Posted on 08/07/2002 8:48:30 AM PDT by an amused spectator
Edited on 04/13/2004 1:39:46 AM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]
The Atkins low-carb, high-fat diet is supposed to be simple, but it's raising complex medical and nutrition questions. Now two new studies show that those who follow the diet can lose significant amounts of weight, but other research is raising concerns about the safety of the program, linking it to an increased risk of kidney stones and bone loss.
(Excerpt) Read more at usatoday.com ...
Then how is it that my grandmother managed to live to 90 (and is still going) despite making biscuits and gravy every morning for 70 years now? Not to mention all the pies and cakes and loaves of bread she made over the years. As well, she breads just about every meat she cooks (fried). And all her kids are alive and well and well into their 60s.
Obviously there are extremes. I would never add sugar to things like chicken broth as that person you were talking about does. Nor do I add salt to my food. I haven't had a salt shaker in my house since I was a kid.
And this article didn' t point out the downside of "grains." Many people can benefit from a wheat-free (gluten-free) diet, whether or not they are intolerant or allergic to it. Many auto-immune diseases (MS, lupus, arthritis, colitis) are correlated with gluten intolerance.
I have a form of arthritis that was probably triggered by celiac disease (gluten intolerance). How? The theory goes like this. In some people, certain proteins in gluten "leak" through the intestinal wall and into the bloodstream. These proteins are identified by the body's immune system as invading organisms thus triggering an abnormal immune response. The mechanism is thought to work similarly in MS, lupus and colitis.
As many as 1 in 250 people suffer from celiac disease, most of them undiagnosed. Moreover, many people seem to benefit from a gluten-free diet, noting increased energy and stamina.
If you ever feel especially tired after a meal of pasta or pizza, you might want to try a gluten free diet. It's not as difficult to follow as you might imagine.
As for the connection between autoimmunity and cereal grains, it is clear and compelling. The theoretical perspective of molecular mimicry suggests that gliadin-derived peptides, may activate the immune system against collagenous tissues, and since intestinal permeability (not celiac disease) is all that is required to allow the passage of these peptides into the bloodstream, a significant number of many types of autoimmune diseases seem likely to benefit from a gluten-free diet (11 ).Gluten is a Dubious Luxury of Non-Celiacs
by Ron Hoggan
Now if only there were Atkins beer...
Helps that I can have a generous handfyk of pistachios or roasted pecans any time I please!
The major advantage of lo-carb diets is satiety. If you're hungry, you can force yourself to go without, but it is hard to face a lifetime of being hungry. You don't have to on the Atkins.
And you don't have to take off both halves of the hamburger bun--just one. It is awkward to deal without bread sometimes, but I've discovered that Triscuits are relatively low in carbs compared to other crackers and bread.
It's not a cheap diet, either.
The Atkins diet does seem to attract some hysterical opposition...
Bitten by a moose, was she?
Bless you, sir.
Count them all you want. But don't expect them to tell you very much. The calorie theory is really not very realistic. When scientists take a dab of food and burn it in their calorimeter, they get the absolute fuel/heat content of that particular dab of food. The problem with this is that many times, this isn't what happens to that same dab of food in our bodies. Some of the calories will be sent as fatty acids to hair, skin, hormones, and eyes. Some others will go as amino acids to muscles, others will go to the gut to provide energy. Anything more than the body can use when it is hungry will be stored as fat, and some might even be excreted. So keeping close tabs on calories doesn't really make much difference.
There IS, however, metabolic evidence that points to the fact that anything over 72 grams of carbohydrate foods in the diet is simply stored. + - 72 grams is the amount that the body can use efficiently. Anything over that is sent to the liver as the raw material for glycogen. If all the storage areas in the liver and muscles are already occupied by glycogen, there is only one thing left to do with those surplus carbs: back to the liver for transformation into triglycerides, then to the fat cells. So, you could say that all those triglycerides in your blood didn't come from bacon and eggs you sneaked for breakfast yesterday, they came from that 1-pound cinnamon roll you washed down with 8 ounces of orange juice you had this morning. And they are all on their way to your fat cells.
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