The lecture is very interesting if you have the time, but if you insist on results:

• Subjects on Atkins lost the most, an average of 10 pounds
• Atkins subjects showed the best health & lowest risk factors: Cholesterol, etc.
• interesting People with Insulin Resistance did GREAT on Atkins. While people with sensitive/healthy insulin did almost the same on all diets.
• He says that several times: it is very hard for a 25-year vegetarian to admit Atkins is good. He started the study with the expectation to debunk  Atkins.
• On all 4 types of diets, some subjects were able to lose 30 pounds and keep it off for a year.

For those not in the “low-carb” debate scene, Metabolic Advantage (wikipedia) is the claim by Atkins & other low-carb dieters that eating Meat does not make a person fat. They claim that meat calories somehow do not contribute to accumulating fat when consumed in a low-carb diet. In a way, if you’re on atkins-diet, eat as much as as you want, and you’ll never get fat. The body somehow gets rid of these extra calories – possibly through higher resting metabolism, etc.

Many “scientific” low-carb dieters, like Anthony Colpo, and anti-low-carb advocates, hold this to be one of Atkins false claims. And the science if admittedly weak on this area.

However, for some reason, many (including Anthony Colpo and Muata Kimdibe – the CNN Mr Low Fat) say that Gary Taubes, in his book Good Calories Bad Calories, supports Metabolic Advantage. However, I think this is not accurate. In a way, Gary Taubes says that Carbs have a Metabolic Disadvantage.

Here’s what I think Gary Taubes says:

1. Due to genetic variation, people have different metabolic rates. He sites an interesting study where inmates at a prison  were forced to overeat (10,000 calories per day) for a prolonged period of time. The variation in weight-gain was great – one inmate increased only 2-3 pounds, while another around 30 pounds. Varying metabolic rates between people – due to activity and genes – is not a controversial statement even for the non-low-carb advocates.
2. Gary Taubes then shows that eating refined carbs causes the body to store most of the energy instead of consuming it in the body. Thus, in a way, he says that refined carbs have a metabolic disadvantage. People will burn less calories (as a percentage of what they eat) when they eat refined carbs that raise the insulin level in the blood.
3. As a result of storing most of consumed calories as fat in high-carb diets, people will remain hungry longer. Thus they overeat to satisfy their body’s needs.
4. Notice that Gary makes sure to explain that this metabolic disadvantage is not always true in all people: the excessive storage of fat happens only when there’s an insulin-related problem. Some humans have the genes to always handle insulin rollercoasters well. Most people develop insulin-related problems as they grow older. (Very similar to causes of diabetes).
5. He also shows enough evidence that the Human Body tries to maintain a certain ideal weight. The body manages many factors (including appetite and resting-metabolism) to try and maintain a certain body fat or body weight. Usually this is more of a range than a specific point (even though Gary never says that explicitly).

Thus, with all of this, one can see how the misunderstanding of what Gary really said comes. He says if one eats a low-carb diet, then their body will come down to the ideal weight point and try to preserve it regardless of the extra foods one might eat every now and then. However, this ideal weight is not necessarily a point – but a range. I personally noticed that people on low-carb usually hit the upper limit of the range and stop.

So to get to single-digit body fat percentage, one has to watch calories in addition to diet. A lot of times this also requires exercise - which seems to change the body’s internal ideal weight point. Notice that since most people have the ability to digest some carbs in a healthy manner, one can still eat some carbs and remain at a healthy weight.

http://www.motherearthnews.com/print-article.aspx?id=139058

These are links for talks and articles by Gary Taubes who advocates the Carb-hypothesis:

“Good Calories, Bad Calories” by Gary Taubes.

http://www.amazon.com/Good-Calories-Bad-Gary-Taubes/dp/1400040787

Gary Taubes is a senior writer in Science Magazine. He’s the only journalist yet to win the best scientific writer award in the US 3 times. I heard an interview with him a while ago and have been waiting for his book.

He spent 5 years reviewing the scientific evidence for the past 150 years on heart attacks, obesity, fat, carbs, and other “civilization” diseases.

He comes up with an interesting conclusion that reinforces what I’ve read in several other places:

1. Dietery Fat and cholesterole are NOT harmful. they are actually very evolutionary-suitable for our bodies. I.e., eating less fat or cholesterole rich food doesn’t reduce your risk of heart attack.
2. Carbs, especially simple ones (sugar, white rice, and white flour) are extremely evil because they mess up our hormones by constantly affecting insulin. These food substances became cheap enough and prevelant only in the last few hundred years. Our genes are not designed to handle the constant insulin roller coasters caused by these foods.
3. There’s compelling evidence in nutritional research that Carbs are the main cause of: Diabetes, Obesity, and Heart Attacks
4. There’s a strong evidence (not conclusive yet though) that Carbs are also the main cause of Cancer and Alzeheimer!

The funny thing, this books shows very clearly that the evils of Carbs (or at least that it causes obesity) have been known for a very long time (e.g. the arabic proverb eating bread brodens shoulders). He shows that the whole cholesterole-hypothesis really dates only back to the 1950s, and that it’s based on weak evidence that was pushed up because US and Europe were having what seemed like a heart-attack epidemic and they had to do something. Cholesterole was easily measurable and so it provided an easy and clear “recommendation” albeit a wrong one. (reminds me of an Einestein quote: for every complicated problem there’s a nice simple solution that is wrong).

hope you like the book like I do. My wife and I are rethinking our whole diet – what we should feed the children, etc. very tough. we’ll see where we get.