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From "An Analytical System of Clinical Nutrition"
by Dr. Guy R. Schenker

Myth #5: "I'm the most health-conscious person I know -- I've been on a complex carbohydrate diet for over a year now."

IT'S GOT TO BE LOVE,
IT COULDN'T BE FALLEN ARCHES,
OR TOO MANY STARCHES,
IT’S GOT TO BE LOVE.

According to the "common wisdom" of a bygone era (the above comes from a 1930's Broadway musical) starches were properly looked upon as something that when consumed in excess would inevitably lead to a wide range of physical, mental, and emotional afflictions (very much in that respect like l'amour). The "experts" pushing the common wisdom of today have changed the name from starches to complex carbohydrates and now credit them with the power to prevent or cure most of the diseases of our modern age.   
  
An essential part of a healthful diet is to achieve the proper balance between carbohydrate on one hand and protein and (especially) fat on the other. Lest you fail to appreciate the importance of limiting carbohydrate intake, let us emphasize that excess carbohydrate will:
  
- exacerbate virtually every one of your NUTRI-SPEC metabolic imbalances – with the myriad of associated signs and symptoms
- increase heart disease (The Atkins Center estimates that over 60% of cardiovascular disease is associated with the effects of excess dietary carbohydrate.) (15)  
- increase liver synthesis of cholesterol and triglycerides
- store carbohydrate as fat, causing weight gain
- decrease the release of stored fat, making it difficult to lose weight
- cause hypoglycemia
- cause diabetes
- exacerbate prostaglandin imbalances (leading to allergies, PMS, arthritis, etc.)
- cause depression and/or anxiety
  
You must understand that a starch is still a starch. While starches should form a reasonable portion of everyone's diet they are not to be over-emphasized. Starches are largely relatively empty calories. They become a valuable component of a well-rounded diet only when eaten with higher nutrient density foods such as meat, fish, poultry, eggs and vegetables.

Myth #6: “I read a lot, so I know that eating fat is bad; that eating saturated fat is devastating; and that eating saturated fat with cholesterol is deadly.” Again, we have already exposed the fallacy of the cholesterol myth. What then about saturated fats?
  
The wise men of our day sing the praises of complex carbohydrates while vilifying the evils of fats with evangelical fervor. We have already easily pulled the rug out from underneath their high carbohydrate stance. 
  
But, these same monkey brains that recommend 70% of your diet come from carbohydrate are also recommending only 15-20% (or in some extreme cases like the Pritikin Diet as little as 10%) of your calories come from fats. But the scientific literature clearly shows that: (16,17,18)
  
1. Saturated fat not only does not cause degenerative diseases it actually protects against degenerative diseases.  
2. Saturated fat does not accelerate the aging process, it actually slows the aging process.  
3. Human milk is 54% fat, mostly saturated (and high in cholesterol).  
4. You cannot make laboratory animals fat by feeding them saturated fat (only by feeding excess carbohydrate).  
5. It is extremely difficult to raise someone’s cholesterol levels by feeding them saturated fat and high cholesterol foods. (In fact it is impossible in all but your anaerobic, ketogenic, and sympathetic patients – and even in these patients the high saturated fat and cholesterol diet must be accompanied by refined carbohydrates).

The standard line on dietary fat is comprised of four premises, all of which are false:
  
1. Dietary fat is bad. It is to be absolutely minimized in the diet. Most recommendations are for no more than 20% fat in your diet. Some particularly looney “experts” (e.g., the Pritiken Diet) recommend 15% as the absolute upper limit with 10% being even better. 2. Saturated fat is a particular no-no. Everything that is presumed to be bad about dietary fat in general is particularly bad about saturated fat.    
3. Cholesterol is of the devil. Anyone careless enough to eat demon cholesterol is certain to suffer the curse of a heart attack or stroke.  
4. Polyunsaturated fats are good. Not as good as complex carbohydrates mind you. But to the extent that you must eat something as disgusting as fat, polyunsaturated fats will protect you from the evils of saturated fat.

You (and through you, your patients) must understand that dietary fat is not the deadly poison establishment “science” would have you believe. Here are some interesting facts in favor of dietary saturated fats (and against a high intake of polyunsaturated fats). We will limit the length of this discussion, but we could go on and on and on and on citing study after scientific study supporting the benefits of saturated fat in the diet and the devastating consequences of consuming large quantities of polyunsaturates.

Fat in general and saturated fats in particular are absolutely essential to maintain healthy levels of testosterone in both men and women. A study done in Finland showed that a decrease in the fat content of the diet to just 25% (which is above what is generally recommended by the “experts”) decreased testosterone levels by 15%. The same damaging effect on testosterone levels was achieved by increasing the ratio of polyunsaturated fats to saturated fats.(19) Be aware that there is more to sex hormones than sex. The anabolic effects of testosterone are absolutely essential to delay the aging process. Studies by European endocrinologists show that falling testosterone levels are probably the single best indicator of the degenerative processes of aging. Furthermore, dramatic reversals of vascular disease and other degenerative conditions occur with testosterone replacement therapy.(20) You and your patients must do nothing to cause a premature decline in anabolic hormones.
 

Not only are saturated fats in general essential for normal hormone production but cholesterol in particular is of critical importance. All steroid hormones (which includes all the sex hormones plus adrenal hormones) are built upon cholesterol as a mother substance. There is a long chain of events that occurs within the cells of endocrine glands to produce hormones from cholesterol.
 

When hormone levels drop to low levels there are conceivably many different steps in this process where the hormone production could have broken down. Research from European endocrinologists shows, however, that the major rate-limiting step in hormone production is the presence of the mother substance, cholesterol, in the cells. (21)

As a NUTRI-SPEC practitioner you will learn to appreciate the importance of cholesterol in the diet, and also the importance of eliminating the NUTRI-SPEC fundamental imbalances that prevent cholesterol from penetrating to the cellular level. The major point to understand is that neither cholesterol in general nor dietary cholesterol in particular is to be regarded as a harmful substance. Not only is cholesterol essential for hormone production, it is also essential for the structure and function of the brain and nervous system.
 

Furthermore, you are now aware that high serum cholesterol levels have absolutely nothing to do with dietary cholesterol. You not only know that dietary cholesterol is not a cause of high serum cholesterol, but that (paradoxically) foods high in cholesterol are absolutely essential in many cases to lower elevated serum cholesterol levels. This is particularly true of your dysaerobic patients and your glucogenic patients with elevated serum cholesterol. They absolutely must eat foods such as eggs, meat, fish, and fowl to eliminate the metabolic imbalance that is causing cholesterol to build up in the serum.
 

The French have the highest intake of saturated fat of any country in the Western World. If the “experts” are correct about the cardiovascular damage resulting from saturated fat – then why do the French also have nearly the lowest incidence of cardiovascular disease in the Western World? Even though the conventional wisdom would have us believe that dietary fat is responsible for cardiovascular disease, there is much evidence to the contrary. Here is an interesting item from an article about the trace mineral chromium and its effect on insulin levels and elevated blood pressure.(22)
 

The article wasn’t about dietary fat at all, but the researchers mentioned in the section of their study describing their methods that since they needed to elevate the blood pressure of laboratory rats they had to feed them large quantities of sugar and starch to achieve their purpose. It was just mentioned in passing that it was a known fact that the fat concentration of our diets has been found to have no influence on blood pressure. Think about that. It is common knowledge among scientists doing biochemical research that you cannot raise blood pressure with dietary fat no matter how much fat you cram down the animal’s throat. Yet the pseudoscientists promoting the common wisdom of our day would have any patient with high blood pressure eliminate dietary fat as a first step to controlling their condition. On one hand we have true science – on the other we have propaganda posing as science. The evidence against any relation of saturated fat to cardiovascular disease is pouring out from everywhere. A study done by Gillman et al and published in the December 24, 1997 Journal of The American Medical Association found that the more saturated fat you eat the less likely you are to suffer a stroke. The study found that polyunsaturated fats (the ones that the propagandists will have us believe are good for us) have no protective effect. The study quantified the protective effect of saturated fats – your risk of stroke decreases by 15% for every 3% increase in your saturated fat intake. (23) Here is another interesting study done by Leddy, et al and published in 1997 in Medicine And Science In Sports And Exercise, Volume 29. The subjects of this study were elite male and female endurance athletes who were placed alternately on a high fat diet and a low fat diet. On a high saturated fat diet the patients maintained low body fat, normal weight, normal blood pressure, normal resting heart rate, normal triglycerides, and normal cholesterol levels. All their fitness and training parameters were maintained at the elite level. When put on the low fat diet, however, it was found that the low fat diet negated many of the beneficial effects that exercise is expected to produce. The subjects actually suffered lower HDL cholesterol and higher triglycerides (both of which are significant CVD risk factors) on the low fat diet. (24)

Of course the propaganda against cholesterol and saturated fat has not been limited to mis-information about CVD. These delicious and nutritious fats have been blamed at one time or another for almost any disease you can think of – including cancer. Now a seven-year study by researchers at the University of Cambridge published in the October 18, 1997 British Medical Journal showed that frequent consumption of red meat was not a contributor to cancer. The major dietary factor associated with increased cancer incidence was a deficiency of vegetables. Meat consumption per se showed no correlation. (25) All the while that the good news regarding saturated fats is finally coming before the public’s eye – the bad news about polyunsaturated fats is becoming ever more difficult for the processed food industry to hide. Recently the vegetable oils have been implicated as a causative factor in poor bone development and in osteoporosis. A study published in The Journal of Bone and Mineral Research showed that the polyunsaturated fats inhibit bone growth as a result of their negative effect on prostaglandin balance. (26) Here are some other interesting negatives about polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs):

- PUFAs actually increase the incidence and severity of cancer. A study done at the Oregon Institute of Science and Medicine in 1994 showed that in mice an approximately 50% increase in the incidence and severity of cancer occurred when the diet was supplemented with seeds and nuts rich in polyunsaturates. (27)  
- Dietary polyunsaturates poison several mitochondrial functions, including cytochrome oxidase. (28)  
- PUFAs stimulate excess production of prostaglandins – contributing to inflammatory joint disease, osteoporosis, immuno-suppression, and fluid retention. (29) - Polyunsaturates modify fluid movements within and between cells and thus negatively impact intercellular communication. Excess unsaturated fats retard cellular development and/or accelerate cell death. (30)  
- Polyunsaturated fats impair fetal and infant brain development (while saturated fats are essential for normal brain development and nerve myelination).(31)  
- Dietary polyunsaturated fats suppress the activity of endogenous omega-9 unsaturated fats, which researchers suspect may be the trophic substance of greatest importance both to the brain and to the immune system. (32)  
- Polyunsaturated fats suppress normal oxidative metabolism, and promote lipid peroxidation. (In other words they tend to cause an anaerobic and/or a dysaerobic imbalance in your patients. As you probably know, a dysaerobic imbalance in your patient indicates not only tissue peroxidation but also tissue catabolism and premature aging, while an anaerobic imbalance indicates inadequate cellular energy production accompanied by cellular mutation or death.)  
- Among the cell types most suppressed by polyunsaturated oils we have brain cells, skin cells, liver cells, intestinal cells, and white blood cells.  
- Dietary polyunsaturates are also subject to cis-trans isomerism. The normal cis isomer of the fatty acid is changed under the influence of heating and other processing to its mirror image – the trans isomer. The trans isomers of unsaturated fats not only increase lipid peroxidation, but are also carcinogenic. How much fat can you “safely” eat without jeopardizing your health? The truth is that for many patients, fat should actually make up the majority of their food intake. Remember, fat makes up the majority of the human infant’s diet (54%), and that percentage need not change dramatically as we become adults. Advocating a “high” fat intake sounds like astonishing heresy coming from a nutritionist, particularly if you have fallen for much of the propaganda that passes for nutrition in the establishment media. But I think we have made a convincing case in support of the essentiality of adequate fat intake. The simplest and most concise way to refute all those propagandists who claim that the appalling incidence of cardiovascular disease and the alarming increase in cancer can be blamed on fat intake is this: During the last 100 years heart attacks have gone from a virtually non-existent condition to the cause of death of 50% of all Americans. At the same time cancer has progressed to the point where one out of three people have cancer in their lifetime. During that 100 years of alarming acceleration of deadly pathology there has been absolutely no increase in fat consumption in the American diet, and there has actually been a decrease in the intake of saturated fats. (There has, however, been a dramatic rise in the consumption of sugar and refined carbohydrates and PUFAs.) So please tell me how can anyone try to pin the blame for these pathologies on saturated fat?

Myth #7: "I am desperate to lose some weight, but I know better than to fall for any of those fad diets. I'm just going to skip breakfast, eat a salad for lunch, then eat a well-balanced supper."
Being overweight almost never has anything to do with over eating. In fact, most people that are overweight under eat. That is one of the main reasons why they are overweight -- their body goes into a defensive state, thinking it is suffering from a famine because it is so poorly nourished. The body starts to take every bit of food that is taken in and stores it as fat as a defensive measure. The other defensive measure the body takes is to slow its metabolism to conserve calories. Of course, the slower the metabolism gets, the more difficult it becomes to lose weight.
  
Since being overweight is almost always caused by slow metabolism, the only way to lose weight and to keep it off, is to increase the patient's metabolic rate. There are only three ways to increase the metabolic rate. One is by correcting the fundamental NUTRI-SPEC imbalances that may be slowing the metabolism. The second is with exercise (either long duration, low intensity exercise, or, high intensity, short duration exercise). The third is with the specific dynamic effect of dietary protein (calories from starch slow the metabolism 35% compared to the same number of calories consumed in the form of protein). 
  
So, to help your patients lose weight you must insist that they follow the NUTRI-SPEC Fundamental Diet presented later in this chapter. You must also take care of their NUTRI-SPEC imbalances, including strict adherence to the dietary recommendations associated with those imbalances. From a dietary standpoint, those are the only rules that need to be followed. Of course, the corollary to those rules is not to practice any of the pernicious habits that will further slow the metabolism. The person must never skip a meal, as they need 21 solid meals per week. The person must never eat a meal devoid of protein and fat, i.e. a meal that is primarily starches. Those simple rules, with the addition of regular exercise, is all there is to it.  
  
If you want to accelerate the weight loss, the patient may revise the NUTR-SPEC Fundamental Diet such that carbohydrate is reduced to nearly zero for at least two weeks, or longer if the patient is sufficiently committed. When this ultra low carbohydrate variation of the NUTRI-SPEC Fundamental Diet is followed, the patient may eat unlimited quantities of the non-starchy vegetables highlighted in the carbohydrate chart in the Report of Findings you give each patient. Your patient may also increase meat, fish, poultry and egg intake above the quantity you calculate based on their lean body mass. (The calculation is explained below.) 
  
On this weight loss diet your patient will go into a state of ketosis. In this glorious state hunger is always under control and carbohydrate cravings vanish. All the physical and mental symptoms associated with abnormal sugar and insulin levels magically disappear. (33,34)

The only patients on whom this low carbohydrate diet will not “work” are those who do not need it. If your patient is only a few pounds overweight , and particularly if they have any sympathetic or ketogenic tendency, they will achieve the desired weight loss on the standard NUTRI-SPEC Fundamental Diet.

It must also be understood that a diet of extreme caloric restriction (no matter how much weight a person loses on it) is bound to be a long term disappoint. Why? Simply because the cause of the original overweight condition, a slow metabolic rate, has not been corrected. In fact, virtually all weight loss diets exacerbate the slow metabolism, so that as soon as the extreme diet is terminated all the original weight lost is regained, and then some. Tragic, when the real answer to overweight is so simple.

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