Low carb diets are the healthiest of all the weight loss diets.

Despite all the advertising that tells us that low fat diets are the healthiest, recent research findings are demonstrating over and over again the superiority of low carbohydrate over low fat diets in relation to controlling all the laboratory values used to indicate wellness. The list of physicians and nutritional scientists espousing the low carbohydrate diet is steadily growing.

There is no single weight loss diet that does not forbid or seriously control sugar intake. Many suggest sugar substitutes, but by and large, either no sugar is allowed or is severely curtailed. Sugar is a carbohydrate. The research on the dangers of eating foods with a high sugar content is growing. One cardiologist[i] describes the action of eating high sugar foods like rubbing the insides of the arteries with sandpaper. The higher the sugar content, the rougher the sandpaper.

In addition to sugars, low carbohydrate diets call for a limitation on grains (carbohydrates). As all farmers know, using grains instead of grass produces fatter beef. Grains and all their flours, which are a staple in most American diets in the form of breads and pastas, are fat producers for humans as well as animals.

Low carbohydrate diets advocate eating a wide variety of fruits and vegetables (carbohydrates). Fruits and vegetables with the highest sugar content are more limited but are still allowed. Fruits and vegetables contain naturally occurring antioxidants, vitamins and minerals. Grains, on the other hand, have to have nutrients added. Low carbohydrate diets suggest substituting fruits and vegetables for grains.

We are often told that the low carbohydrate diet is a high fat diet and that it is the high fat diet (particularly saturated fat) that causes hardening of the arteries and other heart diseases. Recent research has been debunking that myth. It isn't fat that causes hardening of the arteries, high blood pressure and high cholesterol, it's high blood sugar!

Not all carbohydrates are created equal. All carbohydrates are converted by the body into blood sugar (blood glucose). Simple sugars like honey or alcohol begin to be converted to blood glucose in the mouth. The more complex the carbohydrate (the higher the fiber content) the longer it takes for the digestive system to convert it to blood glucose. A high carbohydrate, low fat diet, creates a constant production of high blood sugar.

Cancer cells feed on blood sugar. More evidence is being uncovered that cancers may be caused by chronic high blood glucose. Alzheimer's is now being referred to as Diabetes Type III (or a disease caused by chronic high blood glucose.) Diabetes Type II and obesity are also caused by chronic high blood glucose levels. Periodontal disease and GERD are among the less lethal diseases caused by a constant high intake of carbohydrates.

Low carbohydrate advocates do not fear fat and protein. Why? Because they are necessary for existence. Fats (especially saturated fats) are broken down by the body into Essential Fatty Acids meaning they are essential for life. Protein is converted into Amino Acids which are critical for the repair of bones and tissues. In the absence of carbohydrates, the body can convert either fat or protein into blood glucose. On the other hand, the body cannot convert carbohydrates into anything but blood glucose. So the higher the carbohydrate content of the diet and the lower the fat and protein, the more the body is deprived of essential nutrients.

Can eating too much fat make you fat? Sure. Eating too much of anything can make you fat. The interesting thing is, however, that people who subsist on a high protein (therefore a high fat, low carbohydrate) diet are the leanest.[ii] Since earliest Paleolithic times, humans have been eating a high protein, high fat diet, with the result of strong bones and teeth and no signs of obesity. With the agricultural revolution came the introduction of grains into our diet. Archaeologists demonstrate an increase in obesity, heart disease, periodontal disease, rickets, and thinner bones on a predominantly grain based diet.

Recent research studies have shown the improvement in all health parameters, including weight loss, for those on a low carbohydrate versus a low fat diet.[iii] A literature review covering one hundred years of nutritional literature and research indicates that the low fat hypothesis may be false and based upon politics rather than research evidence.[iv] The information in this book is compelling.

There is a great deal of misleading information about low carbohydrate or controlled carbohydrate diets, some of which can be attributed to the many poor books espousing a particular form of low carbohydrate dieting.[v]

The scientific evidence is out there, for those who wish to look, that the controlled carbohydrate diet is healthier than the low fat or the so-called balanced diet.

[i] Dwight Lundell: The Great Cholesterol Lie.,2009

[ii] Daily Energy Expenditure and Cardiovascular Risk in Masai, Rural and Urban Bantu Tanzanians

[iii] Comparison of the Atkins, Zone, Ornish and LEARN Diets for change in weight and related risk factors among overweight premenopausal women: the A Z Weight Loss Study: A Randomized Trial. Journal of the American Medical Association. March 7, 2007; Vol. 297: 969-77.

The Israeli Study: http://weightoftheevidence.blo gspot.com/2008/07/two-year-die tary-trial-results-low-carb.ht ml

[iv] Gary Taubes, Good Calories, Bad Caloires, 2007

[v] (See a review of these diets written by Dr Johnny Bowden). Living the Low Carb Life, 2004

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