Perricone Weight-Loss Diet A Simple 3-Part Plan to Lose the Fat, the Wrinkles, and the Years

Chapter 1 Getting Started The best way to predict the future is to invent it. Alan Kay, computer genius/visionary In writing this book, I have discovered that the greatest gift I can give my readers is permission to eat healthy and delicious food. This might seem strange considering this book is about weight loss, because traditional concepts of weight loss are all about not eatingnevertheless, it is a fact. Statistics regarding obesity and excess weight are alarming. The International Obesity Task Force, which is advising the European Union, had estimated in 2003 that about 200 million of the 350 million adults living in what is now the European Union may be overweight or obese. The U.S. Census Bureau's Census 2000 stated that nearly two-thirds of adults in the United States were overweight, and 30.5 percent were obese. However, a closer evaluation of the figures in the latest analysis indicated that may be an underestimate. We Americans (children and adults) are more confused than ever about what constitutes a healthy diet. According to statistics from the National Institutes of Health, the prevalence of obesity in the United States has almost doubled since 1980. And for good reason. For the past several decades, we have been bombarded with all kinds of misinformation about what we should and should not eat or drink. As soon as one scientific study hits the newswires, another one with equally convincing yet contradictory data springs up. From books to videos we are assailed with confusing and opposing points of view from all kinds of experts and pseudo experts. Consequently, figuring out what to eat and what to avoid has become increasingly difficult. The Perricone Weight-Loss Diet cuts through the confusion and provides a simple, foolproof eating plan that will improve your health, help to fight the signs of aging, help you to lose weight, and prevent new weight gain. It all begins with learning which foods make this possible and which foods defeat our purpose. BUT FIRST, SOME HISTORY Back in the 1960s, the then-young baby boomers began a dietary "back to the land" revolution in protest of the post-World War II introduction of processed foods. In typical backlash fashion, everything this generation embraced had to be "whole," "natural," "fresh," "unprocessed," and grown without pesticides and chemical fertilizers. This was the beginning of the health food movement, which is stronger and more powerful than ever, and finally after more than four decades, is becoming increasingly mainstream. That was the good news. The bad news is that this was the last positive dietary trend we have seen. Ever since then, we have had one dangerous and poorly-thoughtout plan after another. In addition, fast food has now become a ubiquitous part of our landscape. According to Eric Schlosser, author of Fast Food Nation, on any given day one out of four Americans has a meal from a fast-food restaurant. The 1970s saw the introduction of the Atkins low-carbohydrate, high-protein diet. At first glance, the concept made sense; however, there were a number of serious and dangerous flaws (some since amended), among them an overabundance of saturated fats. The '90s reintroduced this craze, slightly modified. Perhaps the worst dietary craze belongs to the 1980s, which heralded the age of the no-fat diet. Supermarket shelves were flooded with high-glycemic carbohydrate foods, offering little in the way of nutrients, but plenty in the way of empty calories. These foods became dietary mainstays for many people, especially women, who found themselves indulging in snack foods such as reduced-fat "baked" potato and cPerricone, Nicholas is the author of 'Perricone Weight-Loss Diet A Simple 3-Part Plan to Lose the Fat, the Wrinkles, and the Years', published 2005 under ISBN 9780345485939 and ISBN 0345485939.