Hidden sugars

Every dentist rails against eating sweets, but John Emmett can’t even find much nice to say about dairy products.

“Milk kills!” declares the 43-year-old oral surgeon from Phoenix, Md., an amateur bodybuilder whose teeth seem to have muscles.

Want proof? Emmett grabs a half gallon of skim milk from his kitchen refrigerator, then walks to the cupboard and fetches a medium-size Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup.

Check the respective labels: A cup of skim milk contains 18 grams of sugar versus only 7 grams for that chunk of candy.

“There’s sugar in milk products,” he explains. “It’s called lactose.”

Emmett has just written a book, “Turning Back the Hands of Time,” in which he waxes at length about lactose and other simple sugars. They’re comprised of smaller-than-normal molecules that quickly get absorbed into the bloodstream and deposited in the body’s fat cells. They’re the building blocks of love handles and jelly thighs.

In his book he also extols the virtues of eating lean proteins and complex carbohydrates while avoiding bread, pasta and even fruit (a natural source of those troublesome simple sugars).

According to Emmett, diet and nutrition are 80 percent of the prescription for healthy living, but precious few Americans bother to eat wisely.

“We are a nation of fat slobs,” he writes.

The other 20 percent of Emmett’s personal secret to success involves weight training, as evidenced by all the hardware on display inside his home gym – including that 2004 Mr. Maryland Masters Champion trophy for his 40-and-over age group.

He’s got a highly developed torso that resembles a topographical map, with its winding-river veins and mountainous pectorals.

Emmett works out three or four times a week, often alongside his wife, Margie, a pediatric dentist who sports a chiseled physique of her own.

“I think shoulders and abs are probably my best components,” says Emmett as he bangs out a few sets of two-arm curls. “My hamstrings are not very good.”

Most people would, of course, be happy to have those hamstrings. But, then, most people don’t spend weekends posing half-naked for bodybuilding judges or feel sluggish if their body fat creeps beyond 5 percent.

“My family never ate fried foods,” says his wife, who is busy grinding away on the leg-press machine. “Everything was baked and broiled.”

She met her husband at University of Maryland Dental School and takes credit for turning him on to the wonders of nutrition. In fact, she still teases him about eating chipped beef on toast as a child.

“I finally understood why I grew up with indigestion,” he said, chuckling, as he moves on to a round of triceps pushdowns.

Emmett took an interest in weightlifting in school after seeing a Charles Atlas ad in a magazine. It was only about six years ago, however, that he took the plunge into serious body sculpting. He can be passionate about fitness.

Ellen Lavine recalls an evening in December 2003 when the Emmetts invited her and her husband over for dinner. She’s an avid athlete and always considered herself to be in top shape – until John got out his fat-measuring calipers and found some room for improvement.

“John is extremely disciplined and rigid in terms of what he will and will not eat,” says Lavine. “I vacillate between thinking he’s incredible and incredibly crazy. … But what he’s doing absolutely works. If you eat right, lift weights and do cardio, you will get results.”

Neighbor Tim Rhode is co-owner of Maryland Athletic Center in Timonium, Md. He bought six copies of “Turning Back the Hands of Time” and made “a subtle shift” in his lifestyle: having salad instead of a sandwich for lunch, eating more chicken and fish.

“I’ve seen a lot of philosophies come and go. His approach is so common sense,” says Rhode. “Since Jan. 1 I’ve lost 14 pounds. It’s just from eating cleaner.”

John admits being partial to bench presses. “Probably my favorite day is working my chest.”

He dreads doing leg exercises, and not entirely without reason. A couple of years ago he was doing squats with 505 pounds when he momentarily lost focus: The bar slipped off the rack and came crashing down on his right shinbone.

This particular Mr. Maryland reacted like a bodybuilding trouper. “I got up off the floor,” says Emmett, “and finished my workout.”

The next day, a rest day, he went to the doctor and got fitted with a walking splint and crutches for his broken leg.