There's a well-known, well-respected "authority" on blood sugar who has written "the truth" about low-carb diets.
GROAN.
It must be nice to know everything! Trouble is, even if you do, you won't get universal agreement from the poor dumb suckers around you. I read a few of her opinions which aren't true FOR ME. So are they "the truth" or are they just HER truth? If there's a single outlier, can it possibly be THE truth?
I humbly apologize if i ever sound like i'm uttering THE TRUTH ... because there isn't just ONE, for everybody. Obviously.
I know,she says it boils down to CICO and if you are female, old and fat or reduced fat, well it's just too bad. Maybe this is reality for most, but I believe "Never Give Up, Never Surrender!" If I remember correctly from reading your blog, you are managing to get to a "normal" weight - I finally got down to "overweight" from morbid obesity. I may never make it to where you are, but I think I can get more off and maintain it without starving. I don't believe I have unreasonable expectations. Stalls or plateaus are just part of the process. I just have to keep tweaking.
ReplyDeleteI think low-carb diets mostly fail those who can't resist the calls of the carbohydrate sirens. But then, that's just my opinion.
yes, i'm on the same page with you! ...i just went back and tweaked my wording -- hope it makes better sense now. :-) we had a busy day, and i'm sleepy!
ReplyDeleteAre you talking about Jenny Ruhl?
ReplyDeleteIMO, Jenny has useful things to say, but she often presents an overly bleak picture of lowcarbing. I hope no one has given up trying to break a stall because of her. I do like the fact that she says that mainstream books are lying to you. This is so true. I only learned the truth about LC reading blogs and seeing the measures that need to be taken to get into that normal BMI category.
ReplyDelete@EB, yes. i read the summary of her talk with Jimmy, and it set my teeth on edge. everybody else is lying, but she's telling THE truth....
ReplyDelete@Sid, until i read that i had a good opinion of her, though i wasn't a regular reader. like Emily, who has valuable things to say but i often dislike her tone, and what she can get away with diet-wise, won't be a good plan for me. Just 'cause Jenny isn't a good "fit" with low-carbing doesn't mean it's not the answer for countless others!
I'm not sure. I don't read her blog on a regular basis but I listened to the full podcast and it seems to me that she's open to lots of different ways of eating and is in favour LC while still acknowledging that it doesn't work for a minority of people. At no point was she like "my way or the highway". What she is rightly concerned about is the fact that mainstream books scrub the uncomfortable truth to the extent that people don't know what to expect on a LC diet and when they run into problems they often blame themselves because no one told them these things could happen. For example, a woman caller was a few days into the LC diet and was throwing PVCs. Very serious problem, it's been happening to me too recently. Jenny was quick to advise her to up the carbs just a bit to the level where this isn't happening and stop worrying about ketosis / fat-burning mode and all that. What would Phinney and the gurus tell her? Take some magnesium supplements and drink chicken broth and if that doesn't work, shut up.
ReplyDeleteTo me she contradict herself, she recommends diabetics low carb diets because it keeps blood sugar stable and because it reduce insulin for many that are insulin resistant. Then argue that hunger is caused by lowering blood sugar. If low carb keep blood sugar stable then it also help control hunger how can then CICO be the answer. I guess that her most recently use of insulin therapy had something to do with her view now, since insulin therapy promotes higher carbs but is associated with increased hunger and weight gain.
ReplyDeleteIMO, there are a number of causes of hunger. Some of the time it is blood sugar, and some of the time exorphins, or something else. You cannot treat exorphin caused hunger with blood sugar treatment. It is essential to know the actual cause of the individuals issues.
ReplyDeleteyeah, i may be obliged to actually listen to the podcast to get "the rest of the story" (i hate sitting around listening to those things, though).... i realize that VLC doesn't work for everyone, and books promoting a certain idea frequently don't give you the other side of the argument. :-) i also get riled at the attitude Sidereal points out, "well, if our suggestions don't help, don't bother asking again" -- how many times have we heard this kind of thing from doctors! ...AND JR's point of vantage of the question is from a different angle from mine (diabetic vs middle-aged/hypothyroid. but the summary sure suggested some iffy things! "Middle-aged women tend to be 'quiet in online forums.'” -- WHAT? i thought we were making a LOT of noise! i suspect that we're quiet if/when: 1) we feel like speaking up is just beating a dead horse; or 2) we're thoroughly convinced there's nothing that the "moderator" will say that will do us any damn good. there's no sense in trying to argue with the "Daves" of this world....
ReplyDeletehunger too is an individual thing. the fewer carbs i eat, the less hungry i am. her mileage may vary, but i suspect it has less to do with "a low-carb diet" and more with differences in absorption and personal tolerances.
Total waste of time, I agree. No one ever says anything new. Whatever you're doing seems to be working so who cares? ;)
ReplyDelete:-) i suppose i shouldn't worry about it, but i'm one of the kind who does -- i was raised by a worrywort, and it seems to be contagious!
ReplyDeleteI listened to most of the podcast and came away with a different impression, but I was confused by the exercise/candy recommendation. To me, it doesn't make sense to do so much exercise that you are getting yourself in trouble. At least people are talking about some of the difficulties some LC'ers face, instead of sweeping everything under the rug.
ReplyDeleteairing difficulties is good! if there is discussion, chances are SOMEBODY will have experience, and will be able to say something helpful. ...obviously, i do need to listen to the podcast, for the sake of my own curiosity.
ReplyDelete