Search Results for: blog low carb diets and conventional wisdom

How Much Water?

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“My mom says I’m drinking too much water and that’s why I’m not losing weight. How much water should I be drinking?” Your Mom is full of something and it ain’t water! The human body is made up of mostly water. Think about that. There is water in every cell. Muscle cells, fat cells, skin cells and even bone cells. They all need water. Now it would be lovely if we could choose which cells get dehydrated when we don’t drink enough water. If we could just tap all the water from our fat cells, voila! Our problems would be … Continue reading →

Fad Diets: The Grapefruit Diet or New Mayo Diet

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(This diet has no connection to the Mayo Clinic.) This diet promises that you’ll lose 52 pounds if you follow it properly for 10 weeks. Most of us can lose about that much by exercising every day and replacing a fatty meal with a salad every day but there seems to be more attraction to following a rigid diet like this. There are lots of rules to this diet: * As with all diets, you must drink eight 8 ounce glasses of water every day. You can eat at every meal until you are full (the items listed are the … Continue reading →

Protein and Dieting

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I’ve shared a great deal with my pals at the Diary of an Overweight Mom Forum and they’ve shared a great deal with me too. I think the most important thing I’ve shared with them is the need for adequate amounts of protein when we’re trying to lose weight. So often we cut out protein because it provides the biggest chunk of calories through the course of our day but we’re doing ourselves a great disservice when we do this. Sure, it seems logical. Instead of having a 230 calorie roasted chicken breast, you could just have a 65 calorie … Continue reading →

Low-Carb Diets and Conventional Wisdom

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Low-carbohydrate diets do work. People on low-carbohydrate diets are able to eat less and feel full and satisfied from the high-protein and high-fat foods that are allowed on low-carb diets. These diets have also been shown to lower blood pressure and cholesterol levels. So why isn’t everybody going low-carb? Conventional “Wisdom” Meaning that knowledge base that doctors of today who went to medical school yesterday and yesteryear have in their doctor’s bags. Their knowledge is based on studies done in the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s. It is old! After all, the Atkins Diet didn’t blast off until the 70’s and … Continue reading →

Not the Fat but the Carbs!

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Gary Taubes has written a new book entitled Good Calories, Bad Calories: Challenging the Conventional Wisdom on Diet, Weight Control, and Disease . He does indeed challenge the conventional wisdom. He contends that it isn’t fat making Americans fat and causing cancer, heart disease and other terminal ailments but it is refined carbohydrates. I am inclined to agree with him. Ever since American started eating fat-free foods (which happen to have even more carbs than the fat containing versions), they’ve been gaining even more weight! Needless to say, Taubes’ position is pretty controversial. Unlike the doctors, dietitians and nutritionists of … Continue reading →