There are two studies in today's Annals of Internal Medicine related to low-carbohydrate diets. (There's also an editorial by Walter Willett of the Harvard School of Public Health; I can't wait to read it, but it isn't online and I'm pretty far down the distribution list of the journals at work. Hopefully I'll report back on this in about six weeks.)
I recently read Atkins' books. I wanted to go to the source instead of just trashing low-carb as the fad of the moment. There were some laughable passages, particularly in the 1972 version, but not all of it seemed outrageous. I'm glad to see the diets being studied.
I should start playing the lottery so I can go back to school and become a nutritionist. I have a radical theory I'd like to test, a theory based on a tiny sample of three people. One, my dad, was slightly overweight with high triglycerides and low HDL and a strong family history of diabetes. The low-carb diet helped him. Another, my mom, was overweight with high blood pressure. Weight Watchers, with an emphasis on lower-fat foods and pretty strict portion control, and walking helped her.
Then there's me. My diet actually comes pretty close to the Mediterranean food pyramid and my weight has been stable for over a year. My cholesterol is 142. Except for my borderline blood pressure, which I'm sure is related more to stress, I was textbook healthy when we had our screenings at work a few months ago.
My radical theory: different people have sufficiently different metabolisms so that an optimal diet will not be the same for everyone, and finding the optimal diet requires experimentation and monitoring over a period of time to find a mix of acceptable foods (for sustainability) that result in acceptable health outcomes (weight, glucose, lipids).
This is a study for the Center for Thoughtful and Reasonable Analysis of All Available Data with Appropriate Advisories on the Limitations of Said Data for Informed and Responsible Individuals Who Are Willing to Make Decisions and Accept the Consequences.
Posted by Nic at May 18, 2004 08:07 PMMy wife asked our family doctor about Atkins. His reply was "he got it mostly right." Once he got started on his recommended alterations, we realized that he was being diplomatic.
Posted by: Ted at May 18, 2004 10:25 PMThe CTRAAADAtLSDIRIWAWMDAC is never going to get anywhere without an acronym.....
Posted by: Susie at May 19, 2004 07:18 PMSusie, you're right. It also won't fit on my business cards.
I'm trying an official South Beach recipe tonight. While I still have no intention of following it, that diet seems a great deal more sane.
Posted by: Nic at May 20, 2004 04:28 PM