Why a low carbohydrate diet is rejected by doctors
As a Family Physician with eleven years of community practice experience,
I can attest to the lack of detailed training in nutrition in medical
school during the years I attended (I am not aware that it has changed
much since then).
But
there is more to it than that. Doctors
get their scientific information about nutrition from the same sources
that the general public gets theirs - U.S. government agencies, highly
specialized professionals at universities and teaching hospitals, and
research from various funding sources, including drug manufacturers.
My
medical training taught me to reject any "fad" diet, including
the low carb plan, that does not comply with the criteria for a healthy
diet - which has been defined for many years by the USDA Food Guide
Pyramid as limited in fat, and with approximately 50% of calories from
carbohydrates.
Other
physicians can only do the same, because they have no other basis on
which to judge the merits of a particular plan. Not because they are
not interested in nutrition - most of them would love to guide their
patients in weight loss and nutritional health - but because they do
not have the necessary tools.
The Truth about Nutritional Science
The
real truth is that physicians and other health care professionals learn
the detailed biochemistry of how humans metabolize nutrients, but have
never been given the "big picture" that allows them to actually
make an assessment of a particular eating plan. They, like the rest
of the public, depend on the "experts" to guide them in this
realm. And even the experts are not seeing the true picture.
I did
not discover this until I did my own in-depth research in nutrition
and metabolism. It was not easy to piece the information together, but
once it is taken as a whole, it becomes evident that we already have
the scientific knowledge that permits us to assess the effects
of various nutrient intakes.
And
scientific analysis of a limited carbohydrate intake reveals that it
is the healthiest way possible for most individuals to eat!
Why the USDA Food Guide Pyramid is Wrong
So
why do the experts persist in telling us that we should eat more carbohydrates
and less fat? The simple answer is that all of the current studies that
relate to cholesterol levels and heart disease were done on a 20th century
American diet - which was already much higher in carbohydrate
than that which the human body evolved with and adapted to for optimal
health!
In
fact, the earliest studies that associated high cholesterol levels with
fat intake were performed on rabbits and mice - both of which are vegetarians!
When fed large amounts of fat, these animals had dramatic increases
in their cholesterol levels. This effect was then extrapolated to humans,
ignoring the fact that for most of human evolution our ancestors ate
mostly meat and very few carbohydrates.
The
experts have not recognized this, because researchers have not looked
beyond current eating practices to focus on the way human metabolism
works. Even nutrition textbooks fail to provide a concise description
about how various nutrient combinations are metabolized. Most of them
offer the same research data that agrees with the current guidelines.
An
objective analysis of the scientific facts is now available!
The scientific information
on this site is explained in simplified terms for the general public,
but is also meaningful for doctors and other professionals. Invite your
doctor to review it - it will surprise both of you!
Get the
complete scientific details in "DIET TRUTHS
REVEALED: The IDEAL DIET for Human Health", a 142-page
book that explains why a low carbohydrate diet is not just a successful
diet plan but is also a healthy eating plan that is the most IDEAL for
the way the human body actually works. It includes charts and food lists
so you can easily know if you are following the IDEAL DIET. And the
new second edition includes the "Metabolic Switch" diet, which
tricks your body into losing weight even after it adapts to whatever
diet you are using. Find out more.
Low Carb Diet Safety Home Page
(c) copyright 2000
Jan McBride, M.D.
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