Life Without Bread

http://www.lowcarb.ca/atkins-diet-and-low-carb-plans/life-without-bread.html


Life Without BreadReviewed by Stephen Byrnes, PhD, RNCP


Plan's name: Life Without Bread
Book(s): Life Without Bread: How a Low-Carbohydrate Diet Can Save Your Life by Christian B. Allan, PhD & Wolfgang Lutz, MD. Keats Publishing;CA., ISBN: 0-658-00170-1; 240 pp.; $16.95 USD

About the author: Life Without Bread is mostly based on the clinical experience of Dr. Lutz, an Austrian medical doctor who has successfully used low-carb diets for decades on thousands of patients. The results of Lutz' clinical successes have been published in several European medical journals (mostly in German) and he even authored a German version of LWB as far back as 1967 to good response

Basic Philosophy: In recent years, a slew of books on low-carbohydrate diets by medical doctors and nutritionists have appeared on the market. Some, like those by Dr. Robert Atkins, MD, have focused on using low-carb diets for weight loss. Others, like the Protein Power series by the Eades, have focused on the lifestyle of low-carb eating. None of the titles, however, have applied low-carb eating to a variety of diseases, showing how such a diet directly ameliorates and heals conditions like Crohn's disease, heart disease, and diabetes. With Life Without Bread, however, that pattern has ended. Dr.'s Allan and Lutz have done an excellent job of lucidly presenting a systematic approach to low-carb eating, its beneficial effects on a number of disease conditions, and, most importantly, the scientific and clinical data to back up the claims.

Life Without Bread is mostly based on the clinical experience of Dr. Lutz, an Austrian medical doctor who has successfully used low-carb diets for decades on thousands of patients. The results of Lutz' clinical successes have been published in several European medical journals (mostly in German) and he even authored a German version of LWB as far back as 1967 to good response. His work, however, was ignored in the United States. While the USDA was hawking the Food Pyramid with its 6-12 servings of grain products a day on the American public (and most of the Western world following this lead), Dr. Lutz and a handful of brave iconoclasts were preaching the virtues of high protein and fat/low-carb diets for healthy living. After many years, Lutz succeeded in securing an American publisher and the results of his experience and research are now available to all English-speaking people.

The book begins with a definition of just what low-carb nutrition really is, followed by an historical survey of the approach by various doctors and nutritionists including such luminaries as William Banting, Weston Price, Vilhjamur Stefansson, John Yudkin, and Carlton Fredericks. In Lutz and Allan's definition, the low-carb diet should include no more than 72 grams of carbohydrates a day. The rest of the diet should be made up of protein and fat from a range of plant and animal sources.

Chapter three focuses on the effect carbohydrates have on hormonal function. Despite the complexity of the subject matter, Lutz and Allan do a fine job of explaining the endocrinological details with a variety of graphs, illustrations, and references.

Most of the following chapters focus on the benefits of low-carb nutrition for such diseases as diabetes, heart disease, gastrointestinal disorders, obesity, even cancer. The chapter on heart disease deserves special notice for it effectively debunks the phony, but widely held, notion that saturated fats and cholesterol from animal foods cause this condition. The authors explain in detail the physiological benefits of saturates and simultaneously point out the flawed reasoning behind the Lipid Hypothesis. This chapter is really what sets the book apart from other low-carb titles currently available and is worth the price of the book.

Chapter 11 is also a distinguishing chapter in that it explains the evolutionary basis for low-carb eating. Lutz and Allan clearly show that the low-carb/high fat and protein diet was the diet that humans evolved on and is what we are best suited for today. It is the high-carb/low-fat diet that is alien to our species.

The final chapter is also unique to the low-carb nutrition books available. It shows how to implement the low-carb eating plan in various people. Lutz and Allan wisely point out that older patients need to be eased into the program over a period of time, as opposed to jumping into it cold-turkey. They point out the possible health hazards of such an approach. This chapter should prove invaluable for clinicians.

Lucidly written, heavily referenced, and well-illustrated, Life Without Bread is a must-have book for physicians, nutritionists, and the public.

By the numbers: The only number to look at is an upper limit of 72 grams of carbs a day. Lutz and Allan do recommend, however, that older people (60+) or those with autoimmune conditions like lupus and asthma gradually lower their carb intake over a period of a few weeks to avoid overstimulus of the immune system and an aggravation of existing conditions.

Method: Basically, you can eat all the meat, non-starchy vegetables, cheese, and natural fats as you like with moderate amounts of nuts, yogurt, and whole milk. Some carbs are allowed as long as you do not exceed 72 grams a day. Charts are included in the book with carb levels for a great many foods.

Typical menu:

This really depends on the person's likes and dislikes. No menus are included in the book, just the general "what to eat" guidelines.

Unique Fatures: Lutz and Allan emphasize throughout that low-carb nutrition is not just for weight loss, but for a host of other conditions and diseases as well.

This is great information jdp, it really is.

I'm inclined not to really be surprised by what I just read, it makes sense in more ways than what was presented.

Thanks for posting this JDP. It's pretty much how I'm eating after a lot of diet adjustments. I'm hoping sticking to this will reap some benefits for my health in the future.

I always wonder if cheese is okay, but it helps me replace the bread and I sort of need it in my diet.

I think the last bread I had was some of that Ezekial bread they sell at Trader Joe's that is supposed to be lower on the glycemic index that normal bread, but I've cut the bread out totally and have been gluten free for a couple of weeks now.

I do notice that I'm more tired now that I've done this dietary switch, although I think I'm still in adjustment period for my body. I am sleeping better and sounder than before though, but I'm also sleepy during the day which sucks.

Not to get off topic, but is coffee okay to drink? I never was a coffee drinker before, but I've developed a taste for iced coffee. I've been using Rice milk and stevia to keep it gluten free as a beverage option and the caffeine wakes me up.

I've given up all soda and pre-mixed teas/lemonade/etc. Just drinking plain Seltzer and Pellegrino and tons of water now.

You're welcome A<R.

Keep in mind that CS is correct that there is no one diet that's correct for everyone.

I basically posted that article as misterE keeps mentioning how nobody is reversing heart disease, etc. on a high fat diet and that going vegan is "THE" only way. Of course anyone that has done enough research realizes that misterE's comments is old information with flawed studies and studies that are done multiple times to finally get the one study with desired results. It's great that it works for him but it certainly won't work for everyone.

Hi hadrion,

Regarding gluten, I can't stress this part enough that cutting out 95% of gluten never worked for me and didn't really realize benefits. It wasn't until I went 100% off is when it finally clicked. Not really gluten sensitive anymore... can eat small amounts no problem as I was on my restricted diet long enough for enough healing to take place as well as other areas. If you don't already have it, here is a list of gluten in foods as it's in everything http://www.celiac.com/articles/182/1/Unsafe-Gluten-Free-Food-List-Unsafe-Ingredients/Page1.html And again, can't stress how gluten is in everything. Even in products you'd never realize such as vitamin enriched rice, most fast food and restaurants, spices, etc..

good luck to you and hope this helps

Regarding drawbacks to coffee, I'm not sure.

Cheese can be OK but those who are gluten sensitive are usually casein sensitive. There is still some small amounts of casein left in cheese but really something that needs to be experimented with. In general though, you'll want to avoid Kraft.

jdp701 wrote:You're welcome A<R.

Keep in mind that CS is correct that there is no one diet that's correct for everyone.

I basically posted that article as misterE keeps mentioning how nobody is reversing heart disease, etc. on a high fat diet and that going vegan is "THE" only way. Of course anyone that has done enough research realizes that misterE's comments is old information with flawed studies and studies that are done multiple times to finally get the one study with desired results. It's great that it works for him but it certainly won't work for everyone.

I thought that as soon as I started reading that, haha.

jdp, I'm wondering if there's some way I could talk to you about a few things in private somehow, you have no PM option on your profile sadly (and for good reason as I understand).

By the way, regarding being tired... if you eliminate gluten from diet too fast could be getting hypoglycemic. Also, beware of some stevia products as some use MSG which can further aggravate problem asMSG can make you go hypoglycemic. On ingredients, it should just be stevia and nothing else added.

Don't know about rice milk but the bottom line is to be careful with substituting gluten products for products that are high in MSG otherwise change in diet probably won't work.

Also, if you have a hard time avoiding gluten products, keep in mind that if you consume casein it will further make going gluten free extremely difficult due to the addictive qualities which are very similiar to each other.

You can send me a PM now... they are back on.

Thanks JDP.

I am consuming a lot of "gluten free" products at the moment, however I'm not sure if there is casein in it. I'll use that food list to help guide me this week.

I too though I could be hypoglycemic since I went gluten free. I was curious how much the IH regimen could be adding to it since part of the mainstay is to control blood sugar. I wonder if I'm too low.

Right now I'm tired. I can take a nap during the day no problem. I'm not normally like this. I hope this turns around as I can't function like this for many more weeks.

Good info, I didn't realise how much gluten affected me until I drastically cut back. Last week I was feeling good, decided to test cheese and had a somewhat negative response. So am probably a bit casein sensitive too.

jdp, one thing I noticed is that Brewer's Yeast is on the list. Should this be avoided for some of us? I've been occasionally taking a few of the one CS reccommends (NOW). The bottle doesn't mention gluten at all.

Many people I have talked to have said that carbohydrates are need to brain function. I don,t understand how my brain could function on only 72 grams a day. Am I stupid or has everything about diet and nutrition that I have learned in school and read about is all wrong.

jdp701 wrote:By the way, regarding being tired... if you eliminate gluten from diet too fast could be getting hypoglycemic. Also, beware of some stevia products as some use MSG which can further aggravate problem asMSG can make you go hypoglycemic. On ingredients, it should just be stevia and nothing else added.

Don't know about rice milk but the bottom line is to be careful with substituting gluten products for products that are high in MSG otherwise change in diet probably won't work.

Also, if you have a hard time avoiding gluten products, keep in mind that if you consume casein it will further make going gluten free extremely difficult due to the addictive qualities which are very similiar to each other.

JDP,

I think I also suffered the double whammy of going gluten free and quitting aspartame/splenda cold turkey which I had been using everyday in some cases unbeknownst to me. It was in my yogurt, my chewing gum, my soft drinks, etc. My current state really matches up with aspartame withdrawal.

If I can encourage anyone reading this thread to give that crap up, then do it. Anything that could make you feel this tired and fatigued quitting it is not good for you.

I checked my stevia product and it's MSG free.

I see wrote:Many people I have talked to have said that carbohydrates are need to brain function. I don,t understand how my brain could function on only 72 grams a day. Am I stupid or has everything about diet and nutrition that I have learned in school and read about is all wrong.

I see, the brains preferred energy source is ketones. It's much more efficient than glucose.

This is why coconut oil (which raises ketones) provides immediate improvement for Alzheimer's patients.

Nice info jdp710!

I have a number of quandaries, grains, sugars, they are essential for candida, yeast, bacterial and other things which can be dangerous if not regulated, but do these issues only develop under certain circumstances? Generally it seems that the most perferred method of initially killing off these things is by alkilization, so would it be safe to assume that an acidic internal environment is what the real culprit in such a situation would be? Going back to something that Prague mentioned once regarding a lack of alkilinity being a problem of electron depletion, if that were the case it's so easy to see how these issues really aren't so much genetic as they are dietary. Sorry, that perhaps got way off topic...

action<reaction - Candida flourishs often due to refined starches and sugars, and alcohol, and especially the use of antibiotics.

Candida can be normalized (never eliminated) by silver hydrosol and probiotics.

CausticSymmetry wrote:action<reaction - Candida flourishs often due to refined starches and sugars, and alcohol, and especially the use of antibiotics.

Candida can be normalized (never eliminated) by silver hydrosol and probiotics.

CS - Eliminating Candida would spell trouble.

It's interesting, my hairloss only started after a year of working at a bakery (free food... ugh) and drinking profusely every weekend. It's also when my fatigue, skin, and mind really went down the drain, I was pretty much in bed for three months because of it. How much significance do you think this played?

Another thing I'd like your opinion on is skin, as my hair started thinning / depression / major fatigue set in, I also developed an incurable case of cracked lips / knuckles. The lips have healed now, and the knuckles have definitely improved and don't look as near inflamed (but still accumulate dead skin).

I eliminated all gluten products and the symptoms all lessened, but they didn't all dissapear (bloating, fatigue) until a couple of days ago as I eliminated all sugar.

Do you have any thoughts regarding the dry / cracked skin?

action<reaction - I would suggest evening primrose oil. GLA is really good for the skin.

action<reaction,

If you're looking to improve digestive health, I'd highly recommend either homemade yogurt or kefir based on hole goat milk. I've personally been making the yogurt SCD (specific carbohydrate diet) style and it's the best thing I've ever done for digestive health. Litterally tons of beneficial bacteria in there. I think jdp had done the yogurt as well.