Keto Info Week 11/23

[spEEdfrEEk]

CATEGORY: diets/lowcarb

TECHNICAL: *

SUMMARY:

This document was written by an individual who was on

another health/training list that I was a part of back in 1996.

In this note, he describes (in detail) one of the earliest low-carb

diets ever recorded, "the banting diet". The author does a really

good job documenting the chronology of everything, and even

discusses his own successes using the approach at the end. As you

read through it, you will find suggested diet plans for the banting

approach. Though I agree with low-carb diets in general, I would

make the case that this is not an optimal approach. In my view,

paleo-lowcarb is the only way to go. I will discuss that in the

future as well as provide my exact diet for everyone's scrutiny.

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A few days ago I discovered this group while "surfing" and

contributed an opinion in the "Dr. Atkins vs the World" thread.

Basically, it pointed out that Dr. Atkins was a johnny-come-lately in the

low-carbohydrate scheme of things. The low-carbohydrate diet seems to

have originated with "A Letter of Corpulence", published in London in

1864 by a man named William Banting. It was so popular in the U.K. that

one may still find in the Oxford English Dictionary the verb "to bant" as

well as "banting" and "bantingism". My copy of the Oxford English

Dictionary quotes an editor's response to a correspondent:

Pall Mall Gazette - 12 June 1865

"If he is....gouty, obese, and nervous, we strongly recommend him to

bant."

So the low-carbohydrate way of eating predates calorie counting as a

method of weight control, though it does not predate the earlier method,

STARVATION, - poor ol' Henry VIII!

There is a low-carbohydrate diet which works as swiftly as any

proposed by Dr. Atkins, which does not involve placing a human being into

artificial starvation, with the throwing off of ketones, and resultant

straining of the kidneys.

If you want to throw away those ketostix, or use them as coffee stirrers,

read on.

Dr. William D. Howe was a well-known medical doctor and a member of

the Canadian parliament in Ottawa, representing the riding of

Hamilton-South for the NDP (Socialist) party. In March of 1965 a column

was written in "The Ottawa Journal" mentioning that fact that many

formerly obese members of parliament were looking slim- and-trim these

days, thanks to a method of weight control devised by Dr. Howe, and the

diet was given. This casual mention brought a flood of mail. In two

months Dr. Howe had mailed out 1500 copies, the Ottawa Journal's files

had been stripped of clippings, and the national radio (C.B.C.) had done

a 15 minute report on it. On Monday, May 3, 1965 and Tuesday, May 4th,

the Ottawa Journal reprinted the diet along with a number of articles

concerning it. Since I have the clippings (and would never part with

them) I am excerpting the relevant material here:

<<OPEN QUOTE - Ottawa Journal, May 3, 1965>>

You May Eat:

Meat, even fat meat

Milk and cream

Fish, cheese and eggs

Butter and margarine

Leafy vegetables such as lettuce, cabbage, spinach

Stem vegetables such as asparagus, celery, broccoli

Coffee & tea with cream and saccharin/sweetener

You Must Eat:

Vitamin C - 100 mg daily in unsweetened tablet form

(inexpensive at drug store).

Some form of vegetable oil such as corn, taken straight

or splashed on salads. (1 tbsp)

You Must not Eat:

Bread

Any dessert

Seed vegetables such as peas & beans

Root vegetables such as beets, parsnips, turnips, potatoes

Or anything containing sugar, starch, or flour.

Dr. Howe: "In 2 months I cut from 220 to 172 and trimmed my waist 11

inches"

Murdo Martin (NDP MP for Timmins): "Down I came in 10 weeks from 268 to

227, with 7 inches and 7 notches off my belt line."

Eric Winkler (Conservative MP): "I pared down from 226 pounds to 193 in

6 weeks."

It is important to realize with this diet that quantity is not the,

or even a factor. The diet eliminates almost all carbohydrates, which

most of us eat in large proportions. Carbohydrates come in the form of

sugar, starch and flour.

The logic of this diet is that our bodies are unable to use surplus

carbohydrates and therefore they are converted to fat and stored --

usually around the waist.

We lose the fat and the fat only, while building up muscle, blood

and other tissues with no loss of energy, no failure of drive or a

lessening of zest for living.

The diet is self limiting -- when the fat is gone, you stop losing

weight and remain constant at your natural and correct level.

"I tell you", says Martin enthusiastically, "this diet works.

What's more, you feel like a million bucks on it - lots of energy, drive

to burn - and you don't go around, as on most diets, feeling like a

grizzly bear."

"I swear on it," says Mr. Winkler with conviction, "this diet does

it, not only painlessly but pleasantly. The only fault I found with it,

I went down so fast I couldn't get my suits taken in quickly enough to

match the belt-line

Dr. Howe's "Eat & Drink Up Diet" is so short, so simple, some people

suspect there must be more to it.

There really isn't.

It's all there under 3 headings:

You May Eat

You Must Eat

You Must Not Eat

It covers broadly all foods.

<<CLOSED QUOTE - The Ottawa Journal, May 3, 1965>>

The following day, responding to requests for suggested menus, the

following was published:

<<OPEN QUOTE - The Ottawa Journal, May 4, 1965>>

Breakfast:

Tomato Juice, liquid or jellied consomme, sauerkraut juice or avocado.

Bacon or ham and eggs, all you can eat. Coffee, tea or milk.

Lunch:

Martini or Scotch & water, etc. *if desired*. Any cold meat: Beef, ham,

turkey, lamb, chicken, pork, salami, bologna, veal, tongue, liver, lean

or fat it doesn't matter. Salad with an oil & vinegar dressing or blue

cheese (*not* Thousand Island Dressing). Lettuce, cress, parsley, green

& red peppers, shredded cabbage, kale, dandelion greens, tomatoes,

asparagus... (any leafy vegetable).

Dinner:

Shrimp or lobster cocktail. Avocado or tomato stuffed with fish or fowl.

Any soup, including cream soups, so long as no rice, barley or macaroni.

Any stem or leafy vegetable - asparagus, brussels sprouts, cabbage,

cauliflower, celery, collards, endive, kale, lettuce, mushrooms, parsley,

peppers, sauerkraut, spinach, squash, tomatoes, turnip/beet greens.

Cheese of any kind. *Sugarless* ice cream, sherbets or gelatins. Coffee

or tea with cream. Milk.

Dr. Howe emphasizes that this diet is for healthy people only. You

don't have to stint, but don't go overboard either. Eat & drink enough

for comfort and health, but no more. "If you're healthy, you won't

anyway" says Dr. Howe.

Dr. Howe stresses that if a person is under medical or psychiatric

care, the diet is for his own personal physician and not Dr. Howe to

prescribe.

Dr. Howe's "Eat & Drink Up Diet" has been criticized by some as

having something of a resemblance to one which has been published in

California as "The Drinking Man's Diet", and this has been criticized as

a diet which will leave you fat and drunk. Dr. Howe points out that the

Drinking Man's Diet permits fruit and even seed vegetables. Dr. Howe

rules these out as being too heavily loaded with fat making

carbohydrates.

<<CLOSED QUOTE - The Ottawa Journal, May 4, 1965>>

Notes: Dr. Howe allows one to have a can of cream soup, or tomato

soup, when desired, so long as they contain NO rice, pasta, potatoes, etc.

There is some carbohydrate in these soups, but nowhere near enough to

sabotage the diet.

You may use unsugared strawberries in desserts.

You may use sugar-free soda pop.

Milk has 12 gms. of carbohydrate per glass - scientifically speaking.

Almost none of these carbohydrate are usuable by the vast majority of

humans as they are in the form of lactose, milk sugar, which very few

people can metabolize well, if at all. Hence, drink up.

Try not to use a lot of yogurt, or acidophilus milk, or any dairy

product which has been treated with a bacteria which breaks lactose down

into a "digestible" form. Yogurt is not off the menu, just don't eat more

than a cup a day or so. Sour cream is not a problem, as it is made from

full- fat cream and thus is low in lactose to begin with.

Do NOT use "Calorie-wise" dressings, or anything labelled "light".

Use full-fat dressings such as Ranch, Blue Cheese, Caesar, etc. Look on

the bottle, if they have a carbohydrate count of 1 gm/serving. or less,

use with abandon. If you do so, you will have fulfilled your oil

requirement in the "You Must Eat" category.

Whisky and hard liquor are allowed. Dry red or white wine may be

taken with meals - be sure is has a sugar count of 3 or less (or says

"dry" or "very dry" on the label.

LASTLY: And MOST important. Do NOT mix apples and oranges so to

speak. Do NOT take a part of this diet and a part of that diet. Low-

carbohydrate diets are not as "forgiving" as low-calorie diets. Do THIS

diet or DON'T do it. Don't mix and match, it is too confusing. If you

follow this diet you will lose a pound a day or so, if you add a chocolate

bar, a bran muffin, or a potato to the menu ALL THOSE FAT GRAMS become

AVAILABLE to the body for metabolization. One slip can ruin your whole

day. It isn't worth it: nothing tastes as good as thin feels.

My Personal Story:

In 1965 I was 17. I was 323 lbs. of misery. 6'1". I was so

desperate to lose weight and "fit in" that I used to take the bus to the

last stop on the line and try to walk the 10 or 15 miles back to my home.

I was never able to make it. I had been told, without solicitation, that

I should "turn the fat into muscle by exercise" by a wafer-thin cousin...

On Saturday, May 1st, 1965 I read on the front page of the newspaper

that "Dr. Howe's Diet" would be reprinted on Monday. When I read the diet

it seemed to be doable. The first week I lost an impressive amount of

weight (I don't remember exactly how much). By October I remember that I

was down 100 pounds.

It took about 5 or 6 months until I finally hit 190 lbs., largely

because my social life had improved to the point where I was "out with the

gang" instead of watching television. A teenager eats frenchfries,

burgers and pizza when in company, even in 1965.

31 years later I am still at 190 lbs. Once one has been overweight,

it is a lifelong struggle, no matter WHICH diet one chooses. I have

gained as much as 30 lbs. back before dieting. I have done Weight

Watchers and bought the Susan Powter tapes. I did this largely because I

was constantly told by thin friends (some of whom have since passed on)

that a high-fat, low-carb diet was dangerous.

I am the healthiest person I know.

No diet is suitable for all people. If you think you'd like to try this

diet, go to it!

P.S.: As far as desserts go... try a Bavarian Cream using an

envelope of sugar-free gelatine, made and removed from the refrigerator

when partially set. Mix in a cup of cream which has been whipped

separately and sweetened with Sweet & Low. Return to refrigerator until

fully set. Each it all in one sitting if you like. Yum! Orange Jello

Bavarian is my favourite.

Or, how about baking an egg custard? Use artificial sweetener and

chill. Cover with freshly whipped cream if liked. Use full-fat milk for

the custard, I find cream too cloying.

:cool: TJ :cool: