Atkins Attack (High Carb fantasy destroyed)

Fox News ^ | January 30, 2004 | Steven Milloy

[The_Victor]

Here is a little more from the studies authors. The point of the study was that the "high carb" and control groups were allowed to eat as much as they wanted. The resulting difference in caloric intake was simply the result of the control of fat intake for the "high carb" group.

In a 12-week experiment funded by the National Institute on Aging, the UAMS researchers found that a low-fat, high-carbohydrate diet, with or without aerobic exercise, clearly supported weight loss in overweight men and women ages 56 to 78 years. Volunteers eating all they wanted of foods with no more than 20 percent dietary fat lost significant weight and body fat. Volunteers who also exercised regularly lost even more weight. The average weight loss in the study was almost 11 pounds.

[b9]

I have lost 21 lbs in the last 4 1/2 months. I have some more to lose but I am in no hurry. I will eat this way for the rest of my life.

Fantastic!
I feel exactly the same way.

Isn't it wonderful to trust yourself?
I think the self-styled plans are the best way to learn, and the easiest to stick with.

[Farnham]

If I may butt in on your conversation:

Whenever I used to go on Atkins, I got kidney stones (ouch !). A friend got gout when he tried it. The only times either of us had that afliction.

My last trip to the emergency room, the radiologist bet me it was a uric acid stone.(Uric acid is apparently the culprit in gout, also.) He told me to take some baking soda in water, according to instructions on the box, and it would dissolve my stone. Also, if I would continue a few times a week while dieting, I could greatly reduce my risk of stones.

So far, so good (about 2 years) and it worked for my buddy's gout, too. Not a scientific study, but it works for us.

[A Navy Vet]

As I said in another thread regarding a high-carb weight loss plan:

This research is operating on outdated metabolism theory. Today, nutrionists look at how your body reacts to carbs, not wheather they are simple or complex, although there is a correlation as seen below.

The glycemic index (GI) assigns all carbs a number representing how quickly your body turns them to glucose, your body's preferred fuel. High-glycemic carbs are quickly digested and turned to glucose faster than low. Protein and fats are even slower.

When you eat high-glycemic foods like white bread and pastas, the quick rush of insulin prompts your body to use straight glucose for energy, rather than a mixture of glucose and fat. So none of your fat reserves are burned off, and any fat you've eaten along with the high-glycemic carbs is not needed and therefore stored.

Also, since your body digests high carbs quickly, they empty out of your stomached faster. That's why your hungry much sooner when eating Italian pasta and Chinese noodles, which in turn makes you eat more.

Bottom line, eat all the low-glycemic carbs such as most veggies, fruits, and nuts you want, but stay away from the high-glycemic processed stuff that negates fat usage, and will actually help to store the fat you take in with those carbs. This is why the Atkins diet works.

One other point: some of the most fat producing products is those that contain high fructose corn syrup for a sweetener rather than sugar, being as its cheaper than cane sugar. Although fructose is about mid-range in glycemic index, they put so much of it into everything from sodas to canned soups to spagetti sauce (double whammy) that you get a huge amount of uneccesary mid-glycemic carbs. And especially stay away from anything with malodextrin (maltose). It has the highest GI of anything I'm looking at right now - unless you're a body-bulider who needs to replace the glucose you just burned off and not start cannibalizing your muscles along with the fat

[jcsmonogram]

Whenever I used to go on Atkins, I got kidney stones (ouch !). A friend got gout when he tried it. The only times either of us had that afliction.

My last trip to the emergency room, the radiologist bet me it was a uric acid stone.(Uric acid is apparently the culprit in gout, also.)

Most of the people who get gout on Atkins are eating too many foods with nitrites, like processed lunchmeats. Atkins says to stay away from these, and buy meats without nitrites. Maybe it would be the same for the kidney stones.

Jeff

[A Navy Vet]

"I am not anti-Atkins, but people should know there are "high carb" diets of processed junk food which will put the pounds on and there are "high carb" diets of nutrition-rich foods which are healthy. They shouldn’t be lumped together."

Yes, the difference is their glycemic index which indicates how quickly a carb is digested and releases insulin into the bloodstream. Most veggies, fruits, and nuts are low-glycemic. Most processed carbs such as, pasta, breads, cereals are high-glycemic. Low is what you want to eat with your protein and fats, and in a smaller amount than the food pyramid suggests. It's really basically what we've been told as kids to eat a balanced meal.

[hunter112]

Your explanation, or something like it, finally sunk into me a few days ago. During hunter-gatherer days, only a relatively small amount of grains would have been eaten, and only during that summer period you talk about. When humankind moved to agriculture, we were able to cultivate grains, and store enough of them to provide a year-round supply of calories, in addition to the dried meats and nuts. Obesity was probably not considered a problem in a world where pests ate a lot of the agricultural production, but clearly, very few people in a modern day Western society have any trouble finding enough starch-based calories to at least maintain body weight.

I did some reading on the Internet from sites that do not have a particular axe to grind one way or the other, and some of this is starting to make sense. My previous resistance (some of you out there may remember me referring to "Fadkins") is conditioned by the fact that a slew of diet plans do not seem to work for the vast majority of people, and I have cynically come to believe that the diet industry likes to have 95% of its customers "fail", so they can try a different flavor of "what really works". Certainly, seeing the food manufacturers jump as quickly on to the low-carbohydrate bandwagon with the same fervor they did when the trend was low-fat, feeds into that cynicism. Also, I view the way Atkins is being bandied about as trendy, and I naturally resist trendy, it reminds me of the way liberals behave!

I've come across references to the South Beach diet as being similar to Adkins, can somebody enlighten me as to the differences between the two? I'll try to view both with a bit more open mind, and will attempt to avoid being swayed by the connection of the Bent One with South Beach!

[dangus]

Sorry... I have found that high-starch foods fill me up with a lot fewer calories than high-fat foods do. If something satisfies your hunger without a lot of calories, I think that's a worthwhile issue to report. If news reports pitted it as a refutation of Atkins, that's the reports' problem, not carbohydrates'.

[dangus]

I think a large danger is that people are thinking that Atkns means they can eat the worst junk foods, just so long as they don't eat the Potato with their TGIF pork goo, or skip the buns that used to come with their mayonnaiseburgers (AKA, "Whoppers.")

The Atkins diet works great, but it is a very tough, very strict diet. A few less carbs doesn't work. It requires NO carbs; it requires the body be starved of carbs, or it doesn't work.

[jimkress]

As it turns out, study subjects in the high-carbohydrate groups consumed about 400-600 calories less per day than those in the control group. Over the 12-week period of the study, then, the average study subject in the high-carbohydrate group consumed about 42,000 calories less than the average study subject in the control group.

You may choose to ignore the disengenousousness of the 'researchers' 'approximate' answer. However, anyone with an interest in the truth will recognize that he was lying to protect his own, preordained hypothesis.

I choose to believe those (especially scientists) who are precise and relate the truth. If you prefer to accept the weasel worded, prevarications of agenda bound 'scientists', that's unfortunate.

[Dianna]

I think a large danger is that people are thinking that Atkns means they can eat the worst junk foods,

It requires NO carbs; it requires the body be starved of carbs, or it doesn't work.

Like you, I wish people would just read Atkins' book and get the whole story.

IT IS NOT A NO CARB DIET. During induction, lasting roughly two weeks, one would limit himself to 20 carbs per day. After that, the person will add carbs, 5 per week, until he finds the point at which he stops losing weight, etc, etc, etc, etc.

[RedWhiteBlue]

I am on South Beach and I have the book. What do you want to know?

[Future Useless Eater]

great article, thanks

[dangus]

You're right; I oversimplified.

[The_Victor]

You may choose to ignore the disengenousousness of the 'researchers' 'approximate' answer. However, anyone with an interest in the truth will recognize that he was lying to protect his own, preordained hypothesis.

I was only saying that it doesn't invalidate the science. If the author wants to attack the researchers for a false claim, then he needs to take on the science. The fact of the matter is, if you read the actual research report, the details are not hidden. Hence there is not "disengenuouseness" on the part of the researcher, even if he does have a hidden agenda with his statements to the media.

[JoeGar]

I am on South Beach and I have the book. What do you want to know?

Does the South Beach Diet work? Is it something you can live with long-term?

[BSunday]

Gee, I can't detect any bias at all in the article.

[BSunday]

Whenever I used to go on Atkins, I got kidney stones (ouch !).

"Doctor, it hurts when I do this.."

"Don't do that, then."

[He Rides A White Horse]

Sometimes I think the High Carb pyramid was designed by Ingrid Newkirk.

[RedWhiteBlue]

Yes, it does work. It some ways, it is easier to follow than Atkins, and in some ways it is more restrictive. My opinion is that the easy side outweighs (no pun intended) the restrictive side.

My impression of the differences between SB and Atkins may not be correct, because while I have read the SB book, I have not read the Atkins book. So what I think I know, through friends that are on the Atkins diet, might be a little off. I stand to be corrected from anyone who reads this that has read the Atkins book.

SB is easier because there is no carb counting. Not during the first two weeks, not ever. When it comes to carbs, there are only "good" carbs and "bad" carbs.

During the first two weeks, eat all of the good carbs you want. Unlimited grams. Examples of good carbs are artichokes, asparagus, beans (black, butter, chickpeas, green, italian, kidney, lentils, lima, soy, split peas, ans wax), broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, celery, collard greens, cucumbers, eggplant, lettuce, mushrooms, snow peas, spinach, sprouts, turnips, water chestnuts, zucchini. Tomatoes are even allowed, but no more than 1 whole or 10 cherry tomatoes per meal. During this phase, Atkins limits carbs during this phase to 20 grams per day. And, while both diets during this phase attempt to break carb aditiction, Atkins also tries to induce ketsois, but SB does not recommend ketosis at all. You can realistically expect to loose anywhere from 8 to 14 lbs during this phase of SB, which isn't too far from where you would be at this point on Atkins.

With fats and meats during the first two weeks, I don't think there are any restrictions for Atkins. South Beach, however, does stress the kinds of fats one consumes, and stresses cannola and olive oils. Just like there are good carbs and bad carbs, there are also good fats and bad fats. For meats, they recommend only the lean cuts, such as sirloin, tenderloin, and top round, skinless poultry, turkey bacon, and pork tenderloin.

During the second phase, some fruits and berries are added back into the diet (much like Atkins, I think), and some starches can be used sparingly, like whole wheat breads, high fiber cereals, whole grain pasta, sweet potatoes, and brown rice, pinto beans, and black-eyed peas. Bittersweet and semi-sweet chocolate can be used sparingly, and a glass or two of red wine is acceptable.

Because of no ketosis and no carb counting, my impression is that South Beach is slower but it does work.