Tag Archives: Jay Wortman

June 2, 2013 · 6:43 AM

Dr. Jay Wortman Cured His Type 2 Diabetes With Low-Carb Eating

First Nation people traditionally ate salmon, a great source of marine omega-3 fatty acids

DietDoctor Andreas Eenfeldt recently interviewed Jay Wortman, M.D., and posted it at his blog. Dr. Wortman apparently cured his type 2 diabetes with a low carb diet. The interview doesn’t reveal how many carbohydrate grams Dr. Wortman eats daily, but I’m guessing under 60 g, perhaps as low as 30. He avoids sugars and starches.

Dr. Wortman also did research on application of the ancestral diet (low-carb) among aborigines on the west coast of Canada. I think they call them First Nation people. The low-carb diet helped them get off diabetes and high blood pressure drugs while losing excess weight. Dr. Wortman mentioned the diet improved heartburn, too. Folks who go low-carb frequently report an improvement in heartburn. That’s even been studied scientifically.

Steve Parker, M.D.

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Tagged as Andreas Eenfeldt, diabetes, First Nation, Jay Wortman, low-carb

March 9, 2012 · 2:13 AM

What’s Our Preferred Fuel?

Dr. Jay Wortman has been thinking about whether our bodies prefer to run on carbohydrates (as a source of glucose) or, instead, on fats. The standard American diet provides derives about half of its energy from carbs, 35% from fats, and 15% from proteins. So you might guess our bodies prefer carbohydrates as a fuel source. Dr. Wortman writes:

Now, consider the possibility that we weren’t meant to burn glucose at all as a primary fuel. Consider the possibility that fat was meant to be our primary fuel. In my current state of dietary practice, I am burning fat as my main source of energy. My liver is converting some of it to ketones which are needed to fuel the majority of my brain cells. A small fraction of the brain cells, around 15%, need glucose along with a few other tissues like the renal cortex, the lens of the eye, red blood cells and sperm.Their needs are met by glucose that my liver produces from proteins. The rest of my energy needs are met with fatty acids and these come from the fats I eat.

Dr. Wortman, who has type 2 diabetes, in the same long post also writes about oolichan grease (from fish), an ancestral food of Canandian west coast First Nations people.

Steve Parker, M.D.