BARRY'S BOOKS


New book in Dutch

Eet vet word slank

Eet vet word slank gepubliceerd januari 2013

In dit boek lees je o.a.: * heel veel informatie ter bevordering van je gezondheid; * hoe je door de juiste vetten te eten en te drinken kan afvallen; * hoe de overheid en de voedingsindustrie ons, uit financieel belang, verkeerd voorlichten; * dat je van bewerkte vetten ziek kan worden.


Trick and Treat:
How 'healthy eating' is making us ill
Trick and Treat cover

"A great book that shatters so many of the nutritional fantasies and fads of the last twenty years. Read it and prolong your life."
Clarissa Dickson Wright


Natural Health & Weight Loss cover

"NH&WL may be the best non-technical book on diet ever written"
Joel Kauffman, PhD, Professor Emeritus, University of the Sciences, Philadelphia, PA



WHICH? magazine doesn't test low-carb diets — but rules on them anyway!




Balancing the Books

In its May 2001 edition, the Consumers' Association Which? magazine 'tested' fourteen of the top selling diet books to determine which diets were best for weight loss. Their aim, they said, was to help their readers "find a sensible diet that helps you lose weight healthily and keep it off".
    If you were testing a diet, how would you go about it? To help answer that question, let's consider another product that Which? might test — vacuum cleaners.
    To give meaningful results on which a recommendation could be based, on what criteria would you expect them to be measured:

  • How well they pick up dust and dirt?
  • How easy the bags are to change?
  • would you actually test them in a real-life situation?
  • Would you run them over carpets and floors to see if the picked up dust?
  • Would you see how much dirt the bags would hold before they had to be changed?

I imagine that your answer is yes?

That is not what happened in the case of the diet tests.

Let's assume that the Dyson bagless vacuum cleaner was being tested for the first time against other, more conventional vacuum cleaners using the criteria laid down for the diet test and you will see what I mean.
    The Dyson was unlike any other vacuum cleaner at that time -- it didn't have a bag. Nevertheless, it was by far the best vacuum cleaner. But if it had been tested using the criteria used for the diet test, the Dyson would have been thrown out as worthless.

You don't believe me? Here is what actually happened.

The Which? criteria to test a slimming diet

In HOW TO SPOT A GOOD WEIGHT LOSS PROGRAMME Which? say that any plan should be "based on healthy guidelines (see 'Being Sensible', below)"



BEING SENSIBLE
Aim to:
  • eat at least five portions of fruit and vegetables a day (not including potatoes — these count as starchy food)
  • eat meals based on starchy foods — potatoes, bread, rice and pasta (preferably wholegrain versions which have more fibre). Be careful not to serve these with lots of creamy or fatty products eat moderate amounts of protein foods — meat, poultry, eggs, fish and alternatives such as beans, lentils, tofu and nuts. Use leaner cuts of meats, and avoid cooking methods which add fat
  • use skimmed or semi-skimmed milk and eat reduced fat cheeses and yogurts (to cut fat not calcium) in moderate amounts
  • eat small amounts of fatty or sugary foods. This group includes salad dressings and mayonnaise, oils, butter, margarine and spreads, pastries, sweets, chocolates, biscuits, cakes, ice creams and sauces. Unsaturated oils and spreads are the healthiest choice
  • drink alcohol in moderation. Maximum recommended levels are three to four units a day for men, and two to three for women. A unit is half a pint of normal strength beer or lager, a 100ml glass of wine or a pub measure (25ml) of spirits.


Take regular exercise
An active person burns more energy than someone seated all day. Research shows that people who increase and stick to regular activity are more likely to maintain any weight loss. Sensible exercise programmes advise on safety issues, especially for those with mobility or health problems, and the importance of activity for weight management and health. They should explain how to fit increased exercise in with normal activities.
    Programmes should start gently, and become more challenging over time. The ultimate aim should be to spend around 30 minutes, five times a week engaged in activity which leaves you warm and slightly out of breath.

And having set the criteria, Which? didn't bother to test the diets on anyone — they just looked to see if they followed 'healthy' guidelines.

And low-carb, high-fat diets like that recommended in Eat Fat, Get Thin! don't — for the simple reason that it is these so-called ' healthy eating' guidelines that have caused the dramatic increase in overweight and obesity we see walking around our streets today. So why would I want to recommend it?

LOW CARBOHYDRATE DIETS
Which? says of low carb diets:
" In theory These diets claim to change the way the body deals with food. They argue that people are overweight because carbohydrates in the diet cause too much insulin in the blood. Insulin is a hormone produced in the pancreas which helps us to use and store energy. The diets reduce insulin levels by restricting the amount of sugary and starchy foods — or carbohydrates — in meals. So instead of eating these, eat more sources of protein such as meat, fish, cheese or eggs and non-starchy vegetables.
    "The principles of these diets are not in line with healthy eating guide-lines. However much insulin you have in your blood, your body won't store fat unless you eat too much for your needs. What's more, there's evidence that obesity causes the body to over-produce insulin. [NOTE 1] There's no scientific proof that long-term loss of body fat can be achieved other than by eating fewer calories than your body needs,[ NOTE 2] and there's evidence that much initial weight loss is water. So any weight loss with this diet is due to eating fewer calories than needed. Diets allowing less than 50g to l00g (2oz to 4oz) of carbohydrates a day can cause the body to break down fat differently to produce fuel known as ketones. [NOTE 3] High levels of ketones in the blood cause ketosis which is not a normal state for the body. [NOTE 4] It can give people unpleasant side effects such as bad breath, nausea and an unpleasant taste in the mouth. Low-carbohydrate diets can also lack fibre. [NOTE 5] The diets are also higher in protein than healthy eating guidelines recommend. They are not recommended for general use."

So Which? has decided that low-carb, high-fat diets don't work — and it has managed to determine this without doing any tests at all. But of course low-carb, high-fat diets do work — and spectacularly well too.

In which case, can one afford to trust what Which? says about other products?

NOTES
1. Which? has got it the wrong way round. It is overproduction of insulin that causes obesity.
2. Yes there is. Many studies have shown that a high-fat diet is better for weight loss than a low-fat diet. They are detailed in my book. And my family has been living this way for nearly 40 years.
3. This is correct but ketones are a much better fuel than glucose - the heart uses them exclusively.
4. Only if you are starving or reduce carbs to below 20 grams. Eat Fat, Get Thin! recommends a minimum of 60 grams.
5. No they don't. There is plenty of fibre in fruit and vegetables, which are allowed in this way of eating. It does severely restrict cereal fibre (bran) — but as this is implicated in bowel cancer , is that such a bad thing?

Last updated 18 July 2001





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