Posted on 03/06/2004 6:43:27 AM PST by traumer
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Americans are eating more fat and cholesterol as "low-carb" diets grow in popularity, but people do not seem to be losing weight and they are putting their health at risk, U.S. researchers said on Friday.
If the trend continues toward more fat and fewer vegetables and grains, Americans could suffer more heart disease, already the No. 1 killer in the country, they warned.
"It is pretty clear from marketing data ... that over the past two years there have been specific trends toward more fat intake in the diet. If that is true, that would then suggest that there are tough times ahead with regard to disease risk," said Dr. Randal Thomas of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.
Several studies being presented at an American Heart Association (news - web sites) meeting on nutrition and heart disease showed the same thing -- Americans eat too much overall, they eat too much fat, and they do not eat enough fruits, vegetables and high-fiber foods. Reporters were briefed on the San Francisco meeting in a telephone news conference.
Thomas and colleagues at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, found that fat and especially cholesterol intake has gone up over the past five years among 1,200 area residents surveyed for the study.
In 1999, 70 percent of those surveyed were trying to eat less fat in their diets. The share fell to 65 percent in 2003. Daily cholesterol intake rose from 294 milligrams a day in 1999 to 331 in 2003.
Only 29 percent of the residents -- whom Thomas says are representative of the U.S. public -- met government recommendations of getting no more than 30 percent of calories from fat.
"Reasons for this trend are unclear but may include the aggressive marketing of dietary plans that recommend the liberal use of saturated fat and cholesterol in the diet," Thomas said in a report to the meeting.
FAT-RICH DIETS
Such fat-rich plans are led by the Atkins diet, which recommends overloading on protein and fat to cause a metabolic condition called ketosis, in which the body sheds water.
While some of these diets have been shown over the short term to help some people lose weight and to lower cholesterol, the Heart Association says there are no long-term studies and it does not recommend the diets.
On the other hand, greater intake of fat and cholesterol is known to worsen heart disease, Thomas said. "What this (study) shows is some troubling trends," he told reporters in a telephone briefing.
"I think any diet that recommends increasing the amount of saturated fat poses a risk. There may be good things about the diet ... but any diet that recommends increases in saturated fat could be increasing the risk in the population."
And they may not help people lose weight, suggested a study by Linda van Horn of Northwestern University in Chicago and colleagues.
The study assessed more than 4,000 people in the United States, Britain, Japan and China, asking them to write down everything they had eaten over two 24-hour periods.
"Lo and behold, what we did find is that without exception, a high complex-carbohydrate, high-fiber, high vegetable-protein diet was associated with low body-mass index (the standard measure of healthy weight)," Van Horn said.
"The more animal protein a person ate, the higher his or her weight" she said.
Dr. Robert Eckel of the University of Colorado, the Heart Association's spokesman on nutrition, said people should aim to eat plenty of fruits, vegetables and high-fiber grain foods, reduce fat consumption, and exercise.
"There are no good foods and bad foods. It is the overall diet that we are interested in," he said.
It was right by the regular refrigerated milk at my local supermarket. I haven't seen it yet at my local Wal-Mart.
And sugar or worse, high fructose corn syrup, is in so many things. Now I can actually go and buy good tasting sugar-free condiments. And the lower carb bread and pastas have a lot of fiber which is better for you.
French-Fries! French-Fries; they are the only thing that drives me nuts, now! The smell of them sets off a yearning that kills me! :-) I have lost 25+ pounds since Jan 5th on what Mrs. Pig says is the Mayo Clinic Diet(modified Atkins), and French-Fries are the only carb-food that still drives me bonkers.
I don't know that Omega 3 has any effect on Atkins other than it will help with constipation...which can be a big deal with Atkins, especially during the Induction Phase.
O-3 is more for healthy heart and other systemic problems.
You are exactly right.
I lost 100 pounds last year following an Atkins-type plan but it is critical that you use portion control and also that you exercise every day. It is simply not an "all-you-can-eat-meat" diet, no matter what anybody says.
In fact, I eat roughly the same amount of meat that I ate before the diet. That is to say, while I eat meat more often, I eat less of it at a time. I also eat plenty of vegetables. Contrary to popular belief, a low-carb diet does not mean no vegetables. In fact, I eat far more vegetables like broccoli, asparagus, mushrooms and peppers then I did before the diet. I pretty much have to since I practically eliminated all that bread, rice and pasta that was keeping me so fat.
So many people I know, wanting to duplicate my success, insist upon taking an easier route. They don't want to exercise. Or they don't want to use portion control. Or they go for all those fad "low-carb" candy bars, breads, cakes and such. I went walking through a supermarket recently and noticed all these "low-carb" versions of products that one should never eat on this diet. Waffles, cupcakes, cookies, ice cream, even cheesecake! C'mon. If you can't give up those foods, then you simply aren't serious about losing weight.
Maybe once the weight is taken off, you can entertain low-carb versions of sweets and such from time to time. But when you are obese and trying to lose weight, you should stay away from all that kind of stuff and just stick to normal-size portions of wholesome foods such as meat, fish, eggs, yogurt, berries, vegetables, nuts, etc.
Also, you must exercise. I walk a minimum of three miles a day but usually try to get 5-7 miles in. Not that hard to do. I always walk an hour in the morning before work and I usually find time to walk another hour either at lunchtime or after work. I get very inventive with walking. For example, today I'm going out with my wife and in the middle of our errands, she has a hairdresser appointment. So she's going to drop me off about 3-4 miles from her hairdresser place and by the time I get there, she'll be ready to go. In the past, I'd sit there and read a magazine. Now I take the opportunity to get some walking time in.
So for those who say "I can't find the time" to exercise, I'm simply not buying it.
I went from 300 pounds to 197 pounds from April 1 of last year to November of last year. Over the winter, I put on about 7 pounds, because I didn't get as much walking time in due to the cold, wintery weather. Well now the warmer weather is coming back and I'm going to take that weight right back off again so I'm "back in boot camp" and getting up at 5AM each morning (7 days a week) to power walk. Then I'm going to find time during the day to walk more. By summer end, I expect to be down to 190 which is pretty much where my 6'3" body belongs.
There is not a single syllable of difference in what this Mayo Doc in this article is saying and what has been proffered by the medical establishment for the past 45 years, during which time the average weight of Americans has risen 30%!
What is really happening with the prevailing die-hard opinion is the falsehood of these people in they don't practice what they preach. They preach, and preach to stay in the mainstream of their friends and what everyone that lives on research grants is paid to conclude..
As an example, (ADM) Archer Daniels Midland funds about 1/3 of all studies in nutrition and funny how they almost all conclude the the SOY BEAN is the answer to everything healthy.. I'm not saying that that bean isn't good, but get real.. I'd rather die than live on Tofu..
Now, lets take the National Heart Healthy (stupid) Food Pyramid, it is more of a headstone than a monument to commonsense. It has killed more people every year than all of the guns, ammo and SUV's in the history of the mankind, but it saves millions of animals from the slaughterhouse, That may be just a coincidence, what do you think?.. DUH!
Too many folks claim to be living the Atkins lifestyle of eating that don't know a thing about it..and those that just bought the book and stopped reading after the introduction. They are suffering the delusion that Atkins and other Low Carb diets are about eating all of the meat and fats that you wish, and give everyone that has benefited from it a bad name. Low Carb is not for everyone either is water, more folks die of drowning every year than has be documented as suffering from any distress caused by a Low Carb diet. And while we are at it, don't let the naysayers get away with claiming that there hasn't been enough time to asses the Atkins diet to get a true picture of it's long term effects, Hahahahhhaha, stop it your killin me.. try 32 years, and millions of success stories!
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