Few sciencey questions about atkins..

[Cazzy__x]

So been at uni today.. & the uni girls trying to put me off doing atkins because of the bad damage it causes to your liver, the loss of muscle mass due to ketosis, and how when i eventually eat carbs again im just going to pile it all back on and more..

Anybody want to shed some light on the liver/muscle mass arguement?

 

[British_Claire_84]

I'm sure Jim, Michael, J2 or anyone more cleverer than me will be able to point you in the right direction soon matey. Eating more proteins though makes building muscle easier.

 

[StephenP]

ketosis does burn off fat not muscle eating protein builds muscle!! simple

 

[LVLLM]

yeah have heard all the horror stories. dont you think eating pies, pasties chips and doughnuts damages the liver too LOL

 

[Cazzy__x]

Yeah very true. Just having a bad couple of days.. & them trying to put horror stories into me isnt helping.. Hmmph!

 

[Cazzy__x]

Thankyou J2BLUE If i remember any of that i will make it my counter arguement next time they bug me! I didnt read this untill after I had a jaffa cake :O Just one, i was weak

 

[Jupiter]

Just to back up what James has said.....

If you look at the time that the human race has existed in terms of a single year, we have only been eating grains for a day and a half. In real terms that means we've been here for millions of years and eating grains (rice, pasta, bread) for ten thousand years. In that ten thousand years there has been nothing in our evolution that has changed to require us to eat grains.
And as for potatoes......well I seem to remember that those arrived with Sir Francis Drake when Elizabeth 1 was on the throne so that's only a couple of hundred years ago! Clearly we managed fine before that!
The Atkins style of diet(especially when you get to maintenance) is a natural way for human beings to eat.

 

[ladyfelsham]

Ask them why the human race didn't die out of kidney/liver disease when people couldn't go to Tesco for a low fat bagel

Oh you are all marvellous people (and Professors in disguise ) - and I pmsl'ed IYSWIM at this comment James!

 

[Jim]

I agree, it's basically the cave man diet.

Paleolithic diet - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[rosebug]

To be fair, early man had half the life expectancy we do, and a far more physically exerting lifestyle. It's hard to say for definite whether their diet was good for them or not, it was just what they had. Although there is evidence to suggest that learning to cook food particularly meat and get it's full nutrient value is the reason we evolved larger brains than animals which eat raw meat.

Anyway, I think the 'there are no essential carbs' line is a good one. When you tell people all carbs are digested as sugar it can shock them too.

 

[*Michael*]

Blush!

All the arguments you'll ever need are in the Gary Taubes video J2 posted. A bit slow to start but once you get into it he explains all the science about how the body absorbs/releases fat and it gets really interesting.

Definitely worth a watch.

 

[Spinoza]

Claire, not normally a rabid feminist, but seriously - naming all the boys, and none of the girls???

Well, not that I'm an expert or anything, but - wot they said.