Low Carb or Low Fat?

How often do we hear people say, �I am watching my carbs?� So many people think cutting back on carbs is the best way to lose some weight.  But is this true?  Should you cut back on fat calories or carb calories?  A recent study posted by WebMD looks at carbs vs fats.  Which diet burns more fat and which diet would lead to lasting weight loss?

The title of the WebMD article gives away the study findings:  Low-Carb Diets Don't Work the Way We Thought.

• Low carb diets � do they really �melt away the fat�?  Melt away your belly fat?   One theory behind low carb diets is that eating less carbs lowers your insulin levels in your blood.  Since insulin promotes fat storage, less insulin less fat storage.  Is this true?  The newest study says �NO�
• Study � NIH studied 19 overweight adults.   For 11 days, they lived in a special room and everything they ate was monitored.  They even captured the air they breathed to measure exactly how many calories they burned and if they were burning calories from fat, carbs or protein.
• Baseline  � participants ate a �normal� diet of 50% carbs, 35% fat and 15% protein � their baseline diet.
• Low Carb  � for 6 days participants ate a diet with 30% less calories, less calories from carbs � the low carb diet plan.  Fat and protein calories remained the same as the baseline diet.
• Low Fat -  for 6 days (after a few weeks break from the low carb diet) � calories were cut from fat, with protein and carbs remaining the same.

So what diet was the best at losing fat?  Surprisingly:

�People lost more total fat on the low-fat diet than they did when they were eating the low-carb diet.� says author Kevin Hall, PhD. 

Not only was this finding a surprise but just as surprising was the change in metabolism:

�And cutting fat didn�t appear to slow metabolism, while cutting carbs did.�  The study found that cutting back on carbs lead to metabolism slowing by about 100 calories a day.  Cutting back on fat, metabolism did not slow down.

So cutting carbs slows your metabolism?  Who would want to be on a low-carb diet if doing so, slows your metabolism?

The study shows your metabolism does change on a low carb diet or on a low fat diet.  A low-carb diet does lead to fat loss but not as much fat loss as not eating all the fat in the first place.

Bottom line � if you are interested in losing weight:

Cut the Fat,  Keep the Carbs

Sources:  Low-Carb Diets Don't Work the Way We Thought

How to lose weight and keep it off

This  week my husband saw an interesting slide show on MSN health and fitness, 35 simple tips to help you lose weight and keep it off too!   They have some great suggestions.   Their focus: We're not talking about drastic measures here, but quick and easy changes you can make in your daily life to help you achieve your weight loss goals.  If you want to see all 35 tips, click the link.  Here are a few they highlighted:   

1.  Don�t give up your favorite foods � how often do you hear someone say, �I ate a cookie and blew my diet.�  Nonsense, as Joyce Meyer says, �eat the cookie�.  But don�t eat the whole box.  MSN recommends limiting the number of times you eat your favorite or junk food to once a week and eat less of it than you normally do.  
2.  Opt for Whole grains � so many people forgo the whole grains when they are such a healthy addition to your diet.  My relatives are now into Ezekiel bread, a whole grain bread and quite nutritious.  But there are many whole grains, oatmeal, Cheerios, brown rice, whole grain crackers, even Sun Chips.  At Chipotle?  Choose the brown rice.  Find some whole grains you enjoy and add them to your diet every day.  Whole grains not only provide many more nutrients than refined grains, whole grains have fiber which fills you up.  
3. Dark Chocolate � not a lot of dark chocolate but a small piece can cut your appetite.  
4. Water, Not Soda-  sugared soda is loaded with empty calories and all that added sugar.  Drink some water before meals to help feel fuller before you eat.  Drink plain water, sparkling water or unsweetened tea.   
5. Healthier snacks � give up the junk food and enjoy some healthier snacks like a handful of nuts, apple slices with peanut butter, hummus and veggies.  
6. Use nonstick pans or PAM � to reduce the calories from oils or butter you use to cook foods.  Or limit the oil, such as a teaspoon or tablespoon of Olive Oil.  
7. Read the Food Label � look for the amount of fat, amount of saturated fat and calories.  You can�t tell how much sugar is added though by the �sugars�.  You have to look at the ingredients to see if sugar has been added to the food.  If sugar is the first ingredient (like Froot Loops), it isn�t a healthy choice.   
8. Treat yourself, but not with food � find some ways to treat yourself to keep you motivated.  Time out with friends to a movie, a game.   
9. Stay Active � less sitting, more moving.  Although MSN stated exercise at least 3 times a week, if you want to keep the weight off, find a way to exercise every day.  
10. Load up on Veggies � fill your plate with many veggies � very healthy and low in calories as long as the veggie isn�t French fries.  Avoid fried veggies and focus on steamed. 

Try some of these tips this week.  Share them with your friends.
 Sources:   35 simple tips to help you lose weight and keep it off too!  Gourmandize articleImage source:  Ezekiel bread

The Case for Carbs By Jackie Kunstmann (Guest Author)

Which carbs are good for your health?  Introduction:  In the nutrition class I teach, students were asked to respond to and prepare a convincing argument to counter the myth, Carbohydrates are bad for you.  One of those students, Jackie Kunstmann, has been asked to be a guest author on this blog site.  Her paper on The Case for Carbs is below.

Carbohydrates, or �carbs,� have been given a lot of bad press lately.  Many people I know are very quick to jump onto the Atkins or South Beach Diets with their low carbohydrate ways when wanting to lose weight. I even had leanings this way until this Nutrition class.

 The DRI Committee has determined that all persons need to have a diet composed of 46 to 65% of carbohydrates(with only 10 to 35% for protein and 20 to 35% for fat) to adequately meet their energy needs and reduce the risk of chronic disease.(1)  The USDA�s current dietary recommendation, My Plate, features the plate being filled with over half carbohydrates.(2)  When researching heart-healthy ways of eating (since heart disease is the leading cause of death among adults(3)), you will be directed to diets that feature carbohydrates.  The Mediterranean Diet is one you hear much about lately.  The base of the Mediterranean Diet�s pyramid is carbohydrates.(4)  The DASH diet, recommended for lowering blood pressure, features carbohydrates predominantly.(5)  If you search foods which are good for your heart, you will find them to be mainly carbohydrates.  WebMD lists 25 of the top heart-healthy foods, and 21 of them are carbohydrates!(6)

 When choosing foods to eat, we should not be considering whetherto include carbohydrates into our diet (that is a given), we should be considering which carbohydrates to include.  There are �good carbs,� and there are �not so good carbs.�  In determining if a carbohydrate is �good� or �not so good,� you simply need to determine if the food is refined or processed.  Sugars, added sugars, refined grains, and items which include these  (such as candy, baked goods, white bread or rice) would be less than desirable carbohydrate choices; whereas, whole or minimally refined carbohydrates such as fruits, vegetables, nuts, legumes, or whole grain products would be optimal choices for carbohydrates.(7)

Sources:   (1) Dietary Reference Intakes  (2) MyPlate  (3)  CDC  (4)  Mediterranean Diet (5) DASH Diet  (6) Top Heart-Healthy Foods  (7) Carbohydrates   (8)  Nutrition  Image Source:  carbs