Six common beliefs addressed, Part 79

1. Virta Health appears to have taken the stance that fasting is a fad.

Because it is. It’s the new fad going around, in the diet world, like so many others that came before it. It seems to now be dying down some, along with "keto", thank goodness. A lot of people, who jumped on that money train, are going to have to find a new shtick or starve. Unfortunately, it won't be difficult for them, since the diet sphere makes a new promise, that it can’t deliver on, nearly everyday. Just scan the tabloid magazine covers, during your next check out at the grocery store.

Virta Health is a real, science based ketogenic protocol, and though they put too much emphasis on useless blood ketone levels, and their definition of “success” is up for interpretation, their approach is still true to metabolic function and has been proven to work.

2. Will going low carb help prevent or improve macular degeneration?

We read statements like these, all of the time, about low carb helping with everything from hair loss to ingrown toenails, but on this blog, carbohydrate restriction is a specific treatment for metabolic syndrome exclusively.

Studies have shown that there is an inverse relationship between the intake of omega 3, long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids, and age related macular degeneration. It appears that the eye requires omega 3, to be healthy, but will use omega 6, instead, if it's what’s mostly available. The fatty acid ratio of the modern diet is very high in omega 6 and deficient in omega 3, which is the case of all plant based diets. With time, this increases the risk for macular degeneration.

Some people appear to be more at risk for this disease than others, so there is a genetic component to the disease. This is most likely related to how the body handles omega polyunsaturated fats.

The only way that carbohydrate restriction would be beneficial, in addressing this condition, is through an increase of animal derived omega 3 fats and a decrease in omega 6. Many people have reduced the progression of this disease through omega 3 supplementation. It is always good to know your omega 3 to 6 ratios, if you are at risk or currently have macular degeneration.

3. The protocol "Delay Don't Deny" is appropriate for addressing overweight/obesity. 

Absolutely not. I do not recommend any gimmicks, as this blog deals with serious conditions like metabolic syndrome, obesity and diabetes.

"Delay Don't Deny" is just another useless protocol for weight loss. The sad part of it is, that the obese flock to this kind of garbage, as if it was a free doughnut stand, because in a way it is. In the end, they will realize that they were no better off, than if they would have continued tracking calories.

This intermittent fasting protocol is incomplete and incorrect, because it does not address diet. It promises weight loss, without the need to change what you eat. This is not new. This is actually an old trick. It's simply caloric restriction disguised as "intermittent fasting", since that term is now popular and attention grabbing. But, regardless of the catchy description chosen, you are simply restricting calories, throughout the entire day, rather than at each meal.

You're still eating the foods that disrupt proper blood glucose regulation. This means you're still preserving your obesogenic hormonal profile. You're still sparing your fat mass. You're just addressing calories through fewer meal times. This might help you see a benefit, in the short term, but you are doomed to fail in the long term. Remember, you cannot "out fast" a bad diet. Short term solutions do not reverse obesity. They make it worse.

Again, overweight/obesity are lifestyle conditions, so an entire lifestyle change must be made to address it. Don't fall for promises that are too good to be true. While this person makes money off of you, and travels the world on your dime, you are left to deal with your obesity.

You cannot address metabolic disease by not denying. Denial is vital for success. "Delaying" and not denying, only causes a delay to the inevitable outcome of diabetes.

4. Fasting is dangerous.

No. It's not dangerous, is just mostly ineffective because people do not do it properly. Obesity is dangerous, so if you use an ineffective protocol to treat it, or one that makes it worse, then I suppose you are doing something dangerous by proxy.

5. You must eat 0 carbs to keep your blood glucose low. Even berries will cause high blood glucose. 

"Chasing symptoms" through diet is not going to achieve remission. Once you eliminate foods that affect your blood glucose negatively, you have to put your focus on other things that could be affecting your blood glucose besides diet. The goal is for your body to begin regulating its own blood glucose. The goal is never for you to be attached to your meter, watching your blood glucose erratically go up and down and not do a thing about it.

The problem is large disparities in blood glucose. In other words, you don't want to measure your blood glucose, see that it's low and then wash your hands of the problem. You have to see just how low and how high your blood glucose goes in a 24 hour period. This is best done by measuring fasting blood glucose and then postprandial blood glucose. If you drop to 60 mg/dL, while fasting, and then go up to 120 mg/dL, after you eat, you have issues. This roller coaster will only exacerbate the stress response. You might feel complacent that your blood glucose is 120 mg/dL, instead of 300 mg/dL, but your body doesn't care. Complacency does not cure diabetes. Steady blood glucose control does. Avoid disparities in blood glucose of more than 40 points.

6. Is the 'Impossible Burger', full of "estrogen" and other "toxins"?

Who knows. If you are going to eat a burger, eat a real meat based burger. Real meat is from an animal. Do not eat man-made concoctions. What's in it is irrelevant. The only thing that counts is what's not in it: real meat.