If you eat the kinds and quantities of foods outlined in my modified food guide pyramid, including the Chitosan, of course, you’ll probably be able to stay within the Fat Blocker guidelines for protein, carbohydrate, and certainly for fat. That leaves just two other things to watch out for: cholesterol and sodium.

Everybody knows that high blood cholesterol is a risk factor for heart disease. Cholesterol is a major component of plaque, a substance that contains fat and accumulates on the walls of

arteries, clogging these vessels the way hair clogs up bathroom pipes. And remember when you pull the fat out of plaque, the body can do a better job of dilating the blood vessels.

About 75 percent of our blood cholesterol is manufactured by the liver, with the other 25 percent coming from the foods we eat. The major dietary cause of high blood cholesterol is saturated fat. If you’re following the Fat Blocker Eating Program, you’re eating only reasonable amounts of lean meats, poultry, and fish, and many of your dairy products are low or nonfat. More important, you are also blocking a large percentage of your saturated fat with Chitosan. As a result, saturated fat intake shouldn’t be a problem for you. But for some people, blood

cholesterol increases when
they eat cholesterol-containing foods, even ones that contain

relatively little saturated fat. Among the biggest offenders are egg yolks, organ meats (liver, kidney, heart, brains, sweetbreads), and certain shellfish (shrimp and oysters).

One egg contains as much cholesterol (300 mg.) as you actually need in a day. So try to limit yourself to no more than one egg per day, and no more than three eggs per week. This can be difficult since this includes eggs in baked goods or other foods. However, if you exceed your limit, don’t worry too much. Now that you’re on a Chitosan diet, at least you know that you’re not building more cholesterol from absorbing excess saturated fat.

Also, it’s useful to take some other precautions against taking in excess cholesterol. For example, I eat only the whites of the eggs to ensure that I consume no cholesterol. I love a simple omelet made with egg whites, vegetables, and spices. It tastes excellent and requires virtually no fat to cook, thus letting me save Chitosan for other things that do require fat. Also, when I eat a high-cholesterol meal, I try to make the rest of the meals that day vegetarian. Even if you don’t quite succeed in this, the attempt is worth the effort. For remember, you are not expecting to instantly achieve the ideal diet, only one that is a step closer to the ideal than you were yesterday!

High-sodium diets can contribute to another heart disease risk factor—hypertension, better known as high blood pressure. Called the silent killer because it produces no symptoms in the early stages, high blood pressure can exert enough pressure on your arteries to cause tiny cracks to appear in their walls. Clots and plaque can form in the cracks, and before you know it, you’ve got the makings of a heart attack or stroke. Sodium in excessive quantity can cause blood pressure to rise in certain sensitive individuals, eventually leading to heart enlargement and congestive heart failure. We doctors have many medicines to lower blood pressure, but they all have side effects. Perhaps the best medicine is to avoid the problem altogether by reducing your salt intake. As I described earlier, if you do this very gradually, it is not hard to do.

Some diets recommend lowering your salt level by going cold turkey and just throwing your salt shaker away so you won’t be tempted to add salt to your food at the table. If that works for you, great. But if it doesn’t, the slow-and-easy method described earlier works, too. And it’s in line with my thinking about Chitosan. It’s better to go real slow and easy, making tiny changes regularly and helping yourself along with Chitosan, than it is to take huge steps only, inevitably, to stumble and fall.

Whether you use the gradual or the cold turkey approach to cutting down on salt, sooner or later you will want to keep the salt you use in cooking to a minimum. Put in half the amount the recipe calls for, or even less. Stay away from salty foods such as smoked, pickled, or cured foods, canned soups, frozen dinners, salad dressings, catsup, baked goods, crackers, chips, or salted popcorn. Eat fresh vegetables and fruits, not canned. After a while, you’ll find that your old favorites suddenly taste much too salty. And you’ll discover the more delicate, true tastes of food.

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KIDNEY STONES

Diet plays a distinct role in the development of gallstones, those “rocks” made primarily of cholesterol that grow in the gallbladder, causing pain, nausea, vomiting, jaundice, infections, and other problems. It’s clear that high-fat, high-calorie diets that are bereft of vegetables increase the risk of developing gallstones, as do diets high in fried or other fatty foods.²⁰

While fatty foods, excess calories, and a lack of vegetables are all risk factors for gallstones, that risk drops when we eat lots of fiber. The protective effects of fiber were noted as far back as 1969, with the publication of a report that compared 101 people who had gallstones to another 101 who did not. The study found that those who did not have the stones ate more vegetables and fruits, suggesting that the fiber in these foods protected against gallstones. Other investigations have confirmed these early results.²¹

The Fat Blocker Program clearly fits the requirements of an antigallstone regimen. It encourages you to eat more of the fiber-filled foods that help keep your gallbladder free of painful stones while helping you to reduce your weight. And, as a side benefit, this same regimen helps prevent the formation of kidney stones. Studies have shown that eating a high-fiber,²² low-fat²³ diet also guards against this excruciating but common ailment.

Thus, here again Chitosan, which provides both the mechanism for reducing fat and the extra fiber that is called for, represents as close to a magic bullet as we are likely to see. Moreover, it works its magic without any of the side effects that drugs usually have.

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Vegetables and fruits are full of the complex carbohydrates needed for energy, vitamins, and minerals. Yet (apart from olives and avocados) they contain very little fat. Unfortunately, most of us don’t get anywhere near the recommended amount of these two delicious groups of foods, which is why I suggest to my patients (even those who are not trying to lose weight) that they carry a plastic bag full of fresh vegetables and fruits with them every day. My theory is, if you have it in front of you, you’ll eat it!

Fill your Chitosan bag with raw lettuce, broccoli, celery, parsley, snow peas, carrots, and other green vegetables. A second bag can be used for fresh fruits such as apples, peaches, oranges, or anything else that’s in season. Put your bags in your briefcase, lunch pail, desk, or car—wherever they’ll be handy—and munch on the vegetables during the day. Carrying these bags can help you lose weight by constantly reminding you of your goal while giving you a nutritious, low-calorie alternative to fattening foods. Nibbling from your Chitosan bags also takes the sharp edge off your appetite, so you won’t be ravenously hungry and likely to overeat.

In fact, in many of my patients, I have found that just this simple trick coupled with Chitosan is all it takes for them to lose weight. At the very least, eating extra fruits and vegetables—and reminding yourself to do so in this way—means that you won’t be tempted to eat more just because the Chitosan lets you do so. It’s obvious that if you take Chitosan to block the fat, but then eat a whole lot more, you will not lose weight. But we are strange creatures, and sometimes we have to remind ourselves of the obvious!

Technically Speaking…Both chitin and Chitosan are nitrogenous polysaccharides. Chitosan is synthesized by deactivating (“cooking”) the chitin taken from the exoskeletons of shellfish. (Thus, Chitosan is an alkalized form of chitin.) Chitosan links to fat both electrostatically and hydrophobically. Chitosan is both biocompatible, which means that it’s safe to use, and biodegradable.

See for Yourself. The positive electrostatic charge of the Chitosan, the negative charge of saturated fats, and the resulting ability of Chitosan to attract and hold the fat can readily be demonstrated in the laboratory. You can also do a quick and easy experiment in your kitchen. Here’s how. Place two cups of hot water into a large glass container, filling the container about half full. Add ‘A tsp. of melted butter or another liquid saturated fat. Sprinkle about ‘A gram of Chitosan on the surface of the water, then swirl the water around to spread the Chitosan. In just a short time, you’ll see the Chitosan absorbing the fat, forming into lumps that leave the water essentially fat free.

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It’s not just the heart and circulation that suffer from excess fat on the body or in the blood. As any doctor who has treated osteoarthritis can tell you, obesity makes joint pain a good deal worse, especially if the arthritic joint is a weight-bearing one such as the ankle, knee, hip, or spine. One of the quickest and safest ways to markedly improve the pain and disability of

osteoarthritis is simply to get the patients to lose weight. For most people, arthritis care begins with weight loss.

I’ve also noticed that low back pain is especially prevalent in people who have “apple” shapes, with their excess fat stored in and around their belly and abdomen. All that weight in the abdomen causes the center of gravity to change, affecting both the position and posture of their back. This, in turn, can lead to back pain. Many times, I have been able to help patients ease back pain to the point where they could throw away their pain medications just by helping them lose weight. Excess weight in the chest and upper back can also make breathing difficult, which is why so many overweight people are short of breath (dyspnea) after just a little exertion.

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