protein power lifeplan

[Jean@125]

Hi all,
Can someone who is doing the protein power life plan give me a quick overview of the plan to get me started for the plan until I get a copy of the book.I do have the original book. Would this be about the same as the lifeplan.
I have tried induction on atkins and keep binging so I want to try something less restrictive as far as carbs go. Thank you. Jeanie

[peachy]

It's pretty similar. You can calculate your Protein Requirements in the old book -- but the new one is much simpler. At 5'2" and 149 lbs. you should have 27 grams of protein at each meal and 7-10 carbs. Hope this helps.

[Dedee62]

Can you help me? Also waiting for the book from Amazon. I'm 5'6" and 194.

[Jean@125]

Dedee62,
Your minimum protein requirement per meal would be 34 grams and 7-10 net carbs.

[Dedee62]

Thanks.

I am awaiting arrival of The 30-Day Low-Carb Plan (not sure if exact title) by Eades. I've heard that it's the protein power plan in an easier read. Please tell me that it has enough information on the plan and I don't need to get the life plan book too.

[Dedee62]

Do you also get snacks?

What if you have way more protein in a meal? For dinner I had 2 - 5 oz. filet mignons. I found a site that told me 6 oz. is 49g. protein. I also had some brochili and a few slices of zuchini w/ranch dressing. I don't know exact amount of carbs in this meal, but pretty sure I didn't go over 10.

[Jean@125]

Dedee
You can have protein snacks. The amount of protein per meal is the minimum requirement you don't have to worry about going over, just don't stuff yourself. The brocolli and the zuchinni are fine. Brocolli 2.2 net carbs per raw cup and the zuchinni 4.0 per cup.
I haven't read the 30 day book so I am not sure what it covers.
Jeanie

[Taliesa]

Jeannie, we may be sisters-under-the-skin . . . I've been an on-and-off Atkins follower since as early as 1972. The WOE works for me -- I feel good, lose weight, experience fewer medical problems, and enjoy the allowable foods. However I always end up falling prey to trigger foods (primarily ice cream, popcorn, tortillas and grits). I start binging and, obviously, regain the lost weight and, sometimes, more . . . I'm currently up fifteen pounds after a two month binge and looking for a plan that I can stick with better than Atkins. I restarted (again) low carbing on 5/12/08. This time I'm trying PP instead of Atkins. Hopefully, PP can be the lifetime plan that Atkins has not been for me

[hannax33]

i don't understand this PP plan..
can someone explain it to me?
sorry if i sound stupid, but i'm lost O_o;
and also i'm 5'3 and 130 how much protein should i eat?

[Prairieprof]

Go to the Protein Power website and you can read articles summarizing the plan. Protein Power at a Glance - Protein Power Forums

I admire and follow PP. But I think it's a little unrealistic to expect people to write it out accurately in a bulletin board message.

[Parisfox]

I just happen to have an article that might answer some of your questions....hope this helps. I’ll have to post it in sections because there is a 15,000 character limit.

Protein Power in a Nutshell By Levi Wallach

Protein Power: One Person's Perspective

Updated March 2003

Introduction

In 1995 Michael R. and Mary Dan Eadeses, two medical doctors who practice in Colorado, wrote "Protein Power" as a guide to better health and weight loss through diet, nutrition, supplementation, and exercise. In 2001, they followed up Protein Power with The Protein Power Lifeplan, which differed mainly in that it simplified some of the calculations one needed to determine protein consumption levels and that it updated information on studies that had come out since their first book. It also dropped a little bit of the detailed coverage of some topics like eicosinoids in favor of a broader coverage of some new topics, including meditation, sunbathing, iron, magnesium, cholesterol, and others.

The Eadeses take a very even-handed scientifically oriented approach in their books that I will attempt to explain the major points of here. However, some of the details as well as other topics that I won't cover should be reason enough to invest in the books. They are excellent and worth your time and investment. If you can't find them at your local bookstore, you can always try the library, Amazon.com, or Half.com.

o "Protein Power" at Amazon.com
o "Protein Power" at Half.com
o "The Protein Power Lifeplan" at Amazon.com
o "The Protein Power Lifeplan" at Half.com
o "The Protein Power Lifeplan" at Audible.com

I will take points from both books, and will mainly cover the nutritional aspects of the plan. In addition, I will take a few points from my own experience as well as others I have learned a great deal from via the Protein Power Bulletin Board. In late 2002, the Eadeses published a 3rd book along the same lines as their first two, but without Protein Power in its title. I have not read this book yet, so haven't incorporated any updates from it, but from what I know it is a much more simplified approach with fewer explanations and also includes example menus which contain many low-carb versions of popular high-carb foods.

The Main Idea

The main idea of the Eadeses' nutritional plan is twofold. First and foremost, one needs to get an adequate amount of protein in order to maintain one's muscle tissue and to aid in muscle growth. As important as adequate protein consumption is, of equal importance is restriction of carbohydrates. Carbohydrates, especially refined ones, are more or less the same thing as sugar to your body. The body breaks them down with great ease and quickness into sugar because they simply are sugar molecules chained together to create longer structures. The Eadeses uses the argument our evolutionary makeup to assert that for most of us, our modern diet is not what our bodies were designed to eat in order to perform optimally. Our ancient ancestors in prehistory ate mostly animal protein, supplemented occasionally by small amounts of wild vegetables, fruits, nuts, and seeds, and our genes have not had time to adequately adjust to the relatively recent innovation of agriculture with its vastly higher carbohydrates load.

The Protein In Protein Power

The other main issue the Eadeses deal with is how much protein people should consume. They contend that it is vital to get enough protein in order to maintain one's muscle mass. When one goes on any kind of diet or eating plan where food consumption drops, one of those items that drops is protein and so the body looks for other sources of it and finds it primarily in its own muscle tissue. This is why on most diets, in addition to losing some fat, many lose a lot of muscle as well. Getting an adequate supply also can aid in muscle tissue growth, which increases metabolism by requiring more energy than fat tissue, for example. This makes one burn more calories even just sitting still.

Protein is also a very inefficient for of energy for the body, since it takes more energy for your body to break it down for energy as it provides. So as long as you are getting a decent amount of fat in addition to your protein, the body will opt to burn the fat you are taking in and even the fat you already have stored.

Some critics have suggested that one can get too much protein and this can cause health problems such as kidney disease or bone loss. The Eadeses say that as long as your kidneys are healthy, the added load of increased protein should not have any ill affects. In fact, there has never been a case of kidney problems associated with low carbohydrate diets. It is simply theory (never substantiated) based on the logical leap that those who already have kidney disease have problems processing protein.

Why are carbs bad for you?

The Eadeses explain how eating excessive amounts of carbohydrates can cause a syndrome called insulin resistance that in turn causes many health problems. Insulin is a hormone in the body that regulates blood sugar, among many other functions. When you eat a meal with lots of carbs or sugar, the digested sugar goes into your blood. Tissues can be harmed if sugar is not kept to a very limited level in the blood. So one of insulin's jobs is to help remove the newly arrived sugar in the blood and it does this primarily by converting it into fat for storage in fat tissue. Unfortunately, though, we overwork this insulin response by taxing it with abnormally high levels of sugar or starch we ingest in our modern diets. This causes our cells to become less and less sensitive to the affects of insulin, and this means we require more and more in order to produce the same affect. This additional insulin in the bloodstream can cause all kinds of health issues. In fact, one endgame of this process is type II or "adult onset" diabetes. The pancreas simply can't produce enough insulin to get the sugar out of blood because the cells have grown resistant to its affects. Sugar then begins to build up in the blood, causing all the cellular damage that are the trademarks of uncontrolled diabetes. In addition to diabetes, too much insulin can cause hardening of the arteries, plaque buildup, high blood pressure, and other related ailments.

Another interesting downside about carbs is how they affect cravings. It has been shown that ingesting large amounts of carbs, certain grains in particular, produce a response in the brain similar to its response to narcotics. Because of this, carbs have a similar addiction component that can cause cravings in people. The cravings aren't always for carbs themselves but often for food in general, so many people don't realize that carbs are the culprit here.

One more point that the Eadeses discuss is particular to certain types of carbs - grains such as wheat, rye, oats, and corn, and certain legumes like Kidney Beans. These carbs contain lectins, which are plant proteins. These particular proteins are very similar to certain proteins in the body. Because our bodies were not designed to digest these foods, the fermentation that can result in the intestine can actually compromise the integrity of the intestine wall. While normally these lectins would be too large to pass through the intestine wall into the blood, the weakening of this barrier allows some to get through. The body then, it is theorized, attacks them as foreign invaders, but once it does this it gets confused between these lectins and other very similar proteins in the body. This is one theory that the Eadeses present could be responsible for many autoimmune diseases. In fact, there are many people, whether they subscribe to a low-carb diet or not, who find their symptoms of these afflictions
(arthritis, asthma, irritable bowel syndrome, allergies, MS, etc.) simply by giving up foods with wheat in them.

(to be continued)

[Parisfox]

Protein Power in a Nutshell By Levi Wallach -- Part 2

Fat Is Evil! Isn't it?

Most nutritionists over the last 30 years vilified fat as the main culprit of obesity and health problems. However, the Eadeses contend that fat is not the issue at all, as it is metabolically neutral and does not affect insulin levels. The main "problem" with fat is only that it is more dense in calories than protein or carbs, but it also is a natural "satiater" - it makes you less hungry. When was the last time you drank a cup of olive oil or ate tuna salad with more mayo than tuna? There's a reason for that! However, one should still pay attention to fat in the diet, but more in what kinds you eat rather than how much. The best type of fat to eat according to most experts, including the Eadeses, is the monounsaturated fat found in olive oil, nuts, nut oils, avocados, and many other foods. The question of how healthy or dangerous the saturated fat found primarily in red meat and dairy products is for you, is still hotly debated. It certainly is not as good as monounsaturated fats, but it may be better than the concentrated polyunsaturated fat in vegetable oils like corn oil, soybean oil, etc.

The overall worst type of fat according to the Eadeses and now just about any doctor or nutritionist -is something called "trans fat" or "trans fatty acid." It is an artificially created fat that is in many processed foods due to its specifically engineered properties. The usual tip-off is the term "partially-hydrogenated" on the food's label. Packaged baked goods and margarine are the biggest source of trans fats in many peoples' diet, but other products like peanut butter and even mayonnaise may be hiding some as well. In fact, when seeing "soybean oil" on a list of ingredients, there is likelihood that there are trans fats in the product, even if "partially hydrogenated" is not listed. When eating out, there's also a very good chance that foods that have been sautéed or fried could have used trans fat in the process. Even the butter sauce on vegetables could be a mixture of real butter and margarine! It finally looks like the US FDA will now be mandating trans fat amounts on nutritional labels on packaged foods, but they are still sparring with the food industry over whether an additional warning message stating "Intake of trans fats should be as low as possible" will be put on these labels. One other note should be made: products such as margarines that state "No Trans Fats" may still contain some, since any amount under one gram per serving can be considered zero for labeling purposes.

In addition to these main types of fat, there are many subtypes, but probably the most important are the distinction between "Omega-3 fatty acids" and "Omega6 fatty acids". These are actually from polyunsaturated fats, not mo nounsaturated or saturated. The modern western diet has many, many times the amount of Omega-6 than it does Omega-3. The Eadeses suggest that we should be getting a fairly equal amount of both, so one should make a concerted effort to increase one's intake of Omega-3 as much as possible. This can be done by eating food sources high in Omega-3 compared to Omega-6: cold-water fish like sardines, salmon, tuna, mackerel, and herring; cod liver oil; or flax seed oil if you don't like fish.

Calories Schmalories!

Many nutritionists are finally beginning to see their mistake in obsessing about fat over all else during the last
20 or 30 years, but as they do so, they have shifted somewhat to obsessing about calories. According to this school of thought, the only thing that allows for weight loss is consuming fewer calories than you are expending, period. We keep hearing the tired line "a calorie is a calorie is a calorie" and our bodies are likened to an internal combustion engine or a lab experiment. Our bodies, however, are much more complex, with all kinds of variables that are not accounted for by simply taking into account calories consumed versus those expended in exercise and lifestyle. It also does not take into consideration the dynamic action of foods that holds that in order to obtain energy from a gram of protein, the body actually needs to expend more energy than it does when it tries to use a gram of carb for energy. Ketones, a subpart of fat that is produced in larger quantities when one is restricting carbs, can actually be excreted from the body, thus there is an energy "leakage" in eating this way.

Metabolism is another variable. Depending on a number of factors, including how much muscle one has, thyroid function, etc., metabolism can cause one person to burn calories at a much faster rate than another. Metabolism can sabotage even the best-intentioned low-calorie dieter by a reaction termed "starvation mode" or "survival mode." When consuming too few calories, the body reacts as if it is starving, and so slows down the rate at which it burns them. So you have to eat less and less in order to lose the same amount of weight.

But isn't it easy to eat too many calories with the unlimited amount of fat allowed on low-carb plans? Yes and no. First, remember that fat has a satiating effect, so it is often hard to eat very large quantities of it, at least without the carbs that spike insulin and cause hunger pangs. In fact even critics of low-carb plans blame this well-known affect for people being able to eat fewer calories. They contend that this is the only reason people are able to lose weight on such plans. I don't understand why this would be an argument against low-carb plans - I think anything that decreases hunger and cravings without drugs of questionable safety like Phen Phen is something to be lauded, not criticized.

Also, the dynamic action of foods holds that you will expend more energy retrieving those calories than it does from carbs, so this means you are expending a lot more calories simply digesting your food. That being said, the Eadeses do say that you can hinder your progress by eating large quantities of calories, and having a large amount of fat in the diet can raise those calories quickly. They say this can be more of a problem for smaller people who require fewer calories to begin with. Although the chances of eating too many calories is not as likely as it would be on a high-carb diet, the idea is to just use common sense when it comes to quantities and not leave the table completely stuffed. As long as you do not eat massive quantities of food, you should be ok. You can always try cutting back a little if you are not losing, but especially in the initial stage of the plan, you probably do not want to be too concerned with the number of calories, since you will be restricting yourself in other ways.

Ok, so what do I eat?

First, a quick primer on the basics follows. There are three main types of food or "macronutrients" - protein, carbohydrates, and fats. Most foods have at least two, and many have all three, so it can sometimes be a bit confusing as to how to count a particular food. So let's get through some easy ones first. Most grain products like bread, rice, pasta, etc. as well as most fruits and vegetables are pretty close to 100% carbohydrate. Oils are all 100% fat. Few natural things get close to 100% protein except for some extremely lean cuts of meat or fish. Everything else is a mixture of at least two of the three macronutrients. So how does one go about choosing what to eat? It is really a lot simpler than it seems.

Sources of Protein (and fat): Because fat and protein are not specifically limited on Protein Power, all meats, poultry, and fish, are fine in whatever quantity you want. Eggs and cheese come next - they have a small amount of carbohydrates, so you do need to watch how much you eat, although it would be difficult to consume all of your carbohydrate allotment with eggs or cheese unless that's all you're eating! Speaking of cheese, other dairy products like milk, cream, yogurt, etc. can work as well, but you need to look at labels for carb counts because many lower-fat dairy products add sugar to make up for the lack of fat (this is really true of most "low-fat" products). For those who are vegetarian, the primary source of protein is soy. Even those who aren't strictly vegetarian enjoy it. There is, however, some controversy in some quarters over the healthfulness of soy. Tofu, TVP, soymilk, and other forms of soy are said to remove soy's components that make it indigestible by harsh chemical processing. There is the contention that some of these chemicals remain in the finished product as well as some of the components of soy that make it indigestible, or at least some of the phytoestro gens in soy that can interfere with the normal hormonal balance of the body. The safer forms of soy, these critics contend, are ones that are naturally fermented before eaten - primarily tempeh and miso. Although nuts and some vegetables also contain protein, the body does not utilize them as efficiently as those found in meats. The Eadeses suggest only counting the protein found in animal sources (with the possible exception of soy).

(to be continued)

[Parisfox]

Protein Power in a Nutshell By Levi Wallach -- Part 3

Carb sources - what to avoid: as already mentioned, the Eadeses maintain that certain types of carbs - grains and legumes - are bad for you in and of themselves even before we consider how dense they are in carbohydrates. They suggest trying to eliminate these items entirely. Other food sources that are simply too high in carbohydrates need to be severely limited or eliminated from the diet: starchy vegetables like potatoes, sweet sauces, syrups, candy, ice cream, high-sugar fruits like pineapples, mangos, etc. When in doubt, look at the label or get a nutritional food counter book.

Carb sources - what to eat: although vegetables (other than the starchy ones like potatoes) are primarily made up of carbohydrates, they do not have nearly as many carbs as grains per serving. They also are packed with nutrition - vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals, as well as fiber. Since fiber generally is not absorbed into your system, it can be discounted from the total carb count of a food. So if a serving of vegetable has 10 grams of carbs but also 5 grams of fiber, you only have to count 5 grams of those carbs. (be careful with labels on foods from outside the US, though, as many of these already have subtracted the fiber from their carb totals). Some fruits, likewise, have tons of nutritive value but are also high in sugar, so one has to be careful with the amount one eats, and select ones which are lower in sugar and higher in fiber like berries, melon, and peaches. Finally nuts and seeds: they also contain lots of nutrition and fiber which helps make them lower in effective carbs, and as mentioned before most contain a large amount of the good monounsaturated fat. The only other thing to mention is that peanuts are actually legumes and cashews are much higher in carbs than real nuts.

Finally we get to alcohol. Although not specifically a macronutrient, it is not a carb, not protein, and not fat, but can be used by the body for energy, as actually the body uses it before any other source, so if you are trying to lose weight, your body will opt to burn that beer before it burns some of the fat on your thighs! But alcohol is not off limits on Protein Power. You just need to be careful in what form it is in. A sweet red wine, peach schnapps, or a wheaty hefeweizen can be loaded with carbs or sugar. Hard alcohol like vodka or gin is better, but some also contain a lot of sugar, like bourbon, rum, and brandy. Wine is ok as long as it is not very sweet, and many lite beers are fairly low in carbs, but both lite beers and even dry wine do have some carbohydrates, so having more than a few of these will probably make staying within the plan's guidelines difficult. Although it might seem that stouts would be very high in carbs, they actually are relatively low. 12oz of Guinness Stout, for example, has only about 5.5 grams of carbs.

Ok, so much for theory, what about practice?

Here are the specifics of the diet as best as I can summarize. The Eadeses use different phases for the diet as follows: The "Intervention" phase is the initial phase of the diet and the most restrictive. In this phase, the Eadeses suggest limiting your intake of carbs to 7-10 grams per meal, with an optional snack of 7-10 grams. In other words you can have anywhere from 20 to 40 grams of carbs per day. As for protein there are calculations in the books as to how to calculate it, depending on your current weight, height, body fat percentage and activity level, so it's best to look in the book to calculate this. In general, if you eat an 8oz piece of meat, poultry, fish, or have a 3 eggs and a few sausage links at a given meal, you will probably never have to worry about not getting enough. Fat is again something that the Eadeses do not put limits on. However, it is the food type that is the densest in calories and they do note that if one eats 5,000 calories per day it's going to be all but impossible to lose weight, even if you otherwise conform to the plans' guidelines. Intervention is followed until you are very close to your goal for weight and/or health. Once you are very close, you can switch over to the "Transition" phase that just increases your carb allotment to 55 grams per day. Once you feel you have met your weight and/or health goals, you can then go onto the "Maintenance" phase in which you can increase your carbs to as much as 130 grams per day - but the actual number you end up at depends on the level that helps you maintain your goal weight. This doesn't mean that you have to go as high in carbs as you can, it's just a choice and many people decide to stay permanently at Intervention-phase levels of carbs because they feel best there.

So what will I experience?

We have gone through the basic theory behind the plan and what you are supposed to do on it. However, what can you actually expect in terms of weight loss, how you will feel, etc.? This is a tough question because everyone is different, but I will try to note some of the more common experiences. Some people start the plan and still have the mentality that fat is bad and so they restrict fat and end up with so few calories that they are constantly hungry. Warning - do not do this! At least do yourself the favor of not worrying about the fat in the first few weeks - give the plan a chance to work the way it's supposed to. You will sabotage your efforts if you try to inflict further restrictions on yourself! Ok, so you now listen to my advice and you start the plan and you are eating lots of meat (or cheese, eggs, soy, etc)! Perhaps you never thought you would say this, but after just a few days you are sick to death of meat and just want one little piece of bread! Ok, relax, take a break, have a beer... well, a lite beer at least.

Universally people have noticed that the hardest part of this plan and other low-carb plans is the beginning. Not only are you adjusting to a completely new way of eating, but also many new things are going on in your body. For one, you are all of a sudden depriving your body of the huge supply of carbs it is no doubt used to. Your body does not like this in the same way it doesn't like it when you stop giving it nicotine after consuming two packs per day of the stuff for 20 years. Most people notice they crave anything with carbs or sugar in it much more during the first week or so of the plan than anytime before or afterwards. These are standard withdrawal symptoms. How does one deal with such cravings? Well, there are a couple of ways. One is just to trust that these cravings will dissipate eventually like they do through any withdrawal of something similarly addictive, and just grit ones teeth. Some people find they can lessen the cravings by eating things that are artificially sweetened. I think it may help dull the cravings, but it probably makes them last a little longer as well. Some find that certain supplements like L-carnitine or potassium help as well.

The other negative aspect of the initial week or two that many experience is a noticeable drop in energy. This is due to the body switching from using carbs for energy (which it can convert to energy very quickly), to using fat for energy. It is not used to using fat for energy, so it takes a lot longer for your body to produce this energy from your fat stores or the fat you are consuming. Luckily, it eventually gets better and better with this and then there is no more problem. The Eadeses suggest simply taking it as easy as possible during the first week or two while your body "figures out" how to use fat for energy more quickly and efficiently. Finally, an unlucky few experience some lightheadedness or dizziness in the first week or so of the plan. This is attributed to the loss of fluid and thus loss of essential salts in your system that this plan produces. The quick-storage form of energy in your system is called "glycogen" or "muscle starch." After starting the plan and having very few carbs from one's diet to use as energy, the body immediately goes after the glycogen and uses it up, but glycogen has lots of water in it, so without it, your body generally holds a lot less water. Because of this, it is even more important to keep more hydrated than usual, and also to supplement with potassium, an essential salt the body needs but which is usually deficient in most diets. Potassium seems to help people who experience lightheadedness.

After the hard part.

So, after a couple of weeks on the plan, one starts getting more used to it and after another week or two, most people are fairly well adjusted and start feeling absolutely great. You should feel a great surge in energy and general feeling of healthiness, fewer aches and pains, etc. In addition, the cravings should be measurably diminished and because of this you will start having a different attitude toward food. It will, in a sense, become less important to you because you are not always thinking about when you can get your next donut or bagel or piece of chocolate.

(to be continued)

[Parisfox]

Protein Power in a Nutshell By Levi Wallach -- Part 4

But I'm doing this to lose WEIGHT!

What about weight loss? Maybe you are more interested in that than the health aspects for now. Well, some people experience a lot right away, others do not. It seems this might be dependent on what degree you are insulin resistant to begin with and also how much weight you have to lose. Another big factor could be how avid a dieter you are. The more diets you have been on, generally, the better your body has become at holding onto every lb - as a survival mechanism. In any case, some people have a big drop initially and continue to lose large amounts for a while and then eventually slow down. Others may have a small drop in the beginning due to water loss, but otherwise do not lose much or anything in the first several weeks or even months of the diet. This can be very frustrating for some people. Part of the problem here may not be that the plan does not work for that given person, but rather that it doesn't show up in terms of numbers on the scale right away. So it is very important for you to also keep a record of measurements such as waist, hips, etc. It is very likely that you may not be losing weight, but rather losing fat and gaining some muscle at the same time, due to an increase in protein and/or weight training. And really when we say we want to lose weight, we really want to lose just fat, (not muscle!) so that's all that matters, isn't it?

Down the road.

Although you may not be looking this far ahead, you might like to know how people do on the plan after the first few months, or 6 or 12 or 24 months for that matter. Yes, people follow this plan for that long or longer. Remember, it is designed as something to do for life, and really it is very easy for many to do for long periods because one does not feel deprived the way low-fat or low-calorie diets sometimes make one feel. Just as with the short-term results, longer-term results are just as individual. Some people slip and never get back on the plan, others slip and get back on it, and still others never slip at all. I suppose this is true of any diet or way of eating. And as with any other plan, the main thing is to get back on the horse if you do fall down. One thing that can cause falls in any diet, and Protein Power is not immune, is the dreaded stall. Unfortunately there's no predicting or preventing a stall from happening, but one can simply attribute it to your body changing in other ways and taking a break as far as actual weight or fat loss. Meanwhile many people have come up with their own ways not only to break stalls, but also to try to accelerate weight loss. They include drinking more water, avoiding dairy products, avoiding nuts, avoiding artificial sweeteners, avoiding protein bars and shakes, avoiding snacks in between meals, adding snacks, eating a large breakfast and lunch and small dinner, not eating anything after 5pm, eating 5 to 7 small meals throughout the day instead of two or three big meals, and changing exercise routine. The pattern, of course is to mix things up. Your body adapts to things eventually. Our genes have developed ways of stopping weight loss if it feels we are in danger of famine, which might have been the case thousands of years ago when someone lost 30 lbs in 3 months! Keeping the body guessing has been used to jolt one out of a stall, if at least temporarily.

Dealing with the critics.

When I first wrote this a year or so ago, low-carb was still the in the doghouse when it came to most nutritionists and doctors. Luckily in the last year, there have been a bunch of studies that have come out and shown excellent results in a clinical setting, not only of low-carb weight loss benefits over more standard plans, but in actually better or at least similar improvement in cholesterol numbers. Gary Taubes' article in the New York Times Magazine last July drove the issue to the forefront. Many doctors are at least not jumping down their patients' throats if they say they've gone on a lowcarb diet. That being said, most in the mainstream are still taking a very conservative approach and not recommending such diets other than for a relatively short term because there are no longer-term studies yet. Of course these same doctors and nutritionists were happy to push the whole country towards low-fat despite long- term studies suggesting any benefits or effectiveness of such a way of eating.

Despite the greater acceptance, you will still encounter doubters who do not have all the facts, or are just too set in their ways and look at low-carb as too antiestablishment or threatening in some other ways. They will try to scare you with half-truths or just plain falsehoods or myths. The best defense against this is simply to keep up with all the latest studies. Here are some common criticisms and answers to them:

o "All that protein can cause kidney damage." - one of the old myths about low-carb dieting, this is one has never been substantiated by one study or even by one case or anecdote. It is simply a proposed potential danger based on the logic that since those with kidney problems already have problems processing protein, that processing protein itself will give you kidney damage. Pretty far-fetched, right?

o "All that protein can cause bone loss." Another myth, this one is based on some scientific studies that showed that diets hig her in protein cause people to excrete calcium and this is then used to argue that people experience bone loss. But most studies indicate that increased protein actually increases bone density over the long haul. There are many scientific reasons that have been proposed for this, but in the end, it simply isn't an issue.

o "All that fat and cholesterol can clog up your arteries in no time." Fat itself doesn't clog your arteries. Arteries are "clogged" by LDL cholesterol that is altered (damaged) by oxidization, which then prompts the immune system to attack it and the result is incorporated against the arterial wall as "plaque," not fat. Cholesterol is a waxy alcohol, not a fat, and it is essential for life. Your body produces at least 80% of your supply, so dietary intake levels have little effect on cholesterol levels. Although there have been numerous studies that have purportedly proven the link between consumption of saturated fat in particular and heart disease, most of these studies have a major flaw. They are all based on people who consume a "normal" load of carbs. No studies have been done with at least one group that consumes few carbs. The studies that have indicated cholesterol levels decreasing significantly on low-carb diets (in addition to the tons of anecdotal information) may point to a their beneficial effects in relation to heart disease risk.

o "It's all about calories." The body is not a test tube or combustion engine. It is way more complex, with variations in calorie burn rates, burning efficiency, and energy wasting depending on what it consumes.

o "Low-carb isn't balanced - all you eat is meat." This is entirely up to the individual and how they approach the plan. Like any eating plan, low-carb can be practiced poorly. One can eat processed meats and cheeses, protein bars and protein shakes to the exclusion of everything else. But it is very easy, and in fact the Eadeses promote this - to eat loads of high- fiber vegetables and fruits. In fact, many who go on these plans report that they consume more of these than they did before the went on them. And "balance" for balance's sake doesn't really mean anything. It might be aesthetically nice to think you are in balance by eating equal amounts of each macronutrient or food group, but what is really appropriate is giving your body what it needs to work optimally, and that is not some arbitrary and contrived percentage point that lines everything up.

o "My doctor (or all the articles I've read about it) tell me it's risky." Unfortunately most doctors do not know much about nutrition. They generally take one class of it in medical school, so most of their opinions are influenced just as much by the popular press. The media does simplify things greatly, and are also in turn influenced by lobbyists who are trying to get articles published about the benefits of eating a certain food they promote. Instead of blindly trusting your doctor or some magazine article, you owe it to yourself to read books, studies, and articles that are both critical of your position as well as supportive. That's the only way to get a balance so that you can make up your own mind with all the information. I would urge you to do your own research and not even to accept what I have written here, nor what the Eadeses have written at face value. I think you will find, however, that there is a great deal of evidence from many studies that support many of the ideas behind this way of eating.

o "I've done X diet and that's the only one that works." Great! So what? Everyone is different. Just because that diet worked for you doesn't mean it will work for everyone. This also swings the other way. Protein Power, or at least the intervention stage, may not work as well for everyone either. There is no one magic solution. Ultimately you owe it to yourself to try a given program out and if it works, great, if it doesn't move on. There's no reason to continue because you find it aesthetically pleasing, intellectually convincing, or widely accepted while at the same time it makes you sick! Your ultimate responsibility is to your own health!

(to be continued)

[Parisfox]

Protein Power in a Nutshell By Levi Wallach -- Part 5

o "You just need willpower." Ah yes, the old 'blame the patient.' Unfortunately, many obese people are still looked on with scorn and to blame for their condition. They are ridiculed for being lazy and gluttons. Although "you just need willpower" may be a little more moderate, it still goes to the same core assumption. Unfortunately, many people experience the medical condition of insulin resistance due to all the carbs that have been pushed on us by health officials in increasing amounts over the last 30 years. This produces a vicious cycle of dieting, craving, more dieting, and finally refusal of the body to let go of much of any fat due to metabolic damage, despite incredibly low caloric intake and brutal exercise regimes. Willpower is not the only issue!

Extra Credit: Exercise!

The Eadeses have a lot to say about exercise in relation to weight loss, health, and even eating. They suggest that one way to optimize one's weight/fat loss but maintain or even gain muscle is to concentrate on resistance exercises, otherwise known as weightlifting. By increasing your muscle mass by lifting weights, you are increasing your body's calorie requirement to maintain that new muscle tissue. If your diet remains consistent, sooner or later your daily food intake will not provide all the needed calories and your body will have to go into its fat stores, and then it will have to keep going deeper and deeper into them, accelerating the rate that you burn off your excess fat.

What about cardio-vascular exercises like running, biking, stair-climbing, etc.? Doesn't cardio do the same thing? Not exactly. First of all, you have to keep doing cardio exercises constantly in order to get the caloric benefit. With weight lifting, you can exercise a muscle twice or even once per week and the rest of the week it is consuming extra calories just to rebuild itself and grow.

Moreover, the Eadeses point out that regular, intense cardio (like daily jogging) can actually be harmful to you by weakening your immune system. Instead, they suggest both walking and brief bursts of intense cardio, like sprinting or jumping for 30 seconds. These intense sessions of alternating rest and intense exertion may only last for a total of 10 minutes and are done only a couple of times per week. The idea is to do what our bodies were designed to - chasing wild game, or avoiding the game chasing you! These types of cardio apparently strengthen the immune system and provide all kinds of additional benefits without the incredible expense in terms of time.

Extra Credit: Vitamins and Minerals

According to the Eadeses, our ancestors ate 100-150 different foods as opposed to our average 15-25, many of which have been purged of their natural antioxidants via processing. Antioxidants are compounds that fight against free radicals. Free radicals are harmful compounds that are produced by UV rays, common toxins, smoking, and even strenuous exercise. Huge amounts are produced in our bodies every second, but our body is able to handle them via the antioxidants that it gets from food directly or that it makes itself. Some believe that free radical damage, over time, is one of the key elements responsible for our aging process.

Free radicals can damage the DNA in cells and they also damage the cell membrane. It used to be thought that higher cholesterol that occurs naturally with age was responsible for stiffening the cell membrane, but it's now agreed that the culprit is lipid peroxides. Lipid peroxides are fats that have been oxidized (combined with oxygen).

When oil becomes rancid, that is due to its oxidation. Antioxidants, as their name implies, protect against these lipid peroxides in the body from doing any damage. If the antioxidants don't do the trick, another defense mechanism, peroxidases, take over. Unfortunately over a lifetime our ability to create and recycle antioxidants and produce peroxidases efficiently decreases and so the lipid peroxides can take their toll. LDL Cholesterol, the "bad" cholesterol, doesn't itself cause problems. The problem starts when LDL particle is altered and stimulates the immune system to attack it. Most scientists believe this alteration is caused by oxidation or attack by free radicals. After LDL is altered it stimulates the immune system to attack it, and then incorporates it into the arterial wall as plaque. This plaque builds up over time and eventually can cause obstructions resulting in heart attacks.

Mega dosing on antioxidants can be harmful because the body actually uses free radicals to kill cancer cells, viruses, infections, etc. So when they are significantly depleted, the body is not as affective in fighting these things off. The body can't overproduce them from diet alone, only from pure supplements, so it's always better to get your vitamins and minerals from your food first, and supplements only secondarily if necessary. This is why the Eadeses are such big proponents of eating lots of vegetables and fruit. One way of measuring the antioxidant potency of a food is by something called ORAC - Oxygen Radical Absorption Capacity. Here are some of the highest ORAC-rated foods:

• Prunes: 5770 • Raisins: 2830 • blueberries: 2400 • blackberries: 2036 • Garlic: 1900 • Kale: 1770 • Strawberries: 1540 • Spinach: 1260 • Raspberries: 1220 • Brussels Sprouts: 980 • Plums: 949 • Alfalfa Sprouts: 930 • Broccoli Florets: 890 • Beets: 840 • Oranges: 750 • Red Grapes: 739 • Red Pepper: 710 • Cherries: 670 • Kiwi: 600 • Pink Grapefruit: 495 • White Grape: 450 • Onion: 450 • Corn: 400 • Eggplant:390 • Cauliflower: 380

But some of these are high in sugar or carbs (prunes, raisins, plumbs, beets, oranges, grapes, cherries, grapefruit, onion, and corn) and that can be counterproductive, so be careful to measure the ORAC value alongside how many carbs they contain.

There are many nutrients that have been shown to be enormously beneficial in quantities that no modern diet can hope to provide. Because of this, the Eadeses recommend taking several vitamins and minerals in order to get the tremendous b enefits they offer.

Antioxidant Nutrients:

Vitamin E: E is a potent antioxidant that improves insulin sensitivity, prevents wrinkles, protects against cancer, and most importantly protects against heart disease by preventing the oxidation of LDL. You should try to get Vitamin E as "mixed tocopherols and tocotreinals" or at least "mixed tocopherols" E is made up of a number of different compounds (tocopherols and tocotreinals) but most brands contain only one of the compounds, usually d-alpha tocopherol. The recommended dose is 400-500mg per day along with a fatty meal for better absorption, since E is fat-soluble.

Vitamin C: This antioxidant strengthens the immune system, is involved in producing collagen, and assists Vitamin E. Unfortunately, it also enhances iron storage, which is detrimental to health, so mega doses are not recommended. The recommended dose is 250mg once or twice per day.

CoQ10 (Coenzyme Q-10): This is another potent antioxidant. It diminishes in your body with age and is essential for the proper functioning of the heart. It has been used to help prevent and treat both breast cancer and gum disease. The recommended dose is 100mg per day for most, 300mg per day for those with heart problems. Medication for high cholesterol (s tatins) deplete the supply of CoQ10 in the body, so if you are taking these, it's very important to supplemtent with additional CoQ10. The oil-containing gelcaps of CoQ10 are much more affective than the powdered capsules for the most part. Take them with a fatty meal to insure the best absorption, since they are another fat-soluble nutrient.

Alpha-Lipoic Acid: This is yet another important antioxidant that can help prevent some of the damaging affects of diabetes. It protects against heart attacks and strokes, improves memory, slows brain aging, and delays cataracts. The recommended dose is 100-200mg per day.

(to be continued)

[Parisfox]

Protein Power in a Nutshell By Levi Wallach -- Part 6

Minerals:

Magnesium: the Eadeses consider this the most important supplement for increasing and maintaining health. Deficiency in magnesium can cause heart disease, cholesterol abnormalities, high blood pressure, diabetes, toxemia of pregnancy, asthma and bronchitis, chronic fatigue syndrome, migraines, muscle cramps, pms, anxiety, depression, and other psychiatric disorders, susceptibility to toxic shock syndrome, and susceptibility to the ill affects from aspartame and MSG. Magnesium works in the body alongside calcium. We need calcium for our bones, obviously, but calcium can't be absorbed into the bones properly without magnesium. So excess calcium can build up in other cells, causing all the above problems. The recommended dose is 300-600mg each evening. Magnesium should be taken in "chelated" form as magnesium malate, magnesium citrate, or magnesium aspartate, which allow the body to best absorb it. The Eadeses suggest limiting your calcium in supplement form to no more than 300mg, and even that is not optional -they say we tend to get a lot in the diet, so adding additional calcium throws the calcium/magnesium balance out of whack. Foods rich in magnesium include nuts, soy, green leafy vegetables, broccoli, spinach, sardines, and shellfish.

Potassium: low levels of potassium can decrease energy level, make the heart rhythm unstable, and produce muscle cramps. The recommended dose is two 100mg capsules per day. Foods rich in potassium include avocados, cantaloupe, spinach, mushrooms, almonds, macadamia nuts, lobster, tuna, and salmon. However, those taking medication must be careful because some medications can prevent potassium from leaving the body, and thus taking extra will cause a buildup, which would be harmful.

Multivitamins:

Multivitamins: the Eadeses recommend taking a multivitamin because no matter how good your diet is you will invariably miss out on some vitamins, minerals, and nutrients. They suggest a multivitamin with the following:

Vitamin A: 25,000 IU Vitamin C (as mentioned above): 500mg or less. Vitamin D: 400 IU Vitamin B12: 500 mcg Vitamin B6: 15mg Thiamine: 50mg Riboflavin: 15mg Niacin: 30mg Folate: 800mcg Pantothenic Acid: 400mg Calcium (as mentioned above): 300mg or less Magnesium (as mentioned above): 300-600mg but only chelated Potassium (as mentioned above): 200mg Chromium: 200mcg Selenium: 100mcg Zinc: 15mg Copper: 1.5mg Manganese: 2mg Molybdenum: 100mcg Boron: 3mg

The Eadeses say that you shouldn't go crazy trying to find a multivitamin that fits this guideline exactly since it will be next to impossible. As long as most of them come close, you should be fine. You may be able to get some of the nutrients listed first in the multi, like potassium, but others you will have to get separately.

Omega 3: if you can't get enough tuna, salmon, mackerel, or sardines in your diet, either because of expense or just not wanting to eat them, there is another way to get the Omega-3 fatty acids that are otherwise lacking in our diet. The Eadeses recommend taking cod liver oil, in particular Carlson's. Carlson's and some other brands come in flavors that all but completely hide the fishy taste. Once you open the bottle, store it in the fridge and discard after 3 weeks to avoid the risk of it going rancid.

The Eadeses recommend against taking fish oil capsules because they have been shown to have a high risk of rancidity even right after purchase.

Flaxseed oil is taken by some vegetarians as a source of Omega 3's, but the Eadeses recommend taking this only if you can't get your Omega 3's from another source like cod liver oil or fish, and also only if you are in relatively good health. This is because flaxseed oil does not contain Omega 3's themselves, but just the raw materials for your body to make Omega 3's, and many health problems can actually inhibit the body's capability to construct these Omega 3's from the raw materials in Flaxseed oil.

So to sum up, here's what to take:

o 400-500MG of E (mixed tocopherols and tocotreinals) o 250-500MG of C o 100MG of Co-Q10 (in gelcap form) o 100-200MG Alpha Lipoic Acid o 300-600MG Magnesium (in chelated form) o 200MG Potassium o Multivitamin (see above) o Cod liver oil or flaxseed oil (if necessary )

Conclusion

Ok, so I promised a nutshell, but this was one big nut! How about something more compact to take with you? If you're going to take anything from this piece, here are the top 10 things to remember about Protein Power:

10. The best kind of exercise to do for weight loss and health is weight training, or "resistance training".

9. Our cave-man ancestors for hundreds of thousands of years ate mainly animal protein, with a few wild vegetables and nuts thrown in. Most of our bodies are still designed to eat this way most of the time and doing otherwise can cause us tremendous health problems.

8. The main culprit of many of our health problems today is the excess insulin produced by our body to handle the excess of carbs and sugar in our diet. The only way to fix this is by eating a diet low in refined carbohydrates.

7. Carbs are the same thing as sugar - your body breaks them down in no time. Eating a potato or a bowl of spighetti is basically the same thing to your body as eating a cup of sugar.

6. The hardest part of the plan happens in the first week or two. It's normal to experience a lot of carb cravings and fatigue during this period. But if you make it through this "carb withdrawal," you will come out on the other side with newfound energy and vitality and almost no cravings whatsoever.

5. Critics of low-carb plans are mainly following the old, tired dogma of those of have not kept up with the accumulating research that supports such plans. Some of them are finally starting to cave under the accumulating weight of the many studies that are continuing to show how healthy and affective this way of eating is.

4. Protein Power is not a NO-carb plan, but a low-carb one, emphasizing the consumption of the healthiest types of carbs: vegetables (except starchy ones like potatoes, peas, carrots, and corn) and some fruits that are lower in sugar and higher in fiber, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants (like berries, peaches, melon). Adding fat to your vegetables greatly increases how easily they are absorbed by the body.

3. Fats are not what make you fat, despite their density of calories, but rather are essential for your body's health, especially monounsaturated fats found in nuts, olive oil, and fish. The worst kind of fat is Trans Fat, an artificially engineered fat fo und in baked goods, shortening, margarines, some mayonnaise, some salad dressings, and even some peanut butter under the guise of "partially hydrogenated" oil or even just "soybean oil" as listed on the label.

2. Refined Carbs (especially grains, deserts, candy, and soda) are evil! Well, if not evil, they are at least very, very, very bad for you!

1. And the number one thing to remember about Protein Power: Getting an adequate amount of protein is essential to your health. It helps maintain or increase your muscle tissue which makes you stronger, enhances your endurance, and increases your metabolism so that you burn more calories just sitting still. Most non-animal sources of protein (with the main exception of soy) simply does not contain enough of it and even a great deal of what it does contain is unusable by your body. Don't skimp on it in order to avoid the fat that is often packaged with it.