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Comment by Claire Deeks on Fad diets article feedback

Claire Deeks — Sat, 10 Oct 2015 22:05:34 +1300

I run a food/wellness blog with my 4 year old that’s especially focused on families and children following a paleo (real food) way of eating. There is as you know a very keen interest in paleo especially by women for children in their care – as illustrated by our Facebook page gaining over 10K followers in less than 6 months. The following is taken from a blog post we have on our website:

“I usually say, when asked how we eat, that we follow a “Paleo template” or that we “just eat real food”. The problem with the latter is that it can mean so many different things to people that it sometimes seems virtually meaningless. And of course the problem with using “Paleo” is that people will jump to conclusions and assume you do or don’t do things based on what they understand of that term. Nevertheless, at the present time, Paleo is the best way I have to describe what we’re doing on the nutrition side of things.

For me – “Paleo” is a template, a base from which we experiment to figure out what works best for us. Much of the actual food we eat now was not available in Paleolithic times. Eating Paleo – particularly what is referred to as “Paleo 2.0” therefore for me means eating a sustainable, nutrient dense, toxin-free, whole-foods based diet that emphasizes animal protein and fats, starchy & non-starchy vegetables, fermented foods, dairy (when tolerated) and fruit, nuts & seeds (in moderation). But it’s just easier to say ‘Paleo’.

We’re not especially “low carb” or necessarily LCHF – low carb high/healthy fat. But certainly, in comparison to a standard western diet we’re eating much more fat (including saturated fat) and less carbohydrates and what we do can definitely be described as LCHF. We don’t eat a high meat diet. Rather we emphasize vegetables. Not for nothing is the hashtag “more vegetables than a vegetarian” popular in the paleo-sphere. We also eat some fruit – we just don’t go overboard with it.

“Going” paleo has been life changing for me and I have no doubt will be a life-saver for my son. I am in the best health of my life and have never felt more satisfied with how and what I eat after years angst following the much lauded and government mandated low fat way of eating. We 100% support the work done by Prof Grant and his team at AUT. I find the overriding message to be that of “Just Eat Real Food”. Where “real food” does not include eating processed refined wheat in cereals and bread and (for those eating dairy) it does include eating butter and definitely does not include eating low fat milks, yoghurts and “low fat spreads”/margarines.)"

Comment by May on Fad diets article feedback

May — Fri, 09 Oct 2015 10:12:18 +1300

I have been following an extremely low carbohydrate, high fat way of eating for a year now, I recently implemented 23 hour fasts 6 days out of 7. The reason for this way of eating is I have Type 2 diabetes with severe insulin resistance. Within 1 month of starting to eat low carb, high fat, I could stop all my medication, I was on Diamicron for glucose regulation and it caused dangerous side effects around my heart. Since I've been fasting my blood glucose and consequently my insulin sensitivity is fantastic, I feel lucky to have found this way of eating

Comment by Susan Hokanson on Fad diets article feedback

Susan Hokanson — Fri, 09 Oct 2015 06:30:37 +1300

After 14 years of following a low fat, "healthy" carb diet as recommended by the American Diabetes Association, although I had lost some weight, my blood sugars were at an all time high and I took 5 different medications for my T2 diabetes. My blood pressure was onlly controlled by 2 different medications. After watching a TED talk by Dr. Sarah Hallberg, I changed to a high fat, low carb diet the next day. My blood sugars are down and I only take 2 medications for diabetes. I do not take any medication for blood pressure. I am at a healthy weight and I have lots of energy. Dr. Bernstein's book, Diabetes Solution only reinforces what I had learned from Dr. Hallberg. I will never go back to eating a low fat, healthy grain diet again. The proof is in the numbers.

Comment by Denise Arneson on Fad diets article feedback

Denise Arneson — Thu, 08 Oct 2015 17:29:51 +1300

im a diabetic. I eat low carb high fat . My last A1c over a month a go was 5.5. My most current values are better. My fasting blood sugar this morning was 81 and my bedtime was 78. Thstscwhstvesting this way gets you, it reverses diabetes.

Comment by George Henderson on Fad diets article feedback

George Henderson — Wed, 07 Oct 2015 15:24:07 +1300

As one of the authors who contributed to the response by Schofield et al, I welcome the chance to address some of the replies above.

We do not think that saturated fat should be the stumbling block that it appears to be. Diabetic patients do perfectly well on LCHF diets in which saturated fat is not restricted.[1] Diabetic dyslipidemia is characterised by low HDL, high triglycerides, and normal/low LDL. People with high LDL are less likely to develop T2D in the first place.[2] It seems beside the point to treat diabetic dyslipidemia, greatly improved by low carb diets, with diets designed to lower LDL. HbA1c (and fasting insulin in T2D) also affect risk of CVD and other vascular complications independently of LDL.

Those following the Bernstein protocol have very tight control of blood glucose and few hypoglycemic episodes. Such control tells us protein and fat don’t excessively complicate the action of insulin on this diet. The TypeOneGrit group has gone to some trouble to find the right forms of insulin to suit, and share this information online.[3]

We agree that other diets can work for type 2 diabetes. Though we would argue that none is as reliable for correcting blood glucose variability, diabetic dyslipidemia, and reducing medication needs, this begs a question – if low carb is one of the diets effective for the control of diabetes, why is it not supported? If the efficacy of diabetes diets depends on adherence rather than the type of diet, why is the diet so many people with diabetes want to adhere to not encouraged in New Zealand?

We simply ask that the low carb diet, and especially the very low carb diet, be given its chance. It is the oldest dietary approach to diabetes and not some “fad”, but it has been substantially improved by modern trends in technology and nutrition science, and has proven itself in clinical trials. As Neilsen and Joensson wrote of T2D in 2008, “An important issue is the fact that some patients do become completely free of disease as soon as they are presented with a low-carbohydrate option. It is unknown what factors make these persons succeed now despite complete failure in the past.”[3]

[1] Unwin, DJ, et al. A pilot study to explore the role of a low-carbohydrate intervention to improve GGT levels and HbA1c. Diabesity in Practice 2015;4

[2] Andersson, C, et al. Low-density-lipoprotein cholesterol concentrations and risk of incident diabetes: epidemiological and genetic insights from the Framingham Heart Study. Diabetologia. 2015 Sep 26

[3] http://typeonegrit.blogspot.co.nz/

[5] Nielsen, JV, et al. Low-carbohydrate diet in type 2 diabetes: stable improvement of bodyweight and glycemic control during 44 months follow-up. Nutrition & Metabolism 2008, 5:14

Comment by Nick K on Fad diets article feedback

Nick K — Tue, 06 Oct 2015 13:54:59 +1300

The Food Pyramid is the worst "Fad Diet" going around.

Comment by Anna Dann on Fad diets article feedback

Anna Dann — Tue, 06 Oct 2015 11:04:50 +1300

Anecdotally and coincidentally, both my husband and I (50 years old) had cancer diagnoses, unfavourable blood results re cholesterol and inflammatory markers, high blood pressure and had crept out of the healthy weight range.

This was whilst on a previous diet and way of living - low fat dairy, margarine, canola cooking oil, whole grains and refined carbohydrates (pasta, bread, crackers etc), lean meat, fruit and vegetables, as recommended by a dietician and the Heart Foundation in Australia.
About two years ago via our own extensive research of clinical papers and lectures from medical and allied health professionals in Australia and at a world wide level (including medical specialists - cardiologist, neurologist, orthopaedic, endocrinologist, pathologist), we switched our low fat, which we discovered meant added sugar, to healthy saturated fats with each meal, reduced our carbs to come from vegetables only, switched unhealthy seed cooking oils and trans fats to healthy oils, removed HFCS (high fructose corn syrup and processed foods - HFCS nearly in everything on the food store shelves) cut out refined and added sugars.
We increased our fresh salad and veges, eat some fruit each day, eat grass fed meat and poultry, plenty of free range eggs, fish/salmon and full fat dairy.
We just switched it up, read labels, and changed our shopping habits..IT WAS EASY and very easy to maintain!
It has been nearly two years now on Low Carb Healthy Fat way of living.
We are both on NO medications, well and truly within all healthy weight parameters with great muscle tone, no inflammatory markers for my husband, have greatly reduced mine (I have lupus/AID) - did I say 'no medications' and great energy!
It IS common sense and the science now proves it (and has done for years).
Most people I speak to are confused about carbohydrates, healthy fats and hidden sugars.
Most don't realise that they can get ALL the carbohydrates they need from vegetables and that excess carbohydrates convert, in simple terms, to glucose.
Most cooking oils used are inflammatory and most grains in the way they are processed now are inflammatory.
HFCS is insidious and fructose and refined sugars are part of many food and low fat products.
Low Carb Healthy Fat is our way of living, it can do NO harm, and we would never change it back.
Friends, colleagues and peers cannot believe how great we look and feel and our blood results also prove it to our very happy GP!
I am a Registered Nurse and have been for 30 years and feel very fortunate that my serious health concerns helped me to reconsider dietary advice and current evidence.

Comment by Nads on Fad diets article feedback

Nads — Tue, 06 Oct 2015 09:49:35 +1300

At 52 years of age I am now the healthiest I have ever been, after kicking sugar in 2012 and then going LCHF soon after. I eat lots of natural saturated fats. My brain is clear and I have loads of energy. All my health markers are great and I maintain 59kg easily.

Comment by Helen on Fad diets article feedback

Helen — Tue, 06 Oct 2015 08:27:57 +1300

I used to eat healthy whole grains but now I have come to understand that healthy whole grains are an oxymoron and cause inflammation. For over three years now, my so called fad diet does not include grains and added sugars. When I was 50 I thought I had middle age spread and when I was 60 it became apparent that the weight gain and high blood pressure was due to the inflammation caused by eating healthy whole grains. I am now a healthy weight and my blood pressure is no longer elevated. My blood sugar levels are normal. I don't take any prescription drugs. My energy levels are high and I sleep well. I enjoy eating healthy fats which includes saturated fats, loads of above ground veggies and mininum animal protein. I plan to continue this way of eating for the rest of my life as I feel so wonderful.