Let’s assume that for people who are overweight and trying to lose weight, the key is to cut out carbs and eat more fat and protein. Does this work for people who are underweight as well? IOW, suppose someone is seriously underweight and trying hard to gain weight. It would seem to follow that this person should concentrate on eating carbs and stay away from fat. Is this true? Or is it something about excess weight only that Atkins’ principles apply to?
I’ve seen a diet for the underweight that focuses on low-fat, low-fiber foods to keep hunger high. So I think you’re on the right track.
Thanks. Only thing is that the person that I have in mind does not have an issue with hunger - they have a serious gastro-intestinal problem that severely limits the amount of food they can eat before the pain becomes too excruciating. Meanwhile they are wasting away. So the question is: if they are going to eat X amount of food, would they gain more weight by having that food consist of mostly carbs and opposed to protein and fat?
I’m not a doctor, and I’m not that person’s doctor, so I really don’t feel comfortable giving advice of that sort. The person might want to discuss this option with his/her doctor, as well as the possibility of eating small meals throughout the day rather than three big ones, but I won’t recommend anything.
Get a better standard of advice than the SDMB can offer. Increasing carbohydrate consumption will/may cause other problems with insulin production and energy levels. Wolfing down lots of carbs can leave you feeling flat as a tack most of the day.
In Australia I’d go see the local area health team and see a nurse consultant or doctor who specialises in palliative care - they have lots of experience with wasting caused by disease states.
On review I’m with ultrafilter see the doc and do some research.
I am not asking for medical advice or for any other suggestions for that person to deal with their condition. That person has doctors etc. Only - again - for an answer to whether an underweight person will gain more weight eating an identical amount of carbs as compared to fat & protein. A simple factual question, really.
Then why’d you bring up the other person?
Anyway, even if a diet high in carbohydrates doesn’t lead to more weight gain than one high in fat, the diet I mentioned will promote hunger, which leads to a greater caloric intake. That makes weight gain easier, above and beyond any differences in absorption among the macronutrients.
In general, it all comes down to calories in and calories. If you want to lose weight, consume less calories than you expend. If you want to gain weight, consume more calories than you expend. Where the calories come from doesn’t make a difference. You can lose weight eating cookies all day as long the total caloric intake is less than you expend from daily activity.
Mind you, this is strictly for weight. It doesn’t take into consideration other health issues nor body composition.
Because in your first response - as well as in your most recent recent one - you addressed the issue by pointing out that carbs will stimulate hunger. I was pointing out why I need an answer to the question that ignores that factor. Despite this, it is a specific factual question, as described above, and not a general request for guidance for this specific person.
Well, that is just plain false, and ignores the different ways that the body digests and metabolizes carbohydrates, fats, and proteins. To give a simple example, x grams of broccoli may have the same number of calories as y grams of flour, but because much of the carbohydrate in the broccoli exists as fiber, which is indigestible in humans, the effective number of calories is significantly different.
Another reason why all calories are not equal: The body burns both carbohydrates and fat as fuel, but the body assigns priority. Carbohydrate is the first fuel to be metabolized. If carbohydrates are not present in sufficient quantity, then fat is metabolized.
Now, I’m not a doctor either, but as I understand it, the Atkins diet works because the lack of carbs throws the body into a kind of panic mode where it draws on it’s reserves and causes weight loss. So, it seems to me that eating an excess amount of carbs won’t have the dramatic effect you think.
Once your food intake is balanced, it really doesn’t matter what kind of extra calories you add–you’ll gain weight if you ingest too many calories.
My advice is to balance your meals and then pig out on whatever food is your favorite.
There was a documentary on BBC2 last night about recent research into how Atkins’ works and the results of a number of controlled experiments they detailed (although the findings were preliminary and wider studies are required) seem to indicate that it isn’t the metabolic cost of digesting fat/protein, nor the ketosis, but rather the simple fact that people on Atkins end up consuming less calories because a high protein suppresses the appetite (and we apparently misjudge the calorie density of carbohydrates when casually comparing to fats/proteins).
As I said, the research (at least the stuff they presented) was fairly well controlled (although they didn’t seem to be using double-blind testing), and it was quite small in scale, but the food diaries of the (quite large) Atkins group seemed to show that they were consuming about the same amount of calories as a person on a rigorous low fat/high fibre diet.
That’s why I said “in general.” Most people consume an insignificant amount of fiber a day compared to their overall daily consumption, so the provided example isn’t very relevant to the big picture.
Bacteria in the intestines can and does break down fiber (to varying degrees) to a form consumable by humans.
I’m not too sure what the point is of the last paragraph.
So, in general, it comes down to calories in/out.
When I did Atkins, I found that even though I placed no real restrictions on how much meat I consumed, my calorie intake seemed to float between 1500 and 2000 calories.
This coming from being the kind of guy who normally opts for over 3500 calories in a normal day, and gorges to near the point of sickness if the food is good.
When I restricted the carbs, I wound up eating MUCH more reasonably. But take the same meal, and add some carbs, and for some reason I just go out of control and eat twice as much of everything.