More on the Facts and Factoids

M

Maribeth

Cathlete
[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON Aug-08-02 AT 03:01PM (Est)[/font][p]Wanted to start a new thread to clarify that there are some cases where special diets are necessary--people with metabolic diesases, for instance, such as diabetes, can experience life threatening extremes in blood sugar if it isn't very carefully controlled through diet and exercise, and in some cases, medication. For a diabetic trying to lose weight, even if the calories in are less than the calories out, a diet high in simple carbs are a bad idea, due to their impaired ability to control blood sugar.

For those people who are trying to lose weight who have not yet crossed the line, but are dangerously close to being classified as a Type II diabetic, a lower carbohydrate diet may be necessary until their chronically high blood sugar and insulin levels fall back within the normal range (if anyone's interested, I'll explain what happens here, but it does get a little tricky).

Both these groups are people for which exercise would work wonders for lowering their blood sugar, but because exercise takes time to have a long term impact on blood sugar profiles, and given that damage is occurring with each day that blood sugar levels stay above a certain range, fairly radical dietary changes have to be made to prevent further injury.

Next I feel a spiel about why exercise is the biggest factor in permanently controlling body fat levels. Can ya stand another long post?? :p

Maribeth
 
Yes, MB!

Plus, I'd be interested in your info on ABS! (When you get a chance) Midlife has hit bigtime lately for me in that department. One question~For YEARS in my classes, I have been doing ABS with my ankle weights on, only because we always end our class with ABS & CD/Stretch. The ankle weights are already on for leg work. Would this contribute to a "thicker" midsection from building bigger muscle there? Just curious as I would LOVE to lean out instead of build. THANKS once again!

Your-Friend-In-Fitness, DebbieH http://www.plaudersmilies.de/wavey.gif If You Get The Choice To Sit It Out Or Dance...I Hope You DANCE!!!
 
RE: Yes, MB!

I would love to hear about this subject..enjoying all of
your threads and your knowledge~ Thanks~Ellie
 
RE: Yes, MB!

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON Aug-09-02 AT 11:56AM (Est)[/font][p]Maribeth, I just wanted to let you know that I am really enjoying and learning from your posts (and from many of the other forum participants as well.) Please continue to share your knowledge!
 
RE: Yes, MB!

I too, am delighted to have you on these forums and
love to hear your input on this thread and others~Thank you~
Ellie
 
RE: Yes, MB!

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON Aug-09-02 AT 02:14PM (Est)[/font][p]Thank all of you for reading my stuff! I'll get on a roll again here shortly, so lookout!!! :-wow
 
Thanks Maribeth for the great info. Please keep it coming.

I read the other thread and it just confirms what I thought. I mean look at the Asian countries who eat a ton of carbs, rice,noddles,etc. They are thin, so I am sure that they don't over eat. I bet low-carb diets are not too popular there!!

I lost weight just by counting calories and it works.
 
Maribeth,

It’s your friendly neighborhood nutrition nut again.

By reading your post, I wonder if it would be wise to elaborate more on the word carbs and the context that you’re using it in.

The main reason why I wonder that is because, I will not go to some other boards anymore because the word carbs has been taken so far out of context. Kind of like the words low fat, a.k.a. fat free – the big hidden sugar = weight gain = low fat bad. Anymore it’s carbs = sugar = diabetes = weight gain = carbs bad. Which just drives me nuts! Mainly because statistics show 96% of people who try diets fail. And those who even try and fail, they gain back at least 95% of their original weight lost. – Global Health and Fitness.

Also, could you please explain how a high fibrous diet works with diabetes?

Even though a “high” carb diet may not be appropriate for some medical conditions … to have a “high” carb diet without being a vegan or vegetarian is very very hard. Especially since the average American diet is protein rich already and that’s without even trying. I know for me when I really started monitoring my diet, my protein levels were between 150 grams to 250 grams a day. Why? I didn’t realize how much hidden protein is in foods.

I just want to make sure that people understand the word carbs in it’s appropriate context.

Thanks.

Keta. :D

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Keta,
Good point. A carbohydrate, by definition, is a molecule consisting of nothing but carbon, hydrogen and water. Basically, the chemical differences in carbohydrates, whether talking about glucose, sucrose, starch or fiber is the length of the carbon chains.

Sugar isn't bad at all. It just is what it is--a source of energy (ie, calories) without much other nutritional value attached. It isn't a nutrient dense food, but that doesn't mean it makes you fat. Like anything else, if you eat too much of it, excess body fat is the result, but there's no demonic evil where sugar is concerned. It is a matter of total absorbable calories that makes the difference.

Since fiber is undigestible, it doesn't contribute to elevations in blood sugar. Neither the diabetic, nor the non-diabetic will get an increase in blood glucose levels from a non-digested food. And, recent studies indicate that diets high in fiber can limit absorption of dietary fat by the intestines. Good news.

I think all the hype out there makes people think that if a food doesn't show a high protein content, it can't be contributing to protein-rich tissue, ie, muscle. But what many don't realize is that the food that appears to have little protein actually has a high amino acid content. But, without all the essential aminos there, the total protein content appears to be low. However, when combined with a complimentary food, such as a rice and beans, or corn and beans pairing, all the essential aminos are present and what appeared to be a low protein food actually supplies a surprising amount.

I agree with your findings--I have yet to meet anybody who "diets" that keeps their weight off. Simple, easy and relatively painless dietary modifications combined with regular vigorous strength and cardio exercise are the keys to a fit and healthy body!

Maribeth
 
Keta, I know how you feel. It seems that low-carb has taken off so much on all these boards.I mean who can really eat like that the rest of their lives anyway?

I use to eat fiber one cereal every morning for breakfast for about a year straight. I was skinny! Now I think I am so burnt out on it, I can hardley eat it. It kept my blood-sugar very stable all morning. I should go back to that.
 
Hi Macy,

What really gets me is that it gets really really mean and ugly. You cannot even speak your position without being attacked or drowned out from all the propaganda.

This really hits home for me because my father did the low carb thing thinking that it would help with his medical conditions. Well, it did, it helped them deteriorate to the point where he was scared enough to make the trip to see me and have the “when I die” speech. I had to revamp his diet and do it slowly. He’s losing about ½ pound a week and his tests have improved plus he’s back to being my dad.

I wonder if it’s a side affect. The reason why I wonder that is that I had to recently council an employee on his being very short fused. I had to talk to him because he was jumping all over people and there were some pretty significant complaints.

I had to find out what the heck was going on with him because he’s generally not like this and to this extent. We talked for quite some time about what was going on … nothing in the home has really changed. The job really hadn’t changed. Then he shares with me that he thinks it’s from some medical issues that he was confronted with by his doctor during his last physical exam. He’s concerned that he’ll be a diabetic sooner than he wants since it runs in his family. So he decided that in order to help prolong the onset of diabetes, he would try and lose weight. He said that his doctor didn’t really give him any valuable diet and nutrition advice, just the prescripted diet, serving, healthy eating speech.

He told me that he’s been low carbing for about a month. We talked about just what he was feeling lately and he really didn’t understand why everyone, including me during the discussion, got on his last nerve. I wanted to say … “Dude, I’ll buy you the whole grain bagel topped with natural peanut butter!” I had to do a nutrition session right there during the discussion about how eating affects our ability to deal with work and stress. I had to make it clear that since he deals with customers, we really needed to get this under control before it affected his job performance.

He chose to ignore my advice on his dietary habits and the complaints are still coming. I’m getting pretty close to informing him that we need to get this behavior under control. You see, he thinks that if he can just stick with it just a bit longer … he’ll be that much further ahead. That’s until he tries to change his eating habits back and gains it all back plus some.

Some just don’t realize that the brain needs carbs to ensure appropriate biochemical and electrical compounds are being produced and transmitted correctly. If there is a change like that, they are altering the brain’s ability to function and it comes out. The only that keeps me cool is that I know that this will pass. It is a fad and soon will be a thing of the past.

Just my humble thoughts, opinions, and rants on the subject.

Keta. :D

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Hey Keta

What kind of work do you do? Also what exactly happened to your dad?

I was watching this show cribs. This girl was showing us her pantry in her kitchen. She was very thin. It was filled with pasta! She said she cooks pasta at least once a week. And I thought "oh but pasta would make you fat",lol.

I have seen you post on other boards, but I forgot wich one. I bet I can quess a couple of boards were they get snotty about diets.
 
You know what just confuses and astounds me at the same time?

It would appear that nuts and seeds have gotten a bad name as being too fatty and need to be used very sparingly. Yet, I'll see people reach for string cheese, cream cheese, sour cream, meats, and oils.

Now granted, you don't want 50% of your diet to comprise nuts and seeds, but the health benefits of including a nut or seed into your diet daily is enormous. Like soy nuts. I love those little buggers. Especially the honey roasted. 1/3 cup is all you need.

High in fiber ... again, I swear that is one of the most important keys to good health, and so many other essential oils and nutrients.

Why did I right this? Because in my above post I made reference to natural peanut butter which is one of my favorite things to eat. And it appears that every time I mention it to someone as a healthy alternative to some bagel toppings, I get ... "Ooooo, I try to stay away from that because it's just too fatty." That's when I usually give them the dumb dog look.

Just needed to get that out.

Keta. :D

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RE: Hey Keta

Hey Macy,

I'm a manager at a 3 billion-dollar company in the Information Systems department.

My father had the onset of diabetes. He suffers from high blood pressure and high cholesterol. When he went to his doctor for some dizziness and fainting, they found a blood clot along with the onset of diabetes. It scared him something serious and the doctor told him to get some weight off or things will get worse. My dad told him that the doctor just said, pick a diet, that he didn’t really care which one. So, Dad picked Atkins.

I remember when he called me and told me about it. I tried very hard to talk him out of Atkins and tried very hard to get him to do a high fiber moderate diet. He wouldn’t listen. My father was on Atkins for about three months, then kind of fell off only to get back on again for another three months.

I’ll tell you, during that time, I couldn’t have one conversation with him about diet or nutrition. I love my father very dearly so I took a lot of bullsh*t from him and his diet nazi views. It was very hard on me. When he would come to visit, we had to go to restaurants that I would never ever step into by my own choice. Mainly because it supported his choice of eating. So, I ate like dirt and paid very dearly for it. You see … I’ve had my gallbladder removed and my digestive system gets overloaded very easily and it causes some really bad affects.

After about nine months of his eating, he was sleeping too much, feeling very tired, more dizzy which scared the heck out of him and he was forgetful. Plus his ankles and feet were getting swollen and painful. He thought it was edema and that his blood pressure and diabetes were flaring up. He truly thought he was going for a stroke or Alzheimer’s disease.

So, back to the doctor he went … only to find out that his cholesterol was dangerously high. His blood sugars were elevated to win the insulin talk from the doctor and he had gout.

The doctor had to readjust his medications and give him a stern talking to about his health and how long he wanted to be on this planet. That scared him enough to get his affairs in order and to come and visit me. I didn’t know that all of this was going on. He kept rather quiet about it because he honestly thought there was nothing he could do except get ready for his painful existence while growing older.

I remember the talk. We went out to dinner and I asked him the traditional question of where do we go … mainly because I was dreading going and having to pick really crappy food to eat. He said he didn’t care. I asked him if he was still on his diet. He said no. So we went to a place where I like to go and he really did enjoy his meal. We all did.

We get home, bellies full, and retire to the living room for conversation and then entertainment. That’s when he started the “When I die” speech. That was the most uncomfortable discussion I’ve ever had with my father. It’s worse than any sex discussion you could have with your parents. I was confused and scared to death as to why he felt that he needed to have this discussion with me now.

I asked him a few questions and that’s when all of his trials and tribulations came pouring out about his health conditions and his fears. It was very hard to sit there and keep quiet and let him speak. Mainly because I felt a lot of anger that my father was this scared that he wasn’t going to be on this planet much longer.

After he was done telling me everything that he felt was critical that I knew, out of respect for him, I let out all my frustrations. I kind of took command of the situation and told my father that he may be older than I am, my father that I dearly love, and the person who has my total respect … this time Daddy, you’re going to listen to me and do what I tell you to do, got it?

He just kind of sat there. Then him and his wife got a crash course in diet and nutrition. I was the soup nazi with them. For an entire day, that’s all we talked about. We talked about choices, fiber, carbs, how to eat, when to eat, and what to eat. Plus we did the what is exercise thing.

That was November of 2001. He hasn’t “fallen off the wagon” since then. His cholesterol meds have been decrease. His blood sugar is under control and he’s consistently losing weight. He’s back to be my Dad again, the biggest dope that I love.

Kind of long winded, but I know first hand what this type of things does to the body.

Thanks for asking and reading this far.

Keta. :D

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How does this make you feel

I am a firm believer in calories. But how does it feel when you read all this stuff about low-carb people losing weight so easy. I mean does that spark your interest at all? I will admit sometimes it does.

Sometimes I am a little wishy washy because of information overload. I mean there is so much info on the net!!!!!

Does anyone go through this? Like knowing which side is up?
 
RE: How does this make you feel

It doesn't even phase me. The reason ... I tried Atkins in the 70s and I have never forgotten my experience from it. Now I know that he's made changes to the original diet since then, but I will never forget the headaches, massive stomach aches (those I still remember, matter of fact, I will ensure that I do have enough carbs so I will not feel one of those ever again. I've felt a few when I've eaten too much salad alone without any starch. It hurts really bad), and my urinary problems. I'm sorry, but anything that has the words low carbs in them usually generates that response. And I followed that diet religiously until I physically couldn't do it anymore.

So for me, with all of the information ... there is overwhelming information on how to do it one way ... moderation, slowly, calories in and exercise. But you see ... those don't make such claims as other diets do. Why? The others need to get your attention and they do don't they? Moderation just kind of keeps going along, no promises, no claims of great fame, just it is what it is. I've learned that usually when something is like that, that's the winner ... it's a journey that never ends, just like health.

Just my own thoughts.

Keta. :D

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RE: How does this make you feel

Thanks Keta, you are so right!!

But also you never answered. What happened to your father's health when he low-carbed?
 
RE: How does this make you feel

His cholesterol went dangerously high, his blood sugar was elevated and he had gout.

Keta. :D

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