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#1
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Nutition Question Please
After being a diabetic for 25+ years (currently diet/exercise controlled)
and a recent open-heart surgery patient, I have been following my diet VERY strictly. My question is this: All the recommendations I see are for less than 30% of calories from fat, a minimum is never mentioned. I know you do required some fat though. I have been running low to mid teens fat percentage with some days in single digits. Is this okay? Where do we draw the line? Any input would be greatly appreciated. -- Thanks in advance... Bob |
#2
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Nutition Question Please
"Bob Newman" wrote in message
... After being a diabetic for 25+ years (currently diet/exercise controlled) and a recent open-heart surgery patient, I have been following my diet VERY strictly. My question is this: All the recommendations I see are for less than 30% of calories from fat, a minimum is never mentioned. I know you do required some fat though. I have been running low to mid teens fat percentage with some days in single digits. Is this okay? Where do we draw the line? Any input would be greatly appreciated. -- Thanks in advance... Bob It depends on who you ask. Dr. Dean Ornish says we should aim for 10% of calories from fat, or less. He claims to have evidence that a diet of mostly veggies and grains will reverse cardiovascular disease. However, many people have a hard time sticking with that diet. Whenever I've tried to go low fat like that, I seem to end up with more food cravings and actually eat more total calories. [I suspect this is one reason why the Atkins diet seems to work, because eating some fat and protein usually makes us feel more satisfied.] But, if the low-fat approach is working for you, and your weight, blood pressure, and glucose levels are OK, I wouldn't see that as a problem. However, you might want to ask your doctor, and maybe get some lab tests to make sure. GG http://www.WeightWare.com Your Weight and Health Diary |
#3
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Nutition Question Please
Well, since I assume you're not trying to get pregnant and carry a child to term, I wouldn't think it matters. A fetus needs some fats for proper development. I don't know any diabetic women that I can think of so I don't have anybody that I can ask what their doctor said when they were trying to get pregnant. "Bob Newman" wrote in message ... After being a diabetic for 25+ years (currently diet/exercise controlled) and a recent open-heart surgery patient, I have been following my diet VERY strictly. My question is this: All the recommendations I see are for less than 30% of calories from fat, a minimum is never mentioned. I know you do required some fat though. I have been running low to mid teens fat percentage with some days in single digits. Is this okay? Where do we draw the line? Any input would be greatly appreciated. -- Thanks in advance... Bob |
#4
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Nutition Question Please
Nice answer. Sure didn't say much about desirable percentages though.
Bob "Ignoramus4443" wrote in message ... Try reading Bernstein's _Diabetes Solution_. The answer is that I do not believe that your diet is suitable for a diabetic. i In article , Bob Newman wrote: After being a diabetic for 25+ years (currently diet/exercise controlled) and a recent open-heart surgery patient, I have been following my diet VERY strictly. My question is this: All the recommendations I see are for less than 30% of calories from fat, a minimum is never mentioned. I know you do required some fat though. I have been running low to mid teens fat percentage with some days in single digits. Is this okay? Where do we draw the line? Any input would be greatly appreciated. -- -------------------------------------------------------------------------- -- @ @ @ Please forgive my typos as my right hand is injured. @ @ @ char*p="char*p=%c%s%c;main(){printf(p,34,p,34);}"; main(){printf(p,34,p,34);} "It's never too late to have a happy childhood." |
#5
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Nutition Question Please
"Bob Newman" wrote in message
... After being a diabetic for 25+ years (currently diet/exercise controlled) and a recent open-heart surgery patient, I have been following my diet VERY strictly. My question is this: All the recommendations I see are for less than 30% of calories from fat, a minimum is never mentioned. I know you do required some fat though. I have been running low to mid teens fat percentage with some days in single digits. Is this okay? Where do we draw the line? Any input would be greatly appreciated. First, it depends on how your are doing with your diabete and blood lipids. Do you have high cholesterol? How is your HDL/LDL? Do you have high triglycerides? How good is your control? Is your weight normal? The idea behind cutting fats is to keep your cholesterol levels low. Some diabetics have good blood lipids, it's pretty meaningless for them to cut lipids. Actually, it can do more damage than good, since cutting the wrong lipids will also lower HDL cholesterol. Another idea between this is to get you to lose weight through the "traditionnal" low fat diet. But I'm really not convinced you need to cut fat to control your blood lipids. You just need to control what fat you eat and to get good control for your blood sugar. I went from slightly high cholesterol and high triglycerids to normal values (though HDL is still at 0.37, got to get this one to move up, but LDL dropped to 1.2 and triglycerids to 1.13) in just a couple of months. I did eat less and lost weight, so total amount of fats was reduced, but in proportion it actually went up a bit. The only thing I cut dramatically was trans fats. I tried to educate my mother the other day, and I was unable to find any product with hydrogenated fats at home. I did add some omega-3 (fish, walnut oil). And that's all. I still eat butter, red meat... Moreover, cutting fat has a disadvantage for diabete control. The only way to slow down a given carb and lower its glycemic index is to eat it in a meal, along with other food. Some nutriments will slow down carbs : proteins, fibers, fats, acids (lemon juice, vinegar)... Among these, fats do a *very* good job at slowing things down. For instance, I didn't manage to find the glycemic index for traditionnal paella, but I'm willing to bet it's much lower than plain water cooked rice because of the various factors lowering the GI (rice coating in fat before water is added, proteins, lemon juice and olive oil added before serving...). So, it's a problem of balance between how well you control your BG and how bad your blood lipids are. And also of what kind of fat you eat, and your exact lipid profile. Adding the right fats can actually improve both the BG and the lipids. Most "reasonnable" nutritionnists don't think it's healthy to go under 20%. Many actually think 30% is the lower limit - it's already low fat. If you really go too low, you run the risk of lacking some essential fatty acids (which *will* worsen the heart condition and can mess the balance between HDL and LDL), some fat soluble vitamins (A, D, E mainly). You also have the risk of over-eating, because fats provide good long term satiety. If you try to reintroduce some fats, I don't think adding some olive oil and walnut oil (ideal omega 3/omega 6 ratio) would hurt anything. If you prefer canola oil, you should only buy the organic ones (cold extracted, not deodorized) - the others get some trans fats and the omega-3 are partly destroyed by the industrial process. Maybe that's something you could try to consult a good nutritionist (if such a thing exists) for advice. |
#6
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Nutition Question Please
The rest of my "specs" on the diet & test results have been very good at
this point, so far I am leaning towards that 20% fat that you mentioned. Bob "Lictor" wrote in message ... "Bob Newman" wrote in message ... After being a diabetic for 25+ years (currently diet/exercise controlled) and a recent open-heart surgery patient, I have been following my diet VERY strictly. My question is this: All the recommendations I see are for less than 30% of calories from fat, a minimum is never mentioned. I know you do required some fat though. I have been running low to mid teens fat percentage with some days in single digits. Is this okay? Where do we draw the line? Any input would be greatly appreciated. First, it depends on how your are doing with your diabete and blood lipids. Do you have high cholesterol? How is your HDL/LDL? Do you have high triglycerides? How good is your control? Is your weight normal? The idea behind cutting fats is to keep your cholesterol levels low. Some diabetics have good blood lipids, it's pretty meaningless for them to cut lipids. Actually, it can do more damage than good, since cutting the wrong lipids will also lower HDL cholesterol. Another idea between this is to get you to lose weight through the "traditionnal" low fat diet. But I'm really not convinced you need to cut fat to control your blood lipids. You just need to control what fat you eat and to get good control for your blood sugar. I went from slightly high cholesterol and high triglycerids to normal values (though HDL is still at 0.37, got to get this one to move up, but LDL dropped to 1.2 and triglycerids to 1.13) in just a couple of months. I did eat less and lost weight, so total amount of fats was reduced, but in proportion it actually went up a bit. The only thing I cut dramatically was trans fats. I tried to educate my mother the other day, and I was unable to find any product with hydrogenated fats at home. I did add some omega-3 (fish, walnut oil). And that's all. I still eat butter, red meat... Moreover, cutting fat has a disadvantage for diabete control. The only way to slow down a given carb and lower its glycemic index is to eat it in a meal, along with other food. Some nutriments will slow down carbs : proteins, fibers, fats, acids (lemon juice, vinegar)... Among these, fats do a *very* good job at slowing things down. For instance, I didn't manage to find the glycemic index for traditionnal paella, but I'm willing to bet it's much lower than plain water cooked rice because of the various factors lowering the GI (rice coating in fat before water is added, proteins, lemon juice and olive oil added before serving...). So, it's a problem of balance between how well you control your BG and how bad your blood lipids are. And also of what kind of fat you eat, and your exact lipid profile. Adding the right fats can actually improve both the BG and the lipids. Most "reasonnable" nutritionnists don't think it's healthy to go under 20%. Many actually think 30% is the lower limit - it's already low fat. If you really go too low, you run the risk of lacking some essential fatty acids (which *will* worsen the heart condition and can mess the balance between HDL and LDL), some fat soluble vitamins (A, D, E mainly). You also have the risk of over-eating, because fats provide good long term satiety. If you try to reintroduce some fats, I don't think adding some olive oil and walnut oil (ideal omega 3/omega 6 ratio) would hurt anything. If you prefer canola oil, you should only buy the organic ones (cold extracted, not deodorized) - the others get some trans fats and the omega-3 are partly destroyed by the industrial process. Maybe that's something you could try to consult a good nutritionist (if such a thing exists) for advice. |
#7
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Nutition Question Please
"Bob Newman" wrote in message
... The rest of my "specs" on the diet & test results have been very good at this point, so far I am leaning towards that 20% fat that you mentioned. Blood cholesterol is only loosely related to dietary cholesterol. If your metabolism is in good shape and you have no genetic tendency, you can eat high amounts of cholesterol without upping your blood cholesterol. Diabete is sometimes related to cholesterol problems, though it seems it's more a consequence of high BG (ie., cholesterol goes lower when you lower BG) than of diabete itself (the genetic/metabolic condition). If you never had cholesterol problems, it's unlikely to be affected much by your dietary intake. Did you have HDL cholesterol tested as well? It's possible to have normal total cholesterol and an unbalance. That's where what kind of fat you eat is as important as the total amount you eat. It's pretty weird of your doctor to ask you to go low fat if your lipids are good to start with. Unless it's something very specific related to your heart surgery, and I'm afraid noone is an expert on this one here. Maybe that's something to check out on the cardiology newsgroups. |
#8
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Nutition Question Please
"Patricia Heil" wrote in message ... Well, since I assume you're not trying to get pregnant and carry a child to term, I wouldn't think it matters. A fetus needs some fats for proper development. I don't know any diabetic women that I can think of so I don't have anybody that I can ask what their doctor said when they were trying to get pregnant. ??? where does his post say ANYTHING about being pregnant? Did I miss something? Fat content in the diet DOES matter. And it matters what KIND of fat you eat. |
#9
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Nutition Question Please
Bob,
Higher fat diets are gaining medical approval - but the fats must be "good" fats - olive oil, fish oil, peanut oil, etc - low saturated, low "trans-fats." I generally run at 40% fat and have excellent lipid profiles. To prevent heart disease 1) take fish oil capsules or eat fatty fish daily 2) check with your doc about moderate drinking 3) get BP under excellent control 4) Ask your doc about chol control (Lipitor, etc) - you should aim for an aggressive (low chol) target. 5) make sure you're eating enough tomato paste/sauce or taking Lycopene 6) of course, keep your BG under tight control. For the best nutrition advice, see http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/fats.html "Bob Newman" wrote in message ... After being a diabetic for 25+ years (currently diet/exercise controlled) and a recent open-heart surgery patient, I have been following my diet VERY strictly. My question is this: All the recommendations I see are for less than 30% of calories from fat, a minimum is never mentioned. I know you do required some fat though. I have been running low to mid teens fat percentage with some days in single digits. Is this okay? Where do we draw the line? Any input would be greatly appreciated. |
#10
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Nutition Question Please
The "consenus" is shifting away from low fat. Here's the latest
study: "A relatively high amount of fat in the diet may be a boon to a healthy person's cholesterol levels, a small study suggests. On the other hand, limiting fat intake too much could have the opposite effect." http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp...fat_heart_dc_1 "GaryG" wrote in message ... "Bob Newman" wrote in message ... After being a diabetic for 25+ years (currently diet/exercise controlled) and a recent open-heart surgery patient, I have been following my diet VERY strictly. My question is this: All the recommendations I see are for less than 30% of calories from fat, a minimum is never mentioned. I know you do required some fat though. I have been running low to mid teens fat percentage with some days in single digits. Is this okay? Where do we draw the line? Any input would be greatly appreciated. -- Thanks in advance... Bob It depends on who you ask. Dr. Dean Ornish says we should aim for 10% of calories from fat, or less. He claims to have evidence that a diet of mostly veggies and grains will reverse cardiovascular disease. However, many people have a hard time sticking with that diet. Whenever I've tried to go low fat like that, I seem to end up with more food cravings and actually eat more total calories. [I suspect this is one reason why the Atkins diet seems to work, because eating some fat and protein usually makes us feel more satisfied.] But, if the low-fat approach is working for you, and your weight, blood pressure, and glucose levels are OK, I wouldn't see that as a problem. However, you might want to ask your doctor, and maybe get some lab tests to make sure. GG http://www.WeightWare.com Your Weight and Health Diary |
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