What is the “No-No Diet?”

And How Can Just About Anybody Lose Weight?

Dr. Franlin Wefald didn’t invent the “No-no Diet” but he did name it. Based upon years of helping people manage diabetes, heart conditions and obesity, Wefald figures if you can cut down on a short list of foods, you’ll be healthier and lose weight. But it’s still okay to occasionally cheat.

From Heart Health Radio, Episode 143:

Dave Alexander: So, the question is, what should I eat this week and what should I stay away from? You’ve titled your advice the “No-No Diet” because there is a series of things I should stay away from.
What are they?

Dr. Frank Wefald: White flour products, sugar products, white potato products and white rice.

Dr. Wefald: What I’m trying to say is our diets are composed of such high amounts now of these products and so what they do is they have broken down these…white flour is just a series of sugar molecules linked together. You know what high fructose corn syrup is?

Dave Alexander: Sugar.

Dr. Frank Wefald: Well yeah, but where do they get it? They take it from corn. It’s not sweet corn, it’s just corn. They purify these goos of long chains of sugar that come from the corn. They break it down enzymatically. They have these little proteins that break it down into simple fructose and sucrose. That’s why it’s sweet but it’s not naturally sweet. It’s broken down by enzymes.

So, the same thing happens in your body. You take white flour and the bacteria in your body breaks it down into a simple sugar. That simple sugar is used to power the energy in your brain and other parts of your body but what’s left over is stored as fat so that when there’s a famine you will have fat stores that can supply your body with energy.

…it’s hard to imagine that if you are eating a huge pot of pasta you’re eating 26 teaspoons of sugar…

Dr. Franklin Wefald

Eat the Egg but Throw Away the Biscuit

Dr. Frank Wefald: What I do with the No-No Diet is make it simple. Instead of saying “you need to cut back on your intake of simple carbohydrates.” I name them. So, biscuits. In America, in the
south, everybody loves a breakfast biscuit.

So, eat the egg and the bacon but throw away the biscuit. The problem is the biscuit is so good. The French fry, oh my gosh, French fries are ubiquitous. Cut back, it’s a no-no. Anything, Pringles, I say that because I love Pringles. In the afternoon at 4:00 I will grab a mouth full and then I’m powered up and I can go again. That’s your sugar high that comes from a Pringle.

I have sugar equivalents so a piece of bread is 5 teaspoons of pure sugar, equivalent to your body. So, if your French, part of the No-No Diet would be the baguettes, the croissant. So, I try to make it simple. I name the foods, white bread, white bread buns. Now they say “what should I eat”, whole grain bread. Whole grain bread is wonderful. Those little bits in there, that means it’s got the husk and the husk is good for you, it’s fiber, it prevents being broken down into simple sugars.

Dave Alexander: But you want me to probably look at the ingredients to make sure it’s just not white bread with a little bit of brown in there and covered with nuts.

Dr. Frank Wefald: Like granola. Granola is horrible. Why? It’s made of molasses and honey. That’s sugar. Pasta is a big one. And I’m telling ya, when I say white bread you should be a no-no on and I say pasta you should be a no-no on, the look of abject depression comes on these patient’s faces because they love bread and white bread in particular and they love pasta.

Now, am I saying “no-no” so that you’re never going to do it? Well if you follow this plan you’re going to lose weight fast and your cholesterol is going to come down fast and your sugars are going to be cured.

Now the interesting thing is they say “what’s a diabetic diet”?

The No-No Diet is a diabetic diet because diabetics, and I’m talking about Type 2 diabetics and not Type 1’s who have no insulin. That’s a whole other topic. Those are the kids and young adults that need insulin. But if you have Type 2 diabetes, you should be on the No-No Diet. The reason is because your insulin is not efficient, it’s not produced in your body enough and it’s not working well enough.

Good Carbs vs. Bad Carbs

From Heart Health Radio, Episode 49:

What are good carbs? Broccoli, cauliflower, those are what we call complex carbohydrates. They produce, when they are digested you get fiber. You get vitamins and nutrients. The ingredients or what makes up a cauliflower is not broken down into a simple sugar.

So, what are the bad carbs? The bad carbs are products made out of white flour, made out of sugar, made out of white potatoes and white rice. The reason is that when they get into your system your digestive tract, the bacteria and your own enzymes break these compounds down into a sugar molecule.

So, a slice of white bread is equivalent to eating 5 teaspoons of sugar. Now it’s not that hard to imagine that eating all that sugar would be bad for you but it’s hard to imagine that if you are eating a huge pot of pasta you’re eating 26 teaspoons of sugar and that’s what you’re doing.