I went back to the Frontline site yesterday and found Diet Wars. It’s all about American’s obesity problems, the various diets, what really works and what doesn’t.
It’s probably obvious that all diets basically don’t really work or you could look at it as they all do work as long as in the long run they lower your calorie intake. Lowering Fat doesn’t work because usually your calorie intake is still the same. Lowering Carbs and only eating protein and fat kind of works because you’ll most likely end up eating less calories but you’ll also hurt your body in the long run. Basically you just have to do what common sense tells you. Eat less and move more.
But the program goes into a lot more detail than the summary above covering things like how America’s kids are coming down with diseases that were usually reserved only for overweight older people. It looks like it’s going to be a huge problem in the near future. Also how basically America’s whole culture now is about eating all day long while sitting in front of the TV or computer watching TV, videos, cable, video games, netting, etc. How people believe stupid things like if you eat 3000 calories of fat vs 3000 calories of carbs you’ll get fatter. You won’t, you’ll get he same amount fatter. It goes into things like the details of low fat or fat free foods and how they have the same amount of calories so they are not actually less fattening but that people thinking it’s all about the fat general eat even more of them make it worse.
If you’ve got broadband I really suggest you watch. Even if you don’t have broadband you can still read some of their materials.
Americans tend to forget that the current obesity epidemic is a relatively recent phenomena. However, when the average American is now overweight, that becomes the norm and lessens the apparent severity of the problem. One of the reasons I like visiting Japan is that I can see lots of people like me (BMI = 20) or thinner! If more Americans would travel overseas, they would see how bad the problem is here and realize it’s not normal.
England is supposedly almost as bad as America. Japan is changing as well, there are lots more fat kids than in the past.
One thing that has always made me curious is are Japanese shorter on average because of genetics or diet? I never noticed American Japanese to be short on average and yet here in Japan the natives are clearly shorter. If it is genetic then maybe being thinner on average is also genetic. For example. the average adult male shoe size in Japan is I think 8. It’s 10 in America. That’s not related to fatness as far as I know so maybe it’s not fair to compare.
dieting is somewhat uninformed. low-carb is not no-carb, after the first two weeks low-card dieters are encouraged to raise their carbs gradually, to find the maximum carb level they can eat while still remaining in the state of ketosis. (Ketosis is breaking down fat into ketone bodies that the body can use for some kinds of energy).
the big secret of low-carb is that carbs are really not satiating (and not that healthy anyway) so it behooves one to limit their intake as much as possible.
another way to look at it is since we only need 50-100g of protein a day, the rest of our calories have to come from either fat or carbs.
Carbs drive insulin production, which drives out blood sugar, which then results in hunger. I’ve lost 40lbs in 5 months, with zero hunger pangs, limiting (but not eliminating carbs) and so am a big believer in the healthiness of cutting back on carbs and eating more fat instead.
When I left Japan in 2000 I weighed 90kg. Over 3 years in the the US I gained 1.5lbs mo, up to 236.5. I now weigh 87kg, and am shooting for my 1992 weight, ~80kg, which was the weight I first arrived in Japan at. (damn am/pm, lawson, and first kitchen!)
the main reason americans are fat is that becoming fat isn’t that much a penalty. We drive to the store once a week and load up the SUV with crap, while the Japanese carry home their groceries every night. That alone is a big effect.
Plus having to use public transit in Japan will tend to keep you slim. The heavier you get the more of a workout it is to get to school/work.
Here in the states supermarkets now have powered wheelchairs so fat people can cruise the aisles in comfort. blegh.
there are a ridiculous amount of misconceptions on this topic lol.
a low carb diet is not a good long term lifestyle change. Ketosis is your body’s starvation mechanism. Over the long term it will cause kidney damage among other things.
“so am a big believer in the healthiness of cutting back on carbs and eating more fat instead.”
i assume you think of healthiness as lowering your body fat, but you’re probably doing a lot more damage to your arteries by consuming large amounts of fat with high levels of saturated and trans fats. I doubt you’re getting balanced levels of omega’s 3, 6, and 9. So you may be skinnier, but you’re taking a toll on your heart, you just can’t see it in the mirror. Just a question, do you exercise regularly? I don’t see how you could get very far just running off ketones
and consuming 3000 calories of X vs 3000 calories of Y could cause you to get fatter, it’s not stupid at all. Say you drink 3000 calories of soda, you’re gonna pack on much more fat than if you ate 3000 calories worth of plain oatmeal. Different foods are digested very differently. Sugar gets absorbed very quickly, you’re body can’t handle it so it turns it into fat. Oatmeal is broken down slowly, being used more for fuel, thus less of it is turned into fat.
the only way to lead a healthy lifestyle is to exercise and eat good foods. Sugar is the primary source that makes people fat. You eat too much of anything and you’ll get fatter, sugar is just a shortcut if you’re too lazy to get fat the old fashioned way.
People in america just need to get their asses off the couch and stop chugging soda
I don’t follow Atkins, and I don’t try to go into ketosis. I just limit carbs to modulate insulin swings, and use the calories for more satisfying foods like almonds.
I agree that we don’t know the full health effects of staying in ketosis for long periods of time, which is why I don’t even try for it.
However, your assertions that ketosis will cause kidney damage, and eating a high-fat diet is unhealthy is currently *not* supported by the science coming out. High saturated fat diets do not necessarily result in bad blood profiles. Counter-intuitive, but that’s what the research is showing.
FWIW, by fats I meant unsaturated fats like what I get from almonds and fish. I also take a Omega-3-6-9 capsule with dinner. I exercise on my bike weekly, and I do carb up before during and after that exercise — I’m not on atkins, but people can and do lead active lives once their bodies get acclimated to the ketogenic diet.
I agree about the sugar and exercise thing. One thing that learning about atkins taught me was that bread is roughly equivalent to cotton candy as far as carb load goes. I’ve cut my bread consumption down a lot.
If I go back to Japan I’ll have to look at my rice consumption, but since I will be in maintenance then I don’t think it will be such a big deal. I cut carbs because I only have 2000 kcal/day to eat, and carbs don’t bring much bang for the caloric buck.
i’ve always been curious about that. Atkins and the Zone would both claim rice is bad for you but the Japan (and probably Chinese and Koreans) eat tons of it. Generally 2 to 5 times the amount the Zone would allow per day. Look around, there are very few fat Japanese people. In fact you don’t even have to look at the people, go to the store and try to find a pair of mens jeans over size 32. You can’t.
That suggests there are other things involved here.
I would never go on Atkins, whether or not it worked or was good for me since eating is one of my reasons for living
I’m not going to give up ice cream, potatoes, rice, tarts, pastas, breads, etc. But, having read the Zone I am at least aware of some of the issues and try to not pig out on them. 
like I said below, the main reason Japanese are not fat is that living in an urban area without a vehicle requires you to move your ass a lot, and also crimps what you’re bringing home from the store.
atkins and zone dieting is just a technique to avoid hunger while maintaining a caloric deficit. cutting down the carbs, especially high-glycemic carbs that cause hunger later, is very good idea if you’re trying to lose weight.
I agree about having to modify your diet too much on atkins. I can lose 1kg/week just eating moderately, and that’s good enough for me. Really one shouldn’t lose faster than that anyway.
greggman, since you’re a hacker dude, check out:
the hacker’s diet (google it) if you are looking to lose some weight…
his general approach certainly worked for me…
over 8 years in Japan 1992-2000 I zoomed up from ~175 -> 200lb, living in Cal. again I went up to 235, but now I’m back to where I was around 1998 or so, in just 5 months of e-z dieting.
a ballooned up in 1993-1995. I was 210. I went to 185 just by cutting out all drinks with calories (no regular coke, no sodas, no fruit juice, no jamba juice) and I stopped ordering sides (no fries for example). That’s it. I didn’t change anything else. A single can of coke is practically the same calories as an entire hamburger!
After that I moved to Japan where I get the walking, at least 40 mins a day, and in general probably eat less fattening foods. Less pizza, pasta and burgers. Also my fridge is small so I can’t go to the super market and fill it with snacks :-p That’s brought me down to a low of 170 maybe though I think I’m probably at 175 again right now.
Troy, the main reason why Japanese aren’t fat is that they eat so much less.
Americans: 3770 kcal/day
Japanese: 2750 kcal/day
http://www.fao.org/es/ess/compendium_2003/pdf/ESS_USA.pdf
http://www.fao.org/es/ess/compendium_2003/pdf/ESS_JPN.pdf
Japan isn’t as urban as most people think and a lot of areas even in or just outside Tokyo don’t have good public transit. People there drive to do most of their shopping.
http://www.extique.com Faigin’s NHE saved my bllod profile and my tuckus. Eat according to the way one’s body is genetically and endocrinologically predisposed to handling food. Our biology hasn’t changed, food corporations and our lifestyles have created an environment that makes us maladjusted hormonally. Calories are measured by using a calorimeter. It actually burns the sample to derive the caloric value. Our bodies do not do that, olive oil has many more calories than a rice cake cracker, yet olive oil has negligible effects on insulin levels. Caloric intake is a confusing issue, I just count grams. Love the site!
I’m on the first week (“Metabolic Shift” phase) of the diet. So just plain low carb. I’ll do my first carbo loads this coming Sunday evening. Anyway, I just thought it interesting that so many have experience with Japan since I’ve been living here in Sapporo for about 18 years.
Dave