The Harcombe Diet

[AlanTh]

There is quite a lot of discussion here about weight loss and diet so I thought that I would make this contribution.

A member here mentioned the Harcombe Diet a few weeks ago. I Googled it and passed the info onto my wife.

Very basically this diet is about not eating any processed food. You can eat fats and carbs - but not in the same meal.

Anyway, the reason for my post is that my wife has lost about six pounds in two weeks - but here is the interesting bit. She has now "detoxed" and the diet has resulted in much higher energy levels. She is just full of energy and is getting out on her bike at every opportunity.

This morning she cycled up a hill that has defeated her every time. She has always got off and pushed.

I think that Zoe Harcombe has discovered something in that most diets simply don't work. Her research has shown that carbs plus fat in the same meal = weight gain. Keep them apart = no weight gain.

Just for your information. I had never even heard about this diet before.

The book is called Stop Counting Calories and Start Loosing Weight. Or something like that.

No affiliation etc.

 

[Kevoffthetee]

I'll take a look but I've started a low GI Diet. I'm also steering clear of processed food plus avoid bread, alcohol and significantly reduced dairy.

I started on Monday so am not going to weight myself until Sunday morning but I'm already feeling less bloated

 

[Turdus philomelos]

Thanks for the pointer will look it up after I've watched the Vuelta highlights.

Anyone who is in the situation that no matter what they do they always struggle to loose or keep mass off should read http://www.wheatbellyblog.com/. You will be blown away with facts especially about the untested genetic alterations made to the wheat plant.

I inadvertently removed about 80% wheat from my diet a couple of years ago and since reading this guys book I have contributed the reduction of wheat in my diet to my substantial weight loss and my increase energy levels. Plus supplementing amino acids that are missing from my vegetarian diet. I try not to consume processed food which is near impossible considering just about everything we eat is altered some way by us.

I would love to say cycling was a massive contributor to my loss of mass but I did cycle just as much as I do now when I was 19 stone. But because my excess baggage was impacting on my love of cycling massively I finally decided it had to go. My average speed has jumped form about 8 to 13mph.

 

[Fab Foodie]

I'd struggle with anybody who is a self-styled Health Crusader with books to sell.
Where's the peer reviewed data that any of this stuff works? I don't doubt that some people have success, but I do doubt they are panaceas for the problems of obesity and lifestyle. It's much more complex.

 

[Crackle]

I listened to a long lecture by her on t'internet. I thought some stuff was interesting, some nothing new and some just a bit dodgy and was left with the overall impression that her main aim is too sell books. So far I've not seen any critiques of this diet and I'd be wary until I did.

 

[Fab Foodie]

I listened to a long lecture by her on t'internet. I thought some stuff was interesting, some nothing new and some just a bit dodgy and was left with the overall impression that her main aim is too sell books. So far I've not seen any critiques of this diet and I'd be wary until I did.

My experience is that those that shout the loudest about diets are those with books or something to sell.

 

[AlanTh]

One of the themes of this diet is that it is a practical way of eating. It is easy and simple.

Harcombe apparently carried out a great deal of research at Cambridge Uni into the rise of obesity in the UK. The book is a result of that research.

As I am chief cook and bottle washer in our lowly household, I read the book in order to be able to cook meals for the boss. (I work from home, and the boss has a fair commute to work daily). I was very surprised and impressed with what I read.

Anyway. That's it from me.

I just wished to bring this diet to the attention of anyone who may be interested.

 

[Joshua Plumtree]

I very much adhere to the Mr Macawber approach to diet and health:

Energy in = Energy out = happiness,

Energy in < Energy out = misery.

Sorry - can't be bothered any more to listen to those telling me what to eat and when to eat it!

 

[si_c]

She sounds an awful lot like a crank to me. Ben Goldacre seems to agree given previous comments he's made about her. Just as a side note, she did her undergraduate degree in mathematics at Cambridge, her Bio on her own website is rather light on details of her subsequent employment. Given her lack of postgraduate qualifications I think it unlikely she was doing research at cambridge.

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/jan/29/bad-science-transparency-authority-publication