John Robbins on high-protein, low-carb diets.

[Guest guest]

Dear List,

 

Here's the book excerpt as promised earlier. I continued on to the

bit about the Zone diet as it addresses the same misleading idea as

was posted here the other day saying that Americans are eating less

fat.

 

Enjoy!! (Excuse any typos......)

 

*The Great American Diet Roller Coaster - part chapter from " The Food

Revolution " by John Robbins*

 

Dr. Atkins' Diet - Good Advice or Carbo Phobia?

 

On the cover of Dr. Robert Atkins' " New Diet Revolution " , we are told

that with this " amazing weight loss plan " you can " enjoy a

cheeseburger when you're hungry. " We are told " eating rich foods can

be your path to weight loss. " We are told you will " see amazing

results in 14 days. " And we are told there are more than 6 million

copies in print.

 

This is the classic profile of a fad diet scam. Promise people they

can eat whatever they want, tell them this is a new and amazing

revolution, promise then that it won't take any effort, tell them

results will be nearly instantaneous and make sure they think that

everybody else is doing it. Who could resist such hype?

 

If only it were true.

 

In actuality, the primary mecahnisms by which the Atkins diet causes

weight loss are caloric restriction and ketosis. Ketosis occurs when

there is an imbalance in fat metabolism, such as occurs in diabetes

or starvation. In ketosis, the body begins to metabolize muscle

tissue instead of fat. Authors of these diets advocate " taking

advantage " of ketosis to lose weight.

 

Dr Atkins bases his entire program on ketosis. He says, " Ketosis is

an indicator used at the Atkins Center as a marker for whether a

person is staying on the diet...The Atkins diet is a lifelong

nutritional philosophy...The important thing is you are in ketosis. "

 

He doesn't say, however, that the consequences of extended ketosis

include muscle breakdown, nausea, dehydration, headaches, light-

headedness, irritability, bad breath, kidney problems and increased

risk of heart disease. Nor does he mention that a potential

consequence of extended ketosis in pregnancy is fetal abnormality or

death. Nor that a danger is extended ketosis for diabetics is death.

 

When the prestigious American Institute for Cancer Research evaluated

Atkins' diet, they didn't mince words. " Atkins' diet, " they

wrote, " can lead to the kind of rapid weight fluctutations that

adversely affect the heart. Moreover, the breakdown of fatty acids

that occurs during ketosis may also increase the risk of heart

diseaase. One of the basic tenets of the Atkins' diet is that sugar

causes cancer. Such misleading pronouncements are essentially scare

tactics, meant to direct the dieter towards foods on the Atkins

plan. Finally, nothing about this plan encourages the dieter to

learn some very basic weight management strategies like portion

control and serving sizes, let alone develop the skills necessary for

a lifetime of balanced nutrition. "

 

WHAT WE KNOW

Atkins and other advocates of high-protein, high-fat, low-

carbohydrate diets claim: All high-glycaemic index carbohydrates

(like bread and potatoes) produce heightened blood sugar levels and

insulin response and should not be eaten.

Scientific reality: Any harmful effect of high-glycaemic index

carbohydrates is reduced by eating them together with low-glycaemic

index foods.

 

Atkins and other advocates of high-protein, high-fat, low-

carbohydrate diets claim: High insulin levels are to blame for

hypertension, heart disease and just about every other health problem

people can experience, including weight gain and obesity.

Scientific reality: Being obese causes high insulin levels, not the

other way around.

 

Atkins and other advocates of high-protein, high-fat, low-

carbohydrate diets claim: For people with insulin resistance, eating

carbohydrates will raise insulin levels, causing weight gain and

heart disease.

Scientific reality (published in the American Journal of Cardiology):

Among people with insulin resistance, three weeks on a high-complex

carbohydrate diet, along with exercise, reduced insulin levels by 30

percent. Additional benefits included a 4 percent decrease in

weight, and more than 20 percent reductions in cholesterol and

triglycerides, indicating greatly reduced heart disease risk.

 

Aktins and other advocates of high-protein, high-fat, low-

carbohydrate diets claim: High-protein diets improve all aspects of

our lives.

Scientific reality (published in the Internation Journal of Obesity

Related Metobolic Disorders): High-protein diets impair mental

functioning.

 

Atkins says, " My diet will correct most of the risk factors for heart

disease. " But a study published in the Journal of the American

Dietetic Association found quite the opposite. People who followed

the Atkins diet for 12 weeks showed significant increases in LDL

( " bad " cholesterol), and substantial reducations in HDL ( " good "

cholesterol), indicating markedly increased risk for heart attacks,

 

For 30 years, Atkins has been claiming that his diet reverses heart

disease. During that entire time, not a single study has been

published that substantiates his claim.

 

In fact, in all these years Atkins has never published a single study

in any medical journal. He has, however, funded one study.

Unfortunately, the study found that on the Atkins diet, 70 percent of

people become constipated and 65 develop bad breath.

 

.........

 

In 2000, doctors at the Bassett Research Institute in Cooperstown,

New York, published a study on the Atkins diet and weight loss. They

found that when people lose weight on the Atkins diet, it is only

because they are comsuning fewer calories. In fact in the Aktins

ongoing weight-loss phase, dieters eat an average of only 1500

calories a day and even less during its more restrictive phases. The

study's lead author, Dr Bernard Miller, said patients felt tired and

were nausaeted on the plan. Allan Green, director of the Institute,

noted, " Weight loss is still calories in and calories out......We're

not recommending this diet to anyone. "

 

Dean Ornish's opinion of the weight-loss results of Atkins' diet is

equally direct: " You can lose weight in lots of ways that aren't

healthy. You can take chemotherapy or get cancer or AIDS or be an

alcoholic and lose weight....The problem with high animal protein

dietss is that even if you can lose weight, you're mortgaging your

health in the process. "

 

There's a strange irony to the Atkins story. Atkins said in 2000

that he had been on his own diet for 36 years.

 

Yet Dr Atkins himself is so overweight that he exceeds the upper

limits of weight recommended by federal guidelines.

 

 

Entering the Zone - An Honest Look

 

Barry Sears' Enter the Zone is another bestselling book that

advocates a high-protein and relatively high-fat diet. It is not

nearly as extreme as Atkins' regimen and seems comparatively sane.

But, like Atkins' diet, it is seriously flawed.

 

Sears claims that our epidemic of obesity stems from the advice of

health experts to eat less fat. He writes, " The message, from top

scientists, nutritionists and the government, was simple. Americans

were told to eat less fat and more carbohydrates.....We're now 15

years into the experiment and one doesn't have to be a rocket

scientist to see it isn't working....The country has experienced a

rise in obesity....People are eating less fat and getting fatter. "

 

The reality, however, is a little different. Yes, there has been a

dramatic rise in obesity. And yes, nutrition authorities have been

telling people to eat less fat. But despite the urgings of the

health experts, the percentage of calories eaten as fat by the

average American has barely changed in the past 15 years. The reason

there has been a huge rise in obesity and overweight problems is that

we are eating (on average) seven hundred more calories per day and

exercising less than we were in the mid-1980s.

 

Sears repeatedly says that Americans are eating far less fat than

ever. But according to that USDA, since 1989 American's daily fat

intake has actually risen from 89 gams to 101 grams for men and from

62 grams to 65 grams for women.

 

(End of quote)

[Guest guest]

--- B " H

 

Dear Elizabeth:

 

Bless you for posting this.

 

Years ago my mother had a friend who was severely overweight. He had

a history of kidney stones. He was a great lover of meat and

enthusiastically received the Atkins Diet when it first came out.

 

I am not a physician and cannot say if the Atkins Diet was the direct

cause, but although he did lose a lot of weight, he also lost

complete use of his kidneys and had to be put on dialysis permanently.

 

Doreen

 

In rawfood , " Elisabeth Braun " <elisabeth.braun@n...>

wrote:

> Dear List,

>

> Here's the book excerpt as promised earlier. I continued on to the

> bit about the Zone diet as it addresses the same misleading idea as

> was posted here the other day saying that Americans are eating less

> fat.

>

> Enjoy!! (Excuse any typos......)

>

> *The Great American Diet Roller Coaster - part chapter from " The

Food

> Revolution " by John Robbins*

>

> Dr. Atkins' Diet - Good Advice or Carbo Phobia?

>

> On the cover of Dr. Robert Atkins' " New Diet Revolution " , we are

told

> that with this " amazing weight loss plan " you can " enjoy a

> cheeseburger when you're hungry. " We are told " eating rich foods

can

> be your path to weight loss. " We are told you will " see amazing

> results in 14 days. " And we are told there are more than 6 million

> copies in print.

>

> This is the classic profile of a fad diet scam. Promise people

they

> can eat whatever they want, tell them this is a new and amazing

> revolution, promise then that it won't take any effort, tell them

> results will be nearly instantaneous and make sure they think that

> everybody else is doing it. Who could resist such hype?

>

> If only it were true.

>

> In actuality, the primary mecahnisms by which the Atkins diet

causes

> weight loss are caloric restriction and ketosis. Ketosis occurs

when

> there is an imbalance in fat metabolism, such as occurs in diabetes

> or starvation. In ketosis, the body begins to metabolize muscle

> tissue instead of fat. Authors of these diets advocate " taking

> advantage " of ketosis to lose weight.

>

> Dr Atkins bases his entire program on ketosis. He says, " Ketosis

is

> an indicator used at the Atkins Center as a marker for whether a

> person is staying on the diet...The Atkins diet is a lifelong

> nutritional philosophy...The important thing is you are in ketosis. "

>

> He doesn't say, however, that the consequences of extended ketosis

> include muscle breakdown, nausea, dehydration, headaches, light-

> headedness, irritability, bad breath, kidney problems and increased

> risk of heart disease. Nor does he mention that a potential

> consequence of extended ketosis in pregnancy is fetal abnormality

or

> death. Nor that a danger is extended ketosis for diabetics is

death.

>

> When the prestigious American Institute for Cancer Research

evaluated

> Atkins' diet, they didn't mince words. " Atkins' diet, " they

> wrote, " can lead to the kind of rapid weight fluctutations that

> adversely affect the heart. Moreover, the breakdown of fatty acids

> that occurs during ketosis may also increase the risk of heart

> diseaase. One of the basic tenets of the Atkins' diet is that

sugar

> causes cancer. Such misleading pronouncements are essentially

scare

> tactics, meant to direct the dieter towards foods on the Atkins

> plan. Finally, nothing about this plan encourages the dieter to

> learn some very basic weight management strategies like portion

> control and serving sizes, let alone develop the skills necessary

for

> a lifetime of balanced nutrition. "

>

> WHAT WE KNOW

> Atkins and other advocates of high-protein, high-fat, low-

> carbohydrate diets claim: All high-glycaemic index carbohydrates

> (like bread and potatoes) produce heightened blood sugar levels and

> insulin response and should not be eaten.

> Scientific reality: Any harmful effect of high-glycaemic index

> carbohydrates is reduced by eating them together with low-glycaemic

> index foods.

>

> Atkins and other advocates of high-protein, high-fat, low-

> carbohydrate diets claim: High insulin levels are to blame for

> hypertension, heart disease and just about every other health

problem

> people can experience, including weight gain and obesity.

> Scientific reality: Being obese causes high insulin levels, not the

> other way around.

>

> Atkins and other advocates of high-protein, high-fat, low-

> carbohydrate diets claim: For people with insulin resistance,

eating

> carbohydrates will raise insulin levels, causing weight gain and

> heart disease.

> Scientific reality (published in the American Journal of

Cardiology):

> Among people with insulin resistance, three weeks on a high-complex

> carbohydrate diet, along with exercise, reduced insulin levels by

30

> percent. Additional benefits included a 4 percent decrease in

> weight, and more than 20 percent reductions in cholesterol and

> triglycerides, indicating greatly reduced heart disease risk.

>

> Aktins and other advocates of high-protein, high-fat, low-

> carbohydrate diets claim: High-protein diets improve all aspects of

> our lives.

> Scientific reality (published in the Internation Journal of Obesity

> Related Metobolic Disorders): High-protein diets impair mental

> functioning.

>

> Atkins says, " My diet will correct most of the risk factors for

heart

> disease. " But a study published in the Journal of the American

> Dietetic Association found quite the opposite. People who followed

> the Atkins diet for 12 weeks showed significant increases in LDL

> ( " bad " cholesterol), and substantial reducations in HDL ( " good "

> cholesterol), indicating markedly increased risk for heart attacks,

>

> For 30 years, Atkins has been claiming that his diet reverses heart

> disease. During that entire time, not a single study has been

> published that substantiates his claim.

>

> In fact, in all these years Atkins has never published a single

study

> in any medical journal. He has, however, funded one study.

> Unfortunately, the study found that on the Atkins diet, 70 percent

of

> people become constipated and 65 develop bad breath.

>

> ........

>

> In 2000, doctors at the Bassett Research Institute in Cooperstown,

> New York, published a study on the Atkins diet and weight loss.

They

> found that when people lose weight on the Atkins diet, it is only

> because they are comsuning fewer calories. In fact in the Aktins

> ongoing weight-loss phase, dieters eat an average of only 1500

> calories a day and even less during its more restrictive phases.

The

> study's lead author, Dr Bernard Miller, said patients felt tired

and

> were nausaeted on the plan. Allan Green, director of the

Institute,

> noted, " Weight loss is still calories in and calories

out......We're

> not recommending this diet to anyone. "

>

> Dean Ornish's opinion of the weight-loss results of Atkins' diet is

> equally direct: " You can lose weight in lots of ways that aren't

> healthy. You can take chemotherapy or get cancer or AIDS or be an

> alcoholic and lose weight....The problem with high animal protein

> dietss is that even if you can lose weight, you're mortgaging your

> health in the process. "

>

> There's a strange irony to the Atkins story. Atkins said in 2000

> that he had been on his own diet for 36 years.

>

> Yet Dr Atkins himself is so overweight that he exceeds the upper

> limits of weight recommended by federal guidelines.

>

>

> Entering the Zone - An Honest Look

>

> Barry Sears' Enter the Zone is another bestselling book that

> advocates a high-protein and relatively high-fat diet. It is not

> nearly as extreme as Atkins' regimen and seems comparatively sane.

> But, like Atkins' diet, it is seriously flawed.

>

> Sears claims that our epidemic of obesity stems from the advice of

> health experts to eat less fat. He writes, " The message, from top

> scientists, nutritionists and the government, was simple.

Americans

> were told to eat less fat and more carbohydrates.....We're now 15

> years into the experiment and one doesn't have to be a rocket

> scientist to see it isn't working....The country has experienced a

> rise in obesity....People are eating less fat and getting fatter. "

>

> The reality, however, is a little different. Yes, there has been a

> dramatic rise in obesity. And yes, nutrition authorities have been

> telling people to eat less fat. But despite the urgings of the

> health experts, the percentage of calories eaten as fat by the

> average American has barely changed in the past 15 years. The

reason

> there has been a huge rise in obesity and overweight problems is

that

> we are eating (on average) seven hundred more calories per day and

> exercising less than we were in the mid-1980s.

>

> Sears repeatedly says that Americans are eating far less fat than

> ever. But according to that USDA, since 1989 American's daily fat

> intake has actually risen from 89 gams to 101 grams for men and

from

> 62 grams to 65 grams for women.

>

> (End of quote)

[Guest guest]

rawfood , " Doreen Bell-Dotan " <dordot2001>

wrote:

 

> Years ago my mother had a friend who was severely overweight. He

had

> a history of kidney stones. He was a great lover of meat and

> enthusiastically received the Atkins Diet when it first came out.

>

> I am not a physician and cannot say if the Atkins Diet was the

direct

> cause, but although he did lose a lot of weight, he also lost

> complete use of his kidneys and had to be put on dialysis

permanently.

 

Oo-er! Poor man! It seems like he was heading that way anyway, but

the Atkins diet no doubt sped it up. I have an absolute horror of

the plan and will enthusiastically slam it to anyone who will

listen!!! The Physician's Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM)

have a website entirely dedicated to educating dieters against the

Atkins and similar plans. If anyone is interested, the link is:

http://www.atkinsdietalert.org/

 

Hugs and healthy thoughts to all,

 

Elisabeth=)

 

Mango for breakfast - excitement at 8am!!!!!LOL=)

[Guest guest]

--- B " H

 

Mango for breakfast - excitement at 8am!!!!!LOL=)

 

And how! With a side of fresh figs and leechees and a big glass of

tangerine juice.

 

Doreen

 

In rawfood , " Elisabeth Braun " <elisabeth.braun@n...>

wrote:

> rawfood , " Doreen Bell-Dotan "

<dordot2001>

> wrote:

>

> > Years ago my mother had a friend who was severely overweight. He

> had

> > a history of kidney stones. He was a great lover of meat and

> > enthusiastically received the Atkins Diet when it first came out.

> >

> > I am not a physician and cannot say if the Atkins Diet was the

> direct

> > cause, but although he did lose a lot of weight, he also lost

> > complete use of his kidneys and had to be put on dialysis

> permanently.

>

> Oo-er! Poor man! It seems like he was heading that way anyway,

but

> the Atkins diet no doubt sped it up. I have an absolute horror of

> the plan and will enthusiastically slam it to anyone who will

> listen!!! The Physician's Committee for Responsible Medicine

(PCRM)

> have a website entirely dedicated to educating dieters against the

> Atkins and similar plans. If anyone is interested, the link is:

> http://www.atkinsdietalert.org/

>

> Hugs and healthy thoughts to all,

>

> Elisabeth=)

>

> Mango for breakfast - excitement at 8am!!!!!LOL=)

[Guest guest]

rawfood , " Doreen Bell-Dotan " <dordot2001>

wrote:

> --- B " H

>

> Mango for breakfast - excitement at 8am!!!!!LOL=)

>

> And how! With a side of fresh figs and leechees and a big glass of

> tangerine juice.

 

The tangerine juice sounds yum! The others I've not yet tried.=)

 

By the way, what does the ---B " H mean? Is it just something your e-

mail puts in??

 

Hugs, Elisabeth=)

[Guest guest]

I am the curious type and have also been wondering

what B " H means.

 

Rufus

 

--- Elisabeth Braun <elisabeth.braun

wrote:

> rawfood , " Doreen Bell-Dotan "

> <dordot2001>

> wrote:

> > --- B " H

> >

> > Mango for breakfast - excitement at 8am!!!!!LOL=)

> >

> > And how! With a side of fresh figs and leechees

> and a big glass of

> > tangerine juice.

>

> The tangerine juice sounds yum! The others I've not

> yet tried.=)

>

> By the way, what does the ---B " H mean? Is it just

> something your e-

> mail puts in??

>

> Hugs, Elisabeth=)

>

>