Since I don’t know who to believe on the web, (one dietician says one thing, another says another), I’d pose this to the world’s smartest millions. I’m surprised Cecil hasn’t tackled it yet.
Anyway, I’m wondering what the straight dope on this high-protein/low-carb diet is. Both sides present convincing evidence, especially the high-protein ones.
I’m not limiting it to just Atkins’ plan, either. Actually, what brings it up is the Protein Power book by Dr. Eades, MD. He goes on about how carbos are converted to glucose which stimulates insulin which ends up becoming fat. Thus, if you eat less carbos and more protein, your body goes into ketosis, where it doesn’t look for glucose for energy but rather fat.
Then, I hear dieticians saying that’s hogwash. Any weight you lose is water weight and will be regained shortly. Also they claim that, yes, your body eats away the fat…right before it digs into lean muscle mass!
http://www.heartinfo.org/nutrition/hprotein101097.htm
This link argues that the protein rich foods recommended in these diets are also fat rich, which is proven to lead to clogged arteries and high blood pressure and heart problems. Dr. Eades, in his book, however, claims that Eskimos, living almost entirely on protein, have one of the lowest incidences of heart disease in the world.
http://www.lowcarb.net/
Then there are sites like this which, obviously given the name, is a proponent of the diet.
So, I have no idea who to believe. My instinct tells me that the protein diet is no good, junk science. But they do have a lot of anectdotal evidence…
Are there any cold, hard, undeniable scientific facts condoning or condemning Protein Power or its brethren?
Ketosis is not good, despite what the high protein diet advocates say. It comes down to calories in vs. calories out. No matter what form the calories come in as, they will amount to excess fat if you don’t expend them all.
As an avid runner and one who plays tennis, does weights, swims, and, in general, does plenty of exercise, obviously a protein diet is contraindicated for me. I need as much carbos as I can get. For the average person, refer to paragraph one above. I had a pamphlet on ketoacidosis and other metabolic disturbances, but I lent it to a pharmocologist a few years ago and he has not seen fit to return it. (Which reminds me. I think I’ll ask him to return it.) Despite what Atkins and others may say, this is not something one should seek out. In fact, diabetics avoid ketoacidosis, which results in potentially fatal consequences. Stick to the FDA pyramid and you won’t go wrong. Want to lose weight? Watch your calories and exercise.
Not every diet is right for every person. I can tell you from personal experience that the weight I lost on a low carb diet was not mostly water and I kept that weight off even when I went on to the maintenance plan. People make a big deal about the fact that the diet allows bacon and eggs and lots of red meat. But you don’t have to eat all that stuff. I ate mostly lean chicken, turkey, and fish. I treated myself to bacon and eggs only occasionally. I did have to cut back on fruit for awhile because it made my sugary starch cravings insane, but I ate tons of vegetables and had energy all the time.
I think the main selling point of the low carb diet for me was the elimination of processed flour. That stuff is deadly!
I think this question may end up in Great Debates – there’s a lot of strong opinion out there.
Are there any cold, hard, undeniable scientific facts condoning or condemning Protein Power or its brethren? It depends on which book you believe and whose references you trust the most. In other words, no.
As Sapphire Bullet says, not every diet is right for every person.
I’ve tried a lot of eating plans, and low-carb, especially grain-free, works best for me. But that doesn’t work for others I know.
Check with your doctor. If you’re healthy right now, you can probably try it yourself and see how you feel. The way you feel is the best determinant for whether any eating plan is right for you.
I doubt there is any scientific evidence that will completely debunk one or the other. I can only offer my own experience and agree with Sapphire B. – there is no magic answer for everyone – it depends on the person. I believe it also depends on your age, and, of course, physical activity. 15 years ago, after gaining 20 lbs after giving up smoking, I went on a hi-protein, low-carb diet. Not because I’d read anything on the subject; it was simply my experience that I ballooned up after eating hi-carb foods, especially breads and pastas. I didn’t exercise either, but for about a year I ate mostly chicken and veggies (I did not go hungry) and would splurge on the weekends with Chinese food, and occasionally ate out and had a juicy steak. I lost the weight and kept it off. BUT…about 5 years ago, I took up smoking again. I quit last March, and I’ve put on 10 lbs. But the hi-protein, low-carb diet doesn’t seem to be working for me this time. In November, for about 2 weeks, I ate only veggies (usually a small potato and a green veggie), ate a few healthy snacks (fruit mostly) throughout the day, and did my stationary bike fo half an hour and lost a few pounds…but then the holiday pig-out season was upon us and I’ve gained them back. Now I’m thinking that the small-portions-5-or-6-times -a-day diet may be the way to go (AND some exercise every day!)
As much as I hate to admit it the Atikins diet works where others failed me.
I am in good shape but NEVER could get my stomach totally flat. I always had a four pack not a six pack.
I started out with Atkins and moved up to about 50 carbs a day and I not only lost weight but ONLY from my stomach. My other areas chest and legs biceps etc remained the same.
But I don’t feel nearly as good on the protein diet as eating low fat high carbs. If you exercise it is MUCH harder to be on Atkins diet.
And also USE the vitamin supplements the diets recommend they make the difference.
But in all the weight came off and when I hit my goal of 32 waist for dress pants I will ease off of it.
Well, I guess I’m the guinea pig you’ve been looking for.
I started Protein Power about a week ago. I feel pretty energetic most of the time. I am definitely overeating, but I expect that will ease off as I get used to the diet. Protein Power worked for my mom, and she has kept the weight off for years now.
I’ve only been on the Atkins Diet for about three weeks but I am very happy with it so far. Here are some things I have noted about my results in comparison with the usual Low Cal thing I do when I get a bit heavy:
Pros
12 pounds lost while my calories haven’t been all that restricted. On the usual Low Calorie diet I don’t lose anything unless I consume less than 1200 cals/per day…on Atkins I consume about 1700/per day and still lose.
Usually when I low cal I lose what little I have of a chest first…which sucks! So far on Atkins I haven’t lost an inch there. I have however lost: waist-2 inches ,hips-1.5 inches, thighs- an inch each.
I have a whole lot more energy than with the low cal way or even my regular diet.
I rarely feel hungry which was a big problem with low cal.
No PMS this month.
Cons
It gets pretty difficult to eat out. You always have to substitute things.
I had some constipation for the first little while. Psyllium husks helped me there.
You have to cook. There aren’t a whole lot of low carb microwave dinners out there.
You sometimes get a funky taste in your mouth.
I know there is lots of controversy about the low-carb diets but all I know is that I feel really good doing it so far. I also know that while this is not considered a “balanced” diet it’s way better than what I was eating before eg. pizza, poutine, fast food etc. Now I eat lots of veggies, lean meats, fish, and nuts.
I’ve not tried any of these diets. From my understanding of phtysiology, Dr. Eades is not wrong. But insulin is hardly controlled by this one factor. Cortisol (released when the body is stressed) and growth hormone have anti-insulin effects. Insulin is also released by protein, which is also incorporated into the glucose pathways. I think this factor may have been overemphasized, and that by eating fewer carbs you eat fewer calories.
Fat is not 99% water. In fact, oil and water do not mix. Losing fat is not the same as losing water, which tends to be distributed between blood, cells and interstitial fluid between the cells.
Heart health probably has more to do with genetics and anatomy as diet. The fact Eskimos have low heart attacks rate, if they do, probably reflects this. Indians have high rates of heart problems despite a low fat diet, perhaps since the actual vessels tend to be smaller. The French enjoy good heart function despite a poor diet.
The Atkins diet certainly helps some peope lose weight. I doubt that prolonged ketosis is healthy. One of the effects of insulin is to drive potassium into cells which can be exchanged for free hydrogen ions and reduce acidosis., which probably develops after prolonged ketosis, even if it is initially compensated for by biochemical buffers.
I lost 30 pounds on Atkins (still in maintenance, and plan to be so forever).
The diet is made out to be a heart attack on a plate, and I suppose some people might eat that way, but for me, it’s resulted in a much healthier lifestyle.
F’rinstance:
I don’t find I eat exceptionally more high-fat, high-protein foods than I used to. A slight increase, mainly from nuts, which are a great source of essential fatty acids. Rather, I just eat fewer starches and almost no sugar. But the upshot of most meals is that I order the same thing as everyone else at the table, but leave the starches alone. So I don’t, for example, order an extra steak or anything.
If I do substitute, it’s like this: I eat a lot more veggies than I used to–first time I ever hit the USDA’s “five servings a day”. One, b/c I really seem to crave them now, and two, b/c you start looking for more things to put on your plate when the bread and mashed potatoes are off-limits.
I eat more frequently during the day, which makes me feel better than I ever did before in terms of hunger and energy levels. Less binge-style eating (i.e., two meals a day). One thing I picked up from this diet that I think is valuable: if you’re hungry, eat something. You just have to make sure it’s the right thing.
The easiest way to look at the diet is like this: cut out sugars and empty starches. Only eat carbs if they come packaged w/ other valuable bits, like a lot of fiber and vitamins and minerals. Otherwise, avoid them.
Just to clarify, most of the low-carb programs do not cut out all carbohydrates - they generally cut out sugar and refined flour and starchy veggies.
Now that I am on maintenance, I am now eating a lot more grains than I was when I was trying to lose - I eat whole grain bread almost every day, a lot of veggies, and some fruit. And no, I’m not gaining the weight back.
And of course, if you (generic you) go back the the way you used to eat before losing weight, you’re going to gain the weight back. That’s why you got fat in the first place.
I had a friend go on her version of Atkins (that is, what she wanted to eat, as long as it was from an animal. She told me she was eating nearly a dozen eggs per week, always accompanied by bacon or some other cured meat and ate little, if any, carbs of any kind). She dropped dead of a heart attack last month. She weighed over 400 lbs at her death and had not been followed by a physician.
I asked a couple people who I knew were on the diet, and each one said that you have to follow the actual diet, as it’s laid out. You also have to watch your fat intake. Most of them seem to be doing OK on it, but I’d want to be at least followed by a doctor while I was on it. (My own doctor recommended Weight Watchers over Atkins, however.)
I’ve got more anecdotal evidence for Protein Power. I think that there is a fair amount of quackery in the Eades book, a few of their scientific leaps of faith, or things they didn’t mention were amusing, but I take medication to control my blood sugar for PCOS and some friends recommended I try it. I figured I’d give it a month and if it didn’t help I’d try something else.
It’s now been 5 months and I’m down 2 clothing sizes and my last round of bloodwork was so good that my doctor had me cut my meds in half. I took a couple of weeks off over the holidays, just to make life easier, and I felt gross within a couple of days, even though I was eating perfectly healthfully according to the pyramid. I’m feeling better now that I’ve been low carbing for the last week again.
My dad tried it and has lost about 40 pounds, it can’t all be water, or lean body mass. He’s also cut his cholesterol by 2/3 and his triglycerides in half. This after a year of being vegan at the urging of his doctor sent his cholesterol high enough for medication.
I really don’t have problems eating out. Most fast food places and generic american restaurants have some version of a cobb/chef/chicken caesar salad. Most meat and potato places have no problem giving me double veggies instead of the potato. If we’re having Mexican I’ll get fajitas or carnitas, and skip the tortillas. I’ve found that a lot of Italian places will substitute veggies for pasta, so I get one of the chicken in lemon or cream sauces which goes really well with the veggies anyway. For chinese/vietnamese/thai there are tons of meat and veggie dishes. I do have a hard time with Thai because I love all the coconut milk based curries and pad thai, so I occasionally take the night off and eat it anyway.
I eat better than I ever have in my life - lots of seafood, lean poultry, 5-6 servings of veggies a day - just about the only prepackaged thing I eat is tuna. The passenger seat of my car has seen less than 5 fast food wrappers in the last 3 months. I used to accumulate that many in a week.
My one piece of advice, if you try it, supplement potassium for the first couple of weeks. You do lose a lot of water in the beginning, and you lose a lot of potassium with it. It can leave you feeling weak like you do after a nasty bout of the runs. Take the potassium and you’ll skip that part of it altogether.
ketosis and ketoacidosis are two toatally differant things. I did the atkins thing for quite a while, more or less(I cheated way too much), and I lost weight, but more important, I felt better than when I wasn’t on it. I got away from it over the hollidays, and put weight back on, but as Soon as I get the christmas bills paid down a bit, I’m going back on it. (it does tend to get a little expensive, as pasta is cheaper than meat).