Journalist Andrew Holtz, one of our story reviewers on HealthNewsReview.org, has some fun with a horse-race style look at low carb versus low fat diet research on his MDiTV.com site.
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Comments
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Marg
June 29, 2010 at 10:45 pmI’m surprised at you, Gary. You’ve included on your blog this piece of (electronic) journalism that does exactly what you decry. Granted, it’s a cute take. But Roxanne McKeen spouts her opinion for a portion of this video with no evidentiary basis whatsoever. Feeling lousy? Low energy? Gastrointestinal problems? Unclear thinking? Where is the evidence that supports that take?
And where are the reports of studies that challenge this view? They’re out there. By including this fairly biased view on your blog, you appear to have drunk the low-fat Kool-Aid. I don’t know if you have or not, but I’d thought you’d be more discriminating, based on your thoughtful challenges to most health news.
Of course eaters who start out low-carb and end up gaining back weight end up gaining back weight!! They stop eating low-carb. The societal pressure, promulgated by the USDA (which has as its interest the promotion of carbohydrate-based agriculture), is stunning. And I guess it’s difficult to turn down that white chocolate scone or apple pie or home fries. Can’t give up “comfort?” Don’t pretend to change the way you eat.
One reason low-carb eating is difficult to sustain is that it is vilified by all but those who eat that way and have fabulous blood/lipid profiles and sustained weight loss.
These last two paragraphs creep from my own biases, along with my 40-pound weight loss on low-carb, which has been happily and effortlessly sustained for almost nine years.
Ken Leebow
June 30, 2010 at 9:58 amLow carb/low fat diets mean nothing. And who cares about results for 1 to 3 years? Permanent results are what counts. And, that means lifestyle changes.
There are two things that matter for permanent weight-loss:
1. Calories
2. Satiety
Figure out how to accomplish those two things and fat, carbs, and other sideshow issues become meaningless.
And for those people who think exercise is important (as I do), you can make that number 3.
Ken Leebow
http://www.FeedYourHeadDiet.com
Andrew Holtz
June 30, 2010 at 10:58 amMarg,
I’m responsible for the content of the story. While I welcome being noticed by Gary in his blog, I don’t see that notice as an endorsement of the conclusions of either the underlying diet trial or the comments of the independent source we interviewed.
As for the content of the story, I hope it was clear that we were reporting on the findings of the research reported in the New England Journal of Medicine and the Annals of Internal Medicine. The role of registered dietician Roxanne McKeen in this story was to provide the perspective of an expert who was independent of the research team that did the trial. We asked her, based on her professional experience, to comment on why the participants in the trial who were in the low-carb arm might have experienced initial success, but then on average had difficulty maintaining the advantage. The evidence at issue was the data reported out of the Philadelphia trial… as clearly stated in the story, McKeen’s comments were her view of why the results were what they were.
I’m glad to hear that you have been successful with achieving and sustaining your weight loss. The anecdote we used in the story was chosen because it reflected a personal example similar to the typical experience reported by those in the trial the story was about.
My intent at the close of the story was to make clear that this study is of course not the final word on the topic. If the playful tone of the piece obscured the message, that’s something I’ll take into consideration in the future.
Paul Scott
June 30, 2010 at 11:17 amI’m with Marg. People who bail on low carb diets were likely reflecting their incapacity to prepare whole foods. All anecdotal, but I knew people who lost lots of weight eschewing carbs, only to gain it back, and they were eating nothing but eggs and bacon and fast food without the bun, following it all with pork rinds. Hard to keep that up? Shocker!
Karla Lutter
July 11, 2010 at 9:26 pmWhat worked for me. I lost 9 lbs in one month by cutting out pretty much all bad food and drinking a lot of water. it’s really not that hard its really your mind set and trust me i love sweets. after about a week i had no cravings. also i worked out about 50 min a day totaling 500 calories lost. its all about getting on a plan that works for you and stick to it, it gets easier.
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