BellaOnline Forums Food and Wine Low Carb TWO new studies prove low carb works!!

Great news, TWO new studies in the Annals of Internal Medicine both prove that low carb diets are as good - and in many cases better - than low fat diets!

http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art20314.asp

The more that people accept low carb, the more recipes that will come out for delicious low carb foods (salmon, broccoli, cauliflower, etc), and the easier and easier it'll be for people to stay on and maintain a low carb lifestyle.

It may be that in 20 years we'll look back at the 'old' way of eating - full of sugar and starch - and wonder what in the world we were thinking!

On a related topic, doctors are finding out that the medical problem links they USED to accuse low carb of causing are actually untrue and were based on misconceptions.

For example, some doctors claimed that low carb would cause gout because it encourages meat eating. Really, most low carbers eat the same amount of meat they used to - we're a nation of burgers and steaks! But in any case, doctors have now discovered that it ISN'T meat after all that causes gout. It's a SUBSECTON of meat - called the "purine rich foods". These are liver, kidneys, brains, as well as anchovies, beans and peas. Since low carb discourages eating beans and peas, all you'd have to do is avoid the liver / kidneys / brains / anchovies. I think most of us low carbers do that anyway <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> You should also avoid beer - which low carb explicitly suggests!!

For more details, read here -

http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art20307.asp

Hi Lisa,

What kinds of beans and peas are you talking about? I'm low carbing and I eat green beans maybe once or twice a week. I don't splurge though.
Also, we have a veggie garden and have peas, squash, tomatos, etc. Is anything wrong with these things on low carb?

Thanks!! <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Pat

I think she means beans like pinto beans, navy beans, butter beans, and kidney beans. With green beans, you're mostly eating the shell which doesn't have as many carbs. I just looked on the back of my can of green beans and it says it has 4 grams of carbs per serving (1/2 cup) which isn't bad for a vegetable.

Right right, I love green beans too. These guys meant the pinto beans kinds of beans <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

There's nothing "wrong" with any vegetables on low carb <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> But you always need to keep in mind the carb counts for what you are looking for. Peas for example are very sweet and should be eaten in moderation. Tomatoes can be sweet or mild depending on the variety. So again, moderation. Squash is GREAT and we eat it non stop <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Our veggie garden is currently growing squash, cauliflower, broccoli, spinach and tomatoes. Anyone who complains about 'high cost vegetables' should grow a veggie garden! It's only $1 for the seeds and you get TONS of food ...

I am not a "low-fat" zealot by any stretch - but there are certain aspects of low-carb diets that just drive me bonkers! This post is in no way intended to insult, sway or belittle low-carbers out there, but I can't help but go off on a little rant here - especially given the premise of this post - "Low Carb Works" I understand that everybody is different, and that no evidence of LC dangers currently exist - but there is still reason to be skeptical.

1. What are we defining as "works" here? It seems that the only thing that Atkins and hybrids have determined, is that there is a slight advantage of scale weight, compared to that of low fat diets.

2. The comparison of low fat diets in LC-promoting studies is nonsense. The low fat group in that Annals of Internal Medicine study you cited were also calorically restricted diets, which has a propensity for failure.

3. The study in which you speak of demonstrates the LC group lost a statistically insignificant amount of weight compared to the LF group. In fact - after a year-long study, the LC group gained the most weight back.

4. This study was paid for by the Robert C. Atkins foundation...hmmmmmm.

5. This very same study also found participants on the LC plan experienced the following;
Constipation (68%)
Headache (60%)
Halitosis (38%)
Muscle cramps (35%)
General weakness (25%)
Diarrhea (23%)
Rash (13%)

6. What happened to exercise? I know, I know, LC diets also promote exercise, but none of the studies take exercie into consideration. NOBODY can contest that expending more calories than you take in will promote weight loss, and carbs (complex ones) make it easier to exercise. Asians, Italians and Amish all eat copious amounts of carbohydrates and yet obesity is a fraction of that of Americans.

7. Caloric intake has gone up by 400 on average over the past 20 years. Yes - many of these calories are from refined grain and sugar, however, much of it has been fat as well.

I think we have to bring ourselves out of the confines of this low carb/low fat box, and realize that eating plans need to be individualized and that exercise needs to be central to any fat loss plan. Not everybody that is anti-low carb is a low-fat promoter and vice versa.

I respect people's choice to follow any plan they want, however - I always try to remind people that success should not be measured in days, weeks or even a few months. Success is a lifelong process, and should not be determined by scale weight loss. So claiming that something "works" is highly relative.

Time will tell regarding the safety/efficacy of LC diets. Multitudes of studies have shown that those who exercise the most are able to maintain the most fat loss.

Whole grain carbs cause a slow release of insulin, provide energy, dietary fiber, phytochemicals, B vitamins and help curb appetite.

Although there is validity for supplementation on "traditionally healthy eating", the amount of nutrients lacking in many LC diets is excessive.
It is a great way for Atkins and clones to rake in extra $, however.

Most people on LC diets don't eat as many calories as others. It would be very difficult to eat the same amount of calories by virtually limiting an entire macronutirent category - hence weight loss.

Cholesterol may also decrease while low carbing - again, becaue our intelligent liver's know that if the body isn't getting enough caloires, the fat is used up - if not, the liver manufactures cholesterol.

Everybody's tastes are different. No diet should make you feel completely deprived, hungry, anxious, irritable, bad breathed, etc. If LC is something you can honestly do without deprivation, and if long-term studies suggest no residual negative affects - great, I'm happy you've found something that works for you. But please - sending a message that "carbs are making us fat" is nonsense. Chocolate bars, Donuts, croisants, danishes are FAT - stop calling them "carbs" (I know - they're technically part "simple carbs").

That's it for now.

T

I'll just skip to the gist of your argument to make this more concise <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

But that is exactly the entire point of low carbing. People have been filling up with TONS of refined sugar, white bread, ice cream, soda, etc. I've posted many messages about just how harmful this is.

The entire aim of low carbing is to eat healthy veggies, drink lots of water, take vitamins, exercise regularly and remember that some oils and fats ARE healthy.

I think it's easy to say from 2004 "well of course we know that!!" But look back 10 years ago. People thought all fats were evil. They were promoting eating a ton of bread and pasta as part of a healthy pyramid. And we got fat on it. You *never* heard that white bread and tons of white pasta were bad. People put tons of sugar-filled ketchup on their foods, tons of sugar-filled peanut butter with sugar-filled jelly on white bread for kids. And this was "good".

So in many ways you can say the basic ideas of low carb are just common sense. And that's the point. Low carb isn't exotic. It's not about special foods. It's about eating only natural foods, only healthy vegetables, the broccoli and squash your parents told you to eat. And salmon and healthy oils.