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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 3 of 3. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Dr. Bob on November 3, 2003, at 3:52:13
In reply to Re: ****Larry ****, I need your advice . Atkins diet » Tepiaca, posted by Larry Hoover on November 2, 2003, at 12:28:06
> > hi larry I read this about the atskin diet
> > ------
> > Even with all the good, there is also a nasty side to the Atkins diet. First off, studies have shown that high protein-low carbohydrate diets can lead to breast and prostate cancer, heart disease, kidney problems, loss of calcium, and an unhealthy metabolic state. Also, whole foods, which are limited in the Atkins diet, are great disease prevention foods which are limited in the Atkins Diet. It can also cause a decrease in blood flow, impotence, and even bad body odor.
> > While it is true that the Atkins Diet can produce the benefit of weight loss, it also produces the risk of certain diseases. This diet is a simple one with only four stages, but each individual must ask themselves before beginning this diet if the benefits outweigh the risks. If thin is in and health is out, then this diet is a must-have, but if you do not want to compromise health for being thin, this diet is not a good choice. Whatever the benefits and whatever the risks, each person must decide for themselves.
> > ----------
> >
> > if is true? what other diet dou you recomend me?
> > Im on Nardil
> >
> > Anticipating the thanks of your reply
> > Tep
>
>
> This comment, "First off, studies have shown that high protein-low carbohydrate diets can lead to breast and prostate cancer, heart disease, kidney problems, loss of calcium, and an unhealthy metabolic state.", totally mystifies me. It just ain't so.
>
> However, I don't believe that you need to go through the Atkins diet literally, in any case. I just don't see the justification for the "induction phase", where your diet is exceedingly limited, right at the beginning. Your body will adapt to a change in the ratio of the macronutrients you eat. It doesn't need to be "shocked" by drastic changes.
>
> Instead of a formal diet, you may want to consider the Paleo concept. In simple terms, the foods available today are vastly different than those available to man throughout evolutionary time, up until the end of the Paleolithic Era. After that, we get agriculture. That changed everything, foodwise, but our genes are stuck back on what it was like before agriculture. If you try to eat more like our hunter-gatherer forebears ate, you'll probably be healthier. At least, that's what the Paleo concept suggests.
>
> Here's a link:
>
> http://www.paleodiet.com/
>
> Good luck,
> Lar
>
Posted by wordwitch on November 3, 2003, at 19:53:02
In reply to Re: I need your advice. Atkins diet « Larry Hoover, posted by Dr. Bob on November 3, 2003, at 3:52:13
Hi,
For what it's worth, check out the South Beach Diet. It's similar to Atkins but much more realistic. The SB diet was developed by a cardiologist for his patients, but apparently he quickly realized that 1) people were losing weight on it; 2) they were able to follow it because it wasn't utterly ridiculous (okay, that's a bit of editorializing--sorry); 3) they were able to keep the weight off because the diet isn't one that you're dying to quit the minute you reach your goal weight.
Even during the initial "strict" phase, you're not only allowed, but expected, to eat reasonable amounts of certain carbs. There's a book out about it (of course) but you can find info on it at the Prevention magazine website.
Something else that seems to work nicely is the relatively recent development of Phase 2 starch blockers, which are derived from white kidney beans. You take two or three right before or with a meal that's high in carbs and they prevent your body from converting all the carbs to sugar.
I've been following a sort of half slow version of it (if you catch my drift) and I'm doing great.
One thing I have definitely noticed...it's really true that once you start cutting back on carbs--even if it's mostly by sticking primarily with "good" carbs (whole grains, brown rice, etc.)--you start to lose the craving for carbs. I always thought that bit about "the more you eat the more you want" was a bunch of hooey. It ain't. I'm 48 years old and for most of my life Chocolate was as a god to me. (Okay, maybe not that bad. But bad.) Now I very rarely want anything sweet. I've also found that my desire for carbs such as bread and pasta is diminishing rapidly. I used to have toast, a bagel, an English muffin, or a roll and butter, almost every day for breakfast. Now I couldn't look bread in the face first thing in the morning if you offered me a million bucks. (There I go, exaggerating again.)
Good luck!
Posted by JLx on November 4, 2003, at 8:44:39
In reply to Re: I need your advice. Atkins diet, posted by wordwitch on November 3, 2003, at 19:53:02
I will second that about reducing carbs=reducing craving, only for me I have to reduce certain things like sugar and grains down to "none". So far, anyway. I hope it might change long term. I also eliminate all dairy product as another "allergy addiction". (Magnesium supplementation helped me to do this.)
That sugar and such things as cheese are addictive in themselves is being more and more supported by science.
"The seductive quality of food is all in the brain" http://washingtontimes.com/national/20030615-121437-1320r.htm
And this piece was in the Washington Post recently:
Spoonful of sugar may send stress level down
New research suggests theory for why people turn to `comfort food'By Rob Stein
When the going gets tough, the tough (and not-so-tough) often get hungry. Why has been a mystery.
Now, scientists have developed a model for a biological link between stress and the drive to eat: Food with lots of sugar, fat and calories, "comfort food," appears to calm the body's response to chronic stress.
And research indicates stress hormones encourage formation of fat cells, particularly the kind that are the most dangerous to health. That may be one reason obesity rates are skyrocketing in many modern societies.
"In highly industrialized countries, people do apparently seem to feel more stressed ...," said Mary Dallman, a professor of physiology at the University of California at San Francisco who outlined her theory in a paper to be published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. "And they certainly are eating a lot more."
The new theory has drawn praise from scientists since it was posted on the Internet earlier this month.
"This is the first time anybody's been able to put together a united theory on stress and energy metabolism," said Alan Watts, a professor of neuroscience at the University of Southern California. "It presents a new way of thinking about this."
While the relationship between stress and eating is driven by a complex mixture of emotional, psychological, social and physiological factors, the new research does appear to explain puzzles that have baffled researchers, said Elissa Epel, an expert on stress, eating and fat at the University of California at San Francisco.
Scientists have known that during times of stress, parts of the brain emit a chemical signal called corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF), which causes the adrenal gland to pump out large amounts of hormones known as adrenal corticosteroids, including cortisol. These "stress hormones" flood the body, producing a wide array of effects designed to get it ready to flee or fight: The immune system gets damped down. Alertness increases. Heart rate quickens. Activity jumps.
During acute stress -- a car accident, an argument -- a feedback system kicks in and shuts down this response fairly quickly. But during chronic stress, the system keeps going, caught in a vicious cycle.
To examine the relationship between chronic stress and food, Dallman and her colleagues conducted a series of experiments in which rats were put under stress.
After ingesting high-sugar, high-fat diets, and developing fat deposits, the levels of CRF in the laboratory rats dropped.
But losing weight apparently reactivates the stress response system, starting the whole process again, said Norman Pecoraro, who works with Dallman.
If scientists can identify some of the chemical signals involved in the feedback loop of eating, fat and stress, and design drugs to block them, that could lead to new treatments for obesity, said Bruce McEwen, a professor of neuroendocrinology at Rockefeller University in New York.
But Dallman hopes the new understanding might help people control their appetite without drugs.
This is the end of the thread.
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