Health Thread

[peanut]

Well figured I post a little more in this forum related to health.

Last night our five year old grandson and his mom were visiting for the weekend. He and his mom were getting ready for bed when he started not feeling well

I have a little idea of what he might be going through as I had a ruptured appendix 37 years ago! But at least I was 29 years old and could understand somethings better than a five year old kid who's only priority for the weekend was playing with Legos with his grandpa!

!

sorry to hear this . Its always very worrying when young kids get ill as they often struggle to understand and articulate what is wrong with them.
I hope all goes well with the surgery and he makes a quick recovery and is back home with his grandpa very soon.

 

[Paul Sutton]

Peanut, nice short video to watch, very to the point. Back in about 2002 I read several research papers regarding saturated fats and there really was no solid evidence to demonise them. My mother cut down on cheese because she had been told the fats were bad for her. She also used margarine because that was considered healthier compared to butter. I tried to tell her the error in what she had been told but would not believe me. I have examined the glycemic index data and was very surprised that there really are no carbohydrates that are better than others . They all lead to rapid glucose rise in the blood. Over the last couple of weeks I have been considering going to a carb free diet but have yet to find a nice diet plan. I hope to spend tomorrow searching.

 

[fredintoon]

Peanut, nice short video to watch, very to the point. Back in about 2002 I read several research papers regarding saturated fats and there really was no solid evidence to demonise them. My mother cut down on cheese because she had been told the fats were bad for her. She also used margarine because that was considered healthier compared to butter. I tried to tell her the error in what she had been told but would not believe me. I have examined the glycemic index data and was very surprised that there really are no carbohydrates that are better than others . They all lead to rapid glucose rise in the blood. Over the last couple of weeks I have been considering going to a carb free diet but have yet to find a nice diet plan. I hope to spend tomorrow searching.

Hi Paul,
you don't need no steenkin' diet plan. Food keeps you going. Too much food makes you fat.
Quote from "I swear to God I'll never be fat again" :- "You can get fat on MetriCal if you eat enough of it"
I lost 60 lbs in 18 months 250lbs to 190lbs) just by eating half the AMOUNT of food that I used to eat.
Alas that Xmas & New Year let 10 of the bastards creep back on and they're being a swine to get rid of again.

Hint: it helps to eat off a dessert plate instead of a dinner plate because D-shaped plates are hard to find. ​

 

[peanut]

Hi Paul,
you don't need no steenkin' diet plan. Food keeps you going. Too much food makes you fat.
Quote from "I swear to God I'll never be fat again" :- "You can get fat on MetriCal if you eat enough of it"
I lost 60 lbs in 18 months 250lbs to 190lbs) just by eating half the AMOUNT of food that I used to eat.
Alas that Xmas & New Year let 10 of the bastards creep back on and they're being a swine to get rid of again.

Hint: it helps to eat off a dessert plate instead of a dinner plate because D-shaped plates are hard to find. ​

hey well done on that stupendous weight loss Fred . I have the same journey to make and I'm struggling at 240lbs atm
interesting idea Fred but sorry to say Its not just about how many calories we consume ......its about the nature of those calories and the quality of them in terms of nutritional value and what the body does with those nutrients we consume
Yes anyone can lose weight by consuming less but if its the wrong balance of macronutrients then the weight will just go straight back on again when normal eating habits resume .

Watch the video Fred you may learn something new about healthy nutritition and makinga healthy lifestyle choice to keep weight off and reduce the risk of coronary heart disease and Diabetes

 

[peanut]

Peanut, nice short video to watch, very to the point. Back in about 2002 I read several research papers regarding saturated fats and there really was no solid evidence to demonise them. My mother cut down on cheese because she had been told the fats were bad for her. She also used margarine because that was considered healthier compared to butter. I tried to tell her the error in what she had been told but would not belierted eve me. I have examined the glycemic index data and was very surprised that there really are no carbohydrates that are better than others . They all lead to rapid glucose rise in the blood. Over the last couple of weeks I have been considering going to a carb free diet but have yet to find a nice diet plan. I hope to spend tomorrow searching.

yes you're right about all carbs being converted into glucose but then so are fats its just the process is different. High carb intake causes the Pancreas to produce a load of insulin which eventually leads to carbohydrate intolerance and Insulin resistence or Metabolic syndrome.Fat and protein doesn;t do that no matter how much we eat

 

[kshansen]

sorry to hear this . Its always very worrying when young kids get ill as they often struggle to understand and articulate what is wrong with them.
I hope all goes well with the surgery and he makes a quick recovery and is back home with his grandpa very soon.

Peanut, thanks for the reply! The not understanding what is going on has to be the worst part. When I had the ruptured apendix 37 years ago I had a good idea of what was happening.

One "funny story" about my case was my wife, "!st one at that time!", went across the road to tell her mom what was going on and the first response from "THE! MOTHER IN-LAW", was; "He could die from that!". Wife said; "Gee thanks for the encouragement MOM!"

And to make matter worse my appendix chose the day before Thanksgiving to rupture and the big dinner was going to be the in-laws house right across the street from the hospital! All I got for Thanksgiving dinner that year was a couple bottles of saline in an I.V.. I could almost smell the turkey "THE! MOTHER IN-LAW" was baking!

PS: I refer to first wife's mom as "THE! MOTHER IN-LAW" in jest, as one time I can in the room while wife was on the phone with her mom and I jokingly asked is that the mother in-law? Her mom said to her that better be with capital letters! So ever since then it was a running joke between her and myself. Could not ask for a better person to have as a MOTHER IN-LAW!

 

[peanut]

Peanut, thanks for the reply! The not understanding what is going on has to be the worst part. When I had the ruptured apendix 37 years ago I had a good idea of what was happening.

One "funny story" about my case was my wife, "!st one at that time!", went across the road to tell her mom what was going on and the first response from "THE! MOTHER IN-LAW", was; "He could die from that!". Wife said; "Gee thanks for the encouragement MOM!"

And to make matter worse my appendix chose the day before Thanksgiving to rupture and the big dinner was going to be the in-laws house right across the street from the hospital! All I got for Thanksgiving dinner that year was a couple bottles of saline in an I.V.. I could almost smell the turkey "THE! MOTHER IN-LAW" was baking!

PS: I refer to first wife's mom as "THE! MOTHER IN-LAW" in jest, as one time I can in the room while wife was on the phone with her mom and I jokingly asked is that the mother in-law? Her mom said to her that better be with capital letters! So ever since then it was a running joke between her and myself. Could not ask for a better person to have as a MOTHER IN-LAW!

Mother-in laws eh !.....

 

[Goldenboy]

shawnkva I hope that you will tell us more about your daily battle with Diabetes . Goldenboy created this valuable thread just so that we can all share our health experiences and help with support and advice.

I know what you are going through and you have my sincere sympathy. At times you can feel like nobody really understands all the symptoms you suffer with and how your mood and emotions can go up and down .you can be in tears one moment and flying off the handle the next and stress and anxiety make life difficult.

My HbA1c level was 128mmol/l when I was diagnosed and I managed to get my levels down to below 60mmol/l within 8x weeks simply by eliminating carbohydrates from my diet and replacing them with Fat and protein. I lost 1 stone in the process.

It is the carbohydrates and sugars in our diet that is the direct cause of Diabetes and by following some sort of KETO diet blood glucose levels fall rapidly within a week or two. You'll find you need less fluids and pee a lot less n, mostly ot needing to go to the bathroom all night long. Fatigue headaches and tingling in fingers and toes diminish and vision slowly recovers some .

You don't say anything about any dietary changes so I do hope that you are getting some sensible dietary advice from your physician about cutting out all sugar ,potatoes bread cake biscuits pastry pasta and other starchy carbs and replacing them with Protein and healthy Fats like meat eggs cream nuts etc .

My Partner eats a lot of fruit every day under the impression that it is a healthy option for weight loss and was surprised when I pointed out that all that fruit contained more than 10x teaspoons of sugar . Add the 2x teaspoons of sugar she has in her tea every day and she is consuming up to 16x teaspoons of sugar daily !

Amazing, peanut, but you've just listed everything I must eat while in the acute phase of ulcerative colitis. Like I mentioned, I lost 30 lbs and am not sure what a stone weighs, but the dietician at the hospitlal worked out my low residue, bland diet and it's all about carbs, small portions of chicken and fish, mostly crackers, bread, canned peaches and pears and mashed potatoes. This is a diet I would never use when healthy. I'm eating a stick of butter a day, also. But, luckily I'm gaining some weight back. I think the steroids increase your metabolism and I'm eating more than my share, but the weight is only slowly coming on.

 

[Goldenboy]

As some of you may know I have been Diabetic and Hypoththyroid for many years .
lately several other serious ailments have been added including stage 3 Hypertension .

Like many of you I have a Family History of heart attacks ........my G father dying at 69 and my Father suffering a massive aortic aneurysm at 65 .
As I am now 67 you can imagine my current concern .

I have been studying the causes of all my conditions for several years now in order to try to understand how these conditions came about. I wanted to know what it was that caused these conditions and could they be reversed naturally rather than be treated with drugs. As a youngster I had been a National swimmer ,County Athlete and enthusiastic sportsman /triathlete ,... healthy strong and fit I had never had a days illness until I hit 35 so how did all that just disappear leaving a sick man with numerous life threatening diseases ?....

There are as many diverse and conflicting opinions and therories out there as there are quack remedies its little wonder that we have been left with little idea of whom to believe or trust .
Medical institutions, Food Manufacturers Big Pharma, Nutritionists, Government advisory bodies they all have vested interests and profits to consider so who and what to believe ?

For the past 30 years the US and UK Governments diatetary guidelines have recommended that we follow a low Fat, High carbohydrate diet in order to lower risk of hear attacks, Coronary Heart Disease and strokes . Like most I took the advice seriously and for 30 years didn't eat any butter, whole milk , fatty meat , lard or other food sources high in fat. For 30 years I didn't eat a single burger . My diet consisted of a mostly protein and carbs . Over the following 30 years
I have put on 3 stones in weight , lost all my muscle and been diagnosed with Hypothyroidism T2 Diabetes, Prolactinemia, Hypertension, Lipidemia, Arthritis and various other ailments and surely that cannot all be due to reducing exercise and getting older .

There is currently a massive drive around the World that is trying to reverse Government guidelines that recommend a high carb low fat diet which we now realise is the cause of coronary heart disease and all these other conditions . Its the high Insulin levels from our high sugar and carb diets that has been killing us in our millions.

We have been lied to and misled for 30 years .

It is believed that currently well over half of all Americans and British citizens currently have Diabetes whether diagnosed or not.

I really hope that many of you will make the 10 minutes of your time to watch this youtube video . I really believe it will make you think and may save your life .
It is a recent address to the House of Commons at Westminster by Zoe Harcombe a PhD obesity researcher .

Thank you again, peanut for posting these informative videos. I can't wait to get off this horrid diet I'm on. All the evidence is there.

 

[Goldenboy]

Well figured I post a little more in this forum related to health.

Last night our five year old grandson and his mom were visiting for the weekend. He and his mom were getting ready for bed when he started not feeling good and ended up loosing his supper. After a bit he felt good enough to go to bed but I guess he got up around 1:30 and his grandma got up and the two of them spent the night on the couch in living room.

When I got my butt out of bed at 7:00AM he was still curled up next to his grandma trying to watch cartoons but told me his tummy still hurt.

His mom was thinking she would take him home but as it is about a 2 1/2 hour ride thought it would be best to run into the Urgent Care place in town to see if there was anything they could give him to make him feel better for the ride home.

After they had a look at him they felt he should go to the Children's Hospital in Syracuse just to be safe. Well after doing some checks including an ultra sound I just learned they have decided it was not just a tummy ache but appendicitis! When I last talked to my wife at ten after two the surgeon was in the room explaining what they were going to be doing.

I have a little idea of what he might be going through as I had a ruptured appendix 37 years ago! But at least I was 29 years old and could understand somethings better than a five year old kid who's only priority for the weekend was playing with Legos with his grandpa!

I also feel a little bad for his dad as he had to stay home this weekend as he was "on call" at the college he works for in case they have a problem as he works on the grounds keeping staff so snow or anything else might need someone to come in on short notice. Now he has to drive 2 1/2 hours while thinking of his boy heading in to surgery!

The appendix is thought to be an evolutionary remnant which hangs off the beginning of the large intestines. It is hollow and can trap digested food and become infected. As young as that child is, that is good to know it is possible for anyone to get appendicitis. Thanks for the information. I hope all turns out well.

 

[kshansen]

The appendix is thought to be an evolutionary remnant which hangs off the beginning of the large intestines. It is hollow and can trap digested food and become infected. As young as that child is, that is good to know it is possible for anyone to get appendicitis. Thanks for the information. I hope all turns out well.

Well he seems to have gone through the surgery just fine. Has to spend the night in the hospital but if he doesn't have any problems he should be good to go home Sunday afternoon. At least he was lucky and it had not ruptured so only needed a couple small incisions not like the gash I got.

From what my wife said doc's and nurses were kind of surprised that every time they asked where it hurt he was very exact at printing right to where his appendix would be. Right there he said many times!

 

[Mailman]

Well he seems to have gone through the surgery just fine. Has to spend the night in the hospital but if he doesn't have any problems he should be good to go home Sunday afternoon. At least he was lucky and it had not ruptured so only needed a couple small incisions not like the gash I got.

From what my wife said doc's and nurses were kind of surprised that every time they asked where it hurt he was very exact at printing right to where his appendix would be. Right there he said many times!

Ken, I’m happy to hear your grandson has made it through the tough part. Kids heal fast, they bounce back much faster than adults.
My appendix ruptured when I was three years old and it very nearly killed me. That was in the winter of 1959 and my family lived on a farm in very rural Missouri. At first my parents just thought I was sick, so I wasn’t treated for a couple days. When they finally decided to take me to the hospital, the roads were impassable due to deep snow and we had to wait for a county snow plow to come and clear the roads. By the time I made it to the hospital I was so sick they couldn’t operate. They just put drains in my abdomen and started pumping me full of massive doses of penicillin. My appendix wasn’t removed until two years later.
Oh...and your Thanksgiving appendectomy? Happened exactly like that to my father, he went to the Dr. with abdominal pain and the Dr sent him straight to the hospital for admission. Just four hours after he left the house to go see the Dr. he was recovering from an emergency appendectomy. The next day was Thanksgiving, no turkey for him!

 

[peanut]

Amazing, peanut, but you've just listed everything I must eat while in the acute phase of ulcerative colitis. Like I mentioned, I lost 30 lbs and am not sure what a stone weighs, but the dietician at the hospitlal worked out my low residue, bland diet and it's all about carbs, small portions of chicken and fish, mostly crackers, bread, canned peaches and pears and mashed potatoes. This is a diet I would never use when healthy. I'm eating a stick of butter a day, also. But, luckily I'm gaining some weight back. I think the steroids increase your metabolism and I'm eating more than my share, but the weight is only slowly coming on.

My inclination is to question the recommendation of your Nutritionist for eating mashed potato bread and crackers .
There is absolutely zero essential minerals and vitamins in those foods whatever . Add to that they are going to send your blood sugar levels rocketing and then crashing every time you eat.
Canned pears and peaches are absolutely loaded with sugar and are going to cause Insulin and blood sugar spikes crikey what a weird diet recommendation .? Why not natural fruit especially bananas ?

Steroids are a strong stimulant to eat which is of course what you need right now but surely you would be better off eating foods containing healthy saturated fats to put weight on and get the essential nutrients you need after losing so much weight and most of your essential vitamins and minerals.

I would hope that your Doc has put you on high dose supplements to restore what you have lost with the ulcerative colitis like Viamin D3 , Magnesium , K2, B12 Vit A & E . Extra Potassium and Sodium is essential as you will have been losing that .

I would imagine that it highly likely that it is something that you habitually eat or drink in your diet that has brought about the ulcerative colitis . My Brother in Law discovered it was the Lager beer that he was drinking (habitial heavy daily drinker ) he switched to cider ,(apple based ) and his ulcerative colitis cleared right up within a week. prior to that he could never be further than 3 minutes from a bathroom !

 

[Paul Sutton]

Fred mentioned about eating off a smaller plate, it does work. Also, I find that at lunch I can eat 4 sandwiches and feel just as full as when I eat 1 sandwich that has been cut into 4 pieces. I think the brain/stomach counts plates and not their size and the same with sandwiches.

 

[Goldenboy]

Well he seems to have gone through the surgery just fine. Has to spend the night in the hospital but if he doesn't have any problems he should be good to go home Sunday afternoon. At least he was lucky and it had not ruptured so only needed a couple small incisions not like the gash I got.

From what my wife said doc's and nurses were kind of surprised that every time they asked where it hurt he was very exact at printing right to where his appendix would be. Right there he said many times!

I'm happy to hear everything went well.

 

[Goldenboy]

My inclination is to question the recommendation of your Nutritionist for eating mashed potato bread and crackers .
There is absolutely zero essential minerals and vitamins in those foods whatever . Add to that they are going to send your blood sugar levels rocketing and then crashing every time you eat.
Canned pears and peaches are absolutely loaded with sugar and are going to cause Insulin and blood sugar spikes crikey what a weird diet recommendation .? Why not natural fruit especially bananas ?

Steroids are a strong stimulant to eat which is of course what you need right now but surely you would be better off eating foods containing healthy saturated fats to put weight on and get the essential nutrients you need after losing so much weight and most of your essential vitamins and minerals.

I would hope that your Doc has put you on high dose supplements to restore what you have lost with the ulcerative colitis like Viamin D3 , Magnesium , K2, B12 Vit A & E . Extra Potassium and Sodium is essential as you will have been losing that .

I would imagine that it highly likely that it is something that you habitually eat or drink in your diet that has brought about the ulcerative colitis . My Brother in Law discovered it was the Lager beer that he was drinking (habitial heavy daily drinker ) he switched to cider ,(apple based ) and his ulcerative colitis cleared right up within a week. prior to that he could never be further than 3 minutes from a bathroom !

I'm sure I've contributed to a degree to my problem, but am not a drinker, and the doctor explained that this is an auto immune disorder, more than likely brought on by over use of anti biotics as a child and my white blood cells attack my large intestines. Yes that's good advice on taking supplements. I am getting blood work once a week for sugar, and am deficient in calcium, phosphorus and magnesium and the cardio said after I repeat blood next week, he will prescribe the phosphorus, but, if you read the interactions checker on prednisone a lot of supplements can inhibit the action of this steroid. We wind up between a rock and a hard place, but,I have decided to tweak the diet and even eat less on my own. Thank you for the great advice. I was thinking about what you said of the onset of all your problems concerning insulin resistance, and can't remember if you learned anything about the function of your adrenal glands, and if they were operating at a lower than normal level, but I guess, if this is the problem, than using insulin is the solution. Within the past two years, there is a system to constantly monitor insulin levels and automatically introduce it to your system, so you don't get jerked around by spikes and dips in levels.

 

[peanut]

Fred mentioned about eating off a smaller plate, it does work. Also, I find that at lunch I can eat 4 sandwiches and feel just as full as when I eat 1 sandwich that has been cut into 4 pieces. I think the brain/stomach counts plates and not their size and the same with sandwiches.

yes smaller portions and plate sizes work for a while if losing weight but they are not sustainable in the long term that is the big problem. its easy to lose weight...... there lots of effective ways to lose weight.

The difficult bit for everyone is keeping the weight off for the rest of your life

The reason ffor this is because people wishing to lose weight use diets and methods that keep you hungry all the time and the moment the weight has come off people go straight back to eating all the same unhealthy carbohydrate foods that they always have done and the weight piles back on. Its very difficult to stick to healthy food when you are out at work all day through the week and there lots of cake and biscuits back at the office

The only effective way to lose weight and eat a healthy nutritious diet is to adopt a sustainable lifestyle diet like a Ketogenic diet or a low carb high fat & protein diet ie Mediterranean diet where you are eating plenty of food that is highly nutritious and contains all the essential minerals and vitamins we need.

 

[madmax-im]

I have lost nearly 50lbs by cutting my carbohydrates to 20g per day..or less..I consume no sugar at all. Theres another way to fuel your body besides carbohydrates and sugars..because using them as a source of energey casuse you to store fat. Ketone energy on the other hand burns fat...So a diet high in protiens and saturated fats is a ketone diet...It works As long as I adhere to the strict 20g per day limit for total carbs then i continue to lose weight. 9 months ago i was pre stage 2 diabetic and weighed 200# on my 5'9" frame. I am now very close to 150# and my goal is 145# so the end is near,...As for maintaining the diet..I am already..i am not hungry as much as you would think..My cravings are more subdued...It will be easy to maintain this as a lifestyle...I may flucuate + or - a few lbs as I add some carbs back into my diet every now and then...
I have gone from an XL to a Medium shirt and a waistline that has shrunk from 36" to 30"...My blood sugar numbers are back within the normal range and I feel better now at age 66 than i have for the past 10 yrs...Sugar is the enemy...I am living proof that the Ketogenic diet works...

 

[fredintoon]

I have lost nearly 50lbs by cutting my carbohydrates to 20g per day..or less..I consume no sugar at all. Theres another way to fuel your body besides carbohydrates and sugars..because using them as a source of energey casuse you to store fat. Ketone energy on the other hand burns fat...So a diet high in protiens and saturated fats is a ketone diet...It works As long as I adhere to the strict 20g per day limit for total carbs then i continue to lose weight. 9 months ago i was pre stage 2 diabetic and weighed 200# on my 5'9" frame. I am now very close to 150# and my goal is 145# so the end is near,...As for maintaining the diet..I am already..i am not hungry as much as you would think..My cravings are more subdued...It will be easy to maintain this as a lifestyle...I may flucuate + or - a few lbs as I add some carbs back into my diet every now and then...
I have gone from an XL to a Medium shirt and a waistline that has shrunk from 36" to 30"...My blood sugar numbers are back within the normal range and I feel better now at age 66 than i have for the past 10 yrs...Sugar is the enemy...I am living proof that the Ketogenic diet works...

Hi madmax,
it ain't the kinda sugar that nature puts in fruit that's the enemy, it's the other kinda sugar that Big Sugar processes out of sugar beet.
That said, so long as your diet keeps you at your desired weight that's OK no matter what it's called.
Background:- I was a child in the UK during WW2 and mother kept on telling us,
"You WILL clean your plate because the wicked Nazis are trying to kill the sailors who brought that food to you."
Even if what I left on my plate was the spuds from our own back garden.
This conditioning worked so well that even today I have to force myself to throw out leftovers rather than eat them later.
Leftovers are also the enemy!

 

[madmax-im]

HI Fred..I have eliminated processed cane sugar...I used it mostly in the 5 cups of coffee i had everyday with 2 to 3 teaspoons of sugar per cup...I have also cut out all processed foods..all fast foods..pizza..bread..bagels... gone from my diet..the only fruits i eat are Berries..Blueberry,Strawberry,Blackberry and Raspberry...with real whipped cream on top....and I can have...Bacon with 2 eggs and cheddar cheese...for breakfast everyday...
BTW call me Ben
Edit..In place of sugar I use Liquid Stevia. in my coffee....as opposed to powdered Stevia
It took a while but i have finally gotten used to the taste of it in my coffee.