No Underlying Health Conditions – likely assumed not assessed

News outlets highlight when someone has died of complications of COVID-19, stressing that the person “had no underlying health conditions“,  but the problem is that this is often assumed,  not assessed.  Just because a person wasn’t diagnosed with diabetes, heart disease or high blood pressure (or some other disease) does not mean that they have no underlying health conditions. 

Not Assessed – assumed “fine”

We have known since 2018 that 88% of Americans are metabolically unhealthy[1], which means that only 12% of adults are metabolically healthy. An adult dying with “no underlying health conditions” may simply mean they hadn’t been assessed. Many people have never had their waist circumference measured by a health care professional, nor had their blood sugar, blood pressure or cholesterol checked, and the results compared to healthy standards. If these things haven’t been measured, can we assume that a person is metabolically healthy?

Measures of metabolic health include [1]:

  • Waist Circumference: < 102 cm (40 inches) for men and 88 cm (34.5 inches) in women
  • Systolic Blood Pressure: < 120 mmHG
  • Diastolic Blood Pressure: < 80 mmHG
  • Glucose: < 5.5 mmol/L (100 mg/dL)
  • HbA1c: < 5.7%
  • Triglycerides: < 1.7 mmol/l (< 150 mg/dL)
  • HDL cholesterol: ≥ 1.00 mmol/L (≥40 mg/dL) in men and ≥ 1.30 mmol/L (50 mg/dl) in women.

If a person hasn’t had their waist circumference, blood sugar or pressure, or cholesterol assessed, then they are assumed to have no underlying health conditions. Not measuring it doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.

Given that only 12% of US adults are metabolically healthy,  it is more likely that an adult who dies of complications of COVID-19 and are said to have “no underlying health conditions” simply had not been  previously assessed for markers of metabolic health. If one is not assessed, they can’t be diagnosed.

Tested and everything is “fine”

Adults may be screened for risk of becoming diabetic using a fasting blood glucose test and when the results come back ‘normal’ they are told (or assume) that everything’s fine. But is it?

In a fasting blood glucose test, we only know what happens to blood sugar when the person is fasting — but if we don’t know what happens to their blood sugar between 30 minutes and 60 minutes after consuming a carbohydrate load, then we simply don’t know if they are at risk.

A glycated hemoglobin test (HbA1C) provides an estimate of average blood sugar over a 3-month period at all times (both fasted and after eating), and provides more information than only having a fasting blood glucose test. It will spot those that have overall higher-than-normal blood sugar, even if it is normal in the morning when they’ve been fasting.  However, even these two tests together will still miss a significant percentage of people who have normal blood sugar at fasting, and 2 hours after a carbohydrate load.

A 2-hour Oral Glucose Tolerance Test (OGTT) is usually only given to pregnant women and to those who already show abnormal fasting blood sugar and/or HbA1C and is considered the best way to determine if someone is at risk of becoming diabetic. It measures blood sugar at fasting and again 2-hours after a glucose load, but it will completely miss those who have significant blood sugar spikes between 30 minutes and 60 minutes, because it doesn’t measure it.

We know from research that a higher blood glucose peak >7.0 mmol/L (126 mg/dl), a delayed glucose peak >30 minutes), or blood sugar levels >7.0 mmol/L (126 mg/dl) at 30 minutes and >6.5 mmol/L (117 mg/dl) at one hour are all signs of insulin resistance and hyperinsulinemia, and correlate with higher insulin levels[2] — abnormal conditions outline in this previous article). If blood sugar 30 minutes and/or 60 minutes after a glucose load isn’t assessed, it can’t be assumed to be “fine”?

We also know from the research that if a person has a blood sugar spike >8.6 mmol/l (155 mg/dl) one-hour after a carbohydrate load that this is a better predictor of future diabetes, cardiovascular disease and death than a blood sugar reading of 7.8 mmol/l at 2 hours [3]. The problem is, a standard Oral Glucose Tolerance Tests doesn’t measure blood glucose except at baseline (fasting) and at two hours. It doesn’t look at blood sugar at 30 minutes and/or 1 hour. If it isn’t assessed then we simply don’t know.

Not tested – not fine

A large-scale 2016 study looked at the blood sugar responses and circulating insulin responses in almost 4000 men aged 20 years and older, and 3800 women aged 45 years or older found that while more than half (53%) had normal blood sugar at 2 hours after a standard glucose load, of these people 75% had abnormal blood sugar results between 30 minutes and 60 minutes[4]. This means that someone can have totally normal blood sugar levels 2-hours after a glucose load in a 2-hour Oral Glucose Tolerance Test and be presumed to be “fine”. The test doesn’t measure what happens to the person’s blood sugar at 30 minutes and/or one-hour, so we simply don’t know.
We can’t assume people have no underlying health conditions if we don’t assess it.

Three quarters of adults overweight or obese

New NHANES data released this week indicates that more than 73% of US adults are either overweight or obese[5].  Rates of overweight are so prevalent, that many people considered overweight ‘normal’, and only obesity and severe obesity as a problem. Just because something is common, does not make it normal.

Rates of overweight in men are going down, but this is not a good thing because rates of obesity are skyrocketing (see solid lines in the graph below)[5].

Rates of overweight in women are about the same as it was 20 years ago, but rates of obesity (see dashed lines in the graph above) are skyrocketing, and severe obesity is climbing too[5].
from Fryar C, et al “Prevalence of overweight, obesity, and severe obesity among adults aged 20 and over: United States, 1960—1962 through 2017—2018” NCHS Health E-Stats; 2020

People who are overweight have a BMI > 24.9, and those who are obese have a BMI > 29.9. Based on the latest data, almost three-quarters of US adults are overweight or obese, but BMI does not assess metabolic health, only weight to height ratio. BMI doesn’t tell us the whole story, as athletes who are very muscular may have a high BMI and those with normal BMI may be metabolically unhealthy.

People who are overweight or obese will have waist circumferences that are >40 inches (102 cm) for men, and >34.5 inches (88 cm) for women — and based on the definition above, this increased weight carried around their abdomen is what causes them to be considered metabolically unhealthy[1].   In addition, they often have high blood pressure, high fasting blood glucose and/or HbA1C, and may also have high triglyceride levels and/or low HDL cholesterol levels…and we haven’t even assessed what happens to their blood sugar 30 minutes or 60 minutes after a carbohydrate load!


Final thoughts…

America is a nation with underlying health conditions; only 12% of adults are metabolically healthy and only slightly more than a 1/4 have a normal body weight.

While Canada’s obesity rates were slightly better when last measured, how many Canadians have normal waist circumference — let alone normal blood pressure, normal fasting blood sugar, HbA1C or triglycerides or HDL cholesterol? In fact, how many people in either country even know what a healthy waist circumference is?

Until we realize that we are “sick”,  getting “well” is simply not possible.

More Info?

If you would like more information about restoring your weight and metabolic health, please send me a note using the Contact Me form on the tab above.

To your good health!

Joy

 

You can follow me on:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/JoyKiddie
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BetterByDesignNutrition/


References
  1. Araíºjo J, et al Prevalence of Optimal Metabolic Health in American Adults: National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2009—2016. Metabolic Syndrome and Related Disorders Vol 20, No. 20, pg 1-7, DOI: 10.1089/met.2018.0105
  2. Hulman A, Simmons RK, Vistisen D. et al. Heterogeneity in glucose response curves during an oral glucose tolerance test and associated cardiometabolic risk. Endocrine 55, 427—434 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12020-016-1126-z
  3. Pareek M, Bhatt DL, Nielsen ML, et al, Enhanced Predictive Capability of a 1-Hour Oral Glucose Tolerance Test: A Prospective Population-Based Cohort Study,
  4. Crofts, C., et al., Identifying hyperinsulinaemia in the absence of impaired glucose tolerance: An examination of the Kraft database. Diabetes Res Clin Pract, 2016. 118: p. 50-7.
  5. Fryar C, et al “Prevalence of overweight, obesity, and severe obesity among adults aged 20 and over: United States, 1960—1962 through 2017—2018” NCHS Health E-Stats; 2020.

Copyright ©2020 BetterByDesign Nutrition Ltd.

LEGAL NOTICE: The contents of this blog, including text, images and cited statistics as well as all other material contained here (the ”content”) are for information purposes only.  The content is not intended to be a substitute for professional advice, medical diagnosis and/or treatment and is not suitable for self-administration without the knowledge of your physician and regular monitoring by your physician. Do not disregard medical advice and always consult your physician with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition or before implementing anything  you have read or heard in our content.

The Difference Between Food Sensitivity Tests and Food Allergy Tests

One of the more frustrating things that I experience as a Dietitian who works with people with food allergy is when people come to me with a lab report listing foods they are ‘allergic’ to — only for me to get a multi-page report that they paid $650-750 out of pocket for, and which measures IgG antibodies, not the IgE antibodies which are associated with food allergy. These people paid good money to find out what foods underlie them not feeling well and received an impressive looking multi-page document that doesn’t measure what they think — or are led to believe it measures.

Our body makes different types of antibodies, including IgA antibodies, IgG antibodies, IgM antibodies, and IgE antibodies. IgA antibodies are found in high concentrations in the respiratory passages, as well as the GI tract and one of the best known IgA antibody tests is the IgA TTG test which tests for whether someone has celiac disease. IgM antibodies are found in the blood and lymphatic system and are found when our body is fighting a new infection. IgE and IgG antibodies are covered below.

Immunoglobin E (IgE)

IgE antibodies are produced by the immune system and are normally found in very small amounts in the blood. When someone has an allergy — whether to an environmental substance such as pollen from trees or grasses, or to food, the body overreacts and produces high amounts of specific allergen IgE antibodies. What is important to know is that each type of IgE is specific to one type of allergen. When the IgE antibody binds with our mast cells, a type of white blood cell that is part of our immune system, they release histamine which causes us to have an allergic reaction, which may be sneezing, itching, difficulty breathing, or other symptoms [1].

When people have some types of environmental allergies such as to pollen from grass or trees, they might be prescribed antihistamines to calm that allergic reaction down. When people are diagnosed with food allergies, they are advised to avoid that food completely, which is often sufficient to avoid symptoms. Sometimes completely different foods that have proteins with similar amino acid sequences as the food they are allergic to cause them to have a “cross-reaction”. This is where the body recognizes the similar amino acid sequence as being the same as part of the amino acid sequence in food that they are allergic to (and to which they have IgE antibodies).  In some cases the body will react to this other food as if it is allergic, but it is usually it a lower level of a reaction that the food to which they have a full-blown reaction.  

When people have very serious food allergies, they are advised to carry an Epipen in the event they have a very serious reaction called anaphylaxis. Anaphylaxis is a serious, life-threatening allergic reaction where a person’s immune system over-reacts to a specific allergen (such as insect sting, peanut or latex) and which results in difficulty breathing and a sudden drop in blood pressure. This requires immediate medical treatment and an Epipen injection which contains epinephrine (adrenaline) to help get them breathing, and then a visit to the emergency department of a local hospital.

Tests for food allergy always involve assessing the amount of IgE antibody response to a specific allergen or allergens — either by skin-scratch testing, or by a specific antigen IgE blood test.

Immunoglobin G (IgG)

IgG antibodies are found in our blood and other body fluids and recognize foreign proteins — including those from bacterial and viral infections.  These are the type of antibodies we are looking for when we’ve had an vaccine or immunization to diseases like chicken pox, or measles.

Our body also produces IgG antibodies in response to foods — and this is a normal response in a person with a healthy immune system.

Our body knows the difference between the proteins it makes, and the proteins contained in our food, so if we eat beef or a banana, our body will make IgG antibodies to the proteins in those foods. These IgG antibodies serve as a form of “memory” of our exposure to that food. Positive IgG antibodies to a food do NOT indicate a food allergy [2]. A positive IgG antibody response to a food means that our body as been exposed to that food recently and recognizes the protein in it.

Food Sensitivity / Food Allergy Testing

Sometimes, people have symptoms that make them feel unwell and they want to determine which foods, or food-components underlie their symptoms.

If the person goes to their doctor, they may be referred to an Allergist who will determine if they have IgE mediated antibodies to specific proteins in various food.  If they do, the person may be advised to avoid eating these foods, or if a potentially serious food allergy, to carry an Epipen. They may be advised to see a Dietitian that specializes in food allergies to help them know which foods are similar to the ones they are allergic to (i.e. cross reactants), so they can minimize their symptoms.

Sometimes the person will go to a Dietitian that is experienced with food allergy first — in an attempt to determine if they are allergic or sensitive to specific foods.  After taking a thorough history — including whether the person is allergic to certain trees which are known to cross-react with specific vegetables, fruit or nuts, the Dietitian may be recommended the person ask their doctor to requisition specific antigen IgE blood tests to determine of they are allergic to a food or tree pollen that is known to underlie Oral Allergy Syndrome. Oral Allergy Syndrome is where the body recognizes amino acid sequences in certain foods that are similar to the tree pollen(s) they have IgE antibodies to.

Note: Specific antigen IgE antibody testing is completely covered by provincial health insurance. In British Columbia, general practitioner MDs / family physicians can requisition up to 5 specific antigen IgE blood tests per year per patient.

If the specific antigen IgE blood test results come back positive, then the doctor may refer the person to an Allergist for further testing, and the Dietitian will teach them about avoiding foods they are allergic to, as well as their cross-reactants.

Alternative Food Sensitivity Testing – immunoglobin G (IgG)

Sometimes, instead of going to their doctor or to a Dietitian experienced with food allergies, people will sometimes seek out the help of a Naturopath. Typically, they will recommend “food sensitivity testing”, for which they charge between $650-$750. In this type of testing, the person will have their blood drawn and sent off to one of several labs that do this type of testing. The blood is exposed to different types of foods, and food components in a petri dish and the degree to which immunoglobin G binds to each food is measured. The results are then printed off in a multi-page report that is given to the person by their Naturopath who explains that the positive results indicate the degree to which the person has an “allergy” or “sensitivity” to those foods [2]. The problem is,IgG antibodies only indicate that the person’s body recognizes that food NOT that they are allergic or sensitized to the food.

Note: Only IgE antibodies assess true allergy — either by skin scratch testing, or specific allergen IgE blood tests.

These multi-page reports come in different formats, and here are a couple of examples (with names removed);

Based on these results, people will be advised by their Naturopaths which food(s) they should avoid.

Sometimes the person is provided with accompanying information which lists specific conditions that are supposedly associated with positive IgG antibodies, including weight gain, bloating, hyperactivity, depression, asthma, high blood pressure and others [1].

Alternative Food Sensitivity Testing – MSAS Food Sensitivity Testing, Applied Kinesiology Muscle Testing

There are other types of alternate testing that are supposed to indicate whether a person is “sensitive” to a food. The procedure called MSAS Food Sensitivity testing uses a device which conducts an electrical current on acupuncture points (called meridian points) on the fingers and arm.

Here is an example of MSAS report:

MSAS Food Sensitivity Testing Results

One client of mine was told by their Naturopath that they were allergic to food if their arm got weaker when they were rubbed gently with the food, while holding their arms out by their sides. This technique is known as Applied Kinesiology Muscle Testing (unaffiliated with the health science of Kinesiology).

Food intolerance

Food Intolerance is non-IgE mediated food sensitivity which usually involves a difficulty in digesting certain foods, and often involves a lack of a specific enzyme.

Lactose Intolerance is a well-known food intolerance in which a person can’t digest the sugar in milk because they have a shortage of the enzyme, lactase. Primary lactose intolerance is where a person doesn’t make enough lactase, and secondary lactose intolerance is where the person lacks lactase because they’ve had diarrhea which sloughed off the lactase enzyme which resides in the intestinal wall. Tyramine Intolerance is also caused by a lack of an enzyme — in this case monoamine oxidase (MAO). As a result, levels of tyramine can build up, causing migraine, heart palpitations or GI issues, including nausea and vomiting. As mentioned above in the section about IgE mediated allergy, histamine is released from mast cells and mediates allergic reactions. Histamine is produced by the body, along with an enzyme known as diamine oxidase (DAO). DAO is responsible for breaking down histamine that is made from foods you eat that contain histadine. Some people have a deficiency of DAO, which is called histamine intolerance. It may be secondary to a person having Mast Cell Activation Disorder (MCAD), or due to some other cause, such as certain medications that cause them not to be able to break down histamine properly. In such cases, limiting foods that are high in histadine — which gets converted to histamine can be helpful, or by limiting foods that trigger histamine release from mast cells.

If You Think You May Be Allergic 

If you think you may be allergic to certain foods, or that some of the food you are eating may underlie specific symptoms you are experiencing, then go see your doctor and seek the help of a Dietitian that specializes in food allergy and sensitivity.

The first step would be to rule out genuine food allergy, which is IgE antibody mediated. This can be done by scratch tests from an Allergist or by specific allergen IgE tests (both types of tests are covered by provincial health insurance). If you have food allergies, then the Dietitian will teach you how to avoid those foods, and how to watch out for cross-reacting foods.

If you don’t have food allergies, then the Dietitian can assist you in identifying which foods are making you feel unwell, then by recommending an appropriate approach once the specific foods, or food components are identified. For some, this may mean avoiding the food, but often times it is a matter of eating less of the food at a time, or eating it less often. Each person is different.

More Info?

If you think you may have food allergies or sensitivities, I offer a package called the Food Sensitivity Food Allergy Package which walks people through the process mentioned above. If you have questions please send me a note through the Contact Me form on the tab above.

To your good health!

Joy

You can follow me on:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/JoyKiddie
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BetterByDesignNutrition/

References

  1. American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology, Immunoglobin E (IgE)  definition, https://www.aaaai.org/conditions-and-treatments/conditions-dictionary/immunoglobulin-e-(ige)
  2. American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI), Can IgG blood testing check for delayed food allergies?https://acaai.org/resources/connect/ask-allergist/can-igg-blood-testing-check-delayed-food-allergies
  3. Lavine E. Blood testing for sensitivity, allergy or intolerance to food. CMAJ. 2012;184(6):666-668. doi:10.1503/cmaj.110026

Copyright ©2020 BetterByDesign Nutrition Ltd.

LEGAL NOTICE: The contents of this blog, including text, images and cited statistics as well as all other material contained here (the ”content”) are for information purposes only.  The content is not intended to be a substitute for professional advice, medical diagnosis and/or treatment and is not suitable for self-administration without the knowledge of your physician and regular monitoring by your physician. Do not disregard medical advice and always consult your physician with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition or before implementing anything  you have read or heard in our content.

Stages of Change and Why Most People Regain Weight Loss

Studies have found that more than half of weight loss is regained within two years and by five years, more than 80% of weight loss is regained [1]. In fact, people who have had previous failed attempts at maintaining their weight-loss often believe that weight loss is a futile endeavor[2], so why bother even trying to change?

There are lots of different reasons why people seek weight loss and in my experience it is much less about how people feel about how they look, than their health.  People already know that they need to lose weight to lower high blood sugar and high blood pressure (hypertension), but the last few months there is a greater sense of urgency due to recent studies which indicate that people requiring hospitalization for Covid-19 had one or more of these underlying conditions. But where to start?

Some people think that all they need to do is “make up their mind” to change and they will, yet in most cases these same people have “made up their minds” multiple times — lost weight, and then put it all back and then some.

Change is not a state of mind, but a process.

The Stages of Change model was developed in 1979 by James Prochaska [3] and expanded on by Prochaska, Norcross and DiClemente in a 1994 book titled Changing for Good: a Revolutionary Six-Stage Program for Overcoming Bad Habits and Moving Your Life Positively Forward.

The Stages of Change are Precontemplation, Contemplation, Preparation, Action, Maintenance and Relapse.

They were originally seen as five stages (with Preparation and Action forming one stage) but are now seen as six distinct stages.

The Six Stages of Change

  1. Precontemplation – in this stage, people are just beginning to see that there is a problem, but not necessarily what it is. Oftentimes, people see the problem as being something outside of their control, or the result of someone- or something else. They may be experiencing negative consequences related to their behaviour, but don’t see the problem as being serious enough to motivate them to changing it.
  2. Contemplation – in this stage, the person realizes that the behaviour is problematic for them, but they have mixed feelings. They have a desire for the situation to change, but are not ready to commit to making changes.
  3. Preparation – in this stage, the person still has some mixed feelings about the problem, but begins to make plans to take action within a specific amount of time (usually a few weeks). At this point, most people have weighed the positive versus negative consequences of not changing their behavior and have concluded that the negative aspects outweigh any benefits they perceive their current behavior brings them, and are coming up with a plan to support their success.
  4. Action – at this stage, the person is actively involved in changing their behaviour and carrying out their plan to support their success.
  5. Maintenance – at this stage, people are consolidating what they’ve accomplished during the action stage. TA person can remain in this stage for an extended periods of time — with an adequate support system in place.
  6. Relapse – the person falls back (lapses) into their former pattern of behaviour. Some people start the process of change over again after a brief “slip”, while others continue in their lapsed behaviour patterns.

Is Relapse Inevitable?

The standard model sees relapse as part of the stages of change, and to a certain extent, it is.  No one perfectly maintains their goal weight, or their goal blood sugars or blood pressure. For some, a lapse may be eating a meal or a dessert that isn’t part of their plan, but then the next day they are “back on track”. For others, eating a meal or a dessert results in them feeling like a failure. They feel like since they’ve “already blown it”, so they might as well “go for it” and eat all the things they want.

I believe that what makes the difference between those that “slip” and then relapse and those that “slip” and get back on track is having a long-term plan for maintenance.

A Long-Term Plan for Maintenance

Just as one contemplates their plan for weight loss, then prepares to execute that plan, and takes action to carry out that plan — to be successful long term requires not only having a plan in place to support successful weight loss, but also having a plan for maintenance in place for afterwards.

Understanding what contributed to gaining weight in the first place often helps people come up with a successful plan both to lose weight, as well as a long-term plan for weight maintenance. Each person needs to find what is an appropriate plan for them.

For some, that might be an accountability partner, for others it may be support and follow-up with a Dietitian, and for others it may be getting support for a larger issue such as food addiction at a 12-step support group or addictions counsellor.

It doesn’t have to be a “vicious cycle”!

If a person was driven to eat due to high cortisol and insulin levels, then having a plan in place to keep those in check after they’ve reached their goal weight will enable them to maintain their weight loss long term.

If they came to realize that they meet many of the 11 DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual) criteria for substance abuse disorder related to specific foods or food in general, then seeking support of a food addictions counsellor would be worth exploring.

If they realize that they mainly eat when they are angry, lonely, tired or stressed then coming up with healthier alternative behaviours to do instead, might be part of what would enable them to achieve and maintain long-term weight loss, or by working through some of those underlying issues with a counsellor.

A 2018 paper by Hall and Kahan titled Maintenance of Lost Weight and Long-Term Management of Obesity put it well:

“Treatment of obesity requires ongoing attention and support, and weight maintenance-specific counseling, to improve long-term weight management.” [4]

I support my clients with services through all stages of change — from the SMART goal setting session, to the Complete Assessment Package, and the Dietary Management Package and refer to others with expertise in counselling or food addiction, as appropriate.

I want you to be part of the 20% that are able to maintain your weight loss to five years and beyond, and I believe that it is entirely “doable” with good planning and appropriate support.

More Info?

If you would like more information about the different types of low carb or ketogenic diets I teach, please send me a note using the Contact Me form on the tab above.

To your good health!

Joy

You can follow me on:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/JoyKiddie
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BetterByDesignNutrition/

Reference

  1. Anderson JW, Konz EC, Frederich RC, Wood CL. Long-term weight-loss maintenance: a meta-analysis of US studies. Am J Clin Nutr. 2001;74(5):579—584.
  2. Mann T, Tomiyama AJ, Westling E, Lew AM, Samuels B, Chatman J. Medicare’s search for effective obesity treatments: diets are not the answer. The American psychologist. 2007;62(3):220—233.
  3. Prochaska, J. O., & DiClemente, C. C. (1982). Transtheoretical therapy: Toward a more integrative model of change. Psychotherapy: Theory, Research & Practice, 19(3), 276—288. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0088437
  4. Hall KD, Kahan S. Maintenance of Lost Weight and Long-Term Management of Obesity. Med Clin North Am. 2018;102(1):183-197. doi:10.1016/j.mcna.2017.08.012

 

Copyright ©2020 BetterByDesign Nutrition Ltd.

LEGAL NOTICE: The contents of this blog, including text, images and cited statistics as well as all other material contained here (the ”content”) are for information purposes only.  The content is not intended to be a substitute for professional advice, medical diagnosis and/or treatment and is not suitable for self-administration without the knowledge of your physician and regular monitoring by your physician. Do not disregard medical advice and always consult your physician with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition or before implementing anything  you have read or heard in our content.

Is a Diet High in Carbohydrate Appropriate for Humans?

This post comes out of some recent lively discussion on social media where I was challenged to re-consider my position that a low carbohydrate or very low carbohydrate (keto) diet can put people into remission of type 2 diabetes (T2D), but does not reverse it, and is not a cure. The discussion centred around whether some metabolic diseases such as T2D may come about as the result of us eating a diet that humans have not evolved to see, and whether eating a species-appropriate diet could be viewed as “curative”.


Back in 2018, I wrote my first article on the topic of whether a low carbohydrate diet actually “cures” type 2 diabetes, or puts it into remission.  In that article, titled The Difference Between Reversal and Remission of Type 2 Diabetes I wrote;

“Reversal” of a disease implies that whatever was causing it is now gone and is synonymous with using the term ”cured”. In the case of someone with Type 2 Diabetes, reversal would mean that the person can now eat a standard diet and still maintain normal blood sugar levels. But does that actually occur? Or are blood sugar levels normal only while eating a diet that is appropriate for someone who is Diabetic, such as a low carbohydrate or ketogenic diet, or while taking medications such as Metformin? If blood sugar is only normal while eating a therapeutic diet or taking medication then this is not reversal of the disease process, but remission of symptoms.”

I argued that since type 2 diabetes is the result of beta cell failure, for someone to indeed be “cured”, there would need to be evidence of a restoration of beta cell function. 

In that article, I explained how in 2009 the American Diabetes Association defined the terms partial remission, complete remission and prolonged remission as follows;

  • Partial remission is having blood sugar that does not meet the classification for Type 2 Diabetes; i.e. either HbA1C < 6.5% and/or fasting blood glucose 5.5 — 6.9 mmol/l (100—125 mg/dl) for at least 1 year while not taking any medications to lower blood glucose.
  • Complete remission is a return to normal glucose values i.e. HbA1C <6.0%, and/or fasting blood glucose < 5.6 mmol/L (100 mg/dl) for at least 1 year while not taking any medications to lower blood glucose.
  • Prolonged remission is a return to normal glucose values (i.e. HbA1C  <6.0%, and/or fasting blood glucose < 5.6 mmol/L (100 mg/dl) for at least 5 years while not taking any medications to lower blood glucose.

Different studies, including those from the DiRECT diabetes remission trial and Virta Health define remission differently. The DiRECT diabetes remission trial defines remission as having a HbA1C below 6.5%, which is the cut-off for a type 2 diabetes diagnosis, as well as discontinuation of all diabetes medications for at least two months [1].  Virta Health, on the other hand defines remission in their studies as a HbA1C < 6.5% and fasting blood glucose ≤ 5.5 (100 mg/dl) while taking no medication, il with the exception of Metformin (or generic equivalent) [2].

There are 3 ways that are known for people to achieve remission of type 2 diabetes symptoms and these are;

  1. a low calorie energy deficit diet [1,3,4]
  2. bariatric surgery (especially use of the roux en Y procedure) [5,6]
  3. a ketogenic diet [2]

…but in each of these cases, we are defining remission in terms of the disease state and based on lab standards for defining normal cut-off values. That is, remission is defined as having normal fasting blood sugar and/or HbA1C, that are below the cut-off points for the disease, based on current diet.

This past weekend, I was appropriately challenged by someone on Twitter who said that this logic is flawed, because it assumes that the diet causing the disease is somehow natural. That is, if the diet causing the disease is unnatural, then couldn’t the natural diet indeed be viewed as curative?

I agreed to ponder this — and in fact, gave a great deal of thought to it. Several things came to mind that reinforced the idea that a high carbohydrate diet is not a “natural” human diet, and may not be appropriate for humans.

Human’s Evolutionary Diet

Over the course of man’s existence, there have been a number of major shifts in the human diet and with that change came the necessity of the body to adapt by producing enzymes capable of digesting and absorbing nutrients from these novel foods. This required the human genome (our genes) to adapt, evolve and change, and this type of adaptation takes a great deal of time [8].

There is good evidence for use of human-controlled fires which would have given us the ability to cook our meat, but is only about 800,000 years old [9] with less certain sites dating back 1,500,000 years [10,11].

The origin of domestication of animals is considered to be ~10,000 – 12,000 years and represents a relatively recent shift in the human diet — moving humans from being a hunter-gatherer species, to being an agricultural species [8]. The innovation of human agriculture not only greatly reduced diversity in the human diet, it resulted in an estimated 50%—70% of calories coming from starch (carbohydrates) [12].

According to Dr. Donald Layman, Professor Emeritus from the University of Illinois, looking at it from the perspective of man’s evolutionary history, the appearance of a diet centered around carbohydrates is very recent [9]. According to Dr. Layman, cereal grains as food were non-existent in the human evolutionary diet, and the same with legumes, such as chickpeas and lentils [13]. As well, refined sugar made up of sucrose was also non-existent in the evolutionary diet. While humans would eat wild fruit, these contained a fraction of the digestible carbohydrate content of domesticated fruitOn the rare occasion when humans came across a beehive and would eat honey (which is half glucose, half fructose), the idea of a diet high in sucrose and fructose was simply non-existent. According to Dr. Layman, consumption of dairy products and alcohol are also very recent in terms of human history [13]. We didn’t milk wild animals, we ate them and fermentation of fruit for wine is also very recent in terms of the evolutionary diet [13]. According to Dr. Layman if we look at contemporary agriculture, what has fundamentally changed is that these foods were totally non-existent in the history of man’s diet previous to the agricultural revolutionHumans did not evolve to see cereal grains, legumes, refined sugar, dairy foods and alcohol as human food and all of these are very rich in carbohydrate.  Interestingly, Dr. Layman stressed that the human body responds to dietary carbohydrate as if it were highly toxic, and that it must be rapidly cleared after eating in order for our body to maintain blood sugar within the very narrow range between 3.3-5.5 mmol/L (60-100 mg/dl).

Why would our body react this way?

According to Dr. Layman, over the span of human history we have developed very extensive and elaborate patterns for handling protein; for digesting and metabolizing it and have also developed a very high ‘satiety’ (feeling full) in response to eating protein, and that it is the only macronutrient that provides sufficiently strong feedback such that we can’t over eat it. He said that fat is a very passive nutrient and has very little direct effect on our body. We store it effectively and this ability to store excess intake as fat is what enabled us to survive as hunter-gatherers, but according to Dr. Layman, the macronutrient that is at odds in this picture is carbohydrate, simply because humans did not evolved to eat large amounts of carbohydrate.

Could it be that the diet that underlies metabolic disease like type 2 diabetes be one that is unnatural for humans? We certainly did not evolve to eat 300 grams of carbohydrate per day!

As I was contemplating this idea, I suddenly remembered seeing a video clip about a year or so ago that was mind-blowing to me at the time. It was of Dr. Walter Willett, Professor of Epidemiology and Nutrition at Harvard School of Public Health and a well-known advocate for diets very low in animal protein and high in carbohydrate (including the recent EAT-Lancet diet [14,15]) saying something along the lines that it is not the eating of dietary fat that makes people fat, but eating lots of carbohydrate.

Here is verbatim what Dr. Willett said;

 “There had been part of a belief that fat in the diet is what makes you fat and I even had colleagues who said that you can’t get fat eating carbohydrates because the body can’t convert carbohydrates to fat. I grew up in Michigan in a rural community and I can tell you that farmers have known for thousands of years if you want to fatten an animal a lot, what you feed them is grains, high carbohydrate diets, and you put them in a pen so they don’t run around and they get fat very predictably… most recent literature showed very clearly, you can really do randomized trials looking at weight change because you need just a hundred or few hundred people and you don’t need decades; you need a year or two and it’s very clear from those randomized trials that low-fat diets…ummm… fat is really not determinant of body weight. The percentage of calories from fat in the diet is not a determinant. In fact, lot of evidence suggesting it is easier for many people to get fat on a low-fat high carbohydrate diets. If anything, that’s what the literature is suggesting. So, it is interesting that fat in the diet just has almost nothing to do with fat in the body. We can get very fat on just lots and lots of carbohydrates.”

Lest anyone think I am taking the video clip out of context, here is the link to the full video from Willett’s keynote lecture from the 2012 Annual Advances in Cancer Prevention Lecture of July 25, 2012. The question and answer period which contains the clip above, begins 49 minutes into the full-length video.

So, it is well-known that eating lots and lots of carbohydrate can make pigs fat, and pigs are used in many research settings because of their similarities to humans. Is it not reasonable to deduce that humans eating lots and lots of carbohydrate can also make us fat?

But it’s not only are cereal grains and legumes that are relatively new in the human diet as food, but so are the oils extracted from cereal grains and seed, such as soybean oil and canola and that are in almost every manufactured food we eat.   

(I’ve previously written about concerns with these seed oils known as “polyunsaturated vegetable oils” in a two-part article from mid-2018 that can be read here and here.)

We, as humans have not evolved to eat these as food — and not only to eat them as food, but to eat them in HUGE quantities!

A study published in November 2018 in Metabolic Syndrome and Related Disorders reported that 88% of Americans are already metabolically unhealthy. That is, only 12% have metabolic health defined as have levels of metabolic markers ”consistent with a high level of health and low risk of impending cardiometabolic disease”[16].

Metabolic Health is defined as ;

Waist Circumference: < 102 cm (40 inches) for men and 88 cm (34.5 inches) in women
Systolic Blood Pressure: < 120 mmHG
Diastolic Blood Pressure: < 80 mmHG
Glucose: < 5.5 mmol/L (100 mg/dL)
HbA1c: < 5.7%
Triglycerides: < 1.7 mmol/l (< 150 mg/dL)
HDL cholesterol: ≥ 1.00 mmol/L (≥40 mg/dL) in men and ≥ 1.30 mmol/L (50 mg/dl) in women

When looking at only 3 of the above 7 factors (waist circumference, blood glucose levels and blood pressure) more than 50% of Americans were considered metabolically unhealthy [16].

Given the slightly lower rates of obesity in Canada [17] as in the United States [18], presumably there is a slightly lower percentage of Canadians who are metabolically unhealthy, but the similarity of our diets may make that difference insignificant — which begs the question: what is it about our diet that results in 3/4 of us being metabolically unhealthy?

I believe the answer has something to do with the amount of refined carbs and refined fat that we eat together — something that was not part of our evolutionary history, and something that is now known to be irresistible.

Maybe the logic behind thinking about “remission” from diseases such as type 2 diabetes IS flawed because it DOES assume that our current human diet is “natural”. Genetic adaptation to dietary changes takes time, and in the context of human evolution, the foods that we eat so much of are relatively new.

Given this, is it not possible that some of the metabolic disease we as humans are facing in ever-increasing numbers might be related to us eating a diet that is not a natural human diet?

Could it be that consuming a diet that humans evolved to eat — and which reverses the symptoms associated with some metabolic diseases be indeed viewed as “curative”?

Definitely food for thought!

More Info?

If you would like more information about the different types of low carb or ketogenic diets I teach, please send me a note using the Contact Me form on the tab above.

To your good health!

Joy

You can follow me on:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/JoyKiddie
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BetterByDesignNutrition/

Reference

  1. Lean ME, Leslie WS, Barnes AC, et al. Primary care-led weight management for remission of type 2 diabetes (DiRECT): an open-label, cluster-randomised trial.  Lancet. 2018 Feb 10;391(10120):541-551. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(17)33102-1.
  2. Athinarayanan SJ, Adams RN, Hallberg SJ et al, Long-Term Effects of a Novel Continuous Remote Care Intervention Including Nutritional Ketosis for the Management of Type 2 Diabetes: A 2-year Non-randomized Clinical Trial.  preprint first posted online Nov. 28, 2018;doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1101/476275.
  3. Lim EL, Hollingsworth KG, Aribisala BS, Chen MJ, Mathers JC, Taylor R. Reversal of type 2 diabetes: normalisation of beta cell function in association with decreased pancreas and liver triacylglycerol. Diabetologia2011;54:2506-14. doi:10.1007/s00125-011-2204-7 pmid:21656330
  4. Steven S, Hollingsworth KG, Al-Mrabeh A, et al. Very low-calorie diet and 6 months of weight stability in type 2 diabetes: pathophysiological changes in responders and nonresponders. Diabetes Care2016;39:808-15. doi:10.2337/dc15-1942 pmid:2700205
  5. Cummings DE, Rubino F (2018) Metabolic surgery for the treatment of type 2 diabetes in obese individuals. Diabetologia 61(2):257—264.
  6. Madsen, L.R., Baggesen, L.M., Richelsen, B. et al. Effect of Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery on diabetes remission and complications in individuals with type 2 diabetes: a Danish population-based matched cohort study, Diabetologia (2019) 62: 611. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00125-019-4816-2
  7. Evert, AB, Dennison M, Gardner CD, et al, Nutrition Therapy for Adults With Diabetes or Prediabetes: A Consensus Report, Diabetes Care, Ahead of Print, published online April 18, 2019, https://doi.org/10.2337/dci19-0014
  8. Luca F, Perry GH, Di Rienzo A. Evolutionary Adaptations to Dietary Changes. Annual review of nutrition. 2010;30:291-314. doi:10.1146/annurev-nutr-080508-141048.
  9. Goren-Inbar N, Alperson N, Kislev ME, Simchoni O, Melamed Y, et al. Evidence of hominin control of fire at Gesher Benot Ya’aqov, Israel.  Science.  2004;304:725—727
  10. Brain CK, Sillent A. Evidence from the Swartkrans cave for the earliest use of fire. Nature. 1988;336:464—466.
  11. Evidence for the use of fire at Zhoukoudian, China Weiner S, Xu Q, Goldberg P, Liu J, Bar-Yosef O Science. 1998 Jul 10; 281(5374):251-3.
  12. Copeland L, Blazek J, Salman H, Chiming Tang M. Form and functionality of starch. Food Hydrocolloids. 2009;23:1527—1534
  13. Layman, Donald, The Evolving Role of Dietary Protein in Adult Health, Nutrition Forum, British Columbia, Canada, June 23, 2013 https://youtu.be/4KlLmxPDTuQ
  14. The EAT-Lancet Commission on Food, Planet and Health,  https://eatforum.org/eat-lancet-commission/
  15. The EAT-Lancet Commission on Food, Planet and Health — EAT-Lancet Commission Brief for Healthcare Professionals,  https://eatforum.org/lancet-commission/healthcare-professionals/
  16. Araíºjo J, Cai J, Stevens J. Prevalence of Optimal Metabolic Health in American Adults: National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2009—2016. Metabolic Syndrome and Related Disorders Vol 20, No. 20, pg 1-7, DOI: 10.1089/met.2018.0105
  17. Statistics Canada, Health at a Glance, Adjusting the scales: Obesity in the Canadian population after correcting for respondent bias,  https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/82-624-x/2014001/article/11922-eng.htm
  18. State of Obesity, Adult Obesity in the United States, https://stateofobesity.org/adult-obesity/

 

Copyright ©2020 BetterByDesign Nutrition Ltd.

LEGAL NOTICE: The contents of this blog, including text, images and cited statistics as well as all other material contained here (the ”content”) are for information purposes only.  The content is not intended to be a substitute for professional advice, medical diagnosis and/or treatment and is not suitable for self-administration without the knowledge of your physician and regular monitoring by your physician. Do not disregard medical advice and always consult your physician with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition or before implementing anything  you have read or heard in our content.

Another Therapeutic Ketogenic Diet and How it Differs from “the Keto Diet”

In addition to the several types of therapeutic ketogenic diets mentioned in the previous post, such as the Classic Ketogenic Diet (KD), the Modified  Ketogenic Diet (MKD) and the Modified Atkins Diet (MAD) used in the treatment of epilepsy and seizure disorder and as adjunct treatment in glioblastoma, there is another type of therapeutic ketogenic diet used in the treatment of type 2 diabetes and for weight loss which is referred to in the literature as a Very Low Carbohydrate Diet (VLCD). This post outlines two examples of this type of therapeutic ketogenic diet, and how it differs considerably from the popularized “keto diet”.

When compared with a Very Low Carbohydrate Diet (VLCD), the popularized “keto diet” which focuses on high intake of eggs and fatty cuts along with copious amounts of added fat in the form of ‘fat bombs’ and ‘bulletproof coffee’ is like a caricature compared with a portrait.  A portrait seeks to accurately represent physical attributes, and a caricature uses hyperbole to exaggerate some, and over-simplify others. 

This new article picks up from the previous one in outlining another type of therapeutic ketogenic diet used for putting type 2 diabetes into remission as well as for weight loss, and how it is very different from the popularized “keto diet”.


A Therapeutic Ketogenic Diet

A ketogenic diet is one that induces and sustains a state of ketosis which is a natural metabolic state where the body burns fat as its primary fuel, rather than carbohydrate. What makes any diet ketogenic is not how much fat it contains, but the amount of carbohydrate it contains.

In reference to the treatment of type 2 diabetes and obesity, ketogenic diets are often referred to in the literature as a ”Very Low Carbohydrate Dies (VLCD)“, which is where carbohydrate intake is limited to 20-50 g per day or 10% of total energy intake[1]. It is this low carbohydrate intake that results in the body using fat as its primary fuel, rather than carbohydrate and at this very low level of carbohydrate intake, blood ketone levels increase at or above 0.5 mmol/L, resulting in ketosis.

Ketosis is where the ketone betahydroxybutyrate (BHB) reaches levels between 0.5 — 3.0 mmol/L (and up to 4.0 mmol/L for therapeutic ketogenic diets  used in the treatment of epilepsy, seizure disorder and glioblastoma). In a Very Low Carbohydrate Diet (VLCD) used in the treatment of type 2 diabetes, BHB levels are usually set between 1.5-3.0 mmol/L, a level described as nutritional ketosis [2].

A drug or diet is said to be therapeutic when it is used in the treatment of a disease or medical condition(s). When implemented by a Dietitian, a therapeutic diet is referred to as Medical Nutrition Therapy (MNT) [3].

Use of a Very Low Carbohydrate Diet (VLCD) as Medical Nutrition Therapy in the treatment of type 2 diabetes is recognized by numerous organizations around the world, including the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD).

The American Diabetes Association has stated that reducing carb intake has the most evidence for improving blood sugar and has included both a low carbohydrate (LC) and very low carbohydrate (VLC) eating pattern for treating type 2 diabetes as listed in their 2019 Consensus Report, and has included both in their 2019 Standards of Medical Care in Diabetes (2019) and Standards of Medical Care in Diabetes (2020).  This year,  Diabetes Canada released a Position Statement outlining that a low carbohydrate (LC) and very low carbohydrate diet (VLCD) are both safe and effective treatment for non-pregnant or lactating adults with type 2 diabetes.

The American Diabetes Association’s  Consensus Report defines low carbohydrate and very low carbohydrate as follows;

”In this review, a low carbohydrate (LC) eating patterns is defined as reducing carbohydrates to 26-45% of total calories [4].”

and

”In this review a very low carbohydrate (VLC) eating pattern is defined as reducing carbohydrate to <26% of total calories [4].”

Diabetes Canada also defines low carbohydrate and very low carbohydrate diets in terms of the amount of carbohydrate the diet contains. Low carbohydrate diets are defined as less than <130 g of carbohydrate per day or <45% energy as carbohydrate,  and very low carbohydrate diets as <50 g of carbohydrate per day [5].

Very Low Carbohydrate Diet (VLCD) for Treatment of Type 2 Diabetes

Back in 2018, the American Diabetes Association cited Virta Health’s one-year study data [6] as evidence for the safety and efficacy of a Very Low Carbohydrate Diet (VLCHD) in lowering blood sugar and diabetes medication usage and the new Diabetes Canada’s recommendations refers to the same study. As a result, Virta Health’s study is a good place for defining what a Very Low Carbohydrate Diet (VLCD) for the treatment of type 2 diabetes looks like.

Note: It should be noted that at the time the ADA’s 2019 Standards of Medical Care in Diabetes was published, Virta Health’s 2-year data had not yet been published, so the ADA and in turn, Diabetes Canada recommendations which were based on it, as well as other international organizations support for low and very low carbohydrate diets were only able to say conclusively that low carbohydrate diets and very low carbohydrate diets were safe and effective both in managing weight, as well as lowering glycated hemoglobin (HbA1C) in people with type 2 diabetes over the short term (<3 months). 

Virta Health’s Approach

As covered in this article on my affiliate site about Virta Health’s 2-year update and in this article with their 1-year update , subjects in their studies typically ate;

  1. <30 g per day of total dietary carbohydrate
  2. daily protein intake was targeted to a level of 1.5 g / kg based on ideal body weight
  3. Participants were coached to incorporate dietary fats until they were no longer hungry (i.e. to satiety)

Note (August 31, 2020): To put the protein requirements in perspective, a male whose ideal body weight is 150 pounds (68 kg) would be eating over 100 g of protein per day and a female whose ideal body weight is 135 pounds (61 kg) would be eating 92 g of protein per day.  That is, protein is targeted for its nutrient-density and satiety, and fat is incorporated only until satiety is reached.

Phinney and Volek’s Approach

Dr. Stephen Phinney MD, PhD, a medical doctor and Dr. Jeff Volek, RD, PhD a Registered Dietitian with a PhD have decades of combined scientific and clinic research experience in the area of low carbohydrate diets. In 2011 they published their expert guide titled The Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate Living [7] documenting the clinical benefits of carbohydrate restriction and how it can be used for weight loss.

In Phinney and Volek’s book [7], the Very Low Carbohydrate Diet (VLCD) outlined is one that is higher protein during the weight loss phase than during the weight maintenance stage, with ~30% of caloric intake coming from protein during weight loss, but which decreases to ~21% of caloric intake during weight maintenance. Fat is 60% of calories during the weight loss phase, and is increased to 65-72% during weight maintenance. Carbohydrate intake is kept very low (7.5-10% of calories for men, 2.5-6.5% of calories for women) in order to induce nutritional ketosis.

The reason dietary fat intake is lower during the weight loss phase in Phinney and Volek’s approach is to allow for the using of body fat stores for energy.

In Phinney and Volek’s approach;

  1. Carbohydrate intake is 7.5-10% of calories for men, 2.5-6.5% of calories for women
  2. Protein intake is up to 30% of calories during weight loss, 21% during weight maintenance
  3. Fat is 60% of calories during weight loss, 65-72% of calories during weight maintenance

Note (August 31, 2020): Protein intake for someone eating 2000 kcals per day is 150 g and for someone eating 1700 kcals per day is 141 g per day. Again, protein is targeted for its nutrient-density and satiety, and fat is only 60% of calories during weight loss.  This is very different than the popularized “keto diet”.

Popularized “Keto Diet”

The popularized “keto diet” is described as 70 – 80% fat, 15-20% protein* and 5% carbohydrate, with websites and articles promoting it frequently show plates laden with bacon and eggs, large fatty steaks with added butter melting on top, and loads of whipping cream over berries, and lots of avocado.

*while many “keto” proponents still stick with the lower protein intake [8], others have more recently increased the protein macro to 20% of calories, with fat at 70%.

This popularized “keto diet” is not the Very Low Carbohydrate Diet (VLCD) used by either Virta Health for putting type 2 diabetes into remission, or the VLCD approach used by Phinney and Volek for weight loss.

The popularized “keto diet” has ~50% less protein than a Very Low Carbohydrate Diet (VLCD) and ~20% more fat which has twice the energy density as protein.

Furthermore, the popularized “keto diet” is a very high fat, very low carbohydrate diet and is often promoted along with periods of intermittent fasting (IF), as frequent periods of less than 24 hours, or longer fasting periods which may include 5:2 (5 days of normal diet, 2 days restricting total calories to 500 per day), alternate day fasting, 36 hour fasts, or 42 hour fasts. This approach may suit some, but one has to ask if only eating ~1/3 of the time, is any weight loss really due to eating super high fat all the time, or due to the periods of fasting?

Like a caricature, the “keto diet” exaggerates some aspects of a Very Low Carbohydrate Diet (VLCD) and over-simplifies others. It exaggerates the fallacy that one needs to add extra fat into everything in order to lose weight, and overlooks the satiety of protein.

[Personal note: Approximately 1/3 of clients come to me for support after having followed this popularized “keto diet” without the fasting, and having failed to lose more than a bit of weight initially, or having gained weight.] 

Final Thoughts

There is no one-sized-fits-all low carb or ketogenic diet for weight loss, because each person’s nutrition needs are different. As covered in the preceding article, for those seeking safe and effective weight loss, there are a range of low carbohydrate diets available to choose from, with some that includes periods of ketosis, and others that don’t.

For those seeking to put type 2 diabetes into remission, a well-designed ketogenic diet using the Virta Health approach, or for weight-loss using Phinney and Volek’s approach are both safe and effective, if individualized for each person and done with adequate oversight. 

Remember, if you are taking any medication for type 2 diabetes, please read this article for why it can be dangerous to begin a very low carbohydrate diet (VLCD) / ketogenic diet without the involvement of your diabetes team.

More Info?

If you would like more information about type of low carb or ketogenic diet that might be best suited to you, please send me a note using the Contact Me form on the tab above.

To your good health!

Joy

You can follow me on:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/JoyKiddie
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BetterByDesignNutrition/

References

  1. Feinman RD, Pogozelski WK, Astrup A, Bernstein RK, Fine EJ,Westman EC, et al. Dietary Carbohydrate Restriction as the First Approach in Diabetes Management: critical review and evidence base. Nutrition. 2015;31(1):1—13
  2. Nasir H. Bhanpuri, Sarah J. Hallberg, Paul T. Williams et al, Cardiovascular disease risk factor responses to a type 2 diabetes care model including nutritional ketosis induced by sustained carbohydrate restriction at 1 year: an open label, non-randomized, controlled study, Cardiovascular Diabetology, 2018, 17(56)
  3. U.S. Department of Health and Human ServicesFinal MNT regulationsCMS-1169-FCFederal Register1 November 200142 CFR Parts 405, 410, 411, 414, and 415
  4. Evert, AB, Dennison M, Gardner CD, et al, Nutrition Therapy for Adults With Diabetes or Prediabetes: A Consensus Report, Diabetes Care, Ahead of Print, published online April 18, 2019, https://doi.org/10.2337/dci19-0014
  5. Diabetes Canada, Diabetes Canada Position Statement on Low Carbohydrate
    Diets for Adults with Diabetes: A Rapid Review Canadian Journal of Diabetes (2020), doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcjd.2020.04.001.
  6. Hallberg SJ, McKenzie AL, Williams PT, et al. Effectiveness and safety of a novel care model for the management of type 2 diabetes at 1 year: an  open-label, non-randomized, controlled study. Diabetes Ther 2018;9:583—612
  7. Volek JS, Phinney SD, The Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate Living: An Expert Guide, Beyond Obesity, 2011
  8. Zoe Harcombe, LCHF and Butter, January 29, 2018, https://www.zoeharcombe.com/2018/01/lchf-and-butter/

Copyright ©2020 BetterByDesign Nutrition Ltd.

LEGAL NOTICE: The contents of this blog, including text, images and cited statistics as well as all other material contained here (the ”content”) are for information purposes only.  The content is not intended to be a substitute for professional advice, medical diagnosis and/or treatment and is not suitable for self-administration without the knowledge of your physician and regular monitoring by your physician. Do not disregard medical advice and always consult your physician with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition or before implementing anything  you have read or heard in our content.

 

The Stereotypical High Fat Keto Diet is Only ONE Type

There is a common, but mistaken belief that there is such as thing as “THE keto diet” (singular) — which is high in fat of all types, including cream, butter, bacon, avocado and fatty cuts of meat. In fact, there are a wide range of “keto diets” (plural) — including several different therapeutic ones, as well as those that have been popularized the last several years for weight loss.  This article will explains the range of ketogenic diets that are available, and what they are used for as well as the unintended consequence of believing that a “keto diet” has to be high in fat.

What is a Ketogenic Diet?

A ketogenic diet is one that induces and sustains a state of ketosis, which is a natural metabolic state where the body burns fat as its primary fuel, rather than carbohydrate.

There are a number of different therapeutic ketogenic diets, as well as a number of weight-loss ketogenic diets

What makes any diet ketogenic is not how much fat it contains, but the amount of carbohydrate it contains.

This bears repeating.

A ketogenic diet is determined solely on the basis of how much carbohydrate it contains, and not on how much fat in contains.

Ketogenic diets, which are also referred to in the literature as “very low carbohydrate diets” are where carbohydrate intake is limited to 20-50 g per day or 10% of total energy intake [1].  It is this low carbohydrate intake that results in the body using fat as its primary fuel, rather than carbohydrate and at this very low level of carbohydrate intake, blood ketone levels increase at or above 0.5 mmol/L, resulting in ketosis. 

Ketosis is where the ketone betahydroxybutyrate (BHB) reaches levels between 0.5 – 3.0 mmol/L — and up to 4.0 mmol/L for therapeutic ketogenic diets used in the treatment of epilepsy, seizure disorder and glioblastoma.

Nutritional ketosis used predominantly for weight loss is usually set with BHB levels between 1.5-3.0 mmol/L [2].

Low carbohydrate diets are those where carbohydrate intake is limited to < 130 g per day or < 26% of total energy intake [1] and moderate carbohydrate diets are where carbohydrate intake is limited to 130—225 g per day or 26—45% of total energy intake [1].

Again, the amount of fat in the diet has nothing to do with a diet being ketogenic only the amount of carbohydrate it contains.

Therapeutic Ketogenic Diets

First of all, what does “therapeutic” mean?

Something is therapeutic when it is used in the treatment of a disease. This may be a pharmaceutical drug or a diet.  What makes a diet therapeutic is that it is used to treat a medical condition, or conditions.

A therapeutic diet may be prescribed by a Physician, and implemented by a Dietitian or the Physician themselves.  When implemented by a Dietitian, a therapeutic diet is referred to as Medical Nutrition Therapy (MNT) [3].

The first therapeutic ketogenic diet was used in the 1920s for the treatment of epilepsy. Physicians at Harvard Medical School had begun experimenting with periods of extended fasting as a treatment, and discovered that seizures improved after 2-3 days. In 1921 , Dr. R.M. Wilder[3] used a very high fat, low carbohydrate, and restricted protein diet in a series of patients with epilepsy, and found that it was as effective as fasting and had the advantage that it could be maintained for much longer a period of time than fasting.

The percentage of carbohydrate, fat and protein in what has since become called the “classicKetogenic Diet (KD) was worked out by Dr. M.G. Peterman in 1925 [4] and are the same as used today.  In the classic KD, the total amount of calories are matched to the number of calories the person needs. Protein is usually determined as being 1 g of protein per kg body weight, 10-15 g of carbohydrate per day total, and the remainder of calories provided as fat.  For very young children, the diet may be prescribed based on body weight (e.g. 75-100 calories for each kg (2.2 pounds) of body weight. 

Since the 1920s, several other therapeutic ketogenic for the treatment of epilepsy and seizure disorder have been developed, including the Modified Ketogenic Diet (MKD) and the Modified Atkins Diet (MAD). These are all high fat diets, but differ in the amount of protein they contain. They are all very low carbohydrate diets, which is by definition what makes them ketogenic.

The classic Ketogenic Diet (KD) has a 4:1 ratio i.e. 4 parts of fat for every 1 part protein and carbs. In the classic Ketogenic Diet, 90% of calories come from fat, 6% from protein, and only 4% of calories come from carbohydrate.

The Modified Ketogenic Diet (MKD) has a 3:1 ratio i.e. 3 parts fat for every 1-part protein and carbohydrate. In a Modified Ketogenic Diet, 80-90% of calories come from fat, 12-15% of calories come from protein, and 5-6 % calories come from carbohydrate[5].

The Modified Atkins Diet (MAD) has a 2:1 ratio, with 2 parts fat for every 1-part protein and carbohydrate.  In a Modified Atkins Diet, carbohydrates are restricted to <15 g / day for children, <20 g / day for adults. In a Modified Atkins Diet, 60% of calories come from fat, 30% of calories come from protein, and 10% of calories come from carbohydrate[5].

As well as their use in epilepsy and seizure disorder, any of the above therapeutic ketogenic diets may be prescribed for patients as adjunct treatment in glioblastoma, or as adjunct treatment in Alzheimer’s disease.

These high fat diets are not weight loss diets. These are therapeutic ketogenic diets used with the goal of producing high amounts of ketones (> 4.0 mmol/L / 40 mg/dl) for therapeutic reasons.

Other Types of Therapeutic Ketogenic Diets – for treatment of type 2 diabetes and obesity

In addition to the three types of therapeutic ketogenic diets above, ketogenic diets where carbohydrate is restricted to 50g of carbohydrates per day or less are considered Medical Nutrition Therapy (MNT) in the treatment of type 2 diabetes.

The American Diabetes Association has stated that reducing carb intake has the most evidence for improving blood sugar and has included the use of a very low carbohydrate (ketogenic) eating pattern for treating type 2 diabetes as listed in their 2019 Consensus Report and both the 2019 Standards of Medical Care in Diabetes (2019) and Standards of Medical Care in Diabetes (2020).  In addition, Diabetes Canada released a Position Statement in April of this year outlining that a low carb and very low carb / keto (<50 g of carbohydrates per day) are both safe and effective treatment for adults with diabetes. 

According to the American Diabetes Association, what makes a diet low carbohydrate (LC) or very low carbohydrate (VLC) / ketogenic is defined by the amount of carbohydrate contained in the diet, not the amount of fat. The American Diabetes Association’s  Consensus Report defines low carb and very low carb as follows;

“In this review, a low carbohydrate (LC) eating patterns is defined as reducing carbohydrates to 26-45% of total calories [6].”

and

“In this review a very low carbohydrate (VLC) eating pattern is defined as reducing carbohydrate to <26% of total calories [6].”

Diabetes Canada also defines low carbohydrate and very low carbohydrate diets in terms of the amount of carbohydrate the diet contains. Low carbohydrate diets are defined as less than <130 g of carbohydrate per day or <45% energy as carbohydrate,  and very low carbohydrate diets as <50 g of carbohydrate per day [7].

Weight-Loss “Keto” Diets

There are a wide range of weight-loss approaches that have a ketogenic (keto) component to them.

The 1997 Protein Power[8] published by Dr. Micheal Eades and his wife Dr. Mary Dan Eades is a low carb, high protein, moderate fat ketogenic diet. In fact, the authors warn in the book that eating a large number of calories as fat would make it impossible to lose weight, so this is not a high fat diet at all.

The New Atkins For a New You [9], was redesigned in 2010 by Dr. Eric Westman, Dr. Stephen Phinney MD PhD, and Dr. Jeff Volek RD PhD, and while considered a low carbohydrate high fat, moderate protein weight loss diet, it has 4 phases, with only the first phase being ketogenic (20-50 g carbs per day), but only for two weeks. This first stage is where the Modified Ketogenic Diet (MKD) used in epilepsy and seizure disorder came from — but as a weight-loss diet, the high fat stage in The New Atkins for a New You is very short lived. In phase two, more carbohydrate is added (nuts & seeds, berries, cherries and melon, cheese,  dairy products, legumes (pulses), tomato juice and vegetable cocktail) and this level is maintained until close to goal weight when higher carbohydrate amounts are added in phase 3, then phase 4. It is only higher fat for the first two weeks. 

Then there is the 2013 Real Meal Revolution [10] by Tim Noakes, Sally-Ann Creed, Jonno Proudfoot which is a handbook on the Banting lifestyle (which originated in the late 1800s), with foods broken down into green list, orange list and red list, with varying levels of carbohydrate intake.

Note: there is also the 2014 Bulletproof Diet by former Silicon-Valley biohacker, Dave Asprey but since he doesn’t have a clinical background, I have not included it.  That said, the diet is very high fat and is where “bulletproof coffee” (with added butter and coconut oil) comes from.

In 2016, Dr. Jason Fung, a Toronto nephrologist (kidney specialist) wrote the Obesity Code [11] which promotes a high fat version of a very low carb / keto diet, which is used in conjunction with his 2016 book written with Jimmy Moore titled The Complete Guide to Fasting [12]. In 2020, Fung published Life in the Fasting Lane [13], written with Eve Meyer and Megan Remos which builds on his approach of using a low carb high fat diet along with intermittent fasting.

In 2014, the web site “Diet Doctor” was launched by Dr. Andreas Eenfeld. This was initially mostly with articles translated from his Swedish site and later added content from a variety of other people, including Dr. Jason Fung, Dr. Eric Westman and Dr. Ted Naiman.  In 2017, Eenfeld wrote his own diet book titled Low Carb High Fat Food Revolution [14], which promoted a high fat version of a very low carb / ketogenic weight loss diet.  Later, Dr. Eric Westman went on to found his own Adapt weight loss program which is a very low carb / keto, moderate protein, moderate fat approach and Dr. Ted Naiman went on to write his P:E Diet [15] which promotes a low carb, high protein, low fat approach.

Of ketogenic weight-loss diets outlined above, the two that promote a very high fat intake are Dr. Jason Fung’s approach, and the “Diet Doctor” approach. While both fat and protein result in satiety (not feeling hungry), fat has almost two and a half the caloric density as protein. In addition, fat can trigger the reward system of the brain in the same way carbs do, resulting in many over-eating fat, especially added fat. What many people fail to take into consideration is that both of these approaches also promote periods of intermittent fasting (IF) which as Diet Doctor teaches may be frequent periods of less than 24 hours, to longer fasting periods which may include 5:2 (5 days of normal diet, 2 days restricting total calories to 500 per day) or alternate day fasting, as well as two types of fasts that Dr. Fung promotes, including 36 hour fasts, and 42 hour fasts. If one is only eating ~1/3 of the time, is any weight loss really due to the high fat diet, or the fasting?

“In our clinic, we will often recommend 36-hours fasts 2-3 times per week for type 2 diabetes.” ~Dr. Jason Fung

[ADDED NOTE, August 24, 2020: a well-formulated ketogenic diet such as used by Virta Health (covered here and here) which is high in fat and moderate in protein but that consists of a diet of real, whole food is not the same as popularized “keto diets” high in fat and moderate protein, but that consist of lots of added fat in both food and beverages. There is more to a well-designed ketogenic diet for remission of type 2 diabetes and obesity than macros, alone.

August 27, 2020: There is a fundamental difference between a well-designed ketogenic diet that is high in fat and that is comprised of real, whole food — and the popularized “keto diet”, which is all about added fat. It’s not about macros, but nutrients.]

The Stereotypical High Fat Keto Diet is Only ONE Type

Over the last several years, about 1/3 of people that come to me do so after following “the keto diets” without realizing that there is not just one.  Most lost some weight initially on this high fat diet, and then stalled and quite a few actually ended up gaining weight.

Whether following Dr. Fung’s approach or the Diet Doctor approach, people reported eating 75% fat, 15% protein and 10% carbohydrate — which is essentially a hybrid between the Modified Ketogenic Diet (MKD) and the Modified Atkins Diet (MAD) which as mentioned above are NOT weight loss diets — in fact, they were designed to not result in weight loss. These high fat, moderate protein diets are diets are solely intended to produce large amounts of ketones for therapeutic purposes. 

It is no wonder high fat “keto” diets don’t deliver weight loss results. That’s not what they were designed to do! 

Unless these high fat “keto” diets are combined with the frequent periods of <24 hours of fasting, >24 hour periods of fasting several times per week, weight loss is unlikely to occur unless as byproduct of the higher satiety of the fat, and over all eating less food.

Losing Body Fat is Not About Eating Less Carbs and More Fat!

If we want to lose body fat, then eating food that is very high in dietary fat won’t accomplish that UNLESS one is only eating every second or third day, which is what the stereotypical high fat “keto” diets promote. If we are eating a high fat diet and regularly fasting for extended periods of time, it is the fasting itself that underlies body fat loss and lower insulin, not all the added dietary fat.

Eating tons of bacon, butter, cream and avocado makes perfect sense in a therapeutic diet for epilepsy, seizure disorder or as an adjunct treatment in glioblastoma or Alzheimer’s disease, because the goal is to produce lots of ketones but if one wants to lose weight without using frequent periods of fasting, then adding tons of fat to food makes no sense. We want to utilize our fat stores for energy, not burn dietary fat.

One can use any one of a number of low carbohydrate approaches to accomplish weight loss, as well as improve blood sugar — by focusing on eating nutrient dense foods with a high protein-to-energy ratio, and that are rich in micronutrients.  Protein also increases satiety, helps build muscle and is much less calorically dense than fat [16].

Whether starting at a brief ketogenic level and working up (such as the method used by Protein Power, New Meal Revolution or Westman, Phinney and Volek’s approach in the New Atkins, or using an approach I often do which is to start people off at 130 g of carbohydrate per day, and lower carbohydrate as required to achieve clinical outcomes. In either approach, weight loss and lower insulin and glucose can be achieved without extended or frequent periods of fasting.

That doesn’t mean there aren’t benefits to doing short daily periods of fasting, such as from after dinner on one day until the first meal the following day — there are.  It simply isn’t required for weight loss.

Final Thoughts…

There are several therapeutic ketogenic diets that can be used in epilepsy and seizure disorder as well as other conditions, and other types of therapeutic ketogenic diets that are considered Medical Nutrition Therapy (MNT) for the treatment of type 2 diabetes and obesity.

The idea that there is “THE keto diet” which is high in fat is a fallacy — one that has the unintended consequence of many people failing to lose weight (and often gaining weight) because they don’t realize that it needs to be combined with periods of intermittent fasting.  A weight-loss “keto diet” that is 75% fat, 15% protein and 10% carbs is only ONE type of ketogenic diet. It is by no means “THE keto diet!”A diet that is low in carbohydrate and rich in nutrient-dense lean protein, as well as a wide range of vegetables and fruit is just as much a “keto diet” because it is low in carbohydrate — and one that can be used successfully to achieve weight loss, with no fasting required.

In short, there is no one-size-fits-all-low-carb or keto diet, but rather a range of low carb and keto diets that can be chosen from, based on each person’s personal preference, as well as their specific medical needs.

More Info?

If you would like more information about type of low carb or ketogenic diet that might be best suited to you, please send me a note using the Contact Me form on the tab above.

To your good health!

Joy

You can follow me on:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/JoyKiddie
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BetterByDesignNutrition/

References

  1. Feinman RD, Pogozelski WK, Astrup A, Bernstein RK, Fine EJ,Westman EC, et al. Dietary Carbohydrate Restriction as the First Approach in Diabetes Management: critical review and evidence base. Nutrition. 2015;31(1):1—13
  2. Nasir H. Bhanpuri, Sarah J. Hallberg, Paul T. Williams et al, Cardiovascular disease risk factor responses to a type 2 diabetes care model including nutritional ketosis induced by sustained carbohydrate restriction at 1 year: an open label, non-randomized, controlled study, Cardiovascular Diabetology, 2018, 17(56)
  3. U.S. Department of Health and Human ServicesFinal MNT regulationsCMS-1169-FCFederal Register1 November 200142 CFR Parts 405, 410, 411, 414, and 415
  4. Peterman MG, The Ketogenic Diet, JAMA. 1928;90(18):1427—1429. doi:10.1001/jama.1928.02690450007003
  5. Kossoff EH, Doward JL. The Modified Atkins Diet. Epilepsia 2008; 49 (Suppl8): 37-41
  6. Evert, AB, Dennison M, Gardner CD, et al, Nutrition Therapy for Adults With Diabetes or Prediabetes: A Consensus Report, Diabetes Care, Ahead of Print, published online April 18, 2019, https://doi.org/10.2337/dci19-0014
  7. Diabetes Canada, Diabetes Canada Position Statement on Low Carbohydrate
    Diets for Adults with Diabetes: A Rapid Review Canadian Journal of Diabetes (2020), doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcjd.2020.04.001.
  8. Eades M, Dan Eades M (1997), Protein Power: The High-Protein/Low-Carbohydrate Way to Lose Weight, Feel Fit, and Boost Your Health–in Just Weeks! Bantam; New edition edition (1 December 1997)
  9. Westman E, Phinney SD, Volek J, (2010) Diet for Shedding Weight and Feeling Great, Atria Books February 17, 2010)
  10. Noakes T, Creed S-A, Proudfoot J, et al, (2013)The Meal Real Revolution, Quivertree Publications
  11. Fung J (2016) Obesity Code, Greystone Books, Vancouver
  12. Fung J, Moore J (2016), The complete guide to fasting : heal your body through intermittent, alternate-day, and extended fasting, Victory Belt Publishing
  13. Fung J, Meyer E and Ramos M (2020), Life in the Fasting Lane: The Essential Guide to Making Intermittent Fasting Simple, Sustainable, and Enjoyable, Harper Wave
  14. Eenfeld A, Low Carb, High Fat Food Revolution: Advice and Recipes to Improve Your Health and Reduce Your Weight (2017), Skyhorse Publishers
  15. Naiman T, Shewfelt W,  The PE Diet: Leverage your biology to achieve optimal health (2020)
  16. Paddon-Jones D, Westman E, Mattes RD et al, Protein, weight management, and satiety, The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Volume 87, Issue 5, May 2008, Pages 1558S—1561S, https://doi.org/10.1093/ajcn/87.5.1558S

Copyright ©2020 BetterByDesign Nutrition Ltd.

LEGAL NOTICE: The contents of this blog, including text, images and cited statistics as well as all other material contained here (the ”content”) are for information purposes only.  The content is not intended to be a substitute for professional advice, medical diagnosis and/or treatment and is not suitable for self-administration without the knowledge of your physician and regular monitoring by your physician. Do not disregard medical advice and always consult your physician with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition or before implementing anything  you have read or heard in our content.

 

The Keto Diet — a potentially dangerous and an unhealthy diet

INTRODUCTION: I’ve heard other Dietitians say that the keto diet is a potentially dangerous and an overall unhealthy diet because it focuses on ‘high intakes of processed meat, butter and cream’. Some have said that harmful effects were seen as much as three years post keto —  with one case involving symptoms of uncontrollable food cravings and “a head rush” after ingesting any carbs, and another three cases of people having developed severe adverse health effects, including one with newly diagnosed diabetes that wasn’t present before the diet, and two others with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. All of these individuals were said to have gained all the weight back plus more, and the concern was raised as to whether the keto diet can really be called “a key to diabetes reversal or diabetes remission” because we haven’t actually fixed a broken pancreas. This article will address some of these beliefs.


The belief that there is such as thing as “the keto diet” (singular) which is high in processed meat, butter and cream is common, but incorrect. More on that below.

As a Dietitian, I am expected to be well-informed about a wide range of dietary options and to speak and write from an evidenced-based perspective, but the reality is that as Dietitians we can’t be knowledgeable in all available diets. While I am by no means an expert on low carb or ketogenic diets, I have written over 200 articles on the topic (published on my dedicated low-carb practice website), and have been using low carb and ketogenic diets as two of several dietary options in clinical practice for the past 5 years.

Firstly, with regards to the severe adverse health effects that the 3 individuals reportedly developed as a result of following the keto diet, it has been documented that abnormal glucose responses are present as long as 20 years before a diagnosis of Type 2 Diabetes[1] and the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists (AACE) concluded that both insulin resistance and prediabetes precede a diagnosis of type 2 diabetes[2] — which means that people presenting with type 2 diabetes after following “the keto diet” had been developing the disease for many years prior.

Furthermore, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is strongly associated with insulin resistance, which is characterized by excessive hepatic glucose production (high production of glucose by the liver) and compensatory hyperinsulinemia [3-9], which is the response of the liver to produce high amounts of insulin in order to remove the excess glucose. The association of NAFLD with insulin resistance indicates that the fatty liver was developing for years prior to these individuals following “the keto diet”.  Furthermore, it has been documented that a classic ketogenic diet (KD) is an effective treatment for nonalcoholic fatty liver disease [10] and “rapidly reverses NAFLD and insulin resistance despite increasing circulating non-esterified fatty acids, the main substrate for synthesis of intrahepatic triglycerides” [10].

As for “the keto diet” being a key to diabetes reversal or diabetes remission, I’ve addressed this in detail in a previous article.

So, let me address the misconception that there is such a thing as “the keto diet” (singular), which is high in processed meat, butter and cream.

Many Types of Keto Diets

There are a variety of therapeutic ketogenic diets, including the Ketogenic Diet (KD), the Modified Ketogenic Diet and the Modified Atkins Diet, as well as a variety of ketogenic diets that are used both for therapeutic reasons (such as the management of type 2 diabetes), as well as those that are followed for personal choice.

What makes a diet therapeutic is that it is used to treat a medical condition or conditions and is recommended by a Physician, and implemented by a Dietitian, or by the MD themselves. When a doctor sends me a referral to implement a Modified Atkins Diet for one of their patients with seizure disorder, it is a therapeutic diet. So is a referral to implement a very low carbohydrate / ketogenic diet for the treatment of type 2 diabetes or fatty liver disease.

Use of a very low carb / keto diet by Physicians or Dietitians in the management of type 2 diabetes should come as no surprise to anyone given that these dietary patterns are considered Medical Nutrition Therapy (MNT) in the treatment of type 2 diabetes.

The American Diabetes Association has stated that reducing carb intake has the most evidence for improving blood sugar and has included the use of a very low carbohydrate (ketogenic) eating pattern for treating type 2 diabetes as listed in their 2019 Consensus Report and both the 2019 Standards of Medical Care in Diabetes (2019) and Standards of Medical Care in Diabetes (2020).  In addition, Diabetes Canada released a Position Statement in April of this year outlining that a low carb and very low carb / keto (<50 g of carbohydrates per day) are both safe and effective treatment for adults with diabetes. 

Therapeutic ketogenic diets such as the classic Ketogenic Diet (KD), the Modified Ketogenic Diet and the Modified Atkins Diet are by necessity high fat diets — because the goal is to produce very high levels of ketones in order to improve clinical outcomes in epilepsy and seizure disorder, and as adjunct treatment in glioablastoma ( a type of brain cancer) and in Alzheimer’s disease.  The Ketogenic Diet (KD) has a 4:1 ratio i.e. 4 parts of fat for every 1 part protein and carbs, the Modified Ketogenic Diet (MKD) has a 3:1 ratio; 3 parts fat for every 1-part protein and carbs, and the Modified Atkins Diet (MAD) has a 2:1 ratio, with 2 parts fat for every 1-part protein and carbs.

What makes a weight loss diet ketogenic is not how much fat it contains, but the amount of carbohydrate it contains. Very low carbohydrate / ketogenic diets are diets where carbohydrate is limited to 20-50 g per day or 10% of total energy intake [11]. It is this low carbohydrate intake that results in the body using fat as its primary fuel, rather than carbohydrate.  At this level of carbohydrate intake, blood ketone levels increase at or above 0.5 mmol/L, resulting in ketosis. 

Ketosis is where betahydroxybutyrate (BHB) reaches levels between 0.5 – 3.0 mmol/L (and up to 4.0 mmol/L for therapeutic ketogenic diets such as those used in the treatment of epilepsy, seizure disorder and glialblastoma), whereas nutritional ketosis for optimal weight loss is commonly set with BHB levels between 1.5-3.0 mmol/L [12].

There is no one “keto diet” for weight loss but a range of choices, only some of which I will mention here.

I will start by looking at one of the earlier known diets that used a ketogenic level of carbohydrate intake; the 1972 Dr. Atkins’ Diet Revolution[13], by Dr. Robert Atkins. The so-called “Atkins’ Diet” had an introductory phase which limited carbohydrate intake to 20-25 grams of net carbs from nuts, seeds, and low carb vegetables, and this phase resulted in people going into ketosis.  In fact, this first phase of the Atkin’s Diet is what forms the basis for the Modified Atkins Diet, a therapeutic diet used in the treatment of epilepsy and seizure disorder.

The 1997 Protein Power[14] published by Dr. Micheal Eades, and his wife Dr. Mary Dan Eades is a low carb,  high protein, moderate fat ketogenic diet. In fact, the authors warn in the book that eating a large number of calories as fat would make it impossible to lose weight, so this is not a high fat diet at all.

The New Atkins For a New You [15], was redesigned in 2010 by Dr. Eric Westman, Dr. Stephen Phinney MD PhD, and Dr. Jeff Volek RD PhD, and is a low carb high fat, moderate protein weight loss diet that has 4 phases, with the first phase being ketogenic to start with (20-50 g carbs per day), but is only ketogenic for two weeks.  In phase two, more carbohydrate is added as nuts & seeds, berries, cherries and melon, cheese,  dairy products, legumes (pulses), tomato juice and vegetable cocktail and this level is maintained until close to goal weight when phase 3, then phase 4 (both higher carb) are implemented.

The 2011 book by Dr. Stephen Phinney MD PhD, and Dr. Jeff Volek RD PhD, The Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate Living [16] is not a diet book, but elaborates on type 2 diabetes as ‘carbohydrate intolerance’ and on the importance of electrolyte and mineral management to avoid side effects of a ketogenic diet. In this approach, added dietary fat is incorporated after weight loss, for long term weight maintenance, to prevent further weight loss.

Then there is the 2013 Real Meal Revolution [17] by Tim Noakes, Sally-Ann Creed, Jonno Proudfoot which is a handbook on the Banting lifestyle (which originated in the late 1800s), with foods broken down into green list, orange list and red list, with varying levels of carbohydrate intake.

In 2016, Dr. Jason Fung, a Toronto nephrologist (kidney specialist) wrote the Obesity Code [18] which promotes a high fat version of a very low carb / keto diet, which is used in conjunction with his 2016 book written with Jimmy Moore titled The Complete Guide to Fasting [19]. In 2020, Fung published Life in the Fasting Lane [20], written with Eve Meyer and Megan Remos which builds on his approach of using a low carb high fat diet along with intermittent fasting.

In 2014, the web site “Diet Doctor” was launched by Dr. Andreas Eenfeld. This was initially mostly with articles translated from his Swedish site and later added content from a variety of other people, including Dr. Jason Fung, Dr. Eric Westman and Dr. Ted Naiman.  In 2017, Eenfeld wrote his own diet book titled Low Carb High Fat Food Revolution [21], which promoted a high fat version of a very low carb / ketogenic weight loss diet.  Later, Dr. Eric Westman went on to found his own Adapt weight loss program which is a very low carb / keto, moderate protein, moderate fat approach and Dr. Ted Naiman went on to write his P:E Diet [22] which promotes a low carb, high protein, low fat approach.

Of ketogenic weight-loss diets above, the only ones that promote a high fat intake with processed meat (bacon), butter and cream are Dr. Jason Fung’s approach and the “Diet Doctor” approach. These are not THE “keto diet” — but one type of ketogenic approach, amongst many.

Self Administered Diets

If an individual hears about a diet from friends, or reads about it online and implements it, and is unsuccessful at losing weight or at keeping it off, or has adverse side effects, is this a reflection of the diet itself or is it a problem inherent in self-administered diets?

Does it matter if the failed “diet” is a calorie-restricted diet, a ketogenic diet, a grapefruit diet or any other diet?

Self administered diets of any type may or may not be appropriate for an individual, because the person’s individual nutritional needs, risk factors, metabolic conditions, and medications are not factored in. Weight-loss failure is one issue, as are potential adverse side-effects.  For example, if a person decides to follow a very low-calorie diet, experiences hypoglycemia and falls and injures themselves, is this the fault of the diet itself, or their self-administration of a diet?  Likewise, if a person decides to follow a very low carbohydrate / ketogenic diet and has an adverse reaction because of some medications they are taking, is this the fault of the particular version of a ketogenic diet they are following?

All diets have potential benefits and risks and self-administered diets pose additional risks that simply haven’t been factored in — regardless what type of diet is chosen.

Failed Weight Loss

Studies show that the failure rate with weight-loss diets is high — often as much as 80 – 90%, and regain of weight is thought to possibly be higher because follow-up rates are very low, and weights are often self-reported either by phone or mail [23].

The fact that most people will gain most of the weight they lost while dieting back, and sometimes end up weighing more than before dieting is not disputed, and is irrespective of the type of diet followed.

Regardless of the dietary approach chosen, “dieting” is not the answer for sustained weight loss. If someone goes “on” a diet that means that at some point they will go “off” of it.  In my opinion, a lifestyle change is a preferred approach and what will work for one person long-term, may not work for another. That is why I say that there is no one-sized-fits-all diet.

Final Thoughts…

Low carb and very low carb / ketogenic diets are two approaches that can suit some, but not all people.  A Mediterranean Diet or a whole food plant based (vegetarian) diet may be better suited to others. 

The misconception that there is one “keto diet” that is high in fat, especially processed meat, butter and cream is simply incorrect. There are a range of ketogenic (keto) diets and even in a high fat ketogenic diet, the fat can come from avocado, nuts and seeds and olives.

A high fat versions of a keto diet may be appropriate and work well in some individuals when used with periods of intermittent fasting, such as OMAD (one meal a day). In my clinical experience, I have observed that high fat versions of a keto diet often result in weight stalls and even weight gain in peri- or post-menopausal women. Since I don’t recommend extended fasting > 24 hours in older adults due to the muscle-loss which can result from the fasting, combined with the muscle loss that is already associated with aging, I generally recommend a higher protein, lower added fat version in such cases. In any case, there are lots of ways to do a ketogenic weight-loss diet — which is ultimately about the total amount of carbohydrate in the diet, not the amount of fat.

More Info?

If you would like more information about the services I offer, please send me a note using the Contact Me form on the tab above.

To your good health!

Joy

You can follow me on:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/JoyKiddie
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BetterByDesignNutrition/

References

  1. Sagesaka H, S.Y., Someya Y, et al, Type 2 Diabetes: When Does It Start? Journal of the Endocrine Society, 2018. 2(5): p. 476-484.
  2. American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists Announces Framework for Dysglycemia-Based Chronic Disease Care Model, November 28, 2018, AACE Online Newsroom, url: https://media.aace.com/press-release/american-association-clinical-endocrinologists-announces-frameworkdysglycemia-based-c
  3.  Fabbrini E., et al. , Alterations in adipose tissue and hepatic lipid kinetics in obese men and women with nonalcoholic fatty liver diseaseGastroenterology 134, 424—431 (2008). 
  4. Gastaldelli A., et al. , Relationship between hepatic/visceral fat and hepatic insulin resistance in nondiabetic and type 2 diabetic subjectsGastroenterology 133, 496—506 (2007). 
  5. Korenblat K. M., Fabbrini E., Mohammed B. S., Klein S., Liver, muscle, and adipose tissue insulin action is directly related to intrahepatic triglyceride content in obese subjectsGastroenterology 134, 1369—1375 (2008). 
  6. Kotronen A., Juurinen L., Tiikkainen M., Vehkavaara S., Yki-Jí¤rvinen H., Increased liver fat, impaired insulin clearance, and hepatic and adipose tissue insulin resistance in type 2 diabetesGastroenterology 135, 122—130 (2008).
  7. Bugianesi E., et al. , Insulin resistance in non-diabetic patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease: Sites and mechanismsDiabetologia 48, 634—642 (2005).
  8. Seppí¤lí¤-Lindroos A., et al. , Fat accumulation in the liver is associated with defects in insulin suppression of glucose production and serum free fatty acids independent of obesity in normal menJ. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab. 87, 3023—3028 (2002).
  9. Ryysy L., et al. , Hepatic fat content and insulin action on free fatty acids and glucose metabolism rather than insulin absorption are associated with insulin requirements during insulin therapy in type 2 diabetic patientsDiabetes 49, 749—758 (2000). 
  10. Luukkonen PK, Dufour S, Lyu K, et al. Effect of a ketogenic diet on hepatic steatosis and hepatic mitochondrial metabolism in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2020;117(13):7347-7354.
  11. Feinman RD, Pogozelski WK, Astrup A, Bernstein RK, Fine EJ,Westman EC, et al. Dietary Carbohydrate Restriction as the First Approach in Diabetes Management: critical review and evidence base. Nutrition. 2015;31(1):1—13.
  12. Nasir H. Bhanpuri, Sarah J. Hallberg, Paul T. Williams et al, Cardiovascular disease risk factor responses to a type 2 diabetes care model including nutritional ketosis induced by sustained carbohydrate restriction at 1 year: an open label, non-randomized, controlled study, Cardiovascular Diabetology, 2018, 17(56)
  13. Atkins, R. C. (1972). Dr. Atkins’ diet revolution; the high calorie way to stay thin forever. New York: D. McKay Co.
  14. Eades M, Dan Eades M (1997), Protein Power: The High-Protein/Low-Carbohydrate Way to Lose Weight, Feel Fit, and Boost Your Health–in Just Weeks! Bantam; New edition edition (1 December 1997)
  15. Westman E, Phinney SD, Volek J, (2010) Diet for Shedding Weight and Feeling Great, Atria Books February 17, 2010)
  16. Phinney SD, Volek J, (2011), The Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate Living, Beyond Obesity LLC
  17. Noakes T, Creed S-A, Proudfoot J, et al, (2013)The Meal Real Revolution, Quivertree Publications
  18. Fung J (2016) Obesity Code, Greystone Books, Vancouver
  19. Fung J, Moore J (2016), The complete guide to fasting : heal your body through intermittent, alternate-day, and extended fasting, Victory Belt Publishing
  20. Fung J, Meyer E and Ramos M (2020), Life in the Fasting Lane: The Essential Guide to Making Intermittent Fasting Simple, Sustainable, and Enjoyable, Harper Wave
  21. Eenfeld A, Low Carb, High Fat Food Revolution: Advice and Recipes to Improve Your Health and Reduce Your Weight (2017), Skyhorse Publishers
  22. Naiman T, Shewfelt W,  The PE Diet: Leverage your biology to achieve optimal health (2020),
  23. Mann T, Tomiyama AJ, Westling E, Lew AM, Samuels B, Chatman J. Medicare’s search for effective obesity treatments: diets are not the answer. Am Psychol. 2007;62(3):220-233. doi:10.1037/0003-066X.62.3.220

 

Copyright ©2020 BetterByDesign Nutrition Ltd.

LEGAL NOTICE: The contents of this blog, including text, images and cited statistics as well as all other material contained here (the ”content”) are for information purposes only.  The content is not intended to be a substitute for professional advice, medical diagnosis and/or treatment and is not suitable for self-administration without the knowledge of your physician and regular monitoring by your physician. Do not disregard medical advice and always consult your physician with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition or before implementing anything  you have read or heard in our content.

 

American College of Cardiology: No Benefit to Lower Saturated Fat Intake

The recommendation to lower the consumption of saturated fat in the diet to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) has been the central theme in both the US and Canadian since 1977, and has been carved into our respective Dietary Guidelines since the 1980s.

A newly published report published by the American College of Cardiology has stated that there is no beneficial effect on either cardiovascular disease (CVD) or death of lowering saturated fatty acid (SFA) intake and that saturated fat intake is actually protective against stroke [1]. This reassessment of dietary saturated fat intake was based on a meta-analysis of randomized control trials (the strongest data available), as well as observational studies.

The newly published report stated;

“Whole-fat dairy, unprocessed meat, eggs and dark chocolate are saturated fatty acid-rich foods with a complex matrix that are not associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease. The totality of available evidence does not support further limiting the intake of such foods.”[1]

Dietary Recommendations to Lower Saturated Fat

From 1977 onward, based on a belief that saturated fat caused heart disease, both Canada and the US changed their respective dietary recommendations to move the diet away from consuming fat — especially saturated fat, to a diet where more than half the calories (55-60% in Canada, 45-65% in the US) were from carbohydrate. The goal was to lower the risk of cardiovascular disease based on the fact that eating saturated fat raised total LDL (LDL-C), and it was assumed that higher total LDL was tied to increased risk of heart disease. The problem was that it wasn’t known until many years later that there are different types of LDL particles (you can read more about that here) and that it is the small, dense LDL particles that are associated with heart disease, not all LDL particles [2].  

Coinciding with the recommendation for people to eat less saturated fat and more carbohydrate as the main source of calories, we have seen obesity rates go from ~10% of the population in both countries, to 1 in 3 people in the US, and 1 in 4 people in Canada — with another 1/3 of people falling in the overweight category.

What this newly published reassessment of the data indicates is that the American and Canadian diet, which has shunned whole-fat dairy, unprocessed animal meats and eggs for the last 40+ years did so without benefit to cardiovascular disease rates, or rates of death.

Telling people to eat “low fat” everything and to avoid butter, red meat and eggs not only did not do what it was intended to do, it has likely been a significant contributor to the obesity epidemic we now face, along with astronomical rates of type 2 diabetes, hypertension and yes, cardiovascular disease. How ironic.

The report summarized;

“The dietary recommendation to reduce intake of SFAs without considering specific fatty acids and food sources is not aligned with the current evidence base. As such, it may distract from other more effective food-based recommendations, and may also cause a reduction in the intake of nutrient-dense foods (such as eggs, dairy, and unprocessed meat) that may help decrease the risk of CVD, type 2 diabetes, and other non-communicable diseases, but also malnutrition, deficiency diseases and frailty, particularly among ”at-risk” groups. Furthermore, based on several decades of experience, a focus on total SFA has had the unintended effect of misleadingly guiding governments, consumers, and industry toward foods low in SFA but rich in refined starch and sugar.”[1]

Bias Against Saturated Fat

The report concluded;

“The long-standing bias against foods rich in saturated fats should be replaced with a view towards recommending diets consisting of healthy foods. What steps could shift the bias? We suggest the following measures:

1) Enhance the public’s understanding that many foods (e.g., whole-fat dairy) that play an important role in meeting dietary and nutritional recommendations may also be rich in saturated fats.

2) Make the public aware that low-carbohydrate diets high in saturated fat, which are popular for managing body weight, may also improve metabolic disease.”

“There is no robust evidence that current population-wide arbitrary upper limits on saturated fat consumption in the US will prevent CVD or reduce mortality.”

Final Thoughts…

I  remember when the 1977 guidelines first came out, and when the 1988 Canada’s Food Guide was new.  I also remember when the majority of people were normal body weight and it was the exception for someone to be overweight or obese. Here it is, more than 40 years later and we now have strong evidence that saturated fat from unprocessed meat, full fat dairy and eggs does NOT contribute to heart disease or death, and is protective against stroke.

Given this evidence, will Health Canada revisit its most recent Canada Food Guide of January 2019 and adjust it’s recommendation to ”limit the amount of foods containing saturated fat, such as cream, higher fat meats…cheeses and foods containing a lot of cheese”?

More Info?

If you would like more information about restoring your weight and healthy by eating a diet lower in carbohydrate and which includes real, whole food such as unprocessed meat, full-fat dairy and eggs, please send me a note using the Contact Me form on the tab above.

To your good health!

Joy

You can follow me on:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/JoyKiddie
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BetterByDesignNutrition/

References

  1. Astrup A, Magkos F, Bier, DM, et al, Saturated Fats and Health: A Reassessment and Proposal for Food-based Recommendations: JACC State-of -the-Art Review, J Am Coll Cardiol. 2020 Jun 17. Epublished DOI:10.1016/j.jacc.2020.05.077
  2. Lamarche, B., I. Lemieux, and J.P. Després, The small, dense LDL phenotype and the risk of coronary heart disease: epidemiology, patho-physiology and therapeutic aspects. Diabetes Metab, 1999. 25(3): p. 199-211.

 

Copyright ©2020 BetterByDesign Nutrition Ltd.

LEGAL NOTICE: The contents of this blog, including text, images and cited statistics as well as all other material contained here (the ”content”) are for information purposes only.  The content is not intended to be a substitute for professional advice, medical diagnosis and/or treatment and is not suitable for self-administration without the knowledge of your physician and regular monitoring by your physician. Do not disregard medical advice and always consult your physician with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition or before implementing anything  you have read or heard in our content.

New Protocols for In-Person Clinical Operation for Health Professionals

WorkSafeBC has just released what will be required of regulated health professionals such as myself, as a Dietitian to safely run an in-person clinical practice in British Columbia during the ongoing Covid-19 outbreak, and it is much more involved than I imagined when I wrote a recent article. As well, these protocols are in addition to the obligations required prescribed by our professional college, as well as to abide by any relevant orders, notices, or guidance issued by the provincial health officer, and the relevant health authority, in my case Fraser Health.

The WorkSafeBC protocols include sections on Understanding the Risk, Selecting Protocols for the Workplace, as well as detailed Protocols for Health Professionals.

Understanding the Risk

The WorkSafeBC website outlines that the virus that causes COVID-19 is spread in several ways, including through droplets when a person coughs or sneezes, and from touching a contaminated surface before touching the face. It is outlined that risk or person-to-person transmission is increased the closer a healthcare professional comes to other people, the amount of time a healthcare professional spends near them, and the number of people seen by a healthcare professional.  The site emphasizes that “physical distancing measures help mitigate this risk”. The WorkSafeBC website also emphasizes that the risk of surface transmission is increased when many people contact same surface, and when those contacts happen in short intervals of time, therefore “effective cleaning and hygiene practices help mitigate this risk”[1].

Selecting Protocols for the Workplace

The WorkSafeBC website notes that there are different protocols which offer different levels of protection and emphasize that “Wherever possible, use the protocols that offer the highest level of protection and add additional protocols as required”[1].

WorkSafeBC Covid-19 Hierarchy of Controls [1]
Elimination first level protection –  Limit the number of people in the workplace  by implementing work-from-home arrangements where possible, limiting occupancy, rescheduling work tasks, or by other means. Rearrange work spaces to ensure that health professionals are at least 2 m (6 ft) from co-workers, customers, and other members of the public.

Engineering controls second level protection : if it is not always possible to maintain physical distancing, then install barriers such as plexiglass to separate people.

Administrative controlsthird level protection – WorkSafeBC encourges the establishing of clinic rules and guidelines, such as cleaning protocols, making sure there is no sharing of equipment, and implementing one-way doors, or walkways, in order to minimize risk.

Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) – fourth level protection – If the first three levels of protection aren’t enough to control the risk, WorkSafeBC recommends considering the appropriate use of non-medical masks, and to be aware of limitation of non-medical masks to protect the wearer from respiratory droplets.

Protocols for Health Professions

The list of protocols for healthcare professionals is extensive and includes several categories, including those for;

(a) hygiene, cleaning and disinfection – Ensure adequate hand washing facilities are available, and provide approved alcohol-based hand sanitizers,
Encourage staff and clients to practice hand hygiene upon entering and exiting the clinic. Identify all common areas such as clinical space, washrooms, etc. and high contact surfaces such as door handles, stair rails and develop and implement a cleaning and disinfection schedule and associated procedures. Increase cleaning and sanitizing of shared equipment and facilities (e.g. scales, washrooms). Develop and implement protocols for sanitizing treatment areas and equipment to prevent surface transmission between clients. Ensure safe handling and effective application of cleaning products.

(b) modifying staff areas and workflow – Work remotely whenever possible, develop and enforce policy that staff stay home when sick, hold meetings virtually through use of teleconference or online meeting technology and where in-person meetings are required ensure people are positioned at least two metres apart. Consider staggering start times / appointment times to reduce the number of people in the workplace at a given time. Minimize the number of co-workers that staff are interacting with, prioritize the work that needs to occur at the workplace in order to offer services. Minimize the shared use of equipment where possible, consider the requirement for staff to have dedicated work clothes and shoes, provide a place for staff to safety store their street clothes while working and change in/out of clothes to prevent cross-contamination upon entry and exit. Consider adjusting the ventilation such as increasing the amount of outdoor air while maintaining the indoor air temperature and humidity at comfortable levels for building occupants. 

(c) scheduling appointments and communicating with clients – Determine how many clients can be within the clinic at a given time while maintaining at least two metres of physical distance and do not book appoints above this number. In order to accommodate physical distancing, appointment times may need to be staggered. When speaking with clients during scheduling and appointment reminders, ask clients to consider rescheduling if they become sick, are placed on self-isolation, or have travelled out of the country within the last 14 days and attending appointments alone where possible, and not bring friends or children. Consider emailing the client forms that need to be filled out so clients can complete them prior to arriving, and clinics with a website should consider posting information on modifications made to the location and appointment visit procedures.

(d) reception – Post signage at the entrance and within the clinic to assist with communicating expectations, such as hand hygiene, physical distancing, respiratory etiquette, reporting illness or travel history, occupancy limits and no entry if unwell or in self-isolation. Consider placing lines on the floor to mark a two metres distance from the reception desk. Consider use of a transparent barrier such as a plexiglass shield around reception desk, when there is insufficient space to maintain two metre distance between staff and clients. Screen all clients when they check-in for their appointment by asking if they have symptoms associated with COVID-19, have been advised to self-isolate, or have travelled outside of Canada within the last 14 days. Clients that respond in the positive should be asked to leave and reschedule the appointment when deemed clinically appropriate. During transactions, limit the exchange of papers such as receipts if possible and where possible, payments should be accepted through contactless methods.

(e) waiting area – Arrange the waiting area in a way that allows at least two metres of physical distance between each client and consider removing extra chairs and coffee tables from the area to support this. Remove unnecessary items and offerings such as magazines etc. and use disposable cups or single- use items where necessary for beverages. Instruct clients to arrive no more than five minutes before their expected appointment. Where room size or layout presents challenges to physical distancing, consider alternative approaches, such as asking clients not to enter the clinic until they receive a text message or phone call to advise that their appointment can start.

(f) provision of health servicesConduct appointments virtually where clinically appropriate, conduct a point of care assessment for risk of COVID-19 for every client interaction and health services should not be performed on ill or symptomatic clients. Where the client requires timely treatment, ensure PPE is used in accordance with BC-CDC guidance. When possible, the clinical staff should position themselves at least 2 metres from the client and where physical distancing cannot be maintained consider the use of barriers and masks to reduce the risk of transmission. Clients should be required to wear masks for services in order to protect workers and workers should also wear masks to protect clients. Consider treating only one client at a time to minimize risks associated with moving between two or more clients, ensure clients are positioned at least 2 metres apart and shared equipment is cleaned and disinfected between uses by clients. If products / equipment is shared, they must be cleaned and disinfected between uses. Practice effective hand hygiene after each client by washing hands with soap and water or using an alcohol-based hand sanitizer approved by Health Canada. Where feasible, workers should avoid sharing equipment or treatment rooms and treatment rooms should be allocated to a single worker per shift.

(g) preparing for the next appointment and the end of the day – Ensure waiting and treatment areas and equipment are sanitized to prevent surface transmission between clients. Commonly touched surfaces and shared equipment must be cleaned and disinfected after contact between individuals even when not visibly soiled. Towels or any other items contacting a client are to be discarded or laundered between each use. Change into a separate set of street clothes and footwear before leaving work and work clothing should be placed in a bag and laundered after every shift. Shower immediately upon returning home after every shift.

As well, the WorkSafeBC website has protocols for documentation and training of staff, as well as links to the various professional colleges for health professionals to check additional requirements for their profession.

The Effect of these Necessary Protocols

These enhance protocols take time away from healthcare professionals being able to schedule actual clinical appointments. They require PPEs to be available and provided when necessary, as well as require extra time and labour for cleaning and disinfecting waiting areas, office equipment and washrooms, and to dispose of the waste. As much as we would all like things to “return to normal”, there is the need to accept that for now, this is the “new normal”.

For clinical practices that require a clinician to touch a client in the provision of services, such as in dentistry or registered massage therapy or physiotherapy there is no choice, but this is not the case in my practice. Thankfully, we are living in an era where there is secure video conferencing available which is ideal for the services that I provide as a Registered Dietitian, and is recommended by WorkSafeBC as the first approach when possible in the provision of health services.

Use of professional HIPAA and PIPEDA compliant telemedicine software

I have been providing Distance Consultations for over a decade; which are virtual face-to-face’ visits that are functionally indistinguishable from the in-person services I provided prior to Covid-19. They are a very efficient use of my client’s time, as well as my own, and no PPEs are required, no disinfecting or extra hand-washing, or sanitizing of waiting areas, office space and washrooms between each client, and appointments are not spread out through the day due to the need to carry out decontamination tasks between clients.

I use secure HIPAA & PIPEDA compliant telemedicine software – with no download required.

During virtual appointments my clients and I see each other’s faces when we meet, and can comfortably talk, laugh and even sneeze without concern, and weight obtained from people’s own scales is more than adequate for the types of clients I see — and I provide my clients with written instructions for measuring their waist circumference the same way I would do it if they were in my office.

More Info?

If you would like more information about the different type of Dietetic services I provide, please have a look under the Services tab or in the Shop. If you have any service-related questions please feel free to send me a note using the Contact Me form above and I will reply as soon as I can.

To your good health!

Joy

You can follow me on:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/JoyKiddie
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BetterByDesignNutrition/

References

WorkSafeBC – Health professions: Protocols for returning to operation,  https://www.worksafebc.com/en/about-us/covid-19-updates/covid-19-returning-safe-operation/health-professionals

Copyright ©2020 BetterByDesign Nutrition Ltd.

LEGAL NOTICE: The contents of this blog, including text, images and cited statistics as well as all other material contained here (the ”content”) are for information purposes only.  The content is not intended to be a substitute for professional advice, medical diagnosis and/or treatment and is not suitable for self-administration without the knowledge of your physician and regular monitoring by your physician. Do not disregard medical advice and always consult your physician with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition or before implementing anything  you have read or heard in our content.

Diabetes Canada Deems Low Carb and Very Low Carb Diet Safe and Effective

Diabetes Canada has just released a new Position Statement acknowledging that a low carb and very low carb (keto) diet is both safe and effective for adults with diabetes.

Reflecting back on their 2018 Clinical Practice Guidelines for the Prevention and Management of Diabetes in Canada released in April 2018 and covered in this article from my affiliate practice, Diabetes Canada clarified in this new Position Statement that it was not their intention to restrict the choice of individuals with diabetes to follow dietary patterns with carbohydrate intake that were below the consensus recommendation of 45-60% energy as carbohydrate, nor to discourage health-care practitioners from providing low-carb dietary support to individuals who wanted to follow a low-carb meal pattern. 

In the new Position Statement, Diabetes Canada acknowledged what I’ve written about previously, that Diabetes Australia, Diabetes UK, and the American Diabetes Association (ADA) in conjunction with the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) have developed position statements and recommendations regarding the use of low carbohydrate and very low carbohydrate (ketogenic) diets for people with diabetes. They state that from these previous international position statements and recommendations, several consistent themes have emerged — specifically that low carbohydrate diets (defined as less than <130 g of carbohydrate per day or <45% energy as carbohydrate) and very low carbohydrate diets (defined as <50 g of carbohydrate per day) can be safe and effective both in managing weight, as well as lowering glycated hemoglobin (HbA1C) in people with type 2 diabetes over the short term (<3 months).

Diabetes Canada explained in the publication that they periodically develop position statements in order to address issues that are important for people living with diabetes, as well as their health-care providers and when there is either insufficient data to perform a systematic review, or there is no high level evidence (e.g. double-blind placebo controlled studies).

Diabetes Canada stated that this new position statement was developed in response to emerging evidence. as well as a shift in international consensus regarding lower carbohydrate diets — with the goal of providing important clarification for people living with diabetes, as well as health-care providers. It is their hope that this update will make effective engagement with multi-disciplinary teams easier, as well as avoid inter-professional tensions, as well as clearly identify areas where there are key safety issues and the need for clinical monitoring.

The purpose of the position statement was to summarize the evidence for the role of low carbohydrate diets (<51-130g carbohydrate/day) or very low- carbohydrate diets (<50g carbohydrate/day) in the management of people diagnosed with type 1 and type 2 diabetes.

Summary of the Evidence – type 2 diabetes

Low Carbohydrate Diets

A review of the evidence found that a low carbohydrate diet (<51-130g carbohydrate/day) may be effective for weight loss, improved blood sugar control including a reduction in need for blood sugar lowering medication (anti-hyperglycemic therapies).

Also noted in the position paper is that while other dietary approaches for managing type 2 diabetes may be effective for weight loss and better blood sugar control, they have not achieved this while also reducing the need for blood-sugar lowering medication. Diabetes Canada calls this a  “meaningful outcome”.

Very Low Carbohydrate Diets

Of significance, this new position statement states that a review of the current literature suggests that very low- carbohydrate diets (<50g carbohydrate/day) may be superior to higher carbohydrate diets for improving blood sugar control and body weight, and that it can reduce the need for blood sugar lowering medications in the short term (up to 12 months).

They state that evidence regarding longer-term benefits is limited.

Summary of the Evidence – type 1 diabetes

The new position paper states that “there is very little reliable data and major evidence gaps which make it difficult to make general  recommendations with any confidence” for those with type 1 diabetes.

That said, the paper does state that for those living with type 1 diabetes, significant improvements in outcomes such as lower HbA1C, reduced insulin requirements, less variability in blood sugar and weight loss have been reported by individuals who have chosen to follow a low carbohydrate or very low carbohydrate diet.

Diabetes Canada concludes that “in the absence of clear trial evidence to support generalized recommendations, as well as the positive results experienced by people following low- and very low- carbohydrate diets;

  • health-care providers will need to work as partners with individuals seeking to identify an optimal and sustainable dietary pattern that fits with their individual preferences.
  • Health-care providers will need to recognize that diverse approaches are required to address the complex challenges of diabetes and obesity.
  • Health-care providers should strive to engage with patients in supportive relationships which respect shared decision making. “[1]

Cautions and Safety

Diabetes Canada advised that insulin and/or sulphonylurea doses may need to be reduced or discontinued to avoid hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) in those following a low carb or very low carb diet, and that SGLT2 inhibitors may increase the risk of diabetic ketoacidosis in individuals following low carbohydrate diets. As well, Diabetes Canada states that some added caution may be needed to ensure detection and treatment of hypoglycemia.

Diabetes Canada’s Five Recommendations

  1. Individuals with diabetes should be supported to choose healthy eating patterns that are consistent with the individual’s values, goals and preferences.
  2.  Healthy low carb or very-low-carb diets can be considered as one healthy eating pattern for individuals living with type 1 and type 2 diabetes for weight loss, improved blood sugar control and/or to reduce the need for blood sugar lowering medications. Individuals should consult with their health-care provider to define goals and reduce the likelihood of adverse effects.
  3. Health-care providers can support people with diabetes who wish to follow a low-carbohydrate diet by recommending better blood glucose monitoring, adjusting medications that may cause low blood sugar or increase risk for diabetic ketoacidosis and to ensure adequate intake of fibre and nutrients.
  4. Individuals and their health-care providers should be educated about the risk of diabetic ketoacidosis while using SGLT2 inhibitors along with a low carbohydrate diet, and be educated in lowering this risk.
  5. People with diabetes who begin a low carbohydrate diet should seek support from a dietitian who can help create a culturally appropriate, enjoyable and sustainable plan. A dietitian can propose ways to modify carbohydrate intake that best aligns with an individual’s values, preferences, needs and treatment goals as people transition to- or from a low carbohydrate eating pattern.

Healthy Low Carb and Very Low Carb Diets

Finally, Diabetes Canada underscores that Canadians both with- and without diabetes who choose to adopt a low or very low-carbohydrate dietary
pattern “should be encouraged to consume a variety of foods recommended in Canada’s Food Guide”, and that “regular or frequent consumption of high energy foods that have limited nutritional value, and those that are high in sugar, saturated fat or salt, including processed foods and sugary drinks, should be discouraged.”

Final Thoughts…

As a Dietitian who has been helping individuals in Canada safely follow a variety of meal patterns over the past 12 years, as well as a low carbohydrate and very low carbohydrate diets over the past 5 years, I am delighted that Diabetes Canada shares the consensus of other international groups that have determined that these diets are both safe and effective for adults to follow in order to get much better blood sugar control, and for weight loss.

More Info?

If you would like more information about how I can help you get started on a low carbohydrate or very low carbohydrate diet, please reach out to me by sending me a note using the Contact Me form on the tab above.

To your good health!

Joy

You can follow me on:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/JoyKiddie
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lBetterByDesignNutrition/

Reference

  1. Diabetes Canada, Diabetes Canada Position Statement on Low Carbohydrate
    Diets for Adults with Diabetes: A Rapid Review Canadian Journal of Diabetes (2020), doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcjd.2020.04.001.

Copyright ©2020 BetterByDesign Nutrition Ltd.

LEGAL NOTICE: The contents of this blog, including text, images and cited statistics as well as all other material contained here (the ”content”) are for information purposes only.  The content is not intended to be a substitute for professional advice, medical diagnosis and/or treatment and is not suitable for self-administration without the knowledge of your physician and regular monitoring by your physician. Do not disregard medical advice and always consult your physician with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition or before implementing anything  you have read or heard in our content.

Now That Things Are Getting Back to Normal – clinical appointments

INTRODUCTION: Governments around the world are beginning to relax lock-down measures put in place due to the Covid-19 pandemic and with that, many people are looking forward to having life ‘get back to normal’. But will it, and how soon?

For the past few months, we’ve stayed at home and sheltered-in-place in order to keep the healthcare system from becoming overwhelmed with too many cases of Covid-19 all at the same time. While there is much debate on social media as to whether things were done soon enough, or whether the measures taken should have been implemented at all, here in British Columbia, we are expecting to see the restoring of some medically-related services under enhanced protocols beginning mid-May[1]. 

What can people expect when it comes to medically-related services such as Dentists, Physiotherapists, Registered Massage Therapists, Chiropractors and Dietitians? Each of these types of professionals require a different amount of physical contact with clients. For example, Dentists and Physiotherapists must be able to touch their clients in order to provide services, therefore the types of personal protective gear and physical distancing barriers they will need to use will be very different than for someone who is a clinical counsellor or for me, as a Dietitian.

In my case, there would be the need to space out in-person appointments so that clients can physically distance from one another as one client is leaving and another arrives. What this would mean is that I would either need to see fewer people in the course of a day to ensure that there was no overlap between clients, or to provide a waiting area with chairs spaced 2 meters apart, which would need to be sanitized after each use.  This extra time would eat into my clinical day and also provide me much less flexibility for me to spend more time with client should it been necessary, since ensuring adequate social distancing between clients would take precedence. In fact, regulations require that before an appointment is even set up, there is the need to screen for risk factors and symptoms of COVID-19.

Basic PPEs

To protect both my clients and myself, there would be the need for use of some basic personal protective equipment (PPEs).

For example, I would need to wear a face mask in order to greet my clients, as well as to invite them into my office and I would be wearing gloves and a mask to weigh them, and take their waist circumference. Then there would be the need to sanitize the equipment after each use.

My clients would also need to wash their hands well when they arrive, as put on a clean mask (as my mask helps protect them and theirs helps to protect me). I would need to have disposable masks on hand in the event a client didn’t bring one of their own.  I would also need a designated place to throw out used disposable gloves and masks — which would need to be treated as a hazardous waste container, since there would be no way of knowing if someone were an asymptomatic carrier of Covid-19. I would also need a place where I could wash my hands well with soap and water between glove changes, or to sanitize my hands with an alcohol based hand-sanitizer.

To protect both my clients and myself during the assessment, my desk would  need to have a clear plexiglass screen that would enable my clients and I to see each other, but that would protect each other should one of us sneeze or cough, not to mention should we laugh, or “speak moistly”.

illustration of a plexiglass protective barrier around my desk.

The washroom available for client use would need to have disposable towels available, as well as a designated bin for them to be disposed of as they too would need to be treated as potentially hazardous waste and the bathroom would need to be sanitized after each use.

These enhance protocols take time away from scheduling actual clinical appointments. They require PPEs to be available and provided when necessary, as well as require extra time and labour for cleaning and disinfecting waiting areas, office equipment and washrooms, and to dispose of the waste. For clinical practices that require a clinician to touch a client in the provision of services such as in dentistry or registered massage therapy or physiotherapy, there is no choice, but in my practice there really is no need.

I have been providing Distance Consultations for over a decade; which are virtual face-to-face’ visits that are functionally indistinguishable from the in-person services I provided prior to Covid-19. Virtual appointments are a very efficient use of my client’s time, as well as my own, and no PPEs are required, no disinfecting or extra hand-washing, or sanitizing of waiting areas, office space and washrooms between each client. I can see many more clients in a day because appointments are not spread out due to the need to carry out decontamination tasks between clients.

During virtual appointments my clients and I see each other’s faces when we meet, and can comfortably talk, laugh and even sneeze without concern.  Weight from people’s own scales is more than adequate for the types of clients I see, and I provide each of my clients with written instructions for measuring their waist circumference the same way I would do it if they were in my office.

Until When…?

It is apparent that enhanced protocols will need to remain in place in a clinical office setting until there is either a safe and effective vaccine available, or herd-immunity is obtained. Herd immunity is where the spread of the contagious virus within a population is sufficiently low because people had developed antibodies to it from exposure to the virus itself.  The challenge in the Covid-19 pandemic is that a reliable vaccine is estimated to be a year or 18 months away and herd-immunity via exposure to the virus is unlikely given that only those who get very ill with Covid-19 produce antibodies.

As I wrote about in a recent post, an article published April 27, 2020 in the journal The Lancet reported that while ~90% of those who have been hospitalized with severe Covid-19 develop IgG antibodies in the first 2 weeks, in non-hospitalized individuals with milder disease or with no symptoms, under 10% develop specific IgG antibodies to the disease[2]. That means that people that don’t get sick enough to require hospitalization likely don’t produce antibodies to the virus, resulting in very low herd immunity. As a result, in a clinical setting, these enhanced protocols will likely need to be maintained until a safe and effective vaccine is available, which is not going to be anytime soon.

The New Normal

As much as we would all like things to “return to normal”, there is the need to accept that for now, this is the “new normal”.

Thankfully, we are living in an era where there is secure video conferencing available which is ideal for clinical work that does not involve clinicians touching clients such as the ones that I provide as a Registered Dietitian.

More Info?

If you would like more information about the different type of Dietetic services I provide, please have a look under the Services tab or in the Shop. If you have any service-related questions please feel free to send me a note using the Contact Me form above and I will reply as soon as I can.

To your good health!

Joy

You can follow me on:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/JoyKiddie
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BetterByDesignNutrition/

Reference

  1. Government of British Columbia, BC’s Restart Plan, May 6, 2020,  https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/safety/emergency-preparedness-response-recovery/covid-19-provincial-support/bc-restart-plan#next-challenge
  2. Altmann DM, Douek D, Boyton RJ, What policy makers need to know about COVID-19 protective immunity, The Lancet, April 27, 2020, DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(20)30985-5

 

Copyright ©2020 BetterByDesign Nutrition Ltd.

LEGAL NOTICE: The contents of this blog, including text, images and cited statistics as well as all other material contained here (the ”content”) are for information purposes only.  The content is not intended to be a substitute for professional advice, medical diagnosis and/or treatment and is not suitable for self-administration without the knowledge of your physician and regular monitoring by your physician. Do not disregard medical advice and always consult your physician with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition or before implementing anything  you have read or heard in our content.

 

 

Better Outcome in Covid-19 and T2D with Well-Controlled Blood Sugars

A new study published this past Friday (May 1, 2020) in the journal Cell Metabolism has reported that people with type 2 diabetes (T2D) are at much greater risk of having a poor outcome in Covid-19 if they have poorly controlled blood glucose.

The study looked at data from 7337 people who were hospitalized with Covid-19 in nineteen different hospitals in Hubei Province in China. Over 950 people had T2D (952) whereas the remaining almost 6385 people did not and among those with type 2 diabetes, 282 had well-controlled blood glucose, whereas the other 528 did not.

Consistent with what I reported in a recent review of a previous study in Covid-19, people admitted to hospital with the virus and who were diagnosed with T2D had poorer outcomes. In the present study, those with T2D required more medical interventions including requiring supplemental oxygen and/or ventilators than those without type 2 diabetes, and had much higher death rates (mortality) than those without T2D.  Mortality in Covid-19 in those with T2D was 7.8%, but in Covid-19 without T2D, mortality was only 2.7%. What was very encouraging was that those with people with T2D who were admitted to the hospital with COVID-19 and who had maintained well-controlled blood glucose ranging between 3.9 to 10.0 mmol/L (70-180 mg/dl) had much lower death rates than those people with poorly controlled blood glucose, with the upper limit of blood sugar readings exceeding 10.0 mmol/L (180 mg/dl).

Graphical illustration of survival rate in well-controlled T2D vs poorly-controlled blood glucose [1].
The findings were very sobering!

Almost 99% (98.9%) of those in hospital with Covid-19 and who had type 2 diabetes but well-controlled blood glucose survived Covid-19.

BUT

11% of those in hospital with Covid-19 and who had type 2 diabetes but poorly controlled blood glucose, died.

These findings provide clinical evidence that having better blood sugar control  leads to significantly better outcome in those hospitalized with COVID-19 and who have pre-existing type 2 diabetes.

More Info?

If you would like more information about how I can help you better control your blood sugar levels and aim put your type 2 diabetes into remission, please reach out to me.

To your good health!

Joy

You can follow me on:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/JoyKiddie
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BetterByDesignNutrition/

Reference

Zhu L, She GZ, Cheng X, et al, Association of Blood Glucose Control and Outcomes in Patients with COVID-19 and Pre-existing Type 2 Diabetes. Cell Metabolism, 2020; DOI: 10.1016/j.cmet.2020.04.021

Copyright ©2020 BetterByDesign Nutrition Ltd.

LEGAL NOTICE: The contents of this blog, including text, images and cited statistics as well as all other material contained here (the ”content”) are for information purposes only.  The content is not intended to be a substitute for professional advice, medical diagnosis and/or treatment and is not suitable for self-administration without the knowledge of your physician and regular monitoring by your physician. Do not disregard medical advice and always consult your physician with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition or before implementing anything  you have read or heard in our content.

Too Much and Too Little is Killing Us – reducing comorbidities

I just got “the call” that my mother who lives on the other side of the country, has tested positive for Covid-19. She has all of the major comorbidities, so prognosis is not good. Following the news, most of us know that age, obesity, hypertension and diabetes are known to significantly increase the risk of requiring hospitalization and death from Covid-19 (you can read more about that here, here and here), yet all but one of these comorbidities can be put into remission.  We can’t change our age, but we CAN reduce our weight, lower our blood pressure and normalize our blood sugar. To improve our quality of life outside of the pandemic, and to have the best chance of fighting it off if (or more likely when) we get it, we need to put our energy into achieving a normal body weight (and waist circumference), blood pressure and blood sugar now.

I am from a family of people that always ‘battled with their weight’.

My dad was tall and very fit when he was younger, a boxer and a ski-jumper but as he aged he accumulated excess weight around his middle. He then developed type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and heart issues and eventually was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, which is sometimes referred to as ‘type 3 diabetes’ by some clinicians. I wrote this article about that when he was first diagnosed.

My dad died just a few weeks shy of his 91st birthday, which is a ‘ripe old age’ of course, but for the last 40 years of his life, he was not in good health. He took several medications due to multiple metabolic conditions related to his diet and lifestyle. Except for his age, many of these conditions could have been put into remission — or at very least, been much better controlled with a change in diet and lifestyle.

My mom will be turning 85 this fall, and has been overweight since I was little. She too has type 2 diabetes and takes multiple medications for various conditions, many related to diet and lifestyle; conditions which could have been greatly improved, if not put into remission with a change in diet and lifestyle. It wasn’t for lack of trying “diets”. When I was young, she weighed her food, counted points and went to “groups” and at times she lost weight, only to put it all back, and then some. Eventually, she stopped trying. I can’t say that I blame her, given what I now know about the drivers to hunger.

Shared comorbidities

When I became overweight and then obese, and developed type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure, I justified that I was at high risk since both of my parents had the same.  I realize now that the “high risk” was our shared diet and lifestyle, more than genetics. Our shared comorbidities were adopted.

I grew up loving to eat good food and unfortunately considered food as both a reward, and a comfort. When someone was happy, we celebrated with good food. When someone was sad, we consoled with “comfort food”.  Food was “medicine”, but not in a good way. It didn’t heal, but contributed to the underlying hyperinsulinemia that drove the disease process. (I’ve written several articles about this topic, but if you only want to read one, I’d recommend this one.)

Those who have followed me for some time know that 3 years ago I began what I call my “journey”.  It took almost two years to do, but I lost ~60 pounds and a foot off my waist and I put my dangerously high blood pressure and uncontrolled type 2 diabetes into remission, as a result.  I recently posted a summary here, to mark my three year health recovery anniversary; two years of active weight loss and a year of maintenance.

Left: April 2017, Middle: April 2019, Right: April 2020

So why am I writing this post?

Like many people, I am upset by this whole “Covid thing” — not just because of my mom being diagnosed. I’ve been following the news, and realize that the hope for a vaccine any time soon is dim, and effective treatments are still lacking. An article published in the journal The Lancet the other day reported that while ~90% of those who have been hospitalized with severe Covid-19 develop IgG antibodies in the first 2 weeks, in non-hospitalized individuals with milder disease or with no symptoms, under 10% develop specific IgG antibodies to the disease.  That means that except for the sickest people who actually survive being hospitalized for several weeks with Covid-19, more than 90% of people who get Covid-19 and recover outside of hospital don’t develop antibodies to this virus [1]. Since the whole purpose to develop a vaccine is to challenge the body to develop antibodies to the virus — the very fact that most of the time people who don’t get that sick don’t develop antibodies, means that the likelihood of most people developing antibodies to a vaccine may be minimal.  As well, in light of this data herd immunity is also a dim prospect because most people that get this disease don’t produce antibodies, which means they aren’t immune and can probably get this virus again.

With little immediate hope of an effective vaccine or of herd immunity, what CAN we do to lower our risk?

I think that we first need to realize that many experts believe it is simply a matter of time until we are all exposed to the SARS-CoV2 virus and develop Covid-19, so we must look at lowering our risk of having a poor outcome. We can’t change our age, which is the biggest risk factor but we CAN do something to change the high risk comorbidities such as obesity, high blood pressure and diabetes.

Too Much and Too Little is Killing Us

For many of us, having both too much and too little is killing us.

We have diets with way too much refined carbohydrate, usually combined with large amounts of refined fat, and our usual diet is full of these in the form of pizza, pastries, take out foods and snack foods.  We now know from a study that was published almost 2 years ago[2] that this combination of both refined carbs and fat results in huge amounts of the neurotransmitter dopamine being released from the reward centre of our brain — way more than when we eat foods with only carbohydrate, or only fat separately. This huge amount of released dopamine results in us wanting to eat these foods, and craving these foods, and being willing to pay more for these foods than foods with only carbs or only fat [2]. Dopamine makes us feel good, and is the same neurotransmitter that is released during sex and that is involved in the addictive ”runner’s high” familiar to athletes. This is one powerful neurotransmitter! It is this dopamine that is driving why so many people on “lock-down” have turned to baking bread and pastries for comfort, and buying snack foods with this same combination once they finally get through a long line to get into a grocery store! 

Too much of these refined “foods” is contributing to 1/3 of Americans and 1/4 of Canadians being obese, and another 1/3 in both countries being overweight. These foods are driving the hyperinsulinemia that underlies many metabolic conditions, including type 2 diabetes and hypertension.  These diseases were killing a great many of us before Covid-19, but knowing that these comorbidities increase our risk of hospitalization and death when we get the virus, why don’t we consider limiting these? I think it is because eating these foods make us feel good and so we self-medicate our stressful lives with something that is socially acceptable. High carbohydrate and fat foods are much more socially acceptable but what will it take for us to see that this for what it is and to consider that we need to change how we eat. If we aren’t willing to admit that our obesity, high blood sugar and high blood pressure are a problem, then maybe we are simply in denial. I certainly was, and wrote about this in “A Dietitian’s Journey”, the account of my own health recovery.

No, I am NOT saying that “all carbs are evil” and I’ve written about this previously, but we need to differentiate between what most of us eat as “carbs” and whole, real food that have carbs in them. I believe we need to eat significantly less of the refined foods that are contributing to our collective weight problem and metabolic health issues, and eat more of the real, whole foods that have gone by the wayside in our diet. I’ve written about the science behind this type of dietary change in many previous articles, and that eating this way is both safe and effective. What I can’t do is motivate people to want to change.

It is my hope that by presenting the evidence, as I have in several recent articles posted on this website that comorbidities such as obesity, hypertension and diabetes are significant risk factors to requiring hospitalization or of dying of Covid-19, that it may motivate some people to consider making some changes. If not now, when — especially given that the hope of a vaccine and/or herd immunity is likely a long way off.

I wish each of you good health and a long life.

If I can help, please let me know.

Joy

You can follow me on:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/JoyKiddie
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BetterByDesignNutrition/

Copyright ©2020 BetterByDesign Nutrition Ltd.

LEGAL NOTICE: The contents of this blog, including text, images and cited statistics as well as all other material contained here (the ”content”) are for information purposes only. The content is not intended to be a substitute for professional advice, medical diagnosis and/or treatment and is not suitable for self-administration without the knowledge of your physician and regular monitoring by your physician. Do not disregard medical advice and always consult your physician with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition or before implementing anything you have read or heard in our content.

Reference

  1. Altmann DM, Douek D, Boyton RJ, What policy makers need to know about COVID-19 protective immunity, The Lancet, April 27, 2020, DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(20)30985-5
  2. Di Feliceantonio et al., 2018, Supra-Additive Effects of Combining
    Fat and Carbohydrate on Food Reward, Cell Metabolism 28, 1—12

 

 

My Three Year Health Recovery Anniversary — a Dietitian’s Journey

I delayed posting this update to due to the current Covid 19 pandemic, but thought by now we could all use with a little distraction. I hope that this post about my health and weight recovery serves as encouragement as to what is possible simply by eating real, whole food, and sticking with it.

Me – April 2017, 2019 and 2020

Three years ago, on March 5th, 2017 I was sitting at my desk in my office and I didn’t feel well. I didn’t even know what kind of ”unwell” I felt.  I decided to take my blood pressure to see if that would give me a clue.  I was alarmed with the results and decided to lie down and take it again. That didn’t help. Not only was my blood pressure high, it dangerously high.  I was having what is known as a “hypertensive emergency”.  While I hadn’t done so in way too long, I also decided to take my blood sugar. The result was 13.2 mmol/L (238 mg/dl) only a half an hour after I ate, which was way too high — even for someone who had been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes five years earlier.  Here I was, an obese Dietitian with a body mass index (BMI) well over 30, dangerously high blood pressure and blood sugar that clearly showed my type 2 diabetes was not well controlled and I knew that all of these factors put me at significant risk of having a stroke or heart attack. I was scared. Actually I was terrified.

As I’ve said on every podcast I’ve been a guest on, and have written about many times, what I should have done at that point was to have gone straight to my doctor’s office;  even knowing that he would have sent me directly to the hospital by ambulance or taxi due to my dangerously high blood pressure.  I should have gone, let them treat me to get my blood pressure down, including taking the medications they prescribed. Then, with my doctor’s oversight I could have begun a well-designed therapeutic diet to lower all of these significant metabolic markers and in time had my doctor gradually de-prescribed the various medications I would have been given, as my weight, blood pressure and blood sugars normalized.

I didn’t. It was foolish. What I did instead was to immediately change my diet and lifestyle and while I fully acknowledge that this was not a wise choice, that’s what I did.

I was so scared.

In the preceding 6 months, I had two girlfriends die within 3 months of each other; one of a massive heart attack, and the other of a stroke. Both worked in healthcare their entire lives and both had become overweight and had developed some of the same metabolic issues I had. I was terrified because I realized that if I didn’t change, I could be next.

April 2017

That day, I printed off my last set of blood test results, and took all my body measurements as if I were a client. I then designed a Meal Plan for myself as I do for others and from that day on, implemented it ”as if my life depended on it”, because quite literally, it did.

There’s been no looking back! March 5, 2017 was the beginning of my health and weight recovery journey; A Dietitian’s Journey.

April 2018

In the first year, I lost 32 pounds and 8 inches off my waist, and my glycated hemoglobin (HbA1C) no longer met the criteria for Type 2 Diabetes (i.e. was ≤ 6.0 %), and my blood pressure ranged between normal and pre-hypertension. Updated lab work indicated that my triglycerides and cholesterol levels were optimal, however my updated measurements showed that my waist circumference was still not half my height, which is what it needed to be (you can read more about the reason for that here). In addition, my fasting blood sugar remained higher than it should be. I still had work to do. I was in recovery, but not recovered yet.

After consulting with two physician colleagues, I made the decision to lower my carbohydrate intake, and continued to monitor my blood pressure daily and blood sugar several times per day.  I also began doing some resistance training exercises with equipment I had on hand (and that had been collecting dust for years).

April 2017 & April 2019 (same outfit)

After 2 years on my recovery journey, I had lost a total of 55 pounds and 12 inches off my waist but since my blood pressure remained between the pre-hypertensive and hypertensive range, and in discussion with my doctor’s colleague, I decided to go on a ”baby dose” of Ramipril to protect my kidney function. Even though my blood sugar was good and my HbA1C was below the cut-off for type 2 diabetes, my endocrinologist started me on Metformin as a result of my father’s recent diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease.

I didn’t look at starting on either of those medications as “failure”, as I probably would have been prescribed those at much higher doses from the beginning had I gone to see my doctor March 5, 2017. It was part of my recovery process. My goal however was to make changes so that blood pressure medication would no longer be necessary, but I didn’t know what other changes I could make to have it to come down to a normal level, and for my fasting blood glucose to continue improve as well. After much reading in the scientific literature about circadian rhythms , I realized that to be successful I needed to change when I ate (and didn’t eat) as well as when I was exposed to bright light in order to get my body working according to its natural circadian (24-hour) cycles. I made the changes documented in the literature and began to sleep much better (falling asleep and staying asleep, when I had previously had poor sleep for years). A few months of home monitoring indicated my blood pressure was normal or slightly below and I was getting fasting blood glucose numbers I hadn’t seen before (4.7mmol/L – 5-2 mmol/L). I hadn’t “arrived” but my recovery phase was definitely approaching the end.

A visit to my doctor’s office just before Covid 19 began indicated I had blood pressure that was just below the normal cutoff of 120/70 for someone who is not diabetic, so my doctor de-prescribed the blood pressure medication and recent lab test results indicated that I have completely normal fasting blood sugar [5.2 mmol/L (94 mg/dl)]. Over the past year without trying, I lost another 5 pounds and a little less than an inch off my waist and I am guessing this was probably the result of continued loss of fat balanced by increased weight from added muscle I gained as a result of the intermittent resistance training I was doing.

April 2020

I am now a normal body weight. I have an optimal waist circumference (slightly less than half my height). I am in remission of type two diabetes; both as assessed by fasting blood glucose and HbA1C, and my high blood pressure is in remission. I went from taking 12 different medications three years ago, to leaving my doctor’s office a few weeks ago with one prescription for something non-metabolically related, and a prescription for glucose test strips.

I feel good about myself, about my health and how I look — so much so that in September of this past year I decided to stop straightening my hair and now wear it the way it grows out of my head.  I am “comfortable in my own skin” (and hair) for the first time in almost 3 decades. I didn’t lose weight quickly but it took me many years to become THAT metabolically unhealthy that I gave myself the time I needed to get well and am staying well, without any added effort. The process wasn’t at all difficult to accomplish, or difficult to maintain. All it took was eating real, whole food and reducing the amount of carbohydrate-based foods I ate.  What is nice is that after 3 years on a therapeutic diet, I am now able to add in small amounts of higher carbohydrate-based whole foods into my diet, and tolerate them very well.

While there are many studies showing many others have accomplished similar clinical results as I have eating the same way, doing it myself enables me to encourage my clients because I have “been” there, and I came back!

More Info?

If you would like more information about how I can help you lose weight and keep it off or improve blood pressure, blood sugar or cholesterol please reach out to me. All my services are now provided via Distance Consultation but I already have more than a decade of experience providing virtual nutrition support, so this is nothing new for me. I am licensed as a Dietitian in every province in Canada except PEI and can also provide nutrition education services to those in the US and elsewhere.

You can find more about the details of the different packages I offer by looking under the Services tab or in the Shop. If you have any service-related questions please feel free to send me a note using the Contact Me form above, and I will reply as soon as I can.

To your good health!

Joy

You can follow me on:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/JoyKiddie
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BetterByDesignNutrition/

Copyright ©2020 BetterByDesign Nutrition Ltd.

LEGAL NOTICE: The contents of this blog, including text, images and cited statistics as well as all other material contained here (the ”content”) are for information purposes only. The content is not intended to be a substitute for professional advice, medical diagnosis and/or treatment and is not suitable for self-administration without the knowledge of your physician and regular monitoring by your physician. Do not disregard medical advice and always consult your physician with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition or before implementing anything you have read or heard in our content.

 

Obesity Most Significant Risk Factor to Covid-19 Hospitalization after Age

A new large-scale preliminary US study[1] looking at data from more than 4000 Covid-19 patients who sought medical care at Langone Health Hospital in New York City found that outside of older age (> 75 years of age), obesity was the single most significant risk factor that contributed to requiring hospitalization and critical care, such as requiring being on a ventilator. This is a different study than the one that I wrote about yesterday [2] which found that in people under the age of 60, obesity poses a significant risk factor of hospitalization, especially with respect to requiring Acute Care or Intensive Care (click here to read that article).

We Need to “Get” This

Taken together, these two large-sample US studies find that being obese (which is having a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 30 or more) puts those under 60 years of age at significantly greater risk of being hospitalized and requiring critical care than any other factor, including high blood pressure (hypertension), diabetes and cardiovascular disease (CVD) [2], and having a BMI of 40 is the most significant risk factor after older age[1]. Old or young, being obese is a significant risk factor to requiring medical intervention in Covid-19. What many don’t realize is that 2/3 people in the US and Canada are either overweight or obese. 

How Big an Issue is Obesity?

One in three adults in the US are obese and one in four adults in Canada are obese. Not just overweight, but obese.

We have become used to this being common place, so much so that many of us consider “average weight” what is actually overweight (BMI between 25 and 30) and consider someone to be “overweight” when they are actually obese.

As mentioned in an article from earlier this week, recent US data found that 90% of patients hospitalized due to Covid-19 had underlying medical conditions including hypertension (high blood pressure), obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease and as noted in that article, only 12% adults are considered metabolically healthy as defined as having a healthy waist circumference and normal systolic and diastolic blood pressure, blood glucose and HbA1C and cholesterol such as HDL, as well as triglycerides.

Looking at this information together, we need to understand that something as straight-forward as losing weight, particularly the weight that we carry around our middles can significantly improve our outcome should we become infected with Covid-19. 

With many experts suggesting that it is only a matter of time until we are all exposed to Covid-19, it would seem that it ‘s not a matter of “if”, but “when” and while we can’t change our age, but if we are overweight or obese, we can lose weight. If we are carrying excess fat around our abdomen (the risk of having an increased waist circumference) — even at normal body weight, we can lower that. It takes being willing to make dietary and lifestyle changes and it take some time, but in a matter of weeks, someone who is currently in the class I obesity category can be re-categorized as overweight and with persistence can achieve a healthy body weight and waist circumference.  Previous studies indicate that significant risk factors such as high blood pressure and abnormal blood sugar can be normalized in as little as 10 weeks with a well-designed diet of whole, real food and by making these changes now we can significantly lower our risk in a fairly short amount of time. Why would we not want to do so now given there is currently no vaccine for Covid-19 and no consistently effective medication yet?

[Note: If I hadn’t already gone from being obese to a normal body weight a few years ago, I certainly would be very motivated to do it now.]

For the past 5 years I have spent about half my clinical time helping others do just that, while helping them considerably improve their lab markers for several different metabolic conditions. Since we are already eating most of our meals at home, now is an ideal time to make the dietary changes needed to lower our risks of requiring hospitalization should we get Covid-19.

More Info?

If you would like more information about how I can help you lose weight and then keep it off, please reach out to me. All my services are now provided via Distance Consultation but I already have more than a decade of experience providing virtual nutrition support, so this is nothing new for me and I am licensed as a Dietitian in every province in Canada except PEI. I can also provide nutrition education services to those in the US and elsewhere.

You can find more about the details of the different packages I offer by looking under the Services tab or in the Shop. If you have any service-related questions please feel free to send me a note using the Contact Me form above, and I will reply as soon as I can.

To your good health!

Joy

You can follow me on:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/JoyKiddie
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BetterByDesignNutrition/

References

  1. Christopher M. PetrilliSimon A. JonesJie YangHarish RajagopalanLuke F. O’DonnellYelena ChernyakKatie TobinRobert J. CerfolioFritz FrancoisLeora I. Horwitz, 
  2. Lighter J, Phillips M, Hochman S et al, Obesity in patients younger than 60 years is a risk factor for Covid-19 hospital admission, accepted manuscript, Clinical Infectious Diseases. doi: 10.1093/cid/ciaa415,  https://academic.oup.com/cid/advance-article/doi/10.1093/cid/ciaa415/5818333
  3. Araíºjo J, Cai J, Stevens J. Prevalence of Optimal Metabolic Health in American Adults: National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2009—2016. Metabolic Syndrome and Related Disorders Vol 20, No. 20, pg 1-7, DOI: 10.1089/met.2018.0105

Obesity Poses Significant Risk to People less than 60 years with Covid-19

As covered in the preceding article, we now know from US data between March 1-30, 2020 that older adults and those with hypertension (high blood pressure), obesity, diabetes and CVD are at an increased risk of requiring hospitalization should they contract Covid-19, but a new study finds that so are young people with obesity.

A study released ahead of publication found that of the more than 3600 people who tested positive for Covid-19 in a large academic hospital in New York City, more than 20% had a BMI of 30-34 (Class I obesity) and more than 15% had a BMI > 35 (Class II obesity or higher). When stratified by age, researchers found significantly higher rates of hospital admission and the requirement for ICU care in patients <60 years of age with obesity.

Compared with patients with a BMI of < 30 (i.e. overweight but not obese), patients under 60 years of age with Class I obesity were;

  • 2.0 times more likely to be admitted to Acute Care
  • 1.8 times more likely to be admitted to intensive care

Compared with patients under the age of 60 years old with a BMI <30 (not obese), patients with a BMI of 35 and above (Class II obesity and higher) were;

  • 2.2 times more likely of being admitted to Acute Care
  • 3.6 times more likely to be admitted to intensive care

Among the 3600 patients who were subjects in this study, there was no significant difference in hospitalization rates and intensive care needs by BMI among people 60 years of age and older, which is consistent with findings reported in the preceding article which found that obesity was a significantly higher risk factor of hospitalization in those 18-49 years of age [1].

Note: As covered in the previous article, hypertension (i.e. high blood pressure) is a significant underlying condition to adults ⩾ 65 years of age hospitalized with Covid-19.

Patients with a BMI of ⩾30 in the current study represented 36% of all patients; which is fairly representative of the US population as a whole which is estimated to have an obesity rate of BMI ⩾30 of 40% [3,4]. Given that obesity rates of BMI ⩾30 in Canada [5] is ~ 33%, it is possible that need for hospitalization and acute or intensive care may be somewhat lower here (i.e. more reflective of the slightly lower obesity rates in Canada).

With a vaccine for COVID-19 a year or longer away, current efforts to reduce the risk of contracting the virus necessarily focus on physical and social distancing, personal hygiene including proper hand-washing techniques and avoiding touching one’s face, as well as wearing face coverings in public places. These are all very important, however those under the age of 60 years of can reduce the risk of getting serious complications or dying from complications from the virus by achieving, then maintaining a healthy body weight.

Weight Loss – easier said than done?

Most people know that achieving and maintaining a healthy body weight is important to lower the risk of getting type 2 diabetes, hypertension and cardiovascular disease. Since we are already eating most of our meals at home and with a covid-19 vaccine a year or more away, now is an ideal time to make the dietary changes needed to achieve a healthy body weight and lower our risks of requiring hospitalization should we get Covid-19. In fact, most people in the class I obesity (BMI > 30) category can make the dietary changes necessary to achieve a normal body weight within in a few months. 

I can help.

More Info?

If you would like more information about how I can help you lose weight and then keep it off, please reach out to me. All my services are now provided via Distance Consultation, but I already have more than a decade of experience providing virtual nutrition support, so this is nothing new for me.  I have both the experience and expertise to help.

You can find more about the details of the different packages I offer by looking under the Services tab or in the Shop. If you have any service-related questions please feel free to send me a note using the Contact Me form above, and I will reply as soon as I can.

To your good health!

Joy

You can follow me on:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/JoyKiddie
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BetterByDesignNutrition/

References

  1. Garg S, Kim L, Whitaker M, et al. Hospitalization Rates and Characteristics of Patients Hospitalized with Laboratory-Confirmed Coronavirus Disease 2019 — COVID-NET, 14 States, March 1—30, 2020. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. ePub: 8 April 2
  2. Lighter J, Phillips M, Hochman S et al, Obesity in patients younger than 60 years is a risk factor for Covid-19 hospital admission, accepted manuscript, Clinical Infectious Diseases. doi: 10.1093/cid/ciaa415,  https://academic.oup.com/cid/advance-article/doi/10.1093/cid/ciaa415/5818333
  3. Ogden, C.L., et al., Prevalence of Obesity Among Adults, by Household Income and Education – United States, 2011-2014. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep, 2017. 66(50):p. 1369-1373
  4. State of Obesity, Adult Obesity in the United States, https://stateofobesity.org/adult-obesity/
  5. Statistics Canada, Health at a Glance, Adjusting the scales: Obesity in the Canadian population after correcting for respondent bias,  https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/82-624-x/2014001/article/11922-eng.htm

Copyright ©2020 BetterByDesign Nutrition Ltd.

LEGAL NOTICE: The contents of this blog, including text, images and cited statistics as well as all other material contained here (the ”content”) are for information purposes only.  The content is not intended to be a substitute for professional advice, medical diagnosis and/or treatment and is not suitable for self-administration without the knowledge of your physician and regular monitoring by your physician. Do not disregard medical advice and always consult your physician with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition or before implementing anything  you have read or heard in our content.

Why Underlying or Comorbid Conditions are Very Important in COVID-19

It is well-known that older adults are at greater risk of getting serious complications from COVID-19, but few people realize that the majority of people that require hospitalization in the US [1] (and presumably the data is similar in Canada) have very common underlying medical conditions (known as “comorbid” conditions), including high blood pressure (hypertension), obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease and chronic lung disease [1]. With a vaccine for COVID-19 coronovirus more than a year a way, current efforts to reduce the risk of contracting the virus focus on physical and social distancing measures, personal hygiene including proper hand-washing techniques and avoiding touching one’s face, as well as wearing face coverings in public places but there is more we can do to reduce the risk of getting serious complications or dying from complications from the virus — and that is addressing dietary and lifestyle changes that are documented to put comorbid conditions such as high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes and obesity into remission.

Early release of a research study on April 8, 2020 [1] reported that between March 1-30, 2020, hospitalization rate in 99 counties of 14 US states was 4.6 people per 100,000 population, and rates were highest amongst those who were ≥65 years of age and those with underlying medical conditions. Among almost 1500 laboratory-confirmed COVID-19—associated hospitalizations, almost 25% were between the ages of 5—17 years, almost 25% were aged 18—49 years, ~30% were aged 50—64 years and 43% were aged ≥65 years. Among those patients with data on underlying medical conditions, almost 90% had one or more comorbid conditions — with almost 50% of patients having hypertension (high blood pressure) or obesity and almost 30% having diabetes or cardiovascular disease. This is huge.

“These findings suggest that older adults have elevated rates of COVID-19—associated hospitalization and the majority of persons hospitalized with COVID-19 have underlying medical conditions.”[1]

Underlying comorbid conditions among US adults with COVID-19

Changing What’s in Our Control to Change

Many of us feel somewhat powerless during this COVID-19 outbreak and while the internet is full of recommendations for dietary supplements, many overlook the most obvious way to lower risk of serious complications by lowering any known comorbid conditions we may have. We can achieve and maintain a normal body weight and waist circumference, normalize blood pressure and blood sugar, and lipid markers such as improving HDL cholesterol and lowering triglycerides.

As covered in an earlier article, a study published in November 2018 reported that 88% of Americans are already metabolically unhealthy[2]; that is, only 12% have metabolic health defined as [2];

  1. Waist Circumference: < 102 cm (40 inches) for men and 88 cm (34.5 inches) in women
  2. Systolic Blood Pressure: < 120 mmHG
  3. Diastolic Blood Pressure: < 80 mmHG
  4. Glucose: < 5.5 mmol/L (100 mg/dL)
  5. HbA1c: < 5.7%
  6. Triglycerides: < 1.7 mmol/l (< 150 mg/dL)
  7. HDL cholesterol: ≥ 1.00 mmol/L (≥40 mg/dL) in men and ≥ 1.30 mmol/L (50 mg/dl) in women

When considering only waist circumference, blood glucose levels and blood pressure levels~50% of Americans were considered metabolically unhealthy [3].  Given the slightly lower rates of obesity in Canada as in the United States, there is likely a slightly lower percentage of Canadians who are metabolically unhealthy, but the similarity of our diets may make that difference insignificant.

While we obviously can’t reduce our age or the presence of chronic lung conditions such as asthma or COPD, we can lower our risk of having severe outcomes should we contract the virus;

  • If we are overweight, we can lose weight.
  • If we have high blood pressure we can make safe and effective dietary changes to lower that, and by adding other lifestyle changes, achieving normal blood pressure without the need for medication is possible.
  • If we have higher than normal blood sugar, we can normalize that through dietary and lifestyle changes. Type 2 diabetes need not be a “chronic progressive disease”! It can be put into remission.
  • If we have abnormal lipid panel (cholesterol), we can change the way we eat to lower triglyceride levels, as well as increase HDL (“good”) cholesterol levels.

Final Thoughts…

There is much about the current situation we can’t change. Physical (social) distancing measures will likely be in place for some time. The need for consistent hand hygiene and avoiding touching our face will likely be come second nature for most of us, as may be the wearing of face coverings in public for many.

But with all of us eating at home almost all of time, now is an ideal time to find out how to eat in such a way to improve our metabolic health and lower our risk of serious outcomes should we contract the virus.

More Info?

If you would like more information about how I can help you and your family eat better, or how I can help you lose weight, lower blood pressure or blood sugar or lower cardiovascular risk, please reach out to me. While all my services are now provided via Distance Consultation, I have more than a decade of experience providing virtual nutrition support.

You can find more about the details of the different packages I offer by looking under the Services tab, or in the Shop and if you have any service-related questions, please feel free to send me a note using the Contact Me form above, and I will reply as soon as I can.

To your good health!

Joy

You can follow me on:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/JoyKiddie
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BetterByDesignNutrition/

References

  1. Garg S, Kim L, Whitaker M, et al. Hospitalization Rates and Characteristics of Patients Hospitalized with Laboratory-Confirmed Coronavirus Disease 2019 — COVID-NET, 14 States, March 1—30, 2020. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. ePub: 8 April 2020. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm6915e3
  2. Araíºjo J, Cai J, Stevens J. Prevalence of Optimal Metabolic Health in American Adults: National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2009—2016. Metabolic Syndrome and Related Disorders Vol 20, No. 20, pg 1-7, DOI: 10.1089/met.2018.0105

 

Copyright ©2020 BetterByDesign Nutrition Ltd.

LEGAL NOTICE: The contents of this blog, including text, images and cited statistics as well as all other material contained here (the ”content”) are for information purposes only.  The content is not intended to be a substitute for professional advice, medical diagnosis and/or treatment and is not suitable for self-administration without the knowledge of your physician and regular monitoring by your physician. Do not disregard medical advice and always consult your physician with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition or before implementing anything  you have read or heard in our content.

Canada Told to Prepare for Possible Pandemic Amidst 7th Case in BC

Note: This article is a follow-up to two previous articles (this one and this one) about the presence of the COVID-19 coronavirus in the Vancouver area, as well as recommendations from the Federal Chief Medical Officer about preparing for an “outbreak” or “pandemic”.

Yesterday, Monday February 24, 2020, Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said a 7th case of COVID-19 has been identified in BC [1] and that this patient is a man in his 40s who is a close contact of B.C.’s 6th case, a woman in her 30s who recently returned from Iran [2,3]. Apparently, the man had symptoms prior to the woman being diagnosed. The Globe and Mail reports that the Provincial Health Authority has been working with the Fraser Health Authority to try to identify anyone who may have been in touch with the two latest cases. This would include the fact that Fraser Health Authority sent a letter to all school districts in its region this past Friday, which includes Burnaby, New Westminster, Maple Ridge, Pitt Meadows and the Tri-Cities — warning them that contacts of the woman with coronavirus ”may have attended schools in the region and are currently isolated” [4].

The 6th case (and perhaps the 7th case too, as the woman was reported to have a travelling companion) also flew from Montreal to Vancouver on Valentine’s Day, February 14th [5,6]. On February 23, 2020, the BC Provincial Health Authority (PHSA) had advised Air Canada that it planned to contact all passengers who flew out of Montreal that day and who were seated within three rows of the woman so that they can monitor their health for a 14-day period and report any symptoms to a health professional [5,6].

In a dramatic shift from earlier indications that the risks in Canada are “low”, this morning’s Ottawa Citizen newspaper reported that Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Theresa Tam acknowledged yesterday (Monday, February 24, 2020) that “Canada may no longer be able to contain and limit the virus if it continues to spread around the world” and that she said “governments, businesses and individuals should prepare for an outbreak or pandemic” [7]. Yes, the “pandemic” word has now been uttered.

The Globe and Mail also reported that Dr. Tam said yesterday, ”The window of opportunity for containment — for stopping the global spread of the virus — is closing”, and ”…that we have to prepare across governments, across communities and as families and individuals, in the event of more widespread transmission in our community” [8].

Further thoughts…

In addition to the original COVID-19 outbreak in Wuhan, China, a growing outbreak of COVID-19 in Iran and South Korea is of particular concern, especially in the Greater Vancouver area which has thriving Chinese, Iranian and South Koreans communities.

With regards to the possibility of others having arrived from Iran with coronovirus prior to it being identified there, Dr. David Fisman, professor of epidemiology at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto said in the Globe and Mail report, ”I think it’s highly unlikely that that’s the only individual from a country without [declared] coronavirus disease who has come into Canada [8]”. I think it is likewise reasonable to assume that it is highly unlikely that no one arrived from South Korea before the first cases were identified there, as well.

Practical advice (outside of preparing to have sufficient non-perishable food on hand in case there is a need to self-isolate at home for 14 – 28 days) is to avoid the easiest means of transmission, which is touching someone or something that is contaminated with the virus, and then touching one’s eyes, nose or mouth. Use of alcohol gel is an alternative, when soap and water and a good hand wash for 20 seconds is not possible. Since transmission of COVID-19 can occur from an infected person to others within ~2 meters / 6.5 feet (even if the infected person has no symptoms), avoiding crowded public places such as restaurants, food courts, cashier line-ups and waiting rooms would be prudent. 

With no vaccine against this novel coronavirus or medicine available to treat it, practicing ‘social distancing’ is good advice; which is limiting one’s exposure to places where groups of people gather, decreasing opportunity for the virus to spread. This is where Distance Consultations can help. These have always been very popular with those on the other side of the city and across the country, but with seven local COVID-19 cases, people in the immediate vicinity are glad to have this option especially given me having a decade of experience providing them. You can find out more about Distance Consultations by clicking on the tab above.

More Info?

If you would like more information about the services that I provide, please have a look under the Services tab or in the Shop. If you have service-related questions, please feel free to send me a note using the Contact Me form above, and I will reply as soon as I can.

To your good health!

Joy

You can follow me on:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/JoyKiddie
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BetterByDesignNutrition/

Copyright ©2020 BetterByDesign Nutrition Ltd.

LEGAL NOTICE: The contents of this blog, including text, images and cited statistics as well as all other material contained here (the ”content”) are for information purposes only.  The content is not intended to be a substitute for professional advice, medical diagnosis and/or treatment and is not suitable for self-administration without the knowledge of your physician and regular monitoring by your physician. Do not disregard medical advice and always consult your physician with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition or before implementing anything  you have read or heard in our content.

References

References

  1. The Globe and Mail, Andrea Woo, Feb. 24, 2020, B.C. identifies seventh case of coronavirus, https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/british-columbia/article-bc-identifies-seventh-case-of-coronavirus/
  2. Montreal Gazette, Susan Schwartz, February 23, 2020, Passenger from Iran on flight from Montreal to Vancouver tests positive for new coronavirus, https://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/passenger-from-iran-on-flight-from-montreal-to-vancouver-tests-positive-for-new-coronavirus
  3. CBC, B.C.’s 6th presumptive COVID-19 case flew from Montreal to Vancouver on Feb. 14, https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/bc-coronavirus-flight-montreal-vancouver-1.5473283
  4. Global News, Sean Boynton, Passenger on Air Canada flight to Vancouver is not a new case of COVID-19: B.C. officials, Feb 23 2020 2:11 pm, updated 5:18 pm), https://globalnews.ca/news/6586274/covid19-air-canada-vancouver-montreal/
  5. Montreal Gazette, Susan Schwartz, February 23, 2020, Passenger from Iran on flight from Montreal to Vancouver tests positive for new coronavirus, https://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/passenger-from-iran-on-flight-from-montreal-to-vancouver-tests-positive-for-new-coronavirus
  6. CBC, B.C.’s 6th presumptive COVID-19 case flew from Montreal to Vancouver on Feb. 14, https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/bc-coronavirus-flight-montreal-vancouver-1.5473283
  7. Ottawa Citizen, Elizabeth Payne, Canadians being told to prepare for a possible novel coronavirus pandemic, https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/canadians-being-told-to-prepare-for-a-possible-novel-coronavirus-pandemic
  8. The Globe and Mail, Kelly Grant, February 24, 2020, Canada steps up screening efforts as coronavirus inches toward a pandemic, https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-canada-steps-up-screening-efforts-as-coronavirus-inches-toward-a

(UPDATED Feb 23) Sixth Case of COVID-19 Coronavirus in Vancouver called a Sentinel Event

Note: This article is a follow-up to an earlier article about COVID-19 coronavirus in the Vancouver area that was posted on February 6th, 2020. Please note this article was updated twice on February 23rd, with the updates posted below.

Provincial health officer Bonnie Henry announced Thursday, February 20th that a woman in her 30s who just returned from Iran this week is British Columbia’s sixth case of the novel COVID-19 coronavirus.  The woman was assessed at a hospital and is now in self-isolation at home in the Fraser Health region. Health officials won’t say which area she is in, but only that the Fraser Health region spans from Burnaby to Hope[1].

Note: The north shore (North Vancouver) is well known for its vibrant Iranian community, but so is Coquitlam, which is part of the Fraser Health region.

Health officials are now investigating details of the woman’s travel and working to determine whether other passengers on her flight home will need to be notified and tested.

This case is unusual in that the travel was to Iran, and not China or Singapore. Dr. Henry said that this is what is called a “sentinel event”, which is “a marker that something may be going on broader than what we expect[1].”

Earlier this week, on February 16th two Canadians returned to British Columbia from having been on the Westerdam cruise, and were asked by officials to put on protective face masks at Vancouver International Airport as an American woman who was on the cruise with them has tested positive for the COVID-19 coronovirus, and both she and her husband have been hospitalized with pneumonia [2,3]. The Global News headline for the story read “COVID-19 fears spike after woman let off cruise ship in Cambodia tests positive“.  The story’s opening paragraph reads, “The feel-good story of how Cambodia allowed a cruise ship to dock after it was turned away elsewhere in Asia for fear of spreading the deadly virus that began in China has taken an unfortunate turn after a passenger released from the ship tested positive for the virus [3].”

A week ago, a 5th case of COVID-19 had been identified in British Columbia in a woman in her 30s who travelled to the Shanghai area of China. “She was not in Hubei province and was not in an area where travel was restricted,” said Dr. Bonnie Henry, B.C.’s Chief Medical Health Officer. ”She came home from Shanghai through YVR (the Vancouver International Airport) and then travelled by private vehicle to her home in the interior,” said Henry. The woman was tested on February 11th, and the lab returned a positive result on Thursday February 13th [4]. Global News reported that they think that the woman’s symptoms started around her time of arrival. Henry said, ”We’re still working out the seating and looking at the flights“.  Global News also reported that “health officials are still working to contact everyone who sat within three rows of the woman to discuss what to do if they show symptoms”. Officials are not saying what flight the woman was on, or where she lives in the interior because “because they don’t want to unnecessarily alarm people“, Henry said [4].

It is also known that 5 million people left Wuhan before quarantine was set up in that city in preparation for the lunar New Year[5]. Where did they go? We know for sure that two people from Wuhan came to Vancouver during that time and that a woman in her 50s with whom they were staying contracted COVID-19 from them [6,7]. Since incubation period for the illness is believed to be up to 14 days and these individuals they were without symptoms while touring Vancouver sites, it is unknown how many individuals in the greater Vancouver area may have also been exposed to the coronavirus over the last few weeks by being in close contact with these three individuals. It is also unknown how many other people from the outbreak area may have come to Canada before the quarantine was in place. 

Some thoughts…

Medical officials are continuing to assure the public that the risks of getting COVID-19 are “low”, but “low” is a relative term.

Risk would certainly be “low” when compared to Wuhan where the coronavirus originated from (based on the sheer number of individuals infected there) and would also be “low” compared to those who were quarantined on the Diamond Princess off of the coast of Japan, but people in the Greater Vancouver area are very much on edge knowing that being within 2 meters (6.5 feet)  for any length of time of those who are contagious may put them at risk. Two meters is the distance between tables in  a restaurant, the distance between people in front and behind in a long line up at a checkout line, or at popular locations including the airport. Given that people can have no symptoms whatsoever and be contagious for 14 days has many people concerned.

In addition to a growing outbreak of COVID-19 in Iran, also of concern is the recent emergence of hundreds of cases of COVID-19 in Seoul, South Korea — as both of these countries have strong ties to local communities, and neither country is currently restricting travel.

Distance Consultations

Over the past decade that I have provided services via Distance Consultation, they had become increasingly popular with local-area clients as it saved them travelling booking time off work, or arranging childcare. As events related to coronavirus have unfolded, many local clients are glad to have the ability to consult with me remotely, especially given my experience in doing so. 

You can find out more about Distance Consultations by clicking on the tab above.

More Info?

If you would like more information about the services that I provide, please have a look under the Services tab or in the Shop. If you have service-related questions, please feel free to send me a note using the Contact Me form above, and I will reply as soon as I can.

To your good health!

Joy

You can follow me on:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/JoyKiddie
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BetterByDesignNutrition/

Update: February 23, 2020: Several media outlets [8,9] are reporting that the woman that tested positive for the new coronavirus and had recently flown from Iran, also flew from Montreal to Vancouver on Valentine’s Day, February 14th. The BC Provincial Health Authority (PHSA) advised Air Canada that it plans to contact all passengers who flew out of Montreal that day and who were seated within three rows of the woman so that they can monitor their health for a 14-day period and report any symptoms to a health professional [8.9].

Global News reported later this afternoon that the Fraser Health Authority sent a letter to all school districts in its region on Friday, which includes Burnaby, New Westminster, Maple Ridge, Pitt Meadows and the Tri-Cities — warning them that contacts of the woman with coronavirus ”may have attended schools in the region and are currently isolated.”  Fraser Health’s medical health officer Ingrid Tyler wrote in the letter that ”these contacts were not showing any signs or symptoms of illness while attending school, and remain well” and the health authority has assured that “there is no public health risk at schools in the region” and “no evidence that novel coronavirus is circulating in the community” [10].

Copyright ©2020 BetterByDesign Nutrition Ltd.

LEGAL NOTICE: The contents of this blog, including text, images and cited statistics as well as all other material contained here (the ”content”) are for information purposes only.  The content is not intended to be a substitute for professional advice, medical diagnosis and/or treatment and is not suitable for self-administration without the knowledge of your physician and regular monitoring by your physician. Do not disregard medical advice and always consult your physician with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition or before implementing anything  you have read or heard in our content.

References

  1. Globe and Mail, Andrea Woo, B.C. hit with sixth case of coronavirus after woman returns from Iran, https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/british-columbia/article-bc-hit-with-sixth-case-of-coronavirus-after-woman-returns-from-iran/
  2. CBC News, Austin Grabish, As Canadians return home from Westerdam cruise, health officials urge them to self-isolate, February 16, 2020 https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/westerdam-cruise-canadians-return-home-1.5466131
  3. Global News, Sopheng Cheang, Eileen Ng, Grant Peck (Associated Press), COVID-19 fears spike after woman let off cruise ship in Cambodia tests positive, February 17, 2020, https://globalnews.ca/news/6559821/cambodia-cruise-ship-coronavirus-positive/
  4. GlobalNews, Stuart Little, B.C. identifies 5th presumptive case of COVID-19, woman who travelled near Shanghai, https://globalnews.ca/news/6552744/british-columbia-covid-19-update/
  5. CTVNews, Erika Kinetz, Where did they go? Millions left Wuhan before quarantine. February 9, 2010, https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/where-did-they-go-millions-left-wuhan-before-quarantine-1
  6. CityNews 1130, Paul James and Kathryn Tindale, Health officials track coronavirus in Metro Vancouver, risk remains low, posted Feb 5, 2020 11:31 am PST, last Updated Feb 5, 2020 at 11:32 am PST,  https://www.citynews1130.com/2020/02/05/virus-expert-tracking-infected/
  7. National Post, Richard Warnica, Fifth suspected coronavirus case in Canada is B.C. woman who had ‘close contact’ with Wuhan visitors, Posted February 4, 2020 and 11:33 PM EST, https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/fifth-suspected-coronavirus-case-in-canada-is-b-c-woman-who-had-close-contact-with-wuhan-visitors
  8. Montreal Gazette, Susan Schwartz, February 23, 2020, Passenger from Iran on flight from Montreal to Vancouver tests positive for new coronavirus, https://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/passenger-from-iran-on-flight-from-montreal-to-vancouver-tests-positive-for-new-coronavirus
  9. CBC, B.C.’s 6th presumptive COVID-19 case flew from Montreal to Vancouver on Feb. 14, https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/bc-coronavirus-flight-montreal-vancouver-1.5473283
  10. Global News, Sean Boynton, Passenger on Air Canada flight to Vancouver is not a new case of COVID-19: B.C. officials, Feb 23 2020 2:11 pm, updated 5:18 pm), https://globalnews.ca/news/6586274/covid19-air-canada-vancouver-montreal/

Five Pounds or Fifty Pounds of Fat – in very real terms

Whether one loses 5 pounds of fat or 50 pounds of fat, I think it is very helpful to visualize just how much that is. Yes, five pounds of fat is much larger than most people realize!

This past week, I purchased a life-sized model of 5 pounds of fat from a well-known nutrition supplier; the same supplier I have purchased life-sized food models from, which I used to use a lot in my practice.  When I received it, I was quite surprised how much room it took up and just how heavy it was.

Here is a photo of the life-sized model 5 pounds of fat on a scale, with my left hand for a size reference:

5 pounds of fat on a scale, with adult hand as reference – © BBDNutrition

Here is a photo of it on an ordinary steno chair:

5 pounds of fat on a steno chair – © BBDNutrition

…and here is 5 pounds of fat being held in my hand:

5 pounds of fat in adult hand – © BBDNutrition

Finally, here is 5 pounds of fat being carried as one would carry an infant:

holding 5 pound of fat – © BBDNutrition

Five pounds of fat is a lot! Sure there is the initial water-loss at the beginning of weight loss, but here I’m talking about fat.

Fat takes up a fair amount of room around one’s waist, or worse inside one’s abdomen or organs. If someone has 20 pounds of fat to lose, that is four of those fat models distributed over their body; legs, belly, arms, neck, back and face and perhaps some in their liver.

I had 55 pounds of excess fat before beginning my journey.

Comparing these two full length photos, it is easy to see how I had the equivalent of one of those fat models over the length of each leg, one distributed between each arm, one distributed over my neck and face and 2 spread out around my waist and hips and some no doubt, in my liver and pancreas. But still, I can’t actually imagine where I was carrying 11 of those, all told!

The fat in my abdomen must have been more than I imagined, as it was wreaking metabolic havoc on my body.  I had very high blood pressure and had type 2 diabetes for 8 years.  You can read the entire story (including lab test results) under “A Dietitian’s Journey” on my affiliate low carb web site by clicking here. Keep in mind that I chose to follow a therapeutic low carbohydrate diet, but there is no one-sized-fits-all diet that is right for everyone.  

Whether you have 5 or 10 pounds of fat to lose, or like me ⁠— a whole lot more, it is really only done a pound or so at a time.  If you have significant amount of weight to lose,  I can not only help you do that, but since I’ve been through it myself, I can encourage you and coach you through it. I provide services across Canada (except PEI) via HIPAA-compliant video conferencing, and most extended benefits providers reimburse for licensed Dietitian services.

More Info?

If you would like more information about the services I offer, please have a look under the Services tab or in the Shop for more information. If you have service-related questions, please feel free to send me a note using the Contact Me form above, and I will reply as soon as I can.

To your good health!

Joy

You can follow me on:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/JoyKiddie
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BetterByDesignNutrition/

Copyright ©2020  BetterByDesign Nutrition Ltd.

LEGAL NOTICE: The contents of this blog, including text, images and cited statistics as well as all other material contained here (the ”content”) are for information purposes only.  The content is not intended to be a substitute for professional advice, medical diagnosis and/or treatment and is not suitable for self-administration without the knowledge of your physician and regular monitoring by your physician. Do not disregard medical advice and always consult your physician with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition or before implementing anything  you have read or heard in our content.