kirstenplotkin answers:

D. Because any energy that isn’t used will be stored as fat for future energy reserves. So excess body fat, that’s the fat your body manufactures from carbohydrates, not the fat you eat, will lead to obesity for sure.  Carbohydrate manufacturers, and there is a multitude of those, will have you believe that carbohydrates produce energy and the more you have the more energy you get.  That is a gross distortion of the facts.  All carbohydrates, whatever they are and whatever healthy names they are given – all get treated the same by your body.  They are turned into glucose, (sugar) and whatever you don’t burn on the day is turned into fat and stored on your body, around your vital organs and in your arteries.

You will only ever burn the energy you use.  Energy is not about feeling energetic, it’s about actively burning energy by doing stuff that requires you to exert yourself.  Today’s so called healthy lifestyle puts very few demands on that energy.  The average person uses barely a fraction of the glucose available each day.  Glucose cannot be stored till tomorrow, if energy is not being produced, it is stored as fat.

When you think fat – think carbohydrate. Fat is exactly what you’ll get with every bowl of cereal, every bread roll or slice of bread,  every potato chip and every bowl of pasta, just to name a few.   To get the carbohydrate your body needs you will have more than enough by eating a few greens with your dinner and having a green salad for lunch.  That is, unless you are a gym junkie or a marathon runner or similar.

kirstenplotkin answers:

It is true. I am so excited, this was written by a lawyer. Nothing will change until they, the governments, get sued for malpractice. Apparently the American Heart Assc. Is at least doing studies of the effects of carbs & fats to the heart, but the American Diabetes Assc. Is giving dangerous advice – truly detrimental recommendations to diabetics based on faulty science as against very clear science that has never been in dispute about diabetic blood sugar levels & carb intake.

Gary Taubes who wrote “Good Calories, Bad Calories” spent 7 years going through all the studies over the last century & dividing up the real science from the faulty science & it clearly shows that not only is low carbohydrates the best way to control insulin levels which balances out other hormones & allows the body to function properly but refined carbs cause serious damage to health. See the 1 hour Taubes lecture posted below.

His main points are:

1. Dietary fat, whether saturated or not, is not a cause of obesity, heart disease or any other chronic disease.

2. The problem is refined carbs in diet, their effect on insulin secretion & the hormonal regulation of homeostasis.

3. Sugars – sucrose, high-fructose corn syrup specifically – are particularly harmful, the combination of fructose & glucose simultaneously elevates insulin levels & overloads the liver with carbs.

4. Through their direct effects on insulin & blood sugar, refined carbohydrates, starches, sugars are the dietary cause of coronary heart disease & type2 diabetes. They are likely dietary causes of cancer, Alzheimer’s & other diseases.

5. Obesity is a disorder of excess fat accumulation, not overeating.

6. Consuming excess calories does not cause us to grow fatter.

7. Fat & obesity are caused by an imbalance in the hormonal regulation of adipose tissue & fat metabolism. Fat synthesis & storage exceed the mobilization of fat from adipose tissue & its subsequent oxidation.

8. Insulin is the primary regulator of fat storage. When insulin levels fall, we release fat from fat tissue.

9. By stimulating insulin secretion, carbs make us fat.

10. By driving fat accumulation, carbohydrates also increase hunger & decrease the amount of energy we expend in metabolism & physical activity.

There is no better way to bring the body to the state of optimal health than with a low carbohydrate way of eating. Low carbohydrate doesn’t cause high blood pressure, high blood sugar or high cholesterol, it cures it. It is actually dangerous to take meds that lower these levels and do low carb at the same time because the levels will be come dangerously low. Simple carbohydrates trigger insulin. High insulin levels unbalance other hormones. Anything less that 9 grams of carbs per hour controls insulin and is considered low carb (up to 144 grams per day).

U.S. Government guidelines were changed 35 years ago to suggest we lower our fat intake & increase our carbohydrate intake. American society followed these recommendations & lowered their fat intake by 11% & increased their carb consumption. In this same time frame obesity, diabetes, heart disease are all at epidemic levels. Through their direct effects on insulin & blood sugar, refined carbohydrates are the dietary cause of coronary heart disease & diabetes.

A low carbohydrate diet is a high fat diet. The protein should only be a little higher than adequate. Although it is completely possible to live on a fat/protein only diet for long term (as proven by research done in a hospital setting) it becomes boring fairly quickly. Luckily many vegetables & some fruits, nuts & seeds are low in carbs & greatly expand the diet. Most long term low carbers eat as many, if not more non starchy vegetables than vegetarians.

Glucose is the bodies preferred fuel (if you want to get technical, it actually burns alcohol most efficiently, but that doesn’t make it any healthier for the body than carbs), the body can convert 100% of carbohydrates, 58% of protein & 10% of dietary fat into glucose. The body can also be fueled by fat (dietary fat & fat cells) but only in the absence of carbs. Your brain actually prefers* to be fueled by ketones (part of the fat burning process), it does require glucose also, but glucose can be easily converted from excess protein if needed or dietary fat.

Plaque build up in the arteries is more attributable to carbohydrate consumption than dietary fats, which seems to be the conclusion of the following study. Carbohydrate consumption raises triglycerides & VLDL (bad cholesterol). Fats raise the HDL (good cholesterol). High triglyceride levels & low HDL levels are an indicator of plaque & glycation – the precursors to a heart attack & heart disease.

Http://heartscanblog.blogspot.com/2009/1…

study from the Oxford group examining the postprandial (after-eating) effects of a low-fat vs. Low-carbohydrate diet. (Roberts R et al, 2008)

Postprandial lipoproteins, you’d think, would be plentiful after ingesting a large quantity of fat, since fat must be absorbed via

kirstenplotkin answers:

At 6’1″ why would you want to lose more weight? 185 is not that big for that height.  However, if you confine your carbohydrates to green salads and vegetables, and focus on proteins you can forget calories and let your body regulate your weight.  Any excess weight will quickly disappear.  Calories are not important unless you diet and dieting is not necessary if you let your body do the work on the type of food it was created to digest.

kirstenplotkin answers:

To answer your question: It’s because the people who prepare and serve the food in a restaurants knows what their patrons want.  They are simply meeting the demand.  Making the assumption that a vegan diet is superior and better for your health is as dangerous as assuming a carbohydrate diet will make kids grow up strong and healthy.   Humankind would not exist today without the proteins of meat and fish and eggs etc.  Proteins are the building blogs of life. They build and repair your bones, your organs, tissue and muscle.  No vegetable can do that.  A vegan diet is virtually 100% carbohydrate.  That is not the food Mother Nature created your body to process and eat.