From: Terry W. Colvin (fortean1@mindspring.com)
Date: Wed Jul 10 2002 - 12:12:36 MDT
At 12:15 -0700 09/07/02, Stan Schwarz wrote:
>http://www.nytimes.com/2002/07/07/magazine/07FAT.html?pagewanted=1
>
>Questioning the dietary dogma. Since I was steeped in the prevailing
>four-legs-good-high-fat-bad thinking, this was an interesting article.
>I think it makes a good case.
If only it were true. The author assumes that because a public has
subscribed to certain dietary regimes that they have adhered to them.
Furthermore, the author pretty much ignores cultural shifts that
reduce calorie expenditure, which, given little change in calorie
intake, can easily explain obesity exploding in the last 20 years.
Further, the cultural change is strongest in young people, and they
are seeing the greatest increase in obesity.
We're talking specifically about the increase in TV viewing, computer
and console game use. About 800cal/day less expenditure compared to
25 years ago, which translates to 7lbs of fat a year. This is a large
amound on a child, and could concievably accumulate. eg: 70lbs over
ten years.
Anyway, here's an interesting insight into the doctors 'quoted' in
the NYT article...
< http://www.cnn.com/2002/HEALTH/diet.fitness/07/08/cohen.fat.otsc/index.html >
Elizabeth Cohen: The skinny on 'good fats'
CNN's Elizabeth Cohen
---------------------
(CNN) -- The debate over what is the best diet has been ongoing for
decades. It's an evolving science that keeps researchers busy and
consumers confused about the best way to lose weight.
An article in Sunday's New York Times Magazine highlighted some
renegade thinking where dietary fat is concerned.
CNN Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen discussed the implications
Monday with CNN anchor Kyra Phillips.
PHILLIPS: For years, we have been told to eat low-fat foods and
plenty of fruits and vegetables in order to stay thin. So is it
possible that Dr. [Robert] Atkins, the ridiculed king of carb
cutting, was right all along? ...
COHEN: Let's talk a little bit about this New York Times article,
which has gotten so much attention. ... The premise of this article
... is that there is this group of prominent researchers who are
beginning to say: "You know what? Maybe Dr. Atkins was right. Maybe
the way to go is to eat pork chops with a big hunk of butter on top.
Maybe we have been wrong, and maybe he has been right."
So, we called three of the researchers who were quoted in this
article. These are three folks, all of them at Harvard. And we said:
"Do you really think Dr. Atkins is right? Do you really suggest that
your patients eat this pork chop with butter on top?"
And they all said: "Oh, no. We do not suggest that to our patients."
They said: "What we think is that maybe Atkins is on to something
when he says fat is not that bad. But" -- and here is the big but --
"but we tell our patients to eat 'good fats.' We don't tell them to
eat butter. We don't tell them to eat whole-fat milk, and we don't
tell them to eat cheeseburgers, which is what Dr. Atkins suggests. We
tell them to eat fish. We tell them to eat nuts. We tell them to eat
olive oil."
And those are the kind of fats that come from omega-3 and
monounsaturated fat. So they were very clear that they do not support
the Atkins diet, even though the article says that they are embracing
his notion.
They said, "We just encourage people to eat the good fats rather than
the bad fat, that fat is OK, but you have to eat the right kind." And
that's a huge distinction.
PHILLIPS: Yes, I know. It's like, how do you find the right kind?
COHEN: You know, it is saturated -- I will tell you the technical
answer. Then I tell you the easy answer.
PHILLIPS: OK, please.
COHEN: The technical answer is that there are saturated fats and
trans fats, and that those are considered by many researchers to be
bad. You want to avoid them. Those are the kind that are found in red
meat. Those are the kind that are found in most kinds of dairy
[products].
However, there are also the good fats. And good fats would be, as I
said before, monounsaturated fat, omega-3 fatty acids. And that's
fish, nuts, olive oil and those kinds of foods -- the kind of foods
that are actually prominent in what is called the Mediterranean diet.
So again, the difference would be between eating lots of red meat,
lots of dairy and foods like fish, nuts and olive oil.
PHILLIPS: All right, Dr. Atkins is totally anti-carbs.
COHEN: Yes.
PHILLIPS: So, these influential researchers with whom you spoke, what
do they say about that?
COHEN: They are not anti-carb. And that's another interesting
difference. Again, these are researchers who are quoted in the
article as being part of a group that is beginning to embrace the
notion that he is right.
Well, Dr. Atkins says that carbs are bad. What they said is: "You
know what? Just like fats, there are good carbs and there are bad
carbs." And they said: "We agree with Dr. Atkins that you want to
avoid the bad carbs. You want to eat minimal amounts of white bread.
You want to eat minimal amounts of pasta, for example, or potatoes,
things that are just starches and don't have much else going for
them."
But they said: "You know what? There are a lot of good carbs out
there. There's fruit. Fruit has carbohydrate. There is, for example,
whole-grain bread. That's a kind of carbohydrate. Bean is a kind of
carbohydrate" -- so, again, the distinction between the good carbs
and the bad carbs. And it is really pretty easy -- good carbs: beans,
whole-grain bread, that sort of thing.
PHILLIPS: That doesn't sound very tasty, though.
COHEN: No, well, see, that's the thing. Why did Dr. Atkins sell so
many books? One is because people really, truly did lose weight on
his plan.
But another thing is, how can you not buy a book that tells you to
eat cheeseburgers, pork chops, butter and bacon? How can you say no
to that? But the folks who I talked to said: "You know what? We don't
like that kind of fat. We don't think that's good for people. Eat the
good fat. Eat fish. Eat nuts," very different from what Dr. Atkins
pushes.
--
Graeme Kennedy
--
Terry W. Colvin, Sierra Vista, [Cochise County] Arizona (USA)
Primary: < fortean1@mindspring.com >
Alternate: < terry_colvin@hotmail.com >
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