An "Indulgent" Diet for Hamptonites. We're Listening...

By Maria Orlando Pietromonaco

There are enough diets out there to make your head spin. The Mediterranean Diet, the Atkins Diet, The South Beach Diet, and hundreds of others that promise slim figures, good health, the best methods, the easiest to follow, blah, blah, blah. Now, welcome to the diet menagerie The Hamptons Diet, where you can learn the "diet secrets of the rich, famous and thin." Hmmm. Dr. Fred Pescatore is the author of The Hamptons Diet, a regimen where "health meets style, the world-renowned Hamptons meet the Mediterranean."

Several years ago, as the Associate Medical Director of the Atkins Center for Complementary Medicine, there came a time when Dr. Pescatore realized that ALL FAT is NOT GOOD for you (really!). After years of research and study of diet and nutrition, with a particular interest in fats and oils, he discovered the differences between certain fats and how critical they were in a healthy diet.

A summer resident of the Hamptons who has practiced in the area for years, Dr. Pescatore spawned his diet plan from the particular needs of his Hamptons clients. He stresses the fact that his diet is "indulgent," not depriving, complimenting the extravagant, decadent lifestyle of the people who live here. Any diet that encourages eating, I'm all ears.

The Hamptons Diet is not far out by any means, not like some of the other ones out there like the cabbage-soup-only-for-seven-days, eat-as-much-protein-as-you-can-before-your-kidneys-fall-on-the-floor, or the calculator-scale-point method that melds food and math into an unappetizing duo. It is a food plan that advocates whole, natural foods that don't come in powder form and don't come with an instruction manual.

Dr. Pescatore is a actually a proponent of the Mediterranean Diet, and in essence his plan follows most of the tenets of this much scrutinized diet that focuses on whole grains, fish, plenty of fruits and vegetables, and consuming most of your fats from monounsaturated sources. This diet in particular, according to certain studies, can help lower your risk of heart disease, diabetes, and high blood pressure, reduce inflammation and aid many other health conditions. Although it's true that people in Mediterranean countries have fewer instances of these health problems, the jury is still out as to whether lifestyle issues play a role. They are a little more physically active than us car-driving TV-watching pencil-pushing Americans.

Among his top ten Hamptons diet rules are the avoidance of sugar, trans fats, simple carbs and certain oils, as well as the consumption of nuts, beans, whole grains, veggies, and more fatty fish, pretty much along the lines of the Mediterranean Diet. In a nutshell (no pun intended) the key difference is that the Mediterranean Diet advocates the use of olive oil, whereas the Hamptons Diet promotes the use of macadamia nut oil. The argument Dr. Pescatore makes is that macadamia nut oil has more monounsaturated fat (the good stuff) than olive oil, and is actually one of the highest sources of monounsaturated fats out of any food source. He's a big fan of macadamia nut oil and spends a lot of words on its benefits, uses, and distinctions between other oils.

He advocates the use of it instead of any other oil, and basically any recipe that would usually call for olive oil or other oils you can replace with macadamia nut oil. The latter half of The Hamptons Diet is chock full of great sounding recipes, most incorporating macadamia nut oil somehow, someway. I'm all for trying new things, but I do wonder if in the end all of the dishes wind up tasting like a macadamia nut.

The recipes span breakfast items, main dishes, salads, desserts and more, and include Montauk Shrimp, Quogue Kebobs, Southampton Scallops Provencal, and Gardiner's Zucchini Salad, Peconic Grilled Fish, and Weekend Halibut.

All in all, the Hamptons Diet sounds like a decent concept, although you should always talk to your physician before starting any kind of different diet plan. If even just for the recipes, the book is a good piece of culinary literature to have around your Hamptons home. One final note: good luck trying to find macadamia nut oil in your local grocery store. But surprise, surprise. Dr. Pescatore now has his own company called MacNut Oil, where you can conveniently purchase macadamia nut oil online.

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