Breakfast of Supplements

I'm through well over half of my Seventy Second year, and wondering how much more mileage I have left in the old bones.  My brother is just past Eighty, and he almost died from complications of COVID.  The sad thing is, I think he wanted to die, but his relatives insisted that it wasn't his time to go yet, and so I think, begrudgingly, he decided to live. His criteria for dying was that he didn't want it to be his fault.  And this wasn't, since his brother-in-law had arrived from Arizona with COVID and breathed all over him, and he developed the disease and a long time after started throwing clots.  It was a harrowing struggle for his wife to get him to the hospital, and the hospital managed to keep him alive.  He very nearly died. That's the trouble with being old.  People want you to live, and that's not always first in your thoughts. I've been thinking of what I've been eating for the last month, and this being just after the Christmas Season, I'v...

I have tried fasting off and on in my life, and recently tried some intermittent fasting, and actually had some success in bringing my HbA1c down doing that. But I saw a very good discussion about fasting by Dr Sten Ekberg  where he discusses the beneficial effects of fasting. I think it's a great video, hope you enjoy it! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fgX31OdPaUo PS I should point out that my last serum insulin number was 2.8 which is considered healthy.  My diet is almost entirely vegan and my protein level is not very high, usually I add pea protein to some food, although I do eat bits of cheese and fish.   To really spike insulin, combine protein and carbohydrate, such as starch or sugar.   My doctor explained to me that a lot of people have insulin levels of 13 or higher.      

My cardiologist is breathing down my neck and I'm sure will want to put me on a Statin, which is not an option for me. So I was cutting down on the amount of fat I was eating, primarily because I have an inflamed spot just below my esophagus, and it makes evening difficult if I've eaten anything "wrong", which means anything that will keep me up with a sensation like a finger sticking up my esophagus.   I had my blood draw at the end of August, I see my doctor, and the results on September 7th, and I video with my cardiologist on the 15th.  Yuck. I don't think my scores are great, but I have a better handle on things than I used to. At least I know the basic things to stay away from, I do need some saturated fat for the reason that I start to have real problems without it.   I find this interesting: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_sQrIi-RkuU Dr. Sten Ekberg talks about the standard medical text ( Guyton and Hall Textbook of Medical Physiology ) which he found f...

Once upon a time, I could put anything down my gullet and it would stay there and not complain.  I would have no nasty reaction to food. I'm not like that anymore.  In attempting to eat more fats, I have come across a problem in my gut.  It seems that at the base of my esophagus is a little bit of inflammation, and I get a feeling that someone is sticking a finger up my esophagus. It can keep me awake at night.  Not painful all the time, usually strikes in the evening if I don't restrain my desire for fat.   But I can't eat a lot of fat so have to have some diet other than a ketogenic one. I went to a gastroenterologist who thought it might be GURD, and he prescribed LANSOPRAZOLE,  which is a protein pump inhibitor which shuts down my stomach acid production.   It helps, also nauseating me.  But better nausea than the finger.  My gastroenterologist was a fellow, but my case was a little odd, so he had me talk to the department chair...

I haven't abandoned some of the strictures of the Esselstyn diet, but I have decided that it's not giving me enough of what I need.  Let me point out what my personal doctor said about going back on the Esselstyn diet:   "I reminded him that he looked pretty terrible when I first met him - tremulous, weak, low mm tone/density, more confused, hives all the time - and that he seems much better now so he needs to be quite cautious doing this." Since June 1st , I’ve been cutting back on saturated fats, which I presume will result in lower cholesterol numbers. On June 1 st my hives were mild, I almost didn’t notice them; my cholesterol was 255 and my LDL was 172. My cardiologist wanted to put me on a statin. I've had them before, and I don't like them. So I've been watching ketogenic diet experts discussing the details of how to do a keto diet.  One of these was Dr. Berg , and the other Dr. Stephen Phinney .  They both had interesting things to say, especially ...

Well, I had my first day at the gym in a very long while.  Imagine my surprise when I came home and tested my blood sugar: 175? Why? For the sake of craving, I've been adding the occasional soft or hard boiled egg to my diet, and I had that morning.   Well, and the occasional tin of some small fishy thing like sardines, mackerel or oysters. I think my blood sugar was in a high normal range before I went to the gym, I'm guessing here, but it was really spiked by the time I got back. My guess is that my body went into my stores and converted glycogen or converted something else to glucose.  I've just never noticed that before; maybe I was in better shape. If I stick to my diet which is based on the Esselstyn diet which I cannot tolerate for too long (I tried), then my blood sugars even out in the low to mid 90s.  But I really feel that I'm missing something. I had been missing something, I had a BMI test which indicated a degree of muscle loss (there was not basel...

 I've watched doctors on You Tube explain this or that about diets of various kinds and claim connections between things.  What follows is a presentation by Nina Teicholz a New York Times investigative journalist.  I thought I knew things, apparently I don't , and I'm not sure the people I listened to did either: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rz-8H_i1wA