Anthony Almada, B.Sc.07.01.04
A Tale Of Two Cities
As the debate rages amidst a national frenzy over no/low carb, one ostensibly unheard evidence-based answer has already been provided.
ByAnthony Almada, B.Sc., M.Sc.
It was the sweetest of times, it was the bitterest of times, it was the age of zeal, it was the age of caution, it was the epoch of raconteurism, it was the epoch of knowledge, it was the season of Savory, it was the season of Sweet, it was the Spring of hype, it was the Winter of logic, we had a surfeit before us, we had a dearth before us, we were all going direct to health, we were all going the other way—in short, the period was so like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities demanded its embrace, for health or money, in the superlative degree of comparison only…
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There was a recently deceased king, with a large house and many scrolls written in a seemingly ultra-distant past, along with a prince, an heir apparent and an aspiring scribe, both from the East, both on the throne of the house of Anticarba; there was a king, with a far smaller house, a far more learned man of letters and science, with scrolls written in a different language, from the West, seated on the unassuming throne of Fibrocarba.
It was the year of Our Lord two thousand and three and the women in the latest days before Winter and men of science had gathered at an annual meeting of the elite minds of the day. Their hearts sought knowledge of the heart—within our bodies, the ceaseless pump that pushes the fluid of life. It was the annual meeting of the American Heart Association.
The lore and mystique of Anticarba was spreading through the known world like the plume of an enormous volcano along the Equator, whipped in all directions by winds of fury and discord. Sweet excess and indulgence were proscribed. The wheat was consumed by mold in the silos, while the meat left the bone with the speed of a scythe at harvest. Excess in the absence of sweet and starch was exalted, encouraged, approaching a gastronomic orgy of fat and animal flesh.
The tenets of Fibrocarba had grown arduous, even passé for many, the original allure and appeal to the learned women and men of medicine insufficient to compel many of the townsfolk. Long ago, in Paleolithic times, Fibrocarba was conceived de facto, as a condition of living, a lifestyle dictated by the rigors of an intensely agrarian society. The paucity of fat and animal flesh was compensated for by the abundance of grain, fruit, and seed—plant flesh.
Addressing the select few in November 2003—the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions, the heartbeat of knowledge—Dr. Mike Dansinger, a medical doctor from New England’s most “tufted” school of medical learning, took a deep but imperceptible breath and began. He and his team’s mission—to unravel controversy and inject evidence over who was the reigning deacon of diets and dieting, coupled with an inquiry as to the influence of the diets of the day on heart disease risk factors linked to resistance to the earnest metabolism-modifying effects of insulin. The kings vying for the throne of the entire empire: Atkins, Ornish, Weight Watchers, and Zone.
He continued, sharing with the increasingly captivated attendees, that he and his able team had begun their quest over three years earlier, seeking and engaging 160 subjects with metabolic syndrome. Equally divided were these willing men and women of larger stature, to follow to the best of their ability for two months, one of the four diets, being assisted by classes, staff education and official diet cookbooks. For 10 months thereafter the subjects were asked to follow their assigned diet to the extent they desired.
Now the veil was to be raised—which diet was to be exalted to hold the scepter of supremacy? Silent shouts from the minds of some of the audience echoed “Atkins, long live the king,” while others extolled the Zone with zeal. A suite of recent studies had painted Atkins in a favorable light, with brush strokes that surprised even the masters. But this day was to be different.
By the end of the study HALF of those on Atkins or Ornish had dropped out, with a third of those on Weight Watchers or Zone also electing to depart. But which diet elicited a statistically significant improvement in fasting insulin—a surrogate for reduced insulin resistance. Roars could be heard hundreds of kilometers away in Fibrocarba as Dr. Dansiger uttered the word “Ornish”. Atkins and Zone, long lauded to improve insulin sensitivity, failed to meet the bar and ascend above it. Which diet elicited the greatest drop in LDL cholesterol? Groans could be heard from the Northeast as “Ornish” was uttered anew while whole grain organic bread was broken in the West. And which diet led to the greatest drop in body weight? Those in the Zone had their hearts fill with ozone as the word was spoken again, “Ornish”.
It was the grainiest of times, it was the fattiest of times…NW