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Carbohydrate Overload and Unintended Consequences

An Article by DR Wise:

 

Carbohydrate Overload and Unintended Consequences

 

With the arrival of this New Year I had decided that I was too heavy and there needed to be some changes.  So, starting January 1,2012 I began eating differently. As a physician, I have counseled many people for weight reduction and activity programs. Now I needed to follow the same advice.

Basically, there are excessive amounts of carbohydrates in our modern American diet. Too much carbohydrate intake causes elevated blood sugar, which stimulates the release of insulin. The insulin causes the body metabolism to switch over to fat building from fat burning.

By converting the sugar to fat, body mass increases in an unhealthy way, especially if there is no periodic famine to clear out the larder. In a culture of periodic feast vs famine, being able to save extra calories as body fat  getting ready to survive the next famine might be an adaptive advantage if the feasting stops, but is certainly not healthy if the feasting  continues.

When there is free access to food, especially carbohydrates, obesity occurs. The availability of carbohydrates/ sugars year round is not a natural circumstance in the world. Our metabolism is not suited for it. Many of the food crops we gorge upon are  the result of mankind selecting mutant plants  in a process we call “farming”.

Did you know that many of our food crops cannot replicate on their own and continue to exist only because we plant them?

The most notable of these is our favorite mutant plant, corn. A field of corn will not grow by itself if left untended. Corn must be dried, separated and planted by humans in order to grow.

Our fascination with corn includes food chemistry so that massive amounts of “corn syrup” and corn sugar / dextrose are derived every year. Once these products are available, we feel compelled to use them in whatever manner we can to honor the mutant corn plant, our photosynthesizing Frankenstein.

Corn products have been put into everything possible to make more money off of our Frankenstein plant. Did You know that gypsum wall board is made with cornstarch mixed into the plaster as a “pregelled” texture enhancing material  and that the paper is stuck to wall board by cornstarch adhesive?

I know where black mold gets it’s nutrients so it can  grow in our homes and poison us. Yes, it is fed by our favorite mutant plant, corn.

We have even gone so far as to incorporate foreign genetic material into corn to make it toxic to bugs which would dare harm our creation. Monsanto added genes to corn to kill bugs trying to eat corn, most notably the corn borers.

Guess what has happened now? The corn boring pests have mutated / been selected to be resistant to the toxins now in corn plants.

Another unintended consequence of this Pandora’s box of meddling with Mother Nature is the incorporation of the genetics for systemic toxins into other unintended bystander plants.

Monsanto in their arrogant genius never understood that the genes for toxicity would be freely incorporated by other food crops like wheat or strawberries or fruit trees. Now these plants make poisonous pollen which is unhealthy for bees.

Now that this toxic genie has been released, bees are dying in “colony collapse”, threatening the natural plants that need bees to pollinate. Many of our other food crops also need bees to pollinate them; this includes alfalfa and other forage for our livestock. How is that for scary?

So getting back to my spare tire, I realized that I had been eating mostly carbohydrate laden, convenient, but highly unnatural, junk food. So I dusted off my Dr Atkin’s diet book and cut out carbohydrates.

After the first three days of metabolic pandemonium, I felt much better not being on the sugar/insulin rollercoaster. I feel more energetic, less hungry and more alert. In a month I lost 19 pounds and plan to lose another 20 pounds.

I am now eating food easily recognizable as food, without additives and chemicals. I have resumed cooking but have changed what I am cooking so as to avoid/minimize sugars /carbohydrates.

I know that the Joslin clinic was very wrong by teaching physicians to treat hyperglycemia with unnaturally high dosages of insulin rather that teach people to not eat all these toxic carbohydrates. I believe they had an interest in selling insulin to treat diabetes, not in preventing the cause of diabetes, which is excessive dietary carbohydrates.

So please reduce your dietary intake of sugars and carbohydrates to the minimum. Go on the caveman diet and get healthy. Buy Dr Atkin’s book , liberate all those stored calories and follow  a diet suited for your metabolism.

 

 

Use Your Brain and get healthy

 

Sam Wise MD

askdrwise.com

 

Why Grandfather/ Grandmother Might Need a Spinal Tap

ARTICLE BY DR WISE:

 

Why Grandfather/ Grandmother Might Need a Spinal Tap

 

A problem often mischaracterized or “Why Grandfather/ Grandmother Might Need a Spinal Tap”

This month I want to highlight a problem that is very often overlooked or misinterpreted.

When a person over 60 years old begins to forget things and get dulled intellectually there is an increasing frequency that they are given the diagnosis of “probable early Alzheimer’s disease”. Interestingly, they are now often started on an assortment of quite expensive medications or a “study protocol” by the neurologist. Usually there is no improvement in function with the medications but the family is shamed into continuing them to the benefit of the pharmaceutical industry.

I am often dismayed to discover that those newly diagnosed as demented are not even given proper testing before this diagnosis and treatment are given. Most often there has been a cursory history and exam which surprisingly includes electrodiagnostic testing such as nerve conductions, EEG and evoked potential studies (none of which is definitive or actually helpful to diagnose dementia but are good income for the neurologist(s) involved).  I am still surprised that the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease is often reached without any imaging of the brain whatsoever.

It is very important that a proper history, physical exam and testing be done because there is no cure for Alzheimer’s dementia but there are many other conditions which can be improved or cured by early, proper intervention.

Severe thyroid disease may cause significant cognitive impairment and can be likewise significantly improved by corrective treatment. Be sure thyroid testing is done.

Hydrocephalus (water on the brain) is the reason that the pediatrician measures the baby’s head. In infants the bones of the skull are soft and not yet stuck together along the edges so if there is poor drainage of the brain fluid, the head gets bigger. Placement of a drain in the ventricles of the brain to bring the excess fluid under the skin down the neck to the abdominal cavity can save the infant from brain damage and intellectual retardation. Hydrocephalus is then mostly forgotten about past the infant stage.

Once the skull is hardened and fused into a solid shell to protect the brain, excess water in the brain cannot be determined by measuring the outside of the head since it will not increase in size. If there is too much water in the brain of an adult, brain damage can result.

The second peak occurrence of hydrocephalus is in adults over 50, increasing by each further decade of age. The triad of symptoms for adult hydrocephalus consists of: cognitive changes; bladder incontinence’ and impaired gait.

Cognitive changes such as poor memory, somnolence, irritability, wandering, reduced hygiene, apathy or blunted affect may be seen with adult hydrocephalus.

Bladder incontinence is a classic symptom of hydrocephalus.

Gait disturbances in hydrocephalus my look like alcohol abuse. Frequent falling, difficulty getting up from sitting and generalized clumsiness are common with hydrocephalus.

It is important that a brain scan be performed to see if the internal spaces (ventricles) of the brain are enlarged (ventriculomegaly) .

However, there are some variations of hydrocephalus, which may not make the ventricles look significantly enlarged! That is why it is very important to move to the next step in diagnosis and have a large volume spinal tap done. Under fluoroscopy, a needle is inserted into the spine and 40 to 60 cc of spinal fluid is taken out. If the person has hydrocephalus, there usually is a significant improvement in alertness and generalized function! This improvement in function may last for a few hours up to a few weeks in duration . Once the diagnosis of hydrocephalus is confirmed the affected adult can have a Ventricular peritoneal shunt placed by the neurosurgeon.

Placing a VP shunt for hydrocephalus is one of the most successful surgeries that neurosurgeons perform. When hydrocephalus is the problem, a shunting can bring back the parent from the progressive brain fog to improved functioning.  It is often a remarkable improvement in function which improves life for the patient and the family who care about them.

The failure to properly diagnose adult hydrocephalus is a tragedy that can be averted.

Be Well and be sure to think about water on the brain when grandparents are showing the triple symptoms .

 

Sam Wise MD

AskDrWise.com