Weight Loss Fads that Dont Work

Diet Resource Site

Diet Articles

Weight Loss Fads that Dont Work


No matter what the reason, successful weight loss and healthy weight management depend on sensible goals and expectations. If you set sensible goals for yourself, chances are you'll be more likely to meet them and have a better chance of keeping the weight off. In fact, losing even five to 10 percent of your weight is the kind of goal that can help improve your health.

Most overweight people should lose weight gradually. For safe and healthy weight loss, try not to exceed a rate of two pounds per week. Sometimes, people with serious health problems associated with obesity may have legitimate reasons for losing weight rapidly.

What you weigh is the result of several factors:

-how much and what kinds of food you eat

-whether your lifestyle includes regular physical activity

-whether you use food to respond to stress and other situations in your life

-your physiologic and genetic make-up

-your age and health status.

Successful weight loss and weight management should address all of these factors. And that's the reason to ignore products and programs that promise unrealistic quick and easy results, or that promise permanent results without permanent changes in your lifestyle. Any ad that says you can lose weight without lowering the calories you take in and/or increasing your physical activity is selling fantasy and false hope. In fact, some people would call it fraud.

Why Fad Diets Don't Work

The world has an unhealthy obsession with 'fad' diets. This is due to the American culture's need for a magic bullet or solution that provides immediate gratification. Technically a diet simply refers to what you eat any day. In the truest sense, we are all on a diet daily - the question is, is it healthy or not.

It can get pretty confusing because one is assaulted daily with claims from diet gurus. Also sky-high book sales from diet plans promoting diets that restrict certain foods or food combining tells us that these diets are healthy. This is not necessarily true. The diet may work for the short term but you could end up with a heart attack, problem skin, kidney failure and even malnutrition!

There is continuing controversy between the "diet" experts about which diet works best. One book advises to avoid all carbohydrates, yet another promotes carbohydrates. Some suggest that you consume a high fat, high protein diet consisting of no carbohydrates, while another may say that eating no fat is the key to weight loss success. Who do we believe, and what do we believe? Im not discred iting all weight-loss programs and products. Those few that focus on permanent lifestyle changes, correct information, and proper nutrition are the weight loss programs that are the most successful.

Fad diets don't work because they cause you to focus more on food than you would if you were not dieting. Most of them are based on self-deprivation. Depriving ones self of a craving usually doesn't last for more than a day. The next thing you know the person is breaking the diet, feeling the failure of that and then giving up altogether. The idea is to adopt a healthy eating and exercise plan to avoid this common dieter's pitfall.

Another drawback of fad diets is that many of them don't work at all. Some, such as those based on diuretic herbs simply cause a loss of water rather than fat. This water is simply regained back by the body and then retained with a vengeance after you are off the diet. This is known as rebound weight gain.

Diets fail because they offer no long-term solution. When people initially start dieting theyre highly motivated. They immediately stop eating fast food, stop-consuming alcohol, stop eating sweets, and start exercising. But as time passes, they fail to exercise, as often, they don't watch calories as closely as they once did, and they lose the motivation they once had. As a result, they fall back into old habits, patterns, and eventually a lifestyle. You can prevent this phenomenon by introducing changes at a gradual pace. Dont attempt to change your entire lifestyle overnight. For example, cut back on sugar consumption and add exercise to your daily routine two or three times a week. A few weeks later add another day of exercise and limit junk food consumption to once or twice a week; continue until a balance is reached and you feel in control.

The reason that most diet gurus sell a lot of books is because they are selling hope, not realistic expectations. Many people place all their trust in the book, and not themselves. As a result, they dont accomplish their weight-loss goal because the secret isnt found in a diet book. Succeeding at weight-loss requires far more than just reading a book, it requires the accumulation of knowledge, patience, planning, good choices, and of course, realistic expectations.

Its essential to make good choices. Once you make a choice, it then makes you. Choices feed habits, habits define lifestyle, and lifestyle determines your future. Learning to make good choices is an important step in establishing long-term weight loss goals.

Publisher & author: Roy Barker. Roy has an indepth and long established background with the vitamins, minerals and health industry and has researched and experimented with many diets over a thirty year period. Roy is also the author of Safe and Easy Weightloss, a downloadable e-book based on the famous Mediterranean Diet and often used by those with heart conditions and those who seek a safe way to shed weight. It can be viewed at http://www.safe-and-easy-weightloss.com. Further articles, and related health and weightloss sites can be found at http://www.weightloss-diet-health-vitamins.com

The information on this and any adjoining pages may be reprinted and used on other sites providing this information remains on the article and all pages and credits remain as they are found here in its current compilation with all links in tact.

Related Links:

Five Serious Dangers of Low Carbohydrate Diets

Low-Carb Diets - An Introduction

Low Fat versus Low Carb Diets

Low-Carb Diet - Should I or Shouldnt I?

Weight Loss Diets with Negative Calorie Foods

Diet Resource Site

Diet Articles

Weight Loss Diets with Negative Calorie Foods


Negative calorie foods are said to use more calories to digest than the calorie content of the foods themselves, resulting in a negative calorie balance. It is therefore natural to consider a diet containing these foods for weight loss.

A diet is a combination of a balanced selection of foods designed for medical or nutritional reasons. A good diet should include all major food groups. The weight loss diets (with or without negative calorie foods) are made to reduce body fat and weight. Some of the popular weight loss diets are: Atkin's diet, cabbage soup diet, grapefruit diet, Hollywood diet, negative calorie foods diet, Pritikin diet, the South beach diet and the zone diet.

Most of the weight loss diets promote to eat a particular food group and restrict other food groups. Such diets may show temporary results. If you follow these restricted diets for a long time, you may develop some health problems at later stage as these diets do not contain all the necessary nutrients needed for your body.

The secret to losing weight is to eat and drink the right kind of foods until you are satisfied. Skipping of meals is not the answer for weight loss, it can rather deteriorate your health. A healthy weight loss diet plan should include vegetables, fruits, grains, lentils and beans in your diet. Following is a sample daily diet plan that is good for keeping healthy weight and good health, irrespective of whether you follow a diet plan with negative calorie foods or not.

- Skim milk and skim yogurt.
- Salads or boiled vegetables or vegetable soup as starter.
- Whole-wheat bread/tortila, whole grain cereal and rice.
- Whole grains like kidney beans, chick peas and lentils.
- Lightly cooked green vegetables.
- Any dessert with minimum sugar.
- Lean variety of meat (it is better to avoid).
- The dinner should be light. If you had bread for lunch then have rice for dinner.

Include as much negative calorie foods as possible in the above diet plan. If you are meat eater, choose from a lean variety and restrict to one serving in a day.

A diet with negative calorie foods as main ingredients can include foods that are loaded with carbohydrates, proteins, vitamins, minerals and dietary fibers necessary for keeping you fit. The diet with negative calorie foods can be tailored for fast or gradual weight loss. The fast weight loss diet that can lower the weight up to two pounds per day, is not recommended for long term. The gradual weight loss diet can reduce one pound in a week and can be followed until desired weight is achieved. The diet can be made according to ones needs. The negative calorie foods will not give you much benefit if you are eating foods loaded with fats and sugars. If you eat a serving of potato fries, don't think that you can reduce the calories gained from fries by simply eating some negative calorie celery.

Copyright 2004, www.NegativeCalorieFoods.com

[You have permission to publish this article in your web sites, ezines or electronic publication, as long as it is used in its entirety including this resource box), all HTML hyperlinks, references (clickable) and copyright information.]

------------------------------------

For more information on negative calorie foods, negative calorie recipes and diets, visit the web site: Negative Calorie Foods, Recipes, Diet.

------------------------------------

Related Links:

Low Carb Diets: Craze or Crazy?

Lawsuits on Foods and Diets

Government Against Diets

Why Diets DONT Work

Weight Loss: Carbs? Or No Carbs?

Diet Resource Site

Diet Articles

Weight Loss: Carbs? Or No Carbs?


Dietitians just plain don't like low-carb or high-protein diets.

Whether it's The Atkins Diet, The Stillman Diet, The Scarsdale Diet or Eat Yourself Thin Like I Did by Nancy Moshier, a popular, new book that recommends a low-carb regimen, medical experts say these diets are not part of long-term weight maintenance.

"All of these diets, they are warmed-over versions of The Atkins Diet," says Heather Holden, RD, LDN, clinical dietitian at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville. "Low-carb, high-protein, it doesn't matter what you call them, they don't work in the long run."

But some aspects of Eat Yourself Thin are useful, says Holden. In particular, the book's focus on calorie counting can be useful.

How Many Calories Do You Need?
---------------------------------------------------

"The best thing about the book is that it teaches people how to calculate an approximate basal metabolic rate," says Holden. "That's the number of calories your body needs every day to maintain a constant weight. The number is different for everyone."

The book, says Holden, tells readers to establish their ideal body weight and then multiply that number by 10 to arrive at the daily calorie intake. For example, if your ideal body weight was 130 pounds, you would multiply that 130 by 10 to get 1,300 calories per day.

"That is a very rough estimate of what you need to eat each day at your ideal weight," says Holden. "So that gives you a place to start. If you weigh 160 pounds, and your ideal weight is 130 pounds, then you start a calorie diary to see how much you're eating each day. Then you can get a better idea of how much you can eat every day to start working off weight to get closer to your ideal weight."

That much, she says, is useful. But the book goes on to tout the wonders of low-carb eating as the best way to maximize loss of body fat.

"That's the part you want to avoid," says Holden. "Low-carb diets provide quick weight loss but do not help you maintain weight loss."

The American Dietetic Association (ADA) says that both low-carb and high-protein diets are bad.

"These diets are not safe, they are not healthy, and they are not a good way to try to get healthy," says Leslie Bonci, RD, nutritionist with the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Sports Complex and a spokesperson for the ADA. "They provide short-term, rapid weight loss by causing the body to shed water weight and muscle. But that is no way to keep weight off for very long, and it's dangerous to your body chemistry."

Dangerous Process
-----------------------------------------
According to the ADA, low-carb diets and others like it trigger short-term weight loss through a process called ketosis. This process kicks in when your body is in short supply of carbohydrates, a prime source of energy for the entire body, but especially for the brain, which operates exclusively on carbohydrates.

During ketosis, your carbohydrate-depleted body grabs other sources, including ketones from stored fat or protein, to satisfy daily energy needs. This leads to ketoacidosis, a state similar to that seen with type 1 diabetes. This type of diet can have a negative long-term impact on health.

"Next time you talk to someone on one of these diets, pay attention to their mental state, how alert they seem," says Holden. "The lack of carbohydrates tends to make them seem a bit fuzzy mentally because the brain is not getting enough fuel. Is that any way to diet?"

New Research Supports It
-------------------------------------
But a study in the July 2002 issue of the American Journal of Medicine showed that the most famous of low-carb diets, the Atkins diet, does work.

Study participants lost an average of 20 pounds while on the Atkins diet for six months, but they were not followed longer to see if they kept the weight off. Most people also had improved cholesterol levels at the end of the study, even though the eating plan permits unlimited quantities of cholesterol-rich foods such as eggs and meat.

The study was funded by a grant from the Robert Atkins Center for Complementary Medicine. Duke researcher Eric Westman, MD, says he became interested in studying the Atkins diet after several of his patients lost large amounts of weight on it.

But though researchers were impressed by the weight loss, they say more study is needed to pronounce the carbohydrate-restricting diet safe.

Safe Dieting
------------------------
Here's how the American Heart Association says to take weight off, and keep it off.

Be active: try walking 30 minutes a day most days of the week.

To lose weight, most women should eat 1,200-1,500 calories per day.

To lose weight, most men should eat 1,500-1,800 calories a day.

A loss of one to two pounds per week is considered a healthy weight loss.

People who lose weight gradually are more likely to keep the weight off.

Eat no more than 30% of your total calories from fat.

Include at least five servings of fruit and vegetables in your diet each day.

Examine your eating habits -- keep a written journal of what and when you eat.

Weigh yourself only once a week.

Eat breakfast to curb binge eating.

"There are still a lot of things we don't know about food and nutrition," says Holden. "Nutrition is a relatively young science, but we do know that you can trick the body's mechanisms in the short run. In the long run, however, those short cuts catch up with you in the form of weight gain."

Source: WebMD

You may reprint or publish this article free of charge as long as the bylines are included.

Original URL (The Web version of the article)
------------
Weight Loss: Carbs? Or No Carbs?

About The Author
----------------
Michael Lewis has been collecting articles and information on Weight Loss and HGH (Human Growth Hormone and related health benefits. He has created and edits numerous web sites about this subject. Michael is a staff writer for http://www.ageforce.com and several otherwebsites. If you would like to contact Michael you can e-mail him at Michael@AgeForce.com If you would like to know more about Weight Loss, HGH (Human Growth Hormone) and related health topics please visit us at AgeForce.com.

Related Links:

Web Page Building for Beginners 2

Protein - The Denominator Customary to All Diets

Healthy Eating Habits

Foods and Diets Litigations

Weighing-In On Low Carb Diets

Diet Resource Site

Diet Articles

Weighing-In On Low Carb Diets


With all of the conflicting studies and fuzzy interpretation of information, it's no wonder that confusion reigns when it comes to the value and safety of low-carb diets. It seems like heated debates are raging everywhere! Whether it's Atkins, the South Beach or some other low-carb plan, as many as 30 million Americans are following a low-carb diet.

Advocates contend that the high amount of carbohydrates in our diet has led to increasing problems with obesity, diabetes, and other health problems. Critics, on the other hand, attribute obesity and related health problems to over-consumption of calories from any source, and lack of physical activity. Critics also express concern that the lack of grains, fruits, and vegetables in low-carbohydrate diets may lead to deficiencies of some key nutrients, including fiber, vitamin C, folic acid, and several minerals.

Any diet, weather low or high in carbohydrate, can produce significant weight loss during the initial stages of the diet. But remember, the key to successful dieting is in being able to lose the weight permanently. Put another way, what does the scale show a year after going off the diet? Let's see if we can debunk some of the mystery about low-carb diets. Below, is a listing of some relevant points taken from recent studies and scientific literature. Please note there may be insufficient information available to answer all questions.

- Differences Between Low-Carb Diets

There are many popular diets designed to lower carbohydrate consumption. Reducing total carbohydrate in the diet means that protein and fat will represent a proportionately greater amount of the total caloric intake. Atkins and Protein Power diets restrict carbohydrate to a point where the body becomes ketogenic. Other low-carb diets like the Zone and Life Without Bread are less restrictive. Some, like Sugar Busters claim to eliminate only sugars and foods that elevate blood sugar levels excessively.

- What We Know about Low-Carb Diets

Almost all of the studies to date have been small with a wide variety of research objectives. Carbohydrate, caloric intake, diet duration and participant characteristics varied greatly. Most of the studies to date have two things in common: None of the studies had participants with a mean age over 53 and none of the controlled studies lasted longer than 90 days.

Information on older adults and long-term results are scarce.

Many diet studies fail to monitor the amount of exercise, and therefore caloric expenditure, while participants are dieting. This helps to explain discrepancies between studies. The weight loss on low-carb diets is a function of caloric restriction and diet duration, and not with reduced carbohydrate intake. This finding suggests that if you want to lose weight, you should eat fewer calories and do so over a long time period.

Little evidence exists on the long-range safety of low-carb diets. Despite the medical community concerns, no short-term adverse effects have been found on cholesterol, glucose, insulin and blood-pressure levels among participants on the diets. But, adverse effects may not show up because of the short period of the studies.

Researchers note that losing weight typically leads to an improvement in these levels anyway, and this may offset an increase caused by a high fat diet. The long range weight change for low-carb and other types of diets is similar. Most low-carb diets cause ketosis. Some of the potential consequences are nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, and confusion. During the initial phase of low-carb dieting some fatigue and constipation may be encountered. Generally, these symptoms dissipate quickly. Ketosis may also give the breath a fruity odor, somewhat like nail-polish remover (acetone).

Low-carb diets do not enable the consumption of more calories than other kinds of diets, as has been often reported. A calorie is a calorie and it doesn't matter weather they come from carbohydrates or fat. Study discrepancies are likely the result of uncontrolled circumstances; i.e. diet participants that cheat on calorie consumption, calories burned during exercise, or any number of other factors. The drop-out rate for strict (i.e. less than 40 grams of CHO/day) low-carb diets is relatively high.

What Should You Do? - There are 3 important points I would like to re-emphasize:

- The long-range success rate for low-carb and other types of diets is similar.

- Despite their popularity, little information exists on the long-term efficacy and safety of low-carbohydrate diets.

- Strict low-carb diets are usually not sustainable as a normal way of eating.

Boredom usually overcomes willpower.

It is obvious after reviewing the topic, that more, well-designed and controlled studies are needed. There just isn't a lot of good information available, especially concerning long-range effects. Strict low-carb diets produce ketosis which is an abnormal and potentially stressful metabolic state. Under some circumstances this might cause health related complications.

The diet you choose should be a blueprint for a lifetime of better eating, not just a quick weight loss plan to reach your weight goal. If you can't see yourself eating the prescribed foods longer than a few days or a week, then chances are it's not the right diet. To this end, following a moderately low fat diet with a healthy balance of fat, protein, carbohydrate and other nutrients is beneficial.

If you do decide to follow a low-carb plan, remember that certain dietary fats are associated with reduction of disease. Foods high in unsaturated fats that are free of trans-fatty acids such as olive oil, fish, flaxseeds, and nuts are preferred to fats from animal origins.

Even promoters of the Atkins diet now say people on their plan should limit the amount of red meat and saturated fat they eat. Atkins representatives are telling health professionals that only 20 percent of a dieter's calories should come from saturated fat (i.e. meat, cheese, butter). This change comes as Atkins faces competition from other popular low-carb diets that call for less saturated fat, such as the South Beach diet plan. Low-carb dieting should not be considered as a license to gorge on red meat!

Another alternative to "strict" low-carb dieting would be to give up some of the bad carbohydrate foods but not "throw out the baby with the bath water". In other words, foods high in processed sugar, snacks, and white bread would be avoided, but foods high in complex carbohydrates such as fruit, potatoes and whole grains, retained.

Tim Robinson is the owner of Weight-Loss-Diet-Search.com

Visit this site for fresh health, weight loss and dieting articles, useful books, guides and software, and latebreaking health & fitness news.

Related Links:

Protein - The Denominator Customary to All Diets

Healthy Eating Habits

Foods and Diets Litigations

Exercise and Low Carb Diets Make Poor Partners

Web Page Building for Beginners 2

Diet Resource Site

Diet Articles

Web Page Building for Beginners 2


A search engine robot actually reads the wording on your web pages and places a certain amount of importance on what the content says, but not quite like a human does. A human will place the words together in their head and try to decipher the relevancy to them personally and decide within a few seconds whether they will continue reading or click to another site, whereas a robot counts words and places all relevancy in the numbers it finds. It also gives extra credit to the size of the type and title of each page.

What a webmaster should consider, is every word connecting to a keyword and not wasting words, for the public and the robots. This can be difficult to do when writing about certain subjects, but not impossible. Take diets for instance. Saquoyah Publishing writes diets and uses www.free-diet.biz to promote them, but nobody wants to read pages full of the word diet just bandied around with no oomph in the article that should teach the reader about diets. So a happy medium must be reached to get the website placed high in the search engines database, yet allow the articles to inform the reader of the subject written. Remember, the information super highway is called that for a good reason. Most people just want to learn something about a subject, not necessarily buy something. So if you are selling, the first thing you will want is to get the reader to find the pages you have written, and that means search engine optimization, or SEO as it is called.

SEO should be a major consideration as the page is written, and a concentration on keywords should be the main concern of the page writer. Take diets as an example of page writing. The word Diet or Diets should be placed in the title of each page on the website if at all reasonable, and each page should utilize those words as many times as possible without deterring hopeful customers. The title of the page is the most noticeable attraction to your website from the searchers perspective, and the few words you have to say everything about your site. Free diet is a two word search that will get you over twenty five million pages on Google or Yahoo, and the competition is fierce. Just the word free will get you over a half billion pages and the competition is downright crazy. So stick with keywords that you can compete in, and use those words wisely as you write your pages.

Simple, free, healthy diet are the four keywords that describe the title of my index page, and they are the best way to describe what I hope the searchers will be looking for, as well as what I have to offer. This is the most optimistic I can be when writing my title to help people learn about diets and to help my website get a good placement with search engines. Also, a four word phrase has less competition than a two word phrase. So make sure your title is something that the searcher is looking for as well as something you provide or you will never get customer satisfaction, and maybe never get customers.

The contents of the page can be categorized into sections to help keep your keywords alive without pushing them on the reader. For instance, free diets, beer diets, funny diet jokes, potato soup diet, pineapple diets, Beverly Hillbilly Diet foods, and many other strange things can be written without being insensitive to the reader, if they are titles of some of your other pages or just paragraphs on each topic. The contents close to the top of your page should also be the same words you have in the contents meta tag that the robots will copy to be placed under your title in a web search. In this way, the reader will also get a fair chance at what you really have to say on your site and can make a better judgment call on whether to open your index page or some other. This is how you select customers instead of wasting everyones time. This article can be copied and reprinted anywhere as long as it is intact and includes the authors bio.

About The Author

Ted Dupuie owns a home based publishing company that only publishes his work, which includes diets, an investment strategy, and 8 websites, plus a family newsletter. He is also a writing critic with top ten placement on Google and Yahoo!

www.saquoyah.com - www.homewriters.com - www.free-diet.biz

This article can be copied and reprinted anywhere as long as it is intact with the authors bio.

Related Links:

Protein: Common or Missing Link?

Weight Loss: Carbs? Or No Carbs?

Give up the Diet

Todays Diets Whats Hot!

Vegetable Diets: Facts For Fitness

Diet Resource Site

Diet Articles

Vegetable Diets: Facts For Fitness


The body needs a lot of fiber, so its only common sense to add plenty of fiber to your diet. Vegetables will definitely supply you with much of the daily fiber that you need. Nature grows the required vegetables and fruits suitable for the complete nourishment of your body, so you have no excuses.

So, go ahead its perfectly OK to go crazy eating vegetables.

Here are some juicy tidbits about the benefits of vegetables, and how to prepare them properly.

1. Vegetables are your best bet when it comes to losing extra pounds. Nature provides a terrific buffet of healthy vegetables, and leafy green veggies are your best choice for dropping that spare luggage. So, always try to include a salad with your meals.

2. If you need to have a snack, stay away from the cookie jar! Choose vegetables as a healthy snack instead. We all get those pangs of hunger in between meals, but it is something that we have full control over. A great snack suggestion would be to try munching on carrots. They are a wonderful way to satisfy those hunger pangs and are good for your eyes, as well as your teeth. If people tease you about being Bugs Bunny, just remember that you wont be saying Whats up Doc? nearly as often as they will. You will be healthy!

3. Fresh vegetables are far better for you than cooked or canned vegetables, so always try to eat your vegetables raw. Wherever possible, locally produced seasonal fruits and vegetables fresh from the garden or grove should be eaten. When you cook vegetables, you are taking away nearly half of the vitamins in them. Canned vegetables are not much better than cooked. They are processed and are not nearly as good for you as fresh vegetables. Also, when you buy your vegetables its always a good idea to see if the label states whether its pesticide free or not.

4. If you do have to cook your vegetables, steam them. Try steaming them without adding anything at all. This is probably the healthiest way to eat vegetables such as cabbages, cauliflowers and a whole host of other yummy vegetables.

5. Consider carrying some sprigs of parsley with you. Parsley is another excellent thing to snack on in between meals. Not only is it good for you in terms of vitamins, but it is also a perfect way to make your breath fresher just in case you might need it.

Your mother was right eating your veggies is very important for your overall development. And if you haven't been listening to your mother, it's not too late for you to start now!

To support your Mom's advice one more time, here's one more benefit to eating your vegetables that is often overlooked. Water intake.

Most people seem to be surprised when they learn of the pure simplicity and effectiveness of water for weight and health management. And yet, its right in front of us!

Since some vegetables like tomatos (actually a fruit) are a good source of water, you now have one more reason to consume vegetables. So, dont think about it anymore; just do it.

**Water intake is a whole other topic, but one that will also enable you to drop the pounds and stay healthy. To learn more about the amazing benefits of water and how to maximize its use in your dietary routine, visit: http://www.privilegedinfo.com/waterwisdom.html.

Steve Shannon is webmaster at PrivilegedInfo.com and finds unique and useful information such as the weight loss tips at http://www.privilegedinfo.com/waterwisdom.html . You may reprint this article in its entirety as long as this resource box remains intact and the links are live.

Related Links:

Rating the Fad Diets

Lets Talk About Fad Diets

7 Reasons Low Carb Diets are Wrong

Top 15 Reasons to Avoid Low Carb Diets

Top 15 Reasons to Avoid Low Carb Diets

Diet Resource Site

Diet Articles

Top 15 Reasons to Avoid Low Carb Diets


Low carb (carbohydrate), high protein diets are the latest

dieting craze. However, before you jump on the band wagon,

you may want to consider a few things:

1. Low carb (ketogenic) diets deplete the healthy glycogen

(the storage form of glucose) stores in your muscles and

liver. When you deplete glycogen stores, you also dehydrate,

often causing the scale to drop significantly in the first week

or two of the diet. This is usually interpreted as fat loss when

its actually mostly from dehydration and muscle loss. By the

way, this is one of the reasons that low carb diets are so

popular at the moment - there is a quick initial, but deceptive

drop in scale weight.

Glycogenesis (formation of glycogen) occurs in the liver and

muscles when adequate quantities of carbohydrates are

consumed - very little of this happens on a low carb diet.

Glycogenolysis (breakdown of glycogen) occurs when

glycogen is broken down to form glucose for use as fuel.

2. Depletion of muscle glycogen causes you to fatigue easily,

and makes exercise and movement uncomfortable. Research

indicates that muscle fatigue increases in almost direct

proportion to the rate of depletion of muscle glycogen. Bottom

line is that you don't feel energetic and you exercise and move

less (often without realizing it) which is not good for caloric

expenditure and basal metabolic rate (metabolism).

3. Depletion of muscle glycogen leads to muscle atrophy (loss

of muscle). This happens because muscle glycogen (broken

down to glucose) is the fuel of choice for the muscle during

movement. There is always a fuel mix, but without muscle

glycogen, the muscle fibers that contract, even at rest to

maintain muscle tone, contract less when glycogen is not

immediately available in the muscle. Depletion of muscle

glycogen also causes you to exercise and move less than

normal which leads to muscle loss and the inability to

maintain adequate muscle tone.

Also, in the absence of adequate carbohydrate for fuel,

the body initially uses protein (muscle) and fat. the initial

phase of muscle depletion is rapid, caused by the use of

easily accessed muscle protein for direct metabolism

or for conversion to glucose (gluconeogenesis) for fuel. Eating

excess protein does not prevent this because there is a caloric

deficit.

When insulin levels are chronically too low as they may

be in very low carb diets, catabolism (breakdown) of

muscle protein increases, and protein synthesis stops.

4. Loss of muscle causes a decrease in your basal metabolic

rate (metabolism). Metabolism happens in the muscle. Less

muscle and muscle tone means a slower metabolism which

means fewer calories burned 24 hours-a-day.

5. Your muscles and skin lack tone and are saggy. Saggy

muscles don't look good, cause saggy skin, and cause you to

lose a healthy, vibrant look (even if youve also lost fat).

6. Some proponents of low carb diets recommend avoiding

carbohydrates such as bread, pasta, potatoes, carrots, etc.

because of they are high on the glycemic index - causing

a sharp rise in insulin. Certain carbohydrates have always

been, and will always be the bad guys: candy, cookies, baked

goods with added sugar, sugared drinks, processed / refined

white breads, pastas, and rice, and any foods with added sugar.

These are not good for health or weight loss.

However, carbohydrates such as fruits, vegetables, legumes,

whole grain breads and pastas, and brown rice are good for

health and weight loss. Just like with proteins and fats, these

carbohydrates should be eaten in moderation. Large volumes

of any proteins, fats or carbohydrates are not conducive to

weight loss and health.

The effect of high glycemic foods is often exaggerated. It's does

matter, but to a smaller degree than is often portrayed. Also,

the total glycemic effect of foods is influenced by the quantity

of that food that you eat at a sitting. Smaller meals have a lower

overall glycemic effect. Also, we usually eat several types of

food at the same time, thereby reducing the average glycemic

index of the meal, if higher glycemic foods are eaten.

Also, glycemic index values can be misleading because they

are based on a standard 50 grams of carbohydrate consumed.

It wouldn't take much candy bar to get that, but it would take

four cups of carrots. Do you usually eat four cups of carrots

at a meal?

Regular exercisers and active people also are less effected by

higher glycemic foods because much of the carbohydrate

comsumed is immediately used to replenish glycogen stores in

the liver and muscle.

By the way, if you're interested in lowering insulin levels,

there is a great way to do that - exercise and activity.

7. Much of the weight loss on a low carb, high protein diet,

especially in the first few weeks, is actually because of

dehydration and muscle loss.

8. The percentage of people that re-gain the weight they've

lost with most methods of weight loss is high, but it's even

higher with low carb, high protein diets. This is primarily due

to three factors:

A. You have lost muscle. With that comes a slower

metabolism which means fewer calories are burned 24

hours-a-day. A loss of muscle during the process of losing

weight is almost a guarantee for re-gaining the lost weight,

and more.

B. You re-gain the healthy fluid lost because of glycogen

depletion.

C. It's difficult to maintain that type of diet long-term.

D. You have not made a change to a long-term healthy

lifestyle.

9. Eating too much fat is just not healthy. I know you've

heard of people whose blood levels of cholesterol and

triglycerides have decreased while on a low carb, high

protein diet. This often happens with weight loss, but it

doesn't continue when you're on a diet high in fat.

There are literally reams of research over decades that clearly

indicates that an increase in consumption of animal products

and/or saturated fat leads to increased incidence of heart

disease, strokes, gall stones, kidney stones, arthritic

symptoms, certain cancers, etc. For example, in comparing

countries with varying levels of meat consumption, there

is a direct relationship between the volume of meat consumption

in a country and the incidence of digestive cancers (stomach,

intestines, rectal, etc.).

Fat is certainly necessary, and desirable in your diet, but

they should be mostly healthy fats and in moderation.

Manufactured / synthetic "low fat" foods with lots of added

sugar are not the answer. Neither are manufactured / synthetic

"low carb" foods with artificial sweeteners or added fat. By

the way, use of artificial sweeteners has never been shown

to aid in weight loss and they may pose health problems.

According to Dr. Keith-Thomas Ayoob of Albert Einstein

College of Medicine in New York, "In my experience,

unless you're willing to throw out decades of research,

you cannot ignore that diets chronically high in saturated

fats are linked to heart disease," Dr. Ayoob is also a

spokesman for the American Dietetic Association

and says that low carb, high protein diets are an attempt

at a quick fix and not a long-term lifestyle change.

10. As someone recently told me, "it must work - people

are losing weight". People that are truly losing fat on

low carb, high protein diets, are doing so because they

are eating fewer calories - that's the bottom line. There

is no magic - the same can be done on a healthy diet.

11. Low carb diets are lacking in fiber. Every plant-based

food has some fiber. All animal products have no fiber. A

lack of fiber increases your risk for cancers of the digestive

track (because transit time is lengthened) and cardiovascular

disease (because of fibers effect on fat and cholesterol). It

also puts you at a higher risk for constipation and other bowel

disorders.

12. Low carb diets lack sufficient quantities of the the many

nutrients / phytonutrients / antioxidants found in fruits,

vegetables, legumes, and whole grains, necessary for health

and aiding in prevention of cancer and heart disease. In fact,

you need these nutrients even more so when you're consuming

too much fat as is often the case on a low carb high protein diet.

13. Amercans already consume more than twice the amount

of protein needed. Add to that a high protein diet and you

have far too much protein consumption. By the way, most people

don't realize that all fruits, all vegetables, all whole grains,

and all legumes also contain protein. Animal products contain

larger quantities of protein, but that may not be a good thing.

Excess dietary protein puts you at a higher risk for many health

problems: gout (painful joints from high purine foods which are

usually high protein foods), kidney disease, kidney stones,

osteoporosis (excess dietary protein causes leeching of calcium

from the bones). By the way, countries with lower, healthier

intakes of protein also have a decreased incidence of

osteoporosis.

14. Low carb, high protein diets cause an unhealthy

physiological state called ketosis, a type of metabolic acidosis.

You may have heard the phrase, "fat burns in the flame of

carbohydrate". Excess acetyl CoA cannot enter the Krebs

Cycle (you remember the old Krebs Cycle) due to insufficient

OAA. In other words, for fat to burn efficiently and without

production of excess toxic ketones, sufficient carbohydrate

must be available. Ketosis can lead to many health problems

and can be very serious at its extreme.

15. Bad breath. Often called "keto breath" or "acetone

breath", its caused by production of acetones in a state of

ketosis.

So why the low carb, high protein craze? I believe there are

several reasons.

A. Weight loss (mostly muscle and muscle fluid) is often

rapid during the first few weeks. This causes people to think

theyre losing fat rapidly.

B. It gives you "permission" to eat the "bad foods": bacon,

eggs, burgers, steak, cheese, etc., and lots of fat.

C. Many see it as the new "magic" they've been looking for,

although it's been around, in various forms, since the

1960's.

The good news is that there is a very healthy way to lose

weight, feel energetic, and to greatly increase your chances

of keeping it off. But that's another article.

References:

- Brooks, G, Fahey, T: Exercise Physiology - Human Bioenergetics

and its Applications. John Wiley and Sons, 1984.

- Cheatham, B, Kahn, CR: Insulin Action and Insulin Signaling

Network. Endocrine Review 16:117, 1995

- Fain, JN: Insulin Secretion and Action. Metabolism 33:672, 1984.

- Fitts, RH: Cellular Mechanisms of Muscle Fatigue. Physiological

Review 74:49, 1994

- Griffin, James, Ojeda, Sergio: Textbook of Endocrine

Physiology. Oxford University Press, 2000

- Guyton, A, Hall, J: Textbook of Medical Physiology. W.B.

Saunders Company, 2000.

- Herzog, W: Muscle Function in Movement and Sports. American

Journal of Sports Medicine 24:S14, 1996

- Hoffman, JF, Jamieson, JD: Handbook of Physiology: Cell

Physiology. Bethesda: American Physiological Society, 1997

- Kimball, SR, Vary, TC, Jefferson, LS: Regulation of Protein

Synthesis by Insulin. Annual Review Physiology 56:321, 1994.

- McArdle, William, Katch, Frank, Katch, Victor: Exercise

Physiology - Energy, Nutrition, and Human Performance.

Lea and Febiger, 1981.

- Mcdougall, MD, John: The Mcdougall Plan. New Century

Publishers, 1983.

- Simopoulos, AP, Pavlou, KN: Nutrition and Fitness. Basel:

Karger, 1997

copyright 2004 by Greg Landry, M.S.

Author and exercise physiologist, Greg Landry,

offers free weight loss and fitness success stories

and targeted, highly affective weight loss programs

for women, men, type 2 diabetics, and people with

slow metabolisms and hypothyroidism..

http://www.Landry.com

Related Links:

Five Serious Dangers of Low Carbohydrate Diets

Low-Carb Diets - An Introduction

Low Fat versus Low Carb Diets

Low-Carb Diet - Should I or Shouldnt I?

Uncovered: Weight Loss Diets That Don't Work So You Can Find Those That Do

Uncovered: Weight Loss Diets That Don't Work So You Can Find Those That Do
by: Karen Gates

It's time to be honest with yourself-- again.

You know it already, it goes through your head several times before you decide to buy a product that claims to have a quick fix solution to weight gain. But the idea of a pill that magically makes you lose fat and an advertiser who uses big words and graphics to convince you that its scientifically conceivable makes you break, right? At least that is how I feel. Even if you don't buy it you want to, right?

Since there are some scams going on I decided to do some research and find out how consumers can tell if a weight loss product will be effective. What I found was a report issued by The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) about claims that weight loss companies make when they try to sell their products to you.

And guess what, the feeling you've had all along is true. They came up with some weight loss claims that are, frankly, impossible.

Let me be more specific. You've heard of weight loss products that say you'll drop the pounds just by wearing a special belt or rubbing cream on your trouble spots. It would be nice, but according to the FTC there is no substantial evidence that using external products will generate any weight loss.

They also found that a product can't "block" the absorption of calories enough to cause significant weight loss, if any at all. It is simply (and unfortunately) a fact that the calories you take in have to be burned off or they are stuck there.

Another claim says that you can lose weight without diet or exercise. Not true. In fact, you may even gain weight if your unaltered diet includes eating more calories than your daily needs. To be more specific, the potential weight loss from a non-prescription pill that increases metabolism or blocks absorption of calories likely won't be more than a quarter to a third pound per week. That's a lot less than most of these drug companies claim.

One last false claim: a product will cause permanent weight loss. Just like fat can always be burned off, it can always be added on.

So now that you know some of the things that don't work you can focus on what does. There are many products out there that do work, and work well. Those that promote overall health like zone diet meals, athletic equipment, fitness videos, some appetite suppressants and many more weight loss products have a good degree of effectiveness on certain individuals. Just do a little research to find out what will work best for your body and your lifestyle.

About The Author
Karen Gates offers free information on hundreds of different weight loss methods. She also provides honest and unbiased dieting and weight loss product reviews. Go to Best Weight Loss Program also found at http://www.bestweightprograms.com.

Atkins and South Beach Diets Compared

Atkins and South Beach Diets Compared
by: David Teeth

Low-carb diets have been in the market for quite some time now. Two of the most common these days are the Atkins and South Beach Diet.

Beginnings

Both were developed by medical doctors (cardiologists) who -- according to reports -- were trying to help Americans lose weight given their high carb diets.

Atkins Diet was the first to be developed and is thus, the more popular. It was developed by the late Dr. Robert C. Atkins as early as the 1972 but became more widely popular -- despite the oppositions -- in the 1990s.

Dr. Arthur Agatston, also a cardiologist but from Mount Sinai Cardiac Prevention Center in Miami Beach, Fla., is known as the father of the South Beach diet. His work came a lot later through his book: "The South Beach Diet: The Delicious, Doctor-Designed, Foolproof Plan for Fast and Healthy Weight Loss" published in 2003.

Similarities

Both popular diet plans advise dieters to avoid carbohydrates and follow stringent steps to ensure that the significant weight lost during the program does not come back.

Both start with the so-called induction phase where the body of the dieter is "trained" for the routine.

Both diet plans come with suggested food lists where dieters can mix and match foods to suit their tastes. Of course, like other diet plans, both plans advise dieters to stay away from food not included in the lists.

Among the "dont's" in Dr. Atkins' list are fruit, bread, pasta, grains, starchy vegetables, nuts, seeds, legumes, and some dairy products except cheese, cream, and butter.

Aside from fruit, bread, pasta and vegetables, South Beach dieters are also advised to stay away from potatoes, cereal, rice, and corn, especially for the first two weeks of the induction or introductory period. After this period, these can be slowly re-introduced into the body, albeit in smaller amounts.

Both diet plans have a lifetime "maintenance" phase where hopefully dieters will be so accustomed to either plan that they hardly recognize that they are dieting at all.

Differences

While both diet plans restrict carbohydrate intake, the South Beach diet is said to be more forgiving by not totally eliminating carbs. It distinguishes between "good" and "bad" carbs and even "good" and "bad" fats. South Beach encourages intake of "good" carbs and fats.

Low-sugar carbs with low glycemic index are "good" carbs under the South Beach plan. Food rich in fiber are also recommended.

Atkins's diet routine helps the body to burn fat instead of carb. The goal is to help the dieter achieve good health.

Atkins's diet plan involves four phases while the South Beach plan has three phases.

In both plans, the introductory stage aims to condition the body for some changes to prepare for the program.

In Atkins diet, the body is trained to burn fat instead of sugar to help curb the cravings for sugar and break addiction to some foods.

In South Beach diet, the initial phase involves cutting on high-carb foods, which can be gradually re-introduced in small amounts in the next phase. In this case, South Beach debunks myths that this approach prevents dieters from getting healthy mix from all food groups.

Atkins dieters go through the next following phases: ongoing weight loss, pre-maintenance and lifetime maintenance.

The last two phases of South Beach diet are called re-introduce the carb and diet for life.

What's key in the maintenance phase in Atkins is to keep portions of food at small amounts.

Atkins diet guarantees no hunger deprivation because its long-term goal is healthy diet.

South Beach's promise is a "change in the way of eating," with the dieter not recognizing at all that he is on a diet.

Summarizing the Diets

Atkins Diet

Developed by cardiologist Dr. Robert C. Atkins in 1972, with his “Diet Revolution”, a high-protein, high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet.

The program focuses on a low-carbohydrate diet.

The Program has 4 phases:

1. induction phase (train the body to burn fats instead of carb)

2. ongoing weight loss

3. pre-maintenance

4. lifetime maintenance

South Beach Diet

Developed by cardiologist Dr. Arthur Agatston of Miami, Florida, who in 2003, published the book “The South Beach Diet: The Delicious, Doctor-Designed, Foolproof Plan for Fast and Healthy Weight Loss".

The program distinguishes between “good” and “bad” carbohydrates, and “good” and “bad” fats.

Take in “good” carbs and fats.

The program has 3 phases:

1. 2-week introductory or induction phase (strictly no carbs)

2. re-introduce the carbs

3. diet for life

About The Author

David Teeth is a personal trainer, nutritionist and dietician with years of experience in dieting. David is a full time writer for http://www.onlinedietreview.com