Director, Emergency Services, Bikur Cholim Hospital
In 1992 the USDA came out with what they called the food
pyramid, an idea based on sound dietary principles. The food
pyramid realized that cutting out foods completely was
impractical for most people and that the Western diet was
overflowing with fat. So the pyramid recommended
restructuring the diet towards fruits, vegetables, and
carbohydrates at the expense of fats. Fats were known to
"clog arteries," and worsen cholesterol and heart disease, as
well as stroke. Low fat foods became the craze and even soft
drinks would highlight in bold letters that they had no fat
and no cholesterol.
However, Americans did not become healthier. The vegetables
they ate were iceberg lettuce — which has little
nutritional value — French fries and potato chips. Even
today in Israel it is considered appropriate to serve corn
and fried potatoes — two starches that masquerade as
vegetables.
The food pyramid recommended more grains. But we ate flour-
based items like pasta, tortillas, hamburger buns, bread, and
cereals, instead of whole wheats, brown rices and other high
fiber grains. Sugar cereals also fit into this area of the
food pyramid. Note that sugar is the only food that has
calories without any nutritional or vitamin value. Flour is
not far behind and that is why breads, malawach,
borekas, gichon and pizza are poison!
Along came Atkins. His theory was that increasing fat and
protein at the expense of carbohydrates would cause people to
burn fat, and carbohydrates are the quick fuel for the body.
He felt that eating carbohydrates that were highly processed
— like sugars and breads — would cause an insulin
surge to deal with this sudden ingestion of high energy food
which in turn would later cause blood sugar to plummet,
making us hungrier for more carbohydrates. His diet is now
the rage in the states, but it can cause havoc with the body,
increasing cancer and heart disease. Atkins himself is dead,
but from a fall. Smoking also causes weight loss, but it is
also dangerous and shouldn't be recommended.
I agree most with Prof. Nestle, from NYU. It is a simple
issue of how much you eat and what your body does with it. If
you are sedentary — and most of us are — then you
need 1600 calories a day for women and 2200 a day for men.
Indeed in the year 2000, women ate 1877 calories a day and
men 2618, on average.
Little changes can add up. Using the elevator instead of the
stairs and burning 100 less calories a day translates into a
ten pound weight gain over the year. Exercise to burn 100
calories a day and that can translate to a 10 pound weight
loss over the year.
But there is a little more to the story. Ever notice that
some people can eat very little and it all goes to their
bellies, and others can eat like a horse and stay thin as a
rail?
Recently we discovered a gene in the fat cell itself which
sends out a hormone to say you have eaten enough and we have
enough in storage in case of a famine. Some folks seem to
have less of this hormone or perhaps it is an unknown
hormone. In any case there seems to be involvement of genes
in this, as well as conditioning. Many cultures plied us with
lines like: "There are starving children in Africa," and "you
must eat everything on your plate." We often also associate
happiness in childhood by eating a sweet or making our
parents happy by eating well.
The bottom line? In my view: reduce calories and exercise. I
am against the Atkins diet. Write me in care of the
Yated.
A message from GlaxoSmithKline, sponsor of this
column. Flixotide is an inhaled steroid which is a strong
preventer of Asthma attacks. This recommendation is not new.
The ACCP has recommended this for years, yet many people do
not get this therapy. If you are an asthmatic, ask about
Flixotide.
