Beyond Pritikin: A Total Nutrition Program For Rapid Weight Loss, Longevity, & Good Health - Softcover

Ann Louise Gittleman, PhD, CNS, is the award-winning author of the New York Times bestseller The Fat Flush Plan and a weight-loss expert with more than two decades of experience in public health and private practice. She holds a PhD in holistic nutrition, is a certified nutrition specialist, and has a master’s degree in nutrition education, and a naturopathic degree in drugless healing. With more than 3.5 million copies of her books in print, Ann Louise has counseled men and women from all walks of life and has appeared regularly on nationally syndicated radio and TV news shows, including Good Morning America, MSNBC, Fox News, The View, and Dr. Phil. She lives and works in Liberty Lake, Washington.

1
CURBING THOSE CRAZY CARBOHYDRATES
 
I know it is almost sacrilegious to criticize carbohydrates, but in light of so many negative effects from their imbalanced and excessive consumption, the time has come to take the carbohydrate craze to task. I am very concerned about the carbohydrate-related health problems so many of my clients are complaining about. Carbohydrate overloading tends to displace protein foods that the body needs for immunity, even blood sugar levels, proper hormonal functioning, and tissue repair. Plus the carbohydrates that everyone is eating, such as bread, pasta, and potatoes, are deficient in the essential fatty acids that control the cardiovascular, reproductive, and nervous systems. As a result, my clients are suffering from sugar cravings; lack of mental concentration; lack of energy; aging skin, hair, and nails; fluid retention; high triglycerides; weight problems; and the need for more and more sleep.
 
I realize carbohydrates are considered the preferred and cleanest-burning fuel source for human beings. But our national obsession with cutting the fat has produced a number of diet plans (for example, Dean Ornish’s, John McDougall’s, and Susan Powter’s) that are unusually high in carbohydrates and, therefore, deficient in essential fatty acids—which ultimately are the real keys to overall health. As fat expert Edward Siguel, M.D., Ph.D. points out, even the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s “Food Guide Pyramid” recommends that each day you eat from 6 to 11 servings of bread, cereal, rice, and potatoes—all foods that contain practically no essential fatty acids. Furthermore, if you decided to follow the government’s guidelines, you would consume fats and oils sparingly because, according to the USDA, these foods contribute basically only calories to the diet.
 
I had a glimpse of carbohydrate-related health concerns (such as gluten intolerance and yeast overgrowth) in my early years working at the Pritikin Longevity Center. I discuss those conditions in the chapter entitled “Pritikin Promises and Pitfalls” and now expand upon them with some new observations. Of all the low-fat, high–complex-carbohydrate diets on the market today, the Pritikin Eating Plan is probably the most well balanced and researched. There also have been efforts made by the Pritikin educators to alert participants to the “glycemic” or blood sugar effect of certain carbohydrates (which I discuss later in this chapter), an issue that I feel is of vital importance.
 
Yet what I saw in those early years is nothing compared to the extreme diet histories my clients are manifesting now that they have become so fat-phobic. Many individuals are cutting down on basic nutritional staples such as eggs, meat, and butter due to misguided concerns about cholesterol and fat. Unfortunately, they have been substituting sugar for the missing fat and protein calories. What is showing up on diet histories now are record numbers of fat-free jelly beans, honey- or fruit juice–sweetened cookies, and low-fat (but sugar-rich) frozen yogurt.
 
All studies show that Americans are eating less fat today. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has reported a 14-pound drop in red meat consumption between 1980 and 1990. In the past 20 years, butter intake has dropped by a whopping 25 percent. But at the same time, the per capita ingestion of sugar has increased by 20 pounds per person per year. Those overweight have hit record numbers not because of increased fat intake but because Americans are overdoing the sugar and carbohydrates, which can, of course, turn to fat.
 
The popular diet mantras of “Eat more, weigh less” and “Stop the insanity” convey the faulty message that you can eat whatever you want, whenever you want, as long as the food is fat-free and full of fiber. Even the government has climbed on the “all fat is bad” bandwagon with the publication of the “Food Guide Pyramid.” According to the Food and Drug Administration’s new food labeling guidelines, in an average 2,000-calorie-a-day diet, more than half the calories should be from carbohydrates. (That’s 300 grams a day!) Many diet gurus have joined the federal government and are now promoting a 70-percent carbohydrate diet. Consequently, there are a lot of people out there filling up on no-fat foods that contain up to 75 percent sugar.
 
So many people believe that nonfat means non-fattening that sales of no-fat and low-fat cookies have skyrocketed 70 percent during the last year, and the Number One cookie sold in America is no longer Oreos but fat-free SnackWells. But all those fat-free cookies and fat-free yogurts and muffins add up in carbohydrates and are usually loaded with sugar. Too much sugar can depress the immune system, feed yeast problems, and wreak havoc with blood sugar functioning. High sugar intake is linked to higher insulin levels, extreme hunger, and consequently, overeating and weight gain.
 
Speaking of high insulin levels, it seems that a growing number of Americans, maybe even 25 percent of all adults and an even larger percentage of the obese, have a problem with carbohydrate metabolism due to a resistance to insulin. Insulin is a hormone that metabolizes glucose from carbohydrates into energy. Insulin resistance is a condition in which body cells resist the action of insulin and the body overproduces insulin because of an excess of sugary and simple carbohydrate foods.
 
Fat phobia has spawned the carbohydrate craze that in turn has resulted in widespread insulin resistance and a whole new generation of carbohydrate addicts and carbohydrate sensitives. The term “carbohydrate addict” was first popularized by Mount Sinai Hospital researchers Drs. Richard and Rachel Heller in a book called The Carbohydrate Addict’s Diet (Signet Books, 1993). The Hellers identified a disorder they called carbohydrate addiction and believe that nearly 75 percent of all overweight individuals may suffer from it. Individuals who have this condition have imbalanced insulin levels and are constantly hungry and crave carbohydrate-rich foods. In his book Dr. Atkins’ New Diet Revolution (Evans, 1992), Robert Atkins, M.D., devotes an entire chapter, “Insulin—The Hormone That Makes You Fat,” to insulin-related food cravings and weight problems.
 
Biochemist Barry Sears, Ph.D., has reported that high blood insulin levels promote fat storage and the inability to access stored fat because they activate the enzyme adipose tissue lipoprotein-lipase (AT-LPL). This enzyme acts like a master key to fat storage. Individuals who consistently eat foods that generate a high-insulin response, therefore, are promoting fat storage.
 
The term “carbohydrate toxicity” was coined by obesity specialist Dr. Wayne Calloway of George Washington University, who is equally critical of and concerned about carbohydrate preoccupation. In a New York Times article, he stated: “Chronic dieters often gain weight on high-carbohydrate diets because they have lost the ability to get rid of fluid.”
 
The New York Times covered the completely ignored but very basic scientific information about the insulin connection to overweight conditions in its February 8, 1995, article entitled “So It May Be True After All: Eating Pasta Makes You Fat.” The article quotes Dr. Artemis P. Simopoulos, former chairwoman of the nutritional coordinating committee of the National Institutes of Health and current president of the Center for Genetics Nutrition and Health in Washington. She said: “Insulin resistance is associated with obesity, and for many years it was thought to follow obesity. Today we know that in many cases, insulin resistance precedes obesity as well as some other diseases.”
 
Obesity is just one of the many problems insulin resistance can cause. According to Dr. Gerald Reaven, a professor at the Stanford University Medical School who has studied insulin for three decades, insulin resistance is an underlying cause of a condition he calls “Syndrome X,” which is associated with Type II diabetes, hypertension (high blood pressure), high triglyceride levels, and obesity. These, as many of you know, are some of the worst health problems Americans now face.
 
In my own work with thousands of clients, I have counseled many individuals with these same disastrous health problems after following excessively high-carbohydrate diets. I have had to convince them to limit their carbohydrate consumption and substitute more essential fatty acids and quality protein in their diets. Once I did, however, I have seen these individuals reverse dangerous heart disease risk factors and enjoy better health. I find it ironic that the people most apt to go on various versions of the recommended low-fat, high-carbohydrate diet are overweight, have high cholesterol levels, or have other heart disease risk factors. Unfortunately, many of them actually gain weight and increase their susceptibility to developing heart disease on such diets. Consider that while the death rate from heart disease has decreased (because of better intervention procedures such as angioplasty and bypasses), the incidence of heart disease has increased. Although America’s total fat consumption has decreased and high-carbohydrate eating is on the rise, the number of cases of heart disease is not decreasing.
 
Even if you consistently eat only the complex carbohydrates, you may be setting the stage for fat buildup. Take a good look at the following chart on this page, known as the Glycemic Index, which has been expanded upon and adapted from the Nutritional Manual of BioFoods, Inc., of Santa Barbara, California. This chart was first developed by David Jenkins, M.D., Ph.D., professor of medicine and nutritional sciences at the University of Toronto. The list is based upon measurements of real-life blood sugar levels after consumption of these foods. It lists a variety of carbohydrate-rich foods and indicates the percentage increase in blood sugar levels. Dr. Barry Sears is responsible for categorizing the list according to the varying degrees of insulin production. As you can see, when you consume mainly fat-free but high-glycemic foods such as wheat bread, fruit juice, corn chips, and even tofu ice cream, you may be fostering fat because the insulin these foods cause the body to release is a key fat-promoting hormone.
 
So what can a weight-conscious person do?