The Carb-Sane Asylum

I think this post has needed a bump for a while.     I also think the data on growing animals eating a keto diet should be cause for at least caution in encouraging such diets for kids, teens or even young adults. ORIGINAL POST DATE 3/20/2012 One of the more difficult things to sort out from the enormous amount of information out there is the actual effect, if any, of dietary composition on resulting body composition.  This is complicated from the get-go by many rodent studies that are done on reproductively mature animals that are still growing.  How to compare this to humans who cease growing vertically once they reach adulthood?  Next we have to sort through the studies that are done, and the implications of them, in the context of weight loss/underfeeding vs. those in the context of weight gain/overfeeding.  Clearly there are compensatory mechanisms at play in both situations that are drastically different.  Lastly, and here's where we probab...

In recent months, mainly sparked by Mr. Exercise Only Makes You Hungry's appearance on the Dr. Oz show, there seems to have been some renewed interest in the LC community in the role of exercise for weight loss.  Most studies show little effect of exercise only, but, as the authors of this study I'm about to share state,  "these conclusions are drawn from studies in which individual energy intake and expenditure were not rigorously controlled or accurately measured"  .  When it has been controlled, the calorie deficits created through exercise alone were not sufficient to produce significant weight loss. Reduction in Obesity and Related Comorbid Conditions after Diet-Induced Weight Loss or Exercise-Induced Weight Loss in Men This study was done in weight stable (6+ months prior to study) obese (BMI >27) men with waist circumferences over 100 cm (~39").    The men were sedentary, non-smokers, non-light drinkers, and had normal lipids and glucose toleran...

Thanks to Mirrorball for "putting a bug in my ear" regarding the impact of exercise on insulin levels.  The basic thought being that if Taubes' theory that lowering insulin makes you lose weight, then exercise should be very effective, especially if you couple it with carbohydrate restriction.  Because, if you "overeat" protein and fat calories those don't impact body weight right? So I found this study: Effects of Aerobic or Resistance Exercise and/or Diet on Glucose Tolerance and Plasma Insulin Levels in Obese Men   Basically they took three groups of men averaging 40-47 years of age, ~100kg weight, ~32 BMI and did 3 interventions:  DO = diet only DA = diet + aerobic exercise DR = diet + resistance exercise

I'm always amused when a rodent study that seemingly counters the calorie-based theories on obesity comes down the pike.  In predictable fashion, someone in the LC webosphere will pick up on it and use it as an example to counter calorie-based theories on weight/obesity.   A recent example of this is brought to us by low carbers' favorite comedian edutainer, Tom Naughton:  Fat Mice & The Laws of Thermodynamics  that referenced the following study:   Mild calorie Restriction Induces Fat Accumulation in Female c57BL/6J Mice .   Now Tom starts out misrepresenting things by picturing a fat mouse, likely an ob/ob.  This study actually involved females of the strain pictured below: Kind of a cute little critter, no?   The study was also conducted in the context of calorie restriction and its demonstrated increase in longevity of mice.  They are not a mutant strain genetically predisposed to obesity.

There's an interesting related conversation on this topic going on over at Paul Jaminet's site: Water Weight: Does It Change When Changing Diets? Does It Matter? For those not familiar with the Perfect Health diet, one component is to get ~400 cal in "safe starches" -- around 100g.  For those transitioning to their diet from a low carb diet, some have experienced a not-unexpected weight gain.  I've added some thoughts to the comments there and -- can't be sure and some is just a hunch -- but I think any weight bounce is probably more carb associated, predominantly glycogen repletion.  It may well be due to replenishing other "carb" molecules with their associated water as well.  My guess is that for the most part these changes show up on the scale more than in dimensions.  That was my experience during the almost 3 years of my "low carb cheating" plan.  I can't know for sure for the first year and a half or so of that, because I never...

Ever since I discovered that Taubes had actually cited the 2003 Reshef et.al. paper in GCBC, I've been intrigued by what many of his other references ACTUALLY said.    In that regard, I've picked up a few of these older text books by various authors and experts cited by Taubes in the book. One such expert is Keith Frayn, who I've dubbed "the English guy" as Taubes previously described him.  I've been sharing some of his more scholarly contributions (e.g. peer review journal articles), and have more to come on that front.  None of these made it into GCBC, however.  I'll leave it to you, my readers, to decide for yourselves what this says about the quality of Taubes' research on the topic. But this post is looking at the words of Keith Frayn that Taubes DID include in GCBC.   Chapter 17 of GCBC opens as follows: Before World War II, the proposition that obesity was caused by overeating - the positive-caloric-balance hypothesis - was one of sever com...