Diet higher in protein and lower in carb shown to be superior for fat loss and other things
Posted on 7 November 2008
I believe that what represents an ideal diet varies from person to person, but one thing I
Published November 7, 2008 . Filed under: Diabetes/Metabolic Syndrome, Healthy Eating, Low-Carbohydrate/Carbohydrate Restriction, Unhealthy Eating!, Weight Loss
Worryingly this mis-information (high carb, low fat) is being fed to our children through our education system – my daughter has even been encouraged to use ‘low sugar’ (half sugar half saccharine!!).
Anyone have any ideas for change?
November 7, 2008 @ 8:07 pm
Carol, I am also anutritionist and cannot understand where this high carb diet comes from. If you look at the huge posters they have in hospitals it is not high carb it is MAINLY Carb as all the fruits and vegetables are also carbs. Dieeticians are not allowed to think for themselves or rock the boat but why do none of them even try?
November 7, 2008 @ 8:47 pm
Soz53 – part of the problem is the sheer time it takes for people to change their minds along with the power of habit. When a doctrine has fundamentally entrenched itself in the consciousness of society it sometimes requires a whole generation to actually die before a truly open minded approach can pervade.
Dr John – as an aside, where do you stand on the question of grains? Having just read Michael Eades’ Protein Power Life Plan I am left wondering whether there have been any trials that have shown that they can have a detrimental effect on the health of people who are eating them….
November 7, 2008 @ 10:16 pm
I concur with everything you say, John, but I fail to understand why the government still propounds the low-fat and calorie counting theory as the only way to lose weight. Can you enlighten me?
For the first time in my life, I am now getting my eating pattern in order and with little effort and no feelings of hunger. I used to eat toast and marmalade or marmite compulsively; likewise, sausage rolls, cheese and onion bread and all the high carb, low value savories. I felt bloated and lethargic. I’m 58 so I’m talking about a life-time of digestive abuse.
I enjoy my food now; I eat when I’m hungry not when I think I might be hungry. I can live without the bad carbohydrates that caused me pain but will eat them without fear when out with friends when it would be churlish of me not to accept the food offered; but no guilt attached because such an occasional amount is acceptable to my body.
Thank you so much for your wonderful insight into this increasing problem of obesity( horrid word ) I would really like your opinion on why we have been so misled.
Best wishes,
Susie.
November 8, 2008 @ 1:42 am
As a biochemist and nutritional therapist, I’m in agreement with you on the carbs issue and weight loss, and my clinical experience proves it. However, the majority of diabetics are being advised to “eat plenty of carbohydrates”. Moreover, the British Dietetic Association have recently posted an item on their website extolling the virtues of carbs for weight loss, under the banner “dieticians give carbs the all clear”.
The people who benefit most from the ‘plenty of carbs’ advice are the food industry, notably breakfat cereal and baked goods manufacturers, and the pharmaceutical manufacturers of diabetic drugs.
November 8, 2008 @ 1:42 am
Thank you Methuselah.
November 8, 2008 @ 2:08 am
Am I alone in not following the fourth paragraph of this message? Is something missing? I can’t understand it.
November 8, 2008 @ 6:40 pm
Kay
Word “lost” was missing there (how ironic) before “more fat” and is corrected now. Thanks.
November 8, 2008 @ 7:16 pm
Mesuthelah : See the book ‘Dangerous Grains’ by Brady. It is very good and connects grains with autoimmune diseases.
November 9, 2008 @ 2:22 am
[...] Andrew R. of Go Healthy Go Fit recently directed MDA readers in the comment boards to a great post by Dr. Briffa that reviews a recent study that pitted a high protein, low carb diet against a low protein, high carb di…. [...]
November 9, 2008 @ 10:05 pm
I agree whole heartedly with Carol, the drugs companies do rather well from diabetics being told to eat a high carb diet as I was. Now we have obesity drugs to lose the weight but still eat ‘high carb diet’. As a type 1 diabetic my excellent nutritional consultant doesn’t get any thanks for reducing my insulin intake to very little through low carb eating. from the NHS. Surprisingly I’ve lost the weight I first put on through high carb eating and I am now exactly the weight I should be for my height.
November 10, 2008 @ 2:15 pm
Any comment on today’s news about the statin held to be suitable for eveyone with a cholesterol count (sorry don’t know the unit of measure) greater than 4? Why would it be considered better than taking soluble aspirin 75 micro grammes daily as per Bradford Hill and Court Brown, Univ of Edinburgh research c 1944? Is there really this direct link between cholesterol and heart-attacks and strokes that makes the media and health service so excited about this latest product? Confused. EA
November 10, 2008 @ 3:13 pm
Elspeth
See here: http://www.drbriffa.com/blog/2008/11/10/statins-reduce-cardiovascular-disease-in-health-people-and-why-this-study-is-a-poke-in-the-eye-for-the-cholesterol-hypothesis/
November 10, 2008 @ 3:28 pm
I would be grateful for clarification about the type of carbohydrates referred to in this article. Does it make any difference if these are wholegrain? I understand that this slows down their digestion so that blood sugar levels do not suddenly peak. I cannot at present make out whether your views apply equally to wholegrain sources of carbohydrate.
February 28, 2009 @ 3:28 pm