Comments on: I dropped my cholesterol 70 points in two weeks

By: Binx Selby

Binx Selby — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 19:35:29 +0000

A number of people have been on the diet for more than two years with no problems. The diet is low but not no carbs and protien is limited but enough to provide for all proein requirements, excess would simply be metabolized as sugar leaving nitrogious wast. This is not Atkins. Atkins is ketogenic and BalancePoint is not.

By: sethlevine

sethlevine — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 10:48:13 +0000

zach – thanks for the response. i appreciate your thoughts and advice! seth

By: Zach

Zach — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 09:15:25 +0000

You can completely ignore grains in your diet. I would recommend, however, that you take in whole grains with your post workout meal. This meal should be carb heavy – 3 or 4:1 ratio of carbs: protein (grams). Consume this meal within 2 hours of your workout, preferably within 30 minutes. Because the recommendation is that you perform some kind of exercise at least 5 days a week (and activity every day), you will be eating a carb rich meal once a day, 5 days a week. Also, do not shy away from carbs as energy during your workouts – during a long workout a drink with 3:1 carbs to protein will do you well.
Do not be afraid of lean beef as a source of protein. There are a number of cuts of beef that are perfectly healthy eaten daily.

By: sethlevine

sethlevine — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 08:00:31 +0000

ravi – thanks for commenting. i'm really interested in your thoughts about eliminating grains/carbs from my diet. i should have mentioned in my post that i'm back up to a normal calorie intake and have added back in some lean meats to my diet (primarily fish, but some bison and chicken as well). i've not gone back to grains mainly because i really like how i've been feeling off of them (much more even energy and none of that 'bloated' feeling you get after a big pasta dinner). my plan was to introduce carbs only before very large workouts (i haven't missed them snowboarding over the last weeks, but i haven't been out on any long bike rides or anything similar). that said, i don't want to do anything that will hurt my body (quite the contrary – the idea was to lower my bad cholesterol, which my doctor insists is important, although i'm personally skeptical about that). before this diet i was a pretty healthy guy (i'm not overweight, eat extremely well in general and exercise a lot), so there wasn't much i could do to significantly change my overall health profile. i appreciate your thoughts and concerns. you can reply back here or reach me directly (seth@sethlevine.com). thanks ravi!

By: sethlevine

sethlevine — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 07:53:58 +0000

zach – i should have clarified that now that my 2 week initial period is over, i'm back up to a normal amount of calories. i've not introduced grains/carbs back into my diet – i just haven't felt the need to and i like how i feel not eating them (very even energy and no bloated feeling you get after eating a big bowl of cereal). i'm still down my 7 pounds (although i agree – most of that was water weight). thoughts? still too much? i was planning on adding back in some carbs before large workouts (before cycling, etc).

By: Ravi S.

Ravi S. — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 12:43:42 +0000

Uh oh. I agree with Zach and Luke. And to boot I'm a doctor (in an internet startup – and reading your blog). You're in starvation state shedding water and your lipid balance is responding to this “temporary” starvation state. Elimination of grains doesn't make sense. Grains help “digest cholesterol”. If you are really committed to making a significant long-lasting change (instead of reset for 2 weeks and then back to the same diet) you should read more about the Okinawan lifestyle and diet ( http://www.okicent.org). Your body is a like a public company — right now you're cutting costs for short-term gain to satisfy your analysts for the next earnings call (lower total cholesterol!) instead of making tough strategic/cultural changes (more exercise and eat right all the time!).

By: Zach L

Zach L — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 09:10:40 +0000

I'm a regular reader of your blog and also a nutrition enthusiast (and former personal trainer). This is an unhealthy diet. I do not know your physical dimensions, however, 1500 calories is sure to be FAR TOO FEW. This is placing you in a state of starvation. Soon your metabolism will drop significantly. It is also clearly a low carbohydrate diet. The 7 pounds you have lost are mostly water weight, as your muscles are no longer flush with carbohydrates and their accompanying water. While low carb is OK, I recommend you still consume grains and other complex carbohydrates post-workout. If you'd really like a solid low-carb diet, check out something like South Beach (which is mostly good with a few silly things in it), or even something like Precision Nutrition ( http://www.precisionnutrition.com) from Dr. John Berardi. Take care of yourself and avoid miracle cures!

By: sethlevine

sethlevine — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 04:41:00 +0000

like anything i guess you have to be pretty careful. its different than atkin's in that i'm not eating steak, eggs and bacon. there are no grains allowed, but other than eating a lot of olive oil i can eat most anything else after the first 2 week period. we'll see – i'm not feeling overly hungry . . . yet

By: Luke Groesbeck

Luke Groesbeck — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 16:44:28 +0000

Hey Seth, might want to be careful with that one. From my pops, the doctor:

"This is the old Drinker's diet or Atkin's diet. This is a carbohydrate restricted diet that puts you into a state of starvation with all the problems. One big issue is you metabolize your proteins to get by and you can't stay on it."

To be fair, he's a surgeon and not an internist, but the guy is crafty and generally knows what he's talking about. Good luck.