Schwarzbein Principle vs. other low carb

[Ksrt]

Hi all,

While I don't want to start a war, I have a serious question about low-carbing especially under 60 grams of carbs per day or being in ketosis. I was reading the Schwarzbein Principle II and she says in that book that taking your carbs too low damages your metabolism and makes you even more insulin resistant. She says you can force weight off by keeping carbs low, but that if you keep them so low that you raise your adrenaline higher than insulin (causing you to use yourself up more than you rebuild), your body will ultimately make you more insulin resistant in an attempt to slow down your usage, otherwise you might die. So if this is true I was wondering the following.

1. Since I assume the amount of carbs tolerated by different people equates to the amount of insulin resistance they have, how can you tell if you are going too low? Don't feel well? In ketosis?

2. Has anyone ever gotten a glucose tolerance test along with insulin after they had lost a lot of weight low carbing? I ask because they make you drink glucola which is pure sugar, and in my case, my 5 hour glucose tolerance test revealed that I'm nearly diabetic and my insulin resistance is very bad. But my post-prandial glucose and insulin (2 hours after eating a normal meal) was in the normal range for glucose and insulin. I take this to mean that I am good at controlling glucose and insulin by the way I eat but my body is no better at handling large amounts of glucose when I take a glucola test. Normal people are supposed to handle large amounts of sugar even when it wasn't good for you to have it.

Which means that even if you lost a lot of weight low-carbing, if you still show up really insulin resistant, the health you are trying to achieve still isn't there. Schwarzbein says you have to get healthy to lose weight, not lose weight to get healthy. Have those of you who lost large amounts of weight had a test to determine if you got insulin sensitive because of it?

[tamarian]

Did she quote any specific studies or research in TSP2 that shows this to be true?

Unfortunately, most LC authors want to scare you off to think they are different from other LC plans, and that they alone are "healthy", and following others is bad, bad, bad.

There's nothing magic about 60 grams of carbs, you can get ketosis at over 100 grams. If she's right, there would have been no Eskimos :)

Wa'il

[Dodger]

Define what she means by being healthy.
I have been on maintenance for over two years and don't eat over 60 grams of carbs a day. Why would it matter if I had a problem handling 400 grams a day? I exercise a lot and have lots of energy, low blood sugars, great cholesterol, sleep soundly, and enjoy life. My doctor has pronounced me as in the lowest risk group for heart problems. What is unhealthy about that?
I firmly believe that eating low carb (any plan) is healthy and eating high carbs is unhealthy.
Even when I ate zero grams of carbs (or as close to it as possible), I was not able to get Ketostix to show any color, although I had other symptoms of ketosis.

[Ksrt]

I believe she defines being healthy as being insulin sensitive which means your insulin does it's job correctly (as opposed to being insulin resistant) and also not having burned out adrenal glands. She contends that taking your insulin too low puts stress on your adrenal glands and then your body will make you even more insulin resistant. So while you are solving problems in the short term, in the long term you make yourself more unhealthy. That's why I brought up whether anyone has taken the glucola glucose and insulin test. Because you can affect your blood sugar and insulin with the way you eat, but the true test is how your cells respond when given a large amount of sugar. Insulin sensitive people will have a normal clearing of the sugar without large amounts of insulin and insulin resistant people will have trouble clearing the sugar thus the pancreas keeps pouring out more and more insulin, making the insulin in your blood too high.

So my goal is to have a healthy insulin response, not just to cover up the symptoms by eating differently. That's why I want to know if anyone had done a glucose tolerance test with insulin measurements at the same time so they could know if their low carb diet has really made them better or if they are just working around the problem.

KSRT

[tamarian]

So my goal is to have a healthy insulin response, not just to cover up the symptoms by eating differently. That's why I want to know if anyone had done a glucose tolerance test with insulin measurements at the same time so they could know if their low carb diet has really made them better or if they are just working around the problem.

But that would mean you are trying to do a research/study to see if what she said is true, right? The problem here is that you can get all sorts of responses, and none of them is in a clinical setting, or a controlled group.

It would have been more useful is she just pointed out any such studies and references that made her arrive to such conclusions. Was there any footnotes or references in the book along with that statement?

I only read TSP 1, and while it had no footnotes, there was a list of references for each chapter. Check if there is one in TSP 2, and there might be some references there for the chapter where she said that, and we can check those out.

Wa'il

[Bat Spit]

Ksrt-

I had the fasting insulin with glucola test before I started LC. I had very high insulin levels, although my sugars managed to stay within appropriate ranges. So, insulin resistant, but not yet diabetic.

I was warned that it is recommended to eat a 'normal' level of carbs for several days before taking the test to get a good reading. I don't remember what goal number for carbs I was told but I did try to match it. I know that it was a higher level than I ever plan to eat again on a regular basis.

I have not repeated the test since Atkinsing. I can only say that the feelings I associate with high insulin and unbalanced sugars are well controlled as long as I eat what my body considers 'properly'.

I have read 2 of the Schwarzbein books. I felt she had a lot of really good information, but not necessarily the whole story for everyone. I can tell you that eating the way she recommends is still much too high in carbohydrates for my body. I can not maintain balanced blood sugars at those levels.

I can tell you that after 7 mos on Atkins, eating between 30 and 50 carbs per day I've lost weight, increased my energy, and I have much better response to my periodic indulgence meals with high carb items. On the other hand, in July when I allowed myself one or two servings of fruit per day in the form of peaches and nectarines my blood sugars destabilized and my weightloss plateaued.

What I would recommend for you is to read a selection of different books, particularly Life Without Bread and one of the most popular ones like South Beach, Atkins, or Protein Power. Increase your personal knowledge base, then pick a system that sounds right for your body. Give it an honest try, then if it isn't working, start adjusting it according to your personal reactions.

If one thing worked for everyone, we'd all be thin wouldn't we? ;)

I wish you well on your journey to find YOUR best way of eating.

[Lisa N]

I was warned that it is recommended to eat a 'normal' level of carbs for several days before taking the test to get a good reading. I don't remember what goal number for carbs I was told but I did try to match it. I know that it was a higher level than I ever plan to eat again on a regular basis.

Dr. Atkins recommended that if you have been low carbing that you raise your daily intake of carbs to a minimum of 125 grams per day for a minimum of 3 days prior to taking the test or the results could not be considered accurate. Going from a low carb intake of 20-30 grams a day to the amount that is given during a glucose tolerance test (generally 75 grams of glucose) is a shock to the system; not only is that a large amount of carbs at one time, but also high GI carbs that are rapidly absorbed with nothing else in the stomach to buffer the effect.

Normal people are supposed to handle large amounts of sugar even when it wasn't good for you to have it.

Once you are insulin resistant, you are no longer a 'normal' person and it's debatable whether you ever will be again.

[Leela]

I am a diabetic and without taking a test, I can tell you that insulin resistance is directly related to weight. A drop of 5-10 lbs will significantly lower my insulin resistance, as I can see by the dosage of medication I need in relation to my blood sugars. It's also related to appetite. When you're insulin resistance begins to get corrected, your voracious appetite no longer exists. On Atkins, I was ALWAYS hungry, trying to satisfy my cravings with more protein/fat, to no avail. On Schwartzbein, I do not feel that way and have no problem eating only the recommended amounts. Also, a cheat may consist of an extra half a serving of something and that is satisfactory. On Atkins, a cheat was a binge. I couldn't control it.

When I tried Atkins, I was bloated and constipated and weight loss came to a standstill after two weeks. I have been doing Schwartzbein and am feeling better AND losing weight. They're not too different. Schwartzbein recommends 15-20 carbs/meal and half of that with a snack. Its much like the maintenance of Atkins. I think people on Atkins tend to want to stay on the induction longer than intended, due to the quick weight loss and then they become carb-shy.

If you stick with really good carbs, filled with fiber, you'll find weight loss still continues and you feel better. It also seems to prevent me from seeking out the high fat foods to satisfy my appetite. Fat is ok, but you can get carried away. I like to think my diet is neither low or high fat, just stick with the healthy ones.

[Ksrt]

Thank you all so much for your replies. Schwarzbein does claim that you can "heal" insulin resistance, that's the reason for my question. If you assume that you can never "heal" then you definitely need to control the carbs all your life. But if taking your carbs too low actually makes you more insulin resistant, then you are kinda winning the battle but losing the war. So my real question was aimed at determining whether anyone who was formerly insulin resistant is now insulin sensitive by losing weight on a less than Schwarzbein amount of carbs (primarily because a Schwarzbein amount of carbs still keeps my insulin high). And what about this burned out adrenal thing? Anyone believe in that and has cured that by keeping the insulin up which is what she talks about in the book?

KSRT

[Dodger]

How do you prove that you have 'healed' insulin resistance? Do you have to go back to a high carb lifestyle and see if you gain weight? If high carbs caused insulin resistance in the first place, why would it not do so the second time?

[Leela]

I have always had insulin resistance, I think. I only noticed it when I was pregnant and developed gestational diabetes, and type II after that.

I think its a genetic thing and its something you always have to watch. As your weight goes down, so does your insulin resistance, but that doesn't mean it wont return if you gain again. You're never healed, just controlled. Thats my opinnion.

[Collateral]

I think everyone has a degree of insulin resistance....it's just at some point the one person will find out....later in life or early in life.

[Lisa N]

How do you prove that you have 'healed' insulin resistance? Do you have to go back to a high carb lifestyle and see if you gain weight? If high carbs caused insulin resistance in the first place, why would it not do so the second time?

I was wondering the same thing. I have no doubt that low carbing can normalize blood sugars and insulin levels but if you go back to doing what you did before, the results will likely be the same and I'd be willing to bet that it wouldn't take long back on a high carb plan before the person would be headed right back into higher insulin production and insulin resistance again.
As with diabetes, normalized blood sugars don't mean that the diabetes is 'healed', only that it is well controlled. ;)
As for Adrenal burnout, there are many factors that can contribute that that, not just a very low carb intake; stress, caffeine, chronic lack of sleep just to name a few.

[ValerieL]

We talk about going back to how we were eating before, but that was different for everyone. I ate junk and crap and tons of sugar/refined carbs. Of course returning to that is unhealthy, but if I grasp what the original poster is saying about Schwartzbein, Schwartzbein is probably suggesting that insulin resistance could be healed to the point where healthy eating could include a higher carb level comprised of whole grains, fruits, legumes than you might be able to have on regular low-carb maintenance.

If that is true, it's an interesting concept. I can see a scenario where I damaged my insulin response by years of crappy eating but if a diet designed to heal the insulin response worked, then I could go on to eat a healthy, but (relative to most low-carb diets) high carb diet in maintenance. If it's possible (and I don't know, I'm just theorizing based on this little amount of info) for insulin resistance to be healed as opposed to be managed, wouldn't that be the best solution?

[DietSka]

In my own experience, the primary symptom of insulin resistance was hypoglicemia, in particular feeling sleepy after a meal (because of IR I was overproducing insulin, leading to low blood sugar soon after eating). While lowcarbing, the very occasional high-carb indulgence did send my BS skyrocketing but didn't put me to sleep soon after. To me, this means glucose is more quickly and readily accepted by the cells and thus there is no need to overproduce insulin. Improved glucose uptake means improved insulin resistance as far as I know.

This is purely anecdotal evidence, of course, and my own 2c.

[ItsTheWooo]

How do you prove that you have 'healed' insulin resistance? Do you have to go back to a high carb lifestyle and see if you gain weight? If high carbs caused insulin resistance in the first place, why would it not do so the second time?

IR can said to be healed if you exhibit a normal response under a GTT.

Of course if you assume because you are healed (even if this were possible which I don't think it is) that you can go back to eating a lot of carbs, gain weight, you're gonna end up sick again.

[tom sawyer]

Insulin resistance is a moot point in the absence of a challenge to the system by high doses of high GI carbs. Becoming more tolerant of any toxin, is no reason to expose oneself. I don't think Nietzsche's "if it doesn't kill you it makes you stronger" philosophy applies to toxins such as processed sugar and starch.

And yes I heard that quote from a Conan movie.

[tom sawyer]

One other thought. The extent to which your IR gets "healed" (as well as how resistant you had become in the first place), probably determines what your maintenance carb level is. Those who remain intolerant of carbs, will find that they need to remain permanently on a lower carb level.

[mcsblues]

The Eades describe how they monitor their patients progress by (amongst other things) taking insulin sensitivity readings at the first consultation and subsequent visits. They do this with a simple insulin challenge test (which is more instructive and definitive than a GTT - and also quicker) Simply a dose of intravenous insulin is given with dose dependant on fasting BG and body weight. A second blood sugar reading is taken 15 minutes later and compared to the fasting level - insulin resistant patients will see a small change, whereas those with good sensitivity should see their fasting BG drop to about half.

As they report improvements in sensitivity can be seen in just weeks of their program (low carb diet, exercise, supplements, better fats,iron store depletion etc) I would be interested to see any scientific papers Schwarzbein may quote which suggests that this is some sort of illusion.

Of course no-one is suggesting that you 'fix' your IR and then go back to eating the way that (arguably) gave you IR in the first place! And I would imagine its unlikely you would ever achieve the insulin sensitivity you had when you were a teenager. But apparently it is simple to demonstrate improvements at least to some degree - and a low carb diet is an integral part of the treatment process.

Cheers,

Malcolm

[Ksrt]

Hi,

I believe Schwarzbein's theory would be that you can become insulin sensitive again through lowering your carbs initially, but not so low as to go into ketosis. But as you heal and your insulin becomes more sensitive, you have to raise the carbs to keep in that "zone" as Barry Sears would call it. When you are in that zone, things work well in your body. If you lose weight and get more insulin sensitive, your "zone" moves and you have to raise the carbs so as not to have your insulin too low. Never does she say that anyone should go back to eating sugar and junk, even the diet for healthy people doesn't allow for any manmade carbohydrates at all. It's just that you will be able to eat all the healthy food you need if you are insulin sensitive without restricting good foods to keep your insulin down so much.

KSRT

[mcsblues]

But does she back this up with any science? (no, I haven't read either of her books - which is why I ask).

Cheers,

Malcolm

[ValerieL]

KSRT, does Malcolm's post answer your original question? If I understand correctly, he is saying that the Eades have done the testing to prove that insulin resistance starts to improve with even when the diet is ketogenic.

That was your original question, wasn't it? Whether anyone seen any evidence to prove or disprove Schwartzbein's theory that the diet has to be above 60 grams of carbohydrate in order for insulin resistance to get better?

[Ksrt]

As far as references go, there are a few listed in the back of her 2nd book and none in the first. I haven't investigated any of the references. I think she bases her theories on observations in her medical practice.

I'm sure that insulin resistance is reduced while in ketosis since you are artificially keeping your insulin down. I think Schwarzbein says that once you start eating carbs again, instead of just matching the insulin to the amount of carbohydrate coming in, the body puts out even more insulin to try to rebuild the biochemicals that were lost during the "famine" (which Schwarzbein would say ketosis is perceived as famine by the body). Therefore, the Eades test would show greater insulin sensitivity during the ketosis, but it's what happens after you reintroduce carbs that makes you more insulin resistant. If you persist in ketosis to try to avoid this, your body will eventually turn on the insulin where your carbs are already low. Then if you ever give the body any more carbs you will experience rapid weight gain while your body gives this outpouring of insulin to "rebuild" you. This is why the Atkins people keep stressing that once you do this it has to become a "way of life". It isn't necessarily going back to your old eating habits that causes the weight gain (although your prior eating habits likely have something to do with the reason you're insulin resistant in the first place). The weight gain is the natural consequence of the way the body reads ketosis. If this is true, imagine how horrible the gastric bypass surgery is, which practically forces starvation on you. You are guaranteeing that you can never be healthy because even if you get initial weight loss, your body will eventually find a way to turn on the insulin. It does this to keep you alive so it's a good and expected thing.

Mind you I am not promoting Schwarzbein or the zone or anything or bashing the Eades or Atkins. I am not an expert either. I am simply reading various things and trying to synthesize the information so that I can heal and not set myself up for more problems. My observations from reading these forums has convinced me that there is truth to this notion that you are damaging your metabolism further to be in ketosis,and you will have to live there forever or suffer some consequences to get out of it. And for women, going through menopause makes you even more insulin resistant if your don't want hrt, so you might reach a point where you can no longer eat at all and still get type II diabetes. I don't want to do this wrong which is why my original post was asking about whether people reallly got insulin sensitive after doing Atkins and losing large amounts of weight.

[dina1957]

IR can't be cured, it's a genetic disorder. While blood sugar can be controlled with a low carb diet, IR is irreversable. The only test that makes sense is the ratio glucose to insulin or GTT with insulin, or 12 hours fasting insulin and c-peptide, which no doctor orders anyway unless you beg for it.
Some ppl can have low blood sugar on account of elevated insulin. Losing weight alone does not make one person insulin sensitive, I am not sure if we can "grow" new receptors insstead of burned out or faulty ones. Yes, a healthy body is insulin sensitive, being insulin resistant affects adrenal and thyroid functions as well as entire metabolic and hormonal system. Given that insulin is a major hormone, it compromises the rest of the hormones, espcially this is true for female body.
Not every overweight person is IR, one can be of normla weight and still IR.
JMHO.
D.

[ItsTheWooo]

IMHO, IR can't be cured, it's a genetic disorder. While blood sugar can be controlled with a low carb diet, the only test that makes sense is the ratio glucose to insulin or GTT with insulin. Som eppl can have low blood sugar on account of elevated insulin. Losing weight alone does not make one person insulin sensitive, I am not sure if we can "grow" new receptors insetad of burned out or faulty ones. Yes, a healthy body is insulin sensitive, being insulin resistant affects adrenal and thyroid functions as well as entire metabolic and hormonal system. Given that insulin is a major hormone, it compromises the rest of the hormones, espcially this is true for female body.

I agree, except I would argue a minor point that IR is a genetic disorder. I think the predisposition is genetic but I think if none of us ate modern diets IR would be very rare. Some of us are lucky and can handle it and never get sick, others become sick quickly, and others still become sick later.

[dina1957]

I agree, except I would argue a minor point that IR is a genetic disorder. I think the predisposition is genetic but I think if none of us ate modern diets IR would be very rare. Some of us are lucky and can handle it and never get sick, others become sick quickly, and others still become sick later.
yes, genetic predisposition, which starts with our parents even better grandparents. Most of the LC plan simplify this issues without taking into consideration other factors, life style, being female, peri- and menopause, etc. IMO, it's a total amount of food in regards to life style, not just carbs/fat. At least, what works for me is eating less.;)

[mcsblues]

As far as references go, there are a few listed in the back of her 2nd book and none in the first. I haven't investigated any of the references. If you could list any that are relevant to this topic I would be very grateful. I think she bases her theories on observations in her medical practice.Well so do the Eades - they have 20+ years of practice with thousands of patients - but more importantly they take direct measurements of insulin sensitivity before and during treatment (and I am not aware of any other practioners who do this) - so if they say they routinely see improvements in IR as a result of treatment I believe them.

I'm sure that insulin resistance is reduced while in ketosis since you are artificially keeping your insulin down. I think Schwarzbein says that once you start eating carbs again, instead of just matching the insulin to the amount of carbohydrate coming in, the body puts out even more insulin to try to rebuild the biochemicals that were lost during the "famine" (which Schwarzbein would say ketosis is perceived as famine by the body). Therefore, the Eades test would show greater insulin sensitivity during the ketosis, but it's what happens after you reintroduce carbs that makes you more insulin resistant. If you persist in ketosis to try to avoid this, your body will eventually turn on the insulin where your carbs are already low. Then if you ever give the body any more carbs you will experience rapid weight gain while your body gives this outpouring of insulin to "rebuild" you. Hmmm, well first of all the Eades program does not rely on ketosis - at least not in the sense that term is used by Atkins dieters - ie measurable ketones spilling into the urine (rather than just using dietary or body stored fat for energy). Whilst the Eades agree that ketosis is harmless, their program starts at 30 - 40 net carbs a day for intervention and then more after that. Whilst some, but not all people might be in 'ketosis' in this range - I can't think of any reason why the body should 'perceive' this as a famine state. In any event if insulin sensitivity is restored during ketosis levels of carb intake - ie there are more insulin receptors or the existing ones work more efficently - why would this capability suddenly be lost when a few more carbs are added as the Eades (and Atkins) suggest?This is why the Atkins people keep stressing that once you do this it has to become a "way of life". It isn't necessarily going back to your old eating habits that causes the weight gain (although your prior eating habits likely have something to do with the reason you're insulin resistant in the first place). The weight gain is the natural consequence of the way the body reads ketosis. If this is true, imagine how horrible the gastric bypass surgery is, which practically forces starvation on you. You are guaranteeing that you can never be healthy because even if you get initial weight loss, your body will eventually find a way to turn on the insulin. It does this to keep you alive so it's a good and expected thing.I'm sorry, I just don't understand the logic here (whether it is yours or Swartzbein's) - why is more insulin going to be produced to "keep you alive"? What is going to stimulate the additional insulin? Even at extremely low levels of carbohydrate intake, insulin (and glucagon) are still being produced by the pancreas - all that a low carb diet does is improve the balance of these two hormones by making it unnecessary for excessive amounts of insulin to be produced. You are 'kept alive' very well indeed. Now for any diet (not just low carb) to be successful it needs to be for life otherwise whatever the change you make is just a temporary aberration. The question here is whether a period carbohydrate restriction, coupled with exercise and suplementation can give the body a chance to improve insulin sensitivity to any extent - thus allowing you to gradually increase your carb intake to a higher level (but still low by SAD standards) with good insulin control. The Eades long experience and testing suggest that this is possible - at least for some people, and they certainly don't report the opposite occuring (ie low carb causing IR) As I say, I'm interested if there is any evidence supported this alternative view.

Cheers,

Malcolm

[Ksrt]

Malcolm,

This is just my attempt at interpreting what I read in the Schwarzbein book. I don't know if there's any scientific evidence of it. I do know that Schwarbein thinks that if you take your insulin too low, cortisol comes out and that blocks insulin from doing its job so you end up more insulin resistant because of that. I know this is true because it's why stress puts weight on you and they always tell you to do stress management now. If the stress goes on long enough, Schwarzbein says you will burn out your adrenal glands. Then you will not have enough cortisol to fight inflamation and you end up with all sorts of inflamatory disorders such as arthritis, asthma, allergies, and even cancer.

That is her reason for not taking the insulin too low. Since your insulin adjusts with practically everything you do, I find it difficult to figure it all out, since even how you slept last night affects your hormones. They change by the minute.

KSRT

[mcsblues]

Please forgive me if i sound like I am attacking the messenger - that is not my intention, but what you need to understand (and perhaps Swarxbein does too!) is that at least in my ever so humble opinion :) she seems to be making some particularly sweeping statements about complex processes - which need to be challenged if they are not supported by evidence.

Just a couple of points - "taking your insulin too low" - as I understand it when your body is working properly (ie not overstressed with excessive carb intake) you have a pretty good feedback loop which controls insulin and glucagon (and blood sugar) which keep them all in a pretty tight range. If insulin and/or blood sugar gets too low there are a number of processes which immediately address that problem and correct it (eg a glucagon dominant metabolism will permit gluconeogenisis - until blood sugar demands are met and as BS rises so will insulin - which stops gluconeogenisis). In fact there are a number of processes which allow us to raise blood sugar but only one way for us to lower it - which is a pretty good indication we evolved on a low carbohydrate diet don't you think?:)

Cortisol as you say is a stress hormone - which incidentally can be triggered by excess insulin - and it is also a well recognised feature of a low carbohydrate diets that inflamatory disorders such as hypertension and arthritis are frequently cured or at least greatly assisted by eating this way.

So if you wnat my advice (probably not!;)) - I suggest you can relax (yep good for your cortisol), get a good night's sleep (good for your human growth hormone) and not worry too much about the scaremongering of Swartzbein ... unless you see some solid scientific backing for her claims.

Cheers,

Malcolm

[Ottawa]

I did not read the whole of the second book since I dislike some of the direct statements she makes without much reference other than her "perceptions" with those she has worked with. There were some portions that seemed interesting, such as healing years of Birth Control blues, but she seems to have a hate on for low carb, much like most of the medical community.
As well it sends out an alarm when a scientific author uses terms like never or impossible. When she also states that Ketosis is "artificially keeping your insulin down", then what of those groups/tribes who have lived this way for thousands of years? Even though they must have an "artificial" lifestyle based on her viewpoint they have avoided most of the disease groups that currently afflict current society that are related to how/what we eat.

Most of us have been on low carb long enough to see/feel direct, positive results. Although it took two years to get a great Lipid return after the abuse I had put my body through I cannot see it as anything but a positive step.
Time is the great tester of all theories, and it will be interesting to see where the Schwarzbein Principle ends up several years from now.

[tom sawyer]

Low carb is what we have evolved eating, our hormonal systems are adapted to it, our bodies are happy with it. There's nothing artificial about ketosis, it is the primary mechanism for energy utilization.

If you were generating significant cortisol when you was heavily into ketosis, wouldn't you think it would affect your mood? you would FEEL stressed. Ketosis has no such effect. The only person who seems to be stressed about ketosis, is apparently Dr. Schwarzbein.

This is not about Atkins/Eades versus Schwarzbein either. Keep in mind, low carb was first written about in modern times by Banting over 100 years ago. It was successful then, and has been successful since. It simply continually falls out of favor because it is not intuitively obvious (eat fat to lose fat?!). That and grain can be produced cheaply, so marketers of products have every incentive to lure customers into eating their crud.

In several years, Schwarzbein will be retired and living the good life on the money made from her little dietary niche.

[Lisa N]

When it comes down to it (fears of ketosis aside), what Dr. Schwarzbein suggests isn't terribly different from what many other low carb authors suggest: eat to your carb tolerance level.
The primary difference is where these different authors feel that level should be.
Dr. Schwarzbein is more specialized towards endocrinology, specifically for females. Women in general tend towards more hormone problems than men.
Do I think that just being in ketosis spells doom for a diet? Nope.
Dr. Atkins never intended for those following his plan to remain in ketosis for ever and ever amen, but he also felt that there was nothing inherently harmful in that if someone chose to do so. I tend to agree primarily based on what Tom had to say above.