If you have being doing Atkins, you were probably initially surprised to discover that you could comfortably eat fat. It might also have been hard to accept, because it goes so against the relentless low-fat message you’ve been hearing for years. In this chapter, you will learn that concerns about eating fat (and protein) when you are controlling your carbs are unfounded. You’ll also find out that healthy fats are actually important both for good health and weight control. Well look at the differences among fats and why it is important to eat a variety of types, with one notable exception. We’ll also discuss the important role that protein plays in sustaining life. So let’s set the record straight, starting with fat.
In fact, a watershed article published in The New York Times Magazine in July of 2002 did just that. Building upon an earlier article published in Science magazine, investigative science journalist Gary Taubes exposed the biases and lack of definitive research that has led to the federal government’s present antifat, anticholesterol guidelines and dietary goals. Moreover, the very government policy that has prevailed for the last couple of decades may have played a role in the twin epidemics of obesity and diabetes. Many of his reported findings are still controversial, but Taubes has challenged the accepted wisdom on dietary fat and displayed the chinks in its armor, making it clear that what has been taken as scientific fact is merely opinion.
It was rewarding to see this article in print, but we at Atkins have known for a long time that fat has been unfairly maligned. And if you’ve been doing Atkins for a while, you know it, too—from personal experience. You’ve not only lost weight and kept it off, you’ve probably also improved your cholesterol levels and other aspects of your health. Once you know more about dietary fat and look carefully at the low-fat claims, you’ll understand that controlling carbs works so well precisely because it doesn’t limit your intake of fat calories to the extent that low-fat diets do.
Despite the fat phobia out there, it’s important to remember that to maintain normal good health, your body requires adequate amounts of essential fatty acids. Essential means you have to get them from your food or supplements—your body can’t produce them on its own—and they’re just as important to your health as vitamins and minerals. (We’ll talk more about essential fatty acids later in this chapter.) Overall, you also need an adequate amount of dietary fat to absorb important fat-soluble nutrients such as vitamins A, D, E, and K as well as beta-carotene from your food. Dietary fat gives you steady energy—not the peaks and valleys that can be caused by excess carbs. And fat acts as a flavor carrier, making your food taste good. It also helps satisfy your appetite and keeps you from getting hungry again too soon.
Assuming that many of you have already followed the weight-loss phases of Atkins, you know that you didn’t have to limit your intake of healthy fats to lose weight and keep it off. If you have not done Atkins before or need a reminder, an explanation is in order. After all, a gram of fat has 9 calories, while a gram of carbohydrate or protein has only 4, so in theory you should lose more weight if you follow a low-fat diet. But, when you cut back on your carbohydrate consumption, your body primarily burns its backup fuel, fat, so you lose weight.
In contrast, if you’ve ever suffered through weight loss on a low-fat diet, you know that the fewer calories theory is not all it’s cracked up to be. You may have slowly lost weight, but it was probably a constant struggle and you probably gained the weight back quickly as soon as you stopped dieting. Why? Because by substituting carbohydrates for fat, you were making your body produce more insulin to handle all that excess blood sugar—and more insulin translates into slow or no weight loss because it interferes with fat burning. And because the low-fat diet left you feeling constantly hungry and unsatisfied, you likely couldn’t stick with it.
Even worse, while you were restricting fats you may have been harming your health. You most likely cut back on fat-rich foods such as nuts, seeds, and vegetable oils that are good sources of vitamin E. Low-fat diets also often recommend substituting lower-calorie, lower-fat margarine for butter—but most margarine is very high in hydrogenated oils, which you’ll soon learn are dangerous. On a low-fat, low-calorie regimen, it’s very difficult to get all your nutrients unless you’re extremely conscientious about every bite you eat. And, of course, when you cut out something, you have to make up for it by increasing intake of something else—in this case, more insulin-stimulating carbs.
The Low-Fat Lie
Fat phobia is so widespread in our society that food manufacturers can sell just about anything, as long as it claims to be low in fat. From low-fat cheese and skim milk to low-fat cookies and low-fat salad dressing, there are reduced-fat versions of most popular foods. There’s even low-fat peanut butter—although the calories per tablespoon are almost identical to those in the full-fat version. These low-fat foods aren’t any healthier—in fact, they’re just the opposite. To make up for the missing flavor fat provides, manufacturers simply add more sugar, with the result that these foods contain more carbs, not less, than their full-fat counterparts. Our advice: Give them a wide berth.
There is another reason to not go low-fat. Some individuals have a genetic predisposition that increases their risk of cardiovascular disease when they follow a diet with less than 30 percent fat. For them, such a diet makes the particles of a specific type of cholesterol in the blood get even smaller and denser, meaning there are more of them—which can translate into a higher risk of heart disease.1–7 Very low-fat diets also raise triglycérides and lower HDL, a deadly combination.8,9
Finally, if you don’t eat enough fat, your liver will manufacture fat—mostly saturated fat—which it can make from carbohydrates. Consider a well-marbled steak. The cow from which it came was likely fed a very low-fat, high carbohydrate diet, so where did all the fat come from? Not from dietary fat but from the excess carbohydrate that was stored as fat. The same thing occurs in humans.
So let’s deal with your inevitable question: Does eating a high-fat diet raise my blood cholesterol level and contribute to an increased risk of heart disease? In most cases, the answer is no, except in the presence of excess carbs and excess calories—the very way of eating that typifies the standard American diet (SAD). A perfect example is a Big Mac on a bun with fries washed down with a supersize cola. Studies following individuals for up to six months or more actually show that when fat is consumed in a controlled-carb setting, it actually lowers the risk of coronary/vascular disease.10–16
Cholesterol, a waxy, fatlike compound, is manufactured by your body—and by all other animals—and is not technically a fat. It has no calories so your body doesn’t burn it for fuel. You need cholesterol to make the membranes of your cells, for normal cell function, and to produce hormones such as estrogen, testosterone, and adrenal hormones. You absorb some cholesterol from eating animal products, but about 80 percent of your cholesterol is manufactured by your own body, mostly in your liver. In fact, when you try to restrict cholesterol, you may simply make more. Important as cholesterol is to your health, however, high levels of it in your bloodstream can be associated with heart disease. That’s why it is important to understand your cholesterol numbers.
To help waxy cholesterol travel through your watery bloodstream to where it’s needed, your body wraps each tiny particle of cholesterol in a thin coat of protein. The particles fall into two major categories: low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and high-density lipoprotein (HDL). The latter is often called the “good” cholesterol because it carries the LDL cholesterol away from cells and arteries and back to your liver, removing it from your bloodstream.
In addition to the cholesterol in your blood, another form of lipid, called triglycéride (TG) may be just as important. High TGs are associated with a high-carbohydrate, low-fat diet. High TGs can also lead to smaller, denser, and more harmful LDL particles. Many studies indicate that high TGs are as dangerous as high cholesterol, so now doctors should check your blood for all four lipids: total cholesterol, HDL, LDL, and TG.
What do the numbers mean? Here’s what the ideal blood lipid levels would be, according to the guidelines set by the National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP):
Total cholesterol (HDL and LDL combined) of 200 mg/dL or less
LDL cholesterol of 100-130 mg/dL or less
HDL cholesterol of 40 mg/dL or more; 60 mg/dL is even better
The NCEP doesn’t specify an upper limit for TGs, but in general, TGs of over 150 mg/dL is considered high. In our opinion, your TG should be less than 100 mg/dL.
A good indicator of heart health is the combination of high HDL cholesterol and low triglycérides. When you do Atkins, you’ll almost certainly see your HDL climb and your TG level drop sharply. Even with increased carb intake in Lifetime Maintenance, you continue to burn fat (along with carbs) for energy. So long as you’re not gaining weight, you’re not eating too much fat, meaning you are eating a good balance of fat, protein, and carbs. And if you do gain, cut back on carbs instead of fat.
Although we have all been conditioned to focus on our cholesterol level as the main predictor of cardiovascular health, more than 50 percent of people who have heart attacks have normal cholesterol.17 Moreover, although LDL has traditionally been labeled the “bad” cholesterol, simply having an elevated LDL level is not enough to know whether you are at risk because it does not take into consideration whether the kind of LDL is the small, dense, high-risk type or the large, fluffy, low-risk type that we told you about in chapter 2.
Depending upon chemical structure, there are three different kinds of dietary fat: saturated, monounsaturated, and polyunsaturated. Monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats are liquid at room temperature. In general, saturated fats are hard at room temperature. Almost all fats, despite their nominal type and whether of vegetable or animal origin, are actually mixtures of the three different kinds. Butter, for instance, is called a saturated fat, but actually only about two-thirds of the fat is saturated—the rest is mostly monounsaturated.
MONOUNSATURATED FATS. When you eat vegetables sautéed in or salads dressed with olive oil and handfuls of satisfying nuts, you’re getting a healthy dose of monounsaturated fat. Many scientific studies have shown that both olive oil and nuts have positive health benefits. Recent studies that looked at people in Mediterranean areas such as Italy and Crete, where olive oil is a food staple, have shown that this monounsaturated fat can help protect against heart disease, stroke, and possibly some kinds of cancer.18–27 In fact, most of the people in these studies got 40 percent or more of their daily calories from dietary fat, mostly in the form of olive oil (and about 40 percent from carbs). That’s considerably more than the 30 percent or less of calories from fat that’s recommended by our fat-phobic authorities, yet these Mediterranean people tend to be mostly of normal weight and to live long and healthy lives. In the United States, results from Harvard’s long-running Nurses’ Health Study have shown that the women who ate the most nuts had the least incidence of heart disease. The amount needed to provide the protection wasn’t much—just a couple of ounces each day.28–31
POLYUNSATURATED FATS. Found in vegetable oils such as canola, safflower, grapeseed, and flaxseed oils, as well as in fish, polys can be just as beneficial as monounsaturated fats. But use vegetable oils sparingly and carefully. They’re not as helpful to your health as olive oil, and when they’re heated to the high temperatures used for frying, they can break down into harmful byproducts.32 We discourage frying foods; instead, whenever possible, stir-fry with canola, peanut, or grapeseed oil. (See Smoke and Fire on page 154 in the Getting Your Kitchen in Order section for guidelines on safe cooking temperatures.)
SATURATED FATS. Butter, lard, and tallow (beef fat) are all rich sources of saturated fat; however, not all saturated fats are animal fats; coconut and palm oils are also saturated. Interestingly, beef fat usually contains slightly more monounsaturated than saturated fat and lard usually contains more monounsaturated fat than saturated. Yet coconut oil is more than 90 percent saturated. In addition to the fat in meat and poultry, saturated fat is found in butter, cream, and other dairy products.
Although they have been demonized in recent decades, there is absolutely no need to avoid foods that contain saturated fats, which is not to say that we recommend you over-consume them. First let’s look at the positive effects of eating saturated fats, which have been associated with a rise in HDL and a lowering of another lipoprotein that could accelerate blood clot and plaque formation—a major risk factor for heart disease. As with other fats, saturated fat is important for normal cell membrane function. Saturated fats are also highly stable, meaning that they do not form free radicals or become rancid. That’s why palm and coconut oils are added to foods to increase shelf stability. In the past three decades, there has been a lot of media attention given to the connection between a diet high in saturated fat and heart disease. In a low carb environment, just the opposite is true. Also, remember that all fats are mixtures. There are about 22 grams of fat in a 3.5-ounce pork chop, for instance, of which only 8 grams are saturated fat; 10 grams are monounsaturated fat and the rest are polyunsaturated fat. You should always eat a balance of different types of natural fats.
Most of the oils found on supermarket shelves have been heavily processed into pale, tasteless, low-nutrient versions of their original selves to prolong shelf life and allow heating to higher temperatures. Skip them all, especially processed corn oil. Instead, check your natural foods store or gourmet market for high-quality, unrefined cold-pressed fresh vegetable and nut oils, which tend to be more expensive. These oils haven’t been heated and treated with harsh chemicals to strip away their nutrients, so they still have their rich flavor, essential fatty acids (EFAs), and high vitamin content. Expeller-pressed oils are exposed to heat but retain more of the natural flavor and aroma of the seeds from which they were mechanically pressed than do refined oils.
To keep unrefined oils fresh, buy in small quantities, select those with opaque containers to protect them from light, and store in the refrigerator. Unrefined vegetable and nut oils will go rancid faster than processed oils. Fats become rancid when they are exposed to too much heat or light or simply with the passage of time. Rancid fats don’t just taste bad; eating them also enhances the risk of heart disease. Also avoid reusing oil. Doing so may make it rancid, plus trans fats that were in the foods previously cooked in the oil can be transferred to the oil.32
Polyunsaturated fats include the essential fatty acids (EFAs) known as omega-3, omega-6, and omega-9. Essential fatty acids come from a variety of foods, including fish, eggs, nuts, seeds, and vegetable oils as major sources; green leafy vegetables and whole grains also contain them. Now that you’re doing Atkins, you’re eating a lot more of these very foods, which means that you’re naturally getting a lot more of the nutrients your body needs. That may have a lot to do with why you’re feeling better in general. The EFAs play an important role in the production of hormonelike substances that help control a lot of important bodily functions. The benefits of omega-3 fatty acids for your heart and other health factors have been shown time and again in many scientific studies. If you don’t have enough of the EFAs needed to make these substances, your health may suffer. Give your body the raw materials it needs to make them, however, and you might see a real improvement in how you feel.
Ideally, you want to have a good balance of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. In the standard American diet (SAD), however, omega-6 levels tend to predominate. That’s because SAD includes a lot of heavily processed vegetable oils, which are high in omega-6s but low in omega-3s. Corn oil is particularly high in omega-6s and low in omega-3 s. Cañóla oil, on the other hand, has a much better ratio, which is why we recommend canola over corn oil. When you eat fish and/or fish oil supplements, flaxseed oil, and walnuts as is recommended on Atkins—along with lots of other whole foods—you’re likely to get more omega-3s and a much better balance of fats. Flaxseed oil has a pleasant buttery flavor when used in salad dressings, on cooked veggies, or in a smoothie, but heat destroys its nutrients. You can also add flax meal to shakes or salads. For more on sources of EFA, see Get Your Omegas Here.
There are two situations in which you should be mindful of your fish intake. The Food and Drug Administration recommends that pregnant women limit their consumption of ocean fish to 12 ounces per week because of the possibility of mercury contamination. The FDA also recommends that pregnant women avoid eating shark, sword-fish, king, mackerel, and tilefish. We can’t disagree with the FDA here; because these large fish are higher on the food chain, levels of mercury may be compounded. If you’re taking a blood-thinning medication, be aware that fish oil capsules (but not eating fish itself) may thin the blood—so ask your doctor whether it is safe to also take fish oil capsules.
Get Your Omegas Here
No matter how good the balance of dietary fats in your diet, adding these mainstays ensures you get what you need.
Omega-3s
Good sources: flaxseed oil, meal or capsules; fatty cold-water fish such as salmon, cod, trout, mackerel, sardines, tuna, and eel; fish oil supplements; unrefined canola oil; wheat germ oil or capsules; walnuts or walnut oil; raw pumpkin seeds; hempseed oil.
Daily requirement: 1,000 milligrams
Omega-6s
Good sources: supplements that contain borage, evening primrose, black currant seeds, and gooseberry oils. Be wary of refined corn, safflower, sunflower, soybean, and cottonseed oil. the processing removes the omega-6s.
Daily requirement: 250 milligrams
Omega-9s
Good sources: extra-virgin or virgin (not just “pure”) olive oil, sesame oil, avocado, peanuts, all tree nuts, seeds, poultry, and pork.
Daily requirement:
250 milligrams
There is one kind of dietary fat that really is dangerous to your health. Hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated vegetable oils are trans fats made from inexpensive vegetable oils that have been heavily processed to make them thicker and more stable. During hydrogénation, the chemical structure of the fat is reconfigured, producing an abnormal form that disrupts cell membranes and their function. (Trans fats occur naturally in our own intestines and those of other animals in trace amounts.)
These manufactured trans fats are everywhere. They’re used as the shortening in commercial baked goods such as cookies, cakes, and bread products. Check the label of almost any package of cookies, for instance, and you’ll see that partially hydrogenated vegetable oil is one of the top ingredients. It usually comes right after the enriched white flour and the sugar. Hydrogenated oils are also used in snack foods such as most potato chips and pretzels. They lurk in just about all prepared convenience foods, but especially in baked goods and foods such as breaded fish fillets and french fries. Many fast-food restaurants cook their french fries, chicken nuggets, fried chicken, mozzarella sticks, and other fried foods in partially hydrogenated oils. Most margarines and peanut butters (in both cases, with the exception of nonhydrogenated versions usually found in natural foods stores) contain manufactured trans fats—as does Crisco—it’s what makes vegetable oil become solid or creamy.
What’s so dangerous about them? Everything! Hydrogenated oils accumulate in your body and are not readily metabolized. These unnatural fats have been shown to raise LDL cholesterol and lower HDL cholesterol. In each case, this is exactly the opposite of what is desirable. Even worse, they raise the level of triglycérides in your blood. In fact, when it comes to impact on blood lipids, hydrogenated oils, rather than saturated fats or dietary cholesterol, are the real demons. Long-term studies at the Harvard School of Public Health have shown that overall, people who eat the most manufactured trans fats are also the most likely to develop heart disease. 33Similar studies have shown that people who eat the most of these trans fats are also the most likely to develop diabetes.34 And manufacutured trans fats are implicated in a host of other serious health problems, including breast cancer and asthma.35–39
Here’s where doing Atkins for life may have the biggest payoff of all: When you stop eating packaged cookies, snack cakes, doughnuts, chips, most convenience foods, and high carb fast food, you’ve cut down not only on carbohydrates but also on hydrogenated oils. Even better, you’ve replaced these dangerous fats with health-giving good fats. One piece of advice: Even some low carb products contain hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils, so check the ingredient list carefully.
The whole issue of fats is a complex one, but in terms of daily life, it comes down to the following basics:
Choose your fats with care, in terms of both source and method of extraction.
Avoid hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated as well as large amounts of corn and other oils that have a high ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acids.
Use extra-virgin (meaning the first pressing) olive oil and unrefined flaxseed oil whenever possible.
Use oils such as grapeseed and canola for cooking at higher temperatures.
Use butter (preferably organic) for baking.
Explore the use of oils such as walnut and hazelnut for dressing vegetables.
If you come away with only one lesson from this chapter, let it be that it is crucially important to eat a variety of healthy fats for health reasons. For example, for breakfast you might have a vegetable omelet cooked in butter, supplying saturated, mono-, and polyunsaturated fats. At lunch, if you have a spinach, avocado, and chicken salad topped with chopped walnuts and olive oil vinaigrette, you would be getting monounsaturated oil in the dressing and avocado, saturated (including omega-9) in the chicken, and omega-3 in the walnuts and dressing. For dinner, if you have baked salmon and kale sautéed with garlic in safflower oil, you are getting omega-3 from the salmon, saturated and monounsaturated fat from the butter, and omega-6 from the safflower oil.
The Meat of the Matter
Along with protein, meat and eggs contain saturated fat and cholesterol, but quality and cooking techniques are far more important than the fat content in these foods. Eggs are a good and relatively inexpensive source of protein and other nutrients. We strongly recommend selecting organically raised, free-range meat, poultry, and eggs whenever possible. Not only are they more flavorful, they’re also more healthful, because they don’t contain harmful hormones, including growth hormone, and antibiotics. Follow these additional guidelines when purchasing:
EGGS: Free-range eggs are about twenty times higher in beneficial omega-3 fatty acids. Omega-3-enriched eggs are also now available.
COLD CUTS AND HOT DOGS: Less expensive brands may be full of added sugars and other hidden carbohydrates. Processed meats such as hot dogs, bologna, salami, olive loaf, and the like usually contain nitrates and nitrites. These preservatives are major sources of nitrosamines, which may contribute to insulin resistance and Type 2 diabetes.40 They have been definitely linked to stomach and colon cancer. Whenever possible, choose nitrite-and nitrate-free deli meats or plain sliced roast beef, turkey, and the like.
BACON AND SUCH: Most sausages, bacon, and aged hams also contain nitrates and nitrites. It is a common misconception that doing Atkins means eating large amounts of bacon and sausage. Both should be eaten occasionally and in moderation. Seek out preservative-free brands sold primarily in natural foods stores.
How you cook your meat also makes a difference. High-temperature frying, broiling, charring, and grilling can create substances that may increase your risk of cancer. In general, the more well done or charred your meat is, the more of these substances it will contain. To minimize your exposure when cooking at home, we offer the following tips for grilling:
Lightly grill meats and fish; do not let them get black.
Parboil or bake chicken before grilling so that you minimize time on the grill.
Bake spareribs or pork before finishing off on the grill.
Brush barbecue sauce on meat after you remove it from the grill, instead of before.
Use marinades with little or no oil. Oil can drip into the fire, causing flare-ups that burn food.
For the same reason, remove excess fat from meat before grilling.
Many foods that contain fat are also protein foods, and the two macro-nutrients work in concert to moderate the impact of carbohydrates on your blood sugar. Protein, which is made up of amino acids, is essential for our bodies to form nerves, muscles, and flesh. There are twenty-two amino acids, of which only eight are considered essential nutrients for humans. When all eight nutrients are present in your diet, your body can usually use them to build the other, nonessential amino acids. But if just one essential amino acid is missing your body cannot synthesize any of the other aminos. Animal protein is the only complete source of all essential acids, which is why people who eat no animal foods can find it difficult to meet nutritional requirements. Protein is also necessary for bodily functions such as the clotting of blood, hormonal regulation (in concert with fat), formation of milk when a woman is nursing an infant, and for the acid/alkaline balance in blood. When protein is insufficient, the blood and tissues can become too acid or too alkaline. Sulfur-containing amino acids, which are found primarily in meat and eggs, are of particular importance to the health of the brain.
As with fat, there are a number of myths about the dangers of eating too much protein, particularly animal protein. The first myth to put to rest is that Atkins is all about eating beef and bacon. In fact, we recommend a balance of protein sources, including poultry, fish and shellfish, eggs, and cheese as well as pork, lamb, veal, venison, and other game meat in addition to beef. Moreover, if you choose not to eat red meat, you can do Atkins perfectly well eating only fish and fowl. You could probably even maintain your weight deriving your protein only from eggs, cheese, nuts, seeds, and legumes, including soybean products such as bean curd. A vegetarian would have to be careful to consume enough complementary proteins to ensure adequate intake of all the essential amino acids. Vegetarians should also supplement with vitamin B12 because non-animal sources of protein are low in this key nutrient.
You may have heard that eating animal protein causes cancer, particularly cancer of the colon. In fact, studies of societies in which people do not eat highly processed foods, sugar, and trans fat show there is no correlation between meat consumption and cancer.41–45
When you are controlling your intake of carbohydrates, as you do on Atkins, there is no need to cut back on red meat and dark poultry. Nor need you take the skin off chicken or trim the fat off meat. In fact, protein should always be served with fat to ensure absorption of vitamins and minerals. So, if you prefer to remove the skin on chicken, be sure to have some olive oil at the same meal. Processing can devitalize protein, just as it does fats and carbohydrates. You will get more nutritional bang for your buck with fresh meat, poultry, or fish.
How much protein, or more specifically animal protein, should you be eating? To a large extent, this is a personal decision. Depending upon your genetic makeup and hormonal status, your individual requirements for amino acids can vary enormously. While you may feel perfectly well eating a fairly large amount of meat, another person may prefer smaller portions or to concentrate on fish and fowl. So long as you are getting a minimum of seven ounces a day of complete protein, you should be meeting your nutritional requirements. Of course, if you are eating too much protein, some of the excess may convert to glucose and behave the way carbs do in your body. Rather than have all your protein at one meal, spread it out across the day. If a snack contains no protein, make sure that it has enough fat to moderate the impact of the carbohydrates on your blood sugar level.
Now that you are doing Atkins for life you should also balance your increased intake of carbohydrates by eating less meat, poultry, cheese, fish, salad dressings, butter, and other fat, and protein foods than you did in Induction and Ongoing Weight Loss. It is crucial to understand that at this point, your increased carb intake should not be cumulative; instead, it is a matter of offsetting some of your protein and fat choices with additional carb selections. As you add back carbs, you must cut down on your servings or serving sizes of proteins and fats. You will see this redistribution of foods in the menu plans that start on page 161. Meanwhile, well help you put into practice all you’ve learned about carbs, fat, and protein in the next chapter.
How Much Do You Know About Fat and Protein?
Which of the following contain a majority of saturated fats?
butter
olive oil
corn oil d. flaxseed oil
coconut oil
peanut oil
canola oil
palm oil
Which of these foods contain the most omega-3 fatty acids?
corn oil
striped bass
flaxseed oil
tuna
salmon
shrimp
peanut oil
walnuts
catfish
flounder
Where are you likely to find hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils?
packaged bread
cookies
pork chops
sesame oil
margarine
crackers
potato chips
butter
The following are complete sources of essential amino acids:
turkey
bean curd
crab cakes
almonds
soybeans
chicken kabobs
veal chops
stuffed trout
feta cheese
spinach omelet
peanut butter
filet mignon
baked beans
ANSWERS:
a, e, and h
b, c, d, e, and h
a, b, e, f, and g
a, c, f, g, h, i, j, and I
Christianne Bishop went to medical school at a time in her life when most doctors are in mid-career, then made another dream come true by losing weight.
I started medical school when I was forty-four. It was one of the final hurdles in my life long dream of becoming a doctor. Most of my classmates were in their early twenties and had just finished their undergraduate studies. I had already lived a fairly full life: I had worked as a court reporter, raised a child, and gone to college part-time for years to earn an undergraduate degree in physical therapy. That wasn’t enough for me, though, and in 1998 I became the oldest graduate of the Creighton University School of Medicine in Omaha, Nebraska. I recently completed my residency in physical medicine and rehabilitation, a field I adore because every day it lets me see miracles.
I have experienced a miracle, too. I consider it a small one compared with what I witness when, for instance, patients arrive wheelchair-bound and weeks later walk out of the hospital on their own two feet. But after realizing my dream of becoming a doctor, I took it upon myself to realize another dream: to be thin. Fed up with being chubby all my life and worried about my high cholesterol and family history of heart disease, I did Atkins to drop 50 pounds.
I had followed low-fat diets and only gained weight. I had tried doing Atkins when Dr. Atkins’ very first book came out in the 1970s and had lost 40 pounds at the time. I decided I would try it again and keep a close eye on my cholesterol; if my numbers rose, I’d quit.
My breaking point came around November 2000. Three months earlier I had turned fifty. I had long, brown hair and “Coke-bottle” glasses. And after several years of the grueling, high-stress schedule of residency, when even finding the time to take a shower was a luxury, my weight had gradually crept up to 160.1 felt like a fat blob. Finally my schedule let up a little and I was ready.
I had my blood work done, set up a daily chart to track my success, and plunged in a few days before Thanksgiving 2000. While doing Induction, I never really strayed except for adding some nuts to my daily menu, and I lost 6 pounds in the first week. By January 2001,1 was down to 134 pounds. By mid-June, I weighed only 115 pounds and stopped keeping records. I cut my hair and dyed it blond and also had LASIK surgery to correct my eyesight. My fatigue vanished. I then dropped down to 108 pounds, but people said I was too thin, so I gained a couple of pounds back. I did this without being obsessive, but also without cheating. I was never hungry.
I did not start an exercise program until after I had shed the pounds for fear I would injure myself carrying all that extra weight. (Today I power-walk four miles four or five days a week.) I eat hard-boiled eggs, steaks, bacon-cheeseburgers without the bun, lots of salads topped with grilled chicken or tuna salad, as well as peanuts and macadamia nuts. My new favorite restaurant? Outback Steakhouse, where I can get my perfect meal: a filet mignon, salad, and steamed broccoli and cauliflower. Now that I’m maintaining my weight, I occasionally reward myself with, perhaps, popcorn at the movies or one of my old favorites like a café mocha or a bagel. I even drink diet soda now and then. But I never, ever touch the chocolate kisses, croissants, and ice cream in the refrigerator. Really! I find them comforting in an odd way, but I know that if I cheat, I will not maintain my weight. So they stay put.
ACE: 45
Age: 52
Height: 5 feet 6 inches
Weight before: 160 pounds
Weight after: 110 pounds
Weight lost: 50 pounds
Total cholesterol before: 147
Total cholesterol after: 125
HDL before: 53
HDL after: 56
LDL before: 84
LDL after: 60
Triglycérides before: 52
Triglycérides after: 47
Started doing Atkins: November 2000
Several of my colleagues have adopted the controlled carbohydrate lifestyle after seeing my success. My husband, John, who is also a physician, has joined me, and has lost 50 pounds on the Atkins program. At 6 feet tall and 210 pounds, he still has about 30 pounds to go, and we know he’ll get there in no time.
I am so grateful every day for the life I am leading. We are here on this planet for such a short time. We owe it to ourselves to take care of our bodies, to be healthy and fit. Our strength comes from within, and there is truly no limit to what we can do.