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ksa
Mon, Aug-09-04, 16:43
http://channels.netscape.com/ns/homerealestate/package.jsp?name=fte/dietreallyworks/dietreallyworks&floc=HR_1-L2

It violates the basic laws of science. How is it you can eat more--a whopping 300 additional calories a day--than people who are on a standard, low-fat diet and lose more weight than they do? The answer: Go on a low-carbohydrate diet and gorge on high-fat foods.

A small but carefully controlled research study conducted by the Harvard School of Public Health concluded that people can eat an extra 300 calories a day when they are on a very low-carbohydrate regimen and lose just as much weight in 12 weeks as people on a standard low-fat diet, reports The Associated Press.

Over the course of the Harvard study, the low-carb dieters consumed an extra 25,000 calories, which mathematically should have added up to an extra 7 pounds. But it didn't! And that strikes at the most basic scientific assumptions of a calorie, which has at least one critic, Barbara Rolls of Pennsylvania State University, muttering, "It violates the laws of thermodynamics." Still, it's hard to argue with a smaller belt size.

The study: Twenty-one overweight volunteers were divided into three groups. One group was placed on low-fat diet, the second group embarked on a low-carb diet, and the third group ate the same low-carb diet but got an extra 300 calories a day. All the food was prepared at an upscale Italian restaurant in Cambridge, Massachusetts so researchers knew exactly what the participants ate.

The results: Everyone lost weight.
Low-fat dieters lost 17 pounds.
Low-carb, low calorie dieters lost 23 pounds.
Low-carb, more calorie dieters lost 20 pounds.

The whole idea of a low-carbohydrate diet in which bread, rice, and pasta are eschewed for heaping servings of steak, eggs, and bacon is controversial to say the least. Critics insist the diet creates a risk for high cholesterol and heart disease. Proponents show off their skinny waistlines and smile smugly. This new study confirms that the low-carb dieters really can eat more high-fat foods and lose the same amount or more. Study author Penelope Greene told AP, "There does indeed seem to be something about a low-carb diet that says you can eat more calories and lose a similar amount of weight," Greene said.

And that has well-educated nutritionists scratching their heads. "A lot of our assumptions about a calorie is a calorie are being challenged," admitted Marlene Schwartz of Yale. "As scientists, we need to be open-minded."

potatofree
Mon, Aug-09-04, 17:14
They sure have the right idea, and it's good to see. My only issue is the "gorge on high-fat foods" line. It tends to bring in the old stereotype of Atkins being the "all-the-bacon-and-butter-you-can-cram-in-your-face" diet.

HoserLC
Mon, Aug-09-04, 17:31
What is scary is that people can be scientists and not understand the basics of thermodymanics. A calorie doesn't weigh a damn thing, it is the mass of food consumed that adds weight. And the mass of gas, liquid and solid that is, ummm, "emitted" that loses weight. There is no violation of thermodynamics, only ignorance. Somebody with some clout should do a major press release on the subject, obscure journal articles don't seem to cut it.

Bandito
Mon, Aug-09-04, 17:38
I often wonder if these studies take into account the water weight that is initially lost. I could see how LC could appear to loose more than LF. If the LCers replenished their glycogen stores, would the weight lost equal the LFers? If they don't take this into cocideration, I fail to see how this study shows anything.

CindySue48
Mon, Aug-09-04, 17:39
A small but carefully controlled research study conducted by the Harvard School of Public Health concluded that people can eat an extra 300 calories a day when they are on a very low-carbohydrate regimen and lose just as much weight in 12 weeks as people on a standard low-fat diet, reports The Associated Press.


This should read: A small but carefully controlled research study conducted by the Harvard School of Public Health concluded that people can eat an extra 300 calories a day when they are on a very low-carbohydrate regimen and lose MORE much weight in 12 weeks as people on a standard low-fat diet, reports The Associated Press.

Trinsdad
Mon, Aug-09-04, 18:02
"heaping servings of steak, eggs, and bacon"

I hate it when they say crap like this...

sb24u
Mon, Aug-09-04, 23:01
it is misleading and ignorant of the facts.........


"heaping servings of steak, eggs, and bacon"

I hate it when they say crap like this...

Dodger
Tue, Aug-10-04, 09:30
All the food was prepared at an upscale Italian restaurant in Cambridge, Massachusetts so researchers knew exactly what the participants ate."
I would like to see what the low-carb recipes from this upscale Italian restaurant were.

Lessara
Tue, Aug-10-04, 11:39
"Go on a low-carbohydrate diet and gorge on high-fat foods."

Say what?! I have never ever gorged on a high fat or a protein food. I just can't do it or my appitite is satisfied before that point... However if you put a cake, a loaf of bread, a pint of ice cream in front of me... I can eat the whole thing!!

Isn't that interesting? ;)

adkpam
Tue, Aug-10-04, 11:41
Yeah, well, they beat on Galileo..."This violates the laws of the universe..."

timdford
Tue, Aug-10-04, 11:45
What is scary is that people can be scientists and not understand the basics of thermodymanics. A calorie doesn't weigh a damn thing, it is the mass of food consumed that adds weight. And the mass of gas, liquid and solid that is, ummm, "emitted" that loses weight. There is no violation of thermodynamics, only ignorance. Somebody with some clout should do a major press release on the subject, obscure journal articles don't seem to cut it.
Some of this is hypothetical so bear with me here. The use of the term Thermodynamics (as opposed to "mass") IS correct. Food is fuel. Fats,carbs and alcohols are all types of fuel. It all has thermodynamic value. A piece of fat burns in the fire. White sugar has approximately the same thermodynamic value by weight as TriNitroToluene (TNT). What we do when we go into the induction phase is teach our bodies to choose the in-house fuel (body fat) over the introduced fuel (carbs). When we start taking in polyols, we short circuit the lipolisys process and go back to burning the more readily available introduced fuel.

Comments or criticisms are welcome.