Do you know much about the diet he recommends to decrease inflammation and heart disease?
Thanks!

He uses a low processed carbohydrate diet. I'm afraid I did not get too far into that aspect of things with him.

Thanks for the reply. I assume by "low-processed" you mean whole grains?
Greg

Although I read Dr. lundell's book, I remain unsure about how tightly he advises processed carbohydrate control. He is clear on minimizing sugars and sugar-equivalents like sodas and fruit drinks. However, on questions like some grains, I remain unclear.

I was under the impression that CLAs only exist in animal products and that beef is particularly rich in CLAs.  I also understood that CLAs are a form of transfat, although perhaps a beneficial form, if there is such a thing.  Do you think that adding CLA is helpful for regression of plaque?  Does TYP recommend doing so?  If so, should the CLA be via a supplement and what dosage is typical?

We are putting together a clinical trial to examine this issue. I don't have any preconceived notions over whether CLA will work or not. The animal data for reversal of atherosclerosis is fabulous, almost too good to believe.

The human data on weight loss is, in aggregate, modestly promising. But will it reverse atherosclerosis in humans? We're going to try and find out.

It is my understanding that CLAs are a derivative of Parent Omega 6. I have read that the correct proportions are two parts omega 6 to one part omega 3.  This is referred to as Essential Fatty Acids (EFAs).  Lack of EFAs impede the use of oxygen and oxygenation is crucial to the miochondria of a cell.  I'm interested to see what your comments are on EFAs.

Are you aware Dr. Lundell's medical license was revoked in 2008 by the Arizona Medical Board?  Go here to read about him: www.azmd.gov

It's true.
http://azmd.gov/GLSuiteWeb/Repository/0/0/1/4/97d47a09-71b9-4f30-8bfe-78428be876c4.pdf

@anon & David,

I didn't read the whole report of the deliberations, but from reading the first one, several observations can be made:
-Dr Lundell had retired from thoracic surgery at the time of the hearings.
-The hearings concerned complaints about certain high risk surgeries done by Dr Lundell, as they are done by all thoracic surgeons.
-None of this has anything to do with a nutritional approach to halting and reducing CVD.

Hi! How about fresh juiced carrots? It's hec of carbo thing but is it slow, fast, should I just eat vegetables and fruits and not juice them?

In my book, I recommend 3 g of fish oil daily. This would normally yield about 1000 mg of EPA and DHA depending on the concentration of the supplement. This is approximately the dose that reduced sudden cardiac death by 50%, and all cause death, by 25% in patients with previous heart attack.

Heart  disease is one of the most  dangerous disease which takes thousands of life every years all over the world. If we know its symptoms and Treatment for heart disease. We can prevent is to large extent.

I've been taking fish oil since 2005.Went to a cardioligist who wrote me out a script for lipitor after my cholesterol test was a little high.Being skeptical i then went hom and researched this horrible medication and realized i could take a much healthier,cheaper and much better alternative.Well that alternative was fish oil and i'm so glad i did my research first before blindly accepting my fate.

Given the blood-thinning properties of fish oil, is it advisable to take it along with blood thinners such as Plavix or Coumadin?

Yep.Didn't have a lot of BF to begin with. But once I went 90% Paleo, I could see my libea alba within weeks.

I've been 80% paleo for a year, and while I lost oodles of BF, I'm still not there... :[

No yet, but I'm working on it

I've been wheat/sugar/flour etc free for about 4 months and although I didn't want to drop weight, it just happened; fast. About a month ago I dropped the rest of the grains from my diet and even though my weight stayed the same, the small love handles I had-or extra fat around the waist- disappeared. It wasn't much to begin with, but it's pretty much gone.

this raises an interesting question: what should your ideal weight be?  No doubtthere are benefits to Low Carb diet, but where or how low should your weight be.

I have lost 9 kg this year but my linea alba is still not visible, with the exception of between the two upper parts of the six-pack abdominal muscles.

Even though a fat-based diet is effective in removing fat tissue, it still takes time to remove the fat tissue.

Your "ideal" weight should be what you weighed when you were 25 yrs old....+/- 10lbs, at the most.
Women, post gravida, usually....usually...put on about 5-10 lbs after childbirth...that's reasonable...due to hormonal influences.
But men, you should be at your 25 yr old weight
Plus, that's when the human body fully matures in all neuromuscularoskeletal body areas.
Makes sense to be that weight...unless you are eating grains!

Combine the NO wheat with the plank, push-ups and pull-ups and your linea alba will jump forward. If you are not there yet; You also have a linea alba in your mouth ;)

Paleo has done me well - kept me slim. Lately, increased kettlebell workouts have tones me even more. Have to be honest though - just cant seem to get the full sixpack...upper four are there but those bottom two ba$tards....;)

Dropping the wheat made a huge improvement on my lipid profile. The only draw back is that I was already pretty thin with 18% body fat, now I'm probably down to 8%. People have commented that I look "too" thin and my cheeks have kind of a sunken look.

"Your "ideal" weight should be what you weighed when you were 25 yrs old....+/- 10lbs, at the most."

Don't get out much?  There are tons (pun intended) of massively fat, morbidly obese teenagers all over the country these days.  Go to your local Walmart and check it out. Truly sad. Starbucks muffins, HFCS, McDonald's, etc.

Re: whether you should weigh what you did at age 25, it depends on what kind of shape you were in at that age. Me, I weigh what I did in high school. Awhile back, I wasn't hungry for a few days and saw a number on the scale that I hadn't seen since junior high.

I wouldn't trade the white line for all the white food in the world.

"Your "ideal" weight should be what you weighed when you were 25 yrs old....+/- 10lbs, at the most."

I weighed 60kg at 183cm when I was 25. I now weigh 74kg which is far more appropriate.

It is also possible to be of "normal" weight and have very high body fat and very low muscle mass.

Also factor in relative muscle mass. I am a big believer of strength training, e.g., Fred Hahn's "slow-burn" techniques. Not only do you feel better, you enhance insulin responsiveness, increase HDL, reduce triglycerides, and increase bone density. However, this will increase the crude BMI measure, as well as body weight.

It also heightens the likelihood of seeing your linea alba.

Oh, I don't know... I dated a few women who had the linea alba readily visible, and their diet was mostly junky microwavable frozen food dinners and fast food (when I didn't take them out, that is
I think the Linea alba being visible is simply a benefit of fewer caloris, not the makeup of those calories.

Kent said:
"The only draw back is that I was already pretty thin with 18% body fat, now I'm probably down to 8%."

This is extremely unlikely unless you are a world class endurance athlete. You are probably still 14-15% body fat. Even very thin people can have surprisingly high body fat levels.

I have a friend who is an Australian  national-level middle-distance runner. He has 15% body fat.

When you lose weight by caloric restriction (including LC diets) you will nearly always lose (a lot) of muscle as well as fat.

The only way to prevent muscle loss and bulk up is to undertake a resistance training program. Without this protein is just broken down and excreted in the urine.

Ballerinas and runway models often have appalling diets and still manage to stay thin.

It is even possible to get reasonably fat on a paleodiet by ignoring appetite signals.

Heart  disease is one of the most  dangerous disease which takes thousands of life every years all over the world. If we know its symptoms and Treatment for heart disease. We can prevent is to large extent.

[...] defintions are a good starting point, but not complete. It is still possible to have an undefined linea albinea and handles with lower ab definition. Level 3 probably needs to be broken down into components.   [...]

you forgot one more benefit- effortless wieght loss! at least for many of us...

I've eliminated almost all sugar, and all refined grains, but I still  eat brown rice, oatmeal, and whole spelt bread. On my recent VAP test, my triglycerides were 78, HDL was 63, and my LDL was Pattern A (large, buoyant LDL). Also, my Cardiac C Reactive Protein was .84. I'm concluding that some whole grains are appropriate for me, and I use the blood glucose monitor to monitor postprandial glucose.

By the way, thank you for all the info.

Dr. Davis, following your advice as well as several other clarion voices in the nutritional wilderness, over the last 9 months I went from:
HbA1C 6.6, Fasting glucose 125mg/dl, BP135/85, LDL nearly 200, HDL below 30, body weight 245 (6ft tall, 40 in waist) on a mainly carb diet, to:

HbA1C 5.5, Fasting glucose 105mg/dl, BP115/70, LDL nearly in 1/2, HDL above 65, body weight 204 (still 6ft tall, but a 33 in waist) on a very low carb diet.

I've got 4 friends - all males in their 40s - who have also moved their personal numbers in these directions by greatly reducing carbs.  I'm trying to get my severely type II diabetic father to follow the same regimen, but his Medicare provided dietitian is fighting me every step of the way, with a diet based upon bread!  The struggle continues.

Thank you for being a consistent, well informed, voice of reason.  You've helped more people than you know.  (linked to you here).  Be well.

And I'm so unimpressed with the lack of any good hard endpoint data associated with the insulin sensitizers and such.  These dietary options really need to be explored further but, sadly, won't so long as physicians aren't reimbursed for it.

I agree regarding fructose.  

In people with impaired glucose tolerance, slashing starch too may indeed be beneficial.  But is there any evidence that slashing starch benefits people who have a healthy liver and pancreas?  In such people, I suspect slashing starch is just treating numbers and has nothing to do with health.  Otherwise, how do you explain Kitava, Peru, and Asia?

Sometimes I think that the results given with these studies are mostly due to the reduction of grains (lectins) and refined sugar and not carbohydrates themselves. I want to believe it is as simple as reducing carbohydrates but it doesn't explain how populations like Kuna and Kitava have good health markers even though they eat a high carb diet. Dr. WD, do you have any ideas related to this specific topic?

** I am not debating the results of low carb (I personally do paleo), and if your metabolism is already damaged low carb is the only way, but what if it is not? (you were never obese, diabetic, started healthy habits at a young age, etc).

Would these benefits also accrue to someone who does not get postprandial spikes in blood glucose on a low-carb diet - like the regular commentator "DrStrange"?

Actually, in the study reviewed in the post below, a 2-week replacement of refined carbs and sugars with dietary fat (mostly saturated) and cholesterol, led to a significant increase in HDL (14 percent increase in HDL from baseline for men).

http://healthcorrelator.blogspot.com/2010/02/want-to-improve-your-cholesterol.html

That was two weeks only.

In my own experience, higher consumption of saturated fat and dietary cholesterol has immediate effects on HDL, and those effects are especially strong with elimination of refined carbs and sugars.

Dr. Davis,

You mentioned Vitamin D.  I just got tested, level is 14.  However, I get episodes of calcium-based kidney stones (every 3-4 years or so).  How do you treat such patients?

One thing I don't understand is if all these benefits are independent or if they are all linked to glucose level.
If a particular carbohidrate causes little glucose spike will it still cause the other poblems?
Or if carbohidrate intake is followed by intense physic actvity which seems to take BG down does it still causes all the other problems?

Just letting you know, very nice post!

I totally agree.  I continued to struggle with my cholesterol the first year or so on a low carb diet.  After 3 years, my HDL has gone from 40 to 87 and my LDL has improved.  My blood pressure also improved over time.  My triglycerides were never high, but are usually in the 35 range now.  It's an awesome thing!

Welcome to Low Carb Dr. Davis!  From now on, your life will never be the the same

8-

In addition to what you have listed, which I can confirm in 100%, more beneficial effects will become apparent, such as:

- self-healing of teeth with no need for dental intervention, and roughly twice as fast healing of broken bones.

- healing of common cardiovascular diseases (arteriosclerosis, cardio myopathy and arrhythmia)

- rapid self-healing of hepatic diseases (i.e post hep-C cirrhosis healed in 6 months),

- improved kidney disease recovery (I heard of a patient  surviving on Optimal Diet without dialalysis with only 1/3 of 1 kidney left)

- normalization of one's body weight (obese loose, underweight gain),

- much stronger immune system (for instance, I never had a flu since yr 2000, before - twice a year)

- stronger more benign reaction to stress, no more paralyzing panic, no more total body vascular contraction and probably related better resistance to cold temperature.  

- no need to drink water frequently (fat metabolism releases water as an end product)

- never feel hungry again, no need to snack, eating once or twice a day becomes the norm.   For me no breakfast, no supper, only lunch and dinner, typically.  

- improved ability to hold breath longer when diving, generally we also naturally breath less frequently,

- different (improved) mood, subtle changes in the way one thinks, solves problems and react to life events, as no doubts, you will find out...  8-

Regards,
Stan (Heretic)

Daniel, I've tested my own blood glucose before and after meals and it's normal. However, I cut way back on all carbs a couple of months ago, and now eat around 47 grams of carbs per day. Results: I find that I don't need Sudafed or acid blockers at all now and I rarely take ibuprofin (an anti-inflammatory). The twinge in my shoulder and knee are gone. I've lost 10 pounds while working out *less.* I seldom get headaches, and when I do, they're mild. I also need a lot less sleep.

Should anyone care for details, I've chronicled my experience in my blog.

jandro - it is a very good question.  I wonder too but the studies I am reading (see for example Lancet. 1996 ) seem to indicate that carbohydrate reduction is beneficial in all cases, including healthy rural young populations.  

I see it now in the same light as for example alcohol consumption: if you are healthy and young, a  harm may be minimal and some wine  (in moderation) may even provide you with some calories and micronutrients (i.e. resveratrol), but why bother consuming all that starchy and sugary plant food that we are not that well adapted for, that is useful only if we have nothing else to eat and that was probably meant for us only as a temporary food to get us over some rough periods of fauna decline.

  Since there is so little modern research done specifically on this subject we are still largely in the domain of hypotheses and theories. However not all that is speculative.  For example existing archaeological research does show us that paleolithic human diet consisted typically over 2/3 of meat!  We are talking about millions of years of human adaptation.

---

Dr. Davis,  I forgot to add to my above list of benefits the following point:

- reliable improvement (in almost every case) in treating the autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, asthma, eczema, psoriasis etc,

- intestinal disease (Crohns, IBS , very high fat only!).  

- Multiple sclerosis (not 100% especially if nerve damage is too advanced but improvement in most cases)

There is a lot of patient cases (hundreds) of the above disease reported by Dr. Jan Kwasniewski, from his medical practice in the 1980-ties, described in his books, especially "Homo Optimus" and "Optimal Nutrition".  

I think you will find those books extremely interesting, highly recommended.  

Stan

Um Heretic.. I think Dr. Davis has been low carb for quite a while now. No need to welcome him to something he's already quite familiar with

Stan, thanks for your response:

I read the abstract of the study you link and don't see how it is related to what I mentioned. It is comparing a vegetarian population with one that eats around a pound of fish a day. Seriously, is there a question there as to which is healthier? I also don't think they are healthier primarily because they consume less carbohydrates, but rather because they consume a pound of fish a day compared to no animal fat/flesh in the other group.

If you read my original post again you will notice I am not saying a vegetarian diet (in fact, I eat over a pound of meat a day), I am just questioning whether the true problem is carbohydrates or if it is lectins, assuming you have a generous amount of animal fat and protein. I personally eat around 20% carbs, mostly coming from tubers and squashes as I find fruits too sweet (I agree that fructose should be reduced). Generally eat one piece of fruit a day.

I also don't see any evidence to your claim that humans are not adapted to plant foods. We are omnivores, and that's how we have succeeded. We are adapted to a diet similar to what equatorial hunter gatherers have, since we evolved in a similar environment. People bring many archeological references of sites located outside of Africa not realizing that the environment outside of Africa is nearly as new to us as grains are. Most HGs living in Africa have plant food present on their diet. The information you tell yourself claims 2/3 of our diet was meat, what happened to the other 1/3?

And what if someone goes really lowcarb (mostly meat) and his LDL rises up to 500? No info on the the LDL size. The remaining bloodwork results are  really good. Is this something to be worried about?

Hmm, well I eliminated wheat and all glutens from my diet in January 2009. I eliminated sugar at the same time. I also eliminated high Omega-6 vegetable oils. I basically eat low carb. I love to use coconut oil. I've lost over 100 pounds.

But my cholesterol just goes UP and UP! At least total and LDL - HDL remains in the 58-62 range and triglycerides remain in the 60-70 range. But Total cholesterol went from 229 6 months ago to 279 3 months ago, to 280 today, and LDL went from 165 6 months ago, to 190 3 months ago, to 206 today.

And I can't understand why! Of course my doctor is rabid to put me on stations and crazy with me that I refuse, and looks at me cross-eyed when I request an NMR/VAP test for LDL particle size.

But it still bothers me that it continues to go up and up and up, as I feel like I'm doing all I can to lower it. I was also diagnosed with Hashimoto's 6 months ago and put on 50 mcg of Levoxyl. Then three months ago it was upped to 75 mcg. Today it was upped to 88 mcg.

Slashing carbs eliminating the bad stuff sure is not helping my total numbers, which means a huge argument with the doctor every visit, and I hate to argue. :-(

I'm so glad I found this post!. I've had a group of clients take on paleo eating as a 6 week trial, doing so has naturally decreased their carbs. I had each person do before and after blood tests and I was concerned that 80% had a reduction in HDL. They also had reductions in Triglycerides and LDL and blood pressure and significant weight loss - but couldn't figure this one out. Thanks so much for keeping us informed of what goes on for your clients, so I know what is happening with mine is normal.

Julianne
By the way here are some of the results in people's own words
http://paleozonenutrition.wordpress.com/2010/09/01/6-week-paleo-trial-results/