I agree with the need for some sort of unbiased but brand/manufacturer-oriented guidance.  I guess my question would be, if this content is not based on your specific experience, what criteria would you apply to determine how to assure some level of credibility?  With advertising, the criteria is generally willingness to pay the price of the advertising.  If you want to maintain higher standards than that, won't it require someone with either understanding or technical expertise or direct experience to assess whether the producer is credible and trustworthy?

As it stands, I am looking for someone whose opinion I can trust regarding which supplement suppliers to turn to.  I have been impressed and surprised by the degree of your willingness to tell it the way you see it, including naming names of product manufacturers that you have found to supply products that seem to work for your patient population.  I hope you'll keep that up no matter what.  And I'm interested in how this idea develops.

Thanks for the helpful thoughts.

I wonder if a user comment method would work. In other words, say a product manufacturer makes a claim and sells their product to you (Track Your Plaque would not sell it), there will be comments from people who have tried the product and their supplier before.

Such a system would not be as certain as providing our own stamp of endorsement (which we could still do, of course), but it would encourage an open conversation. Hopefully, any undesirable products would be rapidly identified as such.

My concern is that, with hundreds or thousands of products out there, we end up saying "We've never tried it" all too often.

Dr. Davis for as much time and effort that is put in the TYP program, why not i'am sure the snake oil salesman would not want his product under the gun like people on this progran would do, frank discussions on supplements is not a bad thing as a example i'am the person who asked you about PGX fiber, its called WellBeX and is marketed by Natural Factors, one more example would be i use a insulin mimetic R-alpha lipoic acid with biotin (also a very good antioxidant) i can buy the brand name Insulow or i can use a different brand (Glucophase),for less money that does the same thing, being a type 2 i test all of the time and sometimes go days eating the same thing at the same time i know that i can get between 10 and 12 points with either one.  i know their are a lot of supplements but we only talk about a few, and like i said before why not, my biggest concern on buying supplements are they selling what they say they are selling or is it different item that will not work, or is made up with a different material than is is advertized. why not get some add revenue, their are good products out their, Upsher-Smith Slo Niacin, Endurance's Endur-acin SR both are good nicotinic Acid products, Insulow makes a good product, one more example would be the Vitamin Shoppe sells a  good Vitamin D softgel under their store brand this is a good product, but they also sell under their store brand a no flush Niacin in their heart supplement area , this product is worthless for the TYP program, I would say start with the products, that we know, and expand a little at a time, also how about Direct access testing for blood work, i use Lab Corp to get my NMR lipoprofile i'am sure that their are others full speed ahead, I think increased revenue could have some good outcomes
Eugene

Great thoughts.

I think, if and when we proceed with such a process, that we:

1) Have some sort of checklist for approval of quality, price, availability, purity, etc. and provide our stamp of approval.

2) Convey our comments in addition to info provided by the manufacturer or distributor.

3) Permit all the Track Your Plaque participants to leave their own comments, much like Amazon does with books.

A record holder in plaque reduction has now been acheived.  What brand of supplements was the member using? What brand of fish oil? This is when a recommendation would be welcomed!!

Nothing magical: He used Sam's Club fish oil.

Wonderful!  

Unless they have some particular questions, I suspect that many regular readers of your blog wouldn't need a consultation with you, as they're already pretty well-informed and/or in good health.

However, I can see that someone's less-informed mother, father, friend, or whatnot might benefit hugely from such a consultation.  It might make a great gift for Mother's Day or Father's Day!

you should also give your email ID and some weekly diet plan to be sent through email

The Video Teleconference is not meant to replace the opinion of your doctor, nor diagnose or treat any condition. It is simply meant to provide additional discussion about your health issues that should be discussed further with your healthcare provider. Prescriptions cannot be provided.

I's a good ideea.

I'm rather fond of low-carb whole wheat wraps. They have 8 grams of carbs (of which 4 is fiber). They're made with a combination of whole wheat flour and flax seed. Is that ok, or will it spike my blood sugar?

After many gut episodes, I visited OB, GI, and ER, with ultrasound, colonoscopy, and CT all being normal. I did an elimination diet on my own, and found that wheat/gluten triggered the episodes (the pasta challenge caused the ER trip).

The OB had ordered general bloodwork for my age; my A1C at 6.1 but my fasting blood sugar was less than 100. So he told me to tell my GP so they could follow up. I finally made it in to the GP yesterday (no gluten for 6 weeks, except possible cross-contamination from Quaker Rice Cakes, causing quite a few episodes until I smartened up).

My A1C was 5.7, so I am no longer considered pre-diabetic. I also weigh 20 pounds less. My original lipid tests from the OB were decent, so the GP didn't order more, so I won't know if going off wheat helped my lipids. He ordered celiac bloodwork after looking it up in his lab book, which didn't mention that eating gluten was required, telling me if it was negative we would consider it a false negative, but if it was even a little positive, we'd know for sure.

I still eat potatoes or rice daily, but in lesser amounts than before, mostly eating non-starch vegetables and leaner meats. I was originally concerned about the glycemic load of GF flour substitutes, but it turns out that GF flour substitutes are SO expensive that I only make them occasionally. I am able to go a LOT longer without hypoglycemic symptoms like the shakes, and light-headedness.

S

I am gluten intolerant and have been on a gluten free diet for the past 5 years.  When I went GF my health improved ways too numerous to list here. My shortness of breath disappeared as did the pitting edema in my legs. I also discovered very quickly that I feel my best if I avoid all of the processed GF goodies.

Recently I learned that rice, potatoes and other starchy foods cause my blood glucose to jump to 200. With the use of a glucometer and the help of Blood Sugar 101, I have been able to keep my blood sugar under 120 most of the time and my last A1C was 5.5 Easy? No. But my CRP is the lowest it has ever been and my lipids are looking better.

I tell people that a gluten free lifestyle can be as healthy or as unhealthy as one wants to make it. I try to choose healthy.

A good read is THE GI REVOLUTION.


chick

The "gluten-free" label is just as indicative of health benefits as "low-carb", "low-fat", "whole grains", "heart healthy" and all the other food labels.

These labels are all about conning people into believing processed foods are healthy.

Foods that are *truly* healthy have no labels, e.g., a cucumber.

I recently eliminated most wheat from my diet in favor of rice based breads and bpastas and felt much better in the GI department.  However, last week I thought I'd branch out to the gluten-free stuff and bought a pack of gluten-free biscuits to go with dinner . . .I've never felt so sick.  Seems wheat anything, gluten or not does me in.
Oh well, back to quioa and rice again.

I am allergic to wheat, not gluten. So much of what is written or marketed is related to gluten and I find that frustrating. Anyway, prior to eliminating wheat from my diet I was concerned about eating healthy and using whole grains, unprocessed foods, etc. I am not interested in finding substitutes for foods I have eliminated that had wheat in them (pizza, cookies, pasta, etc.) but in doing what I can to be healthy. As I read the labels on many of the gluten or wheat-free products, or look at the recipes for such food I get concerned that the 'cure' is worse than the disease. It's confusing and frustrating. If you or anyone can point me to clear, HEALTHY, recipes, information, and products for wheat-free, not gluten-free, living, I would be most grateful.

I turned to low carb some yeas ago and it solved or helped a lot of my health problems. The problem now is trying to get foods that are low carb - we do eat meat and veg, and a cooked breakfast, but it seems like the supermarkets and almost every other food store have totally sold out to the low-fat/high-sugar/high-salt agenda that is killing us. Things that used to be normal in fats are now "lite", meat is so lean that it's like chewing cardboard, you can't get meat with the fat left on, and where once there was a tiny selection of low-carb products, they were removed and it's all "gluten-free" now; the thing I most object to is placing a whole rack of Slimfast sugarwater "slimming" products in the pharmacy aisle next to the vitamins, as if it's a good natural product! We used to buy Jersey or Guernsey milk but guess what "we don't sell that any more madam"...It's getting so very hard to stay on track!

Remove wheat from your diet, but discover the world of gluten-free products made for people with celiac disease, or gluten enteropathy, and you can regain the weight and recreate many of the phenomena associated with wheat. I've talked about this in past, but it trips up so many people that it's worth talking about again.

I didn't know that there many advantages if we remove wheat from our diet..Thanks for the nutrition facts.