[.ca] Pritkin Weight Loss Breakthrough (ISBN 0451195728)

From Amazon.com:
Pity poor Robert Pritikin: his father Nathan, who almost died of heart disease in the 1950s but saved himself with his famous low-fat diet, was extraordinarily disciplined. He could eat a dinner of brown rice and then go for a run. Robert, on the other hand, craved cheeseburgers and just wanted to hang out on the couch. It turns out that Robert had the "fat instinct," a natural, evolution-favored tendency to eat calorically dense foods and conserve energy. How he beats that instinct--and how you can, too--is the heart of his Breakthrough. The book shows how to eat until you're full several times a day; enjoy the food you're eating; use exercise to create cravings for nutrient-rich, carbohydrate-based foods; and stay on the program even if you're traveling or out with friends at a restaurant. The Pritikin Weight Loss Breakthrough is the answer to all the anticarbohydrate, pro-protein and pro-fat books out there, citing legitimate research to defend its positions and offering dozens of recipes to help facilitate the plan.

We Oughta Know Better!:
We are in the midst of an obesity epidemic which more than coincides with all of this strangely American puritanical advice about food-which boils down to low fat/high carb politically correct eating. (Interestingly enough too, it also coincides w/the fitness/gymn crazes of the '70s and beyond.) In fact, the Pritikin benighted second half of this century, along with the relentless advertising of the easily profitable cereal and bread companies, has been shadowed by a relentless, misleading fear of saturated fat and cholesterol-coupled with an insatiable, obssessive drive to consume bran. In the fifties-before diet gurus like Pritikin cursed us with fat phobia, Americans downing cheeseburgers and real butter had a stable minority obesity rate!! Just as much of the rest of the world today-which finds our self-punishing need to cut fat an utter aberration. WE HAVE A RECORD OBESITY RATE (See many related health problems as well.)CAUSED BY PRITIKIN AND THOSE BRAINWASHED BY PRITIKIN-BEING ADDRESSED BY SUCH RECOMMENDATIONS THAT CAUSED (AND INSIDIOUSLY WORSEN AND SPIRAL OUT OF CONTROL) THESE PROBLEMS IN THE FIRST PLACE. Nathan Pritikin died young (for a man in the 1st world) of cancer and suicide. Those working with Pritikin (SEE Lillian Gillman's works if you really are interested in saving your health, well-being and joy.) are starting to link his extreme carbohydrate and joyless diet to the rampant rate of these symptoms in his followers (and then some! WE'RE TALKING ABOUT UNPRECEDENTED DIABESITY RATES AND NOT TO MENTION MYSTERIOUS SUDDEN NEW AND SUPPOSEDLY INCURABLE DISEASES LIKE CFS, IBS AND ADD! \oHello designer drug industry of the 90s and new Millenium.\c THERE'S NOT EVEN TIME TO MENTION THE TRANS FATS \oNew frontier for cheap food and its profits\c WE WERE TOLD TO SUBSTITUTE FOR REAL FAT AND THEIR LINK TO NEW CANCERS!) MY POINT IS THIS, IN THIS DAY AND AGE (for all the factors I've mentioned) it is morally reprehensible to recommend more high carb (CUT the ESSENTIAL fats which prevent cancer and depression.) dieting in the name of politics and politically correctness. (Consider the food pyramid I witnessed drilled into my daughter's kindergarten brain back in the seventies). If this were my family member, I'd wanna know why his sacrifice to live as a monk in a prison labor camp didn't actually pay off in "longevity"-not to mention at least freedom from something so relentlessly unbearable as depression! I'd wanna challenge conventional wisdom-because I would not want the guilt for others people's health and well being on my hands. Does anyone care about the harm this insidiuos ignorance is doing?

Probably the best book of its kind:
This is probably the best book of its kind because it is the one of the only books I've seen out there that is scientific, practical and non-gimmicky. In an industry where there are more weight loss gimmicks coming out everyday this book rises to the top. Here are just some of the great ideas Pritikin proposes: -Don't just cut back on calories, the metabolism slows down and our willpower gives out eventually when we feel deprived, better to eat in a high fiber/low fat filling manner that satisifies you completely without any starving -Once we cut back on alot of fatty foods and excessive meat and substitute it with high fiber and complex carb eating we lose the craving for those bad foods -Excercise helps keep up our desire for these healthy foods Those are the main ideas of his system. They are very practical and don't mislead people into some silly way of eating. For example Pritikin explains some of the low-carb myths in this book. One other great thing about this "diet" is that it's very economical. You can eat a healthy meal for .70 cents if you wanted to. Weigh that up against these low carb diets that have you spending $2.50 just for a low carb bar that you practically need to keep those diets going. Not to mention all these otherlow carb products out now (has anyone wondered how absurd it is to think that the low carb people think man can create better foods than nature has provided for us!) and meat etc. It's about 3-4X the cost of eating the Pritikin way. This system works and you can maintain it for life. One tip I would add: Even though as Pritikin proposes in his book you will lose weight, if you really want to see quicker results in weight loss I would suggest doing more exercise than this system recommends. 3-5 days of vigorous exercise will make a HUGE difference in your results.

Pritikin Died of Cancer at 66. Why?:
Pritikin died of leukemia at 66. Or 65? Anyway, even though he called his centers "Longevity Centers," he fell far short of the average U.S. life expectancy. No question about it. Pritikin is far superior to Atkins. And it can have a good effect on heart disease and hypertension. But Pritikin shows that it has no significant effect on longevity. It cannot extend your lifespan. And it does not retard your aging. So it is deceptive advertising to call Pritkin Centers "Longevity Centers." The Pritikin Diet is unnecessarily strict. It is extremely phobic about fat, salt and sugar. And if I remember right, no alcohol. So many don'ts. Does an extremely low-fat diet like Pritikin make one susceptible to depression? As Pritikin suffered when he had a relapse of his cancer, he immediately slashed his wrist and killed himself. If you wish to lose weight and prevent cancer and heart disease, and also retard your aging and extend your lifespan, then I recommend you read The ImmorTalist Manifesto by Elixxir. It will tell you all about The Elixxir Program. And Elixxir, "the only anti-aging guru who has actually stayed young." Investor's Business Daily Even if you choose to experiment with Pritikin, you need The ImmorTalist Manifesto as your companion book. It will give you the inspiration and power you need to stay on a demanding diet. Yes, I'm biased. I've been on The Elixxir Program. And it's worked wonders for me. Lost over 35 pounds and kept it off for more than two years. And in the most healthy and sustainable way!

I think I can do this!:
Finally, I'm reading about a diet that makes intuitive sense! Picked up this great book at the library last week and went on the program (they don't call it a diet) immediately. The program of veggies, whole grains, fruit, low-fat proteins leaves you almost constantly hungry, but Pritikin doesn't want you to remain in that state. You're allowed to eat whenever you're hungry, as long as the food is on the list of healthy foods. You're encouraged to walk at least 30 minutes, 3-4 times a week (to reduce your craving for fatty food), something just about anyone can accomplish. My husband and I enjoyed eating this way over the weekend, and we think we've found something we can keep up. The book tends a lot toward the theoretical side, and less toward the practical side, but I enjoyed that. Many of the suggested recipes have lots of ingredients and aren't what you'd make for an average meal after a long day at work, but other than that, I really enjoyed the book! I might just have to buy my own copy, when this book becomes due at the library.

Excellent theory but not enough details on diet & exercise:
"Breakthrough" contains a new rationale for the Pritikin program called the "fat instinct". Pritikin explains what that concept means, then shows how his theory explains why the modern (western) diet causes illnesses which people who eat "traditional" diets do not have, why other weight-loss plans fail, and why the Pritikin program works. Pritikin then spends some time defending his position on carbohydrates. The practical result of all this is a chapter on behaviors which can be used to "outsmart the fat instinct". This is followed by a too-short explanation of how to follow the Pritikin program, and then a recipe section. This book does a great job of motivating the reader, explaining why the Pritikin program is necessary, and it gives new information about the behaviors necessary for dieting. However, "Breakthrough" does not give a detailed explanation of what the Pritikin diet and exercise program is. The Program is explained in one short chapter with a brief description of exercise methods earlier in the book. I strongly recommend that anyone interested in the Pritikin program also purchase the book "The New Pritikin Program", which spends over 400 pages discussing things which "Breakthrough" just mentions in passing. Even though "Breakthrough" is the newer book, "The New Pritikin Program" remains the definitive explanation of what the Pritikin Program is.