We distort knowledge faster than things. Some things are so easy to assemble that "even a child can do it" in outer space. But even children know that information disassembles all too readily.Children learn by playing the game of telephone that information gets garbled as it gets passed along. Too ba...
The Carbohydrate Brain Fuel Myth
5/13/08 10:22pm
5/16/08 1:12pm
I'm so glad you wrote this, and I'll tell you why.
On Monday I start nursing school. I bought my textbooks yesterday. I was bored and decided to crack open the only book that wasn't shrink-wrapped, a book called "Nutrition Essentials for Nursing Practice". Near the front of the book is the section on carbohydrates, and sure enough, it included this same information about the braining needing 130 grams of carbohydrates daily.
Now, I've known for a while now that that was wrong, but I could never figure out why or how. If I would just pay attention I would know that glucose and carbohydrate are NOT necessarily the same thing.
Anyways, thanks for pointing this out for all of us.
6/ 2/08 7:12pm
Merly Streep starred in a wonderful movie. Many of the cast members were people who no longer had epilepsy after a low carb diet, some have been seizure free for over 20 years at the time (1997). There's a synopsis of the movie here:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118526/
Thanks you for a great article, as usual.
Dee Sperling
Central Square, NY
1/23/09 10:31pm
My son has been on the ketogenic diet for epilepsy, for 2 years now. He gets <15g of carb per day. It has had no detrimental effect on his cognitive skills. He is at or above grade level. In fact, the anti-seizure meds clouded his thinking more than the diet. He is now seizure and medication free.
Thank you for the article.
Alison
Boulder, CO
12/12/09 6:02pm
Very useful article.
Latest information from DUK:
Why is carbohydrate important?
All carbohydrate is converted into glucose and will have an
impact on blood glucose levels. Since this is the case, some people
with diabetes wonder if it would be better not to have any
carbohydrate in their diet to keep their glucose levels under
control. This is not recommended as:
• glucose from carbohydrate is essential to the body, especially the brain
Looking carefully at the booklet they recommend a DAILY amount of carbohydrate foods of 7-14 portions of 1 slice of bread, 100 g rice, etc. That amounts to over a kilo - 3 lb - of cooked rice.
It is obvious that such excessive carb consumption CAUSES brain malfunction! How else could they make such recommendations.
Trouble is, I followed their advice (though not to that extent) for 8 years until (crippling peripheral neuropathy) complications set in. A drastic reduction in carb has restored my mobility.
How can we get the TRUTH across to organisations such as DUK, & to individual dietitians? Their damaging advice is given out to all newly diagnosed diabetics.
12/12/09 6:21pm
Dear Ian,
Maybe I'm just feeling low today, but I don't think that it is possible for us to wake up the American medical establishment within our lifetimes. Their believes -- based on no evidence -- are just too deeply held.
But for your information, I have written about the myth that we need carbohydrates and that our brains need it in particular. Please read and pass on this article, "The Carbohydrate Brain Fuel Myth" at http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/17/27575/brain-fuel-myth
Best regards,
David
1/ 5/10 9:08pm
Glucose by very definition is a carbohydrate. This article bases it's entire argument on the idea that the two are different. This is the danger of trying to do any sort of home research on the internet. I would greatly appreciate the author doing a better job of leaving personal opinion and feelings out of the article and sticking to scientific knowledge.
9/19/10 2:10pm
David Mendosa, towards the end of the article claims, "Just now we even have evidence that some of our brains work much better on a very low carbohydrate diet. British researchers reported on May 2 in The Lancet Neurology that a very low carb diet has proved highly effective in reducing seizures in children whose epilepsy didn't respond to medication."
What he claims, has nothing to do with the hypothesis of the research he cited. When I reviewed the research he listed, I found that it was a quasi-experimental study with convenience sampling. This means that the results do not have external validity (i.e., it cannot be generalized to the entire population of humans) and that it is a correlational study, not a causational study. The research hypothesis and subsequent testing involves whether or not the ketogenic diet is an effective treatment for epilepsy. The idea that the results suggest that a low carbohydrate diet leads to overall improved brain functioning is absurd.
Next, a lack of seizures in children suffering from epilepsy is not a valid measure of overall brain functioning. If you wanted to measure the effects of the ketogenic diet on overall brain functioning, you would perform memory and learning based conditions with reaction time as the dependent variable. In addition, you would also want a randomly selected sample,for the sake of external validity. And, if a random sample was not possible for whatever reason, you would want to replicate the study several times and do a proper meta-analysis before making any conclusions.
Oh and one last thing. Towards the bottom of the abstract you will find:
"There was no significant difference in the efficacy of the treatment between symptomatic generalised or symptomatic focal syndromes. The most frequent side-effects reported at 3-month review were constipation, vomiting, lack of energy, and hunger."
David Mendosa accused people of distorting information. In his article, he does just that.
Featuring Content From:
By using this service, you accept our Terms of Use. Please read them. The consumer health information on is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for medical advice or treatment for any medical conditions. You should promptly seek professional medical care if you have any concern about your health, and you should always consult your physician before starting a fitness regimen. Copyright © 2012 Remedy Health Media, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
The Eskimo's have a saying. "The dumb one's all died a long time ago."
As a caucasion person living for seven years on mostly meat and fish, I can say yes, it is possible and healthy. That is as late as 1975. While fish head soup almost daily got very old (to me) it was really realished by my husband. I also spent a further 7 years living a more in town life but still consuming lots of wild game and fish. The result is that at age 69 after 30 years in Southern Calif. I seem and act like a person 15 years younger. Did 14 years of high protine cause that? I have had diabetes about 19 years. When my blood glucose is high, I have some confusion or er hum?? effects. My blood glucose goes up when I eat carbs. I take insulin to knock it down or I eat a scant amount of meat only when I am out of diabetic supplies.
I think I should re-read the above daily and quit eating like a city person. My body seems stuck in the olden days - the real olden days.
Carole
Dear Carole,
If anyone knows the wisdom of a low-carb diet, you do! You don't have to eat the heds of the fish. But if and when you get back to a diet that can control your diabetes without drugs, I hope that you write your autobiography. I would be the first one to buy a copy of it!
Best regards,
David
When ever someone like this wants to really cement the idea that 'city is bad', 'country is good' they haul out the old "living like a city person'. I really resent that statement. I've lived my whole life in a very remote, rural state and the people here are as 'country' as you will ever find and they have just as high a rate of diabetes and heart disease as any 'city folk'.
The idea that if we send Gomer to town he's just going to get caught up in them thar big city lights and end up addicted to heroin is just getting OLD.
Obviously all your years eating 'country' food did you no good because you ended up with diabetes anyway. Guess you didn't account for genectics? *GASP! Perhaps one of your ancestors went into town!
Perish the thought.
While there's no doubt that the carbohydrate intake of all of western civilization certainly should be reduced the optimal word here is MODERATION.
I am a type ll diabetic, it runs in my family I have it competely under control and am now medication free due to what? MODERATION. I excercise and yes I do reduce my carb intake.
Enough then with the 'city folk' talk ok?