6 ms·

I have been participating in a Stanford Medical research study since October. The name of the randomized control study is "One Diet Does Not Fit All" (http://nu

by zt 12y ago

I have been participating in a Stanford Medical research study since October. The name of the randomized control study is "One Diet Does Not Fit All" (http://nutrition.stanford.edu/projects/DietbyGenotype-Study.html http://nutrition.stanford.edu/projects/DietbyGenotype-Study....). The basic premise of the study is that as almost everyone has one of two insulin responses to glucose and that if you have one response, you should be on a low-fat diet, and if you have the other, you should be on low-carb. My personal results have been quite successful. I was randomly assigned to the low-carb diet. I basically eat vegetables, meats, and cheese. I avoid everything from bread, to rice, to even nuts and fruits. On this diet I have lost nearly fifty pounds since I started. So it's been pretty successful for me. (I will admit that I had no idea whether it's the particular diet I'm on, per se, or the fact that I'm on any diet at all -- that I am paying attention). I also accept the premise of the study: one diet does not fit everyone. Sometimes I meet people and they say it's as simple as calories in, calories out. Some people say everyone should be on this diet or that diet. I don't know -- I don't presume that my diet would simply work for everyone. The human body is a very complex system both for any one person, and for the population. I tend to believe the central premise of the study (and we'll see if it works out): that different physiologies lead to different beneficial diets (and perhaps much more). There is a lot of story here: exercise being easier, meetings going more smoothly, my colleagues and family and friends supporting me, YC giving me a new t-shirt, buying a new wardrobe, my changing interactions with women (I'm strait, and who knows if this is due to me looking better or me being more confident)...etc...I'm planning to write up a (as is often the case) too-long blog post on it all when I'm finished with the study on October.

hueving 12y ago
> it's as simple as calories in, calories out This is definitely true, if you eat less calories than you burn, you will lose weight. But this is really hard to enforce for many people. Without blatant calorie labels on everything you eat, it's really easy to go over and then assume that it must not be true.
- Borkdude 12y ago
  That, and the fact that most natural high carb foods, like fruits, vegetables, legumes and whole grains have a low calorie density compared to high fat foods. It's much harder to overeat on them, because they have more volume and fiber.
  - VLM 12y ago
    "most natural high carb foods ... have a low calorie density" Need to combine with the equally true observation of most modern processed high carb foods have a ridiculously high calorie density. Apples are only in season some of the year, so when you can get them, pig out, of course it takes a lot of work to find and harvest apples and the natural supply is fairly limited in quantity and your stomach can only physically hold so many apples ... and millennia later the same taste receptor and insulin feedback loops results in some dude drinking an entire 2 liter of corn syrup soda while sitting on the couch watching a movie.
  - rayiner 12y ago
    Whole grains and legumes have tremendously high calorie density. An ounce of peanuts has as many calories as four slices of bacon.
    - scottjad 12y ago
      When people recommend legumes, they're not normally talking about peanuts. It's like people recommending fruits aren't normally talking about tomatoes. | food (100g prepared) | cals | fat | |----------------------+------+-----| | peanuts | 567 | 73% | | black beans | 91 | 3% | | bacon | 541 | 71% | | brown rice | 110 | 7% | | oats | 63 | 13% | | chicken breast | 195 | 37% | | provolone cheese | 351 | 67% | | light string cheese | 200 | 45% | | cantaloupe | 34 | 5% | | carrots | 41 | 5% | | corn | 86 | 11% | | whole wheat bread | 259 | 14% | Note how peanuts and bacon have similar caloric densities, yet black beans, brown rice, oats, and corn are much much lower? These are the legumes and whole grains parent is likely talking about, not peanuts and whole wheat bread. Note how even chicken breast and light string cheese are twice as dense as than those whole grain products. Note how high water content fruits and vegetables are king.
rdl 12y ago
It appears they're recruiting in July for Fall 2014; I'd be interested in participating. Would you suggest it?
Andys 12y ago
> it's as simple as calories in, calories out I recently saw a study that was a great example of why it isn't this simple: Intermittent fasting, with the same average daily calories consumed, resulted in more rapid weight loss than no fasting.
- maxerickson 12y ago
  What were the details? If it's a statistically measurable 0.5% then who cares, if it's 15% then wow...
- sp332 12y ago
  Fasting accounts for the calories in, what about the calories out?
  - tomp 12y ago
    If I understand intermittent fasting correctly, you eat the same amount (so calories in/calories out don't change), you just don't eat for a part of the day (e.g. 12 hours) or every second day and eat that much more in the "allowed" window.
    - girvo 12y ago
      Whoah interesting. That's been how I've eaten for a number of years now, through nothing other than a quirk with how I feel hungry. Odd, very odd. I wonder if thats why my weight (I'm slender but fit, despite not exercising as much as I want to) stays exactly the same. But then, I'm also fairly young (heading into my mid-20's), so a quick metabolism and the fact I'm likely still growing helps too. Just interesting to think about though!
- eliben 12y ago
  Interesting. This actually seems to be in line with the low carb approach which claims that fats starts getting burned only after all the carbs are gone. It's less extreme though, in the sense that true "keto" approaches say a few days are needed to enter a true ketonic state with very low carb consumption.
irremediable 12y ago
Do you have any more information about those different insulin responses? Did they use genetic testing to assess your response? It sounds very interesting.

by zt 12y ago

hueving 12y ago

> it's as simple as calories in, calories out This is definitely true, if you eat less calories than you burn, you will lose weight. But this is really hard to enforce for many people. Without blatant calorie labels on everything you eat, it's really easy to go over and then assume that it must not be true.

Borkdude 12y ago
That, and the fact that most natural high carb foods, like fruits, vegetables, legumes and whole grains have a low calorie density compared to high fat foods. It's much harder to overeat on them, because they have more volume and fiber.
- VLM 12y ago
  "most natural high carb foods ... have a low calorie density" Need to combine with the equally true observation of most modern processed high carb foods have a ridiculously high calorie density. Apples are only in season some of the year, so when you can get them, pig out, of course it takes a lot of work to find and harvest apples and the natural supply is fairly limited in quantity and your stomach can only physically hold so many apples ... and millennia later the same taste receptor and insulin feedback loops results in some dude drinking an entire 2 liter of corn syrup soda while sitting on the couch watching a movie.
- rayiner 12y ago
  Whole grains and legumes have tremendously high calorie density. An ounce of peanuts has as many calories as four slices of bacon.
  - scottjad 12y ago
    When people recommend legumes, they're not normally talking about peanuts. It's like people recommending fruits aren't normally talking about tomatoes. | food (100g prepared) | cals | fat | |----------------------+------+-----| | peanuts | 567 | 73% | | black beans | 91 | 3% | | bacon | 541 | 71% | | brown rice | 110 | 7% | | oats | 63 | 13% | | chicken breast | 195 | 37% | | provolone cheese | 351 | 67% | | light string cheese | 200 | 45% | | cantaloupe | 34 | 5% | | carrots | 41 | 5% | | corn | 86 | 11% | | whole wheat bread | 259 | 14% | Note how peanuts and bacon have similar caloric densities, yet black beans, brown rice, oats, and corn are much much lower? These are the legumes and whole grains parent is likely talking about, not peanuts and whole wheat bread. Note how even chicken breast and light string cheese are twice as dense as than those whole grain products. Note how high water content fruits and vegetables are king.

rdl 12y ago

It appears they're recruiting in July for Fall 2014; I'd be interested in participating. Would you suggest it?

Andys 12y ago

> it's as simple as calories in, calories out I recently saw a study that was a great example of why it isn't this simple: Intermittent fasting, with the same average daily calories consumed, resulted in more rapid weight loss than no fasting.

maxerickson 12y ago
What were the details? If it's a statistically measurable 0.5% then who cares, if it's 15% then wow...
sp332 12y ago
Fasting accounts for the calories in, what about the calories out?
- tomp 12y ago
  If I understand intermittent fasting correctly, you eat the same amount (so calories in/calories out don't change), you just don't eat for a part of the day (e.g. 12 hours) or every second day and eat that much more in the "allowed" window.
  - girvo 12y ago
    Whoah interesting. That's been how I've eaten for a number of years now, through nothing other than a quirk with how I feel hungry. Odd, very odd. I wonder if thats why my weight (I'm slender but fit, despite not exercising as much as I want to) stays exactly the same. But then, I'm also fairly young (heading into my mid-20's), so a quick metabolism and the fact I'm likely still growing helps too. Just interesting to think about though!
eliben 12y ago
Interesting. This actually seems to be in line with the low carb approach which claims that fats starts getting burned only after all the carbs are gone. It's less extreme though, in the sense that true "keto" approaches say a few days are needed to enter a true ketonic state with very low carb consumption.

irremediable 12y ago

Do you have any more information about those different insulin responses? Did they use genetic testing to assess your response? It sounds very interesting.