If low carb works, why are people still fat?

AlabasterVerve

This article is from March but I just read it this morning and thought it was a particularly thoughtful response to a real and valid question.

If low carb eating is so effective, why are people still overweight?
http://eatingacademy.com/nutrition/if-low-carb-eating-is-so-effective-why-are-people-still-overweight

Fair Warning: Dr. Peter Attia supports the Alternative Hypothesis* and is associated with Gary Taubes the science writer.

*Alternative Hypothesis – Obesity is a growth disorder, just like any other growth disorder, and fat accumulation is determined not by the balance of calories consumed and expended but by the effect of specific nutrients on the hormonal regulation of fat metabolism.

caraiselite

tl:dr

it's not a diet, its a lifestyle.

stick with it, and you don't get fat!

/shock /awe

you can't go back to eating junk food all day /eyeroll

AlabasterVerve

lol Very succinct.

alanabeehave

Low carb diets really grind my gears. Im pretty sure this thread has the potential to start a war.

amandaxh

Interesting article -- thanks for sharing.

As with most life style changes in life, it seems to me that the mental state has a lot do with why things don't work. People need to want to change for themselves more than they want the pleasure of a certain food. It is about thinking long term, trusting that their attitude will change along with their physical change, and also I believe social support has a lot to do with it as well. Self worth, understanding and awareness has to do with it. Our psychological and emotional states -- stuff that is deep rooted in our ways of thinking which we might not even realize, and simply call "our personality," is the culprit. Why do people do anything that is poor for them? Its a mental game to change, we become too comfortable using whatever we have around us (including food) to cope, instead of enjoy without attachment, and for fuel.

In my opinion there is no one way to "cure" obesity. A cure must be individual to both a person's physical functions and their mental health.

LaMujerMasBonitaDelMundo

Whatever type of diet you follow, at the end of the day it is still boils down to calories in - calories out = weight loss or gain. It doesn't matter whether you go low carb or low fat but if you're eating more than you burn then you will still gain weight. There is no magic diet that will instantly make you slimmer while at the same time eating as much as you want. If it were true then everyone would be slim & toned.

AlabasterVerve

Interesting article -- thanks for sharing.

As with most life style changes in life, it seems to me that the mental state has a lot do with why things don't work. People need to want to change for themselves more than they want the pleasure of a certain food. It is about thinking long term, trusting that their attitude will change along with their physical change, and also I believe social support has a lot to do with it as well. Self worth, understanding and awareness has to do with it. Our psychological and emotional states -- stuff that is deep rooted in our ways of thinking which we might not even realize, and simply call "our personality," is the culprit. Why do people do anything that is poor for them? Its a mental game to change, we become too comfortable using whatever we have around us (including food) to cope, instead of enjoy without attachment, and for fuel.

In my opinion there is no one way to "cure" obesity. A cure must be individual to both a person's physical functions and their mental health.

I absolutely agree. My weight spiraled out of control after the death of my sister. I was depressed and eating constantly which just fueled the depression for almost four years and it's only been this last year where I've finally "woken up". Eating healthier and getting some exercise has helped tremendously--I stopped gaining weight and I've been losing steadily ever since.

But about four weeks ago I stopped eating grains and cut back on the fruit I was eating and -- to me-- a miraculous thing happened. The constant need to eat every few hours went with it. It's only been about a month but I only eat two or three times a day now and I'm not obsessed with food. So even though I'm an emotional eater it sure makes it easy not to binge when I'm not hungry all the time. On average I'd say I'm eating about 300 - 500 calories a day less.

ETA:
There's one part of your excellent post I do disagree with! I have to say that -- for me -- enjoying delicious food is very necessary and the idea of eating only for fuel sounds miserable and not something I could do for the rest of my life.

916lude

tl:dr

it's not a diet, its a lifestyle.

stick with it, and you don't get fat!

/shock /awe

you can't go back to eating junk food all day /eyeroll

Agreed

AlabasterVerve

Low carb diets really grind my gears. Im pretty sure this thread has the potential to start a war.

I'm not responsible for the lack of courtesy in others. It's up to the individual -- just like weight loss, yes?

yarwell

If dieting or exercise works, why are people still fat ?

waldo56

The thing is, this article is still written from the POV that Taubes originally took when he made the alternate hypothesis famous. That is that the low carb thing is still relatively fringe and not mainstream.

Which is odd because he was trying to refute the exact line of thinking that really crushes the hypothesis.

Have he and Taubes not yet figured out that a vast majority of fat people that have tried to lose weight unsuccessfully in the past have tried low carb diets? This isn't some fringe concept that only a few people have heard of, pretty much every major fad diet of the 21st century is/was low carb or moderate carb. A low fat diet is arguably a fringe diet nowadays, and it has been this was for a solid 10 years.

Has this guy been on the moon since the 90's? In what world is there a big conspiracy of carb pushers?

If the alternate theory was right, it would have at least made a dent. Not to mention success begets success. The examples of disease he included he forgot to mention that yes there are cures and preventions, and yes the diseases do still exist, however these cures and preventions have made a HUGE impact in the prevalence of these diseases. The low carb diet era of the 21st century hasn't done a thing to the incidence of obesity.

PaleoPath4Lyfe

The thing is, this article is still written from the POV that Taubes originally took when he made the alternate hypothesis famous. That is that the low carb thing is still relatively fringe and not mainstream.

Which is odd because he was trying to refute the exact line of thinking that really crushes the hypothesis.

Have he and Taubes not yet figured out that a vast majority of fat people that have tried to lose weight unsuccessfully in the past have tried low carb diets? This isn't some fringe concept that only a few people have heard of, pretty much every major fad diet of the 21st century is/was low carb or moderate carb. A low fat diet is arguably a fringe diet nowadays, and it has been this was for a solid 10 years.

If the alternate theory was right, it would have at least made a dent. Not to mention success begets success.

As with any weight loss method, if it is merely a "diet" and not a lifestyle change a person will always fail.

That goes with low fat, low carb, calorie counting, etc...........

waldo56

If dieting or exercise works, why are people still fat ?

It is not an alternate hypothesis, nor is it a magic bullet.

Taubes' alternate hypothesis and that regurgitated here is a magic bullet answer. Severely reduce or eliminate your carb intake and you'll fix your problems and be a skinny person.

AlabasterVerve

"Swedes are already among the slimmest people in Europe, and according to the latest statistics the obesity epidemic is slowing to a crawl here."

I'd say in a few years it will be very interesting since the Swedish are starting to embrace the idea of a LCHF diet. The "LCHF-Revolution" is even causing butter shortages. :laugh:

Tons of articles about what's going on although LCHF is still very much in the minority:

http://www.dietdoctor.com/category/science-and-health/the-swedish-revolution?mod=show-categories

karensoxfan

If dieting or exercise works, why are people still fat ?

I agree 100% with this.

AlabasterVerve

If dieting or exercise works, why are people still fat ?

It is not an alternate hypothesis, nor is it a magic bullet.

Taubes' alternate hypothesis and that regurgitated here is a magic bullet answer. Severely reduce or eliminate your carb intake and you'll fix your problems and be a skinny person.

The article isn't about the alternate hypothesis--it's about answering the question, If low carb eating is so effective, why are people still overweight? Did you have any response to the actual article? I thought it offered logical, possible explanations to questions you're asking here.

ETA: I didn't see this!

The examples of disease he included he forgot to mention that yes there are cures and preventions, and yes the diseases do still exist, however these cures and preventions have made a HUGE impact in the prevalence of these diseases. The low carb diet era of the 21st century hasn't done a thing to the incidence of obesity.

Do you think it might have to do with the fact that these cures are promoted by doctors and everyone believes them? In the case of low carb diets -- as this forum very much demonstrates -- they're not mainstream or accepted at all. In fact, it's been my experience in just a few weeks you're belittled and people think you're gullible or just plain stupid.

If you're out and people are looking at you funny because you're pulling apart your sandwich or hamburger or you're holding up ordering when you're out to dinner there's a tremendous amount of social pressure to be normal and just "eat less and exercise more" instead of doing kooky stuff when everyone knows "a calorie is just a calorie".

llstacy

It's working for me but it is hard to eat out or at work. I swear EVERYTHING takeout for lunch is bread, starches or sugar. I'm hoping as I find tasty meals and get better at cooking it'll be easier.

Nutrition1st

We really need to refine the phrase "calories in - calories out" etc.

Eating deep fried chicken (in) and walking around the block and burning calories (out) has a night and day different end result than eating grilled salmon (in) and exercise followed by cardio (out). The quality of the nutrients make a big difference. I can't support any NO carb solution. I have no problem with LOW carbs as long as they are measured low carbs.

Septlondon

I started eating low carb to hopefully loose weight. It works because I have lost 24lbs already. But I can honestly say that now, if I didn't loose a sigle ounce more, I would still stay with low carb. I just feel so much better, I am no longert hungry all the time, all my joint aches and pains have gone, funny lumps on my finger joints..gone, asthma medication no longer needed, feflux and stomach pain...gone, sleeping well, alert and focused, much more productive, and just generally happier.

mmapags

tl:dr

it's not a diet, its a lifestyle.

stick with it, and you don't get fat!

/shock /awe

you can't go back to eating junk food all day /eyeroll

There is a universe of choices between, low carb and junk food all day. False hypothesis.

AlabasterVerve

I took it to mean that whatever you did to lose the weight is what you need to maintain the weight loss. So if you cut out all the refined carbs to lose the weight you can't add them back in once you reach your goal weight -- this is your diet for life.