Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Ogden
Of course the biggest problem with the whole thing is that when they say things like:
"It is virtually impossible to get adequate amounts of a number of essential nutrients. It contains three times the saturated fat as someone consuming an 1,800-calorie diet should."
They are using standards for nutrition that Atkins and most low-carb diet plans says are messed up to begin with. If you look at the "balanced" diet as described by the low-fat, high-carb diet favored for the past 30 years, then of course you are not going to get the right "balance" from low-carb.
The problem is that people have accepted waht is "right" and no longer question it. So they can only compare Atkins to what they have been told is "right" rather than consider the idea that the very basis for their dietary knowledge might be wrong.
|
If you ever research old Dietary Guildelines, it proves very interesting.
1940s --
Dairy: 2 servings
Vegetables: 2 servings (Potatoes don't count; 1 must be Yellow or Green; Greens should be eaten "often")
Fruits: 2 servings (1 must be citrus or tomato)
Eggs: 3-5 servings/week; 1 serving/day is preferred
Meat, Cheese, Fish, and Poultry: 1 serving/day (Dried Beans, Peas, and Peanuts should be eaten only "occassionally")
Cereal & Bread: 2 servings (Whole Grain or Enriched; Adding [Whole] Milk will improve its Nutritional value)
Butter: 2 servings
1950s --
Dairy: 2 servings
Fruits & Vegetables: 4 servings (Include Dark Green or Yellow Vegetables, Citrus, and/or Tomatoes)
Meat, Cheese, Fish, Poultry, Eggs, and Cheese: 2 serving/day (Dried Beans, Peas, and Peanuts are alternatives)
Cereal & Bread: 4 servings (Whole Grain or Enriched; Adding [Whole] Milk will improve its Nutritional value)
1970s --
Dairy: 2-3 servings (Lowfat, Skim recomended)
Vegetables: 3-5 servings
Fruits: 2-4 servings
Meat, Fish, Poultry, Eggs, Dried Beans, Peas, and Nuts: 2-3 servings
Bread, Cereal, Rice, & Pasta: 6-11 servings
This country went from believing a healthy diet was low in Grain and Sugar and high in Fat and Protein...to believing the polar opposite. If this country went back to the 1940s Guidelines, we'd see a marked improvement in the Obesity, Heart Disease, and Diabetes rates. Does it not strike people as odd that back when we were suggesting people eat lots of Butter, Whole Milk, and Meat that these problems were almost unheard of, yet now that we've scared everyone over to Margarine, Skim Milk, and Packaged LF Foods that Obesity and related problems have skyrocketed ?
Why is it noone questions the false claim that this is simply the result of eating more Calories and Fat, when the statistics [at least those comparing current intake to those prior to the mid-80s] clearly show that Americans are eating less Calories, less Fat, and more Carbohydrates than we were 30, 40, even 90 years ago...when these problems were unheard of ? Why is it that my Fat/Saturated Fat intake is obscene when gram for gram, I'm eating almost the same amounts as the Average American did 40-90 years ago ? How can Potatoes be essential for a healthy diet, when they weren't even known to 90% of the world until the 16th century, and weren't widely eaten until the 18th and even 19th centuries and further were not even considered a Vegetable by most until 50 years ago ?