From: gts (gts_2000@yahoo.com)
Date: Fri May 23 2003 - 14:14:21 MDT
Harvey Newstrom wrote:
> Aren't you concerned that they didn't control or monitor the
> food intake and that the study itself said a lot of people
> weren't really following the diet?
Yes and no. In the real world outside of the laboratory, compliance is a
serious matter whether it be about diets or about the taking of medications.
These researchers attempted wisely, I think, to create a real world
environment for testing. They deliberately avoided the temptation to hassle
the test subjects unduly about compliance. They were testing not only the
theoretical efficacy of Atkins, but also its real world efficacy. After all,
if no person can stay on the greatest possible diet then obviously that diet
has value in the real world.
> How can we accept these
> results after a year when we don't even know what diet these
> people were on?
They did report in periodically, so there was some accountability.
> Aren't you concerned that they found no correlation between
> ketosis and weight loss?
No, I'm not surprised. As you may recall I do not believe ketosis is
necessary for weight loss. This is one area in which I depart from Atkins.
In fact I believe ketosis is unhealthy.
> Further, they concluded that the macronutrient ratio
> of calories had no effect. Doesn't this refute the entire
> premise of the Atkins diet?
I think their own data refutes that sentence. Atkins was found to be
significantly superior for weight loss after 3 months, after 6 months, and
almost significantly superior after one year. So then 2 out of 3 statistical
tests showed Atkins to be superior to the conventional diet. It's a shame
they didn't continue the testing into the second year.
> Actually, all of the measurements seemed to converge and get
> more similar toward the end of the year. I think this was
> due to people not following the diets.
Maybe, maybe not. But the Atkins dieters still lost about twice as much
weight on average after one year than the conventional dieters.
> Longer durations would probably
> make the diets even more indistinguishable.
Maybe.
>> That said, I think Atkins is only a half-step in the right
>> direction. I applaud the late Dr. Atkins for eliminating agricultural
>> products but I wish he had taken the next step: the elimination of dairy
>> products.
>
> I applaud him for suggesting high protein and low carbs. I
> just wish he would have taken the next step: the elimination
> of high levels of saturated fats.
And where do think most of the calories from non-paleolithic dairy products
come from? :)
-gts
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