Infographic of the Week: Carbs are Killing You [Infographic]

Data, Food+Tech, Health / Nutrition, Infographics — By on January 26, 2012 4:02 pm


[Editors note: Due to the overwhelming response we received to this infographic, we have continued the discussion and asked for reader input here.]

After all those years of not eating red meat and cutting back on the mayonnaise, science now tells us it’s carbs, not fat, making Americans overweight.  This interesting infographic designed by Column Five Media for Massive Health describes in depth the way in which carbohydrates make the body store fat.

“One of the reasons we did this infographic is because we are finding through the data we are collecting via The Eatery that people are not very good at judging the health of certain foods,” says Andrew J. Rosenthal of Massive Heath.  “One of our users was starting off each morning with a Jamba Juice fruit smoothie, thinking it was a really healthy substitute for breakfast.   Every day as he used The Eatery, he got feedback that his smoothie was not nearly as healthy as he had rated it.  He had no idea how high the sugar and carb content was.  We’ve heard about loads of “ah-ha!” moments like this particularly about carbs, when users of The Eatery learn, through a tight feedback loop, that their decisions aren’t nearly as healthy as they thought.”

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About Beth Hoffman:
Beth Hoffman is the Managing Editor at Food+Tech Connect. She has reported on food and agriculture for ten years, airing on NPR, The World, Latino USA, Living on Earth, KUER and KALW , and studied the food system in depth as a fellow and co-lecturer in the Africa Reporting Project at UC Berkeley’s School of Journalism. Hoffman competed a year long documentary project cooking with immigrant women in their homes, has traveled to India, Uganda and Ethiopia to report on rice production and chicken farming, and did a multipart series for KUER on the artistic, cultural and environmental connections we have to food. In addition to spending many hours on-farm in Utah, California and abroad, Hoffman also married into an Iowa farm family and is currently working with her husband to slowly convert the land into a sustainable orchard and hog farm. She currently lives in Albany, California. Hoffman’s previous work can be found on her website at bethaudio.com.
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  • Quinny

    This is just partly correct. I eat 1,500 cal. of carbohydrate from fruits, never gain any weights from them. The reason why we gain weight is because of that we eat both carbs & fat, not just fat or just carb. The Atkins diet limits carbs to a very low level, so no weight gain. A low fat diet does a bad job of limiting fat to such a low level. When you eat starch, fat always accompanies it. Think about it, noodles with sauce, pizza with cheese, sandwich with cheese or butter or meat, even toast, muffins or sushi with avocado. But if you cut down you fat consumption to 5% of your total caloric intake, you will never gain a pound with carbs. Not that I recommend eating grain or soda. The best carb out there is fruit. It fuels your body, gives you vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, phytonutrients and more.

    • http://www.andrewjrosenthal.com Andrew J. Rosenthal

      Quinny — thanks for the thoughtful response to the infographic.  As you point out, it’s hard for people to exist on the far extreme of dietary patterns.  Our goal with the infographic was to help show how people over-emphasize fat and really ought to be focusing on carbs, when they’re trying to eat healthy, address insulin imbalance, and reach or maintain a healthy weight. 

      -Andrew
      Part of the team at Massive Health

    • http://www.claudiorivera.info/ claudio rivera

      i just wanted to point out that carbs from fruit are in the form of fiber and fructose, neither of which have an impact on blood sugar (insulin). that’s probably why you didn’t gain weight.

      • Molly

        Fruit doesn’t affect blood sugar? Have a person with diabetes eat half a watermelon and then have them check their blood sugar.

        • http://www.claudiorivera.info/ claudio rivera

          “Fructose has the lowest glycemic index (GI = 19) of all the natural sugars and used to be recommended for use by diabetics due to its small effect on blood glucose levels.” – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose#Glycemic_index

          • Phil Thompson

            The glycemic index of water melon is 76, higher than table sugar (sucrose). It contains sucrose, fructose and glucose. Your notion that fruits only contain fructose is wrong.

            Let’s not even start to contemplate the effect of a high fructose diet on the liver.

          • http://www.claudiorivera.info/ claudio rivera

            If you wanna talk watermelon, you should know that it has more fructose than glucose: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose_malabsorption#Unfavorable_foods_.28i.e._more_fructose_than_glucose.29

            But, regardless, I was only trying to point out one reason why someone would not gain weight on a diet of 1500 calories worth of fruit (presumably not all watermelon).

        • Tbrittenham9

          have that same person eat 1 piece of whole wheat bread and see how much higher their blood sugar goes…

        • Charlette Hutton

          there is a guy over at 30 banana’s a day dot com, he was a super fat dude, he went on a fruit only diet, eats a whole watermelon for breakfast, and loads of fruit all day.. he lost over 100 lbs

          • Anonymous

            Mmmhmmm, and someday his pancreas will be paying him back for that.

          • Kupala Kitchenwitch

            i call bs on that. there is no way that dude is not malnourished eating ONLY fruit; you need protein for your muscles, end of story.

          • Dansaltmarsh

            You need Amino Acids for your muscles.  Protein is just the middleman for Amino Acids.  Protein is broken down into an amino acid.  All fruits and veggies have tons of Amino Acids until you cook them.

            I am 205lbs with lots of muscle and I only eat a 100% plant based diet and 75% of it’s fruit.

            http://meatdairyprotein.blogspot.com/

  • Pingback: Carbs are killing you! Why eating fat doesn’t make you fat. « Reinventing Jessica

  • http://profile.yahoo.com/57YNHSQOP5VCMMTJVXWIHWN3NM DanW

    Wow, this looks like resurrected Atkins Diet propaganda.  If you were truly trying to emphasize fat, your message was lost on me as it appears to be about “anti-carbs” instead.  Simple carbs are not good, complex carbs ARE good.  Too much fat can lead to heart disease.  There is a lot of good information available about “plant based” diets that promote good heart health (actually reverse heart disease) and healthy lifestyles if you really want to hone your message.  I’m sure you meant well but unfortunately I see this as sharing misinformation.  Do your research!

    • Tony

      ALL carbs enter the blood stream as either glucose or fructose, no matter how “complex” they were when they started. Glucose calls for insulin to be taken into the cells. Fructose is a ketone and doesn’t affect insulin and is really only metabolized in the liver. The liver converts excess carbohydrtaes inot glycogen OR fat, in the form of lipoprotein (cholesterol). Regular glucose leads to this, too. All carbs, simple, complex,… ALL. The question is “How much carbohydrtae is safe?” Fat does NOT lead to heart disease, nor does dietary cholesterol. Check out: http://www.ajcn.org/content/early/2010/01/13/ajcn.2009.27725.abstract
      Also, if you want more research on this, start with Loren Cordain, Ph.D. and the volume of research he has done on this very topic. There are others.
      A much better understanding comes from Cordain’s work on nutrition… PALEO!

      • Anonymous

        well stated Tony! i am proof of that!! 30 days of paleo, and my cholesterol has NEVER been this low!!! and dropping!!

    • SMH

      Dan,  although the “fat leads for heart disease” song and dance has been medical “dogma” for the last few decades, it has actually been scientifically disproven in studies by the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition among others.  See:  http://www.ajcn.org/content/early/2010/01/13/ajcn.2009.27725.abstract

      It is true that factory farmed, grain-fed meats are detrimental to our health, but properly raised and grass fed meat is not only sustainable and environmentally friendly, but is loaded with beneficial Omega-3, Vitamin E, and CLA.  People with a diet rich in omega-3s have been shown to have lower rates of depression, anxiety, ADHD, and Alzheimer’s disease.  Furthermore, people with high intake of omega-3′s tend to have lower blood pressures, fewer irregular heart beats and are up to 50% less likely to suffer a heart attack.  See:  http://www.ajcn.org/content/78/1/65.abstract?sid=33e9b7ce-e925-4146-a379-e647ae00a739

      CLA is being investigated as a major defense against cancer.  See:  Ip, C, J.A. Scimeca, et al. (1994) “Conjugated linoleic acid. A powerful anti-carcinogen from animal fat sources.” p. 1053. Cancer 74(3 suppl):1050-4.

      I don’t believe that this article means to imply the total eradication of carbs from the diet.  Carbs can be obtained through healthy sources like fruits and vegatables even sweet potatoes in moderation.  However, carbs from gluten products and all grains for that matter, can be detrimental to your health.  A nice summery of the detrimental effects of ALL grains (supposed “heart healthy” grains included) can be found here:  http://whole9life.com/2010/03/the-grain-manifesto/

      The following is from Mark Hyman, MD’s article to the Huffington Post:

      “A review paper in The New England Journal of Medicine listed 55 “diseases” that can be caused by eating gluten. (iv) These include osteoporosis, irritable bowel disease, inflammatory bowel disease, anemia,cancer, fatigue, canker sores, (v) and rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, multiple sclerosis, and almost all otherautoimmune diseases. Gluten is also linked to many psychiatric (vi) and neurological diseases, includinganxiety, depression, (vii) schizophrenia, (viii) dementia, (ix) migraines, epilepsy, and neuropathy (nerve damage). (x) It has also been linked to autism.(ix)”
      http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-mark-hyman/gluten-what-you-dont-know_b_379089.html

      All of this information comes from scientists and medical professionals, all with the peer-reviewed research backing their claims.  Please do your research! 

      • Tbrittenham9

        they have done their research…sadly most of it was in 1987!! 
         

    • Rodger

      Refer to the book “What Makes us Fat” for the the science behind the infographic.

    • HisAngel

      Dan, do share on the plant based diet that can reverse heart disease please.

  • Dan

    Misinformation in that it does not tell the complete story. Insulin is good. It helps transport the blood sugar into muscle cells to burn off the sugar in the blood. Only when one doesn’t exercise to burn off the ‘excess’ blood sugar, is the ‘excess’ bloodsugar transformed into Fat cells. Insulin seems to get a bad rap in this article. Diabetics need insulin to help get the bloodsugar out of the system. How is this Insulin bad then?. So the net result >>>> exercise, and exercise more my friends. The best medicine = Exercise….then you don’t have to be afraid of everything you eat!!!.

    • Nobodyspecial

      Its not that Insulin is bad.  The article does not say Insulin is evil.  It describes the objective scientific functions of Insulin as a “coping mechanism” for digesting an unnatural source of energy for the human body.  This article outlines the failures of a coping mechanism that is overrun by the toxin it is attempting to metabolize.  And those on a sugar diet just force this coping mechanism into overdrive.

    • Nobodyspecial

      Its not that Insulin is bad.  The article does not say Insulin is evil.  It describes the objective scientific functions of Insulin as a “coping mechanism” for digesting an unnatural source of energy for the human body.  This article outlines the failures of a coping mechanism that is overrun by the toxin it is attempting to metabolize.  And those on a sugar diet just force this coping mechanism into overdrive.

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  • Pmc4b

    I do believe that when you are trying to lose weight, you have to limit yourself–and not just on carbs.  You cannot eat an unlimited amount of calories in fatty foods in a day and expect to lose weight. You also can’t expect that it won’t do harm to your body.  And the fact is, traditional diets (Mediterranean, etc) are a combo of both things, and we know for a fact that women in Italy and France are the lightest on earth.  Common sense tells us that you can’t simply eat all of one or the other to excess and expect to be slender.  This is a very simplistic way of viewing the process.

    • Anonymous

      pmc4b writes… “and we know for a fact that women in Italy and France are the lightest on earth. ”

      um, really? how do you arrive at this ‘fact’?

  • Kkjenn

    I got fat eating pasta with low fat sauces, bagels with no butter, rice cooked in fat free broth, and cereal with skim milk. I got thin again by eating meat. Fatty meat. Bacon! My blood chemistry improved (HDL=up, small dense LDL down, TAG down to less than 85, blood pressure down, and no more GERD).

    • Victor Johansson

      Well maybe you should have tried adding some hummus to that bagel and some soymilk instead of skim milk. ;)

    • Anonymous

      Ditto for me – step aerobics and running six days a week, and a meticulous low-fat, high-complex-carbohydrate diet (remember THAT term?)  and six years later I had GAINED 30 lbs.  It was bulls–t then and it still is now. 

      Fat doesn’t make you fat.  Insulin is THE FAT STORAGE HORMONE, and insulin is not now, and never has been stimulated by fat consumption.  And it’s not just a factor for diabetics. This is just basic human metabolism 101.  Our bodies ALL work this way.

      Healthy saturated fats are the body’s best appetite suppressant in the absence of too many carbs.  Read Gary Taubes “Good Calories Bad Calories” to gain a critical insight into why we’ve been so misled by the USDA, the FDA, and the medical community.

      A low carb high fat, or Paleo-type of diet does many things, but the biggest favor it does for those of us who would constantly struggle with issues of cravings and hunger is to suppress the appetite by limiting carbs and adding in lots of healthy fats.

      Insulin is only necessary for the metabolism of carbs and really high quantities of proein.  Cut most carbs, which your body doesn’t really need much of anyway, and you reduce the constant struggle to metabolize them.  Your pancreas will thank you someday.

  • Babmay11

    These graphics are always so simplistic and don’t tell the whole story.  Vegetables and fruits are mostly carbs and are not bad for you.  The story with fats is much more complex, but pigging out on fats isn’t a good idea either, especially trans fats. The picture on animal fats is unclear, and also depends on each person’s hereditary tendencies.  Maybe saying refined carbs are bad for you would be better.

    • Nobodyspecial

      No, not refined carbs.  All carbs.  Refining them makes very little difference in their ability to make you fat. The refining process does not alter the negative effects of carbs.  Fats are *so* important to your body that you literally cannot eat enough (once you consume more than your body needs….it stops desiring more fat, unlike carbs).  Fats easily burn, burn more efficiently, are more NATURAL for your body to burn than ANY carbs, and have so many more uses in your body in other functions.  Unlike sugar, consuming too much fat will not cause you to have “sugar rushes” that trigger insulin spikes and diabletes.  You literally have to eat tons of fat over the course of years to see any nominal health effects.  That said, trans fats aren’t natural, and do have negative effects but are easily avoidable.  Trans are generally not considered when discussing fat diets.

      • Victor Johansson

        High fat diets raises the level of bad cholesterol.
        Even if the above was true, this would mean that vegans (whose diet includes great amounts of carbs) would have a larger bmi number than omnivores. This is not true, vegans on average have a much lower bmi than omnivores, even in studies when excercise has been included as a factor.

      • hrm

         You are WAY off!

      • SophieM

        You are way off, I don’t know where you’re getting your information but it’s wrong.  Carbohydrates are your body’s number one fuel source, your brain, organs, and muscles needs carbohydrates to function.  This is why type 1 diabetics need to inject insulin, so their body can utilize carbohydrates.  If your theory was true, diabetes wouldn’t be a concern.  Diabetics would just be able to function using fat as their fuel source.  We know this is not possible and that it will eventually become toxic to the body and brain and induce a state called, ketoacidosis.  A diet rich in fats– especially saturated fats and trans-fats from animal sources– is harmful and causes fat to accumulate on the blood vessels causing serious health problems, such as cardiovascular disease, heart attacks, and strokes. Let’s not forgot that Robert Atkins died of a heart attack.  A diet that includes carbohydrates found in dairy products, whole grains, fruits, and starchy vegetables is recommended because it includes carbohydrates that body needs to function optimally, but also contains other important things, such as vitamins, minerals, and fiber (in the case of whole grains, fruit, and vegetables) that we also need– so it’s a twofer!  I agree that people should limit the consumption of refined carbohydrates as much as possible because they are “empty calories” and have no other benefit, besides being stored as fat.   

        • /guy

          atkins died of a fall on ice. and i did phase1 of atkins for nearly two years and my arteries are clean. i’m type2 diabetic.

  • Rygel69

    So I can attest that a very low carb diet is the way to go for most people.  Now keep in mind that does not apply to professional athletes and such.  Most ordinary people even if they train hard, I run and do weight training daily, don’t need a ton of carbs.  I have been off carbs for a month other than those found in vegetables.  I have eaten only vegetables and eaten any protein I wanted(if it had eyes it’s ok to eat).  In the process I have leaned out substantially.  The first two weeks my work outs did suffer but my body is now adjusting and I find I have more stamina during my work outs.  It is a known fact that carbohydrates spike your insulin which drives your hunger.  Yes even fruit is a carbohydrate!  Now a piece of fruit every now and then is yummy and fine for you but we don’t need it ever day it’s that simple.  If we needed it every day it would grow every day in every part of the world because we never would have survived without it!   Once you truly eat a low carbohydate diet you find that your hunger is down and your energy is up.  Eat all the protein you want, your body can’t store it as fat, it eliminates it as waste.  That is why people who eat now carbs get thin.  They burn the stored fat on their bodies and build lean muscle using the protein they consume.  Atkins was very close to the mark however, he believed that sugar substitutes and such were ok and they really aren’t.  They spike the insulin just like sugar only there is no food there for the insulin to work on.  This tells your brain to signal hunger b/c the insulin is left floating around with no job to do!  I have been using the diet outlined in this article and I find it 100% accurate.  In fact, several friends I know who were substantially overweight have been doing it for months and have lost huge weight.  Even Dr Mercola(an alternative medicine MD) taughts the benefits of a low carb daily lifestlye…..It’s been amazing for me!

    • Dansaltmarsh

      Totally disagree.  Medical and Scientific evidence now disagrees with low carb diet.  Myself and hundreds of others have reversed our medical condtions with a very high carb/low fat diet.  http://saltmarshcleanse.blogspot.com/

  • SA, RD

    The key is a BALANCED diet. Fat turns to fat very easily, hence the warning issued on it.

    • sharon akeem

      LMAO!!!!

  • http://saltmarshcleanse.blogspot.com/ Dansaltmarsh

    Wow, this is about false as it gets.  I have reversed my medical conditions and have optimal health and lost weight by having a HIGH CARB/LOW FAT diet.   75% of my calories come from carbs.  However, I only eat fruits, veggies, legumes, nuts and seeds.   Our brain and every living cell in our body thrives off of glucose.  Good Carbs mean GREAT health.  My journey can be found here:  http://saltmarshcleanse.blogspot.com/

    • Nobodyspecial

       Glucose is actually toxic.  All sugar is toxic.  The body has adapted to be able to metabolize it as an energy source but it is not our natural and most efficient means for energy use.  That would be fat.  On top of that, I have never seen a person lose weight on a carb diet unless they cut their total daily calorie consumption down to about 1200 calories/day which is absolutely rediculous no matter where those calories come from.  A person who cuts their carb calories to near-0 and eats 5,000 calories a day from fat and protein….will see nominal to zero weight gain.  Put them on a 5,000 calorie carb diet and they will be obese within 2 years.  If you want the truth, be objective and do the following experiment:  Spend 6 months on a carb diet, then 6 months on a fat diet (or vice versa, your choice).  In each of those diets, consume the exact same daily amount of calories (make it 1200 calories of fat, or 1200 calories of carbs, but not a mixture) and see which loses the weight.  Fat wins, every time.  To change it up, try a 1200 calorie diet.  Do a 2,000 calorie, and a 3,000 calorie trial.  Play around with it.  Fat wins every time on a fair playing field.

      • Dansaltmarsh

        I eat 4000 to 4400 calories every day and 75% of my calories come from carbs and I am losing weight and getting muscle at the same time.   Eat to live!  Don’t starve the body of nutrition.  I eat like a gorilla and lose weight and feel great all day and have reversed all my medical conditions and am pill free.  I can eat 5000 calories a day and maintain weight.  Calories need to come from 100% plant based foods.  Sorry, no offense, but you’re wrong.

      • Paul Holden

        The human body runs on GLUCOSE… nothing else… if yours doesn’t… you are in very special!

        • Guest

          Back it up.  Show me.  Yes, I realize the body CAN.  Explain why it has to.

          Explain then, with scientific references, why Inuit peoples, living in the far North, and who had access to NO glucose-providing foods, were able to live so well?

          I realize that protein, in large quantities, is converted to glucose via glucogenisis, but that’s not what we’re talking about here. 

          The human body CAN run on glucose, hence we have had to develop a whole organ, called the pancreas, with which to do this. 

          The body can run quite nicely on just fat, and in our distant past it may have had to do this quite often.

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  • http://twitter.com/theredbirdlady The Red Bird Lady

    As a whole-foods, plant-based vegan (as in, VERY limited on the processed stuff and frankenfoods), I have to agree with some previous commenters that this doesn’t tell the whole story.  Potatoes, corn, and (brown) rice aren’t bad for you, it’s the crap that people put ON TOP OF potatoes and corn and rice that are the problem.  I eat pounds and pounds of all three of those things over the course of a month, and I’m not gaining weight.  But I put spices and broccoli on top of my potatoes, I mix corn in with beans in all kinds of things, and I eat brown and/or wild rice almost every single day.

    Being vegan is considered a “fringe” diet, but when it comes to my health and the health of my family, living a long, healthy, full-of-energy life is more important to me than the very short amount of perceived “happiness” I used to get from eating animal-based foods.

    • Nobodyspecial

      You have it wrong.  The stuff on TOP of the potatoes, corn, and rice is the stuff thats GOOD for you LOL!  Its the rice, potatoes, and whole wheat that is bad for you, and is THE antagonist of this article.  Infact, the more *WHOLE* your food becomes….the higher the sugar rating.  Don’t want to believe me?  Look up the government charts on the highest “sugar rush” foods available to us.  Number 1 on the chart:  Whole wheat.

      • Victor Johansson

        High fat diets raises the level of bad cholesterol.
        Even if the above was true, this would mean that vegans (whose diet includes great amounts of carbs) would have a larger bmi number than omnivores. This is not true, vegans on average have a much lower bmi than omnivores, even in studies when excercise has been included as a factor.
        How do you discredit that?

        • sharon akeem

          here’s some problems with YOUR arguments:

          the cholesterol hypothesis is wrong, high cholesterol does not cause heart disease.

          omnivores higher BMI can be attributed to higher muscle mass.  vegans weigh less (generalization) because they have less muscle and less dense bones.

          • Anonymous

            excellent points sharon!

        • A.M.

          further to above, your argument seems to assume that vegans and omnivores are eating the same amount of, say, gummy bears, when it seems rather obvious that vegans are generally health conscious persons whereas “omnivores” captures most of society, including huge numbers of ridiculously unhealthy people.

          you’d need to look at BMI’s (a silly measurement, however) for omnivores who are as health/diet conscious as vegans against vegans if you want to compare the health of those diets respectively.

          no taub-ian is going to argue that the *average* omnivores diet is better than the average vegans diet just because it contains fat/meats, as the average omnivores diet contains loads of sugar and all the other stuff, where the argument being made here is that there are things that should be cut out (starches and sugars, mostly), but that fats aren’t the thing to cut out.

        • James Dondo

          Victor wrote “1. High fat diets raises the level of bad cholesterol.”

          where is the data to support that claim? that is what the grain industry supported food guide claims and there is very little science that actually supports that false statement anymore….

          then you wrote “This is not true, vegans on average have a much lower bmi than
          omnivores, even in studies when excercise has been included as a factor.”

          if you are using bmi as any indicator of health, then you are not understanding how little value that indicator has in reality. I am 5′ 10″, 194 with 16% body fat. according to the BMI scale, i am obese! i have a lean body mass of around 166 lbs yet i am measured as obese. BMI does NOT consider body type or frame size, does not require you to factor in body fat % or any other indicator that would suggest that you may actually be in shape and is considered one of the worst overall indicators of fitness and is not taken seriously by anyone who is in concerned about their fitness at all.

          being a vegan is an entirely issue that should be looked at on it’s own… but here is good introduction to it…

          http://www.functionalfitmag.com/blog/2012/01/31/top-10-ways-skinny-fat/

          cheers!

          • Anonymous

            James – wow!  What a great link.  I’m very impressed with how that explained so much.  I think we could’ve added “Eat a low-fat diet” to that, but maybe they covered that with the “Weight Watchers” item.

        • Don

          where is the evidence? High fat diets aise your level of cholestero?

          Where When Who?l

          • Guest

            I agree that vegan diets can be great for reversing a lot of conditions.

            I disagree that a diet high in fat and low in carbs has to be just the opposite of that. 

            People on low-carb high-fat diets are also having great results in reversing symptoms of inflammatory diseases, and are losing weight and having great lipid test results.

            It would seem that eliminating processed foods is the real factor here, and has little to do with whether a person is a meat-eater or a vegan, or high-fat or low-fat.

            The one plug I would add for a high-fat/low-carb diet is ease of long-term sustainability.  A diet low in carbs and high in fat suppresses the appetite since the pancreas isn’t constantly stimulated to metabolize the carbs.  Blood sugar drops are responsible for “tummy rumbles” when a person gets hungry. 

            And, low-carbers just eat less in general.

      • Afcontacts 411

        Hey Nobodyspecial – I’m with you.  It would seem that EVERYONE is an expert.  Low carb groups seem to have done a significant amount of research (and many have tried Atkins – with success) and experiment on themselves.  The fact that Atkins-style eating works, is supported by tonnes of results from both professional AND “home” researchers.

        The low fat groups often do not reference or incorrectly reference research  that **conclusively** shows eating low fat diets results in positive benefits to overall human health (because there are very few reliable ones out there available to the public.)  Often, I’ve had arguments with risk averse Registered Dieticians who think they know better.  Often, their advice comes with little evidence to back it up.

        I’ve been reading about diet fads and research for over 25 years and I’m also an amateur athlete.  If I mess up, it will show up in my race times.  When I experimented with Atkins, it totally didn’t work for me (in terms of performance, but I lost a lot of subcutaneous body fat.)  At the same time, low fat / low calorie diets ALSO do not work (my race times were no better and I lost NO fat at all.)

        I agree with some of the posters that this chart is a bit of an oversimplification, but I disagree with their reasons why.  People like to criticize ideas that they’re not familiar with.  In my own personal experience, almost every person I ever spoke to, who was an opponent of Atkins, never actually tried or read any of his research!  Their arguments were based on hearsay and assumption!

        The research literature on low carb isn’t hard to read and hundreds of authors on the net (many of them doctors) have conveniently translated his research into layman’s terms.  Dr. Atkins himself, writes well enough any non-scientist should be able to pick up the basics.

        From personal experience, I would say that a pure Atkins/low-carb isn’t for me, but I would also say that low fat isn’t for me either.  After 25 years of experimenting, what finally worked was understanding what Atkins was trying to teach us (research and evidence showing calorie counting, low-fat diets were just plain wrong) and taking away the information.

        Today, I’m setting personal bests in some of my most gruelling race distances and it’s accomplished with a combo-technique.  It involves some of the principles of Atkins (high fat/high protein), combined with low-glycemic, **mostly** (not all) vegetarian (high-fibre) diet.  The learning from this article, is that there is more than one way to get from A to B.  It’s up to each individual to determine which method and how much of it, they wish to use.  Often though, I find that people are highly influenced by junk science and then they turn around and give junk advice on something they have not even tried or properly researched themselves.  It’s not entirely their fault though, they’re heavily influenced by the garbage on TV and other **popular** media.

        Bottom line is this: if you want to rapidly get lean, Atkins works, if you are looking for overall health and wish to lose weight, try learning from Atkins and using some of his principles in your own system.  Vegetarian diets are high in carbs, this is true, however they’re also high in fibre, and in many cases like nuts and seeds, also high in fat.  These components can significantly lower the glycemic index of many high-carb vegetables and fruits, effectively slowing the rate at which it’s converted to glucose, thus having a similar (but not exactly the same) affect that low-carb does.

        My References:
        -Dr. Atkins’ New Diet Revolution
        -The 4-hour body
        -The Zone Diet
        -The G.I. Diet: Glycemic Index by Rick Gallop and Michael J. Sole

        … and to Mr. Johansson – when you say The G.I. Diet: Glycemic Index by Rick Gallop and Michael J. Sole

        • Victor Johansson

          I’m sorry, i’m not sure I understood. Where you referring me to the G.I. Diet for proof or disproof of my claim?

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  • http://twitter.com/seattle_paul Paul Lindberg

    Vegetables are complex carbs – this graphic is right on if it makes a distinction between simple and complex carbs. Also, certain fats (like trans fats) are toxic – but by in large, you will feel better and have more energy, look better and LIVE LONGER if you cut down on carbs and each more protein and the right kind of animal fats. It’s science people – deal with it.

    • Anonymous

      I’m not sure what kind of carbs matter when you are talking about insulin response.  All carbs raise insulin levels, and that should be avoided. 

  • Wackydiva

    I think people see a big fancy chart that, in a roundabout way, tells them to suck down meat and fats and that it is healthy. Come on.  That is not healthy.  A balance of protein, carbs and fats in your diet the meets your daily BMR will keep you where you are, weight-wise.  And consuming under your BMR will help you lose weight.  And hey! No mention of exercise anywhere in here.  Lazy society…we are a lazy, let’s get skinny quick society. 

    The trick is to be full on the calories we need to maintain or lose, but many of the calories we consume as carbs – breads, pastas, etc. are ‘empty’.  Fruits and vegetables provide the nutrients you need AND contain carbs.  There is nothing wrong with loading your diet with these items.  I think whoever wrote this chart has some blinders on as do many of you who are responding to this with negative comments on fruit.  You are just enabling people to continue with their artery clogging, unhealthy diets. Nice job.

    • James Dondo

      wackydiva writes “tells them to suck down meat and fats and that it is healthy. Come on.  That is not healthy”

      can you actually prove that statement? there is so much research available that shows 100% that you are wrong. our body needs more fats and proteins that it does carbs as we use those to actually provide us the energy we need to survive from moment to moment. taking good protein out of your diet will lead to a loss of lean body mass as your body consumes itself for energy. the fruits and vegetables you are good, but without protein as a healthy part of your diet, they will not offer you what your body actually needs to live.

      “You are just enabling people to continue with their artery clogging, unhealthy diets. Nice job.”

      sounds like you work for the food industry! fats DO NOT make you fat nor do they clog your arteries! that is the point of the article, which you seem to have missed with your blinders on!! the glycemic index of bread is far greater than meats and vegetables and fruits, that is what causes the insulin spikes which causes the sugar crashes, and causes your body to store sugar as fat!! not meats!

      cheers!

      • Anonymous

        Wackydiva has probably been taught all her life that eating fat is “icky” – it’s hard for people to change years of conditioning, and it seems easy for people to tell themselves “I can eat anything but fat.”  They assume that if they just buy fat-free food they have their bases covered, and you know damn well that’s the diet that’s going to get support from doctors, so it’s doubly reassuring.   It’s an easy way to avoid learning anything, and to feel like it’s easy to have it all under control – I know because I’ve been there.

        But the proof is in the numbers.

        It’s even harder for people when you try to tell them what the “healthy” fats are! 

        I realized during the big flap over the Paula Deen Diabetes debacle, that most Americans have no idea what even causes things like diabetes and heart disease.  Nine out of ten people who posted comments blamed her butter consumption, use of heavy cream, and deep-fried foods. Very few mentioned the high sugar content in the desserts, all the breads and grains; all the potatoes, rice, pasta and beans; or the breading on that deep-fried food.  Virtually no one mentioned processed foods at all.   It’s all okay “as long as there’s no fat in it.”

        The other theme I find repeated when the subject of limiting carbs comes up is all the diabetics who think that all their medicines make it okay for them to keep eating 120+ grams of carbs per day.  I’m pre-diabetic, and have reversed all my symptoms and was able to stop taking my meds by limiting my carbs to 20-30 per day.  That’s another thing doctors don’t really tell patients.

        Geez!  Give that pancreas a break already will ya!

        Sadly, by the time these low-fatters are sick, the medical establishment will convince them it’s their fault somehow, limit their fats further, and then prescribe all the drugs that will keep them barely alive with a poor quality of life.

  • Bluetick

    Funny, after being around for hundreds of thousands of years, humans still don’t know the best diet; are we stupid creatures or what!

    • Ajels

      what is the best diet?

      • Marge

        The best diet is the diet that YOUR body responds best to. . . . . . The ways to determine this is varied. The best rule that I’ve heard of is everything in moderation and by ALL means, stay away from TRANS FATS. Let your body determine what is moderate, so learn to be in tune to how you feel when you eat something. I was in college to learn dietetics and dropped out because they tried to teach me the “One-size-fits-all” stuff. You may have to tweak your diet as you age or when life circumstances requires something different, if just for a while. That’s my take on things. Everything that these people are saying has value but take their dogma with a grain of salt.  

  • Bley

    The newest research shows that Potatoes DO NOT make you fat…. unless they are deep fried or loaded with extra fat calories from sour cream and butter. I quit reading after I saw potatoes listed as a BAD carb. This is just not truth.

    • Nobodyspecial

      lol you got it soooo wrong.  Welcome to fatville, you are going to be staying a while lol.

    • Anonymous

      Which research would that be?  Can you post a link to your sources, or reference the book from which you take your information?

      • sharon akeem

        of course not

    • Kellady

      That “newest research” was sponsored by the Idaho Potato Growers Association, or some similarly named organization, I assure you. They stand to lose their entire industry, if people wake up to the fact that it IS just the truth. Potatoes are starchy carbs that break down in your body just like sugar, and cause insulin spikes. The butter and sour cream help slow down the damage, thanks to their fat content. Another poor soul deluded by what the establishment tells them to believe, so that they’ll comply, get sick, and feed the carb up, shoot up mentality of the ADA, thus lining their pockets even more. You are playing right into their greed hands. 

      • Kellady

        *greedy

  • Smangan

    Thanks for the laughs everyone – I just love how so many people post and argue things they know nothing about.  I’d be interested in seeing some of your degrees and/or citations to the reliable sources from which you have based your opinions.

    • Smangan
      • frieda66

        His book is my bible!  Changed my life!

        • Anonymous

          Me too.  But it doesn’t matter what a trained expert who wrote an often-referenced and groundbreaking book on the subject says – “fat makes us fat” and “the newest research shows that potatoes DO NOT make you fat!” 

          Oh, okay.

  • Jennifer

    This infographic fails to address GOOD carbs and makes it seem like all carbs are bad when they’re not. Fruit, veggies and whole grains are considered “carbs” and your body needs them as fuel. Not all carbs are created equal.

    • Tbrittenham9

      our bodies do not need whole grains!!!  whole grains give us 0 nutrients that we can’t get from better sources…ie..veggies….NONE..ZIP…ZILCH…NONE…the trust about “whole grains” is that they raise blood sugar levels more than table sugar….the reason their is rediculous propaganda is because it is all funded by the wheat industry

    • Anonymous

      Your body needs non-starchy vegetables, but it does not need grains or beans.  It can get everything from seeds and nuts that it could get from grains and beans.

      Grains and beans are NOT good carbs, they are hard to digest, inflammatory to the entire body, and they are covered in phytates.  There’s a reason why beans are so difficult for so many of us….

  • Maynardchery

    I believe Ms Hoffman’s article is misleading, which probably has much to do with being married to a farmer…soon to be hog farmer. All we need to do is to look at many other countries, particularly the Asian countries, that have not yet adopted our way of eating. They eat mainly a plant based diet and are perfectly healthy. More than enough protein from plant based proteins. They do not have the obesity that we have, nor the health issues…diabetes, heart and high rates of cancer that we have. The problem in this country is processed food, meat and dairy. All of which are food that are pumped with things we can’t even pronounce. I did a lot of research and after doing the research my husband and I changed our eating to vegan. My husband was able to get off his triglyceride, blood pressure and cholesterol medicine. His eczema went away, we lost weight and our energy levels increased. Keep in mind that this research is funded by big corporations taking care of their own interests, much like a lobiest. You will never know the truth unless you search for it yourself because they don’t want you to know the truth. We are slowly being poisoned but the big meat and dairy corporations just keep getting richer.

    • Anonymous

      No, I think you are confused about who the lobbyists are paying. 

      The misinformation America is getting, due in large part to lobbying by Big Food and Big Pharma, is to eat a low-fat, high carbohydrate diet.  This perpetual siren-song of dangerous “medically sound” advice has been sung relentlessly for the past 30+ years – and look around you – Are Americans any slimmer or healthier for it? 

      And understand what you are reading.  Vegan is NOT Vegetarian.  Vegans eat NO animal protein, Vegetarians DO eat animal protein.  These terms are not interchangeable.  You either eat animal protein, or you don’t. 

      So when you are looking at studies claiming that the Japanese, or some other culture, that really relates to our circumstances in no way, shape, form, or fashion, claims that they were healthier because they ate a plant-based diet, realize that they were NEVER VEGAN.  They absolutely ate animal protein.

      There are no studies to back up the long-term health of veganism, because there have never been any vegan cultures around long enough to study.  As far as diets go, veganism is about as new-age as one can get.

    • sharon akeem

      asians eat a ton of  meat and fat.  

      • James Dondo

        here is an article in support of sharon’s claim about the asian diet…

        http://www.marksdailyapple.com/the-asian-paradox-how-can-asians-eat-so-much-rice-and-not-gain-weight/#axzz1lC8S22nO

        having just finished my first 2 month of grain free, dairy free and processed food free living following the paleo lifestyle, i am sitting here with my blood work results which have proven to me that i was killing myself eating grain and dairy. My results show dramatic improvement in every indicator that one would get tested for as a 49 year old male. my cholesterol, down from almost high at 6.02 to a desirable 4.65. my LDL went from 4.4 to 3.3 and my triglycerides went from 5.4 which is high, to 4.3 which is well on the way to <2.0. Again, this is after 30 days!! i had the first set done the week before i started the new eating regimen.

        I started weighing 215, which, after 18 months of cross-fit style training 3, sometimes 4 times a week, was 4 pounds below where i started. my %body fat had gotten to 21% from 29% in the first 18 months. after 30 days of dietary adjustment to eating real food and FAT, my body is sitting at 16% while my weight is now 194. i did not add anymore workouts to my lifestyle but my waist went from 37 to 34 in 30 days!!

        Science is quickly proving that the "Food Guides" are produced not by good research, but by lobby groups with vested interest in the masses NOT doing their own research, but believing what they are told! why would the drug companies want a healthy population? why would the food industry want you to stop filling your bodies with absolutely useless food? buying grains and grain products has destroyed the health of every culture it has taken over! I, for one, will no longer fall for the 'easy' dinner complex. the food i eat does not take any more time to prepare, we go shopping and bring home NO boxes of crap or cans of questionable garbage called food. we eat fresh, healthy food with almost no packaging and are rarely hungry! we don't experience afternoon sugar crashes, nor do we have food cravings as our blood sugar drops after that sandwich or yogurt works it's way through our system. we sleep better too.

        here are a couple of links for supporting information…

        http://www.wheatbellyblog.com/

        http://paleodietlifestyle.com/

        this one i found in a post here! very well written!

        http://whole9life.com/2010/03/the-grain-manifesto/

        test results do not lie!! my body has NEVER felt this strong nor this good.

        please, people who are claiming that fat is the problem, go do some research that is current and stop believing what the food industry wants you to accept as truth! they have no good reason to tell you anything that will make you stop supporting them! your health is UP TO YOU!! don't rely on food or drug companies to hold your hand while they kill you with their gmo products and drugs that then try to fix the mess the crap you eat caused!

        take your life back!! don't settle for less than the food your body actually can thrive on! it is out there!

        cheers!

        • Anonymous

          James – I’m a Wheat-Belly success story, too, and have also cut all grains.  Dr. Davis is brilliant, and I see things changing very soon due to his influence.  It’s becoming undeniable.

          Great success story!  Love hearing how cutting carbs proves again and again that fat is not the villain. 

          I’m not sure how anyone would rather eat a bowl of oatmeal in the morning than two eggs fried in coconut oil and a couple pieces of uncured bacon.  It just boggles the mind. 

          I’m clear-headed all day, and rarely need to eat again before dinner.  Weight loss has become easy, and I’m never in a situation anymore where my blood sugar gets so low that I have to veer into the closest fast-food trough to get a quick food fix in order to make it until dinner.

          I don’t struggle with staying on a “diet” or eating “plan” – the way I eat now sustains me so that food is usually an afterthought.  No diet I’ve ever tried has given me this gift.

        • Aryeh Ohayon

          My last 4 lipid panels are my bragging rights to health. I mostly meat (beef, bison, poultry), fish, and eggs. Every now and then, mostly on a weekend, I will have a small salad and maybe a piece of fruit.  
          People need to remember that the USDA food pyramid was designed by the same group of clowns that got us 15 TRILLION dollars in debt.

  • Pingback: Carbs, Not Fat, Make You Fat | Dr. Dan French is the Comedian PHD

  • Dansaltmarsh

    I eat 4000 to 4400 calories every day and 75% of my calories come from
    carbs and I am losing weight and getting muscle at the same time.   Eat
    to live!  Don’t starve the body of nutrition.  I eat like a gorilla and
    lose weight and feel great all day and have reversed all my medical
    conditions and am pill free.  I can eat 5000 calories a day and maintain
    weight.  Calories need to come from 100% plant based foods.  Sorry, no
    offense, but you’re wrong.  My story here:    http://saltmarshcleanse.blogspot.com/

    • Kellady

      I can eat until I am content, and have never felt deprived on a low carb diet. I’ll put my blood work against yours any day of the week. Just because your diet works for you, doesn’t mean that my diet is wrong. Calories do NOT need to come from 100% plant based food. Our bodies need fat for our organs to work properly, especiaslly our brains…may explain why you are so ignorant. Educated, my ass! Remember that minds are like parachutes; they work best when open! 

      • Kellady

        *especially

      • Kellady

        For the record, I have lost over 100 lbs with a low carb diet, have never felt deprived for a minute…how could I, when I can eat steak, and bacon, and heavy cream, all without guilt, and my dr says to keep doing whatever I’m doing, because it’s working. No pills needed, and no medical conditions here, despite the fact that heart disease, High BP, diabetes and cancer run on both sides of my family. How do you explain that??? Many people have reversed numerous medical conditions with a low carb lifestyle, as well. Do your research, and open your eyes to the fact that yours is not the ONLY way, “Educated”…you are apparently not educated enough… There are equally as impressive blogs as yours all over the internet, touting the benefits of a low carb and/or paleo lifestyle; I don’t have a blog, and I’m sure not every successful low carber does, so that’s countless more success stories that exist, but aren’t recorded. To each their own, although I think that you are depriving your body of many nutrients by not including animal products. Remember the food chain, in elementary science? People are omnivores. Low carb isn’t NO carb. It just limits carbs to those that are most nutritionally dense and less likely to spike insulin. You know you miss bacon! ;)

        • Guest

          Everyone WILL wake up to the fact that it is NOT meat vs no-meat.  It IS PROCESSED FOODS!  They are inflammatory, and cause inflammatory diseases like heart disease.

          Anyone cutting out processed foods is going to be healthier, and reduce their risks of all kinds of inflammatory conditions.  It is not so simple as eating all vegetables or eating only meats.

          The processed foods Americans have been consuming, starting with the processed vegetable oils we were mislead into thinking were better for us, have made us fatter and sicker.

          Eat whichever way you like, and whichever way makes you feel the best, but by cutting out all processed foods, you will be healthier no matter which diet you choose. 

          JUST EAT REAL FOOD!

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Greg-Fatbert/100002470355474 Greg Fatbert

    Actually, we should ALL be eating more carbs. It doesn’t matter if they are refined or not. There’s simply no way around the fact that fats are horrible for you, and carbs will actually help you lose weight. This article is completely misleading.

    • sharon akeem

      OMG  LOLOLOLLOLLOL!!

  • Pingback: Carbs are killing you | One Foot Over The Line

  • justin

    where do nuts fit into the equation? i would assume mostly a fat and should not affect insulin?

    • Anonymous

      Nuts have some carbs.  There is good nutritional information about nuts here

      http://lancaster.unl.edu/food/ftmar04.htm

      This site even has a couple of blurbs about nuts as they relate to women and diabetes.

      Nuts are high in Omega 6 fatty acids, which we have all eaten way too many of in all of the olive and other vegetable oils we’ve been mistakenly told to eat over the past 30 years.  omega 6 fatty acids can be very inflammatory, so I don’t eat a lot of nuts myself – maybe 1/4 cup per day at the most. I don’t think they’re unhealthy, as they have a lot of vitamins, minerals, and fiber, but I don’t overdo it.  I focus more on omega 3 fatty acids, and get those mostly from meats and dairy.  Low-carb is a
      “no-man’s-land” for vegans and those on plant-based diets.

      And remember, peanut butter is not made from nuts, so while many folks consider them alike, they really are two completely separate foods, as peanuts are legumes.  I say this because you shouldn’t assume that just because you’ve eaten nuts that you shouldn’t eat peanut butter that day, too.  I don’t really eat beans, so peanut butter is only an occasional slip for me, but a lot of people do really well with it when eating low-carb.  It’s high in fat, and very filling.

  • Pingback: Carbs Infographic Inspires Health & Nutrition Wish List | Food+Tech Connect

  • Robin Adler

    This is an awesome infographic and will hopefully help people see this in a new light! We need to bring more expose to the fact that grain carbs kill! Read Wheat Belly!!

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  • Jenn Z.

    I’m not sure where everyone else here getting their information on this topic, but the info graphic above (very well done from a design POV, by the way) is based on information from a book by Gary Taubes, a science writer who is neither a scientist nor a physician.

    A more reliable and complete explanation of how carbohydrates (both refined and complex) are metabolized in the human body is presented in a 1.5 hour talk given by Dr. Robert Lustig from UCSF Medical School. It can be found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBnniua6-oM

    I think everyone posting here is trying to learn about diet, nutrition and health, and that puts them ahead of a significant percentage of the US population, and that’s awesome. I hope we can respect each other’s differing points of view, as there is a lot of misinformation and bad science out there. It will take some time and effort for the truth to come out.

    I encourage everyone to view the video above and reconsider their posts on this topic.

    Wishing you all great health for 2012 and beyond… 

    • Dansaltmarsh

      You do realize that people are REVERSING their heart disease with a healthy high carb diet.  100% plant based:

      The Last Heart Attack:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-Unn7LjFkI

      Forks Over Knives: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7ijukNzlUg

      Reverse Heart Disease:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AYTf0z_zVs0&feature=player_embedded

    • Anonymous

      Love Dr. Lustig – posted a youtube vid from him here the other day. 

      Unfortunately, Americans who “think” they are eating to be healthier seem to teeter between the vegan propaganda, furthered by dubious studies funded by questionable sources, and those who just can’t get off the “fat makes you fat” misinformation train.

      Unfortunately for many, time WILL tell.

    • http://twitter.com/treyshelton Trey Shelton

      Great video Jenn.

      I agree in that the infographic here is important as fat has been wrongly victimized over the years, and as Dr. Lustig points out, it has caused food manufacturers to spike the sugar content in everything. You need either fat or sugar to appeal to most taste buds since without one of them, you’re basically eating cardboard.

      I would venture to guess that anyone reading this blog is living a fairly healthy lifestyle with regular exercise and is eating what most in this realm would consider “whole foods” be they vegetable, fruits, nuts, and either non-processed grains and/or pastured meats and/or fish. 

      Personally I lean towards the paleo-ish side, but hear me out before you chastise every word. I am allergic to wheat so the paleo diet works really well for me, but I don’t follow it to the letter. I will neither turn down sushi rolls nor a fish taco (on a corn tortilla of course), but these aren’t go to meals.

      What I will ask all participants here on both sides is whether cutting out meat/fat or grains has been the biggest factor in your amazing health. 

      How many of us during our personal health revolution also:
      - cut out processed foods
      - greatly reduced our sugar intake
      - quit smoking/drinking
      - reduced vegetable oil intake (probably due to cooking more & eating out less)
      - started exercising regularly
      - found a peer support group of similarly motivated & positive people

      If every person did these 6 things, would not their health improve dramatically?

      Of course it would!

      …But vegetarians swear that meat was the real problem and the paleo crew swears it’s wheat. Then both sides take up arms against each other and pretty soon someone is drawing a Hitler mustache on a pic of the leader of the other camp. It’s ridiculous.

      Processed foods, sugar, and vegetable oil are evils we can all agree on that should be eliminated. We can both probably agree that everyone could stand to eat far more nutrient packed leafy greens and vegetables.

      We need to focus our eating on nutrient dense food instead of caloric dense food. I don’t care how much fiber grains have, it’s not nearly as nutrient or fiber packed as spinach. Yet, every grain crop receives far more government subsidies than veggies do. This is outrageous and there is not nearly enough people up in arms over the situation.

      I would like to see both camps here adopt a mutual food/health platform against processed foods, sugar, and an over reliance on monocrops. If we could put in an addendum supporting better meat policies, I’m sure we could find common ground there as well since both sides are for a more humanly treated animal policy.

      Then once the world is free of the ills caused by our sugar and fast food addictions, we can have the cage match to the death between fat and carbs.

  • Anonymous

    Just thought I’d throw this little gem on the table for all of you so in love with your high-carb diets-

    From “Science Daily”:

    “Elevated Glucose Associated With Undetected Heart Damage”

    http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120202151719.htm

    • Dansaltmarsh

      You do realize that people are REVERSING their heart disease with a healthy high carb diet.  100% plant based:

      The Last Heart Attack:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-Unn7LjFkI

      Forks Over Knives: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7ijukNzlUg

      Reverse Heart Disease:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AYTf0z_zVs0&feature=player_embedded

      • Anonymous

        Do you realize that people are also reversing heart disease with a healthy low-carb diet that includes plenty of saturated (read: animal) fat, and excludes grains?  The proof is in the numbers.  My own test results prove it to me, and if you look at stories from the primal/paleo community you will see these kinds of stories echoed repeatedly there.

        There simply is no scientific basis for the claims that saturated fat, or aminal protein causes heart disease, or any of the other inflammatory conditions that a carb-rich diet does.

        There is also no science that proves that a clean, plant-based diet which includes animal protein from sources that are antibiotic and hormone-free, raised in a clean environment, and fed the foods that animal has evolved eating, is any less healthy than a similar diet without animal protein.  Look everywhere – you won’t find it.

        “Forks Over Knives” if I’m no mistaken, was another gem from “Dr.” T. Colin Campbell, plugging more of his dubious claims about veganism. 

        His recommendations to eat a “0 percent fat” diet are, in a word, dangerous.

        Curiously enough, he leaves out results from studies showing that wheat has a much higher impact on cancer levels than meat does.  Hmmm.

        Dr. Campbell is a quack scientist, and a shill for animal rights activism groups.  The China Study was paid for, in part, by PETA and several other of their associated groups. 

        He admits this. 

        While not criminal, these kinds of studies are certainly unethical, and screams of biased science and agenda-driven studies.  He should have removed himself as a researcher, and found the money to fund the study
        elsewhere.

        I realize that to mixed-motive vegans, and by this I mean vegans who can’t “eat anything that has a face” AND want to believe a vegan diet is healthier, it wouldn’t matter that he is so tied to animal rights.  Vegans who feel bad for animals don’t care that his science is likely biased in their favor. They “want” to believe it’s true because it aligns with what they believe is morally right.

        However, for those of us who care less whether we eat a vegan diet or one containing protein, but simply want the healthiest diet, this kind of “science” is quite frightening.  Considering the likelihood of bias in these study results, it is quite possible Dr. Campbell is presenting as “science” dubious claims to further a cause that has nothing to do with health whatsoever.

        I won’t bother quoting any sources for this information – you can feel free to do your own search on Dr. Campbell’s associations, and reports from many, many reliable sources will surface.

        Dr. Campbell should have left the science to someone else, but then again, if he had, it most certainly would have told a different story.

        • Dansaltmarsh

          Nice copy and paste job.  I call BS on your entire story and complete ignorance.    Ignorance: 1. Lacking knowledge or awareness in general; uneducated.

          2. A state of being uniformed.

          Ignorance is when we don’t know
          something, but we are capable of knowing it if we choose to.I have a background in nutrition AND I have proof of scientific evidence AND medical evidence.   You say there is no evidence on a high carb/low fat diet.   That statement alone shows that you have never researched it.You better go watch this for starters and quit making up stories:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-Unn7LjFkIhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AYTf0z_zVs0&feature=player_embedded

          • Anonymous

            Suit yourself. 

          • Phil Thompson

            there’s plenty of evidence on high carb low fat – in an uncontrolled experiment over 20 years over 200 million Americans have provided us with ample data on the consequences of this approach.

      • http://www.claudiorivera.info/ claudio rivera

        Regarding “forks over knives”, this review breaks it down quite nicely: http://rawfoodsos.com/2011/09/22/forks-over-knives-is-the-science-legit-a-review-and-critique/

  • Dansaltmarsh

    You do realize that people are REVERSING their heart disease with a healthy high carb diet.  100% plant based:

    The Last Heart Attack:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-Unn7LjFkI

    Forks Over Knives: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7ijukNzlUg

    Reverse Heart Disease:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AYTf0z_zVs0&feature=player_embedded

    Great video clips: http://watchtheselinks.blogspot.com/

    • guest

      These aren’t peer reviewed, scientific studies.

      • Guest

        They sure aren’t, although in many instances I have felt that saying that a study is “peer reviewed,” and thus infallible, is tantamount to saying that no one in this country is ever wrongfully convicted of a crime since we are all subject to a trial by a “jury of our peers.”  It sounds good, but mistakes happen with great regularity.

        What the “peer review” system really boils down to is bunch of other scientists saying “yeah – we concur, and that makes it right because we’ve been trained to know all the same stuff, and we’re just as smart as he/she is!”

        In the end it’s no guarantee of a published study free of bias….

  • Beth

    Hi all
    This debate is great, and we love that you are having it here on at Food+Tech Connect! 

    If you would also like to give feedback as to what kinds of networks, social media and apps you would like to see developed for the nutrition and health communities – come over to that discussion as well at http://www.foodandtechconnect.com/site/2012/02/02/carbs-infographic-inspires-health-nutrition-wish-list/

    Those who design technology could benefit from hearing from those who use it!

    Thanks for your input,
    Beth Hoffman
    Managing Editor, Food+Tech connect

  • Dan

    What a load of crap, it is calories in vs. calories burned, it doesn’t matter where they come from. I started a Vegan diet 6 months ago and I eat all the food I want until I am full.  The volume of food you can eat when it is mostly vegetables (carbs) is amazing.   I also eat rice, beans, legumes, and fats in the form of nuts, avocados etc.  I have lost 10 lbs, have never felt deprived, and I feel so much better and have much more energy.  I feel nutritional density of your food is very important as well.  Most high fat foods are not very nutritious. Atkins weighed 258 lbs at the time he died and suffered from hypertension and had 2 heart attacks. (snopes.com)

    • Guest

      Why do you suppose you have to eat all that food?  Why are you even able to? 

      A low carb diet of fat and protein with very few carbs suppresses the appetite to a degree that only a fraction of food is needed.  This is partly because meats and fats are so nutritionally dense.  No so for vegetables.  You need to eat a lot of vegetables to get the same nutrition that you get from a very small quantity of meat and fat.

      The other reason is because without the metabolism of carbohydrates to confuse the body, it is better able to burn body fat for fuel, like it was meant to.  We all have weeks of meals worth of fat just below our skin that we should be using for body fuel, but our bodies will never burn it if we keep loading up on carbohydrates!

      Carbohydrate consumption constantly stimulates the pancreas to make insulin.  This is very damaging to our internal organs, and this is a medical fact.  You can read this anywhere.  And besides that, the subsequent drops in insulin are what make people hungry all the time and have such severe food cravings.  Carbohydrates are just sugar to your body.  That’s all your body recognizes carbohydrates as – sugar. 

      What you want your body to burn for energy and fuel is fat, and your body will only do this in the absence of carbohydrates.  It’s a scientifically proven biological process called “ketosis.”  It’s how our bodies are meant to work.

      Cut the carbs and add some good fats to your diet and you have a perfect recipe for instant appetite control.

      I eat roughly 1/4 to 1/5 the amount of food I used to.  I don’t even have to think about food anymore, because I’m never hungry.

      No one is suggesting that low-carb = no-carb.  Most of us still eat non-starchy vegetables, nuts, and seeds.

      Having to eat so much is ridiculous!   Give your digestive system a break!

      • Educated

        That is LAUGHABLE.  You think cooked dead flesh is full of nutrition?  LOL  I study nutrition and you are so very, very wrong.  Animals in the wild won’t touch a piece of dead cooked flesh ever.  The heat kills all the nutrients.  Where do you think animals get nutrients from their kill?  In the blood!  The blood is loaded with nutrients until you cook it!

        Human bodies love to be FUELED with enzymes, nutrients and amino acids.  Just like animals do.  Seriously, your information is full of flaws and no evidence at at all.  Sorry, no offense, but it’s a freaking joke.

        http://www.heartattackproof.com/
        http://foodnsport.com/
        http://www.drmcdougall.com/
        http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=oKuGsorhGG4
        http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oB7tuJrYp80&feature=share
        http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=g58v8zFyg8o

        Pretty obvious you’re either lying or just really, really ignorant.

        • guest

          agreed! Here’s my favorite part of the other post “You need to eat a lot of vegetables to get the same nutrition that you get from a very small quantity of meat and fat”  Really?!  How much meat do I have to eat to get my daily value of vitamin C? 

          • Guest

            If you eat non-starchy vegetables, seeds, and nuts, Like I said *I DO” in an earlier post, you get everything you need.

            The Infographic above that started this discussion was about how carbohydrates can damage the body and make you fat.  I argue for that.  My own diet consists of many vegetables, just not the starchy ones.  I also eat nuts and seeds.  No grains.

            Having said that-

            Find information *anywhere” that says, according to sound nutritional science that talks about how we “actually” metabolize food and use it in our bodies, that carbohydrates have anything in them that can’t be found in other nutritional sources.

            Inuit peoples got vitamin C from fermenting animal products.  Yes, they would have died without vitamin C – yet they ate no vegetation and still they lived.  Obviously they were getting it from meat.

            It’s an empty argument.

          • http://twitter.com/Bliss6789 Bliss6789

            The Inuit *did* eat various plants:   http://huntgatherlove.com/content/plants-we-eat

          • Guest

            Agreed. But–they didn’t have to.

            When they couldn’t they also obtained Vitamin C from purely animal sources.

            Following is a quote from
            Chris Masterjohn:

            “Here is how Weston Price described the diet of the native Alaskan Inuit:

            “The food of these Eskimos in their native state includes caribou,
            ground nuts which are gathered by mice and stored in caches, kelp which
            is gathered in season and stored for winter use, berries including
            cranberries which are preserved by freezing, blossoms of flowers
            preserved in seal oil, sorrel grass preserved in seal oil, and
            quantities of frozen fish.

            Another important food factor consists of the
            organs of the large animals of the sea, including certain layers of the
            skin of one of the species of whale, which was found to be very high in
            vitamin C.”

            I haven’t read this book myself, but Melissa McEwen reviewed “The
            Plants We Eat” by Anore Jones, who lived among the native Alaskans for
            19 years:

            http://huntgatherlove.com/content/plants-we-eat

            Thus, a whole book can be written about the plants they eat.

            This article in Discover discusses some of the obscure sources of vitamin C in their diet, including animal products:

            http://discovermagazine.com/2004/oct/inuit-paradox/article_view?b_start:int=1

            In addition to eating what plants they can, these natives also
            consume important sources of vitamin C such as raw liver, seal brain,
            and whale skin. Other inland forest-dwelling natives that Price studied
            were familiar with scurvy and knew it could be prevented or cured with
            the adrenal glands of moose, which are very rich in vitamin C. It
            follows that consuming plant foods may be even more important for people
            who do not eat raw liver, seal brain, whale skin, and moose adrenals.”

    • Guest

      Are you really going with Snopes, a “rumor has it” site for that reference about Dr. Atkins? 

      Really? 

      Are you sure?

    • Guest

      Try this reference for information about Dr. Atkins death, YOU DIPSHIT–

      http://articles.cnn.com/2003-04-17/health/obit.atkins_1_atkins-diet-atkins-center-diet-guru?_s=PM:HEALTH

      “Dr. Robert Atkins, creator of the high-protein, low-carbohydrate
      Atkins Diet, died Thursday after an accidental fall on April 8 left him
      comatose.

      Atkins, 72, was rushed to New York Weill Cornell Medical
      Center by his colleague, Dr. Keith Berkowitz, where surgeons removed a
      blood clot to relieve pressure in his brain on April 9.

      Atkins slipped on an icy sidewalk outside his New York office.

      “We
      are hoping for a miracle,” Richard Rothstein, a spokesman for Atkins
      told CNN April 11, “but the chances for a meaningful recovery are slim.”

  • Aryeh Ohayon

    My last 4 lipid panels are my bragging rights to health. I eat mostly meat (Free range/grass fed beef, bison, poultry), fish (wild caught), and eggs (omega3 well above 300mg). Every now and then, mostly on a weekend, I will have a small salad and maybe a piece of fruit.  
    In the world of nutrition we can find essential amino acids (Protein), essential fatty acids (Fat), but, and I have been asking this for a while now, why can we not find 1 single essential carbohydrate… Zero, zip, nada. So, why do people say that we need carbs, when we DO NOT NEED CARBS? Yes, I am active; swim, crossfit, adventure/endurance runs/races, some gymnastics etc. etc.

    People need to remember that the USDA food pyramid was designed by the same group of clowns, in the U.S. at least, that got us into over 15 TRILLION dollars in debt.

    • Dansaltmarsh

      I call BS.  You wouldn’t live without carbohydrates.  This shows your ignorance.  When you have heart disease, cancer, obesity, hypertension, high cholesterol, catch a cold or any other sickness in the world…..you might want to invest in nutrition from fruits and vegetables.   There is almost no nutrition in dead cooked animal flush.  Go research it.  DUH!

    • Guest

      Aryeh Ohayon – You are absolutely right about carbs being completely non-essential.  No one believes this because no one bothers to learn anything about true nutritional science – the science of what the body needs to consume for survival.  The rest is just fluff.
      This is what my experience with
      low-carb has been as well.  My doctor scratches her head at the
      improvements in my health despite the fact that I’m eating a diet that
      is not “medically suggested”.I have to think we can thank an overall reduction in quantities of food eaten for part of this, too.  Low-carb, high-fat diets eliminate the need to eat much at all.  I was NEVER able to control my appetite when eating a high-carb diet because I was always hungry.  Now I just plain eat less, hardly at all, really, because I’m never hungry.Four lipid panels – does this mean once yearly for four years?  If so, that is spectacular!  I love stories like these that prove the AMA and USDA song and dance is just that – nonsense they spew to get us to follow a diet that has just made Americans fatter and sicker over the past 30 years.  All a skeptic has to do is look around to see that what they tell us is wrong-Vegans always want to blame the meat and fat, but once ANYONE starts by cutting the processed foods they will eliminate a lot of the diseases of inflammation.  Our test results prove this!I am on year two of my lipid panels looking better on low-carb.  Keep up the good work!

      • Educated

        Total BS.

        That is LAUGHABLE.  You think cooked dead flesh is full of nutrition? 
        LOL  I study nutrition and you are so very, very wrong.  Animals in the
        wild won’t touch a piece of dead cooked flesh ever.  The heat kills all
        the nutrients.  Where do you think animals get nutrients from their
        kill?  In the blood!  The blood is loaded with nutrients until you cook
        it!

        Human bodies love to be FUELED with enzymes, nutrients and amino acids. 
        Just like animals do.  Seriously, your information is full of flaws and
        no evidence at at all.  Sorry, no offense, but it’s a freaking joke.

        http://www.heartattackproof.com/

        http://foodnsport.com/

        http://www.drmcdougall.com/

        http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=oKuGsorhGG4

        http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oB7tuJrYp80&feature=share

        http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=g58v8zFyg8o

        Pretty obvious you’re either lying or just really, really ignorant.

        • Guest

          I’m ignorant because my test results have shown that

          I’ve reversed Insulin resistance, and stopped taking meds

          or because

          I’ve lost weight

          or because

          My lipid profiles are lower than they were when I ate a low-fat/high carb diet

          or because

          I’ve lowered my blood pressure to levels it was in my teen years

          ???

          What am I ignorant about?

          Yes, you are absolutely right – I’m lying. 

          I came all the way here and posted this because I’m lying.

          You are absolutely right about everything.  Because you’re educated.

        • Guest

          Oh, let me guess -

          You’re vegan, right?

  • Paul Holden

    I think Dan expressed the contents of this article too delicately… this is a load of, well, absolute nonsense and is based on this lady’s opinion and is not sustained by any information found in the scientific literature.  The fact that she is off to start a hog farm tells us all we need to know about her (lack of) understanding of human health and the environment.  Go to John McDougall, M.D. or Dean Ornish, M.D. books and websites) for the facts on human health.  I know… I am 72 and I look 52… I have practiced what I preach most of my life.  Do not be misled by this nonsense!

  • Jennifer

    Why do
    people think low carb equals no carb? I actually eat more vegetables and fruits
    when eating low-carb than I do when eating low-fat. Yes, I eat a good amount of
    meat, nuts and cheeses, but I also eat tons of salads and greens, squash,
    onions, eggplant, bell peppers, mushrooms, zucchini, tomatoes, fresh herbs,
    blueberries, strawberries, cantaloupe and apples.

    I’ve lost
    weight using both methods, but my body drops weight at a much faster rate when
    following a low-carb regimen, and this is without meticulously counting
    calories as I have to with low glycemic eating. What do you think human beings
    ate for millions of years before they farmed? Meat and berries, seeds and nuts.

    Calories in
    vs calories out is only part of the picture, because how do you explain how
    women begin to gain weight as they age even though they eat the same amount of
    calories…even very active women like aerobics instructors. Or how some people
    can eat whatever they want, remain inactive and have to drink slim fast WITH
    their meals in order to gain weight? If health or weight loss was cut and dry,
    no one would be arguing about it, but it isn’t and we are.

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  • Guest

    Well, if this isn’t timely I just don’t know what is!  A Dutch study has decided that saturated fat is actually “not a problem.”

    “The study found that dietary intake of saturated fatty acids is
    associated with a modest increase in serum total cholesterol — but not with cardiovascular disease.”

    http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2012/02/02/dutch-recognize-saturated-fat-not-a-problem.aspx

  • Anonymous

    Science has been telling us this for a century. We just haven’t been listening. 

  • http://twitter.com/Bliss6789 Bliss6789

    There is no convincing evidence that the anticipatory insulin
    response illustrated by step #1 occurs only when an individual thinks about
    carbohydrate-laden foods.  It occurs when
    thinking about food period.  In addition,
    while it is true that low-carb diets outperform low-fat diets in shorter-term
    studies, the majority of longer-term studies (> 1 year in duration) shows
    that the results even out over time with both groups of dieters losing the same
    amount of weight on average. 

    • Guest

      Cite your references, please.

  • gppowers14

    Guest 2

    Read “Wheat Belly” by Cardiologist William Davis and understand why carbs and sugars are bad. It will turn the heads of all the naysayers.