Comments on: Jack LaLanne vs Ancel Keys

By: gary

gary — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 13:12:44 +0000

It is very misleading to describe LaLanne as eating like a hunter – gatherer. He ate like a gatherer not a hunter. Very little meat, no red meat.

By: gary

gary — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 12:46:14 +0000

He did have a high-protein soy shake every morning and took lots of vitamins and minerals. But he was effectively a vegetarian for most of his life eating mostly raw fruits and vegetables with just a little meat (never red meat).

His diet most certainly would be more accurately described as complex carb based, not protein based.

By: gary

gary — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 12:39:41 +0000

Both these guys got a lot of exercise, Keys got his by doing what he called useful things – like walking as transportation and gardening. He was a mountain climber in mid-life.
These guys really advocated the same type of diet – high in fresh vegetables and fruits and whole grains and low in fatty meats. Hard to see how they could be ‘contrasted’.

And keys was very active until a series of strokes hit him at age 98. I say again, age 98 not 58, not 78, Also his wife and co- researcher and co-author lived to age 98.

No, keys never looked like Lalanne and would have considered all that lifting and pulling a great waste of time. But he did live a very long, active and healthy life. And in the end he lived longer than Lalanne.

But the key is that their diets were very similar.

By: Mila

Mila — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 18:49:18 +0000

Wow, that video was superb. He didn’t stress enough about fat intake, but hey, this was in the 50s! Honestly, I think everyone could benefit from HFLC woe. Remember people, being ‘intolerant’ of sugar is more than just being ‘obese’. It affects everyone differently. In fact, sometimes storing it as fat can be protective in some ways…or rather, just delays the effects longer than if your body tries to compensate in other ways.

By: Elenor

Elenor — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 13:15:55 +0000

Oh Mary, Ancel Keys actually had good data on **22 or 23** countries — and he threw out the data that didn’t fit his preconceived notion. It’s clear you have not yet watched Tom Naughton’s hilarious documentary: “Fat Head” — which I recommend VERY Highly. (The Drs. Eades both appear frequently IN the movie and served as technical advisors to Tom!), plus it’s available for free from Hulu and Netflix!). “Fat Head” will bring you up to speed on the whole area! (Or, there are five short clips from it on YouTube. PLEASE take the time!)

By: David M

David M — Sun, 26 Jun 2011 17:28:48 +0000

Not so fast Mary. Ancel cherry picked data to arrive at 7 countries that fit his preconceived conclusion that saturated fat was associated with heart disease. Put another way, Keys used the equivalent of a sledge hammer to pound a square peg into a much smaller round hole and then crow that saturated fat was a perfect fit with heart disease, a conclusion that is subject to challenge even with the 7 cherry picked countries.

And let’s not forget that it was Keys who during WW II developed the precursor of today’s fast, convenience food, the K ration which spawned what is arguably the greatest killer in history, today’s fast food.

By: Mary

Mary — Sun, 26 Jun 2011 11:33:18 +0000

There are similarities with both these great men! Ancel was a researcher in the forties and his study of lifestyles in 7 countries was the first to indicate diet and activity level for people in the southern regions of the Mediterranean Sea were associated with longevity and health. He was also the first to see an association with saturated fat and heart disease. Jack was devoted to exercise as well as a diet which had many of the attributes of the Mediterranean diet and his life and body proved its value. So both showed the world that daily physical activity along with a good diet based on the plant kingdom were the keys to longevity with health.

By: Emily

Emily — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 18:52:45 +0000

I’m curious though… no one has said a thing about exercise. They both lived long – so what – to live long and healthy you need to be active and that is just what Lalanne seemed to do.

Has there been any research done that links these diets to people who exercise regularly? Maybe if you stay fit for life it wont, for the most part, matter what you eat.

By: Lars M

Lars M — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 16:58:53 +0000

So, Ancel Keys survived him with 4 years! Now we will never know what Jack had looked like at the age of one hundred.

By: Arlo

Arlo — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 08:28:49 +0000

Dana, don’t feed the troll! Nah, they’ll never be back for a discussion.

No, but I seriously understand what you are talking about, and it’s hard to explain to others. Easy answer? Get to the end of a physically filling meal, “I couldn’t eat another bite”, and then be presented with fatty foods or some sugary dessert. Suddenly there is room for dessert.

Once you stick to a paleo/primal/evolutionary-type diet, which is fundamentally low carbohydrate, a fundamental change happens. You become aware of your true hunger, and not just the swings of your insulin and blood glucose.

I’ve been shocked at how little I want to eat, especially when beginning this kind of diet (not “dieting”), because my body decides to get a huge portion of it’s calories from body fat. I’d sit down to a portion of food (say, a BBQ’d steak and BBQ’d veggies) and think that I’m really going to eat it all, but then find that I can’t.

You use the term “fed up”, and I get that, but I’ve found it’s more like… I enjoy eating, but it’s so transient that it’s like: I’m hungry now, I’m eating now, I’m enjoying it now, I’m moving on to more important things now.