Atkins/Low Carbers Support

[Robin'sBrood]

Quote:
I don't have diabetes, high blood pressure, or gout. And I never had any problems with my kidneys, and no kidney pain whatsoever, until I started low carbing. Within about two months of starting Atkins I had my first bout of kidney pain. Coincidence? I think not. But whatever... hopefully you'll be one of those who never develop kidney stones.

 

[Robin'sBrood]

My last post on this thread...

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=100098

Kidney stone surgery on 2/16/09.

 

[TXmom]

Wow, y'all have been busy this morning

I've said it before and I'll say it again...I don't know if Low Carb is the best way for everybody to eat...everybody is different and they need to find the best way for them.

For me, I'm convinced that Low Carb is my best way. I have a history of recurring bladder infections and yeast infections (I'm sorry...gross) but when I started Low Carbing...neither infection for years!

I went back on sugar (stupidity really) and both returned. Now I'm back on Low Carb and feel 1000% better.

 

[TXmom]

Oh, and just a side note about doctors... I went for a yearly GYN appointment...I sat there in the little room staring at a big poster on the wall about how Low Carb diets are bad for you. I was worried that I was about to be scolded. The doc came in, looked at my weight loss and lowered blood pressure (compared to the year before), and started asking me questions. I told her about my Atkins diet/lifestyle and she looked shocked. She told me (slowly and carefully, like she didn't really want to say it) that I was doing well and to keep up the good work.

 

[Wifezilla]

.I don't know if Low Carb is the best way for everybody to eat...everybody is different and they need to find the best way for them

While people are different, we are not different species. There are some people with very unique diseases and conditions, but they are a very small minority. Other than these rare, few exceptions, a diet without excess sugar and starches isn't just a good idea, it is what humans evolved to eat over MILLIONS of years. There is NO SUCH THING as an "essential carbohydrate". Essential fatty acids? Yup. Essential sugar, flour, rice, and potatoes? Heck no.

In an evolutionary sense, eating large quantities of grains is new to humans. Eating highly processed grains is VERY new. The health of Americans over the last 30 years shows the result of this new trend.

Atkins did not "invent" low carb. It was how our ancestors ate. Grains were something animals ate. Not people. Fruits were seasonal and only available in small quantities. A majority of the diet was meat and fat with some greens as flavor or used in times of sparse hunting.

Here is a great article by Dr. Mike Eades comparing a hunter gather society vs a farming community.
http://www.proteinpower.com/drmike/...lth-in-agriculturalists-and-hunter-gatherers/​

 

[TXmom]

Although I have done a little research on my own, you are obviously much more informed than I am.

The reason I say I'm not sure it's for everybody is because of 2 people I know that it didn't seem to help. That is to say, they didn't see the weight loss that I and many others saw, but I'm sure with a full medical evaluation, they probably would have seen other benefits not visible to the naked eye.

Also, some people are just not willing to give up the sugar and/or bread. It would be great for their health and weight, but they're just not willing to do it. Period. I know several of those kinds of people too.

 

[Wifezilla]

You hit the nail on the head. People are NOT willing to give up bread. I read a study recently that showed that sugars are as addictive as heroin.

https://www.examiner.com/x-798-Denv...the-Obvious-File-Sugar-as-addictive-as-heroin


Just another thought on the kidney stones issue. From what I read it often takes several years to stones to form depending on the type of stone, your hydration levels, etc. If you are only on a low carb diet for a short time and get stones, did the low carb cause the stones or did they start years earlier and just now got to the size it caused pain? You can't just say "low carb gave me kidney stones" unless you examine the stone structure and truly track the path of the kidney problems. Was is the few months on low carb? Or was it 40 years of eating starches and other sugars? (regardless if those sugars were in the form of whole grains and starchy vegetables or donuts and twinkies)

In my case, if I dropped dead tomorrow because of heart disease (not unheard of in my family), I want it on record that is wasn't the low carb diet that caused it. I have only been low carbing for 2 years. For the previous 43 years of my life, I lived on grains and refined foods. THAT would have been what killed me.

 

[Robin'sBrood]

I said I wasn't going to post on this thread again but I must be a glutton for punishment.

Wifezilla, I don't believe in evolution so that theory is out the window for me. The Bible talks about people eating grains, vegetables, breads, meat, fish, etc. so I believe that people ate the same things we eat now -- only theirs was fresh, raw or cooked, but never processed and prepackaged like so much of our food is today.

 

[Wifezilla]

Since you bring up the bible. I think it covers this issue quite well in the old testiment...

"Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain a worker of the ground. In the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground, and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his face fell. The Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it."

God has no regard for carbs, but he loves some good fatty mutton

 

[Robin'sBrood]

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You do know that's not what that is talking about though, don't you?