Lowcarbezine! 12 October 2000
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Hey, Gang --
Here it is! Y'know, I started this issue early, too. Sometimes this
thing just gets away from me. :-)
And next week will be my birthday issue! Maybe I'll come up with a
birthday cake recipe for myself, what do you think?
Read on!
Dana
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All contents copyright 2000 by Hold the Toast Press. All commercial
reproduction and/or use is expressly prohibited. As always, feel free
to forward Lowcarbezine! to any family or friends you feel might enjoy
it, provided that you forward it in its entirety.
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mailto:dana@holdthetoast.com All submissions become the property of
Hold the Toast Press. If you don't want us to print your letter, just
let us know, and we won't! However, please note -- although I really
do read all my email my very own self, I get a *lot* of mail --
generally over 200 posts a day (not all of them about Lowcarbezine!), so
I can't promise to answer every post personally. Or I'll never get the
next book written!
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If you need a website designed or hosted, please check out the info on
Webbalah at the bottom of this newsletter! (Hey, *my* website looks
good, right?)
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Frequently Asked Question
Do calories count?
Yes, of course they do.
I have now shocked and dismayed some of you to the core. Let me,
therefore, qualify this answer. Who knows, maybe I can shock you some
more!
It is as true today as it has ever been that there are 3500 calories in
a pound of fat. It is true that if you eat 3500 calories more than you
burn, you will gain a pound of fat. It is true that if you eat 3500
calories less than you burn, you will *lose* a pound of fat. This much
of calorie theory appears indisputable.
What calorie theory proponents have missed over the years is the fact
that changing the quantity and/or quality of the calories eaten will, in
turn, change the number of calories burned. It has been known for
quite a while that the simple act of cutting caloric intake can cause a
drop in metabolism, causing the low calorie dieter to actually burn
fewer calories. Among other things, it seems that levels of T3, a
powerful thyroid hormone, drop in people who cut calories -- and that
perhaps losing weight, however it's done, may lead to a drop in T3. So
not only the quality of the calories eaten, but also the quantity, will
cause a change in the dieter's metabolism, thus changing the calories
in/calories out equation, sometimes profoundly. Also, on a low calorie
diet, quite a lot of the weight lost is likely to be muscle tissue, and
muscle has a higher metabolic rate than other body tissues. Losing
muscle, therefore, will lower metabolism and cause the body to burn
fewer calories even while asleep. This drop in metabolism is part of
the reason why dieters gain weight back so readily when they go off
their diets.
That the type of calories eaten influences metabolic rate as well was
demonstrated *years* ago by Drs. Kekwick and Pawan, who found that their
experimental subjects did not lose weight on a 2000 calorie per day
"balanced" diet (ie, including the usual amounts of concentrated
carbohydrate foods), but that the same subjects lost weight while eating
2600 calories a day when their diet consisted almost solely of protein
and fat. It was demonstrated again by Dr. Frederick Benoit, who found
that his subjects lost twice as much fat -- and almost no muscle mass --
when they ate 1000 calories a day of a low carbohydrate, high fat diet
than they did when they ate *nothing at all*.
But these are both oldish studies; they were done half a century ago,
and some people just don't like older medical studies. They discount
them on principle. Me, I've never been able to figure this out -- it's
not like bodies have changed so drastically in the past 50 years; seems
to me that if a study was well designed and properly executed, its
results should be valid pretty much indefinitely. But the prejudice
remains. For those people, I point to last year's study of obese
adolescents at Schneider's Children's Hospital in New Hyde Park, New
York. What were the results? That the kids who were put on a low carb,
high fat diet ate 66% more calories each day than the kids who were put
on a low fat, high carbohydrate diet -- and lost more than twice as much
weight during the 12 week study.
So much for the notion that all calories are alike. Clearly foods have
an effect on metabolism beyond their simple fuel (calorie) value. This
explains why many low carbohydrate dieters find themselves in a fantasy
world where they're eating *more* than they used to, yet losing weight!
It also explains why many low carbohydrate diet books tell you that you
don't need to worry about calories at all, so long as you stick to your
low carbohydrate program.
In my experience, however, this is only true of *some* low carbohydrate
dieters. Buried deep in the low carb diet books, and in the low carb
diet studies, is the fact that even on the lowest carbohydrate diets,
calories *do* count, at least to some degree, for some people. For
instance, if you read _Dr. Atkins' New Diet Revolution_ carefully,
you'll find that he says that yes, it is possible to add a pound or two
by eating too much steak. Also, when it comes to those who are having a
very hard time losing on his regular diet -- those he refers to as
"metabolically resistant" -- Dr. Atkins recommends a fat fast. The fat
fast, as prescribed in Atkins, has just 1000 calories a day, surely a
low calorie diet in anyone's book. And of course Dr. Benoit's low
carbohydrate research may have fed the subjects considerably more
calories (yes, any calories are considerably more than *none*) on their
low carbohydrate/high fat diet, but 1000 calories a day is, once again,
a very low calorie diet by anyone's standards.
For that matter, before Dr. Michael Eades wrote _Protein Power_ with his
wife, Dr. Mary Dan Eades, he wrote a book called _Thin So Fast_, which
outlined a low carbohydrate protein sparing modified fast -- a diet that
was not only low in carbohydrates, but also quite low in calories.
So what am I getting at, here? Simply this: If you, like me, have lost
weight without any calorie counting on your low carb diet, then keep it
up and be grateful! But if you are quite certain that you've cut out
the carbs, and you're still not losing, you may need to look at moderate
calorie control as well.
Notice the word "moderate"! This is important for two reasons: One,
because you don't want to make yourself miserable, so that you end up
dropping the whole thing, and two, because, as mentioned above, cutting
calories too far for any length of time will cause your metabolism to
drop, which is *not* the effect we're looking for! A good rule of thumb
is this: Take your *healthy* weight in pounds (*NOT* an unhealthily
thin weight!! Do *not* go calculating from a weight that would make you
a size 2 unless you're a naturally tiny, fine boned person.) and
multiply by 12. This will give you a good idea of where your daily
calorie count should be. (The 1000 calorie per day fat fast is only
intended to be used for very short periods of time, okay?)
How to go about cutting calories on a low carb diet? What sort of
calories should you cut?
Well, you've already cut out the vast majority of the starch and sugar
calories -- the potato chip calories, the soda pop calories, the Count
Chocula calories, the Rice-a-Roni calories. What we have left are the
protein calories, the fat calories, and the few carbohydrate calories
your own personal body can tolerate. Where to make the cuts?
First of all, I wouldn't cut out your vegetables, even if they *are*
carb calories! They're not only extremely nutritious calories, but
they're quite a lot of what gives the diet flavor and interest and
bulk. Eating just a steak by itself is a little forlorn; a steak topped
with sautéed mushrooms, with a salad on the side, is a *meal*. Anyway,
cut out that fiber and you might be sorry, if you know what I mean, and
I think you do.
However, if you're regularly indulging in carb calories from reduced
carb specialty products -- low carb baked goods, low carb candies, and
the like -- and you're not losing, I'd cut 'em out. I'd also suggest
cutting out *alcohol* calories, which not only are unnecessary, but will
slow down your metabolism considerably. (On the other hand, I'd rather
have a glass of wine than a slice of carb reduced bread...)
Okay, that leaves us with protein and fat. Here's some useful info
regarding protein and fat:
* Protein has 4 calories a gram.
* Fat has 9 calories a gram.
* On a low carb diet, a small extra margin of protein is needed for
gluconeogenesis -- the process by which your body makes what little
glucose is actually essential out of protein. Without the extra bit of
protein, you can end up losing muscle mass, which will lower your
metabolism (not to mention making you weaker.) Contrary to media scare
stories, so long as that extra bit of protein is eaten, a low carb diet
will cause very little muscle loss, especially when compared to a low
calorie/low fat diet.
* Making protein into glucose wastes about a quarter of those protein
calories, so that eating protein, within reason, will raise metabolism a
bit.
* On the other hand, if you eat a lot of extra protein, or too big a
whack of protein all at once, it will cause a rise in blood sugar, and
as a result, will cause your body to release insulin. Despite the
notion that a low carb diet should be unlimited in protein, there's at
least some reason to believe that eating a *lot* more protein than you
need may hamper weight loss.
* Fat, on the other hand, will not cause an insulin release; it is
hormonally neutral.
* In experiments with low carbohydrate diets, high fat intakes lead to
high levels of fat burning.
So, here's what I'm thinking:
First, work out how much protein you need, plus a bit extra. I've seen
all sorts of complicated formulas for this, but here's the simple one:
Half a gram of protein for each pound of healthy body weight. In other
words, if 130 lbs would be a good, healthy (again, *not* painfully
skinny) weight for you, figure 65 grams a day. Then I'd add 10-15 grams
for your body to convert into glucose as needed. In this case, we end
up with a total of 75-80 grams of protein a day. A bit more than this
won't hurt, but eat a lot more than this, and you may be triggering
insulin release. It's also a good idea not to eat too much of your
daily protein at one time -- better to eat two eggs for breakfast, four
ounces of chicken at lunch, and a 6 ounce steak at dinner, than to have
one egg for breakfast, skip lunch, and put down a sixteen ounce sirloin
at dinner to make up for it.
Okay, you remember that I said you wanted at least 12 calories each day
for each pound of healthy body weight, right? For our hypothetical
dieter who would be healthy at about 130 lbs, that would be a minimum
1560 calories a day -- hardly a starvation diet! And that protein is
going to use up maybe 320 of those calories. If you get 50 g. of usable
carb a day, that's another 200 calories. That comes to a big 520
calories!
Which leaves you with a bit more than 1000 calories a day to get from
fat! (Can't you just see Dean Ornish's eyes rolling back in his head?!)
Now, keep in mind that pure protein foods are few and far between -- egg
white is about the only example I can think of off the top of my head.
Virtually all your other protein foods -- from steak to egg yolks to
tuna to cheese -- are going to include fat. And of course, you're
going to combine most of those low impact carbs with fat of one kind or
another -- dressing on your salad, butter on your cooked veggies, peanut
butter on your fiber crackers. So we're not talking about you needing
to sit around and drink olive oil to get your fat calories, and thank
goodness for it. Just keep in mind that if you get your protein from
low fat sources -- round steak, fish, skinless chicken, etc -- that
you'll need more in the way of concentrated fats -- oil on your salads,
butter on your vegetables, mayonnaise on your tuna, nuts and such for
snacks, to make up the rest of your calories. On the other hand, if you
eat high fat sources of protein, you'll have less calorie room for
concentrated fat foods.
What I'm suggesting, really, is that for some of you the common image of
a low carb diet allowing you to eat endless protein -- a half-dozen eggs
for breakfast, three hamburgers for lunch, a whole prime rib for dinner
-- is, er, an exaggeration. (And for some of you, it's not!) If you
need to watch your calories, it's the *extra* protein calories I'd lop
off first -- without, of course, dropping below your needed ration of
protein each day. Fill in around those protein calories and your few
carb calories with *fat*, up to your calorie limit. It's up to you --
and your bloodwork! -- whether you want to get those extra fat calories
from olives, avocados, and nuts, or by eating fattier meats and other
animal fats.
Yep, I believe I just recommended a high fat diet.
Hey, works for me.
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at least $50, type in the coupon code "dana" (without the quotes) and
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can still get Dana's book _How I Gave Up My Low Fat Diet and Lost Forty
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The Media Are At It Again!
A couple of my readers let me know that Katie Couric recently did a
report on MSNBC regarding "high protein diets" (heaven forbid we should
admit that we're really on a *high fat diet*!), in which she asserted
that they were terrible for cardiac health. Apparently she made the
usual assumption that we eat nothing but meat, eggs and cheese, and
asked Dr. Atkins, "...isn't the problem with your diet that no studies
have been done on its effect?"
Reportedly, Dr. Atkins tried to explain the difference between eating
meat, eggs and cheese along with piles of carbs, and eating those foods
in the context of a low carb diet, and Ms. Couric cut him off, again
asserting that no studies have been done.
Let's ignore, for the moment, the fact that Robert Atkins is a
traditionally trained cardiologist, with decades of experience, who
surely would be able to detect a deterioration in cardiovascular health
in his thousands of patients. Let's ignore, too, the many physicians
who have used low carbohydrate diets successfully, not only to help
their patients lose weight, but to improve their health -- the Drs.
Eades come to mind, as does Dr. Wolfgang Lutz of Austria, and for that
matter my friend Dr. Martin O'Neill, a cardiothoracic surgeon here in
Bloomington. Surely these physicians have access to the same medical
tests that all doctors use, and would be aware if low carbohydrate
dieting was causing a deterioration in their patients' health.
All that aside, Ms. Couric, who, as a journalist, should be doing her
research, is apparently utterly unaware that there have been a couple of
large studies of low carbohydrate diets published in the past year, both
of which not only found that low carbohydrate, high fat diets were
effective for weight loss, but also that the health of the subjects
improved, by all measured parameters, while on the diet.
One is the Schneider's Children's Hospital study, mentioned above. The
results of this study were presented earlier this year to the Society
for Adolescent Medicine at their annual meeting. Not only did the
children put on a low carb/high fat diet lose twice as much weight as
the children on the low fat diet, but they also showed a greater
improvement in bloodwork. Specifically, they had a greater drop in
triglycerides than the low fat dieters, and they also had a rise in HDL
("good cholesterol"), which was not seen in the low fat kids.
The other was a study conducted at the Durham VA Medical Center in North
Carolina, and was presented this past February to the Southern Society
of General Internal Medicine, in New Orleans. Over the four months of
the study, the subjects lost an average of 21.3 lbs. each. Ms. Couric
would, no doubt, be surprised to know that they also experienced an
average drop in triglycerides of nearly 40%, and an average increase of
about 7% in their HDL levels. Further, no signs of dangerous effects on
kidney or liver function were found, despite frequent insistence by low
carb critics that our way of eating will damage our kidneys and livers.
(It might be inserted here that the accepted fact that our remote
ancestors, pre-Agricultural Revolution, had no access to quantities of
grains and beans, and therefore ate primarily meat and vegetables, can
be considered a 2 million year "test" of the safety of low carbohydrate
diets. However, clinical data is, er, lacking. ;-) )
Of course, as a journalist of national reputation, Ms. Couric should
also be aware that in the past couple of years, the research has been
stacking up, showing that a low fat/high complex carbohydrate diet does
not convey the health benefits so often claimed for it. In particular,
one hopes she is aware that the New England Journal of Medicine, in the
winter of 1999, published the results of a review of 7 studies of a low
fat/high carb diet. The conclusion was that despite the many claims for
such a diet, it conferred *no* protective effect against breast cancer.
Indeed, the researchers found that the *highest* rate of breast cancer
was among those women with the *lowest* fat intake -- 15% or fewer of
calories. Perhaps Ms. Couric has heard of the Harvard Nurses's Study,
one of the largest and longest term medical studies ever done, involving
tens of thousands of women over several decades -- which showed just the
same results; the highest levels of breast cancer by far in the women
who ate the lowest fat diets. Ms. Couric also should have noticed the
two studies, published simultaneously in the New England Journal of
Medicine just this past winter, that found that a low fat, high fiber
diet did not in any way protect against colon cancer.
One trusts that, as an honest journalist, Ms. Couric will give equal
time to grilling those who advocate such a dangerous, unproven fad diet
as low fat/high carb.
You might email her care of MSNBC and tell her so.
http://www.msnbc.com/news/TODAY_front.asp?ta=y
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Time's Running Out! If You Want To Cruise With Me, Today's the Day!
Okay, all you cruise procrastinators -- yes, you, the one who's been
thinking, "Oh, man! I've got to go on that Low Carb Cruise, but hey,
it's summer. I'll register later." Guess what? Time's running out.
Already there are no ocean view rooms left! And inside rooms are
disappearing *fast*. If you want to come along, you'd better make that
reservation *NOW*, as in *right now*. And don't worry about not having
an ocean view room -- that's what all those decks and pools and stuff
are for!
So reserve your space today! It's going to be a blast! We're going to
have whole lot of fun, learn a lot, get away from *WINTER* (which *is*
coming, you know!), get rid of the holiday stress, get the New Year off
to a *great* start, learn about various low carb diet options, look at
the latest low carb cookbooks, brainstorm day to day low carb diet
strategies, sample new low carb products, learn way-cool breathing
exercises to accelerate metabolism -- all on an outrageously luxurious
and beautiful floating resort called the Carnival Victory, the newest,
largest, and most luxurious ship in the Carnival fleet! You have to see
this ship to believe it! And we're going to Mexico, Grand Cayman, and
Jamaica! How cool is *that*?!
Join me! Get an autographed preview copy of my second book! Meet new
low carb pals! Knock off another five pounds! And have a *ball*! We
sail on January 7th, 2001 (You'll want to be in Miami by the evening of
the 6th -- we can arrange that, too.) for a full week!
But you want to get your reservations in *now*. Why? Because just like
with airlines, you get a better rate with cruise lines if you *book in
advance*. At this point, we're moving toward the winter Caribbean
cruise season, and prices will only go up. So book now!! Your deposit
is fully refundable through October 15th, should anything untoward
happen. Check out all the details of the cruise at
http://www.holdthetoast.com/cruise.html .
C'mon, which would you rather be doing come the second week in January?
Shoveling snow? Or sailing blue waters with me and a whole bunch of low
carb diet pals?
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Product Review
Y'know, for quite a while I wasn't sure how to review sugar free,
Splenda sweetened preserves. I mean, what do you put them on, if you're
-- well, Holding the Toast? Then I read the GO-Diet, and learned that
plain yogurt wasn't anywhere near as high in carbs as we'd thought, and
I had a use for my sugar free preserves! I stir them into my yogurt!
And they're great. I've tried both the Jokin' Al brand and the Synergy
Diet house brand, and they're both just fine. I really doubt that
anyone would guess that these were sugar free preserves unless they were
told. I've got 'em in grape, raspberry, and strawberry. For purposes
of yogurt enhancement, I like the raspberry and strawberry best. All of
these have 2 g of carb per tablespoon serving, so they're not something
you can eat gobs of. But raspberry or strawberry yogurt makes a very
nice change from my usual lemon.
For that matter, now that I think about it, I'd bet some of you might
like a little natural peanut butter (you *are* buying only natural
peanut butter, right?) on a fiber cracker, topped with a little sugar
free jelly. Sorta like being a kid again, eating saltines with peanut
butter and jelly. If you like any of the low carb breads or bagels or
whatever that are on the market now, you could use these on any of them,
too. But remember -- all of the low carb breads and crackers do have
some carbs in and of themselves, and you'd be adding another 2 g per
tablespoon of preserves. Go easy with this, guys -- we're talking
treat, not staple food!
Also, I have a recipe somewhere for "jam tarts" -- cookies shaped like
little turnovers, filled with jelly or jam. The dough is basically
cream cheese and flour; I'm betting I could substitute vanilla whey
protein powder for the flour, and come up with a jelly filled cookie we
could eat over the holidays. I'll get right on it!
Again, these are a nice little treat, but not something you should be
eating in quantity!
Available at http://www.synergydiet.com
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Reader Review of _How I Gave Up My Low Fat Diet and Lost Forty Pounds!_
The Only Way To Lose!
I have been on weight loss diets almost all of my life! I've lost and
gained over 500 pounds in my lifetime. This will no longer be the case
for me now that I have read Dana Carpender's book "How I Gave Up My Low
Fat Diet And Lost Forty Pounds" and am following her plan! I am now at
the lowest weight I have been in ten years and it was so easy to attain
this weight loss. How can you call this program a diet? I've eaten
steak, chicken, veggies, cheese and occasionally Peanut M&M's, ice
cream and chocolate mousse! This program is not a starvation plan. I
have always felt so satisfied and healthy and have so much energy! Best
of all I know I will be able to stay on this food program for the rest
of my life! If you are tired of the diet Yo-yo I highly recommend Dana's
book. It's a fun, fast paced, easy read and it will be the last diet
book you'll ever need to buy!
J. Crear, Hobart, WI USA, September 28, 2000
Wow! Thank you, J. Crear, and keep up the good work!
If you'd like to read the first chapter of _How I Gave Up My Low Fat
Diet and Lost Forty Pounds!_ for FREE, you'll find it at
http://www.holdthetoast.com , along with the foreword and the table of
contents. And a FAQ, and a whole bunch of other stuff!
You can order the book through the website, or you can go to
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0966883101/lowcarbohysoluti and
find it at Amazon.com, along with a whole pile of other nice things
people have said about it!
Or, for that matter, you can visit http://www.carbsmart.com , and order
it from Carb Smart, who currently has it on sale!
If you'd like to buy the book from a bookstore, you'll probably have to
special order it. If you're in the USA, this shouldn't be a problem --
just tell them that you want to order _How I Gave Up My Low Fat Diet and
Lost Forty Pounds!_ by Dana Carpender, and that the ISBN is
0-9668831-0-1. You could also tell them that they can order it through
Baker and Taylor; one of the country's biggest book wholesalers. We do
ship to Canadian bookstores.
If you're outside of the US, your best bet is to order from Amazon.com.
We can ship internationally from here at Hold the Toast, too, but we're
not set up for it big-time like Amazon is. If you're a book wholesaler
outside the US and interested in carrying _How I Gave Up My Low Fat
Dietand Lost Forty Pounds!_, we'd love to hear from you!
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That's it for this week! See you next week, when I'll be 42!
Dana W. Carpender
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