…according to U.S. News & World Report. Click through if interested in the two runners-up. I think a low-carb version of Mediterranean is better for most folks.
I’m surprised they ranked Atkins as the “Best Fast Weight-Loss Diet.” Looks like we’re getting over our collective phobia about saturated fat. “Keto Diet” ranked #4 in that category.
Steve Parker, M.D.
Filed under Mediterranean Diet, Weight Loss
Oral preventatives during disease surges:
The doses vary, depending on body weight, age, tolerance to the drug. Generally, the higher doses are for younger and heavier folks. If one gets plentiful sunlight exposure, the oral vitamin D may not be needed.
Other strategies during disease surges (or always?):
Did you notice I haven’t mentioned masks? I’m not a big believer. Do I wear an N-95 mask when I’m seeing a COVID-19 patient at the hospital? You bet. And the mask was fit-tested. Is that testing available to the general public? Not that I’m aware.
Do I have great data to support all these strategies? No, but some. Are they recommended by the CDC or NIH (Nat’l Institutes of Health)? I don’t know or care. I’ve lost faith in them. I’m afraid they’ve been bought and paid for by Big Pharma (and others?).
I don’t know about your personal health and medical history. I’m not your doctor. If you’re considering any of these recommendations, consult your personal physician before implementation.
I was motivated to write this post by the failures and risks of the rushed vaccines. Vaccination might be helpful if you are sickly, over 65, or have underlying conditions such as diabetes, active cancer, a poor immune system, obesity (especially BMI over 35), or some other co-morbidities. I see both very healthy, vigorous 65-year-olds, and sickly 65-year-olds. Which one are you? If you’re over 80, you may have nothing to lose by vaccinating. Average U.S. life expectancy is 79 years, less for men, longer for women.
Steve Parker, M.D.
Update on Jan 9, 2022:
From Dr Robert Malone on Dec 31, 2021:
“So, yes back to my thoughts on Omicron – please keep taking that vitamin D3 and get your levels tested, if you haven’t already. Use a formulation that combines the D3 with Vitamins A and K. Please keep up with the zinc, vitamin C and magnesium. Work on weight control, glycemic control and please exercise! All are important.”
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Filed under Coronavirus
What are ultra-processed foods? I’m not paying $35 for the scientific article to find out. If you can grab the definition from your copy, please share in the Comments section. The 2020 profit from my publishing company was only $937.08, so I’m watching my expenses.
Here’s the free abstract:
Background
Higher ultra-processed food intake has been linked with several cardiometabolic and cardiovascular diseases. However, prospective evidence from US populations remains scarce.
Objectives
To test the hypothesis that higher intake of ultra-processed foods is associated with higher risk of coronary artery disease.
Methods
A total of 13,548 adults aged 45–65 y from the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities study were included in the analytic sample. Dietary intake data were collected through a 66-item FFQ. Ultra-processed foods were defined using the NOVA classification, and the level of intake (servings/d) was calculated for each participant and divided into quartiles. We used Cox proportional hazards models and restricted cubic splines to assess the association between quartiles of ultra-processed food intake and incident coronary artery disease.
Results
There were 2006 incident coronary artery disease cases documented over a median follow-up of 27 y. Incidence rates were higher in the highest quartile of ultra-processed food intake (70.8 per 10,000 person-y; 95% CI: 65.1, 77.1) compared with the lowest quartile (59.3 per 10,000 person-y; 95% CI: 54.1, 65.0). Participants in the highest compared with lowest quartile of ultra-processed food intake had a 19% higher risk of coronary artery disease (HR: 1.19; 95% CI: 1.05, 1.35) after adjusting for sociodemographic factors and health behaviors. An approximately linear relation was observed between ultra-processed food intake and risk of coronary artery disease.Conclusions
Higher ultra-processed food intake was associated with a higher risk of coronary artery disease among middle-aged US adults. Further prospective studies are needed to confirm these findings and to investigate the mechanisms by which ultra-processed foods may affect health.
I admit I must eat some ultra-processed foods, but try to limit them.
Heart disease is the #1 killer in the developed world, even more lethal the COVID19! If you haven’t chosen your New Years’ weight-loss diet yet, consider one low in ultra-processed foods, like the Mediterranean diet.
Steve Parker, M.D.
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Filed under coronary heart disease, Heart Disease
I’ve run across a number of people who slowly increased their alcohol consumption over months or years, not realizing it was causing or would cause problems for them. Alcohol is dangerous, lethal at times.
From a health standpoint, the generally accepted safe levels of consumption are:
One drink is 5 ounces of wine, 12 ounces of beer, or 1.5 ounces of 80 proof distilled spirits (e.g., vodka, whiskey, gin).
Dry January was conceived in the UK in 2012 or 2014. The idea is simply to abstain from all alcohol for the month of January. The Alcohol Change UK website can help you git ‘er done. Many folks notice that they sleep better, have more energy, lose weight, and save money. There are other potential benefits.
If you think you may have an unhealthy relationship with alcohol, check your CAGE score. It’s quick and easy.
Alternatively, if you make a commitment to a Dry January but can’t do it, you may well have a problem.
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Filed under Alcohol
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Filed under Uncategorized
Folks with diabetes have higher-than-average risk of dying from cardiovascular disease, such as heart attacks and strokes. So it’s good to know about dietary habits that enhance longevity.
Background
Examining a variety of diet quality methodologies will inform best practice use of diet quality indices for assessing all-cause and CVD [cardiovascular disease] mortality.
Objective
To examine the association between three diet quality indices (Australian Dietary Guideline Index, DGI; Dietary Inflammatory Index, DII; Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay, MIND) and risk of all-cause mortality, CVD mortality and non-fatal CVD events up to 19 years later.Design
Data on 10,009 adults (51.8 years; 52% female) from the Australian Diabetes, Obesity and Lifestyle study were used. A food frequency questionnaire was used to calculate DGI, DII and MIND at baseline. Cox proportional hazard models were used to estimate hazard ratios (HR) and 95% CI of all-cause mortality, CVD mortality and non-fatal CVD events (stroke; myocardial infarction) according to 1 SD increase in diet quality, adjusted for age, sex, education, smoking, physical activity, energy intake, history of stroke or heart attack, and diabetes and hypertension status.Results
Deaths due to all-cause (n = 1,955) and CVD (n = 520), and non-fatal CVD events (n = 264) were identified during mean follow-ups of 17.7, 17.4 and 9.6 years, respectively. For all-cause mortality, HRs associated with higher DGI, DII and MIND were 0.94 (95% CI: 0.89, 0.99), 1.08 (95% CI: 1.02, 1.15) and 0.93 (95% CI: 0.89, 0.98), respectively. For CVD mortality, HRs associated with higher DGI, DII and MIND were 0.93 (95% CI: 0.85, 0.99), 1.10 (95% CI: 1.00, 1.24) and 0.90 (95% CI: 0.82, 0.98), respectively. There was limited evidence of associations between diet quality and non-fatal CVD events.Conclusions
Better quality diet predicted lower risk of all-cause and CVD mortality in Australian adults, while a more inflammatory diet predicted higher mortality risk. These findings highlight the applicability of following Australian dietary guidelines, a Mediterranean style diet and a low-inflammatory diet for the reduction of all-cause and CVD mortality risk.
Steve Parker, M.D.
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Filed under coronary heart disease, Health Benefits, Heart Disease, Longevity, Mediterranean Diet, Stroke
Parade.com has an article touting the health benefits of a low-carb high-fat Mediterranean diet. Can you believe they didn’t even mention my books?!
In fairness to my readers, I must mention that I scanned the referenced AJCN article and didn’t see the word “Mediterranean” in it.
“If you’re looking to improve your heart health, you may want to try eating a low-carb, high-fat Mediterranean diet. Why? Because a new study published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that eating a low-carb (no more than 20% of daily calories from carbs), the high fat-style Mediterranean diet may reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD).For the study, obese study participants reported both improved insulin resistance and cholesterol levels compared to those who ate a moderate carb (40%) or high carb (60%) diet over a five-month period.”
Steve Parker, M.D.
PS: I also have a low-carb option in my Advanced Mediterranean Diet (2nd Edition). And KMD: Ketogenic Mediterranean Diet is very low-carb.
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Filed under Health Benefits, Heart Disease, Mediterranean Diet
A recent scientific article supported low-carb eating for heart health.
Background
Carbohydrate restriction shows promise for diabetes, but concerns regarding high saturated fat content of low-carbohydrate diets limit widespread adoption.Objectives
This preplanned ancillary study aimed to determine how diets varying widely in carbohydrate and saturated fat affect cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors during weight-loss maintenance.
Methods
After 10–14% weight loss on a run-in diet, 164 participants (70% female; BMI = 32.4 ± 4.8 kg/m2) were randomly assigned to 3 weight-loss maintenance diets for 20 wk. The prepared diets contained 20% protein and differed 3-fold in carbohydrate (Carb) and saturated fat as a proportion of energy (Low-Carb: 20% carbohydrate, 21% saturated fat; Moderate-Carb: 40%, 14%; High-Carb: 60%, 7%). Fasting plasma samples were collected prerandomization and at 20 wk. Lipoprotein insulin resistance (LPIR) score was calculated from triglyceride-rich, high-density, and low-density lipoprotein particle (TRL-P, HDL-P, LDL-P) sizes and subfraction concentrations (large/very large TRL-P, large HDL-P, small LDL-P). Other outcomes included lipoprotein(a), triglycerides, HDL cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, adiponectin, and inflammatory markers. Repeated measures ANOVA was used for intention-to-treat analysis.
Results
Retention was 90%. Mean change in LPIR (scale 0–100) differed by diet in a dose-dependent fashion: Low-Carb (–5.3; 95% CI: –9.2, –1.5), Moderate-Carb (–0.02; 95% CI: –4.1, 4.1), High-Carb (3.6; 95% CI: –0.6, 7.7), P = 0.009. Low-Carb also favorably affected lipoprotein(a) [–14.7% (95% CI: –19.5, –9.5), –2.1 (95% CI: –8.2, 4.3), and 0.2 (95% CI: –6.0, 6.8), respectively; P = 0.0005], triglycerides, HDL cholesterol, large/very large TRL-P, large HDL-P, and adiponectin. LDL cholesterol, LDL-P, and inflammatory markers did not differ by diet.
Conclusions
A low-carbohydrate diet, high in saturated fat, improved insulin-resistant dyslipoproteinemia and lipoprotein(a), without adverse effect on LDL cholesterol. Carbohydrate restriction might lower CVD risk independently of body weight, a possibility that warrants study in major multicentered trials powered on hard outcomes.
Parker here. No surprise to me.
Steve Parker, M.D.
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Filed under Carbohydrate, Heart Disease
Eliza Skoler addresses this issue in an interesting article at Diatribe:
Rice. Billions of people around the world eat it every single day, for multiple meals a day – and it’s a primary food for many populations, with research showing that it provides about 20% of the world’s calorie intake. From beans and rice to stir fry with rice, from sushi to risotto to sweet rice desserts, this simple ingredient is a staple across the globe and across cultures.
Unfortunately, rice presents a key challenge for people with diabetes: it’s a spiky carb. Spiky carbs are foods that cause glucose to quickly increase, and they can create unpredictable swings in glucose levels. If you or someone you know has diabetes, you may be wondering how to manage your glucose when faced with this dietary staple.
https://diatribe.org/rice-and-diabetes-how-great-risk
I find that many of my patients have better glucose control if they eat less than the daily carb grams mentioned in this article.
Steve Parker, M.D.
Filed under Carbohydrate
I say”them” because some government authorities around the world, e.g., Australia, will vaccinate against the wishes of parents. I worry that tyrants in California are about to do the same.
These are experimental vaccines without a long-term safety record. The short-term record in adults doesn’t look that great either.
Jonathan Howard at Science-Based Medicine figures that fewer than one in 100,000 healthy children who contract COVID-19 will die from it. Among the young decedents, at least three out of four have a predisposing condition such as obesity, asthma, a developmental disorder, a neurological condition, or cardiovascular disease. Additionally, Dr. Howard says three out of four deaths are in Hispanics, Blacks, or indigenous people (American Indian/Alaskan Native).
Dr. Howard admits that the risk of death from COVID-19 for children is very low. But since the risk is not zero, all children should be vaccinated.
Dr. Howard bases his recommendation for the Pfizer/BionNTech vaccine for children on very limited data. This is child abuse since we don’t have long-term vaccination safety data.
You know I’m not a pediatrician. I’m an internist and hospitalist. Dr. Howard is a neurologist and psychiatrist. There may be a legitimate role of COVID-19 vaccination for sickly children. But there’s no way in hell I’d vaccinate my healthy children without long-term safety data.
For a healthy child, the potential risks of COVID-19 vaccination outweigh the potential benefits.
Question authority. Including me.
Steve Parker, M.D.
PS: Read William M Briggs: Kids Don’t Need to Be Vaccinated.
Filed under Coronavirus
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Bible Verse of the Day
Diabetic Mediterranean Diet 