On Wed, 15 Mar 2000, Jody Bessner wrote:

> I generally agree that the statement "unlimited foods" is misleading.  What
> the authors of some of the low carb books are counting on is that people
> seriously overweight often binge on carbs, and are less likely to binge on
> higherfat foods (not used to it, or feel fuller sooner, less insulin
> response, etc).

Yes, and I think this is often the case.  But it's important to
note that while one may well lose weight on an *ad libitum*
lowcarb or paleo diet, this is no guarantee that one will
continue to lose weight until one is no longer significantly
overweight.  The idea that on a paleo diet (or any other diet)
one's appetite will spontaneously adjust to a point where one
effortlessly achieves a non-obese weight is unwarranted.  It may
work that way for some people, but you can't count on it.

> I
> think the Eades, tho and Atkins too are clearer lately that calories must be
> taken into consideratin.

Yes.  The Eades are careful to be explicit about this.  I haven't
read Atkins in a while, so I'm not so sure about his stuff.

> What is interesting to me has been my personal
> experience, though; that calorie deprivation alone is not the total answer.
> I have been consuming as many or more calories on a paleo diet than before,
> and I have lost weight!  True, i didn't have much to lose (15 lbs,) so that
> may be part of it.  Anyone have a possible explanation?

I agree that caloric restriction is not the total answer, in the
sense that nothing else matters.  It makes sense that different
kinds of diets permit the body to utilize calories in different
ways, so that one's weight-loss caloric threshold could vary.  My
point is only that it won't work for everyone to suppose that
they can disregard calories altogether.  Your experience may well
be an illustration of the fact that without the right nutrients
(e.g., the B vitamins) we cannot readily burn the fuel that we do
consume, so we store it as fat.  In other words, the nutrients
improve the effective metabolic rate.

Todd Moody
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