Carbophobia

Our Beloved Fats and Evil Carbs

Ken Thomas

Saturday, 22 August 2015

Miscellaneous Issues

Over the years, our society has discovered new dietary insights. Each new discovery results in a shift to a different and highly popular diet coined with its own name. Currently, some of the most popular diets are Paleo, Mediterranean and the old faithful Adkins diet. Moving past the 1950’s, as America continued to prosper, our waistlines likewise continued to grow. During the 1980’s and 1990’s it was reasoned that since our growing waistlines were composed of fat, the logical solution was to reduce fat consumption, thus the popular diet for that time was called low-fat. Strangely, however, waistlines continued to grow. The popular theory for the low-fat failure is that when people went on ...

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Carbohydrates Carbophobia Diabetes Type 2 Fat Obesity

Recent Comments

Guest — hELEN

Ken, So appreciate what you wrote above and it's most illuminating. Could I ask, after being oil-free since last July, this las... Read More

Saturday, 14 May 2016 22:48

Ken Thomas

Hi Helen,It was wonderful meeting you at the Gray Gardens potluck! Thank you for coming! And, Thank you for the Starch-Smart com... Read More

Monday, 16 May 2016 13:09

Sean Carney

Thank you Ken for your excellent reply to Helen.

Thursday, 19 May 2016 12:34

2553 Hits

3 Comments

Insulin Resistance Insulin Sensitivity

Ken Thomas

Sunday, 19 April 2015

Condition Related

As a Type-1 Diabetic and due to the manner in which I learned to manage it, Insulin Resistance became a passionate topic for me as it is a fundamental element of metabolic control. I learned that the lower the insulin resistance, the less insulin I had to inject and the better I felt. However, it wasn’t until two and a half decades later that I discovered that there was actually a technical term for this metabolic relationship; Insulin Resistance. What is insulin?Insulin is a hormone that enables the metabolism (“burn rate”) of glucose. Insulin is produced by a portion of the pancreas and is secreted into the blood stream. It is produced in direct response to the level of glucose in the blo...

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Carbophobia Low Carb Low Fat Starch Happiness

Recent Comments

Sean Carney

Fantastic post Ken! Wow. I am so grateful for such a good resource to share with others. That is what I am doing now. Sharing ... Read More

Friday, 24 April 2015 18:11

Nancy A Kalis

Thanks Ken for this really informative post. My 23 year old daughter has just been diagnosed as insulin resistant and hypoglycemi... Read More

Monday, 27 April 2015 16:27

Ken Thomas

Hi Nancy, Thank you for the kind words. I really look forward to your daughter's improved health! About your question: "One q... Read More

Monday, 27 April 2015 17:57

4464 Hits

6 Comments

Ken’s Type-1 Diabetes Journey: Control Part 2 - When Things Go Amiss

Ken Thomas

Sunday, 15 March 2015

Condition Related

Ken’s Type-1 Diabetes Journey: Control Part 2 - When Things Go Amiss

By far, the most valuable knowledge I learned at the beginning of my Type-1 diabetes journey is that my blood-sugar is directly controlled by me. The inability to make my own insulin means that my metabolic system is “open-loop”. Open loop means the automatic control mechanism, insulin production, is broken thus requiring manual control. A side benefit of manual control is the freedom to make my blood-sugar whatever I want. It is entirely up to me. But, it is somewhat like riding a bicycle; it isn’t easy at first, but with practice it becomes second nature. Blood-sugar is a balance between glucose burn rate and supply rate. These two ends of the control see-saw change minute to minute. The ...

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Carbophobia Low Fat Diabetes Type 1

Diabetes! What is it? What’s the risk? What can I do?

Ken Thomas

Monday, 19 January 2015

Condition Related

Diabetes! What is it? What’s the risk? What can I do?

The percentage of diabetes cases are skyrocketing in the US and many parts of the world. How do you know if you are at risk? Is it genetic? Is it lifestyle? Is it preventable? A clear understanding, even if simplified, is your best defense against becoming diabetic and becoming non-diabetic if you already are. By definition, diabetes is the condition of chronic high blood-sugar. There are two basic types of diabetes; Type-1 and Type-2. Both types are due to an insulin issue. Type-1 diabetes is due to an autoimmune condition where the insulin producing cells in the pancreas have been amputated by the immune system. As with any amputation, they will not grow back. This leaves the vi...

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Happiness Carbophobia Health Diabetes Type 2 Diabetes Type 1

Fad Diets Part 2

Ken Thomas

Sunday, 23 November 2014

Miscellaneous Issues

The previous Fad Diets post did not answer what is not a fad diet. Instead, the post was to point out how fad diets are not only possible, but almost impossible to avoid. It was to point out how deeply diluted truth and reality is by all the noise of opinion, false associations and cascading strings of if-then assumptions taken as fact. So now, part 2 is what I believe is the true optimum human diet and how I arrived at that belief. I feel very fortunate to have learned about diet and nutrition with minimal noise. My initial (and only) Type-1 diabetes hospital stay painted a very bleak picture of the future to come. My blood-sugar was wildly out of cont...

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Happiness Choices Politics Health Carbophobia

Recent Comments

Mary Jo Oft

Thanks so much for sharing your experience with a low fat plant based diet on type 1 diabetes. you have no idea how much you have ... Read More

Sunday, 23 November 2014 19:33

Ken Thomas

Hi Mary Jo,And… you have no idea how, after decades of having to keep quiet about something I feel so wonderful about and now fina... Read More

Monday, 24 November 2014 08:37

Sean Carney

Ken, Can you provide a copy of a blank log file? I wonder if we should make one available for download? Sean

Monday, 24 November 2014 08:49

2347 Hits

3 Comments

Sacrifice?!

Ken Thomas

Saturday, 30 August 2014

Miscellaneous Issues

Almost always, when describing a low-fat Whole Foods Plant Based Starch-Smart lifestyle with most people, their response is something like, “Oh, I could never give up my [some sort of meat], and cheese, [etc.]”. The unfortunate truth is that they literally do not know what they are missing. When it comes to diet, we tend to consider any healthy change a sacrifice. We consider eliminating a favorite food a terrible loss. In reality it is simply a trade. We make trades every day. We buy a car, home, clothing, etc. and we are happy to trade the money for the item. Even if we have to save money for an extended time, the benefit of the purchase is easy to realize. It is an instant gratification....

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Happiness Low Fat Health Cholesterol Carbophobia

Ken’s Type-1 Diabetes Journey Part 6: Glycemic Index and Attention Span

Ken Thomas

Sunday, 03 August 2014

Condition Related

Ken’s Type-1 Diabetes Journey Part 6: Glycemic Index and Attention Span

As a Type-1 diabetic, the study of insulin and metabolism has been a subject of obsessive interest for the last 26 years. From personal experience I have found that maintaining normal blood sugar involves more than simply injecting insulin. It turns out that it is not entirely a simple matter of matching insulin dose to consumed calories. Within the first year of my Type-1 diabetes journey, I discovered foods that result in the lowest required insulin doses and ones that result in the largest. Additionally, the foods that require the lowest insulin also provide the greatest vitality, highest level of energy, stamina, strength and agility. Later, I discovered th...

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Low Carb Diabetes Type 2 Diabetes Type 1 Education Carbophobia

2049 Hits

0 Comments

Deborah Anne Pageau

Wednesday, 18 June 2014

Meal Conversations

Carbophobia as defined in the Urban Dictionary is “An irrational fear of element 6 of the periodic table (aka carbon), from which all organic life is based. …Currently a source of great hysteria. Carbophobia has reached such levels it’s become its own religion.” While that definition is just as wee bit tongue-in-cheek, I think there is also a lot of truth to it. Every day in my discussions with would-be or new vegans, they “confess” to (what they think of as) a guilty pleasure in eating foods high in carbohydrates like potatoes, rice, whole grain bread or pasta. I remember living with that fear and I feel badly for them. For me as their mentor, it’s a bit like being a midwife at a ...

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Carbohydrates Low Carb Low Fat Vegan Carbophobia

Recent Comments

Sean Carney

We are going to design a T-Shirt one of these days that says in big letters: Should I Eat Carbs? Then below the letters there will... Read More

Wednesday, 18 June 2014 17:42

Deborah Anne Pageau

Good point. That's one of the advantages of the low-fat, whole foods plant-based diet approach: donuts are not part of the discus... Read More

Wednesday, 18 June 2014 19:57

1799 Hits

2 Comments

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Carbophobia

Our Beloved Fats and Evil Carbs

Insulin Resistance Insulin Sensitivity

Ken’s Type-1 Diabetes Journey: Control Part 2 - When Things Go Amiss

Diabetes! What is it? What’s the risk? What can I do?

Fad Diets Part 2

Sacrifice?!

Ken’s Type-1 Diabetes Journey Part 6: Glycemic Index and Attention Span

Carbophobia

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