'We'll Certainly Have To Get A Few Pounds Off!'
	But these, as we say, are extremes. Let us replay your scene with the doctor, who says cheerfully, 'Well, we'll certainly have to get a few pounds off you, won't we!' as he hoists you aboard his scales. In other words, you are overweight, not obese. If your excess weight is not the result of a metabolic or glandular disturbance, and if the doctor checks you out for any other health hazard which he feels might make a lowered carbohydrate regimen inadvisable for your particular system, then you're cleared to go on to Point Two. At this point a few words of caution. This diet is designed for healthy people. Needless to say, if you are diabetic, anaemic, hypertense, or know yourself to be suffering from any other chronic disturbance, you will not undertake this or any other diet or alter your food habits in any way from the routine your doctor has prescribed. But even if you are in good health, do not bypass the medical checkup. No change in your way of life, particularly if you have not had a recent examination or are no longer as close to twenty-one as you once were, should be undertaken without a thorough physical going-over. In view of the fact that cholesterol has become a household word during the past few years, the possible dangers of diet which does not restrict fat may occur to you even before you see your doctor. Discuss this with him. In all likelihood he will enlighten you on the current medical thinking along these lines, which is that while cholesterol may be involved in some way with arteriosclerosis and heart disease, it is no longer held to be the main factor. Too many aspects of the relationship between cholesterol and disease are still unexplored. A recent survey of cholesterol findings in geriatric cases involving arteriosclerosis showed a significant number of patients to have normal or low (depending up on the 'normal' standard accepted) cholesterol. There is, further, the fact that the body manufactures its own cholesterol, a certain amount of which is always present; despite the enormous Rood of publicity which has succeeded in making cholesterol a fear symbol to the public, it has by no means been proven how diet affects the amount of cholesterol in the body, or how much. Let your doctor tell you whether or not the cholesterol controversy need have any bearing on your particular diet. Next: Proportion, Not Elimination