As an eye doctor, I frequently check diabetics to make sure that they don’t have diabetic retinopathy. The primary care physician (PCP) is responsible for diabetes control. The patient’s job is compliance. My job is to simply detect retinopathy and refer when present, warn when at risk, and monitor when stable.

This model seems fine and dandy, but I know something that most patients and PCPs don’t: diet is more important than medications in diabetes. If you severely restrict carbohydrates and mostly eat fats and a little protein, your health will improve in all areas. Diabetes is effectively cured. Research is beginning to show that this diet lifestyle even improves cancer, seizures, eczema, and other inflammatory conditions.

If you value helping patients more than drug companies, then please do your own research on low carbohydrate diets. They go under various names like ketogenic, Atkins, or Paleo, but they have in common that carb intake is limited to 20-50 grams per day, and even then mostly via real foods like vegetables and some fruit. One has to be on this diet for 2-3 weeks before becoming keto-adapted. I’ve included excellent resources below to help you get started. If you only read one book, then the first one mentioned is the best summary.

Resources:

Books:

Websites

Podcasts:
Steven Gibson – Security Now Podcast low carb series

Primal Blueprint Podcast

The Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb Show All of these are pertinent. Here is a small sample of notable episodes:

  • 667: LLVLC Classic – Dr. James Carlson On How Your Doctor’s Dietary Ignorance Will Kill You
  • 661: LLVLC Classic – Doug Kaufmann On The Role Fungus Plays On Health
  • 650: Elaine Cantin Beat Her Breast Cancer, Son’s Type 1 Diabetes With Ketogenic Diet
  • 642: Ultramarathon Runner Timothy Olson Thrives On A Low-Carb Diet
  • 170: The Atkins Teleconference With Dr. Stephen Phinney And Dr. Jeff Volek (Part 1)
  • 171: The Atkins Teleconference With Dr. Stephen Phinney And Dr. Jeff Volek (Part 2)
  • 172: The Atkins Teleconference With Dr. Stephen Phinney And Dr. Jeff Volek (Part 3)
  • 479: Legendary Low-Carb Researcher Dr. Steve Phinney Says There’s An ‘Art And Science’ To Living Low-Carb
  • 236: Leading Low-Carb Diet Researcher And Author Dr. Jeff Volek
  • 139: An Interview With ‘Good Calories Bad Calories’ Author Gary Taubes (Part 1)
  • 140: An Interview With ‘Good Calories Bad Calories’ Author Gary Taubes (Part 2)
  • 401: Gary Taubes Update With Preview Of ‘Why We Get Fat’
  • 439 (Part 1): Gary Taubes Responds To His Critics
  • 439 (Part 2): Gary Taubes Answers Listener Questions

Videos:

My Blog Posts on Diet and Eye Health

I’m confident that in the future we’ll see that the typical American carbohydrate diet plays a role in eye diseases like macular degeneration, dry eye, and glaucoma, but this remains uninvestigated since high fat, low carb diet research is only beginning to finally see the light amongst researchers.

One thought on “Low Carbohydrate Living for Better Health

  1. Excellent post/website! I started my own blog months ago on the same subject! I am a big fan of Jimmy Moore (La Vida Low Carb).
    Thanks for your insights!
    Andrew Wodecki, O.D.

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