First off, I’ve got to apologize for the lack of attention to this blog lately. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I hadn’t realized that changing the world would be such a time-consuming endeavor, but it really is. MD and I have been meeting ourselves coming and going over the past week and a half with no end in sight. At least the weather has been cooperating. As you can see from the photo on the left from our deck, we haven’t had snow at our house, but looking across the lake to Squaw Valley, you can see it has started there. I hope to have a couple of days to get caught up before the real onslaught on our time takes place starting at the end of next week.

I had hoped to have a new blog for The 6-Week Cure up by now, but our tech people have been working on other projects and unable to get to the blog. They have been working on the Sous Vide Supreme website, which just got up late last night in it’s full and operational form. Now they have one more Eades-related project to do, then they can do The 6-Week Cure blog. I hope it won’t be much longer.

I’ve had no end of comments stacking up that I will deal with as soon as this post is posted, so if you’ve had a comment languishing in ‘awaiting-moderation’ purgatory, it should be up soon. I’ve promised this before and failed, but my time commitments are now such that I’m going to have to stick to it: I can no longer answer specific comments. I’m going to post them as they come in, and if I feel the need to answer a specific one, I’ll do it as I did in in Tim Ferriss’s blog and do so with a comment of my own.

Numerous people have written comments/questions asking about why they’ve stalled or why they’ve gotten diarrhea or why they’ve gotten constipated of why [fill in the blank] on The 6-Week Cure. It is extremely difficult to answer these types of comments because I don’t (and can’t possibly) know the whole story of what is going on. In the office when these kinds of questions arose, our staff was trained to ask specific questions to ferret out the problems. MD and I could go over with patients an entire list of questions to figure out what is happening, do appropriate lab tests, examine the patients first hand. But we don’t currently have a clinical practice and we can’t do that over the internet. Many of the questions we asked in person are basically designed to tease out what the patients are really doing. Many people think they are following a specific program to the letter, when the truth is that they are not. They have misunderstood something or only heard part of what we told them to do or are confused or have had any number of things happen that are causing them not to be adhering to the regimen we thought (and they thought) they were adhering to. If we can’t figure out what specific diet our patients are following, we can’t possibly figure out why they are having whatever problem it is they are having.

I’m sure most of the people who have written asking questions about their experience with The 6-Week Cure think they are following the program exactly as presented in the book, but it has been my experience that as often as not they aren’t. Let me give you a couple of examples that I know about personally so you can see what I mean.

Out of the many people (friends, relatives, etc.) that MD and I know personally who are on the 6-Week Cure, two spring to mind who demonstrate clearly how easy it is to misread or misunderstand instructions as written. The first is a lady who has done well on the program, but who kind of over thought what she read – or we didn’t write it clearly enough. This lady is very smart and runs a successful company employing hundreds of people. She read the part in the book about adding a pasteurized egg to the shake and followed the instructions to the letter. Before I tell you what she did, however, I want to clarify what the whole pasteurized-egg-in-the-shake deal is. We’ve had a number of questions about this, so it obviously isn’t as clear as it should have been.

In the book we make the case that dietary cholesterol is important to the body for numerous reasons and we recommend that people get some good, unoxidized cholesterol in their diet daily. A raw egg is a great source of good-quality cholesterol, so we recommend the option of adding a raw egg in one of the shakes each day for those who don’t get cholesterol from another source. We give this recommendation only for those who, for whatever reason, don’t eat red meat or don’t get their cholesterol from other sources. If you do eat red meat for your meal or if you eat eggs as part of your meal, you don’t need to add the egg to your shake. It’s primarily intended for those who don’t eat red meat or eggs for their meal. And even for those, it is only one egg per day, not one egg per shake.

Since we advocate adding one raw egg (or egg yolk) to one shake per day (for those who don’t get the red meat), we have to advise that the egg be pasteurized for safety’s sake. Most people can eat raw eggs that are not pasteurized without incident, but there is a slight risk of food poisoning. The risk is much higher for those who are immuno-compromised, who shouldn’t be exposed to the possibility (remote) of infection from consuming eggs that aren’t pasteurized. Since we have no way of knowing who is buying our books and reading them, we have to err on the side of safety and recommend that the eggs be pasteurized to cover all contingencies.

Our friend read this as that she needed an egg in each shake (despite the fact that she almost always ate red meat as her daily meal) and so, like many people who have written to us, she used one raw, pasteurized egg per shake. But she went further. She decided that since we said the eggs should be pasteurized in the shell that we meant that she should add the whole egg – shell and all – to her shakes. Which she did. She was throwing an entire raw egg into her blender and whirring it up. She didn’t have a problem, but in conversation with MD, she mentioned that she really had to run the blender a long time before she could get all the shell ground down to where she could drink the shake without crunching on egg shells. MD, of course, told her that she didn’t have to consume the whole egg complete with shell, that just the contents of the shell would do.

Neither MD nor I could have imagined that someone would throw an entire egg in the blender, but this very intelligent woman had done so.

Another friend who is extremely bright made a mistake that was a little more consequential, at least in terms of his weight loss.

This friend is a pretty good size, muscular guy who was a world class college athlete. He, like many of us, put on a little belly as he aged. He decided to go on The 6-Week Cure. He called and peppered us with a bunch of questions about protein powder and leucine before he started. Once he got started, he did fine, but he also said that there was no way he could get three shakes down per day. Two, max, is what he could consume, and even then, he had trouble with the two.

He progressed fine on the program although he wasn’t losing weight as quickly as he figured he would (nor as fast as we assured him that he would), but he was losing around his waist and he was happy. He had some blood work due to be drawn, so he decided to stay on the shakes and a meal regimen for longer than just the first two weeks. He stayed on it almost a month so that he could get the maximum effect before his labs were drawn. When he got his labs back, all of his lipid parameters had improved, so he was thrilled.

In conversation with MD and me over dinner, he started talking about how expensive it was to do the shakes. MD asked him what kind of protein powder he was using, assuming that that was where the expense came in. He told her it wasn’t the protein powder that was expensive – it was the coconut milk. It was costing him a fortune even through he was buying it by the case. Buying it by the case?

MD, thinking there must be some miniature-sized cans of coconut milk she didn’t know existed, asked him what size cans he was getting. He told her he was getting the normal sized cans available at his natural food grocer. Then she asked him how much he was using.

“A can per shake, just like the instructions say,” he replied.

A can per shake?!?! MD was incredulous. “The instructions don’t say a can per shake. You are supposed to be using an ounce of coconut milk per shake, not an entire can,” she told him.

‘Hmmm,” said he. “No wonder my shakes were so thick I could eat only two per day.”

Indeed. Especially since each can contains 14 ounces of coconut milk, meaning that each of his shakes contained 14 times the recommended amount.

And no wonder he wasn’t losing as fast as he thought he should have been. As you can see from the nutritional facts from a can of the coconut milk he was using, at two cans per day, he was getting an extra 26 ounces (2X13) of coconut milk per day, which meant he was getting an extra 1560 calories per day along with an extra 91 g saturated fat and an extra 52 g of carb. And he was still losing weight, not to mention improving his lipid values! Who says saturated fat makes your lipids worse?

These two really smart people misread the instructions and didn’t really follow the program as written, even though they thought they were following it to the letter. I’m sure they aren’t the only people who have unknowingly veered from the path as presented. Had one of them – the guy with the can of coconut milk – written me through this blog and asked why he wasn’t losing as fast as I said he should be, I could have racked my brain trying to figure out why, when the real reason was that he was using the wrong amount of coconut milk. I can attest from the comments and letters we’ve received that he isn’t alone in having a hard time getting all three shakes in each day, so there may be others out there making the same unwitting mistake, and it would previously never have occurred to me to ask ‘how much coconut milk are you using in your shakes?’

So, the point is, if you are having a problem or not getting the results you think you should, go back to the book, look up the recipes, and make sure you are making them exactly as written. If you have questions about the recipes, go to the forum and ask your dieting compatriots. They will be more than willing to give you the benefit of their experience. You can post a comment here, and if I get a bunch asking the same question, I’ll do a short post or a comment of my own about it. But for the next few weeks, I’m not going to be able to be as responsive as usual, so the forum is probably your best bet for quick answers.

While writing this post I got word that a rudimentary 6WC blog should be up in a day or two.  Don’t hold your breath because I’m not holding mine.  But keep checking because hope springs eternal.

One final note.  If you have gout or want to learn more about gout, take a look at this post on Tim Ferriss’s blog.  He published one of the many parts left on the cutting room floor when Good Calories, Bad Calories got edited down to publication size.

77 Comments

  1. Dr Mike, with full understanding of your time constraints I am still going to ask you a question. And if you dont answer it, lol, I will understand.

    I just finished week one of 6 weeks cure. I did try it out few times before but couldnt stick to it. This time I did. The results were phenomenal considering I was under an enormous amount of stress and sleep depirvation. My cortisol lveles must have been through the roof of the empire state building. My mother, who is suffering from a metastasized cancer almost died from a Cedif bacteria. She was literally slipping away before the dostors were finally able to stabalize it. Her Chlost decifile was stubborn and very ressitant to antiabiotics. Ok, moving on to my queastion.
    I have experienced weird symptoms for the last 5 days being on 6 weeks cure. I have had constipation, bloating, sharp spasmatic intestinal pain and general lethargy. I am not sure if its even diet related or more like a combination of things. But what was even stranger that I found a lot of mucus in my stool. it was some scene alright. I hope you are not eating any time soon. I have never seen ang like this. My stool was swirled in glue like yellowish fragments all over it. I did go to gastroentterolist and am awaiting results. It could be bacterail infection or inflammation.

    Can inflammation be caused by high protein intake without much carbs and fat? Is it possible the effect of way too much whey and intolerance to it? I know that i am not lactose intolerant and plus whey itself doesnt contain lots of carb or lactose for that matter. i am just buffled as to why all these gastrointestinal problems. I have noticed a lot more people have had them as well.

  2. Wish I could afford the sous vide machine. For now, I’m stuck with protein shakes. I would’ve preferred the machine first and the book second.

  3. My only criticism about the book is that footnotes should have been added citing the specific journal articles and sources that support each recommendation like what Gary Taubes did in “Good Calories Bad Calories” in order to give it a more scholarly weight for us nerds who like to read every reference article. 😉

  4. I had the opportunity to do hydrostatic weigh-ins for cheap during a ‘contest’ sponsored by my health club. I was doing Slow Burn twice a week. For the first 5 weeks I ate 2 shakes per day plus 2 low-carb meals per day. I lost 11 pounds of fat and gained 0.8 pounds of lean. I talked with Fred Hahn about how I could improve the muscle gains. He recommended ‘add more fat at each meal’. So I did. My shakes went from protein powder and water to protein powder + 8oz cream or coconut milk + 2 egg yolks. To my meals I added a prodigious amount of raw milk cheese. During the next 7 weeks I lost only 4 pounds of fat but gained 1.8 pounds of lean. Let me tell you it’s hard to overeat that much when you don’t ingest carbs.

  5. I’ve been adding about a tablespoon of coconut OIL to my shakes — delicious, and I’ve found (as in the past) that the added fat really gets my weight loss rolling (and my appetite very satisfied).

    So far so good!

  6. This comment isn’t related to the post, but regards instead something I thought of while rereading PPLP – specifically, the part about iron overload and how the current thinking is to push iron on anyone showing symptoms that could be attributed to anemia vs. parasitic “tapping” in prehistoric and undeveloped (for lack of a better term) populations.

    It occurred to me that perhaps the physicians of a few hundred years ago who bled their patients as a cure weren’t so far off? Would that sort of a treatment actually have helped against bacteræmia?

  7. Since you still don’t have the blog up for The Cure I will ask my questions here.

    Now that I have the book and have read it, I have a couple of questions. (By the way I am almost through Week 3 and am down 7 pounds. I am thrilled as I have been stuck for the last 12 months doing PP.)

    Both of my questions are for MD but I don’t know how to reach her.

    What happened to the rest of MD’s story? It stops abruptly when she mentions bioidentical hormones. Turn the page and there is nothing further. It just seems unfinished.

    2nd question deals with the recipes. The protein counts seem awfully low for some of the recipes. Take for example the Tuna (Ahi) Tartar. It is a recipe for 2 and calls for 4 ounces of tuna. Well that makes 2 ounces per person. Is that supposed to be the entire protein count for a meal? Or is this intended as an appetizer? There are other recipes with equally puzzling protein amounts.

    Editing remark: In my book, the top of the page for weeks two and three of the menus reads weeks one and two.

    Thanks.

  8. I’ve been holding back on the 6wc, because I’m afraid of the shakes. I actually really like protein shakes, but I have trouble with them, they seem to prick up my IBS. Regular low carb food never causes me problems, but shakes made with protein powder do. I’ve tried all kinds. I can have a small shake once in a while, but not every day like my husband.

  9. This comment is in response to Vadim’s question.

    Hello Vadim,

    My husband experienced a lot of gastrointestinal distress when we first tried to do weeks 1 and 2 of The Cure. I had no problems. The second time we did the shake weeks he split the supplements up and took half in the morning and half at night. I have always done this with my supplements. The result was he didn’t experience any problems. Maybe give that a try and see what happens.

    Good luck,
    Sara

  10. I did the whole can o’ coconut milk thing for a few days a while back, I was attempting to create a shake that would last from breakfast until I got home from work, round 7. Talk about a damn satisfying and deeply satiating shake, whew boy! But it didn’t really work, I still got hungry around 3 or 4 pm….

  11. Dr. Mike you gave me a real laugh for the day with this post. I know it wasn’t intended to be amusing or funny but seriously?! The ENTIRE egg? A whole CAN of coconut milk?

    I know I’m guilty of skimming things as I read but those two take the, um, protein shake.

    Which is why I have read and re-read the sections on the the program not just once or twice but several times and I’m getting ready to do it again.

  12. So sorry to jump in here, but on your order form it gives me the “international order” option. which I choose; then, on the next page, my city, Bogota, comes up (I’ve typed it in), followed by “international order”, followed by … United States.

    In other words, Colombia doesn’t come up as the country to which my order would, hopefully, be sent.
    I’ve emailed customer service a couple of times, but heard nothing back.

    So here I am, in the comments.

    Sorry. But any help here would be grand.

  13. Sous Vide website notes: http://www.sousvidesupreme.com/sous-vide-cooking.php#
    the article links should open up in another window/tab to keep customers on your page. The slate article link is broken.
    Does the product come with recipes? Most home appliances come with recipes. This is a new way of cooking priced for gourmet-wannabee users. Perhaps your website might mention that there are some recipes included. Can I put a whole chicken in there and then finish it in the oven to toast the skin?

    Now, how to justify buying this to my husband……?

  14. To the Egg Lady and the coconut milk man…while in a bit of a brain fog, I added my three scoops of protein powder and instead of chucking the scoop back into the tub, I tossed it into the blender. Just following the book ‘to the letter!’

  15. Wow. I was slightly confused here and there, but not to the extent of blending an entire egg or consuming a whole can of coconut milk per shake!

    I’m an early adopter/guinea pig and finished the 6 weeks without a hitch. I lost 12 pounds and at least 6 inches here and there. Also, the difference between my SAD and VAT increased by more than 30% over the six weeks. I’m not running a physiometric lab here and I don’t doubt there are some screwy measurements in there; but people have noticed that I’ve slimmed down and the fit of my clothes shows it, too. Overall I’m very impressed, and looking forward to talking to my homeys about this program.

  16. This is a very funny post- it had me laughing!!! I know it really wasn’t meant to be funny but eating an egg with the shell? haha that’s great!
    Interesting that the coconut milk gentleman still lost weight even while eating 2 cans of coconut milk daily! Very very interesting. I wonder what/how much he was eating before the 6WC?

  17. Dr Mike, Have any of your books been translated into Japanese? Perhaps you could write a blog post sometime telling us what you have available in which languages?

  18. I drink coconut milk shakes every day using…ahem…a whole can. 🙂

    Coconut hypes up the metabolism, provides saturated fats that bypass the normal process, and is delicious. It is great for those looking to lose weight.

    Michael

  19. I was confused about the Leucine part. You said to add either the contents of the capsules or the supplement powder, which was like 4-5 capsules per shake, but my shakes already had over 11 mg (11797 mg) of Leucine per 3 scoops (I am over 200 lbs). I wasn’t sure if I was getting enough from my shakes (Isopure brand) or if I still needed to supplement? I figured I was getting 34 grams of Leucine per day from my shakes…so I stopped supplementing them around Day 4. I’m finishing up Week 3 and I’m adding 6-8 grams via capsules daily as instructed. Was I correct in Weeks 1 & 2?

  20. With a view like that of Lake Tahoe I wouldn’t be answering blog posts either 🙂

    After the lady threw the egg in the blender still in the shell, I was thinking the punchline might be the guy with the coconut milk threw it in the blender still in the can.

  21. People have GI problems with the shakes may be sensitive to whey. Like me! Can we do the meat phase for four weeks?

  22. This comment is for Dr. Mike and Rick both.

    Rick, it’s interesting that you asked about any of the books being translated into Japanese. My wife is Japanese and also a translator (although is not a specialist in the area of nutrition/medical terminology). For years she has had to listen to me talking Protein Power. Finally she decided to try it (not that she really needs to, but she wants to get a little leaner as she just started tennis lessons). Anyway, she has also started her mother on the protein power (not strictly by any means, but she’s slowly getting her to eliminate carbs), so my wife is seeing first hand positive results. She asked me if I knew if PPLP book was available in Japanese. If not, she would be interested in translating it. She is realizing how misinformed the Japanese public is on nutrition and is interested in helping to educate those less informed.

    Dr. Eades, If it’s something of interest to you, please let me know.

    John

  23. I throw the whole egg, shell and all, into the blender on purpose. It started with my regular shakes, which I would hard boil, and me being too lazy to peel them. I have a Vita-Mix blender, which takes care of the shells mighty quick. I tried the 30 second pausteriation of egg, even though I get natually raised brown eggs straight from the lady who loves and cares for them. I’ve also thrown raw eggs in. I haven’t found a difference at all in flavor and have never had stomach problems in the 4 months I’ve been buying eggs from this farmer.

    Can’t wait to get home next week and see if my mother has gotten around to reading the 6WC that arrived in the mail for her a couple days ago.

  24. THE LESS CARBOHYDRATES I EAT THE BETTER I LOOK !! EVEN APPLES MAKE ME FAT, BLOATED AND EVEN APPLES INCREASE WATER-RETENTION. SO PHILOSOPHY OF LOW-CARB IS 100% SCIENTIFICALLY RIGHT !!

    Hello all: The key to losing weight and looking great is really to get the habit and accustomed to eat very few carbohydrates in the day, and replace some of your carbohydrates with protein. I know that high protein, low carb diets are expensive. But that’s the price u gotta pay if u wanna lose weight. Celebrities, upper class elites who have access to scientitific-knowledge and models almost don’t eat carbohydrates. In fact I’ve read many of the diet secrets of Jessica Alba, Angelina Jolie and most thin celebrities, and their secret to great looks is eating low in carb. And i’ve noticed that i look more muscular and shreded on the days i eat less carbohydrates.

    And on the days that i eat more carbohydrates i look more puffy, fat and bloated in the mirror. So the key to losing weight is to get used to eating high in protein, low in fat and low in carbohydrates. (even fruits have carbohydrates)

    .

  25. Regarding the problem of diarrhea, I found that I was always very thirsty after the shakes so I was drinking a lot of water. In the past, lots of water has caused intestinal distress so I assumed that was the reason. We’re on week 3 now and the problem has cleared up.

  26. Although I haven’t heard of others putting shells or 14X the coconut milk in their shakes, there are many people on the boards putting eggs in their shakes – for cholesterol and to avoid the diet-busting extreme hunger on quick whey protein. It is certainly not clear from the book that only those who eschew red meat & eggs should add only one egg to only one shake per day. On p. 117 first you say “We don’t need to eat less cholesterol; we need to eat more…”; the use of “we” makes it sound like this is advice for everyone to eat more cholesterol. While on the 3 shakes/day and only one meal, many of us aren’t getting any or much red meat – in fact we are eating less cholesterol than usual – but you just said we need more! Then, for those who prefer eating chicken, fish & seafood, you say “we encourage you to add a single raw egg (or just the yolk) to at least one shake a day. Even if you eat cooked eggs, you may still want to supplement your shakes with an egg.” If someone eschews eggs but does eat cooked eggs, it is not much of a stretch for readers to assume that someone who echews red meat may also eat some red meat. Those who normally eat red meat ~10X per week may only be having it 2-3X/week on the 3-1 cycle and are just heeding your advice to get more cholesterol, not less, in at least one shake a day.

    Hopefully in a set of FAQs you can state the parameters of the diet more explicitly; for instance, giving targets (or suggested ranges) of fat, protein, carb, calorie amounts for people less than 130 lbs, 131-180 lbs, & greater than 180 lbs for Weeks 1&2 and Weeks 3&4 – you obviously had parameters in mind when selecting different numbers of scoops of protein and minimizing amounts of added fats in Weeks 1&2. For those of us who don’t seem to tolerate any types of protein powder well and prefer principles to prescribed recipes, this would be ideal – that is why PP & PPLP were so successful!

  27. Dear Drs Eades,

    I am from South Africa. I got your ‘6 Week Cure..’ book finally from the USA but found out that we don’t have Enova oil or anybody with knowledge about ‘DAG OIL’ anywhere in the country. I contacted enovaoil.com and they basically told me that they do not have any interest in shipping their product to other countries. Amazon.com only sells 12 bottles at a time and the shipping alone is 1500 rands. Is there any advice that you can give me that will allow me to follow the program and get the same results please.

  28. Eggshells in shakes isn’t unheard of…

    “Orange Julius is a fruit smoothie, created by blending frozen orange juice, ice cubes, and a mixture of powdered sugar and non-dairy creamer. While the formulation of the powder is officially a secret, its main or perhaps only ingredient is powdered sugar. The secrecy of this mixture has made it the subject of several urban legends speculating that the powder is made of either ground eggshells or various animal bones.”

    Hmmm. Animal bones in power shakes. Now that will really get the PETA people riled up.

  29. Browsing the comments, no one else seem to have had this problem, but I ran into some trouble with the definition of a “scoop”. Being over 180lbs I went for three scoops per shake of the powder that I had selected as containing everything required (including leucine), but the shakes seemed very thin and unsatisfying. Seeing others complain that they could hardly get through their three shakes a day made me suspicious, so I did the numbers.

    My powder lists its composition per 30g serving, and a serving is supposed to be 2.5 scoops, so each scoop must be 12g. Out with the scales and sure enough a heaped scoop (as most people would do it) was about that. Your qualifications in ‘Selecting a Protein Powder’ were also per “scoop” so I needed to find out how much that might be.

    If we take your minimum requirements per scoop and calculate, then the minimum per shake (for me) would be 45g protein, 7.5g leucine and a max of 6-9g carbs. So, that works out to 90g of my protein powder, which would give me 72.5g, 7.6g, and 5.6g respectively. That’s 7.5 scoops of the scoop provided! So obviously in the States the scoop size is much larger and standardized (since no one else has complained), but people in other countries may be well advised to actually do the sums.

    If anyone in the USA would care to precisely measure the quantity in their scoop to confirm my observation I’d be obliged.

  30. Dr. Mike,

    I have your 6 Week Cure book. My girlfriend (age 47) and I (age 48) are finishing up the first week with some good results. It looks like we’ve each lost a few pounds and our middles are smaller. We’re encouraged and looking forward to the results we’ll achieve over the next 5 weeks.

    FYI – I think I found a typo in the book today. I was going to make the Egg and Sausage Pie (page 178) since I enjoyed it from your “Low Carb Comfort Food Cookbook” (which I also have). I noticed it calls for only 3 eggs, so I checked the Comfort Food Cookbook and its recipe calls for 8 eggs. I went ahead and made it with 8 eggs and had a serving for my food meal today (and leftovers for later days). Mmmmmmm

  31. @Living in USA makes us Fat

    You’ve missed the point of much of Dr Mike’s and Dr. Mary Dan’s writings — it’s NOT high protein, low carb, low fat, it’s high fat, medium protein, low carb. You got the low carb part exactly correct, but you’ve been swayed by the idiocy of modern media… And high fat, medium protein, low carb diets are not expensive, but can be created quite reasonably if you’re educated about food choices. PLEASE get your hands on the Dr.s Eades’ _Protein Power Life Plan_, and you will know what you need to know to eat this healthy way at reasonable cost and with fantastic health!

  32. Correction to my comment above: I see now that it wasn’t 2.5g of leucine per scoop, but in total (regardless of the amount of protein powder), so I would be better off going for a lesser amount of protein powder – say 60g – which which would give me ample of everything and make a thick shake without going over the top.

  33. When I was young and pregnant and short on funds for calcium supplements, I used to throw the egg shells into the blender along with its contents.

  34. I wondered about hw many eggs to add per day, and found NOTHING in the book to guide me. I’m sure you guys just overlooked that fact. Also, although I understand that you didn’t add macronutrient ratios to the book in order to sell it to a wider audience than just low-carbers, I, and many others from the forum @ http://www.lowcarb.ca, and I’m sure other long-time low-carbers as well, would greatly have appreciated a little guidance here, as the only way we could arrive at approximate ratios for composing meals of our own, not in the book, was by analyzing the menu items and tabulating them in Excel or similar.

    I mean all of this as *constructive* criticism, you understand. My first reaction to reading about the one-egg-a-day if you’re not eating red meat or eggs at the one meal, I’m sorry to say, that reaction (immediately, anyway) was anger. I really wish you had told us more clearly.

    I’m going back to the plan now that I likely know what it was that stalled me the first time, and hope to do much better.

    And, I’m sure there are many people who stall even while doing it by the book, because, as you say, we are all different.

    All that said (off my chest, phew!), keep up the great work!

  35. Just a quick comment on formatting. In your blog entries, in both Google Chrome 3.0.195.25 and Internet Explorer 8.0.6001, the text is pushed all the way to the left with absolutely no border. Even a few millimeters would make the text so much easier to read.

    Should be fixed by now. Thanks for the suggestion.

  36. Chainey, you are overthinking the entire process. A “scoop” refers to the scoop inside whatever jug of protein powder you have on hand. Each brand is different. The book refers to a MINIMUM of 15g protein per scoop. So 3 scoops, if your particular brand of protein powder has 15g per, would be 45g per shake. If it has more, like the Nectar I’m using which has 23g per scoop, then 3 would be 66g.

    I don’t understand why people want to make this so complicated. It’s my personal opinion the Eades’s wrote the book the way they did to make a simple, EASY, quick way for people to get the hang of eating the Protein Power way.

    Stop trying to make it a graduate level course when it’s simple grade school lessons.

    sorry if that sounded harsh, it wasn’t meant to be so please PLEASE do not read it that way.

  37. After a few hiccups in the first week I think I have 6W just right for me. My only setback is the list of supplements that are listed in the book. I can’t find a multivitamin that has that strength of vitamins and minerals so I have been taking a general multivitamin caps, 400mg of Magnesium, 400mg of Potassium, CoQ10, and a calcium supplement. Of course I add the Leucine to the shake as well. My concern is that if I need more supplements than that the cost to me becomes a financial burden. Individually when you purchase them they don’t seem much but added all together it can become quite expensive especially when on a limited income.
    Can you list the essential supplements that I MUST include.

  38. Can’t find leucine locally by itself I guess will order online.
    a few of my trainers are saying I shouldn’t mix protein with the Bcaa
    as well as bcaa with no food(on a empty stomach)?????? what do you say/////

  39. It would have been much easier if they just said get 60g protein/shake if you weigh >180 lbs, etc. I have scoops from various protein powders I’ve used over the years and they range from 15cc to 96cc in volume, and for many brands 1 serving is not = 1 scoop, it is 2 or 3. And serving sizes vary wildly by brand; one brand says 1 serving = 12g another says 1 serving = 86g protein, so the statement that most powders have 18-22g/scoop does not jibe with what I’ve found. And judging from these boards, several people brought home powders that were a bit too high in carbs – they fit the <3g/scoop rule, but not the <3g per 60g protein implied target amount. Luckily I always take my calculator to the store so I can calculate the cost per gram of protein, since some brands cost 2-6X more per gram of protein than others. Excess protein may not be a health problem, but can certainly become a financial problem. I'm sure the Eades did NOT intend people to eat/spend 50-75% more just because their scoops happen to be larger. That's probably why MDE uses 1.5 and MRE 2.5 scoops.

  40. “Chainey, you are overthinking the entire process. A “scoop” refers to the scoop inside whatever jug of protein powder you have on hand.”

    I disagree. When I bought the powder, I scanned the “per serving” column (how could I know either the size of the scoop in the package before I’ve bought it or the size of an Eades scoop?) So, it’s impossible at that stage to know whether the powder meets the minimum requirements. Fortunately it does.

    “Stop trying to make it a graduate level course when it’s simple grade school lessons.”

    Hardly graduate level to know what the baseline quantity is for the most essential ingredient (the protein powder) in an unambiguous universal measure (e.g. grams or oz). Using “scoops” I was getting less that half my true requirement.

  41. Hi Dr E,
    Scoops, schmoops. It’s taken me a couple of weeks to source the right powder. The one I used in the first 1.5 weeks was expensive, came with a massive scoop (supposed to be 30g, but have my doubts and didn’t bother to weigh a scoopload on the kitchen scales) and though claiming to only have 2.5 g carb per scoop wasn’t working all that well despite claiming to be whey. And I was running out in a mere 3 days per jar (500 g).
    The Mrs was cranky about the money going up the blender (“Money: will it blend??”). Then I sourced a better, cheaper brand of whey with a reasonable sized scoop, 750 g lasts a week and all going well.
    Suddenly, on change of formula, everything started going into high gear. In 5 days, waist down 1.5 inch, l-sagital down 1 inch, same for l-sagital and weight down 5.5 lbs. Bravo. So going to continue phase one at least another week and see how we go. I have to go with the wife on a two day visit to Tasmania (no time for sight seeing, damn) and hope not to much up the dietary routine too much, and fingers crossed not halt progress.
    Another thing: I know my liver once upon a time was foie gras (I have the CAT scan to prove it — almost the whole thing infiltrated with fat) and for the last two nights I’ve been having a small but noticeable pain in my right side which I take as a good sign that I’m at last getting rid of more liver fat.
    So, slow start, which given the cost of the first brand of whey, I was most disappointed in you guys, but now that it’s starting to roar like a jet plane you guys are heros once again. Oh me of little faith!.

  42. Hi Dr Mike, I really enjoy reading your blog as your wife’s one.

    I know it has nothing to do with this post but i really need an advise from someone who is beyong that low fat mentality. See, My mom (40 Years old, 180 pounds) has been overweight for about 20 years now and she finally listened to me and started Low carb diet and has already lost 30 pounds in 2 months, still got 40 to go. She has recently been diagnosed with diabetes but with low carb it seems to be getting under control. Her Total colesterol profile is great, low LDL, low triglycerides, high HLD…. HOWEVER she is suffering from High blood preassure (she just check it for the first time but she says she has been having those symptoms without knowing the cause for several years), sometimes she reach 190 or so. She went to the Doctor and he prescribed Metformin Clorhidrate (850) along with low salt and he tried to recomend low fat but she told me he didnt insist much about it.

    Well, her blood preassure is not dropping at all and she is getting dizzy after the drug (im guessing her sugar is going too low). Do you have any recomendation for her blood preasure? It seems like all doctors don’t want to hear she is on Low Carb and they just keep sending antidiabetics meds.

    I hope you can give me some suggestions. Thanks a lot.

  43. Unusual side-affect; cause??
    After totally regaining my health 3 years ago using The Protein Power plan, I have recently slipped back into old habits, and am thrilled to be on new 6 week program to get my health back. One side-affect I experienced both while eating intervention and maintenance on PP plan, and am again now struggling with on 6 week plan is intensely cold extremities. While my body as a whole feels fantastic, working out again, sleeping great, tons of energy….my hands and feet feel like ice 24/7! I’m taking all the recommended supplements, eat plenty, work-out most days…. I’m stumped? If I do eat extra sugar/carbs the coldness does improve, but I feel sluggish and have all the other symptoms I’m trying to get rid of. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

  44. “And judging from these boards, several people brought home powders that were a bit too high in carbs – they fit the <3g/scoop rule, but not the <3g per 60g protein implied target amount."

    Where do the Drs. Eades imply that the protein powder should be <3g per 60g? I believe they wrote to find a protein powder that has 15-22g/scoop and 1-3g of carbs/scoop. Bigger folks then get more protein and carbs per shake (yes, this could mean 9g/shake–so?) Is this difficult?

    As for the expense, I think people are forgetting that the shakes are for TWO weeks. Yes, for those with more to lose, the Weeks 1-2 may repeat, but then I'd have to ask you about your priorities. What's the price of being overweight? And what's the price of protein powder vs. the price of a few dinners out? Or not having to buy another set of larger clothes? Would you complain about the cost of having to buy new, smaller clothes? I think not.

  45. deceptive use of studies to mislead yet again, here is the title in Science Daily:

    “A High Fat Diet During Pregnancy Can Lead To Severe Liver Disease In Offspring”

    actual study which was done on mice (not mentioned in article) abstract here:

    Maternal high-fat feeding primes steatohepatitis in adult mice offspring, involving mitochondrial dysfunction and altered lipogenesis gene expression

    http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/fulltext/122539606/HTMLSTART

    a quick look at the animal model shows the cracks:

    Female C57 BL6J mice (n = 20), were maintained under controlled conditions and randomly assigned to either:

    HF diet (HF; 45% kcal fat, 20% kcal protein, 35% kcal carbohydrate)

    or

    Standard chow diet (C; 21% kcal fat, 17% kcal protein, 63% kcal carbohydrate)

  46. I did my third session of my slow motion workout last night. I can tell this is going to be a big time change as it gets harder and higher up in weights! I am so sore right now, I’m getting up every five minutes just to move and make it all feel better. I made yesterday a whey day to keep it simple, since I had asked Fred Hahn what the best thing was to eat before and after the session and he answered that a whey powder shake is the most muscle building.

    I’ve lost an additional inch each from my waist and my hips for a total of four from each! This is the fastest reduction I’ve ever had! I don’t even care about the weight loss, I’ll be getting my yearly checkup at the end of this month, and will then compare the weight loss to last year’s weight. This is good enough for me.

    When I did a high carb, low fat diet under the supervision of a personal trainer years ago, I managed to lose one inch in nearly two months of workouts and diet. I was very very frustrated and I think the trainer thought I was cheating. There nothing more discouraging than following the rules and getting very poor results.

    Right now, not only is my abdomen shrinking, but so is my back pudge, and really fast. This is really unexpected to be getting a smooth back so soon as I expected to need a lot more sessions in strength training and a lot more weight loss to get results. I am so happy I made the decision to start the slow burn as quickly as possible. In conjunction with the 6WC, it’s practically miraculous.

  47. Elenor: Hi, thanks a lot for your comments !! I agree with you about the right formula for weight loss like you said: High-fat, moderate protein and low-carb intake. However i have a very slow metabolism, and i have to evade eating higher in fat because fats have the double amount of calories than protein. I know that fats have very little effect on increasing insulin-levels. However at the end of the day the amount of food and calories we eat has an impact. So we must also control the amount of calories we eat in the day, which doesn’t mean that we are totally free to drink a whole bottle of whip-cream, to eat a whole stick of butter, or a whole can of coconut-milk. So you also have to control how many calories you take in.

    Thanks, have a nice day 🙂

    .

  48. JC might be many things but genius is one epithet i would not ascribe..despite hi being a Yorkshire lad from “Donny” !

  49. Dr. Eades, a couple of questions:

    1) What is the reason to force the 3 shakes down, when you’re not hungry?

    2) With 3 scoops of protein powder, an ounce of cream, and an egg, this brings each shake to 500 calories. With 3 shakes a day and a meal, this takes me near my estimated burn of 2200 calories per day. Do you think progress ‘can’ still be made on such a large number of calories?

    Thanks for everything you’ve shown me over the years…

  50. Dear Snowdog … why are you putting an egg in every shake? You obviously did NOT read the book or didn’t read Dr. Mike’s above post! Use an egg ONLY if you are not eating red meat and only one egg per day.

  51. Quote: “Dear Snowdog … why are you putting an egg in every shake? You obviously did NOT read the book …”

    It amazes me that people will take others to task for not reading something they haven’t checked themselves.

    Here is the text from page 117 (my italics):

    “If [you’re avoiding red meat or eggs for misguided reasons] we encourage you to add a single raw egg (or just the yolk) to at least one shake a day. Even if you eat cooked eggs, you may still want to supplement your shakes [plural] with an egg ….”

    The above is both preceded by and followed by liberal praise for the virtues of cholesterol, especially unoxidized cholesterol, as found in raw eggs. So, since most of us don’t memorize what we read word for word, but rather take away the essential sense of what we read, it’s quite reasonable that people would inadvertently take away the message that an egg in every shake is an acceptable variation.

    Now, Dr Eades has since clarified his position in the comments, but not everyone reads every other comment before posting his own, and in fact it’s impossible to know what other comments awaiting moderation will later appear with your own (seeming to precede it, but actually having been unknown to you as you typed yours).

  52. I’m a low carber who has dropped to about 13% body fat, measured, in the past year from a weight of near 240. I’ve gotten used to boring meals and while sometimes I can find a low carb meal which is delicious, each meal is just generally so-so. But I am enjoying so many things with my leaner body that I have no intention of going back to eating the trash I was eating before. If I had only known sooner…

    One of the things I now enjoy, and am trying to learn, is the art of body building. I am a rank amateur, and don’t have any muscle yet, but I have been lifting weights about a year, and am thinking of trying to start building muscle, which requires eating about 3000 calories per day, But before I try to build muscle, I want to see if I can learn how to go on cutting diets, to get my body fat below 10%, since the low carb diet will not take me below my current weight. A cutting diet generally follows these rules:

    1) You must run a calorie deficit of close to, but no more than, 500 calories per day.
    2) You must eat an ample amount of protein, calculated to be about 180gs for me. (That’s 3 protein shakes)
    3) You must continue your daily workout.

    So, it seems that Dr. Eades’ six week diet would be a great cutting diet, but before I start in earnest, I’d like to know some of the logic behind it. Does the fat loss occur primarily because of a calorie deficit, or does it occur primarily because of the high protein content — or both? My life is such that I am not able to completely follow a strict regimen, every day. One big meal can bring me to up to about 1000 calories, at times, and I’m curious if I should try to reduce my protein shakes on those days, or continue with the third shake, which could take me above a calorie deficit. There are also times when I really do not feel like eating, and my gut reaction is to avoid food if I’m trying to lose weight, and I’m not hungry. So, I’m really just curious as to some of the thoughts behind the science of the diet. Namely: can I reduce calories by eliminating a protein shake on some days, and: if I follow the diet to the letter, and run a calorie surplus, will it still be effective?

    What I’ll do is just try it and see. But I can tell, from someone who is already bored with his diet, that I’m now headed into uncharted territory. 🙂

  53. @Mary, might investigate whether your mom might have sleep apnea. The nightly oxygen deprivation from collapsed (or partly collapsed airways) causes episodic hypertension (brains panics from oxygen too low & floods the body with stress hormones), so much pressure that the body dumps fluid (gotta pee often at night) to reduce the high pressure. If this goes on long enough, it results in hypertension all the time…hypertension that is resistant to drugs. Read this report http://eon.businesswire.com/portal/site/eon/permalink/?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20090622005507&newsLang=en on the use of an angiotension receptor blocker which are very effective at treating hypertension caused by oxygen deprivation (sleep apnea).

    Might ask doc if low potassium might be causing those symptoms. The small cans (5.5 oz) of low-sodium V8 contain 570 mg of potassium for just 6 gms of carb (add some lime juice, which mimics the taste of salt, until taste buds adjust to low sodium foods).

  54. Hi Mary, [12. October 2009, 20:22]

    The Eades discuss meds and salt a number of times in the 6WC. The conventional solution to any symptoms like your mother’s is to push meds and suggest a low fat diet. Most physicians are scared that if they don’t follow the crowd, they can get sued, even if the evidence doesn’t support the favored dogma. Things are improving and there are a number of low-carb physicians. Unfortunately, it may be difficult to find one in your area but a first step is to look at the list on Jimmy Moore’s Website : http://lowcarbdoctors.blogspot.com/
    And then you have to ask them are they truly low-carb. Some of these are not low-carb physicians (eg, the one and only listed for Minnesota is not. He puts his patients on Optifast to help them lose weight!). I’m not sure why he is still on the list and haven’t checked any others. You can also contact Bariatric physicians because some of these do use low-carb (rather than recommending surgery as the only option.

    One thing that really struck me about your mother’s symptoms, is the dizziness. I am a scientist, not a physician so you do need to find an understanding physician. However, I know that the Eades and many others suggest taking 4 potassium tablets per day to balance the loss of salt when on a low carb diet and I found this did stop my dizziness. I also salt my food for the same reason. The sodium (in the salt) and potassium are regulated in tandem and both can be lost with a low-carb diet but it’s probably the potassium that’s the problem. I haven’t time right now to check the 6 Week Cure to see what the Eades say but it would be well worth your while do do say…… as well as finding a physician who can assess your mother’s health. It’s obvious that she’s on the right track since her lipid profile is so good. The low carb diet should be improving her blood pressure…. it may be her meds, another hormonal problem.

    And people who maintain a low-carb lifestyle can get control of their diabetes( type 2) and get off Metformin …… ,

  55. Hi Docs, an update. 25th day of having a high-protein (50 gm protein) shake for b’fast; have now broken my wt loss stall since last Feb by losing 9 pounds…yeah for me! Also started Iodoral (12.5 mg) at the same time so that’s likely a co-factor. Doc finally started me on levothyroxin (25 mcg) as TSH now 5.5 with normal levels (mid-range) free T4 & T3…after nearly a yr at 4+ and me bitching at every visit that my thyroid was wonky — almost 3 wks now (hope my hair comes back thicker ya can see my scalp *sigh*, ‘fraid my outer eyebrows are gone forever)…also likely a co-factor. Fasting BGs now down to 105-110 (’bout 10 pt drop) & my averages are dropping too; seldom rise after a shake, only when I add 100% ground cacao…*sigh* that’s out. Evenings when I’m hungry (twice/wk or so), I have a shake (25 gm protein) which stops the hungries. While not the 6WC, the shakes are working and given my size an easy way to get all the protein I’m supposed to eat (surprise, I really do need all the protine to lose!). Not ready to try 3 shakes+1 meal as I take Maxzide (12.5 mg) & haven’t a pressure monitor; (waaaay too soon to even consider reducing metformin ER 1500 mg but now I see that in my future). So far so good and I’m happy with the slow consistent loss, hoping my skin will tighten up so I don’t end up needing plastic surgery as my excess wt shrinks (lots more to lose, 55#s gone now). Not sure how long to continue the Iodoral or when to halve the dose…don’t eat much fish (processed in China makes me shudder), so need to investigate that…suggestions?

    The only thing I’ve had to do is add 500-1000 mgs L-lysine/day to stop the re-activation of the cold sores (herpes) from the increased arginine in the shakes…haven’t had an outbreak in 3 yrs, sure was a shock, checked the BCAAs and never thought to check the lysine:arginine ratio….minor issue easily resolved with a couple of capsules. Just did the VAT-SAT measurements a few nights ago…numbers were so depressing…glad I’d already lost some before measuring and it was mid-body wt loss too *G*! Carbs…sometimes I add 4 gms strawberries for variety (rest of the time make with decaff coffee), lunch carbs 1/2 c tomatoes or cup of celery or 6 ozs low-sodium V8 (7 gms), dinner carbs maybe 7-12 gms, snacks are 0-4 gms. For a once a wk treat, 3-4 healthy-fat potato chips or 5-6 Blue Diamond almond crackers.

    Thanks docs for doing the reseach and writing the book; as I continue to lose, one day I hope to be able to stop the drugs and then do the 6WC without as you said in the bk becoming intimately acquainted with my floor *G*!

  56. In 6 Weeks on page 110 on the supplemental nutrients for the first two weeks the RDI for Biotin is listed
    as 3000 mcg when I believe the correct dosage is 300mcg. Must be a typo.

  57. On your planned 6WC site I would love to see a formulaic statement of the 6WC stages based on calculations you provided in PP. eg, stage 1 total daily protein requirement is X times your *calculated minimum protein requirement in grams* split over 3 meals & 1 snack, 2 of which are protein shakes. And total daily carbohydrate is less than or equal to Xgm carbs from an allowable food list. With Xgm fat from an allowable list. Etc. Precise *framework* is why I am such a big fan of PP and always recommend it.

  58. Hello!

    For the past 5 weeks, I have been following the new plan in “6 week Cure for the Middle-Aged Middle.” I had my cholesterol checked about a year ago and it was marginal (198 with a 80+ Good cholesterol ratio, but I eat lots of nuts, good oils, etc.) I have never been concerned about my cholesterol in the past.

    Three weeks ago, i went to donate blood, just as the you recommend in your book. I fasted before the draw, and drank caffeine to help the detox of the liver. I just got a note in the mail from the donor place saying that my cholesterol was 302! (No breakdown on HDL/LDL included).

    My feeling is that this high number is an aberration and that it actually SHOWS that the release of the fatty lipids from the liver is working. I could be totally wrong, but that is what I have concluded.

    What do you think? Have you seen this kind of huge jump before with the plan?

    Sophie in CA

  59. I am using Firefox and cannot see the answers to the questions on the blog. Can you tell me how I can fix this? Thanks so much. BTW, I am on my first day of the 6WC and am so excited! Suzi

  60. @Michael Richards. This seppo’s never heard of those guys or that show. Some ideas are just so obvious, you know, like a sous-vide machine for the home kitchen, a blender hooked up to a v8 engine.. it’s amazing nobody thought of them sooner.

  61. Hey guys, thanks a lot for the suggestions.

    It doens’t seem to be related to apnea, but cheking the other posibilities. I’m gonna try to get the book asap and see what can i get related to the problem.

    I’ve read a lot about potasium and magnesium supplementation so i may try suggesting her to start with it. Let’s see what we can do.

  62. Thanks for your answer to my last question on what happens to the toxins released from the liver during the two shake weeks.

    I am now on the next to last day of the 6WC and am down 8 pounds with 6 to go. That’s great results for a 76 year old woman who has been low carbing the Eades way for a number of years but had 20 pounds to lose. The 6WC has broken my year long stall. thanks so much.

    Is it too late to donate blood now? Has my liver shoved the toxins back into new fat cells by now?

  63. I’m having good and bad days and I want to talk about it. I am on week 2, day 2.

    I would really like a forum for people who are on the diet. Maybe someone will create a ning site. I could check the forum on lowcarb.about.com and see if there is a thread over there (or maybe start one…)

    I’m interested in savory shake ideas. I haven’t tried it yet, but I’m thinking or using plain protein powder, powdered green food supplement, fresh cilantro, parsely, green onions and either homemade broth or green tea for the water. I also have tomato powder from the Spice House that I’m itching to use in a recipe. Maybe a pesto-inspired smoothie. I have read that cilantro is great for detoxing heavy metals.
    Valerie

  64. I am really excited reading all the posts. I admit I haven’t had time to read the entire 6 week cure book. Looking at the above posts and the internet I am wondering which is the better way for me to lose about 80 pounds – Protein Power or the 6 week cure?

  65. I just wanted to thank you for the 6 week cure. Prior to following the diet back in February, I had been menorrhagiac for over 3 months straight. I was severely anemic and tests showed that my hormone levels were somewhat wonky (high estrogen) but a pelvic ultrasound didn’t show any abnormalities. Within 3 days of following the diet, the menorrhagia stopped and everything has been normal ever since (over 3 months now) despite going off the diet and to a moderate low carb WOE. The only modification I made was eating about 2 TBS of blackstrap molasses every day (high in iron). I know molasses is not low carb, but I lost 5 pounds in my first week and I didn’t really want to lose faster than that anyway.

    What I was wondering was, since I am still low in my iron stores, and therefore can’t give blood – if it is possible that if I followed the diet for a week or two every month in the time prior to the onset of menses, if this would be beneficial and approximate the benefits that giving blood does?

    Thanks again, I just can’t believe that it was a coincidence.

  66. I am having problems with the shakes, too. I am either constipated or get bad diarrhea. I’ve been a shake drinker for ages now, and before the 6 week cure I was drinking one for breakfast every day. 3 per day is excellent and wish I could do that all the time.

    However, regarding the egg, I add an egg to each shake because without it, the shake does not fill me up. I am hungry again in an hour. And yes, I follow the recipe to a tee, using protein powders that I have used in the past, that do not upset my stomach in any way or create such irregularities.

    By the way, I lost three pounds in the first four days.

  67. Hello!

    I would like to add that you need to read labels carefully. Stay away from anything with hydrogenated oils (trans fats). Beware that products are allowed to say “0 Trans Fats per serving” if they are below a certain percentage. But if the ingredients say “hydgrogenated” then know that you are getting trans fats. Stay away from too much saturated fats. And look for items that are high in fiber. That would be great first step.

    Aleks

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