THE ALTERNATE-DAY DIET REVISED by James B. Johnson M.D., Donald R. Laub Sr. M.D.

• More recently, researchers have shown that restricting calories in lower life forms—including yeast, roundworms, and fruit flies—significantly prolonged their lives.
• In fact, Calorie Restriction, or CR, has been shown to prolong lifespan by amounts ranging up to 80 percent in virtually every species tested.
• Most important for humans, our close relative the rhesus monkey has been studied for more than fifteen years, and in every study the monkeys subjected to calorie restriction have appeared to be healthier than the freely fed controls.
• And according to Walford, simply increasing one’s activity level to burn additional calories, even if it resulted in weight loss, would not have the same health benefits as calorie restriction.
• In truth, exercise alone, without calorie restriction, doesn’t work for weight loss in general.
• Calorie-dense foods contain a high number of calories per unit of volume, meaning that you get a lot of calories for very little food. Nutrient-dense foods contain high levels of minerals, vitamins, phytonutrients, and other unknown factors that contribute to good health. Generally speaking, calorie-dense foods are nutrient-poor. (You may have heard them called “empty calories.”) Nutrient-dense foods are usually lower in calories.
• Humans have been genetically programmed to prefer foods that are high in fat and sugar, which are calorie-dense and not usually natural. Our obesity problem originates with our natural desire to consume these foods. The more readily they are available, the more we eat.
• the thinner we are, the healthier and longer-lived we will be.
• the major reason why daily Calorie Restriction is not viable for most people is that so few people are able to maintain any level of calorie reduction over time.
• Surrounded by an increasing abundance of tasty, affordable food, we seem to be unable to restrain ourselves, and, as a result, people are getting fatter.
• Humans have evolved with a preference for foods with a high calorie density and to eat whenever food is available.
• The cheaper and more available food becomes, the more we will eat and the fatter we will be.
• Having historically survived by eating as much as we could whenever we could, we are now genetically programmed to do that. The more primitive, nonrational part of our brain (often termed the “reptile brain”) is constantly telling us to eat. The difference between us and our ancestors is that we now have an endless supply of relatively low-cost food always available.
• Our appetite-control mechanism is broken.
• The most reasonable explanation for the explosion of obesity throughout the world is that the mechanism controlling our internal appetite-signaling device is broken.
• In fact, many of us no longer know what hunger feels like because we haven’t allowed ourselves to become hungry in years.
• when ghrelin is produced in the gut we want to eat.
• There is significant evidence to show that much of our overeating or eating when we’re not really hungry is triggered by an emotional component.
• Even the most outrageous-sounding diet will work as long as we remain conscious of what we are eating and stick with it, but all diets will fail eventually unless we devise a plan that can be followed indefinitely.
• Anyone will lose weight on whatever diet they choose to follow so long as it results in reducing total calorie intake. When it comes to weight loss, nutrient balance isn’t really the issue. Whether we restrict fat or carbohydrates or protein, the bottom line is to take in fewer calories than we expend. But the overwhelming body of evidence indicates that any form of constant daily restriction will not work because we simply can’t stick with it.
• No diet will work without a plan that overcomes our inclination to eat whenever and whatever food is available.
• The only diet that will continue to work over the long haul is one that involves a long-term strategy.
• I suggest that you find five recipes of low-calorie-density food that you enjoy and can eat over and over.
• Lower glucose and insulin levels are known indicators of longer lifespan and are associated with a reduction in heart disease and diabetes.
• Our bodies are made up of atoms and molecules, each of which contains one or more pairs of electrons. Over time, normal metabolism, mainly in the mitochondria, causes the formation of “free radicals,” which are atoms that have lost one electron. Free radicals are unstable and attempt to complete their structure and regain stability by “stealing” an electron from another, neighboring molecule.
• A number of studies suggest that it would be healthier to eat less often than most of us do—which is typically three times a day.
• Oxidative damage and inflammation on the cellular level appear to be highly correlated in a complex cause-and-effect relationship.
• Oxidative damage is both a cause and a result of inflammation.
• When a cell is exposed to fatal stress, such as extreme heat or starvation, it reacts one of two ways: It either necroses and dies immediately or it begins a process called apoptosis, which leads to a slower but inevitable programmed cell death.
• Drinking alcohol in moderation, up to two drinks per day for men and one drink a day for women, reduces heart attacks by 30 to 40 percent compared with nondrinkers. In people under age forty, however, there is no health benefit, since heart attack is rare in any case. Drinking it all on one or two days of the week doesn’t do it. And the kind of alcohol doesn’t matter.
• Remember that the primitive, reptilian part of your brain is going to be telling you to eat, eat, eat! So you need to use the higher, thinking brain you’ve been given as a human to counteract and control that primitive urge—you need to be educated.
• Your RMR is a measure of how many calories you burn just by staying alive.
• RMR for Men = 66 + (6.23 × weight in pounds) + (12.7 × height in inches) – (6.8 × age)
• RMR for Women = 655 + (4.35 × weight in pounds) + (4.7 × height in inches) – (4.7 × age)
• Just as most of us underestimate how much we eat, we also tend to overestimate our level of activity.
• Based on everything you’ve read so far, it should be quite obvious that our appetites exceed our caloric requirements. Or, as I’ve said, our appetite-control mechanism is broken.
• Recording what, when, how much, and why we eat produces both immediate and delayed feedback by keeping us consciously aware of what we are eating and, later, what we ate.
• Seeing what you’re putting in your mouth written down in black and white right before your eyes makes it harder to fool yourself.
• The key to compliance with any kind of diet or health plan is to self-monitor.
• Once you become aware that something is working because you have concrete, written proof of your progress, you will be that much more likely to continue what you’ve been doing.
• On average, you lose two quarts a day through your sweat, breath, urine, and stool. When you perspire you lose more, up to a quart per hour when you exercise vigorously.
• Even minor dehydration can make you feel out of sorts, headachy, and lightheaded. You may feel fatigued and find it difficult to think clearly. Chronic mild dehydration can lead to kidney stones and even bladder cancer.
• When you feel hungry, your first response should be to drink a glass of water.
• Nondiet soda, which is full of sugar and, therefore, empty calories, makes up one-quarter of all the liquids Americans drink!
• If you are serious about long-term weight control, make it a habit never to drink sodas that contain sugar.
• Diet sodas, however, are fine in moderation. There is no good scientific evidence to support the purported negative side effects from use of artificial sweeteners such as saccharin, aspartame, and sucralose, but the long-term high-volume use of such products by children has not been studied yet.
• Black tea is made with leaves that have been fermented, whereas green tea is made with unfermented leaves. Both types contain caffeine and have the same benefits as coffee, including a mild antidepressant effect and a reduction in the risk of kidney and gallstones.
• One of the most effective ways to reduce calories is to drink sparkling water, perhaps with a squeeze of lemon juice or lime juice or an ounce of fruit juice added.
• Also, you may be surprised to know that—contrary to what the dairy industry would have you believe—there is no good health reason to drink milk.
• The more muscle you have, the more energy your body uses, the more calories you burn.
• The best way to build muscle is through strength training, also called resistance training, which generally requires some kind of equipment.
• In addition to strength or resistance training, it’s also important to do aerobic exercise, which improves heart function by increasing its pumping efficiency.
• Strength training increases muscle mass and is essential for counteracting the natural age-related loss of muscle and increase in body fat with which we all contend.
• The simplest form of aerobic or cardiovascular activity is walking, which confers many of the same benefits of more vigorous activity.
• The most important characteristic of any exercise is how often you do it, and that depends on how much you enjoy it.
• Social interaction is perhaps the most important contributor to regularity of exercise.
• When your mind and body are otherwise engaged, you’re less likely to be eating or thinking about food.
• The biggest problem most people have with following any kind of exercise program is simply getting themselves to do it. It seems that we can be incredibly creative when it comes to thinking of reasons not to exercise.
• We all need some fat in our diet, but not all fats are the same, and not all fats are equally healthy.
• All types of fat are made of a chain of carbon atoms bonded to hydrogen atoms. When a fat is saturated, it means that the carbon atoms hold as many hydrogen atoms as they can.
• It’s saturated fat that’s primarily responsible for clogging up our arteries and raising our levels of LDL (bad) cholesterol.
• Basically, carbohydrates are the nutrients that most significantly affect your blood sugar levels. All the carbohydrates you eat are digested and broken down to sugar, but some turn to sugar more quickly than others.
• Foods that are high on the glycemic index raise the blood sugar level more than those that are low on the index.
• Generally speaking, complex carbohydrates are those with a low glycemic index number, such as whole grains and vegetables.
• Basically, fiber—what your parents probably called roughage—is required for healthy bowel function. Fiber absorbs water like a sponge and creates bulk, which allows the gut to propel the food onward. It protects against constipation, diverticulosis, and diverticulitis.
• The chief sources of insoluble fiber are fruits, vegetables, and whole grains.
• Protein is made up of approximately twenty basic components called amino acids that are the building blocks of our cells, and we need all of them to stay alive.
• Complete proteins are derived from animal sources including meat, poultry, fish, eggs, dairy products, and soy. As a rule, vegetable sources provide incomplete proteins.
• According to the latest dietary guidelines, we need to eat about 7 grams of protein for every 20 pounds of body weight, but for the most part, no one should really have to think about getting enough protein—it’s almost impossible not to. The only issue would be for strict vegetarians to eat enough variety to be certain that they are getting all the various amino acids they require.
• It appears to be particularly dangerous to take high doses of vitamins.
• The supplement industry is largely unregulated, and manufacturers are allowed to suggest all kinds of health benefits whether or not they’ve been proved. In fact, they are not even required to guarantee that the ingredients stated on the label accurately reflect what you’re getting in the bottle.
• When it comes to your health, it’s not a good idea to pinch pennies.
• Calorie restriction is the most powerful potential mechanism to improve human health and the Alternate-Day Diet makes the application of this theory possible for most people.
• Eating regular food on a down day is likely to allow denial and rationalization to creep in. Studies have shown most people are not capable of accurately judging how much they eat because the powerful survival instinct to eat overwhelms our conscious intentions. One of the main reasons people fail at diets is the rationalization that unconsciously allows us to lie to ourselves about how much we are consuming.
• When you think you must eat, wait a few minutes. More often than not, the craving will have passed.
• Many of us tend to think we’re hungry when we’re really just thirsty.
• If you stop losing weight, 98 percent of the time it is because you are taking in too many calories on the down days.
• Portion control is important when choosing snacks, because a calorie-dense food may be appropriate for a snack when eaten in small amounts but can blow your calories for the day if you eat too much.
• Also, many people with obesity-related Type 2 diabetes find that their diabetes goes away after gastric bypass surgery, and this may possibly be because many of the cells in the stomach and small intestine that produce ghrelin have been removed, thus reducing their hunger.
• Exposure to artificial light disrupts normal circadian rhythms by reducing melatonin production, but not all artificial light is created equal, and it seems that the most harmful is blue light.
• Vitamin deficiency simply doesn’t happen in just twenty-four hours. As long as you eat sensibly, and supplement as necessary, you won’t have a problem.
• The effectiveness of any diet is completely contingent on the ability of the dieter to comply over time.
• Restricting calories even one day a month has been shown to improve health.
• Exercise is definitely essential for good health, but exercise alone will not cause significant weight loss.