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.
I am confused now - I thought Atkins worked !?
ahhh...
is this the PETA group again?
I have some high-protein toast turning brown in the toaster as I type. I'm also having some pecans over my high-protein cereal and locarb milk. That's going to be breakfast. What's great about the locarb milk is that it does not upset my stomache the way milk did years ago, when I stopped drinking it. Now I'm getting all that easy calcium again, and it's delicious.
An Atkins dieter eats an incredible lot of broccoli, beans, salads and fresh greens. I used to eat bread and pasta instead of those things. Keeping fresh veggies and fruit around is a challenge--it involves getting to the store more often. I used to just keep pasta dry in the pantry, along with the crackers. Atkins is not a cheap way of eating.
While I do enjoy lots of beef, I have fish at least two or three times a week. More, if you count canned fish like tuna and sardines for snacking.
Not only did I lose weight, but I've kept it off almost two years.
The only think I really miss is homemade corn bread, and I even have a little bit of that once in a while.
An interesting group of people you know there mewzilla.
I suspect they 'say' they are trying to do Atkins but are probably cheating a little here and there.
You can't do that with Atkins.
But hey we aren't going to control our spending, we are going to give you everything you want and hope you don't notice you are going to pay for it later, with higher taxes and a more intrusive gubermint.
Atkins diet is like that if you follow the basic tenets then you are going to lose weight, but if you pig out guess what you will pay for it in the end.
They don't understand Atkins then. Atkins diet makes your body burn more calories, but it is not unlimited. You can eat about 50% more calories and still lose weight versus a convential diet, but if you are gonna eat 3000 plus calories a day it will not work.
Gradually the appetite backed off, but I still consume more calories than the dieticians say I should have, and my weight is gone and under control. I do stress that my weight loss was not rapid. I went through several long plateaus--if I had been going hungry through them, I would have been discouraged.
"A calorie is a calorie is a calorie" is simply dogma. The body breaks down different substances in different ways. Protein and fat will not jazz up your insulin. I have come to believe that refined sugar is a bad thing for many people--though I dearly love to bake.
Kerosene is not alcohol is not gasoline, even though you may have equal calories of each.
Do the Atkins.....Don't do the Atkins. Don't eat fruits....eat fruits. Don't eat grains......eat grains. Eat high protein meats.......don't eat meat.
I will admit that I have gone from 205 to 197 over the last month from being on an Atkins diet. However, the diet (as most diets are) is BOREING! In addition, I run and weight-lift, which is where I'm going right now (while watching FOX's 'business block' of shows while on the treadmill).
Dint know such a thing existed. I did a google on 'low carb milk' and came up with KETO.
Is that what you use?
There's much more to health than simply keeping your weight down. You need to consider repair, immunity, and all the general bodily processes, which rely heavily on adequate and varied sources of protein. People don't live on energy and vitamins.
That would be the case with any diet.
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