Re: Re: Re: Re: Atkins Diet and tuba playing.


[ Follow Ups ] [ Post Followup ] [ TubeNet BBS ] [ FAQ ]

Posted by Dan Masi on April 11, 2002 at 09:59:51:

In Reply to: Re: Re: Re: Atkins Diet and tuba playing. posted by Klaus on April 10, 2002 at 16:44:50:

> As you have the attitude of a learned person, I should pay you respect.
>
> Why do I find that a bit difficult to do?

Good question, Klaus, and one that is recurrent enough for
you that perhaps some serious introspection might be in order.

As to the original question, since it was mentioned that the
Atkins diet was a few days in progress when this occurred, my
guess is that it's a "normal" (which does not imply "desirable"
or "acceptable") reaction to the diet. Two to three
days is exactly when one would expect the liver's glycogen supply
to be depleted, and so as others have mentioned, you are *very*
suddenly finding yourself running on ketone rather than blood
glucose. My understanding is that not all tissues are quite as
efficient in this mode, including muscle and brain tissue.

My admittedly lay understanding of this and other diets leads me
to believe that while low-carb diets may be extreme, they have some
element of understanding that is lacking in the simplistic
"BTU/kCal_input - energy_used = energy_converted_to_fat"
model. The effects of hormones such as insulin
and glucagon aren't minor, second-order parasitics; they are
central to the machinery of nutrition and metabolism, and are
ignored by food-pyramid types. I do agree that ketosis shouldn't
be a way of life, but I think that people who immediately scoff
at the entire ideas of low-carb nutrition would do well to
at least research the subject a bit. There are some interesting
nuggets to be found there.

Dan Masi





Follow Ups: