tray.b wrote:
 > On Wed, 24 October 2007 23:53, Todd Moody wrote:  Don't buy into that
 > kerrapp that says calories (or exercise for that matter)
 > don't count. A lowcarb diet, Paleo or not, has an advantage alright. But
 > it's not a metabolic advantage. If anything, it's a satiety advantage which
 > will allow you consume fewer calories and, if these are low enough you will
 > lose weight.
 >
 > Absolutely - but the point isn't that calories DON'T count but that they
 > don't count in the same way when you're eating low carb for the majority of
 > people (there are always exceptions).  Personally, I lost weight on more
 > daily low carb calories than I did on low fat/high carb calories.  I also
 > maintain my weight (meaning I don't gain any weight) eating far more
 > calories low carb than I ever have.  Doesn't mean they don't count at all,
 > but they do seem to cause a different reaction based on the source (fat,
 > protein, carb).  Quite honestly, I gained on 1400 cals vegetarian,
 > grain-based diet.  I lost it all on 2,000+ high fat/low carb/about 85% paleo
 > diet.
 > I think it makes perfect sense that all calories (which, after all, are just
 > a measure of heat anyway right?) are not going to behave equally in the
 > body.  100 cals from ice cream is going to have a different effect than 100
 > cals of bison - they'll be used differently, no?
 >
 > Side note: Atkins never said calories don't count.  He said you don't have
 > to count them.  Big difference.  He explained why, but some people didn't
 > bother to read that bit  :)
 >
 > Tracy (hi...I'm new!)
 >

I have just finished reading the book.  Here is one point I took away from my 
reading.  When a meal containing a sufficient quantity of carbs is eaten 
(particularly high glycemic and/or processed), your blood sugar starts 
increasing and the body starts adding insulin and this happens more quickly with 
more carbs.  This signals the cells in general to move from fatty acid 
metabolism to sugar/glucose metabolism and fat cells start taking up glucose out 
of the blood stream.  After the meal is over, sugar levels start dropping, 
insulin starts dropping, and fat cells start releasing fatty acids which cells 
start burning.  It's sort of like using your cell phone(eating) while it's 
charging (fat cells) and then unplugging it until the next charge (meal).  It 
continues to work on battery power, at least it should.  Now, in some people, as 
insulin drops and fat cells should start releasing fatty acids, they don't do so 
at easily and as quickly as they should resulting in hunger and a desire to eat 
earlier, sooner, and more.  The more your fat cells tend to hang on to their 
contents, the greater one's propensity to gain weight.

Now, Gary did speculate that nicotine has the ability to temporary correct this 
condition to some degree, but didn't propose that as any kind of solution. 
People on low car diets don't need to make this switch between glucose 
metabolism and fatty metabolism and the fat cells work their way up to releasing 
fatty acids more easily.  Consequently, it is a lot easer to lose weight and to 
keep it off on a low carb diet for "some" people.

While it may be true that a calorie is a calorie (and I have my doubts when it 
comes to metabolism) low carb diets are more effective than high carb diets 
because they are easier to stay on and provide all the nutrition you need. 
Spiking glucose and insulin have been implicated as the cause of the diseases of 
civilization.

Also, the carbs that cause the most problems seem to be processed carbs and 
fructose.  Fructose is not taken up by cells and must first be processed into 
trigs by the liver.  This is big problem for the high fructose in todays many 
processed foods and drinks.  Fruit is not available all year around and humans 
as do many animals tend to build fat stores in the fall and release them in the 
spring.  By eating fructose all year around, we are building fat all year around.

There are a lot of points in the book that are well treated and I recommend it 
highly.

While I have been avoiding most processed carbs, and have cut back on grains, I 
now intend to eliminate most grains and have cut back on most fruits.  I plan to 
generally limit my fruit intake to what a hunter/gatherer might find and perhaps 
one day I might limit that to "in-season" as well.

-- 

Steve - [log in to unmask]

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