Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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513 of 520 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Life Without Bread -- Low Carb Apologetics, July 28, 2000
Life Without Bread is an important addition to the growing body of literature on the benefits and importance of low-carb diet. Written by Christian Allan, Ph.D., and Wolfgang Lutz, M.D., the book is based on Dr. Lutz's experience using carbohydrate restricted diets with thousands of patients for over 40 years. It is also based on extensive research in the medical and scientific literature, and provides ample references. The book presents a more or less unified theory of how high (and even "moderate") levels of dietary carbohydrate cause or exacerbate various health problems, and how carbohydrate restriction can help people to recover from those problems. Although obesity is one of the problems, this is not primarily a weight-loss book. There is only one short chapter on weight loss. Other chapters deal with heart disease, gastrointestinal disorders (e.g., Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis), auto-immune disorders, and so on. There is also discussion of dietary carbohydrate from the perspective of humanity's adaptation to the conditions of the long Pleistocene era.Life Without Bread accomplishes a number of important things. First, it collects a body of evidence for the low-carb way of eating that is carefully thought out, and based on sound research and extensive clinical experience. Second, it debunks the pervasive cholesterol neurosis that has made much of the developed world phobic about fats. This is very important, since there are still relatively few scientists willing to put their reputations on the line in opposition to the cholesterol theory of heart disease. Allan and Lutz join their ranks. Third, it offers good arguments for the positive virtues of saturated animal fats, perhaps the most maligned dietary suspects of the past 100 years. The authors are careful to distinguish levels of support for their claims; when they are somewhat speculative, they say so. They also point out some of the limitations of the low-carb program, and do not claim it to be a panacea. Fourth, they refute the many lame and ill-informed criticisms of low-carb diets that one encounters again and again in the popular (and, unfortunately, sometimes also in the scientific) literature -- such as the claim that these diets harm the kidneys or cause muscle wasting. For anyone who wants to gain a clearer understanding of the benefits of low-carb diets, or to explain them to someone else (such as a family physician, perhaps), this book is a valuable resource.
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186 of 196 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent Review of Evidence Supporting Low Carb Diets, March 5, 2002
For most of human history, humankind never ate a diet that contained more than 40% carbohydrates, according to the most recent scientific research (AJCN March 2000). Is it any wonder, then, that for the past 12 years in the US, low carb diet books have ruled the roost? If high carbohydrate, low fat diets were the way to go, then Ornish and Pritikin books would be topping the charts. They're not. Atkins, Eades, and Sears are the nutrition celebrities, because they in their different ways have given people a diet that suits their genetic heritage: one low in carbohydrates.As a practicing nutritionist, reducing carbohoydrate intake in my patients has consistenly been one of the most effective ways to help them reduce weight, blood levels of triglycerides, uric acid, and even blood pressure. I am glad that one of the most esteemed figures in the field of low carbohydrate nutrition, Wolfgang Lutz, MD, has finally put a book together along with the brilliant Dr. Allen. This, along Loren Cordain's The Paleodiet are the two to read if you want the most sensible approach for healthy, low carb eating backed up by mounds of scientific evidence. Note: recent research has shown that meat eaters and vegetarians lose kidney function at the same rate, according to an 8 year study. Also, the leading cause of kidney failure is diabetes, which we all know is a disorder of carbohydrate metabolism. In Health and the Rise of Civilization, Mark Nathan Cohen PhD shows cultures eating pounds of meat per day, with no adverse effects ever noted on their kidney function.
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73 of 75 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
BEST LOW CARB BOOK OF ALL!, May 1, 2002
I've read every low carb book under the sun, over 20 in all and this one takes the cake! Not only is it lacking in hype but is the most informative low carb information available. These authors say more than the Eades book, Protein Power Lifeplan. I'm convinced that a low carb diet works from personal experience, but the reasons to STAY on a lower carb diet are explained here. A lot of the information gets technical but for readers who want more explanation than what's usually in Atkins or other style low carb books, this is the book to choose. I'll reread this book many times.
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