🍳 Cooking 🍳 Low carb diets

[Rosencavelier]

JBizzle - your information seems to come from people that advise athletes with extreme energy needs (and in one case - from a company that sells high sugar content sports drinks). As I have said, I am not an athlete and have not researched that side of it, but I (and pretty much anyone the sticks to the diet) have a lot more energy now than before.

You do not count calories on this diet. You count carbs. The idea being that limiting carbs limits blood sugar fluctuations (and therefore insulin), and doing so limits hunger, and basically stops you snacking. (In the earlier stages, I had to force myself to eat meals, because I just WASN'T ever hungry). Of course you can't escape the general rule of calories in vs calories expended, but this diet naturally takes care of that for you, without the need to constantly thinking to yourself "no, I shouldn't eat now, I'm watching my weight". You eat when you feel like it, which is a hell of a lot less than on a carb heavy diet.

One part of your information says that fat is bad and has over twice the calories of carbs - and you later say that eliminating carbs removes a significant amount of calories.

You say that the plan is too high in fat, and too low in carbs - COMPARED to the traditional high carb/low fat approach, yes. If you have high fat, high carb it is dangerous, obviously, but high fat/low carb is being shown more and more to be a healthier alternative.

You also say that the dieter rebounds IF carbs are reintroduced. We are taught that! We know that! The idea is changing the way we eat forever, not just to lose weight. This is a whole-life whole-health changing nutritional approach.

Thank you, and good night

PS: Having been an obese person, I can tell you first hand that doctors DO deal with weight loss all the time. That is often the first thing they mention whether you are there for a cold, a prescription or whatever.

My own doctor is so impressed with the improvements in my cholesterol, triglycerides, blood pressure (no more medication), etc that he is now recommending the diet to anyone with these problems, not just overweight people. (He was against the diet at the beginning, but watching my progress over nine months has changed his mind)

 

[Petersko]

JBizzle - I can flood this thread with studies that are pro-Atkins if you like, many of which were NOT funded by or connected with the Atkins Foundation. Will a couple dozen impress you?

All I see in your links is the standard common knowledge that has failed most people in the past.

For the record, I've gone from 305 pounds to 180. Over a five year period I tried a number of techniques. I know what works for me, and what doesn't - and exactly how I feel, healthwise, on each technique.

I know for a fact that if I take in a diet composed of higher than 40% carbs, I have to eat less than 1000 calories a day or I begin to put on fat unless I work out at least 40 minutes of cardio every day, plus some weight training.

 

[FoxyKel]

Originally posted by JBizzle

Doctors don't spend years and years in a classroom to help someone loose weight. They're time, money, and years were spent on things more serious, acute, and/or fatal. Especially since being overwieght has only become a problem over the past ten years or so (Practicing doctors today did not study for that stuff 10 years ago.)

Doctors can, and do, often play a vital role in loosing weight.

Firstly, some people's excess weight problem is not caused simply by bad eating habits and lack of fitness, sometimes it is caused by underlying medical conditions. Secondly, a lot of people's excess weight problem can, and does, result in serious health conditions as they get older in life.... if a patient is suffering from obesity, then there is no reason why it should not or would not be treated, just as they would be treated if they were suffering any other illness.

My GP is actually assisting me at the moment, she makes meal plan suggestions, exercise suggestions, she weighs me and takes my measurements on a regular basis as well as checking my heart rate and doing monthly blood tests to insure I have the right levels of everything in my blood.

Any doctor that is not interested in assisting a patient to loose weight is not a good doctor, and I suggest they seek a new one if he or she seems disinterested.

 

[Mman]

I think low carb will work for some people and not others. In this study a high carb diet worked:
http://www.healthcentral.com/drdean/deanfulltexttopics.cfm?ID=60761&storytype=DeanTopics

The following diet seems to work for a lot of people because it is based on your heritage and genetics to determine the optimal diet. It is mainly based on your blood type and most people are type O so high protein low carb works for most people.
http://www.er4yt.com/

People who have ancestors from the equator (as mentioned before) depended on mostly carbs and plant based proteins so they evolved to be most efficient eating those foods. (Blood types A and B) People living in colder environments lived on mostly animal protein. (type O)

I'd be willing to bet that the atkins diet works best on people that have type O blood. Not everyone is the same.

 

[Crazygrl]

Ok, once again, I havn't read the whole thread so I may be jumping in where it aint wanted. Anyway, years ago I went on an extremely low carb diet. It worked for about 2 years. Then it backfired completely and fucked my matabolism. I am activelyn against them, I say cut back on them, but don't actually go on a "low carb diet" with everyone I know whos been one one for a while they have come back to bite you on the arse big time after a while. And with the energy thing, you don't have the energy cos after a while you start working into your protein system which makes exercise harder and when your loosing weight, your not necessarily lossing fat, but muscle. Just my 50 cents. I'de just go by a sensible diet, looking for nutricious, low fat, healthy food, lots of salad/vegies/salad sandwitches. By the way if it's all about lossing weight, certain foods do help with that, ie, ones with certain citric acids, like pinapple and chillie (not cos of the acid tho obviously).