Living Low Carb (38 page)
Authors: Jonny Bowden
I’d give this program five stars, with half point off because he’s so wrong on fat. Other than that, this is a terrific program and should work well for a lot of people
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WHAT IT IS IN A NUTSHELL
A lower-carb plan that’s a twist on the Mediterranean diet: high in vegetables, fish, nuts, and omega-3 fats, but favoring macadamia-nut oil instead of olive oil. You choose from three plans—A, B, or C—depending on how much weight you would like to lose. Each plan has slightly different amounts of carbohydrate. All plans stress lean protein, nuts, vegetables, fish, and—you guessed it—macadamia-nut oil
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The Hamptons Diet starts with the premise that the low-fat, low-cholesterol message of the past couple of decades was—if not wholly wrong—terribly miscommunicated. No disagreement there: fat phobia gave rise to the ridiculous notion that we could consume as many fat-free foods as we wanted. By now practically everyone realizes that this silly philosophy led us into our current predicament: near-epidemic levels of obesity and diabetes. The low-fat, high-carb diet, particularly as practiced by people using tons of processed high-glycemic foods, produces increased levels of triglycerides, which increase the risk for coronary heart disease. And high-glycemic diets have been linked with diabetes and with several kinds of cancers.
So far, so good. Dr. Pescatore points to the fact that the American Heart Association diet—which recommends limiting total dietary fat to less than 30% of the diet and saturated fat to less than 10%—fails to lower triglycerides and actually lowers HDL (good cholesterol). In addition, the AHA diet has never consistently shown long-term improvement in any heart-disease outcome. The original low-fat advice was also predicated on the simplistic idea that blood cholesterol was the whole picture when it came to cardiac risk. We now know that there are a host of measures that are far better predictors of heart disease than total cholesterol. These include triglycerides, HDL (good) cholesterol, LDL particle size, inflammatory markers like C-reactive protein, homocysteine, blood pressure, lipoprotein(a), and others, many of which respond quite poorly to a high-carb diet, particularly one high in sugars. And, as Dr. Walter Willett recently proclaimed, research has shown that the percentage of fat in the diet—contrary to the advice of the last two decades—has shown absolutely no relationship to any major health outcome.
So why worry about fat at all? Having been the associate medical director of the Atkins Center for many years, Dr. Pescatore understands well that the demonization of all fat was a ridiculous idea. But rather than taking a stand for the wholehearted repeal of fat-phobia, the Hamptons Diet takes a more cautious approach. The author points to the benefits of the Mediterranean diet, an eating regimen that has long been touted as healthy by many nutritionists. This diet is high in fish, nuts, lean proteins, vegetables, and especially monounsaturated fat. The classic Mediterranean diet “does not regard all fat as bad,” and, in fact, doesn’t limit fat consumption at all. It does, however, specify which fats to eat and which to avoid (more on this in a moment). The primary monounsaturated fat in the Mediterranean diet is olive oil, which even fat-phobics have conceded is a “heart-healthy” fat.
Dr. Pescatore has found an oil he feels is even better for you than olive oil, and this is the gimmick of the Hamptons Diet. Dr. Pescatore replaces olive oil with macadamia-nut oil, an oil he claims has miraculous benefits for several reasons. First, you can use it in both hot and cold recipes. Second, it has a perfect ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acids (1:1). Third, it has a higher concentration of the healthy monounsaturates (omega-9 fats) than olive oil. And fourth, it has a high smoke point, which decreases the risk of trans-fatty acid formation. Dr. Pescatore’s company, MacNut Oil, imports the macadamia-nut oil he recommends in his resource section. That’s not necessarily a bad thing—macadamia-nut oil is a good food, and many of us sell products that we truly believe in and use ourselves—but it’s worth disclosing.
There are six basic tenets of the Hamptons Diet:
1. Eat fish that is rich in omega-3 fats (for example, sardines, mackerel, salmon).
2. Eat nuts.
3. Do not eat trans-fats.
4. Do eat “healthful” fats (stay tuned). The author states: “In the Hamptons Diet, we use the most healthful oil—macadamia nut—and in the pure Mediterranean diet, olive oil is used.”
5. Consume ample quantities of vegetables and some fruits.
6. Consume moderate amounts of alcohol.
There are also three levels, or programs, somewhat cutely labeled the “A List,” the “B List,” and the “C List” in an amusing takeoff on the social stratification that is de rigueur in the diet’s namesake hometown. The “A” program is for people who have more than 10 pounds to lose, and limits carb intake to 30 grams a day. There is also a long, detailed suggested list of appropriate proteins, vegetables, fruits, spices, nuts, and nut butters for the A List. The B List is a transitional program for people who have fewer than 10 pounds to lose and are on their way to maintenance (the C List). On the B program, you consume between 40 and 60 grams of carbs (less for women), and can choose from another 8 protein sources and an additional 3 dozen veggies. You can also now add some whole grains and fruits. And on the C program, which is for maintenance, you have an even wider range of grains and fruits to choose from, as the daily carb content goes up to 55 to 65 grams for women and 65 to 85 grams for men.
So why all the fuss about macadamia-nut oil? Well, like olive oil, it contains an omega-9 fatty acid called oleic acid. Oleic acid, according to Dr. Pescatore, increases the incorporation of omega-3 fatty acids into the cell membrane, which is a good thing. He postulates that this might decrease the incidence of breast cancer, though he doesn’t tell us how. We do know, however, that oleic acid has been shown to decrease total and LDL (bad) cholesterol, but, perhaps more important, it also lowers triglycerides and raises HDL (good) cholesterol. Dr. Pescatore takes the position that since we know that olive oil does these things, and since macadamia-nut oil has even more of the active ingredient (omega-9 oleic acid) than olive oil does, it stands to reason that the cardiac and perhaps anticancer benefits might be even more pronounced in the Hamptons Diet than in the classic Mediterranean diet.
The Hamptons Diet
, to its credit, does say that “some saturated fats are okay” and recommends, for example, eggs as a good source of “lean protein.” Also to its credit, it makes the point that we need to eat much less of those omega-6 fats we were told were healthy in the days when low-fat was king—the polyunsaturated oils like grapeseed, corn, safflower, sunflower, soybean, and cottonseed. Kudos to Pescatore for making this point, often missed in other programs. I couldn’t agree more.
The Hamptons Diet as a Lifestyle: Who It Works for, Who Should Look Elsewhere
This is a perfectly fine program for most people, though I suspect it’s going to appeal more to people who have fewer than 20 pounds to lose. Its recipes and food lists are not for those on a strict budget—reading the menus makes me think of four-star restaurants and red velvet ropes. And it is clearly meant to be marketed to those who see themselves as part of the glamorous set, though that’s more a statement about the marketing and the title. If you can afford the food and the exotic recipes appeal to you, and if you don’t have a ton of weight to lose, go for it. Those who prefer a little more basic stuff or a little more structure might be put off.
JONNY’S LOW DOWN
Full disclosure: I like Fred Pescatore. He’s a good guy. He means very well, he’s knowledgeable, and, as medical director of the Atkins Center, he did a great deal of good by showing how to apply the principles of the Atkins approach to the treatment of children (his Feed Your Kids Well remains my favorite book on children and diet). And it’s hard to fault this program. The book has a definitive section on oils, is on the money on the issue of trans-fats, urges organic foods, and limits processed junk. What’s not to like
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The Hamptons Diet is clearly Dr. Pescatore’s attempt to brand himself as an entity separate from his mentor Robert Atkins. I can understand this. My only real criticism of the Hamptons Diet is a personal one—I wish he had taken a stronger stand against those who deem all saturated fats the enemy. I guess I hold him to a higher standard than say, Dr. Agatston of South Beach fame. Unlike Agatston, Dr. Pescatore is a nutritionist, and a very good one at that; he has to know that if you followed all the principles in his book and still consumed saturated fats from healthful sources (à la Atkins for Life), you would be just fine. My guess is that he opted for a program that is more acceptable to the masses, who still believe that saturated fat is the worst thing you can eat
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The book is chock-full of great recipes, the information is on track, the information on oils is outstanding, and the supplement program is well thought-out
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WHAT IT IS IN A NUTSHELL
A diet program based entirely around the concept of the glycemic index
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About the Low GI Diet Revolution
The Low GI Diet Revolution is based on the concept of the glycemic index, which has revolutionized the way we think about carbohydrates.
Briefly, here’s how it works. In 1981, David Jenkins and Thomas Wolever of the University of Toronto came up with a system for classifying carbohydrates according to how fast they raise blood-sugar levels. At the time, people were still talking about carbohydrates in terms of “simple” and “complex,” an outdated system which still, sadly, persists to this day and is utterly irrelevant (more on that in a moment). The glycemic index was a far more useful way to classify carbohydrate foods.
In the “olden” days—when I first studied nutrition—we classified carbohydrates into two groups—simple and complex. Remember, all carbohydrates are made up of units of sugar (called “saccharides”). The
simple
carbohydrates contain either one unit of sugar (a
monosaccharide
—like glucose and fructose
*
) or two units (a
disaccharide
—like sucrose, which is simply one molecule of glucose plus one molecule of fructose). The “complex” carbs are even longer chains, known as
polysaccharides
(poly meaning “many”).
We used to believe that the “simple” carbs were bad because they were so quickly digested and absorbed, and the “complex” ones (like, for example, pasta and bread and bagels) were “good” because they took longer to break down.
Unfortunately, that turned out to be wholly false.
Many “complex” carbs (such as bread) break down so quickly in the bloodstream that you might as well be swallowing table sugar. And conversely, many “simple” carbs (such as an apple) break down much more slowly and are loaded with nutrients and phytochemicals to boot. So the old saw about “simple” carbs being ones to avoid and “complex” carbs being ones to consume turned out to be nonsense.
Much more useful is to think about carbs in terms of whether they are “slow-burning” or “fast-burning”—in other words, how quickly do they raise your blood sugar, and how long do they keep it elevated?
Enter the glycemic index.
When scientists test a carbohydrate food to determine its glycemic index, they pick a fixed amount of carbohydrate—50 grams—and then feed it to people and measure what happens to their blood sugar. They rate the results on a scale of 1 to 100, with 100 being the score for pure glucose (or white bread). Foods tested this way that score 70 or over are considered “high-GI foods,” foods that score between 56 and 69 are considered “medium-GI foods,” and foods that score 55 or under are considered “low-GI foods.”
Since the whole principle of low- (or controlled-) carb eating is based on the idea that you want to control your blood sugar, eating “low glycemic” makes a whole lot of sense. High blood sugar leads to high levels of the fat-storing hormone, insulin, and low-glycemic (or low-carb) diets prevent that from happening