Offers Hope For Those Who Can't Give Up Comfort Foods
The biggest news in weight management this year is the use of starch-blocking supplements. The introduction of this approach was heralded in the important new book, The Starch Blocker Diet, released this spring by HarperCollins publishers.
The Starch Blocker Diet, by Steven Rosenblatt, M.D., Ph.D., and veteran health science author Cameron Stauth, describes an entirely new approach to weight control. In this approach, dieters take nonprescription starch blockers in order to neutralize the calories from the starchy foods they eat.
"This diet is truly revolutionary," notes Dr. Rosenblatt, one of America's most prominent physicians practicing integrative medicine. "It's the first approach that doesn't put the entire onus for success upon the patient. For once, science is doing the heavy lifting, so to speak, rather than the patients."
The starch blocking ingredient mentioned prominently in the book is Phase 2, which can now be found in a variety of weight loss products available in health food stores. A partial protein extracted from white kidney beans, Phase 2 selectively bonds with the body's starch-digesting enzyme, amylase. For approximately one hour the powerful ingredient puts the amylase in a biochemical "headlock," which prevents the amylase from bonding with starch and digesting it. Therefore, any starch that is eaten during that hour passes through the digestive system in whole-molecule form, undigested, in much the same way that the indigestible fiber from bran does. There are no significant side-effects, but there is a huge benefit in caloric reduction. Starch comprises approximately one-fourth to one-third of the average person's diet, so elimination of starch calories automatically results in the elimination of about one-fourth to one-third of all normal caloric intake.
Because Phase 2 neutralizes only starch, it doesn't stop the digestion and assimilation of all the other nutrients in starchy foods. The vitamins, minerals, enzymes and proteins in starchy foods, such as grains or vegetables, are all absorbed.
The biochemical action of the ingredient is rarely noticed by the people who take it. Less than one percent of those using Phase 2 experience minor gas or bloating and this typically ceases within about 24 hours, as the body adjusts to its new digestive pattern.
"The beauty of this approach," says Cameron Stauth, who was also coauthor of the international bestseller, Brain Longevity, "is that it respects the power of the natural human desire to eat, and does not try to subvert, alter, or deny this urge. Therefore, this is the first truly realistic weight management program--the only one that deals with people the way they are instead of the way they should be."
The Starch Blocker Diet, available now at most bookstores, states that there are five major factors that set this diet apart.
(1) This is the first nondenial diet. People can actually eat even more calories than previously because many of these calories will not be absorbed.
(2) This is the first no-hunger weight program. Abdominal fullness, caused by calorie-neutralized starchy foods, causes the neurological "stretch receptors" in the stomach to turn off hunger. In addition, insulin stability, achieved by blocking starch calories, stops blood sugar swings, which also helps prevent hunger.
(3) This is the first weight program that safely directs the body to burn stored fat. Unlike low-calorie diets, it doesn't rely upon high-fat foods, which can hurt health. Unlike low-fat diets, it doesn't require a high intake of carbohydrates, which disrupts insulin stability.
Instead, the starch blocker diet makes exercise burn body fat more efficiently by reducing stored carbohydrates in the muscles and liver, which the body must deplete before it can begin to burn fat.
(4) This is the first weight management approach that appears capable of relieving complications from diabetes. The diet has been clinically shown to arrest some of the symptoms of diabetes and it also controls the precursor conditions of diabetes, including hypoglycemia, hyperglycemia and Syndrome X.
(5) This is the first weight program that has neither physical nor psychological side effects. It doesn't employ general stimulants, metabolic stimulants or appetite suppressants. It doesn't raise cholesterol, as do some low-carb, high-fat diets. It doesn't destabilize insulin levels, as do some low-fat, high-carb diets. It doesn't create a psychological sense of deprivation caused by denial. In fact, it actually improves mood chemistry by stopping the blood sugar and hormonal fluctuations that cause mood swings.
"When I go on TV shows to talk about the book," Stauth says, "the interviewers are usually just blown away. They can't believe how different this is from the other diets that they've investigated. A lot of them say, 'It sounds too good to be true.' But it is all true, of course, as the research so abundantly indicates."
Research on starch blockers began in 1973, when legendary billionaire Howard Hughes spotted an article in an obscure scientific journal about an experiment in which a group of mice, for unknown reasons, began losing weight and even starving to death while being fed a seemingly nutritious diet--high in white kidney beans. The article speculated that perhaps some form of "antinutrient" had caused the baffling starvation.
Hughes assigned a team of researchers at Miami's Howard Hughes Medical Institute to look into the mystery. By 1982 they had isolated the specific partial-protein in white kidney beans that blocks starch digestion.
Some of the people who were researching starch blockers rushed them to market in 1982 and they quickly became a weight loss fad. However, the Food and Drug Administration ruled that there had not yet been enough research to support a claim for human weight loss so the FDA prohibited starch blockers from being marketed for weight loss. When retailers could no longer sell them for weight management, interest in them waned.
However, researchers at Mayo Clinic remained fascinated by starch blockers, particularly as an anti-diabetes substance. For the next 15 years, Mayo Clinic continued to research starch blockers, completing 13 studies that were all published in peer-reviewed scientific journals including The New England Journal of Medicine.
Over approximately the same time period other institutions also researched starch blockers, including the University of California at San Diego, the University of Illinois and universities in Germany, France, Scotland and Japan. The interest in Japan was particularly keen, resulting in 11 separate studies between 1992 and 2001.
Between 1980 and 2003 a total of 42 studies were completed by researchers in America and abroad. Virtually all of the studies had extremely positive, promising outcomes.
Even as late as the mid-1990s, however, no institution had developed a refinement process that could deliver a highly potent version of starch blockers at a price most people could afford. This problem was eventually solved though, by researchers working on behalf of Pharmachem Laboratories of New Jersey, one of the country's largest producers of bulk supplement products.
By 2000, Pharmachem researchers were satisfied with their formula. Pharmachem project director Mitchell Skop later remarked, "What we had produced was so different from the original formulas that we call it 'Phase 2'." The new ingredient was markedly stronger than the Mayo Clinic's substance. It was more concentrated, more stable in the gastrointestinal tract and was completely free of impurities.
Skop authorized an aggressive program of testing Phase 2 for weight loss in humans. The results were significant and conclusive.
Studies at the University of Scranton proved that Phase 2 reduced activity of the starch-digesting enzyme amylase by an average of 66 percent.
The most impressive study to date though, was performed by Jay Udani, M.D., director of the Integrative Medicine Program at Northridge Hospital, a U.C.L.A. affiliate. In Dr. Udani's study, patients on Phase 2 lost 230 percent more weight than patients on placebo, and lost 40 percent more in waist measurements than the patients in the control group. The Phase 2 group also had a 370 percent better reduction in triglycerides.
"Apparently," concluded Dr. Udani, "the starch blocker substance contributed to persistent and steady weight loss."
Over many years of bariatric research it has become apparent that will power alone is not a practical solution to the epidemic of obesity that has struck America. Weight management, for large scale populations, requires an approach that is scientifically sound, safe, powerful and compatible with long-term use. It has been exceptionally difficult to find a substance that provides this rare combination of factors.
Finally, though, there appears to be reason for great optimism.
Friday, October 30, 2009
THE DIET ALMANAC: FINDING THE DIET FOR LIFE, HEALTH AND COMBATING DISEASE
There are many diet books written every day, and, most of the time, they are books devoted to one diet. Each diet book often contains one diet which an author may write about for 200 pages. Usually this diet is condensable to several pages.
It is wonderful that we have so many diets, since every disease requires a specific diet. There is a diet for osteoporosis, a diet for hypertension, a diet for obesity, a diet for arthritis, a diet for heart disease, a diet for diabetes, a diet for virtually every disease. Often there are several valuable diets for one disease.
PART I: BASIC HEALTH DIET GUIDANCE
There are some basic fundamental rules for the generally healthy person to follow. These rules make up the Basic Health Diet, which is the diet of which all other diets are a variation.
ADDITIVES AVOIDED
It eliminates simple sugars, MSG, corn syrup, corn starch, flour, pickling, nitrates, or other preservatives used in food preparation.
PROTEIN FOODS
Concerning protein foods, it emphasizes fish first, for its great cardiovascular preventive benefits. Secondly, it emphasizes chicken, turkey and other fowl. Thirdly, it includes at a very reduced rate, either beef or veal once a week. Pork and shellfish are the least valuable protein sources. Pork is frequently fatty and filled with nitrates and preservatives. Shellfish is relatively high in cholesterol and low in cardiovascular protective fish oils. Shellfish also contains hepatitis A virus.
EGGS
Eggs are permitted, but generally no more than seven per week. If cholesterol is a problem, this is because, although blood cholesterol levels are not necessarily related to cholesterol intake, there is for some people a relationship between too much cholesterol intake and high serum cholesterol.
High cholesterol intake, when combined with other poor eating habits, will definitely lead to serum cholesterol build-up. Carbohydrateholics (addicted to junk food) usually have high cholesterol.
NUTS
Nuts are permitted on the diet as a basic snack, including nut butters, if they are without simple sugars like glucose. So are soy flour and textured soy products permitted. The type of nuts that need to be emphasized, however, are high in polyunsaturated oils and low in salurated fats. These include English walnuts, almonds, pecans, and sunflower seeds. While nuts that are high in salurated fats, such as pistachios and cashews are usually less healthful, except in the case of a weight-gain diet.
DAIRY PRODUCTS
For most people, dairy products are permitted, particularly milk, except in the case of lactose-intolerant individuals or individuals on a low-estrogen diet. Cheeses can be permitted, with less of the aged, salty cheeses, and more of the fresh cheeses, such as cottage cheese, ricotta, farmer cheese, etc. being emphasized. Avoid diet cheeses, cheese spreads, or cheese foods such as Velveeta, because they are generally high in carbohydrates or have additives. Cream and butter should be used at a complete minimum, since they promote cancer and heart disease. Non-dairy lighteners or creamers are completely forbidden, due to the high saturated oil and toxic aluminum content.
When using oils and fats, most individuals should emphasize either polyunsaturated oils (sunflower, safflower) or monosaturated fat (olive oil). Polyunsaturated oil content is highest in safflower, then sunflower, walnut, soybean and sesame. These oils are especially good for individuals with heart disease and hypertension. Yet, olive oil is better for cholesterol lowering. Linseed oil may also serve this same purpose. Mayonnaise is a saturated fat, and is to be avoided. Fried oils as well as baked hydrogenated oils are all dangerous saturated fats.
CARBOHYDRATES: VEGETABLES & GRAINS
Complex carbohydrates are the goal. All vegetables steamed and cooked can be taken freely. Generally, there should be less use of starchy vegetables, which increase weight gain, and may increase craving for sweets. These include peas, corn, carrots and beets.
Grains should be emphasized. Fiber is an extremely important component of grains, because it lowers cholesterol which reduces heart disease as well as the risk of a variety of cancers (speeds elimination of toxins), and treats irritable bowel syndrome and constipation. All grains are allowed as whole-grains or cereals. White flour, white rice, white bread or other refined carbohydrates must be avoided. Whole grain breads, crackers, and pasta are made with yeast, and they are allowed depending on the person's diet. (Matzoh and sour-dough bread are examples of no-yeast products.) Spinach pasta may substitute for a white pasta.
Some vegetables and grains with high carbohydrate content include brown rice, kasha, oats, corn, cracked wheat, millet, peas, lentil beans, parsnips and acorn squash. These are acceptable if you are not trying to lose weight.
FRUIT
Fruit is excellent under most conditions, because its high water content is good for the skin, and it has many valuable nutrients. Excessive fruit juice-drinking can lead to sugar-cravings and mood instability. Fruit is valuable, particularly in the case of bananas and apples, for lowering cholesterol, or in the case of other high-potassium fruits, which are important in heart arrhythmia, stroke prevention, or in bowel regularity.
OTHER CATEGORIES
Lemon, lime, vegetable juice, and olives are allowed, although olives need to be removed from a low-salt diet, and avocados need to be eliminated from a low-fat diet.
It is wonderful that we have so many diets, since every disease requires a specific diet. There is a diet for osteoporosis, a diet for hypertension, a diet for obesity, a diet for arthritis, a diet for heart disease, a diet for diabetes, a diet for virtually every disease. Often there are several valuable diets for one disease.
PART I: BASIC HEALTH DIET GUIDANCE
There are some basic fundamental rules for the generally healthy person to follow. These rules make up the Basic Health Diet, which is the diet of which all other diets are a variation.
ADDITIVES AVOIDED
It eliminates simple sugars, MSG, corn syrup, corn starch, flour, pickling, nitrates, or other preservatives used in food preparation.
PROTEIN FOODS
Concerning protein foods, it emphasizes fish first, for its great cardiovascular preventive benefits. Secondly, it emphasizes chicken, turkey and other fowl. Thirdly, it includes at a very reduced rate, either beef or veal once a week. Pork and shellfish are the least valuable protein sources. Pork is frequently fatty and filled with nitrates and preservatives. Shellfish is relatively high in cholesterol and low in cardiovascular protective fish oils. Shellfish also contains hepatitis A virus.
EGGS
Eggs are permitted, but generally no more than seven per week. If cholesterol is a problem, this is because, although blood cholesterol levels are not necessarily related to cholesterol intake, there is for some people a relationship between too much cholesterol intake and high serum cholesterol.
High cholesterol intake, when combined with other poor eating habits, will definitely lead to serum cholesterol build-up. Carbohydrateholics (addicted to junk food) usually have high cholesterol.
NUTS
Nuts are permitted on the diet as a basic snack, including nut butters, if they are without simple sugars like glucose. So are soy flour and textured soy products permitted. The type of nuts that need to be emphasized, however, are high in polyunsaturated oils and low in salurated fats. These include English walnuts, almonds, pecans, and sunflower seeds. While nuts that are high in salurated fats, such as pistachios and cashews are usually less healthful, except in the case of a weight-gain diet.
DAIRY PRODUCTS
For most people, dairy products are permitted, particularly milk, except in the case of lactose-intolerant individuals or individuals on a low-estrogen diet. Cheeses can be permitted, with less of the aged, salty cheeses, and more of the fresh cheeses, such as cottage cheese, ricotta, farmer cheese, etc. being emphasized. Avoid diet cheeses, cheese spreads, or cheese foods such as Velveeta, because they are generally high in carbohydrates or have additives. Cream and butter should be used at a complete minimum, since they promote cancer and heart disease. Non-dairy lighteners or creamers are completely forbidden, due to the high saturated oil and toxic aluminum content.
When using oils and fats, most individuals should emphasize either polyunsaturated oils (sunflower, safflower) or monosaturated fat (olive oil). Polyunsaturated oil content is highest in safflower, then sunflower, walnut, soybean and sesame. These oils are especially good for individuals with heart disease and hypertension. Yet, olive oil is better for cholesterol lowering. Linseed oil may also serve this same purpose. Mayonnaise is a saturated fat, and is to be avoided. Fried oils as well as baked hydrogenated oils are all dangerous saturated fats.
CARBOHYDRATES: VEGETABLES & GRAINS
Complex carbohydrates are the goal. All vegetables steamed and cooked can be taken freely. Generally, there should be less use of starchy vegetables, which increase weight gain, and may increase craving for sweets. These include peas, corn, carrots and beets.
Grains should be emphasized. Fiber is an extremely important component of grains, because it lowers cholesterol which reduces heart disease as well as the risk of a variety of cancers (speeds elimination of toxins), and treats irritable bowel syndrome and constipation. All grains are allowed as whole-grains or cereals. White flour, white rice, white bread or other refined carbohydrates must be avoided. Whole grain breads, crackers, and pasta are made with yeast, and they are allowed depending on the person's diet. (Matzoh and sour-dough bread are examples of no-yeast products.) Spinach pasta may substitute for a white pasta.
Some vegetables and grains with high carbohydrate content include brown rice, kasha, oats, corn, cracked wheat, millet, peas, lentil beans, parsnips and acorn squash. These are acceptable if you are not trying to lose weight.
FRUIT
Fruit is excellent under most conditions, because its high water content is good for the skin, and it has many valuable nutrients. Excessive fruit juice-drinking can lead to sugar-cravings and mood instability. Fruit is valuable, particularly in the case of bananas and apples, for lowering cholesterol, or in the case of other high-potassium fruits, which are important in heart arrhythmia, stroke prevention, or in bowel regularity.
OTHER CATEGORIES
Lemon, lime, vegetable juice, and olives are allowed, although olives need to be removed from a low-salt diet, and avocados need to be eliminated from a low-fat diet.
The Atkins Diet Reconsidered
Back in 2000, Prevention reported on popular high-protein diets, saying that a diet higher in fat (the healthy kind such as monounsaturated fats) and protein--if these foods replaced refined carbs such as white bread and cookies--might actually be healthier for some people. But at the time, we were not convinced of the merits of the Atkins diet in particular, because of its high level of saturated fats and severe limits on certain types of vegetables, fruit, and dairy products.
What changed our minds are the many success stories that we've heard. "I saw people like Scott Case who tried to lose weight so many times and finally succeeded on the Atkins diet," says Prevention Nutrition Editor Holly McCord. "I had to ask myself--do the drawbacks of the Atkins diet really outweigh the dangers of being obese all your life?"
The American Heart Association does not support the diet because of its high fat content. But as of now, there's no clear-cut evidence that the Atkins diet is harmful for most people. That's why the National Institutes of Health is beginning a 5-year study of this diet. In the meantime, we do know that being obese contributes to many serious health problems, including diabetes, heart disease, stroke, arthritis, and some cancers.
"We'll know more in 5 years, but my guess is we'll find that most people are healthier if they lose weight and keep it off on the Atkins diet than if they stay obese," McCord says. "What Scott Case eats now is healthier than what I see many low-fat, high-carb people eat, which is tons of refined carbs such as bagels and pretzels. He's eating far more vegetables than he was before, and he isn't struggling to maintain his weight loss."
What changed our minds are the many success stories that we've heard. "I saw people like Scott Case who tried to lose weight so many times and finally succeeded on the Atkins diet," says Prevention Nutrition Editor Holly McCord. "I had to ask myself--do the drawbacks of the Atkins diet really outweigh the dangers of being obese all your life?"
The American Heart Association does not support the diet because of its high fat content. But as of now, there's no clear-cut evidence that the Atkins diet is harmful for most people. That's why the National Institutes of Health is beginning a 5-year study of this diet. In the meantime, we do know that being obese contributes to many serious health problems, including diabetes, heart disease, stroke, arthritis, and some cancers.
"We'll know more in 5 years, but my guess is we'll find that most people are healthier if they lose weight and keep it off on the Atkins diet than if they stay obese," McCord says. "What Scott Case eats now is healthier than what I see many low-fat, high-carb people eat, which is tons of refined carbs such as bagels and pretzels. He's eating far more vegetables than he was before, and he isn't struggling to maintain his weight loss."
Headline-Making Diet Comparison Delivers a Mixed Message
What's the real takeaway of the recent, much-publicized study in Israel pitting the controversial Atkins diet against low-fat and Mediterranean-style plans? That depends on your point of view:
* The Atkins Research Foundation, which partly financed the study but had no role in the trial, called it "a vindication" because the Atkins group lost the most weight over two years — an average 12 pounds, compared to 10 on the Mediterranean diet and 7.3 on the low-fat diet.
* The Mediterranean Foods Alliance pointed out that the 45 women among the 322 dieters actually lost more weight on the Mediterranean diet — 14 pounds versus 5 on Atkins and less than a pound on the low-fat diet. Moreover, an Alliance statement argued, "The 'Atkins-style' low-carb diet used in the study might better be described as 'Atkins goes Med.'"
* Because all three groups showed improvements in the ratio of good (HDL) to bad (LDL) cholesterol and other health indicators, lead author Iris Shai, PhD, RD, of Ben Gurion University of the Negev emphasized, "This suggests that healthy diet has beneficial effects beyond weight loss."
* In a Reuters interview, Shai added another takeaway: "The good news is, we have alternatives." Senior author Meir Stampfer, MD, of Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston elaborated: "The findings suggest that because Mediterranean and low-carbohydrate diets are effective alternatives to low-fat diets, individual preferences could be taken into consideration when tailoring dietary interventions for weight loss."
The study garnered headlines — and so many opinions — in part because of its unusual design: a two-year trial conducted at a remote nuclear research center in Dimona, Israel. Because of the setting, where most participants ate lunch in a cafeteria with color-coded servings to help stick to each plan, and avoidance of "extreme diet protocols," 85% stuck with their assigned diet. The lowfat and Mediterranean diets did have calorie restrictions — 1,800 calories daily for men, 1,500 for women.
Besides restricting processed carbs, Atkins dieters were counseled to choose vegetarian sources of fat and protein. "But the main sources of protein were animal origin," Dr. Stampfer notes.
Average starting weight was about 200 pounds. All three groups lost the most weight in the first five months, then regained some but not all of the lost pounds.
Published in the New England Journal of Medicine, the findings in part echo another diet "face-off" in 2007, where the Atkins plan also prevailed (see the June 2007 Healthletter). The real lesson for weight loss may be similar: The low-carb Atkins diet seems to work because it's simple. Susan B. Roberts, PhD, director of the Energy Metabolism Laboratory at Tufts' Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging and author of the forthcoming The Instinct Diet, says losing weight is easier for some people when they cut out whole classes of foods, like processed carbohydrates.
"Other people prefer to keep a few treats and watch what they eat," Roberts adds. "The good thing is that there are several ways to eat that work. However, simpler is definitely good. When you have simple rules about what you can and can't eat, it's simpler to stick to those rules."
* The Atkins Research Foundation, which partly financed the study but had no role in the trial, called it "a vindication" because the Atkins group lost the most weight over two years — an average 12 pounds, compared to 10 on the Mediterranean diet and 7.3 on the low-fat diet.
* The Mediterranean Foods Alliance pointed out that the 45 women among the 322 dieters actually lost more weight on the Mediterranean diet — 14 pounds versus 5 on Atkins and less than a pound on the low-fat diet. Moreover, an Alliance statement argued, "The 'Atkins-style' low-carb diet used in the study might better be described as 'Atkins goes Med.'"
* Because all three groups showed improvements in the ratio of good (HDL) to bad (LDL) cholesterol and other health indicators, lead author Iris Shai, PhD, RD, of Ben Gurion University of the Negev emphasized, "This suggests that healthy diet has beneficial effects beyond weight loss."
* In a Reuters interview, Shai added another takeaway: "The good news is, we have alternatives." Senior author Meir Stampfer, MD, of Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston elaborated: "The findings suggest that because Mediterranean and low-carbohydrate diets are effective alternatives to low-fat diets, individual preferences could be taken into consideration when tailoring dietary interventions for weight loss."
The study garnered headlines — and so many opinions — in part because of its unusual design: a two-year trial conducted at a remote nuclear research center in Dimona, Israel. Because of the setting, where most participants ate lunch in a cafeteria with color-coded servings to help stick to each plan, and avoidance of "extreme diet protocols," 85% stuck with their assigned diet. The lowfat and Mediterranean diets did have calorie restrictions — 1,800 calories daily for men, 1,500 for women.
Besides restricting processed carbs, Atkins dieters were counseled to choose vegetarian sources of fat and protein. "But the main sources of protein were animal origin," Dr. Stampfer notes.
Average starting weight was about 200 pounds. All three groups lost the most weight in the first five months, then regained some but not all of the lost pounds.
Published in the New England Journal of Medicine, the findings in part echo another diet "face-off" in 2007, where the Atkins plan also prevailed (see the June 2007 Healthletter). The real lesson for weight loss may be similar: The low-carb Atkins diet seems to work because it's simple. Susan B. Roberts, PhD, director of the Energy Metabolism Laboratory at Tufts' Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging and author of the forthcoming The Instinct Diet, says losing weight is easier for some people when they cut out whole classes of foods, like processed carbohydrates.
"Other people prefer to keep a few treats and watch what they eat," Roberts adds. "The good thing is that there are several ways to eat that work. However, simpler is definitely good. When you have simple rules about what you can and can't eat, it's simpler to stick to those rules."
IS THERE WISDOM IN THOSE WACKY DIETS?
Some pretty strange diets are getting lots of buzz. Can they make you healthier? What we learned may surprise you.
Got a health problem? Check the Internet or the next talk show, and you'll find a wacky diet to cure it. "Just stop eating the wrong stuff and start my diet," their creators assert, "and you'll lose your allergies! Overcome fatigue! Live longer! Shed pounds effortlessly!"
To be honest, the theories behind some of these diets are so intriguing (can your blood type really dictate what you should eat, for example?) that it's natural to wonder: Could they work? Especially if you've known someone-maybe it's you!-who's tried one of these diets and is convinced that it helped.
"Unless you're a scientist with courses in biology and physiology, it's hard to sort fact from fiction," says Judith Stern, ScD, professor of nutrition and medicine at the University of California, Davis, and vice president of the American Obesity Association. So we asked the experts. Surprisingly, they gave us reasons why each of the following diets has both hype and hope.
Food-Combining Diet
Two books currently on the market that espouse versions of the old diet idea of combining foods are Suzanne Somers' Eat Great, Lose Weight (Crown Publishing, 1997) and Harvey and Marilyn Diamond's Fit for Life (Warner, 1987).
The Claim Behind It
This type of diet is based on the belief that many health problems occur because we eat foods in the wrong combinations. If you eat the wrong foods together at the same meal, you confuse your body into producing the wrong digestive enzymes (chemicals that break your food into particles that your body can absorb). That leaves undigested food to rot in your intestines-and turn into poisons.
The Promise
If you stop combining the wrong foods, you'll start digesting your meals fully. The result? You'll lose weight, increase energy, and even reverse food allergies.
What You Eat
Eat fruit only by itself-and only in the morning. Eat protein and fat with vegetables, but not with carbohydrates. Eat carbohydrates with vegetables only, never with fat or protein.
The Experts' View
In fact, few foods occur as pure protein, carbohydrate, or fat, as this diet implies. Most foods are a mix, making it virtually impossible to keep components separate. Whole wheat bread, for example, isn't pure carbohydrate-it's also 15% protein and 14% fat.
What's more, it's impossible to confuse your digestive enzymes. Each has just one job to do. In a lock-and-key fashion, each enzyme pairs with the correct substance and severs its chemical bond. "Fortunately, your digestive system is quite capable of making multiple enzymes in just the right mix for what you're eating at the time," says registered dietitian Cyndi Thomson, PhD, a research instructor at the University of Arizona College of Public Health in Tucson.
The Grain of Truth
Strict rules about what-goes-with-what almost automatically limit the size of your meals. This diet emphasizes low-calorie fruits and vegetables (no soft drinks or cupcakes on the "yes" list). Smaller meals and lots of produce are both good ways to lose weight. "That's why you may lose weight practicing food combining," says Dr. Thomson.
What to Watch Out For
Short term, you'll do okay on this diet. But the structure limits your intake of calcium-rich dairy foods while opening the door to foods high in saturated fat. That's bad for your bones, blood pressure, and heart. And if you have a life-threatening food allergy, beware: The only way to control it is to avoid the offending food.
Blood-Type Diet
This diet originated with the book Eat Right 4 Your Type, by Peter D'Adamo, ND (Penguin Putnam Books, 1997).
Another version is The Answer Is in Your Bloodtype, by Steven Weissburg, MD (Personal Nutrition, USA, 1999).
The Claim Behind It
Our different blood types-O, A, B, and AB-evolved in response to the varying environments and diets faced by prehistoric man. Knowing your blood type can tell you what's the best diet (and exercise) for your digestive tract and immune system.
The Promise
If you follow the right diet and exercise for your blood type, you can stay healthy, live longer, and achieve your ideal weight.
What You Eat
Blood type O: Your Stone Age-hunter ancestry means that you need lots of meat and intense exercise, but few grains and little dairy.
Blood type A: You are descended from prehistoric farmers and require a vegetarian diet because you don't produce enough hydrochloric acid to digest meat. Do only yoga or meditation.
Blood type B: Your nomadic ancestry suggests that you need mostly dairy and a little meat, but no chicken and few grains. You need moderate exercise.
Blood type AB: You represent a merging of types A and B. You need a varied diet that emphasizes seafood, dairy, wheat-free grains, and soy foods. Do only yoga and mild aerobics.
The Experts' View
"This is pure pseudoscience," says Dr. Stern. "The blood type theory has never been tested clinically with results published in peer-reviewed journals." One clue that something's amiss: The idea that some people shouldn't get exercise flies in the face of everything we know.
Another red flag: The suggestion that people with type A don't have enough hydrochloric acid. It's true that some people's stomach produces less hydrochloric acid, but that comes with age, not blood type. And the problem with too little hydrochloric acid is that you can't absorb enough vitamin B12, not that you can't digest protein.
And just as a practical matter: How would you feed a family of four with different blood types?
The Grain of Truth
Limited food choices automatically cut calories, so you may lose weight-as long as you can stick with the limited food choices.
What to Watch Out For
No matter what your blood type, this diet sets you up to exclude too many foods. You lose fiber and vitamin E by excluding grains, fall short of carotenoids and phytochemicals when skipping vegetables, and miss out on calcium when you don't do dairy.
Candida Diet
Seems like almost everyone knows someone who's tried this one. You'll find versions of this diet in Candida: A Natural Approach, by Karen Brody (Ulysses Press, 1999) and The Candida Control Cookbook, by Gail Burton (Aslan Publishing, 1996), among many others.
The Claim Behind It
If you're always tired, bothered by allergies, or have recurrent vaginal infections, your entire body may be suffused with an overgrowth of a type of yeast called Candida albicans. If you eat foods that contain yeast, such as bread, or foods that "feed" the yeast-basically, anything containing sugar-you are strengthening the hold of the candida infection on your body.
The Promise
By eliminating sources of yeast and sugar from your diet, you can starve candida out of existence and prevent recurrent vaginal infections, chronic exhaustion, and allergies.
What You Eat
Meat, poultry, seafood, and nonstarchy vegetables are emphasized. This diet comes in three progressively restricted phases. To start with, you cut out sweets, dairy products, breads, crackers, commercial soups, white flour, mushrooms, vinegars, soy sauce, tofu, and apple cider. Later stages banish whole grains, starchy vegetables, fruits, juices, nuts, seeds, beans, herbal teas, and spices.
The Experts' View
In many healthy women, candida can be cultured from the mouth, throat, rectum, or vagina. In addition, about 90% of women will have at least one vaginal yeast overgrowth infection, which is easily cured by an antifungal agent. But about 5% of women face recurrent vaginal yeast infections that relapse after responding to antifungal medication.
In desperation, these women look for nutritional answers, says David Soper, MD, professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston. The fact that recurrent vaginal yeast infections are more common in women with diabetes seems to lend credence to the idea that there is a diet connection. But there's no evidence that eliminating certain foods can cure vaginal yeast overgrowths, Dr. Soper says.
The Grain of Truth
By restricting so many foods-literally from soup to nuts-you're bound to lose weight. Along the way, you may have eliminated a food to which you have a mild allergy.
What to Watch Out For
Although you could get by with this diet for a few weeks (especially if you cheat a little), following it to the letter eliminates so many foods that you'll come up short on calcium, copper, manganese, magnesium, vitamin E, and most B vitamins. Your body deserves better than that!
The "Mayo Clinic" Diet
Before you start this diet, surf on over to the Mayo Clinic Web site at www.mayo.edu/about/mayo diet.html and read their disclaimers. This diet neither originated there nor is it approved by the famed medical center. But does it work?
The Claim Behind It
If you eat only certain combinations of foods, you'll burn more fat. Adding some grapefruit burns fat even faster.
The Promise
On this diet, you can eat as much as you want and still lose weight-permanently.
What You Eat
At every meal, eat half a grapefruit. The rest of your menu is as follows: breakfast-two eggs and two slices of bacon; lunch-salad with dressing, meat; dinner-salad with dressing, meat, and a nonstarchy vegetable cooked in butter. Drink eight glasses of water and one glass of fat-free milk or tomato juice a day. Do this for 12 days, then take 2 days off and eat anything you want. Repeat as needed. Avoid most dairy, starchy fruits and vegetables, and grains.
The Experts' View
"Clearly, there is no science to support this," says American Dietetic Association spokesperson Tammy Baker, RD. "And grapefruit is not magic." Alas.
The Grain of Truth
Why do some people lose weight on this diet? That's easy. A low-calorie menu plan puts your appetite on autopilot for awhile, and restricting food choices (did you notice that there are no desserts?) limits your calories. Men especially seem to find the high-protein diets such as this one filling and satisfying. "But people eventually get bored," says Baker. "And pretty soon you're staring wistfully at your spouse's baked potato."
What to Watch Out For
If you don't choose lean meats, eating all those foods high in saturated fat can raise your risk of heart disease. Plus, calcium is low to absent, notes Baker. Any high-protein diet is hard on the kidneys and should definitely be avoided if you are at risk of kidney disease (if you have diabetes, for example).
Maximize Good Health
Compelling passion is the hallmark of most "miracle diet" creators, and often their enthusiasm is impressive, if not their science. Luckily, following these plans for a short time won't be fatal, and some people say that they do feel better. What's interesting is that each diet has lessons that can make anyone healthier, from cutting down on sweets to eating more low-calorie vegetables to making meals smaller if you need to lose weight.
And since these diets so often result in weight loss, it would be fair to ask this question: What's the harm as long as I can drop a few pounds? "Overweight people think diets such as these can't hurt," says Dr. Stern. "But they can, because they prevent you from seeking a reasonable approach to weight management that you can sustain." Another critical drawback: If you do manage to stick with one of these diets for the long term, you'll be setting yourself up for nutrient deficiencies. Many women already face a calcium crisis-getting only half of what they need-and all these fad diets would make that worse.
Got a health problem? Check the Internet or the next talk show, and you'll find a wacky diet to cure it. "Just stop eating the wrong stuff and start my diet," their creators assert, "and you'll lose your allergies! Overcome fatigue! Live longer! Shed pounds effortlessly!"
To be honest, the theories behind some of these diets are so intriguing (can your blood type really dictate what you should eat, for example?) that it's natural to wonder: Could they work? Especially if you've known someone-maybe it's you!-who's tried one of these diets and is convinced that it helped.
"Unless you're a scientist with courses in biology and physiology, it's hard to sort fact from fiction," says Judith Stern, ScD, professor of nutrition and medicine at the University of California, Davis, and vice president of the American Obesity Association. So we asked the experts. Surprisingly, they gave us reasons why each of the following diets has both hype and hope.
Food-Combining Diet
Two books currently on the market that espouse versions of the old diet idea of combining foods are Suzanne Somers' Eat Great, Lose Weight (Crown Publishing, 1997) and Harvey and Marilyn Diamond's Fit for Life (Warner, 1987).
The Claim Behind It
This type of diet is based on the belief that many health problems occur because we eat foods in the wrong combinations. If you eat the wrong foods together at the same meal, you confuse your body into producing the wrong digestive enzymes (chemicals that break your food into particles that your body can absorb). That leaves undigested food to rot in your intestines-and turn into poisons.
The Promise
If you stop combining the wrong foods, you'll start digesting your meals fully. The result? You'll lose weight, increase energy, and even reverse food allergies.
What You Eat
Eat fruit only by itself-and only in the morning. Eat protein and fat with vegetables, but not with carbohydrates. Eat carbohydrates with vegetables only, never with fat or protein.
The Experts' View
In fact, few foods occur as pure protein, carbohydrate, or fat, as this diet implies. Most foods are a mix, making it virtually impossible to keep components separate. Whole wheat bread, for example, isn't pure carbohydrate-it's also 15% protein and 14% fat.
What's more, it's impossible to confuse your digestive enzymes. Each has just one job to do. In a lock-and-key fashion, each enzyme pairs with the correct substance and severs its chemical bond. "Fortunately, your digestive system is quite capable of making multiple enzymes in just the right mix for what you're eating at the time," says registered dietitian Cyndi Thomson, PhD, a research instructor at the University of Arizona College of Public Health in Tucson.
The Grain of Truth
Strict rules about what-goes-with-what almost automatically limit the size of your meals. This diet emphasizes low-calorie fruits and vegetables (no soft drinks or cupcakes on the "yes" list). Smaller meals and lots of produce are both good ways to lose weight. "That's why you may lose weight practicing food combining," says Dr. Thomson.
What to Watch Out For
Short term, you'll do okay on this diet. But the structure limits your intake of calcium-rich dairy foods while opening the door to foods high in saturated fat. That's bad for your bones, blood pressure, and heart. And if you have a life-threatening food allergy, beware: The only way to control it is to avoid the offending food.
Blood-Type Diet
This diet originated with the book Eat Right 4 Your Type, by Peter D'Adamo, ND (Penguin Putnam Books, 1997).
Another version is The Answer Is in Your Bloodtype, by Steven Weissburg, MD (Personal Nutrition, USA, 1999).
The Claim Behind It
Our different blood types-O, A, B, and AB-evolved in response to the varying environments and diets faced by prehistoric man. Knowing your blood type can tell you what's the best diet (and exercise) for your digestive tract and immune system.
The Promise
If you follow the right diet and exercise for your blood type, you can stay healthy, live longer, and achieve your ideal weight.
What You Eat
Blood type O: Your Stone Age-hunter ancestry means that you need lots of meat and intense exercise, but few grains and little dairy.
Blood type A: You are descended from prehistoric farmers and require a vegetarian diet because you don't produce enough hydrochloric acid to digest meat. Do only yoga or meditation.
Blood type B: Your nomadic ancestry suggests that you need mostly dairy and a little meat, but no chicken and few grains. You need moderate exercise.
Blood type AB: You represent a merging of types A and B. You need a varied diet that emphasizes seafood, dairy, wheat-free grains, and soy foods. Do only yoga and mild aerobics.
The Experts' View
"This is pure pseudoscience," says Dr. Stern. "The blood type theory has never been tested clinically with results published in peer-reviewed journals." One clue that something's amiss: The idea that some people shouldn't get exercise flies in the face of everything we know.
Another red flag: The suggestion that people with type A don't have enough hydrochloric acid. It's true that some people's stomach produces less hydrochloric acid, but that comes with age, not blood type. And the problem with too little hydrochloric acid is that you can't absorb enough vitamin B12, not that you can't digest protein.
And just as a practical matter: How would you feed a family of four with different blood types?
The Grain of Truth
Limited food choices automatically cut calories, so you may lose weight-as long as you can stick with the limited food choices.
What to Watch Out For
No matter what your blood type, this diet sets you up to exclude too many foods. You lose fiber and vitamin E by excluding grains, fall short of carotenoids and phytochemicals when skipping vegetables, and miss out on calcium when you don't do dairy.
Candida Diet
Seems like almost everyone knows someone who's tried this one. You'll find versions of this diet in Candida: A Natural Approach, by Karen Brody (Ulysses Press, 1999) and The Candida Control Cookbook, by Gail Burton (Aslan Publishing, 1996), among many others.
The Claim Behind It
If you're always tired, bothered by allergies, or have recurrent vaginal infections, your entire body may be suffused with an overgrowth of a type of yeast called Candida albicans. If you eat foods that contain yeast, such as bread, or foods that "feed" the yeast-basically, anything containing sugar-you are strengthening the hold of the candida infection on your body.
The Promise
By eliminating sources of yeast and sugar from your diet, you can starve candida out of existence and prevent recurrent vaginal infections, chronic exhaustion, and allergies.
What You Eat
Meat, poultry, seafood, and nonstarchy vegetables are emphasized. This diet comes in three progressively restricted phases. To start with, you cut out sweets, dairy products, breads, crackers, commercial soups, white flour, mushrooms, vinegars, soy sauce, tofu, and apple cider. Later stages banish whole grains, starchy vegetables, fruits, juices, nuts, seeds, beans, herbal teas, and spices.
The Experts' View
In many healthy women, candida can be cultured from the mouth, throat, rectum, or vagina. In addition, about 90% of women will have at least one vaginal yeast overgrowth infection, which is easily cured by an antifungal agent. But about 5% of women face recurrent vaginal yeast infections that relapse after responding to antifungal medication.
In desperation, these women look for nutritional answers, says David Soper, MD, professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston. The fact that recurrent vaginal yeast infections are more common in women with diabetes seems to lend credence to the idea that there is a diet connection. But there's no evidence that eliminating certain foods can cure vaginal yeast overgrowths, Dr. Soper says.
The Grain of Truth
By restricting so many foods-literally from soup to nuts-you're bound to lose weight. Along the way, you may have eliminated a food to which you have a mild allergy.
What to Watch Out For
Although you could get by with this diet for a few weeks (especially if you cheat a little), following it to the letter eliminates so many foods that you'll come up short on calcium, copper, manganese, magnesium, vitamin E, and most B vitamins. Your body deserves better than that!
The "Mayo Clinic" Diet
Before you start this diet, surf on over to the Mayo Clinic Web site at www.mayo.edu/about/mayo diet.html and read their disclaimers. This diet neither originated there nor is it approved by the famed medical center. But does it work?
The Claim Behind It
If you eat only certain combinations of foods, you'll burn more fat. Adding some grapefruit burns fat even faster.
The Promise
On this diet, you can eat as much as you want and still lose weight-permanently.
What You Eat
At every meal, eat half a grapefruit. The rest of your menu is as follows: breakfast-two eggs and two slices of bacon; lunch-salad with dressing, meat; dinner-salad with dressing, meat, and a nonstarchy vegetable cooked in butter. Drink eight glasses of water and one glass of fat-free milk or tomato juice a day. Do this for 12 days, then take 2 days off and eat anything you want. Repeat as needed. Avoid most dairy, starchy fruits and vegetables, and grains.
The Experts' View
"Clearly, there is no science to support this," says American Dietetic Association spokesperson Tammy Baker, RD. "And grapefruit is not magic." Alas.
The Grain of Truth
Why do some people lose weight on this diet? That's easy. A low-calorie menu plan puts your appetite on autopilot for awhile, and restricting food choices (did you notice that there are no desserts?) limits your calories. Men especially seem to find the high-protein diets such as this one filling and satisfying. "But people eventually get bored," says Baker. "And pretty soon you're staring wistfully at your spouse's baked potato."
What to Watch Out For
If you don't choose lean meats, eating all those foods high in saturated fat can raise your risk of heart disease. Plus, calcium is low to absent, notes Baker. Any high-protein diet is hard on the kidneys and should definitely be avoided if you are at risk of kidney disease (if you have diabetes, for example).
Maximize Good Health
Compelling passion is the hallmark of most "miracle diet" creators, and often their enthusiasm is impressive, if not their science. Luckily, following these plans for a short time won't be fatal, and some people say that they do feel better. What's interesting is that each diet has lessons that can make anyone healthier, from cutting down on sweets to eating more low-calorie vegetables to making meals smaller if you need to lose weight.
And since these diets so often result in weight loss, it would be fair to ask this question: What's the harm as long as I can drop a few pounds? "Overweight people think diets such as these can't hurt," says Dr. Stern. "But they can, because they prevent you from seeking a reasonable approach to weight management that you can sustain." Another critical drawback: If you do manage to stick with one of these diets for the long term, you'll be setting yourself up for nutrient deficiencies. Many women already face a calcium crisis-getting only half of what they need-and all these fad diets would make that worse.
THE EXERCISE DIET
I'm tired of seeing other writers get rich off diet books. Diets don't work — doesn't everyone know that? Yet, despite the presence of hundreds of diet books on the market, more such books are published on a near-daily basis — and some make best-seller lists. Even cities and towns are dragged into the diet book scam. It seems every city in America has a diet named after it, with the exception of Sheboygan. What's their problem?
"HOW sick of the diet scam mess am I," you ask?
So sick of it that I'm ready to introduce and get rich on my own diet book! No, I won't call it the "St. Petersburg Diet" or "The Wellness Diet" or even the "Don Ardell Diet for People Too Dumb To Know That Diets Don't Work" Diet."
I have a better idea. I have an idea for a diet — hold your breadth here, this is going to shock you — I have an idea for a diet THAT WORKS! Really.
My friends, I give you The Exercise Diet!
The Exercise Diet (henceforth called "TED" but not to be confused with the airline or the Senator from Massachusetts, who come to think of it could benefit from The Exercise Diet or TED), is easy to understand and even easier to sustain. Unlike all the other diets, it works.
"How do I know TED works?" you might be wondering. Have I done the requisite double-blind, crossover trials of a horizontal, longitudinal and dignified nature? No. Do I have a legion of satisfied customers who have lost tons of blubber over the years following TED while I controlled the multitudinous independent variables in their lives? No.
"Well, then how can I be so sure that TED works?" you're probably asking.
Well, actually, I'm not sure. But, I'm confident that it will work and I have an idea for a unique approach to testing TED. I plan to give TED away, initially for testing purposes, as in "free/no charge/complementary." I will describe how TED works and invite everyone who tries it to send rave reviews about weight loss, muscle gain and other benefits to me at SeekWellness.com. Testimonials and before/after photos will be welcomed. Unlike the authors of all the other diets, I will also publicize disappointing results. However, I don't expect there will be any. That's how confident I am of the power of TED.
And now, with no further ado (more ado will come later), I give you the essentials of TED, soon to be hailed as the greatest diet of all time. (This is not as impressive a claim as it might seem at first, since there have not been ANY great diets.) In fact, TED is the only diet ever devised that is worth a damn, or a bucket of warm spit or whatever metaphor you prefer to represent something worthwhile.
In time, TED will be described in a level of detail that will enable me to publish several TED anti-diet books (and make some serious big bucks). There will be TED diet centers, TED CDs, T-shirts, bumper stickers, a TV show and probably a major motion picture dramatizing the fabulous things that happened to people as a result TED, my amazing wellness breakthrough. All this will come about, in time. For now, all you need is the essence of the TED protocol. Are you ready?
Here it is: Exercise at least as long as you eat; eat no longer than you exercise. Do this on a daily basis. Don't fret or otherwise concern yourself with WHAT you eat or HOW you exercise. Just keep the two in line. You will lose weight, gain muscle and realize many health and life quality gains associated with a full-scale wellness regimen. If you are not already living a wellness lifestyle, you will soon enough adopt such an attitudinal and behavioral pattern, as the benefits of a great lifestyle will have become apparent to you.
Basically, all you have to do with TED is "time" how long you eat. Use a stopwatch — begin when you sit down to dine, stop the clock when you get up from the table. No snacks, unless you restart the clock. You can eat whatever you choose — just make a note of the time you spend eating in a single day. Then, exercise for that amount of time the next day. Exercise time begins when you start to sweat, so don't count the minutes of stretching and easy warm-up and warm-down to whatever exercise you choose to undertake.
Naturally, you will get better results, faster, if you tweak the basic idea, getting a bit more ambitious than is required for the foundation level of TED. For example, you could realize improved results by adopting one or more of the following variations:
* Exercise twice as long as you eat.
* DO pay attention to WHAT you eat. A diet high in complex carbohydrates, fruits and vegetables with little fat will give better results than a meaty diet laden with sugar, alcohol and other high calorie food and drink.
* Eat faster. (Just kidding — I don't recommend this.)
If you wish to think in terms of formulas, I have a dandy way to help you remember how TED works. Think of eating as "inhaling" or taking IN energy; think of exercising as "exhaling" or burning off energy. Thus, you want to balance total "inhaling" or eating time (TIT) with total "exhaling" or exercise time (TAT). Think of it this way — TIT for TAT!
As noted, details will follow but that's the idea for my upcoming diet book that really works. I hope you will choose to be a part of the free testing program. If you are among the first 1000 to follow the plan and send in your results, you will get a free book and you might even be quoted, assuming you want to be. I'll even try to get you invited to my appearance on Oprah.
There you have it — my latest wellness insight — TED, The Exercise Diet.
Enjoy. Be well. Always look on the bright side of life.
"HOW sick of the diet scam mess am I," you ask?
So sick of it that I'm ready to introduce and get rich on my own diet book! No, I won't call it the "St. Petersburg Diet" or "The Wellness Diet" or even the "Don Ardell Diet for People Too Dumb To Know That Diets Don't Work" Diet."
I have a better idea. I have an idea for a diet — hold your breadth here, this is going to shock you — I have an idea for a diet THAT WORKS! Really.
My friends, I give you The Exercise Diet!
The Exercise Diet (henceforth called "TED" but not to be confused with the airline or the Senator from Massachusetts, who come to think of it could benefit from The Exercise Diet or TED), is easy to understand and even easier to sustain. Unlike all the other diets, it works.
"How do I know TED works?" you might be wondering. Have I done the requisite double-blind, crossover trials of a horizontal, longitudinal and dignified nature? No. Do I have a legion of satisfied customers who have lost tons of blubber over the years following TED while I controlled the multitudinous independent variables in their lives? No.
"Well, then how can I be so sure that TED works?" you're probably asking.
Well, actually, I'm not sure. But, I'm confident that it will work and I have an idea for a unique approach to testing TED. I plan to give TED away, initially for testing purposes, as in "free/no charge/complementary." I will describe how TED works and invite everyone who tries it to send rave reviews about weight loss, muscle gain and other benefits to me at SeekWellness.com. Testimonials and before/after photos will be welcomed. Unlike the authors of all the other diets, I will also publicize disappointing results. However, I don't expect there will be any. That's how confident I am of the power of TED.
And now, with no further ado (more ado will come later), I give you the essentials of TED, soon to be hailed as the greatest diet of all time. (This is not as impressive a claim as it might seem at first, since there have not been ANY great diets.) In fact, TED is the only diet ever devised that is worth a damn, or a bucket of warm spit or whatever metaphor you prefer to represent something worthwhile.
In time, TED will be described in a level of detail that will enable me to publish several TED anti-diet books (and make some serious big bucks). There will be TED diet centers, TED CDs, T-shirts, bumper stickers, a TV show and probably a major motion picture dramatizing the fabulous things that happened to people as a result TED, my amazing wellness breakthrough. All this will come about, in time. For now, all you need is the essence of the TED protocol. Are you ready?
Here it is: Exercise at least as long as you eat; eat no longer than you exercise. Do this on a daily basis. Don't fret or otherwise concern yourself with WHAT you eat or HOW you exercise. Just keep the two in line. You will lose weight, gain muscle and realize many health and life quality gains associated with a full-scale wellness regimen. If you are not already living a wellness lifestyle, you will soon enough adopt such an attitudinal and behavioral pattern, as the benefits of a great lifestyle will have become apparent to you.
Basically, all you have to do with TED is "time" how long you eat. Use a stopwatch — begin when you sit down to dine, stop the clock when you get up from the table. No snacks, unless you restart the clock. You can eat whatever you choose — just make a note of the time you spend eating in a single day. Then, exercise for that amount of time the next day. Exercise time begins when you start to sweat, so don't count the minutes of stretching and easy warm-up and warm-down to whatever exercise you choose to undertake.
Naturally, you will get better results, faster, if you tweak the basic idea, getting a bit more ambitious than is required for the foundation level of TED. For example, you could realize improved results by adopting one or more of the following variations:
* Exercise twice as long as you eat.
* DO pay attention to WHAT you eat. A diet high in complex carbohydrates, fruits and vegetables with little fat will give better results than a meaty diet laden with sugar, alcohol and other high calorie food and drink.
* Eat faster. (Just kidding — I don't recommend this.)
If you wish to think in terms of formulas, I have a dandy way to help you remember how TED works. Think of eating as "inhaling" or taking IN energy; think of exercising as "exhaling" or burning off energy. Thus, you want to balance total "inhaling" or eating time (TIT) with total "exhaling" or exercise time (TAT). Think of it this way — TIT for TAT!
As noted, details will follow but that's the idea for my upcoming diet book that really works. I hope you will choose to be a part of the free testing program. If you are among the first 1000 to follow the plan and send in your results, you will get a free book and you might even be quoted, assuming you want to be. I'll even try to get you invited to my appearance on Oprah.
There you have it — my latest wellness insight — TED, The Exercise Diet.
Enjoy. Be well. Always look on the bright side of life.
GOOD NEWS ABOUT THOSE HIGH-PROTEIN DIETS
In spite of what the critics say, Prevention says that a hi-pro diet-if you do it right-may be healthier than what you're eating now
And you can bet that they're aware of the army of health experts who attack high-protein diets on TV. In fact, I used to be a critic too. No wonder all my cheeseburger junkies share this one nagging fear: "Am I damaging my health for the sake of losing weight?"
Another Look
I still believe the answer is yes-if you're following the wrong hi-pro diet. Some, like the Atkins Induction diet, just drip with artery-clogging saturated fat, yet lack the health-protective benefits of plentiful vegetables, fruits, and whole grains. You've heard these diets panned in the media, and rightly so.
But what about the more moderate hi-pro diets, including Sugar Busters! and The Zone? The truth is, I'm having second thoughts--and here's why: When I compare them to what most high-carb dieters are actually eating-tons of empty-calorie refined carbs such as white bread, fat-free cookies, pretzels, bagels, and crackers-I've started to think that the better hi-pro diets look pretty darn healthy. There's also some real scientific evidence that dieters actually need more protein.
Weight Loss Secrets Revealed!
To be sure, all the hi-pro diets are based on bogus science-the erroneous idea that carbohydrates make you fat. You think you're losing weight because you're following a "scientific" plan that focuses on "protein blocks" or "reward meals." But you're really losing weight because you're eating fewer calories, not because you're eating fewer carbohydrates. It's as simple as that.
But to follow the moderate hi-pro diets, you cut back on starchy carbohydrates and sweets, substituting meat and tons of vegetables in their place. For most people, that means trading in nutrient-empty white flour and sugar for nutrient-laden protein and produce. As a dietitian, I'd say that's a big improvement-not perfect, but a huge step in the right direction. And if it helps you achieve a healthy weight, fantastic! Just to make sure, I rechecked my facts with some top doctors-and here's the truth I now tell my clients about those "nasty" high-protein diets:
What You Hear: High-protein diets make your kidneys work harder to flush out waste products, and may also wear them out.
The Truth: "They do increase risks for people with kidney problems," says Lisa Giannetto, MD, associate in medicine at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, NC. If you have diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, or other risk factors for kidney disease, before considering such a diet, discuss it with your doctor and have her give you a complete physical and a blood test.
But if you have healthy kidneys, there's simply no research that says that excess protein will damage them-even though most high-protein diets call for an amount of protein about three times higher than Recommended Dietary Allowance levels. To be on the safe side, however, if you're on a hi-pro diet, your doctor should monitor you, says George Blackburn, MD, director of the Center for the Study of Nutrition and Medicine at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston.
For dieters with healthy kidneys, there may actually be bonuses with higher protein levels. When it comes to satiety-keeping you satisfied longer-high-protein foods do it better than high-fat or high-carbohydrate foods.
Another hi-pro benefit for dieters: Your protein needs increase when you restrict calories. When your energy intake is restricted, some of the protein that you eat is used for energy, making it unavailable for maintaining muscle tissue and other important substances such as antibodies. On moderate-weight-loss diets such as the 1,500-calorie minimum that Prevention recommends, protein needs increase only slightly-up to about 15% of calories. But what if you go below 1,500? "The lower the calories, the higher the protein" is Dr. Blackburn's advice.
If you do follow a high-protein diet, drink at least 8 cups of fluid daily to help your kidneys flush away extra waste products.
What You Hear: High-protein diets thin your bones by raising blood acid levels, which force the bones to release calcium in order to neutralize all that acid-the same way that calcium in Tums neutralizes stomach acid.
The Truth: "Yes, excess protein increases calcium loss, but that's only a problem if your diet is calcium-poor. If you take in enough calcium, studies suggest that your bone density is maintained," says calcium expert Robert P. Heaney, MD, of Creighton University in Omaha, NE.
If you're on a high-protein diet, Dr. Heaney recommends aiming for 1,500 to 2,000 milligrams (mg) of calcium daily (slightly more than Daily Value [DV] levels) from a combination of diet and supplements.
What You Hear: High-protein diets are bad for your heart because they're high in saturated fat and raise your cholesterol.
The Truth: Some diets fit that description perfectly. One of my clients came to me after 2 months on the Atkins diet. She loved her rapid weight loss while still eating saturated-fat-laden Cheddar cheese, sausage, burgers, and ribs, but was alarmed when her total cholesterol rose to a high-risk 276 and her "good" HDL plummeted.
With a family history of heart disease, she knew that for the long term this was not good. She's now on a new eating plan low in saturated fat; her cholesterol has returned to normal and she's maintained her weight loss.
Fortunately, not all hi-pro diets are like the Atkins or Carbohydrate Addict's diets. Several, including Sugar Busters! and The Zone, focus on heart-healthy lean meat, poultry, fish, and low-fat cheese-all of which are low in saturated fat. Preferred fats include olive and canola oils, olives, nuts, seeds, avocados, and fatty fish that actually lower heart disease risk by raising HDL, lowering "bad" LDL, and controlling triglycerides.
What You Hear: High-protein diets increase cancer risk because eating lots of meat has been linked to higher rates of breast, colon, and prostate cancers and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.
The Truth: Yes, some studies do link high-meat diets with higher cancer risk, although why isn't certain. Is it the fat? Choose lean cuts. The nitrites? Eat fewer sausages and hot dogs. The heterocyclic amines from cooking? Cook meat over low heat, don't char; and choose more vegetable proteins such as tofu, beans, and legumes. The lack of fiber? Choose one of the hi-pro diets that really maximizes your intake of fruits and vegetables, and make sure that you eat all that are allowed. Along with the fiber, you'll get phytochemicals that are known to protect against cancer.
What You Hear: High-protein diets cause a potentially dangerous condition called ketosis.
The Truth: Only hi-pro diets that are exceptionally low in carbohydrates-about 50 grams (g) or less per day, as in the Atkins plan-cause ketosis. Your brain depends on carbohydrates for its daily fuel, but in a pinch, your body will ravage fat fragments to create compounds called ketone bodies that can also be used as fuel by the brain. Ketone bodies are prized by Atkins dieters because they suppress the appetite-but they also upset the acid-base balance of your blood.
So is ketosis dangerous? In this case, no one really knows for sure. But the ketosis caused by very low carb diets is not as severe as the potentially fatal ketosis sometimes experienced by people with diabetes. Also, there is a lack of research pointing to adverse outcomes from ketosis in people who are dieting. Yet, no expert that I talked to recommends any diet that provokes ketosis.
The good news is that the better-balanced hi-pro diets, which do not restrict carbohydrates so severely, don't cause ketosis.
What You Hear: The weight that you lose on a hi-pro diet is only water, not really fat.
The Truth: It's true that your body will lose several pounds of water in the first few days of a low-carbohydrate diet. So those first few pounds that you drop in a flash at the start of a hi-pro diet are water. But that's only true in the beginning. After that, the weight that you continue to lose represents true weight loss, the same as you'd get from any low-calorie diet.
What You Hear: High-protein diets cause bad breath and constipation.
The Truth: Only the very low carb diets cause bad breath as your lungs try to blow off some of the ketones created by too much fat burning. And low-carb diets that limit high-fiber fruits, vegetables, and whole grains are responsible for constipation. So choose one of the high-protein diets that allows you more than 50 g of carbohydrates, emphasizes high-fiber foods, and reminds you to drink 8 cups of fluid daily.
Bread Made by Sugar Busters!
On the Sugar Busters! diet, bread is allowed as long as it's whole grain-the kind that Prevention recommends too. We tried Sugar Busters! 100% Whole Wheat Dinner Rolls (125 calories, 0.6 gram [g] fat, and 4 g fiber per roll) and think that they rival homemade. Call Boudreaux's Foods at (504) 866-9500 to find a store (located primarily in the southeastern US, Texas, California, and Missouri) or to order a variety of whole grain breads.
The Healthy Way to Go Hi-Pro
If you do decide to follow a high-protein diet, here are rules to help you use-but not abuse-the staying power of protein:
* Have your doctor test your kidney function before you start a hi-pro diet to make sure that your kidneys are healthy.
* Choose a diet that maximizes yourintake of high-fiber, brightly colored veggies-and be sure to eat all the veggies that are allowed.
* Select a diet that emphasizes low-saturated-fat meat and poultry. Trim fat. Don't char.
* Pick a diet that includes at least 50 grams (g) of carbohydrates daily to prevent ketosis.
* Drink 8 cups of fluid daily to help your kidneys.
* Select whole grain breads and cereals when possible.
* Opt often for soy-based foods, legumes, and fish for your protein choices.
* Choose low-fat dairy foods and calcium supplements to reach 1,500 to 2,000 milligrams (mg) of calcium daily.
* Take a standard (not high potency) multivitamin/mineral supplement daily.
The Best and Worst
Prevention says that the healthiest weight loss diet is one that's based on plant foods-about 15% protein, 25% fat, and 60% mostly unprocessed carbohydrates (vegetables, fruits, and whole grains). But if you want to go high-protein, we surveyed an array of popular hi-pro diets to zero in on what we think is the best-and the worst. We've also included a "fix" to make the best even better.
Sugar Busters!
Food focus: Lean protein; legumes; low-fat dairy foods; high-fiber fruits, vegetables, whole grain breads and cereals
Calorie control: Small portions, no seconds
Considered the enemy: All sugars, sweets, corn, carrots, beets, and white potatoes/rice/bread
Sample Menu
* Breakfast: OJ, wheat bran cereal, fresh strawberries, fat-free milk
* Lunch: Lean roast beef on whole wheat with lettuce and tomato
* Snack: Kiwifruit, 6 walnut halves
* Dinner: Turkey breast, baked sweet potato, steamed green beans
* Dessert: 2 thin slices of cheese
Risks: You get obsessed with every grain of sugar-unnecessarily. A few healthy foods such as carrots are demonized. It's a little low in calcium, folate, and iron.
Benefits: Provides a great array of healthy choices, including whole grains. Rich in fiber, vitamins A and C, the B vitamins, and zinc
The fix: Choose calcium-fortified orange juice and take a daily multivitamin/mineral supplement.
Dr. Atkins's New Diet Revolution
Food focus: Bacon, fried eggs, fried pork rinds, high-fat cheese, butter, cream
Calorie control: Limits carbohydrates to 20 grams (g) to provoke ketosis, which inhibits hunger Considered the enemy: Most breads and cereals, fruit, and starchy vegetables are severely limited. Milk and sugars are forbidden.
Sample Menu
* Breakfast: Fried eggs with sugar-free sausage
* Lunch: Bacon cheeseburger (no bun), small tossed salad
* Dinner: Shrimp cocktail with mustard and mayo, clear consomme, steak, tossed salad with dressing, diet Jell-O with artificially sweetened heavy cream
Risks: Bad breath, constipation, and elevated cholesterol. Oozes saturated fat and limits many foods known to protect your health
Benefit: Rapid weight loss
The fix: Honor your body enough to choose a different diet.
And you can bet that they're aware of the army of health experts who attack high-protein diets on TV. In fact, I used to be a critic too. No wonder all my cheeseburger junkies share this one nagging fear: "Am I damaging my health for the sake of losing weight?"
Another Look
I still believe the answer is yes-if you're following the wrong hi-pro diet. Some, like the Atkins Induction diet, just drip with artery-clogging saturated fat, yet lack the health-protective benefits of plentiful vegetables, fruits, and whole grains. You've heard these diets panned in the media, and rightly so.
But what about the more moderate hi-pro diets, including Sugar Busters! and The Zone? The truth is, I'm having second thoughts--and here's why: When I compare them to what most high-carb dieters are actually eating-tons of empty-calorie refined carbs such as white bread, fat-free cookies, pretzels, bagels, and crackers-I've started to think that the better hi-pro diets look pretty darn healthy. There's also some real scientific evidence that dieters actually need more protein.
Weight Loss Secrets Revealed!
To be sure, all the hi-pro diets are based on bogus science-the erroneous idea that carbohydrates make you fat. You think you're losing weight because you're following a "scientific" plan that focuses on "protein blocks" or "reward meals." But you're really losing weight because you're eating fewer calories, not because you're eating fewer carbohydrates. It's as simple as that.
But to follow the moderate hi-pro diets, you cut back on starchy carbohydrates and sweets, substituting meat and tons of vegetables in their place. For most people, that means trading in nutrient-empty white flour and sugar for nutrient-laden protein and produce. As a dietitian, I'd say that's a big improvement-not perfect, but a huge step in the right direction. And if it helps you achieve a healthy weight, fantastic! Just to make sure, I rechecked my facts with some top doctors-and here's the truth I now tell my clients about those "nasty" high-protein diets:
What You Hear: High-protein diets make your kidneys work harder to flush out waste products, and may also wear them out.
The Truth: "They do increase risks for people with kidney problems," says Lisa Giannetto, MD, associate in medicine at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, NC. If you have diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, or other risk factors for kidney disease, before considering such a diet, discuss it with your doctor and have her give you a complete physical and a blood test.
But if you have healthy kidneys, there's simply no research that says that excess protein will damage them-even though most high-protein diets call for an amount of protein about three times higher than Recommended Dietary Allowance levels. To be on the safe side, however, if you're on a hi-pro diet, your doctor should monitor you, says George Blackburn, MD, director of the Center for the Study of Nutrition and Medicine at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston.
For dieters with healthy kidneys, there may actually be bonuses with higher protein levels. When it comes to satiety-keeping you satisfied longer-high-protein foods do it better than high-fat or high-carbohydrate foods.
Another hi-pro benefit for dieters: Your protein needs increase when you restrict calories. When your energy intake is restricted, some of the protein that you eat is used for energy, making it unavailable for maintaining muscle tissue and other important substances such as antibodies. On moderate-weight-loss diets such as the 1,500-calorie minimum that Prevention recommends, protein needs increase only slightly-up to about 15% of calories. But what if you go below 1,500? "The lower the calories, the higher the protein" is Dr. Blackburn's advice.
If you do follow a high-protein diet, drink at least 8 cups of fluid daily to help your kidneys flush away extra waste products.
What You Hear: High-protein diets thin your bones by raising blood acid levels, which force the bones to release calcium in order to neutralize all that acid-the same way that calcium in Tums neutralizes stomach acid.
The Truth: "Yes, excess protein increases calcium loss, but that's only a problem if your diet is calcium-poor. If you take in enough calcium, studies suggest that your bone density is maintained," says calcium expert Robert P. Heaney, MD, of Creighton University in Omaha, NE.
If you're on a high-protein diet, Dr. Heaney recommends aiming for 1,500 to 2,000 milligrams (mg) of calcium daily (slightly more than Daily Value [DV] levels) from a combination of diet and supplements.
What You Hear: High-protein diets are bad for your heart because they're high in saturated fat and raise your cholesterol.
The Truth: Some diets fit that description perfectly. One of my clients came to me after 2 months on the Atkins diet. She loved her rapid weight loss while still eating saturated-fat-laden Cheddar cheese, sausage, burgers, and ribs, but was alarmed when her total cholesterol rose to a high-risk 276 and her "good" HDL plummeted.
With a family history of heart disease, she knew that for the long term this was not good. She's now on a new eating plan low in saturated fat; her cholesterol has returned to normal and she's maintained her weight loss.
Fortunately, not all hi-pro diets are like the Atkins or Carbohydrate Addict's diets. Several, including Sugar Busters! and The Zone, focus on heart-healthy lean meat, poultry, fish, and low-fat cheese-all of which are low in saturated fat. Preferred fats include olive and canola oils, olives, nuts, seeds, avocados, and fatty fish that actually lower heart disease risk by raising HDL, lowering "bad" LDL, and controlling triglycerides.
What You Hear: High-protein diets increase cancer risk because eating lots of meat has been linked to higher rates of breast, colon, and prostate cancers and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.
The Truth: Yes, some studies do link high-meat diets with higher cancer risk, although why isn't certain. Is it the fat? Choose lean cuts. The nitrites? Eat fewer sausages and hot dogs. The heterocyclic amines from cooking? Cook meat over low heat, don't char; and choose more vegetable proteins such as tofu, beans, and legumes. The lack of fiber? Choose one of the hi-pro diets that really maximizes your intake of fruits and vegetables, and make sure that you eat all that are allowed. Along with the fiber, you'll get phytochemicals that are known to protect against cancer.
What You Hear: High-protein diets cause a potentially dangerous condition called ketosis.
The Truth: Only hi-pro diets that are exceptionally low in carbohydrates-about 50 grams (g) or less per day, as in the Atkins plan-cause ketosis. Your brain depends on carbohydrates for its daily fuel, but in a pinch, your body will ravage fat fragments to create compounds called ketone bodies that can also be used as fuel by the brain. Ketone bodies are prized by Atkins dieters because they suppress the appetite-but they also upset the acid-base balance of your blood.
So is ketosis dangerous? In this case, no one really knows for sure. But the ketosis caused by very low carb diets is not as severe as the potentially fatal ketosis sometimes experienced by people with diabetes. Also, there is a lack of research pointing to adverse outcomes from ketosis in people who are dieting. Yet, no expert that I talked to recommends any diet that provokes ketosis.
The good news is that the better-balanced hi-pro diets, which do not restrict carbohydrates so severely, don't cause ketosis.
What You Hear: The weight that you lose on a hi-pro diet is only water, not really fat.
The Truth: It's true that your body will lose several pounds of water in the first few days of a low-carbohydrate diet. So those first few pounds that you drop in a flash at the start of a hi-pro diet are water. But that's only true in the beginning. After that, the weight that you continue to lose represents true weight loss, the same as you'd get from any low-calorie diet.
What You Hear: High-protein diets cause bad breath and constipation.
The Truth: Only the very low carb diets cause bad breath as your lungs try to blow off some of the ketones created by too much fat burning. And low-carb diets that limit high-fiber fruits, vegetables, and whole grains are responsible for constipation. So choose one of the high-protein diets that allows you more than 50 g of carbohydrates, emphasizes high-fiber foods, and reminds you to drink 8 cups of fluid daily.
Bread Made by Sugar Busters!
On the Sugar Busters! diet, bread is allowed as long as it's whole grain-the kind that Prevention recommends too. We tried Sugar Busters! 100% Whole Wheat Dinner Rolls (125 calories, 0.6 gram [g] fat, and 4 g fiber per roll) and think that they rival homemade. Call Boudreaux's Foods at (504) 866-9500 to find a store (located primarily in the southeastern US, Texas, California, and Missouri) or to order a variety of whole grain breads.
The Healthy Way to Go Hi-Pro
If you do decide to follow a high-protein diet, here are rules to help you use-but not abuse-the staying power of protein:
* Have your doctor test your kidney function before you start a hi-pro diet to make sure that your kidneys are healthy.
* Choose a diet that maximizes yourintake of high-fiber, brightly colored veggies-and be sure to eat all the veggies that are allowed.
* Select a diet that emphasizes low-saturated-fat meat and poultry. Trim fat. Don't char.
* Pick a diet that includes at least 50 grams (g) of carbohydrates daily to prevent ketosis.
* Drink 8 cups of fluid daily to help your kidneys.
* Select whole grain breads and cereals when possible.
* Opt often for soy-based foods, legumes, and fish for your protein choices.
* Choose low-fat dairy foods and calcium supplements to reach 1,500 to 2,000 milligrams (mg) of calcium daily.
* Take a standard (not high potency) multivitamin/mineral supplement daily.
The Best and Worst
Prevention says that the healthiest weight loss diet is one that's based on plant foods-about 15% protein, 25% fat, and 60% mostly unprocessed carbohydrates (vegetables, fruits, and whole grains). But if you want to go high-protein, we surveyed an array of popular hi-pro diets to zero in on what we think is the best-and the worst. We've also included a "fix" to make the best even better.
Sugar Busters!
Food focus: Lean protein; legumes; low-fat dairy foods; high-fiber fruits, vegetables, whole grain breads and cereals
Calorie control: Small portions, no seconds
Considered the enemy: All sugars, sweets, corn, carrots, beets, and white potatoes/rice/bread
Sample Menu
* Breakfast: OJ, wheat bran cereal, fresh strawberries, fat-free milk
* Lunch: Lean roast beef on whole wheat with lettuce and tomato
* Snack: Kiwifruit, 6 walnut halves
* Dinner: Turkey breast, baked sweet potato, steamed green beans
* Dessert: 2 thin slices of cheese
Risks: You get obsessed with every grain of sugar-unnecessarily. A few healthy foods such as carrots are demonized. It's a little low in calcium, folate, and iron.
Benefits: Provides a great array of healthy choices, including whole grains. Rich in fiber, vitamins A and C, the B vitamins, and zinc
The fix: Choose calcium-fortified orange juice and take a daily multivitamin/mineral supplement.
Dr. Atkins's New Diet Revolution
Food focus: Bacon, fried eggs, fried pork rinds, high-fat cheese, butter, cream
Calorie control: Limits carbohydrates to 20 grams (g) to provoke ketosis, which inhibits hunger Considered the enemy: Most breads and cereals, fruit, and starchy vegetables are severely limited. Milk and sugars are forbidden.
Sample Menu
* Breakfast: Fried eggs with sugar-free sausage
* Lunch: Bacon cheeseburger (no bun), small tossed salad
* Dinner: Shrimp cocktail with mustard and mayo, clear consomme, steak, tossed salad with dressing, diet Jell-O with artificially sweetened heavy cream
Risks: Bad breath, constipation, and elevated cholesterol. Oozes saturated fat and limits many foods known to protect your health
Benefit: Rapid weight loss
The fix: Honor your body enough to choose a different diet.
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