Group items tagged

The Diet-Heart Hypothesis: Subdividing Lipoproteins Two posts ago, we made the rounds of the commonly measured blood lipids (total cholesterol, LDL, HDL, triglycerides) and how they associate with cardiac risk. It's important to keep in mind that many things associate with cardiac risk, not just blood lipids. For example, men with low serum vitamin D are at a 2.4-fold greater risk of heart attack than men with higher D levels. That alone is roughly equivalent to the predictive power of the blood lipids you get measured at the doctor's office. Coronary calcium scans (a measure of blood vessel calcification) also associate with cardiac risk better than the most commonly measured blood lipids. Lipoproteins Can be Subdivided into Several Subcategories In the continual search for better measures of cardiac risk, researchers in the 1980s decided to break down lipoprotein particles into sub-categories. One of these researchers is Dr. Ronald M. Krauss. Krauss published extensively on the association between lipoprotein size and cardiac risk, eventually concluding (source): The plasma lipoprotein profile accompanying a preponderance of small, dense LDL particles (specifically LDL-III) is associated with up to a threefold increase in the susceptibility of developing [coronary artery disease]. This has been demonstrated in case-control studies of myocardial infarction and angiographically documented coronary disease. Krauss found that small, dense LDL (sdLDL) doesn't travel alone: it typically comes along with low HDL and high triglycerides*. He called this combination of factors "lipoprotein pattern B"; its opposite is "lipoprotein pattern A": large, buoyant LDL, high HDL and low triglycerides. Incidentally, low HDL and high triglycerides are hallmarks of the metabolic syndrome, the quintessential modern metabolic disorder. Krauss and his colleagues went on to hypothesize that sdLDL promotes atherosclerosis because of its ability to penetrate the artery wall more easily

Conclusion A low-carbohydrate plant-based diet has lipid-lowering advantages over a high-carbohydrate, low-fat weight-loss diet in improving heart disease risk factors not seen with conventional low-fat diets with animal products. The Effect of a Plant-Based Low-Carbohydrate ("Eco-Atkins") Diet on Body Weight and Blood Lipid Concentrations in Hyperlipidemic Subjects David J. A. Jenkins; Julia M. W. Wong; Cyril W. C. Kendall; Amin Esfahani; Vivian W. Y. Ng; Tracy C. K. Leong; Dorothea A. Faulkner; Ed Vidgen; Kathryn A. Greaves; Gregory Paul; William Singer Arch Intern Med. 2009;169(11):1046-1054. DOI: 10.1001/archinternmed.2009.115

One-year comparison of a high-monounsaturated fat diet with a high-carbohydrate diet in type 2 diabetes. Brehm BJ, Lattin BL, Summer SS, Boback JA, Gilchrist GM, Jandacek RJ, D'Alessio DA. Diabetes Care. 2009 Feb;32(2):215-20. Epub 2008 Oct 28. PMID: 18957534 doi: 10.2337/dc08-0687 CONCLUSIONS-In individuals with type 2 diabetes, high-MUFA diets are an alternative to conventional lower-fat, high-CHO diets with comparable beneficial effects on body weight, body composition, cardiovascular risk factors, and glycemic control.

"Peter at Hyperlipid and Stephan at Whole Health have dispelled yet again myths regarding the indictment of the 16:0 long-chained saturated fatty acid Palmitic Acid as the prime instigator of insulin resistance (IR). Researchers are always wrong -- it's... HIGH CARBS PLUS Palmitic acid. Their brilliant posts discuss below: --Sportzaid (FRUCTOSE) + Palmitate = IR RETARDNESS --High Carb Lab Chow + Palmitate = IR in the brain Yes. Such inferences applied to low carbers (LCers) is pure ridiculousness. Non-applicable. Low/no carb + Palmitic Acid = GOOD THING. All the low-carb/high saturated fat (palmitic acid) and ketosis trials by Hays JH, Volek JS, and Krauss RM have shown reductions in blood insulin, blood glucoses (BG) and peripheral tissue insulin resistance (IR). Directly contrary to the high carb animal or human studies. Palmitic acid has a special evolutionary, adaptive role in mammalian metabolism. Stephan showed that it likely 'fills in' when blood glucose starts to decline. "

"This article was originally published in 2004 in the Chicago Tribune. It's still knocking around on the web in various places but the original seems to have disappeared. You can't have too much of a good thing. Obviously Stephan's recent posts on lard prompted me to put this one up. The imported nutritionist doesn't seem quite as dismissive as you might expect! But notice in the last paragraph that the big bogeyman is protein overload damaging the kidneys! On 60g/d of protein??? Sobor clearly knows nothing about high fat diets, certainly not the one he is commenting so authoritatively about in this case!"

ScienceDaily (June 27, 2009) - Doctors have known for decades that too much carbohydrate-laden foods like white bread and corn flakes can be detrimental to cardiac health. In a landmark study, new research from Tel Aviv University now shows exactly how these high carb foods increase the risk for heart problems.

Dietary composition modulates brain mass and solubilizable Abeta levels in a mouse model of aggressive Alzheimer's amyloid pathology. Pedrini S, Thomas C, Brautigam H, Schmeidler J, Ho L, Fraser P, Westaway D, Hyslop PS, Martins RN, Buxbaum JD, Pasinetti GM, Dickstein DL, Hof PR, Ehrlich ME, Gandy S. Mol Neurodegener. 2009 Oct 21;4:40. PMID: 19845940 doi:10.1186/1750-1326-4-40 INTERPRETATION: Dissociation of Abeta changes from brain mass changes raises the possibility that diet plays a role not only in modulating amyloidosis but also in modulating neuronal vulnerability. However, in the absence of a study of the effects of a high protein/low carbohydrate diet on nontransgenic mice, one cannot be certain how much, if any, of the loss of brain mass exhibited by high protein/low carbohydrate diet-fed TgCRND8 mice was due to an interaction between cerebral amyloidosis and diet. Given the recent evidence that certain factors favor the maintenance of cognitive function in the face of substantial structural neuropathology, we propose that there might also exist factors that sensitize brain neurons to some forms of neurotoxicity, including, perhaps, amyloid neurotoxicity. Identification of these factors could help reconcile the poor clinicopathological correlation between cognitive status and structural neuropathology, including amyloid pathology.

Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, have identified a gene that plays a critical regulatory role in the process of converting dietary carbohydrates to fat. In a new study, they disabled this gene in mice, which consequently had lower levels of body fat than their normal counterparts, despite being fed the equivalent of an all-you-can-eat pasta buffet. The authors of the study, to be published in the March 20 issue of the journal Cell, say the gene, called DNA-PK, could potentially play a role in the prevention of obesity related to the over-consumption of high-carbohydrate foods, such as pasta, rice, soda and sugary snacks..

"A friend has emailed me the full text of Pawel Grieb's paper documenting a number of physiological parameters of medium to long term Optimal Diet (OD) eaters in Poland, as pointed out by Flo and Stan. There are a few points worth making. The biggest mistake, BTW, is that the authors claim (correctly) that the OD diet aims for >70% fat with (incorrectly) "no restriction on the type of fat (saturated or unsaturated) or cholesterol level". I think they meant that the OD does not ban saturated fats. This is of course true but the impression given is that the OD allows "healthy" fats, which are, of course, inedible. So the heavy emphasis on saturated fats is missed by the paper. A pity, anyone might be left thinking corn oil is a human food... The first positive aspect is that this is a multi author study, eleven authors from several medical centres/unversities. So it's not a one man band case report. I like that. The second is that it is remarkably positive about the findings throughout. Even the elevated LDL cholesterol levels are not taken as extreme and are not trumpeted from the rooftops as the portent of imminent cardiovascular doom. So refreshing!"

"Jan Kwasniewski was born in 1937 in Poland. He graduated from the Military Medical Academy and specialised in Physical Medicine. For many years he worked in the Military Sanatorium in Ciechocinek as dietician where he introduce famous in Poland and at present all over the world his nutritional method which gives the humans good and long health. This method was named "Optimal Diet" which is the cornerstone to the nutritional theory. The principles of the optimal diet at first shock people because the diet recommends eating large quantities of fats along with a radical cut of carbohydrates. The basic premise is that the dieter should keep the proper proportion among the three fundamental nutrients in food: protein, fat and carbohydrates. He found that the ideal proportion is from 1:2.5:0.5 to 1:3.5:0.5 meaning that with every gram of protein 2.5 to 3.5 grams of fat and half a gram of carbohydrates should be eaten. In another words, optimal nutrition is a high fat, low carbohydrate diet. "

Long-term consumption of a carbohydrate-restricted diet does not induce deleterious metabolic effects. Grieb P, K?apcin'ska B, Smol E, Pilis T, Pilis W, Sadowska-Krepa E, Sobczak A, Bartoszewicz Z, Nauman J, Stan'czak K, Langfort J. Nutr Res. 2008 Dec;28(12):825-33. PMID: 19083495 doi:10.1016/j.nutres.2008.09.011 These results indicate that long-term (>1 year) compliance with a low-CHO high-fat "optimal diet" does not induce deleterious metabolic effects and does not increase the risk for cardiovascular disease, as evidenced by maintenance of adequate glycemic control and relatively low values for conventional cardiovascular risk factors.

"This page contains abstracts and articles in PDF format by Dr. Loren Cordain and his colleagues."

Conclusions: Compared with a low-fat diet, a low-carbohydrate diet program had better participant retention and greater weight loss. During active weight loss, serum triglyceride levels decreased more and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol level increased more with the low-carbohydrate diet than with the low-fat diet. A low-carbohydrate, ketogenic diet versus a low-fat diet to treat obesity and hyperlipidemia: a randomized, controlled trial. Yancy WS Jr, Olsen MK, Guyton JR, Bakst RP, Westman EC. Ann Intern Med. 2004 May 18;140(10):769-77. PMID: 15148063

A Role of DNA-PK for the Metabolic Gene Regulation in Response to Insulin Roger H.F. Wong, Inhwan Chang, Carolyn S.S. Hudak, Suzanne Hyun, Hiu-Yee Kwan, Hei Sook Sul Cell 20 March, 2009 Volume 136, Issue 6, p1056 doi:10.1016/j.cell.2008.12.040    

In the first study to look at the long-term effects of low-carbohydrate diets, researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) found no evidence of an association between low-carb diets and an increased risk of CHD in women. Their findings did suggest, however, an association between low-carb diets high in vegetable sources of fat and protein and a low risk of CHD. "This study suggests that neither a low-fat dietary pattern nor a typical low-carbohydrate dietary pattern is ideal with regards to risk of CHD; both have similar risks. However, if a diet moderately lower in carbohydrates is followed, with a focus on vegetable sources of fat and protein, there may be a benefit for heart disease," said Tom Halton, a former doctoral student in the Department of Nutrition at HSPH.

A ketogenic diet reduces amyloid beta 40 and 42 in a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease. Van der Auwera I, Wera S, Van Leuven F, Henderson ST. Nutr Metab (Lond). 2005 Oct 17;2:28. PMID: 16229744 doi:10.1186/1743-7075-2-28 CONCLUSION: Previous studies have suggested that diets rich in cholesterol and saturated fats increased the deposition of Abeta and the risk of developing AD. Here we demonstrate that a diet rich in saturated fats and low in carbohydrates can actually reduce levels of Abeta. Therefore, dietary strategies aimed at reducing Abeta levels should take into account interactions of dietary components and the metabolic outcomes, in particular, levels of carbohydrates, total calories, and presence of ketone bodies should be considered.

No one can dispute that mother's milk is the ideal nutrition, as far as the biochemical composition is concerned. It contains 3 to 11 grams of fat per 1 gram of protein (0.4% unsaturated fat). The conclusion is obvious - if Nature included such a minute quantity of that constituent in such a wonderful food, then we should respect it. Meanwhile, people are being persuaded that plant-derived fats containing polyunsaturated fatty acids which do not exist in mother's milk, are healthy. Nothing is more misleading. The best are the fats which contain the highest percentage of energy contributing constituents, or in other words, such in which COOH group is attached to the longest fatty acid chain. Short fatty acid chains contain around 30-40% of energy-contributing constituents, the longest ones over 90%. Long-chain fatty acids fully saturated with hydrogen, yields approx. 10 cal/g when metabolised, the same as petrol. Fat's value as a "fuel" for our body increases with the increase in the amount of hydrogen per gram of carbon in its molecule, with the increase in the energy-contributing constituents. Chemically, the best are long-chain fully saturated fatty acids, that is to say, solid fats of animal origin. Only fats with the length of the chain above 10 carbon atoms are suitable to be utilised by our cells and tissues without conversion. These fats are directed straight to the blood stream via the lymphatic system, and they do not have to be converted and made suitable by the liver, as is the case with inferior fats (with shorter chains), or all other constituents of consumed and digested foods

"Dr Jan Kwasniewski This Website is dedicated to Dr Jan Kwasniewski who has spent his lifetime developing and using the Optimal Diet bringing health and happiness to many people. Dr Jan Kwasniewski still lives in Poland, he has refused to commercialise his development and is not a very rich person. He does not sell any supplements. Compared with the standards enjoyed by Western medicos he lives a very ordinary, modest life."

Welcome to the English language website for the "Optimal Diet" movement. The Optimal Diet is a dietary model of human nutrition devised and implemented by Dr. Jan Kwasniewski. The Optimal Diet is a movement, which originated in recent years in Poland, and has rapidly spread to a number of countries worldwide, is to improve the well-being, health and biological value of people as individuals, and to correct nutritional mistakes of human kind as a whole, through promotion and implementation of the "optimal" model of human nutrition. Optimal Diet is based on the delivery of the most important nutritional elements, e.g., the most valuable proteins and fats, whilst leaving the body in charge of the distribution of these elements to the most critical areas. The ideal proportion between the main food components of protein, fat and carbohydrates should be in the range of : m m m m 1 : 2.5 - 3.5 : 0.5 In order to work out the correct daily food intake using this proportion, one has to know how many grams of protein needs to be ingested in a day to satisfy body's requirements.

Eggs distinctly modulate plasma carotenoid and lipoprotein subclasses in adult men following a carbohydrate-restricted diet. Mutungi G, Waters D, Ratliff J, Puglisi M, Clark RM, Volek JS, Fernandez ML. J Nutr Biochem. 2009 Apr 13. [Epub ahead of print] PMID: 19369056 We previously reported that carbohydrate restriction (CR) (10-15% en) during a weight loss intervention lowered plasma triglycerides (TG) by 45% in male subjects (P<.05). However, only those subjects from the EGG group presented higher concentrations of these two carotenoids in plasma, which were correlated with the higher concentra