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NUTRITION & HEALING

Library of Food and Vitamin Cures

12 Pounds
in 3 Weeks!?
Dr. Wright’s
Starvation-Free and Gym-Free
Weight Loss Secret

By Jonathan V. Wright, M.D.

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©Copyright 2008 by Agora Health, L.L.C., 702 Cathedral St., Baltimore, MD 21201. All rights reserved. No part of this report may be repro-
duced by any means or for any reason without the consent of the publisher. The information contained herein is obtained from sources believed to be
reliable, but its accuracy cannot be guaranteed.
Additional orders and inquiries can be directed to Nutrition & Healing, Reader Services Department, 819 N. Charles St., Baltimore, MD
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12 Pounds in 3 Weeks!?
Dr. Wright’s Starvation-Free and
Gym-Free Weight Loss Secret
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Table of Contents

Chapter 1: How I lost 12 pounds in 3 weeks—and how you could lose even more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1

Chapter 2: The diet after the diet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7

Chapter 3: The healthiest way to join the low-carb revolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11

640RN004C8_WeightLossSecret:640RN004C8_WeightLossSecret 12/16/08
Chapter 1
How I lost 12 pounds in 3 weeks—and how
you could lose even more
I could hardly believe it: In 23 days, I lost 12
pounds. Holly (my wife and very best friend) lost
nine. And the weight came off just where we wanted
it to come off the most—the lower abdomen for both
of us, and a bit from the hips for Holly. (And for you
skeptics out there, our “impedance” measuring scale
confirmed that the large majority of the weight we
lost was indeed fat, not water, which is frequently the
case with such quick results.) Granted, we had been
on a program involving a severely calorie-restricted
diet, but we hadn’t even been unusually hungry,
thanks to daily injections of a natural substance that
first made the news more than 30 years ago. So why
hadn’t I done this before?
I suppose I should have been more attentive in the
1970s and 80s when the first large wave of interest in
this same program occurred, but, in my defense, I was
busy with other things. In the 1970s, I was working
on accumulating the scientific information base about
natural medicine that would help establish Tahoma
Clinic. In the 1980s, I continued to research and
develop nutritional therapies, and started to teach
what I had learned to interested physicians with my
colleague Dr. Alan Gaby. During the 80s I was also
starting to develop combined bio-identical hormone
therapies—estrogens, progesterone, testosterone,
DHEA, and thyroid. And throughout that time, all of
our children were still at home, which, as most of you
know first-hand, makes following a restricted diet
much more difficult. So when some Tahoma Clinic
clients asked about this “natural weight loss pro-
gram,” I checked into it briefly and said I didn’t think
it would hurt, but didn’t pursue it any further. After
awhile, the enthusiasm died down, and I forgot all
about it.
But as you may know, recently there was a best-
selling book enthusiastically discussing the same natu-
ral weight-loss program. The sort of media attention
surrounding “diet trends” always invites skepticism
and controversy, so, not surprisingly, questions came
up at the Tahoma Clinic once again—many more
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12 Pounds in 3 Weeks!?
than in the 1980s. So this time, I thought I’d look
into it in more depth.
Straight from the source
In the 1970s and 80s, information was consider-
ably harder to find. That’s definitely not a problem in
the Internet-aided 21st century. While it’s certainly
true that you can’t believe everything you read, that’s
been the case as long as humans have been writing
and reading, whether on stone, cave walls, parch-
ment, paper, or news-print. “On-line” is no different.
Judgment––hopefully educated and informed judg-
ment––is always necessary with anything we read,
anywhere. But from my experience, it’s best to start
with the original source. So instead of reading the
recent popular book, my first step was to look for
publications by the originator of the program, Dr.
A.T.W. Simeons.
First, I tried the website of the National Library of
Medicine (more commonly known in the medical field
as “PubMed”). Four citations attributed to Dr.
Simeons appeared, published in very respectable med-
ical journals—Lancet (1954), Journal of the American
Geriatrics Society (1956), and the American Journal
of Clinical Nutrition (1963 and 1964). All four titles
mentioned the same natural hormone, human chori-
onic gonadotrophin (HCG), and three of the titles
specified the use of HCG for treatment of obesity,
but, oddly, no abstract of any of the four articles was
available.
So from there, I looked for information about Dr.
Simeons himself. Dr. Simeons was definitely no “diet
huckster” or “quack,” but a brilliant physician with a
solid list of accomplishments.
Although he was born in England, like many
Britons and Americans of his time, Dr. Simeons
attended a German university, graduating summa cum
laude in Medicine from the University of Heidelberg.
(During the latter part of the 1800s and the early
1900s, German medical schools were widely consid-
ered to be the best in the world.) He then did post-
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doctoral work in Germany and Switzerland, followed
by work at a hospital in Dresden, Germany. He devel-
oped an interest in tropical diseases, studying and
working at the School of Tropical Medicine in
Hamburg, Germany. From there, he went to Africa for
two years, and then to India from 1931 until 1949.
While in India, Dr. Simeons developed the use of
the drug Atabrine, which became and remained for
years a mainstay of conventional anti-malarial treat-
ment. He also invented a new method of blood stain-
ing to better observe the malaria parasite. For all his
work against malaria, Dr. Simeons was awarded an
“Order of Merit” by the Red Cross.
During his years in India, he also developed a
model center for the treatment of leprosy (Hansen’s
disease) and did extensive work concerning bubonic
plague (the disease known in Europe in prior cen-
turies as “the Black Death”). In 1949, he re-located to
the Salvador Mundi International Hospital in Rome,
where he changed the focus of his practice.
Although much of his early work concerned infec-
tious disease—malaria, leprosy, bubonic plague—psy-
chosomatic disorders were another of Dr. Simeon’s
interests. So when he moved to Rome, he began
researching and working on them, as well as on
endocrinology, obesity, and the links between the
three. He insisted that while obesity had psychoso-
matic components, most of the time it was a physical,
HCG is not HGH
Just so there’s no confusion: HCG (human chorionic
gonadotrophin) is not the same as HGH (human growth
hormone). HCG is ordinarily made by the placenta, and
occasionally by “trophoblastic” tumors; HGH is made by
the pituitary gland. Both are entirely natural molecules
and not intrinsically dangerous, but since large quanti-
ties of HGH have given both professional and amateur
athletes a competitive advantage seen as unfair, HGH
has become very controversial and is treated as a “con-
trolled substance.”
There’s no athletic advantage associated with HCG
(other than weight loss when used with calorie restric-
tion) and although it requires a prescription and should
only be used when working with a physician, it’s not
difficult to obtain. It’s also remarkably less expensive
than HGH.
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not mental, disorder. In his book Pounds and Inches
(which is widely available for free downloading on-
line1), he refers to his observations while in India of a
syndrome first described by a German doctor,
Froelich, in 1901.
These observations were the key to his develop-
ment of HCG treatment for obesity.
The little-known syndrome
that could be related to your
stubborn weight gain
Having learned about Dr. Simeons and his solid
credentials, my next step was to look up Froelich’s
syndrome. The best description I found came from a
1924 textbook titled Organotherapy in General
Practice.2 (Anyone who’s heard me speak at bio-iden-
tical hormone seminars is likely aware of my enthusi-
asm for organotherapy, which is a discipline based on
copying Nature by using naturally balanced complex-
es of naturally derived hormones. Unfortunately,
organotherapy was literally pushed off the stage in
the 1940s—with a great deal of help by patent medi-
cine companies, aided by los Federales—and replaced
by “endocrinology.” While endocrinology is a very
useful science, it uses single molecules—sometimes
patented, sometimes bio-identical—instead of the
complexes that occur naturally in the body.)
According to the 1924 textbook, people suffering
from full-scale Froelich’s syndrome are usually
extremely obese and have underdeveloped gonads
(ovaries and testicles) and, consequently, underdevel-
oped genital organs. The excess fat accumulates in the
lower abdomen, and around the hips, buttocks, and
breasts. In some cases, it’s also accompanied by a
growth in the pituitary gland.
But with or without a pituitary growth,
Organotherapy in General Practice tells us that varia-
tions of Froelich’s syndrome can develop at any time
of life, so the degree of underdeveloped gonads varies
from severe to mild to none at all. And thanks to the
varying degrees of severity, the textbook hypothesizes
that the milder forms of Froelich’s syndrome are
“undoubtably much commoner than supposed.”
In Pounds and Inches, Dr. Simeons describes his
experience with one of the common variations of
Froelich’s syndrome. While he was in India, he
observed many “fat boys” with “long, slender hands,
breasts any flat-chested maiden would be proud to
possess, large hips, buttocks and thighs with striation
[stretch marks], knock-knees, and underdeveloped
640RN004C8_WeightLossSecret:640RN004C8_WeightLossSecret 12/16/08
genitals, often with undescended testicles.”
Dr. Simeons found that when the so-called “fat
boys” were given small daily injections of HCG—a
substance extracted and purified from the urine of
pregnant women—their testicles not only descended
into the scrotum, but they also “seemed to lose their
ravenous appetites.” And while the boys weren’t on
restricted diets and didn’t actually lose any weight,
Dr. Simeons observed that their shapes changed, and
there was a “distinct decrease in the circumference of
the hips.”
Dr. Simeons was intrigued. He theorized that the
HCG injections had moved (“mobilized”) the fat
from the hips and deposited it in more normal distri-
bution for a male body without any actual change in
overall weight.
Nearly all conventional MDs believe that “fat
mobilization” and consequent body re-shaping by
HCG, with or without weight loss, is a myth. But the
Organotherapy in General Practice textbook actually
highlighted another example of this sort of fat mobi-
lization and redistribution.3 This case occurred in a
woman with a more typical case of Froelich’s syn-
drome, which included considerable excess fat on the
hips and abdomen. Instead of HCG (which wasn’t
available in purified form until years later), her treat-
ment included a common “organotherapy” prepara-
tion of the time: tablets containing glandular sub-
stance from animal pituitary, thyroid, and adrenal
glands, along with another two grains of thyroid sub-
stance. Within three months, the woman’s waistline
had shrunk 5 inches (30 inches to 25 inches), and her
hip circumference had gone down 7 1/2 inches (43 to
35 1/2). But despite the dramatic change in her meas-
urements, she lost only one pound of body weight the
entire time. The fact that an HCG-free program con-
taining pituitary and related glandular extracts can do
the same thing that Dr. Simeons observed in the
Indian boys who did undergo HCG therapy helps
strengthen the case for this “fat-mobilization” theory
that critics tend to brush off.
Taking this theory one step further, Dr. Simeons
guessed that combining HCG injections with relative-
ly severe calorie restriction would lead to significant
weight loss without significant hunger, since the body
would use the “mobilized” fat as fuel, rather than just
moving it from one place to another.
So he tried this approach—daily HCG injections
combined with a 500-calorie-per-day diet—in a few
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12 Pounds in 3 Weeks!?
hundred cases of “regular” overweight individuals
and observed that his guess was correct. Despite the
calorie restriction, his patients didn’t get unusually
hungry, and every single patient experienced very sig-
nificant weight loss.
What you can gain even from
less-than-average loss
After all of this careful research, there was just one
more thing to do before recommending Dr. Simeons’
weight loss program to my patients: Try it myself.
(My policy has always been to try anything new on
me first before trying it for clients, “just in case.” I’ve
tried nearly everything except for bio-identical estro-
gens, which Holly won’t let me do, but volunteered to
do herself.) And, as you read above, both Holly and I
can personally vouch for Dr. Simeons’ technique. In a
matter of 23 days Holly lost 9 pounds, and I lost 12.
We were quite pleased, but according to Dr. Simeons,
our results were actually below average. In his experi-
ence, average weight loss is approximately .6 to .9
pounds per day, for an average of 15 to 20 pounds
over 23 days.
It’s possible that Holly and I didn’t lose as much
weight as many others because we continued our sup-
plement programs during the entire series of HCG
injections. We’ve put our supplement regimens togeth-
er very carefully over the years and know we do much
better with them than without. However, Dr. Simeons
makes a repeated point in his writings to explain that
fats and oils must be very strictly controlled during
HCG use—even oils in skin crèmes—or the body may
burn those before it burns the “mobilized” fat. He rec-
ommends against nearly all other supplements, too, as
possibly interfering with weight loss.
We did stop taking our fish oil while we were on
the program, but, knowing that our health is much
better while we’re taking essential fatty acid supple-
ments, we made sure to “load” our bodies with fish
oil and GLA before starting the HCG-restricted calo-
rie diet. The extra quantities would be stored in every
cell membrane and our bodies would be able to use
those supplies while we followed the HCG program.
So it’s possible that our bodies burned some of those
stores of essential fatty acids before burning the body
fat that had been mobilized by the HCG, which may
have resulted in our slightly-less-than-average results.
But just because Holly and I continued our supple-
ments doesn’t necessarily mean you must continue
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Less pain, lower blood sugar, and 3 other
HCG benefits besides a smaller waistline
In his decades of HCG use, Dr. Simeons observed
that the benefits of HCG go beyond physical appear-
ance. The weight loss the injection and diet program
brings on also helps to improve other obesity-related
health problems.
Type 2 diabetes is the condition most often associ-
ated with obesity. Dr. Simeons found that type 2 diabet-
ics sometimes have a drop in elevated fasting blood
sugar to normal values within two to three weeks of
starting HCG treatment. While this is a great added ben-
efit, extreme blood sugar swings can be dangerous—
even when they’re in the right direction. So Dr. Simeons
advises careful monitoring of blood sugar in all type 2
diabetics who undergo HCG treatment.
Like elevated blood sugar, high blood pressure often
drops during HCG treatment. It does rise again once
HCG is stopped, but following the significant weight
loss that almost always occurs with the HCG and diet
program, the blood pressure doesn’t usually rise to it’s
former heights.
Dr. Simeons also found that “all rheumatic pains”
improve within just a few days of starting HCG treat-
ment. After the HCG treatment is over, arthritis pain usu-
ally returns, but most patients report that it’s less than
before and more manageable with less pain relieving
medication.
Two of the more surprising benefits of HCG treat-
ment are improvements in conditions not typically asso-
ciated with weight—psoriasis and varicose ulcers
(although Dr. Simeons found that psoriasis patients may
relapse afterwards).
Of course, all of these problems also have success-
ful natural treatments other than HCG and diet. And
since they all tend to recur (although in lesser form)
once HCG is stopped, it’s a good idea to talk with your
doctor about what other approaches you can take either
during HCG treatment (to take advantage of the maxi-
mum combined effect) or afterwards (if you prefer to fol-
low Dr. Simeons’ advice of keeping supplement use to a
minimum during treatment).
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yours—although at a very minimum I’d suggest con-
tinuing at least 2 grams of vitamin C and a general
multiple vitamin-mineral daily. But please make sure
to discuss the issue of your personal use of diet sup-
plements during HCG treatment with a physician
skilled and knowledgeable in nutritional and natural
medicine.
Different programs for different goals
Over the course of several decades treating thou-
sands of patients, Dr. Simeons worked out two differ-
ent programs. For those who need to lose 15 pounds
or less he advises a 23-day series of HCG injections
along with the 500-calorie-per-day diet. For people
with more than 15 pounds to lose, he suggests a full
40-day course of injections along with the diet.
However, Dr. Simeons did set a limit on total weight
loss for any one series of injections: If the patient
loses 34 pounds before completing the series of 40
injections, he advises stopping the injection series at
that point.
For seriously overweight individuals who want or
need to lose more than 34 pounds, he recommends
additional series of 40 injections, but waiting approx-
imately six weeks between each series.
There is also a three-day high-protein, high-calorie
“lead-in” to each course of HCG injections, and
when the series is complete, Dr. Simeons recommends
continuing the 500-calorie diet for another three days.
Dr. Simeons explains that the three-day “protein load-
ing” lead-in provides the body with extra protein to
“get through” the first few days of diet restrictions.
After that, the fuel your body needs comes from the
500 calories you eat each day along with the fat that
the HCG mobilizes. Continuing the 500-calorie-per-
day diet for three days after the HCG injection series
is over ensures that every trace of HCG is eliminated
from the body. As Dr. Simeons explained, without this
three-day follow-up, some patients may “put on
weight alarmingly.”
He also warns that once patients have “lost all
their abnormal superfluous fat, they at once begin to
feel ravenously hungry in spite of continued injec-
tions.” So if you reach this point during your series of
injections, you should work with your doctor to
increase your daily calorie intake to 1,000 until
you’ve completed the full HCG program.
Weight loss that’s worth a shot
You might be wondering if it’s possible to take
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HCG orally rather than by injection. But as you’ve
read from me many times before, when you’re using
natural, bio-identical hormone treatments, it’s best to
copy Nature. And like any other internally produced
hormone, HCG enters the bloodstream first, circu-
lates around the body affecting its “target cells.” And
only after that is it disposed of by the liver and
kidneys.
HGC doesn’t enter the body through the gut,
where at least half of any “oral” hormone prepara-
tion goes. So until someone (and someone likely will)
invents a 100-percent-proven form of HCG that
doesn’t get absorbed by GI tract and sent to the liver
first—where at least some of it will be metabolized
and lost—or totally “trapped” in the skin before it
can reach the bloodstream, your best bet is to copy
Nature and stick with the injections that go directly
to the bloodstream.
What every gout patient needs to
know before trying HCG
There are a few potential complications of HCG
use that Dr. Simeons discovered during his years of
research. Fortunately, none of them are serious or life-
threatening.
The first is gout. Dr. Simeons found that serum
levels of uric acid rise after initiating HCG treatment.
This rapid increase causes some people to experience
“acute and often severe attacks” after the first few
days of HCG treatment. However, even though uric
acid levels may persist for several months after com-
pleting the program, he also found that after the ini-
tial “attack” there’s no more pain at all—even if the
patient undergoes a full 40-day course of injections.
Even better, Dr. Simeons discovered that “those who
have regained their normal weight remain free of
symptoms regardless of what they eat.”
As I’ve had gout (fortunately only once, in my
University undergraduate days) this was another rea-
son to try HCG treatment on myself first. I didn’t
have a gout attack during my course of HCG injec-
tions, despite deliberately avoiding “premedication,”
as Dr. Simeons recommended.
But since my personal experience with gout attacks
isn’t as frequent as many people’s, I’d certainly follow
his lead and recommend that anyone with gout work
with a physician skilled and knowledgeable in natural
and nutritional treatments, to treat their condition
prior to following the HCG and diet program.
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12 Pounds in 3 Weeks!?
Skyrocketing cholesterol levels:
A benefit in disguise?
The next complication of HCG treatment may
actually be a benefit in disguise. In the 1950s and 60s
before the advent of “HDL,” “LDL,” and today’s
even more detailed cholesterol tests, serum cholesterol
was typically measured in two fractions: “free” and
“esterified.” Esterified cholesterol was thought to be
the fraction related to arterial damage, and, according
to Dr. Simeons, made up approximately 75 percent of
a person’s total cholesterol, while “free” cholesterol
made up the remaining 25 percent.
Dr. Simeons found that, other than during preg-
nancy, HCG treatment is the only time that these pro-
portions change, and free cholesterol becomes a larger
proportion of a person’s total cholesterol.
He also found that if a person’s total cholesterol is
normal before HCG treatment, then their levels won’t
increase or decrease. But if a patient’s total cholesterol
is already high, HCG treatment may cause their
“total blood cholesterol [to] soar to heights never
before reached.”
He writes: “At first, this greatly alarmed us. But
then we saw that the patients came to no harm even if
treatment was continued, and we found that in fol-
low-up examinations that the cholesterol was much
better than it had been before treatment.”
Dr. Simeons found that the increase was mostly
free cholesterol, and he hypothesized that “the rise [in
total cholesterol during HCG treatment] is entirely
due to the liberation of cholesterol deposits that have
not yet undergone calcification in the arterial wall,
and is therefore highly beneficial.”
In other words, Dr. Simeons believed (although he
didn’t actually prove) that HCG treatment could at
least partially clear the arteries of recently deposited
but not-yet-calcified cholesterol.
And some subsequent research suggests that he
may have been on the right track in suggesting that
the HCG-stimulated rise in cholesterol is actually a
health benefit, not a risk. In 1981, a research group
working with animals demonstrated that HCG is one
of two substances that breaks down esterified choles-
terol (the “bad” fraction) and increases the produc-
tion of pregnenolone.4 Pregnenolone is the “parent”
of all steroids and is made from cholesterol. This
research suggests that HCG stimulates that process,
directly or indirectly.
So it appears that Dr. Simeons may very well be
640RN004C8_WeightLossSecret:640RN004C8_WeightLossSecret 12/16/08
correct in hypothesizing that the increase in already-
elevated cholesterol levels caused by HCG is actually
a good thing. Still, if you are overweight and have ele-
vated cholesterol, it’s a good idea to work closely
with a physician skilled and knowledgeable in nutri-
tional and natural therapies to monitor your choles-
terol by more modern means, before, during, and
after intervals of HCG treatment.
Drink more, spasm less
Since we started the HCG and restricted-calorie
weight loss program at the Tahoma Clinic (admittedly
not very long), we’ve noted one other possible adverse
effect not mentioned by Dr. Simeons—muscle spasm.
In the two cases that have occurred, we suspect the
spasms were related to dehydration, since there’s
extra water loss (in addition to fat loss) during the
first few days of the program. Dr. Simeons emphasizes
that the use of water, tea, and coffee (unsweetened or
sweetened with stevia only) is unlimited throughout
the HCG program, and I also encourage everyone to
make sure to drink plenty of these fluids.
For those of you especially susceptible to spasms,
you may want to consider a period of “loading” with
calcium, magnesium, and potassium prior to undergo-
ing the HCG program.
The truth behind the criticism
“Mainstream” criticism of HCG claims that stud-
ies have shown that it’s ineffective as a weight loss
aid. So I looked up the article in the American
Journal of Clinical Nutrition,5 frequently cited as the
“definitive” study, and found that that claim was
true—as far as it went.
This single study concluded: “HCG does not
appear to enhance the effectiveness of a rigidly
imposed regimen for weight reduction.” But claiming
that HCG is “ineffective” based on this conclusion is
more than a little deceptive, because (as is often the
case) it leaves out some key information included in
the rest of the study.
Here’s the missing information, as actually written
in that supposedly “negative” article:
“Numerous reports have been published attempt-
ing to support [6 articles cited] or to disprove [5 arti-
cles cited] the Simeons’ theory on the usefulness of
HCG in weight reduction. However, until Asher and
Harper’s report,6 there had not been a well-designed,
prospective, randomized, double-blind study compar-
ing HCG and placebo in the setting designed to test
the true Simeons technique. [Harper and Asher’s]
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study yielded evidence that HCG had a statistically
significant benefit over placebo; this was reflected by
a significantly greater mean weight loss, mean weight
loss as a percentage of initial weight, mean weight
loss per injection, and decrease in hunger.”
So according to the authors of this “negative”
study, the “score” by the time of their publication
was: “Well-designed, prospective, randomized, dou-
ble-blind” studies: 1 positive, 1 negative. “Not-so-
well-designed” studies: 6 positive, 5 negative.
Hardly the resounding disproof the critics would
like us to believe! And based on my own experience
as well as Holly’s and the handful of Tahoma Clinic
patients who have tried the HCG program so far, I
would certainly say that seeing and experiencing—not
just reading—is believing.
2 hints that will help you keep the weight
off for good
If you’re significantly overweight and have type 2
diabetes in your family, it’s very likely that you have
insulin resistance. Before you even start an HCG and
restricted-diet program, please check with a physician
skilled and knowledgeable in natural and nutritional
medicine to have yourself tested. If your test is posi-
tive, then keeping weight off after the HCG program
will be considerably easier if you stick with one of the
diets outlined in the following chapters.
You should also have yourself checked for food
allergies before undertaking the HCG/restricted-calo-
rie diet program. Dr. Theron Randolph, the founder
of the American Academy of Environmental Medicine
(AAEM), was one of the first to write about the con-
nection between food allergy and weight gain, and
I’ve observed this relationship to be true for many
allergic individuals. If you intend to keep weight off
after your HCG program is over, avoiding food aller-
gens (or avoiding, rotating, and desensitizing them, if
there are too many to avoid altogether) will be a help.
For help with insulin resistance and allergy testing,
as well as help with the HCG program itself, it’s best
to consult with a physician skilled and knowledgeable
in nutritional and natural medicine. You can find one
in your area by contacting one of the following: the
American College for Advancement in Medicine—
(800)532-2688, www.acam.org; the American
Association of Naturopathic Physicians—(866)538-
2267, www.naturopathic.org; or the Academy of
Environmental Medicine—(316)684-5500,
www.aaem.com.
640RN004C8_WeightLossSecret:640RN004C8_WeightLossSecret 12/16/08
Chapter 2
The diet after the diet
Just like any other weight loss program, you can’t
just go back to your old eating habits once you’ve
reached your goal with the HCG program and expect
to keep the weight off. You’ve read this in various
issues of Nutrition & Healing many times before, but
it bears repeating that the best diet for all of us to fol-
low as closely as possible is the kind our ancestors ate
for hundreds of thousands of years prior to the intro-
duction of agriculture.
We’ve come a long way since the hunter-gatherer
days, and I’m not saying that all of the changes are
bad—or that we should all start running around in
loin-cloths, stalking and killing our dinners.
Nevertheless, that is how our bodies are designed to
be nourished. So in the following chapter, I’ll show
you how to get “back to basics” with a modern adap-
tation of this health-promoting, historic diet.
Make a healthier history
repeat itself
I’ve mentioned before that I studied anthropology
as an undergrad student. But before you start think-
ing I’m just “prejudiced” in my belief that the hunter-
gatherer diet is optimal for human health, let me just
say that there’s plenty of research to back up this
opinion. Researchers have found skeletons of people
from 2 million years ago and determined that their
genetic makeup is virtually identical to ours. And the
move from hunting and gathering to farming only
happened about 10,000 years ago. (Keep in mind that
even though 10,000 years is a very long time for you
or me, it’s actually only 1/2 percent of the time span
humans have been on this planet.)
This change turned out to be essential to the
progress of civilization, science, and technology but
not so good, in many ways, for human health. Since
our bodies are very similar to those of our remote
ancestors from millions of years ago, it makes sense
that they still require the same sort of nourishment to
stay well. For 99.5 percent of human existence, our
bodies have stayed healthy on what I call the original
human diet—a diet that included not a single ounce
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12 Pounds in 3 Weeks!?
of cow’s milk or dairy, and virtually no cereal grains
or legumes.
Right about now you might be thinking: “But
aren’t people today living longer than ever before?
Wasn’t the average life expectancy only 40 years (or
less) 100 or so years ago? And weren’t life spans
shorter when our remote ancestors were spearing
large game animals for dinner?” Those things are all
true, but before you blame it on the food, consider
some of the following factors:
In Paleolithic times, there were no antibiotics, so
more people died very young of infectious disease.
Life was physically much more strenuous and, in
many cases, more dangerous, and there were no hos-
pitals and no surgeons. Infection and accidents killed
many at a young age. But if you exclude infection and
trauma, those who survived were “genetically pro-
grammed” to live just as long as any of us today.
Of course, there are no exact statistics available for
2 million years ago. But even as recently as 150 years
ago, it wasn’t uncommon for women, mostly between
the ages of 18-25, to die during childbirth. That’ll
certainly bring down the life-span averages! And
many children living in the crowded, unhygienic cities
of the 1800s died of infectious diseases, really lower-
ing average longevity. But for those surviving child-
hood and childbirth, longevity was very close to what
it is today.
Researchers have also carefully observed the health
of “modern hunter-gatherers,” people today who still
follow the original human diet pattern. Among these
people, there’s virtually no cardiovascular disease,
hypertension, diabetes, cancer, diverticular disease,
osteoporosis, or obesity.
Just a few careful supermarket
selections could lead to a
long, healthy life
Our ancestors ate what they could hunt or gather.
Obviously, very few of us could live that sort of life
today—even if we wanted to. But with the modern
conveniences of supermarkets and natural food stores,
640RN004C8_WeightLossSecret:640RN004C8_WeightLossSecret 12/16/08
its actually easier to find the “right” kinds of foods
than ever before. Just a little extra attention to detail
when you’re doing your weekly grocery shopping will
make it fairly simple for you to follow a diet plan
very similar to the original human diet—and to get all
the added health benefits that come with it.
Put simply, the original human diet consists of lean
meats, fish, nuts and seeds, non-starchy vegetables
and fruits, and the occasional all-natural sweetener.
But there is no one-size-fits-all original human diet.
Among modern hunter-gatherers, the percentages of
total protein and fat have been found to vary from 36
percent to 97 percent, with total carbohydrates vary-
ing from 3 percent to 64 percent—and the people at
both “extremes” are equally disease free. That leaves
a lot of room for you to determine the best ratio for
your individual needs.
The original human diet can be done at what I’ll
call basic and advanced levels. While both levels will
probably require you to make some major dietary
changes, the basic level includes things that can be
found almost entirely at your local supermarket. The
advanced level will probably require more effort and
trips to health food or specialty food stores.
Obviously, the advanced level will have the most
health benefit, but the basic level might be a good
starting point for you and will still boost your health
considerably.
Taking your
diet—and your health—
back to basics
Here’s an outline of foods included in the basic
original human diet:
Meat
• Beef: extra-lean hamburger, sirloin steak,
flank steak, lean veal, chuck steak, London
broil, any other lean cuts
• Pork: Loin, chops, other lean cuts
• Poultry: chicken, turkey, game hen (should
be eaten as all white meat with no skin)
• Eggs: chicken, duck, goose
• Goat
• Organ meats: beef, pork, lamb: tongue,
“sweetbreads”
• Wild game: buffalo, elk, goose, pheasant,
quail, deer, rabbit, nearly any other wild
game you can find
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Fish and seafood
• Fish: sardines, salmon, flounder, catfish,
perch, herring, whitefish, haddock, mahi
mahi, cod, pollock, halibut, anchovies
(These fish have relatively low mercury
content.)
• Seafood: Scallops, crab (king, tanner, dunge-
ness), spiny lobster
Vegetables
At the basic level, you’ll still be buying vegetables
and fruits from the supermarket. Most of the produce
there is commercially grown, so it’s probably been
exposed to various amounts of pesticides or other
chemicals. I’ve listed the groups of produce below in
order from “least likely to be contaminated” to
“most likely.”
• Broccoli, brussels sprouts, cauliflower, green
onions, onions
• Potato, pumpkin, squash, sweet potato/yam
(Please note that even though these root veg-
etables are less likely to be contaminated
with pesticides and chemicals, they should
only be eaten occasionally, since they were
found in very limited areas of the world in
“hunter-gatherer” times.)
• Artichoke, asparagus, beets and beet greens,
cabbage, carrots, collard greens, dandelion
greens, eggplant, endive, kale, kohlrabi,
lettuce, mushrooms, mustard greens, parsley,
parsnips, peppers, purslane, radish, rutaba-
ga, seaweed, squash, swiss chard, tomato,
turnips and turnip greens, watercress
• Bell peppers, celery, cucumbers, spinach
(These are the vegetables most likely to be
contaminated, so you might want to consid-
er buying organically grown, at least for
these.)
Fruits
• Avocados, bananas, grapes (U.S. grown),
plums, watermelon (These are the least like-
ly to be contaminated.)
• Blackberries, blueberries, boysenberries, cas-
sava, cranberries, figs, gooseberries, grape-
fruit, guava, honeydew, kiwi, lemon, lime,
lychee fruit, mangoes, nectarines, oranges,
papayas, passion fruit, pears, persimmons,
pineapple, pomegranites, raspberries,
rhubarb, star fruit, tangerines
640RN004C8_WeightLossSecret:640RN004C8_WeightLossSecret 12/16/08
• Apples, apricots, canteloupe, cherries, grapes
(Chilean), peaches, strawberries (These are
the fruits most likely to be contaminated, so,
like bell peppers, celery, cucumbers, and
spinach, you might want to consider buying
organically grown versions.)
Nuts and seeds
• Flaxseed and walnuts (They have the best
omega-3/ omega-6 fatty acid ratio.)
• Almonds, brazil nuts, cashews, chestnuts,
hazelnuts, macadamia nuts, pecans, pine
nuts, pistachios, pumpkin seeds, sesame
seeds, sunflower seeds
Oils
• For cooking: olive oil, macadamia nut oil
• Salads, other uses: walnut, flaxseed, olive,
avocado
Beverages
• Water (filtered)
• Tea: green, black, all other herbal teas
• Coffee
• Wine, beer (small quantities)
Sweeteners
• Minimal calories: stevia, lo han
• Higher calorie level: honey, maple syrup
Making the move to
advanced health with an
organic arsenal on your side
If you decide to do the advanced version of the
original human diet one major difference is that all
foods should be organic. You’ve probably heard and
read about some of the most popular and well-known
reasons for switching to organic foods: to avoid con-
sumption of artificial colors, flavors, preservatives,
herbicides, pesticides, other agricultural chemicals,
bovine growth hormone (BGH) and other hormones,
genetically modified organisms, and any other non-
natural substances. And it’s certainly true that
absolutely none of these items was ever part of the
original human diet.
But there’s an even better reason to go all-organic.
These foods are literally more nutritious—ounce for
ounce—than their commercially grown counterparts.
In fact, research has shown some mineral levels of
organic foods to be double or triple those found in
the same amount of the “regular” version. So even
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12 Pounds in 3 Weeks!?
though organic is more expensive, you’re getting
greater quantities of nutrients (per pound and ounce)
for your money.
There are just a few particulars to keep in mind
when following the all-organic, advanced version of
the original human diet. First, our hunting and gath-
ering ancestors ate primarily wild game meat, so
those are your best bet (refer back to the outline on
the preceding pages for details). Any other meat—
beef, poultry, pork, etc.—should be free-range (beef,
specifically, should be grass-fed, free-range). If you
can’t find free-range, it’s important that it at least be
organically raised.
On the all-organic version of this diet, you can—
and should—eat plenty of liver from organically
raised, free-range animals. In our chemical-laden era,
a diet high in commercially raised liver could cause
more problems that it solves. But uncontaminated
liver is one of the most nutritious foods available, and
was eaten by all meat-eating hunter-gatherers.
You can also eat wild or organically farmed
salmon on this version of the diet. Most salmon you
find in the supermarket is commercially farmed and
fed antibiotics.
The oils are the same as the ones listed in the basic
version of the diet, but look for ones from organically
grown sources. Beverages are also the same, but tea
and coffee should definitely be organic, since commer-
cial coffee and tea crops are heavily treated with
chemicals before they’re harvested.
You can’t accentuate the
positives without (gradually)
eliminating the negatives
Of course, there are also some things you’ll have
to give up. The list isn’t outrageous (there are far
more foods you can eat). But, unfortunately, they’re
items that can be very difficult to eliminate. Most of
us were raised on diets made up of large quantities of
these foods. I understand that it won’t be a change
you can make overnight. And that’s OK. Gradually
reducing your intake and eliminating these things
over time will still go a long way in helping you reap
all of the benefits the original human diet has to offer.
That said, here are the foods you should do your
best to stay away from:
• All dairy products; all products containing
dairy ingredients. (Wild animals don’t hold
640RN004C8_WeightLossSecret:640RN004C8_WeightLossSecret 12/16/08
still to be milked!)
• All cereal grains, as well as amaranth, buck-
wheat, quinoa. (Our non-farming ancestors
simply didn’t eat them.)
• All legumes (beans, peas, etc)
• All high salt foods. Salt was a relatively rare
commodity during all prehistoric times and
even during most of “recorded history.” This
list includes bacon, deli meats, ham, hot
dogs, ketchup, olives (canned), most pickled
foods, pork rinds, processed meats, salami,
salted nuts, sausages, canned and/or salted
fish and meat, and nearly all commercial
salad dressings.
• All soft drinks.
• All fruit juices not containing whole fruit.
• All sugar and sugar-containing candies.
No one is perfect, so don’t worry if you try to fol-
low the original human diet plan but occasionally
“fall off the wagon.” If it takes time to gradually
work into, that’s fine. And remember, there’s lots of
room for individual variation within the original
human diet pattern. Just do the best you can, and
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when you ultimately get there, your improved health
will make it all worthwhile.
Modern-day healthy living:
Taking advantage of
technology and history
For further information about the original human
diet, and much more detailed discussion of its health
benefits, check your local library for The Paleo Diet
by Loren Cordain, Ph.D. (2002) and The Paleolithic
Prescription by S. Boyd Eaton, M.D., Marjorie
Shostak, and Melvin Konner, Ph.D. (1988). Although
I don’t agree with every point they make, I’m a firm
believer that the original human diet is the healthiest
human diet.
And it actually overlaps quite a bit with one of the
most heavily promoted diets in recent years—the low-
carb “trend.” In the next chapter, I’ll give you all the
important details on this diet plan—including who
should do it, who shouldn’t, and why; the best, most
healthful way to go about it; how to keep it safe;
what lab tests to keep an eye on; and what supple-
ments are especially important if you choose to follow
a low-carb diet.
640RN004C8_WeightLossSecret:640RN004C8_WeightLossSecret 12/16/08
Chapter 3
The healthiest way to join the low-carb revolution
Over the years, I’ve found that all of the media
coverage about low-carb diets contains some useful
information, but, overall, it’s been more nonsense
than not. So it certainly seems like this topic could
use a little clarification.
Since there’s no diet plan that’s “best” for every-
one, how do you know if low-carb is a good choice
for you? Aside from the old “just try it and see”
method, there are some guidelines, which we’ll go
over in detail in the following pages.
Do you fit the low-carb mold?
If you have Type 2 diabetes or symptoms of low
blood sugar, or if these problems are in your family,
then a low-carb diet probably is your best choice.
Symptoms of low blood sugar include extreme
hunger, nervousness, headaches, 3 to 5 a.m. awaken-
ings, or any other symptoms that appear when you
don’t eat for several hours, then improve or disappear
with food.
If you or your family members don’t have any of
these problems, but you’re carrying more pounds
than you want, a low-carb diet may work for you
too, but it may not work as well.
What’s the difference? People with Type 2 diabetes,
low blood sugar, or a family history of either are
most likely to have some degree of insulin resistance,
along with excess insulin excretion, also known as
hyperinsulinism. Low-carb diets can help control
your blood sugar swings and, in turn, your insulin
levels.
In addition to contributing to obesity, insulin
resistance/hyperinsulinism has been proven to lead to
high cholesterol and triglycerides, high blood pres-
sure, and atherosclerosis. And researchers are contin-
uing to discover many other problems, including
increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease, associated with
this type of inherited body chemistry. So, if you fall
into this group, a low-carb diet may do a lot more for
you than take a few inches off your waist.
If you haven’t inherited this family tendency, then
insulin resistance probably isn’t responsible for your
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12 Pounds in 3 Weeks!?
excess weight. Obviously, a diet that is suitable for a
metabolic problem you don’t have is less likely to
work. But it won’t hurt to try: Sometimes it works
anyway. And if you want to know for certain whether
or not you have insulin resistance, the glucose toler-
ance-insulin resistance test can help. (See the July
2001 issue of Nutrition & Healing for more details
on this test.)
Being “sensitive” can make you fat
There’s a phrase I hear over and over from individ-
uals who visit the Tahoma Clinic: “I’ve been on a
strict low-fat diet for months, and I’m still gaining
weight!” Every time I hear this complaint, I know to
start looking for a family history of diabetes, skin
tags, and other clues. While this common problem
does not always indicate a tendency toward type 2
diabetes, a combination of diet trends has made it a
more distinct possibility than ever before. These diet
trends are, namely, the “politically correct,” low-fat,
high- complex carbohydrate diet recommended (for
nearly everyone) by mainstream physicians over the
last 15 to 20 years and the several centuries old trend
toward ever-increasing consumption of refined sugar.
This combination makes it difficult for diabetes-prone
people to lose weight.
Decades ago, Professor John Yudkin performed a
simple experiment that illustrates this point. He
recruited university students in their 20s to live in a
dormitory for one month, eating only the food pro-
vided there. One group of students had absolutely no
family history of diabetes, while the other group had
positive family histories. At the beginning and end of
the month, the students were weighed and had their
insulin, cholesterol, and triglyceride levels measured.
All of the students were given exactly the same
food to eat for the entire month. The daily diet con-
tained 14 ounces of refined sugar, an amount easily
consumed in two to three “soft drinks.”
At the end of the month, the students with no
family history of diabetes had gained an average of 3
pounds each. The students with a positive family
640RN004C8_WeightLossSecret:640RN004C8_WeightLossSecret 12/16/08
history of diabetes had gained an average of 9 pounds
each. After the month, these students had also devel-
oped significantly higher insulin, triglyceride, and
cholesterol levels than the students with no family
history of diabetes.
Why the variance of 9 pounds versus 3 pounds in
one month, with exactly the same diet?
Carbohydrates are broken down and metabolized
into sugars in the body. Once sugars are absorbed
into your bloodstream, many of them “call out”
insulin to help move them into your body cells, where
they’re burned for energy or stored as glycogen or fat.
If you’ve inherited any of the “sugar sensitivities” I
mentioned above-low blood sugar, insulin resist-
ance/hyperinsulinism, Type 2 diabetes-research has
shown that the same amount of sugar will put up to
three times as much weight on you as it will on some-
one without this genetic heritage. Approximately 1/3
of us have “sugar sensitive” body chemistry, which
means low-carb diets are best for at least 90 million
Americans.
Why have so many of us inherited this body chem-
istry, when it’s obviously bad for us? Actually, “sugar
sensitivity” has only been “bad” for a century or two
and only in certain areas of the world. Years ago, and
in some areas of the world even now, there simply
wasn’t/isn’t enough food to eat. People went hungry—
a lot. So the ability to quickly “pack on” fat from
smaller amounts of carbohydrate allowed people to
survive “starvation times” by burning stored fat. Of
course, our ancestors passed their sugar-sensitivity
survival mechanism down to us. But the vast majority
of us don’t need it anymore, since there’s always an
abundance of food around.
So low-carb diets re-create those “low-carb sea-
sons” (late fall, winter, spring, and early summer)
when our ancestors’ bodies didn’t overproduce insulin
and store excess fat for the coming winters. By
restricting the sugar and carbs going into your body,
you force it to burn stored fat for energy instead,
causing you to lose weight in the process.
Low-carb do’s and don’ts
Obviously, the point of a low-carb diet is to get the
majority of your daily nutrition from protein and eat
as little sugar and carbohydrate as possible. It sounds
easy enough, and it can be. But there are a few impor-
tant points to keep in mind to ensure that your low-
carb diet is still a healthy one.
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First and foremost, whatever diet plan you follow,
but especially with low-carb plans, total elimination
of refined sugar and refined carbohydrates is essen-
tial. They’re the worst offenders when it comes to
causing wide swings in blood sugar and insulin levels.
And they’re also the items your body is most likely to
store as fat. Refined sugars include high-fructose corn
syrup, maltodextrin, sucrose, fructose, dextrose, and
everything else ending in “-ose”
It gets a bit trickier when it comes to non-refined
carbs: Some are OK, some should be eliminated with
the refined versions. Fruits, and especially fruit juices,
are a real problem for a low-carb diet. Unless the fruit
juice is made from the whole fruit, it’s actually a
refined carbohydrate, since the pulp and fiber are
missing, and the juice is often filtered for clarity. Even
tiny quantities aren’t good for anyone. A few com-
mercially available orange juices are made from the
whole fruit; small quantities (get out that carb count-
er) are OK. In general, though, a low-carb diet should
be a low- or no-fruit diet. That’s why supplementing
with some of the nutrients you can only get from
fruit, which we’ll discuss later, is very important.
Grains and beans do contain protein but are more
than 50 percent carbohydrate. Soybeans are one
exception, containing more than 50 percent protein
and oil, which is why soy appears in so many
processed low-carb foods. But generally, low-carb
programs should include very little grains or beans.
On the other hand, a large number of vegetables
are naturally low-carb. Try use as much fresh produce
as you can, eliminating or at least minimizing
processed (especially canned) vegetables. Ideally, they
should all be organically grown, but just do the best
you can, adding as many organic items to your diet as
your budget and location will allow. Commercially
grown vegetables have varying degrees of pesticides,
herbicides, and other undesirable content; organic
foods have little or none of these, plus significantly
greater amounts of vitamins and minerals in the same
weight of food. Refer back to page Chapter 2 for a
listing of vegetables “least” to “most” likely to be
contaminated.
It’s OK to be picky about
your protein
While we’re on the topic of organic foods, once
again, it’s also a good idea to get as much of your
animal protein as possible from organic, free-range,
640RN004C8_WeightLossSecret:640RN004C8_WeightLossSecret 12/16/08
grass-fed sources. Wild game-elk, goose, pheasant,
quail, deer, and rabbit-is another good option if you
can get it. Free-range, grass-fed, organic, or wild-
game meat is much healthier for you, since the ani-
mals it comes from eat a diet natural to them and
aren’t pumped full of hormones or antibiotics.
Compared with meat from commercially raised,
grain-fed cattle, beef from free-range cattle is consid-
erably higher in anti-inflammatory omega-3 fatty
acids, lower in pro-inflammatory omega-6 fatty acids,
and much higher in cancer-preventing conjugated
linoleic acid (CLA).
“Farmed” fish also have less beneficial fatty acid
patterns and, unfortunately, are contaminated with
antibiotics and other chemicals. And because of mer-
cury and other contaminants, some non-farmed fish
are also best avoided. Sardines, anchovies, and wild
salmon are relatively low in mercury and are particu-
larly high in nucleotides (DNA, RNA). Research sug-
gests that diets high in nucleotides may slow aging
and promote longevity. Other “lower-mercury” fish
include flounder, catfish, perch, herring, whitefish,
haddock, mahi, cod, pollock, and halibut. (For more
information about the mercury content of various
fish, see www.cfsan.fda.gov). Scallops, crabs (king,
tanner, Dungeness), and spiny lobsters are OK, but
many oysters and clams are contaminated with toxic
metals.
Nuts and seeds are good non-animal sources of
protein. Flaxseed and walnuts are particularly good,
since they contain a significant amount of omega-3
fatty acids. Almonds, brazil nuts, cashews, chestnuts,
hazelnuts (filberts), macadamia nuts, pecans, pine
nuts, pistachios, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, and
sunflower seeds all go well in a low-carb program.
But go easy on them, since they contain mostly
omega-6 fatty acids. Like meats and vegetables, nuts
and seeds should be organic whenever possible.
The dairy exception to the
low-carb “rules”
Since milk is more than 50 percent protein and fat
and most cheeses are very low in carbohydrates,
they’re usually included in low-carb diet plans. This
is one aspect I just don’t agree with. Aside from the
numerous health problems—from allergies to osteo-
porosis to prostate cancer-associated with milk and
dairy, there’s an even more specific reason I advise
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12 Pounds in 3 Weeks!?
against them in this case. Researchers have found
that even though milk and fermented milk products
don’t drastically raise blood sugar levels, they do
cause significant insulin secretion. In fact, milk and
fermented milk products stimulate as much insulin
secretion as whole wheat does. And some cheeses
stimulate more insulin secretion than pasta, porridge,
or “all-bran” cereal and almost as much as brown
rice and popcorn.
Since the weight-reducing effect of a low-carb diet
is directly connected to it minimizing insulin secre-
tion, drinking milk and fermented milk products and
eating cheese is actually counterproductive.
Quench your thirst
without the carbs
So if milk and fruit juice are out, what can you
drink?
100 percent pure water is always an excellent
option. Unfortunately, the water that comes out of
your tap is anything but pure. Tap water almost
always contains chlorine, fluoride, and many other
chemicals. But a good filtration system can remove
most or all of the chemicals from your drinking water.
They can be on the expensive side, but they’re well
worth the investment.
Green and black tea are at the top of the list, since
they actually enhance insulin’s natural activity. Herbal
teas are good, and coffee can be included. But, again,
organically grown tea and coffee are far preferable to
commercially grown, since these two crops are the
most heavily sprayed with pesticides in the entire
world.
Even though “diet” soft drinks have no carbs, the
various chemicals they contain are not good for any-
one. But if you enjoy soda, there is a healthy option.
Zevia is an all-natural, no-sugar, no-carb, no-calorie
soft drink (although, since it contains stevia, los
Federales won’t let it be called a “soft drink,” so tech-
nically it’s a “carbonated stevia supplement”). Zevia
comes in four flavors, and is 100 percent OK for lo-
carb diets. For more details visit www.zevia.com.
Some liquor companies have been advertising their
products as “zero carb.” While that’s technically
true—an alcohol isn’t a carbohydrate—the similarity
of alcohol and carbohydrate metabolism makes alco-
hol a “no-no” for regular use in a low-carb program.
Small quantities, occasionally, are OK.
640RN004C8_WeightLossSecret:640RN004C8_WeightLossSecret 12/16/08
Carb-less sweet tooth
solutions
Sweets are some of the hardest things for most
people to give up when they begin a low-carb plan. If
you have a sweet tooth, liquid and powdered prepara-
tions of the herbal sweeteners stevia and lo han are
your best alternatives, since they don’t contain any
carbohydrates. They’re available in natural food
stores.
Other natural sweeteners—honey, maple syrup,
and molasses—are relatively healthful but contain
considerable carbs. Xylitol, mannitol, and other
“sugar alcohols,” which are appearing in all sorts of
packaged “low-carb” foods these days, all metabolize
like carbohydrates. So keep quantities small if you use
them at all.
On a related note, I’ve observed that supplemental
chromium in quantities of 3,000 to 4,000 micrograms
daily can significantly reduce sugar and carb craving
in just a few weeks, while also reducing insulin resist-
ance. (According to a leading chromium expert, the
“toxic upper level” for chromium is 70,000 micro-
grams daily, but please don’t go anywhere close to
that amount.) For further details, refer back to the
June 2007 issue of Nutrition & Healing (subscribers
can download and view it for free by visiting
www.wrightnewsletter.com and logging on to the
Archives with the username and password listed on
page 8 of your most recent newsletter).
Aspartame, sucralose, saccharine, and other chemi-
cal sweeteners are zero-carb as advertised but should
be eliminated anyway. All of them are bad for your
health, whether you’re sugar sensitive or not, since
they’ve been so chemically manipulated.
The potential risks of high
protein and how to avoid them
Low-carb means high-protein. And in some specif-
ic cases, high-protein can pose risks.
I’m sure you’ve read that high-protein diets can
lead to the loss of excess calcium and possibly osteo-
porosis. But anthropological studies have shown that
this isn’t necessarily the case: Among groups follow-
ing whole food, no-sugar, low-starch diets with per-
centages of total protein and fat varying from 36 per-
cent to 97 percent, older people in populations at
both “extremes” were equally disease free. The only
exception was increased osteoporosis among those at
the 97 percent protein “extreme” for an entire life-
14
3:57 PM Page 14
time.
But no matter what the percentage of protein and
fat/oil in your diet, you can easily check for bone loss
using one of several presently available urine tests. I
use the NTx; your doctor may prefer another one. If
your degree of bone loss is too high, you can adjust
your diet and/or your supplement program according-
ly and re-check your results within just a few weeks.
Despite considerable evidence to the contrary,
some “experts” are still warning that high-protein,
low-carbohydrate diets will elevate your cholesterol
levels. If you’re from a sugar sensitive family or are
sugar sensitive yourself, this is extremely unlikely. In
fact, if these conditions apply to you, a low-carb diet
will likely lower your cholesterol. If you aren’t sugar
sensitive, this is a greater possibility, but, either way,
it’s easy enough to check your cholesterol levels to
make sure you’re OK. And while you’re doing that,
it’s not much more expensive to have liver and kidney
function tests done, just to be certain.
The little-known risk you
haven’t read about
The low-carb diet hazard that concerns me most is
one that’s generally overlooked by the majority of the
articles and books out there: intestinal “putrefaction.”
Protein digestion in the stomach is accomplished
by the enzyme pepsin, but only in a very acidic envi-
ronment. The more protein you eat, the more acid is
needed to completely digest it. But once you hit 40,
you have an increased risk of not having enough
stomach acid present to do the job effectively. If pro-
tein isn’t well-digested in the stomach by acid, pancre-
atic enzymes can’t handle it all and some partially
digested protein is passed along down the intestine.
Farther down the intestine, dozens of bacterial
species “lie in wait” for those incompletely digested
proteins. When these bacteria come into contact with
the proteins (a process called bacterial digestion, or
putrefaction), it produces toxins. Many of these tox-
ins are absorbed into the bloodstream, where the liver
and kidneys must try to detoxify the overload. That’s
why it’s so important to monitor your liver and kid-
ney function closely if you decide to follow a low-
carb diet. If they aren’t operating up to par, the toxins
can cause all sorts of problems-possibly even cancer.
If you aren’t sure whether you have low stomach
acid, check with a physician skilled and knowledge-
able in natural or nutritional medicine before you
640RN004C8_WeightLossSecret:640RN004C8_WeightLossSecret 12/16/08 3:57 PM Page 15

12 Pounds in 3 Weeks!?

start and/or continue a low-carb, high-protein diet.
Symptoms of low stomach acid production can
include one or more of the following: heart-burn,
bloating, gas, a “food just sitting in the stomach”
feeling, indigestion, constipation, and intermittent
diarrhea.
A special diet calls for
special supplements
In addition to a general vitamin-mineral supple-
mentation program—which is essential for all of us in
the 21st century—there are a few supplements very
specific for low-carb diets.
Fruits and vegetables are the primary dietary
sources of potassium. If you’re following a low-carb
diet and aren’t eating at least five to six servings of
vegetables every day, make sure to take at least 400-
500 milligrams of potassium daily. Also, since there’s
so much phosphorus in protein, be sure to offset it by
taking a phosphorus-free calcium supplement daily. A
good general dose is 1,000 milligrams a day or per-
haps a bit more if you’re a woman at or past
menopause. And this amount of calcium should
always be accompanied by 300 to 400 milligrams of
magnesium.
Unless you’re a tea drinker, there are virtually no
flavonoids in low-carb diets. There’s very little
flavonoid contained in animal protein, almost none in
fats and oils, and only small amounts in vegetables.
The best food sources-fruits and berries-should only
be eaten in very limited quantities (if at all) on a low-
carb plan. But flavonids are crucial to your health.
They strengthen arteries, veins, capillaries, and nearly
all connective tissue, and some reduce the risk of
heart attack and certain cancers. So you’ll also need
to supplement with these as well.
Bilberry, hawthorn, grape-seed extract, Ginkgo,
Echinacea, and many other commonly used herbs
contain flavonoids. If you’re using two or more of
these, you may not need a specific flavonoid supple-
ment. If you’re not taking herbs, my present recom-
mendation for a flavonoid supplement is Kyanthenol,
a mixture of fruit- and berry-derived flavonoids. Take
two capsules daily. Kyanthenol is available from natu-
ral food stores and compounding pharmacies. If
you’d prefer to take individual flavonoids, some of
the more well-known are quercetin, anthocyanidins,
rutin, hesperidin, and catechins.
If all of this seems a little overwhelming, don’t get
discouraged. Just like the original human diet, follow-
ing a low-carb diet is a major lifestyle change, and
there are bound to be a few bumps in the road. But
hopefully these guidelines will help you enjoy the ben-
efits this eating plan can provide without compromis-
ing your health—or your taste buds.

References

1
http://www.hcgdietinfo.com/HCG_Diet-Dr-Simeons-Manuscript.htm
2
“The Pituitary Body,” in Organotherapy in General Practice. G W Carnrick Co: New York City, 1924,
pages 124-127
3
Beck HG. American Journal of Medical Sciences 1918; November: 714
4
Leaver HA, Boyd GS. “Action of gonadotrophic hormones on cholesterol side-chain cleavage and choles-
terol ester hydrolase in the ovary of the immature rat.” J Reprod Fertil 1981; 63(1): 101-108
5
Stein MR, et al. “Ineffectiveness of human chorionic gonadotrophin in weight reduction: a double-blind
study.” Am J Clin Nutr 1976; 29: 940-948
6
Asher WL and Harper HW. “Effect of human chorionic gonadotrophin on weight loss, hunger, and feeling
of well being.” Am J Clin Nutr 1973; 26: 211-218

15
640RN004C8_WeightLossSecret:640RN004C8_WeightLossSecret 12/16/08 3:58 PM Page 16

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