In article >, zxcvbob > wrote:


> I think the Adkin's craze is idiotic -- at least the way I see most
> people following it, where a Wendy's triple with cheese is considered
> "heathy" if you don't eat the bun. And I'm getting tired of hearing
> "LOW CARB" all the time. But...
>
> My brother has lost close to 100 pounds by severely limiting carbohydrates.
>
> My mother (a Registered Nurse) is doing Adkins and has lost a little
> weight; her total cholesterol hasn't really moved much, but now it is
> almost totally HDL. [I think this is weird]
>
> So there is *something* to the diet, even if it is only for a temporary
> measure to get an extremely obese person's weight down to where they can
> start a more balanced diet and exercise program. And I suspect that the
> high protein level in the diet helps preserve lean muscle mass when the
> body is drawing on it's stores.


I'm glad you posted this. I feel kind of the same. Low-carb seems like a
complex solution to a simple problem, and I suspect people don't like the
simple solution because it isn't fun or easy. Yet again, reputable people
seem to support these diets, along with some wackos. I also hear lots of
people who say these diets work well.


Of course, I've also read that Atkins is a lot more than just low carb.



> I think the real nugget of goodness that I see in the low-carbohydrate
> diet is that the USA diet gets most of its calories from carbohydrates
> -- so that's the largest opportunity for calorie reduction. If you only
> eat, say, 200 calories worth of carbohydrates in a day, it is difficult
> to eat 2000 calories worth of protein and fat even though fat is over
> twice as energy-dense as carbs. You can eliminate several hundreds of
> calories of carbohydrate from your diet every day and not miss it.


Very interesting theory.

--
Dan Abel
Sonoma State University
AIS