Yet another poll! What Are Your Work Horse Foods?

The participation on these polls has been great, and I've heard from quite a few people who say they've learned a lot from them. So here's another question for you:

Whatever diet you're eating, what are the foods you have come to rely on the most when you don't feel like doing fancy cooking or being creative?

Another Poll: Which Supplements Have You Found Lower Blood Sugar.? Which Don't?

You folks came up with such helpful information on this past poll, that I thought I'd ask you to answer two questions I get asked a lot by the people who email me.

When discussing a supplement, please tell us how much of a change the supplement made for you. I.e. "It dropped my fasting blood sugar 10 mg/dl." or "It allowed me to eat another 15 g of carb per meal without spiking."

NO BRAND NAMES. Just the generic name of whatever it is the supplement contains. Because questions about supplement often draw shills working for companies selling crap, I reserve the right to flush any response that doesn't look right to me.

1. Which supplements have you found lower your blood sugar and keep on lowering it after the first week or two you take them?

2. Which supplements have you tried that were a waste of money?


Thanks in advance to everyone who contributes their data!

 

Danger of Antacid Medications

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced a safety alert for proton pump inhibitors (PPIs). PPIs are a class of medications commonly used to treat stomach and duodenal ulcers, reflux esophagitis, and other gastric problems. PPIs include:
• AcipHex (rabeprazole sodium)
• Dexilant (dexlansoprazole)
• Nexium (esomeprazole magnesium)
• Omeprazole (omeprazole) Over-the-Counter (OTC)
• Prevacid (lansoprazole) and OTC Prevacid 24hr
• Prilosec (omeprazole) and OTC
• Protonix (pantoprazole sodium)
• Vimovo (esomeprazole magnesium and naproxen)
• Zegerid (omeprazole and Sodium bicarbonate) and OTC

The FDA stated, “…the use of stomach acid drugs known as proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) may be associated with an increased risk of Clostridium difficile–associated diarrhea (CDAD). A diagnosis of CDAD should be considered for patients taking PPIs who develop diarrhea that does not improve.”(1)

C. difficile is a bacterium that can infect the colon and cause severe, life-threatening diarrhea. It causes over three million cases of diarrhea per year in the U.S. Approximately 1-4% of patients with C. difficile die from the illness.

Those who read my books don't have to wait years for the FDA to act. Three years ago in Drugs That Don’t Work and Natural Therapies That Do, I wrote about the consequences of long-term use of PPIs. I stated, “The reason we are seeing such a dramatic increase in C. difficile infections is clear; it is due to the overuse of powerful antacid medications.”

What can you do? If you are prescribed a PPI, you should take it for the shortest possible time period. If possible, long-term use of this class of medications should be avoided. Also, taking a healthy probiotic along with a PPI can help avoid problems like C. difficile.

More information about PPIs and how to use a holistic approach to overcome stomach and esophageal problems can be found in my book, Drugs That Don’t Work and Natural Therapies That Do.

(1)http://www.fda.gov/Safety/MedWatch/SafetyInformation/SafetyAlerts
forHumanMedicalProducts/ucm290838.htm

New Poll for people who have mainained a weight loss or blood sugar target for 3+ years using a low carb strategy

Several years ago I posted a poll on a diet support forum seeking to understand the strategies successful dieters used to maintain weight losses they'd achieved using low carb diets. The answers I got  were very helpful to other people who hoped to be able to maintain their weight loss.

Now I'd like to post the same questions here to those of you who have diabetes or prediabetes and who have been able to successfully use a dietary strategy that involves cutting back on carbs for three or more years.

Please only answer if you have been using some form of carb restriction for three years or more. It doesn't have to be a formal low carb diet, but I'm looking for a dietary change that you have pursued for three or more years that has managed to either a) take off weight and keep most of it off or b) keep your blood sugar under 6.5% almost the entire time.

Post your answers in the "comments" section of this post which you can find by clicking on the "comments" link at the bottom of the post.  I'll post my answers to give you an example of what I'm looking for.

1. Did you make changes in your diet  after you first reached your weight loss or blood sugar control goal?

2. How much weight have you regained at any one time and how did you deal with it?

3. How badly has your blood sugar gone off course?

 3. What behaviors did you adapt that helped you maintain your weight and blood sugar goals?

 4. How high a carb level do you eat at? Does this level stay constant or does it fluctuate?

 5. Did you ever get help from a doctor with metabolic issues that helped with weight or blood sugar control after you first regained control?

 6. How important is exercise to your ability to maintain?

 7. What tips would you give people currently beginning the process of changing their diet to improve either weight or blood sugar control that might help them achieve successful maintenance?