If you’ve been diagnosed with diabetes or pre-diabetes, your doctor will probably advise you according to the recommendations promoted by the American Diabetes Association. You’ll be told there is no cure, that you should exercise, eat more carbohydrates and less fat, monitor your blood sugar, and control your blood sugar with insulin.

Dr. Scott Olson, a naturopathic physician, describes that advice as, “a recipe for more diabetes.” In this interview, Scott discusses:

• The role of sugar in causing diabetes
• How sugar is digested, metabolized by the liver, and stored as fat
• How chronic sugar consumption causes insulin resistance and diabetes
• A healthy diet to reverse diabetes
• The glycemic index
• Sugar addiction

Total time: 36 minutes.

Interview

Click to listen to interview or right-click to download MP3 file

Bio

Dr. Scott Olson is a Naturopathic doctor, expert in alternative medicine, author, and medical researcher. Dr. Scott has spent his whole life researching optimal diets for humans. Spurred on by his patients’ struggles with sugar addiction, he was determined to discover just how addictive and harmful sugar can be and ways to overcome that addiction. You can reach Scott at Olson ND.

Books by Scott Olson

For years, Paul Jaminet suffered symptoms similar to multiple sclerosis with no help from the medical profession. His wife, Shou-Ching, was also afflicted with numerous illnesses. They decided to invest their time in researching health and nutrition so that they could bring their bodies back to health. The result of their research is published in their book, Perfect Health Diet.

I learned a lot about chronic infections and how they influence health. I believe that chronic infections are a primary cause of almost all the diseases of aging. And also the importance of diet and nutrition and how powerful they are. They really work much better than any medicine. Our body is meant to be healthy and if you give it the right materials it will be pretty effective at making it healthy. Medicines aren’t designed to optimize the body. It’s already optimized if you give it the right food. — Paul Jaminet

In today’s interview, Paul shares what he feels is the preferred macronutrient composition of the human diet and why eating fat is so important. We discuss optimal percentages of protein, carbohydrate and fat based on three criteria:

1. What other animals subsist on (it’s not what they eat but what their bodies do with what they eat)
2. The composition of human breast milk
3. The protein, fat and carbohydrate composition of the human body

Paul also discusses toxicity of plants, plants to avoid entirely, safe starches, what can happen on a diet too low in fat, and his new book in the works.

Total time: 40 minutes.

Interview

Click to listen to interview or right-click to download MP3 file

Bio

Paul Jaminet, Ph.D. Paul was an astrophysicist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, became a software entrepreneur during the Internet boom, and now provides strategic advice to entrepreneurial companies in the software, media, and health industries. Paul’s experience overcoming a chronic illness led he and his wife Shou-Ching, a vascular biologist and cancer researcher on the Harvard Medical School faculty, to investigate the
optimal diet and how diet can be used as a therapy for chronic disease.
Together, Paul and Shou-Ching wrote their book, Perfect Health Diet: Four
Steps to Renewed Health, Youthful Vitality, and Long Life, and blog Perfect Health Diet. In the year since its publication, Perfect Health Diet has helped hundreds of readers cure chronic diseases.

In this interview, Paul Thacker, investigator for Project on Government Oversight (POGO), discusses conflict of interest between physicians, academia and the pharmaceutical industry.

The pharmaceutical industry puts billions of dollars every year into ensuring that their products are used, all the way from ensuring that if someone has a problem, that they’re treated with their product or to ensure even sometimes that products are used when they’re not really needed to be used. These are very sophisticated marketing campaigns where money is shoved through a variety of channels to create influence. — Mr. Paul Thacker

Topics discussed are:

• The different clinical trials and their functions
• How phase 4 trials are designed primarily as marketing events
• Why FDA approval of drugs does not guarantee their safety
• Pharmaceutical industry influence on integrity in medical reporting
• How doctors decide which medicines to prescribe
• Why doctors are the best sales representatives for pharmaceutical companies
• How doctors increase their publications and status through unethical ghost writing

Total time: 19 minutes.

Interview

Click to listen to interview or right-click to download MP3 file

Bio

Paul Thacker is an investigator for POGO (Project on Government Oversight) after working for three years as an investigator on the Senate Finance Committee for Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa. Mr. Thacker’s investigation into Avandia pressured the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to place patient safety before drug industry profits. In 2007, Mr. Thacker helped initiate an ongoing probe of the financial ties between industry and physicians who receive research grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The investigations were critical in helping to pass Senator Grassley’s Physicians Payments Sunshine Act, which recently became law. Prior to working on the Hill, Mr. Thacker spent several years as a journalist writing about science, medicine, and the environment. His work was profiled in the first season of the award-winning PBS series “Exposé: America’s Investigative Reports.”

The Hidden Truth Behind America’s Deadliest Habit and the Simple Way to Beat It

Journalistic journey in reversing pre-diabetes

Jeff O’Connell, a slender, athletic writer for a men’s health magazine, is diagnosed with pre-diabetes. Seeing his estranged father waste away from the disease, O’Connell sets out to find a cure for his condition and is confronted with a health care system incapable of advising him on preventing diabetes.

Part biography, part exposé, O’Connell chronicles his search for the cause and treatment of pre-diabetes by interviewing countless medical experts and government agencies. The advice consistently given is, “Eat more carbohydrates and less fat, and manage your blood sugar with drugs,” advice that is counterintuitive for a disease that is caused by blood sugar dysregulation and does nothing to reverse it. Unfortunately, the book repeats this theme chapter after chapter, the monotony broken only by personal accounts of the author’s own health issues.

O’Connell rightly contends that high-carbohydrate diets and lack of physical exercise are causative factors in the development of diabetes. And he hammers home the message that if you rely on government-sanctioned advice for managing diabetes, you can look forward to progressive deterioration, limb amputation, heart and kidney disease and death.

He also raises two very important issues: first, that he suffers from reactive hypoglycemia (the high ups and severe downs of blood sugar), which he feels is common among high-carb eaters and a precursor to diabetes; secondly, that the A1C upon which doctors rely so heavily is skewed by this reactive hypoglycemia. The A1C test basically measures the average of fluctuating blood sugar, so someone with reactive hypoglycemia may average out to have an acceptable A1C score showing they are not diabetic, which would be false.

Overall, I found the book very dry and annoyingly repetitive, and halfway through I just didn’t want to read any more. If you enjoy journalism, biographies and personal anecdotes, you may enjoy this book. But if you’re looking for something more on science and biology, I recommend Dr. Bernstein’s Diabetes Solution.

Disclosure: I received a review copy of this book from the publisher.

Buy Sugar Nation from Amazon.

A New Dimension in Energy Healing by Prof. Keith Scott-Mumby MB ChB, MD, PhD

A Much-Needed Paradigm Change in Medicine

Modern mechanistic science views disease as a biological malfunction that needs to be manipulated and controlled with pharmaceutical chemicals. Noncomplying tissues must be burned with radiation or excised through surgery. But what if this paradigm that dominates medical science is not only completely flawed but ultimately harmful to long-term health?

The new paradigm based on quantum physics views ill health as an electromagnetic disturbance in the energy field of the human body, a body created and maintained not by biology but by information fields. As Rupert Sheldrake presents it, life and the conscious process make matter, and not the other way around.

And since everything is created and formed by information fields, these fields can affect one another. For example, the information field and radiation put out by bacteria can interfere with our own energy signals resulting in disease. Specialized equipment has been used diagnostically for decades to “listen” for transmissions from pathogens and cancel them out using electromagnetic inversion. Cancer fields can be discovered years before cancer is detected using conventional diagnostics.

Disease can now be redefined as a disruption, cessation or distortion arising in the information and energy fields. The best way to approach disease then, surely, is by correcting these disturbances, which will then eliminate the disharmony and disease process — in other words, bring about healing. — Prof. Scott-Mumby

Virtual Medicine explains the history and science of energy medicine, the people behind these discoveries, the electromagnetic machines past and present used in diagnosis and treatment, how various energy therapies work, the potential ill effects of radiations in our environment and more.

Virtual Medicine is a book every health enthusiast should own and is essential reading for those skeptics who scoff at therapies like homeopathy, acupuncture, hands-on healing or even the power of the mind to affect the body. This book truly offers a completely different and exciting view for the future of medicine.

Disclosure: I received a review copy of this book from the publisher.

Buy Virtual Medicine from Amazon.

If you’re fat, anorexic, or diabetic, if you have low energy, if you have bone loss, if you’re a woman with amenorrhea or problems conceiving, you are probably leptin resistant.

Leptin is the master hormone that controls energy within the body. It is produced by our fat cells and taken up in the hypothalamus. Leptin lets your hypothalamus know how much energy you’ve consumed, and the hypothalamus then controls several other hormones based on leptin’s message. Proper leptin function tells our brain the energy status of our body in real time.

If leptin is off, every single hormonal response of the brain is off… When you’re leptin resistant, it’s like throwing mud on your windshield and driving on the Long Island Expressway. The brain has no way of knowing precisely what is going on in those 20 trillion cells. — Dr. Jack Kruse

Following a torn knee meniscus, Dr. Jack Kruse began studying leptin, spending 18 months and reading 5 to 6,000 articles. Implementing a plan he developed to work with his body’s circadian rhythms, he lost 77 pounds within the first 7 months and 133 pounds after 11 months. According to Jack, obesity is not a macronutrient story but a result of leptin resistance. In this interview he reveals:

• How leptin plays a critical role in disease, health and wellness
• Why obesity is an inflammatory brain condition
• Why calories don’t matter when you’re leptin sensitive
• How to eat in harmony with circadian rhythms
• Factors that prevent uptake of leptin in the brain
• Which fats contribute to leptin resistance
• How low magnesium affects metabolic derangement
• The best time of day to exercise
• Why Michael Phelps can eat 18,000 calories per day and not gain weight
• The importance of properly functioning uncoupling proteins
• How low thyroid T3 prevents uncoupling proteins from working
• How leptin resistance leads to infertility and osteoporosis
• Why meal timing and composition are important in healing leptin resistance
• Why you shouldn’t snack after dinner
• How to become leptin sensitive, lose weight and improve your health

Total time: 105 minutes.

Interview

Click to listen to part 1 of this interview or right-click to download MP3 file

Click to listen to part 2 of this interview or right-click to download MP3 file

Bio

Dr. Jack Kruse is a neurosurgeon who understands that in order to live pain free, one must take his or her health seriously at every level. His extensive medical training combined with his passion for wellness and nutrition has led to Dr. Kruse’s position as CEO of Optimized Life, a health and wellness company to help people avoid the common healthcare burdens that come with age. Dr. Kruse is also a member of the Age Management Medicine Group (AMMG).

Links in Interview

Jack’s Leptin Prescription
Hormones 101: Clinical Thoughts Revealed
The Leptin RX FAQ
Ramachandran TED talk on phantom pain
Mark’s Daily Apple Leptin Reset Experiment Forum Discussion
Robb Wolf’s The Paleo Solution Book
Mark Sisson’s The Primal Blueprint Book
Art De Vany’s The New Evolution Diet Book
Ron Rosedale’s The Rosedale Diet Book
Ancestral Health Symposium

Sugar Addiction and Your Health

Simplified, step-by-step explanation of the role sugar plays in disease

Sugar is ubiquitous in today’s diet whereas centuries past it was considered a rare treat for the wealthy. Our grandparents ate very little sugar, but today our bodies are bombarded by sugar and foods that act like sugar.

The average American consumes one half pound of sugar per day. The National Academy of Sciences Food and Nutrition boards suggest that no more than 25 percent(!) of total calories should come from added sugars. This sounds reasonable until you realize that nowhere in nature would mankind be able to find and consume this amount of sugar. Evolution did not equip our bodies to handle so much, and we pay the price for this excess in ill health.

Have you ever wondered why so many foods contain sugar? Addiction is a powerful way to sell a product. Cigarette manufacturers have proven this is a strategy that works. But while cigarette companies have been held responsible for adding addictive substances to their cigarettes to ensure that you are a customer for life, food companies have been doing the same thing for decades and getting away with it. — Dr. Scott Olson

Dr. Olson provides the reader with a step-by-step explanation of sugar’s history, how it is metabolized, its addictive properties, how it harms tissues and organs causing obesity, diabetes, heart disease, hypertension, and kidney disease and how to cut sugar from your diet.

Sugarettes avoids complex biology and presents the information so that even young teenagers can understand it. This book is perfect for those beginning their journey into nutrition and is especially important for those diagnosed with pre-diabetes or diabetes. When it comes to your diet, don’t make the mistake of listening to the USDA or the American Diabetic Association. Instead, read Sugarettes.

Disclosure: I received a review copy of this book from the publisher.

Buy Sugarettes from Amazon.

Four Steps to Renewed Health, Youthful Vitality, and Long Life by Paul Jaminet, Ph.D. and Shou-Ching Jaminet, Ph.D.

A gem among nutrition and diet books

Authors Paul and Shou-Ching Jaminet suffered from poor health and found no relief through allopathic medicine. They tried a paleo diet and got better, but then ran into new problems. So they researched the scientific literature and developed a diet that successfully returned them to health. They share their findings in their book Perfect Health Diet.

Two themes stand out in this book that make it unique. The first is that our macronutrient ratios should closely match those of other mammals but they should be based not on what we eat but on how our bodies digest the food we consume. For example, a gorilla eats mostly leaves. With a large colon and bacterial population, these leaves are converted to fatty acids. So while the diet is dominated by carbohydrates, the gorilla is subsisting largely on fats. The Jaminets additionally base their recommendations on macronutrient ratios found in human breast milk and human body composition.

The second theme is that “the dose makes the poison.” Many foods contain toxins that our bodies can dispose of, but beyond a certain amount these toxins damage our health over time. The Jaminets describe which foods to avoid completely based on their toxicity, which to minimize, and how to reduce toxins through proper preparation.

The Jaminets describe how some diseases are related to diet, why people are malnourished, how industrial processing damages nutrients, how to substitute commonly used food items, which supplements are helpful for optimum nutrition and more.

Perfect Health Diet is heavily footnoted with 605 references but, unfortunately, contains no index. The layout is annoyingly busy and the text somewhat repetitive. But these flaws should not detract from the information, which is priceless. I’ve read the book three times and will read it again. My highest recommendation.

Disclosure: I received a review copy of this book from the publisher.

Listen to my interview with Paul Jaminet: Why You Should Be Eating a High-Fat Diet.

Buy The Perfect Health Diet from Amazon.

Organic agriculture is growing tremendously as more people demand local, naturally grown, nutritious food free of toxins. “USDA Certified Organic” should mean something, especially considering the premium prices we pay for organic food.

As the popularity for organic food grew, somebody had to police organic farmers to ensure integrity. Farms can be certified to advertise as organic by following published guidelines and submitting to inspections by either state or federal agencies. Certification carries a hefty price tag, laborious paperwork and annual farm inspections. But are these agencies really inspecting the farms?

“What is organic food? Organic food is produced by farmers who emphasize the use of renewable resources and the conservation of soil and water to enhance environmental quality for future generations. Organic meat, poultry, eggs, and dairy products come from animals that are given no antibiotics or growth hormones. Organic food is produced without using most conventional pesticides; fertilizers made with synthetic ingredients or sewage sludge; bioengineering; or ionizing radiation. Before a product can be labeled ‘organic,’ a Government-approved certifier inspects the farm where the food is grown to make sure the farmer is following all the rules necessary to meet USDA organic standards. Companies that handle or process organic food before it gets to your local supermarket or restaurant must be certified, too.” United States Department of Agriculture

Mischa Popoff is an organic farm inspector who explains where our organic food is coming from. He offers us an insider’s view of how organic farms are inspected (or not) and why organic certification is no guarantee of quality or purity. He also suggests how you can improve your chances that the food you buy is truly organic.

If you have any interest in organic food, don’t miss this great interview with an incredibly passionate and articulate advocate for real food reform.

Total time: 67 minutes.

Interview

Click to listen to interview or right-click to download MP3 file

Bio

Mischa Popoff is the author of the critically-acclaimed book, Is it Organic? He earned a B.A. from the University of Saskatchewan where he specialized in the history of nitrogen for fertilizer and warfare. He then worked as an Advanced Organic Farm and Process Inspector, inspecting over 500 organic farms and processing facilities on both sides of the border. He stopped inspecting when he realized there was no appetite in the industry to eliminate fraud and gross negligence, nor to improve the quality of organic food. He now works as an author, political columnist and radio host. You can find him at Is It Organic?.

Lose the Wheat, Lose the Weight, and Find Your Path Back to Health by Williams David, M.D.

The danger of gluten with an emphasis on weight loss

In Wheat Belly, Dr. William Davis emphasizes wheat’s role in obesity, which is an excellent means of marketing the message. People don’t like being fat. The book begins with a review of how wheat has been hybridized and genetically modified from its earlier, natural state and that this modification has increased certain compounds in the wheat that lead to diabetes and weight gain.

Davis goes on to explain the many hazards of a diet containing wheat:

• Exorphins in wheat are addictive causing us to eat more.
• Wheat’s unique carbohydrate amylopectin A causes an excessive rise in blood sugar leading to fat deposition, particularly inflammatory visceral fat.
• Gluten causes celiac disease and gluten intolerance manifesting as many chronic ailments.
• Wheat is the predominant cause of insulin resistance and diabetes.
• A diet high in grains such as wheat adds to the acid load of the body.
• High blood sugar caused by wheat causes formation of advanced glycation end (AGE) products leading to cataracts, wrinkles, and hardened arteries.
• Carbohydrates, particularly wheat, cause the release of insulin that triggers synthesis of small LDL particles, the kind that cause heart disease.
• Immune response to gluten causes damage to the brain and nerves resulting in ataxia, encephalopathy, dementia, neuropathy, seizers, etc.

The book concludes with guidance on eliminating wheat from your diet, potential withdrawal symptoms, simple nutritional guidelines for replacing wheat, hidden sources of wheat, a sample 7-day diet plan and a few recipes.

The only serious issue I have with the book is that Davis places too much emphasis on the glycemic effect of wheat vs. sugar. He writes: “Aside from some extra fiber, eating two slices of whole wheat bread is really little different, and often worse, than drinking a can of sugar-sweetened soda or eating a sugary candy bar…The GI of a Snickers bar is 41–far better than whole grain bread.”

The majority of glucose from wheat is distributed in the blood and taken up by most of the cells for energy, the rest going to the liver. But all fructose (which comprises half of sugar and typically 55% of HFCS) goes to the liver to be metabolized. So it’s true that sugar does not cause as great a rise in blood sugar, but metabolism of its fructose component creates more VLDL, triglycerides and AGEs than glucose (not to mention uric acid) and has been implicated as the cause of insulin resistance, weight gain and hypertension. Considering that many wheat products contain sugar, eliminating wheat also eliminates much sugar.

I believe wheat is terribly destructive to the health of some people, but blaming wheat and implicating all carbohydrates as central to obesity and diabetes is mistaken. Aside from that, and a tendency toward hyperbole, Wheat Belly is a good introduction to the physical damage that wheat can cause and is written such that anyone can understand the issues. Wheat made me very sick, and I’m grateful to people like Dr. Davis who are informing the public of its dangers.

Disclosure: I received a review copy of this book from the Amazon Vine program.

Buy Wheat Belly from Amazon.