http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20050428/HMARTIN2
7/TPHealth/

Paul Martin trying on South Beach diet for size
By TERRY PEDWELL

Thursday, April 28, 2005
Updated at 1:21 PM EDT

Canadian Press

OTTAWA -- Paul Martin doesn't think he's fat, but it seems his wife
does.

The Prime Minister revealed yesterday that he has been on a
low-carbohydrate diet -- specifically the South Beach diet -- since his
wife, Sheila, pointed out his growing girth recently.

"She asked me to stand sideways and said 'Look in the mirror,' " Mr.
Martin confided in an interview with Canadian Press.

"I thought I looked quite good in that sideways shot, but that was not
her judgment."

Under cover of a navy-blue suit jacket, Mr. Martin doesn't appear all
that chubby. But take off the jacket and there it is -- a stomach that
diet experts say is pretty typical for a man his age.

No one in the Prime Minister's Office will say exactly how much the
66-year-old weighs. When asked the question a year ago, a Martin
spokesman would only reveal that the Prime Minister was at "fighting
weight."

At least one expert has concerns about how the diet might affect Mr.
Martin's brain.

"Cutting carbohydrates means he's also cutting his cognitive
functions," said Beth Mansfield, a registered dietician and fitness
specialist with Peak Performance of Ottawa. "That can't help a man like
the Prime Minister think straight."

Ms. Mansfield also asked why Mr. Martin turned to a commercial diet
program when his own government offers a taxpayer-funded solution?

"Why is he going on this huge diet thing?

"Why not follow Canada's Food Guide, and show people that they should
be doing the same thing to stay healthy?

"He's a figurehead and should be providing an example to Canadians."

Susan Fyshe, a nutritionist who operates Healthy Lifestyles Nutrition
Consulting of Toronto, doesn't think the South Beach diet is a good way
for the prime minister to lose weight, although she commends him for
trying.

"It's not a really balanced diet . . . and in the long term, [it's] not
that easy to sustain."

For the first 14 days of the South Beach program, bread, rice,
potatoes, pasta, and baked goods are completely off limits. So is
fruit.

The South Beach people say their clients can begin adding those things
back into their diets again after two weeks.

And the Prime Minister can't eat candy, cake, cookies, ice cream --
basically anything with sugar. Alcohol is another no-no.

Former U.S. president Bill Clinton used to be on the low-carbohydrate
South Beach diet, too. But that was before doctors discovered his
arteries were clogged and performed a heart-bypass operation last
September.

He was also identified as having a cholesterol problem.

Ms. Mansfield recommends that instead of dieting, the Prime Minister
walk more -- maybe even use a pedometer to measure how many steps he
takes during say, an election campaign. Wink, wink.

"He has a fat belly. That's a big risk factor for diabetes and all
kinds of other illnesses," she warned. "Not to mention the stress he
must be under."

She had other suggestions, too.

"All he really needs to do is cut the cream from his coffee, or get rid
of the white sugar, or eat half a muffin at breakfast instead of a
whole one.

"He can give the other half to his press secretaries, because they
probably need to lose weight, too."

---

TC