[QUOTE=ellemenno]Posted Feb. 15, 2004
Low-carb craze raises health questions



“If you ask me, … would I go on a low-carb diet? Absolutely not,” said Dr. Hayan Yacoub, an internal medicine specialist with Affinity Health System based in the Fox Valley.

Yacoub and other local health experts warn that little, if anything, is known about these diets’ long-term effects.

There have only been people living this WOE for the past 30+ years...

Two short-term studies published in the New England Journal of Medicine in May indicated that low-carb diets initially may offer dramatic results. The studies followed the weight-loss outcomes of 195 obese men and women randomly placed on either the Atkins diet or a more conventional low-fat, high-carb diet. After six months, the Atkins dieters had lost more weight.

So, we lose weight faster.

But in the second study, which tracked dieters for a year, weight loss was comparable for those following either Atkins or the high-carb diet.

But not everyone loses weight--and the high carbers might catch up.

In both studies, however, low-carb dieters experienced greater drops in cholesterol, which is measured as a risk factor for heart disease.

But our cholesterol is better.

“Studies of these diets don’t track them long term,” said Lisa Behrens, a dietitian at Affinity. “I’m definitely seeing people coming in with higher cholesterol. Sure, if you lose weight you’ll see a modest decrease in cholesterol. But if they stay on (low-carb diets), it goes back up.”

And the proof is????

Behrens and other experts point out many possible ill effects, such as osteoporosis, gout, increased risk for certain cancers, severe electrolyte depletion, increased risk for heart disease, and kidney and liver problems. There simply is not enough known to take the risk, Yacoub said.

I know I gain weight eating a low fat, high carb diet. And the "many possible ill effects" of such a diet, for me, is well known, including increased risk for heart disease and diabetes. Gee, I guess I don't have any idea what I'm doing.

“It’s like we used to think that hormone therapy helped women. Now we know that it’s bad for the heart.”

Atkins advised dieters to “eat liberally of combinations of fat and protein in the form of poultry, fish, shellfish, eggs and red meat, as well as … butter, mayonnaise, olive oil, safflower, sunflower and other vegetable oils.”

And he easily won over dieters ecstatic to hear they could choose these highly flavorful comfort foods. [/I]

Michelle Medvecz, 33, of Greenville was among the converts.

Medvecz was on the Atkins diet for nearly a year before ending it last week. She now believes it hurt her health. “My cholesterol had gone up significantly,” she said.

Initially, Medvecz said, she saw an improvement in her cholesterol, which stood at 244 before beginning the diet. Within three months, she had lost nearly 20 pounds and her overall cholesterol dropped to 217 — close to the ideal target of 200 or less.

But a recent test showed that while she had continued to lose weight, dropping a total of 45 pounds, her cholesterol level, at 249, was even higher than when she began the diet. [/I[

[I]Medvecz, a nurse with a family history of high cholesterol, said she was so impressed by the rapid weight loss that she ignored the likelihood of a high-fat diet causing problems.

“In the (Atkins) book, it does mention that if you need a cholesterol reduction you should eat lower-fat meats like chicken and turkey, but I didn’t,” she admitted. “Having lost 20 pounds and (initially) seeing my cholesterol go down, I didn’t think that it would (go up again).”

So she failed to monitor her cholesterol--which the good doctor recommends doing. Hmmmm--and it's all Dr. Atkins' fault.

Despite claims by some dieters that Atkins has led to heart disease, she said in fact it can produce the exact opposite.

“The evidence in the literature is consistent that people who follow low-carb diets for six months to one year lose more weight and have better improvement in the risk factors for heart disease,” Heimowitz said. “In clinical practice, Dr. Atkins followed patients long term and found similar results.”

She did advise that heart disease patients on the diet should have their doctors monitor progress.

And if you're a heart patient on on high-carb, low-fat diet you DON'T need ot have your doctor monitor your progress?

Many health experts say Heimowitz’s argument is refuted by reports last week that Dr. Atkins, 72, was obese and suffering from heart disease upon his death. He was an avid follower of his own diet when he died last April from a head injury following a fall.

The findings came from a leaked medical examiner’s report. Atkins’ supporters insist, however, the diet doctor’s recorded weight upon death was caused by bloating that occurred during his comatose state, and that his heart disease was the result of a viral infection.

I thought this canard had been shot down--but here it is again. And you notice that only 'ATKINS SUPPORTERS' say that the weight gain was due to bloating...very interesting.


Even if it turns out that consuming more saturated fats doesn’t cause heart disease, many health care professionals argue there is still a plethora of potential problems attached to long-term low-carb dieting.

To begin with, said Gail Underbakke, a registered dietitian with the University of Wisconsin Preventative Cardiology program in Madison, excessive protein consumption — which can occur when replacing carbs with greater quantities of meat — puts people at risk for gout, liver and kidney problems. “I’ve had patients who’ve been on these diets and developed kidney stones,” she said.

My DH developed kidney stones--on low fat, high carb! If you're going to develop kidney stones, you're going to develop them!

Reducing carb intake to as few as 25 grams a day, which Atkins suggested might be appropriate for some dieters long term, would mean consuming less than a fifth of the government’s recommended daily allowance of 130 grams.

As a result, Underbakke said, people following strict, long-term low-carb diets rarely get enough fruits and vegetables. Inadequate consumption of these vital foods can lead to fiber, antioxidant and vitamin deficiencies that open the door to cancer, diverticulitis and other illnesses. “There is a good body of research that shows fruits and vegetables protect us against cancer … and they can’t be replaced by a (vitamin) pill,” she said.

I eat in the neighborhood of 25 NET carbs a day--and I eat more fruits and vegetables, and more TYPES of fruits and vegetables now than I ever did before.

The general public may have quite a wait before there’s a definitive answer on the best solution to safe, effective weight loss and control. Recent studies don’t appear close to unlocking the secret.

Last April, Stanford University researchers reviewed 107 studies on low-carb diets conducted between 1966 and 2003 and determined that to date all of the controlled studies were too small and too short in duration (none more than 90 days) to judge long-term effects.

They also noted that participants have tended to be young, providing little knowledge about the effects on dieters 53 and older.

And how many longitudinal studies of dieters 53 and older on low fat, high carb diets are there?? And what are the results of those studies?

And, even some supporters of the low-carb philosophy are expressing concern over the sudden development of pre-packaged snacks and fast-food menus claiming to be low-carb.

Author Bowden said all the hype is failing to focus on one critical fact: Americans need to end their love affair with highly processed foods.

“The very first intervention for anyone should be to eliminate or seriously reduce the number of processed foods in their diets,” he said.

There's absolutely no argument there. Frankenfoods are ... frankefoods. (Sometimes they are necessary, frequently they are tasty, but they shouldn't be abused.)

This point may be one of the few things upon which health care professionals on either side of the low-carb debate can agree.

“I do think that things like white bread, pasta, sodas and sweets are causing problems,” said dietitian Behrens.

Like low-carb advocates, she, too, believes Americans could benefit greatly by reducing their intake of processed carbs. But she argues that they should be replaced by smaller portions of highly complex carbs, like dried legumes, fresh fruits and vegetables, and whole-grain breads.

And we do replace them with fresh fruit and vegetables and a limited amount (eventually) of dried legumes and whole-grained bread.

“Do we really want our kids to think that fruit is bad for us?” Behrens said.

Nope--which is why you can eat a limited amount of fruit (by which I assume she means bananas and other high GI/GL fruits) on maintenance--which is what the good doctor recommended for children.

“We need to say, OK, maybe people do overdo the carbs. Maybe we eat too much pasta, but more fat is not the answer.”

Well, more pasta sure isn't it! Let's do the 1920s to 1950s reducing diet: eliminate pasta, potatoes, rice, bread, and sweets of all sorts. Hey--that sounds like Atkins!

Jude