LCHF (low carb, high fat) Diet Book

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Has anyone picked up this new book by Phinney and Jeff Volek?

The following info is from Amazon.

The Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate Living: An Expert Guide to Making the

Life-Saving Benefits of Carbohydrate Restriction Sustainable and Enjoyable

Carbohydrate restricted diets are commonly practiced but seldom taught. As a

result, doctors, dietitians, nutritionists, and nurses may have strong opinions

about low carbohydrate dieting, but in many if not most cases, these views are

not grounded in science. Now, whether you are a curious healthcare professional

or just a connoisseur of diet information, two New York Times best-selling

authors provide you with the definitive resource for low carbohydrate living.

Doctors Volek and Phinney share over 50 years of clinical experience using low

carbohydrate diets, and together they have published more than 200 research

papers and chapters on the topic. Particularly in the last decade, much has been

learned about the risks associated with insulin resistance (including but not

limited to metabolic syndrome, hypertension, and type-2 diabetes), and how this

condition is far better controlled by carbohydrate restriction than with drugs.

In this book, you will learn why:

Carbohydrate restriction is the proverbial 'silver bullet' for managing insulin

resistance, metabolic syndrome and type-2 diabetes.

Restricting carbohydrate improves blood glucose and lipids while reducing

inflammation, all without drugs.

Dietary saturated fat is not a demon when you are low carb adapted.

Dietary sugars and refined starches are not needed to feed your brain or fuel

exercise.

Long-term success involves much more than simply cutting out carbs.

Electrolyte and mineral management are key to avoiding side effects and ensuring

success.

Trading up from sugars and starches to a cornucopia of nutrient-rich,

satisfying, and healthy foods is empowering.

Studying hunter-gathers' diets provides clues to how best formulate a low

carbohydrate diet.

This is a great book for health-minded individuals.

It is an excellent book for healthcare professionals.

Best of all, it is the perfect gift for health-minded individuals to share with

their doctors, dietitians, and nutritionists.

About the Author

Jeff Volek is a dietitian-scientist who has spent 15 years studying diet and

exercise effects on health and performance. He has held an academic position at

Ball State University and is currently an associate professor at the University

of Connecticut. Dr. Volek has contributed to 3 books, 2 patents, and over 200

papers. He received his dietetic training at Michigan State University and

Penrose St Francis Hospital and his PhD in Exercise Physiology from Penn State

University.

Steve Phinney is a physician-scientist who has spent 35 years studying diet,

exercise, fatty acids, and inflammation. He has held academic positions at the

Universities of Vermont, Minnesota, and California at , as well as

leadership positions at Monsanto, Galileo Laboratories, and Efficas. Dr. Phinney

has published over 70 papers and several patents. He received his MD from

Stanford University, his PhD in Nutritional Biochemistry from MIT, and

post-doctoral training at the University of Vermont and Harvard.

Product Details

Paperback: 316 pages

Publisher: Beyond Obesity LLC (May 19, 2011)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 0983490708

ISBN-13: 978-0983490708

Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.7 inches

Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)

Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer

reviews)

Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #1,980 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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This review is from: The Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate Living: An Expert

Guide to Making the Life-Saving Benefits of Carbohydrate Restriction Sustainable

and Enjoyable (Paperback)

What do you get when you bring together two of most brilliant minds examining

the science supporting carbohydrate restriction and its beneficial impact on

weight and health? It's a dream team collaboration like nothing else that's ever

been seen in the low-carb community and something that has been sorely needed to

cut through the continued nonsense that still persists in our culture regarding

low-carb diets despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary. For Dr. Jeff Volek

from The University of Connecticut and the legendary Dr. Phinney, this

has actually been a personal passion of theirs for many years to share what

they've seen first-hand in the study participants they have observed as well as

in their own personal experimentations using a high-fat, moderate protein,

low-carb diet. They are both already co-authors of the New York Times

bestselling book The New Atkins For A New You released in 2010 which was geared

more specifically to the general public updating the Atkins Nutritional Approach

to fit more within the 21st Century.

But both Dr. Volek and Dr. Phinney realize in order for a patient to be

successful at implementing a healthy low-carbohydrate lifestyle change into

their own daily routine, they first need a competent and educated healthcare

professional who is willing to learn, understand and embrace the basic

principles that make this incredible way of eating so amazingly effective as a

therapeutic means for treating obesity, Type 2 diabetes, and a whole myriad of

diseases. That's why they decided to write a brand new book about it in 2011

that does just that. It's called The Art And Science Of Low Carbohydrate Living:

An Expert Guide To Making The Life-Saving Benefits Of Carbohydrate Restriction

Sustainable And Enjoyable and is arguably the most important low-carb book

releasing this year!

The purpose of this book is really about three main things: giving the reader

the proper historical perspective about low-carb diets, explaining why low-carb

diets work the way they do in the body, and then showing actual clinical

application of how low-carb diets can be used to treat patients. For the

healthcare professional, the information contained within the pages of this

invaluable 300-page book could radically revolutionize and transform the way

they interact with patients transitioning from a pharmaceutically-based to a

nutritionally-based mindset for treating chronic health issues such as obesity,

Type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and more. For the educated layperson,

learning more about high-fat, low-carb diets from these top research

investigators will bring about changes in their own weight and health that will

then have a positive impact on their friends, family, and even their physicians.

Then this book can become an outstanding book to be given to the interested

healthcare professional who wants to learn more about why people get better

eating a diet that includes saturated fat and is devoid of starchy and sugary

carbohydrates. It's a life cycle that I'm sure both Dr. Volek and Dr. Phinney

would love to see happen as this book is read, re-read, passed along, and highly

recommended for people who are frustrated by the failure of the low-fat diet,

something they address right away in the Introduction in their " Five Discords "

section.

While obesity and diabetes has gotten increasingly worse and worse with the

strong recommendations of a high-carb, low-fat diet, the evidence coming out in

the world of science in recent years reveals there is no longer any controversy

about low-carb diets-they " have now been resolved " as the authors put it. Now

the grunt work of taking the proven science to the masses is the tricky part. It

is all predicated on convincing the public that a low-fat diet is not healthy

because it is too high in carbohydrate, educating why controlling the hormone

insulin by restricting carbohydrates will eliminate hunger and burn stored body

fat, revealing the fact that there is no scientific evidence tying saturated fat

in the diet to heart disease risk, sharing the truth about what really raises

saturated fat in the body (carbohydrates!), and reminding people that there is

no such thing as a " one-size-fits all message " when it comes to a healthy

lifestyle as the government, media and all the so-called health " experts " would

have us believe. Dr. Volek and Dr. Phinney are using this book to " speak up " by

releasing The Art And Science Of Low Carbohydrate Living.

The authors have taken every measure possible to insure the low-carb principles

they share in this book will stand the test of time. It's why a low carbohydrate

approach is considered a lifestyle change that's permanent and lasting-not just

a diet. They have done this by examining three primary keys to making that

happen: Safety, Individual Specificity, and Sustainability.

Dr. Volek and Dr. Phinney have over a half-century of research/clinical

experience with low-carb diets using them on a variety of study

participants/patients and they are " confident that a well-formulated low

carbohydrate diet offers improved low-term health and well-being " for people who

struggle on high-carb diets. Therefore, the safety question hasn't really been

an issue because it's just not a relevant factor. Plus, the whole idea of

" carbohydrate intolerance " is something that's rarely if ever discussed by

mainstream conventional wisdom but it is arguably the biggest reason why people

turn to low-carb diets to help them when everything else they've ever tried has

failed. If there was a genuine problem over the safety of low-carb diets,

wouldn't we be hearing about people experiencing these complications? That ain't

happening.

Another concept that rarely gets any attention is the fact we are not robotic

machines that operate in the same way. Humans are indeed unique, especially when

it comes to how they respond to the foods they consume. The authors point out

that anyone with obesity, metabolic syndrome, and/or diabetes already have

carbohydrate intolerance and would be best fitted for a low-carb diet change.

Otherwise, doing a low-fat diet is like " forcing a square peg into a round

hole. " Even more interesting is the observation that even if a low-fat diet is

working for you now, your tolerance level for carbohydrates will inevitably get

worse and worse as you age-so eventually pretty much everyone will need to start

livin' la vida low-carb! This is why Dr. Volek and Dr. Phinney state that the

Dietary Guidelines from the USDA need to have " a separate path from the

`high-carb, low-fat' mantra. "

As for the sustainability of a low-carb lifestyle change, the authors note that

this is a " complex " issue that serves as the basis for why they wrote this book

to begin with. The " casual approach " (as they describe it) to eating low-carb is

what gets most people who try to do it in trouble and puts them on the

inevitable if not predictable pathway to failure. You can't just cut your

carbohydrates and expect to be eating what Dr. Volek and Dr. Phinney would

define as a low-carb diet. They detail all that is involved with creating a

" well-formulated low carbohydrate diet " that will last for a lifetime within the

pages of this book. As they put it, " This topic is clearly more deserving of a

book than a sound bite. "

Some would say that a book about low-carb diets from a couple of low-carb

researchers seems self-serving since they obviously have a vested interest in

promoting a nutritional plan they've committed their careers to. But the authors

address this by asking a simple yet poignant question:

" What is the proper response when three decades of debate about carbohydrate

restriction have been largely one-sided and driven more by cultural bias than

science? "

Indeed. And that's precisely what Dr. Volek and Dr. Phinney have done with The

Art And Science Of Low Carbohydrate Living making a solid case for low-carb

diets just as a defense attorney would argue a case before a judge and jury. The

evidence is presented with appropriate citations of key scientific studies.

Plus, the authors call on three key witnesses for special guest chapters to

further embolden their arguments: Dr. Kossoff to share how ketogenic diets

are used in controlling seizures and other brain health issues,

Eberstein who has experience working with patients using

carbohydrate-restriction alongside the late, great Dr. C. Atkins in his

complementary medicine clinic in New York City for three decades, and me (Jimmy

) providing the unique perspective as a patient who discovered and

thrived (losing 180 pounds and coming off of three prescription medications) on

a low-carb diet despite the objections of those in the healthcare profession. By

the time you make your way through this informative and practical book, you'll

realize as the authors so succinctly state in their closing argument that " it

just feels right " to be eating low-carb. The verdict? NOT GUILTY

Osowski MS, RD, LD

Registered Dietitian