Hello! Newbie and have questions.

[teksyn]

I thought I'd kill two birds with one stone and save bandwidth by saying hello and asking a few questions.

I am not currently on any sort of diet, other than a balanced diet of carbs, meats, dairy, and lots of vegetables, and plenty of exercise. I feel in good health, but I am still rather young, 27 years.

The main reason I came here was to maybe get some clarification.

So here's the scenario: I'm doing a persuasive speech for a class I need before I can graduate, (Computer Science major), and I thought I would do a speech on the dangers of low-carb diets such as Atkins. I just spent about an hour here reading the 10 or so pages of a heated discussion from a web troll (dontcha just love em?) :)

Anywho, In all of my research, I have only found one short study (1 year) done by the New England Journal of Medicine of low-carb, high-protein, high-fat diets versus the classic low-fat, low-calorie, high-carb diets. Other studies are in progress to test over 5 years. The only thing the study mentions was that "low-carbohydrate diet was associated with a greater improvement in some risk factors for coronary heart disease". It also mentions that low-carbers had a higher cholesterol count, both LDL and HDL, than the low-fat dieters.

My biology teacher who has a PhD in biology also mentions that the rapid loss of ketones (from burning fat instead of carbs) can lead to certain problems as well, namely liver and kidney. I have been really hard pressed to find much information on this as well, as it seems to only be a risk for people with diabetes.

I'm starting to think I should ditch my topic and go pro-Atkins, the benefits may outweight the drawbacks. Does anyone know of any long term studies on low-carb diets?

Anyway, thanks in advance for any help. Sorry for the long post. My speech is tomorrow and my stupid procrastination habits are biting me in the butt again!

[tamarian]

Either way you go, there are no long terms studies for any diet.

Not for the American Heart Association Diet, low-fat diets, Slimfast, Atkins, Weight Watchers, etc.

Check this for lot's of information on the politics involved in such studies, and the pro and anti low-carb advocates:

http://www.lowcarb.ca/articlesb/article344.html

Wa'il

[Hellistile]

Start here:

http://www.paleodiet.com/

[elijaeger]

Atkins is not the only low carb diet. It is one of the more extreme low carb in the beginning, but eventually all low carb diets are relatively the same. I would stress if you are doing a school project that you examine the full range of low carb, examine what defines low carb (usually depends on the person), and not go into the study with a preconceived notion that low carb is good or bad.

[mcsblues]

What you need is a summary! I remember those last minute studying panics lol.

This covers most of the issues, but be warned you may want to change sides!

http://www.theomnivore.com/commonmythsaboutlowcarbdiets.html

Cheers,

Malcolm

[IceMan]

Nothing long term...but I got a shorty study for you...I'm diabetic and used low carb eating to curb my roller coaster blood sugars. You can look at recent control data, view weight loss pix and access my latest labs, taken 3 months after beginning LC. (http://www.datainthehouse.com/dx/dx.htm) My last A1c was 5.0 a couple of weeks ago.

Call it a personal field study and use the level of control and blood work results to evaluate a strict 6-12-12 carb eating regimen. FYI the average blood glucose level for a non-diabetic is 83-85.

[teksyn]

Thank you everyone for those useful links. My speech went really well and drove home the issue of improper dieting, whether low-carb high-fat, or low-fat high-carb. It was rather difficult to pick a side, the more research I did, the more confused I got. :D

Anyway, thank you all for all the great info.
Take care. ;)

[yoda_san]

You know it seems funny to me I always see these arguments against atkins or lo-carb but they always say some of the same things:

1) all diets have a big water loss in the beginning.
.........atkins admits this in his book, no great revelation

2) they claim the diet it so boring that by lack of variety people eat less calories and lose weight.
.........the fact is, for me anyway, is that this is the first diet that allowed me to eat some heavy fat/protein items and somehow that suppresses my appetite...so even if I am eating less calories and that is why I'm losing, who cares, at least I'm not getting hunger pains(sugar cravings) every half hour.

3) the diet is unhealthy because if places so much emphasis on meats, cheeses, etc.
........to be honest, I probably eat more veggies now than I did before...

But, I still think there is something going on with it that we haven't quite nailed down.

and tek, I'm certainly not striking out at you, just giving you my (a) point of view.

[Affyash]

Teksyn, I also have a persuasive speech due very, very soon (like Monday). I'd love your input on what went well (or not) in your speech. Any advice would be great. I'm trying to prove that Atkins may not be as safe as previously thought.

[mcsblues]

Teksyn, I also have a persuasive speech due very, very soon (like Monday). I'd love your input on what went well (or not) in your speech. Any advice would be great. I'm trying to prove that Atkins may not be as safe as previously thought.


Why?

Cheers,

Malcolm

[teksyn]

My speech went really well, i got a 96% on it, so yay for me. I more or less emphasized improper dieting. As far as Atkins diet goes, problems can occur if one does the diet wrong. There is nothing wrong with the Atkins diet, and well it certainly works! Atkins is completely safe, as long as you follow the diet, make sure you take your supplements, drink plenty of water, and don't over-indulge in high fat foods.

So as not to waste bandwidth or not to step on any toes, email me Affyash,
*** (can't use the at symbol here) and I can give you some info that might help you with your speech. I did not attack Atkins diet directly, just informed and persuaded people to diet correctly, whether it be Atkins, South Beach, or balanced/exercise.

Thanks again to everyone that added any comments. :D

as a side note: Atkins is great for diabetics, carbs are just complex sugars. yay for biology. :D

edit by moderator: As per the forum rules, do not post email addresses. If you have something to share, feel free to post it. As long as it's not blatant flaming, no one's toes will be stepped on. That's the purpose of this forum (The War Zone.) Thanks.
-Kristine

[Affyash]

Well, for some reason I can't send a personal email and it looks like we're not supposed to anyway!
But to respond - I guess my aim is not to prove Atkins is bad (I may have overstepped my bounds in saying this!) I just want to talk about the dangers of such a diet, or any for that matter.
I personally have been on weight watchers since January of this year and have lost 20 pounds thus far. I'm trying to take a look at why Atkins draws so many in and why other weight management programs do not. I suppose the easy answer is that you can eat more of what you want on Atkins, but I'd like to know more.
There's just such a huge controversy now between Atkins and non-Atkins type "diets", I'd love address some of that in my speech!

[mcsblues]

Affyash, I have lost more than 50 pounds on the low fat/starvation, weight watchers style diet. I found it very difficult to do, but I managed by eventually convincing myself it was "good" to go to bed hungry. But a new way of eating does not end when you complete the weight loss phase. I found that in order to maintain my body weight, I had to give up more and more things as I got older (eg. cheese, butter, cream avocados. peanut butter .... etc,etc.) - now I was 'told' that this was because as you get older your metabolism naturally slows down. I also continued to have to ignore hunger pangs. After about 2 years of that torture, my resolve weakened and the weight started to return.

Six months ago I was heavier than ever (a very common situation), so I started my low fat diet again, but I also looked around for a better way. I was fortunate enough to read a copy of "Protein Power" and not only did the authors describe a much better way for me to regain my health, they explained why this works. I have again lost more than 50 pounds, at no stage have I had to go hungry, I have gained lean body mass (try doing that on a low calorie/low fat diet) and I feel much better and have far more energy than I ever did on the low fat/high carb/starvation regime. Oh yes, and I also eat all those things I was convinced I had given up forever.

The most important thing is that I have no doubt that I will continue this way of eating for the rest of my life because it is so easy, and it makes me feel so good.

That is why low carb is gathering so many new followers - because it works, because there is good science as to why it works, and unlike the low fat fad diets of the last 25 years....it is something you can easily maintain.

Cheers,

Malcolm