Foolish food fad

[MyJourney]

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20040424/LETTERS24-9/TPHealth/


Foolish food fad


By SANJEEV GOEL, MD
Saturday, April 24, 2004 - Page A22

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Mississauga -- The low-carbohydrate fad is more foolish than the silliest TV reality show, as Russell Smith notes (The Weighty Issue Of Carbohydrate Obsession -- April 22). But these unbalanced diets also raise a serious issue. As a physician, I believe they pose a grave threat to public health.

Any diet high in saturated fat increases the risk of heart disease and some cancers. But researchers have also linked low-carb diets to other maladies, including constipation, cardiac arrhythmias and kidney problems.

That's why major health organizations from the American Cancer Society to the Australian Medical Association have cautioned consumers against jumping on the low-carb bandwagon.

There are safer ways to slim down. For example, in a recent Tufts University study pitting the Atkins diet against a low-fat vegetarian eating plan, the vegetarians lost more weight. And they did it without putting their health at risk.

[MyJourney]

Sorry but I do think low fat vegetarians can put their health at risk... I know nothing about this study so I cant comment on what the deal is... though I am about to go look it up now

[MyJourney]

Michael Dansinger, a clinical research student in the Sackler School of Graduate Biomedical Sciences, has found that four popular diets appear to lower the risk of heart disease fairly equally. He spoke on November 9 at a meeting of the American Heart Association, describing a study he worked on with Dr. Ernst Schaefer, senior scientist in the Lipid Metabolism Laboratory at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging (HNRCA) at Tufts. They compared Weight Watchers, the high-fat Atkins diet, the low-fat Ornish diet and the high-protein/moderate-carb Zone diet. Participants who stayed on the prescribed diet for a year lost an average of 10 to 12 pounds or five to 15 percent of their body fat. All diets affected cholesterol levels but differently. “The Ornish diet (low-fat vegetarian) was best for lowering the bad LDL cholesterol, while other diets were better at raising the good HDL cholesterol,” Dansinger said.


Thats what I found on it at the tufts website -eyeroll-

[tamarian]

All diets affected cholesterol levels but differently. “The Ornish diet (low-fat vegetarian) was best for lowering the bad LDL cholesterol, while other diets were better at raising the good HDL cholesterol,” Dansinger said.
This is a deceptive way to avoid reporting that the Ornish diet lowers your good cholesterol, to dangerous levels :)

Wa'il