Post by Jana on Sept 22, 2004 14:55:00 GMT -5
So Mythunderstood
Vanessa Sands
So much false information surrounds the low-carb lifestyle -- what low-carbers eat, what they don't. This article, courtesy of Low Carb Energy magazine, cuts through some of the mystique.
Five low-carb myths busted
We all know low-carbing works. We all have seen the effects in our friends and relatives. Yet those still clutching Twinkies in a death grip hear odd ideas they understandably find a little…disturbing — while we who already enjoy the health benefits of low-carbing stumble over our words to explain.
Here's what the experts say about the most common myths surrounding the mysterious life of low-carbers:
Myth #1: You can't eat vegetables.
Even the Atkins diet -- the most restrictive of the major low-carb regimens -- not only permits vegetables, but encourages their consumption. Atkins, a cardiologist, debunked this myth head on in his New Diet Revolution (HarperCollins Publishers, 2002; ISBN 0-06-001203-X): "If some misguided individual tells you that you won’t eat vegetables when you do Atkins, wave this chapter at him or her. You will. And, it's just possible, if you are a typical American, that you will eat more vegetables than you ever ate before." In fact, even the strictest phase of Atkins dictates eating one cup of vegetables and two cups of leafy greens every day. In the ongoing weight loss phase, you’ll add still more, with nuts and seeds thrown into the mix.
"By the time you are in the Lifetime Maintenance phase, you may well be able to eat most every vegetable, although some in moderation," Atkins writes.
Regardless of which low-carb diet you choose, the trick is choosing the right veggies, such as leafy greens, broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus, tomatoes, string beans and many more. Generally restricted are potatoes, carrots, corn and other starchier varieties.
It just so happens that the less carby vegetables pack the most nutrients…so gobble that green stuff.
Myth #2: You only lose water weight.
According to www.atkinsdietcenter.com, "It is typical of any weight loss plan, including the Induction phase of Atkins, that during the first few days, or even the first week, some of the weight loss will be water loss." But what happens after that is key: As your body gradually shifts to burning fat rather than carbs for energy, you'll wind up losing real weight, as evidenced as much by that increasingly loose waistband as what you see on the scale.
I lost a lot of weight quickly in the first two weeks. I figured a lot of it was water. But when the weight kept coming off, it was obvious that it was fat. I know I wasn't carrying around 20 extra pounds of H2O.
Myth #3: Once you go off a low-carb diet, the weight comes back.
This isn't a myth, actually -- it is a misunderstanding. Low-carbers in online forums and mailing lists call their eating pattern a "WOE" -- an (unfortunate) acronym for "way of eating." That is, it is not a diet in the sense that it's temporary -- it's a lifestyle! For your body to reap all the benefits of low-carbing, you must adopt it as your way of eating for life.
In their bestselling Protein Power (Bantam Books, 1999), cardiologists Michael R. Eades, MD, and Mary Dan Eades, MD write: "It is important to remember ... that even though the regimen works rapidly to return insulin sensitivity to normal in most people, it works only as long as you follow it. It doesn't return you to childhood levels of imperviousness to carbohydrate assault." Your carb allotment increases as you move through the phases of the various eating plans -- but that bag of potato chips is just as bad for you right now as it will be years down the road.
Myth #4: Low-carb diets are unbalanced.
See Myth #1 again. You may be surprised to learn that, not only do low-carbers eat ample portions of vegetables, those in the later weight loss and maintenance phases enjoy healthful carbs like many fruits, whole-grain varieties of bread and rice, and other foods low on the glycemic index. The quantity and frequency depends on the way your own body metabolizes these carbs, as well as the specific approach you’re following — but avoiding insulin overload is the overarching goal.
Chances are, someday soon you can start your day with oatmeal and strawberries -- and still enjoy all the health and energy benefits of low carbing!
Myth #5: Low-carb diets are bad for your health and wreak havoc with cholesterol and blood pressure readings.
This is the old-school granddaddy of all low-carb myths, and ongoing research continues to prove it false. The Eades write: "You can treat elevated cholesterol with the standard low-fat cholesterol-lowering diet with limited success until the cows come home, but you can reduce your insulin level with our program in a matter of days and see an almost immediate reduction of blood pressure, a significant reduction in your cholesterol or triglyceride levels in a few weeks, and a steady loss of excess stored body fat."
In The South Beach Diet (Rodale Press, 2003; ISBN 1579546463) — which stresses the moderate intake of "good" carbs -- Arthur Agatston, MD, describes a patient in his fifties with high blood pressure, cholesterol and triglycerides, as well as narrowing of the arteries. The drugs that doctors had prescribed weren't working. "We put him on the [South Beach] diet, and before very long his cardiac profile improved. His triglycerides, for instance, had been over 400 -- frighteningly high. After a month on the diet, that number had fallen below 100... . He's no longer taking all those heart medications."
Likewise, Atkins describes an overweight man dealing with rising hypertension. "He was on medication and constantly fatigued. Doing Weight Watchers only introduced him to the pleasures of starvation... . He decided to give Atkins a try. In eight months on the plan, [he] lost 60 pounds, was taken off his blood pressure medication and now has an unmedicated blood pressure of 118/74 — a first-class advertisement for cardiovascular health."
Naturally, blood pressure tends to drop when we shed excess pounds. But compelling (and increasing) evidence of a direct link between excess insulin and high blood pressure dates way back to 1991, when the medical journal Hypertension reported, "Data are presented from both obese and nonobese subjects that strongly suggests that selective insulin resistance and hypertension are directly related." (A. P. Rocchini, "Proceedings of the Council for High Blood Pressure Research, 1990: Insulin Resistance and Blood Pressure Regulation in Obese and Nonobese Subjects: Special Lecture," Hypertension, 17(6 part 2), 1991).
Thinking about improving your health through diet? Get a physical, talk with your doctor, do your research — and get all the facts.
Vanessa Sands
So much false information surrounds the low-carb lifestyle -- what low-carbers eat, what they don't. This article, courtesy of Low Carb Energy magazine, cuts through some of the mystique.
Five low-carb myths busted
We all know low-carbing works. We all have seen the effects in our friends and relatives. Yet those still clutching Twinkies in a death grip hear odd ideas they understandably find a little…disturbing — while we who already enjoy the health benefits of low-carbing stumble over our words to explain.
Here's what the experts say about the most common myths surrounding the mysterious life of low-carbers:
Myth #1: You can't eat vegetables.
Even the Atkins diet -- the most restrictive of the major low-carb regimens -- not only permits vegetables, but encourages their consumption. Atkins, a cardiologist, debunked this myth head on in his New Diet Revolution (HarperCollins Publishers, 2002; ISBN 0-06-001203-X): "If some misguided individual tells you that you won’t eat vegetables when you do Atkins, wave this chapter at him or her. You will. And, it's just possible, if you are a typical American, that you will eat more vegetables than you ever ate before." In fact, even the strictest phase of Atkins dictates eating one cup of vegetables and two cups of leafy greens every day. In the ongoing weight loss phase, you’ll add still more, with nuts and seeds thrown into the mix.
"By the time you are in the Lifetime Maintenance phase, you may well be able to eat most every vegetable, although some in moderation," Atkins writes.
Regardless of which low-carb diet you choose, the trick is choosing the right veggies, such as leafy greens, broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus, tomatoes, string beans and many more. Generally restricted are potatoes, carrots, corn and other starchier varieties.
It just so happens that the less carby vegetables pack the most nutrients…so gobble that green stuff.
Myth #2: You only lose water weight.
According to www.atkinsdietcenter.com, "It is typical of any weight loss plan, including the Induction phase of Atkins, that during the first few days, or even the first week, some of the weight loss will be water loss." But what happens after that is key: As your body gradually shifts to burning fat rather than carbs for energy, you'll wind up losing real weight, as evidenced as much by that increasingly loose waistband as what you see on the scale.
I lost a lot of weight quickly in the first two weeks. I figured a lot of it was water. But when the weight kept coming off, it was obvious that it was fat. I know I wasn't carrying around 20 extra pounds of H2O.
Myth #3: Once you go off a low-carb diet, the weight comes back.
This isn't a myth, actually -- it is a misunderstanding. Low-carbers in online forums and mailing lists call their eating pattern a "WOE" -- an (unfortunate) acronym for "way of eating." That is, it is not a diet in the sense that it's temporary -- it's a lifestyle! For your body to reap all the benefits of low-carbing, you must adopt it as your way of eating for life.
In their bestselling Protein Power (Bantam Books, 1999), cardiologists Michael R. Eades, MD, and Mary Dan Eades, MD write: "It is important to remember ... that even though the regimen works rapidly to return insulin sensitivity to normal in most people, it works only as long as you follow it. It doesn't return you to childhood levels of imperviousness to carbohydrate assault." Your carb allotment increases as you move through the phases of the various eating plans -- but that bag of potato chips is just as bad for you right now as it will be years down the road.
Myth #4: Low-carb diets are unbalanced.
See Myth #1 again. You may be surprised to learn that, not only do low-carbers eat ample portions of vegetables, those in the later weight loss and maintenance phases enjoy healthful carbs like many fruits, whole-grain varieties of bread and rice, and other foods low on the glycemic index. The quantity and frequency depends on the way your own body metabolizes these carbs, as well as the specific approach you’re following — but avoiding insulin overload is the overarching goal.
Chances are, someday soon you can start your day with oatmeal and strawberries -- and still enjoy all the health and energy benefits of low carbing!
Myth #5: Low-carb diets are bad for your health and wreak havoc with cholesterol and blood pressure readings.
This is the old-school granddaddy of all low-carb myths, and ongoing research continues to prove it false. The Eades write: "You can treat elevated cholesterol with the standard low-fat cholesterol-lowering diet with limited success until the cows come home, but you can reduce your insulin level with our program in a matter of days and see an almost immediate reduction of blood pressure, a significant reduction in your cholesterol or triglyceride levels in a few weeks, and a steady loss of excess stored body fat."
In The South Beach Diet (Rodale Press, 2003; ISBN 1579546463) — which stresses the moderate intake of "good" carbs -- Arthur Agatston, MD, describes a patient in his fifties with high blood pressure, cholesterol and triglycerides, as well as narrowing of the arteries. The drugs that doctors had prescribed weren't working. "We put him on the [South Beach] diet, and before very long his cardiac profile improved. His triglycerides, for instance, had been over 400 -- frighteningly high. After a month on the diet, that number had fallen below 100... . He's no longer taking all those heart medications."
Likewise, Atkins describes an overweight man dealing with rising hypertension. "He was on medication and constantly fatigued. Doing Weight Watchers only introduced him to the pleasures of starvation... . He decided to give Atkins a try. In eight months on the plan, [he] lost 60 pounds, was taken off his blood pressure medication and now has an unmedicated blood pressure of 118/74 — a first-class advertisement for cardiovascular health."
Naturally, blood pressure tends to drop when we shed excess pounds. But compelling (and increasing) evidence of a direct link between excess insulin and high blood pressure dates way back to 1991, when the medical journal Hypertension reported, "Data are presented from both obese and nonobese subjects that strongly suggests that selective insulin resistance and hypertension are directly related." (A. P. Rocchini, "Proceedings of the Council for High Blood Pressure Research, 1990: Insulin Resistance and Blood Pressure Regulation in Obese and Nonobese Subjects: Special Lecture," Hypertension, 17(6 part 2), 1991).
Thinking about improving your health through diet? Get a physical, talk with your doctor, do your research — and get all the facts.
