Low Carb diets - Not as healthy as you might think.

Avalonis

"It may be a speedy way to slim down, but the Atkins diet can also raise your cholesterol and harm your heart just as quickly.

When researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine put 18 adults on the Atkins diet, Ornish, or South Beach Diet, those on the Atkins diet increased their LDL (bad) cholesterol levels by 16 points and experienced hardening of the arteries in only 1 month. Those in the Ornish Diet group lowered bad cholesterol by 25 points, while those in the South Beach Diet group lowered it by 10 points.

The people on Ornish and South Beach Diet experienced improved flexibility in their arteries. Instead of cutting carbs to lose weight, reach for a balance of good carbs, lean protein, and healthy fats."

http://www.prevention.com/weight-loss/diets/cholesterol-atkins-diet-vs-south-beach-diet

Jeeenjohnson19

I'm glad someone has posted something like this. Get so annoyed when its said on here and tv that I need to eat less carbs, or i'm not allowed a potato, ridiculous. I was taught when I was younger you need a healthy balance, around a third veggies/fruits, quarter carbs, quarter meat and then the rest is either fat/dairy. I always though you got most of your energy from carbs anyway!

AnnaPixie

I love you for posting this Been saying for years that cutting out a macro can't possibly be healthy, they all have their place in a balanced diet.

:flowerforyou:

Bubs05

I know some people swear by this "diet" but I don't trust anything that lets me eat a pound of bacon at one sitting but not an apple!

alliesun53

There's a difference between "low carb" and "no carb". I'm on a low carb diet. Meaning I pretty much dont eat white bread or white flower products. I still have carbs from fruits and veggies and other sources, but I don't sit there now and eat a bagel for breakfast, a hero for lunch and pasta or pizza for dinner. It's a bit ridiculous to say that you can eat a lb of bacon but not an apple...no healthy diet would allow a full lb of bacon to be eaten in one sitting anyway...and if you're doing that then if the carbs dont make you gain weight the fat will.

Bubs05

There's a difference between "low carb" and "no carb". I'm on a low carb diet. Meaning I pretty much dont eat white bread or white flower products. I still have carbs from fruits and veggies and other sources, but I don't sit there now and eat a bagel for breakfast, a hero for lunch and pasta or pizza for dinner. It's a bit ridiculous to say that you can eat a lb of bacon but not an apple...no healthy diet would allow a full lb of bacon to be eaten in one sitting anyway...and if you're doing that then if the carbs dont make you gain weight the fat will.

Maybe I exaggerated a bit but when my roommate was on South Beach her meal plan specified that she could eat as much red meat as she wanted (in one meal) but most fruit was on the No list. My point was that although it may work for some people, I wouldn't call South Beach a healthy diet.
And I agree, Low Carb is different than No Carb.

jahnlaw

Bubs05,

To clarify about South Beach, your roomie likely was following phase 1, which lasts no longer than two weeks. The main purpose of phase 1 is to rids ones addictions to sugars. Sugars includes items with a high glycymic index such as fruits and breads that digest quickly in the body. More protein is encouraged to avoid hunger and veggies are the carbs of choice but red meats alone aren't the staple. Phase 2 is after the sugar addiction and when complex carbs are reintroduced. I hope this helps.

Bailey543

First off, carbs are in lots of food. I'm not sure a person can have NO carbs. That's not what Atkins is in the first place. I'm not on Atkins, by the way. Different diets work for different people. I have heard of many people's cholesterol going down on low carb diets. There's no diet out there that is perfect for every person on earth. Everybody needs to find what works for their own personal body. Don't knock other people's diets, just do your own and be happy. What's the point in telling people that what they are doing is wrong or won't work, when it IS working for THEM?

DQMD

I do lower carb. Medifast has us eat between 80-100 carbs. I loose best when I stay around 80 carbs. I haven't been doing as well because I have been fighting a HORRIBLE fight with whipped ceam in the can. IT is stay OUT of my house!!

mgmlap

I think low carb depends on the person. I have insulin resistance..so any type of processed carb I eat..(grains) instead of turning to energy..has a tendency of turning to fat..cause my body thinks it needs it. I have been doing low carb since November..and doing quite well.

Thats not to say I dont have my days where I will have a sandwich or something..but as a whole..I stay within the 100 carb range every day..

carolann_22

Actually if you look at the study and not just the abstract NONE of the diets were low carb. They were all placed on the MAINTENANCE levels of carbs/protein/fat for theses diets, and surprise surprise, if you eat a lot of fat, protein AND carbs, your health markers deteriorate. Even Atkins himself said you can't do it halfway - if you eat high fat and protein AND don't watch your carbs, you are a health disaster waiting to happen.

issyfit

There's a difference between "low carb" and "no carb". I'm on a low carb diet. Meaning I pretty much dont eat white bread or white flower products. I still have carbs from fruits and veggies and other sources, but I don't sit there now and eat a bagel for breakfast, a hero for lunch and pasta or pizza for dinner. It's a bit ridiculous to say that you can eat a lb of bacon but not an apple...no healthy diet would allow a full lb of bacon to be eaten in one sitting anyway...and if you're doing that then if the carbs dont make you gain weight the fat will.

Maybe I exaggerated a bit but when my roommate was on South Beach her meal plan specified that she could eat as much red meat as she wanted (in one meal) but most fruit was on the No list. My point was that although it may work for some people, I wouldn't call South Beach a healthy diet.
And I agree, Low Carb is different than No Carb.

If that's what your roommate was eating they weren't following South Beach. Recommended protein on SB is 2 oz at breakfast, 3-4 oz at lunch and dinner., all lean protein. Fruit amd whole grains are reintroduced after the first 2 weeks. South Beach is not low carb, I eat around 100-150 carbs a day, but avoid products with refined carbs and added sugar.

wendyc122005

I maintain a low carb diet while working for weightloss because I am seriously addicted to carbs. I guess it is partly my body and partly my lack of discipline, but if I eat a bit of my favorites I just crave them more. I would rather not eat them during weight loss then crave them all the time. It only takes a few days of eliminating them for me to kick the habit. I stick with lean protein including fish, turkey, chicken, pork, and very little red meat. I also stick to lower fat option simply because it is healthier. I don't eat "all I can eat" anything. I stay within my calorie allocation.

I started my weightloss program in June 2011. My blood work has improved significantly since then. Well on my way to healthy.

carolann_22

An actual PEER REVIEWED study on a true LOW CARB diet showing that lipids and cardiovascular makers IMPROVE on low carb diets;

http://www.nature.com/oby/journal/v12/n11s/full/oby2004276a.html

Sidesteal

Actually if you look at the study and not just the abstract NONE of the diets were low carb. They were all placed on the MAINTENANCE levels of carbs/protein/fat for theses diets, and surprise surprise, if you eat a lot of fat, protein AND carbs, your health markers deteriorate. Even Atkins himself said you can't do it halfway - if you eat high fat and protein AND don't watch your carbs, you are a health disaster waiting to happen.

It was an isocaloric comparison using 3 different macronutrient distributions. The maintenance phase was not high pro AND high cho AND high fat, that doesn't make sense unless you're claiming that it was higher kcal, which it wasn't by definition of the study being isocaloric.

Sidesteal

You can find the original study here, I believe:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2693202/

Acg67

An actual PEER REVIEWED study on a true LOW CARB diet showing that lipids and cardiovascular makers IMPROVE on low carb diets;

http://www.nature.com/oby/journal/v12/n11s/full/oby2004276a.html

Now was it the low carbs that improved blood markers of health or was it losing weight that improved them?

raiderrodney

An actual PEER REVIEWED study on a true LOW CARB diet showing that lipids and cardiovascular makers IMPROVE on low carb diets;

http://www.nature.com/oby/journal/v12/n11s/full/oby2004276a.html

This was my experience on the low carb/atkins type diet as well. I dropped bad and raised good cholesterol levels when on it. It CAN be a very dangerous diet though. If you do it right and can do so without packing away all the processed meats it can be a very healthy lifestyle.

But, if you do it not knowing what has carbs it can do some real damage. When you low carb it, your body is taking in more cholesterol and fat but when you're under 100 carbs a day your body doesn't create any because your pancreas isn't shooting out insulin all day from the carbs

Sidesteal

I don't care what this study says, I think it's crap.

Now you're just sounding like me. Stop that.

Sidesteal

Now was it the low carbs that improved blood markers of health or was it losing weight that improved them?

^ That's the tricky part IMO. In the first of those several studies, subjects dropped an average of .5kg/week for the duration of the experiment.

Acg67

Now was it the low carbs that improved blood markers of health or was it losing weight that improved them?

^ That's the tricky part IMO. In the first of those several studies, subjects dropped an average of .5kg/week for the duration of the experiment.

Yet, you'll notice there was no control group to compare if the low carb diets were either better or worse at improving markers of health

teagin2002

I maintain a low carb diet while working for weightloss because I am seriously addicted to carbs. I guess it is partly my body and partly my lack of discipline, but if I eat a bit of my favorites I just crave them more. I would rather not eat them during weight loss then crave them all the time. It only takes a few days of eliminating them for me to kick the habit. I stick with lean protein including fish, turkey, chicken, pork, and very little red meat. I also stick to lower fat option simply because it is healthier. I don't eat "all I can eat" anything. I stay within my calorie allocation.

I started my weightloss program in June 2011. My blood work has improved significantly since then. Well on my way to healthy.

I did what you are doing now with a lot of experimenting back and forth. I used to end up just eating them without even noticing how many I had eaten.
It took me 1 year and 3 months to lose 112lbs, and that entire time plus 3 to 4 months after that to kick my carb addiction. You are doing the rite thing and it will get better :flowerforyou:

grinch031

I'm not in the business of refuting studies but let's face it, go visit any low carb forum, and you will see it is difficult to find dieters whose health didn't improve while on the diet. And we're talking about people with serious medical problems and they often clear up pretty quickly.

There is a lot of unwarranted negative stigma surrounding Atkins and other low-carb diets, and its due to poor publicity by the media and also perpetuated by the idea that dietary fat is bad. The biggest misconception is that people can eat unlimited calories and lose weight. Nowhere does Atkins make that claim. Atkins claims if you eat a low-carb diet, you can eat til you are fully satiated and can lose weight without counting calories. That is why his diet is effective for people.

Articeluvsmemphis

i LOVE carbs thanks. but I do go for the protein, it's about balance with any eating lifestyle.

chicklidell

"It may be a speedy way to slim down, but the Atkins diet can also raise your cholesterol and harm your heart just as quickly.

When researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine put 18 adults on the Atkins diet, Ornish, or South Beach Diet, those on the Atkins diet increased their LDL (bad) cholesterol levels by 16 points and experienced hardening of the arteries in only 1 month. Those in the Ornish Diet group lowered bad cholesterol by 25 points, while those in the South Beach Diet group lowered it by 10 points.

The people on Ornish and South Beach Diet experienced improved flexibility in their arteries. Instead of cutting carbs to lose weight, reach for a balance of good carbs, lean protein, and healthy fats."

http://www.prevention.com/weight-loss/diets/cholesterol-atkins-diet-vs-south-beach-diet

I don't do Atkins, but I severely carb restrict, 60grams a day...and honestly, you can find a medical study to back up anything now a days. Low carb can be extremely successful or not at all, it's an individual choice based on your preferance and tolerance levels to being able to sustain a low carb diet.

Acg67

I'm not in the business of refuting studies but let's face it, go visit any low carb forum, and you will see it is difficult to find dieters whose health didn't improve while on the diet. And we're talking about people with serious medical problems and they often clear up pretty quickly.

And again, is that due to eating less carbs or losing weight?

The biggest misconception is that people can eat unlimited calories and lose weight. Nowhere does Atkins make that claim. Atkins claims if you eat a low-carb diet, you can eat til you are fully satiated and can lose weight without counting calories. That is why his diet is effective for people.

Except Gary Taubes tells people they can eat as much fat and protein as they have no effect on fat accumulation

grinch031

And again, is that due to eating less carbs or losing weight?

That to me is not so relevant. If cutting carbs can get people to lose weight and increase their HDL and lower their LDL, then it is an effective approach to weight loss. Because I have a hard time finding Atkins dieters whose LDL increased as the article shows, I would be a little skeptical of the article.

Except Gary Taubes tells people they can eat as much fat and protein as they have no effect on fat accumulation

Gary Taubes doesn't represent the entire low carb community.

grinch031

I'm glad someone has posted something like this. Get so annoyed when its said on here and tv that I need to eat less carbs, or i'm not allowed a potato, ridiculous. I was taught when I was younger you need a healthy balance, around a third veggies/fruits, quarter carbs, quarter meat and then the rest is either fat/dairy. I always though you got most of your energy from carbs anyway!

Well for thousands of years, many human civilizations survived without access to an abundance of carbohydrates. Those who lived primitive lifestyles in cold climates like the Inuit eskimos survived just fine on diets high in fat and protein and low in carbs.

This idea of a healthy balanced diet is a relatively modern invention by man.

chefkev

Funny, because for me I have gotten off BP meds, reversed diabetes (no meds), lowered my cholesterol to 155 total, no more sleep apnea, no more acid reflux, and am now in great health.

I get blood tests every month and the longer I eat very low carb, the better my health. I guess the study doesn't pertain to me.

Maybe I am more like the Duke University study participants which says the opposite of this study. Who knows?

My body doesn't handle carbs well, so I don't feed it carbs. Easy for me to do. I don't put diesel fuel in my gas powered car either.

To each his own. Find a plan that works for you and don't bash others is my philosophy. If you don't want to eat low carb, then don't. Pretty simple solution.

grinch031

Funny, because for me I have gotten off BP meds, reversed diabetes (no meds), lowered my cholesterol to 155 total, no more sleep apnea, no more acid reflux, and am now in great health.

I get blood tests every month and the longer I eat very low carb, the better my health. I guess the study doesn't pertain to me.

Maybe I am more like the Duke University study participants which says the opposite of this study. Who knows?

My body doesn't handle carbs well, so I don't feed it carbs. Easy for me to do. I don't put diesel fuel in my gas powered car either.

To each his own. Find a plan that works for you and don't bash others is my philosophy. If you don't want to eat low carb, then don't. Pretty simple solution.

Every study must be taken with a grain of salt. There is almost no consensus out there about diet and nutrition. Unless something is undisputed by most authorities, you should really decide for yourself whether you want to believe it. I think when it comes to conflicting studies, anecdotal observations and first-hand experiences are just about all you can go by. Also a little common sense goes a long way.

Sidesteal

People should be well aware of a few things regarding this study so that it's not taken out of context due to the title of this thread and the article linked:

1) The only real piece of info given by the study was that on low carb, blood markers for health got slightly worse when comparing WEIGHT MAINTENANCE across different macronutrient compositions. Let me stress again, this was during maintenance.

2) The sample size was small and this is directly commented on in the actual research.

The only reason I'm posting this is so that people who are low carbing and having success, don't think that suddenly they'll have a heart attack.

Losing weight (low carb or not) and going from obese to "not obese" will very, very likely improve your lipids and overall health. In that regard, don't put too much stock into the title of this thread.

On a personal note, I don't do low carb but I have nothing against those who do.

What I take issue with is people who grossly misunderstand how it works or whether or not it's necessary and then they go and preach these misconceptions to others.