Given the intent and challenges of this community, it might be appropriate when making a claim that someone's WOE is "unhealthy" to clearly label your statement as your own opinion. There are enough nasty tempered trolls here making such unfounded claims already. No need to -- even mistakenly, as I have no doubt was the case this time -- adopt their tactics of unfounded claims, ad hominem, and argument by ridicule, ourselves.

"How do you research an opinion?"

The internet? Books? Research papers? That's off the top of my head.

Opinions are usually based on things that we have read or heard which may or may not be accurate. It seems that your opinion is that a high fat diet is uhealthy, but what is that opinion based on?
We have been told for years that dietary fat = unhealthy, but really there is little to no scientific evidence to back that up unless we are talking about transfats.
The high fat = heart disease hypothesis also has little to no scientific evidence to back it up because, unsurprisingly, the diets of the study particpants were also in nearly every study high in refined carbohydrate products which leaves us to ponder whether it was the high fat content or the high refined carbohydrate content which was responsible for the study results.
Studies that have been done on high fat (75% +) in the absence of high carbs have shown, to the astonishment of some of the researchers, that cardiac profiles did not get worse as they expected; they got better.

I guess it all comes down to this: eat in a way that seems healthiest to you. If the thought of a high fat diet makes you gag, don't follow one. OTOH, if another person finds a high fat intake the best thing since sliced bread (literally in our case ) why get your knickers in a knot because they feel well and remain healthy following it?

Cygirl, the diet is not knew; the one that you're speaking about goes back about thirty years. South Beach is somewhat more recent, as I recall; perhaps it will die a natural death in the near future.

And why should anyone be surprised if someone follows low-carb, but is not actually trying to lose weight? As I said, I follow low-carb because it makes sense. Boring and unhealthy? Why do you think so?

I am thinking about the lunch I just had.....ground beef and cheddar cheese w/guacamole on a LC tortilla. It was de-lish!

Filet Mignon w/sateed mushrooms, lettuce greens with italian dressing, scrambled eggs w/tabasco, cantaloupe, apples, kiwis, steamed broccoli, brussel sprouts, caulflower w/butter or cheese sause, shrimp scampi, chicken salads...

This stuff is MUCH less boring than a bowl of dry shredded iceberg lettuce, cup of low fat cottage cheese, carrot, and a breadstick. Much more filling too ;-)

You are following high fat......

low carb does make sense.

Kestrel,I too eat like that.
I think i was takin wrong and i am aloud my opinion without backing myself up all the time.

Cygirl...think about it this way:

If you are following a low carb plan, carbs are restricted, right? That leaves us fat and protein.
Now...let's say that you are following a maintainence program at around 2,000 calories per day. Your Carb level for maintaining is 60 grams of carb per day.
So....we have 60 grams of carb at roughly 4 calories per gram...240 calories.
You need some protein...let's estimate that you like meat and eat about 120 grams of protein per day (remember, this isn't the total weight of the meat; just the number of grams of protein that the meat contains since meat is also comprised of water and fat as well). Protein is also roughly 4 calories per gram...so you have another 480 calories there.
Between the carbs and the protein, you are at 720 calories of your total of 2,000. Guess where the balance of your calories is going to come from? Yup...fats. To get the balance of your calories, you'll need about 142 grams of fat at roughly 9 calories per gram which would equal about 64% of your total daily caloric intake. Even if you were to increase your protein intake to 150 grams per day (that's a lot of meat, BTW), that still leaves your total daily percentage of calories from fat at 58%.
By today's medical guidelines (AHA et al), 58-65% of your daily caloric intake from fat is dietary suicide and yet those on low carb plans find that their overall health and bloodwork improve dramatically.
I don't find the ratios of this Optimal diet plan to be that much of a stretch when I look at it from this perspective.

Cygirl: not many wild animals get much variety in their foods, especially carnivorous animals. Oh, they may eat different animals depending on their availability, but their exclusive meat diet keeps them in top health. As it did for the eskimos (som living their whole lives only on seal, or only on fish, or only on caribou, or a mix of the three), or many other wild tribes of «primitive» humans.

IMHO, variety in nutrition is overrated.

Cygirl:
High fat diet aside, it's simply hard to keep fat below 40%, if you get at least 100-120g of protein from leanest animal source (skinless chicken breast, lean red meat, etc.), 1-2 boiled eggs, and a bit of olive oil (1tbs) with your salad. Simply put, try to meet RDA requirements and keep your calories in reasonable range, and your carbs lower, and you wil get more fat than food pyramid allows anyway. This is even not counting nuts, adocado, and fatty fish like salmon and tuna. So, unless you are eating salad with vinegar only, egg whites, cod fish and such, you will get at least 40% of your calories from fat. So, it's a trade off, either keep your fat super low or your carbs (15%), since your protein intake should support lean body mass and remain the same reagrdless of the diet. Simply take your pick. But remember, you can't have it both If the idea of eating 6 eggs dripping in lard is not appealing (I am not sure who can eat 6 eggs at once ), then simply eat salmon, sardines, advocado, seeds and nuts. You will get lots of heart friendly Omega-3, and less saturated fat. When it comes to high fat diet, think low fat in reverse. Remeber low fat craze, it was recommended to keep fat intake <20%, even better 10-15% of your total calories. So, it's the same with carbs. Both, fat and carbs are sources of energy, carbs being fast burning fuel, while fat burns slowly. All LC diets are based on the same premises: burn fat instead of glucose. Protein is not a fuel, however, can be turned into glucose, if eaten to excess.
As with everything, YMMV on any diet, it's just a matter of preferances.
JMHO.
D.

I've read through all these posts and I just don't understand why you (Cygirl) are even here following a LC WOE! If you don't subscribe to the belief that a high fat diet can actually be healthy and good, then what are you doing here? A LC WOE goes hand in hand with a high-fat WOE. If you don't like it, find another WOE! Go back to low-calorie, low-fat and then come back in a year and prove us wrong!

Oh God, remember those days? This WOL just makes sense to me. Being hungry and grumpy=bad. Feeling full and healthy=good. How can anyone argue this? I am living proof that this WOE works and will continue to shout it from the rooftops.

As you can see from my stats low carb works for me too.No need to get catty.
I started this post because of the woman that eats lard and animal fat as a main stay.Look at what she eats....dare you to eat this way and say its wonderful.Weather healthy or not!
I am glad you are the only people right so now what we can do is start feeding our babies like this as soon as they start eating because 15+percent of children are obese.You will be rich and famous.....lucky.Meow

I guess I still don't get what the problem is; so the lady eats lard and animal fat. What exactly is the problem??

From one cooking web site: "Rendered and clarified hog fat. Lard is richer than many other fats, and makes suberbly tender, flaky biscuits and pastries..."

If you're on low-carb, fats are certainly going to be a key to the program...

If you're talking about the article on the Optimal Diet in the Media forum, you might want to check it again. Nowhere in the article does it say exactly what the woman interviewed eats on a daily basis. The breakfast menu presented is the reporter's version of what the diet is like.
Was that an accurate depiction? Not from what I've read, but the article is designed to make you assume that this is how the woman interviewed eats and jump to exactly the types of conclusions that you are jumping to. Remember...journalists keep portraying the Atkins diet as the "all-you-can-eat bacon and cheeseburger diet". If I went by what reporters said about low carbing without actually getting the facts myself, I doubt that I even would have considered low carbing in the first place.

As Benjamin Franklin once said..."Don't believe anything you hear and only about half of what you read." which is right up there with "Trust, but verify".



Are 15% + of children obese because their parents are feeding them animal fat and lard? Nope. 15% and more of children are obese because their parents are feeding them chips, cookies, sugary breakfast cereal, Pop Tarts, Pizza, McDonalds, juice by the gallon and all manner of junk food high in refined carbohydrates and sugar...but by golly it's low in fat!
Personally, I don't think it would be a terrible thing to keep sugar away from children and feed them a high fat diet instead (along with plenty of vegetables, adequate protein and some fruits). After all..children up to the age of 3 have much higher fat requirements than even we do because they need it for proper brain development. Parents who try to restrict fat intake before that age are doing their kids a huge disservice. If you feel that they're getting too chubby, how about switching those Snackwell cookies and Scooby-Do fruit snacks for some carrots and sour cream dip and taking them to the park to play a little more often?

Try TheOmnivore.com. I, too, was confused by the whole fat thing, and the more I read the more convinced I got that fat is very good, even in large amounts, providing it's the right kind. The 'right kind' appears to be most any animal-derived fat, and cold-pressed vegetable oils like olive oil. Avocado oil is supposed to be good, but I've read conflicting things on flax. Soy, corn, canola etc... are very bad.

Beth

I can easily raise that bar, lol (fat-wise, not quantity-wise). I love smoked pork fat (as in the fatty part of bacon, no meaty bits, smoked instead of cured). Lovely creamy texture, great smoky taste. Absolutely wonderful with tomatoes!
I'm also known to endulge in at least half a cup of heavy cream every day. Cream has always been my favourite food and I could never get bored with it! I don't drink it, it's too thick. I enjoy it with a teaspoon much like one would eat icecream. Yummy!
Eggs in lard... I'm not a big fan of eggs and I prefer them boiled. But as far as lard is concerned, I'd much rather have a fatty lardy cut of meat than a stringy fatless muscle. And don't get me started on skinless chicken breast, so dry I could choke on it!

So yes, having lots of animal fat in my menu is a wonderful way to eat, but it's my opinion as a person who's never developed a fat phobia. I know where you're coming from, I know someone whose tolerance for animal products is limited to milk in his coffee and the very occasional fatless muscle (chicken, mostly). Anything else - fat, organs, sausages - is a no-no. He's not afraid of fat per se but the notion that fat is bad is so deeply ingrained in him that he's actually developed the taste... actually, the lack of taste for it.

It's how you're raised, I believe. Like, for example, people around the world love shrimp. I hate shrimp! I had shrimp for the first time when I was 25 and I was so well aware of how it looks that at some level it ruined my ability to really taste it, all I could think about was how disgusting it looks. If I had had it since childhood, I would perhaps think of shrimp as a perfectly normal looking, tasty food. Or, another example, bugs and worms -- people eat those, too, in some parts of the world -- I couldn't ever! Is shrimp nutritious? Or bugs or worms? Or fat, for that matter? Yes, they all are and people have eaten them for ages and their kids, too. But in the end it all comes down to "can you really take the plunge with an open mind?" It's harder for adults than children, we already have our preconceived notions about looks, taste and texture, about what's edible and/or healthy and all of these can enhance or ruin our appreciation of a particular food item.