Yes. People with high blood pressure are often overweight and will benefit from the protocol. However, they will have to be mindful of their salt intake, as prescribed by their physician.

Diabetics have so much to gain from our protocol because regulating glycemia is at the very heart of our method. While we cannot reverse Type I Diabetes , we can help those afflicted to lose weight. However, our Ideal protein weight loss method can help reverse Type II Diabetes or, at the very least, diminish the condition’s vulnerabilities. People who suffer from hypoglycemia can also follow our weight loss method or our alternative plan.

Still, diabetics need be particularly vigilant on our protocol. In the first few weeks, people suffering from hypoglycemia should not exercise as much as usual in order to facilitate the reeducation of their pancreas and give their body a chance to readjust to its new eating habits. As well, they should stock up on the Ideal protein Peach Mango drink, in case they find themselves in the midst of a low blood sugar crisis, which is predictable in their case. When it happens, they should sit down, breathe deeply and reach for an Ideal protein Peach Mango drink. It will calm them instantly. They must be confident in the knowledge that their body, more specifically their pancreas, will, in time, soon, readjust itself to function as it was originally intended by nature.

Our protocol is most likely safe but still, we recommend that your physician is consultant prior to beginning. Remember, Ideal Protein foods are real foods, drugfree with no stimulants. Each Ideal protein envelope is the equivalent, nutritionally, to a chicken breast, a small filet mignon or a filet of fish.

We successfully offer this program to youth over the age of 12. Younger children will require a physicians release to participate. If a parent wants to replace his child’s unhealthy snacks with healthy foods, including Ideal Protein foods, the parent must ensure that the child understands the reasons why they are being deprived of these foods. If not, the child may react adversely by wanting those unhealthy foods even more than before.

There is no problem with a person being on the protocol who has had a history of gout. High uric acid levels are a part of Syndrome X and the program will help them long term. As stated in the “Explanation of the Health Profile”) if a patient has a history of gout, it would be prudent for the doctor (MD or DO) to put them on a drug (Allopurinol 300 mgs once a day) for at least the first month of the program. We have only 2 recorded cases in two and a half years that going on the diet may have precipitated a gout flare-up. Therefore if the docs employ this strategy — it may prevent a dieter “from quitting the program, because of a perceived negative effect” before he or she can get the full benefit of our program. Allopurinol is very inexpensive and is very well tolerated and has a long history of safety and efficacy. I think what may have happened with the 2 noted cases, they were going to have a flare-up anyway (perhaps increasing protein in the diet suddenly, may have aggravated it, or maybe not). In any a case, using Allopurinol as a pre-emptive measure would be prudent, in my opinion.

Lithium and sodium (chemically very similar) affect each other in an inverse manner. That is as you increase your sodium intake your lithium levels will decrease and if you cut down on salt, your lithium levels could creep up. Lithium unfortunately has a “narrow therapeutic index” meaning the blood level has to be “just right”. Too little and there is no benefit to the patient. Too much and it can be very toxic (usually nausea is the first symptom of too high level). The only really good way to monitor this is do a lithium blood level (Quest of Lab Corp routinely do these). Start the dieter on the program and draw a lithium level at about three weeks. Tell he or she to keep track of the salt they are using. If the blood level comes back a little low, tell them to “back off on the salt a tad”. If it comes back a little high, tell them to use more salt. Hopefully it won’t be a big deal, but at least we’re watching things. It is recommended to repeat the test in a month.
During the first TWO WEEKS of the program, the glycogen stores have been depleted and the dieter is consuming only the barest of necessary carbs for the brain, adrenal medulla, nucleated blood cells and a couple of other cells, that CANNOT use ketonic bodies as a fuel source, they MUST have glucose.

The diet is fine for gastric bypass / lapband patients…both for losing weight and to provide a great source of protein in a very small volume of food, Laplanders will do well with that.

Yes, however we would recommend the dieter get approval from her primary care MD. Estrogen levels can fluctuate and we don’t want to stimulate a hormone receptor positive cancer.

Patients on Coumadin certainly MAY do the diet, over a couple of months, especially if they supplement with some good Omega-3 oils (i.e. fish oil, cod liver oil) and decreasing their blood sugar via the “protocol”, their dosage of Coumadin can usually be reduced. However certain vegetables (due to their high vitamin K content) can cause certain clotting factors to increase thus necessitating a need for an increased dose of Coumadin (Warfarin). Attached is a list of the “K” content of various foods. Patients should pick the vegetables that have the lowest levels of “K” and it should not pose a problem with the diet. 

Good recommendations would be: mushrooms, zucchini, peppers, garlic, only iceberg lettuce, celery, etc. I would advise to keep this list handy and the “docs” can give it to patients who must take Coumadin. Also, there’s a pharmacist’s trick, if necessary the patient can take a “baby aspirin” per day. This will cause the levels of Coumadin to rise in the blood without increasing the dose of the drug. Note: This should only be done if absolutely necessary and the patient should be advised to watch for signs of bruising.

Many people (medical professionals included) have a wrong idea about “ketosis”. They confuse this with the pathological condition of “ketoacidosis”, which can be a life-threatening condition. Ketosis just refers to the state of metabolism the body is in when it is using fat for the primary energy source, this is how our ancestors survived during times of famine (we live off our fat reserves). It is perfectly normal and healthy.

We all do a little “ketosis” every night when we sleep. As we fast during the night, blood sugar drops. To maintain proper glucose homeostasis, the body does a couple of things:

• The liver can release some glycogen which is converted to glucose
• Some muscle can be catabolized and glucose can be produced via gluconeogenesis
• Fat cells can release some of their contents (triglycerides) and these can be metabolized in the liver to ketonic bodies (a high energy fuel source) and glucose.

We simply, through the diet, keep the dieter in the state where the body is using its stored energy (fat) for the primary fuel source. We give the MINIMUM adequate amount of high quality protein only to spare the muscle (remember the body can break down muscle to get glucose and this is what happens in many other diets and is the main reason why deters typically yo-yo. When you lose muscle, your metabolism slows and you are more likely to regain your weight.

People who are lactose intolerant do not produce the enzyme lactase are therefore cannot digest the sugar lactose (a disaccharide composed of a molecule of galactose and glucose). If they ingest lactose they typically can get cramps or gas. This is NOT an allergy, so they wouldn’t have a life threatening anaphylactic reaction. Our products that contain whey isolates (most of the drinks) only contain about 0.05% lactose and this small amount usually does not cause any problems with these folks. I would have them avoid the products that contain whole milk protein (the cappuccino, the chocolate drink, the omelet, the crispy cereal, puddings, etc). The other option is to let them try a “small amount” of some of these foods and to see if they in fact do experience any discomfort. They can take one of the many products for lactose intolerant people that contain lactase (i.e “Dairy-Eze” or “Lactaid”). But most of these folks just opt to avoid the foods containing the whole milk protein.