Low-Carb Diets are Working, Study Says
 

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp...carb_mystery_1

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - The dietary establishment has long argued it's impossible, but a new study offers intriguing evidence for the idea that people on low-carbohydrate diets can actually eat more than folks on standard lowfat plans and still lose weight.


Perhaps no idea is more controversial in the diet world than the contention ? long espoused by the late Dr. Robert Atkins ? that people on low-carbohydrate diets can consume more calories without paying a price on the scales.


Over the past year, several small studies have shown, to many experts' surprise, that the Atkins approach actually does work better, at least in the short run. Dieters lose more than those on a standard American Heart Association plan without driving up their cholesterol levels, as many feared would happen.


Skeptics contend, however, that these dieters simply must be eating less. Maybe the low-carb diets are more satisfying, so they do not get so hungry. Or perhaps the food choices are just so limited that low-carb dieters are too bored to eat a lot.


Now, a small but carefully controlled study offers a strong hint that maybe Atkins was right: People on low-carb, high-fat diets actually can eat more.


The study, directed by Penelope Greene of the Harvard School of Public Health and presented at a meeting here this week of the American Association for the Study of Obesity, found that people eating an extra 300 calories a day on a very low-carb regimen lost just as much during a 12-week study as those on a standard lowfat diet.


Over the course of the study, they consumed an extra 25,000 calories. That should have added up to about seven pounds. But for some reason, it did not.


"There does indeed seem to be something about a low-carb diet that says you can eat more calories and lose a similar amount of weight," Greene said.


That strikes at one of the most revered beliefs in nutrition: A calorie is a calorie is a calorie. It does not matter whether they come from bacon or mashed potatoes; they all go on the waistline in just the same way.


Not even Greene says this settles the case, but some at the meeting found her report fascinating.


"A lot of our assumptions about a calorie is a calorie are being challenged," said Marlene Schwartz of Yale. "As scientists, we need to be open-minded."


Others, though, found the data hard to swallow.


"It doesn't make sense, does it?" said Barbara Rolls of Pennsylvania State University. "It violates the laws of thermodynamics. No one has ever found any miraculous metabolic effects."


In the study, 21 overweight volunteers were divided into three categories: Two groups were randomly assigned to either lowfat or low-carb diets with 1,500 calories for women and 1,800 for men; a third group was also low-carb but got an extra 300 calories a day.


The study was unique because all the food was prepared at an upscale Italian restaurant in Cambridge, Mass., so researchers knew exactly what they ate. Most earlier studies simply sent people home with diet plans to follow as best they could.


Each afternoon, the volunteers picked up that evening's dinner, a bedtime snack and the next day's breakfast and lunch. Instead of lots of red meat and saturated fat, which many find disturbing about low-carb diets, these people ate mostly fish, chicken, salads, vegetables and unsaturated oils.


"This is not what people think of when they think about an Atkins diet," Greene said. Nevertheless, the Atkins organization agreed to pay for the research, though it had no input into the study's design, conduct or analysis.





Everyone's food looked similar but was cooked to different recipes. The low-carb meals were 5 percent carbohydrate, 15 percent protein and 65 percent fat. The rest got 55 percent carbohydrate, 15 percent protein and 30 percent fat.

In the end, everyone lost weight. Those on the lower-cal, low-carb regimen took off 23 pounds, while people who got the same calories on the lowfat approach lost 17 pounds. The big surprise, though, was that volunteers getting the extra 300 calories a day of low-carb food lost 20 pounds.

"It's very intriguing, but it raises more questions than it answers," said Gary Foster of the University of Pennsylvania. "There is lots of data to suggest this shouldn't be true."

Greene said she can only guess why the people getting the extra calories did so well. Maybe they burned up more calories digesting their food.

Dr. Samuel Klein of Washington University, the obesity organization's president, called the results "hard to believe" and said perhaps the people eating more calories also got more exercise or they were less apt to cheat because they were less hungry.

they do work. i've lost 10lbs in the past month on no carbs. i feel 10x better. i'm working out everyday also.

I think I lost weight just reading the article (wink)

I'm down to 285 from 320 pounds following the Atkins Plan.

I have also dropped a good amount of fat cutting out the carbs, about 40 pounds in the last 6 months

Good Job dude :thumbsup
I bet you feel 100x better now.

Thx...and yes I am feeling much better.

I can't wait until I get to my target weight which is 155...long way to go but I will get there. :)

<IMG src=http://66.9.83.78/gfy/lowcarb.jpg>

HAHAHAHA!

The "skeptics" are just jealous. I lost 14 pounds in 10 days and I ate like 2 london broils a day, plus several devilled eggs, a bunch of roast beef with cream cheese and chives rolled up inside and a bag or two of pork skins plu some sugar-free chocolate bars. I ate like a pig and actually lost more weight than I meant to! LOL

Of course, maybe the skeptics are vegetarians or something, because I LOVE meat. I could eat nothing but ribeye steaks cooked to a nice, juicy medium with crispy brown fat all day every day and be in heaven... and thin, too! HAHA! :)

The Atkins diet is definately the right diet for me for the rest of my life. As soon as I wean my newborn I'll be right back on it.

Hey Tootie...try the Atkins Ice Cream it is great :)

And my menu for each day mainly consists of, bacon, eggs, roast beef, mozarrella cheese, salad w/tomatoes & mushrooms, olives green/black, steak, chicken...I'm not missing out on a damn thing:thumbsup

You bet I'm going to snag some of that ice cream. I hope it's better than the Le Carb ice cream, which was okay, but not great.

Something else that rocks is a bowl of shredded cheddar cheese with ranch dressing and maybe some crumbled bacon. Mmmm...

And try making meatloaf with crushed pork skins instead of breadcrumbs. And use the low carb ketchup. (You can get sugar-free ketchup in the diet foods aisle and it's cheaper than atkins ketchup and tastes EXACTLY like regular ketchup!

And Mt. Olive has come out with sugar-free pickles. Now I can have sweet salad cubes in my devilled eggs again, w00t!

Try Keto Crumbs in place of bread crumbs, they're great. I've lost 72 lbs. in 14 months by low-carbing with Atkins.

LeCarb ice cream sucks ass, the Atkins is much better. Or make your own in an ice cream maker with heavy whipping cream, liquid sweetener, egg yolks, vanilla, and a dash of salt, it's just soft-serve vanilla.

The diet is not for carb lovers that is for sure. I tried it in college and lasted only 5 days. I lost 8 pounds in that little time, but was exhausted and very grumpy. But I personally love carbs...especially bread. It was hard to stay under the 20g of carbs per day. But if you can do it and lose the weight and keep it off, good luck and keep at it! :thumbsup

Those symptoms are perfectly normal the first week.. Then they disappear and you feel a rush of energy like never before.. That's because the body doesn't need to work like a motherfucker to turn those carbs into energy..

I guess it has to do with metabolism. I eat a lot of rice, vegetable, few meat for almost 30 years. I am in perfect shape according to my trainner. 5'8, 160, body fat 15%.

I'm down from 238 to 195 and feeling great.

Losing weight DNE being healthy.
Losing weight DNE being healthy.
Losing weight DNE being healthy.
Losing weight DNE being healthy. Losing weight DNE being healthy.
Losing weight DNE being healthy.
Losing weight DNE being healthy.
Losing weight DNE being healthy.

Eat a balanced diet, sensible portions, no fast food, and exercise. 5 years of that will add on more years than 5 years of no carb high protein/fat without exercise.

We're a fast food society and people are constantly looking for a fast food diet. The quickest/easiest solution is not always the best.

I went low carb 4 years ago. Lost 40 pounds in about 8 months and have kept it off. Frankly, even during times when I ease off the diet a bit, I just can't bring myself to consume much sugar at all. That shit is pure poison.

Kristin, this is fact.

Why do you care how people lose weight as long as they lsoe the weight...also if you think this is a "fast food diet" you're kidding yourself...I've never had to prepare so much food in my life.

I have to cook almost 3 times a day...chopping up vegetables all the time for salads etc.

This is not an "easy" solution it takes work, much more work than when I was eating regular meals.

I also wanted to point out how flawed your argument is.

No losing weight does not ALWAYS = healthy...however being on a low carb plan my weight has dropped, my blood sugar levels are normal *some diabetics no longer even take their insulin*, my blood pressure is fine, and my energy level is up...I'm consuming more vitamins than I have in years...and everyone I've come into contact with on Atkins has had these exact same results.

I care because losing weight does not mean you are more healthy. Perhaps for the morbidly obese people, yes, they need to lose weight at all costs.

However, honestly :

That SCARES ME reading it. It is someone who is going to harm their body if she eats like that for years.

My biggest concern and point is that LOSING WEIGHT DOES NOT MEAN YOU ARE HEALTHIER.

Please, anyone on this - why not talk to your doctor about it. Are you going to trust a book from the early 70's or him/her? I think it's not a waste of your time. Everyone can benefit from dropping off some carbs in life - me included. But cutting them out? My opinion is that it's not good.

I am not in any way trying to take away from your benefits or discredit you.

All I have ever said in these threads is that I don't feel it's a healthy lifestyle - it is a quick fix solution. People go on it, see rapid gains and get excited. Talking to your physician can never be a bad idea.

This is where you're not reading the studies...the book from the 70's was written by a doctor.

People have dropped their triglyceride levels eating exactly the way that person is eating.

Also you don't continue to eat that way the entire plan...only in the initial stages.

You start off consuming alot of fat for it to be burned instead of carbs that you are not consuming...and as you approach your desired weight you eat a more and more balanced diet.

Atkins has been proven right in more ways than one...you guys doubters lost get over it. :winkwink:

Are there any studies that show the longterm effects of these types of diets?

Losing a lot of weight in a short time period doesn't interest me and doesn't mean anything health-wise anyways.

Dusen - this is not a quick fix solution! This is a complete long term change in how one eats. I can tell you that I will never go back to the 'traditional' western food consumption regimen because it is pure poison.

Like I said in my earlier post, I lost 40 pounds in about 8 months and have kept that weight off for 3 years. And I'll be yet another to attest that I feel worlds better to this day. This is not a shortcut, I assure you. It's more expensive and more effort without doubt.

Being a fat ass myself I can't help but to laugh at this picture!!!! Good one!:1orglaugh :GFYBand

Atkins :thumbsup

I lost 25lbs in 6 weeks.
Its amazing what sugar and flour will do to ya...

Also, I'd like to add a couple really important points that are stressed in much of the 'low carb' literature.

1) Consume lots and lots of protein. If you weigh 200 pounds, make sure that you consume at least 120 grams of protein per day. This will both help keep you feeling full and maintain muscle mass. If you are physically active, aim for more protein.

2) Consume more water than you ever imagined. At least one ounce per pound of bodyweight per day. From my experience, I believe this is the most valuable tip I can offer.

Yup lots and lots of water....
You'll piss yourself skinny!

Exactly:thumbsup

120 grams of protein for a 200 lb person?

That's only 480 calories a day. If at 200lbs we'll say you need 2000 calories (which is probably low), and you only get 480 calories from protein you need 1520 calories from fat according to that diet?

That means you're supposed to eat somewhere around 170 grams of fat?

And drinking a lot of water goes for anybody on any diet or anybody not on a diet.

I tried it too.. then heard too much red meet is not good for your cholesterol... so I stopped after 3 weeks and losing about 7 pounds

:1orglaugh

For the 100 millionth time for those who haven't actually read the book or know what they're talking about...Atkins/low-carbing is NOT about NO carbs, it's about LOW carbs. I eat 10 times the vegetables I ever ate in my life now, I eat the same amount of meat/poultry, and I have literally cut out grains, flour and sugar. I eat less calories now than when eating a high-carb diet. We DO excercise, as the good doctor stresses in the book. That "book from the 70's" has been updated and revised too many times to count, remaining a best seller. It was written by a real doctor. My doctors (2 guys who have actually graduated from medical school instead of Googling) support low-carbing.

I have tried low-fat and low-calorie diets w/o restricting carbs, under a doctors supervision, with no weight loss at all. I have Type 2 diabetes (free of medication thanks to Atkins) and PCOS, both caused by severe insulin resistance. I produce insulin but my body doesn't use it. So what happens to that insulin? It turns to fat. What triggers insulin? Carbs. If you are IR, restricting carbs is the only answer. It's that simple.

Optimum ratios: 65% fat, 30% protein, 5% carbs.

Great post Allison :) I'll just add what I always add to these discussions - drink tons of water!

Exactly :winkwink:

It works, I lost 40 pounds in less than a month. And I eat whatever I want. Just remember to drink a LOT of water b/c high protein diets are a bitch on your kidneys.:2 cents:

to add to this, loads of water are vital for flushing out the system. the times that I had stalls in fat loss coincided with the times when I was not dilligent about consuming lots of water. This phenomenon is also documented in the low carb/high protein literature.

how can you eat this much in one day? :helpme

I'm a low-carb girl too. It's the only thing that works for me, but it's definitely not for everyone. Everyone has a different metabolism and while a simple low-cal, 3 days a week in the gym regime may work for some, it doesn't work for everyone. Why do people get so intense about how other people eat? I don't get it.... :eek7

Good resource site for a low-carb diet, tons of great recipes:
http://www.atkinsfriends.com/