, protein, and fibre were not significantly associated with breast-cancer risk. ...

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Update (25-12-2011)

I am slapping this paper here quickly for the reference although it is not strictly on-topic (thanks Kiran)

Mean life span of CR sucrose-fed rats was significantly greater than all other groups [including starch fed CR]

Feed	Corn starch	Sugar
100% cal	720	659
60% cal	726	890

The rats diet consisted of 14% protein, 10% fat, and 66% sucrose or cornstarch. The numbers are the average lifespans of rats in days (standard deviation is about +/-20days). 100% cal means an ad-libidum diet. 60% cal = calorie-restriction diet.
(this study needs a discussion)
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Alzheimer's: The detrimental role of a high carbohydrate diet

Interesting paper just published:
"Nutrition and Alzheimer's disease: The detrimental role of a high carbohydrate diet", S.Seneff, G.Wainwright, L.Mascitelli, European Journal of Internal Medicine 22 (2011) 134–140.

Quote:

"A ketogenic diet has been found to be therapeutic in AD patients [72,73]. It involves an extremely high fat diet, with up to 88% of calories derived from fats. This benefit may be likely due in part to the bioavailability of a plentiful supply of fats to repair damaged membranes. However, this diet leads to the generation of a significant concentration of ketone bodies in the blood serum, which can be used as an alternative fuel to glucose ..."

A very good and brief summary by Ted Hutchison is here (TUESDAY, 11 OCTOBER 2011).
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How Our Genes Respond to the Foods We Eat

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Interesting and important research coming from Berit Johansen,Ingerid Arbo, Hans-Richard Brattbakk et al., from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (note *):

Feed Your Genes: How Our Genes Respond to the Foods We Eat

Butter

Quotes:

If you could ask your genes to say what kinds of foods are best for your health, they would have a simple answer: one-third protein, one-third fat and one-third carbohydrates. That's what recent genetic research from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) shows is the best recipe to limit your risk of most lifestyle-related diseases.

NTNU researchers Ingerid Arbo and Hans-Richard Brattbakk have fed slightly overweight people different diets, and studied the effect of this on gene expression.

"We have found that a diet with 65% carbohydrates, which often is what the average Norwegian eats in some meals, causes a number of classes of genes to work overtime," ... "This affects not only the genes that cause inflammation in the body, which was what we originally wanted to study, but also genes associated with development of cardiovascular disease, some cancers, dementia, and type 2 diabetes -- all the major lifestyle-related diseases," she says.

"Both low-carb and high-carb diets are wrong," says Johansen. "But a low-carb diet is closer to the right diet. A healthy diet shouldn't be made up of more than one-third carbohydrates (up to 40 per cent of calories) in each meal, otherwise we stimulate our genes to initiate the activity that creates inflammation in the body." This is not the kind of inflammation that you would experience as pain or an illness, but instead it is as if you are battling a chronic light flu-like condition. Your skin is slightly redder, your body stores more water, you feel warmer, and you're not on top mentally. Scientists call this metabolic inflammation.

It was not only inflammatory genes that were putting in overtime, as it would turn out. Some clusters of genes that stood out as overactive are linked to the most common lifestyle diseases.
"Genes that are involved in type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, Alzheimer's disease and some forms of cancer respond to diet, and are up-regulated, or activated, by a carbohydrate-rich diet," says Johansen.

"We're not saying that you can prevent or delay the onset of Alzheimer's if you eat right, but it seems sensible to reduce the carbohydrates in our diets," she suggests.

The immune system operates as if it is the body's surveillance authority and police. When we consume too many carbohydrates and the body is triggered to react, the immune system mobilizes its strength, as if the body were being invaded by bacteria or viruses.
"Genes respond immediately to what they have to work with. It is likely that insulin controls this arms race," Johansen says. "But it's not as simple as the regulation of blood sugar, as many believe. The key lies in insulin's secondary role in a number of other mechanisms. A healthy diet is about eating specific kinds of foods so that that we minimize the body's need to secrete insulin. The secretion of insulin is a defense mechanism in response to too much glucose in the blood, and whether that glucose comes from sugar or from non-sweet carbohydrates such as starches (potatoes, white bread, rice, etc.), doesn't really matter."

Johansen has some encouraging words, however, for those of us who have been eating a high carbohydrate diet. "It took just six days to change the gene expression of each of the volunteers," she says, "so it's easy to get started. But if you want to reduce your likelihood of lifestyle disease, this new diet will have to be a permanent change."

The best is to cut down on potatoes, rice and pasta, and to allow ourselves some of the good stuff that has long been in the doghouse in the refrigerator.
"Instead of light products, we should eat real mayonnaise and sour cream," Johansen says, "and have real cream in your sauce, and eat oily fish.

Fountain-of-youth genes

Johansen's research also shows that some genes are not up-regulated, but rather the opposite -- they calm down rather than speed up.

"It was interesting to see the reduction in genetic activity, but we were really happy to see which genes were involved. One set of genes is linked to cardiovascular disease. They were down-regulated in response to a balanced diet, as opposed to a carbohydrate-rich diet," she says. Another gene that was significantly differently expressed by the diets that were tested was one that is commonly called "the youth gene" in the international research literature.
"We haven't actually stumbled on the fountain of youth here," Johansen laughs, "but we should take these results seriously. The important thing for us is, little by little, we are uncovering the mechanisms of disease progression for many of our major lifestyle-related disorders."

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(I wish to express my thanks to chili_in_a_can from McDougall's vegan forum for publishing the article link)

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Contact: Berit Johansen, Department of Biology, NTNU
TEL. +47 73 59 86 91 E-MAIL: berit.johansen at bio dot ntnu dot no

More articles on this topic:

What should we eat to stay healthy?

Best diet: One-third protein, carbs, fat

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*) Note the effect this article may have had in Norway, recently (December 2011): link


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Fat disrupts sugar sensors in pancreas causing type 2 diabetes

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That's why a diet simultanously high in fat and carbs is detrimental, but a diet high in either one and not both, is not!

See on BBC health:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-14503480

(Source: "Pathway to diabetes through attenuation of pancreatic beta cell glycosylation and glucose transport")

This is important finding that clears a lot of confusion. I used to answer countless of questions from diabetics (on other forums), the most frequent was this, paraphrasing:

"Why should I eat high fat diet if we know that it would increase my already high insulin resistance?"

This article is telling us that the answer to this is that it won't!

It will make pancreas stop reacting to blood glucose while you are eating fat AND carbohydrates at the same time. This won't matter you eat fat on its own with very little or no carbs! On the other hand, diabetic insulin resistance appears in this light to be a totally different phenomenon - related to body tissues and organs being permanently resistant to insulin that is already produced by pancreas and circulating throughout the body!

Will fat affect the tissue insulin resistance as well? Yes - probably by reducing it!  As me and millions of other people who tried Dr. Jan Kwasniewski's Optimal Diet, have found!

We are probably dealing here with two opposing effects:

1) Detrimental effect of dietary fat upon pancreas preventing it from reacting to blood glucose
(Which matters if and only if one consumes significant amount of carbohydrates together and simultaneously with fat).

2) Positive long term effect of dietary fat upon body tissues and organs

Can a fatty meal impair cardiovascular health? Absolutely, since it can lead to hyperglycemia due to (1) if the meal is also high in carbs  (I will pass that carrot cake, thank you...)

Can a high fat meal reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease (see this)? Absolutely! If it is low in carbohydrates!

This clarifies also another issue, namely Dr. Kwasniewski's claim that a diet with 35-45% fat by calories is the most detrimental to one's health (for adults). It makes a lot more sense in the light of this article. (Note: since a diet typically would contain 10-20% protein, therefore 35-45% fat means 35-55% carbohydrates, by calories).

Bottom line:
- Do not mix high carbohydrate diet with high fat nutrition!

------------ Update 30-Aug-2011 -------------------

Read this:

Fat and Diabetes: Bad Press, Good Paper, and the Reemergence of Our Good Friend Glutathione


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Mainstream media hinting that Atkins was right!

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A reversal on carbs

I am going to put a big quote from this article, since it puts this better than any abstract of mine would have done:

Fat was once the devil. Now more nutritionists are pointing accusingly at sugar and refined grains....


Carb consumption has risen over the years. So have U.S. obesity levels. (Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times) ...




Most people can count calories. Many have a clue about where fat lurks in their diets. However, fewer give carbohydrates much thought, or know why they should.


But a growing number of top nutritional scientists blame excessive carbohydrates — not fat — for America's ills. They say cutting carbohydrates is the key to reversing obesity, heart disease, Type 2 diabetes and hypertension.


"Fat is not the problem," says Dr. Walter Willett, chairman of the department of nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health. "If Americans could eliminate sugary beverages, potatoes, white bread, pasta, white rice and sugary snacks, we would wipe out almost all the problems we have with weight and diabetes and other metabolic diseases."


It's a confusing message. For years we've been fed the line that eating fat would make us fat and lead to chronic illnesses. "Dietary fat used to be public enemy No. 1," says Dr. Edward Saltzman, associate professor of nutrition and medicine at Tufts University. "Now a growing and convincing body of science is pointing the finger at carbs, especially those containing refined flour and sugar."


Americans, on average, eat 250 to 300 grams of carbs a day, accounting for about 55% of their caloric intake. The most conservative recommendations say they should eat half that amount. Consumption of carbohydrates has increased over the years with the help of a 30-year-old, government-mandated message to cut fat....


The first sign of insulin resistance is a condition called metabolic syndrome — a red flag that diabetes, and possibly heart disease, is just around the corner. People are said to have the syndrome when they have three or more of the following: high blood triglycerides (more than 150 mg); high blood pressure (over 135/85); central obesity (a waist circumference in men of more than 40 inches and in women, more than 35 inches); low HDL cholesterol (under 40 in men, under 50 in women); or elevated fasting glucose.


About one-fourth of adults has three or more of these symptoms.


"Put these people on a low-carb diet and they'll not only lose weight, which always helps these conditions, but their blood levels will improve," Phinney says. In a 12-week study published in 2008, Phinney and his colleagues put 40 overweight or obese men and women with metabolic syndrome on a 1,500-calorie diet. Half went on a low-fat, high-carb diet. The others went on a low-carb, high-fat diet. The low-fat group consumed 12 grams of saturated fat a day out of a total of 40 grams of fat, while the low-carb group ate 36 grams of saturated fat a day — three times more — out of a total of 100 grams of fat.


Despite all the extra saturated fat the low-carb group was getting, at the end of the 12 weeks, levels of triglycerides (which are risk factors for heart disease) had dropped by 50% in this group. Levels of good HDL cholesterol increased by 15%.


In the low-fat, high-carb group, triglycerides dropped only 20% and there was no change in HDL.


The take-home message from this study and others like it is that — contrary to what many expect — dietary fat intake is not directly related to blood fat. Rather, the amount of carbohydrates in the diet appears to be a potent contributor.


"The good news," adds Willett, "is that based on what we know, almost everyone can avoid Type 2 diabetes. Avoiding unhealthy carbohydrates is an important part of that solution." For those who are newly diagnosed, he adds, a low-carb diet can take the load off the pancreas before it gets too damaged and improve the condition — reducing or averting the need for insulin or other diabetes meds.


Americans can also blame high-carb diets for why the population has gotten fatter over the last 30 years, says Phinney, who is co-author of "The New Atkins for a New You" (Simon & Schuster, 2010).


"Carbohydrates are a metabolic bully," Phinney says. "They cut in front of fat as a fuel source and insist on being burned first. What isn't burned gets stored as fat, and doesn't come out of storage as long as carbs are available. And in the average American diet, they always are."


Here's how Phinney explains it: When you cut carbs, your body first uses available glycogen as fuel. When that's gone, the body turns to fat and the pancreas gets a break. Blood sugar stabilizes, insulin levels drop, fat burns. That's why the diet works for diabetics and for weight loss.


When the body switches to burning fat instead of glycogen, it goes into a process called nutritional ketosis. If a person eats 50 or fewer grams of carbs, his body will go there, Phinney says. (Nutritional ketosis isn't to be confused with ketoacidosis, a dangerous condition that can occur in diabetics.)


Beyond the fat-burning effects of ketosis, people lose weight on low-carb diets because fat and protein increase satisfaction and reduce appetite. On the flip side, simple carbs cause an insulin surge, which triggers a blood sugar drop, which makes you hungry again.


"At my obesity clinic, my default diet for treating obesity, Type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome is a low-carb diet," says Dr. Eric Westman, director of the Lifestyle Medicine Clinic at Duke University Medical Center, and co-author of the new Atkins book. "If you take carbohydrates away, all these things get better."

See also this:

Was Atkins Right? Scientists Say Carbs -- Not Fat -- Are the Biggest Problem with America's Diet

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