Jewish Columnist Thinks He Did The Atkins Diet
NOTE: The original version of this column has been altered at the request of the newspaper referenced:
With all the wealth of information about the Atkins diet that is available at your fingertips today, you would think that outright ignorance in journalism these days would be eradicated. No such luck!
An op-ed piece just goes to show you that the media version of the Atkins diet (which has nothing at all to do with the one the late Dr. Robert C. Atkins wrote about in his many books) lives on.
In his column, which I was requested to removed, he makes light of how his Jewish upbringing forces him to do what he thinks is the Atkins diet for Passover.
QUOTE FROM ARTICLE REMOVED BY REQUEST FROM NEWSPAPER
Well, if you are doing the Atkins diet, then you are defintely NOT an "anti-carb crusader." I eat lots of carbs and actually enjoy finding the many healthy carbs I am encouraged to eat as part of the Atkins, low-carb way of eating. This idea that you remove every single carb from your diet is another one of those LIES that continues on about the Atkins diet. It's just not true.
He said he has to shun leavened bread and any kind of grain that can be used to make bread of any kind. So during Passover he kept a stash of eggs on hand to eat for breakfast every day, had chicken for lunch with no sides and he can't remember what he had for dinner because he was suffering too much from "food depression."
QUOTE FROM ARTICLE REMOVED BY REQUEST FROM NEWSPAPER
Can you believe people actually think what he has described is the Atkins diet? Come on people, if it was THAT bad then nobody would ever do this diet. Sheeez! During the Induction phase of Atkins you are keeping your carbs to around 20g daily which gives you more than enough wiggle room for creativity. The most important part of this two-week phase of the Atkins diet is to get your body into fat-burning mode known as ketosis.
While you probably should stick with a regular menu of foods during Induction to get your body going on low-carb, the exciting part is when that two weeks is up. That's the time you start adding back carbs weekly and can start making lots of delicious and nutritious recipes that are available in cookbooks and all over on the Internet. The possibilities are only as limited as your imagination. This whole Atkins is boring belief is yet another one of those oft-told LIES about the Atkins diet. Again, it's just not true.
After purchasing some matzah to fill his appetite for a bread, he said he made salmon for dinner but secretly wish it included rice, too.
Yucky poo! Just thinking about that just makes me want to hurl now. All that nasty white stuff is certain disaster for your blood sugar levels because it's loaded with excess carbohydrates you don't need and, trust me, you won't miss. The idea that you'll long for foods such as rice, potatoes, pasta, and more when you are livin' la vida low-carb is yet another one of those LIES that tend to pop up about the Atkins diet. Do I need to tell you, it's just not true either.
At the end of Passover when his not-so-"Atkins diet" was over, he ate an English muffin and declared the end to his low-carb dieting ways.
QUOTE FROM ARTICLE REMOVED BY REQUEST FROM NEWSPAPER
Well, sir, the problem is you have never even been ON the Atkins diet so you wouldn't know what it is like to do so. While I know you were just trying to be cute with your silly little column about your experience during Passover, you are doing a great disservice to those of us who have actually chosen to eat this way to lose weight and get healthy as well as to those millions more who actually NEED to be on a low-carb diet to get their obesity and health under control.
I strongly urge you to study up a little more about what you write about before you resort to such ignorance again because it really makes you come across as unprofessional and inexperienced. The next time you decide to write about the low-carb lifestyle or the Atkins diet, why don't you swing on over to my blog and find out for yourself what this amazing way of eating is REALLY all about in the real world rather than relying on what you have "heard" about it from your media friends living in fantasy land. Is that too much to ask?
4-25-06 UPDATE: The columnist who wrote this article responded to me today in an e-mail.
Jimmy,
I'm sorry if any of my comments offended you, but the column was just that - a column. It was written in jest and meant to put fun in the boring holiday of Passover.
Thanks for your feedback.
You just don't get it, do you? It's not so much that your article "offended" me as much as it created the wrong impression about what the Atkins diet is. While I appreciate the spirit of what you were trying to do with your column using humor to make your points, I think your misrepresentations about what livin' la vida low-carb is all about do more harm than good. If Passover is "boring" to you, then why celebrate it? It seems that kind of "going-through-the-motions" of a religious ritual is less about the convictions of your heart and more about attempting to please someone else. Be a man! It'll serve you well in all aspects of your life. THANKS for responding to my concerns.
With all the wealth of information about the Atkins diet that is available at your fingertips today, you would think that outright ignorance in journalism these days would be eradicated. No such luck!
An op-ed piece just goes to show you that the media version of the Atkins diet (which has nothing at all to do with the one the late Dr. Robert C. Atkins wrote about in his many books) lives on.
In his column, which I was requested to removed, he makes light of how his Jewish upbringing forces him to do what he thinks is the Atkins diet for Passover.
QUOTE FROM ARTICLE REMOVED BY REQUEST FROM NEWSPAPER
Well, if you are doing the Atkins diet, then you are defintely NOT an "anti-carb crusader." I eat lots of carbs and actually enjoy finding the many healthy carbs I am encouraged to eat as part of the Atkins, low-carb way of eating. This idea that you remove every single carb from your diet is another one of those LIES that continues on about the Atkins diet. It's just not true.
He said he has to shun leavened bread and any kind of grain that can be used to make bread of any kind. So during Passover he kept a stash of eggs on hand to eat for breakfast every day, had chicken for lunch with no sides and he can't remember what he had for dinner because he was suffering too much from "food depression."
QUOTE FROM ARTICLE REMOVED BY REQUEST FROM NEWSPAPER
Can you believe people actually think what he has described is the Atkins diet? Come on people, if it was THAT bad then nobody would ever do this diet. Sheeez! During the Induction phase of Atkins you are keeping your carbs to around 20g daily which gives you more than enough wiggle room for creativity. The most important part of this two-week phase of the Atkins diet is to get your body into fat-burning mode known as ketosis.
While you probably should stick with a regular menu of foods during Induction to get your body going on low-carb, the exciting part is when that two weeks is up. That's the time you start adding back carbs weekly and can start making lots of delicious and nutritious recipes that are available in cookbooks and all over on the Internet. The possibilities are only as limited as your imagination. This whole Atkins is boring belief is yet another one of those oft-told LIES about the Atkins diet. Again, it's just not true.
After purchasing some matzah to fill his appetite for a bread, he said he made salmon for dinner but secretly wish it included rice, too.
Yucky poo! Just thinking about that just makes me want to hurl now. All that nasty white stuff is certain disaster for your blood sugar levels because it's loaded with excess carbohydrates you don't need and, trust me, you won't miss. The idea that you'll long for foods such as rice, potatoes, pasta, and more when you are livin' la vida low-carb is yet another one of those LIES that tend to pop up about the Atkins diet. Do I need to tell you, it's just not true either.
At the end of Passover when his not-so-"Atkins diet" was over, he ate an English muffin and declared the end to his low-carb dieting ways.
QUOTE FROM ARTICLE REMOVED BY REQUEST FROM NEWSPAPER
Well, sir, the problem is you have never even been ON the Atkins diet so you wouldn't know what it is like to do so. While I know you were just trying to be cute with your silly little column about your experience during Passover, you are doing a great disservice to those of us who have actually chosen to eat this way to lose weight and get healthy as well as to those millions more who actually NEED to be on a low-carb diet to get their obesity and health under control.
I strongly urge you to study up a little more about what you write about before you resort to such ignorance again because it really makes you come across as unprofessional and inexperienced. The next time you decide to write about the low-carb lifestyle or the Atkins diet, why don't you swing on over to my blog and find out for yourself what this amazing way of eating is REALLY all about in the real world rather than relying on what you have "heard" about it from your media friends living in fantasy land. Is that too much to ask?
4-25-06 UPDATE: The columnist who wrote this article responded to me today in an e-mail.
Jimmy,
I'm sorry if any of my comments offended you, but the column was just that - a column. It was written in jest and meant to put fun in the boring holiday of Passover.
Thanks for your feedback.
You just don't get it, do you? It's not so much that your article "offended" me as much as it created the wrong impression about what the Atkins diet is. While I appreciate the spirit of what you were trying to do with your column using humor to make your points, I think your misrepresentations about what livin' la vida low-carb is all about do more harm than good. If Passover is "boring" to you, then why celebrate it? It seems that kind of "going-through-the-motions" of a religious ritual is less about the convictions of your heart and more about attempting to please someone else. Be a man! It'll serve you well in all aspects of your life. THANKS for responding to my concerns.
posted by Jimmy Moore at
4/23/2006 08:15:00 PM
12 Comments:
What an idiot.
LOL! That's what I thought too, Newbirth!
I am always amazed by what other people's perception of a low carb diet is. I always hear "I could never give up bread" like you could never eat it again.
While the article was obviously written very much tongue-in-cheek, with liberal use of exaggeration to compound the reader's perception of his passover "trauma", I'm not so sure he quite understands what he's eating during the passover meal or allowed to eat during passover either.
A Jewish friend of mine introduced me to the passover meal many years ago, but a quick search on google turned up this Seder (passover meal) plan to refresh my memory:
* Hard boiled egg - symbol of the suffering and oppression in Egypt.
* Roasted shankbone of lamb - reminds them there had to be blood sacrificed to save their lives.
* Bitter herbs - horseradish - reminds them they were servants to slavery.
* Greens - parsley, celery - symbol of coming of Spring which brings hope.
* Salt water - reminds them of the tears they cried in Egypt.
* Haroset - nut, apple, cinnamon, wine mixture which has the appearance of straw in remembrance of the mortar used to build the Treasure Cities for Pharaoh. It is symbolic of the hope of freedom that enabled their ancestors to withstand the bitterness of slavery.
* Matzoh - the unleavened bread that reminds them of the haste with which they left Egypt.
All this is consumed with 4 glasses of the sweet wine, and quite frankly, between the Haroset and Matzoh, the passover meal doesn't even sound like a low carb meal to begin with.
Like many people, it's likely that his normal everyday diet consists of eating meat and starch, with minimal vegetables (if any at all, other than potatoes and corn), and very little fruit.
Yes, his perception of low carb diets is apalling, but comparing what he's allowed to eat during passover to a low carb diet is ridiculous, since he can have all the carbs he wants, as long as they're considered kosher for passover... and it would have helped his "carb-craving" if he'd stocked up on kosher for passover matzohs before passover began, instead of waiting until they were all gone to go looking for them. But then that wouldn't have inspired sympathy from the average reader of his column, who he apparently supposes is not jewish, but is also as addicted to starches as he seems to be.
Eating plain chicken for dinner with no sides is crazy too (again, done to increase the reader's perception of his suffering). In my search for a passover seder meal description, I found websites that offered all kinds of recipes for side dishes and desserts that would be considered appropriate for passover.
I'd just chalk this up to yet another person who knows nothing about what eating a low carb diet is all about, but thought it would be cute to reference low carb to make his 8 days of passover meals sound like pure torture, since his only real complaint seems to be that the only grain he can have is kosher for passover matzohs.
Me thinks he would have been miserably complaining about eating nothing but Manna in the desert for 40 years too.
Well, 1Peter3 is right. Passover is hardly Atkins - in fact, it's not even in the neighborhood. I don't know why this kid is so out of the loop, but starting about a month prior to passover even regular grocery stores like Kroger and Winn Dixie start carrying "kosher for passover" packaged foods and mixes - all of which are made with matzah meal (bleached white flour passover crackers ground into a fine powder), potatoes, or potato flour. There are literally dozens of varieties of these foods and mixes available. (I confess we still have a passover boxed cake mix and two bags of passover noodles to eat before we have successfully "gotten rid" of the passover junk.) So basically passover is a week spent eating nothing but the absolute cruddiest carbs - to excess! Not only are there no whole-grain passover packaged foods & mixes that I could find, but even kosher wine has sugar added (to cover up the aftertaste from boiling it to kill the yeast). And did I mention all the ice cream, fruits, blintzes, matzah balls, and plain matzah you have to eat? It's a carb nightmare, not a low carb fast! The fact that this kid doesn't seem to know all this tells me he is not an observant Jew. So basically, his article makes him look ignorant on two fronts. Shalom!
You're such an idiot. You're all idiots.
Who's Gerald? :)
This blog certainly attracts all kinds of people, doesn't it?! :-~
The point of low-carb, Miss Doctor, is that burning fat for energy takes more energy than burning glucose from carbs for energy.
And of course protein can be turned into glucose. That's why my blood sugar is stable no matter how few carbs I eat. Otherwise every low carber in the world would be fainting within 2 days from low blood sugar.
Frankly, I'll never get sick of meat or cheese (or veggies). I vary and meat and cheese and veggies and with so much variety how could I get sick of it? I eat meat and cheese and veggies every single day.
And anyway, what you are saying could be applied to a low-fat diet. "Eat enough plain chicken breasts and eventually you'll get sick of them and eat less." And actually, I would. Meat choices are so restricted on low fat.
The biochemical evidence is not bogus. There are STUDIES to back it up, which you don't seem to be aware of. But hey, ignorance is bliss I guess.
You certainly stirred up a hornet's nest here, Jimmy!
Hey Fleisch,
THANKS for commenting on this.
Satire is only funny when it is grounded in the single ingredient that makes it funny -- THE TRUTH!
Mr. Cropp could have at the very least looked at what the Atkins diet actually is and then made his comments accordingly, but instead he just wrote about what he "heard" about Atkins.
I'm all for using humor to make your point, but at least get your point right first. THANKS for reading!
By the way, a "Scientologist?" ROTFL!!!! No, I'll leave that to little Tommie and Katie with their new baby. As for me, I'm a blood-bought, saved-by-grace, sinner-who's-been-forgiven, believer in the Lord and Saviour of the world Jesus Christ, the who was, who is and will always be.
Well, "Miss Doctor" decided to hide behind e-mail, but I'm not afraid to post publically. She asked for studies....okay...here you go.
But first, her e-mail to me:
Thank you for the physiology lesson. As an MD- PHD, I am curious as to which of your studies I have overlooked.
Ignorantly yours,
Miss Doctor
So professional, don't you think?
Studies (funded by the National Institute of Health):
Boden, G., Sargrad, K., Homko, C., et. al., "Effect of a Low-Carbohydrate Diet on Appetite, Blood Glucose Levels, and Insulin Resistance in Obese Patients with Type 2 Diabetes," Annals of Internal Medicine, 142(6), 2005, pages 403-411.
Effect of a Low-Carbohydrate Diet on Appetite, Blood Glucose Levels, and Insulin Resistance in Obese Patients with Type 2 Diabetes
Summary:
BACKGROUND: It is not known how a low-carbohydrate, high-protein, high-fat diet causes weight loss or how it affects blood glucose levels in patients with type 2 diabetes.
OBJECTIVE: To determine effects of a strict low-carbohydrate diet on body weight, body water, energy intake and expenditure, glycemic control, insulin sensitivity, and lipid levels in obese patients with type 2 diabetes.
DESIGN: Inpatient comparison of 2 diets.
SETTING: General clinical research center of a university hospital.
PATIENTS: 10 obese patients with type 2 diabetes.
INTERVENTION: Usual diets for 7 days followed by a low-carbohydrate diet for 14 days.
MEASUREMENTS: Body weight, water, and composition; energy intake and expenditure; diet satisfaction; hemoglobin A1c; insulin sensitivity; 24-hour urinary ketone excretion; and plasma profiles of glucose, insulin, leptin, and ghrelin.
RESULTS: On the low-carbohydrate diet, mean energy intake decreased from 3111 kcal/d to 2164 kcal/d. The mean energy deficit of 1027 kcal/d (median, 737 kcal/d) completely accounted for the weight loss of 1.65 kg in 14 days (median, 1.34 kg in 14 days). Mean 24-hour plasma profiles of glucose levels normalized, mean hemoglobin A1c decreased from 7.3% to 6.8%, and insulin sensitivity improved by approximately 75%. Mean plasma triglyceride and cholesterol levels decreased (change, -35% and -10%, respectively).
LIMITATIONS: The study was limited by the short duration, small number of participants, and lack of a strict control group.
CONCLUSION: In a small group of obese patients with type 2 diabetes, a low-carbohydrate diet followed for 2 weeks resulted in spontaneous reduction in energy intake to a level appropriate to their height; weight loss that was completely accounted for by reduced caloric intake; much improved 24-hour blood glucose profiles, insulin sensitivity, and hemoglobin A1c; and decreased plasma triglyceride and cholesterol levels. The long-term effects of this diet, however, remain uncertain.
---
Foster, G.D., Wyatt, H.R., Hill, J.O., et al., "A Randomized Trial of a Low-Carbohydrate Diet for Obesity," The New England Journal of Medicine, 348(21), 2003, pages 2082-2090.
Summary:
BACKGROUND: Despite the popularity of the low-carbohydrate, high-protein, high-fat (Atkins) diet, no randomized, controlled trials have evaluated its efficacy.
METHODS: We conducted a one-year, multicenter, controlled trial involving 63 obese men and women who were randomly assigned to either a low-carbohydrate, high-protein, high-fat diet or a low-calorie, high-carbohydrate, low-fat (conventional) diet. Professional contact was minimal to replicate the approach used by most dieters.
RESULTS:- Subjects on the low-carbohydrate diet had lost more weight than subjects on the conventional diet at 3 months (mean [±SD], -6.8±5.0 vs. -2.7±3.7 percent of body weight; P=0.001) and 6 months (-7.0±6.5 vs. -3.2±5.6 percent of body weight, P=0.02), but the difference at 12 months was not significant (-4.4±6.7 vs. -2.5±6.3 percent of bodyweight, P=0.26). After three months, no significant differences were found between the groups in total or low-density lipoprotein cholesterol concentrations. The increase in high-density lipoprotein cholesterol concentrations and the decrease in triglyceride concentrations were greater among subjects on the low carbohydrate diet than among those on the conventional diet throughout most of the study. Both diets significantly decreased diastolic blood pressure and the insulin response to an oral glucose load.
---
Funded by the American Heart Association:
Weight Loss and Cardiovascular Risk Factors in Healthy Women on a Low Carbohydrate Diet or a Low Fat Diet
Brehm, B.J., Seeley, R.J., Daniels, S.R., et al., "A Randomized Trial Comparing a Very Low Carbohydrate Diet and a Calorie-Restricted Low Fat Diet on Body Weight and Cardiovascular Risk Factors in Healthy Women," The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, 88(4), 2003, pages 1617-1623.
Summary:
Untested alternative weight loss diets, such as very low carbohydrate diets, have unsubstantiated efficacy and the potential to adversely affect cardiovascular risk factors. Therefore, we designed a randomized, controlled trial to determine the effects of a very low carbohydrate diet on body composition and cardiovascular risk factors. Subjects were randomized to 6 months of either an ad libitum very low carbohydrate diet or a calorie-restricted diet with 30% of the calories as fat. Anthropometric and metabolic measures were assessed at baseline, 3 months, and 6 months. Fifty-three healthy, obese female volunteers (mean body mass index, 33.6 +/- 0.3 kg/m(2)) were randomized; 42 (79%) completed the trial. Women on both diets reduced calorie consumption by comparable amounts at 3 and 6 months. The very low carbohydrate diet group lost more weight (8.5 +/- 1.0 vs. 3.9 +/- 1.0 kg; P < 0.001) and more body fat (4.8 +/- 0.67 vs. 2.0 +/- 0.75 kg; P < 0.01) than the low fat diet group. Mean levels of blood pressure, lipids, fasting glucose, and insulin were within normal ranges in both groups at baseline. Although all of these parameters improved over the course of the study, there were no differences observed between the two diet groups at 3 or 6 months. beta- Hydroxybutyrate increased significantly in the very low carbohydrate group at 3 months (P = 0.001). Based on these data, a very low carbohydrate diet is more effective than a low fat diet for short-term weight loss and, over 6 months, is not associated with deleterious effects on important cardiovascular risk factors in healthy women.
---
The Role of Energy Expenditure in the Differential Weight Loss in Obese Women on Low Fat and Low Carbohydrate Diets
Brehm, B.J., Spang, S.E., Lattin, B.L., et. al., "The Role of Energy Expenditure in the Differential Weight Loss in Obese Women on Low-Fat and Low-Carbohydrate Diets," Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, 90(3), 2005, pages 1475-1482.
Summary:
We have recently reported that obese women randomized to a low-carbohydrate diet lost more than twice as much weight as those following a low-fat diet over 6 months. The difference in weight loss was not explained by differences in energy intake because women on the two diets reported similar daily energy consumption. We hypothesized that chronic ingestion of a low-carbohydrate diet increases energy expenditure relative to a low-fat diet and that this accounts for the differential weight loss. To study this question, 50 healthy, moderately obese (body mass index, 33.2 +/- 0.28 kg/m(2)) women were randomized to 4 months of an ad libitum low-carbohydrate diet or an energy-restricted, low-fat diet. Resting energy expenditure (REE) was measured by indirect calorimetry at baseline, 2 months, and 4 months. Physical activity was estimated by pedometers. The thermic effect of food (TEF) in response to low-fat and low-carbohydrate breakfasts was assessed over 5 h in a subset of subjects. Forty women completed the trial. The low-carbohydrate group lost more weight (9.79 +/- 0.71 vs. 6.14 +/- 0.91 kg; P < 0.05) and more body fat (6.20 +/- 0.67 vs. 3.23 +/- 0.67 kg; P < 0.05) than the low-fat group. There were no differences in energy intake between the diet groups as reported on 3-d food records at the conclusion of the study (1422 +/- 73 vs. 1530 +/- 102 kcal; 5954 +/- 306 vs. 6406 +/- 427 kJ). Mean REE in the two groups was comparable at baseline, decreased with weight loss, and did not differ at 2 or 4 months. The low-fat meal caused a greater 5-h increase in TEF than did the low-carbohydrate meal (53 +/- 9 vs. 31 +/- 5 kcal; 222 +/- 38 vs. 130 +/- 21 kJ; P = 0.017). Estimates of physical activity were stable in the dieters during the study and did not differ between groups. These results confirm that short-term weight loss is greater in obese women on a low-carbohydrate diet than in those on a low-fat diet even when reported food intake is similar. The differential weight loss is not explained by differences in REE, TEF, or physical activity and likely reflects underreporting of food consumption by the low-fat dieters.
---
Funded by the Veteran's Affairs Healthcare Network:
A Low-Carbohydrate as Compared with a Low-Fat Diet in Severe Obesity
Samaha, F.F., Iqbal, N., Seshadri, P., et al., "A Low-Carbohydrate as Compared With a Low-Fat Diet in Severe Obesity," The New England Journal of Medicine, 348(21), 2003, pages 2074-2081.
Summary:
BACKGROUND: The effects of a carbohydrate-restricted diet on weight loss and risk factors for atherosclerosis have been incompletely assessed.
METHODS: We randomly assigned 132 severely obese subjects (including 77 blacks and 23 women) with a mean body-mass index of 43 and a high prevalence of diabetes (39 percent) or the metabolic syndrome (43 percent) to a carbohydrate-restricted (low-carbohydrate) diet or a calorie- and fat-restricted (low-fat) diet.
RESULTS - Seventy-nine subjects completed the six-month study. An analysis including all subjects, with the last observation carried forward for those who dropped out, showed that subjects on the low-carbohydrate diet lost more weight than those on the low-fat diet (mean [±SD], –5.8±8.6 kg vs. –1.9±4.2 kg; P=0.002) and had greater decreases in triglyceride levels (mean, –20±43 percent vs. –4±31 percent; P=0.001), irrespective of the use or nonuse of hypoglycemic or lipid-lowering medications. Insulin sensitivity, measured only in subjects without diabetes, also improved more among subjects on the low-carbohydrate diet (6±9 percent vs. –3±8 percent, P=0.01). The amount of weight lost (P<0.001) and assignment to the low-carbohydrate diet (P=0.01) were independent predictors of improvement in triglyceride levels and insulin sensitivity.
CONCLUSIONS: Severely obese subjects with a high prevalence of diabetes or the metabolic syndrome lost more weight during six months on a carbohydrate-restricted diet than on a calorie- and fat-restricted diet, with a relative improvement in insulin sensitivity and triglyceride levels, even after adjustment for the amount of weight lost. This finding should be interpreted with caution, given the small magnitude of overall and between-group differences in weight loss in these markedly obese subjects and the short duration of the study. Future studies evaluating long-term cardiovascular outcomes are needed before a carbohydrate-restricted diet can be endorsed.
---
A Randomized Study Comparing the Effects of a Low-Carbohydrate Diet and a Conventional Diet on Lipoprotein Subfractions and C-Reactive Protein Levels in Patients with Severe Obesity
Seshadri, P., Iqbal, N., Stern, L., Williams, M., Chicano, K.L., Daily, D.A., McGrory, J., Gracely, E.J., Rader, D.J., Samaha, F.F. "A Randomized Study Comparing the Effects of a Low-Carbohydrate Diet and a Conventional Diet on Lipoprotein Subfractions and C-Reactive Protein Levels in Patients with Severe Obesity", American Journal of Medicine, 117(5), 2004, pages 398-405.
Summary:
The following information is available at Pub Med and was not written by Atkins professionals.
PURPOSE: To compare the effects of a low-carbohydrate diet and a conventional (fat- and calorie-restricted) diet on lipoprotein subfractions and inflammation in severely obese subjects.
METHODS: We compared changes in lipoprotein subfractions and C-reactive protein levels in 78 severely obese subjects, including 86% with either diabetes or metabolic syndrome, who were randomly assigned to either a low-carbohydrate or conventional diet for 6 months.
RESULTS: Subjects on a low-carbohydrate diet experienced a greater decrease in large very low-density lipoprotein (VLDL) levels (difference = -0.26 mg/dL, P = 0.03) but more frequently developed detectable chylomicrons (44% vs. 22%, P = 0.04). Both diet groups experienced similar decreases in the number of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) particles (difference = -30 nmol/L, P = 0.74) and increases in large high-density lipoprotein (HDL) concentrations (difference = 0.70 mg/dL, P = 0.63). Overall, C-reactive protein levels decreased modestly in both diet groups. However, patients with a high-risk baseline level (>3 mg/dL, n = 48) experienced a greater decrease in C-reactive protein levels on a low-carbohydrate diet (adjusted difference = -2.0 mg/dL, P = 0.005), independent of weight loss.
CONCLUSION: In this 6-month study involving severely obese subjects, we found an overall favorable effect of a low-carbohydrate diet on lipoprotein subfractions, and on inflammation in high-risk subjects. Both diets had similar effects on LDL and HDL subfractions.
---
The Effects of Low-Carbohydrate Versus Conventional Weight Loss Diets in Severely Obese Adults: One-Year Follow-up
Stern, L., Iqbal, N., Seshadri, P., et al., "The Effects of Low-Carbohydrate Versus Conventional Weight Loss Diets in Severely Obese Adults: One-Year Follow-up of a Randomized Trial," Annals of Internal Medicine, 140(10), 2004, pages 778-785.
Summary:
The following information is available at Pub Med and was not written by Atkins professionals.
BACKGROUND: A previous paper reported the 6-month comparison of weight loss and metabolic changes in obese adults randomly assigned to either a low-carbohydrate diet or a conventional weight loss diet.
OBJECTIVE: To review the 1-year outcomes between these diets.
DESIGN: Randomized trial.
SETTING: Philadelphia Veterans Affairs Medical Center.
PARTICIPANTS: 132 obese adults with a body mass index of 35 kg/m(2) or greater; 83% had diabetes or the metabolic syndrome.
INTERVENTION: Participants received counseling to either restrict carbohydrate intake to <30 g per day (low-carbohydrate diet) or to restrict caloric intake by 500 calories per day with <30% of calories from fat (conventional diet).
MEASUREMENTS: Changes in weight, lipid levels, glycemic control, and insulin sensitivity.
RESULTS: By 1 year, mean (+/-SD) weight change for persons on the low-carbohydrate diet was -5.1 +/- 8.7 kg compared with -3.1 +/- 8.4 kg for persons on the conventional diet. Differences between groups were not significant (-1.9 kg [95% CI, -4.9 to 1.0 kg]; P = 0.20). For persons on the low-carbohydrate diet, triglyceride levels decreased more (P = 0.044) and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels decreased less (P = 0.025). As seen in the small group of persons with diabetes (n = 54) and after adjustment for covariates, hemoglobin A(1c) levels improved more for persons on the low-carbohydrate diet. These more favorable metabolic responses to a low-carbohydrate diet remained significant after adjustment for weight loss differences. Changes in other lipids or insulin sensitivity did not differ between groups. Limitations: These findings are limited by a high dropout rate (34%) and by suboptimal dietary adherence of the enrolled persons.
CONCLUSION: Participants on a low-carbohydrate diet had more favorable overall outcomes at 1 year than did those on a conventional diet. Weight loss was similar between groups, but effects on atherogenic dyslipidemia and glycemic control were still more favorable with a low-carbohydrate diet after adjustment for differences in weight loss.
---
There are your studies, doctor.
Get over it, fatty
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home