The New Complete Book of Food

 The New Complete Book of Food

The Step I diet provides no more than 30 percent of total daily calories from fat, no

more than 10 percent of total daily calories from saturated fat, and no more than 300 mg

of cholesterol per day. It is designed for healthy people whose cholesterol is in the range of

200–239 mg/dL.

The Step II diet provides 25–35 percent of total calories from fat, less than 7 percent

of total calories from saturated fat, up to 10 percent of total calories from polyunsaturated

fat, up to 20 percent of total calories from monounsaturated fat, and less than 300 mg cho-

lesterol per day. This stricter regimen is designed for people who have one or more of the

following conditions:

Existing cardiovascular disease

High levels of low-density lipoproteins (LDLs, or “bad” cholesterol) or low

levels of high-density lipoproteins (HDLs, or “good” cholesterol)

Obesity

Type 1 diabetes (insulin-dependent diabetes, or diabetes mellitus)

Metabolic syndrome, a.k.a. insulin resistance syndrome, a cluster of risk fac-

tors that includes type 2 diabetes (non-insulin-dependent diabetes)

Food-borne illness. Improperly cooked meat contaminated with E. coli O157:H7 has been

linked to a number of fatalities in several parts of the United States. In addition, meat con-

taminated with other bacteria, viruses, or parasites poses special problems for people with a

weakened immune system: the very young, the very old, cancer chemotherapy patients, and

people with HIV. Cooking meat to an internal temperature of 140°F should destroy Salmo-

nella and Campylobacter jejuni; to 165°F, E. coli, and to 212°F, Listeria monocytogenes.

Decline in kidney function. Proteins are nitrogen compounds. When metabolized, they yield

ammonia that is excreted through the kidneys. In laboratory animals, a sustained high-pro-

tein diet increases the flow of blood through the kidneys, accelerating the natural age-related

decline in kidney function. Some experts suggest that this may also occur in human beings.

Food/Drug Interactions

Monoamine oxidase (MAO) inhibitors. Meat “tenderized” with papaya or a papain powder

can interact with the class of antidepressant drugs known as monoamine oxidase inhibi-

tors. Papain meat tenderizers work by breaking up the long chains of protein molecules.

One by-product of this process is tyramine, a substance that constructs blood vessels and

raises blood pressure. MAO inhibitors inactivate naturally occurring enzymes in your body

that metabolize tyramine. If you eat a food such as papain-tenderized meat, which is high

in tyramine, while you are taking an MAO inhibitor, you cannot effectively eliminate the

tyramine from your body. The result may be a hypertensive crisis.

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