To make the book available to more readers, I just dramatically reduced the price at the U.S. Amazon store. $2.99 for the e-book (Kindle) or $9.95 for the paperback. I don’t know how long the prices will stay this low.
If you’re curious, at those prices Amazon pays me $2.06 for each e-book sold, and $2.74 for the paperback.
I don’t care if you leave a favorable or bad review at Amazon. Just be honest. I’ll incorporate helpful and insightful criticism into the 2nd edition.
36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
C-reactive protein (CRP) is a bloodstream marker of body-wide inflammation. A prominent theory is that if your CRP is too high, it causes chronic disease states like hypertension, dementia, and cardiovascular disease. A 2024 meta-analysis published in British Journal of Nutrition looked at the effects of various diets on CRP. The implication is that your odds of developing particular chronic diseases is lowered if you adopt a diet that lowers your CRP. Check the Abstract below to see how your diet stacks up:
Adopting a healthy dietary pattern may be an initial step in combating inflammation-related chronic diseases; however, a comprehensive synthesis evaluating current evidence is lacking. This umbrella review aimed to summarise the current evidence on the effects of dietary patterns on circulating C-reactive protein (CRP) levels in adults. We conducted an exhaustive search of the Pubmed, Scopus and Epistemonikos databases, spanning from their inception to November 2023, to identify systematic reviews and meta-analyses across all study designs. Subsequently, we employed a random-effects model to recompute the pooled mean difference. Methodological quality was assessed using the A Measurement Tool to Assess Systematic Reviews 2 (AMSTAR 2) checklist, and evidence certainty was categorised as non-significant, weak, suggestive, highly suggestive or convincing (PROSPERO: CRD42023484917). We included twenty-seven articles with thirty meta-analyses of seven dietary patterns, fifteen of which (50 %) exhibited high methodological quality. The summary effects of randomised controlled trials (RCT) found that the Mediterranean diet was the most effective in reducing circulating CRP levels, followed by Vegetarian/Vegan and Energy-restricted diets, though the evidence was of weak quality. In contrast, Intermittent Fasting, Ketogenic, Nordic and Paleolithic diets did not show an inverse correlation with circulating CRP levels. Some results from combined interventional and observational studies, as well as solely observational studies, also agreed with these findings. These dietary patterns show the potential in reducing CRP levels in adults, yet the lack of high-quality evidence suggests future studies may alter the summary estimates. Therefore, further well-conducted studies are warranted.
Therapeutic exercise helps a little. But don’t expect a dramatic improvement, according to this 2023 study published at The Lancet Rheumatology. The benefits tend to accrue to patients who are in most pain and most physically impaired at baseline.
If you’re carrying a lot of excess weight, it only stands to reason that weight loss would take some stress off those worn-out joints. Let me help you.
Many physicians and dietitians have been hesitant to suggest ketogenic diets due to 1) possible increased risk of cardiovascular disease, and 2) unknown effects on overall mortality.
In the video below, JP implies that it is. He’s technically correct in that it is banned in some European countries according to a January 2024 article at HealthNews. Ozempic and Wegovy are brand names for the same drug: semaglutide, a GLP-1 receptor agonist. Wegovy is FDA-approved for treatment of particular folks with obesity whereas Ozempic is FDA-approved for treatment of type 2 diabetes.
I understand the superficial appeal of drug-induced weight management: no need to fool with exercise and dietary restriction.
…a higher intake of ultra-processed foods was associated with slightly higher all cause mortality, driven by causes other than cancer and cardiovascular diseases. The associations varied across subgroups of ultra-processed foods, with meat/poultry/seafood based ready-to-eat products showing particularly strong associations with mortality.
You can read the study for yourself free online. Did Big Food (e.g., Archer Daniels Midland, Con-Agra, Monsanto) exert any pressure on the researchers. I dunno.
From the Intro:
Ultra-processed foods are ready-to-eat/heat industrial formulations made mostly or entirely from substances derived from foods, including flavors, colors, texturizers, and other additives, with little if any intact whole food.1Ultra-processed foods, which are typically of low nutritional quality and high energy density, have been dominating the food supply of high income countries, and their consumption is markedly increasing in middle income countries.2 Ultra-processed food consumption accounts for 57% of daily energy intake among adults and 67% among youths in the US according to the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES).34
Ultra-processed foods usually disproportionately contribute added sugars, sodium, saturated fats and trans fats, and refined carbohydrates to the diet together with low fiber.56 As well as having low nutritional quality, ultra-processed foods may contain harmful substances, such as additives and contaminants formed during the processing.
Neurologist Steven Novella wrote a brief post about this study over at Science-Based Medicine. You may also find the comment section there enlightening.
If memory serves, when I started my medical career in 1981 we only had three classes of drugs for treating diabetes: insulin, sulfonylureas, and metformin. We have so many options now, that I have lost track. From Everyday Health earlier this year:
Metformin, a decades-old generic drug for type 2 diabetes, may also help treat COVID-19, a new study suggests.
Scientists at the University of Minnesota randomly assigned more than 1,300 adults with COVID-19 to take metformin or a placebo pill. All of the participants took nasal swab tests for viral levels after 1, 5, and 10 days.
Lab tests showed that metformin significantly reduced the amount of COVID-19 virus circulating in the body and also decreased the odds that virus levels would rebound after an initial reduction during treatment, according to study results published in Clinical Infectious Diseases.
Among the key research results:
On average, metformin reduced the amount of virus in the body almost 4 times more than the placebo pill.
People taking metformin were 28 percent more likely to have undetectable levels of the virus in their body at either day 5 or day 10 of the study.
Participants on metformin were 32 percent less likely to experience what’s known as rebound — when levels of the virus initially decrease but then become higher again.
Fruits and veggies are good for us, right. We should eat more more of them, right?
UK’s Daily Mail published a worrisome article about pesticide residues (PFAS) on many fruits and veggies: strawberries, grapes, cherries, spinach, tomatoes, peaches/nectarines, etc. The tested foods were from UK supermarkets but I bet the numbers are just as bad or worse in the U.S. PFAS stands for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances. These man-made and long-lasting chemicals are implicated in causation of cancer, immunity impairment, infertility, impaired kidney function, thyroid disease, and low birth weight.
Thrice in the last six months I’ve heard that compared to the European Union, U.S. regulators allow many more chemical contaminants in food. That sounds like a deep and circuitous rabbit hole that I’m not ready to explore. Please mention in the comments an authoritative book or website on the subject.
I’ve been trying to grow food here in the Sonoran Desert for the last three years. I’m about ready to give up. My primary pests have been mealy bugs, caterpillars, mice, pack rats, and squirrels.
I learned a new word today: deprescription. It apparently refers to the act of stopping a prescribed drug.
There’s a class of type 2 diabetes drugs called GLP-1 receptor agonists. Popular examples are Ozempic and Trulicity. They help users to lose excess weight. But there’s concern about long-term drug side effects regain of lost weight when the drug is stopped. So do successful users need to take the drug lifelong?
A study published earlier this year in Diabetes Therapysuggests that successful users of GLP-1 receptor agonists can stop the drug without weight regain and without loss of diabetes control if they also adhere to a very carbohydrate restricted diet. How much carb restriction? Under 30 grams/day, at least at first. That’s going to be ketogenic in most folks. Although I don’t recall seeing “ketogenic” in the study at hand.
Diabetic Mediterranean Diet 