When your friends, family, colleagues, healthcare professionals, the media and everyone you know are claiming low carb diets are dangerous, not effective or boring. Stand up and just say “It Ain’t So!”
I am soooooo tired of hearing and reading about how calories, not carbohydrate management, is the best way to lose weight or that meat eaters are more likely to die than those who abstain from eating meat, blah, blah, blah, blah.
When researchers do not keep their studies objective, crazy things happen. For example, unhealthy meats that contain known cancer causing ingredients (such as nitrites) are put in the same group as other meats; the media reports “all meats are unhealthy”. The reality is that nothing new was proven, we know nitrates and nitrates can cause cancer. The responsible message should be “avoid meats that contain cancer causing ingredients”.
We have seen the headlines touting the real answer to weight loss, “calories matter more than the distribution of carbohydrates, fats and proteins.” However, this is not always the case. When research on low carb diets (less than 50 grams is actually low enough to ignite fat burning) are actually performed, they trump low-calorie diets for weight loss, lowering heart disease and managing blood sugar every time. I have the same experience in practice.
Eating low carb is a healthy, delicious and nutritious option. Well at least that is why I started eating low carb…at least that was only after being ready to keep an open mind and I opened my eyes and ears to the truth. Only then could I free myself from believing the hype of big business, corrupt opinion leaders, less than objective researchers and unsuspecting healthcare professionals who still only see one side of the fence.
These studies were published 6 years ago but the results continue to be re-produced.
http://www.nutritionandmetabolism.co…-7075-2-31.pdf
http://www.nutritionandmetabolism.co…-7075-3-24.pdf
http://www.nutritionandmetabolism.co…3-7075-5-9.pdf
Results from research conducted by Darlene Dreon suggests that low-fat diets for some people with a specific genetic predisposition can increase risk factors for heart disease. Do you know any doctors that warn people of the potential risks of low-fat diets as found in Dreon’s study?
Yet, for some reason this information escapes media attention. There are doctors and nutritionists who practice low carb diet health care. Medical doctors use low carbohydrate diets to help patients manage diabetes without the blood sugar high’s and low’s that medication can cause. This is also true for metabolic syndrome, high cholesterol, stomach complaints and many other medical conditions.
The truth is that carbohydrate is the nutrient that has the most effect on internal eating cues and satiety switches? Excess carbohydrates more than any other nutrient triggers a hormonal cascade that starts with insulin. Insulin is a fat storing hormone and one that lowers blood sugar which in turn flips the “I’m hungry switch” to on.
It’s a good feeling to be able to help people who are following low carb diets. I tell it like it is from my heart and soul, from the very roots of my nutrition and medical education and experience. But most importantly, I feel comfortable thinking outside the box to help others find the path that works for them; whether it is for better health and nutrition, more self-confidence in their choices, positive social and emotional support. I can make a difference and I am making a difference. You can make a difference too, stay true to yourself and “Don’t Believe the Hype”.
When you hear crazy outrageous claims that make you concerned about your low carb eating regimen, know “It Ain’t So”.
Valerie, I also find a number of patients are using sweeteners, “low carb foods” or diet sodas that include Acesulfame Potassium causing an insulin spike without raising blood sugar thereby inducing the triglycerides to remain high. Something to consider . . . for what it is worth.
Great article by the way. Keep up the great work.
Thank you!
“The truth is that carbohydrate is the nutrient that has the most effect on internal eating cues and satiety switches?”
Perhaps. But it appears that omega-6 linoleic acid also affects internal eating cues and satiety switches. In addition, this polyunsaturated fatty acid affects fat storage. Excerpt from a 2013 Joseph Hibbeln Interview:
“Just as all polyunsaturates are not created equal, all high fat diets are not created equal. A good example of this is an animal study we did where we compared three high fat diets. All with 60% of calories from fat, in mice. We compared high fat diets that resembled the linoleic acid, Omega 6 intakes, comparable to the levels at the beginning of the century, which was about 1 percent of calories, and those high fat diets with 8 percent of calories, more similar to the amount of Omega 6 in the diet simply from soy oil in the U-S diet, today. Moving from 1% to 8% linoleic acid in the mouse diets, not only tripled the levels of arachidonic acids, but also tripled the levels of a critical derivative of arachidonic acids, which is an endogenous cannabinoid, which creates a similar affect to marijuana. So it’s the brains own marijuana like molecules, and we were able to triple the body’s marijuana like hormones, three times higher in the liver and about 20% higher in the brains just by altering the linoleic acid in those two high-fat diets. Normally those high fat diets used for mice in studies are composed of high linoleic acid, found in soybean oil. When we deleted that one single molecule, the Omega 6 fatty acid, we were able to obliterate the ability of a 60% high fat diet to induce obesity in the mice…And we did it also in diets that were 35% of calories from fat, and also diets that were 12% of calories from fat. We were able to induce obesity in low fat diets, in the mice, by changing the bioactive properties of the fat, not just that it was high fat and more calories.” http://www.meandmydiabetes.com/2013/03/10/vegetable-oil-associated-with-more-heart-deaths-nih-scientist-joe-hibbeln/
Here’s one of the research papers Dr. Hibbeln referred to in the above excerpts: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3889814/
In my opinion, this is breakthrough research and likely the best explanation for the current global obesity epidemic.
Do you have a link for the study by Darlene Dreon? I am curious because I have persistently high Triglycerides even after cutting carbs way down, and a strong family history of heart disease and dyslipidemia. I could cut carbs more (because of my spouse’s preferences we still use alot of soy protein, primarily tofu rather than chicken or mammals), but I need to build the evidence base. I also had trouble following the link on the preventing fatty liver post. I also have a fatty liver, although it is improving compared to 5 years ago.
Sure. Here is one but there are others: . My advice would be to eat real animal meat and lower the soy. Keep crabs to 30-50 grams and you may need to use supplements like omega 3, alpha lipoic acid, milk thistle, etc…If you copy and paste the link for fatty liver disease, it should work but let me know.
Good luck and thank you for reading the blog.