Basics - Low Carb Myths and Truths

There are many myths about the low carb diet styles. Here are the truths behind those myths, to set your own mind at ease and to help you educate others.

After Atkins - Gaining the Weight Back star
A common question about the Atkins, South Beach and other low carb diets involves when you have reached your ideal weight. Do you then just gain all that weight right back again when you go back to your normal eating habits?

Are High Protein Diets Dangerous? star
Some groups - most notably PETA - put out material claiming that a protein based diet is dangerous, if not deadly, for a human. What is the truth in this claim?

Atkins and Low Carb - Isn´t it Unhealthy? star
If you´re on a low carb diet, undoubtedly one comment you´ve heard from friends and family is that this is an unhealthy, dangerous diet. Science and research have proven that low carb is actually NATURAL.

Benefits of High Carb Foods star
If you´re interested in healthy eating, don´t forget some of the benefits that eating that white bread and white pasta can bring into your life!

Catherine Zeta-Jones Trounces Atkins Diet star
Tabloids had reported that Catherine Zeta-Jones had tried the Atkins diet. Catherine had her lawyers release a letter claiming the Atkins diet "has been derided by nutritionists and other health care officials for decades."

Dr Atkins Healthy at Time of Fall star
Despite improperly obtained medical reports mis-reported by the vegetarian group "Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine", Dr Atkins was quite healthy when he fell. His coma caused his bloat in weight.

Ethnic Stereotypes and Diet star
I love to eat foods of all varieties, from all ethnic areas. It really intrigues me that my energy levels can change drastically depending on what type of meal I eat. Could this contribute to some common ethnic stereotypes the world maintains?

How Much Does Hair Weigh? star
Dieters will go to all sorts of extremes to lose weight. If you find yourself wondering just how much your hair really weighs, you know that you've gone a little overboard in your weight loss plans.

Is Low Carb Too Easy of a Diet? star
A reader just wrote me thrilled with her easy weight loss after only a week on Atkins - and asked if this was TOO easy a way to lose weight. The answer is that it´s just right!

Letter for Anti Low Carb People star
There are many people in the world who scoff at low carb diets, thinking they are very unhealthy. Here is a letter you can refer them to, to explain what low carb is all about.

Low Carb Diets, Atkins and Potassium star
A recent news story implied that going on a low carb diet causes potassium deficiency. That is NOT the case!

Low Carb Myth - All Carbs are Bad star
Despite erroneous claims from low carb bashers, a true Atkins or low carb diet promotes HEALTHY carb eating - broccoli and cauliflower - while keeping you from BAD carbs.

Low Carb Myth - No Exercise star
Some critics of low carb plans claim that it is outrageous to think any healthy living plan would avoid exercise. But the Atkins book CLEARLY says that exercise is critical to a healthy life.

Low Carb, Atkins and Kidneys star
Research has shown that there is no link between low carb diets, high protein diets and kidney disorders. Eating protein cannot affect a healthy kidney.

Meat, Protein and Absorbing Calcium star
One urban legend states that a diet that has large amounts of protein will somehow leach or suck all the calcium from your bones. This has been proven to be false.

Negative Calorie Foods star
You've heard the rumors. You eat a stalk of celery and the energy used by your body to digest it is more than the celery provides. You lose weight by eating it. Can this be true?

Newsweek and Atkins Cheaters star
The Nov 10, 2003 issue of Newsweek had a health article about Atkins Cheaters, saying that people who went back to eating bad food gained weight again. Well DUH!!

Peasant Diet vs Modern Diet star
Traditionally peasant workers would thrive on diets full of potatoes (Ireland), pasta (Italy) and other similar foods. Shouldn't that mean we should be really healthy on those diets today? Only if we actually had the workload they labored under as well.

Teeth, Gums and Sugar-Free Diets star
The low carb diet is all about living a sugar-free lifestyle. As you might imagine, this does wonders for your teeth, gums and dental health!

The Myth of 270g Carb Days star
Occasionally a visitor writes in to inform me that all human beings should be eating exactly 270g of carbs every day to be healthy. Where does this absolute knowledge come from? The answer is that it's a myth.

Why Counting Calories Does Not Work star
You´ve heard people say it. All that matters is how many calories you eat. That is COMPLETELY untrue because it oversimplifies the complex machinery that is your body.