Notes on "The Park Avenue Diet Show: Flab Food Nation"; July 25; 2010

This week's show, entitled "Flab Food Nation", posed the semi-theoretical question: "What is the #1 reason that so many Americans are overweight or obese?". Callers offered their views. providing remarkable insights into this profound issue.

But beforehand there was a tutorial in The Mathematics of Dieting. First off: the definition of a calorie more specifically than a unit of energy. A food calorie (kcal) is the amount of energy needed to increase the temperature of one kilogram of water (one liter) by one degree Celsius. Other useful figures: proteins and carbs, when burned off, produce 4 kcal per gram, whereas fats produce 9 kcal per gram. It's therefore twice as hard to burn off fats...so beware of fast food breakfast sandwiches such as [redacted] with 3 strips of bacon, a sausage patty, 4 slices of ham, an egg, and 2 slices of cheese....yes, it's real.

The recommended daily intake of calories for a young adult or a man is 2500 kcal per day----and for a woman, 2000 kcal per day.

3500 kcal equals one pound of body fat....in either direction, namely putting it on or taking it off. This translates into 5 hours of jumping rope, for example, if that's a favored pastime. On the other hand, the revolting "food" called "turducken" contains 3500 kcal. God Bless America !

Last interesting trivia for now---your weight multiplied by 15 is approximately the number of calories you are now eating in order to maintain your current weight. So if you weigh 200, you are taking in 3000 kcal per day.

These fascinating facts of biochemistry have no place in the world of supermarket tabloids, where thin celebrities "lose ten pounds" on a special food program unmentioned in medical textbooks. Does anyone wonder how far we've gotten off track in our Flab Food Nation?

Back to the question of the week: "What is the #1 reason that so many Americans are overweight or obese?" There were at least six excellent responses from callers, and there were many others who couldn't get through our switchboard. Your humble host, however, provided the correct answer: "Health is not the #1 priority of most Americans." Further amplification was provided, and the discussion will continue next week.

Notes on "The Park Avenue Diet Show: Are My Friends Making Me Fat?"; July 18, 2010

Are you influenced by people around you, or do you primarily make decisions on your own?

Perhaps we all do a little of both, but for this week's edition of "The Park Avenue Diet Show" we explored how one's social circle may influence his or her foods choices. Those who have maintained a good weight for decades are on automatic pilot, having established a routine that favors nutrition and optimal health from which they rarely deviate. They have their own inner set of self-care priorities, so called positive personal myths.

Other people who are struggling with weight are encircled by individuals who may knowingly or unknowingly intimidate them into overeating. This can be done through a wide range of dysfunction behaviors. Here are some examples, and you can see the pattern--someone is being asked/cajoled/humiliated into eating to fulfill someone else's negative personal myths.

"What's wrong with having a second dessert? You worked hard today and deserve it."

"Let's not talk about unpleasant topics. Let's go have a pizza."

"You don't want seconds? Obviously you don't like my cooking."

"You may be on a diet, but not here. You''ll just have to go to the gym for a few extra hours."

"You're not fat. You look fine to me."

"Enablers" are people who may knowingly or unknowingly steer you in the direction of unhealthy food choices. They are not bad people, and they may actually feel that they are taking care of you. This particularly true with parents who overfeed their children in the mistaken belief that this represents the "comforts" of home. The classic "comfort foods", still promoted by supermarket magazines that promote crackpot weight-loss tips, are well known to you: macaroni and cheese, rice and beans, noodle pudding. Do they conjure up thoughts of childhood and happiness for you?

People who want you lose to weight, improve your image, and get healthier are your "support group." People who undercut your efforts, for whatever reasons, may be "co-dependents." They may not want you to change, possibly because it reflects badly on their inability to do so.

Needless to say, weight loss, an extremely challenging project on its own, is made even more difficult when close friends, family, or colleagues involve others in unhealthy behavior patterns. Part of the learning curve in weight loss is discovering for oneself where those influence lie...and reshaping one's thinking accordingly. This is a central premise in "The Park Avenue Diet", one eloquently elucidated by Dr. Stanley Krippner. He teaches the reader how to respond to enablers and co-dependents, something equally as important as eating low calorie food, perhaps even more so, since this facilitates lifelong lifestyle changes.

The guest discussant on this week's show was the eminent psychologist Debbie Joffe Ellis. You can hear her brilliant insights and mellifluous voice on the WOR section of parkavenuediet.com
She recently completed the last chapter of her late husband's autobiography, and the book is now available...and unmissable. He, of course, is Dr. Albert Ellis, perhaps the most important psychologist of the 20th century and certainly the most influential philosophically for me. What a thrill to have Debbie on my show, but don't take my word...listen for yourself.

Here's the new book:

http://www.amazon.com/All-Out-Autobiography-Albert-Ellis/dp/1591024528

Notes on "The Park Avenue Diet Show: Oil and Water"; July 11, 2010

My lecture on "Oil and Water" has been popular for many years. I first did it on "Vital Signs", my fondly remembered WEVD program sponsored by The Atkins Center, then recycled it for several lectures.

Oil and water don't mix (they are immiscible), as anyone who has repaired his or her own car knows very well. Oil and water don't mix in milk either, as it eventually separates into curds (fat) and whey (water-soluble protein). When you eat dietary "oils" (fats) like butter, cream, cheese, or salad oil, a separate liquid, bile (which is made in the liver and stored in the gall bladder), is needed to allow their byproducts to flow through the intestines and become absorbed into the circulation.

Once in your bloodstream, the oils take the form of cholesterol, triglycerides, and similar chemicals, and they travel as somewhat isolated molecules (for our convenience these are simplistically named HDL, LDL, VLDL etc...but the constituency of these is very complex.)

Oils have a place in the lungs..."lubricating" the air sacs (alveoli) so that they never collapse fully. We were taught at Maimonides Medical Center that this is partially why chicken soup is so soothing during flu season---the chicken fat makes the lung tissues more compliant, less "dehydrated."

But oil in the wrong place is a bad bad thing, just like butter staining your clothing when it squirts out of Chicken Kiev. Allergic reactions are usually due to oils--the most notorious, diet-wise, is peanut oil. The most notorious, skin-wise, is the plant that causes urushiol-induced contact dermatitis...poison ivy.

Overflow oil (triglycerides, particularly) in the liver causes what I used to refer to as "The Pate Syndrome"--"fatty liver", properly temed steatohepatitis. Oil inflames the tissues, just like "poisonous" plants inflame the skin, and the eventual result can be cirrhosis. Just as a reminder--- it is predicted that young obese diabetics who continue to neglect their diet and weight might need liver transplants in the future (in their 40's) for this entirely preventable condition.

And now, the piece de resistance...oil (cholesterol molecules) in the walls of coronary arteries--very similar to "pimples"--are hidden pockets of inflammation, calcium deposition, and blood clots. These can eventually rupture, just like a pimple, except that the rupture of a coronary artery is the initial event in most heart attacks. Oil in the walls of coronary arteries is "immiscible" in the water-based environment of bodily fluids and tissues. Here, the abnormal collision of oil and water can be fatal.

This is why anti-inflammatory agents (such as low-dose aspirin) are used to prevent strokes and heart attaks. They "soothe" the interface between oil and water...but if there are too many lesions, "something's got to give."

Oil and water----they need to get along somehow in many of your bodily organs. But if you're neglecting your weight and diet...and therefore your health...the collision between oil and water might be explosive !

Notes on "The Park Avenue Diet Show: Weight Loss in Red, White, and Blue": July 4, 2010

The articles reviewed this week frame the subject of obesity in unusual ways, at least geographically speaking. First this news item:

http://www.theborneopost.com/?p=42767

Borneo and the surrounding islands of the Indonesian archipelago are not usually associated with obesity. How times have changed ! Sad to say, other emerging nations, formerly plagued by endemic malnutrition, are struggling with the same problem, namely China, India, and Mexico.

Leave it to the USA to spearhead the movement, albeit in the wrong ways:

http://www.nydailynews.com/lifestyle/2010/06/24/2010-06-24_open_wide_friendlys_burger_and_cheese_triple_decker_is_even_worse_for_you_than_k.html

I reviewed other fast-food franchise websites as we discussed what to eat during the summer and came up with new, depressing facts. Ice cream is no longer the single scoop treat or Eskimo Bar that your parents might remember. There are now even sweeter, thicker, and more artificial concoctions that pack hundreds of extra calories into swimwear that teeters on the brink of explosion. One such company, advertising a product whose caloric content ranges from 700 to 950 (!!!) has this slogan: "You only live once." If rewritten to utilize data from an article cited previously from The Lancet: "You only live once, and we're taking three years of that away from you."

"Weight Loss in Red, White, and Blue" can be expressed in pleasant and positive ways--like red snapper, egg white omelets, and blueberries. But that same show title can also remind us of the consequences of obesity: excess blood clotting, anemia due to chronic renal failure, and cyanosis due to sleep apnea. Which do you prefer for yourself and your family?

The average male requires about 2000 calories a day, the average woman 1800. With that in mind, please look at certain foods differently this summer: pecan pie (575), 4 ounce cheeseburger (525), giant soft pretzel (500), "club sandwich" (800),.....one carrot (30), papaya (less than 50), corn on the cob (100). Do you really need 500 calories of starch and fat as "popcorn" in order to sit through Eclipse? Send your extra calories to Robert Pattinson !

And what about burning off calories over the summer? I doubt you'll be waterskiing (400 calories/hour). Maybe your type of "exercise" is miniature golf (200 calories). Most likely, your weightlifting will be confined to your cellphone and "cardio" will be gossiping (68 calories/hour).

Want more shockingly high-calorie food stats? A 20 ounce T-bone steak (1500), potato salad (360), "funnel cake" (500) and a gigantic turkey leg (1100) might try to tempt you, overstimulate your insulin, and fill up thousands of lipocytes.

Or would you prefer something nutritious and tasty? Watermelon, papaya, and avocados are alkaline, raising your body's pH very healthfully at a low caloric cost. What's better for you than those grotesque colas, spiked with phenylalanine? Coconut water has the same osmolarity as human serum, perfect for those hot, sweaty days. It's actually better for dehydration than water or that "vitamin" liquid.

In an era when your own health, image, and self-care become increasingly important every day, how much longer can you afford to ignore The Mathematics of Dieting? 3500 calories= one pound of body fat, on or off your body. Summer is as good a time as any to do the math, come to your senses, and reinvent yourself entirely a la The Park Avenue Diet. You are the main beneficiary, and that's the best investment for the future anyone can make !

Notes on "The Park Avenue Diet Show: What is a Personal Myth?"; June 27, 2010

The article cited this week comes from the current Journal of the American Medical Association. It discusses the link between obesity and the development of diabetes in older adults. Needless to say, the illness indeed develops insidiously, as with other age groups. There are no surprises here:

http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/abstract/303/24/2504

Much more interesting and sadly emblematic of our times is a cover article in a recent “health” magazine. Last week I saw a famed “nutritional” periodical tell its readers how to “eat more, weigh less”, a physical impossibility. But this week I stared at the cover of a well-known journal with the headline: “Lose 7 Pounds in 6 Days.”

Let’s explore the mathematics of dieting, a favorite topic. 3500 calories = one pound, whether calories are taken in or burned off. In order to lose 7 pounds, you need to incur a calorie deficit of 24, 500 calories. If this is divided among 6 days, that comes to about 4000 calories a day. Now remember, you need a deficit, so that means…no eating at all…as well of one of these “exercise programs”: swimming for 6 hours per day, taking eight aerobic classes in sequence daily, or mowing the lawn for 10 hours per day—a “green” alternative.

Therefore, that article I saw promised something physically impossible. The “weight” lost by any crash program is extracellular tissue fluid—water—which will promptly be regained. Did you get fooled by any similar articles today? I hope not.

The general topic for this evening’s broadcast was “What is a Personal Myth?” This topic has been explored for decades by my lifelong friend, mentor, and literary colleague Dr. Stanley Krippner. My own take on this complex and fascinating topic:

Personal myths make up our “rulebook”, the code of behavior that we have developed for ourselves over a lifetime. Many can be positive, for example: “I can best help the world during my life by being a physician.” [one of mine]

But all of us harbor negative personal myths, and sometimes these can undermine our best efforts at living. A distorted belief system can lead an individual into unrealistic viewpoints, self-deception, and self-validation. The latter is nicely expressed in French as soi disante…[self-styled, making the speaker an authority figure].

Here are typical negative personal myths that interfere with some individuals’ inability to stay on a weight loss diet.

1) It’s been a hard day at work so I’m having another piece of pie.
2) I’m allowed to have “cheat days” because overall I plan to lose weight.
3) I’m going to eat macrobiotic for the rest of my life.
4) I just worked out at the gym so now I can eat whatever I want.
5) Ordering a diet beverage offsets the high calories in the rest of my meal.
6) Buying cakes and muffins in bulk is the perfect way to save money in a recession.
7) My kids aren’t overweight. That’s baby fat.

And so on…

The remedy is to replace each of these incorrect statements with a productive and realistic thought that leads to a healthier lifestyle. That’s part of The Park Avenue Diet, by the way.
In coming shows, we’ll explore how to do this. Meanwhile, can you think of any of your own personal myths…and how I might “rewrite” them to send you off to a happier tomorrow? Give it a try.

Meanwhile, here’s a superlative classic book by Dr. Krippner that belongs in your library.
http://www.amazon.com/Personal-Mythology-Ritual-Imagination-Discover/dp/160415036X/ref=pd_sim_b_1

Notes on "The Park Avenue Diet Show"; June 20, 2010

A fascinating article was recently published in the British Medical Journal reporting the findings of a survey that found a correlation between obesity and adverse sexual health.

http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/340/jun15_1/c2573

This article is certainly the first of its kind and sparked interesting discussion on many news blogs. A definite correlation was found between Body Mass Index and sexual behavior. Unfortunately, the findings were negative and unpleasant.

What is most interesting was this statement: “The relation between obesity and sexual ill health might be forged via physiological, social, and psychological mechanisms. It is in the social factors influencing sexual behavior, however, that we are most likely to find insights into these findings, particularly for women.”

The correlation between weight and impaired social behavior is addressed as a central premise in The Park Avenue Diet. No other weight loss book or philosophy works on these seemingly unrelated components of image simultaneously. Poor interpersonal skills, however, will lead people into the abyss of dietary excess; food provides the comfort and pleasant feelings that elude them in intimate relationships. Although a harsh reality, this must be addressed as part of a weight loss program. The researchers in the above scholarly article have obviously come to the same conclusion.
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The Ten Commandments of Dieting, as discussed on the 6/20/10 show:

1. Matter is neither created nor destroyed in a chemical equation. [This is The First Law of Thermodynamics which basically states for our purposes that weight gain or loss is totally dependent on calories. Any other explanation defies physics.]

2. No commercially available weight loss program has ever been shown to be better than another. There “success rate” is approximately 5-10% with success defined as 12-15 pounds in one year. These facts are shielded from the American public. They would not be if the issue was car safety, for example. [The studies that prove this can be readily accessed in the bibliography of The Park Avenue Diet. In fact, the AMA and ACP have asked that no further studies be done on this subject since the outcomes will always be the same.]

3. There is no single set of foods associated with normal weight. On the contrary, individuals throughout the world are able to avoid weight gain on hundreds of ethnically different diets. [The foods that magically produce weight loss are figments in the imagination of desperate magazine writers.]

4. A weight loss program that does not take into account other components of image will fail in the long and short run. [Please refer to the discussion above for an illustration of the relationship between BMI and “interpersonal skills.”]

5. Magazines whose cover articles describe “How to Lose Belly Fat” should not accept advertising revenue from products with “empty” calories. Why have we banned cigarette and liquor ads from magazines? [A currently available supermarket magazine tells gullible readers “Eat more, Weigh Less”—a physical impossibility]

6. “Hormonal” imbalances affect weight gain minimally, probably around 15 pounds, according to the American College of Physicians. [Obesity is not a “glandular condition.”]

7. “Yo-yo dieting” is an independent risk-factor for cardiovascular disease. [All the more reason to lose weight and keep it off!]

8. Human genetics do not account for any aspect of weight gain. The obesity epidemic began in the mid-70’s, and 30 years is too short a time for the human genome to be modified. [The idea that human DNA can change drastically in a few decades defies molecular biology and common sense, although not necessarily in that order.]

9. You can not lose weight without proper nutritional supplementation. You can not maintain a healthy weight without regular exercise. [Them’s the rules. I don’t make them.]

10. Do not look at the scale. Observant friends, family, and colleagues will notice any improvement. They, after all, are the ultimate judges of how you look. [This is another central premise of The Park Avenue Diet. If you truly look and act much differently, everyone will notice and be impressed.]

Notes on "The Park Avenue Diet Show"--June 13th, 2010

Here are a few comments regarding the points covered in the show entitled" The Top Ten Weight-Loss Myths".

The Medical Riddle of the Day was: "What is it called when overflowing oil gushes out into natural surroundings and pollutes everything it touches?" The answer is not you-know-what in the Gulf of Mexico. It's visceral fat, that toxic accumulation of hormonally active, potentially carcinogenic, and thus extremely dangerous "oil"....which "pollutes" millions of American bodies internally. No tell-tale oil slick, since these chemicals (free fatty acids) do their mischief via the circulation.

And here are the Top Ten Weight-Loss Myths
1) Those mass-market diets are very successful. That's why they've been around for years. (See The Park Avenue Diet bibliography for medical articles on this topic----and be prepared to be horrified).
2) "I'm from the government and I'm here to help your weight" (This paraphrase of Ronald Reagan is meant as a warning that no elected official, government agency, or political party is particularly interested in your health...and therefore it's up to you. This will be even more true in future years.)
3) There are foods that can help you lose weight (This is conceptually impossible and defies the first law of thermodynamics).
4) There's nothing wrong with being overweight (Lifespan is reduced by one year in the overweight, 3 years in the obese, and 10 years in the massively obese....please complain to "The Lancet" if this seems unpleasant).
5) Exercise is more important than eating correctly if you want to lose weight (Many 'exercisers' overeat after a workout...conversely, exercise is mandatory for maintenance of a good weight.
6) All health information is equally valid, especially those magazines at the supermarket checkout counter.
7) Weight-loss depends on carbohydrate content and/or glycemic index. (see: the first law of thermodynamics)
8) Diabetes and high blood pressure are benign conditions like athlete's foot.
9) I feel okay so my weight isn't a problem.
10) "Weight loss has magical transformative properties." (This error in thinking is discussed at length in The Park Avenue Diet).

Next week: The Ten Commandments of Weight-Loss (June 20, 2010).