Quote:
Originally Posted by Porthardygurl
Why does it not believe in higher fat? Is it simply because you lose more weight quicker with a lower fat lower calorie diet??
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Not being on Ideal Protein (but having lots of experience with various low-carb diets), I can make some educated guesses. Maximizing weight loss probably is the main factor, but I would guess safety is as well.
Extremely low-fat/extremely low-carb diets can be dangerous (causing what's called "rabbit starvation," or sometimes "protein poisoning).
The rapid weight loss and the dangers in protein-only diets are probably why Ideal Protein is supposed to be done under medical supervision (and I'm guessing the program is very strict in warning participants not to eliminate the carbohydrates and fat that are allowed - such as veggies).
In that regard, a higher-fat low-carb diet is less risky for people to do "on their own." It essentially gives room for people to screw up (you really shouldn't do Atkins without the veggies either, but some people are going to try it. By stressing "high fat" the Atkins program minimizes the risk if people do choose to avoid their veggies).
By being more strict, IP not only assures faster weight loss, it also prevents some of the more dangerous screw ups (if people are following the protocol, of course).