New Zealand Student Asks What Your Low-Carb Experience Is With Sleep, Energy

Joel Bell has a rather interesting question to ask low-carbers

After my recent encounter with a snobby high school science teacher wanting my help with a student project on low-carb last week, it was a refreshing change to receive a very pleasant e-mail from a college student from the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, New Zealand this week who is doing an e-mail research project on a specific area of low-carb dieting.

The student's name is Joel Bell and here's what he wants to know:

"Do people who go on low carbohydrate or reduced carbohydrate diets experience less need for sleep and also feel like their energy levels improve?"

It's an interesting question that is at the center of debate even among various people who have been on a low-carb diet. Joel would like to know what YOU think by sharing your answer to that question with him via e-mail. Send him your answer along with your name and where you live to jbe78@student.canterbury.ac.nz as soon as possible.

I will be sending Joel my own personal experience with this and he will compile all the responses to "formulate a conclusion on how people respond to low carbohydrate diets." This is only a student-led research project, but it will be interesting to see what realization he comes to based on the anecdotal evidence he receives.

As most of us low-carbers will attest, livin' la vida low-carb is a real bear early on as your body adjusts to the carb withdrawals. But once you get past that initial lack of energy, there's a sudden BURST of energy that comes shining through and propels you to feel better than you ever have before. I STILL feel this way!

Joel explained to me why he is interested in this subject matter.

"I became intrigued by the idea that diets can effect need for sleep and energy levels after reading certain testimonials saying that they slept less after following certain diets (particularly raw fruit and vegetable diets as well as reduced carb diets). However the result doesn't seem to be widely talked about."

That's true, so it's nice to see a student take this on. He cited several examples of people who have proven this theory in their own life, including:

- Dean Karnazes (the ultra marathon man) who now sleeps 4 hours a night and has improved energy levels from removing sugar and processed carbohydrate from his diet.

- Stu Mittleman (another runner and author of Slow Burn) who writes about a client who is living on simple carbohydrates who now sleeps 6 hours a night (compared to 8) while having more energy.

- Dr. Barry Sears (The Zone Diet) writes about a sleep paradox that occurs when you reduce carbohydrates because the insulin released reduces growth hormones needed to help repair the body.

Joel also cites a passage from The Warrior Diet where the author recommends eating MORE carbohydrate to help you fall asleep. The more carbs you eat, the more sleep you need. Ergo, the less carbs you eat, the less sleep you need.

As a personal trainer prior to his educational experience at the University of Canterbury, Joel had read up on this subject about how carbohydrates release another hormone that leads to sleepiness while protein releases a hormone that stimulates brain and body activity.

It sounds like he may be on to something that would make for an excellent thesis and/or future book for Joel Bell! Let's help him out by sharing our personal experiences with sleep and energy while livin' la vida low-carb by e-mailing him at jbe78@student.canterbury.ac.nz. THANKS!

7-12-07 UPDATE: Joel e-mailed me today to let me know his local newspaper down in New Zealand picked up the story about his school project after reading this blog entry about it. COOL!

Here's what he wrote:

Hi Jimmy,

Thanks for all your help. I ended up in my city's newspaper the other day because of this study. The journalist saw your post on the common voice site and thought it would make a good story. Here is the link!

Have a great day,

Joel Bell

Georgia Student On Low-Carb For Two Days

You gotta love these student journalists who write cutesy little op-ed pieces about livin' la vida low-carb for their college newspapers.

"Look mom, I'm a real writer now and I'm using that power to spread the most bizarre ideas about what the low-carb lifestyle is so I can show just how ignorant I really am!"

Ahhhhh, the joys of being so young and yet so clueless.

We've seen it a few times before at universities across America:

- Arizona State
- Ohio University
- University of Wisconsin
- Illinois State University

But there have been a couple of intelligent students praising low-carb:

- University of North Carolina-Greensboro
- University of Buffalo

Today another college student steps up to the plate to talk about low-carb and gives a rather mixed bag in his column "Low carb separates men from boys. It was written by University of Georgia columnist Daniel Hanna for The Red And Black independent student newspaper.

Hanna states in his column that he started livin' la vida low-carb earlier this week, but it only "lasted two days." LOL! Two WHOLE days! Hee hee! Daniel, my friend, you hardly got started on your low-carb diet, dude. Anyone who has ever started on low-carb KNOWS it takes a MINIMUM of two weeks to get your body into ketosis during the Induction phase, so two days eating this way does not a diet make.

"My entire eating routine had been slashed, replaced by a monotonous array of milk, eggs and cold cuts."

Milk? On the low-carb lifestyle? That's not low-carb, Daniel boy. Sure, eggs and cold cuts are, but that's not all you get to eat. Where are your vegetables, nuts, steaks, cheese, etc.? There's so much more to this lifestyle change if you simply pick up a book and read about it rather than mindlessly criticize it sight unseen.

Hanna then moves to the subject of eggs and turkey.

"After Day One, I was tired of eggs, which gave me a solid 10-minute window of fullness. Not to mention the cholesterol (I mean, you have to watch your cholesterol). Meanwhile, the stacks of plain turkey breast failed to satisfy my hunger, while the no-carb protein shakes left a milky film on my tongue."

If you are only feeling full from eggs for ten minutes after eating them, Daniel, then you are not eating enough eggs. If you microwave several eggs in the morning for breakfast and put a little cheese on top, then you will find you will not get hungry for hours. Studies have shown that eggs fill you up and you actually consume less calories the rest of the day which leads to weight loss.

And good grief, stop worrying about cholesterol consumption because that does not make your cholesterol go up! Read this amazing book my friend and you'll learn all about it.

If you are eating turkey breast and you're still hungry, then you need to eat a little more until you are. And for goodness sake, don't get the lean or "fat-free" turkey breast slices, go for the full-fat version to get the fat your body needs to remain satisfied. Research just this week has shown eating more protein can actually lead to the production of a hormone in your body to suppress your appetite. So EAT, Daniel, EAT! If you are keeping your portions and calories too low, OF COURSE you're gonna be hungry!

Oh, and that "milky film" on your tongue. It has nothing to do with those protein shakes you are drinking (and they are not "no-carb" by the way!). That's the excess ketones that are released when you begin to reduce your carbohydrate intake and go on a ketogenic diet, which means your carbs are below 50g daily.

Not surprisingly, our friend Daniel gave up on his "low-carb diet" (again, two days is hardly being on the low-carb lifestyle), but an article in FLEX magazine at least gets him to acknowledge that this way of eating may not be as bad for people as he portrayed it.



Hanna said the article he read in FLEX magazine revealed that a low-carb diet can help provide the protein your body needs to bulk up and grow muscle mass while reducing body fat.

And it's true! This study from Dr. Donald Layman found that a low-carb/high-protein diet not only helps you lose fat, but also gain muscle. That's why so many athletes are eating this way nowadays to get the best performance out of their bodies. That's one of the reasons independent researcher Anthony Colpo started his Low-Carb Muscle Forum recently.

While Hanna said this news about low-carb and high-protein diets is intriguing, there is still concern over the "negative effects of carbohydrate depletion on the body’s muscle mass." But he again points to the FLEX magazine column that said that is bogus information. And actually, this study demonstrated that common theory is invalid.

Hanna said the FLEX magazine article said livin' la vida low-carb is mainly for bodybuilders and not necessarily for people involved in cardiovascular physical activities such as running and sports. Oh really! Try telling that to this low-carber who runs marathons. My own daily workouts are NEVER fueled by carbohydrates, but rather by the fat and protein I consume both before and after the workout. I wouldn't think of eating any other way for my exercise.

Towards the end of his column, Hanna explained that there are so many different version of low-carb out there for people to try that there is bound to be one that will work for you. Unfortunately, though, he chose to highlight one of the worst low-carb diets on the market today--"The Carbohydrate Addict's Diet!"

Here's how Hanna enthusiastically described this plan:

"One example is the 'carb-cycling' program, a stepsister of the low-carb diet that allows you to have your carbohydrate fix while simultaneously shredding away fat. Specifically, a carb-cycling program may call for two days of no-carb dieting followed by one day of carb-loading. The three-day sequence keeps your metabolism guessing, which equates to more fat burned. Moreover, the carb-loading day will satisfy any lingering pasta cravings, preparing you for the 48-hour stretch ahead."

Do I need to tell you why this is a bad idea? Your body needs to get out of the rollercoaster ride that eating too many carbohydrates puts your blood sugar on. DON'T DO IT! My recommendations for a legitimate low-carb plan include the Atkins diet, Protein Power, South Beach, and The Zone, just to name a few of the better ones.

Finally, at the end of his column, Hanna makes an excellent point:

"Pick the diet that works for you, and complement it with the right kind of exercise. As the Austrian Oak once wrote, the 'basic principles of nutrition are as valuable to a bodybuilder as the basic principles of training.' Bodybuilder or not, exercise and nutrition are complements, and powerful tools. If you can use them correctly."

Okay Daniel, you redeemed yourself with that last paragraph, my friend. Perhaps there is hope for you yet. But the next time you decide to go on a low-carb diet, try reading about it first, committing to it for at least 30 days, doing it with all your might, and refusing to give up just because it hurts. Sure it does at first. We've all been there before. But, for me, it was well worth it to lose 180 pounds in one year!

NOW THAT'S RESULTS, don't ya think, Daniel?

Send your feedback to Daniel Hanna regarding his op-ed piece by e-mailing his editor.

9-9-06 UPDATE: Daniel Hanna responds to my blog post.

"Mr. Moore, I respect your wealth of knowledge on the subject of the low-carb diet, but I believe you misunderstood my article. I admit, if my intention was to portray the intricacies of 'livin' la vida low-carb,' the article was a miserable failure.

However, that was not my intention; my purpose was to right a column that would serve as an abstract of sorts on a low-carb article written by a nutritionist expert (Dr. Tabatha Elliott). The introduction, which depicts my tried-but-failed approach to the low-carb diet, was intended to be 'cutesy' and in no-way taken seriously.

In fact, I hoped the anecdote would reach out to students who shared a similar story--who may have tried an on-the-spot low-carb plan and failed out of frustration (and lack of information). Hopefully, those students would be inspired to research the truths about 'livin' la vida low carb,' and formulate a nutrition plan which meets their own needs.

Thank you for the feedback. Stay healthy, and best of luck. Sincerely, Daniel Hanna "

THANKS for writing, Daniel, and I appreciate the explanation. But if you go back to the top of this blog post and click on any of the other college links I provided to the student journalists who portray low-carb as this awful way to eat, then you will know why I had to respond to you. Even if you were just trying to relate to your fellow college students, that was not the way to do it.

Wanna be bold, Daniel? How about sharing with your classmates there at the University of Georgia about what livin' la vida low-carb REALLY is?! From start to finish in a column, no holds barred, THE TRUTH about low-carb living. I'd be happy to help you with this as well as the tens of thousands of visitors to my blog. Are you up to it, Daniel? It's your move now.

9-10-06 UPDATE: On a whim, I decided to give my feedback to the editor of The Red And Black. They decided to post my response at the bottom of the column. Here's what I wrote:

Why is it that student journalists almost always seem to portray the low-carb lifestyle as an awful way to eat? Sure, if you read most media accounts of what low-carb is, then I suppose you would come to the conclusion that eating "meat, eggs, and cheese" is decidedly unhealthy.

But take it from someone who has lost over 180 pounds on low-carb and kept it off for two years, it's so much more than that.

Daniel Hanna very likely meant no harm with his article sharing his experience on a low-carb diet, but he has done a disservice to all of us who did it the right way.

Wanna be a bold and daring student journalist, Daniel? Then how about sharing with your classmates there at the University of Georgia about what livin' la vida low-carb is REALLY all about?!

From start to finish in a column, no holds barred, sharing THE TRUTH and nothing but the truth about low-carb living.

I'd be happy to help you with this as well as the tens of thousands of visitors I receive at my blog.

Are you up to it, Daniel? Do you dare share the wisdom and knowledge of others who have gone before and been success on low-carb?

It's your move now.

Jimmy Moore, author of "Livin' La Vida Low-Carb"
livinlowcarbman@charter.net
LivinLaVidaLowCarb.com
Spartanburg, SC

You can share your feedback on this column, too, by clicking here.

Ohio University Students Need An Education On Low-Carb

Just when you think the education system in this country couldn't get any worse than it already had, along comes a story like this that'll have you pulling your hair out about just how uninformed even college students are about the healthiness of doing a low-carb lifestyle.

This story appears in an independent Ohio University student-run daily newspaper called The Post Online and was written by the "Stuff Writer" (that's the title used beneath the author's name) named Kallie Hinton.

While I am sure Hinton meant well with her article, it just goes to show you how inadequately educated both she and her fellow students at Ohio University are regarding healthy living. It's not entirely their fault because the prevailing lesson they've heard their entire lives regarding weight loss and improving health has been limited to eating a low-fat diet.

But it's time they discover there is a much better way to permanent weight loss and improved health by livin' la vida low-carb.

One student in the story is quoted as saying: "I think it is important to read up on nutrition and learn how your body works to maintain a healthy lifestyle."

Now you're talking. That's exactly what I encourage people to do regarding the low-carb lifestyle. Study after study has found that eating low-carb is a safe and delicious way to "maintain a healthy lifestyle." But the student told Hinton that most of her classmates believe livin' la vida low-carb is just another one of those "fad diets" that is too "unrealistic and unhealthy."

Who says? Dr. Robert Atkins as well as many others have written extensively on the low-carb approach to healthy eating. If people who make such incredibly misinformed statements like this regarding low-carb would read about it for themselves, then we wouldn't keep hearing these same insane comments over and over again. That's the kind of education you can take with you into the real world!

Mary Frances Astrom, the staff nutritionist at Ohio University, warns that "dieting is not the correct solution to weight loss."

"If you are thinking about dieting, that is a problem."

That is sound advice that I give people all the time. I often get asked if I am "off my diet" now that I've lost 180 pounds. Since I never considered myself on a "diet" to begin with, it is very hard to answer that question. I usually tell them that I am continuing on with my change in eating habits as a lifestyle. The nutritionist acknowledges that changes in how you eat and exercise are essential to losing and maintaining weight. These are the same principles that so many on low-carb programs have applied to their own lives as well.

Noting the big business that the weight loss industry has become, Hinton noted that Americans spend 50 times more money on weight loss products than the United Nations spends on hunger relief around the world.

While that may be true, I don't get the connection. There are many more organizations that provide hunger relief than the United Nations. Regardless, you can't blame Americans for wanting to do something about their own problems first (i.e. weight loss) before providing for the needs of others.

If something isn't done about the obesity problem in the United States very soon, then we will be losing a lot of potential donors to the world hunger drive because they will experience failing health or even death. I don't care how you do it, but you must lose weight if you are overweight or obese. I believe the low-carb lifestyle is the best approach, but at least do SOMETHING before it's too late!

The students interviewed by Hinton added that "low carbohydrate diets were effective for the short term but could be detrimental to one's health because a nutrient that is needed by the body is cut out of the diet."

Which nutrient is that? Are they referring to carbs? If so, then NEWSFLASH! You still get to eat carbs on a low-carb lifestyle. Note it's called LOW-carb and not NO-carb. This is yet another myth often spread about this lifestyle choice that frustates me as I talk with people. You still eat carbs (and good ones, too!) and some people can have as many as 100 grams a day! Gee, imagine that!

One student attempts to explain why she thinks low-carb is "a temporary solution" for weight loss.

"I really disagree with the Atkins diet. I know there are hormones in your body connected to carbohydrates that affect your emotions and physical state. I had a friend who went on the Atkins diet and for the first couple of weeks all she did was sleep, and she was a total bitch. I just don't think it is a good idea to take something away from your body that it needs."

I will give the student some benefit of the doubt because she is so young and naive, but frankly she hasn't got a clue about what she is talking about. Just about everybody I know who has done a low-carb lifestyle (myself included) has experienced a dramatic change during those first two weeks on the Induction phase. As I stated in an earlier post, that's your body ridding itself of years and years of bad eating habits and purging what it no longer needs. It's not a comfortable experience and it shouldn't be! You know you've made bad decisions regarding food and now you have to pay the consequences for those actions.

But the good news is once your body is finished with this amazing process, the weight begins to pour off like never before and you feel absolutely fantastic for the remainder of your weight loss. It's a very difficult process, but so worth it in the end if you can endure through a temporary condition. I'm a living, breathing example that the healthy alternative that low-carb living offers can and will work if you allow it to be a part of your life.

"I think they are difficult for people to live on long term; whether they are safe or not, I still think that's up in the air," the student added.

Oh, yeah. Well try telling that to me and the millions of others just like me who have not only found livin' la vida to be easy to follow over the long haul, but incredibly effective for maintaining excellent health after the weight loss. Every major health indicator has improved for me since starting low-carb, including an enormous drop in my bad cholesterol and a rise in my good cholesterol, lowering my blood pressure, slowing my heart rate, and much much more! I could not have asked for a more simple, effective plan for restoring my overall health than low-carb.

Hinton uses an oft-repeated lie that we've heard our entire lives about weight loss at the end of her story: "Although many programs are advertised to help lose weight, the only proven long-term and safe method is to burn more calories than you consume, according to the National Institutes of Health."

Yikes! The miseducation continues. With phrases like "only proven" and "safe method" used to promote the low-fat/low-calorie diets, Hinton infers that any other way to lose weight is unproven and unsafe. So many of us low-carbers have tried that failed approach to weight loss and applaud anyone who can do it like that. But we can't because it's not effective for us.

Our decision to switch to a low-carb lifestyle was made because we found low-carb to be more compatible for us. There's nothing wrong with offering people another choice. But people who are on low-fat/low-calorie diets are always hungry and jealous of the foods we can eat on low-carb. I just don't understand the hatred that comes from those who oppose low-carb! Aren't we all trying to reach the same goals of permanent weight loss? Who cares how you do it, just do it!

The article ends with a student offering her own advice for people wanting to lose weight: "Exercise, eating right and getting plenty of sleep should help you lose weight or maintain it."

I couldn't agree more. Exercise is an essential element combined with limiting your carb intake to the amount your body is allowed while remaining in ketosis and giving your body the rest it needs. This is an equation for healthy living that even a college student at Ohio University can understand!

05/18/2005 UPDATE: The author of the article sent me an e-mail with a surprising response of her own regarding her personal experience with low-carb:

Hi Jimmy,
It was interesting to read your response. Actually I, myself, went on the South Beach diet and it did help me lose about 25 pounds and which I haven't gained back, but as the author of the story, I could not include this information. Thanks for the response, I think if the low carb diets are done with low carbs, not no carbs, they are in fact very healthy.

Kallie Hinton
Women's Issues Writer
The Post Ohio University

Gee, I wonder why as the author of a story about low-carb she couldn't include her own anectodal evidence that would show the effectiveness of this lifestyle? It makes you wonder how much of this same mentality exists across the media all for the sake of pushing the low-fat/low-calorie agenda down our throats. I'm glad Kallie is one of us, but I wish she could write a follow-up story telling people the truth about low-carb. How about it, Kallie? If you think she should do this, then send her an e-mail encouraging her to tell her story of success through livin' la vida low-carb.

Arizona State Student Shows Ignorance Of Low-Carb

Arizona State University Web Devil satirical columnist Katie Kelberlau posted this article about her experience on Atkins and, as is typical in most media circles these days, she exposes her ignorance of what livin' la vida low-carb is all about.

Describing her experiment doing the Atkins lifestyle as "meat week," Kelberlau was doomed to fail from the start because she had a perverted concept of what all it entails because she obviously did not read the book. Despite popular belief, Atkins is not a meat-only diet. While meats are certainly acceptable on low-carb, most of us low-carbers enjoy a lot bigger variety of foods than just meat.

While Kelberlau admits a lot of Americans are doing "the low-carb thing" and many restaurants are offering "low-carb renditions of their classic meals," she claims she could never succeed on Atkins because she loves pasta, bagels, potatoes and ice cream too much to give them up.

Uh, hello. Have you been hiding under a rock over the past few years as low-carb versions of these foods have hit the supermarket shelves? Some are good, some are not so good, but there are choices that are readily available to people who need them.

Again showing her ignorance about what low-carb is, Kelberlau proudly proclaims with her tongue firmly implanted in her cheek, "any diet in which a brick of cheese is in the 'good' category sounds like it just might be doable."

Gimme a break. Her not-so-veiled insinuation that eating cheese is unhealthy because it of the amount of fat contained therein is just what I would expect from someone who has not educated herself fully about what low-carb is all about. Will we ever overcome the fat phobia mania that pervades this country?! And what are they teaching the students at Arizona State University?!

Kelberlau details in her "meat week" diary what she ate during her attempt at doing Atkins:

Day One

Starting my day with an un-sweetened iced coffee, I am not really hungry enough to miss my ritual morning gooey pastry and Frappuccino.

But by lunchtime, however, I am beginning to realize that it is nearly impossible to buy quick, cheap, easy food that is both edible and Atkins-friendly. A Burger King burger sans bun does not really appeal to the senses, so I decide on a Chicken Caeser salad at Einstein's, minus the croutons.

It's a big, filling salad, but merely an hour and a half later, in class, my stomach starts rumbling again. Obviously, big meals with a lot of protein are filling, but there is no place on campus that sells grilled salmon with steamed broccoli.

And if there were, I'm not so sure I would trust it.

I understand she's trying to be funny, but people like this just don't understand Atkins. There are plenty of options for low-carb if you get creative with your food selection. If your mentality is for low-carb to not succeed even before you start, then you are destined for failure.

Day Two

I thought better of going without breakfast again, instead starting my morning with carton of plain yogurt and a sugar-free vanilla latte.

I have made it through four meals without cheating. But today I have a cold and I can't justify it to myself to abstain from orange juice. So, after a short ethical debate, I spend what seems like my life savings on a carton of Naked juice, chug it quickly so no one will see my transgression and throw it away.

For dinner tonight, my boyfriend and I go to The Melting Pot, a meal we had planned for weeks. The Melting Pot is a fondue restaurant with four-course meals. The first course is cheese fondue with vegetables -- cheat free!

The second is a salad - no croutons, so I am still good. The third is a variety of meats and fish, dipped in a boiling pot of red wine, garlic and green onions. Up to this point, the whole thing is surprisingly Atkins-friendly.

But then comes the dessert course -- a big pot of melted dark chocolate with a platter of berries, pineapple, bananas and various pieces of pastry.

My incredibly limited self-control flounders as I stick my fork in for a chocolate-covered strawberry."

Actually, having a cold is no excuse for getting off Atkins. You can drink a low-carb juice and get the same benefits. As for the eating out, if she had those strawberries in sugar-free chocolate, then it would have been a great low-carb meal.

Day Three

Today, I swear to myself I will not cheat. Not once. I have to be able to make it through a day without munching a piece of bread or popping a piece of candy.

So, to resist temptation, I go home for lunch. Searching my fridge, I decide to heat up some frozen peas and toss them with butter and parmesan cheese, and pair them with a Morningstar black bean burger minus the bun. It was surprisingly tasty, filling and satisfying.

For dinner, I eat shrimp cocktail and broccoli, with frozen berries for dessert. Yes, I know berries are not exactly part of the Atkins plan, but at least it's not chocolate cake.

Okay, if you're already talking about cheating on day three, then you definitely aren't cut out for the Atkins lifestyle. But Kelberlau has obviously NOT read the Atkins book since she ate high-carb foods such as peas and beans, thus preventing her body to reach ketosis so her stored fat can be burned. And although she laments eating berries because they are allegedly "not exactly part of the Atkins plan," these delightful fruits are indeed acceptable on an Atkins lifestyle.

Day Four

I follow the guidelines during breakfast and lunch, but by dinner, I am pretty much over it. That cinnamon raisin bread in my cabinet looks mighty appealing, so I toast up a couple pieces. Figuring this means I am pretty much done with the diet attempt, I heat up some leftover spaghetti and plop down on the couch.

Okay, this entire article was a lame passive aggressive attempt at expressing anger towards the low-carb lifestyle. Kelberlau proclaims it is a "doable" way of eating, but believes it is too hard to come up with a "quick, easy meal" she can eat and carry with her to school. My only response to that is she's not thinking hard enough as there are a plethora of quick option for low-carbers if they so choose. Examples abound on many low-carb web sites, so I won't repeat them here. But there are many.

"Like so many other diets or, excuse me, 'lifestyle plans,' cutting carbs means putting out more effort to get those lost nutrients elsewhere," she concludes. "Pardon me if I simply stick with pastries and Frappuccinos."

Go ahead Kelberlau and keep eating all that sugar and caffeine. You may not have to worry about carrying around extra weight now while you are young and thin (as evidenced by your picture), but there will come a day when you will clamor to find the secret to weight loss. When you reach that point in your life (maybe after having a couple of kids and in your early 30's) you will find livin' la vida low-carb is the way to go. Until then, you've got a lot to learn!