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The Protein Power Lifeplan Gram Counter- by Michael R. Eades, M.D. and Mary Dan Eades, M.D.
Review by Levi Wallach, October, 2000.
The Protein Power Lifeplan Gram Counter is a companion to Dr. Michael Eades’ and Mary Dan Eades’, M.D.’s recent “Protein Power Lifeplan,” a follow-up to their popular “Protein Power” which was published in 1995. The Eades are a husband-and-wife team that has a joint practice where they dish out the same advice as in their books – that of a restricted carbohydrate diet. But unlike the much more popular Dr. Atkins Diet, the Eades concentrate much more on gaining the best nutritional bang for your buck on the few (at least on the initial phase of the diet) carbohydrates you can have on their diet. The gram counter is helpful as it counts not only carbohydrates, but also fiber, protein and the breakdown of different fats that make up their nutritional philosophy.
This gram counter does not go into the philosophy behind their diet, so I’ll try to summarize it here: it is not fat that makes us fat, gives us diseases like diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, etc. Rather it is sugar. Starches, since they are basically the same thing as sugar (just chained together and easily broken into their component sugars in the digestive process), are counted as well. The body produces the hormone insulin when carbs are ingested. The more carbs we have in our diet, the more insulin is produced. Insulin is used by the body to remove sugar from the bloodstream, where it can cause harm. Unfortunately, according to the Eades, the insulin that removes it can also cause devastating harm, including all the above-mentioned ailments and then some. In addition, when exposed to these large amounts of insulin, the body slowly becomes more and more resistant to the hormone and the body has to produce more of it to have the same effect, so it is a vicious cycle. The end of this cycle results when the body is so resistant that it simply can’t produce enough and adult onset diabetes occurs.
Of course the Eades are quick to point out that this is a theory that has not been proven via huge double blind scientific studies, but rather hinted at by smaller studies indicating the validity of components of the theory. However, they also point out that the whole idea behind fat causing all these health problems in the first place is also just that – an IDEA. It is a hypothesis that the whole medical industry latched onto 25 or 30 years ago, because it made some logical sense at the time, and has only recently started to let go on the edges despite there being absolutely no proof that low fat diets are conducive to health, and many that indicate the exact opposite.
The carbohydrates listed are based on the “Effective Carbohydrate Count” or ECC, which subtracts the amount of grams of fiber from the total carbohydrate count to give a more accurate nutritional picture, since the normal digestive process does not absorb fiber.
As far as the fat breakdown in the gram counter goes, they break fats down into mono-unsaturated fats and saturated fats, as well as both Omega-6 fatty acids and Omega-3 fatty acids. The media and medical communities have concentrated on saturated versus unsaturated fats, missing many finer points that the Eades contend are important in terms of fat consumption. According to them, the body needs all types of fat and can actually saturate and desaturate dietary fat when needed. What is more important to look at, they say, is whether the fat is one containing primarily Omega-6 fatty acids as opposed to Omega-3’s. Most people get way too much Omega-6 compared to Omega-3 because most of the polyunsaturated vegetable oils used for cooking both commercially and in the home contain mostly Omega-6. Omega-3’s are found in fairly less common items like some fish like sardines, salmon, tuna, and cod-liver-oil. Though they do not specify these in the gram counter, in the main book, they do continually stress the importance of avoiding “trans-fats” which are fats (primarily soybean but also other vegetable oils) that have been synthetically altered in order to stay solid at room temperatures. These are in most processed foods (look for the words “partially hydrogenated”), plus just about all mayonnaise and margarine. The body does not know what to do with these fats because they aren’t natural, so it just uses them in its cells like all other fat, and this can cause many health problems. The Eades suggest using only butter (also clarified butter), olive oil, and nut oils for cooking, sauces, etc., canola-oil mayonnaise, and avoiding foods that contain anything other than these oils, and especially anything with trans fats.
Basically, the book is not of much use without the underlying theories behind it, but as long as you understand these, it is of enormous help. I would have preferred some sort of indication of trans-fats and perhaps a rating of how good a particular food was in terms of its anti-oxidant content, but I guess you can’t have everything! Adding these other readings might have added too much bulk to the book. Right now it is slightly smaller than most small soft cover books, and is less than half an inch thick, yet covers all food groups in good detail. It is organized well and it does not take you a couple of minutes to sort through all the myriad varieties of different foods, the way some of the more comprehensive food counters do. I guess it depends on what you’re looking for – portability or thoroughness, though even the most thorough of the other food counters do not break foods down into Omega-6 and Omega-3 fatty acids.
