In response to the "study" released last monday, a low carb follower tells his story.

My favorite line - "I don't eat potatoes and pasta for the same reason I would not eat rat poison!"



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my blog

Rob:

Thanks for posting this - "here we go again" seems to be an apt refrain.

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Tina

Please read my article, just posted on

http://www.lclmag.com/news.php

Note the following information, told to me by Suzanne Phelan over the phone yesterday:

THERE WAS NO DIFFERENCE IN WEIGHT RE-GAIN BETWEEN THE LOW CARB AND LOW FAT GROUPS.

none. However, because when they looked at all the data in aggregate over the years they saw that people who increased fat, lowered carbs and increased calories re-gained weight,

and because there is a much much lower percentage of "low carb" people in the national weight control registry than low fat people, and the registry accepts only those who have lost 30lbs and kept it off for a year or more, they also draw the conclusion that low fat must work better.

I point out the problems with this reasoning in my article.

This is exclusive, important stuff, and I would ask you to spread the link to the article around on any forums, newsgroups, etc. that would allow it. (Please don't spam anywhere!!!!!!!!!!!!)

Thanks! and enjoy!



Chalk up another one for low carb!!!

Jimmy has hit the nail on the head. Low fat diets are not sustainable over the long haul. At least not for me. I admit that I started Atkins as a diet...and still find myself thinking of it that way. But my goal is to make it a lifestyle. It's not going to be easy...but I know I've got a better shot at it with low carb than with low fat.

Jimmy said he'd count his success when he's kept his weight off for three years. I think it would be safe to say that once he's lost his weight and kept it off for three years that he can confidently say he's not dieting, but changed his lifestyle. What an inspiration!

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Melissa

Hey everyone,

Thanks for your comments about my article on CommonVoice.com. This road is one that we all share and can learn a lot from each other about. Thanks Melissa for telling me about this low carb eating support forum. I look forward to making lots of new friends here and doing what I can to help those who are struggling as I once did.

Jimmy Moore
musicbuyer@aol.com

Welcome Jimmy! Let me tell you in person how much I enjoyed your well written article.

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my blog

Ditto to what Rob said, Jimmy.

Welcome. I enjoyed your article very much. It gives inspiration to us all.

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Noël


Worry doesn't empty tomorrow of its sorrows, it empties today of its strengths.

Hi Jimmy, glad you've joined us here at LCE!! Welcome!

Your article was wonderful. I hope it gets LOTS of play in various forums everywhere.

Me too - no potatoes, no pasta - no rat poison!

I've also gone the low-fat (Weight Watchers) way in the past and found it unsustainable for any length of time - I just don't LIKE feeling HUNGRY all the time, imagine that.

I've changed my lifestyle and Atkins is IT for me and my DH.

Char

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Veni, vidi, velcro. I came, I saw, I stuck around.

Save the Earth - it's the only planet with CHOCOLATE!

Here's the press release we put out about this. It may be copied and redistributed.

November 18, 2004 11:11 AM US Pacific Timezone

Low-Fat Vs. Low-Carb Study Results Mis-Reported: Study Revealed the Real Enemy is Junk Food

BERKELEY,Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 18, 2004--Recent headlines suggesting low-carb dieters were more likely to re-gain weight than low-fat dieters resulted from misinterpretation of a study presented earlier this month at a major conference on obesity. In fact, the study showed no difference between the two groups of dieters. The real "enemy" revealed by the study was junk food consumed after subjects had lost weight.


According to Catherine LaCroix, editor in chief of LowCarb Living magazine, the study presented earlier this month at the North American Association for the Study of Obesity was widely misreported. "A review of the data showed there was absolutely no difference in weight re-gain between the 'low-carb' and 'low-fat' groups," said LaCroix. "So we talked to Suzanne Phelan, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Human Behavior at Brown University, who presented the study. She admits that those headlines proclaiming 'low fat beats low carb' were 'somewhat misleading.'"

Phelan presented data gathered from the National Weight Control Registry (NWCR). The data showed dieters who had lost 30 pounds or more and kept it off for at least a year regained weight when they increased fat consumption, decreased carbohydrate consumption somewhat, and increased total calories over and above what they had been eating to lose the weight.

According to LaCroix, only a small percentage of subjects in the NWCR database were even using a low-carb approach, and because the subjects were self-selected and the data self-reported, the data may not statistically represent the general population.

According to Carol-Jane Segal-Isaacson, EdD, RD, Assistant Professor of Health, Behavior and Nutrition at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, however, NWCR researchers revealed the source of extra fat and calories wasn't butter, oils or red meat - the items one might expect would account for a higher fat intake on a low-carb plan - it was "junk food."

Segal-Isaacson, at the conference to present results of another study (with data from over 1,300 low-carb subjects) found that eating foods with added sugar was the greatest predictor of weight gain. Participants in her study, known as the CCARBS study, who did best were those who controlled their carbs best, ate slightly more protein than the other groups, and who ate a lot of high-fiber vegetables, especially dark leafy greens. She points out that those who lost the most weight had the lowest calorie intake. Segal-Isaacson feels either plan, low-carb or low-fat can work. "Calories count, but controlling carbs does work, too."

LaCroix said the widely-documented popularity of low-carb diets in America starts with their initial impact. "The success rate of low-carb dieting is what has created this phenomenon," she said. "People of all ages really do lose weight quickly and easily without feeling hungry. But what these studies prove, and what we, as the nation's leading publication for people living the low-carb lifestyle, advocate is the importance of developing healthy eating habits for life. Nobody stays thin -- or healthy -- eating junk food. As you add back carbohydrates, they need to come from complex sources like whole grains and vegetables, not from refined sugar."

A detailed article on both of these studies was posted today on the magazine's Website: www.LCLmag.com.

Hi Jimmy,
Obviously, I'm coming late to the party on this thread, but I just read your response (excellent!) and clicked on your before and after pictures. WOW! Way to go!

Wishing you every success in 2005,
Aderyn

Hey Everyone,

Thank you for your kind comments regarding my previous article praising my experience on low-carb versus low-fat.

Did you guys read that awful NY Times article on Sunday? Here's my response:

Anti-Atkins Crowd Just Doesn't Get It
http://www.commonvoice.com/article.asp?colid=1784

Let me know what you think!

Jimmy Moore
musicbuyer@aol.com

Well, Jimmy, I agree with what you said, for the most part. The problem I have with a lot of lc products is that they're not necessarily helpful to those of us with blood sugar issues - and many of us obese or formerly obese folks have them. Especially those of us with some genetic tendencies.

I am committed to the Atkins program ... as he set it out in the "pre-Atkins Nutritionals" days, when he cautioned that sugar alcohols were NOT acceptable sweeteners. In other words, eat real food.

The guys who sent you a potato and a roll for a "low carb dinner" were clueless, for sure. But those folks who offer us glycerine and sugar alcohols (I will exempt ertythritol from this) and "magic" encapsulated starch molecules in foods are maybe helping some of us, but are not helping others of us at all.

I never tried any of these products until my maintenance stage, but most of them have a terrible effect on my blood glucose levels. My concern is that many people who try these products will fail in their attempts to normalize their weight and, understandably, ditch the low carb lifestyle which, if followed correctly, could be a life saver. I think that's a shame.

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You go, Jimmy!
I think we talked about this in another thread once. . . but I think the frankenfood product sales drop because
* People who eat lots of them thinking they're doing Atkins don't lose weight and give it up
* We hardcore lifers don't use the products regularly - we eat mostly real food
Therefore the market is left unsupported, and sales kick the bucket. The manager at the GNC in my mall said it was like everyone woke up one day and quit buying the LC products.
I've been known to eat the entire pan of Atkins brownies once. . . or twice. . . well. . . but I buy stuff like that about once a month or six weeks-ish. I know NOT to buy it very often because I will likely eat the entire thing. I go for the frozen berries instead. Ooh, wouldn't melted berries be good on an Atkins brownie. . .
But seriously, thank goodness we know the truth, and that we don't have to depend on those products to keep on doing what we do. So if the LC products bite the dust, we will grin our evil little knowing grins, and continue to eat our broccoli with lots of butter.
Isn't it great to eat what you love, and know it's the right way to go?
Dr. Atkins, you ARE the cream in my coffee! (Beats the crap out of skim milk, don't it?)

Stacie
222/136/135-40
Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and good with wasabi mayo.

Amen! Though your comments on the bars and the like I disagree with--while my body doesn't process sugar alcohols like sugar they (all except it seems Erithritol) cause me serious other side effects and even one bar leaves me in serious need of a personal bathroom for about 6 hours, I am not certain they are good for anyone. Many have blood sugar issues with them and many who don't react the same way I do to them! I rely on "real" foods--foods in their natural state and can now include a small baked potato now and then without consequence but cannot do this on a regular basis or I would be in real trouble with my weight again. I can even manage small amounts of sugar on occasion without much consequence (usually a small weight bounce for a day or two) rarely. I would like to see many of the "low-carb products" pulled off the market and those "doing LC" then forced to do it correctly without all the lc products and see then how many actually succeed! I know many who have failed using the products while they see me succeed and keep asking how I do it--I have to tlel them I eat all natural foods and almost nothing processed--which they promptly reply to--"I could not do without ____________ (insert a favorite food).
My usual reply to this is "then you are not going to let it work for you." This is how it works for me.

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Lori

232/190/130
My other journal http://www.lowcarbeating.com/bb/showthread.php?t=1130

Jimmy you are a star like lots of people on this board! A warm welcome to you.

I make lots of Splenda treats (I'm a low-carb cookbook author (5 books and 2 diabetic-style ones) and baking and cooking is my hobby and actually basically a gift/talent from God, I'm quick to say) , but to actually lose weight I need to keep the heavy-duty ones for the weekends only. Sometimes I feel like there should be a "Baking Annonymous" along the lines of Alcoholics Annonymous for me to attend. Blessedly, I'm always pretty close to my goal weight though. I'm just less of a perfectionist the older I get. Comfort and fun for the moment tends to be higher on my list than a goal weight it seems. And, I have had lots of fun!!!

I usually put faux mashed potatoes in a baked potato skin and add all kinds of yummy toppings like real bacon bits, chives, sour cream, cheddar cheese and bake briefly again. Yum! No deprivation there. Pasta - I have Dreamfields pasta occasionally. Amazing stuff! I can't lose on it, but I maintain just fine and don't gain weight.

Again, Jimmy, happy to see you here. Hope to read more of your posts.

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Jennifer (veteran low-carber and author)