The Myth of the Low-Fat, High-Carb Diet - Part 2 of 2


joel_kauffman__134By Joel M. Kauffman, PhD

In 1956 Prof. Alan Kekwick and Gaston Pawan, MD, at Middlesex Hospital, London, England, conducted tests of 4 varieties of 1,000 kcal/day diets: 90% fat (by fuel values), 90% protein, 90% carbohydrate, and a normal mixed diet. 

Subjects on the high-fat diet lost much more weight than any of the others.  Several subjects on the high-carb diet actually gained weight, even at only 1000 kcal/day!  Even at 2,600 kcal/day of very low-carb diet, subjects lost weight. Thus the dogma that a "balanced" diet is best for almost everyone had been falsified a half century ago.

All honestly-run low-carb diet trials show benefits, even ones where the researchers expected the opposite. Examination of at least two dozen recent controlled diet trials by an equal number of authors in several countries led them to these conclusions:

1.
Carb restriction improved control of serum glucose, the primary target of nutritional therapy, and reduced insulin fluctuations.

2. Carb-restricted diets are at least as effective for weight loss as low-fat diets.

3. Substitution of fat for carb is generally beneficial for markers of and for the actual incidence of cardiovascular disease. [This means that a diet of 25% carb, 25% protein and 50% fat will be optimum for many folks. Some have followed such diets for over 50 years.]

4. Carb restriction has benefits even in the absence of weight loss.
From: Nutrition & Metabolism 2008;5:9.

And the reaction of all government agencies and most private foundations? Intransigence! The American Diabetes Association (ADbA) recommends 60% high-GI carbs in the diet without reservation in 2003 (and 50% now): The message today: Eat more starches!

It is healthiest, they say, for everyone to eat more whole grains, beans, and starchy vegetables such as peas, corn, potatoes and winter squash.  Starches are good for you because they have very little fat, saturated fat, or cholesterol... Yes, foods with carbohydrate -- starches, vegetables, fruits, and dairy products -- will raise your blood glucose more quickly than meats and fats, but they are the healthiest foods for you. 

Your doctor may need to adjust your medications when you eat more carbohydrates. You may need to increase your activity level or try spacing carbohydrates throughout the day... the American Diabetes Association nutrition recommendations...are based on years of research and clinical experience. 

In addition, these trendy diets are hard to follow year after year. As though Banting, Stefansson, Kekwick, Bernstein, Atkins, Eades & Eades, and millions of others never existed.

With nearly 70,000 members, the American Dietetic Association (ADtA) is the nation's largest organization of food and nutrition professionals. The ADtA serves the public by promoting optimal nutrition, health and well-being." The AdtA endorses the Food Guide Pyramid of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) unequivocally, thus recommending high-carb diets with 75% carb, 10% fat and 15% protein.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommends high-carb diets with caloric content of 55% carb, 30% fat (1/3 each saturated, monounsaturated, polyunsaturated) and 15% protein.

The American Heart Association (AHA) recommends the use of a food pyramid with about the same caloric content from each of the food groups as in the USDA pyramid. Differences are that the AHA recommends no egg yolks at all, and otherwise to avoid saturated fat and cholesterol intake at all costs; also the positions of some foods are changed.

The AHA favors small amounts of soft margarine, and large amounts of milk and low-fat milk and other dairy products, with no exceptions for diabetics that are apparent on the website. 

On their new web pages for diabetics: "Type 2 diabetes is a progressive disease that develops when the body does not produce enough insulin [sic] and does not efficiently use the insulin it does produce (a phenomenon known as insulin resistance)..." (Italics added.)

The AHA notes that the World Health Organization Study (WHO) Group recommends that 15% of total calories be derived from fat, and is concerned that certain key nutrient levels will not be met in certain population groups at this level.

There is no better example in history of bureaucrats ignoring data to protect their reputations with billions of tax dollars and donations. Shortening life and its quality for huge populations, causing the obesity and diabetes epidemic, which lead to atherosclerosis and heart problems indicate that institutional loyalty outweighs truth, conscience and morals.

There is no better example in history where your persistence in digging for diet truth in books and journals can do more for your health than the entire diet cabal with its control of the mainstream media and most medical providers.

Part 1 of The Myth of the Low-Fat, High-Carb Diet

Mostly excerpted from the book: Malignant Medical Myths.

Joel M. Kauffman, Ph.D.
Former Professor of Chemistry of the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia, now Emeritus.
Author of Malignant Medical Myths: Why Medical Treatment Causes 200,000 Deaths per Year

Updated January 2012


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