Apr. 9, 2004. 01:00 AM
Celebrity hairdresser stands up for Atkins diet
Healthier than ever, says Robert Gage
LUCAS OLENIUK/TORONTO STAR
Robert Gage, hairdresser to the stars, lost 55 pounds on a low-carb diet and says he's never eaten more vegetables.
JUDY STEED
To be on the receiving end of a call from an "infuriated" (his word) Robert Gage, hairdresser to the stars, is stimulating, to say the least.
The man has strong opinions.
He is "enraged" (his word) about criticism of the Atkins Diet that have arisen in the Star's Get Healthy Challenge, as a result of Darryle Cromwell's passion for the late Dr. Atkins' low carb diet prescriptions — red meat, butter, cream, bacon etc.
Cromwell, you may recall, is part of our father-daughter combo. He's 48, working out with his 21-year-old daughter Sara. He's had two heart attacks and he smokes cigars. At his peak, he weighed more than 300 pounds and chain-smoked cigarettes.
His GoodLife trainer, Betty Parcher, is worried that with his high fat diet and smoking, Darryle is setting himself up for another heart attack.
To Gage, who's been following the Get Healthy Challenge, Darryle is being "silly" if he's just eating protein without vegetables.
"I've never eaten more vegetables in my life," says Gage, who has lost 55 pounds in the last year on the Atkins Diet, "and I've never been healthier."
He rhymes off delectable Atkins' recipes involving cauliflower, cream, bacon and grated cheese; desserts with real whipped cream and berries. He eats no potatoes, no pasta, no bread, no white flour. No apples, oranges, bananas, pears or mangos. "Not allowed," he says. "The secret, for me, is living with an appetite that's not stimulated by flour, pasta or bread. If I have a bowl of pasta, I can't stop. If I have a piece of pie, I can eat the whole pie."
Nowadays, his favourite meals are: prime ribs or turkey breast with broccoli; meat loaf made with eggs; Atkins flour-less pancakes. He uses Splenda instead of sugar. He eats chocolate truffles sweetened with Splenda. He takes a lot of vitamins and supplements.
"I used to live on Tums. I had acid reflux. I don't, anymore. My arthritis has disappeared."
Gage says 10 friends have been on the Atkins diet and have lost considerable poundage. One of them, Peter Ziliotto, a retired high school teacher, has lost 45 pounds. "I'm healthier than I have been in years," Ziliotto says, "but I don't want to proselytize. The Atkins diet has worked for me, that's all I can say. The hardest thing was to eliminate pasta."
The progress he's made, and the weight he's lost, provide him with all the incentive he needs to keep going.
"I had heart problems, high blood pressure. Now, with medication, exercise and weight loss, my blood pressure and cholesterol levels have gone down considerably. I made my doctor aware of the potential for kidney problems (on the Atkins diet), and I've been tested and I'm fine."
Canada's pre-eminent expert in the field, Dr. David Jenkins, Canada Research Chair and professor of nutrition at the University of Toronto, was invited by the Atkins Foundation to attend a meeting of 20 selected scientists in New York last year — after the death of Dr. Atkins.
"They're aware of concerns about the diet," says Jenkins, who developed the glycemic index in 1980, "and they're trying to address those concerns."
The issues are carbohydrates and saturated fat: the Atkins diet prohibits the former and allows endless amounts of the latter.
"In nutrition we believe in the value of carbohydrate foods — fruit, vegetables, whole grain cereals, legumes (chick peas, lentils)," Jenkins says.
The "question mark" hanging over the Atkins diet, he says, is "what happens when you're no longer losing weight?"
He acknowledges that the Atkins diet has "obviously struck a chord, but it's only one chord. The data we have shows that most people go back to their previous calorie intake after six months on the diet." What worries Jenkins is that "there are no long-term studies showing its impact on cardiovascular health."
His advice: learn to incorporate healthy, low G.I. carbohydrates into your diet. Eat whole grains, fruits and vegetables.
And remember, "Most restrictive diets will help you lose weight — if you follow them."
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