My RA/PRA diagnosis

This blog is mainly about low carb eating and living what I consider to be a truly healthful lifestyle. I also (since it's mine and I make the decisions) posted a few times on political issues and other topics unrelated (seemingly at least) to low carb. This is one of those posts. I'm posting thing for several reasons. First off, I feel like have almost have an obligation to my readers (there aren't many of you, but you seem to be faithful) to explain what's been going on in my life and preventing me from posting as much as I'd like.

There are many other reasons for this post, including wanting to get some links out there for people that may stumble on this. I have found online support extremely important for me since I started following a lob carb lifestyle. I only have 1 close friend and no family near me as I live in NC and they all live in New England, about 700 miles away. Finding the online support I have found with low carb makes me believe that this can be helpful for all kinds of issues.

About two to two and a half years ago I started having trouble with joints being very painful. There were times my ring finder on my left hand would ache, then a day later that was fine and my right shoulder would hurt. A few days later it would be my right ankle, or my left knee, or my left ankle....or my toes, or shoulders, hips, etc. Each time the pain would be moderate to severe, but only last for a day, maybe a day and a half. There were times when the pain seemed to travel from one joint to the next, other times it would go away and I'd be fine for weeks. At this point there was never any redness, swelling, or signs of inflammation, just pain (5-8 on a scale of 10).

One day my right foot started bothering me....the outer ankle area. It rapidly progressed to the point where I had trouble walking. I slept little that night and had a lot of trouble just getting to the bathroom. I had a Percocette, so I took it and was able to sleep, but the pain was constant. The next day I went to Urgent care (didn't have a Primary Care doctor, PCP, at that time) and when I got there, discovered the ankle was now red, hot and swollen, very swollen. The first doc told me it was gout, then the second doc (his supervisor) decided it was just inflammation from an injury I didn't realize I'd had and it should be fine in a few days. That night the pain went away almost as quickly as it came on. The next day I was able to finally get an appointment with a new PCP, but still had to wait a couple of months. During that time, the joint pains continued to come and go.

The worst is the shoulders....did you know it's tough to move without moving your shoulders? The wrist and hand isn't good either....cooking, typing, getting dressed is difficult when every movement hurts. Eventually I started seeing more and more signs of obvious inflammation. I'd wake up and my right index finger would be swollen to almost twice it's size. I'd be fine and out of the blue my shoulder would start hurting, eventually getting to the point of tears. I had no idea what was going on, but of course started to look up symptoms online, having Rheumatoid in the back of my mind, but finding what I could to "prove" that I didn't have RA! RA hits joints on both sides of the body....some of my joints hurt on both sides, but hardly ever at the same time....and often only the joint on one side would hurt.

Well, eventually I had my appointment with my PC, but of course had no symptoms that day. I told him about it and he sounded concerned, but didn't know what it was. He told me to call and try to come back if I had any obvious signs of inflammation. I did, about 2 weeks later. When I went in with symptoms, he immediately told me I needed to see a specialist, had a bunch of blood drawn and set up an appointment with a Rheumatologist.

I went to see the Rheumatologist, who had my blood work and was told I had an autoimmune disease, Palindromic Rheumatoid Arthritis. The "rheumy" explained that PRA moves from joint to joint, sometimes shows signs of inflammation but sometimes doesn't, and comes and goes erratically. Wow! That was exactly what I had! He also explained that, like RA, they really didn't know the cause, so they treat it like RA and sometimes get good results. He also ordered more blood work, including a second RA factor, and added a few more tests.

When I went back to see him a couple of months later, he ordered Plaquenil for me, but I was unable to tolerate it. In January I finally called and got an early appointment and when I saw the doc I asked for something else, as well as some pain medication. I was prescribed Doxycycline and Oxycodone. I filled both prescriptions January 18th and started taking the Doxy that night. Over the next few weeks, things didn't change, pains came and went, sometimes swelling, but mostly not. Then the pain got more severe, more frequent, and lasting longer in each joint. And then after a few weeks the....um..."intestinal side effects" kicked in. Oh man, I felt like I'd been on a bender....and I don't even drink very often (um, like 2-3 times a year!). Eventually I figured out it was the Doxy and stopped taking it. Apparently this stuff destroys a good amount of the "good" bacteria that live in our guts and you need to take probiotics on a regular basis to keep from having side effects.

Right around this time I found a couple of sites about RA and PRA that have information about autoimmune diseases as well as support forums. The sites aren't "official" sites, but are set up by people that are themselves living with one of more of these diseases. All of the "official" sites have the same info. If you go to Web MD or Prevention, or any of the RA organization sites you basically see the same information. There is almost no information about natural, nutritional, or alternative treatments. Antibiotic treatment is apparently not widely accepted, but being found to have excellent results in some people.

Eventually, with the help of probiotics, and the wonderful people on the support boards, I was able to tolerate the antibiotic....somewhat. I still have to stop it from time to time, but all in all I'm doing well with it. Now, I don't know if it's working or not....it can take 3-6 months or more before you know if it's working or not. The beginning of March I gave in and asked (begged) my doc for steroids and that has helped a lot.....but it's also now wearing off and the symptoms are coming back.

The good thing about having PR is that there usually isn't any joint damage like you see with RA. The bad thing is the degree of pain! I'm told that PR pain is worse than any other....and I sure won't argue with that. I cannot believe how much this can hurt!!

So...that's where I am now, and what I've been going through the past few months. Right now I have sore joints and occasionally one will flare up to the point where I want to take a pain med. I am trying to not take them unless I have no choice.....but that's not always possible. I'm still taking the antibiotic, and still hoping it is helping. I imagine when I see my doc this week he'll order more blood work, and hopefully that will show an improvement.

I want to post a couple of sites for those with RA, PR and other auto-immune (AI) diseases:
International Palindromic Rheumatism Society: An excellent site that has been created by a man with PR. There is a ton of info on there and even a support forum.
Tender joints R.A.I.S.E.D. (Rheumatoid Arthritis Information, Support, & Educated Determination): a forum for those with various AI diseases.

Kimkins video

Video of interview about the Kimkins fraud.

"You drink the Kool-Aid"

Ex-Drug Sales Rep Tells All

To sell their drugs, pharmaceutical companies hire former cheerleaders and ex-models to wine and dine doctors, exaggerate the drug's benefits and underplay their side-effects, a former sales rep told a Congressional committee this morning

Shahram Ahari, who spent two years selling Prozac and Zypraxa for Eli Lily, told a Senate Aging Committee chaired by Sen. Herb Kohl, D-Wisc., that his job involved "rewarding physicians with gifts and attention for their allegiance to your product and company despite what may be ethically appropriate."

Ahari claims that drug companies like hiring former cheerleaders and ex-models, as well as former athletes and members of the military, many of whom have no background in science.

"On my first day of sales class, among 21 trainees and two instructors, I was the only one with any level of college-level science education," Ahari told ABCNews.com on Tuesday.

During their five-week training class, Ahari claims that instructors teach sales tactics, including how to exceed spending limits for important clients, being generous with free samples to leverage sales, using friendships and personal gifts to foster a "quid pro quo" relationship, and how to exploit sexual tension.

"The nature of this business is gift-giving," says Ahari. He claims that he's heard stories about sales reps helping to pay the cost of a doctor's swimming pool and another doctor who was routinely taken to a nightclub where a hostess was paid to keep him company.

Drug reps develop a positive view of their drug and a negative view of the competitors, according to Ahari. "You drink the Kool-Aid. We were taught to minimize the side effects and how to use conversational ploys to minimize it or to change the topic.

According to Ahari, the benefits could be lucrative for sales reps, who tended to earn more than researchers. On top of a base salary for starting reps of $50,000, "there were four quarterly bonuses, an annual bonus, stock options, a car, 401K, great health benefits, and a $60,000 expense account."

Read the rest here.

Preaching to the choir, I know....but maybe it will bring about some changes!

Recent Diabetes study in the news

Recent Diabetes study in the news.

I'm sure plenty of you have seen the articles in the news about the study to lower blood sugar was partially stopped due to increased deaths in 1 group.

"Among the study participants who were randomly assigned to get their blood sugar levels to nearly normal, there were 54 more deaths than in the group whose levels were less rigidly controlled. The patients were in the study for an average of four years when investigators called a halt to the intensive blood sugar lowering and put all of them on the less intense regimen." according to the NY Times.

Now, of course the medical industry is explaining, even tho the data hasn't been analyzed, what this means:

“It’s confusing and disturbing that this happened,” said Dr. James Dove, president of the American College of Cardiology. “For 50 years, we’ve talked about getting blood sugar very low. Everything in the literature would suggest this is the right thing to do,” he added.

and:

“It will be similar to what many women felt when they heard the news about estrogen,” Dr. Hirsch said. “Telling these patients to get their blood sugar up will be very difficult.”

At the very end, there is this:

It might be that patients suffered unintended consequences from taking so many drugs, which might interact in unexpected ways, said Dr. Steven E. Nissen, chairman of the department of cardiovascular medicine at the Cleveland Clinic.

Ya think?!?!?!

Keep in mind, not only was this group subjected to a program designed to "get their blood sugar levels to nearly normal", they were also aggressively treated for high BP and/or elevated cholesterol levels. And how were they treated? With high doses of multiple medications!

As one blogger pointed out, there are so many different drugs used, in so many different combinations, and so many different doses that it will be impossible to come up with any statistical reason for the deaths. And remember too, these people were also treated, often with multiple drugs for 1-2 other conditions....that we know of! How many drugs were these people taking for other conditions? (Not to mention their smoking status, their weight, activity level, gender, age, etc etc etc!)

Please, at least at this point in time, ignore these articles and continue to do what you've been doing!! All recent and past evidence indicates that the tighter the control and the closer to normal, the better the outcomes!

Back in the 70s, when all that was available, besides diet, was insulin and a handful of oral meds (designed only to stimulate the pancreas to produce more insulin) we saw fewer complications than we do today. We could predict sometimes which patients would do well, simply by how tightly controlled they were. Those that followed the diet (which was not ketogenic, but much lower carb than today's diet) and took their meds didn't have too many problems. But those that didn't take their meds, or stick with their diet, got all kinds of complications!

I seriously am starting to question the medical profession in the care of diabetics. I just don't understand how they can continue to encourage, no push, a high carb diet and then just keep adding meds! These statements are, in my opinion, criminal!

There are blogs all over the place about this subject and different takes on why we should continue what we're doing and ignore the advice of "experts". Here are links to a couple:
Dave Dixon's take at The Spark Of Reason,
Regina Wilshire's at The Weight of The Evidence, and
Jenny's at Diabetes Update.

Keith Olbermann: Special Comment Regarding FISA

Keith Olbermann: Special Comment Regarding FISA
By Keith Olbermann
MSNBC Countdown

Thursday 31 January 2008

And finally, as promised, a Special Comment - of FISA and the telecoms.

In a presidency of hypocrisy - an administration of exploitation - a labyrinth of leadership - in which every vital fact is a puzzle inside a riddle wrapped in an enigma hidden under a claim of executive privilege supervised by an idiot - this one… is surprisingly easy.

President Bush has put protecting the telecom giants from the laws… ahead of protecting you from the terrorists.

He has demanded an extension of the FISA law - the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act - but only an extension that includes retroactive immunity for the telecoms who helped him spy on you.

Congress has given him, and he has today signed a fifteen-day extension which simply kicks the time bomb down the field, and has changed nothing of his insipid rhetoric, in which he portrays the Democrats as 'soft on terror' and getting in the way of his superhuman efforts to protect the nation… when, in fact, and with bitter irony, if anybody is 'soft on terror' here… it is Mr. Bush.

In the State of the Union Address, sir, you told Congress, "if you do not act by Friday, our ability to track terrorist threats would be weakened and our citizens will be in greater danger."

Yet you are willing to weaken that ability!

You will subject us, your citizens, to that greater danger.

This, Mr. Bush, is simple enough even for you to understand: If Congress approves a new FISA act without telecom immunity and sends it to your desk and you veto it - you, by your own terms and your own definitions, you will have just sided with the terrorists.

Ya gotta have this law, or we're all gonna die. But you might veto this law!

It's bad enough, sir, that you are demanding an ex post facto law which would clear the phone giants from responsibility for their systematic, aggressive, and blatant collaboration with your illegal and unjustified spying on Americans, under the flimsy guise of looking for any terrorists stupid enough to make a collect call or send a mass e-mail.

But when you then demanded again, during the State of the Union address, that Congress retroactively clear the Verizons and the AT&T's, you wouldn't even confirm that they actually did anything for which they deserved to be cleared!

"The Congress must pass liability protection for companies believed to have assisted in the efforts to defend America."

Believed?

Don't you know?

Does the endless hair-splitting of your presidential fine print, extend even here?

If you, sir, are asking Congress, and us, to join you in this shameless, breathless, literal, textbook example of fascism - the merged efforts of government and corporations who answer to no government - you still don't have the guts to even say the telecom companies did assist you, in your efforts?

Will you and the equivocators who surround you like a cocoon never go on the record about anything?

Even the stuff you claim to believe in?

Silly me.

Of course Mr. Bush is going to say "believed."

Yes, it sounds dumber than if he had referred to himself as "the alleged president," or had said today was "reportedly Thursday," or had claimed "Mission Accomplished" in Iraq.

But the moment he says anything else, any doubt that the telecoms knowingly broke the law, is out the window, and with it, any chance that even the Republicans who are fighting this like they were trying to fend off terrorists using nothing but broken beer bottles and swear words couldn't consent to retroactively immunize corporate criminals.

Which is why the Vice President probably shouldn't have phoned in to the Rush Limbaugh Propaganda-Festival yesterday.

Sixth sentence out of Mr. Cheney's mouth: The FISA bill is about, quote, "retroactive liability protection for the companies that have worked with us and helped us prevent further attacks against the United States."

Oops.

Mr. Cheney is something of a loose cannon, of course.

But he kind of let the wrong cat out of the bag there.

Because Mr. Bush - and the corporations he values more than people - didn't want anybody to verify what Mark Klein says.

Mark Klein is the AT&T whistleblower who appeared on this newscast last November, who explained, in the placid, dull terms of your local neighborhood I-T desk, how he personally attached all of AT&T's circuits - everything carrying every phone call, every e-mail, every bit of web browsing - into a secure room…

…Room Number 641-A, at the Folsom Street facility in San Francisco - where it was all copied so the government could look at it.

Not some of it; not just the international part of it; certainly not just the stuff some truly patriotic and telepathic spy might be able to divine had been sent or spoken by or to a terrorist.

Everything.

Every time you looked at a naked picture, every time you bid on eBay, every time you phoned-in a donation to a Democrat.

"My thought was 'George Orwell's 1984,'" Mr. Klein told me, reflecting back, "and here I am, being forced to… connect the Big Brother machine."

You know, Mr. Bush, if Mr. Klein's "Big Brother Machine" - the one the Vice President conveniently just confirmed for us - if it was of any damn use at all at actually finding anything, you could probably program it to find out who started that slanderous e-mail about Barack Obama.

Use Room 641-A to identify that E–assassin, sir, and I'll stand up and applaud you.

Yeah, I'm holding my breath on that one, too.

But of course, sir, this isn't about finding that kind of needle in a haystack. This isn't even about finding a haystack. This is about scooping up every piece of hay there ever was, and laying the groundwork for the next little job which you have to outsource to AT&T and Verizon.

It was your Director of National Intelligence, Mr. McConnell, letting this one out of the same bag.

The need for Homeland Security to stave off cyber-attacks against the government's computer networks.

And how do they do that, sir?

By constantly monitoring the internet - the whole internet.

And who actually, physically, does that, Mr. Bush?

Right. The same telecom giants for whom you want immunity - Quickly. So quickly, you wouldn't believe it.

Because this previous domestic spying, and this upcoming policing of the internet - they may be completely evil, indiscriminate, unlawful. So you have to dress it up, as something just the opposite.

It isn't evil… it's "to protect America."

It isn't indiscriminate… it's "the ability to monitor terrorist communications."

It isn't unlawful… it's just the kind of perfectly legal thing, for which you happen to need immunity!

There's yet another level to this, and here we move from Big Brother… to Sleazy Son.

Mr. Bush's new Attorney General, Mr. Mukasey, the one who has already taken four different positions on water-boarding, and who may yet tie that record on this subject of telecom immunity - he has a very personal stake in this.

There happens to be a partner in the law firm of Bracewell and Giuliani, named Marc Mukasey. And Bracewell and Giuliani and the Attorney General's son Marc, just happen to represent… Verizon.

You know, Verizon - Telecom Giant.

And all of a sudden this is no longer just a farce in which "protecting the telecoms" is dressed up for us as, 'protecting us from terrorist conference calls.'

Now it begins to look like the bureaucrats of the Third Reich trying to protect the Krupp Family industrial giants by literally re-writing the laws for their benefit.

And we know how that turned out: Alfried Krupp and eleven of his directors were convicted of War Crimes at Nuremburg.

Nevertheless.

For those of us watching a President demanding this very specific law (the one the Germans had was called the "Lex Krupp") there is one surprising bit of comfort in all this:

Clearly, Mr. Bush is at his hyperbolic worst here.

Consider how his former chief of staff Andy Card came on and scolded Chris Matthews and me after the State of the Union address.

"The President's address tonight was very important," Card said, "because it really was a sobering call to reality for us.

"And the reality is, we have an enemy who wants to hurt us. The primary job of the president to protect us.

"He talked about protecting us. He talked about the needs to have the tools to protect us."

Indeed, Mr. Bush.

The primary job of any president is to protect us.

Not just those of us who own Internet and Telephone companies - All of us.

And even you, sir, with your intermittent grasp of reality… even with your ego greater than a 100-percent approval rating… even with your messianic petulance - even you could not truly choose to protect the corporations instead of the people.

I am not talking about ethics here. I am talking about blame.

Even if it's you throwing out the baby with the bathwater, Mr. Bush, it still means we can safely conclude… there is no baby!

This is not a choice of protecting the telecoms from prosecution, or protecting the people from terrorists, sir.

It is a choice of protecting the telecoms from prosecution, or pretending to protect the people from terrorists.

Sorry, Mr. Bush. The eavesdropping provisions of FISA have obviously had no impact on counter-terrorism, and there is no current or perceived terrorist threat, the thwarting of which could hinge on an e-mail or a phone call going through room 641-A at AT&T in San Francisco next week or next month.

Because if there were, Mr. Bush, and you were to, by your own hand, veto an extension of this eavesdropping, and some terrorist attack were to follow, you would not merely be guilty of siding with the terrorists, you would not merely be guilty of prioritizing the telecoms over the people, you would not merely be guilty of stupidity, you would not merely be guilty of treason… but you would be personally, and eternally, responsible.

And if there is one thing we know about you, Mr. Bush, one thing that you have proved time and time again under any and all circumstances, it is that you are never responsible.

Good night and good luck.

New home...finally!

Finally! I'm no longer homeless! I rented an apartment in Raleigh and moved in last Thursday. Still waiting for all my belongings, but at least I'm finally out of that hotel!!

I have a kitchen!! I have a stove and a refrigerator, and a sink big enough to wash dishes!

Note coffee maker that I got for Christmas!
Back door is to the right of the stove.

Door to the left of refrigerator is to the utility room.
Wall next to utility room is excellent for my freezer.

Since I don't have any of my furniture yet, I've only been able to decorate the bathrooms and the kitchen, For the kitchen I'd already decided (based on the house I never got) to go with red and black, so I decided to continue that idea here.

The half bath, located between the living room and kitchen will be blue to match the living room colors. The upstairs bath also has red as it's primary color as I bought the carpet, accessories, etc for half bath, but carpet wouldn't fit. It's not that I'm a big red fan, although I do like red. it's just that I wanted bright colors as the whole place is beige and white.

Half bath
Half bath
Main bath
Main bath

I'm currently sleeping on an air bed. It's one of those that is higher than just a mattress and it's a twin size. I'd already decided to buy one of these for when I visit Laura & Chris, so it's not a big deal having to buy it a bit earlier. Friday night I guess I got too close to the edge, as I ended up face first on the floor in the middle of the night! I'd prefer to have a full size mattress, but they cost double the price!

My bed...looks normal, right?
Can't wait to get my own bed (latex foam mattress) back!

So, right now, it's just me and the pups. I'm an "empty nester", at long last! This is the first apartment I've ever had by myself. Actually only the second apartment ever, the last one was when I got out of school and got an apartment with my friend Jeanne. She moved out and my husband to be moved in, then we bought our first single-family home. (I've lived in 3 single family homes, Avon and Brockton in Massachusetts and one in Durham, NC)

This apartment is a town home style, which I want to try to see if I can live in that style long term. Since the deal with the house in Mebane fell through, I've decided to rethink buying a condo or town home. At this point, since I have a 6 month lease, I'm not going to look much, unless of course something catches my eye. I have a few friends on the lookout for deals in their areas, but won't start seriously looking until at least the beginning of May.

I've been thinking about changing to a condo or town home as that would relieve me of the responsibility of the outside maintenance. I'm not thrilled with having people living above me, and I have 2 dogs that must go out several times a day, so the town home set up sounds better. I've never lived on 2 floors, however, and I'm concerned about my legs and feet with the arthritis. So far I like having the 2 floors, even when I've had to run up and down the stairs because I forgot something. Not sure how long it will be, however, that I get tired of the stairs!

Once I get the rest of my furniture I'll post more pictures.

In the meantime, here are a couple new pics of my pups.....my pups who are very confused about what's going on.....and what the heck is the noise when no one is doing anything? (Floors are VERY creaky, it's about all we hear of the neighbors)

Daisy
Duke

Oh yea!! Forgot to mention. I'm still smoke free and I've been sticking to my plan. I've been getting around 20-25 grams of carb (total) a day, the one exception being Thursday (moving day) when I grabbed an Atkins bar....that alone had over 20 grams!

I've been to the food store and have lots of meat in the freezer, and veggies in the refrigerator. Once I get all my pots and pans, microwave, etc I'll be better off. Tonight I'm just having yogurt with fruit and walnuts as I'm too lazy to cook!

Happy New year!!!

Wow....what a year!! Lots of changes this year....most of them good.

I've fallen completely off plan, gained a ton of weight back, but as of today I'm back. Setting new goals and revising plan for the new year. I'll be posting that within the next few days.

I fasted today, just having coffee and water. Just a few more days and I should have a kitchen. Probably no table, chairs, etc....but a kitchen where I can cook!! And!! It's close enough to work that I can go home for lunch and not eat out!! Woo Hoo!!

Roast pork tenderloin with cucumber spears and Caesar dressing, Brussels sprouts with butter, and home made applesauce.

Maybe this will be on the menu again soon!! I set Brian up with food and recipes for 3 meals today. Meatloaf and 2 chicken dishes that are too carby for me. But it got me to thinking about some of the meals I can make!! I want to try mashed cauliflower and a couple of new veggie recipes I found. I want to have a steak with Worcestershire sauce and sauteed mushroom, cooked exactly how I like it. And I am definitely making meatloaf soon! I also have a ham to cook....the spiral cut one I forgot to bring with me to Laura's house on Christmas!

In the news:
Dr Vernon and others are reporting the recent about-face by the ADA in regards to low carb diets. It's a pretty poor endorsement, and it's only for those that need to loose weight, but I think it will prove valuable! Low carb is only recommended for those that need to loose weight, and there are all kinds of cautions to check blood work and watch medication doses. BUT! I think this is going to be a good thing.

I'm thinking maybe we're going to be seeing docs using low carb to get patients to loose weight and they are going to see dramatic improvements, not only with the patient's weight, but blood sugar levels, lipid levels, etc. They are also going to see drops in blood pressure. Eventually it is going to have to dawn on someone that there really is something to this way of eating! I mean really....eventually they are going to realize it.....right?? How about when patients start reporting less GERD? better sleep patterns? Lessening of arthritis symptoms? Come on.....it's gonna happen, right?

On the non-smoking front....I'm still not smoking and have not had even a puff! For the most part it's still been easy, but I'm having a bit more frequent cravings. Actually over the past few days it's eased off again, so maybe this is the way it goes. It certainly isn't because my stress is any less, although having Brian on his own is a bit of a relief!





Just for fun, here are some pictures of my dogs:

Daisy (left) and Duke enjoying their 5th birthday dinner.

Brian playing with Daisy.

We're good puppies!

Trying to get attention while mom is wrapping presents.

And Laura's dogs:

Cheyenne

Kita

Kita (left) and Cheyenne playing.

And finally, Laura's Christmas Tree!!

What if bad fat isn’t so bad?

I'm working, and don't really have time to do this....but I had to post this!!

MSNBC has an article out that is pro fat! It's written by Nina Teicholz and notes that

Suppose you were forced to live on a diet of red meat and whole milk. A diet that, all told, was at least 60 percent fat — about half of it saturated. If your first thoughts are of statins and stents, you may want to consider the curious case of the Masai, a nomadic tribe in Kenya and Tanzania.

In the 1960s, a Vanderbilt University scientist named George Mann, M.D., found that Masai men consumed this very diet (supplemented with blood from the cattle they herded). Yet these nomads, who were also very lean, had some of the lowest levels of cholesterol ever measured and were virtually free of heart disease.

Scientists, confused by the finding, argued that the tribe must have certain genetic protections against developing high cholesterol. But when British researchers monitored a group of Masai men who moved to Nairobi and began consuming a more modern diet, they discovered that the men's cholesterol subsequently skyrocketed.

Similar observations were made of the Samburu — another Kenyan tribe — as well as the Fulani of Nigeria. While the findings from these cultures seem to contradict the fact that eating saturated fat leads to heart disease, it may surprise you to know that this "fact" isn't a fact at all. It is, more accurately, a hypothesis from the 1950s that's never been proved. (Emphasis mine)

In the article, Ms Teiholz discusses how this theory became accepted as fact and the controversy that was heard at the time. She also talks about the findings of the Cochrane Collaboration, which did a meta-analysis of studies that met strict criteria.

"I was disappointed that we didn't find something more definitive," says Lee Hooper, Ph.D., who led the Cochrane review. If this exhaustive analysis didn't provide evidence of the dangers of saturated fat, says Hooper, it was probably because the studies reviewed didn't last long enough, or perhaps because the participants didn't lower their saturated-fat intake enough. Of course, there is a third possibility, which Hooper doesn't mention: The diet-heart hypothesis is incorrect.

Really, a very positive article! Check it out!


Maybe the tide really is changing?

28 days

Quit smoking record - 28 days

28 days gone!!! Whoo Hoo!! And a weight loss on top of it all!!




OK....on November 14th I quit smoking. I had been back on plan for just 2 weeks after having a short but intense binge. After the first week I gained 6 pounds, mostly water according to the doc. I had been using sugar free candies and lollipops to replace the cigarettes and decided enough was enough. As soon as I stopped the junk I lost a few pounds. When I started the tighter dietary restrictions I lost even more (even tho my daily calorie intake is up!). Final outcome, I am 10 pounds lighter than my heaviest weight at the end of the first week, and 4 pounds lighter than the day I quit!

I'm still up 4 pounds from my lowest before the binge, but I'm gonna get there!

Day 25!

No smoking!! Day 25 now!




Doing good....some cravings, but not bad. Shut myself off on any sugar alcohols or artificial sweeteners for a few days, I was getting out of control!