Struggling with weight loss? Ever since Dr. Atkins introduced his revolutionary diet, low-carb regimens have been all the rage. These diets promise that you can lose weight, while still enjoying many of the foods you love (T-Bone steak anyone?). But some have warned that the low-carb craze isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be. What should we be aware of when considering a farewell to pasta?
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Dr. Rengers is right on target when he shares that a change in eating habits is the only thing that will bring about a healthy, sustained, long-term weight loss success. But what he fails to realize is that the high-fat, low-carb diet is that lifestyle change that so many of us who deal with blood sugar and insulin issues choose to follow rather than the conventional low-fat, high-carb diets that are recommended by the so-called health "experts."
While it is true "low-carb" has never been defined, that doesn't mean we just throw our hands up in the air and act like there are no benefits to eating a diet that is much lower than the recommended 45-65% carbohydrates. For diabetics especially, reducing carbs to 20%, 10%, even 3% of total caloric intake is not just something they need to do to lose weight--it is VITAL to controlling the amount of insulin that is squirting from their pancreas in their body.
- Jimmy Moore August 15, 2008 4:22PM
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Yes, the dieting obsession in our country is horrendous and it's such a shame there are so many shysters who are only interested in making a buck off of the misery of the overweight and obese. But you can't lump low-carb into that category because it has been a godsend to many of us who have chosen to apply it in our lives with great long-term results!
I challenge anyone, including Dr. Bruce Rengers, to tell me that I'm worse off today than I would have been had I not lost 180 pounds on the Atkins diet four years ago. And to me, beyond the weight loss benefits which were nice has been the incredible improvements in my HDL "good" cholesterol which has gone WAY UP and my triglycerides which have plummeted below 100 and stayed there. I am healthier today at the age of 36 than I have ever been in my entire life.
- Jimmy Moore August 15, 2008 4:33PM
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I get to eat healthy real whole foods like beef, chicken, salmon, cheese, butter, and even delicious vegetables like spinach, greens, cauliflower, broccoli, almonds, macadamia nuts, and so many more you don't have room for me to list them all. Is this an "unhealthy" diet? If I described this to most doctors and other medical professionals, I don't think any of them would honestly say eating this way is bad for you.
I appreciate your concern for people, Dr. Rengers, but why not allow people to make a choice about what is healthy for them based on a variety of healthy choices. The individualization of diet is what is too often neglected by people in positions of power over health in the United States these days and it's time for that to change. How about recommending low-carb alongside low-fat diets as a means of showing your understanding of this basic health concept?
- Jimmy Moore August 15, 2008 4:37PM
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I don't know about everyone, but for I and many other low-carbers, this diet IS a change in lifestyle. I will never go back to how I used to eat. The carbs I do eat come from healthy sources such as veggies; I get well more than the recommended 5 servings a day. I currently eat about 100 net grams a day - about 25-30% of my daily calories. This give me more than enough energy for my daily activities including the gym, and including running on the treadmill twice a week (covering just under 3 miles most times).
So yes, this is a lifestyle change, not a temporary "diet."
- Newbirth August 18, 2008 4:19PM
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How can you so cavalierly dismiss low-carb diets making the assumption that they are not good for the long-term? I've been eating low-carb, defined as less than 50g carbs daily (many times lower than that!), for over four years now. If eating this way long-term is supposed to be harming me in some way, then when will I have the good fortune of seeing it happen? All I know is at the age of 36 I am more active and healthy than I have ever been in my entire life. And nobody can persuade me that my choice to begin livin' la vida low-carb was the wrong decision for me. It saved my life.
- Jimmy Moore August 15, 2008 4:42PM
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It’s about time there has been some real scienceinvolved in the study of low carb. I think the low carb diet is great. But I am real tired of reading idiots that have never studied the subject and post their opinion everywhere. Feinman teaches at a medical school but most important has done real research. Why haven’t we heard from him until now? Anyway, thank heavens a real medical researcher has finally shown up on the diet scene and is reporting his results. Hopefully we will hear more from him!
- bluefox
January 9, 2009 12:26AM
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1. It provides delicious and nutritious weight loss success.
2. Modern research has shown it is equally effective for weight loss and lipid improvements along with excellent blood sugar/insulin control in diabetics.
3. Eating grass-fed meats and salmon provide healthy omega-3 essential fatty acids as well as healthy saturated fats which are not harmful to your health when carbohydrates are reduced.
4. You get to eat non-starchy, green leafy veggies and low-sugar fruits.
5. There are important nutrients you can only get from consuming meat.
6. Eating high-fat foods along with moderate protein keeps you satiated with no hunger.
- Jimmy Moore August 15, 2008 4:48PM
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1. With a minimum 5-7 servings of the food pyramid's recommended vegetable intakes for the day, many surpass the intake of healthy, cruciferous vegetables and their nutrients.
2. My lipids levels are lower on Atkins. Blood pressure? Fantastic.
3. Atkins is only a moderate protein plan. Many low-carbers are vegetarians. I couldn't feed a family a healthy low-carb plan were there not healthy vegetables, fruits, fibers and meats!
4. Atkineers eat whole grains, fruits and vegetables.
5. Low-carb consumers are tremendously educated and eat whole, healthy, organic foods, buying grass-fed beef and researching carefully.
6.In the most stringent portion of Atkins (induction), people eat only 30% of their calories from protein--and that's maximum. We should look instead at banning corn as a crop with high fructose corn syrups and grains and which requires an even greater amount of resources and land.
- Jamie VanEaton August 17, 2008 8:26AM
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Oops! I meant to say that low-carb diets ARE healthy. I had to futz with the limits on 1,000 maximum characters for so long that by the time I was able to finally send, I dimpled the wrong chad.
- Jamie VanEaton August 17, 2008 8:57AM
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On libertarian principles, I just have to say that banning either corn as a crop or high fructose corn syrup is an absurd idea for many reasons (horrible for agribusiness, farmers, and the economy at large, among myriad others). The goal here should be education combined with freedom of choice. Some people will eat themselves to death regardless of their awareness of food/health issues. More importantly, many more will NOT.
- PSYOP August 17, 2008 6:29PM
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I was being facetious, there, Psyop.
- Jamie VanEaton August 29, 2008 5:33PM
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Dr. Rengers noted, "There is a large body of research that shows that blood lipid profiles (cholesterol, LDLs, HDLs) are adversely affected when people eat high saturated fat and high cholesterol diets when the diets are not accompanied with weight loss."
This is essentially true. But the question that needs to be asked is, what is preventing the weight loss? Most often it is excessive consumption of refined carbohydrates coupled with failure to consume nutrient rich carbohydrate foods and/or nutrient rich animal products. There's a small body of research (Google "nutritionscienceanalyst") that suggests that high saturated fat intake, in the context of a nutrient rich diet, is not a health hazard.
- David Brown August 19, 2008 5:53AM
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The argument that animal based sources of fat and protein automatically create challenges for the planet and personal health does not make sense in light of what grass farmers such as Joel Salatin (Google "Polyface, Inc.") and researchers such as Stephen D. Phinney and Jeff S. Volek (Google these names) have demonstrated. Proper management of grazing land and livestock produces animal foods of superior nutritional value and sequesters carbon in the soil to boot. On the other hand, the mono culture raising of crops such as wheat, soy, and corn for industrial food manufacturing, concentrated feeding operations, or directly for human consumption is both energy intensive and toxic for the environment - not good for the planet.
- David Brown August 19, 2008 5:39AM
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Many low Carb diets are not meat heavy but substitute vegetable protein and complex carbohydrates for processed low fiber carbohydrates. The South Beach diet is a prime example and is universally acknowledged to be healthy. The good for the planet argument is pure "tree hugger" propaganda.
- tbcass October 11, 2008 5:50AM
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As a physician who has followed a very low carb diet for six years and has also conducted a dietary trial (not published yet) I know that the diet is sustainable. I also know that it takes some specialized knowledge to stay on this kind of diet, especially around issues like electrolyte balance, magnesium and dietary fats. I am happy to report that I have an excellent lipid profile while continuing to eat lots of saturated fat and cholesterol. This is long after my weight stabilized after the first couple of months. I also have very low inflammatory markers and a HgA1c of 5.1 on zero medications after starting out floridly diabetic.
The question of environmental sustainability is a different issue. For one thing, protein consumption does not go up on a proper low-carb diet. One will increase dietary fat after weight loss plateaus, however. So the question is where to get the fat. Animals and seafoods were the traditional sources prior to the advent of industrial vegetable oils. Olive oil is perhaps a major exception. In either case, perhaps it boils down to a choice as a planet: feed a large population on an unhealthy, high-carb diet or feed a smaller population on a healthy, high-fat diet. However, these issues, important as they are for environmental sustainability, are not relevant to the discussion at hand about whether the diet is healthy for individuals. Clearly it is.
- Jay Wortman MD
October 31, 2008 12:07PM
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Are Low-Carb Diets Healthy?
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Eating for adequate and appropriate nutrition
Perhaps the question ought to read, "Can anyone thrive on a low-carb diet?" All too often the debate regarding macro nutrient proportions centers on the question of whether saturated fats clog arteries. Vegan low-fat proponents insist it does. For example, in a recent article entitled "Why Vegan is the New Atkins," the author asserts, "Basically, every reputable health agency knows that a mountain of evidence indicates that the saturated fat and cholesterol in animal flesh, eggs and milk clogs your arteries and increases your risk of heart disease, among an array of other problems." If this is true, then my family and I are at great risk for heart disease and the other health problems alluded to here. Fortunately, experimental research indicates that high fructose (Google "Peter Havel Fructose") intake coupled with failure to consume adequate amounts of micro nutrient rich foods is what generates the inflammatory response that damages arteries.
- David Brown
August 18, 2008 11:10PM
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What happen to moderation
There is so many questions and experiments about dieting. Although it is true that we in American and I am sure else where worry to much about fat-free, low-carb, no-carb, and so on, because technology and science has allowed to do so. We all know that we should eat more veggies, less bread and protein(from somewhere). Insteading of trying to the newest fad lets just go back how things were in the oldin' days. Eat meat, milk, white bread, ice cream, veggies, fruits, eat it all...but in moderation. Eat a good breakfast, a nice lunch and small dinner. Eat sitting down, not in the car, while walking or even while talking on the phone. If you enjoy what your eating, the constant need to find something else to munch on will fade. If we go back to taking our time, enjoying our dinning time, we will lose weight, eat "good for you" food.
Eating too many fruits is not good, eating only protein is not good, so on. Enjoy the food we have been blessed with, and life will be happy!
- Evie
August 19, 2008 9:48PM
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Moderation + Healthy Choices
I do agree with most of what you are saying. Yes, moderation is great. However, within that category, better choices can be made for optimum health. First of all, moderation can mean different things for many people. What one person may consider ‘moderate’ may be starvation or over-eating for someone else. As we get older and require fewer calories to maintain a healthy weight, we need to be realistic and give careful thought to our food choices. For example, I strongly disagree with you on the white bread. To the best of my understanding, there is little nutritional value there and a better choice would be a high quality wheat or other high fiber whole grain bread. If one loads up on calories with meat, milk, ice cream, potatoes and iceberg lettuce, in addition to probably over loading on calories, to the best of my understanding, this diet is missing in nutrients and vitamins. In order to maintain optimum health, portion control PLUS nutrient consideration should be taken into account. Enjoying nutritious foods is just as possible as eating food with less health-building value.
- mellis
September 12, 2008 2:56PM
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What happened to me on a low-carb diet?
Well...here I am, 5'10" and 230 pounds and I decide to drop some weight. I start eating a low-carb diet and exercising like a maniac. I won't deny the weight-loss success I had (10 pounds in the first month), but when I went in for a physical my blood pressure and lipid profiles were through the roof (160/100 and 258 total cholesterol).
I decided then to go the other way...vegetarian. By doing so, I started dropping weight even more rapidly, my blood pressure went down 50 points systolic and 25 points diastolic, my total cholesterol came down to a nice 120 (with 58 of that being HDL). And guess what...no vitamin or mineral deficiencies that so many anti-vegetarians claim!
So here I am now, happy at 170 pounds and still losing. I hope to get to 160 and maintain from there. Still working out like a maniac, still doing my thing. I'm so glad I abandoned the low-carb diet.
- bagpiper2005
October 1, 2008 6:40PM
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Also need to add...
...I drink a little bit of alcohol on a daily basis, which has been proven beneficial for cardiovascular health as well.
- bagpiper2005
October 1, 2008 6:42PM
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Why you lost more weight
You lost more weight because you lost lean mass by becoming a vegetarian. Blood pressure has nothing to do with a low carb diet. You blame the diet? That is silly. Perhaps it was because you started exercising like a maniac.
And did you that having a cholesterol level of 120 is VERY unhealthy?
- Fredrick Hahn
October 31, 2008 2:27PM
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Actually...
...my body fat % by skinfold measurements is only 12%.
I didn't lose any lean muscle mass according to the skinfold tests. I still do make sure and eat a lot of protein in the form of vegetable proteins (nuts, legumes, tofu). I'm actually quite buff thank you.
How can having a low cholesterol level be unhealthy when it's LDL that causes atherosclerosis to begin with? How can it be unhealthy when I have unusually high HDL concentration? My doctor has repeatedly told me that I'm one of her healthiest patients.
And yes, I blame the diet for my blood pressure. Obviously when I came off of it my blood pressure went down (50/25 points to be exact), and that's increasing the intensity and duration of my exercise (about two hours a day at an extremely cardio-intense workout). My resting pulse is between about 48 and 52 beats per minute, if that tells you how healthy my heart really is.
- bagpiper2005
October 31, 2008 3:01PM
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low-carb is healthy
The last five years of investigations have made it clear that the Western high-starch (read: high Glucose) diet is the main contributor to overweight with abdominal obesity and type 2 diabetes with the typical high blood glucose.
The high starch-diet affects weight homeostasis in these people by interfering with the essential control mechanisms, i.e. hunger/satiety.
A high carb intake is necessary to develop diabetes and beta-cell destruction.
A number of my patients are now free of diabetes and almost normal weight.
AI am sorry, but a diet that makes people healthy is per definition a healthy diet.
- jorgenvesti
October 10, 2008 9:26AM
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