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What if It's All Been a Big (Low) Fat Lie?
NYT ^ | July 7, 2002 | Gary Taubes

Posted on 07/28/2009 11:28:16 PM PDT by Bokababe

If the members of the American medical establishment were to have a collective find-yourself-standing-naked-in-Times-Square-type nightmare, this might be it. They spend 30 years ridiculing Robert Atkins, author of the phenomenally-best-selling ''Dr. Atkins' Diet Revolution'' and ''Dr. Atkins' New Diet Revolution,'' accusing the Manhattan doctor of quackery and fraud, only to discover that the unrepentant Atkins was right all along. Or maybe it's this: they find that their very own dietary recommendations -- eat less fat and more carbohydrates -- are the cause of the rampaging epidemic of obesity in America. Or, just possibly this: they find out both of the above are true.

(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Extended News; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: fat; foodfaddists; foodfascists; health; nannystate; obesity
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Long but fascinating article on how a politicized health message was all wrong from the beginning, and caused rising rates of obesity, heart disease and Type 2 Diabetes in America.
1 posted on 07/28/2009 11:28:16 PM PDT by Bokababe
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To: Bokababe
Reminds me of the Woody Allen flick. Sleeper. Soon we'll find out that we should avoid fat AND carps. Just eat air!
2 posted on 07/28/2009 11:35:31 PM PDT by April Lexington (Study the constitution so you know what they are taking away!)
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To: April Lexington

Didn’t the doctor in Sleepr tell Woody Allen that he should smoke; it would be relaxing and good for him?

I loved that movie.


3 posted on 07/28/2009 11:36:48 PM PDT by fatnotlazy
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To: Bokababe

Personally, I think we all need carbs and fat, in moderation. Diets which try to stamp these out are not healthy. You need a certain amount of carbs for digestive purposes and energy, among other things. Fat is good for you in keeping your hair and skin from becoming dry and brittle, among other things. If you don’t have either, you can become very unhealthy. Moderation and portino control are key.


4 posted on 07/28/2009 11:40:01 PM PDT by fatnotlazy
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To: Bokababe

Post for later reading


5 posted on 07/28/2009 11:40:14 PM PDT by SuziQ
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To: fatnotlazy
A urologist of mine told me that he sees more cases of kidney and gall stones from people on the Atkins diet than any other diet.
6 posted on 07/28/2009 11:43:46 PM PDT by guitarplayer1953 (Warning: Some words may be misspelled/ You will get over it / Klingon is my 1st language)
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To: fatnotlazy
""Moderation and portion control are key."

Yes, but in this case, the old food pyramid from the 1960's may have been more accurate for a healthy life than the ones that have replaced it!

7 posted on 07/28/2009 11:44:15 PM PDT by Bokababe (Save Christian Kosovo! http://www.savekosovo.org)
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To: Bokababe
Seems to me its the number of calories from all sources.

The only diet I ever used that worked...and it worked well...was the "lose weight deit".

Essentially you figure out how many calories you matabolize in a day. And then you eat about 500 calories less than that on two days out of three, while eating that amount on each third day to satisfy your body.

The diet is a bit of work, because you have to learn how many calories are in food, and then you need to be good at tracking your daily intake.Finally, on the two out of three days you will be somewhat hungry when you go to bed, and must resist the tempation to satisfy that beast.

According to a web site promoting the diet every 1000 calories of any type roughly translate into 1 pound. And as far as I can tell he was about right.

As to what kind of calories, it makes sense to me to get try to get an even balance of protein, fat, and carbs, so that's what I did. I can't be sure that doing it Atkins style would be better, and it seems inherantly risky to me to simply drop one of these types.

I used this diet to go from 280 to 240 in about 3 months. Since then I have started slowly gaining and am now around 250 a year and a half later.

8 posted on 07/28/2009 11:46:42 PM PDT by AndyTheBear
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To: Bokababe

IIRC from reading the book, the Atkins Diet was formulated to fight Type II Diabetes and Heart Disease, both of which I have, along with Sleep Apnea. I may have to give it a try.


9 posted on 07/28/2009 11:47:09 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet ("I won't invade the US. There'd be a rifle behind every blade of grass." Admiral IsorokoYamamoto)
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To: Bokababe
Here's was the political impetus for broadcasting the low fat dogma in the US:

"....It began in January 1977, when a Senate committee led by George McGovern published its ''Dietary Goals for the United States,'' advising that Americans significantly curb their fat intake to abate an epidemic of ''killer diseases'' supposedly sweeping the country. It peaked in late 1984, when the National Institutes of Health officially recommended that all Americans over the age of 2 eat less fat. By that time, fat had become ''this greasy killer'' in the memorable words of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, and the model American breakfast of eggs and bacon was well on its way to becoming a bowl of Special K with low-fat milk, a glass of orange juice and toast, hold the butter -- a dubious feast of refined carbohydrates...."

10 posted on 07/28/2009 11:48:28 PM PDT by Bokababe (Save Christian Kosovo! http://www.savekosovo.org)
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To: Bokababe
I don't think anyone ever said to eat more carbs..if anything, we've been told to eat more high fiber foods...which makes sense......

Rush said something last week or so.....ANY diet if stuck too will help you loose weight....

11 posted on 07/28/2009 11:51:18 PM PDT by cherry
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To: Bokababe

Atkins worked pretty well for me. Meat, fats and carbs from veggies (and berries) rather than grains. YuM!


12 posted on 07/28/2009 11:53:38 PM PDT by Tamar1973 (http://koreanforniancooking.blogspot.com/)
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To: AndyTheBear
Andy, I guess the thing is ...choose the most filling best nutrition calories....

iows......I need to feel full and I also like to actually chew on something....so for me, a bowl of Wheaties with skim milk does the trick....

also....chewing and chomping on apples, celery,radishes, etc that provide enough bulk to make you feel like your eating something, yet are low on calories....

I lost the most weight ever when I avoided all juices and eggs, soda,and ate tons of cereal, sometimes twice a day.....I avoided eggs because I like them so much one would never be enough...

13 posted on 07/28/2009 11:55:51 PM PDT by cherry
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To: cherry

The food pyramid promulgaed by the federal government most certainly did endorse eating more carbs. A LOT more carbs. And this pyramid was the basis for menu planning for public schools all over the country, and was taught to children in public schools. Fat bad, carbs good — stuff yourself with bread, grains, etc, but never drink whole milk. And then the avalanche of obesity and diabetes followed.


14 posted on 07/29/2009 12:05:34 AM PDT by GovernmentShrinker (Vote for a short Freepathon! Donate now if you possibly can!)
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To: Bokababe

When I wanted to lose weight I cut the fat out of my diet. I didn’t worry about carbs at all; I had all the noodles and breads I wanted. That was 55 pounds ago, and I’m now smack in the middle of my ideal weight. I can’t speak for the Atkins Diet, but I can say that the low-fat diet works.


15 posted on 07/29/2009 12:05:54 AM PDT by eclecticEel (The Most High rules in the kingdom of men ... and sets over it the basest of men.)
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To: fatnotlazy
You DO need carbs and certain fats, in moderation. About 60g of carbs every meal for the average not very active person.

Cutting too much carbs from your diet forces the liver to produce carbs from muscle proteins, (there is a much more detailed explanation of this process) which it always produces too much of, which is then stored as fat around your midsection.

This is why fat people who starve themselves only get fatter. it's especially a bad thing to do for type 2 diabetics who think just eliminating carbs will keep their blood sugar levels down. What happens is the liver gets busy producing the carbs you need while your sleeping, and you wake up with high sugar levels, but can't figure out why. So you continue reducing carbs to get your sugars down, when you really need to eat some so you don't trigger your liver to produce more when you sleep.

16 posted on 07/29/2009 12:10:31 AM PDT by Nathan Zachary
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

I think it will help you. You just need to get through the first couple weeks ...

You should also try to avoid Omega-6 fats and Gluten (wheat).


17 posted on 07/29/2009 12:15:18 AM PDT by MetaThought
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To: April Lexington
Soon we'll find out that we should avoid fat AND carps.

It's just as well. It's never been my favorite fish.

18 posted on 07/29/2009 12:17:08 AM PDT by Jeff Chandler (The President Who's Always Apologizing For America Couldn't Apologize For Himself)
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To: Tamar1973

Very few veggies have carbs. Complex carbs from grains are good for you, it’s the processed sugars and corn syrup sweeteners that aren’t.

Your carb intake should be approx 60g per meal, more if you are fairly active.

Too few carbs can cause serious problems as I explained above, especially if you are already type 2 diabetic. For a type 1 diabetic, it’s better to eat the recommended amount of carbs that match your lifestyle and use insulin than it is to starve yourself and allow your liver to produce them.
That is what leads to glaucoma and other problems.


19 posted on 07/29/2009 12:18:31 AM PDT by Nathan Zachary
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To: MetaThought
"You should also try to avoid Omega-6 fats and Gluten (wheat)."

Nonsense.

20 posted on 07/29/2009 12:21:06 AM PDT by Nathan Zachary
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