Very cool, if true

Well, except that the writer omits the one thing that is definitely known about all diets: "going on a diet" makes you gain weight in the long run, most of the time.

Most people go on a diet, lose weight (because you can lose weight on any diet, if you stick to it) and then go back to their normal pattern of eating. They then gain back all the weight they lost, plus a bit more. For most people this doesn't matter all that much, physically, because people inclined to go on a diet will often go on a diet if they've gained ten pounds. Losing ten pounds to gain twelve pounds over the course of six months or so doesn't hurt that much. But keep repeating it for increasing amounts of weight over a lifetime, and, well, you can have a serious health problem.

The real problem with the diet industry is that more and more people see "going on a diet" as the only way to lose weight. Which is as foolish and unhealthy a belief as the belief that you can't get anywhere without a car.

(Though eating vast portions of refined carbohydrates with lots of fat and sugar doesn't help, no.)

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This was one of the major messages of the two books I've read on low-carb diets - that the low-fat diet has this effect, because lowering protein levels causes your body to go into 'starvation mode', which is (a) hard to stay in and (b) means that it moves more of of your intake into fat. This means that when you start eating again the weight goes back on very quickly.

In my experience, having gone on and off low-carb a few times now, my weight goes back up, but it's never gone back up to more than when I started (and usually less, unless I eat lots of sugary things).

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Well, to match your anecdotal evidence with mine: that people gain weight if they go on a diet/come off a diet is so common in my experience that I'm hard put to it to think of an exception, apart from you. ;-)

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I understand it's very common with certain kinds of diets - those that restrict protein intake.

Possibly most of the diets you know about are of that kind?

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Possibly most of the diets you know about are of that kind?

Huh? I rarely know what diets my friends are on (exception is Atkins, because that makes it very difficult for me to feed them). My comment was based on observed dieters, not on diets. And yes, it seems to be (nearly) universally true for Atkins as for other kinds of diets.

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What kinds of diets restrict protein intake? A low-fat diet isn't necessarily a low-protein diet. I don't know of any diets that specifically restrict protein rather than fat and/or [simple] carbohydrates.

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bibliofile.livejournal.com

"Restricts proteins" sounds like a phrase that could only come from the Atkins folks. Most real (as opposed to fad) diets aim to provide a balanced diet, which means careful proportioning of all food groups. Yes, the diet may result in limiting protein, but only incidentally, as part of a larger plan.

Nte that "protein" itself is not a food group. You can get protein from vegetables/legumes, grains, and dairy as well as from animals (incl. fish).

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Oh, absolutely. (Though I note that dairy is "from animals".) I get lots of protein from lentils, beans, tofu, gluten/seitan, brown rice, and other whole grains and legumes, but whenever I'm in a restaurant that lists "Atkins specials" it's all eggs and bacon.

I mean, do you really trust someone who's in the business of writing diet books to come up with the healthiest possible diet? If they're trying to sell books, the most profitable thing to do is to tell people what they want to hear. And that means saying things that always get interpreted as "it's ok to eat lots of meat!" even if strictly speaking, it means "eat meat or fish or milk or nuts or beans or tofu or brown rice".

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do you really trust someone who's in the business of writing diet books to come up with the healthiest possible diet?

You can safely omit the last 8 words of that sentence.

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True, true. I wouldn't trust such a person to feed my bunnies or fix my car, either.

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You're right. Anyone that writes a book about a subject is intrinsically untrustworthy on that subject.

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Of course, none of this says that whole grains are bad for you, yet -- at least in the US, and judging from the behavior of most people on the Atkins diet and the makeup of most foods that are marketed with the "Atkins" label -- everyone's giving up carbohydrates without even ever having tried quinoa or teff or spelt or barley or millet or probably even brown rice or whole-wheat bread that isn't just white bread with a little food coloring added.

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...also, this article comes off as being fairly non-credible since it seems to buy into the whole "the reason so few nutrition experts will tell you that the Atkins diet does any good is that they're all on the payroll of the evil grain industry" conspiracy theory. If the evil grain industry really wanted to promote a diet that would make them lots of money, they'd promote a diet that mainly consisted of meat and other animal products, since they make far more money when their products are fed to animals who are then eaten by humans than when their products are directly eaten by humans.

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If they're on the Atkins diet then, barring the first couple of weeks, you shouldn't be off carbohydrates, and whole grains ought to be an integral part of your diet.

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ekatarina.livejournal.com

I think the major problem here is that once you go "on a diet" you must stay with it of go "off" the diet.

For some people, they can "stick with it" which in fact means they have changed their lives. Other people see it as a challenge, a task, a burden, and eventually they will "fail" and go back to their old ways.

I believe the "trick" or rather the no-trick is to change your life. Easier said than done? Of course. But I did not lose 40 pounds and keep it off for three years but quick fixes. I did it by changing some basic things about my life. My "diet" as in the food I eat every day changed, my exercise changed, and my medical attention changed (the thyroid treatment).

I still want to change more things and I am doing so slowly. I deserve to be healthy and happier and changing my eating habits and exercise habits will change all of that.

Every diet has it's dangers - mental and physical. Any type of restrictive diet has the potential to deprive you of things you need. Now yes, smart people are careful and balance everything, but really, you know and I know that the majority of very nice, perfectly intelligent people will mess things up - especially if they are emotionally involved - and being overweight and your reaction to it is invariably emotional.

In any case. I *have* taken inspiration from popular diet trends. The "low-carb" and Atkins ideas have reminded me to be choosy about the carbs I eat. Not eliminate them, but we aware of what I am eating. If I really want that muffin I shall have it - but if it's just a "nibbly thing" then I'll have an apple, a couple slices of tomato, or nothing instead.

I have lost a little more weight over the last few months and I plan on losing a still more, *and* getting stronger and more fit at the same time.

So, there are my "two bits" on the subject. Do with them what you will.

Ekatarina

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Entirely agreed. Diets that you go on for 2 weeks to lose a few pounds are pretty much never a good idea. People need to find a mixture of foods that work for them, not eat what they like half the time and eat nothing at all the rest of the time.

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birdofparadox.livejournal.com

A waitress at a restaurant (also on South Beach) was frustrated at my endless grilling on what was in what..... and kept trying to convince me to just go ahead and cheat. (This, after she admitted she'd been in phase one for FIVE WEEKS because she'd cheat and have to start over again.....)

Thursday night is when I can start eating fruit and bread again.

Why on earth would I want to make myself miserable for another two weeks, when I'm so close to being able to eat all manner of goodness within reason?

I think you're (both) absolutely right: you have to be willing to change your life to lose weight and keep it off. Most people want to lose weight, as long as it doesn't inconvenience them.

(btw, I'm almost at the ten pounds mark, at 11 days of dieting.)

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