That's just silly.

[saxikath]

Okay, I know the low-carb diets are working for a lot of people, and I understand where they're coming from. But some of the things being marketed for the low-carb audience are just silly. Low-carb pasta?

But one of the silliest I've seen yet: I just saw a recipe for "low-carb French toast." I mean, come on. It's bread. I would think that was inherently, well, carb.

Comments

Putting in my oar...

[zenala.livejournal.com]

The reason low-carb diets work is just because you're restricting the number of calories you eat, so it's basically a low-calorie diet. You can also lose weight being strictly vegan for the same reason, though the two have sort of opposite problems nutritionally, though since vegans can eat all the fruit they want, the idea doesn't worry me quite as much. (And don't get me started on the idea that humans didn't traditionally have a lot of carbs--they're hunger-gatherer societies, and the hunters often came back empty-handed, while the gatherers would get a lot of roots, tubers, nuts, seeds, and berries.) So the idea of feeling guilty for eating a potato... (OK, I try to avoid french fries myself, but that's different)

Re: Putting in my oar...

[rishikanta.livejournal.com]

he reason low-carb diets work is just because you're restricting the number of calories you eat

That's not true.
Low Carb/No Carb diets are really about insulin and your body's store of glycogen. Carb heavy diets force your pancreas to produce more insulin, which "packs" excess amounts of sugar in your blood into glycogen. When Glycogen levels are high, that energy is converted into adipose fat tissue. By lowering your carb intake, you allow your metabolism to not only use up your glycogen store, but to then turn to your fat stores for energy.

As for humans traditionally having a high amounts of carbs, there is a huge difference between the carb load of fresh vegetables and that of enriched/processes flour products. Add to that the rising level of sugar added to foods and incorporated in diets in general, and you get a population beset by obesity and diabetes.

Is a Low Carb diet a good choice for a lifelong diet? No. It's not supposed to be. They are just meant to be used for a period of months to restore healthy levels of insulin, and allow your metabolism to rid yourself of the excess adipose tissue.
However, what is a good idea, lifelong, is to cut out enriched "white" flour products from your daily diet, and reduce your sucrose intake, instead getting your sugars from fructose, sucralose, and some others.

As to Kat's original point about eating "carb" foods with the carbs taken out... it is unfortunate that various companies are exploiting peoples food craving to make a buck.
Yes, we're all disappointed that our beloved waffles, pancakes, brownies, and bread are verbotten when it comes to lower carb intake, but I think that a key element to a successful diet change is a shift in mindset and behavior. People have to learn to take control of cravings and compulsive eating.

Re: Putting in my oar...

[zenala.livejournal.com]

I definitely agree that a lot of people have eat way too much sugar, though the only real difference between the sugar in fruit and the sugar in candy is the concentration. I'm still skeptical about the insulin thing for people who aren't diabetic. I think my main issue is that low-carb seems to be the latest "magic cure" in terms of dieting. 10 years ago it was low-fat, and then of course there are various other fads. The main difference between carbohydrates and other sources of calories is that they're burned more quickly, but calories are calories, and if you eat more than you burn, it gets turned into bodyfat, whether it's protein or carbohydrates or fat. I mean, the main reason to cut down on most processed flower products is that they don't have much nutritional value beyond just calories, and they fill you up. With dairy you get a lot of calcium, with meat a lot of protein and some minerals, and fruits and vegetables generally are full of nutrients. So I agree that it's better to concentrate on those, but I think the carbohydrates are just a side issue. I mean, I could go without bread or brownies if I wanted, and I've gone months without pancakes or waffles, but I'm just really skeptical of the "science" behind Atkins and its like. (sorry for the scare quotes)

[greenlily.livejournal.com]

As I understand it, low-carb diets also make you lose weight (especially a lot right at the beginning) because once you lower your carbs you lose a lot of water weight. Do these 'low-carb carb' things have something in them that discourages water retention?

Several folks here at work are having good luck with the South Beach diet. Apparently this involves zero carbs for the first two weeks (also zero fruits and sugars, although I guess you're supposed to eat veggies). After two weeks you're allowed to re-introduce some carbs, fruit, wine, etc. Roommate K, who has been studying this, says that this is a direct response to the criticisms that the Atkins Diet is too extreme to promote healthy eating habits. I don't know anyone who's been on the SB diet for more than a month or so, but it sounds fairly sensible.

[zenala.livejournal.com]

I can definitely see variations on low-carb working in the short term, especially if it's just planned that way. On the psychological side of things, I suspect there's something about a week or two in terms of being able to commit to something, no matter how far-fetched it would be to keep up in the long run. I mean, I know there's lots of things I can keep up for a week or so that I have trouble making permanent, and certainly if something can be kept up for a month, the chances of keeping it up long term are probably pretty high. (I've always contemplated observing either Lent or Ramadan just to see if I could do it...)