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GP describes the keto diet, which worked for me too. About the cholesterol, better read up on it. The hype about cholesterol has gone out of control. There are multiple types of it, and earlier research wasn't as conclusive as everybody thought. (Just like saturated fats by the way.)

[1]: https://www.amazon.com/Art-Science-Low-Carbohydrate-Living/d...

[2]: https://www.amazon.com/Art-Science-Low-Carbohydrate-Performa...

⬐ devmunchies

Cholesterol and saturated fats are good for you? So, what, carbs are clogging people's arteries? that's non-nonsensical.

And when you say "worked for [you]" do you mean lost weight or helped with your overall vitals?

From what I've gained, low carb diets are great short term strategies for burning fat but not healthy in the long-term for overall balanced health.

⬐ raarts

Carbs clogging arteries? That's not what I said.

Low carb diet lowered my weight by 25 lbs, made my GERD disappear, no more taking omeprazol 'for the rest of my life', my gallbladder stopped acting up, and I have more energy as if I was 10 years younger. This was enough to convince me that I'm not going back to eating carbs as I did before.

⬐ devmunchies

Sorry I wasn't clear. I was saying that if saturated fats and cholesterol are good for you, then what's clogging people's arteries?

⬐ raarts

Supposedly what happens is when your body isn't repairing some defects that occasionally happen, and scar tissue grows and other stuff sticks to it.

But typing on my phone, and too busy to provide more references. You can start in the publications I linked to earlier though.

I've tried both and can't stick to low fat. My genotype is carb sensitive. Eating carbs of low nutrient value (bread, grains, pasta ...) makes me hungry. A well formulated low carb diet that has me keto-adapted reduces my appetite dramatically and has me losing 2+ lbs a week. Of course I have to exercise but I have been doing that for years. And I do count calories. It is not hard to stay under my requirement for calories.

It is important to understand what a well formulated low carb diet means. I track protein, carbs and net carbs after fiber. I have targets for each. Fat is mostly from good oils like olive oil.

http://www.amazon.com/Art-Science-Low-Carbohydrate-Living/dp...

The study seems flawed. Low carb diets assert that you need to be keto adapted. That can take weeks. It took about 3 weeks for me. And there may be other benefits of keto adapted diets: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2367001/

⬐ methodOverdrive

I didn't read the study, but the WSJ article also didn't even mention the amount of fat or carbohydrates in the diets. I wouldn't be surprised if a "low-carb, but not actually ketogenic" diet was bad for you - if you're restricting carbs to be lower than the control 50% but still consuming, say, 20% carbohydrates, then you would never even become keto adapted.

There's a lot of scientific evidence supporting a ketogenic lifestyle, distinguishing this movement from fad diets and Attia from a Guru status. If you're interested I would recommend the following book: http://amzn.com/0983490708

⬐ jimeuxx

I have no background in science, and was totally sucked in by one of Gary Taubes' books precisely because of that. A lot of these authors are incredibly biased and happy to filter science to you in a way that's profitable for them. Volek and his Superstarch is someone I have little respect for. If you haven't come across it, and you're willing to listen to a different viewpoint, I really recommend http://carbsanity.blogspot.com Have a search for Attia, Taubes, Volek etc and you may find some surprises.

⬐ dhimes

Better would be peer-reviewed journal articles. A lot of books have a tendency to promote the views of the author over providing a balance of information.

⬐ AltanS

Here is a short list of both author's peer-reviewed research papers on the topic. http://www.artandscienceoflowcarb.com/research/

⬐ dhimes

Interesting. Their two-week adaptation time is consistent with what I noticed in myself. I don't do the diet this strictly. I simply commented to a trainer that I have never been able to successfully work out hard- meaning weight lifting an anaerobic interval training- and lose weight simultaneously.

He suggested I try working out while fasting. Just don't eat 3-4 hours before working out, and have a high quality protein 'meal' (I drink a shake) after the workout.

So far it's been working for me. And I've been working out since I was a young teenager- some three dozen years now.