Low fat vs Low carb—it’s a draw!

[jess9395 5,448]

Thanks to@Johnnycakes for bringing this to my attention! Great randomized study by docs at Stanford!

The study does rely on self report so there’s room for error but with the sample size and random assignment it really give some significant results. Also shows that food quality matters as in whole not processed foods—

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/2673150?redirect=true

http://med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2018/02/low-fat-or-low-carb-its-a-draw-study-finds.html

https://nytimes.com/2018/02/20/well/eat/counting-calories-weight-loss-diet-dieting-low-carb-low-fat.html?referer=https://www.google.com/

[Healthy_life2 8,319]

14 minutes ago, jess9395 said:

Thanks to@Johnnycakes for bringing this to my attention! Great randomized study by docs at Stanford!

The study does rely on self report so there’s room for error but with the sample size and random assignment it really give some significant results. Also shows that food quality matters as in whole not processed foods—

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/2673150?redirect=true

http://med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2018/02/low-fat-or-low-carb-its-a-draw-study-finds.html

https://nytimes.com/2018/02/20/well/eat/counting-calories-weight-loss-diet-dieting-low-carb-low-fat.html?referer=https://www.google.com/

I just read eat fast run slow by shalane flanagan (olympic distance runner and whole food chef) She talks about the quality of your Protein and carbs. Also how women need a certain amount of quality fats when you are athletic. Amenorrhoea is so common for women and sports. Healthy fats are necessary for hormones.

I guess I better get some links up for the analytical people on the board..lol

@JohnnyCakes No disrespect. You are just overly passionate about your thoughts on correct nutrition.

[blizair09 3,250]

This is the best quote from the "Low-fat or Low-carb?" article: "On both sides, we heard from people who had lost the most weight that we had helped them change their relationship to food, and that now they were more thoughtful about how they ate."

In all of my time participating in BP, that's what I keep saying. There are those on here who don't buy into low carb or Keto diets. I get that. But I do take some offense when it is called a fad diet. I have been eating this way for 2 years (since six months pre-op), and it is a key to my success. I have eaten this way with the support of my entire medical team (PCP and bariatric), and my labs continue to be perfect -- absolutely perfect. I am below goal, and have been maintaining for months with ease.

That being said, this way of eating isn't for everyone, just like treating food as strictly fuel isn't for everyone. The later was necessary for me, and the former is sustainable for me; that is the key.

For me, however one chooses to proceed with this journey, the key to success is making the relationship with food positive and healthy. In so many posts on BP, that continues to be the issue. People treat the surgery (whichever one they choose) as if it's the primary answer when it is merely a supporting player.

[JohnnyCakes 593]

4 hours ago, jenn1 said:

@JohnnyCakes No disrespect. You are just overly passionate about your thoughts on correct nutrition.

it's all good. thanks for the re-boot thread, Jess. i felt bad for hijacking that woman's thread. although she wasn't very nice to me trying to help her.

and i'm sorry you felt like i was "screaming". bygones...

anyway - let me state something from the outset..... my only dogma is this - WE KNOW/UNDERSTAND VERY, VERY LITTLE about obesity, dieting, and what constitutes a healthy diet. very, very, very little. i have heard this, in private conversations, from some of the top obesity researchers in the world. like... scary little.

so anyone coming at you as if they have THE ANSWERS (friends, magazines, blogs, doctors, anyone) you should take as a major red flag.

what i am reasonably confident in, at this point, is very broad:

- i believe obesity is a genetic problem largely out of people's control. it's not a character issue as the American population (and skinny people boosting their own ego) like to portray it as.

- i believe there's an environmental "x-factor" we have not discovered yet (BPA? EMF?) that is propagating a genetic instruction. but, it's likely a small factor.

- i believe Michael Pollan's simplistic prescription is probably best: "eat REAL FOOD. not too much. mainly plants."

- i don't believe in counting calories or macronutrients anymore. i think one should eat real food when they are hungry. stop when they are full. what is real food? i came up with a rhyme to tell people who ask me what i eat:

"if it grows in the ground,
or falls from a tree,
grazes on land,
or swims in the sea."

if what you're about to put in your mouth doesn't do one of those 4 things, chances are you shouldn't be eating it.

- i believe "set point theory" is the best we got right now. mainly because it leaves a lot of room for doubt and further research/explanation. it's a 30,000ft view that the statistics bear out to be true, even if we don't know why. yet. and right now that's good enough for me.

Edited February 22, 2018 by JohnnyCakes

[jess9395 5,448]

I believe most of what you’ve said too.

I do think many of us have forgotten how to listen to our bodies so the eat when we are hungry and stop when we are full (and I would say satisfied...not full) is a foreign language we have to re learn. And until then (if that ever happens) tracking is a useful tool.

I also don’t espouse the mainly plants. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with mainly plants but I also don’t see anything wrong with more animal products. We evolved as omnivores so I eat as one.

My guideline for “real food” is one that doesn’t have ingredients, it IS an ingredient.

And yeah, I eat lower carb. I feel better when I do. Is that more mental than an actually physical process? Perhaps. I also feel I have better control over the “not too much” when I’m eating fewer carbs, even fruit.

But does that mean it’s an answer? Nope. Just what works for me, and perhaps it’s fully mental! (Well and the fact that grains and breads are uncomfortable in my sleeve).