Adrenal Fatigue Resource

I previously posted about adrenal fatigue here:

Do You Have Adrenal Fatigue?

Adrenal fatigue is a common disorder characterized by

• Fatigue
• Feeling tired despite sufficient hours of sleep
• Insomnia
• Weight gain
• Depression
• Hair loss
• Acne
• Reliance on stimulants like caffeine
• Cravings for carbohydrates or sugars
• Poor immune function
• Intolerance to cold

In addition to the resources I mentioned in that post, a kind commenter (thanks, Jacqueline!) pointed out another that seems very good.

Women to Women: Eating to Support Your Adrenal Glands - Small Choices Can Make a Big Difference

From her profile, I see Jacqueline has a blog, Women's Health News. Check it out, and tell her thanks for sharing the link!

Effects Of Semi-Starvation

I want to share with you something I read this morning. This is some seriously interesting reading. It discusses and interprets the Ancel Keys “starvation study” from 1950.

The article is about the relationship between eating disorders and prolonged dietary restriction. The entire article can be found here:
Effects Of Semi-Starvation

It starts with this:

One of the most important advancements in the understanding of eating disorders is the recognition that severe and prolonged dietary restriction can lead to serious physical and psychological complications (Garner, 1997). Many of the symptoms once thought to be primary features of anorexia nervosa are actually symptoms of starvation. Given what we know about the biology of weight regulation, what is the impact of weight suppression on the individual? This is particularly relevant for those with anorexia nervosa, but is also important for people with eating disorders who have lost significant amounts of body weight. Perhaps the most powerful illustration of the effects of restrictive dieting and weight loss on behavior is an experimental study conducted almost 50 years ago and published in 1950 by Ancel Keys and his colleagues at the University of Minnesota (Keys et al., 1950). The experiment involved carefully studying 36 young, healthy, psychologically normal men while restricting their caloric intake for 6 months. More than 100 men volunteered for the study as an alternative to military service; the 36 selected had the highest levels of physical and psychological health, as well as the most commitment to the objectives of the experiment. What makes the "starvation study" (as it is commonly known) so important is that many of the experiences observed in the volunteers are the same as those experienced by patients with eating disorders.

It goes on to describe in detail how the study affected the participants, including:
Attitudes and Behavior Related to Food and Eating
Binge Eating
Emotional and Personality Changes
Social and Sexual Changes
Cognitive and Physical Changes

You really do need to read the whole article to appreciate the significance of the impact on these men.

The study participants started out as healthy men, with no apparent predisposition to eating disorders. By restricting their food intake by half for the duration of study, they suffered profound and long lasting impact.

With Kimkins food is restricted much more, and often for longer, than it was for these healthy men for the ‘starvation study’. The symptoms these men suffered are very similar to symptoms described by Kimkins survivors. There has been a great deal of debate over whether or not Kimkins can cause an eating disorder. I am no authority, but in my heart I feel the answer is that yes it can. It is commonly said that eating disorders are not about the food, but this study seems to indicate the issue is not that clear cut.

Have you been to AnswerFitness.com?

AnswerFitness is a new-to-me blog. I found it through their detailed review of the Kimkins diet:

Kimkins Diet: Big Fat Fraud? Diet Reviews

I think it's important to note that he reviewed Kimkins on his own. He's not a naysayer, negative nancy, angry mobster, or any of the other things the 'ducks' have been called. He reviewed it and called it like he saw it. Good for him!

The blog is pretty neat. It has product reviews, health & fitness tips, and great recipes - I can't wait to try the Asparagus with Dijon Mustard Sauce!

Fraudelent Marketing in the News

Former Body Solutions CEO admits lying to FTC
May 19, 2008

DALLAS

The former CEO of a company that used radio personalities to market Body
Solutions weight-loss products pleaded guilty Monday to lying to federal
regulators about his assets.

Harry Siskind, 53, former chief executive of Mark Nutritional Inc., entered
the plea in federal district court in San Antonio.

Siskind faces up to five years in federal prison, a fine up to $250,000 and
$155 million in restitution when he is sentenced Aug. 28, federal officials
said.

Siskind's attorney, a federal public defender, did not immediately respond
to phone and e-mail requests for comment. Siskind was released on $50,000
bond, according to court records.

The U.S. Attorney's Office in San Antonio said Siskind admitted making a
false statement about his assets during a 2003 deposition in the Federal
Trade Commission's lawsuit against himself, his former company and others.

The FTC is suing Siskind and others over marketing claims by Body Solutions
that drinking one of its products would cause users to lose weight as they
slept, without diet or exercise. The FTC took Siskind's deposition about
that lawsuit and a related bankruptcy case.

Officials said Siskind was ordered by a court to disclose all assets he
owned or controlled but described some valuable loans he was owed as
worthless stock.

Mark Nutritional agreed in 2003 to shut down. It sold about $155 million
worth of Body Solutions Evening Weight Loss Formula.


Source: Former Body Solutions CEO admits lying to FTC

Kimkins Lawsuit Gets Personal

I thought this stuff only happened on television? People who speak out openly against Kimkins and support the Kimkins fraud lawsuit are being personally attacked on blogs, and are having their privacy invaded. It's like school yard bullying moved to cyber space! It's really ugly. I hope the targets of these attacks are working with John, and keeping their heads held high.

I recently saw a blogger go on and on about how the lawsuit participants haven't coughed up any hard evidence of damage caused by the diet, so the lawsuit will never fly. Excuse me? The lawsuit is about FRAUD. It will be very easy to prove and win, considering the volume of fraud that occurred and the stacks of evidence that have been provided. The personal attacks and diversions won't change the facts. They just prove what desperate and rotten people the defendants are.

Speaking of cyber bullying, I saw a story about a 49 year old woman who was indicted for harassing a 13 year old girl on MySpace, until the girl hanged herself. What kind of person would make up a fake identities to terrorize a child in such a cruel and intentional way?

Mom Indicted in Deadly MySpace Hoax

"This adult woman allegedly used the Internet to target a young teenage girl, with horrendous ramifications," U.S. Attorney Thomas P. O'Brien said in a written statement.

"Any adult who uses the Internet or a social gathering Web site to bully or harass another person, particularly a young teenage girl, needs to realize that their actions can have serious consequences," O'Brien said.

I hope she's convicted.

A Trip Down Memory Lane

This was new to me, but some of you from the early days of Lowcarb Friends may remember this, or encounters like it, between Kimmer and anyone who disagreed with her.

At that point she claimed to be:




But really she was:



Read what she had to say with that in mind:
Still Neauseous?

Interesting Reading from Dr. Briffa

Dr. Briffa had an interesting post about thyroid health a few weeks ago:

Low thyroid function may be a factor in weight gain despite ‘normal’ tests

He starts with this - see if it sounds familiar to you!

When I was studying medicine I was even more cynical than I am now and so, I think, were quite a few of my friends. We had all established firmly in our minds the notion that eating few calories than the body ‘burned’ would result in weight loss, so generally had little compassion for individuals who claimed they did not overeat but still could not shift their excess weight. Also, around the time a study was published which claimed that the overweight tend to significantly underestimate the amount they eat. So, if someone claimed that they thought they had a ‘sluggish metabolism’ or had ‘a problem with their glands’ (low thyroid function) then our eyes would usually roll skywards, if not outwardly, then at least inwardly.

Then you had thyroid testing and it was normal, right? Read the whole article to find out more about why normal may not be so normal after all.

Since then, he's written a follow up post about the dangers of ignoring allegedly normal thyroid test results:

More evidence that ‘normal’ thyroid function tests do not necessarily mean that all is well with the thyroid and health

He said

...this study focused on TSH levels in the ‘normal’ range, which the researchers cite as 0.5-3.5 mlU/L. This is interesting in itself, as the lab I usually use for these tests quotes and upper limit of TSH of 4.20, and I saw a patient yesterday who came with some blood test results where the upper limit of TSH was quoted as 5.50! it seems there is a lack of consensus about what the normal range of TSH should be…

Frustrated yet?

Anyway, focusing back on the study, the research looked at the risk of cardiac death in a group of about 17,000 women and 8000 men over a period of something more than 8 years.

They found no significant relationship between TSH levels and cardiac death risk in men. However, in women, it was a different story. Compared to women with a TSH level of 0.5-1.4 (relatively low levels which should mean relatively high thyroid function):

Women with a TSH level of between 1.5-2.4 were found to be at a 41 per cent increased risk of cardiac death.

Women with a TSH level of between 2.5-3.5 were found to be at a 69 per cent increased risk of cardiac death.

Yikes! In the end, Dr. Briffa says:

Quite a few doctors I know express concern at the thought of someone with ‘normal’ test results taking thyroid hormone. They often cite the risk of treatment, including risks to the heart. Obviously, I think it’s a good thing that as doctors we should be aware of the risks associated with thyroid hormone treatment. I just wish more doctors would see the other side: that there can be considerable risks associated with not treating too.

One of the commenters (Jackie) on the blog post shared some support resources. If you would like to learn more, check here:
Stop The Thyroid Madness
Thyroid Patient Advocacy
Hypothyroidism / Underactive Thyroid / Hashimoto's Disease
ThyroidUK.org
Her blog at http://gooddietgoodhealth.blogspot.com
Dr Peatfield’s book ‘Your Thyroid and How To Keep It Healthy’
Dr Lowe’s paper on the treatment of hypothyroidism

Happy International No Diet Day!

Please read this important post from Sandy at Junkfood Science.

Happy International No Diet Day!

Today, I Pledge:
That I will not diet for one day, on May 6, International No Diet Day.
Instead of trying to change my body to fit someone else's standards, I will accept myself just as I am. (I'll TRY!)
I will feed myself if I'm hungry.
I will feel no shame or guilt about my size or about eating.
I will think about whether dieting has improved my health and well-being or not. (It has NOT!)
And I will try to do at least one thing I have been putting off "until I lose weight."

Katie Couric on Kimkins?

I am just kidding, of course, but she did get Kimkins-like results. Check out the Katie Couric Photoshop Diet! Be sure to read the article so you can hear how she reacted when she found out this was done to her picture.

So Diets Don't Work...

An interesting article from last year about a study that concluded that diets don’t work. You can read the whole thing here.

Here are some things that stood out for me:

"You can initially lose 5 to 10 percent of your weight on any number of diets, but then the weight comes back," said Traci Mann, UCLA associate professor of psychology and lead author of the study. "We found that the majority of people regained all the weight, plus more. Sustained weight loss was found only in a small minority of participants, while complete weight regain was found in the majority. Diets do not lead to sustained weight loss or health benefits for the majority of people."

"What happens to people on diets in the long run?" Mann asked. "Would they have been better off to not go on a diet at all? We decided to dig up and analyze every study that followed people on diets for two to five years. We concluded most of them would have been better off not going on the diet at all.

"Several studies indicate that dieting is actually a consistent predictor of future weight gain," said Janet Tomiyama, a UCLA graduate student of psychology and co-author of the study. One study found that both men and women who participated in formal weight-loss programs gained significantly more weight over a two-year period than those who had not participated in a weight-loss program, she said.

Another study, which examined a variety of lifestyle factors and their relationship to changes in weight in more than 19,000 healthy older men over a four-year period, found that "one of the best predictors of weight gain over the four years was having lost weight on a diet at some point during the years before the study started," Tomiyama said.

Sounds pretty bleak, doesn't it? So where does that leave us? Certainly not Kimkins. Heidi Diaz is precisely a model of exactly what this study says. I'm really not sure where that leaves us, but I'm going to work hard to find out. The article says eating in moderation and exercise are key, but I haven't seen any studies that shows that works, either! What next? The food pyramid? It has to come down to addressing the cause!