Heck I can summarize it in 2 words:
Modified atkins.
DeVany is a very interesting and credible guy with a different spin on eating and training than you'll usually find.
Check out especially his warnings about marathon/endurance running [1] compared to the typical media celebration of marathon running as some ideal of fitness [2].
[1] "Top Ten Reasons Not To Run Marathons", http://www.arthurdevany.com/2005/08/top_ten_reasons.html
[2] "The Perfect Human", http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/15.01/ultraman.html
It's a shame he loses much of that respect as we near reason #1 and they get increasingly 'silly'.
Let's take #2: "At least four particiants of the Boston Marathon have died of brain cancer in the past 10 years. Purely anecdotal, but consistent with the elevated S100beta counts and TKN-alpha measures. Perhaps also connected to the microthrombi of the endothelium found in marathoners."
I'm researching this with google but, "In the United States, the annual incidence of brain cancer generally is 15-20 cases per 100,000 people." http://www.oncologychannel.com/braincancer/index.shtml "In 2007 more than 20000 runners completed the race." http://www.bostonmarathon.org/
I can't quickly find numbers for the preceding years, nor how many each year had run it previously, so lets assume the numbers increased linearly over the preceding 10 years to give a total number of runners as 100,000. That, rather conveniently, suggests 15 - 20 incidents of brain cancer should result. Shock result - marathon running prevents brain cancer!
#1 is the first runner of the marathon, Phidippides, died. Hopefully I don't need to explain why this one is silly.
Some of his other points would be worth further study but I can't find a single point without weaknesses.
The death rate would appear to be 5.6 per 100,000 according to this source neuro-oncology.dukejournals.org/cgi/reprint/6/3/179.pdf
It is worth noting that this is the annual rate suggesting that 5 runners of the Boston marathon should have died from brain cancer in the last year alone.
I'm not saying his reasoning is sound, but your rebuttle isn't either.
It's a 'back-of-a-napkin' calculation. Certainly not accurate but a nice place to start for future refactoring.
It's not a diary, it's an article about a new diet. Tell me about the diet. You want to add a supplement about the author fine. But I don't need 3 pages of useless text about the author without once mentioning what the diet actually is.
Sorry, but there is too much garbage in the world to spend 15 minutes reading all about some dude, and only then discover that the diet is no good for you.
First tell me about the diet. Then, if I'm interested tell me about the dude.
It's personalizing color, and it also lets the author explain how he's seen DeVany "half-naked".
You must really hate novels.
Not everything is written for an audience with ADD, nor should it be.
At least I thought I wasn't - this was billed as "The diet that really works". And that's what I was here to read, and then I didn't.
You want to write "personal insights about the man who made the diet that really works" no problem. I might even like to read it - but that's not what I was expecting.
You say you are writing about a diet, then do so, or change the title.
It was a fine piece of writing, I enjoyed the short read.
So if you feel misled by an attention-stealing headline, blame the headline, not the article.
If it is a scientific publication. Your point is right. But take it easy when same material is published on newspaper for general female readers. It is not to their taste.
I remembered most of time when I wanted to argue some points with all my girlfriends that I've dated, they remember much better when I said some stories around the point. They usually responded worser when I just tried to cut the crap and strike the point.
But is this method a modified Atkins one? It requires dieters to experience not only the food that paleolithic human ates, but also the frequency of insecurity of hunger and periodic exposure to unaware danger in life. I had an old boss before who stuck to Atkins after coronary artery bypass to lose 40 lbs, but he still ate a lot, ate frequently and he hated the feeling of being hungry. The method in the article actually wants you to experience randomly meal skipping and hunger to get into the zone. I think at this point, it is different.
Carbs, not fats, are modernity’s most deadly assassins. And, even if they don’t kill you, they make you feel worse. I sleep better without them and I seem to have become a nicer person; what with that and the weight loss, my friends – or were they enemies? – barely recognise me.
The good, the bad and the tasty
The fundamentals of Arthur De Vany’s diet: bin the carbs and packaged food, and delight in lean meat and at least two veg meals
- Cook by colour and texture so that meals look beautiful. If busy, skip meals with little worry. You don’t have to have three square meals a day. Snack on nuts or celery. Drink plenty of water. I also drink tea, coffee and a little wine.
Carbs Avoid bread, muffins, bagels, pasta, rice, potatoes, cereals, vegetable oils, beans or anything in a package — empty, high-calorie foods with a high carbohydrate content.
Flavour Spice up your food with fresh ingredients such as basil, garlic, parsley, rosemary, spring onions, avocados and nuts, and use various oils, such as olive oil, for flavour.
Celery adds texture (and is good for testosterone too).
Fruits Fresh fruits of all sorts are good; I focus on melon and red grapes. Fruit juice is out. I have one or two fruits with most breakfasts; now and then a piece with other meals.
Vegetables Eat lots of fresh raw, steamed, sauteed or grilled vegetables. I never use frozen, canned or packaged vegetables.
Protein Eat plenty of meat, such as ribs, steak, bacon, pork loin, turkey and chicken, but trim fat from the edges. Fish, seafood and eggs are also good choices.
Breakfast I tend to eat last night’s leftovers: turkey with jarlsberg cheese and fruit, bacon with red grapes, omelettes with rosemary, olives and spring onions.
Lunches Usually salads, with red cabbage, romaine lettuce, spring onions, garlic, kale, broccoli or cauliflower, with salmon, tuna, turkey, chicken, pork or steak.
Dinners I sometimes eat a whole rack of ribs with salad and vegetables. Or a large steak, trimmed of fat. Almost always there is a beautiful salad and vegetables.
:)