Sweden aknowledges LCHF!

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Wilhellmina
Wilhellmina Posts: 757 Member
Who's next?

October 29, 2013

Sweden has become the first western nation to recommend a lower-carbohydrate higher-fat, diet as part of an effort to reduce the national prevalence of obesity, diabetes, and to improve markers of heart health. This bold move stems from a literature review of 16,000 studies on diet and obesity, published by Swedish government advisors at the Council on Health Technology Assessment.

Swedish advisors recognize that the oft-recommended low-fat diet is failing in the fight to stop or reverse obesity trends that have reached epidemic proportions across the globe. New guidelines are aligned with the Atkins approach to eating. The Atkins Diet focuses on high protein and fat intake while limiting carbohydrates, which is reported to reduce body weight, lower blood sugar and improve good cholesterol.

Essentially, the Council suggests that a diet moderately-low in carbohydrate (40% of total calories) would see some of these improvements and a greater increase in good (HDL) cholesterol without having any adverse effects on bad (LDL) cholesterol, while an even lower carbohydrate intake (20% of total calories) would result in more benefits including improved blood sugar levels for individuals with obesity and diabetes and marginally decreased levels of triglycerides.

In a statement released Monday, Colette Heimowitz, M.Sc., vice president of nutrition and education at Atkins explains, "In the maintenance phase of the Atkins Diet, our followers should be in what we call 'carbohydrate balance.'

This generally has them eating between 20 and 40 percent of their calories from carbs, exactly the percentage recommended by the Council, and precisely the range that will help people maintain their goal weight. By eating proteins, low-glycemic vegetables and fruits, nuts and healthful fats, the Atkins Diet is very much in alignment with the new Swedish dietary recommendations."

In addition, advisors to the Swedish government speak to other benefits of an Atkins-like diet that permits higher-fat foods. Those benefits highlighted include both satisfaction and satiety, which are in large part, responsible for greater long-term sustainability.

Jeff Volek, PhD, RD, professor and nutrition researcher at the University of Connecticut adds that, "It will be interesting to see how quickly other countries follow suit, recognizing that managing carbohydrates is the key to handling certain health conditions. Lower-fat varieties of foods are often higher in sugars and carbohydrates, which is simply counter-intuitive for people who need to control metabolism-related conditions like diabetes, metabolic syndrome and insulin sensitivity, all of which are related to obesity."

For more information about the effectiveness of the Atkins Diet, watch the attached video featuring Dr. Marc Bessler, obesity expert at NY-Presbyterian Hospital.


http://www.examiner.com/article/sweden-s-new-national-dietary-recommendations-low-carb-low-glycemic-foods

Replies

  • Wilhellmina
    Wilhellmina Posts: 757 Member
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    I posted it on the forum board before, but too many people just still don't get it, that fat is not bad, very needed even...
  • sixpacklady
    sixpacklady Posts: 582 Member
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    wooot!!
  • kenzietate
    kenzietate Posts: 399 Member
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    Yeah the other boards always end up badly for LCHF...still don't understand that. This is pretty exciting though!
  • vampirequeen1959
    vampirequeen1959 Posts: 196 Member
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    It's good that a government has come out in favour of lchf. Hopefully it may influence our government to investigate alternatives to the current high carb, low fat diet that they encourage the population to eat. However I think there is probably so much money tied up in the low fat diet and food industry that it's highly unlikely they will change their advice.
  • Wilhellmina
    Wilhellmina Posts: 757 Member
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    That's exactly the whole issue vampirequeen! There are sh*tloads of money involved. When they start to be honest to their patients they will stop earning!