Quick weight loss coincident with a sudden worsening of AF

Up to this summer I have spent the past year with only three episodes each lasting a few hours. I was on one pill, propafenone (Arythmol 150mg) taken last thing at night.I ate normally and drank wine every day, two to three small glasses.

My BMI had increased from 20 to 23 over the preceding year.

I went on an an Atkins type diet and lost 8 pounds within a couple of weeks or so.

I then began to get frequent and increasingly long AF episodes at all times of the day and night where before my episodes had been nocturnal.

Only by increasing my dosage to 150mg x 2 taken three times every day, with the permission of my doctor, did I get it under control.

Is this increase likely to be caused by the change in water retention in the body and a consequent mineral depletion? If it is what is the best way of quickly achieving an adequate level of magnesium so that I can cut down my dose of Arythmol as soon as possible?

Peter,

In the following post are links to an interview & paper done by Dr. Phinney (MD PhD) on ketogenic diets. <[www.afibbers.org];

One think you'll note is that he increased both potassium and magnesium intake for those on his program as a ketogenic diet does cause the kidney to increase excretion of both.

Also - the indigenous peoples model of this diet is 15-20% protein & 85-80% fat. I don't think Atkins restricts protein & excess protein can be converted to glucose.

Jackie frequently quotes Ron Rosedale MD & he has a program along the lines of Phinney written in book form.

I'd supplement with magnesium glycinate and potassium gluconate.

George

Peter - I agree with George on the likely mineral loss - both potassium and magnesium - with the high protein diet like Atkins. Definitely start supplementing. And be sure you don't become dehydrated. Jackie

Phinney also talks about making sure at least 5 grams of sodium in diet per day. Phinney & Rosedale's approach are not high protein - just high fat. Atkins didn't seem to get that message. The amount of protein needed is about 1 g/kg of body mass (or "ideal body mass" if loosing weight), adjusted for activity - a bit more, say 10% if very active.

Peter, my onset of afib happened after I'd been on the Atkins diet for 2 weeks. I should have stopped it right then, but I waited another 2 weeks. Then, it took me 4 months of supplements for the afib to go away. I was afib free for 4 yrs, when chemotherapy brought it back.

george, jackie:
wouldn't a high fat diet increase one's cholesterol? I am now on a celiac diet and have eliminated all wheat, rye, corn, etc. from my diet as well as dairy. Isn't this sort of like the Paleo diet where one doesn't eat gluten? If that is the case, then one has to eat more protein per day to make up from eliminating carbs...and as George mentioned, too much protein turns to glucose [thanks...didn't know that].

by the way, I asked my new GI yesterday about Mastica gum and he said not to take it [for me] because it affects absorption in the GI....thought worth mentioning.

For some odd reason suddenly my intestines has permanently kinked up [scar tissue] and fused together so I was on a 25 day coconut water/broth diet in July and just started it again so I don't constantly throw up. After reading this thread I am more concerned about AF triggers from not eating a balance/sudden weight loss diet. There is just so little I can add to my broths to give me minerals/vitamins except for veggies and meat bones.

jackie, any suggestions would be appreciated.

Susan, have you been diagnosed with H.pylori? If not, why were you going to take Mastica Gum? Just wondering. Sharon

no sharon, the blood test and biopsy tested negative. I purchased it because there is info out there that it is good for Crohn's disease. Obviously if all I can eat is clear broth and coconut water/unflavored/unsweetened fish gelatin, then this isn't a good time to mess with my absorption by taking mastica gum. I purchased it after your email to me when I thought I had H. pylori and when the results came back negative I kept it thinking it may help my crohn's.

Thank you very much for your comments and recommendations.

I shall certainly supplement liberally with magnesium and potassium, but I understand that absorption rates with magnesium are very slow however much magnesium you take orally. I have seen claims that applying magnesium onto the body might speed up the process. Are baths with Epsom salts effective?

I do try and keep up the amount of fat I eat with my protein, after so many years of believing in the virtues of restricting saturated fats it feels wrong, but I persevere!

I went on this diet having read Gary Taubes' book "Good Calories, Bad Calories", called "The Diet Delusion" in the UK where I am living. I saw it recommended on this site. Taubes makes it pretty convincing that the sort of cholesterol we get from eating saturated fats is not harmful; what is harmful are refined starches, corn syrup, sugar and an excess of carbohydrates.

Many thanks for your help.

Peter

Susan -

Susan - I was wondering how you are and now I learn by reading your posts. So sorry you are still having such a dreadful time with the intestinal issues. I think of you often. I realize you must remain on a restricted diet and be very choosy about what foods you tolerate. Following addresses your concerns regarding cholesterol in the Paleo diet.

I hope you continue to improve.
Jackie



Paleo eating eliminates all grains… thereby also excludes the gluten/gliaden protein issue and food intolerances. Dr. Rosedale’s eating plan is similar to Paleo eating. His plan makes the most sense to me. “The Rosedale Diet.” (book) He’s a physician with enormous research time logged into the metabolic processes specifically focusing on preventing diabetes. There is science behind his thinking. He’s reviewed over 10,000 studies the last time I heard one of his teleconferences presented two years ago.

He says this diet focuses on fat – burning fat and eating fat. It allows you to eat up to half or more of your daily calories in the form of fat as long as it’s the right kind of fat. You also eat protein on this diet, but the right amount because excessive protein consumption can be dangerous. The carbohydrates he allows are the healthy ones that won’t cause leptin spikes that are so damaging to health.

The diet is based on controlling leptin. He explains that it’s not the eating of fat that makes you fat and unhealthy but not being able to burn fat does. He says some fat is bad, notably excess amounts of most saturated fat, found in most meat and full fat dairy products and omega 6 fats found in vegetable oils. Also the killer trans fats found in fried and processed foods. He doesn’t like high protein diets because they don’t distinguish between killer fats and good fats.

On the Rosedale diet, you can eat nuts such as almonds, walnuts, cashews and nut butters, avocados, fatty fish, non-grain fed beef, eggs and high quality vegetable oil (like almond, avocado and olive). He says our bodies thrive on good fat. Our metabolism needs good fat to burn bad fat and our cells need goof fat to work properly. Our brains need good fat to think. Most important, good fat lowers leptin levels, improving the quality of leptin signaling, so that our cells hear leptin better, thereby controlling hunger. Remember, eating fat doesn’t make you fat – the inability to burn fat is what makes you fat. Good fat turns you into a wonderful fat burner. It is truly a miracle food. (p. 8, 9). It’s worth buying his book if you are considering a dietary revamp.

As for cholesterol, the expert on that is Uffe Ravnskoff, MD, PhD…well known for a long time on the thincs.org website and
through his book, The Cholesterol Myths.

Following is from the website. You can go there and click on the hyperlinks to follow each item for more detail. Reading the book
is suggested as you really want to know the whole story.

Another cholesterol expert, cardiologist Peter Langsjoen, MD, comments
about measuring cholesterol and what’s an ideal level. To that he replies, “the one that is never measured.”…

As you’ll note below, cholesterol is produced by the body for a reason and while it’s commonly thought diet is a huge influence, in reality it is not.
1 Cholesterol is not a deadly poison, but a substance vital to the cells of all mammals. There are no such things as good or bad cholesterol, but mental stress, physical activity and change of body weight may influence the level of blood cholesterol. A high cholesterol is not dangerous by itself, but may reflect an unhealthy condition, or it may be totally innocent.

2 A high blood cholesterol is said to promote atherosclerosis and thus also coronary heart disease. But many studies have shown that people whose blood cholesterol is low become just as atherosclerotic as people whose cholesterol is high.

3 Your body produces three to four times more cholesterol than you eat. The production of cholesterol increases when you eat little cholesterol and decreases when you eat much. This explains why the ”prudent” diet cannot lower cholesterol more than on average a few per cent.

4 There is no evidence that too much animal fat and cholesterol in the diet promotes atherosclerosis or heart attacks. For instance, more than twenty studies have shown that people who have had a heart attack haven't eaten more fat of any kind than other people, and degree of atherosclerosis at autopsy is unrelated with the diet.

5 The only effective way to lower cholesterol is with drugs, but neither heart mortality or total mortality have been improved with drugs the effect of which is cholesterol-lowering only. On the contrary, these drugs are dangerous to your health and may shorten your life.

6 The new cholesterol-lowering drugs, the statins, do prevent cardio-vascular disease, but this is due to other mechanisms than cholesterol-lowering. Unfortunately, they also stimulate cancer in rodents, disturb the functions of the muscles, the heart and the brain and pregnant women taking statins may give birth to children with malformations more severe than those seen after thalidomide.

7 Many of these facts have been presented in scientific journals and books for decades but are rarely told to the public by the proponents of the diet-heart idea.

8 The reason why laymen, doctors and most scientists have been misled is because opposing and disagreeing results are systematically ignored or misquoted in the scientific press.

9 The Benefits Of High Cholesterol

Do you want to know more? Read Dr. Ravnskov's book "The Cholesterol Myths". This is an updated and greatly extended version of this site. In addition to the subjects mentioned above, you can read about
...the many unsuccessful cholesterol-lowering experiments,
...the meaningless animal experiments,
...familial hypercholesterolemia and why you shouldn´t bother too much about it,
...the myths about triglycerides,
...the dangers associated with an overconsumption of polyunsaturated oils,
...the illogicalities around the Mediterranean diet,
...the fallacies of Dr. Ornish´s life-style trial
[www.ravnskov.nu]
[www.thincs.org]

thanks Jackie,
yes I am having a rough time...worst ever. I don't have your email nor can I click your name above on this computer. If your can can click "susan" and email me at gmail I would appreciate it. I have a few questions. thanks.

Done!