Q re: Atkins-types of Diets

Factual Questions
1

Atkins and related diets, pushing for a decrease in carbohydrates while increasing proteins, have been around for 30 years! Yet, I have not found books on such diets citing clinical research. Why?

Yet, results show how blood sugar may be controlled, for example. So, (A) why hasn’t this diet been studied in a controlled environment and (B) shouldn’t Atkins, or related doctors, have won some Noble-prize awards in medicine as a breakthrough in better understanding how our bodies use insulin?

Anyone have an answer about this? Did Atkins et al drop the ball? - Jinx

2

Note: this is from the cynic in me:

If low carb diets indeed do what they claim to do, the last thing the medical establishment would want is for people to start doing it. No more heart attacks/strokes/cancer means less $$$$$$.

Doctors make money off of illness. Get healthy and they go broke. Why would they want to study something when they know the results will be the exact opposite of what they tell the public?

I have done Atkins a couple of times. It works for me, I drop weight like crazy and I feel great.

I cannot stay on it for more than 10 days at a time. After that I go nuts and have a carbofest and after that it’s a downward spiral. Atkins will kill your hunger and after a while you really don’t want sugar, but there is no variety: cream and jello and hamburgers and eggs gets really old, quick.

3

I’m not a MD, nor even a nutritionist, but I do know that consuming gobs of animal fat in order to attempt to lose weight is likely to send your cholesterol numbers through the roof. The overwhelming trend of medical research in the last 20 years indicates that chowing down on pork rinds and bacon is going to increase the odds of heart disease, stroke, and cancer. The pounds you lose before dying don’t count, no matter how many toys you own. Did Atkins drop the ball? Ask your doctor. I’m just a Dr. of divinity, but I think he’s daft.

–Nott, D.D.

4

Y’know, just because the books don’t talk about any studies, doesn’t mean that there aren’t any studies. Suppose there are studies… What, then, does it tell you about the diets, if the books don’t mention those studies?

WV_Woman, studies are not done by “the establishment”, whatever that is. Studies are done by individual researchers. And wouldn’t you like to be the researcher who proved that The Perfect Diet Plan really worked?

Personally, I make it a point to never buy a diet plan from anyone who weighs over 250 pounds, but have it your own way.

5

Check out the Atkins site. There is now a large amount of research that agrees with Atkin’s views.

6

Dr. Atkins most certainly doesn’t weigh anywhere near 250 pounds, Chronos.

7

Well, this has been debated around here before. Some of us are of the opinion that there isn’t any good research because they’d find out that it’s just flat out wrong. And the American Cancer Society, the American Heart Association, the American Diabetes Association, and similar organizations all consider carbohydrates an important component of a healthy diet.

IMNSHO, Atkins et. al. work because they cut out a lot of random snacking (go to your local snack vending machine and tell me what you can get that isn’t high in carbs and fat, besides gum), a lot of fat (26 grams of fat and 540 calories in a large fries from McDonald’s), and force some people into eating their veggies.

Why should diet books have research? People don’t want research - they want to be told that they can eat their favorite foods and still lose weight. Having an M.D. behind your name or being a pretty actress gives your diet credibility, often undeserved.

8

WV_Woman, I am going to ask you to refrain from impeaching the the medical profession in this forum. If you wish to state your opinion, there is a forum for that. If you wish debate, there is a forum for that. If you wish to rant, there is a forum for that. This is not one of those forums. If you have any facts pertaining to the topic of this thread that might show the “medical establishment” to be mistaken then by all means share it. But leave your opinions about the motives of physicians out of it.

bibliophage
moderator GQ

9

(go to your local snack vending machine and tell me what you can get that isn’t high in carbs and fat, besides gum),

And sugar.

Which is why I think Atkins works. It completely eliminates sugar. Even the “low fat” stuff has tons of sugar in it. Ever read a Snackwell’s label?

10

Blah!!!

Forgive me.

Carbs=sugar.

I am not thinking tonight.

Time for bed, methinks!

11

Just a note that there was a recent NY Times article on low-carb eating programs. I think you need to have a login to read it.

12

Okay, I am only going off of what I know from my own experience, a step-mother that is an extreme health nut and looking at various diets in the past.

A virtual all protein and fat diet is not healthy for a lot of people. Many people who do go on this diet require vitamins, replacing those that you don’t get from the foods that are restricted. Carbs are needed but they must be from whole foods.

A woman on another message board posted today that she has had pancreatic damage from the Atkins diet. Another woman said her mother lost 32 lbs but gained back 48 when she went back to a more “normal” diet. Whatever that is.

Anyhow, I will run around every place I go and tell people the news that I know:

Eat a healthy well balanced diet. Lean meats, oils like olive oil, whole grain breads and whole grain rice.

Take out the white bread, processed food like frozen and most canned (except for veggies) foods, white rice, etc…

Protein and fats are great to help with your hormone balance. Whole grains and such give you good energy without storing it as heavy since your body can process them more completely. Veggies and fruits are good for needed nutrients to sustain all parts of a healthy being.

Overall, from the knowledge I have in my silly brain is very simple, eat healthy foods. Stay away from refined flours, rice, sugars. Limit potatoes and corn (both are high starch with = high sugar.) Limit your intake of processed foods.

It’s okay to indulge in those things once in a while but people wonder why the average US citizen is gaining weight by leaps and bounds, even with all these “miracle diets” it’s because people are simply not eating right. Balance. Moderation. Understanding. And a very important part is to start eating healthy and listening to what your body wants. I find I crave fresh veggies more than I do beef. We had a family gathering and I ate more of the fruits and veggies than the streak that my father cooked and it was damn good steak.

13

"Another woman said her mother lost 32 lbs but gained back 48 when she went back to a more “normal” diet."

And this is different from other diets how?

14

I suggest you read Atkins latest book. Then you can discuss his diet and “Act” like you know what you are talking about. The diet does not limit you to fats and protiens. The beginning stages of the diet restrict certain foods containing sugars and carbs, but mantainance stages have well balanced amounts of all foods included.
The American food industry would like you to believe that Atkins only wants you to eat protiens and fat. Just look at what they sell.
If you want to follow the food pyramid that is your choice. Chances are, that is what shape you will have.

15

I suggest you read Atkins latest book. Then you can discuss his diet and “Act” like you know what you are talking about. The diet does not limit you to fats and protiens. The beginning stages of the diet restrict certain foods containing sugars and carbs, but mantainance stages have well balanced amounts of all foods included.
The American food industry would like you to believe that Atkins only wants you to eat protiens and fat. Just look at what they sell.
If you want to follow the food pyramid that is your choice. Chances are, that is what shape you will have.

16

I suggest you read Atkins latest book. Then you can discuss his diet and “Act” like you know what you are talking about. The diet does not limit you to fats and protiens. The beginning stages of the diet restrict certain foods containing sugars and carbs, but mantainance stages have well balanced amounts of all foods included.
The American food industry would like you to believe that Atkins only wants you to eat protiens and fat. Just look at what they sell.
If you want to follow the food pyramid that is your choice. Chances are, that is what shape you will have.

17

I can’t be the only person who knows that when you eat when you are not hungry you are going to gain weight, no matter whether you are getting carbs, fat or protein. ( I know I’m not, Mom went on an eating plan that focused on that once). This is why I mentioned random snacking - when you walk past a vending machine and say “Tortilla chips sound good”, you are going to consume calories that you don’t need. The same goes if you eat a Snackwells when you aren’t hungry - you are still eating unneeded calories, and unneeded calories get stored.

I still don’t buy that it’s the elimination of carbs that makes the Atkin’s diet successful for some people. If you apply Atkins to the average American diet, you will eliminate a lot of calories and fat - which has been well proven to cause weight loss. You don’t need the “Carbs are evil” message to explain it; just to sell it.

18

Well, from personal experience, I tend to eat nothing BUT carbs- pasta, bread, potatoes, pure white sugar. If anything, I lack protein (I’m a vegetarian, and make up for most of it through tofu and nuts). And, let me tell you, I’m doing fine weight-wise. Aren’t most vegetarians and vegans, who eat the least amount of (or no) animal products- eggs, cheese, and everything else being touted by Atkins- quite thin people? And haven’t many Asian countries where rice is a staple been seen as quite healthy and thin (until recent years)?

19

The diet is crap. The only reason it works is because you eat less when you are on it. I don’t care how much fluff is printed in any book. The only reason this kind of garbage sells is because people would rather hear “You should eat MORE of this stuff in exchange for LESS of this stuff” than “You should eat LESS.” This way they don’t feel like they have to give anything up for nothing. My dad has gone on this diet before. He lost about 15 lbs. Why? Because he ate less. Period. Anyone who says otherwise has no common sense. And when he went off the diet, he gained it all back, which seems to be a trend with this stuff. If you wanna lose weight, eat less, exercise more. Screw Atkins.

20

To be entirely fair, the Atkins diet is not meant to be a temporary diet that you can use for a few weeks and discard. Rather, it’s supposed to be a lifelong commitment to managing your weight. And of course anyone who goes off will gain weight–after all, eating like they did before the diet is what got them the weight in the first place, right?

I don’t follow the Atkins plan, for two reasons: I think it unnecessarily limits fruits, vegetables, and dairy products; and there’s no data on the long-term effects of the diet, which makes me a little nervous.