4 ms·

Do low-carb diets work?

8 points by zwieback 10y ago

llovan 10y ago
Calorie deficits are more important for weight loss than specific macronutrient ratios.
- GordonS 10y ago
  True, but eating more fat and protein keeps you feeling full for longer, and with smaller rises and falls in your blood sugar - so you are less likely to eat more calories as snacks.
  - wcummings 10y ago
    Or just eat vegetables. You can eat vegetables all day, it'd be insanely hard to gain weight. But people (especially the people that most need to diet) like trend diets that tell them to binge eat steak, and still let them feel like they're doing something healthy. It's telling to me that most people I've met espousing the merits of "palio" are (still) overweight.
  - ferentchak 10y ago
    This is what I have found to be true as well but it seems to vary from person to person. If I eat lots of meat and fruits and veggies I tend to crave snacks less. This ends up meaning less total calorie intake. The other one to avoid is the booze. It's pretty rare that I want to eat an entire pizza without first drinking a few beers.
    - woodandsteel 10y ago
      I agree. I think that for most people, the key to taking weight off and keeping it off is to just keep your stomach full with food that is moderately low in calories. That means a lot of fiber (fruits, vegetables, beans) and moderately-fat protein, and staying pretty much away from refined carbohydrates and alcohol. The book The "I" Diet by the noted nutritional scientist Susan Roberts has detailed instructions about how to go about this.
bwackwat 10y ago
https://archinte.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleID=2517920 https://archinte.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleID=2517... "Conclusions and Relevance: In nonobese adults, [calorie restriction] had some positive effects and no negative effects on health-related [quality of life]."
WBrentWilliams 10y ago
Looking this over, I'd say that the controlled environment had more to do with the reported weight loss than the diet. Specifically, the observation that the people in the study lost weight on the baseline diet before going on the carbohydrate restriction. Anecdata: I lost quite a bit of weight on a version of the low carb diet: The Specific Carbohydrate Diet. I went on it for health reasons. Specifically, I was trying to manage a digestive disease by diet. I went off the diet during an extended flare after changing physicians for treatment (my old physician left practice). The diet and the flare dropped my weight to unhealthy levels. I am now under treatment that has my symptoms under control. I am back on the diet because my weight has gone a bit too high. I, personally, find it easier to restrict my calories by removing grain-based carbohydrates. This will vary from person to person.
- supernovae 10y ago
  I never keep weight off by dieting. I just keep it off by being active. I find that carbs help me stay active. I focus on good foods and fish.. by good foods I just avoid the trash that people seem to blame carbs for.. (packaged crap snack foods)
jenkstom 10y ago
This study tested a single hypothesis for why low-carb diets work. The diet provided is not "low-carb" in the sense usually meant (30 g of carbs or less daily). To extrapolate from this study that all low-carb diets don't work is not a reasonable conclusion.
leetbulb 10y ago
did a ketogenic diet for two years. went from 260lbs to 165lbs. the key is _high fat_ and low carb. ratio was 60% fat, 35% protein, and 5% carbs (up to 50g per day). nearly zero muscle loss during the diet. a couple of my friends took interest after my results were obvious and they have also had great success. worth looking in to, as weight loss is not the only benefit.
- bogomipz 10y ago
  Wow, congrats. That's impressive. Good for you. A couple questions: How did you maintain correct ratios throughout the day? Did you do this under a doctors supervision?
  - leetbulb 10y ago
    At first it was extremely tedious to maintain the ratio... You'd be surprised at what macros / micros make up certain foods. After a few months, my SO began following keto with me so we ended up completely reworking our recipes and grocery accordingly. Most restaurants or social events will have keto friendly foods, and if not, it's pretty easy to just take the bun off of a loaded burger :P This was done under doctor supervision. Monthly checkups (standard without keto) w/ bimonthly blood work (done just for keto). Completely healthy throughout. There were a few times protein slipped up a bit high, but that was my fault. Cholesterol oddly fell to extremely healthy levels. Couple important things to note about maintaining keto long term: Maintain majority fat intake; preferably healthy fats, although it didn't really seem to make much of a difference, at least in the short term. MCT oil and butter is your best friend. You'll want to watch your micros and supplement accordingly; there are a lot of micros that you will not get if you do not eat fruit, certain veggies, etc... Ignore grammar. On mobile. EDIT: I would stronly suggest doing this under doctor supervision.
woodandsteel 10y ago
The carbohydrate-insulin hypothesis may be wrong, but refined carbohydrates are still bad news. Our bodies were not designed by evolution to handle them, they require too many calories to keep you full and are digested too quickly, and they are a major cause of diabetes.

8 points by zwieback 10y ago

llovan 10y ago

Calorie deficits are more important for weight loss than specific macronutrient ratios.

GordonS 10y ago
True, but eating more fat and protein keeps you feeling full for longer, and with smaller rises and falls in your blood sugar - so you are less likely to eat more calories as snacks.
- wcummings 10y ago
  Or just eat vegetables. You can eat vegetables all day, it'd be insanely hard to gain weight. But people (especially the people that most need to diet) like trend diets that tell them to binge eat steak, and still let them feel like they're doing something healthy. It's telling to me that most people I've met espousing the merits of "palio" are (still) overweight.
- ferentchak 10y ago
  This is what I have found to be true as well but it seems to vary from person to person. If I eat lots of meat and fruits and veggies I tend to crave snacks less. This ends up meaning less total calorie intake. The other one to avoid is the booze. It's pretty rare that I want to eat an entire pizza without first drinking a few beers.
  - woodandsteel 10y ago
    I agree. I think that for most people, the key to taking weight off and keeping it off is to just keep your stomach full with food that is moderately low in calories. That means a lot of fiber (fruits, vegetables, beans) and moderately-fat protein, and staying pretty much away from refined carbohydrates and alcohol. The book The "I" Diet by the noted nutritional scientist Susan Roberts has detailed instructions about how to go about this.

bwackwat 10y ago

https://archinte.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleID=2517920 https://archinte.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleID=2517... "Conclusions and Relevance: In nonobese adults, [calorie restriction] had some positive effects and no negative effects on health-related [quality of life]."

WBrentWilliams 10y ago

Looking this over, I'd say that the controlled environment had more to do with the reported weight loss than the diet. Specifically, the observation that the people in the study lost weight on the baseline diet before going on the carbohydrate restriction. Anecdata: I lost quite a bit of weight on a version of the low carb diet: The Specific Carbohydrate Diet. I went on it for health reasons. Specifically, I was trying to manage a digestive disease by diet. I went off the diet during an extended flare after changing physicians for treatment (my old physician left practice). The diet and the flare dropped my weight to unhealthy levels. I am now under treatment that has my symptoms under control. I am back on the diet because my weight has gone a bit too high. I, personally, find it easier to restrict my calories by removing grain-based carbohydrates. This will vary from person to person.

supernovae 10y ago
I never keep weight off by dieting. I just keep it off by being active. I find that carbs help me stay active. I focus on good foods and fish.. by good foods I just avoid the trash that people seem to blame carbs for.. (packaged crap snack foods)

jenkstom 10y ago

This study tested a single hypothesis for why low-carb diets work. The diet provided is not "low-carb" in the sense usually meant (30 g of carbs or less daily). To extrapolate from this study that all low-carb diets don't work is not a reasonable conclusion.

leetbulb 10y ago

did a ketogenic diet for two years. went from 260lbs to 165lbs. the key is _high fat_ and low carb. ratio was 60% fat, 35% protein, and 5% carbs (up to 50g per day). nearly zero muscle loss during the diet. a couple of my friends took interest after my results were obvious and they have also had great success. worth looking in to, as weight loss is not the only benefit.

bogomipz 10y ago
Wow, congrats. That's impressive. Good for you. A couple questions: How did you maintain correct ratios throughout the day? Did you do this under a doctors supervision?
- leetbulb 10y ago
  At first it was extremely tedious to maintain the ratio... You'd be surprised at what macros / micros make up certain foods. After a few months, my SO began following keto with me so we ended up completely reworking our recipes and grocery accordingly. Most restaurants or social events will have keto friendly foods, and if not, it's pretty easy to just take the bun off of a loaded burger :P This was done under doctor supervision. Monthly checkups (standard without keto) w/ bimonthly blood work (done just for keto). Completely healthy throughout. There were a few times protein slipped up a bit high, but that was my fault. Cholesterol oddly fell to extremely healthy levels. Couple important things to note about maintaining keto long term: Maintain majority fat intake; preferably healthy fats, although it didn't really seem to make much of a difference, at least in the short term. MCT oil and butter is your best friend. You'll want to watch your micros and supplement accordingly; there are a lot of micros that you will not get if you do not eat fruit, certain veggies, etc... Ignore grammar. On mobile. EDIT: I would stronly suggest doing this under doctor supervision.

woodandsteel 10y ago

The carbohydrate-insulin hypothesis may be wrong, but refined carbohydrates are still bad news. Our bodies were not designed by evolution to handle them, they require too many calories to keep you full and are digested too quickly, and they are a major cause of diabetes.