Wednesday, July 16, 2008

The Mainstream Gets a Clue

It has taken them over 30 years, but the mainstream is reporting good news about low carb diets. Better late then never I guess.


"Critics have long acknowledged that an Atkins-style diet could help people lose weight but feared that over the long term, it may drive up cholesterol because it allows more fat.


But the low-carb approach seemed to trigger the most improvement in several cholesterol measures, including the ratio of total cholesterol to HDL, the "good" cholesterol. For example, someone with total cholesterol of 200 and an HDL of 50 would have a ratio of 4 to 1. The optimum ratio is 3.5 to 1, according to the American Heart Association. "

Full Story

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

This morning I heard a Dr.Snyder on the Today show poo pooing the whole study. She said the low fat was not low enough and that the Atkin's like diet did not actually follow the high saturated fat guide lines of the Atkin's diet? Nell

Linda said...

There was mention that the low carb people were steered towards non-saturated fats, but no details as of yet. What they actually ate isn't known. The low fat followed the current recommendation for fat %. Dean Ornish also complained about the fat level. He would have liked to see 10%.

I say to these critics they are more than welcome to pay for their own studies if they doubt these findings. Since this is being published in a peer reviewed journal and not just something generated by a pro-low carb organization, it is getting hard for the critics to justify their complaints.

OhYeahBabe said...

I'm so amused and frustrated by the people who STILL don't get it because they just don't want to. It's sad, but at least there will gradually be more and more data that support this. Each study is going to lead to another, longer, deeper one in an effort to prove that the truth isn't true, and they'll keep right on being surprised and puzzled, LOL!
OYB
My blog: Kimorexia
See Kimkins on Good Morning America

Anonymous said...

don't ytou love how they said the Atkins diet recommneded saturated fats. Could they please quote the book they got that information from cause my 3 books both DANDRs and AFL do not contain the word saturated anywhere in the fats and oils sections? veggie oils are actually the first fats mentioned in DANDR 2002
AFL says good fats such as olive oil

Oh and the AHA is backing off the ratio stance now and saying "We recommend using the absolute numbers for total blood cholesterol and HDL cholesterol levels. They're more useful to physicians than the cholesterol ratio in determining the appropriate treatment for patients." http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4503

Anonymous said...

My sister is was so against low carb told me about this report. I am happy that low carb is finally getting the good attention that it deserves.