Shi No Ubi Update

My friend Shi No Ubi, whom we met here, sent the following:

Please feel free to use this info as you see fit.  You know most of the background.  I was taking a statin, a med for Triglyerides, two BP meds, Celebrx, and a couple other things. Keep that in mind when looking at the 2010 numbers.

From July, 2010 to March 2011 -

Glucose was 166, now 109 (it was 108 in 2004)

Triglycerides were 331, now 83

Cholesterol was 189 on statins, now 232

Thx again

What do these numbers mean?  Well, even with a tremendous drop in fasting glucose from 166 to 109 his system is still recovering in its ability to handle glucose metabolism.  Add the lower glucose number to an over 50 pound weight loss, and SNU's obviously moving in the right direction.  Some folks would be concerned about a 232 total cholesterol, but readers of this blog will recognize that a 232, with his low TG level (83!  Awesome), means that his cholesterol is likely to show a high HDL (over 50), and will reflect a very low number of the dangerous, small, dense, LDL.  In short, SNU has a non-atherogenic fasting lipids profile.  Dropping the triglycerides from over 300 to under 100 is a dramatic marker of the change in his health! 

I'll ask him to write about what the change in his diet has changed in other areas of his life at some point.  It's great to know you can slow down the aging process, and it's great to feel like you can expect more years of living vice just being alive, but more import is - what's the impact on each day?  Living forever is great but some of us won't get to do that.  Is it better to wake each day healthy and lean, or would it be better to "live like there's no tomorrow?"  Can we do both?  Obviously, I think you get more out of today if you eat yourself healthy, but I'll ask SNU to describe that experience for himself. 

By the way, Gary Taubes recently posted his fasting lipids profile on his web site, after refusing to let Dr. Oz test him during the filming of the show in which Oz hosted Gary.  Check the link, you'll see SNU's numbers compare favorably to Gary's. 

I couldn't be happier for my friend.  It's extremely gratifying that SNU "took the money and ran."  I look forward to a visit this summer, if not sooner.

Heartscan On Diabetes Cure

Among the more important recent clinical studies is a small experience from Duke University's Dr. Eric Westman. In this study, obese type 2 diabetics reduced carbohydrate intake to 20 grams per day or less: no wheat, oats, cornstarch, or sugars. Participants ate nuts, cheese, meats, eggs, and non-starchy vegetables. 

After 6 months, average weight loss was 24.4 lbs, BMI was reduced from 37.8 to 34.4. At the end of the study, 95% of participants on this severe carbohydrate restriction reduced or eliminated their diabetes medications.

That was only after 6 months. Heartscan on Westman Diet


This is a small study, but a good one - an intervention study, sometimes called a clinical trial.  Replication on a larger scale is expensive, but there are a number of small ones with similar results.  More importantly, you can test this approach on yourself, as Shi No Ubi did.  At latest report, my friend is down more than 50 pounds and totally off of blood pressure, diabetes, and gout medications - not to mention, he's feeling a hell of a lot better.

Heartscan Testimonial

http://heartscanblog.blogspot.com/2011/01/high-blood-pressure-vanquished.html
Great story from a guy who went from hopeless to healing - reminsicent of Shi No Ubi!
http://fireofthegodsfitness.blogspot.com/2010/08/feedback-from-shi-no-ubi.html

Notes to Shi No Ubi, WOW!

I spoke to my friend, Shi No Ubi, the other day.  His voice sounds totally different.  He's lost 44 pounds now, and will soon pass 200 pounds of body weight.  Do you think that might feel good?  Most importantly, he did it not by starving himself but by eating good food.  He has not been hungry and he has not deprived himself.  On the contrary, he's putting good, nourishing food into his body.  Blood pressure meds and statins are going or gone with all the un-needed body weight.
Being lean and eating well is not about deprivation so you can die having missed out on life - it's about fueling your body for a good life, well lived, and one in which you make a positive impact on those around you through your abundance health, vigorous energy and pleasure in living.  It's not about missing out on what's good, it's about enjoying what really matters so much the sugary distractions are not needed.  Sure, it's easier said than done but it can be done.

Notes to Shi No Ubi, Scored 100

My friend Shi No Ubi texted me a photo of his glucose monitor - and his fasting glucose that morning was 100, a goal he set in consultation with his doctor.  This means he's retrained his metabolism to run on fat, by providing less sugar in the form of food.  Over time, he built the necessary stores of enzymes to run on a fat based metabolism, while allowing his liver to provide needed glucose via gluconeogensis.  The beauty of this system is that the liver will produce only the glucose that is needed.  Most of us down so much sugar (either as sucrose, high fructose corn syrup, or high density carbohydrates like wheat) that our bodies become pre-occupied with preventing glucose catastrophe.  We run on glucose continually (almost as a defense mechanism), and lose the ability to oxidize significant quantities of fat. 
Fructose adds to the problem by taxing the liver in a way that increases insulin resistance, and by decreasing leptin sensitivity, which further disrupts appetite and insulin function.  This shows up as metabolic risk and/or injury in many ways - high triglycerides, low HDL, high fasting glucose readings, and a high A1C (a measure of how glycated one's hemoglobin is).  The A1c is becoming the go-to number for evaluating metabolic disorder. 
I hope when my friend returns to the doctor for a fasting lipid profile, his A1c will reflect that his blood sugars are under control, not just in the morning but all day, every day.  In the mean time, his martial arts friends are kidding him about how much weight he's lost!

Feedback From Shi No Ubi

My friend Shi No Ubi (nicknamed 'finger of death' by an exchange student who feared his pressure point prowess) has been eating according to the FOTG plan this month (he'd already lost ten pounds counting calories, which probably helped him get started - caloric restriction works well for a short time, after which, unless adequate protein is ingested, weight loss slows and negative side effects kick in).  He reports his total weight loss now is over 20 pounds,  and he reports he's "not hungry, energy getting better, I'm waking up earlier, knees feel better."  In other words, these are markers that all indicate that insulin, and therefore inflammation, is getting under control.  As part of that process, Shi No Ubi is checking his blood sugar every AM.  As he noted, "I can tell when something I eat in the evening should come off of the 'food' list because my blood sugar will be high the next morning."  His glucose is averaging 111, and his goal is to get it below 100.  This is of course the big number, more important by far than fat loss.  If your glucose numbers are bad, the impact is systemic.  That they are now getting under control is a good sign, another marker that he's on the trail towards restored health.
Today, Shi No Ubi reported the passage of another milestone - his blood pressure was 96/56, pulse, 60 beats per minute.  These are low numbers and indicate that he can talk to his doctor about a reduction/elimination of blood pressure medication. 
In short, Shi No Ubi presents the 'picture' that anyone would hope for when moving from pre-diabetic/metabolic syndrome/metabolic derrangement towards health.  By restricting the quantity and quality of carbohydrate intake to levels the human body was built to work with, the body is no longer in 'emergency mode' to manage blood glucose levels.  "Emergency mode" means insulin resistance, low energy levels, high inflammation levels, high blood pressure, low HDL, a large amount of small dense LDL, high triglycerides, high A1c, and high abdominal fat - the body is in a near panic managing excessive doses of carbs, and does its best to clean house by storing the sugar as fat around the abdomen.  Through his thoughtful changes in diet, and with no change in exercise, Shi No Ubi has arrested metabolic syndrome, and like clockwork, all the markers are turning positive - lowering BP (and a pending reduction in BP meds), no hunger, better energy, decreasing pain levels, and decreasing abdominal fat. 
Still in the future - elimination of statins as his blood sugar further regulates and all his fasting lipid panel numbers improve (getting off of statins reduces any number of statin related risks).  Still in the future - a comfortable body weight and further reductions in inflammation levels.  Still in the future - another leap in sleep quality.  Still in the future - confidence that his health is under his own control.  Still in the future - 10-20 additional years of good quality living. 
I couldn't be happier for my friend!  I'm looking forward to another visit next month - more cigars, more shooting, more martial arts training, more of the good life!

Dr. Davis Writes to Shi No Ubi

http://www.heartscanblog.blogspot.com/

"Consume wheat products, like poppyseed muffins, raisin bagels, and whole grain bread, and you trigger the 90- to 120-minute glucose-insulin cycle.
Blood glucose goes way up (more than almost any other known food), triggering insulin release from the pancreas. Glucose enters cells as a result, blood glucose plummets. You get hungry, shaky, and crabby, reach for another wheat or other sugar-generating food to start the roller coaster ride all over again.
Repetitive insulin triggering grows this thing I call a "wheat belly," the protuberant, hang-over-the-belt fat you see everywhere nowadays. Wheat belly fat is really visceral fat. Visceral fat means you have fat kidneys, fat intestines, fat pancreas, and fat liver, all causing the belly to protrude in the familiar way we've all come to recognize.
Visceral fat is special fat. Unlike the fat in the backside, thighs, or arms, visceral fat triggers inflammatory responses that are evident in such measures as tumor necrosis factor, interleukins, and leptin, as well as drops in the protective hormone, adiponectin.
Visceral fat also, oddly, triggers estrogen release. Estrogen triggers growth of breast tissue. That's why females with wheat bellies have up to four-fold (400%) greater likelihood of breast cancer."

In short, instead of following the ADA diet, at least skip the wheat and sugar products. Then ensure you build all meals around a healthy portion of protein - at least 20 grams (30 would be better). Add additional fat to support your activity level (macadamias, walnuts, pastured butter, coconut oil) and desired leanness, and round out the meal with veggies as desired."

Notes to Shi No Ubi, Measure

One of the best things about being alive now is that knowledge becomes more decentralized today.  We can find out that glucose management is critical for health, and we can get technology that will help us manage our glucose levels very easily.  That means we can avoid absurd claims like "complex carbohydrates do not raise blood sugar levels as rapidly as simple carbohydrates."  We don't have to "pay attention to the experts."  We cat eat something, and measure the impact.  If we eat something and our blood sugar skyrockets we know one of two things - we ate something we'll have to avoid if we wish to live well, or we ate too much of something we might otherwise be able to eat (if we eat a small enough portion).

Dr. Davis makes great use of this tool to debunk two of the most persistent absurdities about food - that whole wheat is good for you and that oatmeal is good for you.
Oatmeal: Good or bad?
What increases blood sugar more than wheat?

This is what I consider to be the emerging template of how to chase health - don't speculate, don't take the advice of the experts, don't take a leap of faith; eat and measure.  Test yourself.  The science of diet will take a long time to mature.  Even testing yourself is imperfect because - as with LDL - we may still be chasing bogey man numbers.  This is the only sane way to proceed, though, so eat and test all those numbers that correlate with better health - abdominal circumference, triglycerides, HDL, blood pressure, and perhaps most important, A1C (a measure of how much sugar is sticking to your red blood cells, and therefore a running tally of your glycemic control).

My friend Shi No Ubi bought one of the glucose measuring units immediately after choosing to tackle his metabolic derangement.  It's nothing less the empowerment to be able to pick a food, eat it, and measure the impact - blood sugar over 110?  Or, blood sugar still rising three to four hours after a meal?  Well, "that's a clue."