Dan Keller's Nursing, Health Policy & Healthcare Technology Blog

Pritikin's Still Got It!

June 19, 2006 -- Concerned about health, fitness, longevity, weight loss?

Pritikin is the diet that works. Here it is in a nutshell.

• Choose foods that are big in size but small in calories. Avoid calorie density.
• Choose unrefined carbohydrates that are naturally rich in fiber and water: fruits, vegetables, beans, whole grains.
• Avoid high-fat foods, especially those with saturated fats like meat and cheese and those with refined sugars.
• "Eat" your water, that is, fruits and vegetables.
• Protein should not exceed 10-15% of diet (3 oz, size of deck of cards). Use meat for flavor, not as the main bulk of a meal.
• Sugars, added and natural, should not exceed 10% of diet.
• Salt: less than 2000 mg daily.
• One hour/day of moderate exercise, e.g. walking.

These practices and principles are borne out by experience and research. Here is some perspective.

• The World Health Organization of the United Nations (WHO) recommendations are very similar to Pritikin's.
• Compare it to, for example, the Atkins diet (high fat, high protein). Atkins (and most others) are discredited by research, but popular because it gets initial results quickly and people like to be told to eat meat and cheese.
• The global epidemic of obesity, heart disease, and chronic disease is due to:
• Western-style staples like red meat and dairy, vegetable oils, sugar-rich drinks and sweets, and salty snacks replacing traditional, closer-to-nature staples like beans, potatoes, corn, and fresh vegetables
• Sedentary lifestyles