Ornish has reported success with highly motivated patients who embrace his dietary and lifestyle changes. Because they are absorbed slowly, your blood sugar does not spike and so your body does not need to produce elevated levels of insulin. Instead of the rapid swings in blood sugar, you get a more constant source of energy throughout the day. The brain wants carbohydrates as a source of fuel. That is why some people initially lose large amounts of weight quickly on these diets.
Muscle has a lot of water, and they are losing water weight in addition to muscle.
Eating too much protein is extra work for the kidneys, and can also cause us to lose calcium from our bones, adds Levine. She sticks to the mainstream in recommending a diet with about 50 to 55 percent of calories from carbohydrates, about 30 percent from fat, and from 15 to 20 percent from protein. As any family physician and many study authors can tell you, more than 90 percent of dieters regain all the weight they lose within a few years. UCSF pediatric endocrinologist Steve Gitelman notes that the number of referrals he receives for obesity from general practitioners has been climbing steadily in recent years. Yet there is no magic hormone injection he can offer.