Is Jimmy still eating eggs for every meal in order to lose weight?

Dr. Davis, How true is this statement?
"before resorting to muscle tissue, the body will burn fat. If you have no body fat, (or even very little of it), then eating carbohydrates is a good idea. If there is fat to burn, it will be burned first. Our entire body runs on sugar, but you can turn fat into sugar and sugar into fat, depending on the current needs of the body"

No - he is off the eggs, but somewhere up around 282lbs.  Jimmy is indeed a great connector and does well with podcasts and interviews but his own diet - and as a consequence his weight - remains a problem.  He remains obese and as such is not a great advert for low carb.

THANKS for the plug for my new "Fan Club" associated with my podcast, Dr. Davis.  I certainly hope to indeed connect fans of "The Livin' La Vida Low-Carb Show" with more of the behind-the-scenes happenings to get them involved in the interview process, share transcripts of past episodes, and even let them hear sneak peak audio of not-yet-aired podcasts.  I'm excited to make this little something extra available to those who want more.

As for the the anonymous criticism about my weight, yes I weigh more than I would like to at this moment.  This is not a secret and I've been quite candid about this publicly because there are many who face the same frustrations of doing everything right and yet seeing very little progress on the scale.  While I'm seeking to rectify those issues by lowering my calories to 1800/daily and engaging in regular exercise, the fact remains my health is immaculate.

High HDL, low triglycerides, low percentage of Small LDL particles, stable blood sugar, normal blood pressure, a heart scan score of ZERO, abundant energy and so much more.  While the focus tends to be on weight as the key measurement in someone being healthy, I think that's as shortsighted as telling someone a low-fat, high-carb diet is the only way to lose weight and be healthy.  Again, I'd like to weigh less than I do now but it's difficult to argue that the way I'm eating isn't making me healthier than when I weighed 400+ pounds in 2004 on three prescription medications.

Re: Jimmy's weight - it's Jimmy's business!  The guy does a massive amount of work, as highlighted by Dr Davis' post, promoting the many and varied strains of low carb eating, and he does so because he has first-hand experience of the benefits of doing so.  Sure HE might not want to be where HE wants to be with HIS weight, but it isn't like he is ht eonly guy pushing the low carb mantra and peddling snack oil is it?

Jimmy, I'd have no doubt you could get to where you wanted to be (or closer to it at least), if you gave up on the stuff that you do.  But the rest of us would be poorer for it.  A run a very small and very much part-time blog in this field and if I put in the amount of time Jimmy does with all his work, I doubt I would be able to maintain the other aspects of my life that I enjoy so much.  It is a sacrifice Jimmy makes.

One last thing, and Jimmy may disagree with me on this... At one point in time, Jimmy's lifestyle lead him down the obesity pathway.  One aspect of this, and one that I try to promote in my line of work, is if you go down that road, there is no guarantee you can come back out of it.  Things like the consumption of industrial seed oils can lead to fat cell hypertrophy & hyperplasia... size AND number of fat cells increase.  Stay in this state long enough, and there is high chance you will never fully undo the damage done.  You can certainly imporve your health biomarkers as Jimmy has obviously done.  But you might not necessarily be able to return to an ultrathin body, no matter how much you desire it.  There is a degree of ingorance from people who just automatically assume that because one is eating low carb, they should look like a Crossfitter all the time and failure to do so means that low carbing is a failure also.

Well said Jamie!  I totally agree.

Nothing measures up when compared to perfection. It's better to compare real-life choices and their likely consequences whenever possible.

If someone was 400+ pounds and on medications on their old diet, and 120 pounds lighter, energetic and off the medications on a different diet, the different diet must have some benefits. I prefer to think in terms of progress, not perfection.

Jimmy, Jamie and Lori


AMEN !!!!


Sue

I know Jimmy personally and he is a sincere, hard-working nice guy.

We are all learning new lessons in nutrition and how to manage diet, navigating all the landmines in the commercial food that we are sold.

Jimmy's unquestioned role in this has been to facilitate the discussion, bringing differing viewpoints from interesting people like Gary Taubes and Jeff Volek.

Personally, I am grateful that we have someone like Jimmy Moore who acts as amiable host to our discussions.

i love Jimmy's podcasts. In fact i subscribe via itunes. He never fails to have intelligent guests. Especially in the last year or two he has had many paleo people which is great. I like to see the focus on good-health-all-around entering into his lowcarb world, rather than the sole goal of weightloss that i feel many atkinsers etc have. Anyway, he's doing a great job. and he has been for quite some time now. His weight? Who cares. Jimmy, dont sweat it! you've lost all that, your health numbers look great and you are leading a life that benefits many. I think you can be satisfied.

Train wreck/drama queen. Needs to lift free weights or join a cross fit gym…quit making excuses..

"Train wreck/drama queen...quit making excuses..."

You got that right!

Thank you so much Jimmy for the help you provide to all of us.
I am an uruguayan and follow your podcast from Uruguay LA.
Thanks again.
Jose.

If not for Jimmy Moore I would never have heard of Dr Davis, Mark Sisson, Stephan Guyenet, Robb Wolf, Dr Briffa, Fred Hahn and so many others.  I would never in a million years have thought to include strength training in my lifestyle.  I wouldn't have learned about the impact of sleep on health and mood.  Without the information Jimmy Moore brought into my life, I'd still be Vitamin D deficient, undermuscled, underslept and unhealthy.  Instead I've grown strength and muscle, ditched lifelong allergies and have had only one cold in the last three years.  (I work in healthcare and get coughed/sneezed upon constantly, so this is no insignificant fact.)

Jimmy is humble, funny, candid and generous.  Sure, we'd all like to include "stunning physique" in our list of personal qualities, but some of us just have to be satisfied with excellent health and an ongoing commitment to pursue optimal body composition.

For me, Jimmy Moore is a treasure.

Kudos to Jimmy for all his good work. I completely agree with Jamie above.

Anonymous trolls, just go away, or at least show a little spine and put your name.

Tony K

Interesting that your warning about nattokinese is FOLLOWED immediately by an advertisement for.... nattokinase extracts!

Actually most nattokinase does not contain vitamin K2.  When nattokinase is extracted from natto, the K2 is separated and sold as another profitable byproduct.

Wait a minute though! Was there any indication that he needed a real blood thinner before his clot? Maybe he was just taking it like a daily aspirin to "thin the blood" not for therapeutic blood anticoagulation. His clot was unfortunate but probably could have occurred with a cardiologist sactioned baby aspirin.

Anon--

He was taking aspirin, as well.

However, aspirin does NOT prevent deep vein thromboses that lead to pulmonary emboli, regardless of dose. Aspirin is a platelet-inhibitor, not a true "blood thinner" that works by way of clotting proteins.

Was he using nattokinase as an excuse not to take his warfarin, or something like that? Otherwise it seems very unlikely that the nattokinase had anything to do with the clot. If anything, I'd worry about nattokinase causing bleeds, not clots.

Curious if you ever recommend pycnogenol in cases where there is a risk of DVT? I believe there is at least one study showing a reduced risk of DVT in those who took pycnogenol.

I'm not saying it's better than anti-coagulants, but it may be better than aspirin.

Real anti-coagulants?  Like the red clover extract coumadin?  Patients on coumadin even with careful control often suffer excessive bleeding or more clots and strokes.    
I guess the point is that clotting control is very difficult and that the number one drug is a natural medicine, herbal extract.

One time, I was at a local vitamin shop when I saw that the supplement I was thinking about buying contained nattokinase.  Having read your blog and knowing what you think of nattokinase, I put the product back on the shelf.  The proprietor of the shop asked me why I did not want that supplement, because in his opinon it was a very good product.  I said that I did not want to take anything with nattokinase in it, and he said, "What do you have against nattokinase?"  I didn't bother to explain myself to him, figuring that I would just be wasting my breath.

What is your opinion about doing higher dose mixed tocopherols, which do work on the clotting cascade. Or garlic and omegas which decrease platelet aggregation. What is your stand on normalizing your vitamin K content and then titrating your dosage of coumadin up to theraputic INR. As far as the nattokinase is concerned, do you like any of that style of enzyme? lumbokinase, serrapeptase. Although they don't have any effect on INR they should have an affect on FDPs

That title is misleading.  People have been known to have near death cardiac events while taking fish oil, vitamin D3, and high dose niacin too.

As well, on rare occasion, people have been known to have a recurrent DVT and/or PE while on warfarin therapy, even with an INR as high as 2.5.  Therefore, does that mean warfarin is an ineffective anticoagulant?  Of course not.

This whole blog is about how we as individuals need to take control of our own health.  That just because we're taking a therapeutic medication or supplement, it does not therefore absolve ourselves from further investing in a life style that is proven to lower risk factors that may cause catastrophic health events.  

I totally agree that some of the marketing claims made concerning nattokinase are inflated and frankly, unbelievable - particularly about its capabilities as a thrombolysis.  And I agree that if your doctor advices that you need heprin or warfarin therapy in order to prevent a catastrophic health event, you certainly need to heed that advice.

But, count me down as someone who has extensively studied this subject and is still open to the possibility that nattokinase may contain some attributes in the prevention of venus thrombosis from a novel approach that needs further clinical investigation.

Dr. Davis,

I wouldn't be so quick to blast nattokinase because of this isolated incident or lack of research.

Nattokinase is a "mild" blood thinner. Taking it once a day will not do more than relieve inflammation and slightly improve a person's circulation.

A person would have to take it every 4 times a day (800 IU) on an empty stomach for if he desires a therapeutic effect. I would be curious if this patient of yours even took 200 IU per day (because a lot of products don't even contain that much).

I have personally witnessed an improvement in circulation after taking nattokinase.

I would like to add one more thing...

I'm sure you have had experience with patients who took 400 IU of vitamin D in tablet form, and did not see any results after six months either. Was it because vitamin D is a worthless supplement, and should not be used?

Sorry, I was misspoke about the dosage. Nattokinase is measured in fibrinolysis units (FU), not IU, and the effective dose ranges anywhere from 2,000-8000 FU per day.

Also, here's actual scientific research (albeit small), not marketing hype, on nattokinase.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19358933

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18971533

I've like the taste of natto from the moment I tried it. I am, however, a bit weird. ;)

Dr. Davis -- my question here is, could the nattokinase cause the blood clot (doesn't seem the be the case)?  Are you saying that it didn't matter that he was taking nattokinese because it doesn't reach the bloodstream to clear clots (so he would of had the clot anyway)

Secondly, if he was taking nattokinese that had vitamin K2 <--- is it possible that increases in K2 might cause abnormal blood cloting?

Vitamin K2 does not cause blood clotting any more than topping up your gas tank makes your car go faster.

Whether nattokinase has other effects is not my point. My concern is that people frequently ask if they should treat their DVT or pulmonary embolus with nattokinase. This is a death sentence. It should NOT be used for a such a purpose unless there were a large treatment trial proving equivalence or superiority to existing therapies.

Eric,

High dose mixed tocopherols use the same mechanisms as Wafarin/Coumadin.  They block the reabsorption of vitamin-K in the liver.  Vitamin-K is necessary for the liver to synthesize and release clotting proteins in the blood.  Warfarin/Coumadin is much, much more consistent than tocopherols in maintaining vitamin-K malabsorption and a safely prescribed INR range.  

Titrating a Warfarin/Coumadin dosage never made sense to me. It is not toxic other than causing vitamin-K deficiency. What difference does it make if the dosage is 20 mg or 20 mcg to maintain a therapeutic INR?  Your liver will need to be equally deficient in vitamin-K no matter how you caused the deficiency.

Garlic, ginger, ginkgo, curcumin, n-3, aspirin, N-acetylcysteine, Plavix, and yes tocopherols too all are anti-platelet agents.   They are effective at preventing arterial thrombosis, where anticoagulants have little effect. Conversely, anticoagulants are effective at preventing venous thrombosis, where anti-platelet agents (unfortunately) have little effect.

I'm giving my son nattokinase, one tablet daily and he also takes Vitamin K2. He has not been prescribed blood thinners, only aspirin which I stopped many months ago.
Are you warning of not replacing prescribed blood thinners with natural therapies?
If blood thinners have not been prescribed, is it of benefit to supplement with nattokinase?

Hi Dr. Davis

I was wondering if you could help me with something.

I've been monitoring my blood glucose recently with a basic monitor, and my readings would suggest that I am on the verge of impaired glucose tolerance, but not quite there yet.

I was reading about continuous glucose monitoring systems. I would love to have on if these to more thoroughly monitor my blood glucose, but every model out there requires a prescription to obtain one. I don't understand this, because they are not dangerous in any way.

Do you know of any way a non diabetic can purchase one of these?

Any information you can give me would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Rob

Dr. Davis, i am a 45 year old female who recently started taking Lovasa for high triglycerides , i am also on garlic tabs and one baby asprin per day . Is is safe to replace the garlic and asprin with one tab of Natto- K per day and is it safe to take with Lovasa? I am about 20 lbs overweight do not drink or smoke and swim and or walk 3 days per week. i am genetically predisposed to high triglycerides but never had a problem until i gained the weight. Until i get the weight off i am trying a more natural approach. Help!

[...] why you need to think for yourself and question studies. See, “Near-death experience with nattokinase | Track Your Plaque Blog, “Nattokinase supplement medical uses, safety, benefit, side effects,” and “Fight [...]

Acta Haematol. 2010;124(4):218-24. doi: 10.1159/000321518. Epub 2010 Nov 13.

In vivo evaluation method of the effect of nattokinase on carrageenan-induced tail thrombosis in a rat model.
Kamiya S, Hagimori M, Ogasawara M, Arakawa M.
Source
Nagasaki International University, Sasebo, Japan. kamiya@niu.ac.jp

Abstract
Thrombosis is characterized by congenital and acquired procatarxis. Nattokinase inhibits thrombus formation in vitro. However, in vivo evaluation of the therapeutic efficacy of nattokinase against thrombosis remains to be conducted. Subcutaneous nattokinase injections of 1 or 2 mg/ml were administered to the tails of rats. Subsequently, κ-carrageenan was intravenously administered to the tails at 12 h after nattokinase injections. The mean length of the infarcted regions in the tails of rats was significantly shorter in rats administered 2 mg/ml of nattokinase than those in control rats. Nattokinase exhibited significant prophylactic antithrombotic effects. Previously, the in vitro efficacy of nattokinase against thrombosis had been reported; now our study has revealed the in vivo efficacy of nattokinase against thrombosis.

PMID: 21071931