HBO’s “Weight of the Nation” nicely skewered by Gary Taubes

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http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2012/05/06/why-the-campaign-to-stop-america-s-obesity-crisis-keeps-failing.html

9 thoughts on “HBO’s “Weight of the Nation” nicely skewered by Gary Taubes”

  1. Hi Dr Wortman,

    I have type 2 diabetes. I am wondering if you have any low carb study for type 2 coming up. I would love to participate. I wish to start a low carb diet but every time i see my doctor she tells me not to do low carb and to just follow a low fat diet. I would truly appreciate your guidance with which doctor/dietician/naturopath to go with in Vancouver, BC who can monitor me while doing low carb just to make sure i get adequate vitamins and minerals while i am doing it.

    I am so very grateful i found you online.

    Kind Regards,

    Sarbjeet Kaur

    Vancouver, B.C.

    Dr Jay’s Reply:

    My apologies for the lateness of my reply. I do not know of a practicing physician in the Lower Mainland who is using a low-carb approach. Your best bet would be to shop around to find one who is supportive. I agree that it is a good idea to have a physician following you, especially if you are on medication for blood sugar, cholesterol and/or blood sugar. The best approach to doing this diet is to follow one of the better books. I recommend Volek and Phinney’s “Art and Science of Low-carbohydrate Living” which you can get on Amazon.com. I am told that for some reason it is not available on Amazon.ca. If you follow their advice you should get a good result and not run into any vitamin or mineral deficiencies. I generally recommend that people take a good multi-vitamin, omega-3 supplement and possibly a slow-release magnesium supplement.

  2. P.S

    I must add i also have high cholesterol and am in the obese category .. I weigh 190 lbs and am 5’2

    Sarbjeet

  3. Just an update on the ketogenic “geezers” in my household – we are one week away from a 7-day, 455-mile bike trip across Nebraska.
    We have logged nearly 1000 miles training this spring and are continually amazed at how strong and energetic we feel.
    We did a 50-mile charity ride into a 30 mph head wind on a hilly route and laughed when we breezed right past the “power stops” where everyone else was refueling on sugary junk. I suggested that our ketones were giving us “power gos” so that we didn’t need the “power stops.”
    In case the readers don’t remember, Ken is 70 and I am 59. We have no doubt that the bike trip will be a complete success. It looks like most of the host communities have good options for our ketogenic diets (one place is advertising scrambled eggs and pork chops for breakfast), and we’re taking some coconut oil, Kerry gold butter, and US Wellness all beef pemmican just in case. (If you haven’t tried it, the pemmican is absolutely delicious). I’ll write again when we get back – before we leave for the 4-day, 250 mile trip the end of June. 🙂

    Dr Jay’s Reply:

    As usual you are inspiring with your stories. You guys are great role models for older folks who can benefit by switching to LCHF.

  4. I hope Dr. Jay can check this Nat Post story (link below) about a Metis guy having great success with a traditional diet. I do have a minor concern – he is taking his story on the road, which is great, but I’m not sure he is conversant with the central role of sugars and carbs in chronic problems, since there seems to be an emphasis on maple sugar, and no mention of obtaining enough fats to avoid hunger. He says the solution to hunger was to eat all the time, so this sounds like a problem.
    http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/05/18/yes-to-berries-no-to-salt-aboriginal-man-goes-back-to-his-dietary-roots-in-order-to-lose-weight-live-healthier/
    IMHO – he might be able to learn a great deal from someone who has been down a similar path….

    Dr Jay’s Reply:

    I have been following this. I was friended by him on Facebook awhile back so I believe he would be familiar with the kind of diet I promote. Whatever he is doing seems to be working for him, even if there is more sugar and CHO than I would recommend. The core message of a return to traditional nutrition is a good one, too. I haven’t reached out as I hesitate to intrude into somebody else’s project unless invited.

  5. Gorgeous new site! Great work! — Very wholesome and open and honest and beautiful and truthful. Light and warm and inviting.

    Just like it really is.

  7. Re: Bossy Ducharme’s diet. It was heartening to read this story posted by “Third Chimp”. Mr Ducharme’s ancestral diet is the same as the GAPS diet or more correctly, the GAPS diet is the same as Mr. Ducharme’s ancestral diet. His diet of monosugar fruits and wild game is a great way to heal his gut and its flora. This is really the “Occam’s Razor” of any path back to health. I can’t wait to finish my flawed, conventional RNCP nutrition course. It professes to be post-convnentional but it is really just the same old grain-based, fat-phobic dogma but with a trendy vegetarian-friendly spin. I can’t wait to go on and get GAPS certified. If you’re not familiar with GAPS (Gut and Psychology/Physiology Syndrome, I highly recommend going to the website. Just go to http://www.Gaps.com. BTW, I agree, nice new blog layout!

  9. Thanks, Dr. Jay. We made it back in great form, even though we had a heck of a time finding suitable food. Not a green vegetable to be found in 7 days except for four times when we were able to get green salads. It is terrible that the rural communities think “salad” means potato or macaroni and that all meal and restaurant sides are forms of potatoes or something breaded and fried. I realized after three days in very small towns that I had not seen an adult woman who was not grossly overweight. Our fellow bikers seemed completely convinced that they needed to fuel their muscles with sugar and happily chowed down the disgusting junk food available at every turn. It is amazing that many of the bikers are overweight, but they seem to think that because they get so much exercise, they can eat whatever they want. Ken and I managed with hamburger and cheeseburger patties, plain beef brisket, and steak on occasion along with eggs that were usually available for breakfast,, but had to settle for pretty much meat with no side dishes. One morning, Ken asked the lady serving breakfast to ladle the melted butter they had for brushing on toast on his sausage and eggs! There was a lot of interest in our diet, and we talked about it nonstop. Since Ken is a retired physician, his opinion seemed to carry some weight. (no pun intended). We also filled the post-event comment cards with recommendations about providing more meat, fat and green vegetables, and less sugar/refined carbs and junk food.
    We rode fast and strong. Several days, we were taking hills at 18 mph and cruising at over 20. The only mishap was a run-in with what appears to have been clostridium perfringens. A large enough number of us had bad bouts of gastric distress the same day after staying in a town with one restaurant where most of us ate and a water supply that was suspect. The health dept. identified the clostridium, but as of my knowledge, don’t know the source. I was really sick, Ken was not. It was pretty random. Nevertheless, after spending a full hour in and out of the bathroom, I rode 78 miles through significant hills. I suspect that I would have felt even stronger that day and the next had I not had the bacterial encounter. We rode across Nebraska through hills and into some pretty mean tailwinds and had the energy of kids half our ages! 460 miles in 7 days with 3 70+ days.. Pretty amazing for people our age.

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