The Cleator Diet

For quantity and balance we like the Canada’s food guide to healthy eating for people four years and over (Canada, 1997)[1].
This divides food into grain products, vegetables and fruits, milk products, meat and alternatives. The amounts vary with different factors and these are easily customized with the chart provided. Your doctor can help you with this too. http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/fn-an/food-guide-aliment/index-eng.php

We recommend 7 to 8 glasses of water (12 oz) per day. To accomplish this the best way is to have a water bottle with you at all times and get in the habit of drinking it regularly. Often a drink of water will make you less desirous of a snack.

Soluble fiber is necessary for giving a feeling of satiety or fullness after a meal and lack of it makes us eat more. Also it delays the absorption of carbohydrates thus lowering the glycemic index of the food. Also it binds harmful fats and toxins which are eliminated rather like the absorption of ink by blotting paper. Also it results in normal bowel movements and low pressure in the colon – important in the prevention and treatment of diverticular disease, irritable bowel and hemorrhoids and fissures. We need 25 – 35 grams of this daily, but the normal North American diet contains only 15 grams. This is because there is a lot of processed food in America and the amount of soluble fiber is surprisingly small as noted in the following PDF from Harvard:
Click here to read.

Men require 35 grams daily and women 25 grams but the North American diet contains only 15 grams.When you switch to the diet we recommend you will come close to the requirement but you can always add 1 to 2 tablespoons of bran or wheat, Metamucil or Benefibre, or some ground flax seeds (keep under 20g daily for flax), ground chia seeds, and inulin.

These are very desirable substances which are present in high amounts in oat bran and whole barley[5]. In conjunction with the high soluble fibre content and the use of whole grains they are associated with a lower incidence of coronary heart disease and lower cholesterol and undesirable low density lipids (LDL)[6].

Probiotics are micro-organisms that are present in yoghurt and which can alter the mix of bacteria in the bowel when included in the diet. This is extremely important in terms of regular bowel movements and also in protecting against overgrowth of dangerous bacteria such as Clostidium difficile, which occurs after antibiotics in some people. A teaspoon of yoghurt four times a day is a good addition to your diet. Sometimes a capsule or more daily of lactobacillus capsules helps those with severe constipation or post-antibiotic diarrhea. Probiotics such as inulin (from the chicory root) are a way of feeding the beneficial microorganisms in your colon and a teaspoonful or more is beneficial daily.

This is the big change in diets today. We have come to recognize that omitting carbohydrates for quick fix weight loss is a big mistake. However the carbohydrates must be in a form that allows for slower absorption and this may be because of the different releases of insulin and other hormones in the gastro-intestinal tract (Cleator, Birmingham, Kovacevic, Cleator, & Gritzner, 2006)[3]. In any event, we need to take more of our carbohydrates in a form where they are close to nature, have an intact husk around them and have soluble fiber to slow absorption.

This has led to a comprehensive system of grading carbohydrates where the desirable ones are graded with a low glycemic index, and the less desirable ones have a high index.

So the white breads and cakes and white rice are undesirable and the whole grain breads and Doongara or Basmati rice and porridge (of course) and pasta (made from durum wheat) are good for you.

Some of the material is counterintuitive, for example apples have a low glycemic index and water melon has a high (less desirable) index. Lots of vegetables and salad with vinegar or lemon are good for you (acid in lemon or vinegar slows carbohydrate absorption). It delays the absorption of carbohydrates thus lowering the glycemic index of the food. Also it binds harmful fats and toxins which are eliminated rather like the absorption of ink by blotting paper. This results in normal bowel movements and low pressure in the colon – important in the prevention and treatment of diverticular disease, irritable bowel and hemorrhoids and fissures. We need 25 – 35 grams of this daily, but the normal North American diet contains only 15 grams. When you switch to the diet we recommend you will come close to the 25 grams a day, but you can always add 1 to 2 tablespoons of bran or Metamucil or Benefiber or flax daily if you have strayed from the right foods on a given day.

If you want an accurate figure on your daily soluble fiber intake you can go to a website at Harvard and download the PDF of fiber contents of different foods:
Click here to read.

Omega-6 and omega-3 oils are good for you. They have essential fatty acids and form part of the walls of all cells. They have anti-aging properties and prevent your skin from becoming dry and wrinkled. They are present in plants and oily fish like salmon or anchovies. Some foods are now fortified with them e.g. bread and milk – so look for this on the package.

When plant oils are processed, transfats are produced and these are used to make a wide variety of products – cakes, biscuits, cereal bars and ready made meals. They can clog up your arteries.

Saturated fats are from animals.
The fat in the meat or dairy products is used for butter, cheese, sausages, burgers, pies and also pastry and cakes.

When cooking, use small amounts of a monounsaturated fat such as olive oil.

Remember – fats have twice the calories of any food so don’t take too much or your weight will increase. There is a benefit to using milk products with less fat such as skim milk and yoghurt.

Game such as deer, bison and fish have less fat and more omega-3 fatty acids. Practically, however, white meat (chicken, turkey) and lean farm meat with the fat removed and increased fish per week is the way to go. There are also eggs and tofu and lentils and pulses for protein source.

Processed meats contain undesirable elements often. We do not need a diet with as much protein as is usual in North America, and protein can be reduced to 10 or 15% of your diet with benefits.

This is the good stuff! This is where you are going to make the major changes. Lots of salads and vegetables (not potatoes). Fruit is good too, but in moderation. Remember that if you can add lemon or vinegar to these this will lower the glycemic index.

Remember that a vitamin pill a day is good as well, and if you are thinking of having a baby take folic acid ahead of time. 1000 units of vitamin D is highly recommended for health by most authorities.

The list here is almost endless from tomatoes and pomegranates to curry. The Sunday Times published an excellent review of different menus and detailed plans.

It is important for your health not to lose weight too fast. Less than 2.5 pounds a week is good, more than that there are a host of problems that can occur – gall stones for example are many times commoner.

Many people have Lactose intolerance in adulthood. This is said to be about 10% in North America but is much commoner in Asian, Hispanic and African Americans (over 75%).

The symptoms are gassiness, bloating, diarrhea and bad breath after eating dairy products.

Avoidance of dairy products is recommended after a doctor does a breath test, and it can be difficult to replace the calcium you normally get from milk. Some patients can tolerate lactose free milk and some can take drops of lactase enzyme with their diet.

Irritable bowel syndrome is a disease which gives periods of cramps and diarrhea and occasional constipation and the symptoms are relieved by a bowel movement. Increasing dietary fiber results in significant improvement but not a cure.

Do not add salt to your food – this can lead to high blood pressure.

Some have allergy to wheat, and for this reason we prefer oat bran or whole barley rather than wheat bran as a soluble fiber supplement. The full blown allergy is commoner in those with Celts in their family and is called coeliac disease.

Alcohol – real moderation please!

If you are flying or going a long trip by car, bus or train you should pack two litres of water and not drink alcohol or eat low fiber meals and pack a whole wheat sandwich instead.

The reasons for this are that flying particularly cuts down the blood to your bowel by 25% and alcohol dehydrates you and low fiber food will tend to constipate you and make your hemorrhoids and fissure worse.

1. Canada, M. o. P. W. a. G. S. (1997). Canada’s food guide to healthy eating for people four years and over. Cat No H39-252/1992E ISBN 0-662-19648. 2. Bingham SA, Day NE, Luben R, et al. Dietary fibre in food and protection against colorectal cancer in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC): an observational study. Lancet 2003;361(9368):1496-501. 3. Cleator, I. G., Birmingham, C. L., Kovacevic, S., Cleator, M. M., & Gritzner, S. (2006). Long-term effect of ileogastrostomy surgery for morbid obesity on diabetes mellitus and sleep apnea. Obes Surg, 16(10), 1337-1341. 4. Burkitt DP. Possible relationships between bowel cancer and dietary habits. Proc R Soc Med 1971;64(9):964-5.
2. Bingham SA, Day NE, Luben R, et al. Dietary fibre in food and protection against colorectal cancer in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC): an observational study. Lancet 2003;361(9368):1496-501.
3. Cleator, I. G., Birmingham, C. L., Kovacevic, S., Cleator, M. M., & Gritzner, S. (2006). Long-term effect of ileogastrostomy surgery for morbid obesity on diabetes mellitus and sleep apnea. Obes Surg, 16(10), 1337-1341.
4. Burkitt DP. Possible relationships between bowel cancer and dietary habits. Proc R Soc Med 1971;64(9):964-5.
5. Shimizu C, K.M., Aoe S, Araki S, Ito K, Hayashi K, Watari J, Sakata Y, Ikegami S. Effect of high beta-glucan barley on serum cholesterol concentrations and visceral fat area in Japanese men–a randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled trial. Plant Foods Hum Nutr. 63, 21-25.
6. Jenkins, D.J., et al., Soluble fiber intake at a dose approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for a claim of health benefits: serum lipid risk factors for cardiovascular disease assessed in a randomized controlled crossover trial. Am J Clin Nutr, 2002. 75(5): p. 834-9.