No fear or loathing in Las Vegas

April 11, 2011 by 3 Comments

I had a last-minute trip to Vegas come up. I was invited by a friend of mine who knows how I enjoy a spur of the moment getaway. Her real motives for my invitation became clear about 5 hours into the trip, but more on that later. I have been thinking about my relationship with my scale (and whether or not we should break up) since Brent’s post, but as of that moment we were still together, so I stood on it before I left. 165. This is a good number for me, and it motivated me to keep on the straight and narrow in Vegas. Of course, this kind of illustrates the unhealthy relationship I have with the scale, because I have to admit, if the number was up, I may have been tempted to abandon all my hard-won habits “because I’m gaining anyway.” But I wasn’t, and I haven’t since I started Paleo.

My friend who invited me, Dr O, is closer to 300lbs then to 200lbs. Always a big girl, the stressors of her schedule as she finishes the last year of her surgical residency have put nutrition on the back burner. The last couple of months, though, she has been doing weight watchers and has lost about 20 lbs. I support her in this, because this is the decision she has made for herself, and it’s whats working for her. The other 2 people in our party are her former college roomates from undergrad school.Both of them are non-medical people. Both of them are probably around 200 lbs, with no plans for changes. I became acutely aware that my purpose for being invited was to run interference between her and her two friends.

Dr O was asking me if I was still on Paleo, and she commented that I looked fantastic. We rarely see each other in anything other than baggy unisex scrubs, and she said she saw a real difference. She was explaining to her friends the changes she saw in me. “Don’t take this the wrong way, Sarah, but you had a really round belly and a lot more back-fat than you do now.” I couldn’t help but smile, because I was pleased to hear that, and also because it was awkward because those descriptions fit her two friends to a T.

Friday Dinner: Stratosphere: Grilled salmon salad with avocado and greek olives.
Late night snack: 1/2 lb peel and eat shrimp.
Saturday Late Breakfast: Luxor cafe: 3 egg veggie omelet.
Mid afternoon snack: apples and almonds. Hadn’t expended any energy because I was in the spa all day.
Dinner: really looking forward to it as saturdays are my planned free meal day, and the roomates wanted to go to Emeril’s. I was excited about fine dining and planned to enjoy myself. I ended up having grilled salmon with lemon-dill vinagrette served with garden-fresh veggies. I chose sauteed wild mushrooms as my side, and a glass of chardonnay. I had planned on having bread with the meal, but when the bread was served it was a white thin-skinned roll. I didn’t eat it because I was hoping for something warm and crusty and stretchy, and I didn’t see the point in eating something I didn’t want, even though it was my free day. When my meal was served, I suddenly noticed that it was Paleo, and I hadn’t even thought about it. True, I didn’t play 20 questions with the waiter, and the veggies may have been cooked with butter. But at a high-end restaurant, I’m pretty sure it was real butter, and I’m OK with that.

The meal was perfect. I didnt feel too full. I was excited about going to see the Cirque de Soliel show afterwards. Dr O had taken time to order and calculated all her points and she was satisfied. The other 2 tablemates groaned with displeasure. They were full and bloated. I felt energized and ready to tackle the next thing. Maybe a tiny bit disappointed, because my free meal was not filled with non-paleo treats, but satisfied nonetheless. AAANNNDD here comes the curveball..

Or was it a curveball? After watching Ka, Dr O’s pager went off. It seems a bunch of her peers were in town for a trauma conference and they wanted us to come hang out. Two of them were new attendings. The thing with new attendings is, they like to pay for everything. In this case, “everything” meant a private table in a hip lounge. What can I say? I went to hang out. It was still technically my non-paleo meal day. I mixed the freely flowing vodka with fresh lime juice and a splash of soda water. These people work hard and play hard and I am in full support of that. Who wasn’t in support of that? The 2 former roomates. They were too tired and listless from their full meal to stay for the party. Let me say, they missed out. It was the kind of night that stays in Vegas.

Sunday morning I woke without an alarm clock at 9. I showered and got ready for the day. I felt great!Thinking we would be going out for breakfast, I had a banana and some almonds while I waited for everyone to get going. Well they didn’t. They grumbled at getting up at 11, left the room by noon and we were on the road. They HAD to have In’n'out, and that was fine with me. Double-meat-double veggies no sauce. I didn’t eat again until I was home. A protein shake. I just wasn’t hungry at all. Probably because all I did was sit in a car all day. Before I went to bed, I stepped on the scale. 165. Unheard of. How could I spend an entire weekend in Vegas without doing major damage to the scale? I didn’t feel deprived, I had everything I wanted to have, my energy level stayed great and I didn’t have a hangover. What is going on in this world? Can it possibly be that Paleo eventually becomes effortless? This experience has given me momentum to continue forward. The challenges are becoming fewer and far between and the results keep piling on! Viva las Vegas!

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Diary of a Paleo Kid – My 30 Day Paleo Interview!

April 10, 2011 by 6 Comments

This is Shane.  When I hit the 30 day mark, my dad interviewed me.   Here is the interview (questions and interview typed by my dad)!

Shane’s 30 Day Paleo Interview

What made you decide to start the Paleo diet?

My family and friends (CrossFit by BodyFit gym) were doing it, so I thought why not?   I wanted to eat more healthy!

You went pretty strict for your first 30 days.  How difficult was that for a 9-year-old?

In the very beginning, it was very hard for me.  In the first 2 weeks, I had 2 birthday parties where it was very difficult to pass on Pizza, cake and ice cream.   At one party, I think it was the first one after I went Paleo, I couldn’t take it and had to have some cake.  Ya, that was pretty hard for me.   It was hard at school too.  All my friends eat junk food.  Pizza, cupcakes and chips.  At first that was really hard, then after a while, it didn’t really bother me anymore.  Now when my friends eat their junk food, they joke that I’m going to be the one that is strong and will have to carry them when they are too fat to walk.  Kind of sad really, if you think about it?   When I’m around my gym friends, they support and encourage me!   I feel great now, and Paleo is a lot easier.

What did your friends at school think?

they pretty much think I’m crazy!   Cause no one at school eats healthy, accept for my sister!   They eat pizza almost every day! 

What are some of the difficulties or emotions that you experienced?

Birthday parties for me were really difficult.   Pizza at school is really hard to pass up.   My school sells it daily, so in the beginning, it was really hard seeing all my friends eat one of my favorite foods and willing myself not to just take a slice.  It was really difficult eating my Paleo lunch sitting around with all my friends watching them eat their junk food!  Now it’s easy for me, at they actually have asked to try some of my food!  

Do you think that your new way of eating has had any effect on your friends?

No, they still eat Pizza, cupcakes and crap pretty much!   I don’t think most will ever change.  But I did, so who knows, it could happen?  I’m hoping I will be a good influence on them.   Maybe one or two might change as they see me sticking with it.

Do you have any tips or thoughts for kids that are considering starting Paleo?

Don’t cheat alot and don’t eat sugar!  It’s easier if you have parents and friends that are eating healthy.  So, I’d say get your parents eating healthy and this will help with the food and snacks they buy for you.   Eat healthier snacks.   Skip the Pizza and cupcakes.   They may taste good, but they are horrible for you!   Just start it, do it, and you will be happy!

Did you have any cheat meals during your first 30 days strict?  If so what were they and how did your mind and body react to them?

Yes, I had a small piece of birthday cake on my 7th day.   It was difficult for me not to at this point, at the start.   After I ate it, I felt as though I had failed.   But the support of my family and friends helped pull me through.   After that cheat, I just decided in my mind that I was going to stick with it no matter what,  and I did!   Now, I have a cheat every couple of weeks at the most.   Mostly a mango tango or a decaf skinny latte!   Both are my most favorite.

What are your favorite Paleo meals?

Oh there are a lot of them!   I love almost everything Paleo!   I really love the Sarah Cha-cha-chia pudding!  I also love spaghetti sauce chicken!   We just had it tonight!  Oh is that stuff yummy!  

What’s your favorite cheat meal?

Meal:  Tortillini.   Dessert:  Mango Tango frozen yogurt.

How do you eat Paleo out of the house?

I go to Carl’s Jr or In N Out and have the protein burger in a lettuce wrap with no cheese or sauce.  Just pickles, tomatoes and mustard, sometimes I have the ketchup.    I order my meals with no fires and a water.   If I go to El Pollo Loco, I can have the chicken drum sticks with steamed veggies!   I also go to Ya Ya’s and Las Bonitas, both these places serve the food Paleo style.   At Las Bonitas, I have the grilled fish tacos, with the grilled fish in a lettuce wrap.   This is my favorite for sure!

Talk a little bit about your feelings and success with Paleo.

Well, I did loose 6 pounds in the first 30 days.   I felt great, and had more energy from the very start.  I like it a lot!  I think it my parents would have forced me to do it, I wouldn’t do it.   No, I definitely wouldn’t do it.   Since it was really my own decision, it was easier for me I guess.   I’ve received a lot of praise and good job Shane from all my friends.   This makes the first hard part and continuing on, easier for me.  

As a 9 year old busy boy with the ins and outs of daily kid life, how did you stay motivated and remain so consistent?

All my family and gym friends made it all real easy for me I guess.   Since my parents eat paleo, all my meals were pretty easy!  The paleo food was already in the house and my mom quit buying all the junk food so I wouldn’t be tempted to eat it.

What are your goals for the future? 

Yes, I plan to stay Paleo and to go 100 days Paleo.   Ya that’s my next biggest goal to go 100 days!    I will still have a cheat here and there, but not too many!  I’m pretty much focused on the 100 days!  I have a long plan to stay Paleo to be more healthy and loose a couple more pounds.  Not a lot of pounds, just a few.   Loosing a few more pounds will help me with my handstand holds and pull ups!   I’m excited about that!  

What impact has Paleo had on your life? 

I would say huge!  I’m more healthy and I’ve lost some pounds.  I was super stuffy and snored when I was eating junk food, now I am not.    I have more energy.  Ya, definitely a lot more energy since I’ve been eating healthy!

Thanks for checking out my interview!   I had fun talking about my first 30 days, Shane

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Diary of A Paleo Kid – Introduction

April 9, 2011 by 5 Comments

Shane 4-9-11 - Paleo for 50 days!

Hi, my name is Shane Behringer.   I am 9 years old and about 99% paleo!   I started my paleo journey about 50 days ago!  So far I have lost over 8lbs, but who’s counting?  I’m simply enjoying eating healthy!   Now it seems like a lifestyle to me.  I plan to write monthly about my paleo journey, and hope that you will follow along with me!  When I made it to 30 days paleo (mostly strict), my dad interviewed me!   Look for the interview post soon, here on my diary page.  Thanks for checking out my diary, Shane

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Magic Wand

April 9, 2011 by 2 Comments

Just wondering if anyone else runs into this issue.  I have recently had several (maybe 6 or 7 ) friends and family members ask me about Paleo.  They see the results I have had and want to achieve similar results.  I have sent links to various Paleo sites, I have written down what I eat over the course of a few days, I have written down what you should and should not eat to make it even more simple I go super basic – “eat: meat, veggies, fruit, nuts and seeds”  and “don’t eat anything that doesn’t fall into those categories”  but this next statement always follows “But what about ______” or “can I still have_____ I won’t do this diet if I can’t have______”  It is like they assume I can wave a magic wand over them and make Paleo work for them AND that I have the power to make their need for _______ be OK.  I wish I did have this magic wand because there are foods I want to eat from time to time that are not Paleo.  As I write this post I realize the largest source of my frustration – my little sister.  She is one year younger, she carries too much stress and too much weight.  She (like me) has used food as her drug.  At the end of a rough day she will devour foods that make her “feel” better.  She and I share the same story of so many times losing weight, just to put it back on with a few extra pounds to fully crush that little bit of self esteem we gained from losing the weight.  The difference now – we are not young anymore…she is heavier than I was when I changed my old eating habits for Paleo.  She is on medication for blood pressure.  She told me that she can no longer fit into her pants and needs to go up another size.  I felt sick to my stomach not only for knowing what that feels like but sick that I could not “reach” her…sick that I didn’t have that magic wand to customise Paleo to her specifications.  She has asked me to write down everything I eat over the next week and she said she will “try” to follow what I do but she started to list all of the items she cannot live without…ugggggg….where can I buy that damn magic wand.  I didn’t sign up to be the voice of Paleo, but, my results have put me in the position to speak about it.  I am still trying to figure it out myself and don’t want to leed anyone in the wrong direction.  I don’t want to hear “Diane – I did what YOU told me and it didn’t work”.  I know how it goes…I was a master at eating one way in front of others and binge eating in private.  Blaming everyone and anything other than myself.  As I write this post I can see that I have unresolved issues related to weight loss that I need to address.  I am in a position with those 6 or 7 people of influence…I didn’t ask to be in this position and I would rather work out my own “mental junk” before attempting to help them work through their junk…but life doesn’t work that way.  Right now…I want to “reach” my sister.  Right now I want my mind and my eyes to catch up to the results my body has had with Paleo.  I am still not comfortable in my smaller shell.  I laugh when I take my new pants from the dryer and look at them and think “who the hell do these belong to”  The results I have had scare me at times…like when will it end…waiting for the day I wake up and look in the mirror and see the “old” Diane looking back at me.  It is the issues that hit too close to home that are the most uncomfortable for us when it comes to helping others.  But, it is these very issues that we carry the most influence to help others create change for themselves.

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The Broken System!

April 7, 2011 by 1 Comment

Ok, there’s a ton of info, opinion, and facts ushered forth in this rant on the system.  It is a great read.  I haven’t had a chance to read all the associated links or watch every video clip, but suffice to say, this guy is frustrated with the system and is on a mission to let everyone know what’s wrong with the “Big” companies, profits and how they are tied to the unhealthy food being produced.  

 The Broken System – By Jasons

It’s rant time!

When I first got my head around the concept of paleo nutrition I got angry.  Then I watched Fat Head (now free on Hulu!) and got really angry.  And then I read Good Calories, Bad Calories and my head nearly exploded.  By the time I got around to Food Inc., Fresh, and King Corn I felt like a broken soul.  What has been done to us in the name of profits is absolutely criminal!  The entire western world has been fed so much bad science that hardly anyone outside our little (but growing) paleo community knows much of anything about what they should actually be eating or how to keep themselves healthy.  How did this happen??  Like Tom Naughton says in Fat Head, we need to follow the money.

(The following is fact laced with opinion and speculation, but I think you will know the difference.)

Before I did some digging, I just couldn’t understand why everyone didn’t know about these seemingly obvious answers that the paleo diet offered to our questions about obesity and western disease.  Gary Taubes, in Good Calories, Bad Calories, left no stone unturned when he tried to substantiate the lipid hypothesis which claims that fat raises cholesterol and cholesterol causes heart disease.  He couldn’t find a single study that proved that claim and yet the release of his book, with its enormous list of references, somehow didn’t change the world.  Taubes had even written an article called What if It’s All Been a Big Fat Lie? that ran on the cover of the New York Times all the way back in 2002.  It frustrated me that information so logical had been nearly eradicated by a bunch of unsubstantiated garbage, while every single person that I convinced to try this way of eating ended up healthier and feeling amazing.  AAAAARGH!!

Read the rest of the article HERE

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Going Scaleless! Fighting Back Against the Monster in the Bathroom!

April 6, 2011 by 2 Comments

When the word scaleless is mentioned, what comes to mind?   A scaleless fish?  A Scaleless snake?   Both exist you know, just google them!   Well for me, this means not checking in with the beady little eyed platform in the bathroom!   You know that digital, white, platform of doom and destruction! 

I was talking with one of my best buddies, Tim Berry (AKA Ned Flanders from CrossFit 951 in Murrieta) a few weeks back and our conversation centered around…  dun.. dun… dun…  the dreaded, worst, 5 letter word, in the diet world language…  you guessed it, the SCALE.   It’s funny actually, that two guys, would in great detail, stand around and discuss weighing ourselves.  I mean, we were carrying on a full, serious, conversation about it?  There we were, heavy in discussion about Paleo vs the SCALE and why, laughingly, we both still weigh our selves?   I mean what’s the point, right?   We’re the lightest guys in the gym.    Got your interest?  Bet I do!

For both Tim and me, “The Paleo Diet” was a pretty simple lifestyle transition.   We started on day one, never looked back, never questioned the simplicity and ease of the diet, stayed very consistent, and reaped the great Paleo lifestyle rewards… rapid weight loss, rapid bodyfat loss, and well, a 6-pack (and other more serious, tangible, benefits that are ripe for another entire post)!   What we found ironic, about both our journeys, is, that we both stepped on the scale at least 2 times a day, sometimes even more!   What, why?   We both were stunned I think to admit this!   Almost sheepish about it.  Embarrassed actually.  

Even today, I stepped up to plate in the morning hours, before I dressed, and with out a thought, placed the weight of my 166.something pound frame on that little digital machine.   Then, tonight, right before jumping into my shower, standing there in the buff, (look away if you need to, and pretend I’m in the same clothes I wear to the box.  Hum, maybe that’s not a better scenario?).  Anyway,  I did the same thing, tapped him with my big toe, to wake the little platform master up.  As usual, he flashed his beady little eyes of 00.00 at me, and in the same sequence of events,  I stepped up to the plate once again.   The same face I saw last night, around the same time, glared the same 168.something pounds back at me!   Day after day, week after week, month after month, this ritual has played out for both Tim and me.  Near-exact, morning weight, and near-exact, evening weight, varying only slightly (well maybe a little more than slightly) if we called in a “cheat card”.  

Back to the Paleo vs Scale discussion.   We both agreed that the little platform is of little use! Really!   And here’s why:   First, the Whole9life, 30 day strict Paleoers, are not supposed to use a scale at all.  I believe it’s one of their more harsh, but effective rules.   Second, there is no reason to use the scale at all!   Third, there is no reason to use the scale at all!  Get the picture!   For those that are hung up on stepping on that little booger, put it up!  Toss it in the closet, behind your suitcases or toss it in the trash!   Put is somewhere and forget about it.    I’m not condoning whacking it with a sledge-hammer, but if that gives you power over those beady little eyes, then I say let the hammer swing.  I know of one sweet little gal that has gone to this extreme, I witnessed it myself!  And it was a beatuiful thing to see those beady little eyes bulge right out of that suckers head! 

So here’s the real reason why the scale is an unnecessary piece of equipment in my opnion.   For the Paleo diet, if you follow the easy plan…  Eat lean meats and vegetables, nuts and seeds, some fruit, little starch and no sugar or dairy, work to keep intake to levels that will support exercise but not body fat (I like to insert CrossFit here) and work to stay consistent with your eating patterns.  This process will keep your blood sugar and insulin levels, well level.  This simple plan will set your metabolism on fire!  You will shed weight and bodyfat and very simply put, over time, you will have converted Paleo into a lifestyle and thus eliminated the need for the scale EVER!  But being the nice guy that I am, I can see a little need for the little devil to maybe pop his head back into your life evey now and then.

My ”Going Scaleless” challenge is simple, really, just put the scale aside and go in 30 day segments without stepping on the little cross-eyed booger!   I’m committed to ignoring those beady little eyes from here on out.   Anyone care to join me?  Tim?  Anyone from the PLR Group?   Here’s to going scaleless, fighting back against the monster in the bathroom and releasing yourself from those beady little eyes!   Now jump to it, not on it!

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Feeling guilty for not feeling guilt

April 5, 2011 by 3 Comments

I still battle and may always battle this issue.  Those of us who have lived with eating disorders can relate.  This morning I went through my obsessive ritual of getting on the scale first thing…it is a digital scale and takes a few seconds to calculate the pounds.  As the scale was doing its thinking, I was doing mine…”holly crap…I had a huge breakfast yesterday…fruit and nuts for lunch and a huge dinner…this isn’t going to be pretty”  I thought about how worthless and out of control I was…thought about how I would do better today…how I could get back on track.  Ya…all this went through my mind in that few seconds.  And there it was 171.7  which was .2 LESS than yesterday.  I was so excited but in a F-ed up way a little let down…the wonder of the eating disorder person’s mind.  What do you do when that dysfunctional friend “GUILT” is no longer present?  I did eat a lot of food yesterday…too much in my mind…I ate beyond satisfaction…this doesn’t make sense.  I should feel horrible about myself and my loss of self control.  I realize on a conscious level that I am finally feeding my body and not my emotions…but it is still difficult to wrap my mind around all of this.  Another interesting fact…I feel stronger the past couple of days (since I have been pigging out) than I have in the last couple of weeks.  So – guilt, my old dysfunctional friend…I don’t quite know what to do with you at the moment.

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Suicide By Sugar

April 5, 2011 by Leave a comment

My buddy Travis at Uncommon Wellness uncovered this video on how sugar ruins your health. 

Interesting observation from Travis that the child in the beginning of the film made him think hard about how much sugar his children take in eating a “healthy diet”.   I had the same thought all the way through the clip.   

Very powerful!

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Heal Your Gut!

April 4, 2011 by 1 Comment

Hippocrates said this more than 2,000 years ago, but we’re only now coming to understand just how right he was. Research over the past two decades has revealed that gut health is critical to overall health, and that an unhealthy gut contributes to a wide range of diseases including diabetes, obesity, rheumatoid arthritis, autism spectrum disorder, depression and chronic fatigue syndrome.

In fact, many researchers believe that supporting intestinal health and restoring the integrity of the gut barrier will be one of the most important goals of medicine in the 21st century.

There are two closely related variables that determine our gut health: the intestinal microbiota, or “gut flora”, and the gut barrier. Let’s discuss each of them in turn.

The gut flora: a healthy garden needs healthy soil

Our gut is home to approximately 100,000,000,000,000 (100 trillion) microorganisms. That’s such a big number our human brains can’t really comprehend it. One trillion dollar bills laid end-to-end would stretch from the earth to the sun – and back – with a lot of miles to spare. Do that 100 times and you start to get at least a vague idea of how much 100 trillion is.

The human gut contains 10 times more bacteria than all the human cells in the entire body, with over 400 known diverse bacterial species. In fact, you could say that we’re more bacterial than we are human. Think about that one for a minute.

We’ve only recently begun to understand the extent of the gut flora’s role in human health and disease. Among other things, the gut flora promotes normal gastrointestinal function, provides protection from infection, regulates metabolism and comprises more than 75% of our immune system. Dysregulated gut flora has been linked to diseases ranging from autism and depression to autoimmune conditions like Hashimoto’s, inflammatory bowel disease and type 1 diabetes.

Unfortunately, several features of the modern lifestyle directly contribute to unhealthy gut flora:

  • Antibiotics and other medications like birth control and NSAIDs
  • Diets high in refined carbohydrates, sugar and processed foods
  • Diets low in fermentable fibers
  • Dietary toxins like wheat and industrial seed oils that cause leaky gut
  • Chronic stress
  • Chronic infections

Read the entire Article Here

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A Reversal on Carbs

April 3, 2011 by Leave a comment

Long read, but good!
 
A reversal on carbs
Fat was once the devil. Now more nutritionists are pointing accusingly at sugar and refined grains.
 
By Marni Jameson
Most people can count calories. Many have a clue about where fat lurks in their diets. However, fewer give carbohydrates much thought, or know why they should.

But a growing number of top nutritional scientists blame excessive carbohydrates — not fat — for America’s ills. They say cutting carbohydrates is the key to reversing obesity, heart disease, Type 2 diabetes and hypertension.

“Fat is not the problem,” says Dr. Walter Willett, chairman of the department of nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health. “If Americans could eliminate sugary beverages, potatoes, white bread, pasta, white rice and sugary snacks, we would wipe out almost all the problems we have with weight and diabetes and other metabolic diseases.”

It’s a confusing message. For years we’ve been fed the line that eating fat would make us fat and lead to chronic illnesses. “Dietary fat used to be public enemy No. 1,” says Dr. Edward Saltzman, associate professor of nutrition and medicine at Tufts University. “Now a growing and convincing body of science is pointing the finger at carbs, especially those containing refined flour and sugar.”

Americans, on average, eat 250 to 300 grams of carbs a day, accounting for about 55% of their caloric intake. The most conservative recommendations say they should eat half that amount. Consumption of carbohydrates has increased over the years with the help of a 30-year-old, government-mandated message to cut fat.

And the nation’s levels of obesity, Type 2 diabetes and heart disease have risen. “The country’s big low-fat message backfired,” says Dr. Frank Hu, professor of nutrition and epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health. “The overemphasis on reducing fat caused the consumption of carbohydrates and sugar in our diets to soar. That shift may be linked to the biggest health problems in America today.”

To understand what’s behind the upheaval takes some basic understanding of food and metabolism.

All carbohydrates (a category including sugars) convert to sugar in the blood, and the more refined the carbs are, the quicker the conversion goes. When you eat a glazed doughnut or a serving of mashed potatoes, it turns into blood sugar very quickly. To manage the blood sugar, the pancreas produces insulin, which moves sugar into cells, where it’s stored as fuel in the form of glycogen.

If you have a perfectly healthy metabolism, the system works beautifully, says Dr. Stephen Phinney, a nutritional biochemist and an emeritus professor of UC Davis who has studied carbohydrates for 30 years. “However, over time, as our bodies get tired of processing high loads of carbs, which evolution didn’t prepare us for … how the body responds to insulin can change,” he says.

When cells become more resistant to those insulin instructions, the pancreas needs to make more insulin to push the same amount of glucose into cells. As people become insulin resistant, carbs become a bigger challenge for the body. When the pancreas gets exhausted and can’t produce enough insulin to keep up with the glucose in the blood, diabetes develops.

The first sign of insulin resistance is a condition called metabolic syndrome — a red flag that diabetes, and possibly heart disease, is just around the corner. People are said to have the syndrome when they have three or more of the following: high blood triglycerides (more than 150 mg); high blood pressure (over 135/85); central obesity (a waist circumference in men of more than 40 inches and in women, more than 35 inches); low HDL cholesterol (under 40 in men, under 50 in women); or elevated fasting glucose.

About one-fourth of adults has three or more of these symptoms.

“Put these people on a low-carb diet and they’ll not only lose weight, which always helps these conditions, but their blood levels will improve,” Phinney says. In a 12-week study published in 2008, Phinney and his colleagues put 40 overweight or obese men and women with metabolic syndrome on a 1,500-calorie diet. Half went on a low-fat, high-carb diet. The others went on a low-carb, high-fat diet. The low-fat group consumed 12 grams of saturated fat a day out of a total of 40 grams of fat, while the low-carb group ate 36 grams of saturated fat a day — three times more — out of a total of 100 grams of fat.

Despite all the extra saturated fat the low-carb group was getting, at the end of the 12 weeks, levels of triglycerides (which are risk factors for heart disease) had dropped by 50% in this group. Levels of good HDL cholesterol increased by 15%.

In the low-fat, high-carb group, triglycerides dropped only 20% and there was no change in HDL.

The take-home message from this study and others like it is that — contrary to what many expect — dietary fat intake is not directly related to blood fat. Rather, the amount of carbohydrates in the diet appears to be a potent contributor.

“The good news,” adds Willett, “is that based on what we know, almost everyone can avoid Type 2 diabetes. Avoiding unhealthy carbohydrates is an important part of that solution.” For those who are newly diagnosed, he adds, a low-carb diet can take the load off the pancreas before it gets too damaged and improve the condition — reducing or averting the need for insulin or other diabetes meds.

Americans can also blame high-carb diets for why the population has gotten fatter over the last 30 years, says Phinney, who is co-author of “The New Atkins for a New You” (Simon & Schuster, 2010).

“Carbohydrates are a metabolic bully,” Phinney says. “They cut in front of fat as a fuel source and insist on being burned first. What isn’t burned gets stored as fat, and doesn’t come out of storage as long as carbs are available. And in the average American diet, they always are.”

Here’s how Phinney explains it: When you cut carbs, your body first uses available glycogen as fuel. When that’s gone, the body turns to fat and the pancreas gets a break. Blood sugar stabilizes, insulin levels drop, fat burns. That’s why the diet works for diabetics and for weight loss.

When the body switches to burning fat instead of glycogen, it goes into a process called nutritional ketosis. If a person eats 50 or fewer grams of carbs, his body will go there, Phinney says. (Nutritional ketosis isn’t to be confused with ketoacidosis, a dangerous condition that can occur in diabetics.)

Beyond the fat-burning effects of ketosis, people lose weight on low-carb diets because fat and protein increase satisfaction and reduce appetite. On the flip side, simple carbs cause an insulin surge, which triggers a blood sugar drop, which makes you hungry again.

“At my obesity clinic, my default diet for treating obesity, Type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome is a low-carb diet,” says Dr. Eric Westman, director of the Lifestyle Medicine Clinic at Duke University Medical Center, and co-author of the new Atkins book. “If you take carbohydrates away, all these things get better.”

Though the movement to cap carbs is growing, not all nutritional scientists have fully embraced it. Dr. Ronald Krauss, senior scientist at Children’s Hospital Oakland Research Institute and founder and past chair of the American Heart Assn.’s Council on Nutrition, Physical Activity and Metabolism, says that while he fundamentally agrees with those advocating fewer dietary carbs, he doesn’t like to demonize one food group.

That said, he adds, those who eat too many calories tend to overconsume carbohydrates, particularly refined carbohydrates and sugars. “It can be extremely valuable to limit carbohydrate intake and substitute protein and fat. I am glad to see so many people in the medical community getting on board. But in general I don’t recommend extreme dietary measures for promoting health.”

Joanne Slavin, professor of nutrition at the University of Minnesota and a member of the advisory committee for the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, is less inclined to support the movement. The committee, she says, “looked at carbohydrates and health outcomes and did not find a relationship between carbohydrate intake and increased disease risk.”

Most Americans need to reduce calories and increase activity, Slavin adds. Cutting down on carbs as a calorie source is a good strategy, “but making a hit list of carbohydrate-containing foods is shortsighted and doomed to fail, similar to the low-fat rules that started in the 1980s.”

As nutrition scientists try to find the ideal for the future, others look to history and evolution for answers. One way to put our diet in perspective is to imagine the face of a clock with 24 hours on it. Each hour represents 100,000 years that humans have been on the Earth.

On this clock, the advent of agriculture and refined grains would have appeared at about 11:54 p.m. (23 hours and 54 minutes into the day). Before that, humans were hunters and gatherers, eating animals and plants off the land. Agriculture allowed for the mass production of crops such as wheat and corn, and refineries transformed whole grains into refined flour and created processed sugar.

Some, like Phinney, would argue that we haven’t evolved to adapt to a diet of refined foods and mass agriculture — and that maybe we shouldn’t try.

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