Canibais e Reis

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Actualmente estou a aprender imenso ouvindo uma série de entrevistas, interessantíssimas, do podcast "Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb Show" (para quem não sabe, um podcast é uma espécie de "blogue" onde se vão publicando "artigos" em formato de áudio, neste caso entrevistas que podem ser descarregadas em mp3 e ouvidas no computador ou num leitor portátil). O LLVLC resulta do trabalho incansável de Jimmy Moore, um dos grandes evangelhistas da nutrição "low-carb" e  lutador para que a mesma seja devidamente introduzida na pirâmide alimentar americana. Como é sabido, o que acontece é que esta pirâmide oficial, usualmente apelidada de "alimentação saudável", é decidida pelos grupos económicos dos cereais e dos lacticínios, resultando portanto numa nutrição pouco recomendável para quem pretende evitar as doenças da civilização. Caso contrário, veja-se, não teríamos a actual epidemia mundial de diabetes nem das demais doenças hiperinsulinémicas devidas aos açúcares/amidos dos cereais, pelo menos não com tanta incidência. Por acréscimo, esta pirâmide acaba também por influenciar todo os demais países, que mais não fazem que copiá-la, sem qualquer sentido crítico ou de investigação. Na prática, a ciência pouca ou nenhuma influência tem tido na definição da citada pirâmide, que teria mais utilidade se recomendasse antes uma nutrição pré-agricultural, de inspiração "low-carb" (ou você quer acreditar que os nossos amigos das cavernas começavam o dia com um saudável pequeno-almoço de cereais, cientificamente fundamentado por "investigação" financiada pela Kellog Company?). Para aprender sobre o estilo de vida "low-carb" vale a pena ouvir o que todas estas personalidades do podcast de Jimmy Moore têm para dizer, nomeadamente o Dr. Steven Gundry, Dr. Michael Eades, Dr. William Davis e Dra. Mary C. Vernon, e também Gary Taubes, David Mendosa, Mark Sisson, etc. Escusado será dizer que a maioria dos médicos entrevistados são médicos low-carb praticantes, suficientemente informados para, por exemplo, colocarem os seus pacientes obesos e/ou diabéticos em dietas low-carb, ou mesmo cetónicas, com vista a reduzir ou mesmo a eliminar os sintomas. Veja-se o exemplo da Dr. Mary C. Vernon: 

"Dr. Mary C. Vernon’s non-traditional, highly successful protocol in the treatment of diabetes." Lawrence, KS MD, Mary Vernon nominated for Diabetes Educator of the Year. New York, NY – November 2, 2007 - Low Carb Diet supporters have made their voices heard nationwide with the nomination and support of Dr. Mary C. Vernon’s non-traditional, highly successful protocol in the treatment of diabetes. Dr. Vernon’s approach, based on scientific research on nutrition and metabolism, runs counter to typical methods recommended by leading health agencies with its continued emphasis on low fat.

Mary C. Vernon, MD, FAAFP, CMD is co-author of ATKINS DIABETES REVOLUTION. One of the nation’s leading obesity and diabetes experts, Dr. Vernon was an associate of the late Dr. Robert C. Atkins. (see below) She is currently Chairperson of the Board of the American Society of Bariatric Physicians and has served as a consultant to The Duke Diet and Fitness Center, Veronica Atkins, Foundation, and Atkins Nutritionals, Inc. . Dr. Vernon has spoken nationally and internationally on the use of controlled carbohydrate nutrition in weight management and treatment of metabolic syndrome and Type 2 diabetes mellitus. Her own research on the use of controlled-carbohydrate nutrition for treatment of patients with Type 2 diabetes was published in Metabolic Syndrome and Related Disorders and in Nutrition and Metabolism (available without subscription at http://www.nutritionandmetabolism.com/content/pdf/1743-7075-2-34.pdf)., American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (Aug 2007) and Nutrition Journal.

Dr. Vernon was recently featured in a Men’s Health Magazine article titled “The Cure For Diabetes”, by Adam Campbell. According to Campbell, “People walk into her office afflicted with type-2 diabetes and, by every objective medical measurement, walk out cured. There’s $51 million that says that isn’t supposed to happen, not in a clinic in Kansas, and definitely not as a result of cleaning out the refrigerator.” In the article Dr. Vernon is quoted as saying "My first line of treatment is to have patients remove carbohydrates from their diets," this is often all it takes to reverse their symptoms, so that they no longer require medication." Dr. Richard D. Feinman, Professor of Biochemistry at the State University of New York and Director of the Nutrition and Metabolism Society says “Basic research continues to support the importance of carbohydrate restriction in diabetes and general health. Mary Vernon has been at the forefront of applying these principles in clinical practice.”

Dr. Vernon’s research concluded: Because the low carbohydrate ketogenic diet can be very effective at lowering blood glucose, patients on diabetes medication who use this diet should be under close medical supervision or capable of adjusting their medication. It is Dr. Vernon’s passion for educating her patients and all people with diabetes has earned her the nomination to be considered for Diabetes Educator of the Year. The contest is being held by American Diabetes Wholesale, a discount retailer of diabetes supplies for people without insurance.

Apenas uma nota que não posso esquecer. Se quiser ficar informado acerca da dieta cetónica e de todos os mecanismos metabólicos a ela associados, é obrigatório ler a "Ketogenic Diet: A Complete Guide for the Dieter and Practitioner", de Lyle McDonald, uma obra publicada em 1998, que eu já li e recomendo, de extraordinário interesse para quem tem o objectivo de saber mais acerca de nutrição humana (Se não gosta de ler, também pode ir viver com os esquimós e experimentar a dieta). Já agora, vale a pena ler isto:

Arguments In Favor Of Ketogenic Diets

"Many negative comments have been made about the use of ketogenic diets (KDs) and experts today believe that the best way to lose weight is by cutting back on calories, chiefly in the form of fat. The international consensus is that carbohydrates are the basis of the food pyramid for a healthy diet. However, this review will clarify that low-carbohydrate diets are, from a practical and physiological point of view, a much more effective way of losing weight. It is also argued that such diets provide metabolic advantages, for example: they help to preserve muscle mass, reduce appetite, diminish metabolic efficiency, induce metabolic activation of thermogenesis and favor increased fat loss and even a greater reduction in calories. These diets are also healthier because they promote a non-atherogenic lipid profile, lower blood pressure and decrease resistance to insulin with an improvement in blood levels of glucose and insulin. Low-carbohydrate diets should therefore be used to prevent and treat type II diabetes and cardiovascular problems. Such diets also have neurological and antineoplastic benefits and diet-induced ketosis is not associated with metabolic acidosis, nor do such diets alter kidney, liver or heart functions."

Fonte: The Internet Journal of Nutrition and Wellness.

Até ao momento o nosso amigo low-carb Jimmy já realizou quase 200 entrevistas. Fantástico este trabalho, não acham? Obrigatório visitar e ouvir com muita atenção a maioria destas entrevistas!