7 Red-Hot Reads To Awaken The Low-Carb Fire That Burns Within

Seven super sizzling columns to light up your low-carb fire again

There's so much positive news I've seen about livin' la vida low-carb lately in the blogosphere and even in the mainstream news lately that I can barely get to it all. So rather than hoarding all of it to myself and trying to blog about it when I can, I thought I'd share the following columns and posts with you today. These will absolutely get your fire lit again for low-carb living if you feel it has fizzled a bit. I have no doubt you're gonna LOVE these! ENJOY!

1. "For Guys Who Need To Lose 100 Pounds"
SOURCE: Mr. Low Body Fat's Blog

I just love Muata, the author of the blog Mr. Low Body Fat. This is the incredible transformational story of a man who took up the challenge of not just losing weight but quite literally changing his life forever. In the process he lost over 100 pounds and went from a chunky man into one with a six-pack. I have nothing but deep respect for what he has accomplished and I HIGHLY recommend you read his blog!

He wrote a column designed specifically for men who want or need to shed triple digits. Since that is something I have a little bit of experience with (*smile*), I was intrigued by what Muata had to say. And I was NOT disappointed. In fact, much of it echoed many of the same themes I have blogged about here--setting many small goals along the way, making the way you eat a long-term permanent and healthy lifestyle change, don't worry about loose skin following weight loss, and so much more! Whether you've got more than 100 pounds to lose or not, you'll learn a lot from Muata's experience.

2. "5 Reasons You're Not Losing Weight"
SOURCE: MSN Health & Fitness Page

One of my readers was so excited when she saw this column because she felt it was about time the low-carb message reached such a major media outlet as MSN. Of course, when I clicked on the link and saw the authors were University of Connecticut low-carb researcher Dr. Jeff Volek and Men's Health Features editor Adam Campbell, authors of the fabulous new low-carb fitness book Men's Health TNT Diet, a great big smile came on my face. I knew the column was gonna be outstanding. And it is!

Get a load of the five reasons you're not losing weight: You're Following Bad Advice, You Eat Fat-Free Foods, You (Still) Don't Eat Breakfast, You're Eating Too Much Sugar, and You Don't Lift Weights. This is one column you'll probably want to print out, tape up to the wall, and read often. Volek and Campbell are 100% right with what they share in this article and I think you'll agree with much of what they say.

3. "Saturated Fat Is Your New Friend"
SOURCE: Male Pattern Fitness Blog

Do you read Lou Schuler's Male Pattern Fitness Blog? Well, why the heck not? Lou is one of the minority of voices out there who espouses the basic principles of livin' la vida low-carb in a very entertaining and "daily news" type of format. He's like a talk show host going over the health news of the day and adding in his own one-of-a-kind commentary.

This post he wrote about saturated fat is absolutely, positively fabulous! As a former writer for Men's Health magazine, Lou is stunned that they would even dare run a positive story on the role of saturated fat in a healthy diet (which I'll be highlighting next). As a low-carber, he realizes the paradigm shift is happening right before our eyes and is excited about the prospects for the future.

4. "What If Bad Fat Is Actually Good For You?"
SOURCE: Men's Health Magazine

Here's that Men's Health column that has Lou Schuler all excited. It was written by Nina Teicholz and is quite a detailed look at how saturated fat became so vilified in the United States and around the world. The story is especially damning of Ancel Keys for starting this anti-saturated fat movement without having any real evidence to back up his claims that it is unhealthy.

A brand new 12-week study cited in the story conducted by Dr. Volek on the impact of saturated fat on overweight men and women was astonishing (although not to people who understand how low-carb diets work)! The low-carbers ate 36g saturated fat a day--THREE TIMES the amount of the low-fat dieters--but they saw their small, dense LDL cholesterol particles (the VERY dangerous ones for heart health) DECREASE, their triglycerides drop by MORE THAN HALF, and their HDL/LDL ratio improved more than those on the low-fat diet. Print this one out, too, and wave it at those people who tell you that saturated fat you're eating on your low-carb lifestyle will kill you. WRONG!

5. "Low-Fat vs. Low-Carb: Time for a Truce in the Diet Wars?"
SOURCE: Male Pattern Fitness Blog

One more post from Lou Schuler's blog was worth mentioning. He looks at the ongoing debate between low-fat and low-carb diet advocates and wonders if there is any room for common ground. In fact, Lou cites this blog post I wrote following my interview with Dr. Dean Ornish last year (and was aired on my podcast show recently) outlining 20 shared beliefs between the two sides.

You gotta love the way Lou just tells it like it is:

"Cut the crap out of your diet, exercise, and you'll probably hit a good, healthy weight relative to your genetics. If you need more intervention than that, go with more protein and less carbohydrate. The first data set I used, the one about total calories produced in the U.S., showed that about 13 percent of the calories we have access to come from protein. About 51 percent come from carbohydrates. If you double the protein and cut the carbs in half, good things will happen. If that's still not enough, go low-carb."

Don't miss a single blog post from Lou Schuler again! Bookmark the Male Pattern Fitness Blog TODAY!

6. "Stop Blaming Saturated Fat"
SOURCE: Men's Health Magazine

We go back to Men's Health Magazine again for a joint column from Dr. Volek and Adam Campbell to see further evidence why saturated fat is not the great evil it has been made out to be. If you're looking for the VERY LATEST research on why saturated fat is GOOD FOR YOU, then READ THIS ARTICLE!!!

Here are the key findings: Saturated fat is beneficial because it raises your HDL "good" cholesterol, there's no evidence from prior research that saturated fat leads to heart disease, saturated fat intake has gone down in the past three decades while obesity and heart disease have been on the rise, saturated fat is NOT harmful when you simultaneously reduce the carbohydrate in your diet, and an increase in consumption of saturated fat on a low-carb diet actually leads to a DECREASE in the amount of saturated fat in the bloodstream compared with a low-fat diet. Cutting edge research and you heard it here first!

7. "Curbing The Carbs"
SOURCE: The Ottawa Citizen

Finally, we head north to our friends in Canada for a superb story written by Mike Sornberger from The Ottawa Citizen about the continuing importance of livin' la vida low-carb STILL happening in the year 2007 despite the fact that the "low-carb diet craze" is long gone. The article quotes Stanford University professor Dr. Christopher Garder who authored this JAMA study that found Atkins was best among the diets earlier this year and is in general very favorable coverage for low-carb living that you should find interesting. It describes the unique role of insulin in weight gain and health decline--something New York Times science journalist Gary Taubes who wrote the 2007 blockbuster health book Good Calories, Bad Calories has repeated quite often based on his own look at the research.

Those will keep you busy a while, so check 'em out and tell me what you think. The low-carb lifestyle is DEFINITELY seeing a comeback and it's good to know these kind of stories are getting out there in the mainstream. Regardless of what the negative naysayers toward livin' la vida low-carb have to say about our healthy way of eating, this is our chosen method for not just losing weight but also maintaining our weight and health for the rest of our long and prosperous life! And we wouldn't have it any other way.

Have you seen some positive news in the media about low-carb that I may have missed? If so, then feel free to e-mail me a link to the story anytime at livinlowcarbman@charter.net. Mark my words, you're gonna see a dramatic change in the coverage towards livin' la vida low-carb real soon as a whole lot more research keeps confirming what we already know--this way of eating optimal for shedding the pounds and improving your health.

Campbell: People Aren't Just Eating Too Much, They're Eating 'Too Many Carbohydrates'

Adam Campbell and Dr. Jeff Volek team up for new low-carb fitness book

The number of influential members of the health media today who believe in the efficacy of livin' la vida low-carb is ridiculously small in comparison to those who still subscribe to the same old failed high-carb, low-fat diet. That's one of the reasons I chose to start my blog and other media outlets because there is a noticeable vacuum in this medium that is begging to be filled.

It's rather sad that we have supposedly intelligent people purporting to know their stuff as it relates to diet, health, and fitness, but yet they hold on so tightly to an archaic belief. Isn't there ANYONE in the major health media who thinks on his own and has been watching all of the evidence in favor of low-carb diets come out over these past few years?

Yes there is! Enter Adam Campbell.

Adam individually stands out among his peers because he is unafraid and unashamed of shining the light of truth on the nutritional ruse that has been happening right in front of us for decades and quite frankly he is as sick of it as those of us in the low-carb community are. Writing for Men's Health magazine isn't a bad gig!

Today we are thrilled to have Adam here for an interview to talk about the low-carb lifestyle and why it deserves to have more attention paid to it for the sake of weight, health, and fitness. With his third book he co-wrote with respected low-carb researcher Dr. Jeff Volek on the way, you'll get some exclusive sneak preview quotes from this "explosive" (sorry for the pun!) new addition to your low-carb library!

Adam Campbell is certainly one to keep an eye on as livin' la vida low-carb becomes more and more accepted by our culture. And it is my estimation that he may very well be one of the reasons why it will happen sooner rather than later. Enjoy hearing from this young, energetic, and knowledgeable man of conviction today as he talks about living healthy--the low-carb way.

1. I am pleased to welcome to the "Livin' La Vida Low-Carb" blog today author, journalist, and the Features editor for Men's Health magazine, Adam Campbell. He has had the opportunity to work in the research lab while earning his master's degree in exercise physiology from the University of Kansas and took part in studies about energy balance and human performance as it relates to athletes and overweight people. Today he is one of the foremost voices in the world of nutrition and fitness with his unique role at Men's Health. After discovering Adam was a supporter of low-carb, I can't help but ask the question, "How'd you manage to get on staff at such a powerhouse health publication like Men's Health?"

I got lucky. I was planning to get my Ph.D. in exercise physiology at the University of Kansas, and pursue a career in research. But for some reason, it didn't feel quite right. (Perhaps it was the tens of thousands of dollars in school loans it was going to cost to me.) So I opted out during the semester I was completing my Master’s degree.

A week later, I was scanning the National Strength and Conditioning Association’s career site, and noticed that Men's Health had posted a job for a reporter. I applied—I have a bachelor's degree in English—and somehow survived the interview process. Keep in mind, I was 29 at the time—and starting at the bottom rung of a new field.

2. Congratulations on your success so far in your writing career at Men's Health and I'm sure it will continue on for many years to come. Yours is a voice that is sorely needed in the health debate. Speaking of that, what an amazing column you wrote late last year about the failures of the American Diabetes Association (ADA) which garnered your fair share of criticism from them.

But you didn't back down from your thesis that a low-carb diet could very well be the cure diabetics have been looking for because you had the scientific and anecdotal support from people like Dr. Mary C. Vernon to support everything you wrote. Tell us why you felt compelled to address that controversial topic.

The main reason is that the current recommendations don't make a lot of sense. Why would you tell someone who can't tolerate carbohydrates—at least not without medication—to make them the foundation of their diet? It seemed that the ADA should at least present the alternatives to doctors and patients. Instead, they push diabetics to consume the same diet that you might recommend to an elite endurance athlete. Bottom line: I was frustrated. I know you and your readers can certainly identify.

3. Absolutely! I understand you are currently putting those stellar writing talents of yours to work on your third book in collaboration with low-carb researcher Dr. Jeff Volek from the University of Connecticut. What's the book called, when will it be available, what's it about, and why do low-carbers and people interested in health and fitness need to pay attention to it when it comes out?

The book is called Men's Health TNT Diet: The Explosive New Plan to Blast Fat, Build Muscle, and Get Healthy in 12 Weeks. TNT, or Targeted Nutrition Tactics, is just what it sounds like: specific nutrition (and exercise) strategies that enable you to reach your body composition goals as fast as possible. Essentially, it's what you should eat, and when you should eat it.

Not surprisingly, a low-carb diet is the foundation of TNT, since that's one of Jeff's primary research interests. It'll be available October 2nd from Rodale books.

In fact, you might call it an evolution of the classic low-carb diet, since it not only includes an exercise program, but also teaches you how to eat around your workout in order to optimize your results. While we provide several different eating plans in the book, our goal was to help readers understand the basic principles of why our strategy works. That way, they can tweak the diet for their lifestyle and goals. For instance, we talk a lot about glycogen in the book. Here's a quick exclusive excerpt for your readers:

"Glycogen is the name for carbohydrates that are stored in your muscles. An easy way to understand glycogen is to picture it as a storage tank for sugar, the form of carbohydrate your body uses for fuel. So just as you have fat stores, you also have sugar stores. However, unlike your fat stores, which are able to expand (read: you can get fatter and fatter), your glycogen tank has a limited capacity to store sugar. For instance, think of your car: If you own a midsize, you probably have about a 14-gallon fuel tank. Try to fill it with 20 gallons, though, and the other six would spill out onto the pavement. It's the same way with sugar and your glycogen tank.

And therein lies the problem: A full glycogen tank signals your body to use incoming carbohydrates for energy instead of your stored fat. Otherwise, your glycogen tank will overflow. As a result, your body not only stops burning fat, it starts conserving it—just in case of starvation. This is one of the main reasons for America’s growing obesity problem. Because most people’s diets are excessively high in carbohydrates, their glycogen levels are always at peak capacity. In turn, their bodies won’t allow them to use their stored fat for energy.

What’s more, there are also serious health ramifications to perpetually high glycogen levels. When excess carbohydrates from your diet can’t be stored as sugar in your glycogen tank, the overflow causes sugar to build up in your blood stream. The result: Chronically high blood sugar, which can damage the large blood vessels of your heart and brain, and the small vessels of your kidneys and eyes. As a consequence, your body starts shuttling the overflow of sugar to your liver, where it’s then converted to a blood fat known as triglycerides. If you’ve ever had blood work done, you might recognize triglycerides as one of the measurements that your doctor ordered.

And for good reason: Elevated triglycerides are a risk factor for heart disease, and an early predictor of future diabetes. To make matters even worse, once sugar becomes triglycerides, or fat, it can be stored as fat. Ever been told carbs can’t make you fat? Think again.

Remember, this isn't to suggest that you can't eat carbohydrates without getting fat. It's to show what happens when you overeat carbohydrates, which most people are doing. For instance, if you look at dietary intake in the US over the last three decades from the Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES), you'll notice an interesting pattern. In men, average daily energy intake during the early 1970s was 2450 calories. But by the year 2000, that number had increased to 2618. An even greater increase in calories was seen in women. Where did these extra calories come from? According to the NHANES data it was almost exclusively derived from carbohydrates. Interestingly, there were minuscule changes in the intake of protein and fat. (In fact, fat intake decreased in men.)

So sure, people are eating too much. But they’re eating too many carbohydrates, not too much protein and fat. And that's a glaring problem with the government’s nutrition recommendations—one that's seemingly being ignored.

4. Fitness is obviously one of your passions as you run an outstanding blog for Men's Health called "The Fitness Insider." You are an NSCA Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist, so you have an extensive book knowledge about how and why humans need exercise. But in the real world, most people can't seem to muster up the energy and commit themselves to a regular exercise routine. What advice can you share from your own experiences to help those who are reluctant to start their own fitness schedule? Also, is there an ideal mix of cardiovascular and resistance training that people should know about?

First, let’s talk about the commitment issue. I'm reminded of an interesting study that I wrote about in this story:

In June of this year, researchers at Leeds Metropolitan University, in the United Kingdom, released findings of a new study that looked at how exercise affects job performance. It worked like this: They asked 210 workers to provide feedback on their job-related duties and time management, on a day when they participated in an exercise program and again on a day when they did no exercise. They simply reported observations of their own behavior based on a 7-point scale. For example, they were asked to rate their ability to work without stopping for unscheduled breaks, and how effectively they were able to stick to their "to-do" lists. They also provided details about their workloads and exercise sessions. When the results were tallied, even the researchers were surprised.

Workers scored 15 percent higher in their ability to meet both time and output demands on the day they exercised. "What we found staggered us, and we were left wondering what companies might do otherwise to produce these 15 percent improvements," says Jim McKenna, Ph.D., the lead researcher.

Now consider for a moment what these numbers mean to you: On days when you exercise, you can -- theoretically, at least -- accomplish in an 8-hour day what normally would take you 9 hours and 25 minutes. Or you'd still work 9 hours, but get more done, leaving you feeling less stressed and happier with your job, another perk that McKenna says the workers reported. Obviously, the responses that led to these results were subjective. But it's hard to deny that perception is reality when it comes to job satisfaction. And a 15 percent boost in productivity might just give you a case for a similar boost in pay.

Besides showing how Hillman's laboratory findings are expressed in the real world, this study may also explain why busy men who regularly exercise are able to fit cardio into their schedules, while equally busy men who don't exercise claim they don't have the time. Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee can relate to both sides of the story. In June 2003, he was sedentary and weighed 280 pounds; he now runs marathons and weighs 170.

"I've never found time to exercise," he says. "I make time."

Consider him a poster boy for what cardio can do for a man who's already good at his job. Huckabee, ever the conscientious politician, wants to be clear: He didn't have a problem keeping his schedule or accomplishing tasks before he started running. And it's true; this guy became governor in 1996 -- 7 years before he initiated his exercise program -- and was reelected twice along the way. It's just that he's even better now.

"I'm more creative, because I have mental energy. When I finish running several miles, it's like my mind is running on overdrive," he says. And, he adds, "It's made a dramatic difference in my ability to focus."

The only way to discover this yourself is to give it a try. But one of the big mistakes people make is to try to do too much in the beginning. Just get started—even if it's only 10 minutes for 3 days a week. The reality is that the less trained you are, the less you have to do to see a benefit. Of course, while you can improve strength or endurance quite quickly, it still takes time to see visible results. This is where people often get frustrated. So it takes some patience. In the TNT Diet, Jeff and I have this passage:

"A training program is only effective if you actually have time to follow-through with it. For instance, consider that U.K. researchers recently determined that men who lifted weights three days a week for 5 weeks increased muscle size by about 0.2 percent per day. Sure, this amount of growth is unnoticeable from day to day. But imagine how dramatic the cumulative effect would be were you to work all your major muscle groups three days a week, 52 weeks a year. This is called consistency, and it's the true key to achieving the most success possible on any exercise program.

If you work out 3 days a week, 52 weeks a year, you'll like the results. But few people make it beyond a month. Which is interesting because almost everyone will tell you they feel better—even great—after exercising. I guess our memories are pretty short.

One way to combat this lack of motivation is to make a deal with yourself: On days you don't want to work out, force yourself to complete all of the sets of your first exercise. If you want to call it a day after that, then feel free to hit the showers. However, much of the time, you'll find your mood has changed and you'll be motivated to complete your entire session. It seems the process of simply getting started—going to the gym, changing clothes, etc.—is our biggest obstacle.

As far as an ideal mix of exercise, that depends on your goals. If you're following a smart diet (ahem, TNT, ahem), then resistance training is going to make the best use of your time for fat loss. While everyone thinks that aerobic exercise is the best choice for this goal, we recommend weight training. Here's another bit from our book to help explain why:

You've Been Told: “Running is the best way to lose weight.”

The Origin: In 1977, Jim Fixx published The Complete Book of Running. This bestselling book popularized the notion of running to improve health and lose weight, and is widely credited with kicking off the jogging boom of the 1980s. Furthermore, most exercise scientists during this time were recreational or competitive runners themselves. As a result, running and other types of endurance activities were the type of exercise that was most often studied, particularly in terms of health benefits (and there are many).

And because these researchers reported that running burns a lot more calories than weight training—while requiring nothing but a pair of functional legs—the majority of experts began to widely promote it as the best mode of exercise for fat loss. However, they didn’t—and still don’t—have the data to support that assertion.
What Science Shows: First, it’s important to point out that engaging in a regular running program—or any kind of exercise for that matter—without also adopting a prudent diet is a very inefficient way to lose weight. After all, a typical fast food double-decker cheeseburger and large fries contain more than 1100 calories—a meal most red-blooded American men can wolf down in less than 5 minutes. However, to burn that many calories, the average guy would have to run for 53 minutes at an 8:30 per mile pace. Which is why your diet has a greater impact on total weight loss than exercise.

As we’ve already discussed, though, it's not simply weight loss that’s important—it’s the quality of your weight loss that matters most. That is, the amount of your weight loss that’s pure fat—since that’s what really counts. Perhaps surprisingly, endurance exercise—such as running, cycling, or walking—does little to further augment fat loss when combined with a good diet. Weight training, however, has a dramatic impact. Consider a study we conducted back in 1999. We put overweight men on a diet that was approximately 1500 calories a day, and then divided them into either a diet only group, a diet group that also performed endurance exercise, or a diet group that performed both endurance exercise and weight training.

After three months, each of the groups had lost almost the same amount of weight—about 21 pounds. But the quality of their weight loss was much different. The men in the weight-training group lost five pounds more fat than the other two groups. You might wonder how that’s possible when they all dropped the same amount of weight. The answer is that the men who dieted or dieted and performed only endurance exercise lost about 15 pounds of fat, but also lost several pounds of muscle. Those who lifted weights lost almost pure fat.

You see, weight training is a powerful tool when it comes to fat loss. Because it stimulates your muscles to grow, your body is less apt to part with your hard-earned muscle. This is crucial because the more muscle you have, the bigger your body’s fat-burning furnace. What’s more, if you lose muscle, you not only reduce your ability to burn fat, your glycogen tank becomes smaller. (Remember, most of your glycogen is located in your muscles.) So you have less room to store carbohydrates, increasing the likelihood that they’ll be converted to fat in your liver. Endurance exercise provides none of these benefits.

But what about the fact that running burns more calories than weight training? Turns out, when scientists at the University of Southern Maine used an advanced method to estimate energy expenditure during exercise, they found that weight training burns as many as 71 percent more calories than originally thought. In fact, the researchers calculated that performing just one circuit of eight exercises—which takes about 8 minutes—can expend 159 to 231 calories. That’s about the same as running at a 6-minute mile pace for the same duration. And just as important, research shows that weight training—unlike endurance exercise—can elevate your metabolism for up to 39 hours after your workout session.

As for overall health, adding a short interval training session after your weight workout or on the days in between is the most efficient way to boost your aerobic fitness, while burning even more fat than a slow to medium jog.

A lot of people become intimidated at the idea of intervals, which are short, high-intensity “sprints” interspersed with periods where you either rest completely or simply slow down. They shouldn’t be. For those who are “out of shape,” these sprints could be fast walk. It’s all relative to what’s intense for you. The best part of intervals is that they’re time-saving: You can do more physical work in less time than classic forms of cardio.

That said, if you really like running, by all means keep at it, as any activity that you enjoy is a great one to do. And there are certainly main health benefits to be achieved with regular aerobic exercise.

5. I recently interviewed a good friend of yours, the soon-to-be Dr. Cassandra Forsythe. Her work alongside Dr. Volek has been crucial in understanding the metabolic mechanisms that make the low-carb diet work extremely well for weight loss, normalized blood sugars, and many other health benefits. The impetus for her involvement in low-carb was a personal one--she's carb sensitive! How about you? What made Adam Campbell interested in livin' la vida low-carb?

In my 20s, before I went to grad school, I was working as a commodities trader at the Mercantile Exchange in Chicago. (I was really putting that English degree to good use!) Because the market I worked was only open from 8:30 to 3:15 (in those days, markets didn’t trade around the clock like they do now), I had a lot of time on my hands. So I spent it working out and going out—as in eating and drinking.

While I could tell I was putting on muscle from my gym work, I couldn’t figure out why I still had a gut. A smart friend suggested it was a nutrition problem (surprise!). So I hit the local B&N and picked up a copy of The Zone Diet by Dr. Barry Sears, which had just hit the bestseller list. At the time, I didn’t know the difference between a carbohydrate and a fat. So this was really the start of my nutrition education.

I dedicated myself to Dr. Sears’ eating plan, and was quickly amazed at the changes in my physique—and the way I felt. I continued to follow a Zone-friendly diet until I went to grad school about three years later. There, I enrolled in my first nutrition class, and soon found out that much of what Dr. Sears said was wrong!

I’m being facetious here, of course. But the point is that my formal nutrition education contradicted what I learned from The Zone. So I was constantly pondering this question: Was Dr. Sears “wrong,” or was it my college instructors and textbooks? Remember, this was when The Zone was still somewhat controversial, and the Atkins Diet wasn’t even being studied. In fact, Atkins was considered a health hazard, even more so than it is now (and typically by people who’ve never read the book).

In 2000, I started my career at Men’s Health. I hadn’t fully bought into everything I had been taught in college, but there was definitely some “brainwashing.” That’s when I started corresponding with Jeff Volek, and immersed myself in nutrition studies and books, which included re-reading the textbooks from grad school with a more discerning eye. The rest is just the logical progression of 7 years of continuing education.

6. As you have noted in your own education, we live in a society that worships the low-fat diet as the gospel truth. They have so demonized fat, especially saturated fat, that people are quite literally scared to death of it despite all the research showing the health benefits of fat consumption. What can be done to reverse the fat phobia that exists and how can we convince those same people that sugar and refined carbohydrates are very likely the culprit in their weight and health problems?

I’m not sure it will change anytime soon. Researchers like Jeff Volek, Richard Feinman, Eric Westman, Steve Phinney, Jay Wortman, and Ron Krauss are certainly providing the ammunition to blow away the saturated fat dogma, but it’s so heavily ingrained that it’s only people who have an open mind who will get it. People like you, Mike and Mary Dan Eades, Regina Wilshire, Gary Taubes, and Nina Teicholz (look for an article about saturated fat from her in the November issue of Men's Health) are obviously raising awareness, though.

I really think the key is that people have to figure it out for themselves. It’s very hard to convince someone of the merits of a low-carb lifestyle if he or she has already decided that it’s unhealthy or impractical. All you can really do is present the science.

Of course, when faced with research that shows low-carb diets are better at lowering heart disease risk factors than low-fat diets, health “experts” always counter with the same argument: They simply point out that there isn’t any long-term data from experimental studies to support a low-carb recommendation. The reality, though, is that this type of research doesn’t exist for low-fat diets either.

7. Low-carb supporters can sometimes feel like lonely wanderers in a harsh and cruel world treating us as outcasts for our nutritional choice. Do you see anything monumental happening in the next few months and years that will serve to rekindle the fire in the low-carb community?

I think (and hope) that Gary Taubes’ (Good Calories, Bad Calories) book will help. But ultimately, these transitions are slow. One well-known scientist told me that he thinks it will be another 20 years before we see a paradigm shift. That might sound pessimistic, but you could think of it this way: We live in a society where people are going to eat poorly no matter what the recommendations.

And while those who choose not to eat poorly might not adopt a low-carb approach, they’ll ultimately find a diet that emphasizes whole foods, and discourages those that are highly processed or contain lots of added sugars. That’s a strategy that just about everyone promotes.

As an example, a nutrition expert I really respect, Alan Aragon, has said—and I’m paraphrasing here—you should eat as many carbs as you can tolerate. So if carbs aren’t a problem for you—you’re lean, you don’t overeat, you have plenty of energy, you sleep well, your blood work is good—who are we to tell you that you should cut back on them? Maybe you don’t need to.

But if you’re experiencing some of the negatives that can be associated with a higher carb diet—like high blood pressure, high triglycerides, or one of the other symptoms mentioned above—you may want to reconsider. Some people can tolerate lots of carbs, others can tolerate very few. For instance, a 245-pound bodybuilder who has 8 percent body fat can often handle a lot—they have bigger glycogen tanks due to their muscle mass, and also perform high amounts of physical activity. However, a 45-year old guy who’s packing 25 pounds of excess belly-fat and sits at a desk all day probably can’t. So your lifestyle and body type can make a major difference.

8. THANK YOU so much for sharing your thoughts and wisdom with us today, Adam. It's nice to know there are people like Adam Campbell out there working on our behalf in the public forum sharing about livin' la vida low-carb in a non-threatening, yet assertive manner. I know it can't be easy being labeled a contrarian for not buying into the low-fat lie, but you are doing it! Is there anything else you would like to share with my readers to encourage and edify them to continue on with their low-carb way of life?

Don’t let anyone tell you what the right diet for you is. No one knows. In the TNT Diet, we encourage people to get blood work done before you start the diet, so that you have a baseline measurement. This way, you can see for yourself what’s happening to markers for heart disease risk, in addition to what happens in the mirror.

Just as important, you need to start monitoring how you feel when experimenting with a diet. We go into this in some detail in our book, but I discuss it in this blog post.

These are important factors to look at, but almost no one does this. They’re typically only interested in what happens on the scale. Interestingly, we’ve seen such great results from some people on our plan that the scale actually becomes deceiving. Here’s an example from the book:


He only lost 7 pounds, but look at the amazing difference!

“I had to keep tightening my belt.”

Name: Lucas Hutchinson
Age: 25
Height: 6’4”
Weight before: 250
Weight after: 243

If you were to judge Lucas Hutchinson’s results by the numbers on the scale, you wouldn’t be too impressed. After all, in 12 weeks on the TNT Diet and Exercise Plan, he lost only 7 pounds of body weight.

But remember, it’s body composition that matters. And by that standard, Lucas made one of the most dramatic transformations we’ve seen in any of our studies. That’s because he lost 19 pounds of fat, while packing on 12 pounds of muscle.

In fact, his results were so amazing that we double and triple-checked the readings to be sure they were correct. Not that we should have been that surprised: The change in his body was obvious. And not just to us: “In the first month, I noticed that my pants were fitting a little looser. As the study progressed, I had to keep tightening my belt, and it felt great every time I did it.”

Lucas added more muscle—a pound a week—than anyone in our studies to date. And although we can’t tell you exactly why—hey, everyone responds a little differently—we do know that he made a point to enjoy the meal plan. “The best part of the diet by far is the fat. I was able to use as much as I wanted, and it always made my meals taste better,” says Lucas. There’s an important lesson here: By not fearing fat, and eating all the calories that he desired, he allowed the TNT Diet and Exercise Plan to work its magic—diverting nutrients away from the fat depots that surround his belly, and toward the muscles of his chest, back, and legs.

What about his health? Judge for yourself. Lucas’ total cholesterol fell 17 percent and his triglycerides dropped an astounding 58 percent. On top of it all, there was another benefit: “I slept better and had more energy when I woke up,” he says.

People, well, guys mostly, always say they want to lose fat and build muscle, but when it actually happens, they can become frustrated because the scale doesn’t move faster. Sometimes that’s actually a good thing! (Thankfully, Lucas had the advantage of being in one of Jeff’s studies—so his body composition changes were measured using DEXA, the most sensitive technology available for tracking changes in body fat and muscle mass.)

Find more of Adam Campbell's thoughts about fitness and nutrition at his "The Fitness Insider" blog which will feature brand new posts starting Monday, September 10, 2007. And go ahead and PRE-ORDER YOUR COPY OF The TNT Diet today!

Every Diabetic Needs To Read This Column

Stop whatever you are doing right now and go read this Men's Health column written by Adam Campbell. Whether you or someone you know has diabetes and believes they are stuck taking insulin shots for the rest of their life, this article will absolutely change everything you ever thought you knew about diabetes upside down on its head!

Campbell, who I previously blogged about being a supporter of livin' la vida low-carb, puts forth some very strong arguments for ignoring the dietary recommendations of the American Heart Association (AHA) and the American Diabetes Association (ADA) because they are only making the health problems of Americans that much worse.

In his brilliant column entitled "The Cure For Diabetes," Campbell looks at the medical practice of Dr. Mary C. Vernon, a renowned medical doctor who is going against all the recommendations that her fellow physicians are giving their patients and simply curing hers with the use of the low-carb lifestyle.

With the evidence mounting that low-carb diets are the most effective way to naturally manage diabetes without the use of drugs or insulin, Campbell does an excellent job of weaving this fact with quotes from the best and brightest scientific experts on the low-carb nutritional approach as Dr. Richard Feinman, Dr. William Yancy, and Dr. Jeff Volek.

Oh, you'll get the scripted answer from the ADA as well, but they're not buying the low-carb solution. Too fatty, too risky, takes away from them making money off of people with the disease. Oops, did I just say that out loud? Yep, I did, and it's as true blue as a cow goes moo! They also think people are too stupid to do the right thing with diet and exercise, so they push their diabetes pills like they're candy. What are these people thinking?!

Be prepared to get angry, frustrated and then relieved to know we have the answer for diabetics staring us right in the face: it's the low-carb lifestyle whether the ADA will ever admit to it or not.

By the way, Dr. Mary Vernon regularly answers questions about the low-carb lifestyle with her "Ask Dr. Vernon" blog and is delighted to offer her expert opinion to your questions in language that anyone can understand. She is on the frontlines of the low-carb battle as a treatment option for diabetes and obesity.

People who support the low-carb lifestyle owe this woman a great deal of support for being willing to stick her neck out for what she believes in. If it works and people are getting healthy, then why wouldn't the ADA want to have more Mary Vernons out there in the world, hmmm? It makes you really wonder what their priorities are, doesn't it?

THANKS again to Adam Campbell for this remarkable blow-by-blow piece that shows why now more than ever proponents of livin' la vida low-carb should be emboldened and proud of this nutritional approach that is quite literally saving the lives of those who have the guts to do it. Several studies have been made public confirming the low-carb diabetes treatment approach, including this, this, and this. And we already have carb-counting diabetes seminars beginning to take place in hospitals across the country.

Are you a diabetic who feels you are stuck sticking yourself with insulin shots for the rest of your life? Then perhaps trying the low-carb lifestyle could be the first step in bringing your blood sugar under control and quite possibly reducing or eliminating your need for insulin ever again. If you would like more information about how to do this, then pick up a copy of the book Atkins Diabetes Revolution, co-written by Dr. Mary Vernon. It could very well change your life forever!

Print out this article and post a copy of it on your refrigerator and freely distribute copies of it to every diabetic you know who needs to read the cold hard truth. The days of just settling are over. It's time for taking action that will make you better and low-carb may be just what the doctor ordered.

12-3-06 UPDATE: It shouldn't shock you that the ADA didn't take too kindly to Adam Campbell's column on low-carb diets and diabetes control. CLICK HERE to read their objections and Adam's succinct response to each of their charges. The ADA has been caught with their pants down and now they're trying to deflect attention away from the very real issues that Adam exposed in his column.

Low-Carb Helps Even The Most Reluctant Dieter

David Schipper has seen some ch-ch-ch-changes thanks to low-carb

Okay, imagine this scenario for a moment.

You're a 26-year old 5'9" tall man who has allowed his weight to creep up to 231 pounds. Technically, you're obese! At the same time, unbeknownst to you until a blood test at the doctor's office, you have been considered among the millions who are walking around pre-diabetic and your health is much worse off than you ever thought possible. Add to all of this the fact that you are engaged to be married to a gorgeous woman in just three months, but now you are worried about whether you will even have a future.

AAAAAAACK!!!

As nightmarish as that story sounds, it was the painful reality for David Schipper. Oh, by the way, did I mention David is one of the editors at Men's Health magazine, too (the same magazine that features another editor who supports low-carb living)? That's right, David is not just some bum off the street, he actually works directly in "the biz" of weight loss and fitness. But that scenario I described is exactly what he faced earlier this year.

You can read all about it in this column he wrote about how he was able to overcome that bleak circumstance he found himself in. You see, David ended up losing over 30 pounds and a total of 5 inches off his waist in just three months!

Wanna know how he did it? Can you say livin' la vida low-carb? YEP!


Dr. Berkowitz is the man who helped turn David's life around

By the way, David's wedding went fantastic, his blood work is now closer to normal than it was previously, and he has a newfound appreciation for the wisdom of a man named Dr. Keith Berkowitz from the Center for Balanced Health in New York. His name may sound familiar to you because I recently interviewed his wife Valerie here at my blog. She played a vital role in David's weight loss success, too, and we'll share how in a moment.

Dr. Berkowitz looked at David's blood tests and noticed his triglycerides were about DOUBLE what they should be for "normal." Additionally, David was found to be "insulin resistant" because his body was making ten times the amount of insulin his body needed. In other words, he was on a one-way ticket to some major health issues if he didn't change--FAST!

"Can you say "instant motivation?"

Uh, yeah! I'm sure all of us who have once been overweight or obese can relate to that feeling. It's funny how something like that can move some people like David into action while others just yawn on go on about their life (my 600-pound brother Kevin comes to mind). If you don't have the want to, then you can never expect the results. Muster up the desire and success won't be far behind.

When Dr. Berkowitz told David he wanted to put him on a "controlled-carbohydrate diet," his intial response was one of "horror." But that was until he learned what the process of livin' la vida low-carb actually entailed.

"That doesn't mean cutting out carbohydrates altogether. Rather, you restrict the types that significantly raise your blood sugar and thus your insulin levels -- for instance, those found in soda, candy, and foods made with flour."

For the carbs he was allowed to eat, David revealed they included delicious and nutritious fruits and vegetables. But he was skeptical about whether he could give up his "regular, carbohydrate-laden diet" for this new one.

"I wasn't sure I could stick with it."

To help with this, David got a heaping helping of encouragement and support from Valerie Berkowitz who gave him suggestions about how to do the low-carb lifestyle and keep it interesting and fun so he could lose the weight.

"She helped me create an eating plan that was user-friendly and required no calorie counting. Basically, my instructions were to eat only when hungry and to the point of fullness, incorporating five simple rules. I could eat as much meat and vegetables as I wanted, and was allowed 3 to 5 ounces of cheese and two servings daily of low-glycemic fruits -- berries, melons, peaches, plums, apples, oranges, and kiwis. I was also advised to drink 80 ounces of water daily."

Go read the Men's Health article for the full details about the five rules, but they are in a nutshell:

1. No more junk carbs that spike your blood sugar.
2. Increase your consumption of non-starchy veggies.
3. Eat protein throughout the day.
4. Don't be afraid of eating fat while reducing carbs.
5. Skip the processed foods.

You certainly can't argue with the success he had either--33 POUNDS GONE FOREVER! David was nice enough to post ALL 85 DAYS of his menus while livin' la vida low-carb, which included some minor "cheats" here and there. Yet he was STILL successful. See what he actually ate and read his commentary about what it was like going through this experience with thoughts from his food journal.

If the editor of a popular health magazine can get serious about his weight problem and find the answer in the low-carb lifestyle, then I think just about anyone should be able to do the same. Perhaps this once-skeptical man will now begin championing the low-carb cause a little more enthusiastically since it worked so well for him. Let his example inspire you to achieve the weight loss success you so desperately desire. YOU CAN DO IT!

'Men's Health' Editor Seems To Back Low-Carb

Men's Health magazine features an editor who seems to support low-carb

One of the premier magazines for the male population regarding fitness and health in the United States has got to be Men's Health. I've always enjoyed skimming through the articles and occasionally coming across one or two columns that were friendly towards the low-carb lifestyle.

But now it seems there is an editor at the magazine who is very supportive of livin' la vida low-carb and is not afraid to say so! His name is Adam Campbell and he is the Men's Health Sports & Nutrition Editor. He has won many awards for his writings and has even written a couple of books: the bestselling "The Testosterone Advantage Plan: Lose Weight, Gain Muscle, Boost Energy" (along with low-carb researcher Jeff Volek and "The Muscle Prescription" (which seems to be out of print because I couldn't find it anywhere online).



Campbell, who has a Master's degree in exercise physiology from the University of Kansas (the same state where low-carb medical practitioner Dr. Mary Vernon is based...hmmmm, the plot thickens!) and is certified as a strength and conditioning specialist, has a blog for Men's Health called "The Fitness Insider" where he discusses some of the challenges people face when they are working out and getting into shape.

But take a quick gander over to the right-hand side of the page in the "Related Links" section to find something rather peculiar for a mainstream fitness magazine web site. Do you see any familiar names on that list of links? Yes, we see the aforementioned Dr. Mary Vernon, Dr. Michael Eades as well as his wife Dr. Mary Dan Eades, Regina Wilshire's "Weight Of The Evidence" and then this no-name blog from an off-the-wall character who just happened to lose a lot of weight.

What do all of these blogs have in common? THEY'RE ALL BLOGS DEDICATED TO THE LOW-CARB LIFESTYLE! Sure, Campbell lists a few other blogs in his links section, but half of them are about low-carb dieting. WOO HOO!

I haven't personally met Adam Campbell and don't know what his nutritional philosophy is exactly, but I am glad to know he at the very least acknowledges the low-carb way of eating as a healthy way to lose weight and get fit. If I hear from him via e-mail (I can be reach at my e-mail address--livinlowcarbman@charter.net), then I'll see if he would like to be interviewed at my blog. That would be an incredibly interesting conversation.

It's good to know there are people in the health media who are still positive about livin' la vida low-carb even as most publications turn their nose up or maliciously slander this lifestyle change. CONGRATULATIONS, Adam Campbell! You get a gold star in my book for standing firm in your convictions and showing your support for low-carb living.