More on the Facts and Factoids

RE: How does this make you feel

Oops one more thing. What about people that deal with low-blood sugar such as me? I did the vegan thing for awhile. I lost weight, but my blood sugar levels were out of wack I think because I had a lot of anxiety attacks. But that could be just a coincidence because I still deal with them today. I don't eat that same way anymore.
 
Macy...

One of your questions was overlooked, & it's a good one. Low-carb diets are popular because people can lose weight rapidly. They're a poor choice for athletic performance & for long-term health, but people can control their eating. In many cases, I think people actually improve their overall diet by going low-carb because the carbs they're eliminating in their diet are nutrient poor.

Many of the benefits of a nutrient dense, high-carb, moderate protein diet, low-fat diet are intangible. You're not going to see reduced risk of breast cancer in the mirror.

High-carb or low-carb, the bottom line is you have to burn more calories than you consume to lose weight.

Debra
 
RE: How does this make you feel

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON Aug-10-02 AT 09:00PM (Est)[/font][p]I have to be careful too. I have low blood sugar as well and when it hits me, the symptoms are just terrible. My God!

I could never do vegan, I like my dairy too much. I could easily be vegetarian and that's is the majority of my diet.

The biggest thing for low blood sugar suffers is to eat more often, smaller portions to stabilize the effects.

Here’s an example of what I mean, now you can change this anyway that you want, but this works well for me.

Breakfast – 1 package Nutrition for Women oatmeal, by Quaker Oats with 2 Tbs ground flaxseed and 12 ozs of water (I used to eat a banana, that was before my surgery and now I cannot tolerate any fruit in my diet. It converts to sugar too quickly in my system and overloads my system). Or Brownberry Natural Health Nut bagels with 2 Tbs of natural peanut butter and 12 ozs of water.

Snack – I used to eat another piece of fruit here with 12 ozs of water, but no more. I usually forget this one and I know it’s bad to do that. Plus it’s kind of hard to find a good snack during this time of day that doesn’t contain fruit.

Lunch – Hey, I do beans, pastas, potatoes, whatever. I usually do like a pasta accents from green giant with some shredded parmesan cheese and 12 ozs of water. Or leftovers or I do Subway subs or some type of healthy Mexican restaurant. It just depends. Or I’ll go to my local grocery store and get a salad and soup or ½ sandwich with some skim milk.

Snack – Usually 1/3 cup honey roasted soynuts (I just love those little buggers), 12 ozs V-8 juice (warmed, it’s like soup. That’s the only way I can get that junk down) and 12 ozs water. I also take a flaxseed oil capsule and an fish oil capsule (I hate fish!)

Dinner – Oh my, anything goes at dinner. I do a lot of Mexican dishes, Italian dishes, casserole type dishes, usually filled with grains, beans, lentils, and whole-wheat pastas. I love my slow cooker; I use it a lot. Plus 12 ozs water.

Snack – usually either yogurt (the real stuff only) or triscuits and cheese or peanut butter. I try to get peanut butter into my diet once a day. Plus 12 ozs water.

That keeps my blood sugar level and it’s a very well balanced diet. I do beef once or twice a week to help with my B-12. I rarely do pork. I do chicken once or twice a week. All you’d have to do is add back in the fruit and it would be a completely balanced diet.

It does take some planning because I do count my calories and fiber. This is about 30 – 40 grams of fiber a day depending. Especially if I eat Subway, I have to have a very high fiber dinner.

Keta :D

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RE: How does this make you feel

Ah yes ... Gout

Gout is a form of arthritis caused by the deposit of uric acid crystals in the joints of the body.

If your body produces too much uric acid or doesn't get rid of it in the urine, the excess uric acid builds up and may form crystals in the joints. The joints react to the crystals by becoming swollen, tender, and painful. This condition is called gout

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RE: Macy...

Hi Debra,

I would like to understand this statement a bit more ... "In many cases, I think people actually improve their overall diet by going low-carb because the carbs they're eliminating in their diet are nutrient poor."

The reason why I'm confused by this statement is that low carbing diets eliminate grains, beans, lentils, and some veggies and fruits. Did you mean those in the above statement? I think there was the reference to junky type foods, cookies, cakes, candies, etc. But I really don't want to assume if that's not accurate.

Thanks.

Keta. :D

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Maribeth ... sorry for high jacking your thread. :-wow

Keta. :D

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Okay this is what I love to eat. Tell me what is wrong here.

Beans,rice, couscous, hummus, veggies of most kinds,potatos, boca burgers, brown rice,salad,not so much fruit but some,bread,lentils,maybe tuna and turkey bacon sometimes.

Okay how do I rate???
 
Keta,
That is perfectly fine--you and the questions you generated provided a perfect springboard for my next tirade--the additional "whys" of low carb diets, such as Atkins.

As Bryant Stamford, exercise physiologist at University of Louisville so aptly put it, "The first law of thermodynamics tells us energy can neither be created nor destroyed, but can only be changed from one from to another. If you are going to lose body fat, you must convert the chemical energy stored in body fat to mechanical energy used in muscular contractions and other bodily functions.

That's a tall order, because just one pound of body fat contains 3500 calories. If you are on a diet and you lose weight, and if the weight you lose is from stored body fat, you should be able to account for all the calories--every bit of stored energy.

This cannot happen on a crash diet that causes rapid weight loss. A look at the numbers reveals thay don't add up. If you lost six pounds in one week, and if all six pounds came from body fat, here's what would have to happen: The six pounds of faat, at 3500 calories per pound, would equal 21,000 stored calories. The first law of thermodynamics demads that you would have to burn off 21,000 more calories than you took in for the week, or 3000 per day.

Is this possible? Yes, if you ran more than 20 miles per day. When people inform me (Dr. Stamford) they have lost a large number of pounds quickly, I (Dr. Stamford) congratulate them. In my (Dr. Stamford) mind, however, I am asking 'how many marathons did you run last week that contributed to your wieght loss?' The answer is, of course, 0 marathons.

What's more, the weight is usually lost without any exercise at all. How is this possible? On any crash diet, the first weight you lose always comes from stored sugar (glucose stored as glycogen). One pound of stored sugar accounts for 1816 calories. But you also lose three pounds of water that is stored with the sugar, for a quick loss of four pounds in just a matter of two or three days. After that, you start losing muscle mass. One pound of muscle provides only 700 usable calories.

With these figures in mind, it's easy to see how you can lose six pounds in one week and appease the first law of thermodynamics. According to the first law, to lose six pounds of sugar, water and muscle, you only have to account for 3216 calories (1816 from sugar and three pounds of water plus 1400 from two pounds of muscle equals 3216 calories). That's a far cry from the 21,000 calories that would have to be burned fif the weight loss were from body fat."

This was taken from Dr. Stamford's article "Beware of Rapid Weight Loss Ads" which appeared this past Tuesday in his weekly column "Body Shop".

I was so impressed, I had to e-mail Dr. S and tell him how glad I was that he had published the column. This should explain to anyone why the weight loss occurs with Atkins and all other rapid weight loss plans, and why such a loss is undesirable.

Maribeth
 
Hey !!! Not too bad. Do you ever get any barley, quinoa, bulgur, whole wheat breads, etc. into your daily diet? How about nuts and seeds? How about root veggies, like turnips, parsnips, rutabagas or squashes? The only reason why I ask is because those foods are powerhouse nutrient rich wonder foods. Usually used very little but the health benefits of those foods alone is amazing.

I really like that you eat potatoes, I'm assuming that you're also including sweet potatoes into that category, is that accurate? Sweet potatoes are wonder food too. I try to get those into my diet at least once a week.

I cannot eat fruit, but that's ok, do you get tomatoes into your daily diet? I have some form of tomatoes daily. Tomatoes are so good for the skin.

One of the better diets, girl! You go!

Keta. :D

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Thanks maribeth. That cleared a lot of confussion up for me! Keep posting with all this great info!

Keta I love sweet potatoes. They are great. I also eat whole grain breads.I love most veggies too. You asked about the tomatoes? That is funny because I think I eat those everyday. I make a killer homemade salsa.lol. Also I love hummus and pita bread. Anything Greek.
 
Maribeth,

I'm so glad that you're writing about this topic. Mainly because the body really only works a certain way and no matter how many studies or attempts to "rewire" it is just fiction. Losing weight is a slow process just as becoming healthy. It takes work, commitment, and perseverance.

I’m continually amazed how forgiving the body is and how it’s been designed to take a bunch of the garbage that we throw at it with our attempts at diets. It also amazes me how much power and control we really do have over our own health and quality of life.

But far too often, everyone wants to make a buck and there is nothing wrong with that. But when the buck is made by intentionally adding to the confusion is just silly. But then again … it’s a billion dollar business and the average American keeps getting bigger and bigger.

So this is again another thank you for writing about this subject.

Keta. :D

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Keta, Maribeth, Macy or anyone else who might know - what is low blood sugar and what causes it? Can you determine whether you have it without a blood test? I'm a bit fed up of my blood sugar crashing all the time. I also seem to have a metabolism that it is out of control. I burn up everything I eat (even though my diet is very high fiber and adequate in protein). I'm beginning to wonder if that is normal. Thanks for any information.
 
Keta

Keta,

I think many people that jump on the low-carb bandwagon do improve their diets. They're eliminating empty calories such as sodas, giant muffins, chips & 500 calorie coffee drinks. On some of the less drastic low-carb diets, one might actually start eating more vegies & fruit than before. As much as I dislike the Zone, I believe Sears now advocates lean protein sources, including soy. So many people reduce the saturated fat in their diets too.

As you know, the typical American diet provides about 10-12 grams of fiber. That means there's not a lot of whole grains, fruits or vegies in the typical American diet.

I advocate & follow a high carb, moderate protein, low fat diet. But I also understand why the low carb diets are so frustratingly popular - people can lose weight (at least temporarily) without feeling deprived.

Debra
 
This has all been very interesting... I can't say I understand it all, but it has been interesting nevertheless.

I have recently discovered, much to my surprise, that my PT has put me on an Atkins like diet. (I did not know enough about the Atkins diet to even know what I was eating was like the Atkins diet). Anyway, I have been very successful in losing weight, and I do eat a good amount of carbs. The only thing is that during this particular phase (which will change during maintenance), the only thing that I can say has changed is what a previous poster (Debra I think), stated, which is that by cutting down on carbs, my diet has changed significantly for the better. I pretty much have eliminated sugar and candies, potatoes, rice, and bread. Other than that, I eat tons of veggies and get two fruits a day (something that I don't normally get), and I eat protein 3x per day. I have been successful at losing 11 pounds eating this way. I still eat carbs, I just don't eat carbs that don't have a signifcant amount of empty calories. While I am eating this way now, my diet will continue to add more carbs back into my diet until I find that level of carbs I can eat without becoming as big as a house. I did the low fat diet for years without ever losing a signicant amount of weight. As a matter of fact, there were times that I actually GAINED weight.

Anyway, I am not advocating one way of eating or another: I certainly don't know enough about ANY particular specific diet or plan to advocate one over the other. All I know is that there are SO many diets (and I don't necessarily mean the losing weight diet when I say "diets") that one's head can spin: Low carb, hi carb, low fat, high fat, high fiber, fad diets, etc., etc., etc.!!! I believe that you have to find what works for you and stick with it, tweaking any diet plan to fit your life and give you the nutritional value that you need. Aside from that, I can't understand for the life of me why people actually FIGHT over diet plans. I did BFL for 10 weeks and while it worked GREAT for my friend, it did nothing for me (that is the 40/40/20 split). We are different people with different bodies. We are NOT one size fits all. If it worked great for you, that is wonderful, and who knows, it might work great for me. But if it doesn't, then I move on to find that healthy diet that I can live with for life.

Just my .02,
God Bless,
Cynthia
 
[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON Aug-11-02 AT 08:38PM (Est)[/font][p]I curious as to your PT's credentials. As an ACE Certified PT, I'm limited as to the diet advice I can give. I cannot "prescribe" a diet, be it Adkins, or whatever. It is not within my "scope of practice." You should have been sent to a dietician for a diet.

Just my 2 cents.
 
Whats wrong with potaotes and rice??? They are loaded with vitamins!

Cynthia, congrats on your weight loss. But how fast did you lose 11 pounds?
 
>Keta, Maribeth, Macy or anyone else
>who might know - what
>is low blood sugar and
>what causes it? Can
>you determine whether you have
>it without a blood test?
> I'm a bit fed
>up of my blood sugar
>crashing all the time.
>I also seem to have
>a metabolism that it is
>out of control. I
>burn up everything I eat
>(even though my diet is
>very high fiber and adequate
>in protein). I'm beginning
>to wonder if that is
>normal. Thanks for any

Now if I get this right, it is when your insulin rises quick and crashes fast.My sister-in-law had a test done one time. I think she drank sugar or something and it showed that she had low blood sugar. You can't determine it with a blood test like diabetes. I have had this done before and it won't show up with just blood work unless you have ate something very sugary.

Like one time I ate pancakes for breakfast and my blood sugar was so bad that I drove to my moms house. She fed me a turkey sandwich and it went away and my blood sugar was fine. You should try to avoid processed carbs. Things that will rise your blood sugar fast and crash.
>information.
 
[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON Aug-11-02 AT 10:19PM (Est)[/font][p]You know what?

I was really thinking about my diet. I mean really thinking hard too about it. I discovered that I really don’t eat too much potatoes, rice, or bread. I don’t eat too much butter, mayo, cream cheese, sour cream, etc.

I was thinking about this. Potatoes, I eat maybe twice a month. Rice, maybe once a month. Bread (only whole wheat or whole grain, I only eat the 3 gram of fiber rule or higher on bread), maybe twice a month.

For the butter, we go through a pound every three months. Mayo, maybe 1 cup a year (I’m not joking with that one either). Cream cheese, maybe once every six months. And sour cream … I cannot even remember when was the last time at had any sour cream.

But why is that? It’s not because I feel that it’s bad or a bad thing to eat. Then I really thought about it. The reason why is because I am too busy trying to eat a wide variety diet that’s as close to the ground as possible. Plus keep the fiber up. So, I’m too busy trying to find good snack type foods that I can eat that make me feel good, like natural peanut butter and triscuits or soy nuts. For dinners, with my fiber rules, I have to eat a lot of whole-wheat pastas, whole grains, beans, lentils, nuts, seeds, sauces, veggies, etc. Those things are the things that have high fiber contents. So I naturally eat a lot of Italian and Mexican type dishes.

I’m so busy trying to get squashes, root veggies, eggplant, tomatoes, etc into my diet that I rarely have room for anything else.

I think that potatoes everyday isn’t a wise choice. Only because your diet won’t have enough of the other foods that have all those other healthy anti-oxidants in them.

I think that rice can be a wise choice, but again, wild rice, brown rice, purple sticky rice, arborio rice, himalayan red rice, basmatic rice, jasmine rice, etc are good choices. Minute rice, white rice, and other processed rices just aren’t as wise of a choice. Again, everyday … then nope, because your diet isn’t as diverse as it needs to be.

Breads are good for you too, but again, it’s all about choices. Did you know that back in the 1950s that white bread was considered a rich man’s bread? Mainly because it was so soft. Now, rich man’s bread is the very bread that used to be so cheap back in the 1950s. The more fiber in the bread, the better the choice. There are so many breads out there too. Wheat berry breads, 12 grains, flax breads, seed breads, 7 grains, oatmeal, potato, etc. But again it’s all about choices. And … as usual … if you eat it everyday, it’s really not that wise of a choice.

So I guess what I’m wondering is, this is to Cynthia, when you say potatoes, breads and rice … are you limiting more of the processed food categories? Or is it all of the foods that are in those categories?

Thanks.

Keta. :D

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I'm curious as to the PT's credentials, too. By law, the usage of the PT designation is limited to licensed physical therapists only. And, if you're on Atkins, I would suggest you read what I posted from Dr. Bryant Stamford. He explains in very simple terms exactly what happens on those type diets. Atkins is also a very low carb diet plan.

No, one size does not fit all, but there are invariable laws of science--such as the first law of thermodynamics--that apply to dieting and weight loss. If you lose more than 1-2 pounds in a week, unless you are running marathons, then the biggest portion of what you are losing is stored glycogen, water and muscle mass, not fat. If you like, I'd be glad to explain why.

Maribeth
 
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