Comments on: Odds and ends June 28, 2009

By: Dale

Dale — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 18:32:51 +0000

The fat cells information was interesting. I wondered why I could eat sugar/starch in the thousands of calories for years and not be f*a*t until diabetes struck (then could lose the sudden extra weight by very low carb).

By: Debbie

Debbie — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 20:23:47 +0000

Damn, I sure wish I could get the placebo effect to work in my favor regarding weight loss. I keep trying things that I am *100% POSITIVE* will finally get things moving, and yet nothing ever does. I tell myself I guess it’s a good thing I’m following a low carb, grain-free, sugar-free, good fat diet for the sake of my health, as I have not lost any weight on it in over five months!

By: Peter

Peter — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 22:49:26 +0000

Thanks for promptly clearing that up doctor! Much appreciated, and I understand your desire to avoid the blog becoming a question and answer column. However, when people come across someone who they view as sagacious, they tend to want to accrue knowledge from them, hence the stream of questions. Still, I understand your sentiments.

With regards to Cindy Moore’s question about glycogen loading following exercise: there is a wealth of data showing that the energy source for muscular contractions during exercise is free fatty acids. Therefore, the need to re-fuel with glycogen is rather fallacious. On a different, but similar note, muscle is made of almost pure protein, so why would a muscle need carbs to increase in size?

By: Peter

Peter — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 17:11:13 +0000

Lately, you have failed to respond to my questions. I am okay with that. But, if you choose to do so because you think that i am not a regular reader of your blog, then you would be wrong. Not only am I an avid reader, but i encourage others to view your site and read your books.

I haven’t answered your question because I am woefully behind on dealing with all the comments. This blog is more or less a hobby for me that requires an enormous amount of time. Lately I have been up to my ears in several projects and have been in arrears in the comment answering department. Plus, the way it’s supposed to work is that I write a post, and those who want put in their two cents worth about it in the comments. Somehow it has transmogrified into a question and answer column, a situation that I am desperately trying to get away from.

By: Cindy Moore

Cindy Moore — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 16:00:05 +0000

RE: Placebo effect. As a RN, I’ve seen it work so many times! But, I would love to hear your opinion on docs that order placebos without the patient knowing. Not like the doc in the example above, but docs that have “difficult” patients that order them rather than trying to work with the patient.

RE: Fiber. I agree 100%! Curious thing with me, I can eat all the fiber I want with no trouble, as long as it’s from real foods….but once I start taking supplements, it’s almost like everything is paralyzed! I first noticed this after surgery, when my doc insisted I take fiber supplements post-op, but have confirmed the effect several times since then. Is there something they use that might be the problem?

As for exercise? Well, I’m a child of the 50s and grew up hearing….get out and play! You have to work up an appetite!! I do agree that exercise is good for you, but I completely agree that it stimulates appetite. What always gets me, though, is the common advice that you MUST eat (mostly carbs) before and after exercise!! Before exercise you have to eat to give your muscles energy to work….and then after you have to “replenish” the glucose they used!! Most advice is for around 120-150 calories before and after, for a total of 240-300 calories….but do these people really burn off all of that?

Love your blog and really miss it when you’re off traveling…..but boy do I envy you!!

By: TonyNZ

TonyNZ — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 06:06:07 +0000

@Lucy

I would also be concerned with the marketing of “active/sports” products (e.g. powerade). These have near as much sugar as sodas, though are percieved to be more healthy.

By: Jim Valance

Jim Valance — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 02:53:17 +0000

Nice odds and ends, Mike. I love the bag and I agree it speaks of cool and class. But, I never use rolling luggage because the handle is too low for me. Also, when I travel I tend to use soft-sided luggage and try to only use a carry-on size bag. Saves alot of time, when possible.

As to the placebo effect, I’m now wondering about multi vitamins. Do you think they’re any good at all?

As for fiber, thank you for the post on fiber and your new slogan. The cave men didn’t have fibersure around. They made out ok ( I guess).

The video was very entertaining. I’ll pass it around. Happy 4th!

Jim

By: Peter

Peter — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 08:20:17 +0000

Sorry if this is off topic, but i’d very much appreciate your opionion, as it relates to one of my loved ones. One of my relatives, a female in her mid-50s, recently got some blood work done. Her doctor suggested the use of Lipitor. While i understand that you cannot give medical advice to those other than patients, I would like to know if you think she should be concerned. Here are the results of her blood tests over the last three years:

June (2007):
Cholesterol 281 mg/dl
LDL 183
HDL 66
Triglycerides 71
Glucose 99
Triglycerides:HDL = 1.1

(June 2008):
Cholesterol 272 mg/dl
LDL 177
HDL 76
Triglycerides 96
Glucose 76
Triglycerides:HDL = 1.3

(June 2009):
Cholesterol = 276
LDL = 196
HDL = 71
Triglycerides = 95
Glucose = 79
triglyceride:HDL = 1.3

Overall, I think her results have not changed dramatically. She is never ill and she is active and lean. Also, she does not smoke.

I really hope to hear what you think.

First, I don’t believe that cholesterol really has all that much to do with heart disease. Second, if the lipid hypothesis is valid, then HDL is protective, and she has plenty of HDL. If she were my patient, which she isn’t, I certainly wouldn’t put her on statin drugs, especially since they have never been shown to be effective for females of any age.

By: Marly Harris

Marly Harris — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 16:34:11 +0000

I received Roy Mankovitz’s book, The Wellness Project, yesterday from Amazon and spent my day reading it. It appears to be well-researched; his writing style is fluent and accessible. I wrote to him and he said that he’d just sent you a copy (apparently, he’s one of your neighbors in Santa Barbara).

I have no intention of eating organic sweet fruit as he recommends. For me, that’s the pathway to loss of ketosis, gnawing hunger pains and gross overeating of the fruit. The way I’m eating now, zero carb meat/fat with spices/condiments is keeping me happy and functioning beautifully.

I hope you have time to read this book and report your findings in your blog. I’ve had my eye on Globe grapes for weeks but I haven’t given in.

Marly

I did find a copy in my mailbox, so I’ll give it a read when I get the chance. Busy, busy, busy right now with a thousand things going on.

By: KD

KD — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 04:35:09 +0000

To lose weight, they must reduce normal-sized fat cells to subnormal-sized ones, a more difficult prospect than reducing the abnormally-enlarged fat cells that are a consequence of adult weight gain back to normal size. It can be done as evidenced by all the people who were overweight as children who have lost in adulthood, but it�s a tougher row to hoe than for those who got fat as adults.

I assume that the body would be resistant to having something be subnormal, would that be why it is so much more difficult? Does the body have a minimal amount of fat it wants to have in each fat cell, and would this mean that it would be an ongoing struggle for someone who was overweight as a child to maintain a desired level of body fat because their body would want to keep more fat overall, simply because more fat cells exist?

Yes, the body would have a resistance to keeping fat cells in a subnormally small size as opposed to keeping formerly large fat cells (enlarged in adult-onset obesity) at a normal size.