Monday, March 29, 2004
Hypoglycemia - Blood Suger Levels
Hypoglycemia - Blood Suger Levels
The medical laboratory definition of normal is the range of values that
includes the middle 95% of the normal population. That didn't come out as
clearly as I would have liked so let me show you with an example. The lab will
take 100 normal people (none of them known to have a disease that effects the
test being done). They will take the values of all the normal people, throw out
the top 2.5% and the bottom 2.5% and call the remaining 95% their "normal
range" for that test. In reality one does not have to take 100 or even 1000
people to define the normal range. One can use statistics to define it. By
calculating the average (mean) and something called the standard deviation and
assume the test is distributed in a Guassian Distribution, the normal range is
2 standard devations below the average to 2 standard deviations above the
average. Trust me that a normal range can be calculated from a sample of people
without disease, and will include 95% of of those disease free people.
The normal range is a usefull concept but has some limitations. One limitation
is that there are 5% of people without any disease (2.5% below the normal and
2.5% above the normal) who will be labeled abnormal. Another limitation is that
some people with a disease that is being tested for may still fall into the
normal range. This is because the definition of normal only used people without
the disease. Put another way, some people with the disease may test as normal
because there is some overlap of the people with the disease, with the test
results of normal people.
Okay, with that preface in mind, let's look at the normal plasma glucose level,
derived from a population of normal individuals.
This data comes from 52 premenopausal women and 12 men. If you want to look up
the article it was written by TJ Mariwee and JE Tyson and is called, "Stabilization
of Plasma Glucose During Fasting." and comes from the New England Journal of Medicine,
volume 291, pages 1275-1278, in 1974.
The normal values differ between men and women and will be presented
separately. The normals are:
WOMEN
fasting 68-110 mg/dl
24 hrs fasting 34-81 mg/dl
48 hrs fasting 37-62 mg/dl
72 hrs fasting 15-68 mg/dl
MEN
fasting 66-111 mg/dl
24 hrs fasting 55-103 mg/dl
48 hrs fasting 50-99 mg/dl
72 hrs fasting 50-85 mg/dl.
Let me reitterate, these come from normal individuals (no known diabetes and no
hypoglycemic symptoms). I will make a comment on these figures. Some normal
women can get very low glucose levels and have no hypoglycemic symptoms.
Therefore a low glucose level does not give someone the diagnosis of
hypoglycemia.
posted by Anonymous
PermaLink @ 2:36 PM 0 comments
The medical laboratory definition of normal is the range of values that
includes the middle 95% of the normal population. That didn't come out as
clearly as I would have liked so let me show you with an example. The lab will
take 100 normal people (none of them known to have a disease that effects the
test being done). They will take the values of all the normal people, throw out
the top 2.5% and the bottom 2.5% and call the remaining 95% their "normal
range" for that test. In reality one does not have to take 100 or even 1000
people to define the normal range. One can use statistics to define it. By
calculating the average (mean) and something called the standard deviation and
assume the test is distributed in a Guassian Distribution, the normal range is
2 standard devations below the average to 2 standard deviations above the
average. Trust me that a normal range can be calculated from a sample of people
without disease, and will include 95% of of those disease free people.
The normal range is a usefull concept but has some limitations. One limitation
is that there are 5% of people without any disease (2.5% below the normal and
2.5% above the normal) who will be labeled abnormal. Another limitation is that
some people with a disease that is being tested for may still fall into the
normal range. This is because the definition of normal only used people without
the disease. Put another way, some people with the disease may test as normal
because there is some overlap of the people with the disease, with the test
results of normal people.
Okay, with that preface in mind, let's look at the normal plasma glucose level,
derived from a population of normal individuals.
This data comes from 52 premenopausal women and 12 men. If you want to look up
the article it was written by TJ Mariwee and JE Tyson and is called, "Stabilization
of Plasma Glucose During Fasting." and comes from the New England Journal of Medicine,
volume 291, pages 1275-1278, in 1974.
The normal values differ between men and women and will be presented
separately. The normals are:
WOMEN
fasting 68-110 mg/dl
24 hrs fasting 34-81 mg/dl
48 hrs fasting 37-62 mg/dl
72 hrs fasting 15-68 mg/dl
MEN
fasting 66-111 mg/dl
24 hrs fasting 55-103 mg/dl
48 hrs fasting 50-99 mg/dl
72 hrs fasting 50-85 mg/dl.
Let me reitterate, these come from normal individuals (no known diabetes and no
hypoglycemic symptoms). I will make a comment on these figures. Some normal
women can get very low glucose levels and have no hypoglycemic symptoms.
Therefore a low glucose level does not give someone the diagnosis of
hypoglycemia.
posted by Anonymous
PermaLink @ 2:36 PM 0 comments
Hypoglycemia Treatment
Hypoglycemia Treatment
Definition of HypoglycemiaIf you are like most sufferers of hypoglycemia, you have at this point seen at least two or three doctors and all of them tell you that nothing is wrong with you, that you are in perfect health. You feel like telling your doctor, "If I am so healthy, why do I feel so bad?" The basic problem is that the medical establishment does not recognize all of the manifestations of hypoglycemia. The generally accepted definition is that your blood glucose level has to drop below 50 mg per 100 ml in order for you to be deemed to have hypoglycemia
Hypoglycemia TreatmentAll the causes of hypoglycemia are not known. What has grown up, however, is a body of knowledge of things one can do to help alleviate the symptoms. The basic problem is that for some reason the body does not handle blood glucose properly. If you eat sugar, or something that is easily converted to sugar by the body, the sharp rise in blood sugar causes too great an increase in the levels of insulin. The result is that the blood sugar is driven too low, too fast. Since the brain doesn't store a great deal of energy, like say the muscles do, it is very sensitive to the levels of blood sugar. If the brain isn't operating properly, then you can get all sorts of different symptoms.
The first basic treatment is to avoid all foods that contain elemental sugar. This includes almost all desserts and junk foods. (Actually that wouldn't be so bad for a "healthy" person would it?) It also includes all non diet soft drinks. A lot of people find that caffeine also stimulates the release of blood glucose and precipitates a reaction. That is the reason why caffeine helps keep people awake and "gives" them energy, it's really the increase in blood glucose giving them the extra energy. Beware of anything that comes in a box from the supermarket. The food industry loves to add sugar to things to entice you to eat their products. The worst offender you can think of are breakfast cereals. They not only put sugar in their product, but on their product. The cereal that I have ended up with is Shredded Wheat, which has no added sugar.
The second basic treatment is to give your body small doses of food at more frequent times during the day (the frequency people use varies from 6 times a day up to 11 or 12 times a day). These snacks should, of course, be smaller portions of things which are digested slowly. Things that are digested slowly include protein and complex carbohydrates. For comparison, simple carbohydrates are include things like sugar. Complex carbohydrates include whole grains and fresh vegetables. Beware of everything that has ingredients that end in -ose, which denotes a sugar. These include dextrose, glucose, maltose, sucrose, sorbital. Fruits are sort of in a gray area, with their fructose. If you have a fruit drink, such as apple juice, then the sugars can be absorbed quickly. If you have applesauce, then the body has to do some breaking down of the applesauce before it can get to the sugar. If you have a whole apple, then the body has a lot of breaking down to do. You have to read labels to see if the products have sugar in them.
To help me keep my weight down, a dietician prescribed non fat proteins for me to eat. These include nonfat string cheese, cream cheese, and bean dip. Surprisingly, if you cut out the simple carbohydrates, you probably won't gain weight eating all those snacks. In fact, you might even lose weight!
posted by Anonymous
PermaLink @ 2:05 PM 0 comments
Definition of HypoglycemiaIf you are like most sufferers of hypoglycemia, you have at this point seen at least two or three doctors and all of them tell you that nothing is wrong with you, that you are in perfect health. You feel like telling your doctor, "If I am so healthy, why do I feel so bad?" The basic problem is that the medical establishment does not recognize all of the manifestations of hypoglycemia. The generally accepted definition is that your blood glucose level has to drop below 50 mg per 100 ml in order for you to be deemed to have hypoglycemia
Hypoglycemia TreatmentAll the causes of hypoglycemia are not known. What has grown up, however, is a body of knowledge of things one can do to help alleviate the symptoms. The basic problem is that for some reason the body does not handle blood glucose properly. If you eat sugar, or something that is easily converted to sugar by the body, the sharp rise in blood sugar causes too great an increase in the levels of insulin. The result is that the blood sugar is driven too low, too fast. Since the brain doesn't store a great deal of energy, like say the muscles do, it is very sensitive to the levels of blood sugar. If the brain isn't operating properly, then you can get all sorts of different symptoms.
The first basic treatment is to avoid all foods that contain elemental sugar. This includes almost all desserts and junk foods. (Actually that wouldn't be so bad for a "healthy" person would it?) It also includes all non diet soft drinks. A lot of people find that caffeine also stimulates the release of blood glucose and precipitates a reaction. That is the reason why caffeine helps keep people awake and "gives" them energy, it's really the increase in blood glucose giving them the extra energy. Beware of anything that comes in a box from the supermarket. The food industry loves to add sugar to things to entice you to eat their products. The worst offender you can think of are breakfast cereals. They not only put sugar in their product, but on their product. The cereal that I have ended up with is Shredded Wheat, which has no added sugar.
The second basic treatment is to give your body small doses of food at more frequent times during the day (the frequency people use varies from 6 times a day up to 11 or 12 times a day). These snacks should, of course, be smaller portions of things which are digested slowly. Things that are digested slowly include protein and complex carbohydrates. For comparison, simple carbohydrates are include things like sugar. Complex carbohydrates include whole grains and fresh vegetables. Beware of everything that has ingredients that end in -ose, which denotes a sugar. These include dextrose, glucose, maltose, sucrose, sorbital. Fruits are sort of in a gray area, with their fructose. If you have a fruit drink, such as apple juice, then the sugars can be absorbed quickly. If you have applesauce, then the body has to do some breaking down of the applesauce before it can get to the sugar. If you have a whole apple, then the body has a lot of breaking down to do. You have to read labels to see if the products have sugar in them.
To help me keep my weight down, a dietician prescribed non fat proteins for me to eat. These include nonfat string cheese, cream cheese, and bean dip. Surprisingly, if you cut out the simple carbohydrates, you probably won't gain weight eating all those snacks. In fact, you might even lose weight!
posted by Anonymous
PermaLink @ 2:05 PM 0 comments
Thursday, March 25, 2004
Low Carb, Osteoporosis, and Calcium
Osteoporosis is a condition in which the amount of bone tissue isso low that bones fracture easily in response to minimal stress or force.It affects more than 25 million Americans, 80 percent of whom are women.At higher risks are white or Asian women who are in the early stages of menopause.
Certain lifestyle factors will increase the risk: smoking, drinkingalcohol in excess, exercising too little, and not taking enough calcium withfood or supplements. There also are some medications that can rob your body of calcium.
To learn more about getting enough calcium in your low carb diet read the Full article - Low Carb, Osteoporosis, and Calcium
posted by Unknown
PermaLink @ 2:05 PM 0 comments
Certain lifestyle factors will increase the risk: smoking, drinkingalcohol in excess, exercising too little, and not taking enough calcium withfood or supplements. There also are some medications that can rob your body of calcium.
To learn more about getting enough calcium in your low carb diet read the Full article - Low Carb, Osteoporosis, and Calcium
posted by Unknown
PermaLink @ 2:05 PM 0 comments
Hardees and Carl's Jr. Offering Low-Carb Breakfast Bowls
I noticed another low carb fast food special while driving through Sand Springs, Oklahoma today. Hardees and Carl's Jr. are now offering a 'Low-Carb Breakfast Bowl' containing six total grams of carbohydrates.
The meal includes two folded eggs, a sausage patty, a slice of Swiss cheese and a "Loaded Omelet" made with sausage, bacon, diced ham and cheddar cheese. The product is topped with crumbled bacon and shredded cheddar cheese—all packaged in a 20-oz. plastic bowl.
Oklahoma Carb Counter News
posted by Unknown
PermaLink @ 1:30 PM 0 comments
The meal includes two folded eggs, a sausage patty, a slice of Swiss cheese and a "Loaded Omelet" made with sausage, bacon, diced ham and cheddar cheese. The product is topped with crumbled bacon and shredded cheddar cheese—all packaged in a 20-oz. plastic bowl.
Oklahoma Carb Counter News
posted by Unknown
PermaLink @ 1:30 PM 0 comments
Monday, March 22, 2004
How Does the Atkins Diet Cause Weightloss?
Q: How does the Atkins diet work?
Full Article - How does the Atkins diet work? From the New Castle News.
posted by Unknown
PermaLink @ 11:24 AM 0 comments
A: In two ways.
One, by restricting carbohydrates - particularly processed, sugary and starchy foods like breads, pasta, cereal - you eliminate a lot of empty calories from your diet. When you replace those foods with protein sources like meat, you will feel full and consume fewer calories. While Atkins does not stress portion control, that's often why it works.
On a more technical level, when you strictly limit carbohydrates (glucose), the body will turn to another source for energy - namely fat. Starving the body of glucose triggers a process called ketosis: The body scavenges for glucose and begins consuming its own tissues, including fat and muscle. This, in turn, produces ketones; they can be toxic if accumulated, so they are eliminated. In practical terms, that means you have to pee a lot. That's how you lose weight. In fact, almost all the weight you lose at the outset of the diet will be water.
Full Article - How does the Atkins diet work? From the New Castle News.
posted by Unknown
PermaLink @ 11:24 AM 0 comments
Sunday, March 21, 2004
Painless Real-time Continuous Glucose Readings
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - People with type 1 diabetes have to constantly check their blood sugar levels, a chore that involves finger pricks and test strips and a special meter. That might all become a thing of the past with an implanted blood glucose monitor that provides a continuous reading.
Full Article from Reuters
posted by Unknown
PermaLink @ 11:46 AM 0 comments
Full Article from Reuters
posted by Unknown
PermaLink @ 11:46 AM 0 comments
Monday, March 15, 2004
Z-Carb Bars Hit the Shelves of Local Wal-Mart
Z-Carb bars are starting to hit the shelves of local Wal-Marts and they are carrying the much sought after Dark Chocolate bars! At the local Okmulgee & Henryetta Oklahoma Wal-Marts, they “had” Dark Chocolate with Soy (tastes like a Dark Chocolate Crunch Bar), Dark Chocolate with Macadamia nuts and plain Dark Chocolate. Enjoy!
posted by Anonymous
PermaLink @ 7:44 AM 0 comments
posted by Anonymous
PermaLink @ 7:44 AM 0 comments
Wednesday, March 10, 2004
Sugar-free Lemon Meringue Non-Pie
...if you just want something for dessert that doesn't have a million billion calories and is nice and fresh, make this.
from the daily bread Sugar-free Lemon Meringue Non-Pie trackback
posted by Unknown
PermaLink @ 8:32 PM 0 comments
from the daily bread Sugar-free Lemon Meringue Non-Pie trackback
posted by Unknown
PermaLink @ 8:32 PM 0 comments
Monday, March 08, 2004
Official SUBWAY Restaurants' Web Site
Official SUBWAY Restaurants' Web Site
Atkins®-Friendly Wraps Now Available at SUBWAY®Restaurants
SUBWAY® Restaurants believes in providing its customers with food choices that can help them maintain a balanced eating plan. In partnership with Atkins Nutritionals Inc., SUBWAY® Restaurants offers two delicious menu options for a low-carb diet with new Atkins-friendly wraps, available at all 18,300-plus Subway locations in North America.
With less than 11 grams of Net Carbs, the new Atkins-friendly Turkey & Bacon Melt Wrap and Chicken Bacon Ranch Wrap give carb-conscious customers the opportunity to come to SUBWAY® Restaurants for alternatives to traditional high-carb fast foods.
Any 6-inch sub can also be made into a wrap! Learn more about Atkins-friendly wraps here.
I've had the "Chicken Bacon Ranch Wrap" as is and with extra meat and cheese. I found it to be very good.
posted by Anonymous
PermaLink @ 2:19 PM 0 comments
Atkins®-Friendly Wraps Now Available at SUBWAY®Restaurants
SUBWAY® Restaurants believes in providing its customers with food choices that can help them maintain a balanced eating plan. In partnership with Atkins Nutritionals Inc., SUBWAY® Restaurants offers two delicious menu options for a low-carb diet with new Atkins-friendly wraps, available at all 18,300-plus Subway locations in North America.
With less than 11 grams of Net Carbs, the new Atkins-friendly Turkey & Bacon Melt Wrap and Chicken Bacon Ranch Wrap give carb-conscious customers the opportunity to come to SUBWAY® Restaurants for alternatives to traditional high-carb fast foods.
Any 6-inch sub can also be made into a wrap! Learn more about Atkins-friendly wraps here.
I've had the "Chicken Bacon Ranch Wrap" as is and with extra meat and cheese. I found it to be very good.
posted by Anonymous
PermaLink @ 2:19 PM 0 comments
Carbohydrate Counting
Carbohydrate Counting
by: Kendra Blanchette, RD, CDE
Carbohydrate counting is one of several methods of meal planning used by people with diabetes. This relatively new approach was one of the meal planning methods used in the Diabetes Control and Complications Trial (DCCT), and it is based on recent advances in the study of diabetes management.
Carbohydrates in the diet have a direct effect on blood glucose levels. All foods that provide calories are converted into glucose by the body. While fats and proteins in a meal are eventually converted by the body into glucose to use for energy, carbohydrates (sugars and starches) are converted to blood glucose quickly- within an hour or so after a meal. Therefore, the level of glucose in the blood after a meal will be directly related to the amount of carbohydrate just eaten.
posted by Anonymous
PermaLink @ 2:07 PM 0 comments
by: Kendra Blanchette, RD, CDE
Carbohydrate counting is one of several methods of meal planning used by people with diabetes. This relatively new approach was one of the meal planning methods used in the Diabetes Control and Complications Trial (DCCT), and it is based on recent advances in the study of diabetes management.
Carbohydrates in the diet have a direct effect on blood glucose levels. All foods that provide calories are converted into glucose by the body. While fats and proteins in a meal are eventually converted by the body into glucose to use for energy, carbohydrates (sugars and starches) are converted to blood glucose quickly- within an hour or so after a meal. Therefore, the level of glucose in the blood after a meal will be directly related to the amount of carbohydrate just eaten.
posted by Anonymous
PermaLink @ 2:07 PM 0 comments
Urban Legends Reference Pages: Toxin du jour (Kiss My Aspartame) - Feed back from a reader!!!
Urban Legends Reference Pages: Toxin du jour (Kiss My Aspartame): "eye"
posted by Anonymous
PermaLink @ 2:04 PM 0 comments
posted by Anonymous
PermaLink @ 2:04 PM 0 comments
Friday, March 05, 2004
Low Carb Family
From 'Atkins' to 'The Zone' to 'The South Beach Diet,' Americans are crazy about low-carbohydrate diets. As a result, low-carb foods have become a $15 billion-a-year business. 'Extremely Perfect' will be broadcast Friday, March 5, at 10 p.m. ET/PT. CBS correspondent Susan Spencer will reports on the once-overweight Stella family from Norwalk, Conn. Family members went low-carb and collectively lost 560 pounds.
Low Carb Family
posted by Unknown
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Low Carb Family
posted by Unknown
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Tuesday, March 02, 2004
EYE PROBLEMS - CONCERNING THE USE OF PRODUCTS CONTAINING ASPARTAME - H. J. ROBERTS, M.D., F.A.C.P., F.C.C.P
The following is a report just completed by H. J. Roberts, M.D. on the damaging effects of aspartame on the eye.
Full Article
It is my opinion that individuals who consume products containing aspartame, including drugs and supplements, should avoid them when no specific cause can be found for the eye problems:
* Decreased vision -- including blindness in one or both eyes
* Blurring, "bright-flashes", tunnel vision, "black spots"
* Double vision
* Pain in one or both eyes
* Decreased tears
* Difficulty wearing contact lens
* Unexplained retinal detachment and bleeding
The same precaution is reasonable for persons in whom these complaints are due to other disorders because they could be aggravated by aspartame, even in minimal amounts.
* Surgery of immature cataracts should be deferred in patients who consume aspartame until after abstaining from it for 1-2 months to determine if spontaneous improvement of vision occurs.
* Impaired vision of diabetic patients should not be assumed to be due to diabetic retinopathy without such a "no aspartame test" trial.
* A similar trial is warranted in persons diagnosed as having "macular degeneration".
* The diagnosis of "early multiple sclerosis" - based on concomitantin eye and neurologic features - should be deferred pending a "no aspartame test".
These corporate neutral suggestions are based on considerable observation, research and correspondence published in more than a score of articles and two books.
posted by Anonymous
PermaLink @ 11:44 AM 0 comments
Full Article
It is my opinion that individuals who consume products containing aspartame, including drugs and supplements, should avoid them when no specific cause can be found for the eye problems:
* Decreased vision -- including blindness in one or both eyes
* Blurring, "bright-flashes", tunnel vision, "black spots"
* Double vision
* Pain in one or both eyes
* Decreased tears
* Difficulty wearing contact lens
* Unexplained retinal detachment and bleeding
The same precaution is reasonable for persons in whom these complaints are due to other disorders because they could be aggravated by aspartame, even in minimal amounts.
* Surgery of immature cataracts should be deferred in patients who consume aspartame until after abstaining from it for 1-2 months to determine if spontaneous improvement of vision occurs.
* Impaired vision of diabetic patients should not be assumed to be due to diabetic retinopathy without such a "no aspartame test" trial.
* A similar trial is warranted in persons diagnosed as having "macular degeneration".
* The diagnosis of "early multiple sclerosis" - based on concomitantin eye and neurologic features - should be deferred pending a "no aspartame test".
These corporate neutral suggestions are based on considerable observation, research and correspondence published in more than a score of articles and two books.
posted by Anonymous
PermaLink @ 11:44 AM 0 comments
