23andme gets restrained while others run amok

By now almost everyone in the Paleosphere has heard that the FDA has "censured" 23andme, that organization that provides provided genetic testing along with analyses of risk of certain diseases.  (see this.)

So here's the recap:  The FDA doesn't like that 23andme is providing data that in their minds at least, could be used to treat, diagnose yada yada yada.... some disease.  See, the FDA wants jursidiction over all these activities, supposedly so they can assure the effectiveness of such treatments, preventatives, etc.

But OOPS!  It looks like some other "medical devices" circulating over the internet have been allowed to roam free WITHOUT government censure or comment, even though their treatments and recommendations seem to also fall within the confines of section 201(h) of the FD&C guidelines.

But there is a difference  between the two "devices".  23andme data used to come with recommendations to "take a look at", "consider", that sort of thing.  The other "medical device" comes with stronger exhortative statements.  Check out this link to what is known as the "statin calculator".  Note that this document and attending excel spreadsheet are supplied with the intent to estimate disease risk and to recommend treatment.

Interestingly, the guidelines admit that the calculator has flaws, but that the flaws are minor enough to initiate "lifestyle coaching".  I don't know exactly what that entails, but really, I haven't heard too many stories on the internet about doctors firing their patients who chose to ignore their 23andme results.  (OK, maybe Jack Kruse.)   But, I have heard stories of patients who were fired by their doctors when they chose to ignore their cholesterol or age panel and refused statin treatment after having that Very Important Discussion.

I actually did try out the online calculator (see the link above) and discovered that despite my stellar risk factors, by the time I am in my 70's or so, I would have to either be on statins or out of compliance with my medical professional's recommendations.  Just because I would be old and still alive.  For shame!

(Now gotta admit here that my PC physician isn't a big fan of statins.  He was even a heart specialist in the mother country.  He's not a fan of lots of drugs.  With that in mind though, he finally did prescribe a statin to a buddy of mine, and several months later my buddy got cataracts so bad he couldn't drive.  After two cataract surgeries he still dropped dead of a massive heart attack from his low fat diet.)

Since the recommendations and new calculator came out 3 months ago, there have been so many complaints that it was hard for me to find the link to the calculator.  Perhaps others have been cajoled or shamed into removing their links.  I tried to find a link to the software validation study that they submitted, but no luck.  I did scroll through all the FDA warning letters since the 23andme letter was released, and I could not find a letter addressed to the American College of Cardiology and/or the American Heart Association addressing the deficiencies of their medical device.  (Hmmm, looks like DNA genetek was busted, too.)

OK, now where was I?  Oh yea, the medical device.  In the industry, we have special technical names for such software.  POS, hokkered, bone-headed, lol-what-were-they-thinking,....POS, more lols for everybody.  The use of an Excel spreadsheet for a medical device is absolutely lol.

For Shame

Today, another first!  When I got onto a yahoo page, I saw that "low carb diets" were trending.  Curious, I clicked on the link to see what Yahoo would give me.

Well, I'll have ta say, I guess they really ARE a bunch of yahoos!  Wedged between two versions of the now-famous twin-doctor-brothers-eating-really-bad-diets (bro-science at its best?) story was a link to "Grain News".

Did you know that the newest low carb news is that diets are fads?  Yep, read it on the internet.  I wonder how much Grainnet has been paying for all this bread placement.  A quick look at what yahoo thinks are the top links were decidedly hostile to low carb, including the famous WebMD article that has been making the rounds in the lowcarb-o-sphere recently.

If you haven't yet seen it, here is the laughable post on WebMD.  It is so bad, it is even funny.  Now don't go and close that link yet, because there will be a quiz later.

Careful readers might remember that WebMD was investigated for it's chummie ties to the pharma industry, especially with its treatment of depression in their posts, and the tie-ins with a major sponsor.  (Read about it here!)   Looks like WebMD is still at it.

I don't know about you, but when I went on to the WebMD link, Belviq ads were all over the place.  On the right side, down on the left, with all sorts of helpful links to convince people to take the weight loss drug if for some reason that low carb fad diet thing isn't working.

Page 2 offered up a huge ad for Tradjenta, a drug that will help people reduce HbA1c if for some reason that low carb fad diet thing isn't working.

Now I am sure these are perfectly fine drugs, with wonderful clinical trials blah blah blah.  One way to increase sales is to get some pseudo-scientific site spoon out lots of mis-information about some fad diet that will probably induce weight loss and/or reduction in HbA1c, enough mis-information so most folks won't even try the fad diet.

For shame! 

OK, so here's the quiz.

1.  What are the effects of a low carb diet?
a.  weight loss
b.  reduction in HbA1c
c.  better mood
d.  less allergies
e.  all of the above

2.  What are the negative side effects of a low carb diet?
a.  bad breath
b.  constipation
c.  vegans won't eat lunch with you
d.  your kidney's will explode
e.  we do not know.  The diet hasn't been adequately studied by Harvard.

3.  What are the side effects of taking the drug Belviq?
a.  bradycardia
b.  painful erections lasting for more than 4 hours
c.  depression or thoughts of suicide
d.  valvular heart disease
e.  all of the above

4.  What are the side effects of Tradjenta?
a.  pancreatitis
b.  sore throat
c.  weight GAIN
d.  muscle or joint pain
e.  all of the above

Interrupting Our Regular Program

Wow!  Where have I been?  How is the Paleo on 100 a month challenge going?

I didn't even last three days this time.  That nasty stomach flu came to our household, so I was playing nursemaid and top chef for others.  There was too much food that wasn't being eaten by others not on the challenge.  There was too much new food being purchased because said patients wouldn't eat this.  Or that.  Or that other thing.  And then throw it all up anyway.

The other really weird and sort of funny thing is when the advice nurse told us what foods to eat.  She mentioned soup and rice and Gatorade and we just laughed.  I don't have soup or rice or Gatorade.  She continues, "That's OK, just eat crackers," and despite being very sick, we got lots of laughs from that suggestion, too.

I didn't have any time to shop or cook for myself either.  I did purchase some liver for the second day, but didn't get around to cooking it until later.  I had to actually run to several stores to get the required food, and then was so overwhelmed by everything that I forgot to get the Emergen-C's and had to go back again.  It was very difficult finding a canned soup without either wheat or milk.

Anyway, with all this going on, I just didn't have the energy or will to continue the challenge.  And, I felt guilty for maybe giving my family food poisoning.  Wait!  I was the one eating all the weird stuff, and I was just fine.  Anyway, I threw out all the soup, cleaned out the fridge, cleaned off the counters dozens of times, racked my brains regarding what we ate and did not eat together.  Then I remembered that everyone else was getting the flu this winter.  Still, we threw away the carrots because that was the only thing we could think of that could have been contaminated and not properly cooked.

After a few batches of white rice, I eventually settled upon gluten-free waffles made with real butter as the go-to carb.  (No stick-um.)  I know, not Paleo.  Who cares.  Just getting some perspective.

My fridge is pristine and empty.  There is some bacon, neatly sealed off from anything it may contaminate.  There is a bag of shredded cheese, a tightly-wrapped chicken carcass, and a box of tangerines from a friend's tree.  A container of sour cream, a pack of butter, a carton of cream and a carton of eggs.  I have become one of THOSE people.  People who have no food.  The cabinets are full of various kinds of canned fish, nuts, spices, vitamins and teas.  There is still a small container of Trader Joe's gluten-free mix.

Paleo on 100 dollars a month 2014 - Day 1

I am ringing in the New Year either rising to new heights or sinking to new lows.  Yay!  Gotta love the outliers!

We celebrated New Year's Eve with good friends, with good wine and two very meaty pork ribs from the grill.  After gnawing on all the bones, holding them with our greasy fingers and feeling quite primal about it, I proposed we save all the bones "for my garden".

And I am looking at the bag of bones on day 1 of this challenge, thinking, thinking.....  Naw, I couldn't EAT them, the scrapings off people's plates?  Then I remembered that I would be simmering them for hours, killing off any evil microbes that any of my friends harbor.  Then I remembered that we were eating off the bones of dead animals, and somehow, after the harrowing night at the grill, we came out better than OK.  And I also remembered that I and my friends had sips of wine out of each others glasses, either because of a mistake, or just to taste the latest offering.  And I woke up ready for the Rose parade NOT DEAD, so maybe it wasn't so bad.

By noon, I was hungry, so the bones ended up in the soup pot with a few veggies from my garden.  I tasted it.  Other than a lack of seasoning, the broth did not kill me.

While waiting for the bone broth to finish, I went to the grocery store and found pork chops on sale for $2.66, and an avocado for 34 cents.  The purchases totalled 3 dollars, leaving me with 22 cents extra.  Yay!  Splurge time.  Maybe I can afford a brazil nut tomorrow.  The grocery store free coffee was nice.

This year I am not keeping track of trading partners, but after only the first day, I had food from about a dozen partners.  I still have the staples from last year, including salt, pepper, hot sauce and a number of different kinds of vinegar.  I cooked the pork chops in salt, pepper and vinegar, and made soup with the pan drippings, including leeks, celery, mustard greens and squash.

Today's menu:

Breakfast:  Coffee with cream, pan drippings, arugala, all from my traders
Lunch:  arugala, strawberry, mandarin orange, sapote, chicken soup with spinach, coffee, lemon balm tea, hemp protein powder
Dinner:  broth, pork chop, hot sauce, salt and pepper, avocado, couple of bites of pastry, trail mix, a kiwi
snack:  apple

A New Year and a New Challenge

It's time for a new "Paleo on 100 dollars a Month" challenge!!!!!

Was it supposed to be April this year?  I keep moving it to see how the challenge changes with the seasons.  On first thought, you might think that January would be the hardest month.  Them Paleo's say that we need to eat whale blubber in the winter because our ancestors couldn't get fresh food.  Well, everyone around here knows them Paleo's are stupid, right?, and that there is plenty of fresh fruit coming in at this time of year, and the greens have never been better.  In fact, today's menu includes my own fresh home-grown tomatoes and strawberries.

Of course, this is with a modern twist, 'cause unlike Grok, who didn't have no stinkin' freezer, I do.  And it would have been too hard for Grok to keep the wooly mammoths out of his stash of fall berries that he hung from a tree branch right outside cave, but apparently, once some food goes into my freezer, it rarely gets stolen.  That's the modern twist.  Outrageous abundance, or waste for some, and always new food coming in so you don't even really have an opportunity to use left-overs unless you work at it.

Originally I was just trying to free up some freezer space right before the holiday rush, but the food kept coming in.  Our "cave" is a mecca for heat-seeking friends and family in the winter.  They visit, take us out to eat, buy stuff like liquor, books, small appliances, medicines and extra clothing, and then can't fit it in the luggage, so we end up with more stuff than ever.  I thought, "I can't possibly eat down the fridge by the next challenge!"

Sooo, this early challenge is just really a way to incentivize cleaning out my freezer.  This challenge will be harder than last year's, mainly because the prices of meat and dairy have risen, and I don't usually get all that stuff for free.  The biggest challenge for me will be to eat healthy instead of just to eat for cheap or free.  There really is plenty of free bad food.  I don't want to eat so much of it this time.

Yes, there is some stuff I actually paid for in the freezer.  Staples like ice cream and liver, and probably a pound of grass-fed butter somewhere way in the bottom. (Just joking on the staples-thing there.  I know many reading this here blog don't "do" ice cream anymore.)  There are a few ice packs, and a tray of ice cubes for eating, but the rest is free stuff from people's gardens, bits of this and that, and a gaggle of plastic bags stuffed with various kinds of rendered animal fat.

Happy New Year, and wish me luck!

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.

Start Etching the Tombstone

Yep.  The results are in.  You-all regulars readers of this here blog probably remember what my doc said awhile back.  Hey, low carb is OK for weight loss, but after two years I'll start getting the risk factors for heart disease.

Of course, we all know a risk factor isn't a risk, and a risk factor isn't even a disease.  But I don't even have risk factors!   After 3 years of low (or lowish, some days) carb, my doc might be surprised that I am not coming into the office for chest pains.  Here's what a few blood tests are currently showing.

Total cholesterol 174
Triglycerides  70
HDL  69
LDL calculated  91
Cholesterol/HDL ratio  2.5
Cholesterol, non-HDL  105

My total cholesterol continues to go down from its peak at the start of my low-carb journey.

My triglycerides were higher than the last time, but still less than half what they were 25 years ago when I was eating a "clean" heathywholegrains vegetarian diet and running 35 miles a week.

My HDL went down slightly from the peak in 2012, but it is still about double what I had measured 25 years ago.

My LDL calculation continues to decrease from the recent peak in 2009.  (I don't remember what it was 25 years ago, but it was probably low since my total cholesterol was in the 130's.)

My Chol/HDL ratio is a "healthy" 2.5.  My more meaningful Trig/HDL ratio is one.  (Twenty-five years ago, this ratio was around 5!)

The non-HDL cholesterol reading is new, so I have nothing to compare.  Who knows if that is a good number or not.

This morning I enjoyed a tiny amount of sweet potato strips cooked with undrained bacon and greens.  Then I had a couple of eggs cooked in butter.  I washed all that down with a mug of joe and real full-fat cream.  For lunch, I enjoyed salmon with mayonnaise and basil, pork rinds with sour cream (don't worry, doc, it was low-fat sour cream I bought by mistake), a tiny fig and a full-cream iced coffee.  Arterycloggingfersure.  The numbers tell all.