Start of the controversy
Low-fat, low-carb, good carbs/bad carbs – which one is the right diet? The debate seems to have started with the introduction of the FDA's (Food and Drug Administration) dietary guidelines that were intended to curb the risk of heart disease. At the time, it was believed that lowering cholesterol would lower cardiovascular disease, and hence the guidelines encouraged what we call today a low-fat diet.
Limitations of low-fat diets
Somewhere along the path, these guidelines, also known as the FDA food pyramid, were understood to lead to weight loss as well. It is unclear if this connection was made by the food industry which was eager to launch new low-fat products, or if the original intention of the FDA was not communicated effectively and left room for interpretation. Another reason could have been the fact that fats carry the most energy of all macronutrients – 9 calories per gram; carbohydrates and proteins carry only half of that.
What is clear is that the food pyramid failed to perform in both of these categories – people weigh nowadays more than 20 years ago, and the risk of heart disease has grown instead of declined. It turned out, namely, that the understanding of cholesterol back in the day was not complete. Not all cholesterol is dangerous. HDL (high-density lipoprotein), the “good�? cholesterol, goes up when you eat most kinds of fat. LDL (low-density lipoprotein), the “bad�? one, rises when you eat some fats, but goes down when you eat others.
Therefore, it is important to distinguish between:
- the good fats such as:
- Omega 3 Polyunsaturated Fat (fish and fish oil; flaxseeds and flaxseed oil),
- Monounsaturated Fat (nuts and seeds; peanut butter; olives and olive oil; avocados; meat),
- fats that should be consumed in moderation such as
- Omega-6 Polyunsaturated Fat (vegetable oils; meat; eggs), and
- fats that should be avoided such as:
- Saturated Fat (meat; dairy products),
- Trans Fat (margarine; french fries; bakery products).
To answer this question, we have to look at the process of digestion. After you eat a meal, whether steak or vegetables or fish, it all gets broken down into usable energy for the body - sugar. While there are proteins and amino acids and other molecules that are obtained from our diets, sugar, or glucose, is the main energy source for our cells and especially our brains. So, to keep things simple let's say that food and beverages (except water) become sugar that will be transported via the blood to the tissues, muscles, and organs. As glucose winds up in the bloodstream, the blood sugar level rises, triggering off the production of insulin. Insulin is the hormone responsible for getting the sugar shuttled into our cells for use as energy. Its production is controlled by the rate at which the blood sugar rises. This, unfortunately, is not a perfect mechanism, since different macronutrients cause different rates of rise of blood sugar, and it just turns out that carbohydrates cause more rapid rises than fats or proteins.
Insulin is frequently described as the “key�? that unlocks the door to our cells allowing energy to enter. However, when too much insulin is forcing energy into the cells in our body, they can become resistant or less sensitive to insulin and fail to open the door. This condition is known as insulin resistance and is a pre-cursor to diabetes.
When our cells don't respond to insulin, excessive amounts of sugar are left to float around in the bloodstream, resulting in hyperglycemia. If not used, the excess sugar can be converted to and stored as fat. In addition to causing obesity, the excess sugar can create problems in blood vessels and nerves, as is seen with poorly controlled diabetes. Without realizing that the cell is resistant to insulin, and in an attempt to correct the situation, the body responds to the excess sugar by releasing more insulin. When it eventually becomes resistant to insulin, the fat cells start braking down at a slower than usual metabolic rate because there appears to be plenty of sugar around already. Clearly, this is a vicious cycle and proves that carb-rich dietary guidelines (such as the food pyramid) are not only unsuitable for weight loss, but also unhealthy as well.
Limitations of low-carb diets
Now that we have outlined the problems with low-fat approach to dieting, let’s analyze the effects of low-carb diets. At their core, those diets are little more than a garden-variety ketogenic diet. Ketosis occurs when carbohydrates are not available to the body for energy. When the body doesn't get enough carbohydrates, it starts to reduce the glycogen reserves in the liver. The body then starts to extract glycogen from muscle tissue, thus breaking it down and depleting water from the muscles at the same time. In the initial stages of the diet, the first seven to nine pounds a person loses are water, presenting a real danger of dehydration and mineral deficiencies.
After the body has depleted the reserves of blood sugar in the muscles, it then starts to expand its production of ketone bodies, which many cells ultimately use for energy in lieu of glucose. That, indeed, is fat burning - but it is also dangerous. Ketones, acid by-products of fat digestion, build up in the blood and make the blood acidic - a condition called ketosis. If ketones build up in the body long enough, they can cause serious illness and coma. Another potentially harmful feature of the low-carb, high-protein diets, such as Atkins, is that they generally are low in fiber and high in fat. For example, the Atkins Diet’s paltry 3 to 5 grams of fiber per day falls far short of the recommended daily allowance of 25 to 30 grams per day.
Low-fiber diets have been linked to constipation, diverticulosis and cancers of the colon, breast and prostate. Some dieters may take fiber supplements to compensate, but supplements do not provide the same fiber mix and content as that found in foods. The high total fat and saturated fat content of the Atkins Diet is also cause for concern. High total and saturated fat diets have been linked conclusively to heart disease. Research also shows that high saturated fat intakes are pro-inflammatory, and numerous studies implicate a high total-fat diet in cancers of the breast, prostate and lung.
Perhaps the most worrisome aspect of this diet is its relative lack of fruits and vegetables. Atkins suggests that dieters compensate for the vitamin and mineral deficiencies expected from a low-carb diet by taking up to 30 vitamin supplements per day. However, research indicates that it is not the vitamins and minerals in fruits and vegetables that are protective against cancer, heart disease and oxidative injury but the carotenoid compounds, phytochemicals and other "nutraceuticals" that researchers are beginning to investigate. A lifelong shunning of these foods deprives the body of disease-fighting weapons.
Complete carbohydrate deprivation also appears to have a damaging psychological effect. The permanent removal of favorite bingeing foods, such as chocolate, cookies, ice cream and desserts, leads to obsessive cravings and ultimate capitulation to temptation. Recent studies estimate the weight regain from the Atkins Diet to be 96 percent. In fact, the problem of weight maintenance is associated with every restrictive diet, regardless of how extreme its guidelines are. The life without potatoes, bread and similar carb-rich foods can seem tolerable for a certain time period, but the psychological temptations have left the dietary goals of many people unfulfilled.
What about the good carbs/bad carbs?
If there is one common denominator in the arguments made by nutritionists from all over the world, it is that the key to weight control is keeping energy intake (food) and energy output (physical activity) in balance. When you consume only as many calories as your body needs, your weight will remain constant. If you take in more calories than your body needs, you will put on excess fat.
There are people, however, who claim to have found a way around this law of biochemistry. Dr. Agatston from the South Beach Diet, which is often hailed as the “healthy�? Atkins alternative, states in his book that weight loss can be achieved regardless of how many of the foods that he allows are consumed. His diet is geared towards the low GI (Glycemic Index) foods which require more energy for digestion than others, and therefore the South Beach dieters can get away with a little bit more calories than others.
But we should remember that there is no such a thing as a free lunch. First of all, those extra calories are not a few extra potatoes, but something from a rather limited pool of hard digestible foods. And, second, the number of those extra calories is significantly lower than you would expect when someone claims you can eat as much as you want. We are not trying to tell you not to give South Beach or any other diet in this world a chance; we are just telling you where each one of these diets make inappropriate claims, and we leave it up to you to decide what is best for yourself.
So which one is the right diet in the end?
- One that you can follow for the rest of your life. This is the key to all of our dieting discussion - we, humans, are trying to find a quick fix for our problems. We think that there must be a product or a secret formula that we can purchase and that will take our weight off and keep it off forever. In fact, we all know that losing weight is rather simple - eat less than you burn. But keeping it off is what troubles us, and there is nothing that can help you other than your own personal will and determination to change your habits and either eat different foods or different quantities.
No diet in this world will allow you to eat as much as you want. Those diets that increase your calorie expenditure also limit your choice of menus, and those that limit certain nutrients also affect your health. We at Calorie-Count.com believe that you do not need the latest trendy $20/month dieting invention to lose weight. Instead, set some realistic goals for yourself and try to find the right balance of exercise and calorie intake that will make this way of living an acceptable one for a longer period of time.
And remember: shared pain is half the pain... It is our sincere hope that the community tools that we provide free of charge will help you meet people with similar goals and interests, and that Calorie-Count.com's dieting community will become a source of motivation and strength for you and others.