What if It's All Been a Big Fat Lie? (Is fat good for you)

NYTimes ^ | July 7, 2002 | GARY TAUBES

[Outraged At FLA]

LOL!!!!!!!!!

[Outraged At FLA]

Thanks for all of your witty and intelligent responses so far! Time for my work out (part II), but I will check the thread when I get back!

[Huck]

Hehe. I know it's a little harsh. I'm not prejudiced against fat people. But I have seen people so fat they get a handicapped placard. What the hell is that about? I went to the Sizzler breakfast buffet once, and I swear is was like an Obesity Convention. I saw one guy filled up a full plate of bacon, a full plate of eggs, a full plate of taters. And sat down all by himself and went to work on it. And there were about 15 others as big as he was.

[Shadow Deamon]

Huck, The best thing you could do for your health would be to get the heck out of NJ!! I was born and raised in S.Jersey, left 28yrs ago and have never regretted leaving.

[Paradox]

It's also worth noting that not only is exercise important, but exercise in the morning is crucial. Exercising in the morning tends to raise your metabolism, which means you burn more calories throughout the day when your body is "idle."

Right, and not just that, but in the morning, your body tends to be in a fasting state (8 hours, no food), so the main energy supply will be fat..

I am going on an Atkins diet (2 weeks very low car, then switch to moderate, low glycemic level carbs). Everyone in my family (5 sisters, 1 brother) has hypercholesteremia, and lowfat diets have not worked for any of them, we might be Syndrome X types, I am going to give this a try and then have my cholesteral checked in a few months.

[knuthom]

Carbs are BAD for you

I am on a low carb diet and it is the ONLY thing that has worked for me. But I don't think carbs are bad for everyone. My husband and son can eat all they want with no problems. My other two sons and daughter seem to have my metabolism and gain weight with carbs.

[Alberta's Child]

Not only that, but I once read that a person burns fewer calories while watching television than while he is sleeping. Go figure.

[Alberta's Child]

Here in NYC, seems like everyone has a huge gut.

Living in urban areas has a detrimental effect on people's weight. I think a lot of it is due to the fact that people who spend more time commuting to work have less time to exercise.

[Alberta's Child]

Believe it or not, living in New Jersey has some real advantages compared to other places. As bad as the air may seem, I've found that less humid areas tend to have more particulates in the air, which makes it worse for people with a history of even minor respiratory ailments.

Also, the Northeastern U.S. is one of the few parts of the country where you get four seasons that are roughly the same length. For some reason I think that tends to be more "in tune" with the human body.

[Deguello]

Your example is par for the work performed. When I was in College, I worked in a food warehouse. I and my co-workers ate a meal at each of our three breaks, mine was two heavy ham sandwiches at each break. Our job was non-stop work filling grocery store orders (freezer foods) and loading the trucks.

For the last nine years, I have been required to really pour the sweat out in our shop along with the office stuff. On top of this is maintaining the 1.5 acres of the Church for which I belong and my own household and that of some elderly neighbors on occasion.

For these last nine years, my breakfast for the weekday has been six extra large eggs, one quart of milk and two packages of instant breakfast in a blender. I eat a barbecue sandwich or other at lunch and a full supper. Tonight will be my chicken fried steak and gravey.

My wife sent me (made me go)to the Doctor twice in the last year and all of my blood work came up in the perfect range (no, I do not keep up with the numbers, I am a male). Doc told me to keep up with what I am doing. I am 43, 5-11 and 175# with a 31 inch waist.

I understand that if I want to turn into a couch potatoe, that I'll have to change this routine.

Kids...don't try this at home.

[aardvark1]

There's a terrific book on the topic of nutrition fads in the US called "New Nuts Among the Berries." Funny and interesting.

I'm on Atkins "maintenance" now after losing 20 lbs without once feeling hungry. I have to admit I do crave french fries.

[Outraged At FLA]

Well, I try to exercise about one and a half hours a day give or take 15 minutes. Even if people commute, you don't mean to say they can't even do half of that a day? Even a walk after dinner for a half an hour is beneficial.

I think the biggest problem people have with the adkins diet is there doesn't seem to be any mention of exercise, I could be wrong as I have never looked into his diet as I never really need to diet, I just do so about once a year to burn off the weight I accumulate during my normaly sedintary winter lifestyle.

[TheBattman]

I am certain of this...

My father-in-law works on a farm, spending lots of hours walking and generally in some sort of heavy physical activity 11 months out of the year.

He eats steaks/meats (the more fat the better), fried foods, you name it - he eats it - and lots of it. He can out eat me and I am way overweight.

All this and the only time he gains weight is the one month in the winter that he is not doing much physical labor.

[BuckeyeForever]

My experience with the Atkins diet has also been very favorable. Cholesterol profile improved DRAMATICALLY with total cholesterol dropping to 162. More importantly, triglycerides are way down actually to almost abnormally low.
The medical profession as a whole is way behind the curve, and this article does an outstanding job of recalling the history of the Atkins phenomenon and the abuse the man has taken from the so-called experts.
Of all the low-carb diets available, I am not convinced the Atkins version is the very best, or the safest. There are several variations of the low carb diet, and it is hard to decide which among them really offers optimum health. But clearly, the lesson we should have learned from Atkins and his progeny is that excessive consumption of carbs, especially the refined time devoid of nutrients and fiber, is at the very core of many "American" degenerative health problems. In the end, we may learn that ketosis is fine for the CORRECTION of hormone imbalance (insulin/glucagon) and the return to optimum body weight and body fat, but maintenance diets, the diets we should have been on to begin with from early life, that are non-ketogenic are healthier for the long term. I suspect this may be proven some day, but maybe not. In any event, we all owe Dr. Atkins a tremendous thank you for his pioneering breakthrough in nutriontal knowledge, and his courage to face many critics and ridicule over the years. I know he's probably saved my own life.

[Alberta's Child]

That's a good point. In addition to the longer commute, an urban family generally has more "other stuff" going on simply because they can. The key for anyone is to sit down and write a list of no more than five things that are important to you. Focus on them (and make sure "exercise" is one of them), and disregard the rest.

My problem is this: Which of the five should I toss out the window in order to keep FreeRepublic on the list? LOL.

[BuckeyeForever]

Even Atkins concedes there is a small portion of the population that doesn't respond to his diet with weight loss. From what I've seen in the many books on the subject (and I've been reading them for two or three decades going back to "Atkins I"), there may be as much as 25 percent of the population that doesn't benefit from the low-carb diet.
One of the fascinating theories out there now (and one roundly criticized by mainstream medicine) is the notion that blood type may be correlated with optimum diet. You might want to read any of Peter d'Adamo's interesting books (Live Right 4 Your Type, and other similar titles) or visit his website to explore that. He maintains that Type O's (the largest blood type group) do best on low-carb diets, but Type A's (only about 20-25 percent of the population, curiously) do best on vegetarian diets, which obviously are high-carb. His explanation for that has to do with lectins, substances in certain foods to which the body reacts immunologically. It's very interesting stuff, but still somewhat speculative. The fact that the medical orthodoxy poo-poos it is probably a good indication he is on to something.

[Huck]

Well, the northern part of the state, known as the Skylands is a nice area. I was down on NJ for a while; Almost left. But now I am staying. Found a nice region where I can canoe, fish, hike, camp and live happily. I'm gonna buy a house here this year. The job market has got to be one of the best in the country, with so many people and being so close the NYC. Like you say, you get four seasons. It's within a day's drive from some nice tourist attractions, like Boston, or Virginia, or the Adirondacks. I am glad I have made my peace with NJ. One should take pride in where they live. Admittedly, we have some messed up politics, but I guess you can't have everything. I'll do what I can.

[Outraged At FLA]

Well, AC, perhaps they should find one of those 5 things they can do AND walk at the same time :P

I used to do that to Limbaugh all the time.

One thing I haven't seen in any of these diets that always helped me, is lowering your sodium. Although I am not all that certain that sodium causes high blood pressure or other health maladies, I will say this: sodium makes you retain more water, period!

I don't add any salt to any of my food and try to purchase foods lower in sodium, especially things like salad dressing and condiments. A salad is no good for you if the dressing is as unhealthy as three big macs. :)

I notice that when I first lower my sodium intake, I (ahem) lose quite a bit of water and drop a couple extra pounds more than the usual water loss common in the first couple days of dieting.

Next time you eat a ham dinner, try to drink as little water as possible, and you will see it is quite hard as that salt makes you thirsty, but you won't feel as heavy after that big dinner than you normally do when that ham makes you drink a gallon of water.

[Alberta's Child]

I grew up in that brand-name toilet known as Hudson County. I live out in a quiet corner of the world now, nestled in between the Watchung Reservation and the Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge. No complaints. But if I could live anywhere in this state, it would be either Long Valley or New Vernon.

[Huck]

I live out in a quiet corner of the world now, nestled in between the Watchung Reservation and the Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge.

I went to elementary school in Millington. You must be out that way. Green Village? Basking Ridge? I once rented a cottage home with some buddies in New Vernon, too. That is a heck of a nice area. Harding Twp. We had wild turkeys in our back yard (and Wild Turkey in the fridge too.) Real nice if you got the $$$. Same goes for Bernardsville, Far Hills, Gladstone, Mendham. Nice but expensive.