The Pritikin Principle: The Calorie Density Solution

The Pritikin Principle: The Calorie Density Solution is one example of the new camp of sensible weight-loss plans. Follow the plan and you should lose weight, feel satisfied, and improve your overall health. Plus, the plan is straightforward and easy to use. The Pritikin Principle is based on learning the caloric density of foods (the number of calories in a given weight of food) and eating meals with a low caloric density. You don't need to count calories; just choose meals with a low caloric density. An extensive Caloric Density Index, restaurant guide, flexible meal plans, and more than 50 recipes show you how to lower the caloric concentration of meals without going hungry. Exercise tips, health information, and success stories are also included. Written by Robert Pritikin, director of the renowned Pritikin Longevity Center and son of founder Nathan Pritikin, along with a team of registered dietitians, The Pritikin Principle is filled with practical, sound advice you can live with for life. --Ellen Albertson

Book Description
The facts: "Low-fat" and "fat-free" processed foods are a major contributor to America's weight problem. Gimmicky calorie-counting diets leave you feeling hungry. Yo-yo dieting is devastating to your body. And strict dietary regimens never, ever last. Now, the world's premiere name in health and nutrition introduces a scientifically proven strategy for losing 2 to 7 pounds a weekand keeping it off. "If you focus on selecting foods with low calorie density, and worry less about how much of them you're eating," says Robert Pritikin, "you'll lose weight without ever feeling hungryand you'll look and feel great. That's the key to the success of the calorie-density solution." To date, this revolutionary approach has only been available to participants in Pritikin Longevity Center programs. Now, you can put all the experts of the Pritikin Center to work for you. Includes charts of calorie-density levels in common foods. Provides more than 50 delicious recipes and an a! rray of easy-to-follow menu plans. Debunks popular fad diets.

The theory is rather simple: people tend to eat the same amount of food every day (3 pounds). What determines whether they gain or lose weight is the number of calories in that three pounds of food. Those who eat high calorie foods gain weight. Those who eat low calorie foods lose weight.

What makes a food high calorie? Forget everything you've ever heard because the truth is surprising. The more water in the food, the lower calorie it will be. That's because there are no calories in water (0 calories / gram). Fiber is the next best thing at 0 or 1 calorie per gram. The more fiber the better. Protein and carbohydrates are in the middle. They have 4 calories per gram. The real problem is fat, which has 9 calories per gram, twice as much as carbohydrates and protein. Fat is the biggest enemy of the dieter because it is so loaded with calories.

Pritkin's method is very simple. Weigh the food you eat and count the number of calories. As long as calories per pound is less than 400 you will lose weight. Calories per pound between 400 and 600 leads to weight maintenance. More than 600 calories per pound causes weight gain. (The only trick is that for liquids count just the calories, not the weight. Which means avoid liquids which have more than a few calories.)

Nothing else matters, according to Pritikin. The glycemic index is worthless, and weight gain has nothing to do with insulin rushes or food intolerances. There is no need to count carbs, fats, or eat small portions. Ultimately weight gain is caused by eating more calories than we burn, and that is determined by whether we eat high-calorie foods or not.

Fruits and vegetables are the stars of a low calorie diet. Their calorie density is very low so they can be eaten in unlimited quantities, along with the delicious complex carb foods like pasta and potatoes which make up the rest of the diet.

The result is a low fat, high carb diet, which as Pritikin documents, has been shown in 25 years of scientific studies to cure diabetes, allow people to lose weight and keep it off, go off blood pressure medicines, and avoid bypass surgery.

In case someone cares about my credentials, I have no financial ties to Pritikin. I have however followed their diets for 21 years with excellent results. I am 70 pounds lighter now, going from an obese 32 BMI to a slim BMI 20 and body fat under 10%. My cholesterol, triglycerides, and glucose levels & tolerance are all superb, and in spite of 21 years on a high-carb diet I show absolutely none of the bad side effects like insulin resistance which the high-fat diet authors claim I should have.

I am in my 40's, at my dream weight, and finished a marathon last year. Anyone who wants to join me can. Being fat is optional. If someone doesn't want to buy Pritikin, Barbara Roll's "Volumetrics" book has the same kind of diet.


Another poorly written diet book.   August 22, 2001
 20 out of 26 found this review helpful

I enjoyed the original Pritikin Principle book published in 1973 so I was looking for an updated version. This is NOT it.

The author (the son of the original Pritikin author) seems to be fluffing up the book by repeating many concepts several times without adding any new information. The book stresses calories and doesn't give much space to other important dietary considerations such as sodium and caffeine.

Another problem is that the author never explains how to calculate the calorie density of food. It does list calorie densities of many foods, but it omits many, many more.

If you must read this book, buy it used. Better yet, buy the original 1973 book if you can find it.