St. Ignatius Post

Only One Aladdin's Lamp

Not any old Aladdin's lamp works in losing weight even if you can give you the results you want. Say words like, "Calories don't count." Only the genuine article—and its golden rule, "Eat less. Exercise more," energy balance.

The latest false Aladdin's lamp for reducing—a revival of the high fat, low carbohydrate diet—has been studied many times in the past 30 years. Most recently, doctors in London, Copenhagen, and at Columbia University ganged up on the question through experiment and reported these results: Patients gained weight when they were able to tolerate a diet high in fat and low in carbohydrate. Only those who could not eat the diet lost weight. They complained of nausea, huffed and puffed on little exertion, were tired and irritable.

Because fat is not burned completely when a diet furnishes too little carbohydrate, abnormal end-products of fat build up within the body to cause acidosis. For this reason, persons on a high fat, low carbohydrate diet need close medical attention.

For weight control, most doctors pick out the only Aladdin's lamp that works. The magic words, they say:

Add extra physical activity, each day. A walk may do.

Eat less of all food. But include, daily—four ounces of lean meat or its alternates, two servings of skim milk or low fat cheese, four servings of enriched or whole grain bread and other cereal foods, four servings of vegetables and unsweetened fruits.