[podcast flashvars=”titles: ‘misleading research'”]http://www.thelivinlowcarbshow.com/shownotes/wp-content/uploads/llvlcep74.mp3[/podcast]
Hello and welcome to the 74th episode of the web’s most captivating source of low-carb news and information–it’s “The Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb Show with Jimmy Moore!”
Today our host Jimmy looks at how some admittedly incomplete research was prominently featured in the media simply to get a negative headline about the low-carb lifestyle and specifically the Atkins diet as it relates to heart health. Hmm, where have we seen THAT before?
Because the so-called research reported preliminary results that were pro-low-fat and anti-low-carb, Jimmy cites two other prominent studies which totally debunk the whole affair and send it unraveling fast! Nothing beats sensationalism like the cold hard facts and that’s what you get in Episode 74.
Tune in today to hear Jimmy’s thoughts about this and then share your own in the comment thread below.
LINKS MENTIONED IN EPISODE 74
– Column about Kieran Clarke’s research with the headline “Atkins diet can damage heart”
– Dr. Lawrence Appel’s research on high-fat, low-carb diets
– Study by Tom Halton and Dr. Frank Hu from the Harvard School of Public Health which found there are no long-term heart health risks to low-carb diets
– Related blog post: “Future of Low-Carb Hinges on Research”
– Related blog post: “Young Researcher Says There Is ‘Strong Interest’ In Learning How Low-Carb Diets Treat Obesity, Disease”
Did you miss anything Jimmy Said? Don’t worry, you can read a transcript after the jump…
This is Episode 74 of “The Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb Show with Jimmy Moore.” We are absolutely thrilled to be here twice a week on Mondays and Thursdays providing you with a great big dose of the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth regarding the amazingly healthy low-carb lifestyle. THANKS so much for being a part of this ever-growing tidal wave of change, the rekindling of the revolution that the late great Dr. Robert C. Atkins started more than three decades ago. This building movement is still picking up steam and is quite literally turning the diet and health industry on its head despite what you’ve heard about low-carb’s demise. Those obituaries have been a wee bit premature if you ask me. I highly encourage you to get actively involved in the revolution now by sharing all the facts you learn about this incredible way of eating with everyone you know as well as personalizing it with your own unique story of health and weight loss success that has come about as a result of low-carb living. One by one, we will change the lives of real people in the process. Today, I want to put to rest one of those long-standing myths about low-carb that we often hear from those in the media who attempt to discredit the low-carb nutritional approach. It’s the silly argument that a high-fat, low-carb diet like Atkins will lead to heart disease. I’m gonna provide you with two extremely powerful studies today that will absolutely, unequivocally debunk this outright lie about livin’ la vida low-carb. Get ready to confound the low-fatties with your intellectual prowess. More of that in just a moment.
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I read a headline that caught my attention not that long ago which boasted some horrendous charge against the most well-known of the low-carb diets. Here’s what the headline stated–”Atkins’ diet can damage heart.” You can read the entire article for yourself in the show notes section at TheLivinLowCarbShow.com. Whenever you see something like that as the hook for a story, you know it’s not gonna be pretty. It turns out the column was about research that was presented by Professor Kieran Clarke from the Cardiac Metabolism Research Group of Oxford University in the UK at the American Heart Association’s annual meeting in Dallas, Texas a couple of years ago which found that consuming a high-fat, low-carb diet along the lines of what Dr. Atkins recommended could lead to heart damage because the heart is unable to store energy as it should. Clarke observed 19 people who followed the Induction phase of livin’ la vida low-carb for two weeks and then she used magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) to look at the heart muscle to see how energy was being stored. At the end of the study, Clarke concluded that those who followed the low-carb, Atkins diet-styled weight loss program had “significantly reduced” stored energy in their heart which she believes could lead to heart failure. Maintaining that the low-carb lifestyle is “unbalanced,” the story goes on to quote Clarke as saying one of the study participants “couldn’t manage his daily run while on the [low-carb] diet.” Although Clarke said this effect on the heart was reversed after the study participants returned to a “normal” diet (what is a normal diet anyway? Low-fat, low-calorie and portion controlled? HA!). But even Clarke herself revealed the study was just too short-sighted to mean anything. In fact, she said that the heart may have “gradually returned to normal” by remaining on the low-carb plan beyond the Induction phase. Well ya think? I’ve been livin’ la vida low-carb for nearly four years and am arguably in the best physical shape of my life. My heart is as strong as ever as I continue to eat this way along with regular workouts. Any reputable researcher who concludes that the Atkins diet or any other low-carb lifestyle change leads to heart failure is putting their integrity on the line for the sake of a biased dismissal of this healthy alternative to the low-fat diet. The only damage being caused on people is from those who want to keep others from even trying a low-carb program for themselves. From my personal experience, nothing has been easier, more delicious, more satisfying and healthier than livin’ la vida low-carb. I literally got my life back because of low-carb and I won’t sit by idly while some so-called expert like this Clarke lady gets up on her high horse and tries to tell me how awful and dangerous it is. Even British Heart Foundation medical director Peter Weissberg is quoted in the story as saying “this research in no way suggests that a high fat, low carb regime is going to give them heart failure.” Oh, really?! Then why was it made public with the headline “ATKINS’ DIET CAN DAMAGE HEART?” hmm?! I certainly understand the media tries to hyperbolize anything negative about the Atkins diet because they seem to hate it with a passion for whatever reason. But Clarke and her researchers should have held off on releasing any part of this study until they could actually look at the long-term effects of livin’ la vida low-carb on the heart. They could have asked me for my experience and I would have been happy to tell ‘em just how very healthy my heart is! Weissberg added, “Extreme, unbalanced diets are a major insult on their bodies’ metabolism and as this study indicates, may have direct effects on their hearts.” Well, I’ll be sure to stay away from the “extreme” low-fat diets that have failed me time after time after time, Mr. Weissberg. Instead, I’ll be livin’ la vida low-carb with my very healthy heart for a very, very long time.
The good news is there has been some remarkable research about the heart health impact of a high-fat, low-carb diet a la the Atkins diet. Allow me to share these with you now. First, we have a study from Dr. Lawrence Appel who is a professor of Epidemiology at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Health in Baltimore, Maryland. His research suggests that the low-fat message is antiquated and not as effective for weight loss and improved health as a diet rich in fat and protein as well as low in carbohydrates. The landmark study, which was also presented at the American Heart Association meeting in Dallas, Texas in the same year that Clarke presented her data, is great news for people who have long supported the low-carb lifestyle as a healthy way to not only lose weight but also improve other areas of health, including lowering the risks of heart disease such as high cholesterol and high blood pressure. While doctors have for many years prescribed a low-fat diet for patients at risk for heart disease, Dr. Appel and his researchers found that those patients could stand to add more fat to their diet in the form of nuts, avocados and olive oil. To control high blood pressure and be heart healthy, it has traditionally been recommended by medical professionals that you restrict your sodium and cut back on your consumption of fat as well as cholesterol. But Dr. Appel said those recommendations neglected to look at the positive role protein, certain whole grains, and healthy fats can have on reducing the risks associated with heart disease. The study looked at three groups of people who followed various diet plans to compare how they would work in regards to blood pressure, cholesterol and heart disease risks. There were 164 study participants over the age of 30, half of which were on the verge of having high blood pressure and three-fourths who were already overweight or obese. They were place on one of three specific diets: High-carb, High-protein, and High-healthy fat. Each of the study participants remained on their respective diet for six weeks while Dr. Appel and his researchers kept track of their weight to make sure it stayed as constant as possible for the duration of the study. At the conclusion of the clinical study, each of the groups saw their blood pressure fall and their LDL “bad” cholesterol drop significantly enough to make a difference in their risk of getting heart disease. But imagine the surprise of Dr. Appel and his fellow researchers when they noticed the high-protein and high-healthy fat diets produced even better results than the traditional high-carb, low-fat diets that have been the hallmark of medical recommendations for obesity and improved health for decades. It seems those days of mindlessly and robotically recommending a low-fat diet to improve the heart health of patients are history. This study was published in the prestigious and highly-respected Journal of the American Medical Association.
The other study debunking the myth that high-fat, low-carb diets are unhealthy for the heart comes out of the prestigious Department of Nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health. Former doctoral student Tom Halton along with direction from associate professor of nutrition and epidemiology Dr. Frank Hu conducted a 20-year study on the heart health effects of low-carb diets. This was the first such study on the long-term effects of low-carbohydrate diets to be released to the public and it is quite revealing. The research team observed information from the past two decades of some 82,802 women participating in the Nurses’ Health Study which began in 1976 and tracked their diet and health with periodic questionairres. Over the 20-year study, the researchers found a little more than 2 percent of the study participants (1,994) had documented cases of coronary heart disease. However, the most amazing statistic among those who develped heart disease was the fact that the low-carbohydrate diet score participants were not a major part of those numbers. In fact, Halton had fully expected the risk of heart disease to go up among those who ate the low-carb/high-fat diet, but he was shocked to find otherwise. He replied, “It didn’t, which was a little eye-opening.” Additionally, none of the scores were manipulated or modified to account for physical activity levels, body-mass index, or the presence or absence of high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or diabetes. Even with these conditions present, the low-carbohydrate diet score group did not have an increased risk for coronary heart disease. Interestingly, Halton and his associates said excessive refined carbohydrate consumption typical of a low-fat diet was the STRONG culprit in those who did develop heart problems. The researchers believe it was the high glycemic load of foods like refined sugars and carbohydrates consumed by the low-fat diet group was what quickly elevated their blood sugar levels and actually led to a DOUBLING of their risk of cardiovascular problems. The American low-fat diet movement for the past three decades is one of the major reasons why the rate of heart disease among this group has specifically skyrocketed, Halton concluded. He even went on to share even more damning conclusions based on the data he saw in his study. He revealed the following in an interview with Reuters. “The way Americans are going low-fat is very unhealthy. They have a very high glycemic load. They’re taking sugar. They’re taking white bread. They’re taking white rice and pasta. That certainly isn’t the answer.” Halton said his study should ease the concerns of those who are worried that low-carb diets are increasing the risks for heart disease because the evidence shows they are no worse than the low-fat diets. Here was his synopsis of the study findings: “This study suggests that neither a low-fat dietary pattern nor a typical low-carbohydrate dietary pattern is ideal with regards to risk of coronary heart disease; both have similar risks. However, if a diet moderately lower in carbohydrates is followed, with a focus on vegetable sources of fat and protein, there may be a benefit for heart disease.” On the question that people will have about the gender of the study participants all being female, Halton contends “the pathology of heart disease is not all that different in men and women” so it is not a concern to him. This study which was commissioned by the National Institutes of Health was published in the November 9, 2006 issue of The New England Journal of Medicine.
So, you see, here we have two excellent studies that just torpedo that big fat lie about low-carb diets being unhealthy for the heart right out of the water! After all these years of pontificating by the low-fat diet activists that they have the far superior and most healthy way of eating, FINALLY we have some highly-coveted LONG-TERM research that they’ve long been taunting us low-carbers to show them. Well, here it is ya low-fatties! What do you have to say for yourselves now? And there’s even more to come! My goal all along has never been to say the low-fat diet is wrong and low-carb is right, but to simply allow people to have all the evidence shared in an unbiased manner so they can make up their own minds which one they want to do for the sake of their own weight and health. Too often we have heard from anti-low-carb voices when they claim that low-carb might be good for weight loss, but you’ll be harming your health in the process. Baloney! We now know those concerns were greatly exaggerated and have quite possibly turned off millions of would-be low-carb success stories from even trying this amazingly healthy diet all because of needless fearmongering. Studies like these are exactly why I keep telling people to just ignore those who seek to tear them down just because they are livin’ la vida low-carb. Keep smiling, doing what you know you are supposed to do, and one day YOU will have the last laugh. After all, the science behind low-carb is catching up to what we already know and fast! If you share my belief that there is no such thing as a monopoly on what works for people regarding weight loss and improving health, then I encourage you to start telling people about these and other studies regardless of how you feel about low-carb diets because people deserve to hear the truth. Should you choose to sweep this latest evidence underneath the carpet of your belief system, then you are only robbing those who rely on you to keep them informed of the latest developments that could help them. Don’t be surprised if they stop trusting you, though, when they come across this information on their own someday. When the cat is out of the bag, then your credibility will be out the window! This body of research isn’t about some passing headline news that’s here today, gone tomorrow. The ramifications of studies like these putting low-carb in a favorable light has the potential to unravel a lot of the dietary garbage science we have had to put up with for far too long. Government and health leaders need to take notice and start broadcasting it to every man, woman and child in the United States of America. This isn’t a game, it’s the future of this country. If they won’t, then I most certainly will!
That’s it for Episode 74 of “The Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb Show with Jimmy Moore.” How have you handled the criticism of your low-carb lifestyle being unhealthy for your heart? Did these research studies I shared with you today arm you with some facts that will help you explain why a high-fat, low-carb diet is healthy? Let’s talk about it in the show notes section at TheLivinLowCarbShow.com and let me know what you think. Come back on Monday for another thrill-packed episode of the Internet’s most popular low-carb health podcast show. So, until next time, keep on livin’ la vida low-carb!