Sunday, December 15, 2013

I'll have a couple of Twins, oh, and a side of Diabetes

Dr. Perlutter created a mini-firestorm when, right before his book launch, he stated that Alzheimer's disease is a choice.

So, he's the guy who wrote Grain Brain, and is running all over the place with his interviews and videos.  I guess the book is doing well, though I haven't read it yet.

By now, most readers of this here blog have heard of Alzheimer's disease characterized as "type 3 diabetes".  Perlmutter would have you believing that if you eat bread, you are choosing to raise your blood sugar, and that raise will cause diabetes, and also the 3rd kind.

Trouble is, though we have a few ideas as to what can minimize the effects or symptoms of types 1 and 2 diabetes, and now Perlmutter says also type 3, we really don't know what causes diabetes.  So, how can it really be a choice?

I know several women who ate "healthy" diets before and through pregnancy and then, BAM!, gestational diabetes.  Yep, they chose that.  Right back when Eve ate the apple.  Women have been paying for that with gestional diabetes ever since.  These women chose to be mothers, not choosing diabetes or Alzheimers.  Sorry Dr. Perlmutter.

I did try an experiment or two with progesterone cream.  The really weird thing about the cream is that after a dab or two, I had a seemingly normal response to carbs.  I could handle exercise without exhaustion.  I could handle heat without wilting.  I slept!!!  When I ate carbs, I acted like a normal person.  Like, I ate them, and then I got full and I didn't want to eat anymore.  (I know, in what universe has THAT happened before???)  It even reminded me during my early 40's when things were starting to get out of whack for me hormonally.  I would go pretty crazy during the high-progesterone days, until I realized that I had boundless energy and capacity for exercise.  I crammed lots of exercise in during those days, and got fast times, long endurance, and felt better.  I had a good weight and good glucose control, too.

And I thought, "Hey, this Woo-person is soooo wrong!"  A couple of weeks on higher levels of progesterone and I thought to myself, hey not so fast!  I had settled into eating more carbs regularly, and soon had weight gain, zits and more skin tags.  Now I am even more careful with progesterone.  If I am eating more carbs than usual, or even planning to, I stay off the cream.

Here's an interesting paper.   Perhaps there is another use for the morning after pill?

I was waiting for Perlmutter to clarify his incendiary statement, but he never did.   Perhaps after a pregnancy or when he finishes menopause, he will reconsider.