Belling The 'Cat'

Belling The 'Cat'

The sugars, fats and salts, the additives and chemicals of processed foods, the excessive high-protein intake—all are stressors preventing the body from achieving the diet¬ary balance which alone assures permanent weight loss. But thus far I've said little about some of the most power¬ful stressors. I call them by a compound name, CAT— that is, Coffee, Alcohol and Tobacco.
All three are stressors which have no place in a com¬plete and healthful diet. I believe enough is known about the dangers to your health without another exposition of their alarming effects. As far as tobacco is concerned, just consult the warning on a cigarette pack. The immod¬erate use of coffee and alcohol provides another list of grisly medical facts. Suffice it to say that in combination with a high-protein diet the effects of CAT over an ex¬tended period of time are suicidal.
The BHMD, though recognizing the dangers of CAT, has a different way of tackling the monster. It is a step- by-step approach rather than a full, head-on attack. I believe that you will be better able to face the CAT after first having experienced your quick and easy weight loss.
It is here that 1 must profess my limitations. As a doc¬tor I can only give the patient opinions. As far as diet is concerned, only the patient can really change his own life. I can tell a patient what's best for him, but only the patient can implement my advice. On the other hand, the serious dieter frequently is the best judge of his own capacity to follow the rules. Therefore, a patient may find
it necessary, for example, to use salt in order to reduce his calorie intake while on my diet plan.
Although I know it's not the best way, I realize that it is better than the more serious danger of being over¬weight. Giant steps are better than small steps, but small steps are better than no steps at all.
However, once you have adjusted yourself to the BHMD it is more likely that you'll be like the runner who builds up stamina to stay the full course. When you look at your new figure you'll be brimming with renewed con¬fidence and self-esteem. The discipline you have ac¬quired almost effortlessly will encourage you to 'bell the CAT.'

Stress And Your Chemistry

Stress And Your Chemistry

Of the many stress factors that assault you, the BHMD is concerned primarily with those affecting nutrition. Moreover, it looks at them in the main on how they inter¬fere with successful weight loss. The BHMD holds to the premise that once the stress-producing elements have been removed from the foods you eat all the rest will be made easier.
Without stress your weight loss is facilitated. With the emergence of a slimmer, healthier, more attractive you, self-esteem and self-confidence return. With the positive reactions to your more appealing appearance you are further encouraged to stay on the diet. In turn, self- approval is reinforced. And thus it goes, one positive factor reinforcing another until the diet's goal has been achieved: the full integration of your physical and psychological well-being through rapid, simple—and en¬joyable!—weight reduction.
To obtain this optimum state of rapid and permanent weight loss together with a relaxed mental condition the BHMD begins by changing your food intake. Scientists are now coming to believe that much of our behavior is influenced by the body's chemistry. Quite a number of them are inclined to see stress as an important factor in altering that chemistry. And since the body's chemistry is affected by diet, there is a growing readiness to combat stress through the right kind of nutrition. The "nervous
eater" frequently reacts not so much 10 his craving for food as to the stress built up in his body through faulty eating practices.
To illustrate, here's a typical question I'm asked in my practice and health seminars: "Is there any harm in drinking lots of Diet Pepsi to cut down my appetite, Dr. Fox?"
A question of this nature usually leads to a discussion of the role of food stressors and how they frustrate the rapid weight-loss process.
I begin by pointing out the health hazards. I explain that the various diet colas are destructive to the immune system by tearing into the body with a huge chemical load. Our immune system repels foreign invaders such as bacteria, viruses and cancer cells. The continual stress caused by food additives and chemicals result in a devas¬tated immune system. Through this ravaged barrier, it is held, enter the conditions producing cancer and other serious illnesses.
But food stressors not only cut down the chances for health and longevity. If it is your object to slim and stay slim, they are the gremlins that play hob with your good intentions. Simply put, food stressors interfere with dis¬cipline.
You have already seen how the doughnut sets off se¬vere blood sugar fluctuations. The sugar in the doughnut drives up your blood sugar and throws the adrenal hor¬mones into a tailspin. Dietwise, it tends to make you lose control of your appetite regulation. Sugar is a stressor. Stress makes you tense. It makes you nervous. Because you are tense and nervous you are not in the proper frame to maintain your diet. Only by eliminating nutri¬tional stress can you prevent your appetite from running wild. And you'll be surprised to find how easily that can be accomplished.
For it is one of the virtues of the BHMD that while you lose weight your tastes undergo a permanent change. In- steadof refined sugars, you savor the "hidden" sugars in starches and legumes. Instead of salt, you want the natu¬ral tartness of certain grains and vegetables, or the seasonings on lean meats. Instead of reaching for a diet cola you find yourself asking for a glass of water, mineral, sparkling, or plain, with a slice of lemon.
The BHMD offers a large selection of natural and tasty suggestions to replace your old fattening and destructive eating habits. In the process your deadened taste buds spring alive again. A whole new world of flavors and savors is opened up to you. And almost without realizing it, you become a disciplined eater.

No More 'Sugar Rush'

No More 'Sugar Rush'

Simple carbohydrate such as sugar throws 50 to 100 calories into your bloodstream at one time. This "rush" causes these" simple sugars to burn up too rapidly, triggering hypo¬glycemia, which means low blood sugar. This condition
signals the brain to crave more sugars, thus stimulating appetite.
On the other hand, the unrefined Complex Carbohy¬drate, such as starch, enter the blood stream evenly. It burns up completely and in this slow process a steady, balanced and leisurely supply of sugar is fed to the blood. Consequently, it eliminates the "appetite swings" com¬monly experienced by people with high sugar intake.
Low blood sugar that results in a craving for more sugar is perhaps one of the more obnoxious effects of the high-protein diets. It is probably a factor in the dis¬appointing record of those who have tried these regimens.
It is remarkable that hypoglycemia, that is low blood sugar, is virtually absent in parts of the world where the diet consists of Complex Carbohydrates.
Though the popular high-protein diets recognize, like all diets, the harm of refined sugar, they get around the problem by something even more questionable. That is, artificial sweeteners. The BHMD frowns on the use of all chemicals and food additives. The effect such substances as saccharine appears to have on cancer incidence is too alarming for comfort.
On the BHMD you learn to like sugar in the form na¬ture intended you to have it. Coupled to your joy of quick weight loss will be the relief of bringing your appetite under control. And this wonder will come about without the dangerous side effect of artificial sugar substitutes.

Carbohydrates: Refined And Unrefined

Carbohydrates: Refined And Unrefined

So far we've focused on the "good" carbohydrate, the C.C. But in the drama of dining there is also a "villain" carbohydrate. This element is all the more treacherous because it comes in a sweet, easily digestible and tempt¬ing form. It is the refined carbohydrate.
The chief culprit of the refined carbohydrates is in that doughnut you're eating. It's sugar.
Here's how sugar goes to work: Once you have eaten the doughnut, the sugar it contains causes your blood sugar to rise sharply. Your body responds by having the pancreas pump out insulin to drive the blood sugar down. In turn, the adrenal glands go to work, attempting to stabilize the blood sugar by pouring out adrenal hor¬mones.
Thus, what started with a simple sugary doughnut has resulted in a stress reaction. Eating that doughnut has forced your body to suffer through drastic changes in blood sugar. As a result, your body is tense and you are nervous.
Of course, your body can easily deal with the stress caused by one doughnut. It can maybe even deal with 1,000 doughnuts. But assaulted by demands to handle doughnuts, sugars, fats, salts, food additives, etc., your
body will be overwhelmed and sooner or later it will givt up.
Stressing your body to deal with harmful materials wili result in a general breakdown of parts. Sugar is a refined carbohydrate that plays a big role in such stress. And that means all sugar. Whether it be brown, "raw," molasses, or in the form of honey.
We consume 128 pounds of sugar per person a year. But this astonishing amount does nothing for us. Our bodies do not benefit in the slightest. Sugar supplies neither protein, vitamins or minerals. As I tell my pa¬tients, sugar is a taker, not a giver. Sugar robs you of phosphorus, the B vitamin complex and magnesium. These important vitamins and minerals are used up in the metabolism of sugar.
The BHMD bans sugar because it makes you fat. I designed the BHMD to make you lose weight rapidly and to keep you slim for the rest of your life. But the diet is equally meant to maintain your health, to reduce stress, and make you live longer.
Sugar is the enemy of these noble aims. It is implicated in diabetes, heart disease, elevated blood cholesterol and serum triglyceride levels, mental problems, tooth decay, dermatitis, and high blood pressure.
My diet deals with the sugar issue by having you feast on a variety of starch-rich foods filled with naturally occurring sugar. Complex Carbohydrates like fruits, vegetables, grains, peas and lentils, are what nature de¬signed you to function on. The BHMD offers them in such a luscious and exotic variety that you will not want to add sugar to your daily meals.

Don't Eat Foods High In Cholesterol

Don't Eat Foods High In Cholesterol

There are two kinds of cholesterol you should be concerned with. HDL (High Density Lipoprotein) and LDL (Low Density Lipoprotein), known as the good and bad cholesterol, respectively.
Lipoproteins exist to carry fats through your bloodstream, which is a watery medium. LDL can be characterized as a delivery truck, depositing fats into your cells, and clogging up your arteries. HDL is a scavenger, gathering up fats and choles¬terol; in effect, cleaning up your arteries.
Thus, while your overall cholesterol should be low (below 180), you should also be concerned with the ratio of HDL to total cholesterol.
Here is how you can perform your own coronary risk factor test: Divide total cholesterol by HDL:
total cholesterol HDL
The lower the figure, the better. A ratio of 3.5 is what you want. A ratio between 7 and 9 doubles the standard risk of a heart attack, and a ratio above 12 or 13 indicates a 300% greater chance of suffering heart disease. (Ask your doctor for HDL reading.)

Hidden Fats & Cholesterol

Hidden Fats & Cholesterol

In my quick review of how the low-carbohydrate/high- protein diets put you in harm's way, it's well to remem¬ber two medical prefixes, neither of which mean much good: they are hyper and hypo. Hyper means "overac¬tive": hypo means "underactive."
A diet that is very low in carbohydrates and high in protein is usually rich in fat and low in fiber. Many cholesterols and fats are hidden in what we think are high-protein foods, such as beef or cheese. Fat-rich foods, in turn, are linked to high levels of blood choles¬terol and to compounds known as triglycerides, which put free fatty acids in your blood.
Now, for some jawbreakers: hyperlipidemia (lipids are fats), hypercholesterolemia and hypertriglyceridemia are associated with coronary heart disease and atheroscle¬rosis. Hyperuricemia means a significant increase in uric acid in the blood, which can promote gout.
All these "overactive" processes are spurred by the ketone-production of diets with low-carbohydrate and high-protein content.
As for the "underactive" effects of such diets, hypoglycemia means insufficient blood sugar; postural hypotension means the trouble you may experience rais¬ing yourself up from a supine position.
Common among dieters is the idea that if they but switch from fats and oils to the high-protein diet, as rec¬ommended by Scarsdale, Atkins, et al, the cholesterol issue is dealt with. For example, they are apt to go along with a diet that allows an abundance of lean meat (beef, lamb, veal); chicken and turkey (with skin removed); lean fish (perch, flounder, haddock, cod); hard-boiled eggs, and cheese.
However, a diet of this sort is virtually restricted to protein and fat. As such it is a mine field seeded with ketosis.
The BHMD has a different approach. It considers all fats equally bad. It also tells you not to get caught up counting cholesterol, or worrying about polyunsaturated, saturated and unsaturated fats. The average American gets 40 to 50% of his calories from fats. The figure should be down to about 20%, and on the BHMD it is actually lower.
It has already been stated that the BHMD is thumbs down on all unnecessary fats. To be on the safe side allow me to add that the same goes for the unsaturated vegetable oils. They are merely vegetable fat which has been processed out of the vegetable. In the vegetable the oil is part of its natural container and harmless. But once it has been passed into an artificial container like a bottle it's another matter entirely.

An End To Dietary Horror

An End To Dietary Horror

I could go on and on about the dangerous aspects of this fad diet or any other fad diet. The high-protein/high-fat/ low-carbohydrate diet presents to me a horror story of grisly proportions. Fortunately, it has been my pleasure to put an end to its hazardous workings for a number of people.
I have seen many people who were once advocates of the high-protein diet. One of these was BJ, a 40-year-old woman who attended a university-sponsored high- protein diet program for eight months and lost 80 pounds. Her scalp hair thinned out, she was "cold all the time," felt weak, was dizzy, had dry skin, etc. She gained all of her weight back plus 10 pounds. She had more illness during and after the diet than she had before.

Let's Act Like Grownups

Let's Act Like Grownups

When we talk about diets there is no point in fooling ourselves. The Beverly Hills Medical Diet is no pacifier to still your anxieties about weight. It is no fairy tale in which a wand waves and fat drops automatically. This is what the BHMD will do:
It tells you how to lose weight rapidly. Why you lose it. And what the diet contains that makes it work.
Certain kinds of diet books get my goat. They are the ones written as if the reader is a child who needs to be coaxed to reduce. This approach is not the least irritating quality of the Scarsdale diet, in which the hazardous ketone-stimulated water loss is justified by the rationale that the dieter needs to see immediate results. This type of "evidence," so goes the claim, will encourage the die¬ter through reinforcement to persist in his regimen.
Such reasoning is hardly the approach to a successful, life-time diet. The BHMD reshapes your eating habits because it is in your pattern of food consumption that weight was gained in the first place. The BHMD adjusts your fat person's body to that of a slender person, who will stay slender permanently. The high-protein dieter who has been turned into a nervous "sprinkler" is essen¬tially still as fat as he was before. As you will learn after sampling the delicious BHMD menus, there is a differ¬ence Ipetween weight loss and fat loss.
During my medical-nutritional seminars at the Amer¬ican Institute of Health, I try to involve my patients more deeply into the question of their health. I explain that being merely the guardian of their medical data, it really doesn't belong to me. It is theirs and they are the ones who should be concerned about it. Thus they are moti¬vated to do what they know they should be doing any¬way. We are partners, I explain, but they are the senior partners in our program of nutrition and stress manage¬ment.
There are hundreds of medical tricks that would enable me to delude their trust. But I believe in treating the dieter as an adult capable of taking responsibility in his own hands.
With the same frankness I confront the apology made for ketosis. An increase of ketone bodies in the blood is said to curb appetite. I consider such panaceas unneces¬sary, especially when they are the result of the real dan¬gers posed by ketones. The BHMD has the best appetite restrainer in the world. That is the feeling of being full. The greater amount of chewing required by the C.C. diet, with the subsequent increase of saliva and gastric juices, gives the stomach a sated and satisfied feeling.
Dieting requires a certain amount of discipline. I recog¬nize that voluntary restraint is not an easy matter. With the BHMD, however, this kind of self-control is made a cinch.