General Diet & Nutrition

Are all doctors knowledgeable about all diets?

In a perfect world, yes, but we do not live in a perfect world. Many excellent, caring, well educated doctors have, unfortunately, little experience with the many possible diets out there. If your doctor does not approve of your diet choice, listen to his concerns. Do your own study for : info by reading the books, etc. And do the blood work your doctor may suggest before starting the diet and then three months into the diet to access the diet's impact on your health. While it is important to listen to your doctor, you are the one who must live in your body. there fore it is necessary for you to be as informed and knowledgeable about your chosen diet as possible. Therefore, you can make an informed decision, based on all the info about the diet. Discuss this with your doctor and explain to him why you are choosing this diet and that you want your doctor to monitor your health while you are on the diet. This way his concerns will be addressed and dealt with while you are dieting. This will also allow you to examine the efficacy and safety of the diet on an on going basis and educate your doctor about a diet he may not be familiar with. This is in no way a recommendation that you should not listen and follow your doctors advice, just an alternative method, should you wish to follow a diet against your doctors advice.

I keep hearing that a low-fat diet is supposed to be good for me. Why should I eat a low-fat diet, and how low is "low"?

There is strong evidence that the high levels of fat consumed by most Americans (and members of other westernized cultures) cause, or are a contributing factor in, diseases such as gallbladder disease, cancer, and diabetes. High levels of saturated fats, which are found in animal fats, high-fat dairy foods, tropical oils, and hydrogenated (solidified) vegetable oils, raise your cholesterol level and promote heart disease and strokes. The "typical" American diet gets more than 40% of its calories from fat, with the remaining calories coming from protein and carbohydrates. The American Heart Association, the National Academy of Science, the American Cancer Society, and many other groups and nutrition boards across the country recommend a diet in which a maximum of 30% of calories come from fat (no more than 10% of total calories from saturated fats), 55-65% calories come from carbohydrates, and 10-15% of calories are provided by proteins.

A growing body of authorities (Pritikin, McDougall, Ornish, et al.) suggest that even lower levels of fat (10-20% of total calories) are much better than 30%, and can actually reverse existing heart disease. Dr. Dean Ornish, for example, recommends a 10% fat vegetarian diet of fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, and legumes (peas and beans); nonfat dairy products and egg whites are also allowed. Alcohol (which suppresses the body's ability to burn fat) and processed sugars (which can trigger food cravings in many people) are discouraged.

From a weight loss standpoint, a low-fat diet is ideal because it minimizes the amount of fat that your body has to store in the first place. Excess dietary fat can be directly stored by your body, no conversion needed (so perhaps there's some truth in the adage, "Cheesecake goes straight to my
hips"). Proteins and carbohydrates, on the other hand, are usually burned up immediately rather than being stored. They can be converted to fat if they're present in sufficient quantities, but that's quite a bit of work for your body.

Should I eliminate all fat from my diet?

You couldn't even if you wanted to, and you really don't want to. Even "fat-free" foods such as raw vegetables and dried beans contain trace amounts of fat, so there's no way you can totally escape the stuff. Besides, your body does require small amounts of fat for lubrication, essential fatty acids, and fat-soluble vitamins. However, you could eliminate all pure fats (e.g., butter/margarine, cooking oils, etc.) and high-fat foods (non-skim dairy products, red meats, nuts, etc.) from your diet and still get all the fat that your body requires from those trace amounts.

How can I tell how much fat is in the foods I eat?

For processed foods, check the nutrition information panel on the package, which should indicate how many grams of fat one serving contains; each gram of fat contributes about 9 calories towards the total number of calories per serving. For example, one serving of crackers might break down as
follows: 60 calories, 1 gram of protein, 10 grams of carbohydrate, and 2 grams of fat. In order to determine what percentage of the calories in this food come from fat, multiply the weight of the fat (in grams) by 9, then divide this figure by the total number of calories in a serving. In our example, 18 calories (2 g fat * 9 cal/g), or 30% of the total calories (18 cal/60 cal = 0.30), come from fat. The remaining calories come from the protein and carbohydrate, which each provide only about 4 calories per gram. (If the weight of a serving of food is more than the combined weight of its fat, protein, and carbohydrate weights, the "missing" weight is probably due mostly to water, which has no calories.)

NOTE: Take a closer look at those food products that proudly proclaim that they're "85% fat-free!" Such statements can be misleading, since they usually mean that the product is 15% fat by weight, not that the product gets only 15% of its calories from fat. (Gram for gram, fat contains more than twice as many calories as protein and carbohydrates.) For example, a serving of a brand-name turkey breakfast sausage which is allegedly "85% fat-free" has 6 grams of fat in each 80-calorie serving, and therefore gets more than 67% (6 * 9/80 = 0.675) of its calories from fat.

You may wish to purchase an inexpensive book on nutrition information to look up foods which are not labeled with nutrition information. (Or, try the Nutrition Analysis Tool at http://www.ag.uiuc.edu/~food-lab/nat/.    It works best with browsers capable of displaying tables.) Fruits, vegetables, berries, grains, legumes (peas and beans), and egg whites generally have little fat. (Avocados, olives, nuts, soybeans, and seeds--such as sunflower seeds, and even seeds from low-fat vegetables such as pumpkins--are exceptions.) Any food which looks oily or leaves greasy stains on a paper napkin is probably high in fat. This doesn't mean that you should never eat high-fat foods, only that you should balance them with lower fat foods such as grains, vegetables, and fruits. Keep the broad picture in mind; evaluate your diet over a period of a day (or a couple of days) and aim to keep your total fat intake under 30% at most (10-20% if possible).

How do the new nutrition labels on processed foods differ from the old labels?

The new nutrition labels, which debuted in May 1994, may make evaluating the nutritional values of processed foods a little easier for most people. The new labels list not only the amounts (weights) of fat (total and saturated), cholesterol, sodium, carbohydrates (total, fiber, and sugars), and protein in the food, but also the percentage of the "Daily Value" that most of these provide. (The term "Daily Value" replaces the old term "Recommended Daily Allowance," although the actual nutrition recommendations have not changed.) Daily Value percentages are also listed for vitamin A, vitamin C, calcium, and iron; depending on the food, percentages for other vitamins and minerals may be given. A Daily Value percentage is not given for protein. (FDA pamphlet #932260, "How to Read the New Food Label," states that "most Americans get more protein than they need"; presumably this is why no value is listed.) The Daily Value percentages are based on a 2,000-calorie-per-day diet in which no more than 30% of the calories come from fat, so if your needs are different, you'll need to keep this in mind when reading the labels. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration offers a simple rule of thumb: If the percentage of Daily Value for a given nutrient is less than 5%, the food is considered low in that nutrient. Therefore, you should look for foods that have low Daily Value percentages for fat, cholesterol, and sodium, and high percentages of carbohydrates (including fiber), vitamins, and minerals.

Other provisions of the new food labeling standards:

     All packaged, processed foods must now carry nutrition labels. Previously, nutrition labels were voluntary, and many foods were unlabeled.

     Terms such as "fat-free," "low-fat," "lean," "light" (or "lite"), etc. are now defined by the government. Previously, food manufacturers were free to describe their foods in any way they liked.

     The serving sizes used to determine the Daily Value percentages are    now more realistic (read "larger") and are expressed in terms that are easier for consumers to deal with. For example, serving sizes for chips and crackers are now expressed as "x pieces" rather than "x ounces."

What is fiber? Is it important?

Fiber (also known as "roughage") is simply the non-digestible portion of the foods that we eat. (There are actually several different types of fiber, such as cellulose, hemicellulose, lignin, pectin, and guar.) Fiber is found chiefly in non-processed foods such as whole grains, legumes (beans and peas), fruits, and vegetables, especially in the outer layers of such foods. Fiber may be added to processed foods in the form of bran, which is the outer coating from a grain such as wheat or oats.

A high-fiber diet has a number of benefits:

     It speeds the elimination of fecal material from the body. This can reduce or cure constipation a ND intestinal polyps, alleviate hemorrhoids (which often result from straining during bowel movements), and may greatly reduce the risk of colon cancer. It may     also prevent or alleviate diverticulosis, a condition in which the      intestinal lining develops small pockets in which fecal material can be trapped.

     It fills out the stomach and intestinal cavity. This produces a sense of fullness which is a real boon in weight control.

     It can alleviate conditions such as spastic colon and diarrhea because fiber absorbs excess water and produces a bulkier stool.

     Some types of fibers, particularly those found in whole fruits and legumes, tie up sugar molecules so that the levels of insulin normally produced after eating are reduced, a big advantage for diabetics. (This effect is most pronounced when fruits and legumes are eaten whole, rather than as fruit juice or ground beans.)

The typical American diet is high in processed foods, most of which contain little or no fiber. Most people get only around 10-12 grams of fiber per day, but you need 25 grams or more to get the real benefits. If your current diet is low in fiber, it's important that you increase fiber gradually over a period of weeks or months; sudden increases can cause bloating, cramping, and gas. Try having a small serving of a high-fiber, low-fat cereal with your breakfast; as your system becomes used to the higher fiber levels, start substituting whole-grain breads, cereals and pastas for the refined (white flour, low-fiber) varieties you've been eating. Increase your consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables, and consume edible peels and skins (e.g., on apples and potatoes) rather than
trimming them.

Is sugar a no-no?

Sugar has gained a nasty reputation over the years largely because it is so often found in combination with high levels of fat in foods such as ice cream and pastries. Sugar is also a major source of "empty calories": calories which are not accompanied by any appreciable nutrient value. In terms of weight loss or maintenance, sugar is not necessarily objectionable, provided that you can keep your intake of it down to moderate levels. Since it is a carbohydrate, it is normally metabolized (burned) by the body immediately, and is converted to fat only if present in quantities too large to be used at once. Some people do find that even moderate amounts of sugar stimulate cravings for yet more sweets, often of the high-fat variety. If you are one of these people, you may wish to eliminate processed sugars from your diet, relying instead on the natural sweetness of fruits, vegetables, and grains.

What about artificial sweeteners?

Artificial sweeteners may be an effective aid for those who have occasional cravings for sweets, but probably work against those of us who have an active sweet tooth. The taste of artificial sweeteners can trigger sugar cravings about as well as real sugar can. Some long-term users of artificial sweeteners use sweeteners in addition to all the foods they normally eat, rather than as a substitute for part of the foods.

What is the new "Food Pyramid" I've heard about? Is it similar to the "Four Basic Food Group ?

It replaces the "Four Basic Food Groups" plan, which was heavily influenced by the meat and dairy industries. It's quite possible to eat a healthy diet without using any meat or dairy products, which can be high in fats anyway. The new "Food Pyramid" is a step in the right direction, since it emphasizes fruits, vegetable, and grains, and suggests smaller amounts of protein sources (meats, legumes, dairy products, etc.) than did the Four Basic Food groups.

Food Pyramid

If the quantities of food suggested here seem excessive (eleven servings of bread and cereal a day?!), remember that the USDA's idea of a serving is often much smaller than the portion that a typical consumer actually eats. For example, a serving of vegetables is only 1/2 cup of cooked or raw, chopped vegetables, or 3/4 cup vegetable juice, or one cup of raw, leafy vegetables like spinach or lettuce. A serving of fruit is 1/2 cup of bite-sized fruit pieces, 1/4 cup dried fruit (e.g. raisins), 3/4 cup of fruit juice, or one medium piece of fruit (e.g., a medium orange, apple, or banana, or one half of a grapefruit). A serving of dairy products such as milk or yogurt (look for skim or low-fat varieties) is one cup; a serving of cheese (which should be used in moderation or replaced with low-fat varieties) is 1-1/2 ounces of natural cheese or 2 ounces of processed cheese.

When it comes to proteins, many Americans far exceed the recommended servings per day: a serving of meat is only 2 to 3 ounces of cooked meat, a portion about the size of a deck of cards. One ounce of meat can be replaced by 1/2 cup of cooked beans, 1 egg, or 2 tablespoons of peanut
butter (remember that whole eggs and peanut butter are high in fat and should be using sparingly). For grains, a serving is considered to be one ounce of bread (about one slice) or dry cereal (most of us consume at least 1-1/2 to 2 ounces of breakfast cereal at a time), or 1/2 cup of cooked grains or pasta. Since a typical serving of rice is 3/4 to 1 cup, and a plateful of pasta contains around 2 cups of the stuff, most of us have no problems meeting the suggested servings per day.

Is Promise Ultra Fat-free Margarine really fat-free?

According to its label, one serving (one tablespoon) of Promise Ultra margarine contains 5 calories, 0 g. protein, 0 g. carbohydrates, 0 g. fat, 0 g. cholesterol, and 90 mg. sodium. The ingredient list includes water, vegetable mono and diglycerides, gelatin, salt, rice starch, lactose, vegetable diacetyl tartaric acid ester of mono and diglycerides (Datem), potassium sorbate and lactic acid (added as preservatives), artificial flavor and color added including beta carotene, and vitamin A palmitate.

Because of its high water content, Promise Ultra cannot be used to fry foods, and should not be substituted for regular margarine or butter in baked goods because the texture of the final product would probably be adversely affected. However, Promise Ultra could be used to saut� vegetables or to add flavor to moist recipes. Informal taste-tests by a.s.d'ers have produced mixed results, to say the least; some people find the taste acceptable on toast, hot vegetables, etc., while others find the taste repugnant. YMMV.