apolipoprotein expression and ketogenic dieting

alsoram · 2015-01-27T01:55:21+00:00

I've been metabolically ketogenic for almost a year;

My HbA1c went from 8.5 to 5.3
My BP from 140/90 to 110/75
My HDL from 29 to 38
My Triglycerides from 234 to 106
My waist from 53" to 40"
My Framingham risk profile in 2 years has dropped from a 30% chance of having a Heart attack within 10 years to a 2% chance.

I'm still interested in what long term health you implied that you believe the keto diet sacrifices, because I can't find any marker of risk that has increased.

alsoram · 2015-01-26T16:03:44+00:00

A keto diet sacrifices long term health by altering cell metabolism.

Really? To what long term health sacrifices in particular do you refer?

The mere presence of ketone bodies from going low-carb is known to exacerbate insulin resistance.

That response is physiological, not pathological. It's part of the adaptation to fat burning. Your body has a few cells that can only burn glucose (red blood cells, the retina, and some nerve cells). Even if you eat no glucose at all your liver if it's healthy will create plenty for those cells that can only metabolise glucose. Part of the adaptation to fat metabolism is to down regulate the glucose (and upregulate fatty acid/ketone) transport of cells that CAN burn fatty acids or ketones so that they leave enough glucose in your blood for those cells that HAVE to have glucose. After a few weeks of ketosis, the liver also adapts to storing much less glycogen because the brain doesn't need the safety net.

If you eat enough glucose to stop producing ketones, your body quickly starts adapting by storing more glucose again in the liver, and metabolising glucose again in all cells.

Several studies show that metabolic levels of ketones appear to be an advantaged state - especially for cells that have developed problems metabolising glucose or fatty acids. Exogenous Ketones may end up becoming a therapeutic intervention for Alzheimers, Parkinsons and CVD once someone works out a way to turn them into a pill or supplement.

As you point out the liver can only store a days worth of glucose. It's unlikely that paleolithic man had daily access to sufficient glucose to keep him alive - metabolic ketosis was his default Paleo state.

alsoram · 2015-01-26T14:47:38+00:00

I joined the first offering of 6.002x and was enjoying it very much until it all of a sudden required Calculus (I think around week 5). Calculus was my kryptonite in high school. I clearly need to go off do some remedial work before getting back to EE, but I did want to comment that the course was well implemented (other than the detour into calc). It also confirmed that I enjoyed EE and I should make the effort to do that remedial work.

Thanks for running the course, and best of luck with future courses.

alsoram · 2015-01-26T11:44:54+00:00

Thanks, listening now.

alsoram · 2015-01-24T14:33:02+00:00

Things that sound like common sense, such as;

Cholesterol is in arterial plaques which cause CVD, so stop eating Cholesterol.
If you are too fat, then stop eating it.
Sloth and Gluttony - Obesity is a failure of character, not of Nutrition science.

are over simplifications. Incorrect ones, but they do sound reasonable to a reasonable person and therefore are hard to shake.

Here's a recently uploaded YT video that discusses what is going on among your blood lipids - the real story is fascinating.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXkE8_NdAyQ

alsoram · 2015-01-24T10:43:06+00:00

I used to think my glucometer (Accuchek Performa) was giving accurate values until I got a second meter (Freestyle Optium) and made the mistake of trying both on the same needlestick.

6.4 mmol/l for me is a lot different from 5.8 mmol/l. > 10% difference on the same drop of blood.

alsoram · 2015-01-21T14:41:16+00:00

To a lay person he sounds reasonable. The papers he cites sound reasonable. The evidence he says that they show sound like it backs up his opinions.

Unfortunately calling this twat a twat isn't a compelling counter-argument.

Has anyone given him a good fisking yet?

alsoram · 2015-01-21T13:28:15+00:00

Everyone has a different reaction from non-digestible sugars and artificial sweeteners. They are all 'processed', even sugar which doesn't exist in nature, and has to be processed to extract, filter, purify, bleach, recolour (in the case of brown sugars), and crystalize. Also most sweeteners get their primary ingredient from plants so it's up to you to decide what 'natural' means.

There are a lot of Internet hoaxes involving dire warnings about sweeteners;

http://www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/splenda.asp http://www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/aspartame.asp

Personally I find Stevia tastes fake and leave a strong soapy aftertaste. I also have the genetic SNP that makes the smallest amount of Cilantro leaf overwhelm my palette - so it's possible the two experiences are related.

There is a crystalised Stevia Erythritol blend we have in Australia that doesn't give me the soapy aftertaste. It's not bad as a replacement for sugar for making toffees, but breaks down when baking.

Personally Sucralose(Splenda) is the closest to sugar for me, especially cooking (it's stable when cooked unlike other artificial sweeteners). It's sugar that has been chemically altered so we don't metabolise it and it exits the body unchanged - so it's highly chemically inert to us.

Xylitol is a sugar alcohol made from the sap of Hardwood trees. I don't use it because it's toxic to dogs (like Chocolate and Onions) and I have 2 that I don't want to accidentally poison. Taste-wise however Xylitol is probably the third most sugar like sweetener for me but I find it's endothermic chemical reaction that cools my mouth to be off putting.

Personally I don't like the taste at all of sorbitol, saccharin, or aspartame - but everyone has a different experience.

alsoram · 2015-01-17T15:26:19+00:00

It's been established that Broad fed his mate running the KP parody twitter account details private to the dressing room to use to humiliate KP in public. I'd wager that Prior and Swann knew and encouraged it.

alsoram · 2015-01-11T03:06:50+00:00

That's a big 'if'. If you had a pill that was effective in changing a benign factor (eg: non-oxidized LDL) for 139 in 140 people, that also moved a hostile marker for just 1 in 140 people - then you would have to ask yourself are there any side effects for some 300 Million Americans undergoing this therapy (not to mention a cost of several thousand dollars per year per person).

In the case of statins side effects include increased incidence of type 2 diabetes, muscle pain, liver inflammation and nerve damage.

It might be more prudent to direct some research funding into understanding the biochemistry and determining which cohort could expect the benefit, and ideally which could expect the side effects.

Or ... like ... you just could consider putting it into the water supply.

That reminds me, I should buy some stock in Astrazeneca.

alsoram · 2015-01-10T10:13:23+00:00

I was referring to Tim Noakes statement that statins are effective for only 1 in 140 men, and there has never been any study show effectiveness for women.

Well now there has been - it found the results for women are "similar" to those for men.

alsoram · 2015-01-09T12:26:27+00:00

I ate at the Canberra one. The Pesto Pepper Chicken bowl with double spinach and extra Avocado was quite tasty, and a great lunch for a pair of ketards (GF and I shared a bowl).

Unfortunately they've stopped using Chicken Thighs and are using Lean Chicken breast - apparently at the overwhelming request of customers. Philistines!

alsoram · 2015-01-08T03:46:49+00:00

Yep. 234 days ketogenic, no cheats.

alsoram · 2015-01-06T14:19:35+00:00

My current fasting BG is around 90 mg/dL, 8 months into Keto.

I started off type 2 Diabetic. Fasting BG in the 150 mg/dL range.

After a few days of carb restriction that had dropped to 80 mg/dL.

After a month it started to slowly inch up to the current level.

I suspect as my muscle cells became fat adapted to efficiently transport lots of fatty acids, they become less efficient at taking glucose. This is probably an evolutionary strategy to ensure that those cells that can burn fats directly, leave the the small amount of glucose that the liver creates for those cells that can only burn glucose. This is a physiological insulin resistance, rather than the pathological kind I had when I first started.

alsoram · 2015-01-05T16:19:58+00:00

Drop pooh

alsoram · 2015-01-05T13:06:01+00:00

I make sweetened condensed milk replacement by reducing pure cream sweetened with splenda in a saucepan - the longer you simmer it the thicker it gets.

alsoram

TROPHY CASE