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A Call for a Low-Carb Diet

nytimes.com

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Re: A Call for a Low-Carb Diet

#101

Post by justboxing »

This article (and the Tim Ferriss article in the Top comment here) both cite Atkin's High Protein, Low Carb diet. I am not sure I can believe that though. It is well known that most of the people in the west consume way more proteins that is required by their body, even those that don't exercise.

Excessive protein ingestion causes kidney failure, hypertension and heart attacks.

Some believe (and allege) that Dr Atkins himself died of his own Atkins Diet. Here are some quotes from news articles and mybuster sites from when he was alive / had just died.

"It is known Robert Atkins did indeed weather a heart attack during his lifetime. In April 2002, the diet guru issued a statement saying he was recovering from cardiac arrest related to a heart infection he had suffered from "for a few years." He said it was "in no way related to diet."

However, revelations in February 2004 from the city medical examiner's report let slip the information that Atkins had suffered a heart attack, congestive heart failure, and hypertension, before his death. "

Sources:

1) Dr. Robert Atkins, proponent of the low-carbohydrate diet, died of a heart attack. http://www.snopes.com/medical/doctor/atkins.asp

2) Atkins diet author home after cardiac arrest: http://edition.cnn.com/2002/HEALTH/diet.fitness/04/25/atkins...

One more note: What about Vegetarians and Lacto-vegetarians? Our diet typically tends to be little high in carbs mainly white rice. What kind of protein sources can we substitute lean meat like chicken, for? Tofu and lentils don't cut it, you have to consume vast amounts to get sufficient protein equivalent. Anyone with useful advice, experience, please share!

Re: A Call for a Low-Carb Diet

#102

Post by pacala »

buss wrote: post #9

For anyone who has access to the paper ( http://annals.org/article.aspx?articleid=1900694 ) and is skilled in reading medical research papers, I would love to know if they account for snacking. When I briefly tried a low-carb diet (just out of curiosity, not to lose weight as I'm already quite healthy) I found that I was unable to snack because almost all snack foods are loaded with carbs. I can only eat so much beef…

Snack suggestion: peeled carrots.

Re: A Call for a Low-Carb Diet

#103

Post by obvious_throw »

justboxing wrote: post #101

This article (and the Tim Ferriss article in the Top comment here) both cite Atkin's High Protein, Low Carb diet. I am not sure I can believe that though. It is well known that most of the people in the west consume way more proteins that is required by their body, even those that don't exercise. Excessive protein ingestion causes kidney failure, hypertension and heart attacks. Some believe (and allege) that Dr Atkin…

Excessive protein ingestion causes kidney failure, hypertension and heart attacks.

Too bad for you that there is absolutely nothing in the current medical literature that supports these ridiculous claims.

Re: A Call for a Low-Carb Diet

#104

Post by pbreit »

adventured wrote: post #69
balls187 wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Vegetarianism isn't necessary high-carb low-fat. Plenty of vegetarians stay away from pastas, grains, and other refined carbohydrates. Yes fruits and dairy are also sources of sugars, but linking vegetarianism to high-carb, is like linking low-carb to risk for heart disease. Vegetarians who do gain wait, are likely substituting high fat animal products for refined carbs like pasta, grains, starches, etc.

This is just my own personal observation, but all the vegetarians I know try to stay away from high carb diets, and specifically do not eat a lot of pasta or grains. Some do consume far too much fruit (often in the form of guzzling fruit juice), thinking that fructose is fine in any quantity so long as it's "natural sugar." I just always assumed a carb heavy vegetarian diet is entirely contradictory to the health ben…

My observation is the complete opposite. Vegetarians I know eat tons of starchy foods. And the pursuit of vegetarianism is mostly avoidance of meat, mainly red.

Re: A Call for a Low-Carb Diet

#105

Post by pbreit »

latch wrote: post #11

It'd be nice to have this squared with research in vegetarianism (high-carb, low-fat) which long term studies indicate has a number of health benefits [1] My own take, which I've mentioned before, is that the the starting point is so bad (refined carbohydrates) that you can pretty much walk in any direction and get positive results. That is, what people are eating doesn't matter nearly as much as what people aren't.…

The benefits of vegetarianism are probably a lot more modest than you think, if at all.

Your study shows 1) no difference for everything except ischemic heart disease, 2) that fish eaters fare best and 3) fails to account for the lousier other food likely eaten by meat eaters.

Re: A Call for a Low-Carb Diet

#106

Post by latch »

adventured wrote: post #69
balls187 wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Vegetarianism isn't necessary high-carb low-fat. Plenty of vegetarians stay away from pastas, grains, and other refined carbohydrates. Yes fruits and dairy are also sources of sugars, but linking vegetarianism to high-carb, is like linking low-carb to risk for heart disease. Vegetarians who do gain wait, are likely substituting high fat animal products for refined carbs like pasta, grains, starches, etc.

This is just my own personal observation, but all the vegetarians I know try to stay away from high carb diets, and specifically do not eat a lot of pasta or grains. Some do consume far too much fruit (often in the form of guzzling fruit juice), thinking that fructose is fine in any quantity so long as it's "natural sugar." I just always assumed a carb heavy vegetarian diet is entirely contradictory to the health ben…

Maybe this is a west vs east thing (I'm in the east), but all the vegetarians I know eat a high-carb diet: vegetables, legumes, fruits and grains. What do you see as contradictory to "health benefits" from a diet with those staples? And, genuinely, what are the vegetarians you know eating?

Re: A Call for a Low-Carb Diet

#107

Post by drcode »

justboxing wrote: post #101

This article (and the Tim Ferriss article in the Top comment here) both cite Atkin's High Protein, Low Carb diet. I am not sure I can believe that though. It is well known that most of the people in the west consume way more proteins that is required by their body, even those that don't exercise. Excessive protein ingestion causes kidney failure, hypertension and heart attacks. Some believe (and allege) that Dr Atkin…

> It is well known that most of the people in the west consume way more proteins that is required by their body

If prehistoric humans didn't get their calories from protein, how do you suggest they got them? Certainly not from sugars (found mainly in modern cultivated fruits) or starches (found mainly in modern cultivated grains).

I'm not saying your "too much protein" thesis is wrong (I don't have enough of an understanding of nutritional history and anthropology) but can you give some better supporting documentation?

Re: A Call for a Low-Carb Diet

#108

Post by hliyan »

drcode wrote: post #26

I know this is just anecdotal coincidence (and not really that interesting to most people other than myself) but today when I weighed myself I had my ideal body weight for the first time in my life. This is after following a low carb diet for six months and losing 50 pounds... so throw another vote in the "yes, low carb seems to be effective" bucket. The findings in this article are certainly music to my ears. (Here…

More anecdotal evidence:

  consist of eggs for breakfast, tuna salad for lunch, and some kind of protein for dinner — like red meat, chicken, fish, pork or tofu — along with vegetables
I've been eating this way for almost two years now. Though correlation may not be causation, I attribute the ease of weight maintenance and the lower levels of fatigue I experience since then to the diet.

Re: A Call for a Low-Carb Diet

#109

Post by cdurr »

chriskanan wrote: post #46
drcode wrote: post #26

I know this is just anecdotal coincidence (and not really that interesting to most people other than myself) but today when I weighed myself I had my ideal body weight for the first time in my life. This is after following a low carb diet for six months and losing 50 pounds... so throw another vote in the "yes, low carb seems to be effective" bucket. The findings in this article are certainly music to my ears. (Here…

Same here, except I'm not at my ideal weight yet. Since starting a low-carb and fairly lean meat diet, I've lost 20 lbs in three months (200 -> 180, and hoping to get back to my pre-grad school weight of 160). I feel awesome, and I intend to keep up with this in the long-term. The diet is basically to eat lean protein sources (scallops, salmon, round or loin steaks, chicken without skin, whey protein shakes (brand de…

Why are you going for lean meats? Most low carbers encourage consumption of fattier meats, to encourage production of ketones. Unless you're trying to limit your omega 6 intake, I don't see how it would be beneficial to eat lean meats on a low carb diet as a lower fat diet would limit your body fat mobilization and encourage muscle wasting through gluconeogenesis. But if it's going well for you, power on. I however, have lost body fat and maintained lean body mass by eating lots of fatty meats, pork rinds, cheeses, butter and avocado. I was never obese however, maybe a bit skinny fat with a bit of a beer belly. People need to change their thinking about saturated fats and fats in general (except trans-fats from seed oils, those are always bad).

Re: A Call for a Low-Carb Diet

#110

Post by SeanDav »

drcode wrote: post #26

I know this is just anecdotal coincidence (and not really that interesting to most people other than myself) but today when I weighed myself I had my ideal body weight for the first time in my life. This is after following a low carb diet for six months and losing 50 pounds... so throw another vote in the "yes, low carb seems to be effective" bucket. The findings in this article are certainly music to my ears. (Here…

This is very interesting to me! I had quite an argument / discussion about this only 2 days ago with my father. He calls it the "Slow Carb" diet and tried to get me to go on it. I had a look around and found that this is the invention of just 1 man with seemingly not much backing evidence out there. My argument was how can I follow the diet of 1 man, even if it is effective (anecdotally)? I think I used an argument that if I came out with a "water and beans diet" it would probably be effective but without supporting evidence how safe would it be long term?

I still stand by this, in the sense that I would love to see if there is more "proof" out there, even anecdotal is good if in sufficient quantity.

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