AJ Johnson

[BigOrange Maniac]

Anti-carb? Or anti-processed-carb?

There is no way that denying your body fruit and whole grains is good for you. Anybody that says otherwise is advocating a fad diet.

Taubes says to eliminate most or all fruit and grains in addition to starchy foods. And he's an award-winning writer/speaker whose ideas are starting to take hold in the medical community. There are still a lot of doctors and nutritionists who will tell you that eliminating the vitamins and nutrients of fruits and grains is nuts (no pun intended, seriously) but more medical professionals are starting to sit up and take note.

It's long been held in the medical community that while there are benefits to things like fruits and grains, they aren't best for everyone. For example, I'm diabetic, and nothing makes my blood glucose spike faster or more dramatically than fresh fruits. I stay as far away from them as I can...well, except for watermelon in the summer.

Taubes' theory is that ANY carbs stimulates insulin production, which is the very thing that promotes weight gain. He says to stick with fiber-based carbs in leafy vegetables, broccoli, kale, salad greens, etc., because they're more easily digested and don't stimulate insulin production. He doesn't deny that cutting out fruits and grains means losing the antioxidants that supposedly help ward off diseases and illnesses, but he argues that by losing weight (or never gaining it in the first place), you're doing more benefit to your body than if you eat the USDA-recommended intake of grains and fruits. He theorizes that carbs — even complex carbs — leads to high blood pressure, high cholesterol, cancer, and even Alzheimer's. With that said, he isn't as staunchly opposed to complex carbs as simple carbs.

Some of it really isn't debatable. The American obesity epidemic has skyrocketed since physicians began promoting less fat and more carbs as a way to lose weight. And it's well-known that the more insulin your body produces, the more weight you gain (which is why diabetics who go on insulin treatment tend to gain weight; personally, I've gained 30 lbs. in just one year since going on insulin and as someone who had managed to lose 50 lbs. before that, I can tell you that this will piss you off   ). Taubes is the one who really began preaching that ANY fat (he even says trans fats aren't the devil they're made out to be, though he recommends staying away from them) is good fat. I think I've posted this here before, but my father — who was the one who tipped me off to Taubes' research — began eating a lb. of bacon, 3 eggs and a pot of coffee for breakfast every morning, while cutting out ALL carbs. I told him he was nuts; his cholesterol would go through the roof. When he went back to his physician, the doc told him that he had never seen anyone's cholesterol drop so quickly so fast. I had suffered with high blood pressure for years, since I was a trim and fit wideout on the high school football team. I cut out carbs and increased fat/protein intake, and my blood pressure dropped to normal limits . . . my triglycerides, which had been high enough for me to be on a weak prescription med, also dropped, as did total cholesterol.

Of course I don't think you disagree with any of that. I think your hangup is the complex carbs and grains. So this is just a long way of answering your question. Yes, Taubes recommends cutting out all of it. It's controversial stuff and I don't agree with everything he says but his books are fascinating reading. Check 'em out. It may be a fad diet, but with more and more degreed medical professionals signing off on it, it may not be.

[ReVOLver]

Taubes says to eliminate most or all fruit and grains in addition to starchy foods. And he's an award-winning writer/speaker whose ideas are starting to take hold in the medical community. There are still a lot of doctors and nutritionists who will tell you that eliminating the vitamins and nutrients of fruits and grains is nuts (no pun intended, seriously) but more medical professionals are starting to sit up and take note.

It's long been held in the medical community that while there are benefits to things like fruits and grains, they aren't best for everyone. For example, I'm diabetic, and nothing makes my blood glucose spike faster or more dramatically than fresh fruits. I stay as far away from them as I can...well, except for watermelon in the summer.

Taubes' theory is that ANY carbs stimulates insulin production, which is the very thing that promotes weight gain. He says to stick with fiber-based carbs in leafy vegetables, broccoli, kale, salad greens, etc., because they're more easily digested and don't stimulate insulin production. He doesn't deny that cutting out fruits and grains means losing the antioxidants that supposedly help ward off diseases and illnesses, but he argues that by losing weight (or never gaining it in the first place), you're doing more benefit to your body than if you eat the USDA-recommended intake of grains and fruits. He theorizes that carbs — even complex carbs — leads to high blood pressure, high cholesterol, cancer, and even Alzheimer's. With that said, he isn't as staunchly opposed to complex carbs as simple carbs.

Some of it really isn't debatable. The American obesity epidemic has skyrocketed since physicians began promoting less fat and more carbs as a way to lose weight. And it's well-known that the more insulin your body produces, the more weight you gain (which is why diabetics who go on insulin treatment tend to gain weight; personally, I've gained 30 lbs. in just one year since going on insulin and as someone who had managed to lose 50 lbs. before that, I can tell you that this will piss you off  ). Taubes is the one who really began preaching that ANY fat (he even says trans fats aren't the devil they're made out to be, though he recommends staying away from them) is good fat. I think I've posted this here before, but my father — who was the one who tipped me off to Taubes' research — began eating a lb. of bacon, 3 eggs and a pot of coffee for breakfast every morning, while cutting out ALL carbs. I told him he was nuts; his cholesterol would go through the roof. When he went back to his physician, the doc told him that he had never seen anyone's cholesterol drop so quickly so fast. I had suffered with high blood pressure for years, since I was a trim and fit wideout on the high school football team. I cut out carbs and increased fat/protein intake, and my blood pressure dropped to normal limits . . . my triglycerides, which had been high enough for me to be on a weak prescription med, also dropped, as did total cholesterol.

Of course I don't think you disagree with any of that. I think your hangup is the complex carbs and grains. So this is just a long way of answering your question. Yes, Taubes recommends cutting out all of it. It's controversial stuff and I don't agree with everything he says but his books are fascinating reading. Check 'em out. It may be a fad diet, but with more and more degreed medical professionals signing off on it, it may not be.

Non processed single ingredient food is the simple answer. Obviously the rules are different for diabetics.

Also the single biggest thing you can do to drop cholesterol and triglycerides is greatly increase the intensity of your exercise, and I am living proof of this.

[BigOrange Maniac]

Also the single biggest thing you can do to drop cholesterol and triglycerides is greatly increase the intensity of your exercise, and I am living proof of this.

You don't even want to know what Taubes says about exercise as a weight loss tool. 

[VinnieVOL]

You don't even want to know what Taubes says about exercise as a weight loss tool. 

I want to know...   

[murfvol]

Alright, enough high level talk. If anyone has good tasty stuff to eat at work please post a plan. I'm trying to just eat turkey (no bread) and low salt mix nuts here, but it's getting old. I need flavor.

[EmerilVOL]

Here is what I have learned the last few years and I am proof that all the diets and all this No carbs, low carbs, just protien, eat bacon and loose weight, Atkins, Jenny Craig, etc etc etc dont work and what works is following the pyramid.  Learn the pyramid and follow it.  Moderation is the key.  Eat a balanced meal with a balanced diet and practice portion control and you will lose weight.  I have spent the past six months doing just that and I am down 40 lbs.  I have not restricted it to one type of food or one type of anything.  Practiced portion control, ate more fruits and vegetables, and practiced getting the flavor from the food with more spices rather than just salt.  

The biggest problem is not what we are eating it is the portion size and the processed foodstuff.  Fruits and vegetables do not come in cans from the garden.  BTW when you cook with canned vegetables, drain the liquid those vegetables came in and replace with water, sopices, and a little butter if you desire.  The water or liquid that most vegetables in cans are processed in contains up to 15% salt as a preservative.

[ReVOLver]

You don't even want to know what Taubes says about exercise as a weight loss tool. 

I don't need to read it to know what the truth is... Exercise is not a weight loss tool. Exercise makes you healthy and helps you burn calories and build muscle. Weight loss is 75% or more about food. If you don't eat right, all the exercise in the world won't help you lose more than a few pounds of retained fluid. 

[BigOrange Maniac]

I don't need to read it to know what the truth is... Exercise is not a weight loss tool. Exercise makes you healthy and helps you burn calories and build muscle. Weight loss is 75% or more about food. If you don't eat right, all the exercise in the world won't help you lose more than a few pounds of retained fluid. 

Precisely. Unfortunately most people don't get that. Most of us start exercising thinking the pounds are just gonna fall off, not realizing that exercising is the very thing that makes us hungry, which makes us eat more and gain more weight. Obviously anyone would have to be a fool to use that as justification for not exercising...however, I will disagree with you that exercise is the single biggest tool for improving cholesterol. Exercise is a completely effective tool for improving cholesterol, but it's only offsetting the effects of what we eat. Stop exercising and the cholesterol problems come back. By eliminating carbs, we cut out the very source of bad cholesterol and triglycerides. Of course I suppose the same argument could be made that when you go back to eating carbs, the cholesterol problems come back then, too.

[ReVOLver]

Precisely. Unfortunately most people don't get that. Most of us start exercising thinking the pounds are just gonna fall off, not realizing that exercising is the very thing that makes us hungry, which makes us eat more and gain more weight. Obviously anyone would have to be a fool to use that as justification for not exercising...however, I will disagree with you that exercise is the single biggest tool for improving cholesterol. Exercise is a completely effective tool for improving cholesterol, but it's only offsetting the effects of what we eat. Stop exercising and the cholesterol problems come back. By eliminating carbs, we cut out the very source of bad cholesterol and triglycerides. Of course I suppose the same argument could be made that when you go back to eating carbs, the cholesterol problems come back then, too.

I didn't say that exercise is the single biggest tool for improving cholesterol... I said that increasing the intensity of your exercise is the single biggest tool for improving cholesterol. I'm talking peak heart rate type intensity, not just a jog on the treadmill or a few weights. Food and exercise go hand in hand when it comes to cholesterol, and some people have issues with cholesterol due to heredity more than habits, but in my experience I saw the greatest gains when I started pushing myself to the point of exhaustion 4-5 days a week.

But, I only lost massive weight when I radically changed my diet.

I think the key to carbs is the glycemic index, to be honest.

[Jedi Master]

In my experience, it is common for people to use heredity as a crutch explanation for why they have high cholesterol.  I can even use myself as an example.  Two years ago, I went from a total cholesterol of 206 to 188 as of Labor Day 2011, mostly attributable to a lot of exercise but also eating a moderately healthy diet.  My doc told me that it was probably my genetics that prevented me from obtaining a lower cholesterol number.   Since Labor Day 2011, I went vegan and exercised only in moderation.  And as of June 2012 my total cholesterol was 138.  (Studies suggest that total cholesterol lower than 150 is essentially heart-attack and stroke proof.)

Now I am trying to increase my exercise from moderate to intense, maintain my veganism, and see where that takes me.  I expect to reach a point of diminishing returns, but it has been an enjoyable journey so far (i.e., a lifestyle instead of a diet).

[Stogie Vol]

As much as I hate to say it, pizza and donuts are death.

Only when eaten together, though, right?

[Quasi EVol]

Alright, enough high level talk. If anyone has good tasty stuff to eat at work please post a plan. I'm trying to just eat turkey (no bread) and low salt mix nuts here, but it's getting old. I need flavor.

Instead of "dieting" per se, I hear a lifestyle change makes for more sustainable weight loss.  But all doctors lost all credibility with me when they stopped talking "Krispy Kremes" and started talking "exercise."

[BanditVol]

Somewhere above, there is a comment that carbs are not good for energy.  Well that's true if you're sitting on the coach, but if you run 30-40 miles a week, you will come to crave carbs and then they ARE good.  There is a reason that runners and triathletes "carbo load" the day before a big race. 

All of which is to say, my opinion of carbs is eat all you wish, if you are going to burn them off.

Back in the day I was a distance athleted and actually craved carbs.  And I could eat whatever I wanted to , pretty much.

Maybe I should get back into that.   

[Stogie Vol]

Well that's true if you're sitting on the coach,

My coach always hated when I did that.