Researchers Rediscover What Every Caveman Knew

[tex]

Well Duh!

Researchers have discovered what humans have known all the way back to when we stopped walking on our knuckles. Low fat diets don't work. Unfortunately, we apparently stopped "knowing" it several decades ago, when the medical community arbitrarily assumed that cholesterol was bad, so that eating fat must also be bad. Never mind that they had no proof of that. Medical experts apparently don't need proof - why require proof when it's so much easier to just assume that it's true?

At the meeting, Stewart will report on 46 dieters, 23 from each group, who lost 10 pounds. "In the low-carb group, they reached the 10-pound loss at 45 days," he said. The low-fat group needed 70 days to shed 10 pounds.

Their calorie intake was similar, whichever diet they were on.

The red emphasis is mine, of course.

http://consumer.healthday.com/Article.asp?AID=653545

Note that the title of that article is:

Low-Carb, High-Fat Diets May Not Pose Risk to Arteries
Short-term studies found no harm to vascular health

Well Duh again! I guess not - why did they ever assume that high-fat diets were a risk, in the first place? There was no evidence - they just assumed it. As if that distracting title is going to hide the fact that this proves that all those "experts" have been dead wrong to promote carbs over fats, for all these years.

The good news is, most crows have very little fat on their carcass, so everyone who has been promoting low-fat, high-carb diets for so many years, won't have to change their low-fat eating habits immediately.

Tex

[sarkin]

This whole original premise was right out of the flat-earth, we're-the-center-of-the-cosmos theory of science. It 'makes sense' that fat is bad and causes fat and makes you fat, because, you know, it's FAT.

In the really old days, 'science' made assumptions like "this plant has a livery-shaped leaf... it must be good for your liver!" If only we had progressed farther beyond.

In addition to a big thumbs up to the findings (AGAIN) that this study reports, I also think a lot of people have artery risk that is only secondarily related to the fat-carb-protein ratio in diet... because they are eating gluten, and the otherwise asymptomatic inflammation trumps whatever balance might be achieved by tweaking macronutrients. In fact, it may be an additional/secondary reason why the low-carb diet is more successful... because cereal toxins are reduced in the diet.

Not that I have an axe to grind, or anything ;)

L,
S

[tex]

In fact, it may be an additional/secondary reason why the low-carb diet is more successful... because cereal toxins are reduced in the diet.

I'm sure you're right.

Tex

[quincy]

Just to prove your point Sara/Tex. Back in the late 90's a friend was going on Atkins, so I decided I wanted to bring my cholesterol down from 265 and an LDL reading of 169.

I went on a low carb- lean protein and vegetable diet for 8 months. I didn't do the whole atkins thing, just modified it so that I completely eliminated most carbs except for oatmeal for breakfast and a banana w peanut butter every day for more energy.

the cardio doc was astounded when I went back and my total cholesterol reading was 206 but more amazingly my LDL-HDL ratio had completely flipped over to normal readings from a badly inverted state. I told him I ate eggs and steak, chicken and tuna and eliminated pasta, pizza, cake, cookies etc.

little did I know then, that I was also helping my undiagnosed, life-long struggle with celiac disease....! I should have kept the diet as my lifestyle but unfortunately I fell back into the old carb loading ways and went haywire a decade later....

[sarkin]

Quincy, too bad you didn't keep all those recipes & cookbooks at the top of the heap!

A friend of mine swears a relative of hers died of the Atkins diet. Of course, what her relative actually ate was Atkins... plus plenty of bread, cookies, cakes and pies when cravings kicked in or alternatives were not available. Who knows, her health problems may have been advanced at the time when she tried Atkins - maybe it wouldn't have reversed her blood pressure & cholesterol as quickly and dramatically as it did for you. It borders on tragic how many people have been led astray by the false premise that dietary fat is bad - and all its corollaries, like "if somewhat less fat is a good idea, then waaaaay less would be even better."

That's an impressive result you had - I bet you'll have similar positive effects with your new diet, once the body has a chance to heal.

--Sara

[tex]

Quincy,

Thanks for sharing your personal experience. That's always worth a lot more than some medical theory.

Tex

[harma]

In the Netherlands a GI-doc (not exactly he is specialized in internal medicine) developed a low carb diet plan. It called the Dr Frank diet. It's not 100% comparable with the paleo diet, but it's a good step in the direction. It's low in carb, high in protein and fat I don't know exactly. What I have seen of it, looks like a healthy diet (it's meant to loose weight, but not too low in calories en lots of fruit, vegetables, eggs, meat and fish)

So what is the problem you should ask. Well especially the main stream dieticians, professors in health and nutrition, the national food council, the only thing they keep on repeating, it is not healthy because to much protein en to little carbs. In any talkshow, any discussion program, any so called food specialist will show up and explain why this is such an unhealthy diet blablabla.

[harma]

to add something to it, on my very plain diet at the moment, my experience is, if I only eat rice (so carbs), I find it very difficult to stick to this food regime. I don't even get really hungry, I keep on wanting to eat things. But when I add protein to it (meat fish) I feel satisfied and don't hang around in my kitchen see if there is at least something I can eat. Same with Fat.

Also from the past, for years I my food was low in fat (afraid of getting too fat), at a certain point I changed it and I even lost some weight than.