High-Protein Diets for Weight Loss: Are They Healthy?

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I have always had trouble removing weight, in part due to my diet, and lack of mobility to exercise. I recently started on a reduced sugar and higher protein food diet, with amazing results. I feel healthier, and have lost just over 13 kilograms in just a few months. I have learned a few tips and share some hints here at my blog http://sugarinthediet.com/

Harvz 8:32AM March 16, 2013

is eating an excess of red meat really dangerous to your heart ? what is the limit ? If grass fed meat or lamb I would have thought it is okay. Most animals today are factory farmed meaning they are fed grain and are injected with antibiotics and steroids resulting in them becoming very fat and at the same time sick.
These animals are best avoided and to stick strictly to animals that live on pasture land with ample lush green grass. They are healthy cows. I fear that some cows and lambs are fed grain to supplement their diets even in the pastures. That is also a problem.
So finding a good source that registers with an authorised health service that offers only healthy grass fed beef or lamb etc is paramount to maintaining a healthy diet.
Still there seems to be a heart risk, can anyone shed light on this ?

Ian 9:50PM August 22, 2012

Watch the movie FORKS OVER KNIVES. it is not a "diet". It is a life-style change and will save your life.

Ani of FL 9:37AM March 13, 2012

Helpful article

Gouri Datta of MA 8:01AM March 13, 2012

The main problem with high protein low carb diets is that people do them wrong, by not eating enough veggies, water and they don't take "good" vitamin AND mineral supplements. And then they need to know that muscle and fat exchange can make a weight loss seem slow if you just follow progress on the basic bathroom scale, tape measure and body fat analyser need to be used.
Most fitness and nutritionists that poo poo a solid low carb diet, have never truly studied out the complete diet because they think they all ready know it all. And health benefits far out weight the potential(if any)bad stuff.
Any diligent sensible low carb dieter should never have problems with this life style in eating. Just look at Jennifer Aniston for example.

Dan of UT 6:41PM March 12, 2012

The main problem with high protein low carb diets is that people do them wrong, by not eating enough veggies, water and they don't take "good" vitamin AND mineral supplements. And then they need to know that muscle and fat exchange can make a weight loss seem slow if you just follow progress on the basic bathroom scale, tape measure and body fat analyser need to be used.
Most fitness and nutritionists that poo poo a solid low carb diet, have never truly studied out the complete diet because they think they all ready know it all. And health benefits far out weight the potential(if any)bad stuff.
Any diligent sensible low carb dieter should never have problems with this life style in eating. Just look at Jennifer Aniston for example.

Dan of UT 6:36PM March 12, 2012

Mike, thanks for adding the one thing that I left out. DRINK PLENTY OF WATER. Most carnivores are OK on their diet--UNLESS THEY RUN OUT OF WATER. Then it's a big drag on the body. But you're SUPPOSED to drink water, anyway. Just more on these diets, than on the other "dry biscuit & kale" routines...

Val Fitzgerald of TX 5:59PM March 12, 2012

Dear Dr. Wilson--
You are, of course, exactly correct. I was lucky enough to go on the Atkins Diet when Dr. Atkins was still running it, back in the early 70s. We patients of Dr. Atkins were early witnesses to the hullaballoo that that diet caused. I lost 60 pounds--on Phase 1, which was only supposed to last 6 weeks. I still eat that way. Occasionally, during birthdays, and holidays, I take a small break--and then I go right back . Works for me!
But I never did hear about the Paleo Diet. I suppose that came in long after I'd discovered my own chemistry and what (in terms of carbs) it will support. It sounds to me as if what I do, is somewhat akin to Paleo--especially since I never get out of Atkins phase I. I'm so glad that these more normal ways of eating are gaining ground.
Perhaps, proven starch blockers (the liquid kind only, made and/or distributed by Irwin naturals, [white kidney bean extract] and sugar blockers like cinnamon (in everyday capsules) will do the trick. A lot more research needs to be done in that area. There are no clinical trials that I'm aware of, with either of these substances---I mean, really meaningful clinical trials; 3 or 4,000 people at the very least. God knows, there's plenty of subjects. (Worldwide, not just here in the good ol' USA!

Val Fitzgerald of TX 5:56PM March 12, 2012

The cause of most CAD (coronary artery disease) is pretty well established, but only in medical circles. You see, when hormones drop (both male AND female; they start to do that in your 20s & 30s, then pick up drop speed into your higher decades) it begins the process of osteoporosis--that's where your bones start to leach out more calcium than is replaced.
At this point, the free calcium begins to circulate in the bloodstream, and -- through a complicated chemical process that's still not too well understood -- ends up in the coronary arteries. The hormone levels in both men and women, mediate this process in patients.
Over time, the cholesterol made by your liver, overlays the calcium that's already been laid down. Cholesterol is known as a 'helper' hormone, with many functions in the body. At the point I'm referencing, the cholesterol cannot remove the calcium--which would be the cause of much earlier and deadlier blood clots--so it overlays it, to make the blood's trip through the arteries smoother and less apt to be interrupted by calcium overlays which would clot it up much faster than it does WITH the cholesterol. Both the calcium AND the cholesterol, quickly narrow the arteries--but until fairly recently, all that doctors knew, was the heavy cholesterol overlay.
Doctors at first weren't aware of these facts, simply because men were not widely recognized as becoming osteoporotic. Women have Estrogen Replacement--there's nothing similar --that, would be Testosterone (not reasonably, anyway, price-wise) on the horizon for men. So men get CAD, and die young--while women (those who take estrogen)--don't.
Eventually, male hormone replacement will become available for ALL men who need it--not, simply the rich alone.
Right now, IMHO, it's just another scam by Big Pharma. You can tell--oh, the hormone replacement is real enough--but the first question that these sites ask is: "How much money are you willing to spend to achieve optimum testosterone results"? That kind of tells you what it's all about, where Big Pharma is concerned. I've been meaning to look into how other countries handle male welfare--but I don't want to become depressed, so I haven't done that yet.

Val Fitzgerald of TX 5:36PM March 12, 2012

I have been on Atkins now for over one year. My carbs in the begining went from 20 a day to about 100 a day after 4 months, and that is what I maintain. I have lost 40 pounds in one year and maintained it. My blood pressure went down as my energy went up. I eat 3 meals a day. I am always full after each meal. I never skip breakfast or any other meal. I used to have acid reflux disease and I was lactose intolerant. I dont have either of these problems since I started Atkins.
Dont get me wrong, I do miss carbs, that includes bread and sugar. I do eat whole wheat breads now and pasta, but I keep it to a serving a few times a week. Its a tuff diet to get used to, but its the only diet I know that works this good, and keeps you full.
Im 6'6" I used to weigh 320.
Drink lots of water on this diet. Work out is a plus, but if you cant or dont want to, you will still loose the pounds.

Mike of PA 4:55PM March 12, 2012