Rigid diets & taking loadsa supplements to compensate for them.

I do not believe you want to be doing that!

This post was inspired by a recently-published study by Alan Aragon & Brad Schoenfeld, as bodybuilders are a group of people who often eat a rigid diet (some eat skinless chicken breasts, broccoli & brown rice for several meals each day).

See Nutrient timing revisited: is there a post-exercise anabolic window?
"Collectively, these data indicate an increased potential for dietary flexibility while maintaining the pursuit of optimal timing."

This post is also aimed at people who eat severely restricted diets in the (often mistaken) belief that something's making them ill.

People with type 1 diabetes who struggle to keep their blood glucose within reasonable limits (3 to 8mmol/L, or 24 to 144mg/dL) benefit from restricting their intake of high-GL carbohydrates, so this post is not aimed at them. See The problem with Diabetes.

People with type 2 diabetes who severely restrict their intake of carbohydrates must be in caloric deficit, otherwise the physiological insulin resistance caused by high serum NEFAs will mess up just about everything in their body if they are in caloric balance or caloric excess. I've read (so it could be false) that a certain non-skinny blogger who I'm in conflict with (who has type 2 diabetes and who eats a VLC diet) has heart problems and is taking medication(s) for high blood pressure. Hmmm.

People who suffer from gastrointestinal problems after eating gluten-containing foods, or mucus after eating casein-containing foods may have impaired gut integrity. See Gluten - more than just a pain in the guts?

Supplements that I consider of positive value are:-

Fish oils: If the diet is low in oily fish (tinned tuna is not an oily fish), there may be insufficient EPA & DHA (especially in men, children & post-menopausal women). Women of reproductive age can get away with taking flaxseed oil.

Magnesium: If the diet is low in veg/high in dairy, there may be too much Calcium relative to Magnesium.

Vitamin D3: If the lifestyle results in sun-avoidance, insufficiency in Vitamin D is highly likely.

Vitamin K2: If the diet is low in animal fats and/or fermented foods, insufficiency in Vitamin K2 is highly likely.

Supplements that I consider of negative value are:-

Vitamin A: If there's an insufficiency in Vitamin D, supplementing with Vitamin A/β-carotene may exacerbate it. As Vitamin D + Calcium may reduce cancer risk, supplementing with Vitamin A absent Vitamin D3 may increase cancer risk.

Vitamin E: If there's an insufficiency in γ-tocopherol, supplementing with α-tocopherol may exacerbate it. As γ-tocopherol may reduce CHD mortality risk, supplementing with α-tocopherol absent γ-tocopherol may increase CHD mortality risk. Most Vitamin E supplements contain α-tocopherol only. Some Vitamin E supplements contain mixed tocopherols and these are O.K.

I see stupid people - Part One: Live to take the p*ss.

This is a take on I See Weak People – Part Three: Live to add, not subtract.

Dunning-Kruger strikes again!

George Henderson recently said in a comment to flip:- "If you're one of the sensible ones, as Nigel seems to think you might be, it's easy to see why he won't post on "that" blog again.
Myself, I wonder how Nigel does it. Everywhere he goes he seems to start a fight these days. We are thinking of locking him inside when we go out in future."

How do I do it? Simples! I make sure that my brain is properly nourished with Vitamin D3 for razor-sharp wit & biting sarcasm, EPA & DHA for stable mood and Magnesium to stay cool, calm and collected when all around me are behaving like complete and utter tosspots & twats (UK usages and not meant affectionately!).

Metabolic Inflexibility: What it really means.

Here's a picture from Metabolic Flexibility and Insulin Resistance.

The Metabolically-Inflexible (MI) & Insulin Resistance

Here's another picture.

Fig 2. ● = Metabolically-Flexible (MF). ○ = Metabolically-Inflexible (MI).

Salient points:
1) Excess serum FFA a.k.a. NEFA is bad.
2) Respiratory Quotient (RQ) a.k.a. Respiratory Exchange Ratio (RER) changes due to dietary changes are more sluggish in the MI than in the MF.
3) Under Insulin Clamp conditions, RQ/RER is lower in the MI than in the MF, due to impairment of glucose oxidation and non-oxidative glucose disposal.

I have posted this because of Danny Roddy's post Is Supplemental Magnesium A Surrogate For Thyroid Hormone? , which leads onto A Bioenergetic View of High-Fat Diets.

In the first article, Danny Roddy writes:-
"Additionally, taking magnesium while actively engaging in a diet or lifestyle that reduces the respiratory quotient (e.g., high-fat diet, light deficiency, excessive exercise) seems pretty silly. For example, as a rule, diabetics have a reduced respiratory quotient (Simonson DC, et al. 1988), tend to have higher levels of free fatty acids or NEFA (Kahn SE, 2006), and are often deficient in magnesium (De Valk HW, 1999)."

The second sentence (diabetics have a reduced respiratory quotient...and are often deficient in magnesium) seems to contradict the first sentence (...taking magnesium while actively engaging in a diet or lifestyle that reduces the respiratory quotient seems pretty silly).

Simonson DC, et al. 1988 is Oxidative and non-oxidative glucose metabolism in non-obese type 2 (non-insulin-dependent) diabetic patients.
"In conclusion, during the postabsorptive state and under conditions of euglycaemic hyperinsulinaemia, impairment of glucose oxidation and non-oxidative glucose disposal both contribute to the insulin resistance observed in normal weight Type 2 diabetic patients. Since lipid oxidation was normal in this group of diabetic patients, excessive non-esterified fatty acid oxidation cannot explain the defects in glucose disposal."

Impaired glucose oxidation with normal lipid oxidation lowers RQ/RER. Therefore, lower RQ/RER must be bad, right? Wrong. From the above study:-
"...euglycaemic insulin clamp studies were performed..."
Remember Salient point 3)? Simonson DC, et al. 1988 is an insulin clamp study, the results of which don't apply to free-living people (who aren't insulin clamped).

See also Determinants of the variability in respiratory exchange ratio at rest and during exercise in trained athletes. RER/RQ increases & decreases with increases & decreases in exercise intensity. This is Metabolic Flexibility (MF). Sorry, Danny.

Cancer, part 2.

In cancer, I discussed omega-3 and methylglyoxal.

Methylglyoxal

This time, I'm just going to do a Research Review, by publishing a list of PubMed searches with the following Filters activated: Abstract available, published in the last 10 years, Humans.

Cancer AND "Dichloroacetic Acid".

Cancer AND "Magnesium".

Cancer AND "Methylglyoxal".

Cancer AND "Omega-3".

Cancer AND "Vitamin D3".

Cancer AND "Vitamin K2".

I added searches for Magnesium and Vitamin K2, as I supplement with those and want to see if they have a positive or negative effect on Cancer. I added Dichloroacetic Acid (DCA), as I've read about it.

Why do domestic cats eat grass?

From When My Cats Are Eating The Grass.

Keep off the grass!

Outdoor cats eat rodents & birds. Therefore, outdoor cats eat processed grains, seeds and nuts. Wait, WHAT?!?! Rodents & birds are grain, seed and nut-eaters, though some birds eat worms. Therefore, domestic cats are eating grains, seeds and nuts that have been chewed/pecked and swallowed i.e. processed grains, seeds and nuts.

This may be one reason why domestic cats chew grass - to get chlorophyll to "neutralise" the iron in the meat. Another reason is to vomit up the indigestible parts of rodents & birds that the cat ate, including fur-balls. There's also the Folic acid angle.

Green vegetables, red meat and colon cancer: chlorophyll prevents the cytotoxic and hyperproliferative effects of haem in rat colon.

I've just had a long and fascinating telephone conversation with Jay Bryant. This has inspired me to write three new blog posts. This is the first. There's a recurring theme.

Om, nom, nom!

Lions are obligate carnivores, which means that they have to eat meat. Wild lions also eat processed carbohydrates. Wait, WHAT?!?! The word "processed" usually has bad connotations. However, it merely means "having undergone a process", without being specific about the process.

Lions tear open the stomachs of their prey. The contents spill out and some are consumed by the lions. What do herbivores eat? Green vegetable matter. Being chewed by the molars of a herbivore is technically-speaking food processing. So, on to the study in the title.

See Green vegetables, red meat and colon cancer: chlorophyll prevents the cytotoxic and hyperproliferative effects of haem in rat colon.

"In both studies haem increased cytotoxicity of the colonic contents approximately 8-fold and proliferation of the colonocytes almost 2-fold. Spinach or an equimolar amount of chlorophyll supplement in the haem diet inhibited these haem effects completely. Haem clearly inhibited exfoliation of colonocytes, an effect counteracted by spinach and chlorophyll. Finally, size exclusion chromatography showed that chlorophyll prevented formation of the cytotoxic haem metabolite. We conclude that green vegetables may decrease colon cancer risk because chlorophyll prevents the detrimental, cytotoxic and hyperproliferative colonic effects of dietary haem."

Yes, it's a rat study, but there's also Heme and Chlorophyll Intake and Risk of Colorectal Cancer in the Netherlands Cohort Study. Finally, there's Associations between Red Meat and Risks for Colon and Rectal Cancer Depend on the Type of Red Meat Consumed.

So, always eat some greens with your red meat! A tablespoonful of spinach is all you need.

EDIT: I just found Red meat and colon cancer: should we become vegetarians, or can we make meat safer?

"For instance, promotion of colon carcinogenesis in rats by cooked, nitrite-treated and oxidized high-heme cured meat was suppressed by dietary calcium and by α-tocopherol, and a study in volunteers supported these protective effects in humans."

As dietary calcium binds to haem iron, this suggests that other binding agents would work e.g. phytates and tannins. α-tocopherol is a fat-based antioxidant. Vitamin E supplements contain D α-tocopherol.

Quality >> Quantity.

Mum passed away peacefully in the middle of the night. I'm waiting for paperwork to be done.

"And the best you can hope for is to die in your sleep."

On the internet, I read that Dementia with Lewy bodies has a mean survival time of 6 years from the onset of symptoms. Mum first became confused in mid-July 2007, so it's been just under 6 years. Does this mean that all of the supplements I gave her were worthless. Hell, no!

As mentioned in Look after your brain., mum's MMSE score increased from 14 to 26 out of 30 after taking medication and supplements. The medication gave a 3 point increase in MMSE score on average, so the rest of the increase in MMSE score was probably due to the supplements, which had no undesirable side-effects.

On Christmas day 2008, mum was capable of preparing Brussels sprouts for cooking, though she got the knives, forks & spoons mixed up when she tried to lay the table. Here's her final Christmas at home. Roast duck with all of the trimmings. Om, nom, nom!

Mum's last Christmas at home.

In conclusion, I believe that quality of life trumps quantity of life, so supplementation for the win.

PPP - another bijou rant-ette.

Blame it on the hot weather and screaming kids! :-D

PPP stands for Piss Poor Parenting.

Why, oh why, oh why do parents allow children to dictate their own diets? As if children know what's good for them! At an event I attended recently, "Johnny*" was given a plate of chicken drummers (mechanically-recovered chicken formed into the approximate shape of chicken drumsticks and coated with breadcrumbs) and oven chips. I asked Johnny if he would like a beefburger, sausage or pork steak. He replied. "I don't like them". He only wanted manufactured shite. Seriously, WTF?

When I was a lad, I was given the same food as my parents. If I didn't eat it, I went without. I ate it!
Nowadays, "children's menus" in restaurants (I'm being quite generous in the use of the word restaurant) consist of lots of manufactured shite that children like. Unlike veggies & fruit, this shite contains very little fibre/fiber or magnesium.

Is it any wonder that childhood constipation is a problem? Why are children being given PEG or even Lactulose, when there's a much better solution - Epsom Salts (which contains magnesium). The gut needs magnesium to function properly. See You're free, and a testimonial.

The brain needs magnesium to remain cool, calm and collected i.e. function properly. The brain also needs DHA and Vitamin D3 to function properly. Many kids don't like oily fish so they won't/don't eat it. It's not rocket science to purée some wild red salmon with some Bolognese/Sweet chilli/w.h.y. sauce so that they won't notice it. Many kids play indoors or are smothered in sunblock when they do go outdoors. Is it any wonder that childhood ADD/ADHD is much more common? Medication and psychotherapy? Seriously, WTF?

When I was a lad, there were a couple of show-offs in my class at school, but nobody behaved like "Jimmy*" (physically and mentally hyperactive with bad behaviour, screaming and shouting). Johnny was also badly behaved, but not as bad as Jimmy. The parents at the event seemed content that, every day, their children had to be given "uppers" (e.g. Ritalin) to help them concentrate during the day and "downers" to help them sleep at night. Seriously, WTF?

I will now take a deep breath and count to twenty. There, that's better!

*Names changed.

You're free, and a testimonial.

First, the music video.


I have to admit that I'm not exactly what you'd call "exciting". Apart from driving my yellow MX-5 very fast in the middle of the night when there's nobody around, I'm not an adrenaline junkie. My mother used to throw herself out of light aircraft with a parachute on her back. There were occasions where her main 'chute either failed to open or it became tangled and had to be "cut away" before deploying the reserve.

I'll fly through the air when I've grown a pair of wings. I'll swim when I've grown a set of gills. I'll climb up the side of a mountain when I've grown two extra legs and have the strength & balance of a goat.

In some ways, I'm lucky to have slightly defective hearing & vision. I'm happy with the sound quality of inexpensive stereos and I don't need HDTV. I get my kicks from singing and from helping people to improve their health. I believe that health is number one priority as, without it, you can't properly do or enjoy things in life.

So, you're free to do what you want to do. Also, you're free to take or leave my advice! Anyway...

Somebody who I've known for about 14 years had been suffering from fairly obvious signs of magnesium deficiency (anxiety, poor sleep, cramps, spasms etc) for quite a while, so I virtually frog-marched him to the pharmacy at Tesco on bank holiday Monday and got him to buy a pot of Epsom Salts and add some to a smoothie.

He wishes to remain anonymous, but last night he informed me that he's feeling much better and is now pooing normally for the first time in 20 years. That's probably how long he's been deficient in magnesium. I've also given him 14 Vitamin D3 5,000iu mini gelcaps to try, as he suffers from low moods and rarely gets any sun on his skin.

Our bodies work so much better when they have all the nutrients that they need.

At first I was afraid, I was petrified...

My titles are becoming increasingly blatantly song-orientated. No YouTube video, this time.

I just read Hans Wu's latest post Alzheimer's and Dementia and had a few thoughts.

1) In the early stages of mental decline, there is still self-awareness and the process is frightening. Constant reassurance is the best thing for somebody in this state. As self-awareness fades, one becomes happy. An example of this is HAL-9000 as his memory modules were being unplugged in the film "2001 a space odyssey". My mum is in this state, thank goodness.

I entered this state temporarily during an Insulin Shock Test on my pituitary gland, when my serum glucose fell to 1.5mmol/L (27mg/dL) under medical supervision. I was blissfully unaware of my confusion. Too much alcohol in the blood also causes loss of self-awareness. I entered this state last week while socialising with a friend. After half a bottle of White Zinfandel, I was blissfully unaware of my merriness!

2) When I see "arterial stiffness", I think "inappropriate calcification" and "Vitamin K2".

3) Transient Ischaemic Attacks (TIAs a.k.a. mini-strokes) cause loss of blood flow to parts of the brain, resulting in amnesia. There may be some permanent brain damage, depending on how long the TIAs last. TIAs can be caused by spasms in arteries within the brain. Ditto migraines.

When I see "spasm", I think "magnesium".

Move More: You are NOT going to believe this! Part 2.

At mum's care home on Wednesday, the activities ladies held a tai-chi session for the residents, as movement is good for their muscles and well-being. They roped me in as well. Mum was reading a Henley-on-Thames leaflet so she didn't join-in.

Tai-chi is harder than it looks! Mum noticed that I was waving my arms about in a graceful manner and stopped reading the leaflet. She looked slightly bemused (as would you if you saw what I was doing) and started smiling.

It was also somebody's birthday, so we all sang "Happy birthday to you" to him and gave him three "hip-hip hoorays" followed by a round of applause.

To the astonishment of the activities ladies, mum started to clap her hands. 5,000iu/day of Vitamin D3 + me being chatty, For The Win!

The nurse on duty also had a chat with me about the best way to give mum 10ml/day of fish oil and 2.5ml/day of Epsom Salts. She later told me that mum swallowed the fish oil without any problems (mum loves smoked salmon) and swallowed the Epsom Salts dissolved in a cup of juice without any problems either.

In other news, I now have a Blackberry 8900. This blog looks rather different when displayed on a tiny screen.

EDIT: I now ache all over!

Get in! Parts 2 & 3.

In Get in!, I described how I persuaded mum's GP to let mum have Vitamin D3 5,000iu/day.

Well...

Today, I persuaded mum's GP to let mum have Epsom Salts 2.5g/day (provided by me) dissolved in fruit juice and Seven Seas Fish Oil 10ml/day (provided by me). There's only one possible reaction:-


P.S. The doctor didn't even ask for supporting evidence. He just said "Yeah, other relatives do that. No problem. He just wanted to check for contraindications, which is fine by me. I have plans to ask him to allow mum to have one more supplement that may help her bones & brain. Any ideas as to what that might be, O.K.?

P.P.S. Another lady that's been at the care home since day one died Wednesday night/Thursday morning. She died from terminal cancer, but she had been physically crippled by Parkinson's Disease. R.I.P.

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.

Insulin Resistance: Solutions to problems.

Before I start on what may be the most important thing that I've ever written, here's "Don't Stop Movin" by S Club 7. It's a clue to what's coming.


The problem:
Insulin Resistance (IR) is a major problem for a significant percentage of the population in the developed world. It can cause:-

High fasting serum glucose, which increases the risk factor for Coronary Heart Disease.
High post-prandial serum glucose, which increases the risk factor for Coronary Heart Disease, Retinopathy, Neuropathy & Nephropathy (Kidney failure) amongst other things.
High serum cholesterol.
High serum triglycerides, which in conjunction with high serum cholesterol increases the risk factor for Coronary Heart Disease.
High serum Free Fatty Acids (a.k.a. FFAs a.k.a. NEFAs) from IR fat cells, which increases the risk factor for Sudden cardiac death and also worsens IR in liver & muscle cells.
High serum uric acid, which increases the risk factor for Gout & urate Kidney stones.
Hypertension, which raises the risk factor for Coronary Heart Disease, Strokes & Kidney failure.
Excessive appetite after eating high-GL carbohydrates, due to rebound low serum blood glucose, leading to overeating & obesity.
Lethargy after eating almost anything, but especially after eating high-GL carbohydrates, due to compensatory hyperinsulinaemia.
If IR is left untreated, it can deteriorate into type 2 diabetes. See Type 2 diabetes in the UK.

The cause and solutions:
1) "Bad" genes. My genes aren't particularly good, but it is possible to change the expression of your genes.

2) Full cells. A full cell is an IR cell. Consider Liver, Muscle and Fat cells:-

a) Liver cells: Liver cells are a 2-way street. "Stuff" (e.g. NEFAs, Glucose & Fructose) goes in and "stuff" (e.g. Ketones & Glucose) comes out. Glucose normally comes out of the liver at a rate of ~5g/hour to fuel the brain, but this can increase a lot under the control of Insulin, Glucagon & Cortisol. If more stuff goes in than comes out, liver glycogen stores fill up and vice-versa. When liver glycogen stores become full, liver cells down-regulate processes that produce liver glycogen e.g. hexokinase & Glu-T2 transporters. Liver cells effectively become IR to stop more stuff from going in.

However, fructose uses Glu-T5 transporters which are insulin-independent & fructokinase which has a high affinity for fructose, so fructose effectively "barges its way in" to the liver. This is why fructose is a problem for people who have permanently full liver glycogen stores.

b) Muscle cells: Muscle cells are a 1-way street as far as Glucose is concerned, though Amino Acids can go in & come out. Muscle glycogen cannot be used to produce serum glucose - it can only be used by muscles. When muscle glycogen stores become full, muscle cells down-regulate processes that produce muscle glycogen e.g. hexokinase & Glu-T4 transporters. Muscle cells effectively become IR to stop more stuff from going in.

As per It's all in a day's work (as measured in Joules), muscle cells use mostly fat at rest & lowish-intensity exercise. Glycogen usage increases rapidly as exercise intensity increases. Now do you see the significance of the music video above? Intense exercise (e.g. Running, Sprinting, Resistance training with weights, parts of High-Intensity Interval Training a.k.a. HIIT, parts of Tabata & parts of Zumba) depletes your muscle cells and makes them Insulin Sensitive.

This means that exercise is compulsory. I have been in denial for years. Then, Uh-oh! There may be trouble ahead... happened. See Increased Glucose Transport–Phosphorylation and Muscle Glycogen Synthesis after Exercise Training in Insulin-Resistant Subjects and Improvement in Glucose Tolerance After 1 Wk of Exercise in Patients With Mild NIDDM (hat-tip to Go Kaleo). See also Move More: Solutions to problems.

However, don't overdo it! You may have a funny turn, keel over & hurt yourself. See "Funny turns": What they aren't and what they might be.

c) Fat cells: Fat cells are a 2-way street. Fat cells are a bit like balloons that are full of holes. As stuff (e.g. NEFAs & glucose) goes in, the balloon expands to accommodate it. As more stuff goes in and the balloon gets bigger, the internal pressure increases and the holes get bigger, so stuff (e.g. NEFAs & glycerol) comes out at a faster rate. At some level of fullness, stuff comes out as fast as it goes in. At that point, fat cells are effectively IR. So, don't overstuff your fat cells by getting too fat. If you are already too fat, medium intensity exercise (e.g. Walking, Power Walking, Jogging, "Aerobics", parts of High-Intensity Interval Training a.k.a. HIIT, parts of Tabata & parts of Zumba) depletes your fat cells and makes them Insulin Sensitive.

Dress appropriately so that you don't feel cold. Feeling cold is what stimulates your appetite, not exercise. See Influence of resistance and aerobic exercise on hunger, circulating levels of acylated ghrelin, and peptide YY in healthy males. I go for a 30 minute walk each evening.

3) Deficiency in Vitamin D3.
See Hypovitaminosis D is associated with insulin resistance and ß cell dysfunction.
The effects of calcium and vitamin D supplementation on blood glucose and markers of inflammation in nondiabetic adults.
The role of vitamin D and calcium in type 2 diabetes. A systematic review and meta-analysis.
A double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial of the short-term effect of vitamin D3 supplementation on insulin sensitivity in apparently healthy, middle-aged, centrally obese men.
Plasma 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentration and metabolic syndrome among middle-aged and elderly Chinese individuals.
Vitamin D supplementation reduces insulin resistance in South Asian women living in New Zealand who are insulin resistant and vitamin D deficient - a randomised, placebo-controlled trial.

In January 2003, I had impaired Glucose Tolerance (fasting serum glucose = 6.8mmol/L & 2 hours post-75g glucose load serum glucose = 8.7mmol/L). A sandwich used to send me to sleep.

By September 2008, I had normal Glucose Tolerance (fasting serum glucose = 5.0mmol/L & 2 hours post-75g glucose load serum glucose = 3.7mmol/L). I also no longer suffered from hyperinsulinaemic drowsiness. I was also about the same weight that I was in 2003, so the improvement was not due to weight loss.

So, either use a UVB sun-lamp as per instructions to receive a sub-erythemal dose (not quite going pink) or get tested by your GP and supplement with Vitamin D3 accordingly. I take 5,000iu of Vitamin D3/day.

4) Deficiency in Magnesium.
For the top 999 foods highest in Magnesium per 100g serving, see HERE. I take ~4g of Epsom Salts/day (~400mg Mg/day). 

5) Deficiency in Vitamin K2.
See Vitamin K₂ prevents hyperglycemia and cancellous osteopenia in rats with streptozotocin-induced type 1 diabetes. Good sources of Vitamin K2 can be found HERE. I take a Vitacost Ultra Vitamin K with Advanced K2 Complex/day. Note: Warfarin/Coumadin works by depleting Vitamin K, so lots of Vitamin K2 makes Warfarin/Coumadin ineffective. 

6) Deficiency in Manganese. See Manganese supplementation protects against diet-induced diabetes in wild type mice by enhancing insulin secretion. For the top 999 foods highest in Manganese per 100g serving, see HERE.

7) Deficiency in, or excess of Copper w.r.t. Zinc. See Dietary copper supplementation restores β-cell function of Cohen diabetic rats: a link between mitochondrial function and glucose stimulated insulin secretion. For the top 468 foods highest in Copper per 100g serving, see HERE.

8) Deficiency in, or excess of Zinc w.r.t. Copper. See Zinc, pancreatic islet cell function and diabetes: new insights into an old story. For the top 999 foods highest in Zinc per 100g serving, see HERE.

9) Excessive intake of man-made trans-fats.
Base your diet on Real Food rather than manufactured food products.

10) Excessive intake of chemicals.
Don't swallow toothpaste (fluoride) or disclosing tablets (may contain iodine). Don't hold till receipts between your lips (may be coated in BPA). Don't slather too many chemicals on your skin.

Any other ideas for normalising insulin sensitivity?

Finally, the obligatory picture. Hannah Spearritt is rather nice. :-p

I nearly forgot! Today, when I arrived at mum's nursing home, I found her reading a book. She hasn't done that for over a year. She even knew that it was Wednesday. Ketogenic diet for the win. Mum now has a dual-fuel brain.

Guess who didn't look after his brain?

Due to the sudden deterioration in my mum's physical & mental health and also due to struggling to come to terms with her having to spend the rest of her life in a nursing home (not the happiest of places), my diet went completely to pot.

I "went off" salmon, sardines & powdered linseeds and started to eat carbohydrate/fat-based comfort foods. A black cloud slowly descended over me. I lost the motivation to do anything, including updating this blog. I also slept a lot. This continued for several months.

Then, for no apparent reason, a few weeks ago I got an urge to eat smoked salmon. I added 200g of smoked salmon twice a week back into my diet and after a few weeks, the black cloud started to lift.

Before I started supplementing with Vitamin D3, I used to eat lots of oily fish but did not function correctly mentally. This time, my Vitamin D3 status was good (I never stopped taking supplements even when I had the black cloud over me) but my EPA (Eicosapentaenoic Acid) and DHA (Docosahexaenoic Acid) intakes were near zero.

In conclusion, it would appear that my brain needs adequate Vitamin D3 and EPA and DHA (and magnesium) to function correctly.

I won't be blogging as much as I have been previously, as I've now dumped the vast majority of the nutritional knowledge within my brain into this blog. If I come across anything new, I'll post it here.

Finally, I've found the cheapest source yet of 5,000iu Vitamin D3 gelcaps.

Supplements: Who needs 'em?

According to Health Professionals, nobody. Apparently, we get all of the vitamins, minerals & other nutrients that we need from a "Healthy Balanced Diet" (whatever that is!).

According to me, just about everybody. Due to modern farming methods, food ain't what it used to be. Dammit, even nostalgia ain't what it used to be! Due to changes in lifestyle:-

a) Most people are more sedentary than they used to be. This means that they require less food than they used to in order to not get fat. Less food, coupled with less nutrients in the food = dietary deficiencies.

b) Most people don't get as much sun on their skin as they used to, as they now work, play & live mostly indoors and when they do go outside, they are encouraged to Slip Slop Slap (slip on a shirt, slop on sunscreen and slap on a hat). This results in hypovitaminosis D, as only an Eskimo's diet contains enough dietary Vitamin D. The RDA of 200/400/600iu/day (depending on age) is woefully inadequate and totally out of touch with modern research.

c) Most people don't eat much oily fish. Also, animal & vegetable produce now contains more omega-6 & less omega-3 than it used to. This results in an imbalance.

d) Diets low in vegetable & fruits lack Potassium & Magnesium.

e) Diets low in fermented products lack Vitamin K2.

Because of the above, I supplement with:-
300mg/day of Magnesium as Citrate/Amino Acid Chelate, or 600mg/day as Oxide.
5,000iu/day of Vitamin D3.
15mg/week of Vitamin K2.
I also use Losalt, which provides 2 parts Potassium to 1 part Sodium.

So, when & where did it all go wrong?

No, I'm not talking about Demand Five! I'm talking about us, modern man & woman. We have improved hygiene, clean water & food, modern medicine, anti-biotics, anti-virals etc. We should be enjoying good health and vitality into our nineties. We're not, though. Degenerative diseases like Type 2 Diabetes, Coronary Heart Disease, Cancer, Dementia, IBS etc are afflicting increasing numbers of people (including youngsters) and are even starting to reduce our longevity statistics. Why?

On one side of the fence are the anti-animal fat brigade who claim that animal fats are the cause of all our health problems and that we should all be eating more vegetable fats and reducing our cholesterol.

On the other side of the fence are the anti-carb brigade who claim that carbohydrates are the cause of all our health problems and that we should all be eating less carbohydrates and increasing our fat consumption.

I'm sure you can guess where I am. I have the splinters to prove it!

In 1911, hydrogenated vegetable oil (Crisco) entered the marketplace. So, in 1911, fat turned bad! See The rise and fall of Crisco.

Interestingly, rates of Coronary Heart Disease started to rise from 1920, 9 years later. Co-incidence?

Our genes may have not changed much in the last few hundred thousand years, but our lifestyles certainly have. We now live mostly sedentary lives (which makes our muscles less sensitive to insulin). We now live and work mostly indoors (which makes us deficient in Vitamin D).

We now don't eat much oily fish. Our vegetables contain much less omega-3 fat than they used to (to make them stay fresh for longer). Our meat now contains much more omega-6 and much less omega-3 fat than it used to (due to feeding animals on grains). These changes make us deficient in omega-3 fat (which makes our muscles less sensitive to insulin).

We now eat loads of refined carbohydrate (which causes unstable blood glucose & insulin levels) and loads of processed foods (which makes us deficient in Magnesium and fibre/fiber).

As a result of all of the above changes, we have many modern diseases. We can't blame it on one factor only. So, what can we do? Here's one suggestion....



























Good health!

Magnesium: Just as important as Calcium.

Suffering from anger/aggression/anxiety? Can't sleep properly? Suffering from night cramps, restless legs, menstrual cramps, muscle spasms? You're probably deficient in magnesium. See A case of oesophageal spasm, and the ‘unproven’ treatment that helped it and Around the Web; and Menstrual Cramp Remedy.

After Vitamin D and Omega-3 fats, magnesium is the third thing that people are most likely to be deficient in. Processed foods are low in magnesium. Diets low in vegetables are low in magnesium. For a list of the 999 richest sources of magnesium per 100g serving, see http://nutritiondata.self.com/foods-000120000000000000000-w.html. Too much calcium can result in a relative magnesium deficiency.

An optimum intake of magnesium is approximately 50% of your calcium intake. Other sources of magnesium are Milk of Magnesia (hydroxide) and Epsom Salts (sulphate heptahydrate). Excessive intake of magnesium salts acts as an osmotic laxative and gives you loose bowels, but it takes quite a lot to do this. Half a level teaspoonful (~2.5g) of Epsom Salts gives you ~250mg of magnesium and is as cheap as chips (200g costs £1.25 at Boots).

Magnesium is also available as a dietary supplement. Magnesium oxide (Magnesia) isn't as well-absorbed as Citrate/Amino Acid Chelate forms, so take extra if using oxide. See Magnesium bioavailability from magnesium citrate and magnesium oxide. Magnesium can be absorbed through the skin, so adding Epsom Salts or Magnesium Chloride to your bathwater is another option.