Category Archives: Uncategorized

October 7, 2009 · 6:21 PM

My Ketogenic Mediterranean Diet: Day 37

MPj04327450000[1]Weight: 158.5 lb

Transgressions: none

Exercise: none

Comments

I eat a large salad once or twice daily, often dressed with Safeway Select “Olive Oil and Balsamic Dressing.”  Wouldn’t you think the this would be an olive oil vinaigrette?  The first ingredient listed on the bottle is vegetable oil (soybean oil, extra virgin olive oil).  Then water, balsamic vinegar, etc.  I assume it has more soybean oil than olive oil.  Could they just put a drop of olive oil in a serving and still call it “Olive Oil and Balsamic Dressing”?

Just an example to illustrate you don’t really know what you’re eating unless you fix it yourself.  Gotta admit the product is tasty, however!

I’ll look for another product with extra virgin olive oil as the primary ingredient.  Any suggestions?

–Steve 

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October 1, 2009 · 10:59 AM

My Ketogenic Mediterranean Diet: Day 31 – Mission Accomplished!

copper pipe

copper pipe

Weight: 160 lb (72.7 kg)

Transgressions: none

Exercise: none

Comments

Today is a milestone for me: I’ve reached the goal weight I set for myself 30 days ago!  Waist size has dropped from 37 to 35¼ inches.  I may be up 1.5 lb tomorrow just by shifts in fluid balance and intestinal contents.  My waist was 32 inches when I was in my 20’s.  As I look in the mirror, I can see the improvement over a month ago, and I’d like to see even less fat around my midsection.  I’ll stay on the program another couple weeks and see what happens.  My energy intake over the last two days has increased by 200 cal, up to 2000 cals/day—perhaps my body is starting to defend its current weight.     

My nutrient analysis at NutritionData suggests that the un-supplemented Ketogenic Mediterranean Diet may be deficient in copper.  Here’s a summary of copper physiology.

Copper is involved in enzymes that relate to antioxidant defense, production of nervous system chemical messengers, collagen and bone formation, blood clotting, melatonin production, and electron transport.  Deficiency of copper causes weakness, bleeding, fragile hair, depigmentation of skin (pale skin), osteoporosis, edema, ataxia (unsteady gait), neuropathy (impaired nerve function), impaired thinking, microcytic anemia, enlargement of the liver and spleen, and low platelets.

Copper deficiency could explain the easy bruising seen commonly in people on very low-carb diets.  Other factors, such as vitamin C or K deficiency may be more common.

How common is copper deficiency?  Working full-time in hospitals over the last eight years, I’ve never seen a documented case—diagnosed by me or any other physician—of copper deficiency.  I’ll admit I rarely look for it by measuring a blood level.  Among the causes of copper deficiency listed at UpToDate.com, very low-carb diets are not listed.

-Steve

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September 30, 2009 · 4:31 PM

My Ketogenic Mediterranean Diet: Day 30

Skip the cone

Skip the cone

Weight: 160.5 lb (72.9 kg)

Transgressions: exceeded veggie max by 1.5 oz, and nut max by 0.5 oz

Exercise: 90 minutes horseback riding (mostly walking),  horse grooming

Comments

A friend told me about Breyers Carb Smart Chocolate Frozen Dairy Desert.  It’s in the ice cream section of the supermarket, comes in an ice cream container, but they don’t call it ice cream.  Sweetened with Splenda, it’s marketed for use as part of a low-carb diet and has five grams of net carbs per serving.  The one-half cup serving size contains:

  • 110 calories (60 fat calories)
  • total carbs 15 g, fiber 4 g, sugars 5 g, sugar alcohol 6 g
  • ingredients: milk, skim milk, cream, sorbitol, polydextrose, cocoa (processed with alkali), whey, glycerine cellulose gel, propylene glycol monoesters, mono and digylcerides, etc.

It tastes fine.  You could serve it to houseguests as ice cream and they’d never know.  I didn’t have regular Breyers ice cream available for a head-to-head comparison, but I expect the real deal tastes better.

I’m conflicted about recommending an imitation ice cream to someone who may be a carbaholic and trying to lose weight and keep it off.  Ice cream has contributed to overweight in many folks.  Could imitation ice cream lead them to “fall off the wagon”?  On the other hand if someone has been doing well with very low-carb eating for several weeks and is just dying for something cold and sweet, wouldn’t this be better than real ice cream?

–Steve

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September 14, 2009 · 7:16 PM

My Ketogenic Mediterranean Diet: Day 14

"Who can read those tiny numbers?!"

"Who can read those tiny numbers?!"

Weight: 162 lb

Transgressions: none

Exercise: none

Comments

It’s easy for body weight to vary throughout the day by as much as 3–4 pounds (1.4–1.8 kg), depending on state of hydration, meals, and volume status of the urinary bladder and intestines.  The most reliable time to weigh is first thing after getting up from hours of sleep, after emptying your bladder, wearing your usual sleeping clothes or none at all.

Feeling good.  No dizziness or muscle aches.

-Steve

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September 12, 2009 · 5:34 PM

World’s Oldest Person Dies at 115

High-fat, high-carb

High-fat, high-carb

Gertrude Baines died yesterday in Los Angeles at the age of 115, according to the Associated Press.

She liked to eat fried chicken, bacon, and ice cream.

Steve Parker, M.D.

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September 5, 2009 · 9:53 PM

My Ketogenic Mediterranean Diet: Day 5

42-15653194Weight: 164.5 lb

Transgressions: lost track of my vegetable intake

Exercise: none

Comments

Achy muscles and dizziness mostly in remission, at least for now.  Dizziness was primarily with change in position, such as sitting up after bending over to tie shoes.

Need to come up with a method to keep track of my veggie intake (max of 14 oz or 200 g daily).  For example, I threw some onion in the pan with my eggs and sausage and forgot to weigh and keep track of them.  May have exceeded veggie max a little.  Consider mixing 14 oz of various raw veggies at start of day and set aside to be eaten throughout the day.

Do you ever notice a film building up on your teeth if you go too long—12 hours perhaps— without brushing?  Well, I seem to be having less of that film.  Too soon to be sure, could be fluke.  Reminds me of the Cleave-Yudkin carbohydrate theory of dental and systemic chronic disease.  The dental component is caries (cavities), gingivitis, and periodontal disease.  I wonder if carb restriction has already been tested as a treatment for these dental diseases.

-Steve

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June 1, 2009 · 9:13 AM

Health on the Net Foundation’s Code of Conduct

This website is certified by Health On the Net Foundation. Click to verify. This site complies with the HONcode standard for trustworthy health information:
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I am pleased to announce that in May of this year the Diabetic Mediterranean Diet Blog met the accreditation criteria of the Health on the Net Foundation’s Code of Conduct for medical and health Web sites.

From the HON website:

The Health On the Net Foundation (HON) promotes and guides the deployment of useful and reliable online health information, and its appropriate and efficient use.  Created in 1995, HON is a non-profit, non-governmental organization, accredited to the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations.  For twelve years, HON has focused on the essential question of the provision of health information to citizens, information that respects ethical standards.  To cope with the unprecedented volume of healthcare information available on the Net, the HONcode of conduct offers a multi-stakeholder consensus on standards to protect citizens from misleading health information.

Here are HONcode criteria I pledge to uphold:

  1. Authoritative.  Any medical or health advice provided and hosted on this site will only be given by medically trained and qualified professionals unless a clear statement is made that a piece of advice offered is from a non-medically qualified individual or organisation.
  2. Complementarity.  The information provided on this site is designed to support, not replace, the relationship that exists between a patient/site visitor and his/her existing physician.
  3. Privacy.  Confidentiality of data relating to individual patients and visitors to a medical/health Web site, including their identity, is respected by this Web site. The Web site owners undertake to honour or exceed the legal requirements of medical/health information privacy that apply in the country and state where the Web site and mirror sites are located.
  4. Attribution.  Where appropriate, information contained on this site will be supported by clear references to source data and, where possible, have specific HTML links to that data.  The date when a clinical page was last modified will be clearly displayed (e.g. at the bottom of the page).
  5. Justifiability.  Any claims relating to the benefits/performance of a specific treatment, commercial product or service will be supported by appropriate, balanced evidence in the manner outlined above in Principle 4.
  6. Transparency.  The designers of this Web site will seek to provide information in the clearest possible manner and provide contact addresses for visitors that seek further information or support.  The Webmaster will display his/her E-mail address clearly throughout the Web site.
  7. Financial disclosure.  Support for this Web site will be clearly identified, including the identities of commercial and non-commercial organisations that have contributed funding, services or material for the site.
  8. Advertising policy.  If advertising is a source of funding it will be clearly stated.  A brief description of the advertising policy adopted by the Web site owners will be displayed on the site.  Advertising and other promotional material will be presented to viewers in a manner and context that facilitates differentiation between it and the original material created by the institution operating the site.

If you notice any violations of the code, please contact me via email (see Contact page) or contact the Health on the Net Foundation.

Steve Parker, M.D. 

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