Zoe Harcombe

[TheGoddessBlossom]

Just met a work colleague after not seeing her for ages and she has lost a stone and a half using the methods of Zoe Harcombe

At first glance it looks like a low carb plan but she has some very interestiing claims, such as eating carbs mean your body produces insulin which makes you fat - ie. if you are going to eat chocolate, eat the whole box in one go rather than a bit throughout the day as you will then make your body produce the insulin once rather than over and over.

Does anyone else have any experience of this?

[TheGoddessBlossom]

She also blames eating fruit for the obesity epidemic...

[ebbandflow]

found this old thread,
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/big_slim_whatever_weight_loss_club/885467-What-happened-to-all-the-Zoe-Harcombe-followers/AllOnOnePage
looks like it is very easy to put the weight back on again quickly from some of the comments.

[foreverondiet]

I read the book (have read many diet books!) and had a go. Here are my comments.

Positives:

1. Her claim that eating carbs makes you produce insulin leading to fat storage is fairly well documented and that?s why all the low carb diets work so well. Tim Feriss?s slow carb diet is based on similar principles (keep insulin levels stable).
   
2. Her claims that conditions such as Candida, hypoglycaemia, intolerances lead to weight gain and bloating etc seem sensible, if you have these conditions good to take steps to resolve them.
   
3. Her claims that clean eating (no processed foods) being the way to go makes sense and is fairly consistent with other diet plans.
   
   Negatives:
   
   
4. Her claims that the theory that 3,500 cals = 1lb fat can?t be true because she didn?t lose that amount when she starved herself makes her look silly as the 3,500 calories = 1lb fat is fairly well established also its know that the body becomes more efficient and survives on less calories (starvation mode) if the calorie deficit is consistent esp once the target weight is reached.
   
5. There doesn?t seem to be any evidence /studies to show her theory that makes a difference if carbs and fat eaten separately. I think it just works because you end up eating less as its so restrictive. Slimming world used to work that way (green vs red days) but now they allow a mix.
   
6. She claims its not restrictive. Personally I found it too restrictive to contemplate, easier for me just to focus on clean eating and keeping carbs to moderate levels.