# US News Ranking of Diets



## tenspeed (Jan 4, 2018)

Interesting info on various diets:

Keto diet ranks last on 2018 'best diets' list - CNN


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## Steve Kroll (Jan 4, 2018)

Regarding the keto diet, I'll have to disagree with the so-called "experts" and call BS on this article. Just reading the first couple of paragraphs, it's clear they have no idea what they are talking about and probably haven't even tried it. 

I've been on the keto diet for about three and a half years, and lost almost 100 lbs. That was a side benefit, however, because my goal had little to do with weight loss. It was simply to lower my blood sugar, which it did in a big way. Since starting on it in 2014, my fasting blood glucose level has dropped from over 300 when I started to now being consistently around 90 or less (not even in the pre-diabetic range), and has allowed me to easily control my diabetes with diet alone.

Before going on the keto diet, I was on the diet recommended by the American Diabetes Association. Ironically, I found that one to be the worst, and it did nothing whatsoever to improve my glucose levels.

The fact that the article claims it's only good for "a quick fix" is also inaccurate. A ketogenic diet is not a quick fix at all. I can tell you from my own experience that it takes a good three months or longer for your body to become completely adapted to that way of eating. If you're only looking for a quick fix, you're bound to fail. I certainly wouldn't recommend it to anyone just looking to drop a few pounds.

As for claims of being "unhealthy", I eat mostly meat, eggs, and vegetables. I'm not sure what could possibly be unhealthy about that. My cholesterol is at a normal level, and the crippling acid reflux I used to suffer from hasn't bothered me in years.

I'll also add that the diet was actually recommended to me by a doctor, who helped me monitor it for the first year and couldn't have been happier with the results. Contrary to what the article says, it's actually pretty easy to maintain once you're used to it.

The bottom line is I feel good when I'm on it. I feel crappy when I stray.


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## GotGarlic (Jan 4, 2018)

I read this recently. The author is David L. Katz, MD, MPH, FACPM, FACP, FACLM, the founding director (1998) of Yale University’s Yale-Griffin Prevention Research Center, and current President of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine.

https://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/us_5a44f4cae4b06cd2bd03de4f

For the record:
"Author disclosure statement: A recent, provocative article in JAMA called on all scholars addressing diet to disclose their own position, practice, and interests. Accordingly, I note that I am a life-long advocate of minimally processed, plant-predominant diets on the basis of relevant evidence I have reviewed directly. I practice such a diet personally. I do not have a financial interest in any specific kind of diet, but I do inevitably have a financial interest in advancing what I consider to be the truth about diet and health, since all of my professional activities are devoted to that mission."

Director, Yale University Prevention Research Center; Griffin Hospital

Immediate Past-President, American College of Lifestyle Medicine

Senior Medical Advisor, Verywell.com

Founder, The True Health Initiative


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## tenspeed (Jan 4, 2018)

GotGarlic said:


> I read this recently. The author is David L. Katz, MD, MPH, FACPM, FACP, FACLM, the founding director (1998) of Yale University’s Yale-Griffin Prevention Research Center, and current President of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine.
> 
> https://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/us_5a44f4cae4b06cd2bd03de4f
> 
> ...


  Interesting article.  The US News article has a link to the definition of the Mediterranean Diet  https://health.usnews.com/best-diet/mediterranean-diet , which is generally recognized as one of the healthiest diets.  Dr. Katz's philosophy looks like he follows the Mediterranean Diet.  In the US News definition, regular exercise is an important component of a healthy lifestyle.  You can probably guess by my name what my favorite form of exercise is.

  It's interesting that while whole grains are recommended, Italians are noted for their love of pasta (made with refined flour).


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## Steve Kroll (Jan 4, 2018)

The interesting thing about David Katz is that a few years ago he was called out by Huffington Post for using pseudonyms to give his own books glowing reviews. 

https://www.imediaethics.org/nutrit...iews-of-his-own-book-huffington-post-deletes/

And it doesn't appear that was the first time this happened. An early reviewer of Katz's book "The Way to Eat" on Amazon also pointed out that "I read the glowing reviews listed for Dr. Katz's book, but noticed that all the reviewers seem to come from just two places--Salisbury, MD and the New Haven,CT area. Katz, of course, teaches at Yale which is located in New Haven. Maybe he is from Salisbury or has a lot of friends there. In any case, it is very suspicious that in a huge country such as the USA the reviews for a book come from only two locations."

He appears to be his own best advocate.


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## GotGarlic (Jan 4, 2018)

Steve Kroll said:


> The interesting thing about David Katz is that a few years ago he was called out by Huffington Post for using pseudonyms to give his own books glowing reviews. [emoji38]
> 
> https://www.imediaethics.org/nutrit...iews-of-his-own-book-huffington-post-deletes/
> 
> ...


I hadn't heard about that. It doesn't negate his education, post-doc training, medical practice and research activities, though.


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## taxlady (Jan 4, 2018)

tenspeed said:


> Interesting article.  The US News article has a link to the definition of the Mediterranean Diet  https://health.usnews.com/best-diet/mediterranean-diet , which is generally recognized as one of the healthiest diets.  Dr. Katz's philosophy looks like he follows the Mediterranean Diet.  In the US News definition, regular exercise is an important component of a healthy lifestyle.  You can probably guess by my name what my favorite form of exercise is.
> 
> *It's interesting that while whole grains are recommended, Italians are noted for their love of pasta (made with refined flour).*


I have been eating whole grain pasta imported from Italy since the 1980s. I don't know which kind of pasta is most eaten in Italy, but at least some whole grain pasta is.


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## taxlady (Jan 4, 2018)

I have so many issues with that Huffington Post piece by Dr. Katz that it would take me hours to point out everything with which I take issue.

The ketogenic diet is not a diet for losing wait quickly. I agree that it shouldn't be used that way. It isn't intended to be used that way. But, comparing it to starvation diets is just nonsense.

I was on the Atkins diet for a number of years and heard all the same arguments against it. Both my DH and I had improved our cholesterol levels, even though they had been okay before. We both felt great and had increased energy. The hardest part of maintaining the diet was trying to eat anywhere but at home.

Keto and Atkins are not "new fangled ideas". The Sámi have been eating that way for millennia and had far better longevity than Inuit. They had better health than their Nordic neighbours until they switched to eating more like them. Here's a blog post about that. It's long, but most of the stuff relevant to this discussion is in the first half or so of the piece. The Sami paradox or how to dismiss a traditional low carb, high protein diet | LCHF.com


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## GotGarlic (Jan 4, 2018)

taxlady said:


> I have so many issues with that Huffington Post piece by Dr. Katz that it would take me hours to point out everything with which I take issue.
> 
> The ketogenic diet is not a diet for losing wait quickly. I agree that it shouldn't be used that way. It isn't intended to be used that way. But, comparing it to starvation diets is just nonsense.



He's not comparing it to a starvation diet. He's saying it actually starves the body, which runs naturally on glucose from carbohydrates. Also, without carbo*hydrates*, many people get very dehydrated on this diet. 

Maybe people aren't supposed to use it for weight loss, but that's what they do. Dr. Katz has a clinical practice at Yale. He sees patients all the time who believe that and it got a lot of attention in the media last year. 



taxlady said:


> I was on the Atkins diet for a number of years and heard all the same arguments against it. Both my DH and I had improved our cholesterol levels, even though they had been okay before. We both felt great and had increased energy. The hardest part of maintaining the diet was trying to eat anywhere but at home.
> 
> Keto and Atkins are not "new fangled ideas". The Sámi have been eating that way for millennia and had far better longevity than Inuit. They had better health than their Nordic neighbours until they switched to eating more like them. Here's a blog post about that. It's long, but most of the stuff relevant to this discussion is in the first half or so of the piece. The Sami paradox or how to dismiss a traditional low carb, high protein diet | LCHF.com



He acknowledges that it lowers blood sugar, cholesterol, etc., and people generally feel better because they're losing weight. That's what you expect to see when people restrict calories or eliminate a category of food from their diet. But people often don't get enough vitamins and minerals from this diet. 

He wasn't saying that it's a totally new idea. But it's becoming more popular because, as with so many other diets, the hype gets ahead of the complexity.


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## taxlady (Jan 4, 2018)

GG, he was comparing it to calorie reduced diets and talking about starvation. That was what I meant.

He may not have said that keto was brand new, but he implied that it was new enough that we have no idea of long term effects. He wrote, "So, OK, ketogenic diets might help people live long and prosper, but there are, to date, no such people. Admittedly, the Inuit, for want of choice, have a very low-carbohydrate diet which may at times be ketogenic, but they do not experience enviable health or longevity."

I won't say that the Sámi diet was out and out ketogenic, but as with the Inuit, it was very low carb and may have been ketogenic at times.

The whole idea that there is an ideal diet for everyone really annoys me. There are some scientists working on diets based on your DNA. It will be interesting to see what they come up with.


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## Steve Kroll (Jan 4, 2018)

GotGarlic said:


> He's not comparing it to a starvation diet. He's saying it actually starves the body, which runs naturally on glucose from carbohydrates. Also, without carbo*hydrates*, many people get very dehydrated on this diet.


GG, if this is what Katz is saying, and I don't believe it is, he is dead wrong.

I actually did a lot of research on this before I even started, because the concept seemed so foreign to me and I was worried it might do more harm than good.

The body is only glucose "starved" on a keto diet for a short period of time - usually no more than a few days. It's then forced to seek out alternative fuel sources. It does this by internally creating ketone bodies from stored fatty acid. On a molecular level, ketones are very closely related to glucose molecules. Enough so that your cells can use them much in the same way. The difference is that ketones don't rely on insulin to be used by cells.

Given the choice between burning glucose or ketones, the body's natural response is to burn glucose, or simple sugar, first. It's an easy fuel, but it also has the disadvantage of burning quickly - sort of like kindling wood. However, your body will easily adapt to burning ketones over time. Part of the reason it takes time to adapt is because in our culture we're accustomed to loading up on carbs, and our ketone burning facilities (within cellular mitochondria) lie dormant most of the time. Once the carbs are depleted, we simply eat more. Life hasn't always been this way, though. It's been speculated that in the time of our primitive ancestors, before fruits, pasta, and starchy vegetables were readily available, humans spent a lot of time in "ketosis" and we've retained this ability. We just don't use it as much anymore.

Once glycogen stores are depleted (This is what actually causes the _temporary_ dehydration and water weight loss. More on that in a bit.), the body begins to convert stored fatty acids to ketones. With very few exceptions, every cell in your body has the ability to burn ketones just as easily as it burns glucose, although it's not an efficient process in the first stages of the diet.

About dehydration. In the early stages of the diet, as blood glucose is depleted, the body then dips into its glycogen stores, which are mostly in the liver, but also in muscles. Glycogen is a carbohydrate molecule composed of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. The body burns the carbon, and the leftover hydrogen and oxygen molecule is released as water. This also has a tendency to flush electrolytes out of your system, the same as when you sweat a lot. But the initial dehydration is only temporary, and is typically not a problem after a couple of weeks. I'll admit, though, that this is the period where there are a lot of drop outs on the diet. It has also led to the myth that people on low carb diets are dehydrated, which simply isn't true, other than in the initial stages.



> He acknowledges that it lowers blood sugar, cholesterol, etc., and people generally feel better because they're losing weight. That's what you expect to see when people restrict calories or eliminate a category of food from their diet. But people often don't get enough vitamins and minerals from this diet.


This is somewhat of a myth. First, the weight loss doesn't necessarily come from restricting calories. The keto diet doesn't emphasize calorie counting at all. In fact, just the opposite. The mantra is eat until your full, but no more than that. You tend to be not as hungry on this diet, because you're not dealing with the blood glucose ups and downs, and therefore not having to constantly replenish carbs. Your body starts to rely more on burning its own fat and triglyceride stores as it needs them. At the same time, it relies less on insulin. 

Insulin, or the lack of it, is a key part of weight loss on a ketogenic diet. Insulin serves a few purposes in your body. First, it helps shuttle glucose into cells. Hopefully it's shuttling it into muscle cells, where it can be burned as fuel, but when muscle cells can't take up any more glucose, insulin will readily store the excess away in fat tissue as triglycerides. This is what causes bulging bellies and thighs. On a keto diet, the liver utilizes medium-chain triglycerides (MCT) as a source for ketone production. This is why some call it a "fat burning diet," although that's not entirely accurate.

With regard to not getting enough vitamins and minerals, that's not true at all. I eat a ton of vegetables. If anything, I'm eating more leafy greens, which are the lowest carb vegetables, than I ever did in my life. No supplements needed here.


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## taxlady (Jan 4, 2018)

Steve, if there were a "like button" here, I would have used it.


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## GotGarlic (Jan 4, 2018)

Steve, I've known and read about a lot of people who try this diet and I think I can safely say that it's pretty rare for people to stay on it as long, and eat as well, on it as you do. Statistics show that most people have a really difficult time getting all the nutrients they need.

Anyway, I'm not trying to change your mind, or taxlady's; I'm just contributing to the conversation that tenspeed started. I've been reading Dr. Katz for years and I think he's a reliable source. You might be interested in some of his other essays.


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## Cheryl J (Jan 4, 2018)

Same here as Taxy....I would add a "like" button if there was one.  

Steve.....you've done a ton of research on this, and applied it to your own life.  Although I'm not diabetic, I've followed your positive progress for the past several years and have been amazed at the results.  Not to mention the mouthwatering pics of your dinners.  

Sorry for the run on sentence - on a break from playing outside with the grandson, but wanted to comment while it was still fresh in my mind.


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## caseydog (Jan 4, 2018)

I'm on the _Caseydog Diet_, and it works great for me, therefore it will work great for anyone. That's pretty much what every diet plan devotee says, if not in so many words. 

The best diet plan is one that a person can stick to, IMO. For me, it is moderate portions of food I cook from scratch, whenever possible. Carbs are part of that diet, although I avoid empty carbs and unnecessary sugar. 

Some people can't physically tolerate certain ingredients, whether it is carbs, gluten, lactose, and even protein. But, to say everyone would be healthier on a low garb diet, or a gluten-free diet, a vegan diet... whatever, would be wrong. 

BTW, The _Caseydog Diet_ it is the BEST diet, EVER. And, you can start now for easy monthly payments of just $19.99! Call 800-PAY-MEEE today!

CD


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## Steve Kroll (Jan 4, 2018)

GotGarlic said:


> Steve, I've known and read about a lot of people who try this diet and I think I can safely say that it's pretty rare for people to stay on it as long, and eat as well, on it as you do. Statistics show that most people have a really difficult time getting all the nutrients they need.
> 
> Anyway, I'm not trying to change your mind, or taxlady's; I'm just contributing to the conversation that tenspeed started. I've been reading Dr. Katz for years and I think he's a reliable source. You might be interested in some of his other essays.



I understand. I think a lot of people don't take the time to do the research, and part of the reason they struggle is because they are simply doing it wrong. I wish I had a nickel for every post I've seen on social media where some idiot is like "Hey, look at me! I'm on a keto diet and I'm eating a pound of bacon fried in lard."


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## GotGarlic (Jan 5, 2018)

Yup, exactly, Steve [emoji2]


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