Brick lift

The Worlds Strongest Man has been on TV this week.  It all seems so much more pumped up and serious than it used to be.  Back in the old days they did stuff like this:

To sleep perchance.....

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Hillfit - An ebook

UPDATE - the book is now available at www.hillift.com 

Pretty soon I will be launching a short ebook that I have put together on strength training for the hillwalker / backpacker / hiker.  Walking in the Scottish mountains is my main interest and love.  Much of my training is focussed on making sure I am in shape for that.

I've been writing articles on fitness for the UK magazine TGO for a few months.  This booklet will pull together some of the themes from those pieces but focus really on developing strength through a simple bodyweight HIT style routine.

It should be finalised in a coulpe of weeks and ready for sale on its own website.  It is about 50 pages with some illustrations and a fairly long appendix of references and research to back up what I am saying.   Writing it is only half the battle  -  and that has been hard enough - but the marketing of it will be a challenge!  I am trying to avoid all of the hype filled sales pages, but unfortunately those techniques do seem to work.

Chronic Cardio is healthy?

In our little paleosphere endurance exercise is usually characterised as a "bad" thing.  Mark Sission's Chronic Cardio post is the usual basis for all this, but there are other references too.  In general I agree with this view.  However sometimes other bits and pieces pop up that indicate a different viewpoint.  I saw this one the other day:

Autophagy-related and autophagy-regulatory genes are induced in human muscle after ultraendurance exercise

The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether ultra endurance exercise changes the mRNA levels of the autophagy-related and autophagy-regulatory genes. Eight men (44 ± 1 years, range: 38–50 years) took part in a 200-km running race. The average running time was 28 h 03 min ± 2 h 01 min (range: 22 h 15 min–35 h 04 min). A muscle sample was taken from the vastus lateralis 2 weeks prior to the race and 3 h after arrival. Gene expression was assessed by RT-qPCR. Transcript levels of autophagy-related genes were increased by 49% for ATG4b (P = 0.025), 57% for ATG12 (P = 0.013), 286% for Gabarapl1 (P = 0.008) and 103% for LC3b (P = 0.011). The lysosomal enzyme cathepsin L mRNA was upregulated by 123% (P = 0.003). Similarly, transcript levels of the autophagy-regulatory genes BNIP3 and BNIP3l were both increased by 113% (P = 0.031 and P = 0.007, respectively). Since upregulation of these genes has been related with an increased autophagic flux in various models, our results strongly suggest that autophagy is activated in response to ultra endurance exercise.

Autophagy is usually presented as a "good thing" - the self eating process by which cells clean themselves up, getting rid of waste products and some pathogens.  Often it is promoted by fasting and again in the paleo world it is one of the benefits that are claimed for intermittent fasting.  I've probably written about that in the past somewhere.

Anyway, this study seems to link it to ultraendurance exercise.....actually it is talking epigenetics as far as I can see, particular autophagy related genes being switched on.  I suppose this might make sense if the exercise has actually cause massive damage and the body is frantically trying to clear up and repair the mess.  Maybe not so positive.

The Renaissance of Exercise

Well the book arrived while I was away for Christmas.   I've been reading the Renaissance Exercise blog for a while now, following the interest sparked on the Body By Science forum.  The protocol and indeed the whole philosophy of Renaissance Exercise interested me very much partly because it made sense - it lines up with the position of writers that I have leaned a lot form such as Doug McGuff and Drew Baye - and partly because it appealed to my contrarian leanings.

I'd read a fair amount of the SuperSlow articles that were freely available on the internet - there are several here - so I knew roughly what I was getting into.  Renaissance Exercise's marketing strategy was to drip feed blog posts, generating interest and then to launch their machines at a major event following up with the book itself. Well it worked for me, and I ordered the book.  The price put me off initially but I viewed it as a text book / investment and went for it.  I emailed Drew Baye as well and he highly recommended it and he always comes across as a harsh critic.

320 pages, hardback, ribbon bookmarks, dense with information.  This will be an interesting read.  You can find more on the book here

Christmas and new year

Sorry the blog is quiet just now. Christmas visiting families is taking priority.

I have a few things lined up and also an ebook project which should launch in January - Hillfit: strength the missing element in your training, a basic bodyweight HIT routine for hikers / backpackers. It is in draft at the moment but hopefully will be ready in a week or so.

Back soon

Sugar, cancer and mitochondria

I've had stuff up here over the years (e.g. here and here)about how cancer cells seem to survive by burning sugar and not fat and so some doctors have tried to starve cancers by using a ketogenic diet, with some success.

Anyway, here is a video outlining new research into this same topic:



The research is reported here and the full article is available here

Cancer cells tend to take up more glucose than healthy cells, and researchers are increasingly interested in exploiting this tendency with drugs that target cancer cells' altered metabolism.

Cancer cells' sugar cravings arise partly because they turn off their mitochondria, power sources that burn glucose efficiently, in favor of a more inefficient mode of using glucose. They benefit because the byproducts can be used as building blocks for fast-growing cells.

Drugs or diet, if this knowledge can help find a solution to cancer then that is good.

The Complete Guide to Interval Training





More Health and Fitness

How to live forever

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That Plank World Record....The Video

Yesterday I posted about George Hood breaking the world plank record with a phenomenal time of 1 hour 20 minutes  and 5.01 seconds.... John Sifferman is a connoisseur of the plank and had a good post today of the achievement, which included this inspirational video:





John proposes a challenge: a 5 Minute Plank...

George Hood. That’s the name of the man who will be entered into the Guinness Book of World Records after holding the plank exercise longer than anyone else ever has – obliterating the world record by nearly 30 seconds…wait…I mean minutes – 30 minutes.

Maybe you’ve done a plank before, and maybe you thought you’ve done pretty well. Depending on who you talk to, a three minute plank hold is generally considered the gold standard – and anything beyond that is just gravy. Once you’ve hit 3 minutes and beyond, your core is already plenty strong – or so they say. However, I think a growing number of people have already proven that much of successful planking is all in your head. Mental toughness was certainly a deciding factor with the 5 minute plank challenge I posted last year. And I mean, come on, once you’ve done it for 5 minutes, you’re in the elite club, right?

New world record for the plank

This is absolutely mind blowing.

While browsing around looking for images of the plank for an ebook I am working on, I came across this piece of news: a 54 year old man has just set a world record for the plank.  The staggering thing is the length of time that he held the plank:  1 hour, 20 minutes and 5.01 seconds.

That is almost unbelievable - I think I am doing well when I get 3 minutes!

George Hood broke the Guinness World Record on December 3 for the "Longest time in an abdominal plank position," clocking in at 1 hour, 20 minutes, and 5.01 seconds. The record-breaking took place at Eggsperience Pancakes and Cafe in Naperville, where owner John Sakoufakis created a special venue for Hood.

  The full story is here: George Hood breaks Guinness record for plank

I liked his comment:

“I wanted to raise awareness with regard to the benefits of core strength, for one’s personal fitness and overall health,” said Hood, a personal trainer and former Marine. “I see so many people who are overweight, have bad posture and can’t walk from point A to point B. It all comes back to one’s core, and this particular exercise is the best one out there.”

and also that the work only began after 50 minutes!

“Once I broke the record (at 50 minutes), the work began,” Hood said. “When we got to an hour and 12 (minutes), I was ready to call it, but that crew guided me through one minute at a time. They were the only three people in my head and in my ear.”

  John Sifferman - now it is your turn!

Deep Fried....Butter

Eat your heart out Denmark!  In Edinburgh we even deep fry butter itself!

Deep fried butter goes on the menu in Edinburgh

An Edinburgh bar has put a calorific treat to rival the deep fried Mars Bar on its menu - deep fried butter balls.

There is more in the Daily Mail..

Sod the diet: Fiddler's Elbow head chef Simon Robertson (right) and colleague Paul Fitchie with the latest item on the menu - deep-fried butter balls in Irn Bru batter

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2076260/Scottish-bar-The-Fiddlers-Elbow-serves-deep-fried-BUTTER.html#ixzz1h6mmUR4P

It is all really about this....

I was up in the hills this morning to watch the sunrise over the snow.  It was glorious.  Full story here.

As I've said before, this is what it is all about really, getting and staying fit enough so I can get to places like this whenever I want.

Physical activity counteracts the effects of a toxic environment?

See what you make of this:  Comparison of urine toxic metals concentrations in athletes and in sedentary subjects

Cadmium (Cd), tungsten (W), tellurium (Te), beryllium (Be), and lead (Pb), are non-essential metals pervasive in the human environment. Studies on athletes during training periods compared to non-training control subjects, indicate increased loss of minerals through sweat and urine. The aim of this study was to compare the level of these trace elements, determined by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) in urine samples, between athletes and age-matched sedentary subjects living in the same geographical area, although anthropometric and cardiovascular measurements showed that athletes have significantly (P ≤ 0.001) lower BMI, body fat and heart rate, whereas the muscle and bone percentage was significantly (P ≤ 0.001) higher than in sedentary subjects. The validity of the methodology was checked by the biological certified reference material. Trace element analysis concentrations, expressed in μg/mg creatinine, of five toxic elements in urine from athletes (n = 21) versus sedentary subjects, (n = 26) were as follows: Cd (0.123 ± 0.075 vs. 0.069 ± 0.041, P ≤ 0.05); W (0.082 ± 0.053 vs. < limit of detection); Te (0.244 ± 0.193 vs. 0.066 ± 0.045, P ≤ 0.001), Be (0.536 ± 0.244 vs. 0.066 ± 0.035, P ≤ 0.001); Pb (0.938 ± 0.664 vs. 2.162 ± 1.444 P ≤ 0.001). With the exception of Pb, urine toxic metal concentrations from athletes were higher than from sedentary subjects. This fact suggests that physical activity counteracts, at least in part, the cumulative effect of toxic environment by increasing the urine excretion of toxic metals in trained people.

So sweating as a result of exercise helps the body to get rid of some of the crap that builds up in it from the environment.

Strength training increases efficiency

Just a  quick post just pointing out an abstract that I have noticed over the weekend.   Top of the list is this one:   Heavy Strength Training improved efficiency in cyclists.

Cyclists Improve Pedalling Efficacy and Performance After Heavy Strength Training.

It was tested whether heavy strength training, including hip flexion exercise, would reduce the extent of the phase in the crank revolution where negative or retarding crank torque occurs. Negative torque normally occurs in the upstroke phase where the leg is lifted by flexing the hip. Eighteen well-trained cyclists either performed twelve weeks of heavy strength training in addition to their usual endurance training (E+S; n = 10) or merely continued their usual endurance training during the intervention period (E; n = 8). The strength training consisted of four lower body exercises [3×4-10 repetition maximum (RM)], which were performed twice a week. E+S enhanced cycling performance by 7%, which was more than in E (P = 0.02). Performance was determined as average power output in a 5-min all-out trial performed subsequent to 185 min of submaximal cycling. The performance enhancement, which has been reported previously, was here shown to be accompanied by improved pedalling efficacy during the all-out cycling. Thus, E+S shortened the phase where negative crank torque occurs by ~16° corresponding to ~14%, which was more than in E (P = 0.002). In conclusion, adding heavy strength training to usual endurance training in well-trained cyclists improves pedalling efficacy during 5-min all-out cycling performed following 185 min of cycling.

Nice to have a bit more ammunition in my battle to get every athlete strength training.

Pressing Reset: The Guide Book for Becoming Bulletproof

 A few months ago I did a quick and dirty review of Becoming Bulletproof and there has been a link to the book in the sidebar of this blog ever since.  I find the brain and ideas of neuroplasticity fascinating and  I liked the way that Tim and Mike addressed these things in their little book.

If you want to get further and apply some of the concepts explained by Norman  Doidge and others, this is a great place to start

They offer an approach to get the brain working in exercise.   Tim has revisited these ideas in a new book - Pressing Reset


Tim says:

I've written a small guide book to Becoming Bulletproof called Pressing Reset.  It is a short "How to" book intended to help people implement the "resets" into their daily lives.

This guide book has expanded on some of the resets and offers more illustrations on how to perform them. Also, in Pressing Reset, I introduce a new "reset" that might surprise you. In fact, you probably do it once in a while.




Anyway, if you get a chance, check it out. If you stop by you can download a free 3 Minute Reset PDF that you can hang on your refrigerator!

3 Minute Reset - free pdf

Congruent Exercise 3: Injuries are to be avoided

One of the basic precepts in Bill DeSimone's Congruent Exercise (I'd encourage everyone to get a copy) is that :

"The absolute first priority for anyone training with weights should be to avoid a catastrophic injury."

Bill notes that this should be obvious, but points to a series of tragic and disabling accidents that have left people dead or disabled.

I thought this when reading some on the weird thing that is T Nation the other day.  It is a set of tales of catastrophic injuries including a powerlifter who shatters his spine while his pals laugh and triceps torn while benching, trying to present these dangers as acceptable, things to be overcome in a macho drive to success.    Actually it comes across as stupid.  Why the hell glory in disabling movements?

strange.


As I have said before:  KEEP IT SAFE

Congruent Exercise 2: Just because you can doesn't mean you should

I'm still planning my full review of Bill DeSimone's excellent new book Congruent Exercise, but I saw a video the other day that made me think of one of the things he says in the book:

"Just because you can move a limb in a certain way, doesn't mean that you should, and it certainly doesn't mean you should move it that way with extra weight."

Bill talking about safe exercise choice but his words came back to me when I saw this.  Surely this guy shouldn't keep doing this!

Congruent Exercise - Part 1

It is rare that I am truly excited by a book, that writing will really stimulate me intellectually, with sets of ideas that connect and make sense.  I like it when that happens, when you find something "new" but which makes so much sense because it is not really new, it is obvious when you put the pieces together.  It is the logic of it I like, when things hold together in consistent ways.

Bill DeSimone's new book, Congruent Exercise, is exciting me!  I will put up a proper review in a few days, but I am really savouring it at the moment.  As I read each page there is a pencil in my hand and I am marking up key paragraphs.....then I find that I am marking the whole thing!

In this new book, Bill is covering much of the same material that was in his first book - Moment Arm Exercise - but he has refined his presentation and the whole argument is very clearly presented.

Moment Arm Exercise fascinated me and I used to study it like a text book, I still dig it out to check out the worth of different movements.  Congruent Exercise is more like a manifesto, a simple pulling together of premises to give a clear and logical prescription for exercise.  Safety is key to all this, designing movements that reflect proper joint and muscle function, informed not by "feel" or dogma, but anatomy and mechanics.

As I say, I'll put up a proper review in a few days, but for now suffice to say that this is the best book I've read this year.  You can get a copy at Bill's eBay store here, or read about the book on its Facebook Page.

I intereviewed Bill way back here and it is  interesting to see that some of the things we touched on in that interview are developed a bit in the new book - such as the role of postural muscles.


You can see some of his videos here.

The bodyweight option.....

You will recall that in the past I have interviewed the authors of Body By Science - Doug McGuff and John Little.

Over on Mark Sisson's blog Doug has a guest post on the Body By Science approach to exercise - Setting Yourself Up to Win: A Body By Science Approach

It is a good introduction to the principles of proper exercise, but the reason I am posting this here is jsut to draw attention to his bodyweight training option.  I hoep Mark and Doug do not mind me copying it here:

If you cannot go to a commercial gym, you can get started with simple free-hand exercises that I will describe to you now.

Chin up: This can be done with a chin-up bar that mounts in a door jam, on a sturdy tree branch or rafter board or playground equipment. If you are not strong enough to do chins, you can set the bar height so you can assist with your legs. If this will not work, simply do them negative only by jumping or climbing to the finished position and lowering yourself as slowly as possible.

Pushups: If you are too weak to perform strict marine pushups, do them from your knees. If you are too weak to do them from your knees, then do only the lowering portion, lowering as slowly as possible. If you are strong enough to do classic pushups, do them with a few modifications. First is slow movement. Start the first inch very gradually, taking 3 seconds to move the first inch and then keep smooth movement going. Divide the movement in halves. Do the first half (bottom position to elbows bent at 90 degrees) until complete fatigue. After you have exhausted the bottom half, do the top half until complete fatigue (elbows from 90 degrees to almost complete extension).

Squat: Start first by doing a static wall squat. Place your back against a wall and descend to a seated position where your hip joint and knee joint are both at 90 degrees. Hold this position for as long as possible. You are done when you start to slide down and cannot hold the 90 degree position any longer. Once you are worn out on the static, do a deep knee bend but with the movement divided in half. Do the first half until fatigue (from hips and knees at 90 degrees/thighs parallel to floor, up to the halfway up point where knees are about 45 degrees). Once you canʼt do the bottom half any more, then do the top half of the movement until you canʼt go on. Remember to not straighten your legs completely, but to turn back around when your knees get to about 15 degrees.

Static Lateral Raise: This movement is done using a door frame. Stand with your feet just outside the door frame and bend slightly forward at the waist. Place the backs of your open hands in the opening of the door frame with your elbows slightly bent. You should be positioned like you are going to a lateral raise with dumbbells. With your hands in the door frame, begin to slowly and smoothly press laterally against the frame. Gradually build up to a 50% effort and keep up a 50% effort for 30 seconds. After 30 seconds, gradually ramp your effort up to 75% effort and continue for another 30 seconds. After this 30 seconds is up, gradually ramp your effort to 100% and continue for a final 30 seconds. When you first start you will think “this is silly”. However, by the end you will realize that this is probably tougher than anything you could do on a weight machine.

The timed static contraction for the lateral raise at the end is a killer.  Superb stuff.

Running Gait and injury

Here is a study which looked at treating a common running injury - Chronic exertional compartment syndrome (CECS) - by getting runners to modify their running technique, moving to a forefoot strike.   Although there were only 2 in the study it seemed to fix the injury.  The entire paper is here.

Here is the abstract for you.

EFFECTS OF FOREFOOT RUNNING ON CHRONIC EXERTIONAL COMPARTMENT SYNDROME: A CASE SERIES.

INTRODUCTION:
Chronic exertional compartment syndrome (CECS) is a condition that occurs almost exclusively with running whereby exercise increases intramuscular pressure compromising circulation, prohibiting muscular function, and causing pain in the lower leg. Currently, a lack of evidence exists for the effective conservative management of CECS. Altering running mechanics by adopting forefoot running as opposed to heel striking may assist in the treatment of CECS, specifically with anterior compartment symptoms.
CASE DESCRIPTION:
The purpose of this case series is to describe the outcomes for subjects with CECS through a systematic conservative treatment model focused on forefoot running. Subject one was a 21 y/o female with a 4 year history of CECS and subject two was a 21 y/o male, 7 months status-post two-compartment right leg fasciotomy with a return of symptoms and a new onset of symptoms on the contralateral side.
OUTCOME:
Both subjects modified their running technique over a period of six weeks. Kinematic and kinetic analysis revealed increased step rate while step length, impulse, and peak vertical ground reaction forces decreased. In addition, leg intracompartmental pressures decreased from pre-training to post-training. Within 6 weeks of intervention subjects increased their running distance and speed absent of symptoms of CECS. Follow-up questionnaires were completed by the subjects at 7 months following intervention; subject one reported running distances up to 12.87 km pain-free and subject two reported running 6.44 km pain-free consistently 3 times a week.
DISCUSSION:
This case series describes a potentially beneficial conservative management approach to CECS in the form of forefoot running instruction. Further research in this area is warranted to further explore the benefits of adopting a forefoot running technique for CECS as well as other musculoskeletal overuse complaints.

Muscle Anatomy

I am getting addicted to the Khan Academy.  Their stuff on biology is amazing.

Stretching is pants

Bill is always recommending that I look at Paul Ingrahm's material.  I don't know why but I've only just now checked him out.  Thanks Bill

Here is Paul on stretching and the ITB band, both things that I've mentioned here recently!

Check out his site:  Save Yourself

Managing your fears

My magpie mind came across this study today as I was scanning the various feeds that I look at to spot stuff for this blog.  Psychology is fascinating to me, particularly how we relate in social situations.  I suppose some of that relates to that booklet I pointed to the other day on human combative behaviour, where two different modes of attack were presented - the predator and the alpha male.

Today I saw this article reported, which is of a study of MMA fighters, the impact fear has on them and how they handle it.   The whole article is available here:  Managing Emotional Manhood: Fighting and Fostering Fear in Mixed Martial Arts Here is the abstract:

Based on two years of fieldwork and over 100 interviews, we analyze mixed martial arts fighters’ fears, how they managed them, and how they adopted intimidating personas to evoke fear in opponents. We conceptualize this process as “managing emotional manhood,” which refers to emotion management that signifies, in the dramaturgical sense, masculine selves. Our study aims to deepen our understanding of how men’s emotion work is gendered and, more generally, to bring together two lines of research: studies of gendered emotion management and studies of emotional identity work. We further propose that managing emotional manhood is a dynamic and trans-situational process that can be explored in diverse settings.

It is a really interesting study and definitely worth reading through over a cup of coffee.  What I find interesting is the analysis of how the men in the study handle that fear and how the authors extrapolate those methods into other circumstances.

The methods that they pull out from the fighters can all be applied in everyday life.  Some of it reads like pop psychology but the reality from which they extract these methods does lend some credance to it all.  The methods: scripting, framing, othering.  It also talks about how fighters foster fear in their opponents - winning fights before they start. 

The end of the study is interesting:

Putting on a convincing manhood act requires more than using language and the body; it also requires emotion work. By suppressing fear, empathy, pain, and shame and evoking confidence and pride, males signify their alleged possession of masculine selves. Such emotion work may thus create an emotional orientation that primes men to subordinate and harm others. And by signifying masculine selves through evoking fear and shame in others, such men are likely to more easily secure others’ deference and accrue rewards and status. Managing emotional manhood, whether it occurs in a locker room or boardroom, at home or the Oval Office, likely plays a key role in maintain- ing unequal social arrangements.

 The same processes that are used in the cage can be used in the rest of life.....It is also useful to think through how  methods could be used in everyday life to handle fear in lots of situations.

Another week....another study on intervals

Well, another week and another study on the benefits of interval training.  This time it is Gibala's team again (they have done other work on intervals in the past e.g. this)  from  McMaster University in Ontario. The news story is here

Each session involved pedaling on a stationary bike for 10 repetitions of 60 seconds apiece at about 90 percent of maximal heart rate, interspersed with 60 seconds of rest, capped by a short warm-up and cool-down. Each entire exercise session lasted 25 minutes of which only 10 minutes was spent performing vigorous intensity exercise

The muscle biopsies revealed higher amounts of mitochondrial proteins, suggesting that the high-intensity, low-volume training increased the numbers of muscle cell power generators, a marker of improved metabolic health. Although the training regimen didn't decrease body mass in any of the participants, it did increase the maximal workload that each was able to achieve on the stationary bike and decreased heart rate during exercise, markers of improved fitness.

Again this is both exciting and frustrating.  Yes, short bursts of intense exercise have big impacts on mitochondrial biogenesis, insulin sensitivity and VO2 Max.....so for me I am excited that adding some sprints to my day can have a big benefit.  But as Alex Hutchison has pointed out recently in relation to a similar study how many people are likely to be motivated enough to find time even for this minimal exercise?

The abstract is here and the whole study is available here.

Low-volume high-intensity interval training reduces hyperglycemia and increases muscle mitochondrial capacity in patients with type 2 diabetes

Low-volume high-intensity interval training (HIT) is emerging as a time-efficient exercise strategy for improving health and fitness. This form of exercise has not been tested in type 2 diabetes and thus we examined the effects of low-volume HIT on glucose regulation and skeletal muscle metabolic capacity in patients with type 2 diabetes. Eight patients with type 2 diabetes (63±8 yr, BMI 32±6 kg/m2, HbA1C 6.9±0.7%) volunteered to participate in this study. Participants performed six sessions of HIT (10 x 60 s cycling bouts eliciting ~90% maximal heart rate, interspersed with 60 s rest) over 2 wk. Before training and from ~48-72 h after the last training bout, glucose regulation was assessed using 24-h continuous glucose monitoring under standardized dietary conditions. Markers of skeletal muscle metabolic capacity were measured in biopsy samples (vastus lateralis) before and after (72 h) training. Average 24-h blood glucose concentration was reduced after training (7.6±1.0 vs 6.6±0.7 mmol/L) as were the sum of the 3-h postprandial areas under the glucose curve for breakfast, lunch and dinner (both p<0.05). Training increased muscle mitochondrial capacity as evidenced by higher citrate synthase maximal activity (~20%) and protein content of Complex II 70 kDa subunit (~37%), Complex III Core 2 protein (~51%), and Complex IV subunit IV (~68%, all p<0.05). Mitofusin 2 (~71%) and GLUT4 (~369%) protein content were also higher after training (both p<0.05). Our findings indicate that low-volume HIT can rapidly improve glucose control and induce adaptations in skeletal muscle that are linked to improved metabolic health in patients with type 2 diabetes.

The One Joint Rule

Kelly gave me a shout out on his blog the other day.  I've already said that I didn't deserve to be on that list, but it is nice to be mentioned.

 It’s a pretty powerful statement that a brilliant Scot (Conditioning Research) and a guy with an Iphone and an obsession with performance (me) are on the same list as the NYT, and WSJ?  Crazy.

If you don't know Kelly here he is talking about the importance of maintaining proper posture in movement.

No System Sounds on XP? Buttons greyed-out?

Kerrie "did something" to her fiancée's lap-top resulting in the loss of all Windows System sounds, also all sound using Firefox, though iTunes & RealPlayer produced sound just fine.

On Start >> Settings >> Control Panel >> Sounds, the Play button for System sounds was greyed-out. The record & play buttons on Sound Recorder were also greyed-out.

After many hours of unsuccessful tinkering, the problem was eventually solved HERE.

K-Lite Codec Pack 7.1.0 STANDARD version also contains a very nice Media Player.

The Vitamin D Association is organising 2 conferences in London in May

that might be of interest to you and your colleagues:

May 17 Vitamin D & Obstetrics – Improving Pregnancy & Childbirth

Some of the world’s foremost experts will show the strong evidence that higher levels of Vitamin D lead to easier conception, easier pregnancy, less gestational diabetes, less pre-eclampsia, reduced risk of emergency C-sections and an easier delivery, followed by less depression in the mother and a larger, healthier baby. There is also evidence that the risk of Type-1 Diabetes in the child is reduced and that the child will have stronger bones and teeth.

Professor Bruce Hollis will discuss findings from his recent Trials on vitamin D supplementation during pregnancy and breastfeeding. He is the director of Paediatric Sciences at the Medical University of South Carolina and has studied vitamin D metabolism and nutrition for the past 35 years. He has published significant scientific papers on the biomarkers of Vitamin D in the body as they relate to a number of illnesses

Professor Reinhold Vieth is Professor of Nutritional Sciences and Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology at the Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto, Canada. His current research focuses on the roles played by vitamin D in many illnesses and especially gestational diabetes, plus toxicity and safe blood serum levels.

Professor Hollis and Professor Vieth will release findings of their recent work on what mothers and health professionals need to know about vitamin D – information that they hope will help clarify new guidelines for safe sun exposure, supplementation and suitable dietary sources of vitamin D.

More at: www.vitamindassociation.org/events

May 18 Vitamin D & Cancer – Treatment & Prevention

Long-term Vitamin D deficiency is associated with many cancers, osteoporosis, multiple sclerosis, diabetes, insulin resistance, hypertension, heart disease, respiratory infections, muscle weakness, mood and cognitive function and infectious diseases such as influenza.

There is strong evidence that high levels of Vitamin D both help the body recover from cancer and also play a major part in preventing cancer.

Professor Joan Lappe is professor of medicine at Creighton University in USA. She will report on the results of a major Level 1 Randomised Controlled Trial that showed the preventive actions of Vitamin D and calcium against cancer.

Dr. Enikö Kállay will provide practical advice for Oncologists and other medical professionals about the latest genetic tests for diagnosis and treatment of cancer. She is Assistant Professor at the Medical University of Vienna, Department of Patho-physiology and Allergy Research, where she studies the role of Vitamin D and dietary calcium in the prevention and pathogenesis of colorectal cancer, with special emphasis on the CYP24 gene.

More at: www.vitamindassociation.org/events

Vitamin D Experts' Forum at the Wellcome Trust in London, England on Thursday 7 April 2011

I was there! See below.

The Vitamin D Association is running a major event in London designed to give an overview of the range of illnesses and treatments where Vitamin D is involved.

Speakers include Dr. Michael F. Holick, Dr. Reinhold Vieth, Dr. William B. Grant, Carole Baggerly, and Dr. David Grimes.

There will be ample time allocated to participate in open discussion about new treatment guidelines and protocols and to share your knowledge and clinical experiences.

The event is targeted at senior medical personnel, general practitioners, nutritionists, dieticians and other health care professionals.

Timetable

08:30 Registration
09:30 Chairman’s opening remarks. Rufus Greenbaum (Vitamin D Project Manager, Systems Biology Laboratory)
09:35 Vitamin D: A D-lightful story for good health. Dr Michael F Holick
10:30 UK Overview – Statistics about Vitamin D in the UK. Rufus Greenbaum
10:45 Discussion
11:00 Break
11:15 The Impact of improving Vitamin D levels – health & financial outcomes. Dr William B Grant
11:45 Vitamin D & Cancer – current trials and evidence. Carole Baggerly
12:15 Discussion
12:30 Lunch
1:30 Public Policy on Vitamin D. Dr Oliver Gillie
2:00 Clinical experiences in a UK hospital. Dr David Grimes
2:30 Discussion
2:45 Break
3:00 Treatment & Toxicity – Benefits and dangers of supplementing with Vitamin D. Dr Reinhold Vieth
3:30 Discussion – All
4:30 Closing Remarks. Mike Fischer, Director, Systems Biology Laboratory

Here's a graphic from the Forum:-


What I found interesting is the fact that some medical conditions follow a J curve vs serum 25(OH)D level. This suggests that people may be suffering from deficiencies in some of the other fat-soluble vitamins (A, E's & K's) due to the modern fad for low-fat diets. Hypovitaminosis K2 results in inappropriate calcification at high serum 25(OH)D level, which increases the risk factor for Coronary Heart Disease.

Unfortunately, the fact that highish (greater-than 50nmol/L, or 20ng/mL) serum 25(OH)D levels can cause harm, results in continuing Fear, Uncertainty & Doubt about Vitamin D and "expert" (e.g. the US Institute Of Medicine) advice that 600iu/day is sufficient for optimum health. See 7th April 2011: Vitamin D - Experts' Forum for more info'.


Anyway, here's me and my God-daughter Kerrie getting some free Vitamin D on Wednesday evening!


Cheers!

Has anybody seen my tinfoil hat?

This morning, I left two comments on Peter (Hyperlipid)'s blog. The second one has disappeared. EDIT: It went into the spam filter. It's visible again.

Some time later, Jay Bryant phoned me and asked me where my blog had gone.

"It's still there" I said, then refreshed the page. "Shit, it's gone!"

I managed to reinstate my Blog but apparently, there has been "unusual activity" on it. Hmmm. I just noticed that I'm following my own blog! How did that happen? Spurious follow now deleted.

This calls for a music video...

New beginnings, cot'd.

As a result of New beginnings. , I've demolished my wall and I now want to start a new relationship. I've got a lot of love to give and I want to find that special lady to give it to. Here's the ideal music video.


I won't be blogging so much in future.

P.S. Mum had a Mini Mental State Examination today. She got a score of 12 (out of 28 things that she was physically capable of). 6 months ago, she got a score of 9 (out of 27 things that she was physically capable of). Ketogenic Diet For The Win.

She'll be tested again next year. I found out on Wednesday 23rd March that she is being given 5,000iu/day of D3. I didn't expect that to happen.

Being Human.

I recommend this TV series to UK readers. Series 3 is available on iPlayer until 20th March 2011. The last episode was utterly gripping and it had me in tears of laughter one minute and in tears of sadness the next. I've started to sing as I walk down the street. Being human again is great. That is all.

Get in!

Here's a music video.


Remember Polite Requests? Well, yesterday at mum's nursing home, the nurse in charge called my name. She sounded rather stern, so I thought that I was going to get a slapped wrist for talking too loudly again (as I do, because I'm a bit deaf). But no!

She said that I hadn't done anything wrong. She wanted to talk about mum's Vitamin D blood test result. My eyes lit up. She said that the result had been "temporarily mislaid" (whatever that means), but that they had now found it and it was "normal" at 98nmol/L (RR 50-200nmol/L). Divide by 2.5 to convert into ng/mL. I said that I already knew this as I had spoken to Dr F**'s secretary.

She then said with a smirk "Dr F** knows what you're like (I also smirked) and has agreed that mum can have a serum Vitamin D level of around 125nmol/L. He said to buy some of this." She handed me a piece of paper with the word "cholecalciferol" written on it.

What should have happened: I put my left hand into my right inside jacket pocket and whipped out a tub of Healthy Origins, Vitamin D3, 5,000 IU, 360 Softgels (use discount code NIG935 to get $5 off the first order. Standard shipping $4) with flair and panache.

What actually happened: The pot snagged on something and I had to tug on it for about five seconds to get it out.

I then handed the pot to the nurse and told her to get on with it. Job done!

Both Sides Now: Emotions

The original post vanished for no apparent reason, so I have recreated it from memory.

I used to be like in the following music video:-

"And a rock feels no pain. And an island never cries." This is not a good way to go through life.

I've now completely torn down my "wall" and am experiencing emotions again. Some are really good and some are really bad. I've got years of repressed grief bottled up and the following Elton John song is a great way to blub it out:-


Ditto for this Adele song:-


And this one:-

"I can't spend my whole life hiding my heart away."

Will the real methylglyo*al please stand up?

Firstly, a music video. I don't like Eminem that much, but my God-daughter Kerrie does and I love her to bits, so this one's for you hun! ;-D


A new substance just made an appearance on the internets. It's methylglyoacal (MG). It sounds rather a lot like methylglyoxal (MG).

I did a Google search for methylglyoacal. Did I mean...?

I did a PubMed search for methylglyoacal. Did I mean...?

The information originated from Pharmacology researchers link high-carb diet to Type 2 diabetes.

On the University of Saskatchewan's site, Dr. Kaushik Desai's Research Interests states: "Role of methylglyoxal (a byproduct of glucose metabolism) in oxidative stress, hypertension and insulin resistance." In his publications list, methylglyoxal is mentioned many times. I emailed Mark Ferguson, asking:

"Dear Mr Ferguson,
Is there a new substance called Methylglyoacal? Or is it a mis-print of methylglyoxal - twice?
Regards, Nigel Kinbrum."

To which I received the reply:

"Hello Nigel,
I'm going to go with the answer "no" … But we are looking into it.
Thanks for the head up."

The information in the above link was edited. At 02:21 on 11th March 2011, it still contained the word methylglyoacal. By 19:00 on 11th March 2011, it had changed to methylglyoxal.

It's not Friday the 13th, but...

My car broke down this morning. It started, then died and the engine isn't firing at all. I made some phone calls, as I was supposed to be visiting mum today. Oh, poo!

Update: Car fixed! The engine management had flooded the engine with petrol. The exact same thing happened many years ago with my previous car after I started the engine so that I could move the car a few feet to allow someone to move their vehicle. The cure back then was to crank the engine for a minute with the throttle fully depressed. I tried that, but the battery in my MX-5 is old and the weather was cold, so it started to flag after about 10 seconds. A chap from Yateley MOT Centre jump-started it, for no call-out charge. That's Yateley MOT Centre Ltd, 19 Plough Rd, Yateley, GU46 7UW 01252 876231.

While waiting for a call from my local garage, I thought I'd do a spot of surfing on t'interwebs. I clicked on a PubMed link and got a blank page with the title "backend-exception Exception from Backend: bePfetch (%23PmXmlSrv): TxClient+was+unable+to+resolve+%23PmXmlSrv - PubMed result".

As I'm getting a lot of visits from people Googling the above helpful message, here's my expert opinion on the problem (as an ex-Engineer): Oh, f*ck. The f*cking f*cker's f*cked!

Update: PubMed fixed!


On a completely different subject, here's a video clue to a home improvement that I've just had installed.


Here's a picture clue.


Any ideas?

The answer is...


The Feed In Tariff (which increases by 5% each year) is currently 43.3p per kWh generated, plus 3.1p per kWh exported to the grid. There's also a saving of approximately 13.5p per kWh on electricity not used from the grid. This figure is approximate, as there are two tariffs for electricity used from the grid depending on the number of kWh used.

Pru, it's kicking off!

Firstly, here's the video to go with the title...


As a nerd, I can be irritating. I often play Devil's Advocate when I read something that I think is unfair. So when I felt that Dr Harris was being unfair to Olive Oil, I just had to leave the following two-part comment (the second part was in reply to somebody else's comment).

"Hi.
My Aldi EVOO has a pufa content of only 6.6%. That's a lower percentage than lard (from grain-fed pigs). I use a "splash" (~10ml) for cooking (0.66g of pufas).
Nige.
P.S. Can you please move "Log in" to the top. I keep forgetting where it is!
P.P.S. RE Ketogenic Diets for Epilepsy, Dementia etc: Branched chain amino acids (e.g. Whey protein) are a good adjunct. See Branched chain amino acids as adjunctive therapy to ketogenic diet in epilepsy: pilot study and hypothesis."

Dr Harris replied...

"Hi NIgel
I am not sure what your point is. I don't advocate lard either so why compare your EVOO to it?
Even if it is really "only" 7% it is unopposed linoleic acid and heavier in unsaturated MUFA than animal fats, which have more SFA. And of course Olive Oil CAN be much higher than this in n-6, up to 20%.
And why not compare it to pastured butter which is 2% n-6 and 2% n-3 in perfect balance, and is cheaper on a caloric basis?
Olive oil is still a TemPO in my world - more n-6 than necessary, no useful n-3 and not enough LCSFA.
But obviously you can eat whatever you want. It sounds like you are using it as a condiment anyway. My point is don't make a staple or cook with it and I stand by that."

Unfortunately, when I posted my above comment, it ended up in the wrong blog post due to the site freezing and me refreshing the page. I requested that my comment be moved, as the second part of it was in reply to a comment elsewhere. Request denied.

As I mentioned in my nerd post, body language = Double-Dutch. There was a subtle hint above. I completely missed it! I emailed Dr Harris.
"Hi.

My reply didn’t have a point – I just felt like mentioning that the EVOO that I buy isn’t particularly high in n-6. I always thought that OO was ~10% pufas. The reply was supposed to be to There is No Such Thing as a Macronutrient Part I – Fats as it contained a link about BCAAs enhancing ketosis. Your site froze and when I refreshed the page, I didn’t notice that the url in the address bar had changed.

Now that you have changed your views on ketosis, carbs etc, are you going to update some of your old blog posts?

Cheers, Nige."

The reply that I received was rather unexpected and can be seen HERE. What the **** just happened? I emailed back.

"Hi Kurt,

Don’t believe me, then. Delete my reply on your blog if it’s that annoying to you. I have my style and you have yours.

You obviously haven’t read my blog post about GCBC where I wrote that I agree with 99% of what Gary has written, but it’s the 1% that I disagree with that I’m arguing about because it means that calories do count.

Yes, I update my old blog posts with updated information when I learn new stuff. Blogs aren’t books.

There have been plenty of insults slung from the other side on Gary’s blog. If you think that my posts show a sneering disrespect for Gary then that’s your problem, not mine. I’m glad to have been of help in something.

Nigel Kinbrum"

As I respect Dr Harris, I am extending an Olive branch (Damn! Why does it have to be a freakin' Olive branch?). Unfortunately I don't drink beer, so I'll raise a virtual glass of Californian Red instead. Cheers!

It's all about ME, baby! (Birth - 1997)

It's all about ME, baby! (1997 - present) is my story after discovering the Atkins Diet. This is my story up to that point. I was born one snowy Winter's day. Mum told me that my cot was placed next to an open window in Central Middlesex Hospital. That explains a lot! Here's mum, me and my sister.


I don't remember much about my early years. As we were relatively poor (dad was a tailor and mum did typing for a solicitor), getting regular French Fancies & Corona lemonade deliveries was considered a status symbol. I ran around in the street with other kids of my age but I was fat. I was also very short for my age (insufficient GH from my pituitary?) and was rubbish at sports in primary school. Here's a photo taken when I was about 9 or 10. I'm the shortest boy in the picture.


Stripy shirts were all the rage, apparently. Even at this tender age, I used to regularly fall asleep after eating a plate of chips.

In secondary school, sports was dreadful what with having to play cricket using a cricket ball (instead of a tennis ball), contact sports, swimming and showers. Being short, fat & under-developed, I was embarrassed to get undressed in front of my peers, so I developed the art of forging sick notes in my mum's handwriting. I was a very sickly child! ;-D

My forging skills resulted in the total avoidance of swimming (also contact sports, cross-country running etc) and a big improvement in the quality of my handwriting! With tennis, I had to travel to a tennis court by train. I didn't mind doing that, as there were no showers at the tennis courts and I could play the game for a while until I overheated. Secondary school was where I developed a total hatred for almost all sports and when I left, that was the end of exercise as far as I was concerned. When I left secondary school at the age of 18, I was 4 feet 9 inches tall.

At university, I would have a cheese & ham salad baguette washed down with a can of Coke (non-diet in those days) for lunch, followed by a snooze.

At work, I would have a cheese & raw onion roll washed down with a can of Coke for tea-break, followed by a snooze. Here's me at the age of 26. At some point, my pituitary gland "woke up" and secreted GH, as I grew to 6 feet 1 inch tall in my late twenties.


I did manage to get some work done!

When I was dating, I jogged/walked for over 4 miles a day to see my girlfriend. I got slim. After I married, that stopped and as I was a skint Electronic Engineer and Lesley was a skint Cake Decorator, my diet was predominantly cheap carbohydrates, like bread, pasta, potatoes & rice. The result? Lots of snoozes + lots of weight gain. I was a lazy git, apparently.

In 1992, Lesley left to live with her mother. In 1994, I started dating Eileen. At parties, I became (in)famous for falling asleep after eating nibbles made from refined carbohydrates.

"Funny turns": What they aren't and what they might be.

Sometimes, doing a large amount of high-intensity exercise while on a ketogenic diet can result in a "Funny turn", i.e. a weird feeling which may include sweating, dizzyness & feeling faint.

The good news is that it's harmless, provided you don't faint, fall and hurt yourself. Stop and sit/lie down until the feeling passes. So, what's happening?

What isn't happening is a Somogyi rebound. A Somogyi rebound only happens when too much insulin is injected and it's bad because it results in hyperglycaemia.


Did you know that there is insulin, insulin and insulin? According to Insulin: Degradation, "It has been estimated that an insulin molecule produced endogenously by the pancreatic beta cells is degraded within approximately one hour after its initial release into circulation (insulin half-life ~ 4–6 minutes)". According to Insulin: As a medication, injected insulin lingers in the blood for hours for fast-acting and days for slow-acting. This makes an overdose of injected insulin dangerous, as it can linger for long enough to cause fatal hypoglycaemia unless medical help is obtained.

What might be happening is this: On a ketogenic diet, muscle glycogen stores are "trickle-charged" using blood glucose. High-intensity exercise burns muscle glycogen at a very rapid rate. See It's all in a day's work (as measured in Joules). Muscles can burn carbs at a rate of 4g a minute.

If muscles run low/out of glycogen, muscle cells become exquisitely sensitive to insulin as glucose importing processes are up-regulated. There is only about 4.5g of glucose in the blood at any given time, topped-up by the liver and burned by the brain & red blood cells at a rate of less than 4g an hour (if keto-adapted). If muscles start to draw in 4g of glucose a minute, blood glucose can vanish very quickly.

As dropping dead due to running for your life on very little or no food is bad, the body has several mechanisms for raising blood glucose very quickly.

From Blood Glucose, Insulin & Diabetes, "When BG falls to about 3.3mmol/L, the pituitary gland kicks-in and secretes ACTH (adrenocorticotropic hormone) which stimulates the release of cortisol from the adrenal cortex. Cortisol further stimulates gluconeogenesis in the liver. When BG level falls to about 2mmol/L, the pituitary secretes GH (Growth Hormone) which has an anti-insulin effect." At a BG level of about 2mmol/L you feel really weird, so you stop exercising.

So why is it harmless? Glycogen-depleted & exquisitely insulin-sensitive muscles act as a natural blood glucose limiter because they draw in glucose so readily. There is no hyperglycaemia.

This also reduces the "Dawn Phenomenon", another plus point for low-carb diets for diabetics.

See also Can very-low-carb diets impair your mental faculties.

Mum's Proposed Ketogenic Diet for Dementia.

The following diet is not intended to induce deep ketosis. It's intended to be a trade-off between ketosis, palatability & simplicity.


Feedback from the nurse on duty:- "Eggs shouldn't be in the "unlimited" list. You're not supposed to eat more than two eggs a week because of the cholesterol". God Bless the NHS! The British Heart Foundation doesn't impose a restriction on egg consumption.

Eggs can be eaten as part of a balanced diet.

Mum's currently eating two eggs a day in her cooked breakfasts.

Effect of dietary egg on human serum cholesterol and triglycerides.

Old people have the lowest mortality when their serum cholesterol is higher than average.

Total cholesterol and risk of mortality in the oldest old.
Cholesterol and all-cause mortality in elderly people from the Honolulu Heart Program: a cohort study.
Low total cholesterol and increased risk of dying: are low levels clinical warning signs in the elderly? Results from the Italian Longitudinal Study on Aging.
Higher total serum cholesterol levels are associated with less severe strokes and lower all-cause mortality: ten-year follow-up of ischemic strokes in the Copenhagen Stroke Study.
Serum total cholesterol levels and all-cause mortality in a home-dwelling elderly population: a six-year follow-up.
Lipid-lowering treatment to the end? A review of observational studies and RCTs on cholesterol and mortality in 80+-year olds.

Paul Jaminet has done a series on ketogenic diets.
Ketogenic Diets, I: Ways to Make a Diet Ketogenic
Ketogenic Diets 2: Preventing Muscle and Bone Loss on Ketogenic Diets

Also: See Branched chain amino acids as adjunctive therapy to ketogenic diet in epilepsy: pilot study and hypothesis.

Both Sides Now: Medications

People are distrustful of pharmaceutical drugs. Drug Companies = Big Pharma and all that. However, medications have their plus side and their minus side. It all depends.

Some medications give the body something that it needs that it's not sufficiently producing e.g. Insulin (Type 1 diabetes), Adrenaline/Epinephrine (Anaphylactic shock), Corticosteroids (Addison's Disease), Thyroxine (Hypothyroidism), HCG, HGH, trans-dermal Testosterone/Progesterone (Hypopituitarism), Oestrogen (HRT). Bio-identical hormones are fine. Synthetic hormones, not so fine. See The fatal flaw of prescription drugs.

Some medications act as dietary supplements e.g. Adcal-D3 (Calcium & Vitamin D3), Lovaza (EPA & DHA), Effercitrate (Potassium & Citrate). These are also fine.

It's the medications that tweak metabolic pathways that can cause problems.

There are enzyme inhibitors e.g. Statins, Mono-Amine Oxidase Inhibitors (MAOIs), Angiotensin Converting Enzyme Inhibitors (ACEIs) etc. The problem with these is that inhibiting the conversion of "A" into "B" results not only in less "B, C, D etc" but also in more "A". Statins not only reduce serum cholesterol but also reduce the level of Co-enzyme Q 10 and other useful substances. MAOIs (e.g. Moclobemide & St John's Wort) cause high blood pressure if foods & drugs high in amines are consumed. ACEIs (e.g. Ramipril) cause an increase in serum bradykinin which can irritate lungs causing a persistent dry tickly cough. I've had this happen.

There are receptor agonists & receptor antagonists (blockers). Agonists occupy receptors and produce a larger effect than the substance naturally found in the body. Antagonists occupy receptors and produce a smaller effect than the substance naturally found in the body.

Alpha blockers (e.g. Tamsulosin hydrochloride) block alpha adrenoreceptors and are used to treat urinary retention, as they relax smooth muscle in the urethra. Unfortunately, they also cause postural hypotension, as when you stand up, arteries don't contract as much as they should to raise the blood pressure in the brain. I've had this happen. They also reduce iris contraction, leading to being dazzled by oncoming headlights while driving.

Beta blockers (e.g. Atenolol & Propranolol) block beta adrenoreceptors and are used to treat high blood pressure and/or anxiety as they slow down the heart and also block the effects of adrenaline/epinephrine on the brain. Dutch courage in a pill! Unfortunately, the heart is supposed to speed up when you exercise and failure to do so makes exercise very difficult if not impossible. Tolerance can also develop, resulting in zero long-term efficacy. I've had this happen. They also affect other parts of the body.

Angiotensin 2 receptor blockers (e.g. Candesartan Cilexetil) are used to treat high blood pressure as they relax artery walls. These work fine without any obvious side-effects, but there's a study showing a slightly increased (~6%) risk factor for cancer. In some people, Renal Artery Stenosis (narrowing) can occur, but a blood test detects this.

Diuretics (e.g. Bendroflumethiazide) increase urinary output and are used to treat high blood pressure & water retention. Unfortunately, increasing urinary output can cause dehydration & increased thirst, resulting in increased fluid intake i.e. zero net effect. I've had this happen. There are other undesirable side-effects.

Thiazoladinediones (e.g. Rosiglitazone) create new (& empty) fat cells, which allow for the increased disposal of excess serum glucose. Unfortunately, the cells that turn into new fat cells were supposed to have turned into bone cells, so the risk factor for osteoporosis increases.

High-dose Niacin & Fish Oils reduce serum triglycerides by inhibiting the conversion of excess serum glucose into fatty acids (which are esterified into triglycerides). This can increase serum glucose (which is bad).

It's like trying to get a balloon into a box that's too small. You can get most of it in, but another bit bulges out when you try to get the last bit in. Instead of tweaking your metabolism to compensate for your bad diet and/or lifestyle, you should correct your bad diet and/or lifestyle.

The usual suspects.

On Facebook, on message boards and face to face, I keep seeing and hearing:-

1) I'm down in the Winter/I keep getting infections/I have allergies/I have aches & pains.

2) I'm up & down a lot.

3) I'm down/anxious/I can't sleep/I get restless legs/cramps/menstrual cramps/muscle spasms/migraines.

4) I've got inflamed or painful joints/skin/guts/lungs/whatever.

5) Ooh! It makes me so mad!

1) Vitamin D insufficiency/deficiency is widespread by the end of Winter (~90% of people have serum 25(OH)D less than 75nmol/L or 30ng/mL) due to insufficient sun exposure during the Summer. A safe & effective dose is 50iu of Vitamin D3/kg body weight/day. See Vitamin D.

2) Modern diets are lacking in long-chain omega-3 fatty acids (EPA & DHA), as many people don't eat any/enough oily fish. Tinned tuna is not an oily fish! See Omega-3 fatty acids and major depression: A primer for the mental health professional. Women of reproductive age can take flaxseed oil, if they can't/won't eat oily fish or take fish oil capsules. Women not of reproductive age & men need to supplement with vegan DHA in addition to flaxseed oil, if they can't/won't eat oily fish or take fish oil capsules.

3) Diets low in greens are low in magnesium. Magnesium deficiency can cause all of the above symptoms. Epsom Salts are a very cheap source of Magnesium. 4g/day of Epsom Salts provides 400mg/day of Magnesium. See Magnesium and the Brain: The Original Chill Pill and Magnesium: Just as important as Calcium.

4) Vitamin D is anti-inflammatory. Fish oil is anti-inflammatory.

5) Vitamin D raises your mood. Fish oil keeps it stable. Magnesium chills you out.


Here's a picture to go with the title.


And finally...
I am so glad that I don't work with David Thorne.

You pusillanimous pipsqueak!

Who said that? To whom? Answer HERE.
We're all insignificant in the scheme of things. Here's another Eric Idle classic.


"And pray that there's intelligent life somewhere up in space, 'cause there's bugger-all down here on Earth." LOL.

Sometimes, I get the feeling that I'm invisible. I write about stuff and a few weeks later, people are arguing about stuff that I've written about. For instance...

What becomes Insulin Resistant first? Liver, Muscle or Fat-mass?
CarbSane says "Where does insulin resistance start? The adipose tissue."
Stephan Guyenet says "I'm not so sure that insulin resistance begins in adipose tissue."

So who's right? They both are. As Lyle McDonald says "It all depends." Referring to Insulin Resistance: Solutions to problems, whatever fills up first becomes IR first. Or have I got it all wrong? Comments, please!

Am I even more insignificant because I have an Engineering Degree but zero qualifications in the field of diet & nutrition? Dr Richard K Bernstein used to be an Engineer. He's done very well as a doctor.

Bearing in mind the title, I'd better put a picture of me below.

I'm NOT a nutritionist, I'm a very naughty boy!

With apologies to Monty Python and Pål Jåbekk, whose recent blog post Kurt Harris, the messiah, the hype and the throwing of scales featured the sketch from Monty Python's Life of Brian (MPLOB) from which I got the title idea. Here's another clip from MPLOB which sums-up me these days...

I'm in an annoyingly (to some people) positive mood at the moment. Anyway, back to the subject.

On Friday 18th February, Jay (of Jay's Kitchen) described me as nutritionist to a customer. I pointed out that I am not, never have been and never will be a nutritionist. I do talk about diet & nutrition rather a lot, though. Sometimes, this can be a total turn-off, so I need to learn to shut my mouth before this happens.

For instance, I was talking to a very overweight & diabetic friend at karaoke on Thursday night after he mentioned that he had had multiple laser treatments for diabetic retinopathy. I pointed out that they can't laser kidneys back together when they fail due to excessively-high blood glucose. He mentioned a pile of daily medications that he had to take.

I mentioned Steve Cooksey and the fact that Steve had gone from fat & diabetic on a pile of daily medications to slim & non-diabetic on zero daily medications, and the fact that I had slimmed down and completely eliminated my glucose intolerance by using Vitamin D3, exercise & a low-carb diet. The 2nd & 3rd items in my list must have gone too far, as he got up to sing and when he finished singing, he sat somewhere else. He hasn't de-friended me on Facebook....yet!

Anyway, here's a link to How It Should Have Ended.

Here's the obligatory picture.


I posted the above picture because a) I used to really enjoy "The Good Life", b) I used to really fancy Felicity Kendall and c) Penelope Keith's character Margo had irony off to a fine art with "Well thank you very much!". Please note:-

In the US, "Thanks a bunch!" means "Thank you very much".
In the UK, "Thanks a bunch!" means what Margo meant.

By the way, I don't do irony. It usually goes right over my head and it doesn't work well in print without smilies. I'm not being ironic with what I just wrote. No, really. I'm not!