Gretchen Becker says going low-carb for diabetes control is “extreme”

We’re living in strange times as it relates to diabetes health nowadays. We know that carbohydrates stimulate increases in blood sugar and insulin and yet the major diabetes organizations like the American Diabetes Association (ADA) ENCOURAGES a high-carb, low-fat diet for people with this disease. How bassackwards is that? Sure, the ADA says low-carb is good for weight loss up to one year, but what about the positive effects of blood sugar and insulin control that comes from carbohydrate restriction? Today’s podcast interview guest is a self-educated Type 2 diabetic who was not able to get it under control until she started livin’ la vida low-carb.

In Episode 267 of “The Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb Show with Jimmy Moore,” we hear from Gretchen Becker, author of a series of books on diabetes as well as co-author of The Four Corners Diet. You’ll hear Gretchen talk about her severe diabetes diagnosis, why the ADA diet failed her, what a low-carb diet did to help control her diabetes along with medications, details about the various books she has available for people, why saturated fat may lead to greater insulin resistance, her new diabetes blog called “Wildly Fluctuating,” and how diabetics controlled their disease prior to insulin. Gretchen is a self-made diabetes expert and has quite a bit to say about this subject as it relates to low-carb living. ENJOY!

Click here to listen to my half-hour interview with Gretchen Becker about low-carb and diabetes.

DON’T MISS A SINGLE PODCAST EPISODE ON ITUNES: Please visit the new podcast feed to subscribe and access all the new episodes of my podcast show on iTunes. We are still working hard to move all the old archives over from the old podcast site to the new one at TheLivinLowCarbShow.com/ShowNotes.

Nutritional psychologist Julia Ross explains why carbs are so addictive

We’ve heard scientific evidence over the past year that carbohydrate-laden foods comprised primarily of sugar and high-fructose corn syrup is much more addictive than cocaine and heroin. That sounds preposterous to people who would retort back “but it’s only food!” And yet, is it? What if we stopped looking at carbohydrates as food but rather in the same way we view those addictive drugs? That’s exactly what my podcast guest today encourages people to do in order to properly understand how to best improve their weight and health.

In Episode 266 of “The Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb Show with Jimmy Moore,” what a thrill it is to share with you my interview with Julia Ross, author of The Diet Cure: The 8-Step Program to Rebalance Your Body Chemistry and End Food Cravings, Weight Problems, and Mood Swings–Now and The Mood Cure: The 4-Step Program to Take Charge of Your Emotions–Today. She is one of the foremost experts on the carbohydrate connection that is plaguing our diet and mental health in modern times.

Hear Julia discuss the reality of carb addiction, what she would recommend to help Oprah with her weight woes, why even protein distribution throughout the day is essential, the reason why she believes her program is a “cure” for people, the brain chemistry deficiency that people experience, the travails of undereating on thyroid function, the conspiracy to increase the sugar content of breakfast cereals, why low-fat, low-calorie diets are especially dangerous, the lack of balance of essential fatty acids, the fallacy of taking prescription drugs for mood issues, and so much more! This is a classic podcast, so listen from start to finish and soak it all in.

Click here to access this amazing interview with low-carb champion Julia Ross!

Reinhard Engels says healthy eating can be summed up in 14 words

Whenever most people start thinking about going on a diet, the first thing that comes to mind is how complex and difficult it can all seem. In fact, a good number of people write to me often obsessing over every little minutia of the calories they consume, the fat intake, the carbohydrate consumption, measuring every little thing before it crosses their lips. But what if healthy living could be as simple as a few words that it super simple? Today’s podcast guest set out to do just that with a special dietary plan he came up with.

In Episode 265 of “The Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb Show with Jimmy Moore,” we hear from Reinhard Engels, creator and author of the book The No “S” Diet: The Strikingly Simple Weight-Loss Strategy That Has Dieters Raving–and Dropping Pounds. I first “met” Reinhard when we worked together as contributors in 2006 to Chris Brogan’s now-defunct “Fat Guy Gets Fit” podcast, and then later the also now-defunct “Health Hacks Podcast,” hosted by my current podcast producer, Kevin Kennedy-Spaien. I was always fascinated by how analytical he made things sound with various diet and exercise concepts that seemed a little oddball at face value. But the more you looked at them, the more sense they really made. In addition to The No “S” Diet diet, Reinhard also developed a special exercise routine called “Shovelglove” that attempted to mimic the movements of our early ancestors in the action of chopping or hammering that gave their bodies exercise.

Click here to hear more about Reinhard Engel’s No “S” Diet and fitness plan that fits well within a healthy low-carb lifestyle.

YOU CAN GET THE NEW PODCAST EPISODES ON ITUNES: Despite sharing about the new podcast feed for several weeks now, many people are still e-mailing me about their disappointment that they can’t access the new episodes of my podcast on iTunes. But you CAN! Here’s how: simply click on the new podcast feed and subscribe to the iTunes feed. Then when you go to iTunes on Mondays and Thursdays to access the new episodes, they’ll download for you to listen to them on your computer or iPod. So stop lamenting that you’re missing out and start catching up on some pretty awesome interviews that have come out in recent weeks. THANKS!

Legendary low-carb diabetes care expert Dr. Richard Bernstein

Diabetes has quickly become one of the most pressing health issues of our day. It used to be that juvenile diabetes (Type 1) was the prevalent form of this terrible disease, but adult onset diabetes (Type 2) has quickly overtaken it by a long shot in the 21st Century. Millions of people are walking around right now with elevated blood sugar and insulin levels and don’t even know that they may be well on their way to developing diabetes because of their excessive carbohydrate intake that is promoted as “healthy” by the leading diabetes health organizations like the American Diabetes Association (ADA). Today’s podcast interview guest who has been bravely trumpeting the low-carb solution to diabetes for decades while being scorned, ridiculed, and lambasted for holding what has been described by the conventional medical community as “extreme, radical” views.

In Episode 264 of “The Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb Show with Jimmy Moore,” it is my sincere privilege and honor to bring to you a very special one-hour interview with somebody I rank right up there as a personal nutritional hero along with the late, great Dr. Robert C. Atkins. He is 75-year old living legend Dr. Richard Bernstein, author of the recently revised and updated bestselling low-carb diabetes book The Diabetes Solution: The Complete Guide to Achieving Normal Blood Sugars. If you are unfamiliar with this amazing man in the world of low-carb and diabetes, then you owe it to yourself to listen to everything Dr. Bernstein has to share.

In my interview, you’ll hear Dr. Bernstein’s discuss his personal story of dealing with Type 1 diabetes for nearly six decades, how his engineering background helped him come across self-monitoring for effective blood sugar control, the politics that dominate diabetes care, the research he has conducted on this disease, why he decided to pursue a medical degree at the age of 45, why his books were banned from being advertised to patients in the ADA publications, why he describes the obese and diabetics as “orphans,” the impact President Obama’s Supreme Court justice nominee Sonia Sotomayor who has Type 1 diabetes could have on diabetes care, why the ADA seems to want to keep diabetics sick, why he believes the work he has done on behalf of diabetes is only “tiny,” how a top entertainer with diabetes could put low-carb diets on the map, his classic face-to-face dLife debate with the ADA’s top dietitian Hope Warshaw, the reasons people come to see him, why hypothyroidism and immune deficiency disorders are so prevalent in diabetics, the reason Metformin is the #1 medication he prescribes for diabetics or prediabetics when low-carb diet alone is ineffective, the fallacy of consuming fiber for diabetics, the lack of evidence against saturated fat consumption impacting blood sugar and insulin, his “star athlete” lipid panel because of his low-carb lifestyle, why taking a statin drug is detrimental to health, and the lasting impact of the work he has done.

Click here to listen to this podcast for the ages that it is probably one of the best “Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb Show” interviews of 2009!

Are YOU the next to hop on the low-carb blogging bandwagon?

Highlighting new low-carb blogs for you guys to check out is something I really enjoy doing whenever I take off on a trip where I’ll be gone a few days. Since I’ll be heading down to Florida bright and early on Friday for my 20-year high school reunion and won’t be returning until late Sunday night, I hope you check out these awesome sites that share our philosophy about carbohydrate-restricted lifestyles. You can see my previous low-carb blog listings by clicking here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.

Click here to see these 24 brand new low-carb diet and health blogs I have for you today.

Have you found a good raw milk supplier in your area?

It’s the fourth and final day of my special edition “Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb On YouTube” video blitz this week and I’m so happy to have shared so many wonderful videos about healthy low-carb living all week long. And we saved the best one for last!

In Episode 75 of “Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb On YouTube”, Christine and I are thrilled to talk about some of the “real foods” that you can’t necessarily find in your local grocery store that are extremely healthy for you on your low-carb lifestyle. All of these foods are available locally, including fresh organic vegetables, pastured free-range eggs, grass-fed beef, and even raw milk. If you read my daily low-carb menus blog, then you’ll see I’ve been consuming many of these foods as of late because of inspiration from some outstanding recent podcast interviews with people like Sally Fallon, Sean Croxton, and Richard Morris.

Click here to watch today’s video to learn more about how to get all of these real foods in your diet.

Dr. Malcolm Kendrick says the cholesterol/heart hypothesis is bunk!

Eating saturated fat and cholesterol is unhealthy for you because they clog your arteries, raise your cholesterol levels, and lead to heart attacks, cardiovascular disease and death. Or so we’ve been told. This cholesterol/heart health theory that has been floating around out there ever since Ancel Keys proposed the theory decades ago that started the whole low-fat diet movement in earnest. Tom Naughton brilliantly illustrated this in his 2008 documentary film FAT HEAD.

In Episode 263 of “The Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb Show with Jimmy Moore,” we are privileged to hear from UK-based physician and bestselling author Dr. Malcolm Kendrick who wrote a groundbreaking book entitled The Great Cholesterol Con: The Truth About What Really Causes Heart Disease and How to Avoid It. He has committed himself to exposing the scam that is the cholesterol/heart hypothesis because he knows better based on the evidence.

Hear Dr. Kendrick talk about how he got involved in this issue, why he decided to become such a vocal opponent of the conventional theory behind cholesterol and heart health, the problem with taking statin drugs and why women should NEVER take them, the history behind how fat and cholesterol got vilified, the negative role carbohydrates play in obesity and diabetes, his personal reaction to Gary Taubes’ Good Calories, Bad Calories, what it’s gonna take to alter the incorrect thinking about cholesterol and heart health, and so much more! This is one man who knows and understands what is REALLY happening as it relates to heart health–and it’s NOT the cholesterol or saturated fat either.

Click here to access the 45-minute interview with Dr. Malcolm Kendrick in its entirety.

‘Eat Smart, Move More SC’ a nice idea but won’t work for fighting obesity

As obesity rates and associated healthcare costs have risen dramatically over the past decade or two, state governments have begun implementing their own strategies for dealing with this problem in ways that they think will be meaningful and effective. In my home state of South Carolina, where obesity has more than doubled since 1990, the governor has declared June Obesity Awareness Month and has set out to educate the public on obesity prevention through a new campaign called Eat Smart Move More SC. Rah rah rah, yeaaaaaaaah! Don’t we all just feel better now?

Click here to find out why I am so pessimistic about this new initiative from one of the most obese states in America today (hint: what do you think “eat smart” REALLY means?).

We may need shock therapy to remove all that fat phobia indoctrination

Lost in the ongoing debate over what constitutes a “healthy” diet is the power that the mind has over the body. Most people are completely unaware that their negative thinking towards things like cholesterol and saturated fat, for example, is precisely what is leading to a self-fulfilling prophecy that ends in an unexpected heart attack, cardiovascular disease diagnosis, or even sudden inexplicable death. Ironically, all of those health calamities have absolutely nothing at all to do with any of those things we think are the culprit. That famous quote from President Franklin Delano Roosevelt is absolutely right: “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”

In Episode 72 of “Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb On YouTube”, Christine and I talk about a phenomenon that I recently read about called the “nocebo effect” (translated from Latin as “I will harm”). Most of us are familiar with the “placebo effect” where a drug provides a beneficial health effect simply because the person expects it to. The converse of that is the nocebo effect where a negative reaction happens as a result of something simply because a person expects it to. In the case of consuming saturated fat and cholesterol, which has been hammered into our heads for decades as being “harmful” to your health, this has never been more true for a large segment of the population.

What if all those stern warnings we’ve heard from the so-called “experts” against consuming saturated fat and cholesterol over the years have actually perpetuated the problem and made it even worse than it would have otherwise been? Could it really be the STRESS brought on by all the constant worrying people have about what saturated fat and cholesterol might be doing to their health that is actually the culprit in the heart health problems people are experiencing today? Is this “fat nocebo” the secret underlying issue driving cardiovascular disease as one of the top reasons for preventable deaths in the world today?

Click here to watch this video and YOU decide if this is just mind games or not.

Sweden’s top athlete Jonas Colting has a passion for low-carb nutrition

If you’ve been paying any attention to the shifts in nutritional thinking around the world over the past year, then you probably already know about the huge low-carb diet explosion that is happening in Sweden right now. It’s exciting to see such a public debate about saturated fat happening in that country right now thanks to the work of people like Dr. Annika Dahlqvist, Dr. Andreas Eenfeldt, Per Wikholm, and others. Today I’m privileged to share my frank interview with a surprisingly strong voice on behalf of LCHF (low-carb, high-fat) diets.

In Episode 262 of “The Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb Show with Jimmy Moore,” we have world-class Swedish triathlete Jonas Colting with us to talk about how the high-fat, low-carb nutritional approach has not only improved his health but also maximized his athletic performance in competition–he won the Ultraman World Championships in 2004 and then again in 2007 as well as high finishes in the Long Distance World Cup in 2001, 2004, and 2005. Jonas credits livin’ la vida low-carb for his athletic breakthrough over the past few years.

Hear Jonas Colting talk in-depth about how the traditional diet promoted by the Swedish government for athletes was harming his health, the positive impact of Dr. Dahlqvist on the dietary changes happening in Sweden, the special interest groups that are opposed to LCHF, what a typical day’s worth of meals looks like for him, why American Olympic athlete Michael Phelps will need to cut back on his carbs and calories as he gets older, how LCHF has extended the length and abilities of his athletic career, which popular American low-carb blogger he’s a big fan of (no, it’s not me!), his inaugural Tour of Sweden this year, the interesting traditional Swedish foods, and the perils of consuming margarine! This is an encouraging podcast from one of the finest triathletes in the entire world–and he’s an amazing ambassador for healthy high-fat, low-carbohydrate eating. ENJOY!

Click here to read more about and listen to this compelling 45-minute interview with one of the world’s finest elite athletes talking about how low-carb, high-fat nutrition has completely transformed his athletic performance.