Mods may want to split this off into a "Low Carbohydrate Diet" thread...
I've become intrigued by low carb diets and finally -- after much encouragement by DW and a particular patient of mine -- I decided to research it and ultimately am drinking the Kool-aid myself. The evidence to support diets of around 150 grams of carbs a day (much lower during active dieting, more like 30-50g per day) is impressive but not conclusive. I'm pretty skeptical of lifestyle alterations which are not well studied, but am getting convinced that this is meaningful.
Read Taubes' "Good calories, Bad calories" if you can get through it. Not a diet book, but a collection of evidence, articles, and interesting political anecdotes about how mainstream health leaders seem to be ignoring mounting evidence.
Recent studies have proven it to be at least as safe and effective as traditional low fat diets. It feels weird eating steak, eggs, bacon, etc. regularly, while watching my lipids improve (all fractions), and my fasting glucose and weight drop into the low normal range (it was getting upper normal before even though I was only 180 lbs at 6').
It may be that excessive refined carbs and sugar, and high glycemic carbs are actually fairly toxic through their stimulation of insulin surges. The over-arching theory is that insulin converts the carbs into fat, and basically almost blocks it from getting out. The fat and muscle cells develop resistance to insulin after a while, which in turn causes the pancreas to produce even more insulin due to rising blood sugar. High levels of insulin might accelerate atherosclerosis and other problems. Eating large amounts of protein (meat, eggs, cheese) does not stimulate insulin, and it's hard to eat enough of it to gain weight without the carbs. Protein meals induce more heat production in the body than do carbs, and that might be the body's way of releasing the energy from these foods without causing obesity.
Protein Power (Eades) and South Beach Diet (Agatston) are fairly sane. Taubes' book is very interesting, too. The medical literature is moving from frankly defiant to "hmm.. maybe you've got something there." We'll see where this leads.
There are some people who should not go on such a diet or need to have it closely monitored medically. For that reason, I believe that everyone should get their doc's OK before embarking on this or any other "drastic" diet (or is it our current carb-oozing diets that are drastic?).
Ordinarily I don't quote such large posts but just about everything mentioned by Rich has been identical to my own reading and experience.
I switched from what I thought to be a very healthy, high fiber diet consisting of mainly whole wheat, brown rice, beans and potatoes along with lots of fruits and vegetables and oatmeal. I avoided all animal fat. I ate fish often.
Being fairly active I wasn't quite obese at 5'11" and 180 lbs. but I couldn't loose any weight without depriving myself and eating a lot less than normal. I felt good and considered myself to be very healthy. With no other reason than my age being 57 I decided to find out what was flowing through my veins. I was shocked to discover that my lipids and glucose were pushing the upper boundaries of "normal".
Frightened, I was. Disappointed too.
I switched to a low carb, almost Atkinson type diet. Ham and omega3 eggs for breakfast. Beef and fish with small portions of low carb vegetables. Cheese and meat for snacks. Emotionally I felt that I was eating crazy, guilty. When I got hungry, I ate. I ate as much as I wanted to, whenever I felt like it. I did develop a longing for pizza, whole wheat toast and baked potatoes but I stuck to my commitment.
At the end of 90 days, I went to have blood drawn in the morning and immediately went to the diner for an omelet breakfast INCLUDING whole wheat toast and home fried potatoes. The toast and potatoes that I had been craving were ok, but I discovered that they provided no special satisfaction. Since that breakfast I have no craving for the absent carbs in my breakfasts. Similarly, when I finally allowed myself the pizza I had been missing so much I realized that going forward I'd have no problem doing without it.
The results of the blood test delighted my internist and made me feel good about my decision to change my diet. Oh, by the way, my bathroom scale read 155 lbs. that day.
Now, here's the factor that confuses everything. Concurrent with the change in my diet I became more serious about exercise, subscribing to the approach advocated in "Younger Next Year" as recommended by TromboneAl (thanks Al). I'm unable to separate the effects of diet and exercise as the reason for my improvement.
After that first ninety-day period, I have intentionally moderated my diet somewhat, allowing some more carbs in but still avoiding the staples of my earlier high fiber regimen. Unintentionally, due to the winter season and a bout with medial epicondylitis my exercise level has been dramatically reduced. I have gained about 12 pounds and I’ll be having another blood test at the end of this month. I’m prepared for some disappointment but I’m curious about what I’ll find.
Now that the weather is getting friendlier and my elbow has improved I’ll be getting more exercise again.
The future’s so bright I’ve got to wear shades!