Looks like a wonderful petition to sign.  I didn't have anything to add, but placed my name onto it.

I signed and commented. Thanks for letting us know about it.

I usually try to avoid taking a drug that hasn't been on the market for 5 years. One exception was when my knee doctor HIGHLY recommended Celebrex. It worked great at first, but the effectiveness wore off after a while, so I stopped taking it, and just took iced my knee when it swelled, and took ibuprofen if the ice wasn't enough. I also discovered later that biking brought down the swelling.

Looking back on that, although I'm glad he gave me Celebrex instead of Vioxx (shudders), I'm glad I only took the Celebrex for a little while. Even though their commercial brag that they're the only prescription anti-inflammatory that hasn't been taken off the market, I recall reading about some severe side-effects I'd rather not have.

If there's a natural way to decrease any ailment, I'd much rather try that, instead of taking a new drug, as long as there's studies that back up the natural treatment/diet. That's why I'm so grateful for your blog, and others like it from licensed health professionals; you and the others provide balance between the old school AMA way, and the 'alternative' methods that sometimes are a bit out there.

It's all about supply and demand really. Make people believe they need it and they will want it. Marketing trumps truth a lot fortunately.

But then there's those of us who realise that if a company's trying too hard to push something, they're trying to sell us off yogurt with a fragrance in it.

Most Americans are not "highly-educated, curious, think-for-yourself, health information-seeking sorts of people," and many of them prefer taking a pill to control a health condition rather than changing what they eat and how they live, so the drug ads probably are influential. I also suspect that the bombardment of all those ads makes people more likely to worry about having or someday getting the diseases the drugs supposedly help with, and instilling the belief that prescription drugs are the best or even the only way to alleviate or cure the condition. "Don't worry, American public, if you get sick, we've got a pill to make you all better."

I probably would have answered "more likely" 6 years ago before I got on the internet and met some very smart people. It was with their help I discovered that lifestyle changes, not more prescription medication, would do more to optimize my health. This is an ongoing journey. I am still learning.

Sadly, I have found most people I meet are more interested in the newest drug for their symptoms than in changing lifestyle.

Adding fat to potato starch will significantly decrease its GI, will it not?

I think a much healthier alternative would be yams/sweet potatoes fried in coconut oil/butter/ghee (less prone to oxidation) and consumed with protein and fat (say, a steak).  That should give you far more nutrients, much lower blood sugar spike, and avoid the oxidation problems of frying in PUFA.

Are the dietary AGEs from frying really the concern, or is it all the carbs from the potato starch causing in vivo glycation that we should really be worrying about and avoided? You would have to have a seriously leaky gut for an undigested AGE from frying to get absorbed in the small intestine.

I keep as low processed carb as possible, but my one vice is french fries.
Why did you have to guilt me into removing my favorite food?

I can't imagine eating boiled T-bones. What's left after frying and roasting?

The AHA has a page  with heavy duty oils used in restaurants. Many of them have TBHQ and/or dimethylpolysiloxane. TBHQ is used to keep the oil from becoming rancid and the dimethylpolysiloxane is an antifoaming agent. I can't imagine that either is good for us.

Dr Davis, without sugars, there is no glycation, thus there is no advanced glycation end products either.

Fried bacon for example would not contain AGEs because it would not contain sugars to begin with. This seems to indicate that the real culprit is the sugars, not the frying. But then, if we fry bacon in vegetables oils, then forget about the sugars or the frying, it's the oil. Also consider that ketosis stimulates chaperon mediated autophagy:
http://www.proteinpower.com/drmike/ketones-and-ketosis/ketosis-cleans-our-cells/

Basically, if your diet induces ketosis, you got nothing to worry about. First because such a diet contains little to no sugars. And second, whatever AGEs are there are taken care of promptly enough. HbA1c comes to mind.

1. Peel the skin off the potato.
2. Throw away the inside of the potato.
3. Bake the skin.
4. Eat and enjoy the skin. It's loaded with fiber.

And ... dear doctor, don't forget to mention that potatoes are nightshades. They contain lectins and glycoalkaloids. These cause a leaky gut and autoimmune diseases http://bit.ly/a9Gvjk

French fries used to be fried in beef tallow before the CSPI stepped in. Proper french fries are made from fresh potatoes and fried twice. The "french fries" served in most restaurants are just frankenfood - precooked, preGodknowsWhat. The French still know how to prepare them properly...And by the way, isn't there the thing called "the French paradox"? Seems that they manage to stay leaner and healthier in spite of the consumption of "pommes frites". They DO, however, still eat real food - and this maybe one of the major aspects of good health.

French fries are partly pre-cooked in factories that use fats heated for days on end. The cheaper brands go thru the darker more heat damaged oils later in the cycle, The oils I've seen used are AV oil (animal fat with hydrogenated fats) and palm oil.
These days it is likely soy oil.

And for someone else on the topic of bacon it should be noted most bacon has added sugars. So it will be an AGE source
to some extent.

Fried bacon is a different beast. My butcher makes it from fresh meat and the sugar in it comes probably from the milk he dips the bacon in before he fries it. And the absolute quantity of this sugar would be insignificant in terms of preventing ketosis which would allow ketosis to take place along with its CMA.

Even if there was a lot of AGEs in the food, I doubt that it would have any significant effect. Instead, I believe that it's the AGEs that are formed inside the body as a result of hyperglycemia that is most harmful. Again, HbA1c comes to mind.

The moral of the story, don't use refined oils. Use the most naturally saturated oils as you can find, like Coconut oil or Ghee/Tallow. Then fry away, not too frequently.

Regarding AGEs, I don't think they matter too much from the food source, as they will first get digested.

Also humans have been cooking meat and Tubers (some form of potatoes) for ages, possibly more than a million years ago. So heating the oils should not be considered bad.

Why do we like the fried crispy potatoes or bacon more than the raw one? Has it got something to do with our evolution.

Fries?  Meh, small potatoes.

I nominate the donut:  white flour and white sugar deep fried in hot vegetable oil.

There's your poster boy of dietary badness.

Dang, no GMO corn in them there fries!  Oh well.

"I can't imagine eating boiled T-bones. What's left after frying and roasting?"

Try putting in well covered baking dish and cook at very low temp, maybe 225 or 250, for longer time depending on thickness of the meat. Maybe toss in some mushrooms and onions and a wee bit of red wine or even water. It will come out super tender and juicy.

"I can't imagine eating boiled T-bones. What's left after frying and roasting?"

Use a slow cooker.

I would like to announce that I am a recovering vegetarian. Started by reducing wheat. Have not had Fries for the longest time because of the unsaturated veg/canola oil.

Need to loose some weight so will try Atkins' methods but I am gonna miss beans and beer :-(

i use virgin coconut oil for some homemade french fries. is that bad too?

"I am gonna miss beans and beer"

I'm sure your friends won't

I love (hate) how a hamburger plate with a bun and a Mountain of fries,  gives the three to four ounces of ground beef (and maybe not the best grade of beef but still..) a bad reputation as the cause of all things evil in our diet.  Wake the F up people.

Not to change the subject but a couple of people mentioned coconut oil. I have read Barry Sears insisting that coconut oil promotes inflammation.
He also says it raises LDL.  This seems contrary to anything else I've read.

tommy i think barry is misled

Good article! Thank you so much for sharing this post.Your views truly open my mind.

Martin--

You may be confusing endogenous AGEs with exogenous AGEs.

Endogenous AGEs are formed via glucose-mediated glycation. Exogenous AGEs are formed via a long list of reactions that involve carbohydrates, fats, and proteins. Exogenous AGEs are not indicated by HbA1c.

Darwin's docter, you might want to do a tad of research on potato skins before suggesting people eat them.  Most of the poisons in a tater are in the skin, including potent goitrogens.  Eating the peel is probably not a good idea.

Keenan,

Very interesting factoids for sure!
Let me pose this question to you.
If you could eat a few french fries once in a while, would it be enough to satisfy that fried food craving?  Well, the real answer here might be discipline and moderation.  We, unfortunately, will someday die of something.  If you are afraid of eating french fries or any other fatty bad food every once in a while there is a problem or fear that you will be missing something on this less than perfect earth.  Eat the fries,
enjoy the fries, and do the best you can within the moderate framework of life, and for goodness sake, don't be afraid of food.  It is not the real enemy.  The real enemy is a fallen world.
Pass the fries!!   Jack

The way I cook meat now (mostly) is to put a roast or chicken into a tightly covered pan, add a generous amount of olive oil, season it, and throw it into the oven at 200 degress for about 14 hours.  

It will be absolutely delicious with no risk of AGE's at such a low temperature.

Make sure it is a tight fitting lid or it will dry out too much.  If you want to make a great chili, add the onions, garlic, tomatoes, and seasonings after 10 hours of cooking.  Cook four more hours.
Hide from your kids or it will all disappear in a short time.

I use a glass pan and always avoid cooking anything in aluminum.

Excellent, Farseas! This can be a part of an effective youth-preserving, anti-aging strategy, by the way.

My total cholesterol was 236 two months ago, and my HDL was 155. My numbers have been like this for fifteen years or so (I'm 45), but when they lowered the threshold for prescribing a statin from 240 to 200, my doctor wanted me on a statin. I got a CAC scan and got a score of 42, so I knew I had to do something. I decided to try diet changes first, eating a lower fat diet but still eating moderate amounts of meat. I also took fish oil, Vitamin D, and a multivitamin/mineral supplement. Today, I got the results from my latest blood test, and my total cholesterol is 162, LDL 95, HDL 47, triglycerides 90. The doctor didn't mention taking a statin this time. I plan to get another CAC scan after a year.

I was wrong. My doctor wrote a note on my blood test - he still wants me take a statin "to reverse existing plaque."

Thanks for the post Dr.

In my case when I started on fish oil capsules for Omega 3, my Uric Acid increased from 5.5 to 8.0.

In this case, can I go for Cod liver oil? Does fish oil and Uric Acid have any connections based on your experience?

Thanks in advance

Venkat

Doctor Davis,

Did the patient lose weight? Belly fat specifically?

Do you ever recommend additional iodine to patients that might already be getting 100% of the RDA via a multivitamin?

JohnM

Good for you Dr. Davis for your efforts to prove that you can achieve equal or better cholesterol results by simply using nutritional supplements instead of drug therapy that comes with all the nasty side effects.

How did the iodine or Armour Thyroid affect his blood pressure? My understanding is that these can cause an increase.

How long, do you suppose, will we have to wait for a study comparing outcomes for statin use vs. a regime that includes fish oil, vitamin D, niacin, and a wheat-free, sugar-free diet? If we ever see such a study, will it make any difference?

It was just announced that in Canada we spend $2 billion a year on statins, and I can't tell you the number of times I've printed off "Evidence for Caution: Women and Statin Use" for friends whose physicians want them to take statins.

Any increase from the improved thyroid function is very likely offset by the reduction in total blood volume that follows a normalization of insulin levels.  When your insulin levels drop, your kidneys stop retaining sodium and your blood pressure will usually fall.

Dr. Davis- I'm going to try eliminating wheat for four weeks as you recommend. Is beer okay (in moderation)? What about spelt? Thank you.

I have had a remarkable reversal of my ill health, due to the diet of evolution, as you so eloquently proselytize for.  I just had to replace my Cardiologist, because he chooses to ignore your principles and practices.  My Nephrologist, Dr. Kenneth Tourgeman, who reads you every day, writes as you do, a very riveting and informative blog "nephropal.blogspot.com" stopped many of my medications including Staten's, and of course raised the hackles of my old Cardiologist.  He has since referred me to a Cardiologist with his and your same views.  You and he, along with a few other brave hearts are fighting the good fight. Health care through low carb and a healthy high saturated fat diet, supplemented with high dose Vitamin D3, high dose fish oil, and super Vitamin K2.  Keep up the great work. We out here in the medical wilderness, give thanks for you revolutionary doctors who are curing disease instead of just treating it.

Kurt - your doctor is a mindless statinator. Was your HDL originally 155 - that is astronomical (or was that LDL).  Explore Dr. Davis's trackyourplaque website and then join.  You should get HDL up above 60, and trigs down to 60 or less.  Cutting wheat and fructose out or largely so will kick the Hell out of the trigs, and there are many other things to consider for reducing plaque besides statins.  Your heart scan scores are far more important as a measure of heart health than your LDL number, and your second heart scan tells you more about the effectiveness of your program than your first or than any lipid panel.  Your 47 HDL says to me you are not taking enough fish oil -- get it to at least 3000 mg of DHA and EPA combined per day (not just 3000 mg of fish oil).

Barkeater

Barkeater-
I screwed that up. Originally, my LDL was 155, now it's 95. My HDL is 49 (not 47, as I wrote).

I have upped my fish oil 50%. I cut sugars out years ago, but I haven't tried cutting wheat out of my diet yet.

What I'd like to do is try various diet changes and get tested after each change to see what's working, but I'm in New York, where the law won't let me go out and get my own cholesterol test.

Kurt,
This device works great.
costs about $5.00 per individual test so $15.00 to test trig, total chol and hdl (ldl is calculated)

http://cardiochek.com/

An Appeal for Support and Conformation of Adverse Effects

My daughter has lived with ALS like symptoms for almost 3 years. The worst of the symptoms began when her simvastatin was increased to 80mg in 2008.
Her MRI’s show LESIONS in the brain stem, specifically in the PONS area of her brain.
Of course, her 4 physicians refuse to believe that statin is involved. They are all satisfied with the diagnosis of “Ataxia”.

My Appeal is to all those who have similar brain lesions as shown and documented in MRIs. Please reply.

To Anonymous (who left the comment above entitled Appeal For Support): You could go to www.spacedoc.net for information about ALS as a statin side effect. Print out the relevant pages and show them to your daughter's physicians. If they're not willing to consider that your daughter's debility may be linked to statins, why don't you fire them and find her a new doctor?

Matt's doctor had advised that he avoid salt, as his blood pressure had been borderline high. His thyroid assessment disclosed a TSH of 3.89 mIU/ml with thyroid hormones free T3 and free T4 in the lower half of the normal range.

Dr. Davis,
My husband, 39, has a family h/o cardiac disease which took his grandfathers life at age 45.    Now, he has 30-50% blockage in a LAD artery at the mid point, and 30% blockage at the outer portion.  With diet and exercise changes, along with chinese herbs for the past 3 months his LDL has decreased from 132 to 119.  He has not added fish oil, niacin, Vit D, or red yeast rice to his regimin yet.  He has lost 15 # so far. Dr pushing Zocor.  What do you suggest?

Thanks.
m&B

The statin-free life is real, it's just the matter of what you need more - life without statins or the regular tasty but unhealthy food that you love.  And I'm pleased to read that so many people care about this.  I was prescribed simvastatin and I've been taking it for some months as my doctors instructed although I felt fine. And only then (I know it was silly) I bothered to google for simvastatin side effects.  I was really scared  about myopathy because I often had muscle cramps even before I started to take simvatsatin and I never cared about it.  So I decided to stop with statins, even though my doctor insisted on taking them, and just excluded a number of products from my diet - meat, fat cheese, all cholocale, candy and white sugar, bread, cakes, etc, and totally switched to fruit, veggies, cereals, nuts, cottage cheese, honey, steamed potato, etc. I also used flax seed - the taste reminds me of fish, I love it. Now my cholesterol is normal, I lost many pounds and squeezed into my 10-year-old jeans. I'm not taking statins and I'm not going to get off this diet - i got used to it.  I also wrote about this (a bit outdated now) and this was not an attempt to persuade anyone in anything, just my experience. I understand that food is a real sourse of pleasure for many people and the diet is a real torture incomparable with statins.  It's just that I'not that kind of person and I hate being dependant on meds. Statins are just the price we pay for our pleasures.

I really appreciate finding this source of information.  As a health care provider, I have seen a number of patients who have suffered needlessly because they chose to follow the statin lifestyle suggested by their PCP rather than changing their diet and supplementation.  I am convinced more than a couple actually died from the complications of the drugs.  Thanks for providing this resource.  I would like to offer your readers this article for their consideration.

Dr. Charles L. Foster
chiropractor, Rutland, VT

http://www.fosteringwellness.net/doctor/chiropractor/10304S/chiropractic-Rutland/cholesterol.htm

I had a patient who developed ALS after taking the same drugs.  Funny her ALS went away every time she stopped the drugs (3 times) but returned whenever she started them again.  Her doctor insisted that she would die of heart disease if she didn't take the meds.  Well, she took them and didn't die of heart disease.  I suppose he was right.  He told her to find another doctor if she wouldn't take his recommendations.  She paid with her life.  Supposedly she died of ALS.

By the way, we were treating her for some of the other side effects, muscle weakness, joint pain, loss of balance.  During her medicated periods, she couldn't walk in her yard.  Her husband bought her a John Deere lawn tractor so she could visit her gardens and get about the yard.  When off the meds, she could ambulate on her own.  Tragic

Dr. Charles Foster
Chiropractor,  Rutland VT