Paleo Diets Lead to Higher Fasting Blood Sugars?
14 Feb 2012 Leave a Comment
in Carboydrate, Caveman Diet, Diabetes, Enzymes, Hormone Sensitive Lipase, Hormones, Insulin, Insulin Resistance, Macronutrients, Paleo Diet, Paleolithic, Primal Diet Tags: blood sugar, caveman, caveman diet, chronic disease, diabetes, diet, fat, nutrition, paleo, paleolithic, primal
Fasting blood sugars higher on paleo and low carb diets? That doesn’t make sense. Well, never let it be said that you don’t learn something every day! Oh, and Happy Valentine’s Day everyone!
I was browsing information on hormone-sensitive lipase and it’s role in the mobilization of fat from adipose (fat) tissue and I came across various studies and knowledge bites discussing how the body adapts on a low carbohydrate diet, and one outcome is an increase in ones fasting blood sugar reading. What!? I know that’s what I said… but no need to panic, here’s the gist of it.
First, let’s understand the basics of a couple hormones:
Insulin: growth hormone, helps the body move glucose into cells where it (glucose) is then used for energy or stored as fat.
Hormone Sensitive Lipase: enzyme, found within cells, primarily adipose and steroidal cells, that is responsible for helping mobilize fatty acids from their triglyceride form (this is the form of stored body fat), allowing them to exit the cell to be used for energy by areas of the body such as the muscles.
So with those hormones in mind, let’s now talk carbohydrate intake.
A typical Paleolithic diet can include various intakes of total carbohydrate but if you eat a mainly plant-based diet with some grass-fed wild protein, healthy fats with a few nuts, seeds, fruit and starchy tubers, you’ll unlikely average an intake above 100g/d. A lot of individuals may even be on the very low-end of the spectrum and regularly be under 50g/d.
The fewer carbohydrates you eat the less insulin there will be circulating in the body, as it is the carbohydrates in the diet that are eventually broken down to glucose, and glucose is the trigger for the release of insulin. This can roughly be thought of as a dose-dependent relationship in that the more carbohydrate you eat, the more insulin you will release to take care of the “glucose load”. For those following a paleolithic diet, typically, the amount of insulin secreted and circulating in the body is low.
So how does this relate to a higher fasting blood sugar reading??? Here’s the kicker (a.k.a the key point)….the natural response to a diet low is carbohydrate is greater insulin resistance. Lower circulating levels of insulin leads to reduced insulin sensitivity on the cells which allows Hormone Sensitive Lipase ( HSL) to move fatty acids out of the cell. This is not a bad thing and it needs to happen so that your body can efficiently use stored fat to fuel the daily functions and activities of the body.
With this in mind, if your doctor tells you at your next physical that your blood test results show you’re on the path to diabetes, no need to panic! Simply ask to test your hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c). HbA1c is a test that shows your average blood sugar reading over approximately a 3 month period and if you are following a paleo diet you’ll be nicely in the healthy range for average blood sugars and can happily leave your doctor’s office free from a pre-diabetes diagnosis!
So there you have it, a quick glimpse into the world on increased insulin resistance on paleo diets (sounds so strange to say that!).
I kept this brief and simple but to give the subject credit it’s very complex! If any questions arise please let me know. I would be happy to discuss!
Til next time,
~S
Vitamin D: Even a Paleo diet won’t meet your need!
13 Jan 2012 Leave a Comment
in Vitamins, Vitamins & Minerals Tags: paleo, primal, supplement, supplements, vitamin, vitamin D, vitamins
Today’s post is all about Paleolithic Diets (Paleo Diets) and vitamin D but before I get into it let me first say… Happy New Year everyone! I wish all of you a happy and healthy 2012 and included in my resolutions will be to post more often (I see that my last post was November – yikes!) 
Vitamin D This vitamin is so important to our health and well-being! As many of you know, vitamin D is mainly acquired by the body through sunlight and in trace amounts through foods, such as salmon, eggs and liver. Because of its importance, and the lack of sunlight many of us have through the depths of winter (especially for those of us on the “Wet Coast”), I thought this was a timely post. So why is this vitamin so important?? Vitamin D has many functions and plays a role in aspects like bone health, immunity and reducing your risk for multiple sclerosis (I just read that Vancouver, B.C., has one of the highest rates of MS…yikes!). Research continues to show links between vitamin D and other conditions such as depression, cardiovascular disease and cancer. As my friend and colleague so clearly stated, “[Vitamin D] is so important to human health that we evolved a way to acquire it through other means than food”. All other essential micro-nutrients, necessary for our survival, can be acquired through the food we eat. Huh! That put it in perspective for me. We are all at risk of vitamin D deficiency…
~SGrass-fed, Pasture-run Animal Products and Paleo Diets.
25 Oct 2011 Leave a Comment
in Fat, Food Tags: beef, grass-fed, omega 3, paleo, paleolithic, pasture-run, primal
Here is a picture from Big Bear Ranch!If we look to our Hunter-Gatherer ancestors our intake of omega-3 fatty acids to omega-6 fatty acids was likely around 1:2. Today, following a conventional, western diet, on average, that ratio looks more like 1:15. Yikes! With a ratio like this we are promoting too much inflammation in the body without enough omega-3 to quite it down. The most common chronic conditions and diseases, like arthritis, cancer, heart disease, and diabetes are inflammatory in nature so to prevent or manage them we need to maintain a healthy omega ratio.
So why are we so far off the ratio of our ancestors? Primarily due to our heavy reliance on conventionally raised animal products and industrial seed oils.
When animal are allowed to graze of grass and other foliage their fat tissue becomes rich in omega-3 fats. When animals are fed a diet high in grains and seeds (like corn) their fat tissue is rich in omega-6 fat. Animals raised on feed lots (conventionally raised animals) are fed mainly, if not exclusively, on grains.
Industrial seed oils include oils made from corn, safflower, soybean, sunflower, cotton seed etc. These oils are rich in omega-6 fatty acids and relatively poor in omega-3. These oils are also cheap and Big Food use them heavily in their food production. You’ll also find that industrial seed oils make up the variety of margarines on the market.
Our food supply is “saturated” with these unsaturated omega-6 fats and thus our ratio of omega 3:6 is hugely out of whack.
This may leave you thinking… OK, I’ll just increase my intake of omega-3 to balance out the intake of omega-6. Well, hold on, that won’t work either.
Yes, you could take supplements or eat pounds of salmon every single day but we actually don’t want a large amount of these omega’s. We need a small amount in the right ratio. An excess amount of omega 3, 6 and 9 will also do harm.
If you want to know the specific amount your should get in a day start by calculating your omega 3 need and calculate your ratio from there. For omega-3′s, a healthy individual needs about 0.1 – 0.25g / 10lbs body weight.
So what should you do? The easiest way to help improve the ratio is to reduce your intake of omega-6 fatty acids.
Here are some quick tips:
- avoid industrial seed oils such as soybean, sunflower, safflower etc.
- enjoy a moderate amount of nuts & seeds (1/4 cup a day max!)
- reduce your intake of conventionally raised animal product
- buy grass-fed, pasture-run animal products (if cost becomes an issue buy a whole animal between family & friends – you’ll save a lot of $$$)
- use grass-fed butter
Don’t have access to grass-fed products?
- buy lean conventionally raised meats (most meat bought at a supermarket will be conventionally raised unless otherwise indicated)
- trim off any visible fat from the lean meat before cooking
- cook with coconut or palm oil (olive oil is OK for pan-frying)
- eat at least 8oz of fatty fish each week
Until next time!
~S
Paleo Diets and Organic Foods
20 Oct 2011 Leave a Comment
in Food Tags: caveman diet, diet, dietitian, dirty dozen, health, nutrition, organic, paleo, paleolithic, pesticides, primal
My post today is inspired by a personal shift in food practices that I’m attempting to do for our family. I must confess I have become a Whole Foods junkie and our family food bill is a tad bit higher than necessary (that might be an understatement 
) I love specialty food stores and I love that I can rely on most of them for not stocking products that are full of preservatives like nitrites and sulphites. These stores also weigh heavily on supporting local food producers and often consider the environmental aspects of food production, stocking foods that have a reduced “footprint“.
I have enjoyed the convenience of buying all our food at one location (besides our meat purchases which we do buy from a family farm up North!), but trying to be less of a spend thrift, I know I can be a lot more kind to our budget by purchasing some groceries at my local fruit and vegetable stand.
In my attempt to change my specialty food store habit, I decided to break down my grocery shopping list to see which items I would continue to buy at an Organic/Specialty food store and which foods I could buy elsewhere. This then led me to my trusty “Dirty Dozen” food list which is a great reference that is compiled by the Environmental Working Group. This list helps you reduce your exposure to pesticides as those listed in the dirty dozen tend to have the highest level of pesticide residue.
Here is a list of items I tend to recommend for those following a Paleo diet and I have split them into two groups. The buy “Organic” and the OK to buy “Non-Organic” groups:
Organic:
- Spinach
- Lettuce
- Chard
- Kale
- Bell peppers
- Celery
- Berries
- Animal products
Non-organic:
- Avocado
- Sweet potatoes
- Squash
- Cucumber
- Tomatoes
- Onions
- Asparagus
- Eggplant
- Cabbage
- Mushrooms
- Coconut products (if you choose canned products make sure the can is BPA Free!)
I hope you’ll find this a useful guide and wish me luck in breaking my habit!
Until next time,
~S
Eat Like A Caveman – Paleo Diets in the News!
16 Oct 2011 Leave a Comment
in Food Tags: caveman, paleo, paleolithic
The Paleo diet makes news in California! Click on the link below to watch:
Danish “Fat Tax”, Saturated Fat & Paleo Diets.
13 Oct 2011 Leave a Comment
in Fat, Food Tags: butter, caveman diet, fat, fat tax, grass-fed, paleo, paleolithic, primal, saturated fat
Oh… le sigh… as I read through my morning email yesterday this little gem came across my page. Denmark rolls out a “fat tax”. Just when I think we are making progress away from the notion that saturated fat is bad, a new twist arrives that threatens it.
Here’s the gist of the Danes new fat tax from CBC’s article: “The Danish government is applying a surcharge to foods with more than 2.3% saturated fats, in a bid to combat obesity and heart disease. The new tax will be levied on food such as butter, milk, cheese, pizza, oils and meat. It means customers will be paying about $3 more per kilogram of saturated fats in a product.” Yikes! For some families an extra $3 per kilo will be significant and will alter their food purchases.
It’s more than unsettling that the Danish government is now taxing natural foods (minus the aforementioned pizza of course). How is it that a food tax meant to combat obesity and heart disease has grazed over the highly processed and sugar laden foods. These unnatural food have “sneaked” under the radar yet again. Come on, really? How about a tax on soda pop and donuts?!
Saturated fat still does not have sufficient evidence to support the theory that it is linked to heart disease, cancer, obesity or other health conditions. It was earlier this year that the Cochrane Collaboration published another Cochrane Review on “Reduced or modified dietary fat for preventing cardiovascular disease” which was an update to their 2001 publication. It was reported that after reviewing 48 intervention trials the evidence does not show that altering dietary fat alters total or specific mortality. They did find a small effect on weight and BMI reduction, but when it comes to diet studies, there are so many compounding factors that it could have been attributed to something else…like calories perhaps.
It’s also sad that the Danish Government has blanketed the tax on all saturated fat when evidence shows that the consumption of fresh, non-oxidized tropical oils like palm and coconut may actually have positive effects on plasma lipid profile (to be clear they have a good effect on our cholesterol levels).
I do applaud the Danish Government for taking a serious stand against obesity and I think it’s pretty amazing that this type of intervention was successfully approved and implemented through government. My personal bias would prefer to see a tax on unnatural foods that come in boxes and plastic containers. In doing so, the hope would be a gentle nudge of encouragement to get individuals back into the kitchen, cooking healthy meals from scratch and to stop trusting that Big Food companies have their nutritional health at heart. That’s ok. I like a challenge and will continue to guide my clients, one by one, back to better health. Be the change you wish to see in the world….with some strong opinions on the side of course
If you are left wondering which fats I generally recommend to clients here is a short and sweet list:
Fats for Dressings
-
olive oil
-
avocado oil
-
macadamia oil
Fat for Cooking
-
coconut oil
-
palm oil
-
grass-fed butter
-
grass-fed animal fats (lard, ghee, suet etc.)
Until next time!
~S
Paleo Diets, Weight Loss and…The Bite Counter?
20 Sep 2011 1 Comment
in Caveman Diet, Paleo Diet, Paleolithic, Primal Diet Tags: health, paleo, paleolithic, primal, weight, weight loss
Can a Bite Counter play a role in a weight loss?That was the question that entered my mind after reading a recently published article. This article highlighted a new product set to hit the shelves within the next year. It is called the Bite Counter and it does just that…count bites!The product itself is a watch and it monitors the number of times you make a wrist movement that is specific to eating, whether using your fingers or a utensil. It’s apparently 90% accurate! Wow, that’s impressive…if you’re interested in the exact number of times you put food of any form in your mouth! [If you chew pencils or inanimate objects you'll have to subtract a few bites from your counter ]
I guess this product would work for those that truly consume excessive volumes of food which would require an excessive number of hand to mouth actions but what about those that eat normal volumes (less bites) of the type of food that contributes to fat mass gain? Their bites per day would appear OK yet their weight may not budge.
Even still, what if you eat eat large volumes of foods that don’t contribute to weight gain? That again sends the wrong message. It all becomes pretty useless in terms of body weight but, hey, very useful if it’s vitally important that you know your exact number of daily bites.
So, could this be a useful tool for helping those trying to shed a few pounds? Well, I’m sure you can guess that in my humble opinion, the short answer is no. At the end of the day, it’s often not the total volume of food you eat, it’s the macro-nutrient composition of your total intake that really affects your weight.
So as not to leave you empty handed from this little blog post, below are some quick reminders of what the macro-nutrient composition should look like.
General Tips for Weight Loss and Weight Maintenance:
- Keep your carbohydrate intake in check – limit your intake of added sugar, candy and sweet drinks and moderate your intake of fruits and starchy vegetables.
- Include liberal amounts of healthy fats, such as olive oil, coconut oil and grass-fed animal fat.
- Include a moderate amount of protein. Choose lean cuts if you eat conventionally raised products or if you have access to grass-fed animal product, the fattier the cuts the better!
- Bites per day: feel free to have as many bites per day, as needed
All the best!
~S
