I certainly don't believe Pennington or Anchell chose randomly ten carb under 25 carbs for the carb food list--otherwise the caveat that it's got to be blueberries or raspberries, but not strawberries; or watermelon, but not cantaloupe is meaningless. It's pear, but not apple. The allowed foods are too specific to be random or haphazard. Lowcarbezine June 2002 issue says:
"Dr. Anchell states that even the slightest substitution --cantaloupe instead of watermelon, or strawberries instead of raspberries--will cause the diet to fail. However, he also says that in 40-plus years of medical practice he has never seen his diet fail so long as it is followed to the letter."... "The theory is that people who fatten easily have trouble processing a chemical called pyruvate and that rising pyruvate levels interfere with fat burning."

Anchell did not choose the foods -- THIS IS PENNINGTON'S DIET -- ANCHELL CLEARLY STATES THIS IN HIS BOOK. Read ANCHELL'S BOOK AND the link to the PENNINGTON PAPER -- read it -- I gave a DIRECT QUOTE from the paper by Pennington that can certainly be interpretted that the foods were chosen because ordinary portions yeild approximately 20 grams of carb and that dieters need to be told exactly what to eat. That is why I also posted that perhaps we could get a link or copy of another paper by Pennington published in 1951 which is when he started using those foods. It's cited at footnote 28 but I did a Del. Medical Journal search and couldn't find archives that old published on the 'net. Read the direct quote I gave in my earlier posting. In addition, the paper specifically says that some people need to eat less than 60 grams of carb to lose -- that's certainly true, I am one of them. On the paleofood.com list -- the Anchell Diet came up and several posters researched pyruvic acid content of various foods and one even contacted Anchell himself -- some on Pennington's list actually contain more pyruvate than others not on the list. Anchell admitted to the paleofood.com poster that he had NO IDEA why the Pennington foods worked better than others -- but that he has confirmed this in his own practice. Anchell told the paleofood.com poster just what he wrote in the book -- that with his patients, losing ceases or is not as fast if substitutions in foods are made. But plenty of people successfully restrict carbs and eat greens, NOT potato and banana or grapes etc. I know this diet seems to work miracles for SOME people, but not all. I'm curious what would happen to a type 2 diabetic's blood sugar readings if he or she ate fruit 3 times per day. Anchell writes of a type 1 who successfully followed the plan until his doctor told him to get off it. Anyway, several years ago I followed it to the letter for a week and did not lose -- just felt bloated and hungry because I cannot handle concentrated sugars such as in potato or banana. To restrict to only lower carb Pennington fruits would be to restrict even further a terribly restrictive diet. If some can do this and feel great/succeed in fat loss -- more power to them. I couldn't. But if one is not a type 2 diabetic and truly enjoys the "allowed" vegetables which are really on potato or sweet potato and assorted fruits -- go for it. You may have success. One thing I pointed out before is that I did NOT restrict salt because Anchell's book claims one doesnt' necessarily have to. BUT PENNINGTON SAYS OTHERWISE -- NOT A DROP OF SALT. So maybe in my case, that made a difference. But I exercixe vigorously (SWEAT) and use sauna -- so I must replenish salt...

I would like to establish gram weight values for the ten allowed carbohydrates on Anchell’s meat diet. On the non-modified meat diet, portions are to be “ordinary.” Sprinkled throughout the middle of the book are several more clues for some of the items:

Blueberries: 3/4 cup frozen (p. 112)
Grapes: small bunch (p. 63), one pound is too much (p. 66), moderate sized cluster (p.105), one-cup (p.107)
Grapefruit: ½ medium (p. 103)
Pear: medium (p. 104)
White potato: medium serving of French fries (p.103), moderate size serving of hashed-browns (p.104), one medium (p.106)
Sweet potato: medium (p.106 and referred to as “tantalizing”)
Watermelon: “piece about the size of this book [8-1/2 x 5-1/2 x ½ inches] is more than enough” (p. 107)

Nothing further for bananas, rice, and raspberries.

On the modified meat diet, he prescribes “small-to-moderate portions, about equal to an ice-cream scoopful,” which the USDA treats as one half a cup.

An eleventh item, the juice of one half a lemon in water, is allowed with your 2-3 meals a day. So using the USDA, that gives us 23.5 grams per half lemon.

There's a lot to be said about the magic of restricting food choices down to just a few. The more choices you have, the more you eat, or at least that is what the M&M experiment shows.

My problem with very restrictive diets is I reach a point where I just can't hack it any longer.

You're not the only one. I was just logging on to say I ate an egg! Yes, it's only my third day, but I ate some bacon and blueberries for breakfast and then found myself haunting the kitchen looking for something else to eat. I also must admit that I was hanging on, holding out for dinner by sheer force of will yesterday. I ate as much meat as I could for lunch, followed by a couple of chunks of watermelon. I felt very energetic, but was starving by 3pm. It felt familiar, that "I can wait for dinner, I'm not really hungry" attitude, and then I remembered I used to feel that way every day when I was losing weight on Deal-A-Meal, back in the early 90's. Yuck.

I will have to try to find a balance between Atkins and Anchell, though, because I slept well the last three nights for the first time in a long time, without my usual pounding heart and nightmares. I think I need that small portion of potato in the evening for some reason.

Hey, that happens to me too. If I eat too many carbs I have nightmares and wake up with my heart pounding. Ugh!

I get it if I eat too few carbs. How weird is that?

Potato is high in potassium which relaxes the muscles, the arteries, calms the heart. We all know how high carb can have a soporific effect too.

I empathize because on meat and egg only I can only get 5 hrs of sleep. On the four or so days I did Anchell I slept deeply and restfully. A misadventure with biscotti on Wed. made my heart feel like it was pounding erratically that night.

PALEOWOMAN--THIS IS PENNINGTON'S DIET, AS ANCHELL STATES CLEARLY IN HIS BOOK.
So why is this called The Anchell Diet thread?
If you are going to get mad, direct it to the name of this thread. We do realize that Pennington is the originator.

Hey, Santabarb, how is your husband doing? Is he still on the plan?

A big part of the frustration here seems to stem from A.W. Pennington being a true researcher (not a populizer), who appears to have published his scientific findings for four years exclusively in top notch, serious journals for clinicians. Then, after 12 scientific articles, written from 1951-1955, cited on PubMed, the trail vanishes. He may well have written more, but the internet alone is insufficient for tracking them down.

Meanwhile, Melvin Anchell M.D., psychiatrist, popularizes Pennington's diet in two books that I know of How I lost 36,000 Pounds, and The Steak Lover's Diet. It seems that Pennington did not really market his discoveries, so they sit imprisoned in obscure tomes in basement of large, old libraries gathering dust. He was the brilliant one, no doubt about it. But since it is so difficult to find his actual words to refer to (other than the article downloaded earlier), we must of necessity refer to words of the populizer who put it in paperbacks, Anchell.

The only way around this is to call all low carbing (whether Pennington, Atkins or Eades) 'Banting,' as they did in the nineteenth century and leave it at that. However, I doubt that will catch on, since we have the accepted term 'low carb.' In any case, we have the odd fact that in the case of Pennington it is not even low carb due to those pesky high glycemic potatoes, bananas and rice.

Since Pennington recommends a mere 30 minute walk before breakfast for exercise, sodium depletion would not have been an issue. It was not really the custom to exercise to the point of sweating. Those using gyms back then would have been a very few hardcore bodybuilder types like Mr. Atlas and some college athletes.

He was until he stepped on a plane. He plans to get back into it on Monday. Likes the ample portions of greasy meat, buttery potatoes, lack of guesswork.

There are differences between Anchell and Pennington.

I don't think the word ketosis appears in Anchell. If you're not losing weight on his diet, it's because you weighed yourself incorrectly or you had a stick of gum. If you're not losing fast enough, then you can skip a meal or cut portion size.

Anchell's weekly menu is not 50-60 carbs a day.

Pennington strictly forbids salts. Anchell allows and praises salt (perhaps Anchell likes salt).

Pennington strictly forbids alcohol. Anchell allows it

Pennington lists "slice of melon". Surely he is referring to cantaloupe. Anchell lists watermelon.

Pennington is getting his DuPont executives to about 2800-3000 calories a day with a calorie composition of about 50-60% animal fat and, what I suspect is crucial, about 150g of protein. Anchell is not clear or consistent about the protein level or animal fat percentages (p. 112: "Can I eat too little? No; but don't starve yourself.")

Anchell claims that anyfood not on his meat diet or modified meat diet is harmful to humans in some way. Pennington does not make that astounding claim.

Anchell claims that this diet must be followed for life. Pennington does not make that claim.

Pennington asks his patients to not sleep over 8 hours a day and to take a thirty-minute walk before breakfast. Anchell does not.

Anchell implies that humans are carnivorous. Pennington does not.

Besides Dr Melvin Anchell himself, does anyone know of anybody else that has restricted his or her lifetime diet to these 10 carboydrates, fresh meats, eggs, cheese, water, lemon-water, and dry spirits?

A recent pro meat and salt report


http://www.medpagetoday.com/Endocrinology/AACE/tb/3196

The phrase,' "These were free range humans who could consume as much as they liked," he said.' made my day. I had never quite thought of my life that way.
Thanks, Seamus, for providing this excellent article.