Teen dies from High-Protein diet

That sounds bizarre. Seems like you should be able to get enough potassium and calcium from a high-protein diet.

Also, I would've expected that a K deficiency would have led to serious and easily diagnosable cramps in the limbs before the heart got hit.

 

Your supposed to take a multi-vitamin once per day on a high-protein diet. I wonder if this person did that?

I've done the protein diet and it was a wake-up call as to how much energy I didn't have(or didn't feel like I had) while on it. I recall drinking just a small glass of red wine, feeling very wobbly and confused, and almost passing out.

This diet may work but it sucks donkey balls.

 

I don't think diets like these are very effective long term anyway. Your body seeks a natural equilibrium when it comes to nutrition and body mass. Diets like these can result in quick weight loss, sure, but it is weight loss that your body is not ready to deal with, so to speak. I don't think anyone has the will power to go on low carb, high protein diet for a long time, and as soon as a person gets off the diet it is VERY easy to put all that weight back on. It is as if your body is trying to rehab itself back to its previous equilibrium. If a person can manage to moderate their diet and get sufficient exercise, losing perhaps 1 pound a week or so, then the body is let down slowly and it is much easier to keep the weight off.

Or, at least that is what I was taught in this physical fitness class I attended in college. It all makes sense to me.

 

thought I'd post this image in a rockHEAD thread since I can't start my own threads anymore (I'm taking one for the team by betting codell who could hold out longer, him or me).

can anyone see this image (I can't)

http://65.57.229.29/bbs_images/bbtitle_new21.gif

if not, then Clutch's Logo at the top is broken, and someone should post it in the Feedback area.

 

I can see it fine.

 

grrrrr, I can see all other images at that address except that one.

and further grrrrrrrrr, it seems to be a Mosaic problems....IE is fine.

 

I thought it was high protein.

Anyway, I think it is also high-fat.

 

I've done the diet before, just not for a straight, continuous period of time. It works.

On the other hand, you are still supposed to take a certain amount of carbs each day. Its a little odd that this poor girl would, after two simple weeks, have such serious complications.

 

ANY 'diet' is 'shocking' your system into a response it is not used to. If you are FAT your body does NOT have 'natural equilibrium.'

Not sure why you think that. I've been low carb for 8 months and am not having any problems 'staying with it.' Its only your misconceptions of low carb eating that form your opinion. The is not a lack of diversity in the diet. There is not an absence of carbs. You can have fruit and vegetables. You don't have to eat meat, much less eat nothing but meat.

NEWSFLASH: YES! ITS TRUE! If you stop eating donuts and potato chips and sweets and sodas, and loose weight; then start eating donuts et al again, you WILL gain the weight back. What is your point?

Not sure why it 'easier' to keep the weight off with your vague plan. High protein/low carbs diets advocate all kinds of food combining and the IDEAL outcome is a nutrition plan that is balanced based on how much you eat and of what. It involves an awareness of WHAT you are eating and what the effects are on your body and your weight. It is a great way to 'moderate your diet.'

On the issue of this unfortunate girl, as someone already mentioned, you are supposed to take a multivitamin which would prevent any severe imbalances.

 

Tried Atkins for two days. I caught myself picking through the lettuce in my taco's and eating 1/4 of a tortilla. I just said Fock it and just eat a balanced diet and work out. It's working.

 

Any diet that you cannot remain on for the rest of your life is a bad idea unless you are severly and dangerously overweight. In that case, high protein could be even more dangerous because of the significant strain it puts on your heart.

 

Then perhaps next time you could read the ENTIRE post and see that these were just things that I was taught in a physical fitness class, and not my plan and certainly not something I just concocted out of nowhere. If you read closely, what I was talking about was the natural equilibrium that the body is trying to reach. I don't know if this is real or not, I'm not an expert. But I was taught that the human body tends to try to stick in the same weight range if it can. This is why it can be so difficult to begin losing weight. The comment I made about it being easy to put the weight back on has nothing to do with eating donuts and candy, despite what you think you read. I was just talking about the natural equilibrium concept I discussed pretty much through the entire post. If you lose weight too rapidly, the body tries to compensate once you end whatever radical diet that caused you to lose weight so fast. If you don't like it, fine, go find some articles that disprove it. I would be interested in reading them.

I don't know if you think I am speaking out against diets or what. I was simply telling everyone of the best way that I was taught to lose weight and keep it off. Good luck with your diet.

 

As much as the Atkins diet offends me...

I think that for one out of however many thousands of persons who have tried it to have died really isn't news. I don't think anybody's ever attempted to claim that the diet was good for you. I've always seen it portrayed as a way to trick your body into metabloizing fat quickly.

I think people too often confuse the goals of being healthy, looking healthy, looking good, and living a long time. These things don't all necessarily all intersect. Perfect illustration of this -- go visit a Gold's Gym and count the number of people who walk out the front door an immediately light up a Marlboro.

 

Then the sum of your position is equally true of 'moderate your intake and exercise.' If you stopped moderating your intake and exercising, you'll gain weight you've lost back. That's enlightening, and a misleading objection to eating low carb/high protein.

Your post is critical of low carb eating. True, it is a narrative of your recollection of a particular class, but nonetheless you give that opinion as an advocacy against low carb eating. If it begs the question then what is the point?

Jeff, you could eat low carb your whole life.

 

1. Before starting any diet or physical training, you should consult a doctor. Does anybody ever do this, probably not.
2. Any extreme is not healthy.
3. Atkins calls for less than 20 carb grams per day for initial two weeks and then add 10 carb grams per week until weight loss slows.
4. High protein does not equal high fat.
5. Multi-vitamins should always be taken


My testimony:
I've been on Atkins for over two years. I was at almost 280 on my 6'1" medium/large frame. I began Atkins and combined it with weight workout 6 days a week. At my peak, I was down to 195 no visible body fat and my football playing weight. I was trim and all my blood readings were at the low end of the scale. After a while, I came off it to eat the carb rich food. My system became sluggish and the carbs bogged me down. I was too tired to continue working out. I quickly got back on Atkins and without working out, I am hovering at about 205-208 lbs. My blood readings are better than guys that eat "balanced" meals and jog religiously. Other coaches who used to kid me about the diet are now asking me for advice and menu/recipes. I'm not saying that this will work for everyone. All I'm saying is that it has worked and is working for me.

 

Raven Lunatic is right... shock the system and it will seek equilibrium as soon as you allow it to. Some people report success from low-carb diets, but you have to be prepared to live with it the rest of your life. Depends what you like. Also, watch your blood pH. This can be dangerously affected when you use ketosis as a metabolic pathway.

For the rest of us - sure, watch your carbs and try to get rid of any excess of them in your diet, and eat more protein (which doesn't come in most packaged convenience foods, which is my problem), but I don't see the reason to eat an unbalanced diet. Some of us just seem to have higher set points than others, and maybe it's best if we just learn to accept ourselves (provided we aren't obese or unhealthy). If you want to shock your system, the best way is to just start exercising a lot more. (if you can find the time)

Just waiting for the backlash against low-carb diets, like 20 years ago. Anyone want a piece of bread?

 

Atkins actually takes a relatively short amount of time and teaches you how much of each component of your diet you can eat while losing weight, while maintaining weight, and/or while gaining weight. Many programs not related to Atkins or to low carb nutrition plans advocate removing and readding foods to your diet in order to gain a better grasp of what you are putting into your body.

Atkins does not leave you deficient in any category. The question is what is the proper 'balance' in your diet. Atkins is an easy way for someone to start tracking the components of their diet. No portioning or checking everything again the tables in a food book. You start with a basic list at the beginning of the program and start to add more foodstuffs to the list as you progress. You replace (in the normal American diet) french fries, chips, cookies, cokes, candy, overlarge portions of pasta, bleached grains, and pizza, with greens, tomatos, berries, nuts, hard cheeses, meat, and fish. Processed foods are discouraged. You eat wholegrains instead of rainbow bread. You eat berries instead of bananas. You skip ketchup and most prepared salad dressings since they're all loaded with sugar. Many of the things you end up eating are highly regarded anti-carcinogens like berries, brazil nuts, almonds, broccoli, cabbage, tomatoes, red and yellow bell peppers, kale, wine, and cigarettes....

ok, so cigarettes aren't really part of Atkins diet ...

It is exactly the point that any new program or alterations you make to your daily diet will 'shock' the system. You say 'if you want to shock your system exercise a lot more.' What physical differences happen from ketosis and 'exercising a lot more?' Doesn't your body start to consume the energy you've stored as fat when you 'exercise a lot more?' How is that different from inducing ketosis which causes your body to burn energy you've stored as fat?

Also, it is not true that you would have to remain on a low carb diet the rest of your life. There undoubtably are other ways to eat while watching your weight. For example, I could switch now to a 40-30-30 plan and increase my exercise to compensate for a diet induced gain in weight.

 

I had no objection. If you can do the low carb diet most of your life, then that's fine assuming it is done correctly. My point was that it seems easier....ahhh screw it. Isabel said it better anyway.