Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 6, Number 11, 1 November 1989 — ʻAi Pono, E Ola [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]
ʻAi Pono, E Ola
By Terry Shintani, M.D.
Losing weight the Wai'anae diet way
Lose weight without being hungry? One of the startling eonelusions of the Wai'anae Diet Program is that this ean be done 1hrough eating practices that our kupuna knew hundreds of years ago. And it ean be done with foods that most Hawaiians know.
The Wai anae Diet Program sponsored by the Wai'anae Coast Comprehensive Health Center and the Wai'anae Coast community ended on Oct. 8. In this program, 20 Hawaiians were placed on the traditional "pre-Western" Hawaiian diet for 21 days. The program has yielded a wealth of information about the health value of the diet. In this article I will discuss weight loss in the program and some of the reasons for these results. As we predicted, there was significant weight loss in this program. Early drawings and writings about Hawaiians indicate that the average Hawaiian was slim. When the Wai'anae Diet Program returned the participants to a traditional Hawaiian diet, there was an average weight loss of over 15 lbs. over the three week period. Mueh of the weight loss occurred in the first week. This suggests that some of the weight loss was due to water loss whieh was induced by the low sodium content of the diet. However, the bulk of the weight loss was real, due to the nahonal decrease in caloric intake by the participants despite our encouragement to take extra food if they were hungry. The low caloric intake was likely due to the fact that traditional Hawaiian food is centered around kalo (taro) and poi. Kalo and poiarestarchyfoods. There wasatime that people thought that starch was what made people fat. But evidence indicates that the opposite is true. Consider the following facts. Dietary fat contains nine calories per gram (the Wai'anae Diet was very low in fat). Protein and carbohydrates contain about four calories per gram. Carbohydrates are found in the form of sugars or complex carbohydrates. Complex carbohydrates are better known as starches. In the form of starches that we normally eat such as rice, pasta, and kalo (taro), carbohydrates are between 1 to 0.6 calories per gram. Put in everyday terms, if an average man ate just poi, he would have to eat nearly nine pounds of poi (about 2500 calories) every day just to keep from losing weight! Most people would lose weight eating this way because they would be tired of eating before they could get enough calories. Indeed, this is what happened in
the program. In fact, one participant complained, "I wanted to eat more but I couldn't because I was full." Another surprising fact to consider is that calorie for calorie, starch calories are less fattening than fat or oil calories. Biochemical studies show that in order for starch to be converted to body fat, about 23 percent of the calories in the starch is burned in the conversion. This means only 77
percent of the calories ean show up in your waist or hips. Fats or oils burn only 3 percent of their calories to be converted to body fat. This leaves 97 percent of the calories available to be converted to "love handles." A final component of starchy food such as kalo, poi and sweet potato that helps people lose weight is the dietary fiber in it. Dietary fiber is the nondigestible part of foods. Kalo has plenty of it. Refined foods such as white rice and white flour have mueh less. Animal foods such as meat and ehieken have none. Eating whole foods such as kalo, sweet potato, or substitutes such as whole grains provides enough dietary fiber to provide bulk in your diet so that you feel full and satisfied faster. In addition, dietary fiber slows the absorption of calories so that you stay satisfied longer. What lessons ean we leam from the Wai'anae Diet Program? One lesson is, to lose weight, eat more starchy foods such as kalo, poi or sweet potato, or substitutes such as whole grains, and less oily foods such as fried foods, hamburgers or Spam. Of course, it is important to eat a variety of foods for other nutrients. And if you have some doubt about what to eat, just remember the wisdom of what our kupuna ate hundreds of years ago.
In the next article, more aspects of the Wai'anae Diet Program and the traditional Hawaiian diet will be explored. If you would like more information about this program or have suggestions about funding sources or other ideas as to how this program may be continued and brought to more Hawaiians please eall me at 696-7081.
The Waianae Diet Program was presented to the community at Waianae Coast Comprehensive Health Center in June. ,Present were (from left) Helen Kanawaliwali 0'Connor of Moloka'i, Terry Shintani, M.D., and Clare Hughes, nutritionist.