The new Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2005 is specifically targeted towards preventing obesity. The previous food guide pyramid from 1992 emphasized a reduction in saturated fats to prevent heart disease. With an estimated 300 million worldwide expected to be afflicted with Type 2 diabetes in the near future, mostly due to obesity, we have a new priority. The guidelines recommend a diet that is high in fruits and vegetables, low in fat, and low in sugar. The latter recommendation was especially contentious with the food industry.
As expected, low carbohydrate diets like the Atkins diet were not held in high regard. However, there really isn't overly strong evidence that they are unhealthy and in some cases they have been found to actually lower blood lipid levels! As a weight loss measure, low carb diets do seem to work although keeping that weight off is another matter as I discussed previously.
The Atkins idea is that carbohydrates make you fat. When you eat carbohydrates they get broken down to glucose (except fructose) which then triggers an insulin response. Insulin allows muscles to uptake and burn glucose (instead of fat). At the same time it suppresses the release of free fatty acids from adipocytes (fat cells). Thus when insulin levels are low, the muscles mostly burn fat (except during exercise). Glucose is thus spared for the brain which cannot burn fat. This much is true. However, Atkins also claims that when insulin levels drop after a meal, you get a strong hunger response. The data is not so clear on this point.
To make up for the lack of carbohydrates, you must eat more protein and a lot more fat. Thus low carb diets are high fat diets. The traditional Inuit diet is an Atkins diet. When you begin a low carb diet, the first thing that happens is that you get depleted of your glycogen (which is the body's only store of carbohydrates). This is accompanied by a loss of water so you lose a lot of weight quickly. Your body then goes into a state of ketosis where the liver makes ketones. The brain only burns glucose or ketones. No one knows if maintaining ketosis for prolonged periods of time is detrimental. The fact that the Inuit did it for generations probably means it's okay.
There may be other reasons for why the Atkins diet works. For one, the diet does limit calories. Secondly, there is some data that shows that restricting food choices can result in eating less. Thirdly, until recently, there were very few snacks that are low in carbs. Finally, the quick weight loss in glycogen and water may motivate people to stay on the diet.
However, people do eventually give up and the weight inevitably returns after two years.
I personally think, from a health point of view, that controlling the total amount of calories consumed is more important than the composition of the diet. If you are in energy balance, you will basically burn everything you eat so it doesn't really matter if it is mostly fat or carbs. When you overeat, you are going to store that extra energy as fat. The data shows that losing just a little bit of weight can greatly reduce insulin resistance which is a precursor to Type 2 diabetes. Exercise also seems to confer benefits that go beyond the extra calories burned. So although eating lots of fruits and vegetables is probably good for you, if eating pork rinds helps you lose weight, then stick with that.
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4 comments:
Nice post. I have found that simply staying with low fat and high fiber foods weight is no problem. I stay with chicken and turkey and fish, rather than red meat. Also, the high carbohydrate grains I eat are generally organic and high fiber. Organic white bread at Whole Foods has more than twice the fiber of processed whole wheat bread. Whole Food organic breads are excellent. Kashi cereals can be very high in fiber and protein. Lots of vegatables and fruit. The formula low fat and high fiber, seems to work perfectly for me. Also, for whatever reason, I take vitamins and minerals.
Anne
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/27/magazine/27FOOD.html?pagewanted=all&position=
The Way We Eat: Tex Macs
By AMANDA HESSER
If you walk into Chipotle on 34th Street in Manhattan at lunchtime, you will have to wait in line. Behind a counter, workers assemble burritos and tacos -- and nothing else -- in an impressively streamlined production line. Fresh tortillas are heated on a griddle, then piled with fillings like rice flecked with fresh cilantro, naturally raised Niman Ranch pork and organic beans. Burritos, good-tasting if bulky, are rolled by the hundred. The riotous crowd of lunchgoers sits at steel-topped tables on plywood chairs; rock music pours from speakers.
It's not just a busy day in a busy city restaurant; it's also a chance to witness -- and taste -- a shift in American fast food. This past week, Chipotle opened its 419th store, on Varick Street in Manhattan. Nearly a hundred more will open this year. And while this may be a triumph for the increasing number of diners interested in healthful, sustainable food, there is a strange twist: Chipotle's majority investor is McDonald's.
To some people, it might seem like justice that a progenitor of trans fats would appear to be repenting for its supersize sins, but it's not. ''Fast casual'' restaurants like Chipotle, Qdoba Mexican Grill and Panera Bread have experienced steady growth over the past few years. McDonald's may be simply hedging its bets against its own seemingly bleak future.
Just a few years ago, the lone hope for fast food was In-N-Out Burger, a small West Coast chain that has acted as a model of what fast food can be -- made of wholesome ingredients, freshly but quickly prepared. It was the anti-McDonald's, but it has remained a wee competitor, with just 189 locations, compared with the 13,700 McDonald's in America. Good fast food, it seemed, simply couldn't compete with the giants. And yet, In-N-Out won many fans, including Steve Ells, the C.E.O. of Chipotle. Ells started Chipotle in 1993 after working as a line cook at Stars in San Francisco. Smitten with the local taquerias, Ells opened the first shop in Denver.
Chipotle (pronounced, like the dried, smoked jalapeño, chi-POAT-lay) was an unexpected hit....
Anne
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/01/business/01chefs.html?position=&adxnnl=1&8hpib=&pagewanted=all&adxnnlx=1109725234-edV5e78t18ZemwbtMPiPXQ
Busman's Holiday, Famous Chef Edition
By JANE L. LEVERE
What do famous chefs have for breakfast when they travel? Oatmeal, mostly.
For lunch? Something light, perhaps grilled fish or an egg salad sandwich on whole-wheat toast. For a quick bite? A Whopper and fries will do nicely.
Yes, when they are on the road, the stars of restaurants like Chez Panisse in Berkeley, Calif., and Daniel in Manhattan eat pretty much like you and me before 8 p.m.
After 8 p.m., they get serious. They are adept at finding the best local restaurants, even in out-of-the-way villages, and they tuck into the foie gras and grilled turbot with gusto. But in general, they prefer simplicity at breakfast and lunch.
That early in the day, "I don't want an intellectual meal where you have to engage your critical facilities," said Patrick O'Connell, the chef at the Inn at Little Washington in Washington, Va. "I only wish to engage these once a day, at night. The rest of the time I like to be normal. It can be exhausting listening to your inner voice analyzing the food you're consuming."
Some chefs do indulge in elaborate breakfasts from time to time. Daniel Boulud, the chef at Daniel and restaurants elsewhere, prepares a fancy breakfast for his family on special occasions that includes scrambled eggs garnished with chives and grated lemon zest, accompanied by steamed Yukon gold or German Butterball potatoes, plus smoked salmon or caviar served with crème fraîche.
But for breakfast on the road, Mr. Boulud is content with granola, plain yogurt, fresh fruit, orange juice and coffee. "Granola's much healthier than a croissant," said Mr. Boulud, a native of Lyon, France.
Plain old cereal was the most cited choice of the 10 chefs interviewed for this article (most of whom work at two or more restaurants). Thomas Keller of French Laundry in Yountville, Calif., brings instant oatmeal in a bag for breakfast on business trips. "It's a healthy fast food," he said. Gray Kunz, the chef of Café Gray in Manhattan, favors Irish oatmeal with milk and brown sugar, plus plain yogurt with fresh fruit, ideally berries. At home, when he can make the oatmeal himself, he adds salt, sugar, shredded apples and cinnamon. Mr. O'Connell likes his oatmeal served with honey and skim milk. "I'm not too picky as long as they can get it to me hot," he said.
The chefs are equally unfussy about lunch, generally choosing sparse fare like fish or a salad, and asking for bottled water rather than a glass of wine. Why such restraint? "A lot of food with wine makes me sleepy," said Wolfgang Puck, the chef at Spago in Los Angeles.
Others tuck unapologetically into fat-laden fast food or calorie-rich soul food.
Anne
[...]There are plenty of information and tips about the low carb diet recipes. No matter what sources of information or tips you choose you need to always keep in your mind that the low carb diet recipes should consist of healthy and match with your diet plan[...]
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