I have to agree with the healthy diet confusion noted in the letters before mine. Adding my own two cents would like to say that paying attention to our bodies is probably the most important thing. I too suffered from severe acid reflux that has disapeared (unless I decide I need a sandwich before bed). If I do eat carbs it is whole grain not whole wheat(big difference. Over time by reducing my late night snacks to fresh fruits and vegetables I find I have lost almost all sugar cravings. When I dont resist I try to have dark chocalate which is an antioxidant. My body now does not "like" white flour, white sugar, I simply do not "feel well" after eating highly processed foods. Over time have managed to lose weight in my mid section and am in my mid fifties.Not as much weight promised in the ads for weight loss drugs boast, but its been a gradual,and I feel, permanent weight loss as long as I remember ice cream is a total indulgence, not a food group. I wish good health to all. Also want to remind people that we ARE responsible for much of our health outcomes by diet. So we need to take responsability for our health and do a little research. Its a process, not an over night miracle, which we are used to thinking is available to us in this high speed world. I have learned I like the taste of some foods I never would have dreamt of in the past. In fact food just plain tastes better and is much more varied when a little thought and invention go into the mix. Some foods may take a while to adjust to, but introduce them gradually. As you weed out the highly frocessed and high saturated fat foods and replace them with food you KNOW (as a grown up) are more healthy and there fore more rewarding in terms of how you feel and how your body tells you it feels. I think all the books and diets are good, heck read them all, then let you and your body decide what makes you feel better and what quality of life you want to bring into your advancing years.
Deborah

Every day after working minimum 8 hours we go to workout at a jim; it is so tough for both of us-but we still try to go minimum 3/4 days. I read all these articles and it is so true that Our grand ma and ma everybody used lots of fats butter cheese and they lived happily ever after between 80/90 years of age. There is a great factor on it though-they worked physically lot more than we do now; what I meant by that they did not go to jim to exercise but they fetch water from wells; grow their own vegetables and lots butch cows and chopped woods. I still am confused;confused about intaking of fats; cause we go to jim and so other house work too - then what and why????????????

I would like to add that I saw a feature a couple of weeks ago, on local news, discussing the need for protein in the prevention of bone loss. From the way I see it, protein binds calcium to bones, like the girders of a building. I am on an adequate protein and fat diet and I think that is why I have healthy bone mass. I wouldn't touch a lowfat diet with a 10 foot pole. There is too much sugar in lowfat products. Isn't it sugar that causes tooth decay?

Hello,

I have been on a low carb moderate fat and protein diet for over three years. I had xrays done of my bones revealing that I have strong bone mass. I have cholesterol snd triglycerides at exemplary levels. Being hypoglycemic,I have not experienced an insulin spike in over 3 years and my migraines have vanished.My acid reflux has also dissapeared. You know what else has disappeared? My gray hair. I still have gray hair but there is a lot less of it...I kid you not. I have articles sitting on my desk that show that a low carb diet helps to protect againset cataracts, alzheimers, acid reflux ( primary cause of esohogeal cancer . I have an article here from the newspaper stating that high protein diets helps to strengthen bones and muscle tissue.

This is my question. I am not the only one on this planet with such unusual success on a lifestyle that is deemed hazardous to my health. Why is this so? Evidently this is not true. There is a plethora of research on this diet that seems to be ignored by the media and many medical experts. Why are the experts having such a hard time accepting this healthy diet?

Low carb/ moderate fats and protein is not synonmous to bacon and eggs at every meal. I have bacon and eggs on this diet but I also have fish and sea food, chicken, beef. I eat avocadoes, bell peppers ( all colors ), aspargus, zuchini, spaghetti squash, spinach, mustard greens, turnip greens,collard greens. kale, jicama,tomatoes, onions, green beans, black soy beans. I eat cheese, butter, olive oil,coconut oil. Trader Joes has the best heavy cream that I use in my coffee and it makes the best whipped cream for my fresh strawberries, blueberries, raspberries etc. Look at my diet, see how it is well rounded without refined carbs. reduced fats? This is what makes me healthy.

Sincerely,
Mary

My mother is 93 and has carried a cholesterol level in excess of 350mg most of her life. She was 87 before she ever had a stent placed into an artery in her heart. I recall her making numerous statements about her diet as a youth and throughout most of her life. During the Depression they ate bread with salt & "lard" spread and how her mother continually cooked with animal fat because butter was too expensive. They ate cheeses, buttermilk and organ meats.
Now contrast that with my having a heart attack at 56 and wore a size 6 clothing...and did not eat the level of saturated fats - and walked at least 2 miles 3 times a week. So, I've been confused for a long time.

It would really help if you (and other media) would clarify whether the recommendations you present are based on guesses (even if educated), rather than on clinical research. Science isn't about guesses and you do it and us a disservice when you allow it to be presented as such. Don't you think there are 20-year old clips from NBC extoling the virtues of the low-fat diet? Were those based on science? I think not...

I sincerely appreciate all the information presented on these all-important health topics..but to have our minds inundated with study after (sometimes) conflicting study can be so confusing, even overwhelming! It's a wonder our brains don't burst at the seams, much less our bellies.

i see that dr. willet, and i presume the medical community at large, is now going to claim, "we didn't mean fat was bad for you, we meant saturated fat was bad for you". well, please, please, please, someone show me the evidence of clinical studies showing evidence that saturated fat is in any way unhealthy!

I think family genes have more to do with it. My Aunt, Grandmother and Mom Lived long lives and ate fat at every meal. They baked with real cream and butter.