Seven Myths About Low Carb Diets

There are a lot of myths and misconceptions about low-carb diets. Anti-low carb information often draws an image of people eating very unhealthy diets, with no vegetables or fruits, guzzling cream and eating bacon dipped in butter all day. We are supposedly courting heart disease, and are on a dangerous road to poor health.
The truth is that low-carb diets focus on nutritious, healthy food, and research into reducing carbs continues to show more and more positive results. Here are the myths about low-carb diets I hear most often.

1. Low Carb = No Carb
This misconception is the idea that a low-carb diet must be really really low in carbohydrates. You will read that low carb diets attempt to eliminate carbohydrates, for example.

Fact: Not one low-carb diet author advocates this. Even Atkins Induction, which is very low in carbohydrates, is not no carb, is only meant to last two weeks, and actually can be skipped altogether, according to the Atkins Web site.

Fact: Diet authors who recommend reducing carbs have all sorts of different ideas about carb levels.

Fact: The carbohydrate level should be adjusted to the individual.

Fact: Over the years, the nutritional establishment has been gradually lowering the range of recommended carbohydrate in the diet, at the same time condemning reduced-carb diets, some of which may be recommending the lower end of the new accepted range, or close to it. Example: Dr. Dean Edell, a prominent media physician, once stated that the Zone Diet, a 40% carbohydrate, low saturated fat diet, could be dangerous because it is too low in carbohydrates. The National Academy of Sciences recommends that 45% to 65% of the diet be carbohydrate, depending upon the individual.
2. Low-Carb Diets Discourage Eating Vegetables and Fruits
Because vegetables and fruits are mainly carbohydrate, people believe that they are not allowed on low-carb diets.
Fact: The opposite is true - non-starchy vegetables are usually at the bottom of the low carb pyramids meaning they are the staff of life of the diet (replacing grains in that role) and people who follow a low-carb way of eating almost always eat more vegetables than the general population. For the most part, vegetables and fruits ARE the carbs eaten when following a low-carb way of eating.

3. Low-Carb Diets Have Inadequate Fiber
The reasoning goes that since fiber IS carbohydrate, a low-carb diet MUST be low in fiber.
Fact: Since fiber remains undigested (in fact, it lessens the impact of other carbohydrates on blood sugar), it is encouraged on low-carb diets. Lots of low-carb foods are high in fiber, and on diets that encourage carb counting, fiber does not enter into the calculation.
4. People Eating Low Carb Are Courting Heart Disease
Fact: In study after study, blood pressure, cholesterol, triglycerides, and other markers for heart disease risk decline on low-carb diets. Also, in one large long term study, even low-carb diets with a lot of animal fat and protein did not raise the risk of heart disease.

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[ConcreteRiver]

@Aethren great false generalisations there meatbrah. millions of people, all over the world, do not ingest the rotten flesh of an animal and they are very healthy and lean and fit. if you are going to try to argue the points FOR your diet, please don't make untrue sweeping generalisations. there are vegan olympic athletes, powerlifters, endurance runners, strength coaches, football players, basketball players. all a hell of lot healthier than you are ya fuckin troll.

[Aethren]

@auggiedoggy And yet degenerative diseases such as cancer, sclerosis etc are non-existent. The main cause of death is from famine and, ironically enough, diseases and conditions from contact with modern society (Inuit who eat like most of us do get sick and die form it, while their elders live on). "en. wikipedia. org/ wiki/ Inuit #Diet" Their diet is fine, ours isn't. PS: Suicide and infanticide also drag down the averages in an artificial manner. Common among Inuit.

[auggiedoggy]

@Aethren : Inuit in Canada have a shorter life expectancy than other people in Canada. That from a report entitled ‘Life is Short’ from the Conference Board of Canada’s Centre for the North.

The report indicates the average Inuit life expectancy is 66.7 years.

[Aethren]

@zumibutton ...Continued: To sum it up, sorry if I came accross as a hate-fueled jackass, but after decades hearing people spew nonsense based on misinformation, it gets annoying at some point... I'm not saying you should stop eating vegetables, but the prejudice against meat is unfounded and, unfortunately, became a flagship fad cause for morons and misfits who seek attention to rally under. Even if some vegans do it for a valid reason, most a posers who mimic anything that's hip...

[Aethren]

@zumibutton People who advocate not eating meat at all are a generation of sheep who got spoonfed the 1950's propaganda against saturated fats, mostly fueled by a biased study by Ancel Keyes (the 7 Countries Study). They failed, however, to isolate fat intake and intentionally left out the relationship between sugar and the damaging effects of attributed to fat. Eskimos eat almost 80% animal fat, and live in good health into their 80s with no sign of CHD or degenerative conditions.

[zumibutton]

@Aethren, Wow, ignorant...

[killaj29ny]

@Aethren Fruits do contain fruit sugar but their not "high" in fructose.Fruits contain vitamins and minerals needed by the body to function properly.. Now something like fruit juice, THAT is high in fructose and it offers no structural nutrition and it causes the insulin spike. As for the protein and animal fats, its true that they are important for the body but food alone won't be enough to make your joints stronger, its exercising those joints that will improve their strength and stability.

[Aethren]

@TerryNoble Take your fad-vegan ass out with the other sissies that dont eat enough meat.

[PokliCbvgt]

My happiness Asian Beauties **lushfmlk.info**

[TerryNoble]

She looks unhealthy shes about to decay too much meat in her diet. nothin like fibre fruit grains for lookin young