Re: Man 'Starved' Himself to Cure Diabetes

The problem IS that most of our cholesterol comes from our liver production and NOT from our diet.. Therefore someone can eat all the right things and STILL have elevated cholesterol and be at risk for heart disease. The production of natural cholesterol.. or rather over production tends to be congenital.. It's heredity.. There is nothing you can do diet wise to fix it. Not taking a statin in this case is foolhardy and playing with fire...despite some of the untoward effects. Taking Co-Q10 can eleviate much of the muscle aches.

Re: Man 'Starved' Himself to Cure Diabetes

Well we all have to die sometime, I am not taking statins just to make money for the pill makers and please my GP, who has when pushed admitted my cholesterol level isn't bad anyway.

I have been so disgusted at the lack of any reasoning behind many GP's decisions I just take what I find works and ignore the other prescriptions they issue. All the MS treatments made me worse, blood pressure medications seem to work, painkillers work some times so keep them in case I have a bad day. Other than that I find my vitamins and minerals supplements help me far more than the pills the doctor tries to get me to take. Vitamin B12 seems the most helpful at the moment have a pipette of that and my energy levels zoom up.

Taking the sugar and carbs out of my diet have also seem my energy levels go up too.

Re: Man 'Starved' Himself to Cure Diabetes

My cholesterol is hereditary and I've always had a good diet and very physically active so it came as a shock (as it did with everything I developed) to find I had this. I'm also aware that if you try to reduce your cholesterol intake, your body just manufactures more of the stuff.

If it is foolhardy, why is my cholesterol rebalancing itself? I take plant sterols and have been for months now and they are working very, very well - as many people have found that have taken them; just as those who take statins found they suffered leg pains.

Re: Man 'Starved' Himself to Cure Diabetes

What matters is that your cholesterol levels are coming down... So long as you keep checking them to be sure.. You should continue what you are doing.

Re: Man 'Starved' Himself to Cure Diabetes

I am so pleased I found the site that advised this (it was a site for people who can't take statins). I saw what happened to my husband on statins (including Lipitor which was the final one he took) and leg cramps became the least of his problems and I've always blamed statins for causing him all of those problems but he would never listen.

Re: Man 'Starved' Himself to Cure Diabetes

I watched a programme about dieting at the weekend, and I was astounded at the results of folks that went on diets, especially weight watchers and slimfast.
The programme was called the men who made us thin and the presenter was Jacques Peretti.
You should be able to see it on catch up, I would recommend you watch it if your are contemplating going on a diet.
What it boiled down to was the fact, that out of 1000 people who went on a diet, only about 15 succeeded, and the others got heavier than they were before, something on this lines, I am going from memory.
They are actually blaming dieting as the cause of the obesity in the USA, and the UK.
There is an article in the Metro freebie from the buses today, so if you google the name of the show you should find it.

Re: Man 'Starved' Himself to Cure Diabetes

Of all the diet programs out there, I believe Weight Watchers to be the best. It is not a fad diet.. there are no off limit foods.. it teaches portion control and better choices, which should become a way of life.

Re: Man 'Starved' Himself to Cure Diabetes

I watched it too Arthur . What the programme was saying is something many of us already know, dieting is not good for your health. Apparently the human body having been subjected to a restrictive diet thinks it is in danger of starvation so the moment it is allowed freedom from the diet it stocks up and the weight goes back on (see the Minnesota Starvation Experiment) . Better to educate ones body to eat a healthy diet all the time and to eat in moderation. Not an easy thing for many.

It also asserted that the ideal weight table was something designed by an insurance man in the USA and has no scientific basis and that all the 'diet fads' are designed to fail in the long term . Diet and dietary product companies make their money out of returning dieters. Cynical but true.

'The men who made us thin'.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode...hin_Episode_1/

Re: Man 'Starved' Himself to Cure Diabetes

Audrey WW is more of a support group than a diet isn't it , that is probably why it is reasonably successful for some. According to the programme Arthur mentioned with the exception of a few people WW doesn't offer a long term solution to weight loss unless people stay in the group indefinitely . Once they leave the weight goes back on.

Re: Man 'Starved' Himself to Cure Diabetes

Never found weight watchers much help myself I've never been one for public humiliation being in any way pleasurable so that weighing in was excruciating.

Finding ways to not be hungry have been important on my way to weight loss, cutting out carbs and sugar have stopped me craving the stuff and halved my appetite, then eating more protein stops me being hungry.

I could eat like this forever which I think is the key to losing and hopefully keeping it off.