Atkins diet collaborator calls for "oil change"
Thu 18 March, 2004 13:47

By Deborah Cohen

NEW YORK (Reuters) - It's time for an oil change.

That's the advice of Dr. Fred Pescatore, author of "The Hamptons Diet," the latest twist on the low-carbohydrate dieting craze. The book, published by John Wiley & Sons, is due to hit American bookshops in early May.

Pescatore, who worked from 1994 to 1999 with the late low-carb diet guru Dr. Robert Atkins, as medical director of the Atkins Centre, wants low-carb eaters to tune up their shopping lists with healthier ingredients and less processed foods.

At the top of his list is macadamia nut oil, a "secret ingredient" he said is key to the Hamptons Diet's success.

Thirteen ounces of the pricey oil, which can be used in both cooking and cold recipes, sell for about 5 pounds in speciality grocers and on the Internet. The important thing is that it is rich in heart-healthy monounsaturated fats, with an even higher percentage than good-quality olive oil, Pescatore said.

Other foods on the Hamptons Diet, which took its name from the posh Long Island environs where Pescatore developed a nutrition-focused practice, include fish rich in omega-3 fatty acids, lean meats, nuts, ample fruits and vegetables, and, yes, even alcohol in moderate amounts.

"It is low-carb with a Mediterranean twist," Pescatore, 40, said in an interview during the Reuters Consumer Summit this week. "The main thing is looking at the fats you're eating."

The Hamptons Diet frowns on some fats widely viewed by U.S. consumers at healthful, including canola oil, which Pescatore said is over-processed. When heated, it can produce harmful trans fatty acids, he said.

"It is probably one of the biggest poisons on the planet," he said.

Like most low-carb plans, Pescatore's diet bans simple carbohydrates: white breads, white rice, pasta and the like. Foods containing trans-fatty acids such as the hydrogenated vegetable oils found in everything from microwave popcorn to store-bought cookies, are strictly off the list.

Beginning in 2006, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration will require manufacturers to identify TFAs, which have been linked to heart disease, on packaged food labels.

While Pescatore applauds the basic tenets of the Aktins Diet and its more moderate offshoot, the South Beach Diet, he claims those programs don't go far enough in describing the types of ingredients low-carb dieters can and cannot eat.

"It's part of my education process to teach people," he said.

With menus from celebrity chefs that call for goat cheese, pine nuts and estate-bottled olive oil, and other pricey items, the Hamptons Diet is not cheap. Pescatore argued that it's a bargain compared to the high cost of treating obesity, heart disease and other unhealthful trends.

He said he is grateful for the attention and increasing shelf space given to low-carbohydrate foods in recent months, but he remains wary of the plethora of protein bars, shakes and other foods carrying low-carb labels. They are often rife with artificial ingredients and often are not as low in carbohydrates as they claim, he said.

"I think the consumer is really being taken advantage of right now," Pescatore said.

In recent months, a host of start-ups, as well as big food makers such as Unilever and H.J. Heinz, have entered the low-carb market. To date, the FDA has not provided a definition of what constitutes low-carbohydrate foods.

Pescatore won't name names, but said he is in discussions with several manufacturers to develop a line of healthier products to remedy these problems.

Is there room in the market for yet another Dr. Atkins? Low-carb consumers will be the judge.

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