How to Lose Weight: Protein Power: An interview with author Dr. Michael Eades

Drs. Michael and Mary Dan Eades are the authors of the best-seller Protein Power. Larry Hobbs interviewed Michael Eades by phone.

Hobbs: What is the main idea behind Protein Power?

Eades: We are trying to control insulin levels. Elevated insulin levels are a major risk factor for many of the diseases of modern civilization such as obesity, hypertension, high cholesterol, heart disease, gout, reflux, iron overload and sleep apnea. Seventy-five percent of people over-secrete insulin in response to carbohydrate intake. So we are adjusting the diet to control that.

Hobbs: When do you consider insulin to be elevated?

Eades: A fasting insulin level over 10. Some labs use a cutoff of 20 or 30, but that is not a healthy level.

Hobbs: What do you recommend for losing weight?

Eades: Eat enough protein. Limit carbohydrate intake. Get enough fiber. Avoid bad fats, but don’t worry about the amount of good fats.

Hobbs: How fast do people lose weight?

Eades: 3 to 5 lbs per week for men and 2 to 4 lbs per week for women.

Hobbs: How do you calculate protein requirements?

Eades: The minimum protein requirement ranges from 0.6 to 1 gram per pound of lean body mass depending on the level of physical activity. It is calculated like this:

Sedentary. A person who gets no physical activity needs 0.6 grams of protein per pound of lean body mass.

Moderately Active. Someone who exercises 20 to 30 minutes two or three times per week needs 0.7 grams.

Active. Someone who exercises 30 minutes or more three to five times per week needs 0.8 grams.

Very Active. A person who exercises an hour or more at least five times per week needs 0.9 grams.

Athlete. An competitive athlete who trains twice a day for an hour or more needs 1 gram of protein per pound of lean body mass.

We also recommend that if someone is more than 40 percent overweight they should increase their protein requirement one level.

Our recommendations differ from Barry Sears’ in The Zone in that he recommends a fixed amount of protein, whereas we are saying that this is a minimum.

Hobbs: So it ok to eat more protein than that?

Eades: Yes, if a person is still hungry.

Hobbs: How do you determine lean body mass?

Eades: In the office we use a bioimpedance analyzer, but we have tables in the book that are very accurate??Ωwithin 1 or 2 percent. They are based on waist-minus-wrist for men, and hips, abdomen and height for women.

Hobbs: How much carbohydrate do you recommend?

Eades: In most cases 30 to 40 grams per day of effective carbohydrate content. Once a person starts losing weight they can slowly add back carbohydrates until they stop losing, or until they get some edema??Ωusually in the face or hands. This is usually between 80 and 120 grams of effective carbohydrates per day. We’ve seen a large variation on how many carbohydrates a person can eat before “losing control”. We’ve seen it very from as little as 60 grams per day to as high as 150 grams. It’s also important to point out that carbohydrates should be spread out over the day to minimize insulin release at any one time.

Hobbs: What do you mean when you say “effective carbohydrate content”?

Eades: It’s the total carbohydrate content of the food minus the fiber portion. Carbohydrate calculations for food labeling includes the fiber. However, fiber isn’t absorbed and should not be counted as a carbohydrate for the purpose of weight loss. We have a table in the book listing the effective carbohydrate content of foods.

Hobbs: What kinds of carbohydrates do you recommend?

Eades: Green leafy vegetables, tomatoes, peppers, avocados, broccoli, eggplant, zucchini, green beans, asparagus, celery, cucumber, mushrooms, and salads.

Hobbs: No starches?

Eades: No, at least not during weight loss. A person should cut out sugars and starches including potatoes, beans, rice and corn.

Hobbs: Do you look at the glycemic index of foods, that is how much they raise blood sugar levels?

Eades: No. The glycemic index does not compare apples to apples. They compare 100 grams of glucose to 100 grams of apples, but the apples don’t contain 100 grams of carbohydrates. An Insuligenic Index would be more useful, but we use the Effective Carbohydrate Content of foods. This helps people choose healthier foods without worrying about the idea of a good or bad carbohydrate. It directs people away from potatoes and wheat, and towards vegetables, melons and berries.

Hobbs: Do you allow artificial sweeteners?

Eades: In moderation. The only problem is that insulin is released in anticipation of food when people consume artificial sweeteners. This causes a fall in blood sugar, and falling blood sugar levels is a very potent hunger stimulus.

Saccharin seems harmless. I don’t really like aspartame (NutraSweet??Ω), because I’ve had too many patients complain about gastrointestinal problems and short-term memory loss. I like Splenda, a left-handed sugar molecule that is available in Canada, but not in the U.S. I recommend people drink sparkling water or ice tea rather than diet sodas.

Hobbs: Is it ok to drink wine?

Eades: I don’t advocate it for everyone, but a glass of wine with dinner is ok. Red wine improves insulin sensitivity. It may be due to the fact that it reduces the stress hormone cortisol which in turn reduces insulin levels.

Hobbs: Do you limit fat intake?

Eades: No. We recommend cutting the visible fat off of meat. We recommend healthy fats such as olive oil, nut oils, avocado. We recommend avoiding bad fats like partially hydrogenated oil and trans fats. And we recommend butter instead of margarine. If you do this fat intake tends to take care of itself.

Hobbs: So you recommend avoiding partially hydrogenated oils like margarine?

Eades: Yes. Stay away from them. They inhibit the production of “good” eicosanoids and increase the risk of heart disease and cancer.

Hobbs: Are red meat and eggs ok?

Eades: Yes. In fact, meat contains a lot a beneficial ingredients like creatine, conjugated linoleic acid, vitamin B12, iron, zinc and it is a complete protein??Ωthat is it contains all the essential amino acids.

Hobbs: Are there people who should avoid read meat and eggs?

Eades:  Yes. Some people just seem to have a sensitivity to them. It may be the arachidonic acid found in red meat and egg yolks. These people lose weight just fine eating them, but their elevated blood pressure or cholesterol won’t come down until they stop the red meat and eggs. Sometimes people do better avoiding them if you are suffering from hypertension, elevated cholesterol, fluid retention, or inflammation such as arthritis, bursitis, asthma, allergies and rashes.

Hobbs: What percent of people are sensitive?

Eades: Less than 5 percent.

Hobbs: What are the symptoms of sensitivity?

Eades: Chronic fatigue, poor sleep, difficulty waking, brittle hair, thin nails, constipation, dry skin and minor rashes.

Hobbs: What’s for dessert?

Eades:  Low-carbohydrate fruit like berries, peaches or melons. Sugar free Jello is also ok.

Hobbs: What else is important?

Eades: A person should consume 25 grams of fiber each day. Eat regular meals and snacks so as to not go hungry. And it’s important to drink at least 8 glasses of water per day including a large glass of water before every meal.

Hobbs: Do you recommend protein supplements?

Eades: Sometimes, especially for breakfast when people are in a hurry we recommend a protein shake.

Hobbs: What kind of protein and how much?

Eades: Whey, soy, egg or milk protein powders are all fine. Whatever tastes good to a person which seems to vary a lot with proteins. I recommend 14 to 25 grams. A protein bar like the one we developed can also be used.

Hobbs: What is the name of the bar?

Eades: Protein 21 because it contains 21 grams of protein.

Hobbs: In your book you recommend avoiding flax seed oil and canola oil. Why?

Eades: I’ve change my opinion since the book came out. I’ve seen enough evidence to convince me that flax oil and canola oil are not a problem for most people. They are a problem only for people with bad diabetes or the very elderly. This is because they don’t have the delta-6 enzyme activity to convert these fats to EPA and DHA. I recommend people eat sardines because they contain the preformed omega-3 fatty acids EPA and DHA. But for young people who won’t eat sardines I tell them to take 1 to 2 tablespoons of flax oil per day and some vitamin E.

Hobbs: Do you recommend fish oil supplements?

Eades: I’m a little concerned about fish oil capsules because a recent study found half of the brands tested were rancid. If patients take them I tell them to bite into the capsules to make sure they are not rancid.

Hobbs: What is the effect of your diet on cholesterol and homocysteine levels?

Eades: In most people total cholesterol goes down, HDL goes up, and triglycerides go down. I can’t compare before and after tests for homocysteine, but I have never had a patient on this diet who has had an elevated homocysteine levels, so I assume it probably lowers it. It is worth noting that last month in the journal Circulation some researchers from Harvard found that the most important factor for determining who is most at risk for having a heart attack was the triglyceride-to-HDL ratio. It should be less than 5.

Hobbs: How much do blood lipids come down?

Eades: We just calculated this and found on average cholesterol dropped 44 points, triglycerides dropped 135 points, and blood sugar dropped 36 points??Ωthat is in patients with a starting blood sugar level over 140. And the average triglyceride-to-HDL ratio decreased by 2.7. Interestingly, in both of Dean Ornish’s papers his patients started out with a ratio of 5 and after following his diet they went up over 7. I agree with his entire program??Ωstress reduction, meditation and aerobic exercise??Ωexcept for diet. I think he takes three steps forward and one step back.

Hobbs: What percentage of patients following your diet can stop taking medicines for blood pressure, cholesterol, and diabetes?

Eades: Approximately 60 percent of people stop taking their blood pressure medicine. 100 percent stop taking their cholesterol-lowering medicine. And 90 or 95 percent of diabetics are able to stop their diabetic medicine.

Hobbs: What blood pressure medicines do you use?

Eades: ACE inhibitors, calcium channel blockers or alpha blockers when medicine is necessary. We don’t use diuretics or beta blockers because they raise insulin levels.

Hobbs: What other conditions are helped by a low carbohydrate diet?

Eades: It’s great for ulcerative colitis, Crohn’s disease, multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis.

Hobbs: Do you think obesity causes insulin resistance or vice versa?

Eades: I think insulin resistance comes before obesity. People over-secrete insulin in response to carbohydrates which causes insulin resistance.

Hobbs: How long does it take for blood pressure and cholesterol to drop?

Eades: Blood pressure drops in a matter of days if it’s going to, and cholesterol drops in a matter of weeks.

Hobbs: Is a high protein diet hard on the kidneys?

Eades: No, not if you have healthy kidneys. But it is a common myth. One researcher followed vegetarians and meat eaters for 13 years and found there was no difference in kidney function.

Hobbs: Where did the kidney damage myth start?

Eades: Back in the 1920’s a researcher found that a couple of amino acids given intravenously to monkeys caused kidney damage. People picked up on that and assumed that this meant that high protein diets were hard on the kidneys. But several well done studies have shown that this simply is not true.

Hobbs: Do high protein diets cause osteoporosis?

Eades: No. Spencer from Loyola showed that meat protein does not increase excretion of calcium as some people have speculated. She showed that isolated soy protein increases calcium excretion just a little.

Hobbs: Is constipation a problem with your diet?

Eades: No, not for most people. First of all, we suggest carbohydrates that are high in fiber. Second, our diet encourages the body to make more “good” eicosanoids that increase the water content of the colon. Both of these help to avoid constipation. Any constipation is usually short-lived. But if it’s a problem a person can take fresh flax seed oil, drink more water, or add a fiber supplement. Interestingly, diarrhea is a more common complaint during the first few days of the program. But it usually resolves within 10 days. If it doesn’t, we recommend reducing the intake of flax oil and/or high-fiber foods.

Hobbs: What are eicosanoids that you referred to?

Eades: Eicosanoids are powerful hormone-like substances that control virtually everything that happens in our bodies. “Good” eicosanoids do things like enhance immunity, decrease inflammation, decrease pain, increase oxygen, and increase endurance. Whereas, “bad” eicosanoids do just the opposite. We devoted an entire chapter to it in our book.

Hobbs: Is fatigue a problem on your diet?

Eades: It is for the first week to 10 days and we warn people about this. It takes the body this long to make new enzymes to deal with a change in diet. But after a few days many patients say that they have more energy than they did before. If a person feels exhausted, has tingling, light-headedness, and especially deep muscle fatigue and cramps it indicates low potassium levels. 95 percent of the problems people complain about when they are on Protein Power is due to low potassium levels. We recommend everyone take a 500 mg potassium supplement every day.

Hobbs: What other supplements do you recommend?

Eades: Magnesium and a multiple vitamin.

Hobbs: Why magnesium and how much?

Eades: Magnesium improves insulin sensitivity, and elevated insulin levels cause a loss of magnesium. Most hypertensives and diabetics have low magnesium levels. I recommend patients take 600 mg of a chelated magnesium citrate every night.

Hobbs: Does it cause diarrhea?

Eades: If it does I have them lower the dose. Sometimes I’ll give 2 or 3 grams IV for 3 or 4 weeks to bring their levels up. Giving it IV avoids the problem of diarrhea.

Hobbs: Is indigestion a problem on your diet?

Eades: No. In fact, we have had a 100 percent cure rate with reflux, and it happens within 2 or 3 days??Ω5 days max.

Hobbs: Is ketosis a problem?

Eades: No. Ketones are not some toxic by-product as many writers have stated. They are just a an intermediate stage of fat breakdown. Unless you are a type I diabetic there is no evidence that ketones are harmful. Someone in heavy ketosis may have some sleeplessness, but this can be handled by increasing carbohydrate intake a little.

Hobbs: How often do prescribe diet drugs in addition to you diet?

Eades: Maybe 10 percent of patients and for never more than 3 months.

Hobbs: Why do you think Americans are getting fatter?

Eades: I think there are two main reasons. First, the trans fatty acids from partially hydrogenated oils. And second, all the high fructose corn syrup found in sweetened drinks and processed foods. Fructose which is highly lipogenic (fat-forming). If we could give people just one recommendation it would be avoid processed foods.

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