jfp@gatech.CSNET (John Passafiume) (07/24/85)
I have just finished reading "Diet for Runners" by Nathan Pritikin. I found the book to be quite interesting espe- cially since I am a fairly regular runner (but slow). I do not plan on running any marathons nor do I overdue my run- ning. I also enjoy playing tennis (singles and doubles) and racquetball. I am roughly in the center of the age groups that are referenced in his book and although I don't plan on curtailing my physical activity, the book has given me food for thought. (Pun not intended!) Pritikin's arguments seem quite logical and are sup- ported by evidence based upon his work at the Pritikin Longevity Center as well as numerous studies on the causes of heart disease, and on the effects of fats and cholesterol on the arteries. Pritikin's thesis is that (quoting from the book jacket) "A runner is a moving time bomb with a short fuze. Recent research has shown that, for most Americans, strenu- ous exercise may in fact, increase the risk of heart attach and sudden death. The average American diet does not pro- vide adequate protection against the danger of heart attack while running." One chapter, called "Run and Die on the American Diet" contains a statement by Pritikin that Jim Fixx phoned him and criticized a similar chapter in an earlier book. Fixx died of a heart attack six months later. An "autopsy showed that Fixx's coronary arteries were severly obstructed by atherosclerotic plaques of fat, cholesterol, and fibrous overgrowth". Pritikin presents a special high-performance diet that he claims will allow a runner to achieve optimal results from strenuous exercise without increasing the risk of heart disease. I am not a dietary expert by any means, but the diet appears to be a sensible one which puts severe limits on the amount of fat and cholestoerol that is consumed. On the Pritikin diet 5-10% of total calories come from fat, 80% from carbohydrates, and 10-15% from protein; cholesterol is limited to 10-100 milligrams a day. By comparison, the con- ventional diet allocates 40-45%, 45%, 10-20% to fat, car- bohydrate and protein respectively and allows 600-800 milli- grams of cholesterol per day. Pritikin also severly limits the intake of salt. I can find no fault with it and gen- erally follow this scheme with some exceptions that I intend to correct. I would like to know if anyone in the newsgroup has read the book and formed any opinion on the validity of Pritikin's agrgument. One item that he does not appear to adequately cover is how this diet can reverse the effects of many years of the "normal" American diet. Pritikin may have covered this in the book or perhaps one of his earlier books but I don't recall finding any treatment of this particular subject. I understand that Pritikin suffered from Leukemia and eventually took his own life. Can anyone confirm this? -- John Passafiume School of ICS, Georgia Tech, Atlanta GA 30332 CSNet: JFP @ GATech ARPA: JFP.GATech @ CSNet-Relay uucp: ...!{akgua,allegra,rlgvax,sb1,unmvax,ulysses,ut-sally}!gatech!jfp