Dear FPHH Group:

Well, it's been a long silence, hasn't it? During this time I've
been distracted, busy, whatever you want to call it. But I'm back.

I would like to post my progress somewhere on the boards here (when
I start making progress again!!), sort of like Sheena McFarland does
in her "The Amazing Shrinking Sheena" article in the Salt Lake
Tribune.

If you'd like me to post progress to the entire group, let me know.
Othewise I'll just put a page on the FPHH website and you can all
check it whenever you want to see what I'm doing.

I found this interesting article about weight loss and food
choices. Unsurprisingly to those of us who struggle with insulin
resistance, there's now a scientific study that says if you have
insulin resistance you'll be better off with a higher-fat, lower-
carb diet than with a lower-fat, higher-carb plan.

How is everyone out there? How are you doing with your Healthy
Habits choices? How can we help?

Hugs,

Donna Mirabile
FootePath, LLC
www.footepath.org
info@...

Which Diet is Best For You? A Simple Test May Tell

by Editor
ImmuneSupport.com

05-22-2007


Clinical trials of weight loss diets have produced inconsistent
results, and Harvard researchers at Children's Hospital of Boston
think they know why:

Insulin is a hormone that prompts our fat and liver cells to store
energy from the foods we eat, and some people naturally produce
higher levels of insulin. Which means their bodies can translate
carbohydrates (sugar/glucose) to fat more efficiently.


The new Children's Hospital study (reported in the Journal of the
American Medical Association*) tested the natural insulin
secretion/response levels of 73 overweight young adults at baseline.
This involved a serum insulin concentration test at 30 minutes after
administration of a 75-gram dose of oral glucose.


The researchers then assigned the 73 subjects to one of two popular
diets for six months:

n A low-fat diet - 55% carbohydrate and 20% fat.

n A low-carb or "low glycemic load" (GL) diet - 40% carbohydrate and
35% fat.


The low-GL diet includes more foods that are digested slowly and
raise blood sugar levels slowly (such as whole grains, fruits,
vegetables, nuts, legumes) and fewer refined carbohydrates or "fake
foods" (such as processed breakfast cereals, white bread, and
concentrated sugars), which are digested quickly and tend to raise
blood sugar levels quickly. Importantly, all participants on both
diets were instructed to eat until they were satisfied, and not to
count calories.


At follow-up 12 months later, the researchers found that the
reductions in body weight and body fat percentage for the two diet
groups as a whole were similar.


But for the 28 individuals in the two diet groups whose insulin
response levels as measured at baseline were "high" (above the
median), the low-GL diet produced greater reductions in both:


n Body weight (average 12.76 lb loss with low-GL diet, vs. 2.64 lb
with low-fat diet), and


n Percent body fat (average reduction of 2.6% with low glycemic load
diet, vs. 0.9% reduction with low-fat diet).


And in terms of follow-up measures affecting heart health:

n Plasma high-density lipoprotein (HDL or `good') cholesterol and
triglyceride concentrations improved more for subjects on the low-
glycemic load diet.


n While low-density lipoprotein (LDL or `bad') cholesterol improved
more on the low-fat diet.


"These findings could allow clinicians to individualize the
treatment of obesity by first giving patients an oral glucose
tolerance test," says David Ludwig, MD, PhD, the study's senior
investigator.


Next an Adult Study; Analysis of Underlying Physiology

This research team is currently recruiting obese adults in the
Boston area, aged 18 to 40, for a follow-up weight-loss study that
will provide all meals for a six-month period, according to a press
release at the Children's Hospital website.


And beyond that, they plan to investigate what causes some people to
produce higher levels of insulin than others.

____
* "Effects of a low-glycemic load vs. low-fat diet in obese young
adults: A randomized trial," by CB Ebbeling, et al. Journal of the
American Medical Association. 2007. May 16;297(19):2092-102.


http://www.immunesupport.com/library/showarticle.cfm/id/8027