High Carb Low Fat Diet Lead To Low Levels Of Coronary Artery Disease

[Mito]

"The findings of the present study show that, in comparison to existing evidence, Tsimane indigenous South Americans have the lowest prevalence of coronary atherosclerosis of any population yet studied. This was achieved despite a high infectious inflamatory burden."

"An estimated 14% of their average caloric diet is protein, 14% is fat, and 72% is carbohydrate"

"..carbohydrates are grown in the form of rice, plantain, manioc, and corn via slash-and-burn horticulture, and the Tsimane also gather wild nuts and fruits."

"The Tsimane diet lacks trans fats, and is a low fat diet, with an average estimated daily consumption of 38 g fat, with 11 g saturated fat, 14 g monounsaturated fat, and 8 g polyunsaturated fat."

"Most of a typical Tsimane day involves the physical activity of farming, hunting, food preparation, household chores, and parenting. The average hunt lasts more than 8 h and covers nearly 18 km, while horticultural labour includes using metal axes to chop large areas of primary forest. Men and women spend a mean of 6–7 h and 4–6 h per day engaging in physical activity, respectively."

https://www.researchgate.net/profil...al-cohort-study.pdf?origin=publication_detail

 

[sele]

Many forum members are getting good results in terms of better health from low fat diet.

 

[tca300]

Cool!! Thanks for the post!

 

[ecstatichamster]

i haven't read the full study yet, do they discuss all-cause mortality? That is much more interesting than a surrogate endpoint such as atherosclerosis.

 

[ecstatichamster]

just read the study. Not sure this adds all that much. The study covers various lab measures basically. But there is correlation with coronary heart disease but nothing else.

2/3 of these people have worms, by the way. May be slightly important...LOL.

The researchers discuss possible correlations, the usual obsession with LDL cholesterol and smoking being high on the list.

 

[whodathunkit]

Nathan Pritikin turned America onto this decades ago. IIRC he wasn't a big fan of fruit but lots of starchy carbs with no fat, veggies, and low/moderate amount of low-fat protein. He completely reversed his coronary artery disease that he was diagnosed with in like his 30's. He died from leukemia in his early 70's, and they did an autopsy that showed his arteries to be completely clear. The leukemia was probably caused by exposure to a lot of radiation when he was younger.

Sadly, low fat is not my preferred way to eat, but I'm coming around to it because I just feel better and sleep better when I'm doing it. Not to mention it makes it way easier to keep weight stable.

 

[lollipop]

Sadly, low fat is not my preferred way to eat, but I'm coming around to it because I just feel better and sleep better when I'm doing it. Not to mention it makes it way easier to keep weight stable.

Pretty much my experience - still hard for me to decrease my fat intake but slowly getting there.

 

[ecstatichamster]

same here. I don't know how low I've gone but generally it's a few pieces of cheese or a bit of meat with some fat, but not much.

I'm slowly losing body fat...

 

[michael94]

Too many variables different from the lifestyle and diet of most westerners... Interesting case study but thats it.

 

[redlight]

Im following 60% carbs, 25% protein and 15% fat and I'm getting shredded AF

 

[tca300]

@whodathunkit Not to nit pick but Nathan Pritikin didn't die of leukemia, he committed suicide.

 

[whodathunkit]

@whodathunkit Not to nit pick but Nathan Pritikin didn't die of leukemia, he committed suicide.

Oh. I thought the leukemia got him but after a quick search I see you're right. The pain and complications from leukemia apparently drove him to it. Sad. I did not realize that. Thanks for setting me straight. :)

Still, the main point is that the high carb low fat turned his health around until he got leukemia. I've also seen high protein/high fat folks insinuate that high carb and low fat was why he got leukemia in the first place, but not so. It was probably the radiation exposure.

Was Pritikin also an endurance athlete, or am I making that up, too...? :p If so then oxidative stress probably had something to do with his disease.

Not to derail the thread. But if we're talking about high carb and low fat then Pritikin was there first, at least in our culture. Shame the paleo/Atkins folks got control of our consciousness for a while. They did it to me, for sure, in no small part because it sure tasted better and gave me more pleasure to eat. Pritikin also made me not feel well back in the day, so I decided it didn't agree with me. But I realize now that was probably due to under-eating + detox and I just didn't know enough then to tweak and hang with it.

 

[whodathunkit]

Pretty much my experience - still hard for me to decrease my fat intake but slowly getting there.

I'm biting the bullet and I'm on day 3 of @Orion 's regimen of skim milk + a lot of starch. Some fruit. But I'm going to try to stay away from honey, and definitely staying away from sugar. Not forever, of course, but I want to see what happens with my body if I can manage to give this VLF thing a good go. Sugar really does seem to increase my hunger and food cravings over time. I think Tyw eats this way, too, and Zacs (who is no longer around). They kind of inspired me a while back but after not succeeding in weight loss on pure VLF Peat, I just haven't been able to get it together for another try. Until now. We'll see what happens.

@ecstatichamster, by "slowly" losing body fat...how slow do you mean? LOL

 

[Orion]

+ a lot of starch

Just wanted to add I am doing zero fat and starch. Skim milk, cottage cheese, gelatin, fruit and juice are the staples, sugar when extra calories are needed, liver weekly.

 

[Westside PUFAs]

Plus his arteries were clean:

"What Hubbard found was a heart remarkably free of disease and coronary arteries that were completely open, without any hint of development of fatty plaques that plug up the vessels of heart disease victims and result in angina pain and often fatal heart attacks. While there were small traces of fatty tissue both in the heart muscle and in the coronary arteries, all four of the major arteries examined were totally free of any restriction--a condition virtually unheard of for a 69-year-old man living in a Western country.

The size and weight of Pritikin's heart were well within optimal ranges, the report noted, and the muscle tissue itself was thick, well developed and uncompromised, indicating the heart's pumping ability was essentially unrestricted."

Autopsy of Pritikin May Renew Debate

And he was a few months away from being 70.

Nathan Pritikin turned America onto this decades ago.

The public didn't follow what non-celebrity people said about nutrition. He maybe turned some people onto it who were in that health scene in the LA area but not the masses of the whole country.

.

 

[Mito]

Plus his arteries were clean:

"What Hubbard found was a heart remarkably free of disease and coronary arteries that were completely open, without any hint of development of fatty plaques that plug up the vessels of heart disease victims and result in angina pain and often fatal heart attacks. While there were small traces of fatty tissue both in the heart muscle and in the coronary arteries, all four of the major arteries examined were totally free of any restriction--a condition virtually unheard of for a 69-year-old man living in a Western country.

The size and weight of Pritikin's heart were well within optimal ranges, the report noted, and the muscle tissue itself was thick, well developed and uncompromised, indicating the heart's pumping ability was essentially unrestricted."

Autopsy of Pritikin May Renew Debate

The cholesterol level in Pritikin's blood dropped from 280 milligrams in 1958--a reading at the high end of what American physicians say is the normal range but which other doctors say is far too high--to 94 milligrams in November, 1984. Doctors questioned by The Times said seeing a patient with cholesterol below 110 would be almost unprecedented in any American physician's practice.

I know the claim is that it was radiation that caused his leukemia but cholesterol at 94 is very low. I just wonder if the low cholesterol played a part in the cancer and/or suicide?

RP: In the last 20 years, there have been many studies showing that lowering cholesterol increases mortality, especially from cancer and suicide, and that people with naturally low cholesterol are more likely to die from cancer, suicide, trauma, and infections than people with normal or higher than average cholesterol.

 

[beta pandemic]

"The findings of the present study show that, in comparison to existing evidence, Tsimane indigenous South Americans have the lowest prevalence of coronary atherosclerosis of any population yet studied. This was achieved despite a high infectious inflamatory burden."

"..carbohydrates are grown in the form of rice, plantain, manioc, and corn via slash-and-burn horticulture, and the Tsimane also gather wild nuts and fruits."

what do they mean "despite a high infectious inflammatory burden?"

guessing the rice is whole grain ?

 

[ecstatichamster]

what do they mean "despite a high infectious inflammatory burden?"

guessing the rice is whole grain ?

High inflammatory markers probably from intestinal and other parasites.

 

[whodathunkit]

know the claim is that it was radiation that caused his leukemia but cholesterol at 94 is very low. I just wonder if the low cholesterol played a part in the cancer and/or suicide?

RP: In the last 20 years, there have been many studies showing that lowering cholesterol increases mortality, especially from cancer and suicide, and that people with naturally low cholesterol are more likely to die from cancer, suicide, trauma, and infections than people with normal or higher than average cholesterol.

Hmmm. I didn't hear about exactly how low his cholesterol was. Definitely it would play a part in mood disorders since cholesterol is key for making hormones.

Myself, I kind of get whim-whammish on very low fat. Little more volatile mood trending towards the depressed end of the spectrum. It's always made it tough to stick with, even as recently as last summer.

The public didn't follow what non-celebrity people said about nutrition. He maybe turned some people onto it who were in that health scene in the LA area but not the masses of the whole country.

Well, I heard about it when I was a kid back in the '70's. And I lived in "flyover" country. For whatever that's worth. My mother experimented with it (and us along with her although my father kind of put a stop to that quickly). So yeah, people were hearing about it. I also tried it in the mid-80's after reading his book, which is when I decided that Pritikin "didn't agree with me".

I think Pritikin's main problem was mainstream never wanted to hear his message because it was so way out of line with what everyone wanted to hear. And eat. Really low fat, high carb food just doesn't taste as good. Especially not in the age that gave us Velveeta cheese.

Plus, I think a lot of people are like me and tend not to do well with a very very low fat regimen for a protracted period of time. I'm going to keep plugging away but think I'll have to tweak at least once per week for some fat. This morning after only three days I woke up a bit too early, depressed, felt like cortisol rush. I ate quite a bit yesterday and had honey and milk right before bed, but still felt crappy this morning. Might still be undereating or too much activity (been very physically active past couple of days) but I did eat to satiation. Bottom line is very low fat can be very tough.

 

[lollipop]

I'm biting the bullet and I'm on day 3 of @Orion 's regimen of skim milk + a lot of starch. Some fruit. But I'm going to try to stay away from honey, and definitely staying away from sugar. Not forever, of course, but I want to see what happens with my body if I can manage to give this VLF thing a good go. Sugar really does seem to increase my hunger and food cravings over time. I think Tyw eats this way, too, and Zacs (who is no longer around). They kind of inspired me a while back but after not succeeding in weight loss on pure VLF Peat, I just haven't been able to get it together for another try. Until now. We'll see what happens.

@ecstatichamster, by "slowly" losing body fat...how slow do you mean? LOL

Thank you for the greater insight. I have greatly reduced by using 2% milk. Can't go with skim atm... I also reduced a lot by reducing quantity of fat used when cooking. Rather than not using butter, I use like 1/8 of what I used before. Flavor is there but so much less fat.