Research surprise: Low-carb dieters eat more calories and still lose weight (ATkins vindicated)

Yahoo News ^ | Oct. 13, 2003 | DANIEL Q. HANEY

[SamAdams76]

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.

But isn't that the whole point of this diet? Why would one want a diet that one is more prone to cheat on because one is hungry all the time?

I think the exercise factor is often overlooked in these studies. On a normal-carb diet, one has much more energy and that is often used for exercise. I did a 12-mile walk on Saturday morning and I had enough energy left over to spend the rest of the afternoon doing yard work and chopping wood. Forget about having the energy to do that if I was on a typical low-fat diet, eating cottage cheese and celery sticks.

[tsmith130]

Hear hear! 21 people? There's a definitive study.

[netmilsmom]

Where did you find the truffles?? The candy with the malt sugar gives me problems I would not like to discuss (but my daughters call them foofies).

[dix]

Reas later.

[Mr. Jeeves]

The xylitol won't help you much there. Go to the Atkins web site for all kinds of dessert recipes that use Splenda (sucralose). Splenda has little effect on the digestive tract (at least for me) unlike the sugar alcohols. I can't eat any of that maltitol or lactitol candy, either.

[uncbob]

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

Eat more calories not more by weight

fats have almost 2x the calories per gram than carbs or protein

[RazzPutin]

Xylitol is the best for bulk sweeteners. Xylitol chewing gum and mints keep teeth squeeky clean and prevent tooth decay.

Give your guts two weeks to get used to increasing amounts of xylitol.
My guts have never been able to adapt to very much maltitol or lactitol, but I can tolerate xylitol just fine.

It bothers me a little that sucralose is chlorinated sugar.

[Conservative Kay]

my husband was just diagnosed with sugar diebeties. When I contacted the hospital abiut their education class I mentioned something about it being so confusing with the "exchanges", etc. and the nurse said they don't do that as much anymore. They count carbs. When she said this I said if that's the case I'd just put him on the Akins diet. Her response was that I could do that but they recommended something he could stay on for life. (You can stay on Adkins) What surprised me is she didn't mention any negatives with the diet except she figured he'd give up.

[ecurbh]

Pinging my fellow low-carbers.

[jennyp]

extra loss was muscle

No it isn't. Several studies that compare low-carb with low-fat diets report that the low-carb dieters lose more weight from fat than low-fat dieters. Here are a couple (but IIRC there are more):

• A Randomized Trial Comparing a Very Low Carbohydrate Diet and a Calorie-Restricted Low Fat Diet on Body Weight and Cardiovascular Risk Factors in Healthy Women
  "The very low carbohydrate diet group lost more weight (8.5 ± 1.0 vs. 3.9 ± 1.0 kg; P < 0.001) and more body fat (4.8 ± 0.67 vs. 2.0 ± 0.75 kg; P < 0.01) than the low fat diet group."
• Effect of a Hypocaloric Diet, Increased Protein Intake and Resistance Training on Lean Mass Gains and Fat Mass Loss in Overweight Police Officers
  The average fat loss was 5.5, 15.4 and 9.3 pounds in the three groups respectively. Lean muscle mass gains did not occur in the group that was on a low-calorie diet alone. But the casein group had an average lean muscle mass gain of 8.8 pounds and the whey group an average increase of 4.4 pounds. Average increase in strength for chest, shoulder and legs was 59% for the casein group and 29% for the whey group, resulting in a significant difference as compared with the diet-only group.

[JenB]

Thanks! More research vindicating that which I know from experience is true.

I've felt so much better in the six+ months I've been on Atkins. Even if I hadn't lost a ton of weight I'd be happy.

[absalom01]

extra loss was muscle

I wondered the same thing, since the article addresses only total weight loss, not what was lost. Kinda meaningless without that little data point.

This cought my attention, too: the calorie allotment was "1,800 for men"! Man, that sounds like some kind of starvation diet, unless these folks were real couch potatoes.

[ecurbh]

Yup, same here. My shrinking waistline (about 4" so far) is a testament to the fact that Dr. Atkins was right. I've been slipping a bit the past few weeks though, and may need to go back on induction a bit after the move.

[Lil'freeper]

may need to go back on induction a bit after the move

I can sympathize. (I'm taking a break from moving right now). We've been hitting convenience food too heavily lately here- due to the move- and I feel awful. Can't wait to get back on track.

[Reverend Bob]

The first time I've ever seen the laws of thermodynamics applied to dieting!

I've been 10-15 lbs overweight for the last year or so. About 3 weeks ago I decided to experiment with a no-carb (or nearly so) diet. Dropped five pounds in the first five days. Since then I've eaten like a pig and, even with a little cheating (the occassional light beer), I've dropped eleven pounds.

Atkins works and is much easier to maintain as you never have to go hungry. "Professionals" who say it doesn't are simply charlatans.

[jennyp]

I can sympathize. (I'm taking a break from moving right now). We've been hitting convenience food too heavily lately here- due to the move- and I feel awful. Can't wait to get back on track.

Quick tip: When eating a hamburger, rip the bun off as you go along. You'll end up eating only 1/2 the bun.

Quick tip #2: Peanuts. :-)

[nutmeg]

read later bump

[NotQuiteCricket]

beef jerkey

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Hard for them to swallow, huh?

[Cincinatus' Wife]

The Atkins Diet will prevail!

Another viewpoint: Doctors' group urges Atkins diet ban*** "Research has clearly shown that high-protein, meat-heavy diets increase the risk of osteoporosis and kidney disorders and that low-fat vegetarian diets help prevent heart disease, diabetes, some cancers, and other health problems."***