Americans don't need bogus and potentially dangerous diet plans to lose weight and stay healthy. They just need to follow good, old-fashioned common sense: cut fat and cholesterol, add fresh fiber-rich foods, exercise regularly, get familiar with vegetarian foods, and never fear carbs again This is what a lot people are doing and their cholseteral level and theri weight is going up.....she convienantly offers NO PROOF and more importantly reverts back to the scare tactics...but why? Seriously FPC....why are so many Dr.s afraid of actually proving their point about the diet? i m telling you it will be biog tobacco law sutis all over again
LOW-CARB DIETS UNHEALTHY TREND Low-carbohydrate diet books have been topping best-sellers' lists lately, but doctors and dietitians warn that low-carb, high-protein diets are imbalanced and potentially dangerous. Sheila Kelly, clinical dietitian at Providence Hospital, Washington, D.C., says Americans are always looking for the "quick fix" diet plans. The allure of the low-carbohydrate diets, she says, is that they tend to promise rapid weight loss while allowing dieters to load up on proteins and fatty foods. Under the Atkins' diet, perhaps the most famous of all the low-carbohydrate, high-protein diets, a dieter might have a ham and cheese omelet with sides of bacon and sausage for breakfast, a hamburger for lunch (no bun) and a steak for dinner. "It's a seductive concept," Kelly says. "Watch the pounds melt away while you eat all of the high-fat foods you want. Even better, don't bother watching your caloric intake or worrying about regaining your weight. All you have to do is avoid 'poison' carbohydrates." Americans spend $33 billion a year on the diet industry but aren't getting any thinner. According to the Journal of the American Medical Association, there are 50 percent more obese people in America today than there were eight years ago. Dr. Robert C. Atkins' low-carbohydrate diet first became a hit back in 1972. Now, almost 30 years later, he re-released his diet book with the title "Dr. Atkins' New Diet Revolution" and, like the first, this sequel has become a national bestseller. According to Atkins, the problem is that people eat too many carbohydrates. He contends that Americans love to think that fat is making them fat when carbohydrates converted to fat by excess insulin is what really makes them fat. People will lose weight on the near-elimination of carbohydrates from the diet, but the weight loss is the result of unhealthy eating, according to Kelly. The American Heart Institute and the National Institutes of Health both recommend a balanced diet that includes 250 grams to 300 grams of carbohydrates a day (15 times what Atkins allows). Carbohydrates, essential nutrients that come in the form of starches and sugars, have the most effect on blood sugar. Carbohydrates are found in fruits, vegetables, beans, dairy foods and starchy foods such as breads and sweets. The Atkins diet not only requires that all sweets (cookies, pies, soda and ice cream) be avoided but it also severely restricts breads, pastas, beans, fruits and vegetables. At its core, Kelly says, the Atkins diet is "nothing more than a garden-variety ketogenic diet." Ketosis occurs when carbohydrates are not available to the body for energy. When the body doesn't get enough carbohydrates, it starts to reduce the blood sugar (glycogen) reserves in the liver. The body then starts to extract glycogen from muscle tissue, thus breaking it down and depleting water from the muscles at the same time. In the initial stages of the diet, the first seven to nine pounds a person loses are water, according to Kelly, presenting a real danger of dehydration and mineral deficiencies. After the body has depleted the reserves of blood sugar in the muscles, it then starts to expand its production of ketone bodies, which many cells ultimately use for energy in lieu of glucose. That, indeed, is fat burning, Kelly says. But it is also dangerous. Ketones, acid by-products of fat digestion, build up in the blood and make the blood acidic - a condition called ketosis. If ketones build up in the body long enough, they can cause serious illness and coma, Kelly explains. Another potentially harmful feature of the low-carbohydrate, high-protein diets, such as Atkins', is that they generally are low in fiber and high in fat. "The Atkins' paltry 3 to 5 grams of fiber per day falls far short of the recommended daily allowance of 25 to 30 grams per day," Kelly says. Low-fiber diets have been linked to constipation, diverticulosis and cancers of the colon, breast and prostate. Some dieters may take fiber supplements to compensate, but supplements do not provide the same fiber mix and content as that found in foods, Kelly says. The high total fat and saturated fat content of the Atkins' diet is also cause for concern, she says. High total and saturated fat diets have been linked conclusively to heart disease. Research also shows that high saturated fat intakes are pro-inflammatory, and numerous studies implicate a high total-fat diet in cancers of the breast, prostate and lung. "Perhaps the most worrisome aspect of this diet is its relative lack of fruits and vegetables," Kelly says. Atkins suggests that dieters compensate for the vitamin and mineral deficiencies expected from a low-carbohydrate diet by taking up to 30 vitamin supplements per day. However, Kelly states research indicates that it is not the vitamins and minerals in fruits and vegetables that are protective against cancer, heart disease and oxidative injury but the carotenoid compounds, phytochemicals and other "nutraceuticals" that researchers are beginning to investigate. "A lifelong shunning of these foods deprives the body of disease-fighting weapons," she says. Complete carbohydrate deprivation also appears to have a damaging psychological effect, according to Kelly. The permanent removal of favorite bingeing foods, such as chocolate, cookies, ice cream and desserts, leads to "obsessive cravings and ultimate capitulation to temptation." Recent studies seem to bear this out, with one estimating the weight regain from the Atkins' diet to be 96 percent. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- sacry stuff :eek:
Is this "trader" on Atkins diet?? hmmm his facial profile looks "familiar" ?:eek: :eek: strong stomachs only need to look http://www.ferrarichat.com/discus/messages/132929/311169.jpg high carb diet?????
Why YOU are getting FAT.. The amount of fat consumed has been steadily climbing, as has consumption of all calories. Individual caloric consumption jumped from 3,300 calories per day in 1970â79 to 3,900 in 1997, an 18 percent increase. Per-person consumption of fat grams increased from 149 to 156, a 4.5 percent increase. Get the FACTS straight TM. (for once).
ABCNEWS.com Dec. 6 â Americans now eat more carbohydrates than ever â 50 more pounds per person, per year, than a decade ago. Carbohydrate-related diseases have also reached a peak. After decades of being warned away from fats, many people have turned to carbohydrates instead. At the same time, obesity levels in the country are greater than ever. Is there a connection? Do carbohydrates lead people to become obese? Experts in the field have different opinions. The Zone Biochemist Barry Sears, author of the best selling low-carbohydrate diet book The Zone, believes carbohydrates do cause people to gain weight. He has developed a controversial theory that suggests that people who eat a lot of carbohydrates get caught up in a cycle of overeating because carbohydrates can be addictive in a way other foods are not. People who critique Searsâ theory have various problems with it, including some of his basic premises that carbohydrates lead to weight gain or that carbohydrates are more addictive than other foods. However, many of Searsâ critics agree that a diet lower in carbohydrates is not harmful and can have positive results. And they agree with Sears that people with certain carbohydrate-related diseases, such as the little-known but dangerous Syndrome X, should absolutely maintain a low-carbohydrate diet. Sears says the obesity crisis in America is a result of âcarbohydrate hell.â He suggests that eating a lot of carbohydrates triggers a biological mechanism that lowers the blood sugar level and leads people to need a sugar boost and therefore to crave more carbohydrates. He says the cycle of eating and craving keeps them hooked on carbohydrates and causes overeating. âYou eat a big carbohydrates meal at 12. By 3 oâclock youâre hungry again. You eat more carbohydrates. By 7 youâre hungry again,â Sears says. His theory accepts some of the basic principles about how the body processes carbohydrates and takes them a step further. The basic principle is that carbohydrates turn into sugars that trigger the release of insulin. The insulin routes the sugars to our muscles for energy and stores the rest as fat. Sears says eating a lot of carbohydrates triggers a flood of insulin. Because there is so much insulin, sugars are cleared from the blood so quickly that people feel hungry again after a very short period of time. So carbohydrates drive the sugar level up and then the insulin drives it down. A Critique of The Zone Some scientists challenge Searsâ theory. Madelyn and John Fernstrom, who study the causes of overeating and run a weight management center at the University of Pittsburgh, say they believe the theory is too simplistic. The Fernstroms say carbohydrates are not the only kind of food that people crave, nor is insulin the only cause of such a craving. They maintain people crave all different kinds of foods and for various reasons, such as hormones and brain chemicals. Another critic is Dr. Gerald Reaven at Stanford University, who has conducted well-known research on the subject of insulin. Reaven feels that the information in The Zone misrepresented his research. He argues that his studies do not suggest that insulin or carbohydrates make people fat. Low-Fat Diet Although these critics have problems with Searsâ theory, many do not see any harm in his low-carbohydrate diet, and they say itâs reasonably well-balanced. The diet recommends that people limit carbohydrate intake to 40 percent, mostly from fruits and veggies, and balance the rest of their diet with proteins and healthy fats. And the critics agree that such a low-carb diet is recommended for people with certain diseases related to carbohydrates, such as Syndrome X. Reaven explains that his latest insulin research does indicate that a high-carbohydrate diet can be dangerous for people who suffer from Syndrome X. Syndrome X Americans need to know more about Syndrome X. It can be so lethal itâs putting 90 million, thatâs one in three people, at increased risk for a heart attack, Reaven says. The disease can double and even triple the risks of a heart attack. People with Syndrome X have cells that are resistant to the effects of insulin. Their bodies have to compensate for the problem by producing abnormally large amounts of insulin. The more carbohydrates they eat, the more insulin is produced. The excess of insulin then triggers abnormalities in the blood that increase the risk of heart disease. If someone has a family history of diabetes or heart disease, they are at increased risk for Syndrome X. Reaven recommends that such people check for the disease by testing their HDL cholesterol, triglycerides and blood pressure, all of which are warning signs. As in Searsâ low-carbohydrate diet, Reaven recommends that people with Syndrome X cut down the carbohydrates in their diet to less than half. They also should increase healthy fats, the monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats (in olive oil, avocados, almonds, fish), exercise and lose weight. The guidelines of the American Heart Association, which recommend a diet of 55 percent to 60 percent carbohydrates, are not designed for people with existing conditions such as Syndrome X. Syndrome X For more information on Syndrome X : Contact: Dr. Gerald Reaven: Stanford University School of Medicine
Dr's aren't afraid of anything related to this. Atkins has not proven a damn thing except there's a sucker born every minute. Atkins released his diet book in 1972, the regurgitated his "new" revolution 30 years later. And you suckers bought it AGAIN. Made him 100 million bucks but he couldn't spend ONE THIN DIME to prove his claims. You should be feeling real foolish right about .. NOW!
Of course too many carbs can make you fat. As will too much protein or too much fat. It comes down to DAILY TOTAL CALORIC intake. Nothing to do with Atkins gibberish. Everything to do with CALORIES. BUT, too high fat/high protein intake has been associated with MORBIDITY. CANCER. DIABETES. HEART DISEASE. WAKE UP AND SMELL THE OATMEAL!!