Atkins Diet Misconceptions: Mental Acuity and Low Carb Zombies

In this video I discuss the subject of mental acuity and emotions on the Atkins Diet and the whole "Low Carb Zombies" myth.

Critics: "Low Carb Emotional Zombies"
Not only may the Atkins Diet impair mental functioning, it may impair emotional functioning as well. Researchers at MIT are afraid the Atkins Diet is likely to make many people--especially women--irritable and depressed.[197]
The Director of MIT's distinguished Clinical Research Center measured the serotonin levels in the brains of 100 volunteers eating different diets.[198]
http://www.atkinsexposed.org/atkins/32/Emotional_Zombie.htm

It's not unusual for people who are changing their eating patterns or embarking on any kind of diet to experience episodes of irritability. However, according to Psychology Today, many who are trying testing low-carbohydrate regimens are reporting unusually high feelings of anger, tension and depression. Dr. Wurtman claims that that it's a very well documented response-she calls it the "Atkins attitude".
http://www.geneva-health.com/sciencehealth/lowcarb.html

Check out the following sites:
http://www.jonnybowden.com/answers/2007/10/do-low-carb-diets-cause-depression...
September issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, researchers from Australia decided to investigate diet and mood. They put 93 overweight or obese men and women on one of two diets- high-carb low- fat, or low-carb high-fat. The diets ranged from 1400-1700 calories a day, approximately 30% less than what the participants were used to. The study lasted 8 weeks. At the beginning of the study- and for every 2 weeks afterwards-- participants were weighed, and also tested on three different standardized assessments of mood. They were also tested on memory and "Speed of cognitive processing", a measure of how quickly they could perform simple mental tasks.

Here's what the researchers found: Not surprisingly, the low-carb group lost significantly more weight. But everyone in both diet groups improved in mood, with no significant differences seen between the two groups. Memory was also the same in both groups, and both groups improved in "speed of cognitive processing" though the low carb group improved slightly less. (The researchers admitted that more studies were needed to see if that minor finding would be replicated.)

The ketogenic diet may have mood-stabilizing properties.

The ketogenic diet, originally introduced in the 1920s, has been undergoing a recent resurgence as an adjunctive treatment for refractory epilepsy, particularly in children. In this difficult-to-treat population, the diet exhibits remarkable efficacy with two-thirds showing significant reduction in seizure frequency and one-third becoming nearly seizure-free. There are several reasons to suspect that the ketogenic diet may also have utility as a mood stabilizer in bipolar illness. These include the observation that several anticonvulsant interventions may improve outcome in mood disorders.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11918434

http://www.journals.elsevierhealth.com/periodicals/bps/article/PIIS0006322304...
http://www.freewebs.com/stopped_our_statins/Diet%20-%20Ketogenic%20-%20Antide...
Journal of Biological Psychiatry
Pages 981-983 (15 December 2004)
Results

The rats on the ketogenic diet spent less time immobile, suggesting that rats on the ketogenic diet, like rats treated with antidepressants, are less likely to exhibit behavioral despair.
Conclusions
It is concluded that the ketogenic diet may have antidepressant properties.

The Effects of a Low-Carbohydrate Ketogenic Diet and a Low-Fat Diet on Mood, Hunger, and Other Self-Reported Symptoms*
http://www.nature.com/oby/journal/v15/n1/full/oby2007516a.html

Category:

Education

Tags:

• Atkins
• Diet
• Boot
• Camp
• Low
• Carb
• Bowulf
• Mental
• Acuity
• Depression
• Bipolar

[athletichunta]

can you be in ketosis and gluconeogenesis at the same time tho?.

[bowulf]

@athletichunta Yes, but as you are gluconeogenesis your weight loss will slow down...

[misslilygish]

Better a few weeks of grumpyness on low carb than years of grumpyness on low fat.

[bowulf]

@misslilygish I completely agree. People don't seem to understand that or willing to accept the short term loss for the long term benefits.

[MsOobii]

My interpretation having done a very low carb diet in the past was that I only felt better when some carbs were re-introduced. I am in favour of low-carbing but I thought the side effects of Atkins induction were horrendous and pretty much unnecessary. I actually lost a load of weight when I ate fruit again because the energy level was so low on high protein. People have also gone long enough periods with meat only and have actually died as a result, which kind of says it all really!

[bowulf]

@MsOobii Thanks for your perspective, but it was only after going through the restrictive period and getting properly acclimated that I functioned well. For me, a week of discomfort was worth 7 subsequent years of fantastic health and energy.  Heck, I even run marathons now on ~25g of carbs per day.

As for the claim people eating meat only, Vilhjalmur Stefansson ate only beef for 2 years and was healthy. That said, this is not that diet nor is it even high protein. It is high fat.

[MsOobii]

@bowulf My memory isn't completely clear on the death / meat thing, perhaps it was protein without fat and carbs that caused it.. It was based on some sort of protein "fasting" idea that turned out to be a daft idea. There are definitely pros to it, I'm not disagreeing. I for one get bad heartburn and yeast issues from carbs... Still, informative video, thanks :-)

[landriajennette]

God Bless you sweetheart , so sorry for your loss :(

[enpnews]

I've had just the opposite experience of the person who was concerned about mental effects: I have an anger and depression problem normally, but the few times I've done Atkins for a significant period of time, I was calmer and more energetic.