Alcohol as a Key Ingredient to a Healthy Diet
Dr. John Rumberger

Evidence suggesting that alcohol is “cardio-protective” first appeared in the literature about 30 years ago. The Framingham Heart Study [the longest running population study of heart disease which began in 1948] provided the first solid evidence of this association. The relationship has now been confirmed by dozens of large population [“epidemiological”] studies. However, physicians have been reluctant to recommend alcohol consumption to patients because of the well-known health consequences of excessive drinking [hypertension, liver disease, increased rates of cancer, violent or accidental death] and the horrors that are associated with “drinking and driving”.
Moderation is the key. Many large studies have found that men and women who consume light to moderate amounts of alcohol per day live longer than those who abstain completely. The Physicians’ Health Study involved long term follow-up of 89,300 men. The study found that men who drank five or six alcoholic drinks per week had a 20% lower risk of all-cause mortality than those who drank no alcohol. On the other hand, the same study showed that men who had more than two alcoholic drinks per day had a higher risk of death than nondrinkers. That means that, when drinking moderately, it appears to be quite beneficial; however, higher alcohol intake increases the risks of cancer and motor vehicle accidents so much as to overwhelm any cardiovascular benefits.
How does alcohol protect the heart? A large portion of the benefit may be attributable to increased levels of HDL [“good] cholesterol. Alcohol also has “antiplatelet” effects [making these natural blood elements less sticky and then less likely to clog arteries during plaque rupture] in much the same way as aspirin.
Moderate alcohol consumption may also help improve insulin resistance, which is just about one step below true diabetes and recognized as another independent predictor for cardiac risk. The Physicians’ Health Study also showed that in subjects who consumed alcohol daily, the risk for heart disease was reduced by 60% in diabetic patients, compared to a 40% decrease in persons who did not have diabetes. Moderate alcohol intake also decreases blood values for CRP [C-reactive protein], a metabolic marker for inflammation (elevated when you are in an increased state of oxidative stress).
The jury is still out as to whether or not wine provides a better protective effect compared to other forms of alcohol. Red wine is rich in flavonoids, which slow down oxidation of LDL [“bad”] cholesterol [which is one of the last steps before it is deposited in your artery wall]. One recent study suggested that light drinkers who avoided wine reduce their risk of all-cause mortality by 10%, while light drinkers who preferred wine had more than a 30% decrease in this risk. However, other studies have found that all forms of alcohol [beer, whiskey, etc.] were equally protective.
It is important to emphasize that alcohol [of ANY kind!] should be limited to one drink daily for women and at most two drinks daily for men [this is based merely on general body size and nothing else]. One drink is defined as 1.5 oz of distilled spirits (such as whisky, gin, and vodka), 5 oz of wine, or 12 oz of beer. Patients who have liver disease, who have a personal or family history of alcohol abuse, or who cannot limit their intake in a responsible manner should NOT start! However, since “all things in moderation” is a good adage for much of life, others can enjoy a daily alcoholic drink as part of a generally healthy diet.
Disclaimer: If you are under 18, pregnant, nursing or have health problems, consult your physician before starting any weight loss plan. The information here is not intended as a substitute for medical advice. Please consult your physician before beginning any course of treatment.

About the Author

Dr. John Rumberger is the Author of The WAY Diet, The complete lifestyle plan to live longer, reduce stress, and lose weight the healthy way. To purchase The Way Diet simply go to http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect?path=
ASIN/0974993387&link_code=as2&camp=1789&tag=icobweb-20&creative=9325 or go to Empty Canoe Publishing http://www.emptycanoe.com and order your copy of The Way.

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How Much Weight Will Be Lost On The Atkins Diet

The Atkins Diet is one of the most popular eating plans to come along in quite some time. Perhaps the most common question people have before starting it is how much weight will be lost on the Atkins diet. That’s a fair question, but there is no direct answer. We can, however, take a look at one study where the average weight loss of 120 overweight adults was 26 pounds over the course of one year. This was then compared to the results of another proven diet, that turned out to have an average weight loss of 13 pounds.

Maybe this is all the evidence you need to start the Atkins Diet, but it doesn’t tell the entire story. The sample size was fairly small to draw any solid conclusions, but then again we are dealing with an average amount of weight lost. Another thing to keep in mind is that the findings imply they only counted those people who stayed on the diet for a full year. This could certainly skew the results upward. Also, it would be interesting to see how different the other diet plan was from the Atkins diet.

These are only the problems with one study, and the problems that should be caught with a critical eye. Dig deeper into the results and you will discover that even if the average weight loss was 26 pounds, it doesn’t say how much of that was fat, muscle or water. Of course, if most of it was fat loss, then that’s worth knowing. This really is an important piece of information as it can indicate how healthy the weight loss is.

If you are losing muscle or water weight, then there could be serious, long term health consequences. The problem is that you may be losing weight the whole time, never knowing that there is a figurative time bomb ticking away…or maybe not. More studies really need to be done to determine just what the long term results of the Atkins Diet are. So, it’s not just how much weight will be lost on the Atkins diet, but what kind of weight will be lost. This isn’t the kind of thing dieters should have to be guessing about.

Assuming the Atkins Diet is safe and effective, how much weight you can lose will be a direct result of how closely you follow the program. This sounds pretty obvious, but it is harder to do in practice. Far too many people think they can only do the part of the diet that appeals to them.

This usually means they eat a lot more meat and fatty foods, but cheat by eating more carbohydrates than the Atkins Diet allows. So, while they may be looking forward to how much weight will be lost on the Atkins Diet, they will only be let down in the long run. But it won’t be because they followed the program (though that’s what they’ll blame), it will be because they didn’t follow it the way they should have.

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