Product Description

Low-Fat Lies not only exposes the low-fat scam, it offers an alternative: A delicious, satisfying and healthy way of eating and living.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #765733 in Books
• Published on: 2000-09-25
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 334 pages

From Amazon.com
Fad diets generally fall into two categories: extremely low-fat, or high-fat and low-carbohydrate. A pox on both their houses, say the fiery Dr. Kevin Vigilante, a medical professor and activist, and Dr. Mary Flynn, a nutritionist and researcher. The low-fat diets advocated by Nathan Pritikin and Dr. Dean Ornish are unsatisfying and hard to stick with, and the high-fat Atkins diet is based on fraudulent, speculative science. One banishes half of all possible foods (those with fat), while the other banishes the other half (those with carbohydrates). Both, the authors say, start on the wrong track and then derail.

They recommend--no surprise--the Mediterranean diet, which is rich in seafood and fresh fruits and vegetables, and is saturated with olive oil. Unlike other books that recommend this diet, though, Low-Fat Lies actually explains the science validating it. The authors explain the antioxidant properties of olive oil, and tell you why you don't want your cells to oxidize in the first place. (Same reason you don't want your car to rust.)

But that's not to imply that Low-Fat Lies is bogged down in science. The concepts are easily understandable for regular folks, which is a very good thing, considering how many of us fall prey to junk science masquerading as a "breakthrough" diet. Moving even farther away from theory, the book includes 40 pages of recipes from top American restaurants, along with a simple and useful chapter explaining how exercise blunts your appetite, and offering ideas about how to get more of it into your day. --Lou Schuler

Ingram
Extensive research shows that high triglyceride levels--elevated by very low-fat diets--have been associated with health risks, including heart disease. This book shows how to be healthy "and" lose weight, without resorting to diet that is too low in fat. 50 recipes.

Customer Reviews

Unscientific, Highly Subjective Ranting
The authors of this book attack both low fat/high carb diets, and high fat/low carb diets as unhealthy, ineffective, and dangerous. They then try to establish themselves as purveyors of the sensible middle ground by promoting yet another variant of the so-called Mediterranean Diet. Nice marketing angle I guess, but there are some glaring faults in this book that deserve comment.

The first thing Mr Vigilante and Ms Flynn could do is try and tone down the emotionally-charged rhetoric, and the personal attacks on authors whose theories they disagree with. Discredit someone by objectively examining and finding fault with their teachings, not by incessantly calling them 'carb-phobes' or 'fat-phobes'. Their venom is childish, unbecoming, and in some instances, unbearably corny.

If the authors insist on being obnoxiously hostile and sarchastic, they could at least make sure they have their facts right. In the section where they attack low carb/high fat diets they have included The Zone Diet by Barry Sears. They give Sears a lashing, as they do every other author they don't like, but The Zone Diet recommends 40% of calories be obtained from carbs - hardly a low carb diet. The Zone is at best a moderate carb diet, and doesn't even come close to being ketogenic. Furthermore, the Zone calls for 30% of calories from fat - less than the 40% eaten by the Cretan men who showed such remarkable health and longevity back in the 1960's. If the 30% fat content of the Zone diet qualifies it as a "high fat fraud", then where does that leave the Cretan diet that the authors worship?

The authors really need to get up to date on low carb nutrition. Vigilante apparently decided he was going to be a sworn enemy-for-life of low carb diets after a single unfavorable experience on the Atkins Diet. Vigilante barely made it through the "induction" phase, which is the severest part of the Atkins regimen, lasts 2 weeks, and occurs when beginning Atkins. That two week phase is hardly representative of low carb eating in general. If Vigilante had stuck with the diet a little longer and tweaked things around a little he just may have experienced newfound levels of energy and mental focus, as has been the experience of myself and numerous others who have adopted low carb eating.

Vigilante claims there is no research to back the superior weight loss claims made for low carb diets, except for a single flawed study that appeared in the Lancet over 40 years ago. Vigilante further claims that the only way low carb diets can cause weight loss is because of their low calorie intake, thus making them no better than other low calorie diets. A basic search on Pubmed quickly highlights the absurdities of Vigilantes claims. There have been numerous studies conducted comparing low carb/high fat diets with other diets of similar calorie intake that showed superior fat loss with low carb diets. For example, Young et al, 1971, performed an experiment with three diferent carb and fat intakes, with all diets being equal in calories. They found the lower the carb intake and the higher the fat intake, the more fat was lost and the more muscle was retained, which is what every dieter strives for. This is but only one example- like I said, the authors should have done their research before going public with such inflammatory hyperbole. Their virulent anti-low carb sentiments are simply not backed by science.

The notion that the Mediterranean Diet is low in animal fat is another bad joke. Vigilante comes from an Italian background - so do I. Home-made cheese, sausages and salami, freshly laid eggs, full cream milk, pork, were regular dietary staples of Southern Italian immigrants. These folks were generally healthy, highly productive and lived long lives (in some cases 90+). My Grandma is still going strong at 82 (ciao Nonna!). Anyone even remotely familiar with Greek nutrition knows the Greeks frequently eat lots of lamb, fetta and pork.

I agree with the authors' conclusions on low fat/high carb diets but there are other far better dissertations on the pitfalls of low fat/high carb diets. 'Neanderthin' by Ray Audette, 'Life Without Bread' by Allan and Lutz, and 'Atkins New Diet Revolution' by Dr. Atkins are far more thoroughly researched tomes that address the problems associated with low fat, high carb diets and provide evidence for the benefits of lowering carb intake. I would also suggest reading Uffe Ravnskov's 'The Cholesterol Myths' and the writings of Mary Enig (Know Your Fats, and her articles at the Weston A. Price website) to help abolish the ridiculous notion that monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats are 'good' but saturated fats are somehow, inexplicably, 'bad'.

Full of Contradictions
Don't get me wrong - I think a Mediterranean diet can be very healthy. But Vigilante and Flynn have packaged a traditional weight loss diet as something brand new - and this book surely isn't new. Additionally, too much of what is added to "the usual" is contradictory. For example, on page 24 they describe a study which shows that a high-fat breakfast is more satieting than a low-fat one and tends to prolong the time until the next meal. However, reading on, we find that almost all the breakfasts they propose are very low in fat!

I did an analysis of one of their 1500 calorie meal days (which they recommend for all women except for those who are "extremely hungry" AND are losing weight rapidly). It's 20% fat, high carb, and 45 gm protein. (The protein RDA for any woman over 125 lbs is higher than this.) It's a basic low-fat/high carb diet with a little less protein than it should have.

Ironically, the authors spend a good portion of the book trashing almost all the diets on the market, from very low fat to very low carb, when the diet they propose is basically Ornish sprinkled with olive oil.

I give it two stars because it does have some good information in it, but there are other books which talk about the Mediterranean diet which give much more sound advice and present the information more plainly and with less rhetoric. A good example is "Eat, Drink, and Be Healthy" by Walter Willett.

In short, your dollars would be much better spent elsewhere.

Self serving and unscientific attacks
I have nothing against the Mediterranean diet, and do think it is a healthy diet, but I've also used the Atkins approach to lose weight with great success. The underlying explanation of the way insulin works in our bodies that many of the low-carb proponents espouse is scientifically sound, as any even half-decent endocrinologist will tell you. Carbs ARE a bigger problem than fat.

These authors have their own book and weight loss courses to sell and they apparently don't care who they trash to sell them. There is considerable irony in their criticism of the fact that others make money from different eating plans. Their use of limited selected studies to back up their attacks seems inconsistent and shoddy. They choose selectively and ignore evidence that contradicts them.

I find it absurd when writers like these speak of a loss of energy from eating low-carb when virtually everyone who tries it speaks of an almost immediate increase in vigour and general sense of well-being and health. If you doubt this, try cutting carbohydrates for a week and see if you actually do feel better or worse. I know I feel fifteen years younger.

These authors say the association between meat consumption and colon cancer is very strong. Sure, but the main problem is usually revealed to be lack of fibre. At three cups of salad vegetables a day there IS no lack of fibre in even the early stages of Atkins or most high protein diets.

They are on rather firmer ground by stating that recent evidence has linked well-cooked meat to breast cancer. It has also linked dairy products to cancer, yet few are telling us not to drink milk. However these studies have not been done in the presence of the low carbohydrate/low sugar way of eating, which affects the absorption of saturated fats.

If you want more information on why this is so, I recommend Diana Schwarzbein's excellent "The Schwarzbein Principle". THis book has brought major health benefits to many in my family, including one Type II diabetes sufferer.

These authors say that saturated fat has been shown to raise levels of LDL cholesterol which is strongly associated with heart disease. That's partially true, although not invariably, as the blood tests of many low carb eaters show only too clearly. The proportion of HDL (healthy) to LDL (lethal) cholesterol is the more significant factor in heart disease. Many low-fat diets that reduce LDL also reduce HDL, which is a recipe for heart disease. Followers of Atkins and other low carb plans usually achieve better proportions and blood-lipid chemistries than before they went on the diet.

Several studies unconnected with Atkins have shown that this can happen in other high protein/low carbohydrate ways of eating. The Eades' "Protein Power" (also a valuable read) has many examples. But even if one IS wary of red meat, it is possible to eat low carb on white meat, and seafood.

They mention a recent study that suggests ketosis (the cornerstone of the Atkins way of eating) can promote oxidation, which they describe as a key step in many diseases including cancer and heart disease. However, a degree of ketosis and oxidation occur whenever a body burns fat. That is what our bodies are designed to do. The idea that burning fat increases your chances of cancer and heart disease is a dubious one. There is no other way to lose it other than usrgery. For most of us, keeping the fat is a lot more unhealthy than burning it. Incidentally ketosis and ketoacidosis, with which it's often confused, are two different things.

They warn that protein leaches calcium out of your system. Cheese, broccoli and kale, all of which contain high levels of calcium are a major part of the Atkins diet. Other studies have suggested that high protein diets do NOT affect the absorption of calcium.

If you want a more balanced book on the current state of scientific knowledge regarding what we should eat I recommend Walter Willett's Harvard Medical School Guide "Eat Drink and Be Healthy", where he has assessed the results of many different - and more wide-ranging - studies. Willett doubts the whole idea of a calcium shortage in most people. Ironically, like these authors he too supports the Mediterranean diet. He has however said in interviews that the Atkins approach seems to work and deserves further study. Read Willett if you want a more comprehensive understanding.

These authors are welcome to promote their own diet enterprises but they'd be better served if they did not use dodgy extrapolations from - often - small scale studies to trash others whose work has helped even the pathologically obese. These people can only have gained from the weight loss. These authors appear sadly limited in their knowledge of low-carb dieting. If you read only this book you essentially read a caricature. They are particularly limited on Atkins, even though they are entirely right about the healthiness of the Mediterranean diet and the dubiousness of the low-fat one.