A Low-Carb Diet Works—If It Suits You

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If you read the study, the data are clear. The low-carb diet produced the greatest weight loss and resulted in the best improvement in all the health markers the researchers monitored. For a great synopsis check here: http://www.weightoftheevidence.com
The nutrional science proves once again that controlling carbohydrates and getting sufficient protein and fat in the diet is far and away the most healthful diet that the human body can consume. Its the diet your body was designed by nature to eat.
tbrown is right on. Read the book, research the right way to do the diet. But plain and simple, just do it. You'll lose weight, feel better, and be much, much healthier than 95% of the population.

Dusty of TX 10:52AM July 21, 2008

Obesity per se is not the problem. The real issue is the health and mortality consequences which follow from obesity. In November Harvard Medical School studied obese mice. The team of researchers gave one group biotivia transmax resveratrol extract, a commercial version of a compound found in red wine, and the other a placebo. The group receiving transmax resveratrol lived 31% longer and did not contract the normal diseases of aging such as diabetes, tumors, and cardiac diseases. Their endurance and energy levels also improved dramatically. Resveratrol is clearly no substitute for a good diet, exercise and a healthy lifestyle but it may augment all of these and extend the potential for ultimate life span. We need to first concentrate of the prevention of the disease of obesity and treat the excess weight as a separate issue. This approach will result in a reduction of suffering and huge health care cost savings.

Dr. Fielding of DC 2:48PM July 20, 2008

I have been on the Fletcherism diet for a little over 3 months and have lost 37 pounds. I chew eat bite 32 times and eat Lunch and supper only and have a mid afternoon snack about 3 pm and another one at 8:30 at night. Be sure to chew eat bite at least 32 times. You will eat about 20-30 minutes and feel totally full and are eating a lot less calories by eating less food and you feel totally satisfied. Read Horace Fletcher’s book in Google books called How I Became Young at Sixty.
http://staythinforever.blogspot.com/

Bass Player Keith Hall of NC 10:58PM July 17, 2008

OK, this whole article comes to the wrong conclusion. "It's up to you depending on your preferences" is a plan to fail.
The first thing anyone needs to do before starting any good diet is go to the doctor and make sure you're otherwise healthy enough to start a weight-loss diet.
The second thing you need to do...and do not underestimate the importance of this... is to change nothing and do nothing until you READ THE BOOK. People assume they know what Atkins is, get the Cliff Notes or listen to anecdotes from a friend or spouse and think they're doing the diet. READ THE BOOK. UNDERSTAND THE PRINCIPLES AND WHY YOU MUST DO WHAT YOU MUST DO. PREPARE MENTALLY FOR THIS. Before you start. Take your time with this part and really understand it. Then follow it to the letter. If you understand the "why", it's much easier to do it right.
With Atkins, the first two weeks is critical and you have to be completely strict with NO cheating. Starving the body of carbs forces it into a state of "ketosis". This is a condition where your body starts turning fat into the carbs it needs. There are little test strips that tell you if you are or are not in "ketosis" from the properties of your urine. If you're not getting there, you're cheating and you won't get the results.
You need to have a target weight. You need to write that down and look at it. You want to continue the diet until you are slightly UNDER that target weight.
It's easy to say "well this can't be healthy" and allow yourself some bread or other really carb-filled item. You have to really know why you're doing this and understand the chemistry. Then you can do it. After the first few days, your appetite for carbs diminishes and you find you really don't want them. After two weeks, you begin to see results and you keep going, although you can be slightly less strict after 3 weeks or so.
The book is full of descriptions of all the traps and temptations and things that can throw you off. It also goes into great detail about what you need to do after you've reached your target weight. You have to remained disiplined. If you just jump back into a Doritos and white bread thing, you will gain every pound back.
All these diets are more than diets, they are lifestyle changes. You need to stay with them more or less forever. They will not make you magically immune to bad habits or make you 18 years old again. They will just allow you to lose weight and fat.
The South Beach diet is a blatant rip-off of Atkins. It just presents Atkins in a more palatable way. Atkins says you can eat certain healthy carbs along with fiber and the fiber will cancel some of the carbs (Net carbs) South Beach simply says you can eat salads and have a glass of wine if you want. Both say you must eat sufficient fats or you'll be so hungry all the time that you'll quit the diet. That's why low-fat diets are always temporary and involve great sacrifice.
The Mediterranian Diet sounds interesting. Lots of good fats and low carb. I could live like that.

tbrown of IL 8:00PM July 17, 2008