Robert Beck wrote:
>Since eliminating milk and grain products from my diet in January 1997, the
>following has happened --
>
>        -Weight down from 210 to 165 lb. (still losing, but slowly).
>        -BP down from 165/110 to 125/75 (no more debilitating medication!)
>        -Total cholesterol down from 200+ to 180
>        -Triglycerides down significantly
>
>The experiment continues.


I am a nutrition research scientist and I would like to suggest that it is
important to consider all the factors responsible for these 'benefits'
before ascribing them solely to the decreased carb and increased protein
contents of the new diet.

By adjusting one's diet to completely eliminate grain and dairy products,
the following things may occur which could also contribute to the beneficial
effects:
1.  a decrease in total fat and calorie intake;
2. a decrease in saturated fat intake;
3. an increase in total fibre intake;
4. a decrease in the amount of rapidly-digested carbohydrate consumed; and
5. a possible reduction in sodium intake.

In addition, other healthy lifestyle changes which often accompany committed
dietary changes, -such as a reduction in the amount of alcohol and caffeine
consumed and an increase in daily exercise - could also partly explain the
beneficial effects.

Robert is to be congratulated for his commitment to improving his health by
changing his dietary habits.  However, I just want to stress that change is
often due to a number of factors and that not all grain products are
necessarily unhealthy.  The apparent lack of degenerative diseases in
paleoman and contemporary hunter-gatherers or third-world farmers consuming
mostly traditional indigenous foods, is obviously due to their high level of
physical activity and the composition of their diet.  Modern man does not
generally expend as much energy in daily life and may not require such high
levels of protein.  Controlled metabolic research has shown that any excess
protein consumed is oxidised by the body as a fuel  (which pushes both carb
and fat into storage) since the body is unable to store excess protein.

Changing the types of carbohydrate-rich foods which form the basis of one's
diet can also produce substantial health benefits, it may not be necessary
to eliminate all grain products from the diet.  The health benefits
experienced by Robert are also similar to the benefits arising from low-fat
diets based on low-GI carb-rich foods (Triglycerides may show a transient
increase in some people, secondary to an increased consumption of carbs).
The carb-containing foods consumed by hunter-gatherers and early
agricultural societies were most likely to be tubers and roots, legumes and
coarsely ground cereal products - which have a lower glycaemic impact than
their modern counterparts.  These traditional foods are also likely to be
more satiating and therefore they may not have been eaten in such large amounts.
Dr Susanne Holt
CSIRO - Division of Human Nutrition
PO Box 52
NORTH RYDE
NSW 2113
AUSTRALIA

Ph (+61) 02 9490 8425
Fax (+61) 02 9887 8511
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