WomensDiets

What the Experts Say About the Protein Power Diet continued...

"In the short term, the low-carb diets are effective -- we see weight loss, improvement in some metabolic functions such as blood pressure, loss of body fat, but their real hazard is that they are nutritionally poor," she says. "They are low in calcium, low in vitamins C and A, low in fiber. We don't know if taking a vitamin-mineral supplement is adequate. There are a lot of micronutrients in foods that are not in supplements, including some we don't even know about yet. We do not have any long-term studies on these alternative diets with the extreme modifications of a nutritionally balanced diet."

Susan B. Roberts, PhD, a professor of nutrition and psychiatry at Tufts University in Boston, Ma., and co-author of Feeding Your Child for Lifelong Health, does not recommend the diet because there is no good evidence that low-carbohydrate diets work any more effectively than conventional ones. Furthermore, she says, "Because they cut back on foods that have multiple health benefits, they may reduce health in the long term."

Roberts notes that the Protein Power regimen may work for many, but the reason is different from the theory put forth in the book. It simply may be the lack of variety that works to reduce overall calorie intake. "Protein Power and most other popular diet books substantially reduce the variety of foods you are allowed to eat -- and variety itself is a major promoter of overeating," she says.

Food For Thought

As with any of the currently popular low-carbohydrate and high-protein diets, the Protein Power plan yields weight loss on the short term. However, the established nutritional community warns that these eating plans can be seriously deficient in important nutrients. While this plan does offer a range of sample diets and menus, it requires a reduction in the variety of foods that one can eat, which may be difficult to sustain over the long term.

What You Can Eat on the Protein Power Diet continued...

The book's sample menus don't sound too temperate: Breakfast might be smoked salmon and a cream cheese omelet, one-half cup of fresh strawberries, a slice of light toast with butter, and coffee; for lunch, one-half avocado stuffed with chicken salad made with mayonnaise, served on a bed of fresh greens. Dinner might be a lean cut of meat, ten steamed asparagus spears, salad, one-half tomato, and a small glass of red wine if desired. Diet sodas and artificial sweeteners are permitted in moderation.

To round out nutritional needs, the authors recommend taking a high-quality vitamin-and-mineral supplement, along with at least 90 milligrams of potassium.

The book contains sample menus, more than 100 recipes, and suggestions on how to order in every kind of restaurant.

How Protein Power Works

Like the other low-carbohydrate diets, the Protein Power regimen is based on the idea that controlling the level of insulin, "the master hormone of humanmetabolism," helps regulate blood pressure, cholesterol, triglycerides, and fat storage. Researchers have long known that carbohydrates cause the body to produce insulin and that high levels of insulin inhibit the breakdown of fatty deposits in the body. In contrast, low intake of carbohydrates keeps insulin levels low, forcing the production of a counterbalancing hormone, glucagon, which seeks energy from the body's supply of stored fat. Therefore, one loses weight. Do this long enough and the fat seems to melt away, the authors claim, and they add that the usual "low-fat, high-carbohydrate approach won't do it; it has just the opposite effect."

If you are very overweight, the initial phase of the diet (when carbohydrates are severely restricted) will almost certainly put you in a state of ketosis, which happens when fat breaks down to the point where ketone bodies are produced and excreted in the urine. Ketones are incompletely burned fat, say the Eades, so that any ketones "you get rid of without actually using them for energy means you are ditching unwanted fat without having to actually burn it off."

Is ketosis dangerous, as some nutritional authorities would have you believe? Not at all, attest the authors. Ketones are the natural by-product of fat breakdown, normal and important sources of energy. To facilitate getting rid of these ketones, they urge you to increase your fluid intake by as much as 50%, to at least two quarts of water-based fluids a day.

As for exercise, the authors favor resistance-training, such as weight-lifting, because it stimulates the release of growth hormone more quickly than aerobic exercise. Why is this important? Because growth hormone shifts the metabolism to the preferential use of stored fat for energy.

What the Experts Say About the Protein Power Diet

Low-carbohydrate diets, which always mean high protein, usually draw a red flag from conventional nutritionists and medical experts. But since they do jump-start weight loss that you can see quickly, some say they have their place. "Fad dietsare OK for a quick start," notes Bonnie Brehm, PhD, assistant professor of nutritionat the University of Cincinnati's College of Allied Health Sciences in Cincinnati, Ohio. "Some people need to see that five-pound weight loss rather than just a single pound after a week of dieting." Brehm is conducting a study comparing a high protein diet with the low-fat diet recommended by the American Heart Association

What Is the Protein Power Diet?

The popularity of low-carbohydrate, high-protein diets is not as high as it was years ago when Protein Power graced the New York Times best-seller list for over a year. However, low-carb, high-protein diets continue to offer weight loss options.

Written by a married couple of MDs, Michael R. and Mary Dan Eades, the book promises that you will "feel fit and boost your health -- in just weeks!" The cover includes praise from one of their diet-expert-author competitors, Barry Sears, author of The Zone, who calls their book nothing less than "The Nutritional Primer of the Nineties."

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What sets Protein Power apart is the wealth of historical information about low-carbohydrate diets and how these have influenced dieters galore, ever since William Banting wrote his Letter on Corpulence in the mid 1800s. The Eades also provide scientific explanations for the functions of insulin and glucagons, the major hormones involved in the food-to-fuel process, along with plenty of encouragement and practical suggestions, such as what to order in a French restaurant or fast food joint.

What You Can Eat on the Protein Power Diet

Those of you who crave steak, eggs, and cheese will have a great time on the Protein Power diet. Vegetarians will not, because tofu is the main source of protein allowed non-meat eaters. And as even the most dedicated know, tofu three times a day can get tiresome.

To determine your daily protein quotient, the authors take you through a series of steps and measurements to determine your body fat and lean body mass, as well as ask you to assess your physical activity level.

You may choose your protein from fish, poultry, red meat, low-fat cheese (cottage cheese, feta, mozzarella, Muenster), eggs, and tofu. If you want to lose a lot of fat (the authors don't say you lose weight, but fat instead) or correct a health problem, you can add only 30 grams of carbohydrate, or less, divided throughout the day. If your need to lose is not so great, you can up that quota to 55 grams per day. Favorite low-carb foods? Lists of low-carb fruits and vegetables are given to make your life easier. These include leafy green vegetables, tomatoes, peppers, broccoli, eggplant, zucchini, green beans, asparagus, celery, cucumber, mushrooms, and a surprise fruit that rarely makes the diet sweepstakes: avocado, high in fat, but low in carbs.

Add in 25 grams of fiber (you can subtract the fiber grams from the carbohydrate grams in commercially processed foods, which gives you more carbs to play with), and healthy fats: olive and nut oils, avocado, and butter. Drink at least eight glasses of water per day. And a glass of wine or a light beer is OK, but their carbs count, too.

What the Experts Say About The Pritikin Principle

There seems to be little dispute that you will lose weight on the Pritikin diet or that it is generally a nutritionally rich diet low in calories. But there are caveats: "Because fat makes one feel full, the extremely low fat content of this diet will make those following it often feel hungry," says Teryl L. Tanaka, RD, the clinical nutritionmanager at the Santa Monica UCLA Medical Center. Consequently, she adds, the likelihood is high of the weight returning after one stops strictly adhering to the diet.

James Hill, PhD, the director of the Center for Human Nutrition at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center in Denver, agrees that the diet is not practical for many people. While observing that people staying at the Pritikin Centers do really well losing weight, he asks: "How realistic is the diet once they get away from the centers and into the real world?"

Both the Pritikin diet and the nutritionally similar Ornish diet are extremely low in fat, Hill notes, down to 10% of total calories. "Yes, if we could do that we would all be healthier, but it is very hard to follow that formula in our environment," he cautions. "It's difficult to maintain such a low-fat content of our diets if you eat out often, and it takes time to prepare good,-tasting low-fat food. Most people do not have the time to spend hours each day preparing food."

Another problem, adds Tanaka, is that the low-fat content may actually be harmful to our health, "Pritikin also inhibits the intake and absorption of fat soluble vitamins, and can even limit the amount of essential fatty acids provided by the diet needed for normal cell function, healthy skin and tissue, growth, and development."

Food For Thought

What do most nutritionists and health authorities like about the diet? Its strict limit of animal products -- often associated with a variety of major diseases -- and that it incorporates exercise and stress reduction, along with overall low calorie intake. But this is qualified with a concern that the extremely low-fat regimen is difficult to stick with over the long haul.

What You Can Eat With The Pritikin Principle continued...

Not surprisingly, the more processed the food, the more likely they are packed full of calories. Corn, for instance, starts out at a somewhat reasonable 490 calories per pound. By the time it ends up in a tortilla chip at your favorite Mexican restaurant, it's skyrocketed to 2,450 calories per pound. However, eat it with guacamole, and the combination (avocado dip with the chips) drops the number to 1,450 calories per pound.

The plan is to eat food with a large volume of fiber and water to fill up your stomach -- vegetables, fruits, beans, and natural, unprocessed grains. These foods, he claims, "create tremendous feelings of fullness, or satiety, in your stomach." In addition to eating three meals a day, the program incorporates two "calorically light" snacks as well. While Pritikin doesn't have you counting calories, you do have to possess a basic understanding of how to calculate the "average caloric density of your meal," and then keep that average below a certain number.

Exercise is strongly recommended, and walking is his favorite. How much is just right to maintain weight loss? Based on observations of obese people who lost weight and kept it off, Pritikin suggests "All of us should use ... 30 miles a week as a goal." For the rest of us, however, he suggests one 30-minute walk a day. Going at a good clip, you might average 12 to 15 miles a week.

How The Pritikin Principle Works

To lose weight, most of us will need to keep the average caloric density of each meal below 400 calories per pound. Since most vegetables fall below 200 calories per pound, when they are eaten with meat and starches, they bring down the calorie average of each meal. High-carbohydrate food, along with pasta and hot cereals, range between 230 to 630 calories per pound. Animal protein goes from 400 calories per pound (some fish) to 1,400 (that juicy porterhouse steak) to 2,170 (bacon). By combining the leanest portions of animal protein with plenty of vegetables, you can get the caloric density down to a level where you will lose weight, according to Pritikin's plan.

To keep within the suggested guidelines, Pritikin suggests we eat whole, unprocessed, and natural carbohydrate-rich foods, such as grains, vegetables, and fruit. Those preferred are:

Brown rice
Millet
Barley
Oats
A wide assortment of dark green lettuces
Onions
Potatoes
Squash
Beans (black turtle beans, chickpeas, lentils, lima and pinto beans)
Apples
Pears
Strawberries
Bananas

Some processed whole-grain foods, such as oatmeal, are acceptable. Even white-flour pasta is okay, as long as it is combined with vegetables to bring down the caloric density of the whole meal.

Other guidelines: Eat small portions of lean beef, chicken, and low-fat dairy products. Fish is fine, preferably three servings per week of omega-3 rich seafood. Avoid fried foods, dressing with fat, and fatty sauces. Eat frequently. Have three meals a day plus two snacks. Stay active and avoid salty foods. Artificial sweeteners such as Splenda are okay. And decaf tea, once frowned upon, is fine.

The New Pritikin Program contains several pages of suggested meals and tips on how they might be improved with substitutions, as well as a restaurant guide for everything from a Junior Bacon Cheeseburger at Wendy's to buttered noodles in a French restaurant to a serving of almond chicken in a Chinese establishment. More than 50 recipes are also included.

What Is The Pritikin Principle

Everyone who's ever thought about going on a diet has at least heard of The Pritikin Principle: a low-fat diet, not vegetarian, but largely based on vegetables, grains, and fruits. Fat in the diet accounts for a mere 10%. Since 1976, more than 70,000 people have spent time at the Pritikin Longevity Centers learning how to eat healthy, prepare low-fat meals and snacks, and incorporate exercise and stress-reduction techniques into their lives. Several books by Nathan Pritikin carried the message of the Pritikin approach to the masses. It was an approach designed largely to promote well-being by lowering cholesterol and helping diabetics normalize their blood sugar without taking insulin. That people lost weight was an added plus.

Now his son, Robert Pritikin, has taken over and tweaked the concept. The same plant-based foods of the original are the staples of his diet, and the fat content of the regimen is still about as low as you can go. But Robert's latest books focuses on something he calls The Calorie Density Solution.

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He claims the concern is not calories but rather how dense they are in any given food. Fill up on foods that have relatively few calories per pound and you will lose the "excess body fat that threatens your health and longevity."

Choosing foods that are not "calorie dense," such as apples and oatmeal, promises to "give you the freedom to eat until you are full and never limit your portions or be hungry in order to lose weight." The higher the caloric density of any given food, the more likely it is to causeweight gain, because you will consume more calories to feel full than if you choose foods with a lower caloric density. A pound of broccoli, for instance, has only 130 calories (that's raw and unbuttered, of course) but a pound of chocolate chip cookies has 2,140 calories. You get the drift -- broccoli, good; chocolate chip cookies, bad.

What You Can Eat With The Pritikin Principle

Some foods have more calories packed in them, bite for bite and pound for pound, claims Pritikin. If we eat foods with fewer calories per pound, we can fill up on these foods and still have the kind of calorie deficit that we need to lose weight. Pritikin doesn't shy away from the basic principle that weight loss is achieved by eating fewer calories than you burn each day, which is refreshing, given the spate of current diet books that attempt to ignore that simple but unalterable axiom. The Pritikin Principle has more than 20 pages of charts listing the caloric density of all kinds of foods, from snacks to sausages, listing them in calories per pound to graphically demonstrate the striking calorie differences between low-density foods and high-density foods.

P.I.N.K. Method Diet: Food for Thought

Eating a wide variety of healthy foods and getting plenty of exercise is a well-known prescription for weight loss.

The P.I.N.K. Method is easy to follow and enhanced by online support and a nutrition guide. But it may be challenging because it is an inflexible, restrictive diet approach limited in calories.

If this program works for you, follow the wellness advice and P.I.N.K. primary recommendations to eat a cleaner diet with lots of healthy foods. Add a once-daily multivitamin/mineral to fill in the nutritional gaps, and get regular physical activity.

When dietary recommendations are not sustainable in the long term, keep looking for a diet plan that promotes healthy changes you can live with forever. Unless you change your eating and lifestyle habits permanently, the weight is likely to return. Better yet, consult a registered dietitian for a customized food plan just for you.

Kathleen Zelman, MPH, RD, is director of nutrition for WebMD. Her opinions and conclusions are her own.