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Re: also...low carb... or lower cals? for pcos? » biovsenvio?

Posted by viridis on December 27, 2002, at 14:29:37

In reply to also...low carb... or lower cals? for pcos?, posted by biovsenvio? on December 27, 2002, at 8:11:58

Re: your previous question about Provigil and Klonopin: I didn't stay on Provigil long enough to notice any weight change either way, but it did seem to decrease my appetite somewhat. Klonopin doesn't have any effect on my weight that I can detect.

I don't want to get into a long discussion about diets, carbohydrates, etc., but will just offer a few comments. There was a major analysis of the many specialty diets released a year or so ago (I think it was conducted by the FDA), involving thousands of people. No one diet or food restriction stood out as better than any other; the overwhelming factor was simply overall caloric intake, regardless of the type of food from which the calories were obtained. Moderate caloric intake, coupled with adequate exercise, seems to be the best strategy for weight loss and maintenance for the average person.

Of course, this is for the "average" person, and maybe some of the specialty diets really do work for certain individuals. However, I'd be leery about a diet that severely restricts a major food group (e.g., carbs), especially if you're already struggling with an illness, mental or otherwise.

For a long time, I tried to really limit the amount of fat in my diet. I don't have a major weight problem, but could stand to lose a bit. A few months ago I got into the omega 3 thing (fish oil, flax oil, etc.) for various reasons, and now I take a fair amount of these as both supplements and foods each day. They do seem to contribute to my overall stability, although I still take medications as well. I also stopped worrying so much about fat intake and use some oils (especially olive oil) fairly liberally. Otherwise my diet (which is quite good and balanced) hasn't changed, and I get a reasonable level of exercise (about the same as before). What's interesting is that I consistently weigh about 10 lbs less than I did prior to increasing my fat intake.

This might just be coincidence, but I suspect it has to do with the fats filling me up, and thus decreasing my overall intake of foods slightly. This was an unexpected plus, because the evidence for the health benefits of the omega 3s in particular seems quite strong, and at least some people appear to derive mental health benefits from them. It also seems that more and more doctors and nutritionists are starting to reconsider the low-fat dogma that's been around since the 70s or so.

Anyway, these are just some observations; I'm not a nutritionist, but am pleased with the (presumed) results of relaxing my anti-fat stance. I have no plans to cut way back on carbs; several people I know who have done so have been very uncomfortable and quickly gained back any weight they lost when they resumed a normal carbohydrate intake.

I do think the advice to try to maximize the amounts of whole grains (as opposed to highly refined carbohydrates such as white flour) is sound. These are metabolized more gradually (so less shock to your system in terms of insulin release etc.) and are likely to contain a broader spectrum of nutrients.


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