The New Fad: Alternating Carbs-Fat Diet! BAD!

Posted on February 6, 2016 by Angela A Stanton, Ph.D.

There is a new fad out there that alternates between fat and carbs burning diets with cheat days. Let me try to post the video here that is trying to do a great explanation about what it is. Below the video I posted a long response but there is no guarantee that such will remain… so I post it in the open as well. In case that does not work, here is the link to the video as well.

There are some major errors in the explanation provided. The explanation certainly sounds good. So let me explain some of the problems:

1) We cannot burn fat for energy unless we are in ketosis. To get into ketosis (the low carbs phase only lower carbs) takes several days to weeks.

2) One of the things that happen while converting into the fat burning mode is that all glucose storage gets emptied. This increases glucose in the blood for a few days until it can leave since insulin at that point is not using glucose but is starting to modulate ketones (it cannot do both). This has been tested by me several times as I was coming in and out of ketosis on purpose to see what happens to glucose. Each time glucose went up (not unreasonably up but out of the normal range). So glucose is floating in your blood, creating the suspicion of insulin resistance in your body, since glucose has not picked it up. This is a bad sign and is best to go through this only very seldom.

3) After your body emptied all glucose, it turns into a fat burning machine. Fat burning is called ketogenic mode of fuel burning (I am not using the diet word since it is really not meant for diet albeit many people use it for that. It coincidentally burns all fat your body does not need–the ones that are around your organs, such as visceral fat–and the fat you eat).

4) Your body actually does not need carbs–look into the diets of those aboriginals living in Nordic locations living off fatty sea food such as whales and walrus blubber. Once the body is a fat burning body, it burns only fat.

5) Low carbs diets (under 50 grams but over some “magic gram” to be calculated based on body mass and caloric goal) the body goes into starvation mode and hence leptin ( hormone) slows the metabolic process so that your body can get through the starving period and survive on less food. If you are only reducing carbs and do nothing else, indeed, you will start gaining weight from a single grape. Your metabolism is tinkered with the wrong way. Watch this video by Dr. Lustig to understand the role of leptin and what it does as it reduces your metabolism and why.

6) If you have your body calibrated (by a specialist) to ideal carbs intake such that you remain in ketosis (fat burning) your metabolism does not slow down. It becomes a different metabolism. Ask an Inuit how often they go the gym to work out and when they had their last Starbucks latte… They may have them now but they sure did not 50 years ago. At that time they were healthy.. not so much today with the arrival of carbs! The Inuit only ate fatty meat and nothing else. They used salty water to cook soups and gave the lean meats to their dogs…

7) Because it is such an incredibly difficult task for the body to get into the state of ketosis where you burn fat instead of sugar, and because it alters what your insulin does, a so-called “cheat day” knocks you out of ketosis completely–recall it takes several days to weeks of getting back into ketosis… so a single cheat day means several days to several weeks of getting back!

8) On a cheat day, insulin has to change over and start recepting glucose instead of fat… great! It takes 2-3 days to several weeks for it to be able to do that. So now your body is getting the message that you have insulin resistance; again! So when is your next cheat day? If the following week or month, you are teetering between two metabolic processes with neither getting a chance of working–now we are talking metabolic problems!

9) If you keep on repeating this regularly, you may just end up with insulin resistance! For those who don’t realize, that is called type 2 diabetes.

In conclusion, if you want a weight loss diet, go for a weight loss diet. If you want to change how your body functions and how your body uses energy, get on the ketogenic diet and STAY there for a longer period of time. Do not go in and out. That will land you in the world of diabetes even if you ate no sugar in your entire life.

My Experience

I have been doing a lot of studying up on these various diets, not for the sake of losing weight but for their therapeutic purposes. Ketogenic diet is tested now for seizures, MS, Parkinson’s, autism, and a lot of brain damage conditions because glucose damages neuron’s myelin (insulation) and fat is needed to repair it.

However, fat can not be used in our metabolic processes unless we get into ketosis… so ketogenic diets, while they are low carbs diets, they are used as medicinal options for treating diseases and is not primarily used for diets albeit if done right you will lose weight. However, unless you are calibrated by a professional to know how much carbs and protein and fat you should consume, you may indeed mess up your metabolism. So don’t do it alone! Talk to an expert.

Protein

One additional important thing the author of the video is not talking about: protein. If you increase your protein, you are doing a tremendous disservice to your ambition in both endurance sports and in diet. That is because the body converts proteins to glucose via a process called gluconeogenesis. This is a very difficult process and causes what is called the “stinky diet” because of the enzyme the liver creates in processing all that protein.

So going low carbs will not get you anywhere healthy or thin unless you also lower your protein and increase your fat intake. If you increase your protein while lowering your carbs, your body will convert protein to carbs and then later your muscles are the next food item–self cannibalism. That is the nature of gluconeogenesis.

So if you want to lose fat, lose fat the right way and talk to an expert to find out what is YOUR best way of losing fat. Everybody is different, plus you may have health conditions that reduce your options.

And lastly and most importantly, if you have diabetes 2 or 1 or 1.5, do not attempt low carbs diets without the aid of a doctor who monitors your health and insulin levels. Both carbs and fat digestion needs insulin. Thus having limited (type 2) or not having any (types 1 and 1.5) and stopping carbs does not mean you can live without insulin in the fat burning world and you may get hurt! You still need insulin only different amount. So before you jump, discuss with your healthcare provider and don’t be surprised if they have no idea what you are talking about.

Although ketogenic diet is over 2000 years old, modern medicines kicked it out-of-the-way (no pharma money in eating fat) so they replaced it with voltage gated calcium blocking medicines, that kill children… one just died last week, a daughter of a friend of a friend.

This is serious stuff and not for “everyday” challenge of your body.

Comments are welcome as always!

Angela

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It is published today!

Posted on February 3, 2016 by Angela A Stanton, Ph.D.

PRESS RELEASE

Finally, it is officially published today. The html link is now working to my latest academic published article. It debunks all (I mean ALL) research of the past that “proved” that increased salt in diet increases blood pressure and that reduced salt diets provide any benefit.

The findings are all based on several major statistical oops and total cluelessness.

So if you were put on low salt diet or have always believed that salt is bad for you, read the article and show it to your doctor. Then switch doctors! Look for one who knows what she/he is doing.

Comments are welcome, as always.

Angela

Posted in Healthcare, Press Release | 2 Comments

Published: Are Statistics Misleading Sodium Reduction Benefits?

Posted on January 30, 2016 by Angela A Stanton, Ph.D.

Salt Increases BP? Really? So does when I am hungry, or angry, or forgot to take a deep breath!

My article (only a one-pager) on blood pressure and salt is finally out in print in a medical academic journal (abstract, entire paper). Why do we believe that salt has any significant influence on our blood pressure? This article debunks the myth and shows how easy it is to misunderstand (and misuse) statistics! I did not attack any single paper but I attacked all papers that in any way claim any significance.

Wrong Research Hurts People!

The paper is short but you will finally understand why research so far has been conducted wrong. The problem of misused and misunderstood statistics like this has misled entire nations! Now millions (billions perhaps) of people are placed on reduced salt diet with possible dire consequences because of the improper experimental and statistical methods.

However, I was able to show that the finding are not only wrong but even if they are right they are inconsequential and insignificant. We get a bigger blood pressure change when we take a deep breath or when we think of our next meal or are hungry. The findings are ridiculous.

Enjoy the fun I had with criticizing all research on the connection of sodium and blood pressure!

Comments are welcome, as always!

Angela

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ppm to ppb conversion table

Posted on January 26, 2016 by Angela A Stanton, Ph.D.
ppm to ppb conversion

ppm to ppb conversion

Just for good measure for the Himalayan salt article

Posted in This & That | 8 Comments

Lead Poisoning: Flint & Himalayan Salt

Posted on January 25, 2016 by Angela A Stanton, Ph.D.

Lead stays in your body for life!

Nope, not a typo. Although Flint, Michigan has absolutely nothing to do with Himalayan salt, they suffer from lead poisoning from the water that is contaminated. I wrote this short article  to bring a parallel between what is happening in Flint, primarily because of what Dr. Sanjay Gupta said on CNN: 5 ppb (parts per billion) lead is hazardous for your health, and what is in Himalayan salt that many people take pride in eating because of the so-called “minerals” that are good for you. I did a bit of calculation based on information readily available on the web about the lead content of Himalayan salt: 100 ppb. As you can imagine, if 5 ppb is dangerous, imagine 100 ppb.

Himalayan salt also contains mercury and about 50% of those amazing “minerals” are uranium, plutonium, and other heavily radioactive materials. Heavy metals, such as lead, cannot ever be removed from your body and they build up over time, slowly poisoning you.

You can always chose to keep on eating Himalayan salt; be my guest. But now you can make an educated decision! Now you cannot say “I didn’t know” because now you do know!

Comments are welcome!

Angela

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full size

Posted on January 20, 2016 by Angela A Stanton, Ph.D.
Physician payoffs from Pharmaceuticals-2014

Physician payoffs from Pharmaceuticals-2014

Posted in Why Me | Leave a comment

Showdown Time!

Posted on January 20, 2016 by Angela A Stanton, Ph.D.

In 2015 the government permitted what is called “Open Database” to be public without any limits for 2014 and now 2013 is also visible. One was able to search for specific doctors to see how much money they have accepted and for what services and from which pharmaceutical companies – of course in addition to their annual salaries. Searching this way, the most outrageous doctor we so far found was one who cashed in a whopping $300,000 dollars over his salary. At that time I thought “wow what a big fish in the net!”

Wrong!

There are bigger fishes by several magnitudes only last year’s search method was hard to do see since you had to search per doctor. Now the government changed all that.

First, it made it more difficult since now you have to sign in by creating an account. No problem; it takes a minute and they have your name and email in exchange. No problem with that–small price to pay.

Next they now have separate data-sets to look at. Online search yielded some amazing enough results that I felt the urge to download all tables. This is only visible to you once you log in. I saved all data in excel on my computer and here is one sample for you. Click on it to see the full size so you can read it and pay particular attention to the red column and the orange one!

Physician payoffs from Pharmaceuticals-2014

Physician payoffs from Pharmaceuticals-2014

Here is a screen capture of my a little part of the excel sheet (I hid many of the unimportant columns to be able to show you the columns of importance). I highlighted certain columns. The amount accepted is red and in bold. Theses amount are all from 2014–note these are millions of dollars. Note also that over 99% of the doctors who accepted money are by Allopathic and Osteopathic doctors and not by MDs. There are MDs as well of course and many accepted in hundreds of thousands dollars but it appears that this group (General Payment Data – Detailed Dataset 2014 Reporting Year) mostly contains Allopathic and Osteopathic doctors, a few dentists and some others. Even PAs (Physician Assistants) are paid off by Pharmaceuticals to make sure they will use all services and medicines the particular pharmaceutical company provides.

Some of this money is used to offset the costs of insurance non-covered medicine to be sure that although alternate medicines exist, the doctor will still prescribe the brand not covered!

How is this sitting with your healthcare?

If I may recommend one thing let it be this:

Before you visit your doctor next time, do yourself a favor and run this search! See if your medical provider is selling you out for a bribe of money like a crook! Because what I see are bribes!

What happened to the oath of Do No Harm?

Good question! No idea!

Your best bet is to put your healthcare into your self-education as is done by hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of others! Do your research on each of your doctors; do your research on the possible causes of your problem before you visit a doctor as well! Do your research on the medicines you receive and most importantly, check in any online drug interaction checker (my favorite). Add all medicines AND vitamins AND supplements AND herbs you are taking and hit “check for interactions” and then faint.

Chances are you will have several major to moderate interactions, at which point print that result out and head back to your doctor and demand a change!

Hope you find this short article of my utmost disgust useful and that you will put its wisdom to good use!

Comments are welcome as always!

Angela

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Acidic or Alkaline? Your Health in Question.

Posted on December 25, 2015 by Angela A Stanton, Ph.D.

What Food Are You Eating?

And Should You Care?

The statistics of diseases caused by the American diet (or Western in general) are really scary. So I will not give you numbers but understand this much: a very large percent of our population suffers from metabolic syndrome, which consists of several diseases such as: obesity, diabetes 2, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, various immune disease (yes, many!), and I even want to add some other disease here that are not considered to be “metabolic disorders” but they are: heart disease, hypertension, seizures, migraines, some types of MS, some types of Parkinson’s, depression, anxiety, IBS (irritable bowel syndrome), and many more. I will not explain the connection of disease to food here since that is a book on its own but I want to brush by you some facts of importance that participate in these diseases.

The pH of your body

Whether a diet in high pH (alkaline) or low pH (acidic) is good for us, is debatable since each of our body-type cells has a different function. As a result, each has a different ideal pH level. For example, skin is more acidic (low pH) to ward off invaders. The vagina is extremely acidic to kill of invading organism (including sperms!). The saliva is a tad acidic (6.5 – 6.8 on the pH strip where 7 is neutral) for the same reason: kill off bugs and also to help digestion. Our cerebral fluid (brain) is neutral (7) and our intracellular and blood fluids are alkaline at 7.3 or so.

There are many companies selling water alkalizing equipment or alkaline water… don’t fall for the scam! Also many companies selling Himalayan salt or unpurified Sea salt will try to convince you about the alkalinity or acidity. Scam alert! Salt becomes sodium chloride in the body. Sodium chloride, as pure salt, is pH7 (neutral) but when you break salt (sodium chloride) up into parts, the parts are not neutral: sodium is alkaline and chloride is acidic. The minerals in salt are not important for the body–particularly not when they come from lead, mercury, radioactive materials (Himalayan salt) or fish poop and dead organic materials mixed with mud for taste (Celtic and others). Why so much discussion on salt? Because it is one of the most important minerals for our body.

Most animal meats and seafood are acidic and most citrus fruits (even though they taste acidic and measure acidic in pH) and a host of other fruits, become alkaline in the body (not all so read a cool list I found online that categorizes many foods). Also many nuts (like peanuts) are acidic and others (like almond) are alkaline! So there is no “in general nuts…” They differ! Also oils: avocado oil is acidic even though avocado is alkaline (I have not yet figured that one out… must be in the processing) but some other oils may be alkaline. Raw milk is neutral but processed (even organic) moves back and forth on the chart between acidic or neutral; I suppose based on brand.

Why do you need to know this?

A highly acidic diet not only calls for an antacid time to time or every day; that is the least of your concern. The bigger concern is how it damages the body. Scientific literature on this is a bit confusing so I am not citing any until I read enough to fully understand the consequences but all are in agreement in one thing: acidic environment supports cancer cell growth. Acidic environments are very common in Western diet full of processed food, meat, fish, sugar, and most importantly: grain!

If you are a vegetarian or vegan, do not smile! You are not any better off! An alkaline environment is not protecting you from invaders and you may sacrifice your immune system! There are a host of other issues also with a vegan/vegetarian diet.

In general a balanced diet is the best (I know you heard that before). However, the balance does not come from the current USDA pyramid of balance becuase it is grain and sugar heavy and that is acidic! So evaluate your diet! Stop all sugars and sugar substitutes, reduce your grains (or stop them all, like I did) and balance your diet around a healthy pH. Eat both meats and vegetables since eating only one or only the other will get you into trouble and cause disease!

Increase your dietary intake of fats if you have medical conditions that affect the nerves–seizures, migraines, anxiety, depression, etc! Fats help the recovery of your axons. Axons carry voltage in your brain and their insulation, myelin, is dependent on fats! So have some! Eating fat will only make you fat if you also eat sugar or high carbs–so don’t!

If you decide to embark on a special diet like Ketogenic or MAD (modified Atkins diet) and are on the high fat low protein and low carbs diet, in addition to having a visit with your doctor for proper dietary guidance, please read the above website link that explains what foods cause our bodies to be acidic and which ones to be alkaline. If you need to correct any food for proper pH, you have help there.

Most importantly: do not make major dietary changes without discussing it with your doctor first. This includes stopping all sugars and reduce carbs since this can hurt you if you are a diabetic or have hypoglycemia. Not eating enough carbs to fuel your brain and body can cause a serious sugar crash that can be fatal so talk to your healthcare provider.

Special Note

Eating a healthy diet means different diet for different people so do not jump into conclusions without talking to your doctor who can evaluate what diet is good for you.

Questions are welcome as always!

Angela

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How a Migraineur Achieved the Impossible in an Ignorant & Hurtful World!

Posted on December 19, 2015 by Angela A Stanton, Ph.D.

This is a true story but I keep the names of the participants hidden by calling the migraineur “student“, her mother “mom” and the high school that made her life miserable and nearly cut her chances at a great feature “high school.” Just so you know, this student is the most amazing person, dedicated to the American cause and dream more than most and is working harder than anyone else I know to be the best citizen. However, she is a migraineur and here is a story within the testimonial you need to read that will knock you in the heart and I hope it will also knock in the heart the high school administrators who, if they read this story, will recognize their school. I hope they kick themselves where it hurts, and I hope that includes the heart if they have any.

The Testimonial

I copy-paste the testimonial I received this morning from mom in my migraine group; I edited to remove names and to complete shortened words:

Angela A Stanton PhD, big shout out to you today. Student is home for the holidays. We met you January 4th, 2015. I will never forget the day I saw a post by you in a [Facebook] migraine [group] and thought “let me grab a quick photo of this post because I need to learn who this Dr Angela is”! Good thing because the post was deleted and you were removed from the group [banned actually for having a solution for migraines].

As we have learned in this group, [there are] many naysayers that do not support success. So here is our update.

Student missed the last year and a half of high school and completed high school in a hospital home bound program where the teachers came to our home to test her (she had to self teach herself the courses).

Her high school did not support her migraines and due to my persistence (ugly war) to keep her enrolled in school [and], as retaliation, the high school did not update her grades until May of 2015 (post high school graduation day). [A]s most [of us] know

her college applications had to be in by January – February of 2015 so her school reported all F’s on her transcripts,

of course later updated them to A’s but 99% percent of the colleges she applied for turned her down (I understand that).

There was one college that found Student’s story interesting and decided to give her a chance. She started in that university in Washington DC this past August at $60K a year.

With all F’s on the transcripts you can imagine no academic scholarships. You also know as a chronic daily migraineur for the past five years we are heavy burdened with medical bills so not able to help out too much.

Since the Stanton Migraine Protocol®  [she] has only missed two days of classes due to a migraine and a bad cold. So today we found out Student made the dean’s list and has been asked by two professors to take on leadership roles next semester and next year, which provides funding. She is a teenager and [is] not 100% giving up sugar, mac and cheese is her favorite meal so her headaches are not perfect but she has her life back and is thriving. Our hopes for next year is for [her] to earn some academic scholarships now that she is able to perform at her best.

Angela I so wish I could meet you face to face. You are truly amazing and I tell your story to anyone that will listen. If you should ever travel to Florida please let me know, I must meet you face to face. There is so much more to this story. I could write a book. Student’s high school is ranked #7 of 40,000 schools. We pulled [her] out of school six weeks into her 11th year per Doctor’s suggestion and had to go to [the] area superintendent to get her back in the following year.

[Because a] Student taking five years to graduate [and this] impacted the school ratings, they refused [to take] her back in.

It is a choice school and not her neighborhood school. Many teachers and some administration helped us behind the scenes because they knew what a good student she was. We got her back in but it was a war and by not updating her transcripts timely, hurt her college application process with no academic scholarships that she clearly deserved. Long long story and yes you can share on your blog. 

Student had Chronic daily migraines. It was not uncommon for her to go 100 consecutive days without a break. We tried everything and nothing worked. Her school tried to understand but they couldn’t. Her neurologist is well-known for migraines and his answer was more Topamax where she started losing her memory. Student’s goal was to go to an Ivy League school and couldn’t get through 15 minutes of class. We thought it was the lighting in class. With the protocol, lights are no longer an issue.

Wow! If you are not teary-eyed, you should be! How can a school whose job is to show example for behavior chose the school’s rating system over the welfare of the very thing it permits them to be a school at all: the students? How can they send an A student with all Fs on her transcript because of administrative oops?

In my humble opinion, that school (and I hope they are reading this testimonial) owes a huge apology to this family AND payment of full tuition she and family had to scramble for as a result of their negligence and ignorance.

One more thing: giving Topamax to children really is criminal. Read what Topamax does to adults! Then see how it can permanently damage the not yet fully developed brain of a child. As much as I am truly happy that I was able to help this wonderful person and her family, I feel anger toward the school and the neurologist. They represent much of the problems our society has today: we are not even noticing human value in front of us! It is all about ranking, wealth, and fame!

Just so you know, Student is off all medicines and by following the Stanton Migraine Protocol®  she is migraine free unless she eats sweets or goodies not part of the protocol. 🙂

Your comments are welcome as always!

Angela

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The Best Thing About Migraine: Preventable! Read this cute story!

Posted on December 17, 2015 by Angela A Stanton, Ph.D.

Say what? Migraine is preventable? Indeed it is!

I run a large migraine group on Facebook. I was a migraineur for over 30 years and grew frustrated with doctors pushing drugs that did not work. My thought was this: why am I a scientist if I cannot figure out my migraines? So I did! I am not going to give my secret away! Nope! I will ask you to read a few short things so you can understand what migraine is, spend $3 for an e-book or $19 for a paperback and read  more! I also link you to my migraine website so you can send me request for more information. So, buckle your seat belt! This is not going to be a tough ride but a fun one albeit fast.

First I share a testimonial I received today that I thought was one of the cutest stories I have ever read. This was posted into my migraine group today by a member and I have a permit to share.

The Testimonial of the Day:

Such a gratifying day! I told my neurologist today that I was breaking up with him because I do not get migraines anymore. (Down from 25 per month). He was very intrigued. I gave him a paper with Dr Stanton’s book name, fb group, website, and link to recently published article. He immediately brought it up on his laptop. He was skeptical thinking that perhaps hydration alone (cutting out diet soda) was the main reason my migraines stopped. I politely disagreed and explained further about electrolytes and balance, etc. He was then concerned I was getting too much potassium from food and what is in the S!CAPS. After I explained further and he was reading Angela’s website quickly, he said he loved it. He said he WILL read it and will recommend it to others. He has patients everyday asking for non-drug therapy. He said he will recommend this as an option and use my example as a success story. I told him that I’m sorry we were breaking up (lol) but I appreciate everything he tried to help my migraines over the years. I gave him the name of this fb group and I told he was welcome to join and learn more. Thank you again Dr. Angela. I never thought I would ever be so happy about a break up. –CMS

As you can see, even the neurologist has become a believer–and by the way I do have several doctors in the migraine group with migraines who are in my care. Doctors get migraines too! That is good to know. A doctor with migraine is more caring and chances are you will be treated better.

Now the links to what you need to read. First read my latest published article in an academic journal about what migraine is caused by and how to treat it. This is only a partial solution though–all secrets are not in it. Next read my articles at this website, which I do not own or run; I am just one of several permanent authors–some MDs. Finally buy my book. It is available everywhere. Here I link you to the amazon store of both e-book and paperback. Although the e-book says “kindle,” it comes with the kindle app and you can download it free to any platform. And finally to my migraine website so you can learn more about the Stanton Migraine Protocol® and read also all the testimonials (there are lots) on that website here.

I hope that you will come to see what is happening. If you are committed to get rid of your migraine without any medicines and are willing to participate, you can also join my FB migraine group. If you feel that a migraine group full of thousands of people is not your thing, you can hire me for private consultation for a nominal fee that covers my cost and which provides you privacy and full support. Send me a request for more info for that here.

Life is way more beautiful without pain and especially without any medicines! I have been  migraine free for 5 years and nearly all members who have been with us for several months all are as well. If we can do it, you can do it too.

Comments are welcome as always!

Angela

 

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