Dr. Diana Schwarzbein is the endocrinologist to the stars. The doctor of choice for Suzanne Somers, Larry Hagman and many others, Schwarzbein encourages extensive testing for hormonal imbalances and then suggests various diet and exercise programs and selective hormone replacement to treat any deficiencies.
Dr. Schwarzbein’s diet principles are laid out in The Schwarzbein Principle, her 5-step plan to optimal health.
The first step of the program is Healthy Nutrition and there are ten basic rules:
1. Never skip a meal again
2. Eat real, unprocessed foods
3. Eat balanced meals
4. Choose a protein as the main nutrient in your meal
5. Add some healthy fats
6. Add real carbohydrates
7. Add non-starchy vegetables
8. Eat snacks
9. Eat solid food
10. Drink enough water
The second step of the program is Stress Management:
1. Make downtime a daily practice
2. Put your life in perspective
3. Keep track of stress signals
4. Get enough sleep.
Third, avoid all toxic chemicals including:
1. Nicotine
2. Alcohol
3. Refined sugar
4. Artificial sweeteners
5. Illegal drugs
6. MSG, additives & preservatives
7. Fake fats and fat blockers
8. Caffeine
9. Certain prescription drugs
Fourth, practice cardio, resistance and flexibility/relaxing exercises.
And finally, the fifth step to optimal health is taking hormone replacement therapy as needed.
Somersizing
Suzanne Somers first introduced “Somersizing” in Suzanne Somers Eat Great, Lose Weight in 1992. Somersizing is a way of eating in which you cut sugar and “funky foods” and eat plenty of fats, proteins and good carbs like vegetables and fruit. Foods must be combined in certain ways so that the body easily digests them. Dieters Somersize in two steps, the first (Level One) to lose weight and induce “the melt” of fat and the second (Level Two) for ongoing maintenance of their ideal weight.
Somers separates foods into four Somersizing food groups: Proteins/Fat, Veggies, Carbos, and Fruit. She suggests that fruit be eaten on an empty stomach. Proteins/Fat includes meat, dish, eggs, natural oils, butter, cream and cheese. Veggies include low starch fresh vegetables. Carbos covers whole-grain breads, pastas and cereals and non-fat dairy products.
She lists “Seven Easy Steps to Somersizing”:
1 Eliminate all Funky Food.
2 East fruit alone, on an empty stomach: 20 minutes before a Carbos meal, 1 hour before a Pro/Fats meal and at least 2 hours before the last meal of the day.
3 Eat Pro/Fats with Veggies.
4 Eat Carbos with Veggies.
5 Keep Pro/Fats and Carbos separate.
6 Wait 3 hours between meals if switching from Pro/Fats to Carbos or vice versa.
7 Eat at least 3 meals a day and do not skip meals.
Funky Foods include:
White Sugar Brown Sugar Raw Sugar Corn Syrup Sucrose Molasses Honey Maple Syrup Beets Carrots Acorn Squash Bananas Butternut Squash Corn Potatoes Parsnips Pumpkin Sweet Potatoes White Flour White Rice
Yams Hubbard Squash Avocados Coconuts Liver Low-Fat Milk Whole Milk Nuts Olives Soy Beer Caffeine Tea Caffeine Soda Cocoa Coffee Hard Alcohol Wine
All of the foods on the Funky Foods list must be avoided during the first phase of the diet (Level One) but some can be reintroduced in moderation during the maintenance phase (Level Two). Somers sells her own brand of artificial sweetener called “SomerSweet”. All of her books include recipes for meals, snacks and desserts.