MODULE 3 Reading Workshop: Slim pickings

Answers:

1. What did research say about low-carbohydrate diets?
It can not be determined whether they are difinitively better than other types of diets, but "Maybe there is something there, with the emphasis on the 'maybe'...low-carbohydrate diets may be of some use for patients who need to shed weight - at least in the early stages of their treatment...The trials also failed to find signs that cutting carbohydrates rather than fats will increase the risk of cardiovascular disease..." (p2)

2. What is the only guaranteed way to lose weight?
By eating less calories "...if your energy intake exceeds your energy out-put, you will get fat whatever the proportions of fat, carbohydrate and protein in your diet...There's no getting round the laws of thermodynamics."(p3)

3. How much good scientific study has been done into dieting and exercise?
Not enough. More needs to bwe done. Searching for relevant terms relating to Atkins on literature databases resulted in a total of just 2,609 articles. (p2)

4. What does the article tell us about obesity in the USA?
2/3 of US adults are overweight and 1/3 are clinically obese. (p1)

5. Why is Robert Atkins famous? What do we know about his company?
He's a NY doctor who championed the low-carb approach and his company is successful. (p1)

6. What do health experts want to see more of?
They want to see an inclusion of research on the volunteers' health. (p2)

7. What were the results of the Samaha and Foster experiments?
That low-carb diets don't necessarily increase the presence of 'bad' cholestrol and that low-carb diets may be more effective in the initial stages of a diet.(p2)

8. Why should the results of the experiments not be accepted conclusively?
The studies were small (132 and 63 patients, with a minority seeing the studies through to the end). (p2)

9. What is the aim of Foster’s newest research?
To do a larger study (360 patients) and to find out about how their health is affected. (p2)

10. What criticisms are made of low-carb diets and their effectiveness?
That people may not be getting adequate nutrition and that people's expectations are unrealistic. (p2 - 3rd column)

11. What do studies in hospitals tell us about the different diets?
That weight loss is similar for diets containing the same number of calories, irrespective of the proportion of carohydrate, fat and protein. (p3)

12. What problem is there when researching people on low-carb diets?
That it is difficult to determine how many calories patients are consuming. It is also difficult to determine whether they lose weight due to fewer overall calories or whether they lose weight due to the type of food they're consuming.


13. What suggestion is made for future study?
That researchers should find common factors in success stories of dieters.(p3)

14. What are the 2 key factors in managing weight?
Behavioral factors as well as what people consume.(p3)

15. What is needed to solve the problem of obesity?
Governments need to promote the consumption of foods that are less energy intensive, because people are consuming more and more. (p3)

16. What is the doctor’s role in prescribing diets?
To tailor them to individuals, depending on their metabolic & behavioral characteristics. (p3)