Behind the Low-Carb
Headlines
Dana Carpender
View the complete video at
http://holdthetoast.com/behind-the-lowcarb-headlines-1
http://holdthetoast.com/behind-the-lowcarb-headlines-2
Low Carb Diet Hurts
Memory!
Big, Carb-Heavy Breakfast
Aids Weight Loss!
Atkins Diet Increases
All-Causes Mortality!
Deep Breath!
Headlines:
Designed to sell newspapers
and magazines
Never subtle
Subtlety is where the truth lies!
The ________ Media!
Supported by advertising
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Food processors
Drug industry
What happened to the Incredible
Edible Egg???
Is Beef still What’s for Dinner???
Consider the Source
What is the publication?
Who is the author?
Credibility?
 Obvious bias?
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Read the article
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Any new information, or just the
same old canards?
Studies
Observational (most are this type)
Correlation is NOT causation!
 Maybe suggestive, never conclusive.
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Clinical
How many subjects?
 Over what period?
 Closely monitored?
 What was the actual diet?
 Multiple variables?

Comparison of Weight-Loss Diets
with Different Compositions of Fat,
Protein and Carbohydrates
“No difference in diets for weight loss”
Clinical study, 811 (645) participants
The diets:
20% fat, 15% protein, 65% carb
 20% fat, 25% protein, 55% carb
 40% fat, 15% protein, 45% carb
 40% fat, 15% protein, 35% carb
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Reading more closely…
“Low-Carb” = 35% calories from
carbohydrates, or 137 grams???
Only 40% from fat??? (I shoot for
more like 70-75%.)
Reported intakes did not reach
target levels of macronutrients!
They never actually tested a lowcarbohydrate diet!
10% of participants kept off 10% of
their body weight. Success?
Atkins Diet Increases
All-Cause Mortality!
by Dr. Dean Ornish
Annals of Internal Medicine
“Meat Intake and Mortality: A
Prospective Study of Over Half a
Million People”
(Gosh, we’re awfully impressed, I can tell you!)
Reading more closely…
“Prospective” = “Observational”
“Meat intake was estimated from a
food frequency questionnaire…”
Big assumptions:
Accurate memory of what you ate
 Food intake remains the same for
a decade

So, how did this one work?
“High animal protein” and “high
vegetable protein” groups
 Broke into deciles by carb intake
 Men vs Women
 “Lowest carb” group still 37%, or
168 grams carb
 “Low-carb”/high-veg group was
even higher over all
 Men ate more carbs than women.
NO GROUP was close to “low-carb”
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Furthermore…..
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“High-veg” group actually ate more
animal protein than vegetable!
Lowest 2/3 of “low-animal” group
ate more animal protein than “highanimal” group!
Lowest 2/3 of women’s “low-animal”
group ate more red/processed meat
than “high-animal” groups!
Differences persisted with the men.
Where did the animal group’s carbs
come from? Had to be sugar.
What did this demonstrate?
NOTHING!
Except an overwhelming desire of
some people (ahem-Ornish-ahem!)
to “prove” that animal foods are bad
and plant foods are good.
Next: Multiple Variables
The “Big Breakfast” Study
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94 obese women with metabolic
syndrome
Put on either a “low-carb” or a “big
breakfast” diet
“Low-carbers” did a little better in first
four months, then regained
“Big-breakfasters” continued to lose
Reading more closely…
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Calories: Low-carbers ,1085; bigbreakfasters, 1240. Huh?
Carbs: LC, 17 g; BB, 97 g.
Fat: LC, 78 g; BB, 22 g.
Protein: LC, 51 g; BB, 93 g. Huh?
Breakfast size: LC, 290 calories,
25% of daily calories; BB, 610
calories, nearly half daily calories.
SIX (count ‘em SIX) Variables!
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Caloric intake
Fat intake
Carbohydrate intake
Protein intake
Breakfast size
Weighting of caloric intake toward
beginning/end of day
So, who did what to whom?
And what’s with this?
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Bad math!
What low-carb diet restricts you to
1000 calories a day?
What low-carb diet restricts
breakfast size?
Only 51 grams or protein a day?
Straw Man Argument!
Low-Carb Diet & Memory Loss
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19 women, aged 22 to 55
9 low-carb, 10 low-calorie
Week 1: low-carbers showed
decreasing memory and slowed
reaction time
Week 2: carbs added back,
cognition skills “returned to normal”
Wait a minute now…
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First week was essentially zero-carb.
(Do you remember your first week?)
Just getting to Induction by the end
of the study – and their cognitive
problems vanished!
Even in Week 1, low-carbers still outperformed on “attention vigilance
task”
Once again, someone is “creating a
reality” they only wish were true.
Low Carb Diet Best for
Lowering Blood Pressure
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(Now we’re talking!)
146 obese subjects with comorbidities
(diabetes, elevated cholesterol &
triglycerides, hypertension)
Half put on low-carb, half on low-fat
with orlistat (aka xenical or “Alli”)
Low-carbers were on Atkins induction
– an actual low-carb diet!
So, how did they do?
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Low-carb group lost 9.5% of their
body fat; low-fat group lost 8.5%
(even while taking the orlistat)
Both improved cholesterol and trigs
Insulin & glucose markers improved
only in low-carb group
BP improved far more dramatically
in low-carb group
47% of low-carbers discontinued BP
meds vs 21% of low-fat group
In summary, ask yourself…
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Do I trust the source?
Is there actual science involved?
Observational or clinical study?
How big? How long? How was it
constructed?
Was it really low-carbohydrate?
Do the headlines match the actual
conclusions?
Tune in:
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Jimmy Moore
livinlavidalowcarb.com
Tom Naughton
fathead-movie.com
Dr. Mike Eades
proteinpower.com/drmike
Denise Minger
rawfoodsos.com
Obligatory Self-Promotion
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Hold The Toast! (blog)
www.holdthetoast.com
Dana’s Low-Carb for Life (podcast)
www.danaslowcarbforlife.com
My TotalGym Transformation
www.mytotalgymtransformation.com