How many diets have you tried before? I just want to let you know exactly what this diet will do for you... it will begin by getting rid of your stored water... you will have to drink loads of water just to stay hydrated enough to keep healthy. Carbohydrates are the main source of blood glucose, which is a major fuel for all of the body’s cells and the only source of energy for the brain and red blood cells. Therefore when you deplete your only source of 'brain fuel', your brain actually will suffer from long-term use of this type of diet. That's the other problem. Research also shows (the research they don't care to show you) that less than 2% of the people that do the Atkins' diet actually keep it off for five years, which means you'll have to keep doing it. Every time you do it you will lose a little more muscle each time. Then eventually your bone density will be negatively affected by this lack of muscle mass on it, bringing upon osteoporosis. Feel free to ask any other questions you may have, and I will have the answer to them!

Excuse me I KNOW ALL, are you trying to encourage or discourage me to do the Atkins Diet??

Think I better go out and get some of that there Hagen-Dazs ice cream. I wouldn't want to lose my muscle mass or have to keep drinking water.

I would love to read the research you are citing.

Karen

Hey Karen...don't forget to pick up some brain tonic too!

Donald

I stopped by the Amoco, they were plumb out of brain fuel.

Really?

Wow sounds like after 5 years on this diet there isn't anythng left of a person!


Actually Iknowall, your "facts" are a bit skewed . If you keep your calorie intake up, you do NOT lose lean muscle. Only on starvation diets or going below your BMR needs does your body resort to burning muscle tissue.

And as far as gaining the weight back. This is a way of life eating habit. Not a crash diet you go on and off of. If you go on ANY diet to lose weight not just DANDR and go off it, I would be willing to bet ANY one would regain the weight they loss, plus a few more pounds to go with it. People jump on and off diets like they change socks. Problem is they don't learn from past mistakes.

In order to keep the wieght off you MUST make a commitment to changing your eating habits for life. Not just for the duration of losing a few pounds.

BTW....welcome Lemonhead

Actually, Iknowall (the irony isn't lost on me), the prefered source of fuel for the brain is ketones.

And muscle loss is something that happens on all diets if you do not perform some kind of weight bearing exercise - it is much more prevelant on a low fat / protein deficient DIEt.

Nat

That's terrible! Do you have 7-11's down your way? Brain Fuel is usually beside the Big Gulps. And, don't forget to soooper size it!

Karen

True. This is a well-known and documented result of ANY weight-reduction diet. As well, drinking adequate water to prevent dehydration is not unique to ketogenic diets .. it's simply commonsense, and recommended for all.

False. High-fat, low-carb ketogenic diets have been used therapeutically since the 1920's to treat epilepsy in small children, as young as one year of age. The ketones soothe irritable brain cells which are misfiring and causing seizures ... and work where multiple drug therapies have failed. These kids grow normally, with no impairment in IQ, mental, behavioural or physical development. There are several scientific studies about this topic on our Studies webpage, which you can access from the orange bar at the top of the page.

There is a summary of ketogenic diets at http://www.keto.org/. The list of references can be found on that page. Here is an exerpt:

• It's a common misconception, even among doctors, that the brain can only use glucose for fuel. In actuality, it can burn either glucose or ketones, but under normal circumstances ketones aren't produced by the body. Most of the time, everyone in the world has their brain burning glucose. The only time the body would create and burn ketones in large quantities is when insufficient glucose is available as a fuel source. The way to make glucose (a basic sugar) unavailable, is to simply restrict carbohydrate consumption to 30g/day or less.

Only a small section of the brainstem requires glucose to function; the major part of the human brain - the cerebral cortex - functions very well on ketones, and also requires a steady supply of cholesterol in order to function properly. If carbohydrate is not consumed, the liver can make its own glucose out of protein, either the protein which is eaten, or it will break down muscle tissue in the case of starvation.

If you have lots of time, you might be interested to read Lyle McDonald's papers on Cyclic Ketogenic diets. Part One, Part Two and Part Three. Part One especially deals with the biochemistry of ketosis, lipolysis, gluconeogenesis and the muscle sparing effects of ketogenic diets.

True. Of course, the research also shows that the longterm success rate for ANY weight loss diet is less than 5%. It doesn't take rocket science to figure out that once a person returns to the way of eating that made them fat in the first place, it will make them fat again.

For those of us who have resolved serious health issues with a low-carb diet -- obesity, high blood lipids, diabetes, depression, fibromyalgia, addictions, etc, etc -- we have every intention to stay eating this way for the rest of our lives. Why would we want to go back to eating a way that made us sick, and would have shortened our lives if we'd continued?

False. As noted above, a ketogenic diet spares muscle tissue, consuming adequate dietary protein and resistance exercise adds muscle.

Bone density is affected by gravity more so than by the volume of muscle attached to it, which is why weight bearing activities such as walking and rebounding are effective for increasing density, while swimming is not. As well, bone density requires adequate vitamin D in order for calcium to be absorbed. Vitamin D is made in the skin from exposure to sunlight, or supplements are taken by those in reduced sunlight areas.

Ketones have absolutely no effect on bone or calcium. The theories that excess PROTEIN can lead to increased loss of calcium in the urine are not proven. Here's from the Drs. Eades, of Protein Power:

• The theory behind this whole idea is that when you eat protein, it’s broken down into substances that are a little bit acidic. Supposedly this more acidic blood somehow leaches the calcium out of the bones, and it can end up giving us osteoporosis, at a later date.
  
  Now all that sounds logical, but in fact it just doesn’t happen. This has been studied extensively over long periods of time. What researchers have found is when people eat a lot of protein, especially meat protein, they don’t have any increase in urinary calcium. In other words, they’re not leaching the calcium out of their bones and losing it in their urine as the theory would imply.
  
  And when we look at the skeletal remains of hunters and gatherers who ate two to three times the amount of protein considered "safe" for us today, you find their bones are 17 percent more dense than ours-given the comparison is done between individuals of the same height and gender.
  
  Lastly, there have been studies published recently that correlate the elevated insulin syndrome with bone loss. Because elevated insulin makes you get rid of calcium from your bones, it may actually be the insulin problem causing the osteoporosis! It certainly isn’t the protein in the diet.

If you know all, how come I know better?



Cheers,

Doreen

QUOTE:
For those of us who have resolved serious health issues with a low-carb diet -- obesity, high blood lipids, diabetes, depression, fibromyalgia, addictions, etc, etc -- we have every intention to stay eating this way for the rest of our lives. Why would we want to go back to eating a way that made us sick, and would have shortened our lives if we'd continued?


How true..how true!!! Before LC, I was sleeping all the time, felt basically TERRIBLE, depression, no energy, and was probably on my way to Type II diabetis (I'm certain). Now, I'm getting better everyday. Why would I want to poison myself with literally HUNDREDS of carbs a day!

Any person who decides to eat more healthy doesn't do it for a short period of time and then go back to the way they were eating before and expect the same results. LC is a lifestyle change . The amount of carbs we eat during this lifestyle change is partly determined by our goals. When trying to "cleanse", we reduce our carbs very low. While loosing, we still keep our carbs low. And when we have reached our goals, we adjust our carbs to the level that is right for each of us. Regardless of the a weightloss plan, the end result MUST be a lifestyle change!

So, IKNOW ALL... perhaps with your infinite wisdom you could explain to me why 8 yrs ago, when I was on a very low-fat high carb diet, I had the following symptoms: Hair loss (I actually wore a wig at age 20), dermatitis (scaling & rashes),insomnia, anxiety attacks, increased appetite, depression, lack of physical strength(I previously, at 150lbs could bench press my own weight 10 reps.)...the list goes on. I will add that I continued this "diet" for 5 years consuming 15% calories from fat, and carbs, carbs, & more carbs. I suffer from NONE of these symptoms now & my M.S. is actually getting better! My weight loss is slower with this lifestyle but I FEEL GREAT!! I was considered to have the "Perfect" figure 5'7" 120lb 36D-24 -38, but I was DYING. It wasn't until the diagnosis of M.S. that I began to switch my focus from my outer body to inner. I am classified as obese at 5'7" 215lb but I feel WELL for the first time in AGES, and the weight WILL come off!



P.S. from what I can tell form reports that I have read, the brain DOES NOT do without when other organs have necessary fuel. It will take what it needs, but as all the intelligent, and sometimes too kind people before me said, this WOL does not deprive the brain of any necessary fuel...maybe YOU should try it!!!

iknowitall ~ where, oh where, did you run off to?

I am so very proud to be part of such a magnanimous group of people. The time and energy that our moderators put in to this is just, well, brain numbing.

Yea to all of you,
Brenda

i am so proud of you guys I read....know it alls post and its people just like that try to discourage people about something they know nothing about but he had me going....i was so glad to read all your replies and it makes me stay LC even more thanks guys

You mean I lost 55 pounds of water, thanks I needed to know that!!!!

Into the ring comes Doreen and eyes her quarry.

Knowall attacks first with the water move. Feint and dodge by Doreen and the punch is harmlessly parried by a commonsense uppercut.

Knowall ripostes with the glucose shuffle. A clear miss at target. Doreen takes advantage with a pin on the orange bars and a few ketones below the belt when the referee was not looking.

In a move we have all seen before but rarely succesfull knowall tries the "never works" ploy. This move was so slow to develop that Doreen sees it before it is landed. The way of life hit to the solar plexus was really damaging to knowall.

In a last ditch attempt to stay on his feet knowall effects a direct chin shot with the withering muscles defense. But, by now weakening, knowall is looking confused and fails to see the Eades knockout punch.

Its all over, Doreen is declared the winner and asks for the belt to be taken in a few notches.

In the Interview afterwards Knowall declares that he has gained useful experience in this heavey weight division and was surprised that Doreen could punch so well below her weight.

He goes home a sadder but wiser man but vows to do more gym training and cut down on his sugar.

Meanwhile Doreen has told her sponsors that she is ready for the next round but... can she finish her book first?