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
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
Drug Resistant Bacteria
by Dr. Wise
SEPTEMBER 9, 2010
One of the current questions patients ask Me quite often today Is “What about bacteria which are resistant to antibiotics?”
The media is loaded with scary stories about such bacteria these days, seemingly looking for who is to blame. I know who is to blame.
Firstly what are the concerns? Much has been raised about methacillin resistant staph aureus (MRSA) and vancomycin resistant enterococcus (VRE). By reading those sensational articles It would seem that these new superbugs have been purposely created by hospitals and purposely given to the hapless for unknown malicious reasons. Rather than review actuality, hysteriae have been set forth on our country.
Nothing much has been said about multi-drug resistant tuberculosis bacteria or entero-pathogenic E Coli (EEC) which have become increasingly common.
When did you ever see a report about penicillin resistant bacteria? The last one I remember seeing was when I was in training as a medical technologist in the 1970’s.
Remember that wild and crazy guy named Darwin who sailed in a boat called the beagle to some lost islands somewhere off the coast of south america to study the animals which had been trapped as individual populations on those rockpiles to change over time into distinctly different forms? His famous study of finches and iguanas is masterful in it’s scientific importance. Basically, over time there is the survival of those forms best suited for a specific environment. The faster the generation time, the quicker the selection process is evident. Populations of Tortoises take a longer time to adapt than quickly replicating forms like fruit flies. Even faster adaptation can occur with fast dividing lifeforms like bacteriae. It doesn’t take long to exterminate the weak germs and select out the strong (resistant ) ones. Had Darwin known more about his future discovery at the time of his voyage ,He would have collected bacterial specimens also.
Tuberculosis is a bacteria which grows relatively slowly but is fairly resistant (like the sloth of the germ world). Typically , treatment with antibiotics is recommended for extended periods of time (12 months) in order to have a “curative” effect. The problem is that within a relatively short time after starting the medications to treat TB, the afflicted will feel better, move away and stop taking the antibiotics. This selects out the bacteria which are not killed by the antibiotics and they grow to cause more infections in other exposed persons. The result of this selection are strains of tuberculosis which are almost impossible to treat. This is a major world health problem that is not properly addressed.
EEC is a major problem, driven by greed and improper livestock practices. When cattle are crowded into unnaturally confined spaces such as feedlots to be fattened up for market, they get stressed and get severe diarrhea called the scours. This makes the cattle fail to fatten up, lose weight or even die. This causes the feedlot to lose money. The answer by the industry was to load the feed up with antibiotics to prevent the scours and increase weight gain. The bovine e-coli then can become resistant to all the antibiotics given. Soon they are resistant to all know oral antibiotic families. When bacteria from the cattle’s intestines get onto the meat products because of unsanitary slaughter the product is tons of hamburger full of dangerous bacteria. When that hamburger is handled non-hygeincally the cooks get sick and if not adequately cooked, those who eat the product often die.
Proper feedlot management can essentially prevent the scours without using antibiotic feeds and produce healthy fattened cattle, but not as fast . Proper slaughter techniques can minimize bacterial contamination of the meat, but is slower and less profitable. Bulk grinding of meat trimmings can produce prodigious volumes of inoculated burgers.
Greed , greed, and more greed.
Estimates of prevalence for VRE and MRSA in the united states is roughly %50 of the population! So, if you went to the mall and cultured 100 people in a row, 1/2 of them would have MRSA . Out of that same 100 people, 1/2 would have VRE . I have no idea what percentage of those 100 would have both, but it is known that bacteria are often very friendly to one another (even EEC to MRSA) and freely exchange genetic material called plasmids which contain drug resistance coding. That is the mechanism by which most of these resistances have spread in our population. We all have staphylococcus and enterococcus bacteria , and resistance development is inevitable with sufficient drug exposure.
Why are there no more reports about penicillin resistant bacteria? It is because essentially all bacteria in our bodies have become resistant to penicillin since it was discovered by Alexander Fleming on September 3rd 1928. After that date , antibiotic production and distribution has reached humongous industrial proportions. Just look at the ads on TV for a clue.
We could blame it all on the father of antibiotics but please don’t. Instead, why not Ask for rational policy on antibiotic usage in all areas of application from feedlots to clinics to hospitals? Please Don’t take antibiotics unneeded. Have cultures taken to assure proper selection of antibiotics and effective completion of treatment. Be certain to finish your course of antibiotic treatment properly , how many partial bottles are sitting in your medicine cabinet?
Remember that we live because of a delicate balance between that which is within and that which is outside of us all. Very Few live in a bubble. Neglecting the rules of our ecology will result in unintended, negative consequence.
Use your brain first and Stay Healthy !
Regards
SamWise MD
Why is nicotine in tobacco?
by Dr. Wise
October 1, 2010
One of the perplexing health problems common today is tobacco use and how to convince people to please avoid this toxic weed. The “English” royal family was so thrilled when the americas gave them another drug to profit from that they Knighted Walter Raleigh and spread tobacco around the globe in short order.
There have been much effort given to educate people about the bad health effects of tobacco in the last 20 years , yet smoking still goes on. For some people nicotine/tobacco is highly addictive, while others (fortunately for them) feel sick when exposed and never become habituated. Despite all these efforts to educate the public to avoid tobacco there has been an absence of important information as if systematically deleted. I wonder why?
I have yet to have anyone answer this question correctly, “Why is nicotine in tobacco plants?”
The most common response is, “To get You addicted”. As if this plant is made by the devil and empowered with a malevolent spirit to enslave and torture human beings because we can walk about while the plant must stay rooted. The second most common response is, “I do not know”.
Remember Darwin and the natural selection theory? If plants are a certain way, or apply energies towards a certain product or structure, there must be an advantage to the successful plant in doing so. It is unthinkable that plants would want us to be addicted although the propagation of tobacco has resulted in many more numbers of high nicotine tobacco plants that what would be seen “in the wild form”.
The logical answer is best. Nicotine kills bugs! Very few insects can eat tobacco and live ( I know of none that smoke it, only the crazy monkeys do that ). If you want to keep the bugs out of your garden just plant a few tobacco plants.
“Natural ” pesticides such as black leaf-40 are plain old nicotine! Most pesticides and nerve gas poisons are based upon nicotine . When bugs get sprayed with nicotine they fall over,stiffen and have fatal seizures from nerve toxicity. The same thing happens in people when exposed to nicotine spray acutely, while chronic toxicity is another discussion. Nicotine is approximately 1/3 as poisonous as arsenic ( lethal Dose 50 of 50 mg/kg vs lethal dose 50 of 14mg/kg) {http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Median_lethal_dose }. Nicotine is six times more toxic than rat poison! Please stop smoking !
Please Look at the attached excerpted info and share with every one You know so people will quit . For those interested in more information I will post the entire insert warning and some additional links on my website AskDrWise.com . We didn’t even talk about smoking’s role in cancer, copd/emphysema, wound healing failure, infections, cardiovascular disease, hypertension , liver disease, kidney disease, glaucoma, cataracts, dental health, car crashes and house fires.
Use Your Brain First and Stay healthy!
Sam Wise MD
