The Battle of the Diets: Is Anyone Winning (At Losing?)

January 17, 2008 presentation by Christopher Gardner for the Stanford School of Medicine Medcast lecture series.


The case for low-carbohydrate diets is gaining weight. Christopher Gardner, PhD, assistant professor of medicine at the Stanford Prevention Research Center, has completed the largest and longest-ever comparison of four popular diets using real-world conditions, which he discusses - the lowest-carbohydrate Atkins diet came out on top.

Stanford University School of Medicine:
http://med.stanford.edu/

Stanford University Channel on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/stanforduniversity

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[Jitpring]

@bassrecorder1 I just finished Taubes' "Why We Get Fat," which led me to this video. I'm now on Atkins.

[RustyIronloins]

The high-protein caveat @ 34:00 was baseless. He admitted he had no evidence, yet he toed the party-line that high protein 'might' have detrimental long-term health effects. Without evidence, what good is mere speculation? Isn't it speculation regarding diets that this study explodes?

BTW, soy is no good for athletic men . . . talk about proven detrimental health consequences. Also, this guy does not know his fats.

[misslilygish]

There things in red meat that you can not get from other foods. Also, there have been studies that show that the brain needs a certain amount of cholesteral.

[MisterWeatherby]

So it seems if you are 30-34 bmi, with a gut, you might be insulin resistant, and you should really study Atkins for 8 weeks, and do the diet for a year. Also follow the water advice in case the upcoming study is right about the explanation for differences being the extra water. That's what it "seems" to be saying.

[MisterWeatherby]

I wish I had eaten low-carb long ago because, even anecdotally, I do have more energy. I was a good athlete but would have liked the extra energy to use. Nice study. I liked the part showing the effectiveness of Atkins on insulin resistant folks. I also liked how Atkins lowered all numbers for common risk measures for heart disease... even though the control group couldn't hold to 15% carbs. It appears to be effective even if it isn't followed exactly... especially if you are insulin resistant.

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[tubo1812]

I am interested in the formula he gave to see if you have insulin sensitivity. Is is triglycerides divided by HDL with a value of equal or more than 3?

[JackFook]

@andrewpmack

None of that matters because it doesn't work like that. The cause of obesity is not overeating. The cause of weight loss is not undereating. Obesity is a disorder of excess fat accumulation, not a disorder of overeating. So what controls fat accumulation?

The most probable answer: watch?v=M6vpFV6Wkl4

Full title: Authors@Google: Gary Taubes

[andrewpmack]

At 20:00 Gardner says "if all groups had really cut back that many calories they would have all lost 40 lbs." He attributes the discrepancy in weight loss to false reporting of calories consumed. However, this would require consistent false reporting in some groups but not others.

A better conclusion is that the calories burned in all 4 groups was not the same. The Atkins group had relatively more energy available while the other 3 groups had relatively less energy.

[JackFook]

@ABL36

In all examples, the cause is hormones, the effect is activity level.

More T = more active

More insulin = less active

More GH = more active

From there, we can determine in advance who will become a successful athlete. With study and practice, we develop, improve and maintain skill. The more practice, the better the skills. Being leaner/stronger/taller means we get selected for the team, we get more practice time, we become successful athletes.