When it comes to weight loss, which is more scientifically sound? Low fat diets or low carbohydrate diets? Or could body chemistry come into play here as well?

Calories are what really matters in weight loss, you can eat low or no fat, but if you over eat you will remain the same or gain.

3500 calories(unburned) = 1 pound of weight, no matter if it's in apples, broccoli, or twinkies. Of course eating that much broccoli is hard to do.

As for the no/low carb it is proven that if you keep carbs very low you can lose weight quickly and don't really have to count calories. The Atkins diet has the dieter start off on what he calls the "induction phase" it's 2 weeks and you keep carbs below 20 grams a day. You will be eating meat, fish, poultry, eggs, and some cheeses. What is nice is that you can eat as much as you want so you won't be "hungry". This doesn't mean you won't crave bread, cereal, candy, etc..., but after a few days the cravings do go away. Remember no fruit, juices, sugared gum, candy, regular pop, etc...at all. The second phase you will add veggies and some fruit.

I found that the reason Atkins probably works is you get so, so thirsty on the diet that you are really cutting down on how much and what you eat, leading to calorie cutting.

The best diet is to eat smart, low fat (not low fat cookies) but fruits, veggies, and lean protiens. Exercise and follow common sense.

The rule is to cut about 500 calories a day from your now diet and you should lose about a pound a week, add some exercise and you'll lose even more. good luck to you!

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Originally posted by kittypal:
Calories are what really matters in weight loss, you can eat low or no fat, but if you over eat you will remain the same or gain.

3500 calories(unburned) = 1 pound of weight, no matter if it's in apples, broccoli, or twinkies.

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I'm not so sure the evidence supports this. Of course the key is in the quotes (unburned). Much recent research concerning blood sugar, inuslin, and the condition known as "insulin resistance" sometimes called Syndorme X; indicates that WHAT one eats is very important. (a google search on "Syndorme X" yeilds some interesting reading)

More importantly the distinction between complex carbohydrates and simple carbohydrates may be more important than fat or carbohydrates. Breifly, insulin resistance occurs when blood sugar is repeatedly spiked from ingesting simple carbs (sugar, white rice, bread, pasta, potatos etc) which causes insulin levels to rise, but the cells resist the additional sugars, so - insulin goes up even higher which causes a variety of health issues and interferes with your bodies ability to burn fat as fuel.

Fat is actually the bodies preferred fuel. It doesn't spike blood sugar levels and lead to Syndrome X. Complex carbs, like broccoli, peas, beans, spinach, etc. are also slow to metabolize and tend to not cause syndrome X.

Of course, this is yet another theory in a field that has thousands of them - but the research concerning the role of insulin resistance in obesity and numerous health problems is quite compelling. I'd encourage anyone considering a weightloss program to spend some time trying to understand this issue and consider the implications when making dietary choices.

This is something I have never understood. According to the pyramid, we should be eating more grains than anything else. How do people on the Atkins diet get their grains? We're supposed to eat 5 servings of veggies (even for breakfast? UGH!) per day and lots of fresh fruit. Where do they get their vitamin C?

Catty

That is where critics of the Atkins diet come in, any diet that limits you to only certain foods really isn't practical. Atkins offers a line of vitamins (go figure) Also after the firt two weeks you ARE encouraged to eat veggies, and go light in your grains (whole grains, not processed) I do know several people who have lost lots of weight on the plan, but it is not something you can stick with forever. Who wants to not eat toast, cereal, pasta ever? It's fine for a quick loss and then to adapt a healthy "lower carb" "healthy carb (complex carb) lean protien diet with the portion controlled treat. I have a friend who follows the Atkins diet Mon-Fri and eats whatever on weekends and has still lost weight and maintained it. (she did do the two week very low carb diet to start off) People need to stop worrying about staying on a diet, you just need to be sensible.

kitty(who needs to follow her own advice, but probably won't)pal

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Originally posted by cattywampus:
This is something I have never understood. According to the pyramid, we should be eating more grains than anything else.

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True, and the "pyramid" has changed several times over the past several years. It will continue to change as knowledge grows. Research is really only begining to understand nutrition on a celluar level.

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How do people on the Atkins diet get their grains?

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For the most part - they don't. Except on a secondary basis in that cattle eat grains constantly.

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We're supposed to eat 5 servings of veggies (even for breakfast? UGH!) per day and lots of fresh fruit. Where do they get their vitamin C?

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Strict Atkins followers should use significant supplementation for both C vitamins and a broad spectrum of minerals.

It's pretty clear if one spends any time researching this subject - there's ALOT of confusion!

Unfortunately that seems to be all you find is confusion, it depends on the "new research of the day". Promoters of Atkins say it's the best, very healthy, few drawbacks, etc... and promoters of low fat do the same while condeming other diets. That is why it is best to use common sense, we all know that by eating too much fat, sugar, and unhealthy foods it's fattening and even if you aren't worried about weight, it's just unhealthy. How did our diets ever become so complicated anyway?

While I am not all that studied on the Atkins Diet, of what I have read on it, I have some concerns. I remember reading of a guy who had lost well over 90 pounds in four months. I had to wonder if he had lost his weight too fast. Seems that his body wouldn't have too much time to adjust to the changes taking place.

When it comes to low fat or low carb, I personally follow a low carb diet. But I also acknowledge many people have had good luck following a low fat diet. I tend to think too that a person's body chemistry has a certain amount to do with what might be considered a good diet to follow. Which is why different weight loss methods tend to work.

A friend of mine asked a professional what the best diet was. The answer was whatever diet you can stick to.

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Originally posted by kittypal:
Unfortunately that seems to be all you find is confusion, it depends on the "new research of the day". Promoters of Atkins say it's the best, very healthy, few drawbacks, etc... and promoters of low fat do the same while condemning other diets. That is why it is best to use common sense, we all know that by eating too much fat, sugar, and unhealthy foods it's fattening and even if you aren't worried about weight, it's just unhealthy. How did our diets ever become so complicated anyway?

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Kitty,
Diets became complicated when we (human beings who live in Western "Civilizations") continued to eat scads of food like we were farmers doing 12-14 hour days in the fields working plows and horses even after it was clear we no longer needed to. Of course, we now also have access to "instant gratification" in form of Junk Food, Sweets and other "normal" available foods.
If anyone is familiar with the recent (think last 40 years) increasing trend of Type II diabetes in the Alaskan American Indian, it may give you an idea why our obesity and weight problems have occurred.

Sherasi, I just saw on the discovery health channel a show about that, diabetes is rising among all of us. You are right people used to work a lot harder, we don't even have to get up to change the channel on our t.v's.

Rodd, I would imagine the Atkins diet is safe as long as it's not long term, I have heard that it can cause kidney stones. You are right about diets, you have to see what diet works best for you, a person who doesn't care much for meat or eggs wouldn't do well on Atkins and a person who dislikes fruit and veggies wouldn't do well on a vegetarian type of diet.

http://my.webmd.com/content/article/54/65205.htm

I am running across some good stuff on WEB MD today. This is an article about the types of fats that are healthy & unhealthy. It also discusses some of the healthy types of carbohydrates as well.

http://content.health.msn.com/content/article/60/67178.htm

Here's an article on the study of comparing high protein & hig carb diets. Some interesting results are discussed.

http://boards.webmd.com/roundtable_message/3520005

A Web MD message board on tips on low carb foods.

Do you want a laugh? My mother-in-law was comparing those Slim-Fast meal bars with Kudos chocolate-covered snack bars and discovered that the Slim-Fast bars have twice as much fat, carbs, calories, etc. than the Kudos bars. Go figure.
I guess it's back to yogurt.