steph, i already answered that just a couple posts up.

[QUOTE=Lisa N]
What I find hysterical about this statement is that textbooks are based on studies, often very old ones by the time they make it into textbooks! They don't pull all that information out of thin air, gymee. In other words, often by the time the information can be compiled and a textbook published, the information contained within it is outdated.

Wow, I just read this and I am so happy someone agrees with me, thank you lisa. I was wondering when someone would let that be known

Sorry for missing a page ;-)

Oh btw, Gymeejet, you never really did adequately address the fact of textbooks versus scientific studies. Most scientific studies are not meant for the general public either. That is, if you find studies that aren't on the web (for the most part) or incorporated in to an journalistic article. Scholastic Academic articles are meant for academia to read, not the general public (again for the most part) So that totally does not coincide with whatever you told Lisa.

let's assume that your grandmother ate less than stellar, and that she did have a genetic predisposition to a longer life than most people do. the mistake here is to assume that she lived as long and healthily as she could have, had she ate better.

i am sorry that you apparently do not have a lot of experience with older people. for if you had, you would have known that most all older people make this comment when they are older, especially when they get sick. for them, life only exists in the past. there is no future. this can cause depression to set in. in fact, this can happen at any age, when one lacks direction or goals, for they are not receiving the meaning in their life, that they are desperately searching for. but at least for a younger person, they can have the hope of possibilities. this does not exist for ann older person, on their last legs, so to speak. anyways, good health to you.

Hi, Gymee. Recently there have been a number of studies that show that the risk factor for both T2 (insulin resistant) and T1 (no insulin production) diabetics is greater with certain types of cancer (the ones that have been studied at least). The recent articles that I read pertained to ovarian cancer and breast cancer.

You are correct to a certain extent about the cancer cells, but I think there is also a certain deformity that occurs with these rapid growth cells as well.

In any case, sugar is an easy fuel, an accellerant, and I believe that a high (blood) sugar environment promotes the cancerous cells to happy growth. Sugar also accelerates the aging process--I would assume, again, that it is the high blood sugar, not necessarily the consumption of sugars (although the two are linked, particularly if excessive insulin production wears out the organs involved).

I think that exercise is probably the single most effective way of managing blood sugar. Excessive exercise will allow an individual to consume a lot more carbohydrates without serious affect to blood glucose levels. But this isn't necessarily an "optimal" situation to recommend to the public at large. I think to give balance, that moderate exercise with moderate carb consumption is preferable and more realistic than high carb consumption with constant intense exercise.

The question about cancer in general is "what IS it about our lifestyle" that promotes cancer? I would suspect that certainly there is an environmental factor with toxins and pollutants (like smoking) that increase cancer risk, but there are certain dietary factors as well.

On the obverse, the vitanutrients of fruits and vegetables (to reiterate this is NOT a non-fruit and vegetable diet), particularly the antioxidants are cancer-fighters.

Lack of exercise is also a factor and that may also be linked to blood sugar.

The optimal balance in our bodies, no matter whose bodies they are, is finding the right proportion of carbs/protein/fat matched with the daily exercise level that we have and that we need, and that can only be determined individually.

hi bv,
another excellent post. i have never been advocating my level of exercise for the average person. but for optimal health, here is what i would advocate.

exercise as much as possible, and eat carbs to fuel that level of exercise. we all have to understand our bodies, and exercise to our capabilities. there is always that person you see jogging on the street, that you know should have stopped miles ago. this is not healthy, in the slightest - just look at the marathoners, many of whom are eating up their body.

my most vigorous cardio routine i do twice a week at that level of intensity, there is no way that i could or would do it every day. the weightlifting for me, plays just the opposite effect - instead of vigorous movements, it is slow and controlled, and i would say mostly at a fat-burning level. i don't burn tons of sugar until i start doing cardio.

one other thing about exercise - if we exercise vigorously enough to burn sugar, we will increase our ability to store glycogen. so when we eat the sugar, it has somewhere to place it, other than storing it as fat.

my levels of consumption have nothing to do with another person's level of consumption. we all have to guage that by our lifestyle and activity levels.

the first time i had my extensive blood tests, the doctor re-took my electrical heart measurements. he could not believe it - my heart was considerably stronger than the 20-something old professional soccer players he worked with. it was the first time i really understood one of the reasons i could literally run others into the ground, from both a combined intensity and endurance, and just how much the heart is helped by vigorous exercise.

bv, here is my take on the cause of cancer, and the cause of most diseases.

first we need to define "cause". let's say that "B" causes cancer. we have positive evidence of a direct link, in that we know how "B" reacts directly with the cells, to cause cancer to grow.

but then we also find that in order to have "B" present, we must have "A". without "A", there can be no "B". so does "A" cause cancer or does "B" cause cancer ? well the american cancer society is never gonna find "B", for then they would be out of a job. but in my opinion, we already know what "A" is - "an out-of-balance-body", because of which is no longer working as designed. the longer "A" exists, the more disease processes are allowed to build up, until kablamo, we got a cancer growth, or whatever. this is why i am so persistent on getting these tests, and keeping one's body in balance, SO THAT IT CAN WORK AS IT WAS DESIGNED.

I actually have had alot of experience with older people. I happen to work in a field where I experience them every day. I do understand what you are saying about older people stating this when they are sick. My point is that my grandmother did NOT say this to me when she was sick. She said it to me a long time before she became sick.
I'm just trying to make a point that she lived to an age that alot of people do not reach even though she did not eat the way you say she should have eaten. I have a hard time believing that most people could live to be 140 without any health problems if they eat the way you say to. I have a really hard time believing that they would be out there running with the 30 year olds just because of their diet. Old age is just that....Old age. No matter what they eat, time will certainly wear you down. No matter what you eat.

Tamarian,

You know, I probably wouldn't be so gung- ho on low carbs if the health and dietary community weren't so gung- ho against this WOE.

True. The thing is, we've had too much brainwashing from food lobbying by manufacturers the last 30 years until sugar/carbs became the focus of misguided "healthy" nutrition, like our friend here, that we can't expect to undo the harm done in a couple of years. You feel like you're Galileo trying to explain to people how the earth is round by scientific evidence, but they tell him they've read elsewhere otherwise.

Wa'il

having children is different from aging. just keep an eye on your health, because you may find some changes still to come, in addition to what you have experienced from having children.

Gymeejet,

I fully intend to watch my health. That is exactly why I am lcing. I knew I was getting out of control and did not want things to get worse.

i am not here to bash you personally, or even to change your diet, and i believe that you personally are not attempting to get anyone to follow your plan.

the gang here has been fairly adamant about saying that lcing is the best way to go. this is not advertised as a website for diabetics, or such, and when given a chance to say that their diet was only best for diabetics, i got comments about how i was trolling, etc. they are indeed touting this to be the "best diet". i am here simply to show people a better alternative to the typical western diet that they have probably been indulging in.