Low Fat Diet Debunked?

I'm not confused at all. Dr. Atkins was right and there is science to back up his claims.
There is no hard science to back up the Low Fat Myth.

Isn't it bad when the data doesn't back up the researchers assumptions! That's why they are so dissapointed. Because they were wrong.

When I read articles on this, I noticed a couple of things. First, the reports consistently say that the participants were told, reminded, and exhorted to lower their fat intake, but that they were only able to make slight changes. Second, the type of fat was not specified -- these ladies might have been munching on low-fat cookies and "lite" Cool Whip rather than replacing saturated fats and trans-fats with nuts and canola and olive oil. It would have been great to find that merely telling people to eat less fat would do the trick, but I don't think this study shows that eating healthy fats and complex carbohydrates instead of saturated and hydrogenated fats and simple carbohydrates has no effect on health.

That's stupid - no one ever said that low-fat diets are meant to prevent cancer. Cancer's one of those things that can happen to anyone regardless of how healthy he/she is. For the most part, we don't know the causes of cancer.

And I don't want to hear about Dr. Fatkins. I lost 60 lbs. on Weight Watchers, which is, for the most part, high carb, low fat. And WW is backed by science.

Well, I am not on a low-fat diet to prevent cancer or heart disease. I think it makes sense to limit your fats, especially trans-fats. Too much of anything can be bad for you.
I'm not an expert, but since I switched to a diet based on government standards, and started exercising by walking daily, My cholesterol has dropped to safe limits without medication, as well as triglycerides, and my type 2 diabetes is totally under control without medication. They can do all the studies they want. What I'm doing is working, and as Ann Landers used to say, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

I am not to sure about this kind of study. We have no idea about the people except for the change in diet. What about exercise? There are other things that make you healthy besides diet. I have always thought of food as fuel and everything else is what you do with that fuel, site and store it, move and burn it and of course drink lots of fluids and metabolize it however you see fit.

Often when I am getting tired from a few days fo exercise I will have a one of those cheating days where I eat a lot more then usual and not exercise. This would make me store that extra food as fat, but instead I think of it as a day where the food and rest can help to heal my muscles and I feel so much better exercising the next day.

I think this is true. Look at the trends. People constantly limit their fats and carbs and yet obesity rates are still rising like there's no tomorrow. On the other hand, the way people eat naturally (that is: less refined, higher fats, etc) causes them to be at their set weights. [North] America has made food the most complicated issue there is. It shouldn't be.
Then again, limiting trans and sat fats is ok, as long as you eat enough mono- and poly- unsaturated.

The debate over this will never go away because of competing industries. I say if somebody is mass marketing it on TV don't eat it.

First of all I have lost 100 pounds on Atkins. Dr. Atkins was the first to raise alarm bells about trans-fats back when the food industry was introducing it to replace saturated fats! Remember when McDonalds switched from beef tallow to vegetable oil ? They all said he was a lunatic then, but it turns out he was right!

Secondly, please point me to scientific proof that Saturated fats cause CVD.

Thirdly if you want to hear an intelligent reponse to the above news article go here:

http://www.theomnivore.com/WHI_Feb_2006.html

and also here:

http://weightoftheevidence.blogspot.com/2006/02/just-give-us-more-timepretty-please.html

This study should start people thinking. Low fat has been dogma for so long that, if it were worthwhile, cholesterol drugs would not be the most heavily advertised on TV. I think the omnivore web site listed in the comment above is right on. Another researcher to study is Barry Groves.

The low fat study suffered from non-compliance. In other words, the subjects did not lower fat intake as much as directed.

The following is a quote from the report:

"...the intervention did not achieve a large enough difference between the intervention and comparison groups..."

The subjects did not reduce fat intake by as much as they were supposed to do. And the women ate only one extra serving of fruit and vegetables per day plus one-half serving of whole grain per day. These amounts are too small to matter.

This study therefore showed that if you don't make much change in your diet, your health won't improve enough to measure. Big deal!

Read more details about this study here:
http://www.combat-aging.com/nl2006-feb16-v01n12.html

"The low fat study suffered from non-compliance. In other words, the subjects did not lower fat intake as much as directed."

From theomnivore.com:

Let's take a closer look at these claims. Firstly, there exists absolutely no evidence whatsoever that lowering saturated fat intake to any degree will lower heart disease. Over the last several decades, scores of tightly controlled dietary intervention trials that examined this very possibility completely failed to show any beneficial role for saturated fat restriction in CVD or overall mortality.

Some of these studies, however, did observe higher cardiovascular mortality in groups who were instructed to cut their saturated fat intake and replace it with supposedly 'heart-healthy' omega-6-rich polyunsaturated vegetable oils.

http://www.theomnivore.com/WHI_Feb_2006.html

I think that the doctors are right I also think that it is true that exesise is whaat help you im not saying that you should go run a marathon but exesising is healthy not all these diets that dont work that are on the telvision but not saying you should go for a run and then eat a twinkie you should try to at least limit to some of the stuff you see on tv like all the deserts and stuff but dont stave yoursef.

I have another shocking story, and vegetarians beware:

A New study now suggests that eating soy products is not only damaging to your health, it's more endangering towards the enviornment. Millions and millions of rainforests, prairies, and more habitats are being destroyed by soy production each year. Vegetarians who tell you that we are not designed to eat meat, well, we arn't designed to eat soy products, let along cows and livestock. Humans can't digest soy or grain products, because the nutrients in the grains are actually in the grits, and we need powerful stomachs to absorb the nutrients and digest the antinutrients. Cows have complex stomachs to digest grass and is able to absorb a lot of the nutrients, which is why grass-fed meats not only have healthy fat ratio and more CLA, but are also dense in nutrients.

A New study has also came in that eating grass-fed red meat lowers LDL and raises HDL cholesterol more than soy products, and also lowers tryglicerides. Now, that being believes that humans are strictly herbifores "having teeth of herbifores, intestines of herbifores, etc., etc., etc." and "vegetarians are great for the enviornment as animals require more energy production than plant cropping" is an outright lie from the AHA and the vegetarian industry. If Cows can't digest soy and absorb it's nutrients well, than there's NO WAY that we can absorb the so-called B12 vitamins from soy. The fact is: omnivores people who eat grass-fed meat, berries, potassium fruts, and green vegtables actually enjoy better health, better enviornment treatment, and better farming. The facts is: cows are being fed garbage, and millions of acres around the world is being taken over by soy, corn, and grain products. So, vegetarian diets actually take up MORE resources than this omnivores diet free of soy and grain products.

And the news that "low fat diets debunked" is not only not suprizing. Low fat diets are downright unhealthy. A Saturated fat deficient diet will give you asthma, brain disorders, and osteoprosis. You need saturated fat in your diet for proper absorbtion of D vitamins as well as being able to make insulin, leptin, and other hormones. You also need momounsautrated fat, omega 3, and Omega 6 fatty acids in the form of GLA, in a 1:1 ratio. The fact is: Americans are eating too much sugar, doughnuts, potato chips, and french fries, and the farmers are not raising the livestocks properly. We are eating too much carbohydreates, we are eating too much of the wrong omega 6 fats, and we are eating man-made trans fats, all three of these factors which determine everyone's health. And Forgest about soy and grains. These products endangers the enviornment, determines everyone's health, and generates pesticide pollution.

So go on an organic, whole foods diet emphensizing fruits, vegtables, nuts and beans, and organic grass-fed/natural-fed meat, and we would be better off on health and the enviornment.

I do best on a diet of several small meals eaten slowly, extremely low fat, very low sugar, moderate to low carbs, high amounts of bone-dry proteins and water to get it down. It's hard work and no fun but it does the job for me. Am I the only one?