Ketogenic diet provides effective treatment for many conditions

This post includes a summary of a study published in behavioral pharmacology 2006 September; 17(5-6): 431–439 and a recipe for five spice beef.

Study title and authors:
Neuroprotective and disease-modifying effects of the ketogenic diet

Books:

Maciej Gasior,a Michael A. Rogawski,a and Adam L. Hartmanab

aEpilepsy Research Section, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda
bThe John M. Freeman Pediatric Epilepsy Center, Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
 
This study can be accessed at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2367001/
 
The study found evidence that a ketogenic diet can provide effective treatment for epilepsy, Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease, and may also be protective in traumatic brain injury and stroke.

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Recipe of the day

Five Spice Beef

Ingredients:

Food Mall: Sirloin Steak

450g/1lb minute, sirloin or rump steaks, cut into 10cm/5inch strips

15-30ml/1-2tbsp olive oil
2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
1 x 5cm/2inch piece fresh root ginger, peeled and finely chopped
½ bunch spring onions, finely chopped
5ml/1tsp Chinese five-spice powder
225g/8oz spring greens, finely shredded
Freshly milled black pepper

Method:
1.Heat the oil in a large non-stick wok or frying pan and stir-fry the beef strips for 1-2 minutes with the garlic, ginger, spring onion and five-spice powder.

2.Add the spring greens. Stir-fry for 1-2 minutes. Season and reduce the heat.



The many health benefits of a ketogenic diet

This post contains a summary of a paper published in Pediatrics Vol. 119 No. 3 March 2007, pp. 535-543 and a recipe for lamb shanks with horseradish and rosemary.

Study title and authors:
The Ketogenic Diet: One Decade Later
John M. Freeman, MD, Eric H. Kossoff, MD, Adam L. Hartman, MD
John M. Freeman Pediatric Epilepsy Center, Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, Baltimore, Maryland

This paper can be accessed at: http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/119/3/535#R2

Books:

The paper concludes: "The past decade has been an amazing one for those interested in the Ketogenic diet (KD). Its increasing use in children with difficult-to-control seizures has opened new vistas for these children and also for our understanding of epilepsy. Its potential use in adults by using a less restrictive Atkins diet may make a difference to this population as well. The diet’s documented efficacy and tolerability have opened new horizons as it is tried for a variety of ills from brain tumors to migraine, and from head trauma to neurodegenerative diseases. Most exciting is the realization that beliefs concerning a high-fat diet making people fat and dyslipidemic have been proven false. Researchers are rediscovering that ketone bodies are not necessarily bad and that glucose is not necessarily good. A whole new era of metabolic research has opened up. It is not completely clear where it will lead, but its promise is exciting".

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Recipe of the day

Lamb Shanks with Horseradish and Rosemary

 

Ingredients:

Food Mall: Lamb

2 lamb shanks

15ml/1tbsp oil

2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed

1 onion, peeled and chopped

1 carrot, peeled and chopped

2 celery stalks, sliced

30ml/2tbsp horseradish sauce or fresh horseradish

400g/14oz tomato passata

Salt and freshly milled black pepper

300ml/½pint good, hot lamb stock

2 fresh rosemary stalks

Method:

1.Preheat the oven to Gas mark 3, 150ºC, 325ºF.

2.Heat the oil in a large frying pan, add the lamb shanks and fry until golden all over (approx 10 minutes). Add the garlic, onion, carrot, celery, horseradish sauce and stir together. Pour over the passata, stock and bring to boil. Season. Pour into a casserole dish and add the rosemary.

3.Cover and cook for 2 hours.

 



The many benefits of a ketogenic diet

Prostaglandins, Leukotrienes and Essential Fatty Acids Volume 70, Issue 3, March 2004, Pages 309-319

Metabolic and Health Implications of Moderate Ketosis and the Ketogenic Diet
Richard L. Veech ,
Laboratory of Membrane Biochemistry and Biophysics, National Institutes of Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse, 12501 Washington Ave., Rockville, MD 20850, USA

This paper can be accessed at: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6WPH-4BM8FVH-C&_user=10&_coverDate=03%2F31%2F2004&_rdoc=1&_fmt=high&_orig=search&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_searchStrId=1307315113&_rerunOrigin=scholar.google&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=8ef4972e60062984a01a77d3f769a256

The author concludes the large categories of disease for which a ketogenic diet may have therapeutic effects are:

(1) diseases of substrate insufficiency or insulin resistance,
(2) diseases resulting from free radical damage,
(3) disease resulting from hypoxia.

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Humans have a large brain because of their evolutionary high quality meat diet

This post features a paper published in Current Anthropology Vol 36 No. 2 April 1995 and a recipe for beefy spring stir fry.

Study title and authors:
The Expensive Tissue Hypothesis
Leslie C Aiello, Peter Wheeler

This paper can be accessed at: http://people.biology.ufl.edu/sphelps/documents/evobrain/aeillo_wheeler_95.pdf

Books:

The Expensive Tissue Hypothesis was proposed in 1995 by Leslie Aiello and Peter Wheeler. They found that most of the human basal metabolic rate--more than 70%--goes to fuel the brain, heart, kidney, liver, and gastro-intestinal tract. To find out if any of these organs were reduced to fuel the human brain, they compared the mass of each organ in adult humans with that expected for a primate of similar body size. Only the gastro-intestinal tract was smaller than expected--and it was about 60% of the size expected for a similar-sized primate.

The increase in human brain size appears to be balanced by an almost identical reduction in the size of the gastrointestinal tract.

Aiello speculates that we could have reduced our gut size to free up energy for a larger brain with a dietary change happening as brain size expanded. Our ancestors were shifting from a heavily vegetarian diet, which requires a massive gut to digest plants and nuts, to a more easily digestible, nutritious diet that included meat and requires less gut tissue.

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Recipe of the day

Beefy Spring Stir-Fry

Ingredients:

Food Mall: Sirloin Steak

450g/1lb sirloin, or rump steak, cut into strips

15ml/1tbsp olive oil

Salt and freshly milled black pepper

1 small red onion, peeled and finely sliced

175g/6oz broccoli florets

100g/4oz mangetout

100g/4oz button mushrooms, halved

1 bok choi or pak choi, halved

75ml/5tbsp good, hot beef stock

30ml/2tbsp horseradish sauce

15-30ml/1-2tbsp fermented soy sauce

15-30ml/1-2tbsp sherry vinegar

Method:

1.Heat the oil in a large non-stick wok until really hot. Season the beef then add to the wok and cook for 1 minute until browned, but only just cooked. Remove from the wok with a slotted spoon and place on a plate.

2.Add the onion to the wok and cook for 1 minute, stirring frequently. Add the broccoli, mangetout, mushrooms and bok or pak choi. Stir-fry for 3-4 minutes then add the stock and horseradish. Stir to combine.

3.Return the beef to the wok with any meat juices from the plate and add the fermented soy sauce and sherry vinegar.

Two men improve their health by eating only meat for one year

CLINICAL CALORIMETRY.
XLV. PROLONGED MEAT DIETS WITH A STUDY OF KIDNEY FUNCTION AND KETOSIS.
BY WALTER S. MCCLELLAN AND EUGENE F. Du BOIS. (J. Biol. Chem. 87: 651-668, July 1930).
(From the Russell Sage Institute of Pathology in AjZiation with the Second Medical (Cornell) Division of Bellevue Hospital, New York.)

The paper can be accessed at: http://www.jbc.org/content/87/3/651.full.pdf+html

Two men completed a year long regime of eating a meat only diet. At the end of the trial both men had shed excess weight and were in better health than at the start of the trial. Stefansson had suffered from gingivitis, which cleared up entirely during the meat diet. Interestingly, Andersen reported that his hair stopped falling out shortly after the meat diet was started; Stefansson also noted his hair started growing thicker and his scalp was healthier. Blood pressure did not increase in either subject. Stefansson's blood pressure remained at 105/70 mm. throughout the study, while that of Andersen decreased from 140/80 to 120/80 mm.

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Recipe of the day

Cinnamon-Spiced Ribeye Steak with Carrots and Squash

Ingredients:
Ribeye steak (3/4 pound is enough for two)
1 large carrot (or a bunch of baby carrots)
1 large yellow squash
1 medium sweet yellow onion
Coconut oil
Ground cinnamon
Garlic powder
Black pepper
Salt

Directions:
Chop onion, carrots, and squash into bite-sized pieces. Melt two tablespoons of coconut oil over medium heat in a wok. Add onion and stir-fry until it begins to soften. Add carrots and squash. Add salt, garlic powder, and black pepper to taste. Stir ingredients well. Cover and let cook for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Pre-heat non-stick grill pan or skillet over medium heat. Season both sides of the ribeye steak with a dusting of salt, garlic powder, and ground cinnamon. Don’t be shy with the cinnamon. It really is good, so lay it on generously. Lay the meat in the dry pan and let it sear undisturbed for 4 minutes on the first side. Turn and sear the other side for at least 4 minutes. Evaluate doneness by how much pink is showing in the side of the searing meat.

Note: Searing meat is a technique for keeping juices inside where you can enjoy them as you eat. Puncturing meat with a fork to turn it lets valuable juice escape. That’s why using tongs to turn meat is a good idea.