Dr. Barry Sears "uncovers" low-carb dangers, in favour of the Zone diet!
 

Low carb diets may stress body too much, studies find

Thursday, December 6, 2007

MESA, Ariz. — For most of the past decade, there was much hubbub about the Atkins and Zone diets. Both focus on quick, effective ways to lose weight through high protein and low carbohydrate foods. Today, many still swear by them.

However, research on these diets has been limited if nonexistent, until now. Arizona State University scientists from the departments of Nutrition and Exercise and Wellness along with other colleagues have been studying the diets since 2005, and find many biomarkers being negatively impacted by the severely low carbohydrate intake.

The ASU researchers Carol Johnston and Pamela Swan, along with collaborators Sherrie Tjonn and Andrea White, both registered dieticians, and Barry Sears, of the Inflammation Research Foundation and creator of the Zone diet, have published three papers during the last two years, appearing in Osteoporosis International, The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition and most recently in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association.

The biggest difference in these types of diets is the amount of carbohydrate prescribed. The Atkins diet entails very low carbohydrate, less than 20 grams daily, whereas the Zone promotes a more moderate intake of carbohydrates, up to 180 grams daily.

“The downside of severely low carbohydrate intake is that dieters go in to what’s called ketosis or the inefficiency of the body to oxidize fat,” said Johnston, chair and professor in the Department of Nutrition, School of Applied Arts and Sciences.

The term used to describe diets that produce this biological effect is ketogenic; hence, Atkins is a ketogenic, low carbohydrate (KLC) diet and the Zone diet is considered a nonketogenic low carbohydrate (NLC) diet.

With these studies, their research uncovered that the ketogenic diet may increase bone loss because of an increase in acid in the body and not enough intake of alkalizing minerals like potassium to neutralize this effect. In addition, a higher percentage of calcium was found in the urine of those on the KLC diet, leading the researchers to believe that the bones are “leaching” calcium.

“The public should realize that these diets have differing effects on biomarkers,” said Johnston. “Diets that severely restrict carbohydrates, particularly potassium-rich fruits and vegetables, may have deleterious effects on bones.”

Another study by these researchers looked at the metabolic advantage of one diet over the other. They found that the reduction in fat loss and weight loss was about the same for both diets over a six-week trial. In addition, body mass index was significantly lower after six weeks in both diet groups. However, those following the KLC diet experienced a greater increase in LDL cholesterol than those following the NLC diet. HDL cholesterol did not seem to be impacted significantly.

“With a higher fat concentration with the KLC diet, the increase in the LDL cholesterol is not really that surprising,” said Johnston.

They also noted that dieters on the NLC diet versus the KLC diet experienced more energy. Their most recent article published in October explains that the body needs carbohydrates for energy so if you are taking in an extremely low amount of carbohydrates and only receiving energy from protein, intense exercise is actually harming your body more than helping it. Without adequate amounts of carbohydrate stores, or glycogen, muscles rapidly fatigue during sustained exercise.

“And because there is an overall lack of energy, the KLC diets actually may thwart attempts to combine diet modifications with increased physical activity,” said Swan, acting chair and associate professor in ASU’s Department of Exercise and Wellness, School of Applied Arts and Sciences.

The researchers note that when your body is not getting the nutrients it needs to function, your body goes into a state of stress which causes systematic inflammation.

“120 grams of carbohydrates is enough for an average person who does moderate exercise, but endurance athletes should eat more carbs, especially for long bouts of exercise like a marathon,” said Swan.

“The KLC diets restrict carbohydrates too much; at minimum, carbohydrate intake should be moderate,” recommends Johnston.

All the research was supported by a grant from the Inflammation Research Foundation.



CONTACT(S): Christine Lambrakis, 480/727-1173, 602/316-5616, lambrakis~asu.edu

http://www.poly.asu.edu/news/2007/12/06/

:lol: :lol: stop it, you're killing me :lol: :lol:
No seriously, I and 2 or 3 people you've never heard of have been conducting a study since 2005. We have published a few papers in some magazines that are desperate for printed matter. And we found out that I, Kary, know everything. People thought this other woman knew everything. But we "proved" that wrong. Besides she's dead. You can read all about it in my new book, "Just Listen to Me, I Know Everything". Our research has been funded by The Know Everything Foundation, of which I am a member. :lol:

The Inflammation Research Foundation was founded by Barry Sears. So, he funded his own study of his own diet. No wonder he concluded that his diet was the best.

One of the board of directors is Cindy Crawford. I'm sure that she knows a lot about inflammation.

A good source of potassium is cantaloupe. One medium cantaloupe is 188 calories, 43g sugar, 338% of vitamin C, and 42% of potassium.

A good source of calcium and trace minerals is eggshell powder.

Well I find it all interesting. But I think the whole point that the research Gary Taubes reviews is neglected by that kind of thing.

If I could just go eat 100g of carb a day I would. And I can -- except that eating carbs makes me exhausted and crave carbs, which makes staying on the 'more moderate' approach impossible. I've tried several variants on carb cycling and none worked for me at all, not because it wasn't good (I think it is), but because of how eating carbs makes me exhausted (ketosis takes care of that), makes me crave them, etc.

It's rather like the logic that if one just eats fewer calories and exercises they will lose weight. Yeah sure, and any short term study will show that. The problem, as Taubes's book catalogs, is that willpower notwithstanding, the body will eventually force a person to eat more, to be more sedentary, etc. for physiological reasons, primal drives here.

So no matter what you can say about carbs on paper or in a temporary study, what works "in the real world" for people may be another story. No diet helps you if you aren't on it.

I think higher carb (but not high carb) diets probably work for lots of people. But to me, and my body's reaction to carbs, to me it's like putting alcoholics on the two beers a day plan. Sounds good on paper, but wouldn't work for many in the real world.

It just occurred to me that in the intro of a ketogenic diet, there usually *is* a depletion of potassium due to the massive water drop -- one reason supplements are heavily recommended. And calcium and magnesium are associated with potassium though I cannot remember how. I'm just wondering how much measuring people right at the point of induction would change results over something long term.

What a total bunch of hoo haw. Some people don't adapt well to low carb, so they may experience a lack of energy. However, most people DO adapt just fine, and are bouncing off the walls while in ketosis. Like me.

Without the hard data from the actual study (not some journalist's spin on it), it's difficult to conclude much from the article.
For example, were the observations of calcium loss and low energy present for the entire duration of the study or only the first few weeks? The article implies it was an ongoing problem, but I'd be willing to bet that both of those issues were only present in the first 2-4 weeks of the study for the KLC diets. :idea:



A good source of potassium is dark leafy greens such as spinach and kale which you can eat a lot of on a low carb plan and still stay low carb. Avocados are also a good source of potassium without all the carbs of bananas and/or canteloupe. Guacamole, anyone? :)

Attention Barry Sears!! Your 15 minutes are up. Andy Warhol

They lost me right here. Honestly - they're comparing induction with the Zone diet? WTF?

That's how the media portrays the Atkins diet and that's how the general public thinks it works. I admit, that before I was LC, I thought that the Atkins was a no carb diet with all meat and cheese, so it's not surprising that this study used the lowest carb phase of Atkins to refer to instead of letting people know that this is only the induction rules. It helps make themselves look better while keeping others in the dark.

I am so sick of the distorted comparisons. 20g carb limit is for 2 weeks ONLY! Many people end up eating from 50-100g/day. Sheesh. I am not even on Atkins and I know the difference.

Okay, I'm going to admit right up front that I am as stupid as the day is long. However, if they want to talk about the fact that induction level carbs over the long term *may* lead to lower bone density then why the *$)^ didn't they just do freakin bone density scans and find out for a fact whether induction level carbs causes a decrease in bone density? Might it be because we already know it doesn't?

But if people are on induction for a limited period, then it wouldn't MATTER if "long term induction" caused that, right? -- except to the people who did it long term, obviously.

The thing is, Sears *knows* induction is a two week process. He *knows* Atkins' plan. So if he were actually attempting to study the two diets comparatively and specifically using the "detox / induction" period of Atkins (rather than say, having 2 weeks of eating on plan for both types, to account for sudden shifts in body chemistry, THEN starting measuring), then that isn't just coincidence -- it would be deliberately disingenius on his part, to skew the results before the study began.

So I'm hoping that this is not correct, and that he didn't actually include people on induction (especially newly on induction) as part of this. He would know better, so it would really make me question his integrity if he did.

Our modern hunter gatherer societies have managed to stay perfectly healthy with little to no carbs and no one is analysing thier urine.