Out of boredom one day at the hospital, I picked up a copy of the Pritikin Program (popular in teh late 70's)in the used book bin. It's such a good laugh, I really have to share with you all!
One of my favorite parts:
"The trouble with high-protein, low-carbohydrate diets is that they are too high in fat. While carbohydrates burn efficiently and cleanly, breaking down into safe water and carbon dioxide, fats do not. Fats are not 100% efficient (as are carbohydrates), since fats prduce part of their residue in ketones.
True, ketones tend to depress the apetite. But ketones are also dangerous. Being acidic, they tend to change the nearly neutral ph of the blood. Of they rise too fast in the blood, they can acidify it to the extent of producing a diabeticlike ketosis state. The ultimate danger of excessive ketones is ketoacidosis, which can be fatal.
Therefore, diets such as the Atkins and Stillman diets are risky. Although Atkins says his is "controlled" ketosis, experience with this diet makes it plain that ketones are sometimes far to elusive to control.
The high protein of these diets poses another problem. The body draws large amounts of water from the tissues to dilute to safe levels of toxic breakdown products of protein digestion. Seven times as much water is required in protein digestion as in carbohydrate or fat digestion. Thr dehydration processs produces an instant temporary weight loss, but if at least some water is not replenished, a serious state of dehydration can result.
An example of extreme dehydration from a high protein intake has been shown in infants on soy-milk diets exclusively who died from dehydration."
Gee... wonder where some of the myths about lc come from???? He pretty much summed them up in one page....
<Linda Richmond, "Coffee Talk" voice>
Discuss.. Tawk amongst yourselves.....
Pritikin Program ... a pretty good laugh!
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