Absolutely, but one thing that low carb diets save you from is table sugar. That is one of the most poisonous things we ingest on a regular basis!! It wouldn't be so bad to have a little at a time, but, USFSDTAlum, you're absolutely right about the low-fat craze introducing WAY too much sucrose into the population. That destroyed the delicate balance of insulin in everyone who participated which, I'm sure, didn't help with weight loss! So, high protein hurts your kidneys (and raises your blood pressure, cholesterol and sodium intake) and low-fat/high sugar damages your blood in other ways. Both toxify the blood and can destroy organs over time. And that really is over time unless you're already unhealthy.

Re: I Like My Carbs
 

Once a couple of summer's back when I was really getting loopy about weight loss I tried the low carb/no carb deal............became very tired and irritable and was hungry all the time.

I enjoy my carbs and eating whatever in hell I want to when I go out and eat (thus part of the fun of going out to eat). Further more, one needs a certain amount of carbs in their diet for energy (otherwise your body begins to break down things it shouldnt and thus causes ketoacidosis which is very bad). One should hear what my Nutrition and Physiology intructors say about these diets.

The number of vegetarians is small, otherwise the marketplace would offer more vegetarian options.

That's true. The percentage of true vegetarians is something like 3% of the population. However there is a growing market for "flexitarians" or people who eat meat only once or twice per week and welcome good vegetarian meals into their diet plan.

I read an article on comcast.net (It's not there anymore) about vegetarians being able to do the South Beach Diet. They said they just skipped the intake phase. It seems like all that would entail is eliminating empty and simple carbohydrates and making sure you get lots of non animal protein. I'm pretty sure that's how a vegetarian should eat anyway.

Re: Re: I Like My Carbs
 

I am not disagreeing with you on this one....but on South Beach this only happens at the beginning of Phase 1. I was tired, grumpy, and verrrrry sluggish...but after 3 days I had my energy back! I was just detoxifying my body from the bad carb addiction! I am back on Phase 1 until I go on vacation in a week--boy oh boy I hate the tired-grumpy feeling....but I have already dropped another 2lbs!!!!!

ETA: And for those of you who think it is bad--I do not see a problem with my dinner tonight being a steak and kidney bean salad! mmmm mmmm mmmm Plus I can eat as much of that as I want for dinner tonight!!!

Re: Re: Re: I Like My Carbs
 

With all due respect, that's one of the scariest things about some diets. You should NEVER be told that you can eat as much as you want of anything!!! Everything you ingest must be done in moderation. That's the only healthy way to eat.

It is ok though for me! Because thanks to the diet I am a very little person now and eating as much as I want is not very much! Also, remember your body does not recognize the amount of food you eat until 20 min after you start eating....so if you eat slow and in small portions...you will not get as full or overeat!

People who go on diets like the ones already mentioned seem to have problems w/ moderation. They either go all out or get on some crazy self-deprivation kick and neither one can be sustained healthily for any amount of time. Table sugar is bad, but one spoon of sugar in your coffee once a day isn't going to make you gain 50 lbs. Nor is sucrose/sorbitol/saccharin/Splenda very good for you either. When in doubt, just go w/ limited amounts of the real deal rather than all this Olestra and Nutrasweet crap. Anything that causes "anal leakage" isn't going in MY mouth.

This is why I eat butter, and stay away from margarine. I go through about a stick a month, so I'm pretty moderate. :)

A Scary Thought
 

...The Bottom Line
Although short-range studies have found that low-carbohydrate diets can produce weight loss, no study has demonstrated that such diets are safe or effective for long-term use [11-14,16-17]. Atkins advocated his diet for more than 30 years and stated that more than 60,000 patients treated at his center had used his diet as their primary protocol. However, he never published any study in which people who used his program were monitored over a period of several years. Scorekeeping can be done simply and inexpensively by mailing an annual questionnaire and tabulating the results. Why do you suppose he never did this?...

Full Story

And a breakdown

One more thing that irked me...Atkins said that people who have had their gallbladders removed due to gallbladder disease (which just means gallstones) would just need to restrict the amount of protein/fat they eat at one sitting. Ummm...basically, I'd be starving myself unless I ate dozens of times a day - and starvation would just increase my ketosis!!!! AAAAAA!

I totally agree swissmiss! Anything natural (in moderation) is bound to be healthier than something swimming in hormones and chemicals and pesticides and Lord knows what else. Of course I eat mostly organic - some things (such as chocolate, and alcohol) I make exceptions for. But its all free-range organic chicken, nothing with pesticides or hormones or antibiotics. I can taste the difference between organic and conventional, although unfortunately its really only possible to eat organic in the house - restaurants don't really cater.

Re: A Scary Thought
 

The problem with studies is that you can often find studies for everything like how reading makes you want to buy a cat. Unless it's from a reputable source it's nothing. And places like the AMA and very reputable medical journals like JAMA have put it out there that they are good diets that should be considered. So it really doesn't matter what irks you or what research you pull up from "quackwatch.org".

-Rudey

Re: Re: A Scary Thought
 

Very well. Here's what the AMA said in a report from Fox News:

...the American Medical Association dismissed Atkins' diet as nutritional folly and Congress summoned him to Capitol Hill to defend the plan.

Labeling it "potentially dangerous," the AMA said the diet's scientific underpinning was "naive" and "biochemically incorrect." It scolded the book's publishers for promoting "bizarre concepts of nutrition and dieting."

Full Report

Re: Re: Re: A Scary Thought
 

That was in 1973. Good job. Keep trying. Next time actually read what you write. And since you like supporting my point (from the same article):

"This year, his approach was vindicated in part by the very medical community that scorned him. In February, some half-dozen studies showed that people on the Atkins diet lost weight without compromising their health. The studies showed that Atkins dieters' cardiovascular risk factors and overall cholesterol profiles changed for the better."

-Rudey
--Those internet searches work so well for people with reading difficulties.

Atkins worked for me and for many people I know. We didn't eat a dozen eggs, a pound of butter, or pounds of fatty beef daily.