Do we eat more because we eat more often? Yes, says a study that claims Americans eat 570 more calories per day now than they did 30 years ago because they are eating all of the time. The study's lead author, Professor Barry Popkin of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, told CNN Health that "the real reason we seem to be eating more (calories) is we're eating often." But is eating frequency all there is to it, or does what a person eats make a difference? To say we are eating … [Read more...]
Make mine water
Since going low-carb, I’ve mostly avoided drinking diet pop or making recipes that include artificial sweeteners. Over the past four months, I’ve downed three bottles of Diet Coke and used three small packets of Stevia (a sugar substitute). I’ve also bought and consumed a four-pack of an Atkins chocolate milk-shake product that contained an artificial sweetener, the only packaged low-carb treat that I've tried. Otherwise, except for berries, I have forgone sweet flavors. It could be I’m … [Read more...]
A calorie is a calorie, baloney is baloney
Here we go again. The "Calories-In, Calories Out" crowd have some new heroes from down-under. They may be reluctant heroes, though. In a study presented at the American Diabetes Association's 71st Scientific Sessions this week in San Diego, New Zealand researchers compare the effectiveness of a low-fat, high-protein diet to a low-fat, high-carbohydrate diet followed by groups of over-weight people with type-2 diabetes for two years. Both groups exhibited similar decreases in weight (-4.4 … [Read more...]
Snack-filled diet dangerous for rats — and us
Rodent health has never been a major concern of mine, but it seems to worry scientists a lot. For example, researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill published a study in the journal Obesity that examines what happens to rats who are fed a snack-filled diet similar to that consumed by millions of Americans. The study makes an important point about modeling human metabolic syndrome in lab rats, but it suggests even more. The snack or "cafeteria" diet consisted … [Read more...]
The Tech Guy and low-carb eating
I first heard about low-carb way of eating and the work of Gary Taubes from an unlikely source: Leo Laporte, a.k.a The Tech Guy. Leo lives on the West Coast. Every Saturday and Sunday, he does his Tech Guy radio broadcast; the rest of the week, he records and live-streams tech-oriented net-casts from his studio in Petaluma, California. His network is called TWiT, which stands for "This Week in Technology," the name of his flagship program. I became a fan of Leo when he was one of the … [Read more...]
Resources page added
On the off-chance that low-carb newbies are finding their way to this blog (against all logic given how far down it is on the low-carb blogging food-chain), I thought I should create a Resources page. You will see the link for the Resources page in the top-menu. In truth, the Resources page can be useful to anyone, not just newbies. If nothing else, it gives some of my main sources (with an emphasis on those available on the Web). I am not intending the listings to be comprehensive, but … [Read more...]
The reason low-carb diets work
You look trustworthy, so I’ll let you in on something. I’m going to tell you the secret of how a low-carb diet helps a person lose weight. But first a word from our sponsor . . . Oh, wait -- we don’t have a sponsor. I keep thinking I ought to monetize the blog, put up a few discrete blinking ads for Carb-Free Pudding or Miracle Weight-Loss Body Lotion (in five delicious flavors!), or at least add links to my books on Amazon.com (when I get them written), but I have … [Read more...]
Tip-toeing toward the truth
The big long-term weight gain study that the Harvard School of Public Health announced yesterday was officially published today in the New England Journal of Medicine (Changes in Diet and Lifestyle and Long-Term Weight Gain in Women and Men); it has gotten widespread press attention. My first encounter with it was on ABC World News. As I wrote last night, the ABC team, led by Dr. Richard Besser, focused on carbohydrates as the main factor in weight gain, labeling various forms of potatoes … [Read more...]
Diet paradigm shift continues
Last week I reported on a study published in the journal Nutrition in Clinical Practice that suggested a paradigm shift toward low-carb dieting was underway. Tonight there is another piece of evidence in favor of such a paradigm shift. ABC News, in its flagship World News, presented a report about the foods most (and least) likely to be associated with weight gain, based on research by the Harvard School of Public Health. [Update] The broadcast report was present by Dr. Richard Besser, the … [Read more...]
The ups and downs of weighing in
In any endeavor, we want confirmation of our success. It's nice if the confirmation comes with a plaque and some folding money, but at the least it needs to be objective. We want something we can show people, something to point to, something more substantial than a feeling of satisfaction. This explains why mobile phones have cameras in them. If you are lucky enough to achieve something -- and let's face it, luck is the major factor -- you can whip out your smart-phone, snap a photo and send … [Read more...]