• Home
• About
• Mike's Blog
• Rapid Weight Loss Blueprint
• Permanent Weight Loss Solution
• Contact

Mike Takes on the U.S. Government

First off I wanted to thank all the people who said an internet thank you to me by linking to my blog. I appreciate it. Now on the good stuff.

There are lots of nutritional myths out there that are constantly misleading people into following low calorie high carb diets or convincing people that they can eat as much saturated fat as they want. While doing some hunting around on the web a couple days ago I found a report by the U.S. Government talking about Weight Loss and Nutrition Myths. This report, produced by the National Institute of Health was supposed to be “setting the record straight” but in reality most of what they said was confusing or crap - I think after that statement I have guaranteed that I will never get awarded a NIH scientific research grant
Let’s look at my favorite - I’ll put my (sarcastic) comments in BOLD.

Myth: High-protein/low-carbohydrate diets are a  healthy way to lose weight.

Fact (It is funny that they use the word “fact” here because most of what they say isn’t “fact” as ALL): The long-term health effects of a high-protein/lowcarbohydrate diet are unknown (Okay, so where are the long term studies on ketchup?) . But getting most of your daily calories from high-protein foods like meat, eggs, and cheese is not a balanced eating plan. You may be eating too much fat and cholesterol, which may raise heart disease risk (Ummm…not really. When you reduce your carbohydrates the “lipid metabolism” game changes and your body becomes much better at processing saturated fat and cholesterol).

 You may be eating too few fruits , vegetables (Again, no. On low carb diets when you are limited to only 50grams of carbohydrates the only carbs you are allowed to eat are fruits and vegetables), and whole grains, which may lead to constipation due to lack of dietary fiber. Following a high-protein/low-carbohydrate diet may also make you feel nauseous, tired, and weak (For about three days, eating ample calories and help make your body’s transition to using fat and not carbs as a fuel easier). Eating fewer than 130 grams of carbohydrate a day can lead to the buildup of ketones (partially brokendown fats) in your blood (I would like to meet the person that eats 130grams of carbs a day and has measurable ketones in their urine. Try eating 20-50g of carbs a day then we can talk about ketosis). A buildup of ketones in your blood (called ketosis) can cause your body to produce high levels of uric acid, which is a risk factor for gout (a painful swelling of the joints) and kidney stones (This is such a misleading statement that I almost can’t bring myself to comment. The moderate appearance of ketones found in the body due to low carbohydrate dieting is just that moderate - it is no where near the levels needed to produce damage. This statement is misleading and just false when talking about low carb diets). Ketosis may be especially risky for pregnant women and people with diabetes or kidney disease. This statement is from left field.  Since when are we talking about  pregnant women, diabetics, or people with kidney disease?  Do you know what’s not risky? Monderate urinary ketones found in people on low carbohydrate  diets.

 Tomorrow, we’ll look at what the government recommends instead…this should be good

• Mike on Twitter

• Naked Nutrition Network 2.0

  

Copyright © 2008 Naked Nutrition Network · Revolution News theme by Brian Gardner · Log in