DIETS

I wrote this article February 8, 2015; and with a few exceptions, it holds true today. The most evident exception is in the first line.  What’s a bookstore?  Do they still exist?  The world I live in really is changing radically and I’m feeling older by the day.  Both the bookstores I used to frequent are now medical centers.  Go figure!

The second exception is that, in today’s world, many diet gurus are taking a psychologic approach, using phone apps to track your habits and provide positive feedback and rewards for good behavior.  I like this approach!

I’m on the Weight Watcher’s new point plan which does not vilify any particular foods but instead gives you points to spend on food and a long list of “free foods” that, within reason, you can eat at will.  WW blends nicely with my Live Wellthy non-diet plan.  Its phone app is quite useful.

By the way, I’m on WW because I’m in shit shape.  Between the back surgery, back pain and the Parkinsons, I’ve gained 30 pounds and get very little exercise.  One thing is for sure, you don’t want to “Pity Eat,” and gain 30 pounds.  And, for sure, walk, jog and run as much as you can, NOW!  You don’t realize how precious those abilities are until you lose them!

February 2015

I was in the bookstore the other day and was blown away by how many diet books were on the shelves. Each book proclaimed its plan’s ability to help you lose weight and become healthy. Most of the books turned certain food into villains, banning you from eating some essential nutrient and proclaiming that “medical research” has determined that fat/carbohydrates/protein/gluten/ etc. are bad for you.

My patients, looking for rapid weight loss, eliminate whichever essential nutrient has been vilified and, in fact lose weight. Unfortunately, they gain their weight back (plus some) later. I don’t believe that G-d made bad foods. I believe that we take good foods and turn them into villains in our never-ending quest for culinary satisfaction.

As an example of what mankind does with nature, let’s look at a cucumber. Cucumbers are low in calories (15 cal/100 g) and sodium and high in fiber, vitamins C, A, and K. Cucumbers also are a good source of beta-carotene, one of nature’s beneficial antioxidants; and they contain lutein (recommended by ophthalmologists for ocular health). In addition, cucumbers have diuretic properties beneficial for weight loss and in hypertension.

Now, let’s take a healthy cucumber and soak it in brine and spices, add some sugar and turn it into a spicy sweet pickle. While it tastes great, it’s now full of salt and sugar and no longer a healthy vegetable. Let’s go one step further, coating it in flour and frying it the way they do in the south.

I was just in Atlanta and can attest to how great fried pickles, dipped in a mayo based spicy pickle sauce, taste. Fried pickles are addictive! Fried pickles are also lethal. Greasy and rich in salt and sugar certainly fulfills our culinary needs by tantalizing our taste buds. The cucumber, which once served as a diuretic and lowered our blood pressure, when converted to fried pickles, raises our pressure and increases our weight.

Foods are not inherently bad for you! What you do with them is the real problem. Read “Diets and Other Unnatural Acts” (available on Amazon) and refine your own diet.   (It’s not a great book but it’s an easy read and the concepts presented are important to your health.)Learn how to make a healthy cucumber taste great without dowsing it in salt, sugar and grease.