10 Myths Within The Low-Carb Community
10 Myths Within The Low-Carb Community
Go here and read comments. http://authoritynutrition.com/10-my...carb-community/ November 19, 2013 | by Kris Gunnars | 14,676 views | 52 Comments Low-carb diets are awesome. The research is clear that they can reverse many common, serious diseases. This includes obesity, type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome and a few others. Collectively, these are the biggest health problems in the world. That being said, I’ve noticed a problem that has been growing steadily over the past few years in the low-carb community. A lot of dogma seems to be getting accepted and many myths that are NOT supported by science have gained foothold. This is a consequence of a phenomenon called group thinking, which is common in nutrition circles and can lead to a distorted view of the science. This is a big problem, because dogmatic and extremist views will not help the low-carb diet gain acceptance. They will simply scare intelligent people away and put them in a defensive mode instead of making them willing to observe the arguments objectively. Plus… dogmatic, unscientific views are what got us into this terrible public health mess in the first place. Let’s not make that same mistake again. 1. Low-Carb is The Best Diet For Everyone Low-carb diets are super healthy. The studies consistently show that they cause more weight loss and improve most risk factors for disease more than the failed low-fat diet that is still being pushed by nutrition organizations all over the world (1, 2, 3). That being said, low-carb is not appropriate for everyone. We’re all different and what works for one person may not work for the next. I know many people who have given low-carb an honest shot and didn’t like it, either because they didn’t get the results they expected or they simply didn’t feel good. For others, low-carb can be downright detrimental. This includes people who are physically active, especially athletes who do a lot of anaerobic work. These individuals need a lot more carbs than people who are sedentary. We should be mindful of the fact that other people have different needs and different preferences. Different strokes for different folks. 2. Carbs Are Inherently Fattening Sugar and refined carbs are bad, pretty much everyone agrees on that. But vilifying all carbs based on that is kind of like vilifying all fats because of the harmful effects of trans fats and vegetable oils. The truth is… not all carbs are fattening. It depends completely on the context and the type of food they are in. For carbs to be “fattening,” they need to be refined and put into a package that is highly palatable and encourages overconsumption. A great example is potatoes. On their own, they are not very exciting. They have fiber, a low energy density and you will most likely feel full pretty quickly. On the other hand, potato chips, deep fried in corn oil, with salt and pepper and maybe even a dipping sauce… now you’ve got a highly fattening food that is easy to overconsume. Many populations around the world have maintained good health on a high-carb diet with real, unprocessed foods, including the Kitavans and Asian rice eaters. 3. Carrots, Fruits and Potatoes Are Unhealthy Because of The Carbs I’ve seen many real, traditional foods demonized by low-carbers because of the carb content. This includes foods like fruits, whole potatoes and carrots. True… it is essential to limit these foods on a very low-carb, ketogenic diet. But this does not mean that there is anything “wrong” with those foods. People often tend to see things in black and white. Either a food is “bad” or “good.” But the truth is that in nutrition, everything depends on the context and “healthy” is a relative term. For a person eating a Western junk food diet, replacing some junk food with a few pieces of fruit per day would be “healthy.” But for a diabetic managing their symptoms on a ketogenic diet, the same amount of fruit would be “unhealthy.” In my opinion, low-carb zealots trolling the web scaring people away from whole foods like carrots and fruits, without any regard to context, are no better than militant vegans spreading fear mongering about meat and eggs. 4. A Low-Carb Diet Should Always be Ketogenic A ketogenic diet is a very low-carb diet, usually under 50 grams of carbs per day, with a very high fat intake (60-85% of calories). Ketosis can be a highly beneficial metabolic state, especially for people with certain diseases like diabetes, metabolic syndrome, epilepsy or obesity (4, 5, 6). But this really is not the only way to do a “low carb” diet. Low-carb can be anything up to 100-150 grams of carbs per day, perhaps even more. Within this range, there is easily room for several pieces of fruit per day and even small amounts of whole, starchy foods like potatoes. Even though a very low-carb / ketogenic diet may be the most effective for quick weight loss and several disease states, this is not appropriate for everyone. I know of a lot of people who didn’t feel good in ketosis, but when they added in a few fruits (still low-carb) they suddenly started feeling awesome. 5. All Carbohydrates Are Sugar Saying that all carbs are broken down into “sugar” is true, but misleading. Technically, the word “sugar” includes various simple sugars like glucose, fructose and galactose. Yes, starches like grains and potatoes do get broken down into glucose in the digestive tract, which raises blood sugar levels. To a diabetic, it is true that starches turn into “sugar” and raise the “sugars” in the blood. But to other people, who are not chemists, the word “sugar” implies the white, unhealthy granular stuff… sucrose. Telling people that “all carbs turn into sugar” is misleading. It makes people think that there is no difference between a potato and a candy bar. Whereas table sugar contains half glucose, half fructose, starch is only glucose. It is the fructose portion of sugar that is the most harmful, starch (glucose) does NOT have the same effect (7, 8). Trying to mislead people into believing that starches are equivalent to sugar/HFCS is dishonest. 6. It is Impossible to Gain Weight on a Low-Carb Diet There are some who think that as long as carbs and insulin are low, that weight gain is impossible. But the truth is… it is very possible to gain weight on a low-carb diet. Many low-carb foods can be fattening, especially for people who are prone to binge eating (like I used to be). This includes cheese, nuts, peanuts and heavy cream. It is very easy to eat a ton of calories from these foods, enough to stall weight loss or even cause someone to start gaining weight back. Back in my binge eating days, I used to binge on peanut butter. For a while, I used to eat an entire jar of organic peanut butter (70% fat, 15% carbs) every evening and I gained weight like clockwork until I stopped doing it. Although many people can eat these foods without problems, others need to moderate them if they want to be able to lose weight without restricting calories. 7. Drinking Butter and Coconut Oil is a Good Idea Despite decades of anti-fat propaganda, the studies are showing that saturated fat is harmless (9, 10, 11). There is no reason to avoid high-fat dairy products, fatty cuts of meat, coconut oil or butter. These are healthy foods. But just because “normal” amounts of saturated fat are fine, it doesn’t mean that adding a ton of it to your diet is a good idea. It is trendy these days to add a whole lot of butter and coconut oil to coffee. I think doing this is fine… in moderation. It will probably lead to a reduced appetite, so it won’t cause weight gain or anything like that. But if you’re adding 20-30-50 (or more) grams of fat to your diet every day, then you will be eating less of other more nutritious foods instead (like meat and veggies). 8. Calories Don’t Matter There is a misunderstanding among some low-carbers that calories don’t matter. Calories are a measure of energy and body fat is simply stored energy. If our bodies take in more energy than we can burn off, we store it (usually as body fat). If our bodies expend more energy than we take in, we use stored body fat for energy. One of the reasons low-carb diets work so well, is that they reduce appetite. They make people eat less calories automatically, so there is no need for calorie counting or portion control (12, 13). Of course, these diets also optimize the function of important metabolic hormones like insulin, but one of the key reasons they work so well is that people start to eat less calories without trying. Calories count, but counting them or even being consciously aware of them is not necessary in many cases. 9. Fiber is Mostly Irrelevant to Human Health Dietary fiber is indigestible carbohydrate material in foods. Humans don’t have the enzymes to digest fiber and therefore it passes through relatively unchanged. However, fiber is not irrelevant to health, like some low carbers seem to believe. Fiber actually gets to the bacteria in the intestine, which do have the enzymes to digest it and can turn it into beneficial compounds, like the fatty acid butyrate (14). In fact, there are many studies showing that fiber, especially soluble fiber, leads to various health benefits like weight loss and improved cholesterol (15, 16, 17). There are many different types of fiber. While some don’t really do anything, others are highly beneficial for health. 10. If Low-Carb Cures a Disease, That Must Mean That The Carbs Caused it in The First Place Many people who are metabolically healthy can easily maintain good health eating carbs, as long as they eat real food. However, when someone becomes insulin resistant and obese, the metabolic rules seem to change somehow. People who have metabolic dysfunction caused by the Western diet may need to avoid all high-carb foods. But even though removing most carbs may be necessary to reverse a disease, it does not mean that the carbs themselves caused the disease. Healthy people who want to stay healthy will do just fine, even on a higher carb diet, as long as they stick to real, unprocessed foods. The prevention does not have to be the same as the cure. Take Home Message Group thinking is a big problem in nutrition. People tend to pick “sides” – then they only read blogs and books by people who agree with the side they have chosen. This is a BIG problem among vegans. They are often completely brainwashed, with a severely distorted view of the science. But I have started to notice the same thing in the low-carb community as well. We need to be vary of this group thinking phenomenon and always look at the opposite argument as well. Science changes all the time and what is true today can be proven wrong tomorrow. So let’s continue to promote the incredible life-saving benefits of low-carb diets (for the people who need them). But let’s not ignore all contrary evidence or distort the science just to get our point across. That ain’t cool. If we do that, then we’re no better than the vegans. |
I love this, Arlene! Thanks for posting! :wave:
LOVE #3! :lol: love them all but number 3 made me LOL! |
Excellent post and one everyone should read
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Interesting read. Thanks for posting. However, Im conflicted with the physical activity part of #1. Im reading The Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate Performance and it gives a different view.
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Yeah, this person wants to sound like an expert, but I'm not sure they know enough to distinguish between true and false things as far as low carb diets are concerned.
How can you say something that hasn't been proven is either true or false? |
He starts with the statement that our beliefs should be based in science. He then points out some beliefs that have neither been proven nor disproven, calling them myths.
If a person does poorly on a very low carb diet, adds fruit, and does better, this is given as a valid anecdote supporting the contention that a low carb diet isn't for everyone. But then he has a myth where Drinking Butter and Coconut Oil is a good idea--and the many people doing well on that program--their anecdotes don't count? Besides personal bias, on what grounds is this better than that? As far as nutrient density goes--there's lots of room for various green leafy veggies, that plus small amounts of extremely nutrient rich meats such as liver go a very long way. People feeling better with fruit, or potato, doesn't mean that they suffered from a carbohydrate deficiency, that remains to be proven. Back to those nutrients again--it's quite possible to devise a ketogenic diet that's nutrient deficient in other ways. And not that hard to design a ketogenic diet that's complete. When somebody does poorly on a ketogenic diet, the problem is--which ketogenic diet is that? Quote:
I don't think this is a proven thing. But as long as he includes insulin in there, I don't think it's disproven, either. I'd also like to make that inappropriate weight gain. Would the binge eating he describes be effective in fattening him if his insulin were in line? (Or would the binge have even occurred in the first place, if he hadn't had some insulin issues in the first place)? I'm not suggesting these things are true, only that they might be. If he just said that a food doesn't necessarily have to be high carbohydrate to cause weight gain when added to the diet, there I'd agree. |
Honest, when I started typing my post, Nancy hadn't posted yet. :lol:
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I think the author is about as accurate as the group thinking that she is dissing. Partially right, partially wrong --- and the picture with a stethoscope doesn't add any authority to me, but actually does the opposite without proper letters after her name --- it says "I dress like a doctor so you will believe me."
1. Low-Carb is The Best Diet For Everyone Agreed. This one is pretty obvious to me. If one diet worked for everyone, we would only need one diet book! On the other hand, I think a high carb diet is probably the worst diet for most humans. Look around, that's all the proof I need. Supersize me!!! 2. Carbs Are Inherently Fattening High glycemic carbs cause insulin release which among other things causes the body to store fat. So I consider this one partially correct. But we are on a low carb diet, not a no carb diet. Most people who follow a plan like Atkins go on very low carb during induction and then add carbs until they reach the maintenance point. After that point, carbs are definitely fattening. I don't think our group-think says carbs are fattening, but too many carbs are fattening. 3. Carrots, Fruits and Potatoes Are Unhealthy Because of The Carbs I'd go with quantity on this one. (1) Potatoes are pretty worthless, (2) most modern fruit cultivars have been bred to have far to much sugar in them, and (3) carrots are OK, again in limited quantities. The apple of today is nothing like the apple of the pre-agricultural age. It was closer to a crab-apple. Years of selective breeding has resulted in cultivars that are hundreds of times sweeter and larger than the ancestors. Same for corn, pears, carrots and so on. Just as we bred chihuahuas from wolves we have grown frankenfruits and frankenvegetables that are Goliaths compared to their ancestors, The agricultural age is a mere speck in the time span we humans have evolved on the planet. I don't think the body was meant to ingest the concentration of carbs that most modern fruits and grain products supply 4. A Low-Carb Diet Should Always be Ketogenic I disagree with the author's figures here. She says, "Low-carb can be anything up to 100-150 grams of carbs per day, perhaps even more." ???? That is NOT a low-carb diet. Anyone who thinks so knows nothing about low carb diets, and therefore everything else this author says becomes suspect. 5. All Carbohydrates Are Sugar --- Saying that all carbs are broken down into “sugar” is true, but misleading. ... Yes, starches like grains and potatoes do get broken down into glucose in the digestive tract, which raises blood sugar levels. What??? First it's misleading and then they all break down into glucose? Are we contradicting ourselves here??? Either they break down into sugar or not, you can't have it both ways to support a weak point. 'nuff said about this one 6. It is Impossible to Gain Weight on a Low-Carb Diet Agreed. If I ate 5,000 calories of pure fat a day, I'd still get huge 7. Drinking Butter and Coconut Oil is a Good Idea I don't drink it, although I do put HWC in my coffee and tea. I eat a lot of fat and coconut oil. Again, this depends on the person. I don't think it matters whether you drink or eat the fat, what works for one may or may not work for another. 8. Calories Don’t Matter They definitely do matter. Just less on a ketogenic diet than on a high-carb diet. 9. Fiber is Mostly Irrelevant to Human Health I take psyllium fiber every day - it makes my innards happy - however for my DW fiber binds her innards and gives her problems 10. If Low-Carb Cures a Disease, That Must Mean That The Carbs Caused it in The First Place I think if low carb cures a disease, that means that the carbs either caused the disease (as in type 2 diabetes) or created a favorable environment for the disease to thrive in (as in cancer, candida, etc.) I do think group thinking does affect many of us who do not do independent research on our own (and research is so easy to do). I like pubmed.gov (from the National Institute of Health) because the articles have been published in peer reviewed publications. However, I don't think we are as brainwashed as vegans because vegans ignore these things
Most low carb people eat both plant and animal foods, although we are choosy about which foods we eat. So I think the author may have a point on group think, but is not doing a good job supporting her point without committing the same sins as the group-think-tank does. Bob |
Loved the main points in this (you guys already hit on the points that bothered me). Thanks for posting, Arlene!
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I like 6, 7 & 8
I just recently read Jenny Ruhl's Diet 101 book and one of the points she has is that a lot of low carbers say that dairy "stalls" them when in fact it's likely the 800 calories in a cup of cream and the many hundreds of calories one can easily eat in cheese that are very plausible explanations as opposed to dairy per se. To me points 6, 7 & 8 all point back to that same thought - low carb isn't a magic panacea that allows for over consuming vast amounts of calories... |
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First I agree with your observation about the magic panacea. That still leaves the question of why we're driven to overeat calories in the first place? For me, peanuts cause binges, peanut butter doesn't. Heavy cream stalls me in coffee, but if I whip the stuff, I'm fine. Making cheese more calorie-dense by buttering it cuts down consumption--and probably leaves me eating less calories. I think something about dairy stimulates appetite. Calories really don't matter if you don't actually eat them. :lol: |
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Excellent. The author is at the bargaining stage. Only depression to get through then acceptance!
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I just want to add a couple of points.
There are at least two effects of carbs. One is to immediately increase blood glucose then insulin and as BG rises over 100, glucose is stored in the fat cells so don't eat so much carbs at one time such that BG goes over 100. Second is to switch from burning glucose to ketones such that the fat cells liberate their triglycerides (TAG) to make more ketones. This is done after glucose has been depleted AND there is an absence of insulin. Here is where the Insulin Index becomes important over and above the Glycemic Index. So the author is right when he says (to paraphrase) "this is not that and that is not this" BUT the LC community is generally right in their "group think". Eating "good carbs" helps people not gain weight but once the weight is gained.... a lack of good (and bad) carbs helps a lot of people lose weight. |
I knew this would create a lot of comments. I know there is work on trying to understand what a calorie really is.. is it used the same in our body if it is a carb, as a calorie of fat?
One man who is doing several crazy(not scientific but fascinating) experiments in this is Sam Feltham This is his first experiment. http://live.smashthefat.com/the-21-...orie-challenge/ Ketosis is another cunundrum.... long term - in or out? That is the question of my day, although I am leaning to long term in at about 50 netgrams a day. |
oooh...the one about calories struck a chord with me. I was on a board previous to this where I was constantly being told that if I wasn't losing weight, I needed to eat more, and more and more. It didn't make sense to me then and still doesn't. Sadly, I can't lose an ounce unless I REALLY watch my calories. Fortunately, low carb makes me not very hungry so it is much easier to do so. Back in the old days I could take the same number of calories and do my "6 mini meals with fruits and whole grains, etc" and I'd lose weight at the same rate but couldn't stick with it for more than a few days or weeks.
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I think that pic was meant to be humorous. The actual blogger has his pic in the upper right hand corner. My name is Kris Gunnars. I’m a medical student, personal trainer and someone who has spent years reading books, blogs and research studies on health and nutrition. ... There is an immense amount of evidence I’ve found that runs completely contradictory to what the governments and dietitians around the world are recommending. Since I started medical school and became a personal trainer, I’ve learned that the textbooks on nutrition that our future doctors and health authorities read are based on that same faulty or nonexistent evidence. The fact of the matter is that there is an immense amount of incompetence in the areas of nutrition, weight loss and disease prevention. My goal is to change that and this website is part of my mission. |
Thanks for the post, like the others, I find it very beneficial and interesting to read what others have said..
appreciate the information:) |
I can't find a whole lot to disagree with.
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Arlene - that was an excellent post and summary. If we had a sticky thread I would suggest having it copied to there. Perhaps labeled "Low Carb Diets, the Pluses and the Negatives".
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These kind of postings are all over the web. They cause more myths than myths. People assumes most are ok than everything must be RIGHT. Most are opinion based myth with little facts to support them. Don't even mention the source of the fatc/myth.
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Arlene: Thanks for taking the time to post this article and generate some excellent dialogue among some of the site members. As a newbie to low carb it gave me a lot to think about. The overall take away I got from the article and the ensuing discourse on this site is that there isn't just one way to do low carb. We are all unique beings and we have to find what works best for us by closely monitoring how our bodies react to what we put in our mouths. I am taking this low carb journey as a discovery process - through the bumps and successes along the way I will learn the things that are best for my body so that I can adopt this as a way of life.
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Can we please not fight myths with myths? "Wild and Ancient Fruit: Is it Really Small, Bitter, and Low in Sugar? => http://rawfoodsos.com/2011/05/31/wi...-ancient-fruit/ Pretty compelling compilation of information in one place, in my opinion. |
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Very well said JennBuck! Exactly what I've learned from this forum too. We are all unique!! |
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Thanks. I've seen this argument about fruit made in almost every LC book I've read. It's always surprising how quickly and deeply these memes become conventional wisdom. |
Yes! I wondered where I had read that article long time back. I'm glad fetch posted the link. It is definitely a meme, an untrue one. It cracks me up how often these pop up.
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Exactly! Thank you, fetch!! :thup: |
Yeah. I think the most important difference between modern and heritage fruits is whether or not they've been baked into pies.
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To be fair, though, the myth part is that sugary, unbitter fruit was unavailable to our ancestors. Much of the fruit we eat today is less bitter, more sweet than at least its own ancestors. Although the sweetness often comes from a decrease in bitterness and flavour in general, rather than an increase in sugar.
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