[Sca-cooks] Dieting

[Avraham haRofeh of Sudentur]

On Thu, 27 Nov 2003 21:23:49 -0500, ranvaig at columbus.rr.com wrote:
> I watch my diet, even at holidays, but don't follow Atkins.
> I don't see the point of avoiding a low calorie food like potatoes.
> To me, Thanksgiving has always been about the vegetables.
> And the cranberries. *S*

For the record... potatoes are not a "low calorie food" any more than any 
other starchy vegetable - they still have 4 calories per gram of 
carbohydrate. Furthermore, if you suffer from hyperinsulinemia (a 
pre-diabetic condition), you MUST limit your carbohydrate intake to achieve 
weight loss. A 1200-calorie per day diet is significantly less than most 
Americans eat - but someone with severe hyperinsulinemia can manage to not 
lose weight on 1200 calories, if they are eating 6-800 of them as carbs. The 
excess insulin release stimulated by the high carb load (a) promotes hunger 
(b) promotes deposition of fat and slowing of overall metabolism (c) 
incidentally, causes increased levels of cholesterol and triglycerides. A 
hyperinsulinemic needs to limit total carbs to less than 30% of total 
calories, not 50% as recommended by the food pyramid. Of course, that also 
means limiting total calories - 30% of a 3000 calorie diet isn't going to 
help you lose weight!

****************
Avraham haRofeh of Sudentur
     (mka Randy Goldberg MD)
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