Why the Low-Fat Diet is Stupid and Potentially Dangerous

I'm taking the day off from any heavy posting, and present to you this article that I found on Weight of the Evidence.

I present it to you in its entirety with permission to reprint.

When I posted this on About.com's Weight Loss forum, quite a furor erupted that resulted in my being bozoed. I was quickly attacked by several of the low-fat contingent who didn't even bother to read the article. Come on, people! Criticize from a position of knowledge. You wouldn't post a book review on Amazon without reading the book, would you? Why is it okay to bash an article online you've never read?

I present to you the article that got me bozoed.

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From Regina Wilshire:
For years Anthony Colpo has maintained The Omnivore, a website bursting at the seams with articles and insights into studies and claims about being healthy - all with references to studies. [Later note: the site has had most of the articles removed.]

Recently, Colpo penned "Why the Low-Fat Diet is Stupid and Potentially Dangerous" - a lengthy and well referenced article about the null findings from the Women's Health Initiative Dietary Modification Trial.

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Why the Low-Fat Diet is Stupid and Potentially Dangerous

Anthony Colpo, February 23, 2006

On February 8, 2006, the Journal of the American Medical Association delivered a huge blow to advocates of low-fat 'nutrition' by publishing the results of the huge Women's Health Initiative trial. The results of the trial clearly showed that a low-fat diet failed to prevent cardiovascular disease or cancer in women even when followed continuously for eight years. In women with pre-existing CVD, the low-fat diet increased the risk of CVD by 26 percent!

Since the publication of the WHI results, low-fat diet supporters have been working overtime manufacturing excuses for the failure of their beloved regimen. Foremost among these is that the women in the low-fat group did not reduce their fat intake sufficiently. I even had one sadly misguided soul write to me the other day telling me I did not "understand" low-fat diets, that the only reason they frequently fail is because people following them don't lower their fat intake enough.

Such stupidity makes my head spinÂ…

First of all, I understand low-fat diets only too well! Much to my regret, I followed one throughout most of the nineties, and the result was nothing short of disastrous.

My low-fat nightmare began in my early twenties, after a doctor told me that my cholesterol, at 213, was "moderately high" and placed me at increased risk of heart disease (something I now know to be nonsense). Following the prevailing dietary wisdom at the time, I soon adopted a low-fat diet. This wasn't your average low-fat diet--it was a VERY low-fat diet, with the kind of anemic fat intake that would have made lipid-phobes like Ornish and Pritikin proud.

For years, I ate only the leanest meats; in fact, to this day, the thought of eating another skinless chicken breast, kangaroo steak, or low-fat fish makes me want to puke! Fuelling the high energy demands of my daily workouts in the face of a low fat intake meant eating carbohydrates--lots of them! In keeping with the common advice still given to athletes to eat lots of 'healthy' complex carbohydrate foods, I consumed copious amounts of rye bread, brown rice, sweet potato, wholemeal pasta, rolled oats, buckwheat, and millet.

My dedication to the low-fat mantra was nothing short of religious, and my low-fat brainwashing so thorough that when I sat down and calculated the average amount of fat calories I was taking in, I was actually proud when I realized I was consistently consuming less than ten percent of my calories as fat every day!

Halfway through the nineties, reality began to bite--hard. Despite my 'healthy' diet, and my daily strenuous training regimen, my blood pressure had risen from 110/65, a reading characteristic of highly-conditioned athletes, to an elevated 130/90. I noticed it was becoming increasingly harder to maintain the lean, "ripped", vascular look that I had always prided myself on. Instead, my physique was becoming increasingly smooth and bloated. My digestive system became progressively more sluggish, my stomach often feeling heavy and distended after meals. I frequently felt tired after meals. I showed signs of leaky gut syndrome, racking up a rather impressive list of irreversible food sensitivities. I had never been much of a coffee drinker, but I was now frequently trying to fight off increasing fatigue by sipping a strong black or two before training sessions. My fasting blood glucose level was below the normal range, indicative of reactive hypoglycemia.

Basically, I felt like crap!

It wasn't until I abandoned the whole low-fat charade, and adopted a diet that went against everything preached by the reigning diet orthodoxy, that I began to reverse these symptoms. When I ate more saturated fat and meat than ever before and subsequently felt better than ever before, I quickly realized that most diet 'experts' actually had no clue what they were talking about. I quickly realized that they were mere parrots repeating an official party line.

When I look back on my fat-fearing days, where I really believed that dietary fat was some sort of heinous toxin, the first thought that comes to mind is "What a wanker!" I then think of the sad legion of brainwashed folks all around the world who still follow the idiotic low-fat paradigm. "Poor folks," I think to myself, "they really have no idea just how badly they've been had..."

While I feel sorry for many of these folks, I have nothing but utter contempt for those who write me in defense of the low-fat paradigm. To be fooled is one thing, but to vigorously defend those who have mercilessly deceived and shafted you is beyond pitiful--such self-destructive stupidity is an absolutely repugnant thing to observe!

Let's now find out why the participants in the diet group of the WHI trial should be glad that they did not lower their fat intake any more than what they did!

Why the Low-Fat Diet is a Big Fat Fraud

One of the first priorities of healthy eating is to consume the most nutrient-dense foods possible. Cutting your fat intake strongly impedes this goal via at least three mechanisms:
1) Directly slashing your intake of important vitamins and fatty acids;
2) Reducing the absorption of crucial fat-soluble vitamins;
3) Decreasing the absorption of important minerals.

You probably think you're being "enlightened" when you trim the fat from your meats and ditch your egg yolks down the sink. What you are really doing is lucidly demonstrating what a mindless, brainwashed dolt you've become. You are effectively throwing away nutrients that your body needs to survive and thrive!

The fatty portions of meat, dairy and eggs are where one finds the highest concentrations of fat-soluble vitamins such as A, D, E and beta-carotene. Stripping the skin from your chicken breast not only makes it less tasty, but reduces its vitamin A content by seventy-eight percent!(1)

Throwing away your egg yolks is equally dumb. While one large egg yolk contains 245 IU of vitamin A, 18 IU of vitamin D, and 186 mcg of lutein plus zeaxanthin, along with small amounts of other carotenoids and vitamin E, a large egg white contains none of these nutrients. Egg yolks, along with beef liver, are also an especially concentrated dietary source of phosphatidylcholine (lecithin) and choline, which the body requires for healthy liver function and for the formation of the key neurotransmitter acetylcholine. Lower levels of acetylcholine are associated with memory loss and cognitive decline(2).

The last time you chose skim milk yogurt instead of the whole milk variety, you nutritionally short-changed yourself; skim yogurt contains 93 percent less vitamin A than whole yogurt! And if you chose non-fat yogurt, then congratulations--you received no vitamin A whatsoever!(1)

Data from national nutrition surveys consistently show that American children have lower than recommended intakes of vitamin E, and this is reflected in below-average serum levels of the vitamin. Reduction in dietary fat further exacerbates the low vitamin E status of children(3). The consequences of low dietary vitamin E intakes may include impaired immune responses, and an increased susceptibility to cardiovascular disease and cancer.

Willingly reducing your consumption of important vitamins and carotenes is not smart--it's downright stupid!

Absorb This!

Low-fat eating doesn't just decrease your intake of certain crucial nutrients. As researchers have shown time and time again, it will also dramatically reduce the absorption of whatever fat-soluble vitamins and carotenes remain in your diet!(4-7).

When subjects ingested equal amounts of lutein--a carotenoid that may protect against age-related macular degeneration and cataract--from either whole eggs, spinach or supplements, it was observed that lutein absorption was significantly higher during the period of whole egg consumption(8).

In another study, researchers compared the absorption of carotenoids from salads that contained either 0, 6 or 28 grams of canola oil. There was no increase in blood carotenoid concentrations after the fat-free salad, while the reduced fat salad produced markedly lower blood carotenoid elevations than the high fat version(9).

The addition of 150 grams of fat-rich avocado to salsa enhanced lycopene and beta-carotene absorption by 4.4 and 2.6-fold, respectively, compared to avocado-free salsa. In the same subjects, adding either twenty-four grams of avocado oil or 150 grams avocado to salad greatly enhanced alpha-carotene, beta -carotene and lutein absorption by 7.2, 15.3 and 5.1 times, respectively, compared with avocado-free salad!(10)

Only a true dumbass would think that reducing absorption of healthful fat-soluble nutrients is somehow beneficial. Don't be a dumbass.

Making a Bad Situation Worse

The mineral status of the typical Westerner is atrocious. Take magnesium for example, a substance vital for healthy heart function, blood sugar control, bone formation, and muscular contraction(11-16). A recent survey of U.S. adults found that the average daily intake of magnesium among Caucasian men is only 352 milligrams, and a mere 278 milligrams among African American men. Caucasian women consume an average of 256 milligrams per day, while African American women take in only 202 milligrams daily(17). The lower amounts of magnesium ingested by African Americans have been posited as a possible contributor to their increased susceptibility of hypertension, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease(18).

The situation isn't much better for zinc. Overt zinc deficiencies are common to Third World countries where animal protein consumption is low, while milder, 'sub-clinical' zinc deficiencies appear to be common in modernized nations. Nationwide food consumption surveys by the USDA have found that the average intake of zinc for males and females of all ages is below the recommended daily allowance (RDA). This is especially worrying when one considers that RDAs are generally based on the amount of a nutrient required to prevent obvious, well-recognized deficiency diseases (such as stunted growth and hypogonadism in the case of zinc), not sub-clinical deficiencies that may damage one's health over the longer-term.

Those who follow low fat diets are at even greater risk of zinc deficiency(19,20). Not only do low-fat diets discourage the consumption of zinc-rich foods like red meat, but a low dietary fat intake itself acts to impair mineral absorption.

It's ironic that red meat is typically denigrated for its saturated fat content, because saturates are the very fats that improve mineral absorption!(21-24).

A pilot study by researchers at the USDA Grand Forks Human Nutrition Research Center examined the effect of different fats and carbohydrate on performance and mineral metabolism in three male endurance cyclists. During alternating four-week periods, each subject consumed diets in which either carbohydrate, polyunsaturated, or saturated fat contributed about fifty percent of daily energy intake. Endurance capacity decreased with the polyunsaturated fat diet. The polyunsaturated diet also resulted in increased excretion of zinc and iron, while copper retention tended to be positive only on the saturated fat diet(25).

Optimal health is next to impossible to achieve with sub-optimal mineral status. Low-fat diets, most notably those low in saturated fats, encourage sub-optimal mineral status. Yet another reason why these diets suck the salsiccia, big time!

Low-Fat, Low Omega-3

Unless you've been living on a distant planet for the last few years, then you have no doubt heard about omega-3 fats and their pivotal role in maintaining good health.

Unlike low-fat diets, clinical trials utilizing the sole intervention of increased fatty fish or fish oil intake have produced significant reductions in CHD and overall mortality. The benefits of EPA and DHA-rich items like fish and fish oil are not confined to the cardiovascular system. In epidemiological studies and animal experiments, increased intakes of long-chain omega-3 fatty acids have been associated with lower rates of cancer, depression and mental illness, adverse pregnancy outcomes, infectious disease, osteoporosis, lung disease, menstrual pain, cognitive decline in the elderly, eye damage, childhood asthma and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder(26-51). In clinical trials with human subjects, researchers have observed benefits from long-chain omega-3 supplementation in the treatment of asthma, alzheimers, rheumatoid arthritis, depression, schizophrenia, infant health, pregnancy outcomes, kidney disease, menstrual problems, ulcerative colitis, Crohn's disease and cystic fibrosis(52-73). Hell, even the fat-hating vegetarian Dean Ornish recommends the use of distinctly non-vegetarian fish oil supplements! (Gee, can anyone see a contradiction there?)

So what has this all got to do with low-fat eating? Everything!

Similar to fat-soluble vitamins, the absorption of EPA and DHA increases when consumed with a high fat meal(74).

Again, not just any old fat will do when it comes to improving one's omega-3 status. Saturated fat improves the body's conversion of plant-source omega-3 fats into the longer-chain varieties EPA and DHA, while omega-6-rich fats impede the conversion process. In young males, elongation of alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) and linoleic acid (LA) to DHA, EPA and AA was reduced by forty to fifty percent when dietary LA intake increased from fifteen to thirty grams per day(75).

When rats were supplemented with linseed oil, their serum and tissue content of the all-important omega-3 fatty acids increased, and omega-6 levels decreased, to a far greater extent on a saturated fat-rich (beef fat) diet than on a linoleic acid-rich (safflower oil) diet(76).

Cutting fat--as in saturated fat--worsens your omega-3 status. If you think that's a good thing, then low-fat nutrition has already scrambled your brain. My advice: Eat some fat before you become totally brain dead!

Speaking of scrambled brains...

Nature's Anti-Depressant: Fat!

Feeling moody? Irritable? Always snapping at your kids for no good reason? Are you known around the office as "Attila the Grump"? If so, eating a low-fat diet isn't going to help the situation. In fact, a low-fat diet may actually be the cause of your mental funk!

In 1998, U.K. researchers reported the results of an important experiment involving twenty healthy male and female volunteers. One group was placed on a 41% fat diet, while the other group consumed a 25% fat diet. After 4 weeks had passed, the groups were swapped around so that those originally on the low-fat diet were now consuming the high-fat diet, and vice-versa. Throughout the study, all meals were prepared by the university conducting the study and supplied to the participants. Both diets were specially designed to be as palatable and similar in taste as possible.

At the beginning and end of each diet period, every subject underwent a battery of psychological assessments, including various mood state questionnaires and an interview by a psychiatrist who was blinded to the participant's dietary status.

The study was tightly-controlled and adherence to the diets appears to have been high. HDL cholesterol levels declined during the low-fat period, a typical response on low-fat, high-carb diets, indicating that subjects ate the foods as supplied.

The researchers found that, while ratings of anger-hostility slightly declined during the high-fat diet period, they significantly increased during the low-fat, high-carb diet period!

Tension-anxiety ratings declined during the high-fat period, but did not change during the four weeks of low-fat, high-carb eating.

Ratings of depression declined slightly during the high-fat period, but increased during the low-fat, high-carb period, mainly due to two of the low-fat subjects reporting significantly greater depression-dejection ratings.

What is particularly alarming about this study is that the low-fat diet produced these symptoms in mentally healthy subjects. As the researchers emphasized, the participants were "a psychologically robust group who had never previously suffered from depression or anxiety, and who were not going through any 'stressful' events during the study." They further stated that "The alterations in mood observed in the present study may have been greater if subjects were feeling more stressed or were more susceptible to mental illness."(77)

Low-fat diets should be approached with extreme caution by those with a history of depression, anxiety, overly aggressive behavior or mental illness. Such individuals may be especially vulnerable to the nutritional inadequacies of low-fat diets.

The UK researchers' observations raise some interesting questions. Could the low-fat, high-carbohydrate diets that have been so heavily promoted over the last thirty years be at least partially responsible for increases in anti-social behavior witnessed during the same period? If studies with our primate cousins are anything to go by, the answer to this question could well be affirmative.

Low-Fat Diet Makes Monkeys Go Ape

For almost 2 years, adult male monkeys were fed a "luxury" diet - (43% calories from fat, 0.34 mg cholesterol/Calorie of diet) or a "prudent" diet (30% calories from fat, 0.05 mg cholesterol/Calorie of diet).

Researchers observed that the low-fat diet monkeys were more irritable and initiated more aggression than the "luxury" diet animals.

The prudent diet resulted in lower total serum cholesterol levels, something that our absent-minded health authorities automatically assume is a good thing. The researchers, however, noted: "These results are consistent with studies linking relatively low serum cholesterol concentrations to violent or antisocial behavior in psychiatric and criminal populations and could be relevant to understanding the significant increase in violence-related mortality observed among people assigned to cholesterol-lowering treatment in clinical trials."(78)

Fatless Shrugged

It was Ayn Rand who once said that the most noble and productive goal for a person to engage in was the pursuit of their own happiness. If the achievement of your own happiness is important to you, then kick the low-fat diet's sad, sorry, melancholy butt right out of your life--it's a loser.

Low-Fat Diets Lower Testosterone

Testosterone is abhorred by politically correct weenies, who like to blame it for every instance of disagreeable male behavior, in much the same way menstruation was once cited as the catch-all explanation for uncharacteristically aggressive or irritable female behavior.

Of course, scientific reality is of little concern to the politically correct. The fact is, testosterone is an extremely important hormone for both men and women. Sex drive, muscle and bone health, immune function, cognitive function, mood, and cardiovascular health are all negatively affected by declining levels of testosterone. Testosterone levels typically decline with age, and, along with the decline of other key hormones, falling T levels are believed to be a major contributor to many of the deleterious changes seen during the aging process. As such, aging individuals should be looking at ways to preserve and even boost their testosterone status, rather than engaging in self-defeating habits that will speed the decline in T levels. Alcohol abuse, recreational drug use, pharmaceutical drugs, stress, and poor sleep habits can all lower testosterone levels.

So too can low-fat diets.

Research shows that reducing fat intake from around forty percent to 20-25 percent of calories decreases testosterone output. Low fat diets also increase levels of sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG), a protein which binds to testosterone, thus reducing the amount of bioavailable, or 'free', testosterone in the body. It is free testosterone that is responsible for this hormone's favorable effects on growth, repair, sexual capacity and immune function(79-81).

Again, not just any old fat will suffice when it comes to optimizing testosterone levels. A study with weight-training men showed higher saturated fat and monounsaturated fat consumption to be positively associated with testosterone levels. In contrast, higher dietary levels of so-called "heart-healthy" polyunsaturated fats relative to saturated fats were associated with lower testosterone levels (82).

It's highly ironic that athletes and bodybuilders will take all manner of expensive, esoteric and often dubious testosterone-boosting concoctions--not to mention anabolic steroids--yet will follow hormone-damping low-fat diets with religious fervor. It's a little like putting on a weighted vest before a big race and expecting to run at full speed.

Hormones like testosterone play a fundamentally important role in stimulating and regulating growth and metabolism. Don't go throwing a low-fat monkey wrench into your metabolic engine!

Low-Fat Diets and Immune Function

Diet 'experts' assure us that a low-fat diet is the key to good health. The published research does not support such claims.

Despite the virulent ranting of anti-fat activists, trials comparing sedentary adult volunteers fed low-fat diets with those receiving higher fat diets has shown no improvement in immune status in the former group(83,84).

In children, whole milk consumption is associated with fewer gastrointestinal infections than consumption of low fat milk (85). Rats consuming diets high in milk fat show a significantly greater resistance to Listeria infection and higher survival rates than those whose diets were low in milk fat(86). Similar results have been observed in mice fed diets high in saturate-rich coconut oil(87).

In athletes, who are constantly pushing their immune systems to the edge with strenuous training, adherence to the commonly-recommended low-fat high-carbohydrate diet (15-19% of total calories) increases pro-inflammatory immune factors, decreases anti-inflammatory factors, and depresses antioxidant status when compared to higher fat diets (30-50% of total calories)(88,89). Such changes may leave athletes on low-fat diets with a lowered resistance to infection and a higher risk of chronic illness. This may be due to difficulty in obtaining sufficient calories from low-fat diets to meet the energy demands of exercise; increasing dietary fat intake and total caloric intake to match energy expenditure appears to reverse the negative effects on immune function reported on calorie-deficient, low-fat diets. Diets comprising 32% to 55% fat also improve endurance capacity compared to diets with 15% fat(90).

It was Scandinavian researchers who, in the 1960s, performed research showing that using extremely high-carbohydrate, low-fat diets for short periods could enhance athletic performance. This was achieved by using these diets as part of a "depletion-repletion" carbohydrate-loading strategy, which helped temporarily elevate muscle glycogen stores to higher than usual levels. One of the pioneers in this area, Dr. Jan Karlsson, points out that such diets were never intended to be applied for more than 3-4 days. Karlsson and his colleagues openly lament that these diets are now employed for extended periods of time, and refer to the prolonged use of very high-carbohydrate/low-fat diets by athletes as "voluntary malnourishment". They note that in Scandinavia, researchers use the term "Carbohydrate Trap" when referring to the widespread belief that these diets are required for optimal performance. These researchers consider a 50-55% carbohydrate, 35% fat diet to be eminently more sensible and nutritious than the >60% carb, <25% fat diets commonly used by athletes(91).

For athletes and non-athletes alike, the low-fat diet is a sick (pun intended) joke.

The Low-Fat Diet Does Not Protect Against Heart Disease, and May Actually Worsen It

The WHI trial confirmed what well-read cholesterol skeptics have known for a long time: The low-fat diet is a big fat fraud when it comes to preventing heart disease. Among the 48,835 women participating in the trial, no significant differences in CHD or stroke incidence, CHD or stroke mortality, or total mortality were observed(92). Nor were there any reductions in the incidence or mortality rates of breast cancer, colorectal cancer, or total cancer(93,94).

There was however, one very ominous finding to emerge from the WHI trial. Among the 3.4 percent of trial participants with pre-existing cardiovascular disease, those randomized to the low-fat diet experienced a 26% increase in the relative risk of non-fatal and fatal CHD!

Low-fat advocates have remained deafeningly silent on this inconvenient finding, and would no doubt like to believe this was just a 'freak' occurrence. However, this is hardly the first time that low-fat eating has been shown to worsen the prognosis of women with existing cardiovascular disease.

In 2004, the world's most prominent nutrition journal, The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, published the results of a very, very interesting study. Harvard researchers had taken 235 postmenopausal women with established coronary heart disease, and divided them into four categories according to their level of saturated fat intake. They then performed coronary angiographies at baseline and after a mean follow-up of 3.1 years, analyzing over 2,200 coronary artery segments in the process.

After adjusting for multiple confounders, a higher saturated fat intake was associated with less narrowing of the arteries and less progression of coronary atherosclerosis. Compared with a 0.22 mm narrowing in the lowest quartile of intake, there was a 0.10-mm narrowing in the second quartile, a 0.07 mm narrowing in the third quartile, and no narrowing in the fourth and highest quartile of saturated fat intake!

Following a low-fat diet means adopting a high-carbohydrate diet by default. After all, it is exceedingly difficult and highly unpalatable to achieve the bulk of one's caloric needs by eating lean protein foods. It is of no small concern then, that carbohydrate intake was positively associated with atherosclerotic progression, particularly when the glycemic index was high. The intake of so-called 'heart-healthy' polyunsaturated fats was also positively associated with progression of atherosclerosis, but monounsaturated and total fat intakes were not associated with progression (it must be noted that the major sources of polyunsaturates in Western countries are refined vegetable oils which are rich in the omega-6 fat linoleic acid. The polyunsaturated omega-3 fats, which are underconsumed by most Westerners, have actually been shown to lower CVD).

After examining the baseline data for the study subjects, it is apparent that the results can not be explained away by otherwise healthier lifestyles among those eating the most saturated fat; the high saturated fat group, in fact, had the greatest number of current smokers! Women eating the most saturated fat were also less likely to take blood-thinning medications like aspirin(95).

If this study had found saturated fats to be associated with cardiovascular disease, its results would have been trumpeted in headlines around the world. Instead, they were largely ignored by the mainstream media and our ever-so responsible 'health' authorities. It appears only studies that support the cherished dogma of our health orthodoxy are considered suitable as press release fodder...

A major factor in the progression of cardiovascular disease--and most major diseases--is free radical damage. It is well-established that saturated fatty acids, because of their lack of vulnerable double bonds, are the least susceptible to free radical damage; polyunsaturates are the most vulnerable. We also know that increased carbohydrate consumption, especially of the refined variety, does an outstanding job of raising blood sugar and insulin levels, which accelerates glycation, free radical activity, blood clot formation, and arterial smooth muscle cell proliferation.

It should also be noted that increasing heart disease incidence throughout the twentieth century has been accompanied by increasing polyunsaturate consumption, while a marked increase in refined carbohydrate consumption during the last three decades has been accompanied by spiralling obesity and diabetes incidence. Animal fat consumption, in contrast, has remained stable over the last 100 years.

So what we have is two studies that show that women with pre-existing heart disease will experience WORSE outcomes if they shun saturated fat and opt for a low-fat/high-carbohydrate diet! Furthermore, the validity of these results is supported by basic biochemistry and epidemiological data. So will low-fat advocates stop recommending this pattern of eating to women with heart disease? Does their concern for human life override their need to defend their precious low-fat dogma at all costs?

I truly doubt it...

If low-fat advocates won't be straight with you, then I will. Let's be perfectly clear on this: If you are female, and suffer cardiovascular disease, the published, peer-reviewed scientific evidence indicates that adopting a low-fat diet could be DEADLY.

The WHI is not the only dietary intervention trial to demonstrate the worthlessness of the low-fat diet in preventing CVD. In 1965, the prominent journal Lancet published the results of a trial conducted by the UK Medical Research Committee. In this study, 264 men under 65 were assigned to either a low-fat diet or their usual diet. Dietary records show that those in the low-fat group averaged 45 g/day of fat throughout the trial, while those in the control group actually increased their average fat intake from 106 to 125g. The average serum cholesterol measurement of the low-fat group was 25 points lower than that of the control group at 4 years. Despite nonsensical claims that "every 1mg/dl drop in cholesterol equals a 2% drop in CHD risk", there were no differences between the two groups in CHD incidence or mortality after 4 years.

In Search of the Elusive 'Negative Fat Intake'!

The hysterical anti-fat vitriole that spews forth from some anti-fat faddists leads me to believe that if these clowns could eat a 'negative-fat' diet, they would! As for their argument that the above trials didn't lower fat enough, one has to wonder how creating even greater deficiencies in valuable nutrients, and predisposing one to greater risk of depression and anger--all of which low-fat diets have indeed been clinically documented to do--will in any way help prevent heart disease! Maybe these folks have been eating low-fat so long that it's started to drain their brains; healthy human brains, after all, are 60% fat by weight!

The authors of the MRC trial concluded that: "A low-fat diet has no place in the treatment of myocardial infarction." Despite being written over forty years ago, these words have largely been ignored by a medical and health hierarchy which seems to earnestly believe that if only it keeps flogging the dead low-fat horse, it will one-day magically spring to life. In Australia, this is known as engaging in a 'wank', which means that people who push low-fat diets despite no proof whatsoever of their efficacy are wankers. This might be stating the obvious, but...you really shouldn't listen to wankers!

But the Japanese Eat a Low-Fat Diet...Don't They?

Supporters of low-fat nutrition cite the Japanese ad nauseum, claiming that their low-fat/high-carbohydrate diet is the reason for their low rate of heart disease. It is ironic that many of these same commentators exhort the benefits of whole-grains and tell us that the only 'bad' carbohydrates are those that come from refined sugars and grains. These folks need to get their story straight---a major source of carbohydrates in the Japanese diet is white rice--a refined grain! That means that if the high-carbohydrate Japanese diet is cardio-protective, then refined grains must be good for one's heart! Well, which is it? You can't have it both ways; either refined grains are heart-friendly, or they're not!

The truth is, the longevity and low CHD incidence of the Japanese owes nothing to carbohydrate intake, refined or otherwise. During the 1960s and 1970s, industrialization underwent rapid growth in Japan. This period of marked economic change bought with it greater consumption of animal protein and fat. This increased animal food consumption in Japan has been accompanied by a marked decline in both the overall incidence of and the mortality from one of that nation's biggest killers--stroke. This increase in animal protein and animal fat consumption has also occurred alongside Japan's rise to the top of the longevity ladder.(96,97)

If you're tempted to write this off as merely a consequence of improved living standards and medical technology, keep in mind that long-term follow-up studies with both native and migrant Japanese populations show that those who eat the most animal protein and animal fat enjoy greater longevity and a lower incidence of stroke than those who eat lesser amounts(98-101).

OK, So What About the Mediterranean Diet?

A diet low in saturated fat is purportedly a major factor in the low rates of CHD observed in Southern European countries. Just one wee problem: France, the Mediterranean country with the lowest CHD rates of all, is also the Mediterranean country with the highest saturated fat intake!

Oops!

Health 'experts' have tried to brush off this embarrassing observation as a 'paradox' (orthodoxy loves applying the 'paradox' label to uncomfortable contradictions) by claiming that red wine explains this difference. If that were true, then the Italians, who drink a similar amount of red wine, should have CHD rates even lower than France. But they don't; their CHD rates are similar to those of other Southern European countries where far less red wine is consumed(102).

Conclusion

I could go on, and on, and on...but I'll just close by saying that the low-fat diet has NEVER been demonstrated to do all the wonderful health-fortifying things claimed for it. The only trials showing favorable effects in people following low-fat diets are those that simultaneously employed other truly useful interventions, like exercise, stress management, increased fruit and vegetable intake and decreased processed food intake, and weight loss. However, there is absolutely no law whatsoever stating that low-fat eating is required for the implementation of any of these strategies. In fact, given the available evidence, one can only conclude that the inclusion of higher fat intakes in these trials may even have improved the results!

The bottom line: Not only is low-fat eating a boring way to go through life, it is a useless and often counterproductive hoax.

References and Assorted Disclaimers:
DISGRUNTLED WORSHIPPERS OF THE LOW-FAT RELIGION SHOULD READ THE FOLLOWING:I have not stated anything in this article that cannot be verified by published, peer-reviewed research. Nonetheless, my inbox will no doubt be flooded with angry emails from those who have been brainwashed by the low-fat paradigm, and who violently object to the thought that something that they have believed in so strongly for so long might actually be false. In other words, malevolent dimwits who want to shoot the messenger! For those of you who fall into this category, my suggestions are as follows: 1) GROW UP!; 2) Start placing a premium on discovering the facts, as opposed to doggedly defending what you have already decided you want to believe; 3) Instead of attacking me, start questioning the motives of those who profit greatly from the fallacious anti-fat, anti-cholesterol paradigm. This includes the food and drug conglomerates that make BILLIONS from the sale of low-fat foods and cholesterol-lowering drugs, the health and dietetic 'associations/organizations/institutes/foundations/etc' who receive millions in 'donations' from these very same companies, and the executives of these so-called 'non-profit' organizations who enjoy six-figure incomes and extensive perquisites.

To attack the owner of a non-commercial web site, who has nothing to gain financially by either supporting or opposing the low-fat paradigm, while defending those WHO DO, is so bloody stupid that it defies comprehension. Unfortunately, there are a lot of bloody stupid people in the world! If you are one of them, and decide to write me, please note that unless your email contains valid references to the scientific literature, it will be deleted immediately. After having established yourself as an ignorant goofball, your email address will also be added to my spam filter and any further emails will be delivered straight to my trash. Sorry, but I really am extremely busy and have no time or patience for ignorant, time-wasting twits.

NOTE: I have no problem with people reprinting this article on other web sites for non-commercial purposes. Heck, you can post it on the side of the Empire State Building for all I care (just be sure to seek permission from the owners first)! However, PLEASE ENSURE that you give full credit to the author, whether you reproduce the article in whole or part. A hyperlink to www.TheOmnivore.com would also be greatly appreciated! Those wishing to reprint this or any other article on TheOmnivore.com for commercial purposes should email: ac.theomnivore@gmail.com

References
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First, to anybody new reading here, please peruse the left hand column. There's lots of stuff there - what books and magazines I'm reading, other blogs I read, the archives to previous posts, favorite links including my "My Space" profile, my online calendar (bet you didn't know they existed), my Yahoo avatar, two weather gifs, and ways to subscribe to this blog. I'm syndicated!

Feel free to look around. Mi casa es su casa. :)

Lost 3.2 pounds since yesterday. I was 144.2 yesterday morning and 141 even today. I know it must be dehydration. I ate very little, but had some empty calories. My calories yesterday were only 1311. Being hated is really good for my diet! I have a headache this morning, but nothing a couple Ibuprofin can't take care of.

Had plain yogurt this morning for breakfast. It's the first time I've had it in about two years! It was really good (I can't believe it's low-carb!), but I missed putting grape nuts in it.

Xena's been very lovey dovey lately - she's been sleeping next to me more than usual. It's like she knows how bad I feel and wants me to feel better. Very unlike her.

My Sunday workout is cancelled. Yuriy wants me to come in two hours early so he can go to church. I need the money, and I feel bad that he misses church so often, but that two hours is my workout time. Overtime takes precedence over all, so I will be going in.

Ok, off to cook and pack lunches for next week.

Today's bleh stuff

Been too upset from the bozoing to eat much, and I feel sick when I see certain names in my inbox. I skipped breakfast and lunch. I ate lunch for dinner and I'll have something to eat when I get home. Not sure how much, though. I guess it's better than bingeing every time I'm stabbed in the back. I'd be as big as a house if I tried that. I have a sandwich and salad left and I just nixed the yogurt. I can eat it Sunday if I want.

Ah well, I should expect this. This is, after all, a fallen world. This will happen until God takes me home because people delight in hurting other people.

Bought $123 worth of groceries today - thankfully it was payday - and Brad is taking me shopping on Saturday evening to get the heavy stuff I can't carry - cat litter, laundry detergent, etc. I got lean ground turkey breast - no fat - and the meat department guy gave my $2 off on each of the five packages. Yippee. Thank God for those little graces and kindnesses. Otherwise I would have given up on the human race long ago. As it is I've been burned enough that it's a wonder I trust anyone anymore.

Time for me to go. I'll get the article that sparked the huge firestorm that ended in me being bozoed up tomorrow. Please read it! It will make you think - but only if you let it. And then post a comment and tell me what you think - even if you hate it. I don't delete comments unless they are from trolls or from one of a handful of stalkers I have. And heck, I let the last stalker's comment stay.

Since I can no longer write in my journal there, I'll be journaling Saturday's carbs in my FitDay journal in the journal section (rather than the food section).

What will you give up/add?

Because it's the Lenten season, I've been considering if I should give up (or add) something, as is traditional at Lent. I think I have the perfect thing. At the beginning of February I made a diet commitment to buy no low-carb candy for the month of February, and here we are and February's over and it's the start of Lent. I need to be staying away from things with sugar alcohols (they seem to stall me), so here's my commitment for Lent, with one caveat.

I will buy no sugar free candy during the Lenten season except as a treat and only if it contains no sugar alcohols.

That should keep me on the straight and narrow for another six weeks, yet allow me to buy the Mini Carb bars if need be.

Are you giving up or adding something to your daily practice during this Lenten season? Post a comment!

I got bozoed!

Del bozoed me at the Weight Loss forum. I have managed to do something even Quin hasn't managed to do. And yet they say it's not personal, and seem to think I wouldn't figure it out the very next time I logged on. They really aren't thinking if they think that people would believe 1) it's not personal, and 2) that I would go on not knowing I've been bozoed. I have modded lots of groups on lots of different formats (including About.com). I know every trick in the book, and then some. I've also seen more power mad mods than I could count. It's a real temptation. I've had to struggle against that desire myself.

Bozoing means that you can see your message normally, and mods can see it if they click on a special link that only they can see, but everyone else sees a deleted message.

At any rate, if you want to see the article that got me banned, it'll be up within 24 hours. [Edit: It's here.] Then you can decide if I was treated fairly. Plus, in my last message about this, I included links to my interactions with the mods. You decide who was the real aggressor.

To all of you who supported me through this, thank you, but as you know, power always wins. I tried to apologize yesterday, and was bozoed for it. Obviously, they did not accept my apology, but I have done all I could. Their actions are theirs alone. I can be found at the following two forums. I would hate to lose touch with you, so please meet me there.

The Atkins' Weigh (my forum that I moderate)
The Atkins Discussion forum (on the left hand side, click on "The Discussion Forum"

Good-bye, my friends.

[I think this is post #1000 in my blog. Wow. That's a lot of posts! Too bad it was under such horrible circumstances.]

Catholics, Atkins, and Lent

I've never stopped to consider how the dietary restrictions of Atkins might conflict with the dietary restrictions of devout Catholics during Lent. They are not supposed to eat two of the three main staples of the Atkins diet - meat and dairy - during this time. I never stopped to consider this - until yesterday when I ran across how one Catholic is dealing with the dilemma:

John Gibson

All I can say is I'm glad I'm not Catholic. I observe Ash Wednesday, but not Lent per se. Today's meat included ground beef with sugar free BBQ sauce, and turkey and cheese in my sandwich.

I don't envy this guy at all. He's in a tough spot.

Ash Wednesday

Well, today is Ash Wednesday. I went to church to have the imposition of the ashes followed by communion. I go to an Episcopal church for this since Baptists don't observe it. I love the Episcopal church because of all the pageantry.

It gets me thinking about where I was last year when I wrote this. Am I any closer to forgiving those who have hurt me, especially those who have hurt me the worst? Honestly, probably not. I can't wait for heaven because there no one will ever hurt me again (hurt #1, #2, #3). I'm really, really tired of it - really, really wounded and battle weary. Come quickly, Lord Jesus!

Anyway, the service today was ashes and the eucharist. The ashes are imposed with the words "Dust you are and to dust you shall return." It's a reminder of our fragile state and that our earthly life is not forever. It's a reminder of our place is the universe as the creature and not the Creator.

Then there's the eucharist and oh my gosh it is always so powerful. The bread and wine - how can something be so simple and yet hold such vast power?

Can low-carb help you live longer?

Dr. Michael Eades' seems to think so, and it all has to do with staying in ketosis. The article is called Ketosis cleans our cells. It's a facinating read, so head over there!

This isn't even new reasearch. This is some old stuff. No wonder people feel so much better on low-carb. It cleans out our cells of junk!

Ouch!

I think I injured myself today. It's the only day I can make it to the gym and so I pushed myself hard. I did 50 minutes of weights (five-zero!) - I think that's a new record for me! - and tried a couple new exercises. Then 21 minutes on the stairmaster; that always works up a sweat. I did 21 because 20 is the max I've ever completed, and I wanted to get beyond that - hence 21 minutes, mostly at level 4, but sometimes at level 3. Then I did 30 minutes on the crossramp elliptical. So a lot of butt and leg work today. FitDay says I burned 343 calories, so that's good.

Anyway, I think I pushed myself too hard on the weights at too high a weight. My ticeps will recover fine, but my neck and right shoulder hurt in a non-sore kind of way. I think I'll be using heat and ice for a while and hope it heals by my next workout, which won't be until Sunday.

I'm way above goal still. Last I weighed myself in the morning - a few days ago - I was 145. I weighed myself last night before bed and I was 151. I knew that would put me well above 145 in the morning so I avoided the scale this morning. I'm trying not to freak out, but body fat should only be tested every couple months if you actually want to see progress, so it's going to be awhile.

Hopefully now that I know how bad I'm screwing up on Saturday that will help me keep on track. I'm hoping to eat more veggies of Saturday. I'll still cheat a little, but I've got to cut back on the bread. 150g net carbs for one day is way too much. And I will journal my Saturday food. Just be aware that I allow myself more wine on weekends, and I'll be drinking some of the dessert wine until it's gone.

I do fine at church because I know people are watching me (except I do pig out on peanuts!). Everything goes to hell when I get home. I walk in the door wanting a glass of wine, and then I want bread and sweets and it all goes downhill fast because there's no one to hold me accountable. The cats don't care.

I have horrible love handles. I never noticed until I put on some tight shorts last Saturday and a sports bra. When I leaned over in any direction my fat rolls droop over the waist band of the shorts. Bleh. Gotta do something about that. It's like that one weight loss TV commercial: I don't want to look good for my age; I want to look good, period!

Essential Carbohydrates?

Came across this gem, from Science4u1959.

Science recognizes essential proteins, and essential fats. There is no such thing as essential carbohydrates in nutritional science.

He's right. Carbohydrates are not essential to physical survival. Protein and fat are. I've said it before. Cut out all fat or protein and you will die. Cut out all carbohydrates and you won't. They are not a physical necessity to maintain life. They help the body function smoothly, but they are not a physical necessity to maintain life.

Study: Potato consumption linked to type 2 diabetes

I wasn't going to put a second post up today until I came across this study linking type 2 diabetes to the consumption of potatoes. The results:

Potato and french fry consumption were both positively associated with risk of type 2 diabetes after adjustment for age and dietary and nondietary factors.

In other words, the more potatoes a study participant ate, the more likely they were to develop type 2 diabetes.

The abstract of this study is here, in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. The PubMed abstract is here, with a link to the full article (for a price).

This is a horrible outrage! Type 2 diabetes is completely preventable, but you have to cut out all of those processed carbs and get onto a low carb diet high in vegetables. Then, and only then, will we put an end to the epidemic of obesity and type 2 diabetes that is killing us.

H/T: Livin' La Vida Low Carb blog for linking me to this study.

The insanity continues

First, I finally wrote down everything I ate on Saturday and did a guestimation of how many carbohydrates I'm eating. Let's just say I had no idea how bad it was. I've stated before that things are insane, but I had no idea they were that insane!

Are you ready for this? I am eating around 150g net carbohydrates! 150g of carbohydrates that effect blood sugar. How horrible is that?! And I'm not eating very many vegetables. All but maybe 10 grams of that (at most) came from non-veggies - bread, sweets, alcohol - just all sorts of things that aren't good for me and work counter to my diet and health goals. I regret all but the two bites of brownie. No wonder I'm gaining!

I'm cutting back on my carbs today by substituting pork rinds for my sandwich. That'll knock 13 carbs out right there. First goal for next Saturday - no more than two slices of bread. I ate five slices yesterday! At 6g net carbs a slice, that's 30g on bread alone! Why why why do I feel I deserve a day off? I do so well during the week, and I can usually control myself on Fridays when I'm home all day.

I'm working 12 hours today, but made a good bus connection from my house so was running early. So I walked to work from the train station. Not many calories burned, but better than nothing. FitDay says 75.

And last, I'm totally honored...

From Malissa on the Weight Loss forum:

This diet [Atkins] is great! I have Victoria to thank for my decision. If she hadn't told me of her success and written all she had in her journal I would have continued to be skeptical. Even though members of my family had tried Atkins they never stuck to it like she has so therefore they referred to it as a "quick fix" weight loss diet. I now know different.. I love it!

Wow! See, this is what God wants me to do right now. :)

Another study shows failure for low-fat diets

Regina Wilshire brings us another study analysis. Unlike the Women's Health Initiative Dietary Modification Trial conducted on post-menopausal women that failed to correlate fat to health problems (published in the Journal of the American Medical Association), this one was conducted on 86 men aged 22-64. The abstract can be found here at PudMed. The full article is linked from that page at the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, but it costs to subscribe.

Why do people still cling to low-fat diets as healthy when study after study is showing the opposite? The two I've mentioned here aren't the only ones. Ms. Wilshire has another study she wrote about recently. This one was conducted in April, 2004 on healthy but sedentary men and women (abstract here). In this study the participants were placed either on a diet consisting of 19% fat or 50% fat. The high-fat group did better, with HDL (good) cholesterol going up and no increase in heart risk factors. The researchers conclusions was telling:

CONCLUSION: A low fat diet (19%) may not provide sufficient calories, essential fatty acids, and some micronutrients (especially vitamin E and zinc) for healthy untrained individuals, and it also lowered ApoA1 and HDL-C. Increasing fat intake to 50% of calories improved nutritional status, and did not negatively affect certain cardiovascular risk factors.

Fat is not the enemy. Carbohydrates (especially processed and starchy ones) are the enemy. Humankind survived quite well as hunter-gatherers before the advent of agriculture a mere 10,000 years ago. As hunter-gatherers our diet was high in fat and protein. God meant it to be this way and set up our digestive systems to work best on this kind of diet.

Statistics Behind Governors' Health Push

How much of the U.S. population is overweight? Among adults, would you believe 65%? I came across this article today.

Some of the statistics driving action on preventive health programs among governors and health experts:

Percent of adults 20 and over who are overweight or obese: 65 percent.

Full statistics here.

Am I the only one surprized and frightened by these statistics? And to think I used to be among the 30% of adults who are obese!

Ending the Insanity

As I've stated previously, my eating on Friday and Saturday is atrocious. Saturday is especially dangerous because it's hard to log my food that day, and I seem to take that as carte blanche for pigging out on low-carb junk food. Sure it's low-carb, but it's still junk!

Well, as the left column under "Reading" indicates, I'm currently reading The Ultimate Weight Solution by Dr. Phil McGraw. As a book tackling obesity from the psychological point of view it's interesting and has a lot of merit. If you overeat for emotional reasons and really work the program outlined in the book, you will lose weight. On the other hand, some of the nutrition information is abysmal. In my option, "Key 5," dealing with nutrition, should be skipped in favor of books that have a bit more truth involved. None of this should surprise anyone. Dr. Phil has a Ph.D. in psychology, and is not a medical doctor nor a nutritionist. I hope to tackle these issues in this post.

First, the kudos. Key 4 deals with "mastery over food and impulse eating." I do eat only when I am hungry. My problem is being hungry all the time and ingesting way too many calories, even if the food is diet-friendly. I'm especially vulnerable on Sabbath when I'm liable to be home and bored. Faced with the desire to overeat (eating more calories than my body needs to sustain my weight), Dr. Phil offers many options, classified in three categories: "fun activities, those you do for pure enjoyment; relaxation activities, those you employ to reduce tension; and obligatory activities, those things you must do" (pg. 203). I found things in each category I could do. Here I'll simply list the ones I marked and that I plan to do.

Fun:

Write letters or send emails to friends or family.

Write in your journal. (I would add that I could blog here.)

Give yourself a manicure.

Read your favorite magazine.

Read a good book.

Relaxation:

Dance to some upbeat music.

Take a shower or leisurely bath.

Engage in prayer or meditation. (I could meditate on God's Word!)

Obligatory:

Do housework. (My apartment is a total mess!)

Do all the things the dentist wants you to do: brush, floss, rinse with mouthwash. (Who wants to eat when their teeth are clean?)

So there you have it - some coping mechanisms I can teach myself to deal with hunger when I know my body doesn't need those calories. I really only need 1800 calories a day, not the 2500 I eat when left to my own desires. I actually gained almost a pound in February and am currently two pounds above goal. Sure, some of that is probably muscle; I have been hitting the weights hard. But all of it can't be muscle, and I'm certainly not losing body fat. So bleh.

Now for my gripe on Key 5 dealing with nutrition. He actually states that besides sugar and "sugary processed food" that "saturated fats...shoulder much of the blame for 'insulin resistance.'" Say what?!? Fats do NOT contribute to insulin resistance. They do not raise the level of insulin in the blood at all. Zip. Zero. Zilch. It can't contribute to something it has no effect on!

This is the kind of idiocy I'm running across when it comes to nutrition and healthy eating. He even takes time out to slam all diet plans because "as soon as you return to your old ways of eating, your weight returns, with interest" (pg. 222). Screech!!! Diets - all diets - are meant to be lifestyles, Mr. McGraw. There should be no going back! There's other idiocy, too, but this should give you a taste. I liked his book a lot better before getting to this chapter.

My advice - skip this "key" completely and try a better book where the author actually knows what he's talking about, researches the science, and talks about what actually goes on in your body when you eat something. I suggest Jonny Bowden's Living the Low Carb Life. More than a low-carb book, this is a book about making good nutritional choices to make your body happy so you will be happier.

Now that my diet is healthy for the first time ever, my body is working with me rather than against me. It feels good to have it as an ally.

In defense of the pork rind

It's no surprise that 1 ounce of plain pork rinds has no carbohydrates. But pork rinds have almost twice as much protein as they do fat. You'll get 8.8 grams of fat and 17 grams of protein (almost as much as three eggs) for those 155 calories. All of this makes pork rinds quite satisfying - a 1-ounce bag should keep you full for hours.

Full article on AZ Central. (May require registration. It takes 30 seconds. Uncheck the boxes and you won't get spammed.)

I've really developed a taste for these, but I admit it took some work and it's an acquired taste. I grew up on potato chips and since potato chips are like poison to my body now, this is the next best thing. Buy a bag of spicy ones and dip them in cottage cheese. Yummy! I find them a good way to get my fat content up for the day when it is too low.

Picture courtesy of Evans Food.

Getting dairy in a low-carb diet

Well, it finally happened. Safeway stopped carrying the Hood Carb Countdown milk. I actually noticed this a few weeks back but haven't talked about it yet. I tried to find the Hood site, but it appears it's not being made anymore. All the Carb Countdown pages have been pulled down. It sucks because CC was the only milk I could drink, so it appears I won't be drinking milk anymore. I didn't use it much, but it sucks that I can't ever have cereal again. :-p

Safeway also no longer carries Dannon Carb & Sugar Control yogurt. I got the last one and they confirmed they won't be getting any more. Dannon still has the old page up - before the name change - so I assume they aren't making this any more and just haven't pulled the page down.

I thought this meant that as well as never having milk again, I'd never get yogurt again either. Thankfully, I was wrong, as this article from Low Carb Luxury explains:

The problem with the stated carbohydrate content on the packages of fermented food products arises because the government makes manufacturers count the carbohydrates of food "by difference." That means they measure everything else including water and ash and fats and proteins. Then "by difference," they assume everything else is carbohydrate. This works quite well for most foods including milk. However, to make yogurt, buttermilk and kefir, the milk is inoculated with the lactic acid bacteria. These bacteria use up almost all the milk sugar called "lactose" and convert it into lactic acid. It is this lactic acid which curds the milk and gives the taste to the product. Since these bacteria have "eaten" most of the milk sugar by the time you buy it (or make it yourself), at the time you eat it, how can there be much carbohydrate left? It is the lactic acid which is counted as carbohydrate. Therefore, you can eat up to a half cup of plain yogurt, buttermilk, or kefir and only count 2 grams of carbohydrates (Dr. Goldberg has measured this in his own laboratory.) One cup will contain about 4 grams of carbohydrates.

This means I can eat yogurt without fear of my blood sugar getting out of control. I can have plain yogurt, which I haven't had in almost two years. I just can't add Grape Nuts to it like I used to do as an afterschool snack when I was a kid. (If you are not on low-carb you should mix Grape Nuts into plain yogurt; it's quite good.) And if I want flavors, those yogurts are okay too as long as they are sweetened with Splenda, or I can toss fresh berries and Splenda into it and make my own.

This also means I can drink buttermilk. I never drank it much, but it was sometimes put in my baby bottle as a child so I have always liked it. I've never had kefir; perhaps I should look for it and try it.

So the bad news is, no more milk. The good news is I can still have yogurt and just ingore the carbohydrate count on the nutrition label. Of course, I still eat cheese and cottage cheese. (Most cheese is only 1 gram carbohydrate per ounce, and the lowfat cottage cheese I eat is 8 grams carbohydrate per 8 ounce cup.)

Update on the Carb Countdown: I got a response back from Hood and here is what they said.

Although we make Carb Countdown products available to our retailers, it is up to each individual retailer to decide which of our products to carry in each particular store. According to my records, this product is available at Albertson's in Southern California and Raley's, SaveMart, C&S, and Unified Western in Northern California. If you are unable to locate it, we suggest you speak with the dairy manager and ask if it can be ordered in.

I don't have access to any of the Northern California stores listed, so I really am SOL when it comes to milk. :-p

My personal stalkers

Do you have personal stalkers? People who read your blog looking for dirt on you for their own nefarious purpose? I do. One of them reads here regularly. She has me blocked on e-mail, but hits here every day! She used to come here twice a day! Lately it's dropped back to once a day (probably will hit here three times a day after this post however!) and I can only hope my health talk, if not sinking in, is at least boring her. I may have one or two other stalkers also - pals of hers. At least my stalker K eventually stopped reading and left. D has just replaced K. Hey, at least I'm popular. I feel like a celebrity, lol.

Let me just take this opportunity to make some things clear, since J-L either misunderstood me or deliberately misinterpreted what I said. Actually, it's more likely he just didn't read what I sent him. After all, as the enemy I couldn't possible have anything intelligent to say.

Here's what was written about me by D:
She claims that she is taking her entire bottle of sleep medicine, but then claims that I am creating "drama" when in I call everybody I know that knows her to try and help her. Then gets furious with me and tells me that I don't care about her and that is why I "created drama". Huh? Would it be showing that I care if I just let her die? How is that caring? Huh?

1) I never said I was taking a bottle of sleeping pills. Never. I defy this woman to show me where I said that - because I never did. And nope, it wasn't in that deleted post. That post contained nothing about sleeping pills much less taking a whole bottle of them.

2) I made it very clear to J-L that sleeping pills will NOT work as a method to kill oneself. I stated as much in my e-mail to him - something that he chose to ignore when D called him in a panic.

The active ingredient in OTC sleep medicines is the same ingredient in Benadryl - diphenhydramine. My doctor says you will sleep a long time and wake up with clear sinuses, but it won't kill you.

3) There is one OTC medicine that will kill you. No, I will not state what that is here (don't want to give anyone any ideas), but suffice to say it would take you at least three days to die that way and it would be a horrible way to go. I mentioned this to J-L and also said that I didn't have any in the house. Again, he chose to ignore this. If I hadn't deleted all his e-mails I would reproduce verbatim what I said here. If J-L still has those e-mails he would do well to review them.

Next time, J-L get your facts straight before you go freaking out. I stated all this very clearly in my e-mails and you chose to ignore what I said, causing - yes - a lot of unnecessary drama. That's on you.

And D, when you go whining to your pals about this post, be sure to post the link and not just quote choice portions that support your view.

Discuss behind my back!

What is a healthy body fat percentage?

Found this while surfing around. Now that I have met my 23% body fat goal, I am looking for more info. on a healthy body fat percentage. Found this on About's Sports Medicine site.

What should your body fat percent be?

A better question might be, "What is your ideal weight? Body fat percent varies considerably for men and women, and age. However, there are some standards. The minimum percent bodyfat considered safe and acceptable for good health is 5% for males and 12% for females. The average adult bodyfat is closer to 15%-18% for men and 22%-25% for women.

How Much Is Too Much?

Just as too little body fat can create some pretty devastating physiological complications, too much body fat can have equally harmful effects. Once men creep up over 25% and women over 32% fat, there is a dramatic correlation with illness and disease.

I started at 37.8%! Eek!

And from Yahoo:

According to an article from Medscape.com, the American Dietetic Association recommends that men have 15-18% body fat and women have 20-25% body fat.

Dr. C. Everett Koop's site, ShapeUp.com, breaks down healthy body fat ranges by both gender and age. Men under 39 years of age should have 8-19% body fat, and women under 39 years of age should have 21-32%. Older men may range from 11% to 24%, and older women may range from 23% to 35%.

So my goal of 20% is actually quite doable.

Ooo, I'm already in the "ideal" range on this chart:
http://www.linear-software.com/online.html#women

Do you know your body fat percentage? If not, since it is more important than weight, why not?

Today's workout

First, the XML feed for my blog has been moved, but is still around. It's near the bottom the left-hand column so you can still do that if you want. I just figured that by now everyone who wants to have my blog e-mailed to them or show up on their My Yahoo page would have done it. If you haven't, no fear. :)

I also added myself to a bunch of directories yesterday. You will find those listed below the new home of the XML feed.

Anyway...on to my post. My workout went well today even though my legs are still sore from Sunday. I couldn't find the 12 pound dumbbells so I did my dumbbells curls using the 15s. On the dumbbell tricep overhead extension I used 20 pounds, and on the lateral dumbbell raise I used 8 pounds. On the press I had the weight of the bar plus 20 pounds. I use a Smith machine (animated gif!) so I don't have to balance the weight of the bar. I did three sets of 15 back extensions holding a 15 pound dumbbell to my chest, and some crunches on the ab bench. I focus weight training primarily on my upper body and core because I figure my lower body is getting worked out during my cardio.

My strength is increasing and my fitness magazines always say to do fewer reps at a higher weight, so I am doing that. After a little more than 30 minutes on weights I did 30 minutes on the elliptical and 15 on the recumbent bike. Then I stretched and boy are my legs still tight, and came to work.

I think I will move my grocery run to tomorrow and go to the gym Thursday so I have a day off between workouts. I can't hit the weights hard if I do it two days in a row.

I can only make it once next week...wah! But on the good side, I'll be missing one workout to go to Ash Wednesday services. :) Ah well, maybe I can squeeze in a quicky workout at home on my exercise bike or something on Thursday or Friday.

What is your body fat IQ?

Here's a test I found to access your knowledge of body fat. I'm thinking about this because I recently met my first body fat goal. I read a lot about nutrition and health and got 10 of 10 on the quiz. :) I thought question #8 was poorly worded, though.

Body fat IQ quiz

This site is from Shape Up America, an organization founded by Dr. C. Everett Koop, former U.S. Surgeon General.

How did you do? Post your results!

Sore

I am sore today, as I thought I'd be. I almost feel like I've run the Bay To Breakers! Something tells me my workout tomorrow won't be full on. I just won't have it in me. Maybe I'll take it easy and work out harder the next day. Or at least focus more on upper body weight training tomorrow and if I do cardio maybe do the elliptical.

I managed to cut my toe while running yesterday. If the nail on this one particular toe gets too long it will cut into the one next to it when I run. Last night I cut the nail and this morning I put a band-air around the hurt one. I need to remember to do this before the race this year. I always get injured there no matter how hard I try.

Today's my 12 hour day this week and I'm tired and hungry. I'm always more hungry on days where I'm running on a lack of sleep and have to be awake for more hours than usual.

The Presidential Prayer Team virtual prayer rally is today. I did my "shift" last night when I got home from work and before bed. I always take a shift between midnight and 1 a.m. because that's the best time for me to pray. This virtual rally was because it's President's Day.

Anyway, that's the last 24 hours. I gave the cats wet food last night to celebrate two years of working out for me.

Still insane

After promising myself I'd have saner Saturdays, I find that I'm still eating sane only six days a week. It's just that my insane day has moved from Saturday to Friday. Why can I not get my head around journaling every single day? Why do I feel I "deserve" a day off?

I know I need to get the low-carb junk food out of the house. I did stock up on things that were being discontinued, and I can't regret that, but I am going to stop buying any more stuff. No more Atkins candy bars, no more Kahlua, no more bringing anything anti-weight loss into my house. I am banishing sugar alcohols when the current stuff is gone. The only exception is the sugar free Oreos which are the only thing too good to give up entirely (I love Oreos and these taste like the real thing!). Other than that, the only sugar free candy allowed in the house will be things without sugar alcohols, such as the Mini Carb bars.

New record!

After pigging out on pizza yesterday I had tons of energy and ran for 3.5 miles on the treadmill today, with my speed between 4.5 and 4.7 mph. Yes, I know I run slow. I have short legs and 4.5 is a comfy pace. I'm trying to get my speed up a bit to cover more distance in a shorter time. Today's run was 46 minutes. 3.5 miles is a new record for me. My previous record was 2.7 miles.

I'm exhausted. I'll be needing lots of caffeine today and know I'll be sore tomorrow. But it'll be a good sore. :)

My Workout Anniversary!

Today marks two years since I did my first workout! Yay me! I'm celebrating by going for a run on the treadmill at the gym.

What kind of cat parent are you?

Nurturing Cat Parent: You love to spoil your
four-legged babies. You haven't neared the
Crazy-Cat-Lady line quite yet... keep up the
good work! :)

What kind of Cat Parent are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

Dinner with Rob and Julie

Went out with Rob and Julie. We went to this little Mexican place. I didn't see anything I could eat at first, but I told the guy at the counter what I couldn't eat, and also asked if they had salad, and he was able to put together something I could eat - grilled shrimp and veggies, diced cucumber, tomatoes, and shredded lettuce, and sour cream and sliced avocado on the side. The guy at the counter asked if I was on Atkins and I said yes. He said his wife was on it.

Then we had to decide on a movie. Rob wanted to see King Kong, which I had no interest in and it was really long besides. We went to the video store and eventually decided on Corpse Bride. It was pretty good with a happy but sad ending that brought me to tears.

Misconceptions in Canada about Atkins

This is from the official Atkins board, from a man in Canada named Peter.

---Begin quote---

I have heard about Atkins for years up here in the Great White North. There was a show this winter that said how bad this is for you - you get less than 3 cups of salad per day and that's it, plus it's all meat and fat. Eating meat and losing weight sounded good to me, so I started it the next day.

Honestly - being in week 5 now of induction, I find that assessment couldn't be more wrong. I am eating less meat than I was, it's just a bit fattier. I have very little caffeine and no alcohol.

I am eating WAY more veggies/day than I have in my life and no longer have daily headaches and mood swings. It's by no means the diet this show made it out to be. In the beginning I was saying to myself, "With all this meat, how could this be good for me?"...after week 3 I was saying, "With all these veggies, how could it NOT be good for me??"

Is this the conception of it in the U.S. and abroad?

---End quote---

What kind of misconceptions have you heard? Post a comment!

Vote on my review!

Vote on my book review of Living the Low Carb Life, the review I've been blogging here in separate entries. Just scroll down on the page to where the reviews start. My review is currently at the top.

Heck, if you have some free time, feel free to peruse my other Amazon reviews and vote on them. You'll find both diet books and books on faith, including some obscure books and products that haven't been voted on at all yet. Just ask yourself, Do you find these reviews helpful to you?

Pissing like a racehorse

Now that I've got your attention, lol...

Pissed like a racehorse last night and am back to 141.8 today. Gotta love how water retention makes the scale go up and messes with your head.

I'm SO hungry today. After restricting calories all week I'm ravenous. I woke up at 5 a.m. starving and had a hard time getting back to sleep. Ate my dinner sandwich for breakfast, then went grocery shopping. The sandwich did take the edge off and helped me get through the morning. I also had my protein shake. Going to eat more calories today, but keep the carbs in check so I don't gain too much. Gotta keep myself in ketosis and keep burning fat!

Going out to a very quick dinner followed by a movie with bro and his wife tomorrow night, so I won't be able to count. I'll be good though.

Living the Low Carb Life, Resources

Chapter 1 review - Chapter 2 review - Chapter 3 review
Chapter 4 review - Chapter 5 review - Chapter 6 review
Chapter 7 review - Chapter 8 review

The "Resources" section is something Jonny Bowden mentions repeatedly throughout the book. There are tons of Web sites listed on every possible topic of interest to a low carber, including sites that have research abstracts. Tell the next person who tells you there's no science behind this approach to "Kiss my research abstracts!"

This resources section is 25 pages long and not to be missed. The book may be worth is just for the great resource section.

First, of course, he starts off mentioning his own Web site. :) Then he gets into all the other resources.

Low-Carbing Websites
Articles Online by Topic (including some research)
Recipes, Food, and Online Cookbooks
Exercise
Low-Carbers: The Dieters Themselves
Research Sites (abstracts and research papers)
Online Stores
Helpful Tools
Meal Delivery Service
Health and General Interest Sites of Value to Low-Carbers
Vitamins and Supplements
Newsletters and Magazines
Recommended Reading (has a sublist consisting of the following)

General

Low-Carb Library Must-Haves

References on Vitamins and Supplements

Sugar and Grains

Fats

Food Allergies and Weight Control

Stress and Its Relationship to Fat

Heart Disease and Cholesterol: Myths and Myth-Conceptions

Diabetes and Syndrome X

Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Ketosis But Were Afraid to Ask

Cookbooks

Great news!

Got weighed and measured today and the news was better than I ever could have hoped. Hitting the weights has made a difference; I'm going to stop obsessing over the scale. I've only lost a pound and a half of weight in the 3 1/2 months since my last weigh/measure (October 26), BUT my body fat has dropped 2%, from 35.8 pounds to 32.5 pounds (3.3 pounds of fat lost), AND my lean mass is up for the first time, from 110.2 pounds to 112 pounds (1.8 pounds of muscle gained). That's the first time I've managed to gain muscle. Additionally, my body fat percentage goal for the year was to get to 23%. At 22.5% I've already exceeded it. My new goal is 20%, but no time frame for that. Just whenever. Total body fat lost since beginning - 15.3%.

So all in all, very good news and I am thrilled! I'll keep doing what I'm doing because it's working!

Living the Low Carb Life, Chapter 8

Chapter 1 review - Chapter 2 review - Chapter 3 review
Chapter 4 review - Chapter 5 review - Chapter 6 review
Chapter 7 review

In chapter 8, Jonny Bowden helps you put your low- or controlled-carb program together. These are things that will help you no matter what program you choose. The sections are:

Low-Carb Is Not a Religion
Reassessment 101
Choose Your Battles
Invest Time in the Kitchen
Junk Is Junk, High-Carb or Low-Carb
Ten Simple Principles for a Successful Low-Carb Life (with 10 subpoints of course)
Make Low-Carb Part of a System of Self-Care (with 10 sub-points)
You Can Lose Weight: Believing Is Seeing

And that's it. That's the whole book. The only thing after this is the "Resources" section he mentions repeatedly throughout the book. There are tons of Web sites listed on every possible topic of interest to a low carber, including sites that have research abstracts. Tell the next person who tells you there's no science behind this approach to "Kiss my research abstracts!"

This resources section is 25 pages long and not to be missed.

Five days to my exercise anniversary! It will be two years for me. I will celebrate, of course, by working out. Still about 6-7 weeks away from my second Atkins anniversary.

Would you believe I forgot to bring salad to work today? No salad! Argh! I remembered the bowl and measuring cup for the salad dressing, but forgot the salad! I also got jonsing real bad for the sandwich in the refrigerator so I ate it. I was still hungry so I ate my last low carb yogurt. I wanted something sweet. Yummy!

My carbs so far today are going to be in the 50g range. Oh well. I think slightly more carbs might make these headaches go away. They started about the time I cut back to lose the last few pounds. I honestly just plain feel better at about 50-60g of carbs.

Almost done with the low-carb book and all my reviews. I'll be touching up and posting the rest in the next few days I hope.

Had to run into the City today so no exercise, but I was early to the BART station so I walked the rest of the way to work. Decided to treat myself to an ice coffee with sugar free vanilla syrup at Starbucks. Only 9 calories according to FitDay and I burned 80 with the walk!

Tomorrow is my weigh and measure. They will also check my body fat percentage. Wish me luck!

I'm sticking my maintenance ticker at the bottom of this blog page. This will remind me and everyone of what I have accomplished and that there will be no second time for me losing weight!

I'm going out to dinner and a movie with my brother and his wife Friday night. Don't know what we'll see, but there's nothing currently that I want to see and haven't. It's nice of him to take me out, but I wish he hadn't woke me out of a dead sleep to ask me. :-p I work second shift, people! I don't do 9 a.m.

Really craving sugar today. Not sure why since it's so bad for me. What's keeping me honest is knowing that I'm being weighed and measured tomorrow and I don't want to show a gain in anything except muscle!

Living the Low Carb Life, Chapter 7

Chapter 1 review - Chapter 2 review - Chapter 3 review
Chapter 4 review - Chapter 5 review - Chapter 6 review

This chapter is composed on more than 50 "tricks of the trade" to help you in your low-carb lifestyle. Jonny Bowden followed each tip with a one paragraph explanation to work this into your plan. He makes it clear you don't have to do every single one, especially all at once. This is good because I don't intend to eat salmon (one of his tips) for any meal. I hate salmon.

Many of these tips (such as getting enough sleep) would work for any weight loss or maintenance program.

The tips are broken up into three sections. These are:
Food and Drink
Motivation
General Tips

Living the Low Carb Life, Chapter 6

Chapter 1 review - Chapter 2 review - Chapter 3 review
Chapter 4 review - Chapter 5 review

In chapter 6, Jonny Bowden tackles all those "Frequently Asked Questions" about low-carb diets. It would take too long to list each question he answers, but he breaks things down into sections, each containing between 2 and 23 questions each. Here's the sections:

Losing Weight on Low-Carb (6 questions)
Low carbing and the Body (11 questions)
Cravings (2 questions)
Supplements (5 questions)
Ketosis (3 questions)
Food and Water (23 questions)
Plateaus (2 questions)
Exercise (4 questions)

This is a great section of the book. I especially liked his answer to the question "What is the minimum daily requirement for carbohydrates?" Want to know the answer? Get the book!

My cats' weighty matters

I'm not the only one in my household with weight issues.

As you may know, Abby is a feral (wild) cat that I found. She was extremely underweight when I found her. Therefore, her mission in life is to stuff her face with as much food as possible. The more body fat she has, the longer she can survive if another time of famine comes. She's too stupid to realize that as long as she hangs around me she'll get fed twice a day. Therefore, I don't allow free feeding. While Xena can control herself, Abby cannot. She's long since put on the weight she needed to and doesn't need to gain anymore.

I've been feeding them separately, measuring Abby's portions so she'll lose her pudge and now more or less trying to get her to maintain. Xena gets stuck in a room alone, but with a big bowl of food and allowed to eat as much as she wants.

Problem is, she's not eating enough.

I took her to vet Friday to get her claws clipped (she's scratching me again) and while there asked them to weigh her. They brought her back and said she was 9 pounds, a respectable weight for a girl cat. Problem is, she's a big girl. She weighed 10.5 pounds at her last visit and looked better. At 9 pounds she's looking a bit scrawny. Not severally underweight or anything, but she could stand to gain a bit.

They advised me to "spoil" her, and even consider feeding her kitten food for a while. Certainly feed her regular adult food. Both her and Abby have been on Eukanuba lite and this problem didn't start until I began feeding them separately. So here's the plan. Feed Xena on the bed with me watching her to keep Abby away. Feed her kitten food for now (higher fat content) and then regular adult food later, and see if we can get some weight back on her. Continue the way I have been with Abby to keep her from gaining weight.

They gave me a sample of Science Diet kitten food which she didn't seem too smitten with, but did eat (she'll eat darn near anything - she is not picky). I have a four pound bag of Iams kitten food. She ate that almost exclusively as a baby, and so far that has gone over better. On the weekends when I am home more I'll try to feed her three times in a day instead of twice like usual.

It sucks having one cat who has difficulty gaining, and one who is constantly hungry and desperately wants to get fat! I've always tried to feed them the same food so neither one feels slighted. I guess that's over now. Abby feels left out and is convinced that Xena has the better food. It might taste better, but it's not better nutritionally for her. Abby needs less fat, not more.

The only other option is to keep them separated when I am not home and that would be worse. They are good friends and I think they would hate to be separated. They play together and clean each other.

Xena:


Abby:

Want studies? I have studies.

Instead of quoting the PETA-affiliated PCRM, perhaps we should try a more reliable source of medical info, such as Pub Med? Here's a study I stumbled upon today, done in 1997, that shows low-fat diets had no healthful effect on postmenopausal women.

Conclusion?

"Because all of these changes would increase risk of ischemic heart disease in postmenopausal women, it seems reasonable to question the wisdom of recommending that postmenopausal women consume low-fat, high-carbohydrate diets."

Full abstract at Pub Med.

And here's a 2004 study where higher carbohydrates were associated with progression of heart problems, and higher saturated fat (yes, saturated fat) was associated with a lower incidence of heart problems.

"In postmenopausal women with relatively low total fat intake, a greater saturated fat intake is associated with less progression of coronary atherosclerosis, whereas carbohydrate intake is associated with a greater progression."

PubMed article

Full text from the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition is here.

This is just a smattering of the research available online, but most people want others to think for them rather than do their own research. I believe I blogged about this before, didn't I?

Think for yourselves, people! Do a little research using a reputable source. I have, and my body has thanked me for it with greater health then ever before.

H/T: Weight of the Evidence for giving me a heads-up on these studies.

Living the Low Carb Life, Chapter 5

Chapter 1 review - Chapter 2 review - Chapter 3 review
Chapter 4 review

In chapter 5, Jonny Bowden tackles the five biggest myths of low-carb diets. If you have been low carbing for any length of time, you have likely heard versions of all five of these. He covers these and other myths in less detail in the next chapter, but these five are the "big ones" that require longer explanations. What are these myths? Here you go:

1) Low-carbohydrate diets induce ketosis, a dangerous metabolic state.

2) Low-carbohydrate diets cause calcium loss, bone loss, and/or osteoporosis.

3) High-protein diets cause damage to the kidneys.

4) The only reason you lose weight on a low-carb diet is because it's low in calories.

5) Low-carb diets increase the risk for heart disease.

These are all untrue myths, widely believed, and sometimes the exact opposite of the truth. Be ready to be challenged when you read this chapter.

Living the Low Carb Life, Chapter 4

Chapter 1 review - Chapter 2 review - Chapter 3 review

This chapter covers diet drugs and vitamin and mineral supplements. First Jonny Bowden tackles diet drugs, saying that the only reason is doing so is because their ability to be bought online with a prescription presents a very strong temptation for many people. However, he cautions, these drugs are of limited use (very limited), are expensive, and often have side effects. All those factors combined mean they are just not worth it.

Next up is supplements, which he passionately believes in. Between his recommendation and Del raving about it on About's Weight Loss forum, I am taking fish oil capsules as of today.

Here's a list of all the supplements he covers. If you want to know more about them, you need this book! All these supplements can help with weight loss, and he explains what each one is for and how it can help. None will cause weight loss; they are just an aid. Not everyone needs every supplement.

fiber (I take this at night)
B Complex (I take this in the morning and swear by it for energy - take this!)
B5
B6 (included in my multi-vitamin packet)
Vitamin C (included in my multi-vitamin packet)
Vitamin E (included in my multi-vitamin packet)
Omega 3s (fish oil - I'm taking this now)
GLA (Gamma Linolenic Acid)
Magnesium (25% RDA is included in my multi-vitamin packet)
Alpha Lipoic Acid
Chromium (included in my multi-vitamin packet)
High-Dose Biotin
Carnitine
CoQ10
Green Tea (this is part of a current supplement I take, plus I drink two huge mugs of tea per day)
Ginseng (this is part of my multi-vitamin packet)
5-HTP
Bitter Orange (there are some warnings connected with this one - I can't take it)
Glutamine
Neptune Krill Oil

Under "Possibly Helpful" we find these supplements:

Gymnema Sylvestre
Hydroxycitrate (Hydroxycitric Acid)
Banaba Leaf Extract (Corosolic Acid) - no, NOT banana leaf; banaBa leaf

Under "Not recommended at This Time" we find these supplements:

CLA (Conjugated Linoleic Acid)
Flaxseed Oil (for Men)
Vanadium (Vanadyl Sulfate) (my multi-vitamin includes 10 mcg)

I need to sit down with this book and my vitamins and see what I have covered and what is not, and/or if I need to change the dosages of what I take.

We have a new Assistant Pastor!

As of last weekend we have a new Assistant Pastor at our church. This will make filling in the pulpit on pastor's weekends off much easier. (Our pastor takes one weekend a month off because he works a full-time job in addition to pastoring the church.) Brent is a former Seventh-day Adventist who felt a call to the ministry, but didn't agree with all the Adventist teaching and so couldn't in good conscience become an Adventist pastor. Him and his wife, Carla, and their children drive about an hour to come to our church every week. Brent has been filling in for pastor on pastor's weekends off. Brent and Carla both joined the church a while back and at our last business meeting we voted to make Brent an Assistant Pastor. It's one step in a long line of things he'll be doing to eventually become a pastor of his own church.

I need to update the church Web site with his picture!

Here's a picture of a portion of our new bulletin with his name under pastor's name. It looks weird seeing his name on there. I'm so used to seeing the "old" bulletin every week. I've taken out easy identifying information. If you want to know the address and phone number you'll have to look them up.

Living the Low Carb Life, Chapter 3

Chapter 1 review - Chapter 2 review

In chapter 3, Jonny Bowden takes pains to list the positives and negatives of all the diet plans he profiles. With those that get a low rating, such as Lindora, he mentions what is good about the program. And with the highest rated, such as Atkins, he mentions the faults he sees. So far from being overly biased, he does his best to highlight the whole story behind all the diets - good and bad.

Here's all the diets and how they rated, from top rated down to lowest rated. When more than one program has the same rating they are in alphabetical order. If you want to know Mr. Bowden's reasoning behind these ratings, you'll have to get the book! :) Below each diet I will put my comments.

The Atkins Diet - 5 stars

I am, of course, biased toward this program because it is my plan. :) Atkins is high-fat, low-carb, consisting of four phases, each one less restrictive than the last.

Favorite quotes:
"But you have to realize that in 1972, banning these foods [high carbohydrate foods] for even two weeks was the nutrition equivalent of suggesting that every school and office in the country burn the American flag. These foods were the holy grail of low-fat religion" (pg. 68).

"Atkins has been one of the most misunderstood diet authors and has been the target of more attacks than any other low-carb proponent, probably because his was the first and the most commercially successful of the plans and also, to the constant chagrin of the establishment, because he simply wouldn't go away" (pg. 72).

www.atkins.com

The Fat Flush Plan - 5 stars

A good basic plan. There really isn't anything bad to say about it. It restricts wheat, dairy, and sugar, which some people are sensitive to in which case these foods would cause bloating.

fatflush.com

The Hamptons Diet - 5 stars

Favorite quote:
"Dr. Pescatore points to the fact that the American Heart Association diet - which recommends limiting total dietary fat to less than 30 percent of the diet and saturated fat to less than 10 percent - fails to lower triglycerides and actually lowers HDL (good cholesterol). In addition, the AHA diet has never consistently shown long-term improvement in any heart disease outcome" (pg. 107).

www.hamptonsdiet.com

Protein Power - 5 stars

Not much to say. It's a very good, well-balanced low carb diet.

Interesting feature of the diet:
It has three levels, representing your level of commitment. The higher the level, the more healthy you will be. You'll have to get the book for the full explanation, but here's the name of the levels.

Purist - very restrictive
Dilettante - a little less restrictive, but still bans certain foods; the authors themselves are on this level
Hedonist - the least restrictive; anything goes as long as you stay within your allotted carbs and get the amount of required protein

If I had to go on this diet I would most certainly be a hedonist!

Interestingly enough, I recently stumbled upon Dr. Michael Eades' blog and have been reading it.

eatprotein.com Not much there at the moment. They say they are moving the site.

The South Beach Diet - 5 stars

Consisting of three phases and a good carbs/good fats approach (after the initial low-carb approach of Phase 1), the diet's true genius was that Dr. Agatston managed to get accepted by the mainstream. This is probably do to his demonization of saturated fats, which Mr. Bowden feels is dead wrong. However, if it can get people eating less carbs, that's a good thing.

I can't find fault in this diet. It encourages people to eat carbs in the amount their individual bodies can handle them, and there's nothing wrong with that.

Best (if not favorite) quote:
"The genius of Agatston is that he has taken this information and make it extremely user-friendly and accessible, and has done so while making sure not to alienate his more conservative colleagues in the medical profession. This makes it much more likely that his important message will be heard" (pgs. 155-156).

www.southbeachdiet.com

The Zone - 5 stars

Consists of 40% carbs/30% protein/30% fat.

Mr. Bowden then takes time to explode some basic myths about the diet.

1) "The Zone is not a high-protein diet" (pg. 161). It includes about 112g of protein a day.
2) "The Zone is also not a low-carb diet" (pg. 162). It includes about 150g of carbohydrates. (Yikes! Way too high for me. Any more than about 90g a day and I get the most horrible cravings.)
3) "The Zone was never meant solely as a weight loss diet. It was designed to reduce heart disease through the control of inflammation" (pg. 162).

In this section Mr. Bowden touches on the topic of eicosanoids. Very interesting stuff. Don't skip it.

He says that Dr. Sears has "almost singlehandedly forced the dietary establishment to reevaluate the prohibition on fats" (pg. 165), and that 40/30/30 beats the USDA food pyramid any day of the week. He says the Zone is a good place to begin, even if you later move on the a different program.

drsears.com

The 7 Day Low-Carb Rescue and Recovery Plan - 4 stars

By the same authors as the The Carbohydrate Addict's Diet. This is a week-long program and not a lifestyle. It's meant to transition you slowly into the Carbohydrate Addict's Diet. (See below for more on this.)

www.carbohydrateaddicts.com

The GO Diet - 4 stars

Favorite quote:
"Fruits today are definitely not the same fruits out ancestors ate. Our fruits have been bred and engineered for far more sweetness than the bitter little things that our Paleolithic ancestors gathered" (pg. 102).

www.go-diet.com

The Schwarzbein Principle - 4 stars

Mr. Bowden says that every low-carber should have the original Schwarzbein Principle in their library. He also says that if you aren't familiar with the case against a low-fat diet that this book is a good place to start.

The Schwarzbein Principle focuses on both insulin (as all low-carb diets do), but also on having healthy adrenal glands. This is what sets it apart from all other low-carb diets.

Why does it get only 4 stars? Because it's not really a weight loss plan. "As an overall plan for health, this is five-star material. But as a weight loss diet - which it was never intended to be - it may not be the ideal entry-level plan, as it requires a good deal of patience and lots of commitment" (pg. 146).

schwarzbeinprinciple.com

The Carbohydrate Addict's Diet - 3 stars

Two "on plan" meals a day consisting of mostly protein and vegetables and one reward meal, but that meal must be eaten in one hour. No snacks.

I could do a LOT of damage in one hour. This program would never work for me.

www.carbohydrateaddicts.com

Neanderthin - 3 stars

Notable quote:
"Until the advent of agriculture, grains, beans, potatoes, milk, and refined sugar were not part of the human diet" (pg. 119).

This is SO true! Agriculture has only been around for 10,000 years. Our digestive tracts don't change that quickly. Our bodies are much better suited for a hunter/gatherer diet - low carbohydrate, high protein and fat.

Interesting feature of this diet:
"You...shouldn't drink alcohol, though he [the diet's author] says that if you must, you can do damage control by drinking fruit-based alcohol such as wine or champagne" (pg. 121).

No quibble here. I'm a wine girl all the way!

Favorite quote:
"A vegetarian diet, says Audette, is about as natural to humans as a diet of Cheerios to a lion" (pg. 122).

I think that's a bit hyperbolic, but point taken.

There doesn't appear to be a Web site for this diet, at least not anymore. When I went to the one given in the book, there was nothing there.

The Paleo Diet - 3 stars

Here Mr. Bowden gets into what he only touched on in the last section - that agriculture with it's attendant carbs and refined sugar is the cause of obesity. There's far too much info. to type up, but suffice to say that if you want to understand the role agriculture has played in modern life (and food) as we know it today, then this section is a must-read. For now, let's just say that Mr. Bowden lays out the fact that "61% of calories in a modern diet come from foods that were largely unknown before the adoption of agriculture" (pg. 125), and spells out how he came to this figure.

I have more stuff highlighted in this section than any other.

Favorite quote:
"Interesting, isn't it, that grains are the food of choice for fattening livestock and yet are still recommended by the dietary establishment as the foundation food of a weight loss program!" (pg. 127).

thepaleodiet.com

Curves - 2 1/2 stars

Favorite quote:
"This is a textbook example of what happens when a businessperson writes a book on nutrition and fitness. It's so filled will god-awful voodoo nutrition and snake oil salesmanship that by page 23 I was downright angry. Want an example? The author talks about turning on 'starvation hormones.'...I've never heard the term 'starvation hormones.' Wanna know why? 'Cause they don't exist" (pg. 91).

Also, Mr. Bowden quotes the Curves book as saying, "...a diet should be temporary." What, no lifestyle change??? That's the definition of a "god-awful" program!

www.curves.com

The Lindora Program - 2 stars (couldn't find a book, just the official Web site)

Focuses not just on food, but on the physical, psychological, and environmental causes of cravings, and teaches people how to manage them. It reminded me a bit of Dr. Phil McGraw's Ultimate Weight Loss Solution, with the emphasis on the whole person, and in that case, as in the case of Lindora, the "food" portion of the diet isn't all that great.

leanforlife.com

Somersizing - 2 stars

Gets only 2 stars "purely for the emphasis on real food" (pg. 151). It's a food combining plan - protein/fats can be eaten with vegetables, but not carbs, and carbs can be eaten with vegetables, but not protein/fats. Fruits are always eaten alone. There is no science to back up food combining like this.

Favorite quote:
"It's a lovely system. The problem is that it has no basic in fact and doesn't even make sense on an intuitive level" (pg. 148).

www.suzannesomers.com

Sugar Busters! - 2 stars

Gets only 2 stars, and those are "awarded for effort" (pg. 160), and nothing more. This diet is only about controlling sugar, but not other carbs. He considers the diet a step in the right direction, but "too lenient" for most people.

sugarbusters.com

The Scarsdale Diet - 0 stars

This is a low-carb, low-fat, low-calorie diet. At zero stars, Mr. Bowden says it "is only mentioned here because it is still in print and still has a following. This is the kind of book that gives low-carbing a bad name" (pg. 140).

And yet, he does manage to find one positive comment:
"The only thing it [this diet] brings to the table - done so much better by others - is a limitation on sugar, starch, and flour" (pg 140).

There is no official Web site.

Do you have any experiences with any of these diets, or perhaps a low carb program not mentioned here? Leave a comment!

What if it's all been a big fat lie?

I just found this on Jimmy's site.

Gary Taubes has a new book coming out, A Big, Fat Lie? I assume this is an expansion on his 2002 article What if It's All Been a Big Fat Lie? The article is great (please take the time to read it), and if the book is as good, it will be well worth the read. I know I'll be buying it.

In study, low-fat diet not shown to have health benefits, take 2

Found this from Yahoo news this morning.

Study: Less Fat May Not Lower Cancer Risk

This sentence sums up the study best:
"The eight-year study showed no difference in the rate of breast cancer, colon cancer and heart disease among those who ate lower-fat diets and those who didn't."

Hmmm...maybe Dr. Atkins was onto something with a high-fat, low-carb diet.

My only comment is on the following statement:

"Eating less fat late in life failed to lower the risk of cancer and heart disease among older women, disappointing news for those who expected greater benefits from a healthy diet."

Perhaps we should redefine healthy? We base our diet on things our bodies don't need (carbohydrates) and for some reason this is defined as "healthy."

Here's yesterday's post about the study.

In study, low-fat diet not shown to have health benefits

From Jimmy's blog:

THIS IS AN HISTORIC DAY THAT YOU'LL WANT TO REMEMBER!

Mark down February 7, 2006 in the annals of history regarding health, diet, and nutrition because the uncovering of a three-decade long ruse begins today as we watch it unravel right before our eyes and it will change all conventional wisdom regarding what we consider healthy living forever.

This Washington Post story about the published results of an EIGHT-YEAR study on the low-fat diet shows that there was ZERO health improvements in the risk of getting cancer and heart disease.

For those of you playing along at home, yes, this is the SAME low-fat diet recommendation that we have heard from our doctors, government, and health "experts" since the early 1970's that they have so highly touted as the wave of the future for people to follow to ensure they live a long, healthy life relatively free from the diseases that "other" nutritional approaches offer. Guess what? That was ONE BIG FAT LIE!

The eight-year study of 48,835 women published in Wednesday's issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association found that the study participants failed to lose a measurable amount of weight on the low-fat diet. In fact, most of them even remained overweight which put them at an even greater risk for cardiovascular disease despite following their low-fat regimen.

This is the second major blow to the low-fat diet to come out in 2006 and the news just keeps getting worse as research reveals what so many of us have known for a long time -- the low-fat diet is a failure.

While advocates of restricting fat for weight control, disease prevention, and good overall health have long gotten a free pass by much of the media, health officials and physicians in the U.S. and around the world, studies like these cannot be ignored and the ramifications of dismissing them rather than making changes in the way we think about health and diet could be devastating. It is clear to everyone who has eyes to see that we must look at other nutritional approaches and stop monopolizing the public health message with an exclusive low-fat bent!

The study, which incidentally cost American taxpayers $415 million to conduct since 1998 (and worth every penny!), found there was NO difference in the rate of breast cancer, colon cancer and heart disease among those eating a low-fat diet and those who did not.

Rest of entry here. The entire piece is quite long and worth the read.

Dr. Michael Eades' piece - author of the "Protein Power" diet
Weight of the Evidence article - slightly more scientific than the other two blogs, this is a good choice, if a little hard to understand at times

Which happy bunny are you?

you are the "you suck, and that's sad"
happy bunny. your truthful, but can
be a bit brutal.

which happy bunny are you?
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Which happy bunny are you? Post a comment and let me know.