Vegans vs. Atkins

Salon ^ | December 8, 2003 | Katharine Mieszkowski

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Besides, meat is yummy.

Yes, it is!

Congrats on your weight loss.

[BibChr]

< chuckle > And, see... it can be adapted to go "Coffee coffee coffee coffee coffee coffee coffee coffee coffee coffee coffee SPLENDA SPLENDA...."

Dan
(c;

[grimalkin]

[Hillary's Lovely Legs]

Is it me, or do those women look like they are mainlining testosterone?

[ClintonBeGone]

Is it me, or do those women look like they are mainlining testosterone?

All I can say is they've got what he needs.

[BureaucratusMaximus]

...but when you proselytize this diet (as you should) make sure you get the name right.

Sheesh...didnt even notice that. Thx.

[SamAdams76]

Well with millions of people going on this type of diet, there are always going to be stories like this. Out of those millions of people, you are not going to have any trouble finding horror stories and the media will give them plenty of attention. Just like they will give a handful of anti-Bush demonstrators plenty of attention even though 400,000 other people showed up in support of Bush.

With respect to heart disease (and any other kind of disease), some people are going to get it no matter what they do. While a good diet and exercise program will REDUCE your chances of heart disease, it will never ELIMINATE it. That is the flaw in the argument being put forth here (that higher-fat, lower-carb diets cause heart disease).

We all know that running guru Jimmy Fixx dropped dead of a heart attack during one of his runs. Does this mean that running causes heart disease? Of course not. It just means that Jimmy Fixx was predisposed to having heart problems. Who knows, maybe all that running added 10 years to his life. Maybe he would have dropped dead 10 years earlier if he was a couch potato. I know of people who had heart attacks while they were still in their 30s and 40s. Nearly all of them were overweight and out of shape. Therefore, once can conclude that being thin and in good shape will minimize your chances of an early heart attack. But it won't totally eliminate them. If you do enough digging, you are bound to find somebody who had a heart attack at age 35 who exercised everyday and ate right.

There is no way to totally eliminate the chance of heart disease. But you can minimize the risks in many ways, including a healthy diet, plenty of exercise, not smoking, etc.

[LaraCroft]

I don't honestly think it is the meat that makes you lose weight on Atkins, it is the low carb intake.

I've been vegan on a low carb diet and lost weight quickly and easily.

It just doesn't make sense to eat high fat meats, butter, cream, etc. all the time though. If you are eating 3,000 calories a day in fat, you won't lose weight, no matter how few carbs you take in. Lean protien is healthy for you, just as fruits and vegetables...

this isn't rocket science, people just want a 'quick fix'.
Moderation, rational, and health is easy.

[beezdotcom]

It just doesn't make sense to eat high fat meats, butter, cream, etc. all the time though.

Why? Because the strawman says so? I'll agree it doesn't make sense IN combination with carbs. However, you seem to suffer from the common anti-Atkins misconception that low-carb is necessarily synonymous with high-fat. Atkins is not high-fat as much as it is not-fat-averse. The are even a few vegetarians who are able to successfully folow an Atkins regimen - but it much harder to do.

If you are eating 3,000 calories a day in fat, you won't lose weight, no matter how few carbs you take in.

Wrong-o. That's what all the anti-Atkins people try to hang their hat on when explaining the success of the diet, but it just ain't so. The most recent research indicates that the Atkins dieters eating more calories still lost MORE weight than the more traditional dieters. This would be comparable to my own experience, where some days in excess of 4000 calories still didn't seem to put a dent in the weight loss.

[FormerLib]

Sounds familiar! Most of my carb intake is either leafy greens or whole grains (on maintenance) or whole grains these days.

Some of these folks attach the phrase "all the meat you want" to Atkins and that's all they know about it. The fact that you start eating less of it thanks to induction escapes them completely.

[LizardQueen]

For God's sake, people, figure it out for yourself based on how you feel--and look in the mirror once in awhile to do a reality check

Amen to this. Not everyone has an identical metabolism, which is something I think the zealots on all sides ignore.

I tried to go veg (animal issues - lived across road from a cruel farmer and got real turned off to meat)- I felt lousy. Gained weight, had brain fog, etc.

Low-carbed it for awhile - didn't feel good either.

A moderate carb/protein/fat diet seems to be working well for me - kind of like the Zone. I feel good and am losing weight.

But I have friends that are veg and feel great, and ones that are on Atkins and are doing real well. We all need to do what works for us. And if it's not working, try something else :)

LQ

[Eva]

It has been proven that vegan diets cause a deficit some essential elements (I can't remember which ones), sufficient enough to cause irrational mood swings in 80% of the people who follow vegetarian diets. This was published in some legitimate health magazine article that was posted here on Free Republic.

[FormerLib]

If you are eating 3,000 calories a day in fat, you won't lose weight, no matter how few carbs you take in.

That's just it: you CAN'T eat that many calories on a meat-rich diet. After a week of following Atkins' induction plan, your appetite starts to drop off dramatically. You don't really want to eat much.

And having all of that protein means you won't burn any lean muscle tissue when you being to burn through your fat stores.

[Aquinasfan]

Losing weight while feeling better and pissing off the Vegans and the government/medical/industrial complex. It doesn't get much better than this 8-)

[Aquinasfan]

I think the basic rule of thumb should be to avoid PROCESSED food. If one follows that rule, they're more than half way there to healty eating.

Atkins' rule of thumb. Buy your food from the circumference of the supermarket, not the center aisles.

[Redleg Duke]

All of my Grandparents drank water and they are all dead!

How many more must die before water is outlawed? (Sniff!)

[Aquinasfan]

She wished us all a "Happy Turkey Murder Day" just before Thanksgiving.

Thought bubble over her head: "I'm so much smarter than them. If only they could see!"

[weegee]

Requisite Daily Salon Stock Deathwatch:

Last trade: Dec 5th (0.05)
52wk Range: (0.02 - 0.10)