Calorie intake key to weight, research shows.

[markd]

Low carb diets are questionable for long term health and
weight control:

http://preventdisease.com/news/d/82.shtml

[Sky-Hi]

The focus of the article - Carbohydrates Key to Keeping Weight
Off not calories.

On 10 Sep 2002 15:55:49 GMT, markd@frog-net.com wrote:

>Low carb diets are questionable for long term health and
>weight control:
>
>http://preventdisease.com/news/d/82.shtml

[markd]

>The focus of the article - Carbohydrates Key to Keeping
>Weight Off not calories.

From the article:

The reasoning is rather simple, says Shanthy Bowman, study
author and
a USDA nutritionist.

If you eat more calories than you burn, you gain weight. If
you eat
fewer calories than you burn, you lose weight. To maintain
your
weight, keep things in equilibrium.

In comparison to proteins or fats, carbohydrates tend to
contain fewer
calories for the same volume of food. That means a person who
has a
diet high in carbohydrates can eat more food than someone who
eats
mostly protein and fats -- all the while taking in less
calories,
Bowman says.
>
>On 10 Sep 2002 15:55:49 GMT, markd@frog-net.com wrote:
>
>>Low carb diets are questionable for long term health and
>>weight control:
>>
>>http://preventdisease.com/news/d/82.shtml

[Eric Bohlm]

markd@frog-net.com wrote in
news:3d7e5747$0$25061$4d5ecec7@reader.city- net.com:

>
>>The focus of the article - Carbohydrates Key to Keeping
>>Weight Off not calories.
>
> From the article:
>
> The reasoning is rather simple, says Shanthy Bowman, study
> author and
> a USDA nutritionist.
>
> If you eat more calories than you burn, you gain weight. If
> you eat
> fewer calories than you burn, you lose weight. To maintain
> your
> weight, keep things in equilibrium.
>
> In comparison to proteins or fats, carbohydrates tend to
> contain fewer
>calories for the same volume of food. That means a person who
> has a
>diet high in carbohydrates can eat more food than someone who
> eats
> mostly protein and fats -- all the while taking in less
> calories,
> Bowman says.

At this point, I think we're all going to get stuck in a
hopeless terminological quagmire. It seems that Bowman is
saying that eating a high percentage, *by volume, not by
calories*, of foods that get most of their (few) calories from
carbohydrates is helpful for weight control. That sounds
entirely reasonable to me. The problem is that most of the
time when people talk about a "high carbohydrate" or "high
fat" or "high protein" diet, they're talking about diets in
which the nutrient in question accounts for the bulk of the
*calories* consumed. Thus, the kind of diet Bowman is
recommending could easily be a "low carbohydrate" diet as the
term is usually used, in that a low percentage of the calories
consumed come from carbohydrates.

The confusion is compounded by the tendency to refer to
*foods* as "carbohydrates" or "proteins" or "fats,"
despite the fact that very few foods consist almost solely
of one group of macronutrients; in fact, most of the foods
Bowman seems to be recommending are made up mostly of
water and fiber.

Given this widespread tendency to use terms in multiple
senses, I think in discussions like this we have to state
explicitly in what sense we're using the terms. For example,
are we talking "high carbohydrate" as "large percentage of
calories from sugars and starches" or as "large percentage of
volume from foods low in fat and protein"? If we don't make
such things explicit, we get discussions where two people are
saying the same thing yet appear to disagree with each other.

[Lawrence F]

In article <3d7e5747$0$25061$4d5ecec7@reader.city-net.com>,
<markd@frog-net.com> wrote:
>
>>The focus of the article - Carbohydrates Key to Keeping
>>Weight Off not calories.
>
>From the article:
>
> The reasoning is rather simple, says Shanthy Bowman, study
> author and
> a USDA nutritionist.
>
> If you eat more calories than you burn, you gain weight. If
> you eat
> fewer calories than you burn, you lose weight. To maintain
> your
> weight, keep things in equilibrium.
>
> In comparison to proteins or fats, carbohydrates tend to
> contain fewer
>calories for the same volume of food. That means a person who
> has a
>diet high in carbohydrates can eat more food than someone who
> eats
> mostly protein and fats -- all the while taking in less
> calories,
> Bowman says.

Regrettably they fail to mention glycemic index. Back when I
was fat I'd do things like eat entire restaurant baskets full
of white bread, it just never fills you up. Switch to
something with more fiber and it keeps you full longer, and
bounces your blood sugar levels around less.
--
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C/C++/Perl Linux/Unix resume:
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