You people who can't live on fat make the medical profession rich!!

can you tell me what you mean by this.

Cygirl: I've cleared serious acne problems, seasonal allergy problems, IBS (irritable bowel sydrome), eczema, overweight (lost about 45 pounds of fat).

Gained much more endurance for exercise, more energy during the day, less need for sleep, much less hunger (eat 1-3 times a day, usually 2), which means more free time, saved quite a bit of money too (since lard, bacon, eggs, beef fat, coconut oil, natural sausages, are cheap).

So much for my case, but I bet many others could tell you about the same thing.
If you have never read anything that tells you this type of diet is healthy, keep reading!
I could name you many doctors who put many sick persons on this type of diet.

But if you are not willing to pursue this discussion any further, I will let it rest.

I am so very glad it works for you!!

I know someone who was an unhealthy, sick person whose series of docs told him to eat "this way". My father, who had a series of major strokes brought on by undiagnosed diabetes in March of 2004.

Docs put him on LC. A year later, he has recovered from his strokes with minimal disability, completely medication free -- no plavax (blood thinner), no high bp med, diabetes controlled completely by his diet, and is 100 pounds lighter.

This WOE saved his life.

Prior to this WOE for myself, I had coughing attacks (I smoke), chest pains, extreme fatique, back aches, diarhea, heartburn, sleep apnea, and borderline high BP....on a daily basis. Within ONE WEEK of this WOE, ALL of these symptoms disappeared, and 2 1/2 months later, I am also 37 pounds lighter.

This WOE also saved MY life.

Actually, what was said that you won't know until you try it. However, as to myself, eggs dripping with lard is not only not appealing, I'm a Muslim.... butter, however, is another story. I'd ask "cygirl" what foods she *does* like. Not the foods that she thinks or imagines are good for her, but the ones she enjoys eating. If she eats bread, does she like butter on it? Does she eat meat?

I can say that I avoided the fat in meat for years, sneaking a bite here and there. Prime rib, yum! -- and that is often very fatty. I had another reason for avoiding it. I tended to feel sick after eating it. I thought the reason was the fat. I had g.i. reflux chronically, and it seemed to me that it was worse when I ate fat. But even with low fat, it did not go completely away.

Then I went on the Atkins diet, with some trepidation. Guess what? Even very fatty meals don't cause reflux now. I rarely feel discomfort after eating now. Quite clearly, fat was *not* the problem; the problem may have been the bread - in a restaurant -- or rice or potatoes that I would eat as much as I liked of, at the same time as I ate that fat. Probably a lot of fat plus a lot of carbs = reflux for me.

If you read the Atkins book, and look around at the current research, you will find that, yes, a high fat diet is actually recommended for a number of disorders, diabetes among others. Obesity itself is a serious health problem, and low-carb diets seem to have an edge up in dealing with it. It also seems, quite contrary to what everyone believed, that a high-fat diet, even a diet high in saturated fats like beef fat, butter, cream, may be heart-healthy.

I actually started a low-carb diet on the recommendation of my physician. The problem? *High cholesterol numbers.* He recommended South Beach, probably because it seems safer, the prejudice against saturated fat is very strong, in spite of the scarcity of hard evidence. I did quite a bit of research, and decided to do Atkins instead, the science behind it seemed more sound to me. When some of my cholesterol numbers went up, my docor wrote "terrible" on the lab results, "Please come in." But when I spoke with him in person, first of all, he could see that I had lost weight. He could see that I wasn't depressed. And he easily acknowledged that LDL cholesterol -- the only number that was worse, other numbers were better -- was only a "risk factor," not, in itself, a sign of disease. I'll be doing more detailed lab work to find out what *kind* of LDL cholesterol is floating in my blood; it may well be that my lipid levels are healthier than they were, in terms of predictive effect, if we knew more about the subject.

When I was being taken into the exam room, the nurse started to walk by the scale. "Aren't you going to weigh me?", I asked. "Weren't you weighed recently?" "Yes, but I've been on an Atkins diet, and I've lost weight since then." "Oh," she commented, "that diet really works."

And the doctor said the same thing. Doctors who are willing to look at what actually happens to their patients find that many of them do well, indeed very well, on an Atkins diet.

It's called a Nutritional Approch for good reason. It is not just about losing weight.

If you don't like fat, truly, then an Atkins diet is probably not for you. You *might* be able to do as well on a low-fat diet, but it may get much more complicated as well as more difficult. For most people, fat in the diet is satisfying.

Consider ice cream. If you don't like ice cream at all, this won't apply to you. Traditional ice cream is high-fat and high-carb, both. Now, you can buy low-fat ice cream; usually it is still high-carb. And you can buy low-carb ice cream, usually it is high fat. Having tried both many times, I can tell you very easily what I prefer. Low-carb ice cream, sweetened with Splenda or maltitol or the like, I find just as delicious as the regular stuff. But low-fat tastes flat to me. I could put sugar and low-fat milk in my coffee, but, yuck! Coffee and heavy cream, however, with or without a little Splenda, a treat!

That is what my appetite tells me. Yes, your mileage may vary. If a diet consists of foods that you don't like to eat, it probably is not going to work for you. But low-carb diets (which are usually high-fat, even South Beach is high in fat, but it is so-called "good fats" like olive oil) actually seem to allow the best foods, aside from sugar and pasta and potatoes. (Strictly, there are no forbidden foods in the long-term maintenance phase of the diet, but moderation is indeed necessary for things like potatoes; and once one has been weaned from sugar, at least I can testify this myself, one may become averse to it, that sugar rush can be quite unpleasant.)

So, let's see, about your question. Diabetes, Hyperlipidemia, Obesity, Depression, isn't that enough? And, yes, it turns out that fat may be good for mental acuity or memory.

But, really, the research is limited. It's amazing how stuck so many so-called experts got on the low-fat gospel, without there being the kind of careful research that is needed to tease out the complexities of human nutrition.

This is one of the most interesting concepts I found on the LC WOL.

For years, I've thought that the good Lord above must have designed a better way to lose weight and eat healthy that technology simply hadn't discovered yet.

The low fat gospel just doesn't seem reasonable -- we have to starve to lose weight this way, and the results just aren't that fufilling. Everything that tastes "good" is a no no in a low fat diet. I've seen many, like myself, that have teetered over into an obese weight, and reasonably feel a sence of doom -- many have turned to gastric bypasses because losing weight in the only way that mainstream science has promoted has proven time and time again to be near impossible.

To me, LC makes sense. It allows our bodies to do the work, as it should, and is physically and mentally fufilling. Its healthy and it WORKS.

My point was totally takin wrong.I too like the Atkins,Southbeach diets and I eat this way with a couple of differences but i am not convinced that my health would be better if i was eating 4 times the amount of fat daily that i am now.If you take a look at the posts in the (lc/research) and watch the vidio these people are NOT doing SB or Atkins they are eating huge amounts of fat.65% of their diet is fat.

Abd....the reason you are in better health is not becuase you eat great amounts of fat it is because you have lost the weight.
Most health problems i beleive are because people cant put their forks down.

and watch the video....this woman looks like Hell

Cygirl, that may not be South Beach, but it is certainly in line with Atkins induction: http://atkins.com/Archive/2004/2/3-915798.html
Note that when they analyzed their own menus, 58% of daily calories were coming from various fats. 60-65% isn't a great deal more.
Please also consider that as you move upwards on the carb ladder, fat percentages do decrease somewhat, but are never reduced to the 'recommended' 30% of total daily calories.
Personal taste aside, I really am curious about what you seem to think is so horrible about having a high fat intake when carbs are limited?

Cygirl, one thing to consider is that you are only 120 pounds. I doubt you would have an easy time eating 6 eggs dripping in lard. Those who are over 300 pounds could possibly eat 6 eggs w/liberal butter for breakfast.

As far as the percentages ... 65% fat is most certainly within following Atkins as well as Protein Power, depending on the stage of that plan the individual is in.

Atkins induction's fat percentage is around 70%, decreases as one adds more carbs.

That percentage isn't as bad as it sounds. I stopped keeping track (became too obsessed with Fitday.com), but I'm probably around 60-65% fat, strictly by cooking my eggs in butter, using a couple of T of butter on my broccoli, frying bacon in olive oil, using olive oil based dressing on my salad, eating a 1 oz. cheese stick....I'm VERY satisfied with my weight loss and my new found energy/health.



That doesn't explain relief of my unhealthy symptoms ... I experienced relief within the first week of this WOE, before a substantial amount of weight came off.

I've lost weight in my younger years very quickly in unhealthy ways (starving), and though I was a "skinny" person, I still had no energy, heartburn, reflux, unhealthy bowel movements, etc. The last time I was 160 pounds, my BP was 170/90......I'm 179 as of this morning, checked my BP yesterday -- 140/80.

Though weight alone CAN by all means provide some corrections to some health problems, it isn't enough by itself, especially if the weight was lost in an unhealthy manner.

If this WOE was truly unhealthy, we wouldn't be seeing testimonials of the correction of health problems....skinny or obese.

MeBLady, I agree that weight loss can't explain the improvements in health completely.
For myself, my diabetes was completely controlled within 2-3 weeks of starting low carb; not enough time to have lost a great deal of weight (I'm a Turtle when it comes to losing). Ditto for my blood pressure.
My DH also experienced almost immediate relief of his gastric reflux symptoms when he joined me on low carb (within a few days, actually)...again, weight loss could not have been a contributing factor there.
When I track on Fitday, my percentage of calories coming from fats are consistently in the 55-65% range and have been for the nearly 4 years I've been on low carb since my plan keeps me at 30 grams of carb per day on a permanent basis for blood sugar control.

Thanks for sharing this, MeBLady, quite an interesting story!

I would like to corroborate what you said also: my seasonal allergies, along with the acne, sleepiness, and energy levels, improved a lot before I lost any significant amount of weight.

yes it is but i didnt say that i said for life.There is a reason why you are only on induction for 2 weeks.
I dont do induction i have a way to eat for life.Not a diet really.

Thank-you for pointing that out for me.

I didnt realize till now that most of the people on this new fat diet are quite a bit heavier than me....
I realize to that this is the reason i would have no need to go on it.