Migraines are a neurological condition of which the causes are not well understood. There seems to be a correlation between migraines and micro vascular changes of which stress can be a culprit among many other things.
Having a dump of massive glucose into the body from cortisol will effect metabolic processes over time but it's not linearly responsible for migraines themselves.
2. Alzheimer’s is caused by eating sugar. That's why its called Type III diabetes.
First, let me be clear - No cure has yet been found for Alzheimer’s disease as of this post. Believe me, when one is found, Nobel Prizes will be handed out and you will be the first to know as it will be earth shattering. The breaking news you will receive of this will not come from some obscure quack, selling books or supplements, online.
People who are obese and/or have diabetes are at an increased risk for dementia, of all kinds, but it is unclear why. If you have dementia running in your family, it is a good idea to make lifestyle changes early on that can help reduce your risk. Low carb diets are one way you can begin doing this. They are effective in preventing diabetes, when followed correctly, as part of an overall healthy lifestyle that includes exercise.
The healthier you remain overall, the less vulnerable you will be to developing Alzheimer's. If you reach 60 years old and already have obesity, diabetes, fatty liver disease, cardio vascular disease and a slew of other conditions, you will automatically be at more risk for Alzheimer’s and just about everything else on the menu. You are only as strong as your weakest link. This is why metabolic health is so important because metabolic pathologies come in clusters and each one makes you less resilient overall.
Alzheimer's has been loosely described as "Type III diabetes" but let's focus on exactly why it was called that, instead of taking this label and running with it. We have seen over reach with diabetes diagnoses from Alzheimer’s to cancer. I myself, have stopped calling Alzheimer’s Type III diabetes because of how that label misrepresents it. So let's go through the basics.
Alzheimer's is a very complex disease. It is comprised of many different pathologies, each of which contributes to its onset and progression. The exact cause of Alzheimer's is not known, though it seems to have some heritability. Because of this, Alzheimer's falls under the umbrella diagnosis of "dementia". Dementia is a syndrome, not a disease.
There are many abnormalities in Alzheimer's and it is very difficult to discern which one came first. For the sake of simplicity, let's describe Alzheimer's as a progressive disorder that causes brain cells to degenerate and eventually die.
One of the things that degenerating and dying cells do not do is use energy effectively. After all, they are dying. Healthy cells do not have this problem.
This does not mean that this reduced ability to metabolize glucose for energy is the root cause of their death, it's simply a correlation. Causality has not been established so far. If this hasn't been established by the researchers, who have devoted every waking moment to studying Alzheimer’s, then a low carb fool online certainly can't establish it themselves.
Insulin nasal sprays have been shown to improve Alzheimer's/dementia symptoms but not stop the progression of the disease. Insulin facilitates glucose entry into cells so it improves the cells ability to metabolize glucose temporarily. This of course, can improve cell function, but the cell is still dying. Regardless, this is what led to the whole "Type III diabetes" thing to take hold.
When the "keto" fad took over, everyone pointed out how Alzheimer’s cells can use ketones more effectively than they could glucose. This is not surprising as glucose metabolism is a bit more complex than ketones and dying cells will go with the simplest alternative given. Just like when you're dying you will also try to make your remaining life as simple as possible. But, ketones did not prevent the cells ultimate death or the progression of the disease. This in itself, tells us that something else is going on with these cells other than just an "energy crisis" as ketones supply the cells with all the energy they need but yet they still eventually die.
Of course the layman reading all of these clickbait headlines immediately assumes that if too much sugar causes diabetes, then too much sugar causes Alzheimer's and if ketones can be used by those cells, then eating a block of butter will cure Alzheimer's to boot.....um...no. Too much sugar causes the metabolic abnormalities and oxidative stress that put you at risk for many different pathologies, including Alzheimer’s, but it does not directly cause Alzheimer’s, so its absence doesn't cure it.
Generally unhealthy lifestyles put you at risk for a variety of conditions. Sugar intake is one part of a generally unhealthy lifestyle. Obesity is also the result of an unhealthy lifestyle so eating a block of butter, which will go directly into your already expanded fat mass, will not cure Alzheimer’s. It will only put you at more risk for it.
The "energy crises" that the brain is experiencing in Alzheimer's has to do with the Alzheimer’s. Of course this "energy crisis" can be exacerbated if the Alzheimer's patient lives an unhealthy lifestyle, but living a healthy one will not cure Alzheimer’s or halt its progression. For those currently without Alzheimer’s, living healthy reduces your risk of this disease, but does not prevent it.
So to make things much simpler, adopt my same strategy and just call Alzheimer’s what it is - Alzheimer’s. Leave the diabetes description for actual diabetes. It will prevent a lot of confusion and false assumptions.
3. You should never eat pork rinds because they are too high in protein. In the absence of sugar, protein is recognized as a carb.
I receive many messages with a list of dumb things that people have heard around the internet but this one takes the cake. Now the stupid has reached critical levels.
Protein is never "recognized" as a carb, whether in the absence of sugar or not. If your body is recognizing protein as a carb, you would have died as a fetus. In fact, you wouldn't have even reached fetus status. You wouldn't have been able to even develop as life, since protein is needed to grow cells and if your body is recognizing it as a carb, well then...how the ^&%! are you growing?
Protein is converted to sugar through gluconeogenesis when the body demands it. This is because the body requires a certain amount of glucose circulating in the bloodstream at all times. There are certain cells in the body that are completely dependent on glucose. This is also the way our metabolisms were made to function.
The body does not just use protein to do this. It also uses the glycerol in fat to do the exact same thing. The body does this to its own lean muscle mass, even when no protein or fat is consumed. In other words, the body never stops gluconeogenesis from occurring when it needs it. Never. It uses it to keep cells healthy, to regulate the effects of insulin and to retrieve additional energy during times of stress.
People with metabolic syndrome/diabetes have uncontrolled gluconeogenesis because of poorly functioning insulin, over expression of cortisol and dysfunction of glucagon among, other abnormalities, which constantly break down their lean muscle mass into glucose. This has nothing to do with the amount of protein you eat. This has to do with the breakdown of protein already in your body.
Pork rinds are just fine to eat. Their protein content is irrelevant, but you have to watch their fat content. Don't eat them as snacks or as your main protein because snacking is a very obesogenic habit to have and pork rinds are not as nutritious as meat. Pork rinds are fine to have with your meals, as a garnish or side item only.
4. You should walk 10K steps a day, not 8K. You should also hit your target heart rate while exercising.
There is a significant decrease in health for people who walk less than 5K steps a day but there isn't a significant increase in health for people who walk 10K, rather than 8K steps a day. Now this is not the case once you go well beyond 10K steps. There is a difference between 10K and 20K.
Hunter/gatherers average about 16K a day so if you want to get more bang for your buck, don't focus so much between 8K and 10K but try to do an average of 16K instead. You can certainly do your 8K and then remain active the rest of the day, doing other things besides walking, like gardening, cleaning, anything that's not sitting.
As far as a target heart rate goes, you can follow that if you like, for your own personal enjoyment, but it is not required. Some people like tracking that kind of stuff and hitting certain goals. It keeps them motivated. We never discourage any physical activity on this blog. Follow the activity level you enjoy and track whatever you wish to. If you want to hit a specific target heart rate and walking isn't cutting it, then jog, run or jump. You obviously have to do something more strenuous to achieve this goal if that's what you want.
On this blog, our recommendation is to be active daily and for as long as you can be. We don't have any caveat other than that. You want to be more active than you are sedentary. Don't lounge around for long periods of time. Lounging is obesogenic and as bad for metabolic health as a can of Pepsi. The chair is the same as junk food. People are always quick to point to all the bad food but they forget to point to the bad chair. Sitting is the disease.
5. You should mix whole milk with half n half in order to reduce the carbohydrate in it.
This practice is worse than dumb. It's useless. Dumb can sometimes get your results because even a broken clock is right twice a day but useless is just plain useless.
The carbs in whole milk are irrelevant in the context of an overall low carb diet. The fat in the milk is relevant. This is because low carb diets are always higher in dietary fat so adding even more fat to the mix will only cause problems.
You don't have to mix whole milk with anything. Drink your milk, normally and naturally, as it comes. It is already whole and contains fat. You don't have to add more fat to it or you will start expanding again.
Addition is the main problem you will encounter in any diet. In fact, the Standard American Diet (SAD) is the king of all diets that have additions. SAD adds sugar and fat to everything. You don't want to keep adding energy to your food. It already has the energy required.
6. You should only eat a "Proper Human Diet".
That's a marketing slogan.
Hunter/gatherers of the past and present have already made it clear that there is no such thing as a "proper human diet" because there is no one diet that humans have followed which has been shown to be better than any other. Humans can survive and thrive in a vast variety of dietary conditions. It is this adaptation to different diets that has allowed for humans to live in many different environments and climates. It allowed us to be mobile and leave our homes to seek new and better ones. There are only two diets that no hunter/gatherer has ever followed and they are:
- Vegan Diet - A diet containing no animal products.
- Standard American Diet (SAD) - A diet mostly consisting of processed and refined added carbohydrates and fat with a primarily sweet taste.
Let me make a little commentary on the SAD diet. Though it is named the "Standard American Diet", it should be renamed to the "Standard Western Diet". Europe and Canada eat just as much garbage as Americans. In fact, you can find this junk filled diet in every corner of the world now but it derived in Western society, not exclusively from America alone.
So since here is no "proper human diet" that we know of, there are two improper human diets that we do know of. Don't follow either of the improper ones and you will be good to go.
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