THE CAPITAL TIMES
Today’s diet fads
Are Atkins low-carb
healthy or
By BRIANNA GUYER
Staff Reporter
BGGSOO3raPSU.EDU
The Atkins Diet, The South Beach
Diet, Weight Watchers, Jenny
Craig, L.A. Weight Loss... We've
all heard of these diets and dieting
programs. Diets are everywhere
these days! Whether a person is
dieting to maintain a slim figure,
for health reasons, or to impress a
certain someone, tens of thousands
of Americans begin to diet each
year. For many, the results are very
rewarding, but for others dieting
can cause severe problems that can
change their lives forever.
Diets like the Atkins Diet and
The South Beach Diet all center
around the idea of having a low
carbohydrate intake and they seem
to think that weight gain is caused
by carbohydrates.
Human Biology by Sylvia S. Mader
states, “Weight gain is caused by
consuming too many calories,
whether they are from carbohydrate,
protein, or fat.” Mader also noted that
weight gain caused by carbohydrates
cannot be proven scientifically.
But if weight gain caused by
carbohydrates cannot be proven
scientifically then it is hard to see
why many diets surround themselves
with a low-carbohydrate, high
protein diet.
After a while, scientists and the
general public began to catch
onto this theory and research was
performed regarding these ideas. At
first, many researchers were pleased
with the results patients often had
while on low-carb diets, losing an
average of thirteen pounds, but w ere
shocked when they looked into the
difficulties and problems that these
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is CR the
diets could produce later on.
Some of these problems included
long-term bone health, difficulties
for people who have an underlying
problem with their kidneys or liver,
and problems with heart disease.
Dropout rates for low-carbohydrate
diets tend to be very high.
Considering the average individual
is not ready to cut out nearly all
sweets, alcohol, pasta, bread,
vegetables, and fruits of all kind,
it is no wonder these diets will not
last long.
Just the concept of not eating a
w ide variety of fruits and vegetables
screams that it will be a problem.
There is large nutritional content in
both fruits and vegetables and taking
them out of a daily diet can leave
an individual more susceptible to
things such as catching an illness.
The thirteen pounds mentioned
earlier, which individuals tend to
lose while on low-carbohydrate
diets, typically do not stay off for
a long period of time, prompting
many others to quit their diet.
Mader of Human Biology said
that within twelve months most
individuals tend to gain at least half
of their total weight loss back.
While dieting often seems
impossible, if one researches a diet
properly and does not fall into the
typical “fad dieting,” then weight
loss and good health can often be
achieved and maintained.
As mentioned earlier by Mader,
“Weight gain is caused by consuming
too many calories...” In order to
achieve weight loss in this way, a
diet that involves calorie restriction,
or CR, is key.
According to the website Answers,
com, C’R is “the practice of
limiting dietary energy intake to
diets really
way to go?
improve health and retard aging.
In human subjects, C'R has been
shown to lower cholesterol and
blood pressure... Energy intake
must be minimized, but sufficient
quantities of v itamins, minerals and
other important nutrients must still
be ingested.”
There are many diets that try to
model this style of dieting such as
programs like Jenny Craig, L.A.
Weight Loss, and Weight Watchers.
These diets try to incorporate a
healthy, balanced diet, with a routine
of daily activity.
Some diets, such as the Jenny Craig
diet, incorporate pre-packaged food
items into the dieters' meals. Diets
such as these are typically easy for
people to maintain because once
you are in the habit of checking
the labels and getting into the
routine of exercising the diet can be
maintained. Also, since the weight is
coming off in a healthy, natural way,
there are fewer problems associated
with CR diets.
A very important thing to note
when discussing dieting is what
can happen when one becomes so
involved with dieting that it becomes
an obsession. Bulimia nervosa and
anorexia nervosa are both eating
disorders that typically result from
this obsession. Both of these eating
disorders are very serious and have
consequences, which could be life
long if not recognized and treated
early on.
The effects of dieting can be
wide and varied depending on
how one uses them and can have
different outcomes, both negative
and positive. Health risks are
associated with all diets and should
be thoroughly checked into before
any individual begins a diet.
Immigration debate heating up
Pres. Bush and Congress ponder howto handle the
growing influx of illegal immigrants in the United States
By NEDRA PICKLER
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON - Founded by
immigrants and praised as a haven
for the oppressed, the United States
now is struggling to decide the fate
of as many as 12 million people
living in the country illegally.
The Senate takes up the emotional
debate on the heels of weekend rallies
that drew hundreds of thousands
of people protesting attempts to
toughen laws against immigrants.
Among the ideas that President
Bush and membtys of Congress
are considering:
Erecting a fence on the Mexico
border to deter illegal immigration.
Treating people who sneak across
the border as felons to be deported.
Allowing foreigners to stay in the
country legally as custodians, dish
washers, construction workers and
other low-paid employees.
Allowing those working in the
U.S. a path to citizenship.
~ Requiring them to get in line
behind everyone else back in their
home countries who want to become
Americans
On Monday, the Senate Judiciary
Committee takes up the issue and
Bush headlines a naturalization
ceremony for 30 new citizens at
Constitution Hall. Demonstrations
are planned near the Capitol,
including a prayer service with
immigration advocates and clergy
who plan to wear handcuffs to
demonstrate the criminalization of
immigration violations.
Bush is going to Mexico this w eek
for a meeting with the leaders of
Mexico and Canada. Secretary of
State Condoleezza Rice said Sunday
it’s important that Mexico “recognize
the importance of defense of the
borders and of American laws.”
Protests raged across the country
over the weekend, led by more than
500,000 people who marched through
downtown Los Angeles on Saturday
in one of the largest demonstrations
for any cause in recent U.S. history.
Marchers also took to the streets in
Phoenix, Milwaukee, Dallas and
Columbus, Ohio.
The president, working hand-in
hand with the business community
that relies on cheap labor, ispressuring
Congress to allow immigrants to stay
in the country legally if they take a
job that Americans are unwilling
to do.
Judiciary Chairman Arlen Specter,
R-Pa., also supports the idea and
has vowed that his committee will
advance a bill to the full Senate on
Monday, even if they have to work
“very, very late into the night.”
“If they’re prepared to work to
become American citizens in the
long line traditionally of immigrants
who have helped make this country,
we can have both a nation of laws
and a welcoming nation of workers
who do some very, very important
jobs for our economy,” Specter said
Sunday on ABC’s “This Week.”
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist,
R-Tenn., has said that whether or
not a bill gets out of the Judiciary
Committee, he is opening two weeks
of debate on the issue Tuesday.
He has offered a plan that would
tighten borders, add Border Patrol
agents and punish employers who
hire illegal immigrants because he
says the most important concern is
improving national security in an age
of terrorism. His bill sidesteps the
question of temporary work permits,
but he has said he’s open to the idea.
Democrats have said they will do
everything they can to block Frist’s
bill. Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass.,
said Sunday that legislation creating
tougher enforcement does not
do enough.
“We have spent $2O billion on
chains and fences and border guards
and dogs in the southern border over
the last 10 years,” Kennedy said on
“Face the Nation” on CBS. “And
it doesn’t work. What we need is a
comprehensive approach. I think
President Bush understands it.”
Where Kennedy and Bush differ
is on the question of what to do with
foreigners who are already living
and working in the United States.
Kennedy and Sen. John McCain,
R-Ariz., have a bill that would
allow those immigrants to apply for
citizenship once they pay taxes and a
fine and learn English.
Critics like Rep. Tom Tancredo,
R-Colo., say that would give
amnesty to people who have broken
the law by entering the country
without permission.
“It’s a slap in the face to every single
person who has done it the right way,
and to everybody who’s waiting
out there to do it the right way,”
Tancredo said. “It’s bad policy. And
it’s also, I think, for the Republican
Party especially, bad policy.”
Bush wants to give foreign workers
a guest permit to stay for a specific
amount of time to do a job, without
a path to citizenship. Sens. John
Comyn, R-Texas, and Jon Kyi, R-
Ariz., propose to let employed illegal
immigrants stay for five years but
then leave, pay fines and apply to re
enter the country.
If the Senate can agree on the
bill, the work won’t be over to get
legislation to Bush’s desk to become a
law. The House passed a bill last year
that increases penalties for illegal
immigration activities, requires
employers to verify the legal status
of their employees and provides $2.2
billion for a seven-mile wall across
the border. But it did not adress the
guest worker issue.
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