Can low carb dieters eat all they want, and still lose weight?Written by Tanya Zilberter, PhD
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salads, vegetables and unsaturated oils. Red meats and saturated fats were limited (as opposed to traditional Atkins menus.) All meals looked similar but were cooked to different recipes. The low-carb meals were 5% carbs, 15% protein, 65% fat. The low fat group got 55% carbohydrate, 15% protein, 30% fat. Results: 1. All dieters lost weight, but those on low carb diet lost more than low fat group -- even while consuming MORE calories: - Group on lower-cal, low-carb diet lost an average of 23 lbs. - Group on same-calories low-fat diet lost an average of 17 lbs. - Group on extra 300 calories, low-carb diet lost an average of 20 lbs. 2. Over course of study, group of low carb dieters who got an extra 300 calories a day consumed extra 25,000 calories. That should have added up to about seven pounds. But for some reason, it did not. Discussion: "It doesn't make sense, does it?" said Barbara Rolls of Pennsylvania State University. "It violates laws of thermodynamics. No one has ever found any miraculous metabolic effects." So it violates laws of thermodynamics, huh? Not so fast! When it comes to calorie counting, "calorie is a calorie" concept is very deceiving. Let's see what we count when we think we count calories. When you burn a piece of wood in a stove, you can directly measure how much heat energy it produces. Then you can claim that you know how many calories a piece of wood contains, right? Not exactly. You should specify what kind of wood it was, dry or wet, how you burned it, etc. Because if you spent another material to start burning, you should subtract these calories from total; if wood was wet you should take into account calories that water evaporation took. So even with a piece of wood, it's not that simple. Now look at a piece of food. You know how they tell how many calories it contains? Same way they talk about a piece of wood in a stove. It's calorie number that food would produce by being burnt in a stove. Then in addition to wood's calorie estimation (that takes into account dryness, etc.), you should add many more circumstances: how hard should one chew it before being able to swallow, how hard one's enzyme system will have work to digest it, will it influence hormones in charge of fat storing? What about its effect on hormones in charge of fat burning? Which chain of reactions will it trigger, activity-wise or metabolism-wise? Will it make one sleepy, thus conserving energy? Ot will it make one jumpy, thus wasting energy? Study #3 by: Laboratory of Applied Physiology, Graduate School of Human and Environmental Studies, Kyoto University, Kyoto 606-8501, Japan Reported: J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2003 Dec;88(12):5661-7 Method: Healthy boys, aged 8-11 yr, were examined for resting energy expenditure and thermic effect of a meal, which were measured for three hours after a same-calorie but high-fat or a high-carb meals. Results: There was no changes after high carbohydrate meals but there was an increase in resting energy expenditure after a high-fat meal. If researchers in Study #2 would have measured resting energy expenditure and thermic effects of meals, they would probably have registered same changes. Then everybody would make a sigh of relief: none of laws of thermodynamics have been violated: yes, low-carb dieters COULD INDEED eat more calories and lose more weight than low-fat group while violating no physical laws because -- they just burnt more, all time, even at rest. It's that simple.
Tanya Zilberter, PhD, is a researcher, health educator, exercise physiologist, and scientific journalist. In health sciences since 1972, Dr. Zilberter authored several hundred scientific and popular publications, including four print books and more than a dozen of eBooks.
| | Are Weight Loss Supplements Right For You?Written by Tom Worsley
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Back to supplements. First they will not work if you do not get proper diet and at least exercise once per week. My wife has tried supplements and they did work for her. What supplements do is to help speed up your metabolism rate decreasing need for daily exercise. They also supplement nutrition needed that you may not be getting from your diet for proper weight loss. Weight loss supplements actually regulate your blood sugar level, this helps you overcome severe sugar and carbohydrate cravings that sabotage even most strong-willed weight loss efforts. So are weight loss nutrition supplements right for you? When my wife lost 40 pounds using supplements she felt great. She was happy and gained allot of self esteem back. Not to mention that she had allot more energy. If you have a hectic schedule and cannot find enough time in day to prepare proper nutritional meals and get regular daily exercise then I suggest you give supplements a try. My opinion is that if they help you to lose weight and make you feel good about yourself again then go for it. What do you have to lose except a few pounds. There are hundreds of products on internet you can try. A couple of my wife's favorites can be found at following web page. http://weight-loss-nutrition-supplements.com You can also get good information on dieting and weight loss at this site along with a very handy calorie calculator.
Tom Worsley is a successful internet entrepreneur and webmaster for several websites including the following 2 health and supplement related sites. http://weight-loss-nutrition-supplements.com & http://multivitamin-liquid-nutrition.com This article may be re-produced freely on your site and or in your newsletter as long as this resource box is included in its entirety.
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