The craving for carbohydrates when suffering a headache stems from the fact that many people commonly experience headaches from low blood flow to the brain and scalp muscles. The low blood flow is due to an imbalance of the autonomic nervous system that is commonly associated with insulin resistance, obesity, diabtes and high blood pressure. The carbohydrate cravings …
Psychologists are finding out that even when people try to focus on a task they tend to lose concentration within 40 minutes, and sometimes as little as 10 minutes. The studies are based on a new technique, called transcranial Doppler sonography, that uses ultrasound to monitor blood flow velocity in the brain. The technique could …
Low testosterone levels and symptoms of male sexual dysfunction due to obesity may be reversible with weight loss after bariatric surgery, a new study finds. The results were presented at The Endocrine Society’s 93rd Annual Meeting in Boston. “Morbidly obese men have a high prevalence of hypotestosteronenemia, or low testosterone, and of sexual dysfunction,” said …
Weight Loss in Men Reverses Testosterone Deficiency Read More »
Salty or Sweet: Your Brain’s Need for Increased Blood Flow Most people crave either salty or sweet food. They sense these foods make them feel better and because of that they like to eat them. But many people have never been taught what these food cravings actually mean to their brains. The reason for your …
A recent NIH study assessing the effectiveness of Niaspan (a niacin supplement used to decrease triglycerides and raise HDL cholesterol) was terminated early because of concerns it may actually be harming patients. This also puts into question whether Tricor, another triglyceride lowering agent actuallys prevents heart disease. I follow a simple rule with patients when …
With summer coming on, a cold frosty lemonade from McDonald’s may sound refreshing and evoke some pleasant childhood memories but let me warn you, this is not your Mom’s lemonade. McDonald’s Strawberry Lemonade is just another common example of how the food industry is poisoning our kids with sugar. Just check out the carb numbers. 24 grams …
Don’t Feed Your Kids McDonald’s Strawberry Lemonade Read More »
A Brief Overview of Atherosclerosis Atherosclerosis is a process of chronic inflammation of the cells lining the arterial walls. Overtime, scar-like tissue builds up with some deposition of calcium and small dense cholesterol molecules in the tissue. Ultimately, the inflamed atherosclerotic lesion can rupture, a blood clot suddenly forms and an individual will experience a heart …
What is Fatty Liver? Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) is a disorder of fat metabolism within the liver and affects approximately 1/3 of all Americans. The term “non-alcoholic” is used to clearly separate the liver damage that can occur from NAFLD from somewhat similar damage done by Alcoholic Hepatitis. NAFLD begins with the accumulation of …
Wikipedia – “Detoxification (detox for short) is the physiological or medicinal removal of toxic substances from a living organism, including, but not limited to, the human body.” Phrases such as ‘withdrawal from sugars’, ‘detoxing from carbs’ or ‘having low blood sugar’ are often used when people describe the feelings they experience after significantly lowering their carbohydrate intake. I can understand why …
A Reader Asks – “How Do You Know When You Are Done ‘Detoxing’ After Reducing Carbs?” Read More »
The Problem According to the American Heart Association, more than 910,000 Americans still die of heart disease annually. And more than 70 million Americans live every day with some form of heart disease which can include high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, stroke, angina (chest pain), heart attack and congenital heart defects. The Myth “Being overweight or …
I recently found this program that aired on the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) 2 years ago about the history of low carbohydrate dieting. It’s well done, interesting and gives some useful background. My only caveat is that in spite of showing that low carbohydrate approach is better than low fat diets for weight reduction, the program ends with some doomsday scientist saying how …
Nice Program from BBC on the History of Low Carb Read More »
Heartburn is a very common problem that affects approximately 20% of the general public. It is commonly associated with symptoms such as bloating after meals, belching, burning of the stomach or below the breastbone (sternum), bitter taste in the mouth and regurgitation of stomach acid. Most people assume heartburn (otherwise known as GERD or gastroesophageal …
Your Heartburn Is Actually A Neurological Problem Read More »
Are You Poisoning Your Children? Believe it or not, if your child has heartburn it’s because they are slowly being poisoned by the excessive amounts of carbohydrates in their diet. Their excessive carbohydrate intake is toxic to their nervous system and is directly responsible for increasing incidence of heartburn, fatigue, headaches, abdominal pain and frequent urination. Heartburn, the Most Obvious …
The Importance of Elevated Triglycerides Insulin resistance is the cause of type II diabetes, heart disease, chronic kidney disease and most cases of high blood pressure. These conditions are dangerous and occur much more frequently in patients with HIV Disease than in the general population. The main reason for this is insulin resistance. Triglyceride elevation …
Monitoring Triglycerides is Important in HIV Disease Read More »
How Much ProteinTo Eat Patients on low carbohydrate diets are also encouraged to eat more protein. Many ask how much protein they should eat. Now I could give you a formulaic answer by stating you need so many grams per protein per day (click here if you want to read a technical review) but formulas are of …
A recent study has shown women with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) have a three-fold greater chance of having diabetes later in life. This is not surprising since both are the symptoms of a much larger problem, insulin resistance. Just as not so surprising, all three, insulin resistance, diabetes and PCOS have been shown to improve …
Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome Increases Chances of Developing Diabetes Read More »
Brown Rice is Not as Healthy as You Think Many patients will ask me if it’s OK for them to eat more carbs than I recommend (less than 100 grams per day) to control their diabetes as long as they are eating low-glycemic carbs (think whole wheat bread or pasta, brown rice, vegetables and fruit). The answer is no. …
‘Low Carb’ is More Effective than ‘Low Glycemic’ for Diabetes Read More »
A reduction in carbohydrate consumption has been shown to be more effective in lowering blood pressure than eating a low fat diet. The study compared low carbohydrate diet with a low fat diet that was combined with a weight loss drug. The low carbohydrate diet group was much more effective than the low fat diet plus …
Why Starting The Atkins Diet Causes You To Feel Tired Patients who go on the Atkins low carbohydrate diet often experience headaches, ‘brain fog’, lightheadedness or fatigue the first few weeks after reducing their carbohydrate intake. These symptoms will improve after a few weeks but for some individuals they can be quit severe and will …
Why Starting The Atkins Diet Causes You To Feel Tired Read More »
What is Gout? Gout is a common form of arthritis that has been recognized for centuries. Patients often will complain of experiencing recurrent episodes of pain and inflammation in a joint, particularly the large toe and usually lasts for 1-2 weeks. It is often associated with obesity and excessive alcohol consumption. The incidence of gout …
Excess Carbohydrates Cause Elevated Triglycerides Overweight patients commonly have elevations of their small LDL cholesterol and triglycerides as well as decreases of their HDL cholesterol; all of these changes correlate with an increased risk of heart attacks. This pattern is collectively known as atherogenic dyslipidemia and is associated with the narrowing of arteries called atherosclerosis. …
What Does A Family History of Diabetes, High Blood Pressure or Heart Attacks Really Mean? I’ve spoken with many patients who worry about their health and that of their children because there seems to be a strong family history of type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure or even heart attacks. Their concerns are obvious but …
What to Do About a Family History of Diabetes, High Blood Pressure or Heart Attacks Read More »
If it does, don’t think you’re alone. Many Americans are dealing with the same thing. Patients complain about it to me all the time. What you may be experiencing is an accumulation of fat within the abdominal cavity (called intra abdominal fat). And your body may be abnormally storing fat there because the carbohydrates (sugar and starches) in your …
Soda is Dangerous In a recently published study in the November 2010 issue of Diabetes Care, Dr Vasanti S Malik (Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA) reported that consumption of just one or two sugar-sweetened beverages per day is associated with a 26% greater risk of developing type 2 diabetes and a 20% increased risk …
Poisoning Our Children’s Future The diabetes epidemic is growing so rapidly that presently 1 of every 10 adults in the U.S. has diabetes. That number is anticipated to grow to 1 of every 3 adults by 2050. That means that 1/3 of all those beautiful little kids in your child’s classroom, 1/3 of their soccer teammates and …
Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is the most common hormone disorder among women of reproductive age. PCOS affects approximately 5-14% of women (depending on the definition used). here is no significant difference between white and black women with regard to incidence of PCOS when controlling for BMI and age. PCOS is often associated …
Carbohydrate Reduction and Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome Read More »
Headaches, A Common Malady A common problem many people experience from time-to-time is a headache. We can still function through the day with a mild headache but they can sometime become so severe as to incapacitate a person. There are many known causes of headaches but there are only a few that occur quite commonly …
Introduction Many people are familiar with the occasionally sensation of feeling light-headed when getting up out of bed or after bending over to pick up an item or tie their shoes. This lightheadedness can sometimes be accompanied by visual changes such as seeing black spots, burred vision or transient vertigo. On occasion, the lightheadedness can …
Excess Carbohydrates Equals Lightheadedness and Fatigue Read More »
How Many Carbohydrates are Too Much? So what should we reduce our carbohydrate intake to? The average American diet consists of 50-60% of calories from carbohydrates, and many highly processed carbohydrates at that. Scientific studies suggest that most individuals can become extremely healthy if they reduce their carbohydrate intake to approximately 25% of their total …
How Processed Carbohydrates Fuel Your Hunger Part 3 Read More »
Good Carbs and Bad Carbs It is important to understand there are some very healthy forms of carbohydrates that you can eat without excessively stimulating your hunger (in future posts look at the lists of low carbohydrate fruits in vegetables that can be incorporated as part of your diet). A mistake that patients of mine …
How Processed Carbohydrates Fuel Your Hunger Part 2 Read More »
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