MY MOM AND ME - WE'RE BOTH 50 YEARS OLD!

Well, at least in these photos, we are.  The one of my mom was taken in 1984, and mine was taken in 2005.  Today marks 15 years since she died the day before her 62nd birthday.  She had suffered with ALS for five years.  It's hard to believe that I am now only two years younger than she was when she became ill.

MY INTERVIEW WITH JIMMY MOORE ON THE LIVIN' LA VIDA LOW-CARB SHOW

In Episode 404 of “The Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb Show with Jimmy Moore,” we hear from Atkins weight loss success story Rebecca Latham who was featured on pages 114-115 of the bestselling The New Atkins For A New You book. She shares all about her journey these days at her “My Low-Carb Road To Better Health” blog with all the ups, downs, and in-betweens that have happened to her over the years. Hear Rebecca talk about how she has always felt fat even when she was at a normal weight, the various diets she has been on over the years, how she found the Atkins diet for the first time in 2000, how her husband was positively impacted by following Atkins until he stopped doing the plan, her fateful encounter with Colette Heimowitz from Atkins Nutritionals, the hormonal challenges she faces that makes building muscle and burning body fat difficult, the various setbacks she has experienced in her low-carb lifestyle, the heavy influence of Mark Sisson’s work (The Primal Blueprint is “like Atkins on steroids”), the necessary tweaks she needed to make to make her low-carb plan work for her, why the scale is not a reliable indicator of your low-carb progress, her frustration with finding the right body composition, her recommendation for people wanting to eat a more clean low-carb diet, the health issues her husband has been dealing with which have required him to get back on Atkins again, the change in body perception she has experienced since losing weight, the supplements she takes on her Atkins lifestyle, the genetic predisposition for ALS and how her supplements are helping her with this, her foray into intermittent fasting, her sample low-carb menus, her use of thyroid medication and how it has helped her, her “My Body Is Not A Piggy Bank: Do Calories Matter?” thread on the Atkins forum, and the ramifications of eating too much fat. You’ll quickly realize how and why Rebecca is such an ardent defender of the low-carb lifestyle and has become quite knowledgable of how it works over the past decade.

Listen to the interview by right clicking here.  There are two interviews on the podcast, and this one starts at 19:47 on the counter, so you can fast forward to that number if you like.

KETOGENIC DIET (MODIFIED ATKINS) USEFUL IN PREVENTION AND TREATMENT OF ALS

I was listening to a podcast this morning about how a high fat (95% of total calories) diet is being used to successfully treat epilepsy in children and adults.  As part of the interview, the doctor mentioned that a ketogenic diet is also being considered as a treatment for ALS, and may even be preventative.  So I googled it, and found these two articles.  Right click on the titles to see the articles and supporting information.

Abstract

Background

The cause of neuronal death in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is uncertain but mitochondrial dysfunction may play an important role. Ketones promote mitochondrial energy production and membrane stabilization.

Results

SOD1-G93A transgenic ALS mice were fed a ketogenic diet (KD) based on known formulations for humans. Motor performance, longevity, and motor neuron counts were measured in treated and disease controls. Because mitochondrial dysfunction plays a central role in neuronal cell death in ALS, we also studied the effect that the principal ketone body, D-β-3 hydroxybutyrate (DBH), has on mitochondrial ATP generation and neuroprotection. Blood ketones were > 3.5 times higher in KD fed animals compared to controls. KD fed mice lost 50% of baseline motor performance 25 days later than disease controls. KD animals weighed 4.6 g more than disease control animals at study endpoint; the interaction between diet and change in weight was significant (p = 0.047). In spinal cord sections obtained at the study endpoint, there were more motor neurons in KD fed animals (p = 0.030). DBH prevented rotenone mediated inhibition of mitochondrial complex I but not malonate inhibition of complex II. Rotenone neurotoxicity in SMI-32 immunopositive motor neurons was also inhibited by DBH.

Conclusion

This is the first study showing that diet, specifically a KD, alters the progression of the clinical and biological manifestations of the G93A SOD1 transgenic mouse model of ALS. These effects may be due to the ability of ketone bodies to promote ATP synthesis and bypass inhibition of complex I in the mitochondrial respiratory chain.

Ketogenic Diet May Prevent ALS Progression

April 18, 2006

The Mount Sinai School of Medicine study suggests a ketogenic diet high in calories may prevent the progression of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. The study, which appeared in the April 3rd (2006) issue of BMC Neuroscience is the first study to draw correlations between diet and neurodegeneration (the progression of ALS).

�The findings assert the significance of certain high caloric dietary intake in the prevention of ALS. In view of any available therapeutic application for the disease, this new evidence might bring hope to those affected.�, said Giulio Maria Pasinetti, MD, PHD, Professor of Psychiatry and Neuroscience, Director of the Neuroinflammation Research Center at The Mount Sinai School of Medicine (MSSM) and lead author of the study.

The cause of neurodegeneration in ALS is unclear. The study researchers say mitochondrial dysfunction plays an important role in the degeneration of motor neurons. Ketones promote mitochondrial energy production and membrane stabilization. Mitochondiral membrane dysfunction, loss of oxidative stress control, generation of excessive free radicals, neurofilament accumulation, and excitotoxicity are all implicated in the onset of ALS.

About the MSSM Ketogenic Diet Study

MSSM investigators used a mouse model to examine the affects of a ketogenic diet (KD) on the progression of ALS. ALS mice were fed a high caloric ketogenic diet (KD). Motor performance, longevity, and motor neuron counts were measured in treated and diseased mice (both groups).

The study looked at how mitochondrial dysfunction plays a central role in neuronal cell death in ALS, the effect that the principal ketone body DBH has on mitochondrial ATP generation and neuroprotection.

Blood ketones were more than 3.5 times higher in ketogenic diet (KD) fed animals compared to controls. Ketogenic diet fed mice lost 50% of baseline motor performance 25 days later than the disease controls. The interaction between diet and change in weight was significant; KD mice weighed 4.6 grams more than the disease control group at study endpoint. In spinal cord sections obtained at the study endpoint, there were more motor neurons in KD fed animals.

MSSM Study Conclusions

This is the first study showing that diet, specifically a high caloric ketogenic diet may slow the progression of the clinical, and biological manifestations of ALS in a mouse model. This may be due to the ability of ketone bodies to promote ATP synthesis and bypass inhibition of complex I in the mitochondrial respiratory chain.

From me:

I think it is interesting that the food that I already eat and some of the supplements I already take have been researched as possible treatments and/or preventions of ALS, and I'm just now finding this out.

"Mitochondiral membrane dysfunction, loss of oxidative stress control, generation of excessive free radicals, neurofilament accumulation, and excitotoxicity are all implicated in the onset of ALS."

Most, if not all, of these things are or can be diet-related. A diet high in Omega-6s and low in Omega-3s, chemical preservatives, artificial sweeteners (aspartame/Splenda is an excitotoxin -I think about how much diet pop my mom drank), the antibiotics and hormones that are found in beef, chicken and pork, insecticides on our fruit and veggies...

The more I find out, the more I believe that eating clean may be the solution for our family.

DECEMBER 6, 2009 - A BITTERSWEET BIRTHDAY TO ME

Emily, age 17, in 1996                       Me, age 23, in 1981  

This is a post that I put on the Atkins Community Forum on my birthday:

I have not been able to be on the Atkins Forum a lot lately, and I wanted to explain why to some of you who have been missing me.

A couple of months ago, my husband and I expanded our business, and I have had to devote a significant amount of time getting things set up. It will probably not let up for several more months. I had hoped it would not take as much time as it has been taking, but I guess it is what it is. I hoped that I would only have to cut down a little on my “Forum Time”, but I am finding that I have little if any time to get here with any regularity.

I just want to say that I really miss being here every day and I think about everyone here all the time. I am looking forward to the time that I can be here more often.

I started Atkins on March 15, 2009, and I really feel like this Forum has become my lifeline in very many ways. I have made good friends, and have received so much help in my slow weight loss. I have also felt privileged to be able to extend help to others that have shared my struggles.

Before I go off again, maybe not to be seen for several days, I wanted to share a few personal things with you.

First of all, today is my birthday. I am 54 years old, and I feel great and healthy and slim. So it is a good day.

On the other hand, I have not been having a good holiday season, generally speaking. This year is the 13th Christmas that I have been apart from my dear daughter Emily Rebecca, who was killed on the 4th of July in 1997 in an automobile accident at the age of 18. She had just graduated high school three week before. She was practically perfect in every way, beautiful, giving and sweet natured, and we had an uncommonly close relationship.

I have not talked about Emily on this Forum for many reasons, but mainly because I still struggle so with her loss, and don’t like to bring it up and burden people with the knowledge of that struggle.

My husband and I also struggle with the loss of our 26 year old son, Joe, who died in an accident in 1991. He was my husband’s son and my stepson.

I have also had two babies die in the womb, one in 1976 and another, shortly after my daughter’s death, in 1998.

I also have terminal disease in my family. My grandfather and mother both died young, at 59 and 62 of ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease. My chances and the chances of my four biological sisters, of contracting this disease are 1 in 2, and if I do get it, it will be in the next few years.

At this point, you may be wondering why I am being such a downer today! I guess it is because I so often feel like an outsider with secrets that are uncomfortable to share, and only the people closest to me know all about me. But I have come to know and love so many people here that I decided to “come clean” and tell you more about myself.

Although I am having a tough time at the moment, and for these past few weeks, I generally try to be upbeat and happy in my daily life, and take great pleasure in my surviving son and my two beautiful grandchildren. I enjoy eating well, being healthy for as long as I can, and my life with my dear husband is good.

So, all that being said, I feel like a weight has been lifted now that I don’t have to pretend that all is always well! Thanks for listening, and I’ll be here as often as I can!