Comments on: Man Bites Dog II

By: Angelyne

Angelyne — Mon, 13 Feb 2006 15:25:15 +0000

Hello Dr. Eades,

I’m one of those people who started low-carbing after reading the now famous article by Gary Taubes “what if it has been a big fat lie?”

I don’t think that his article launched the low-carb “fad” just because it appeared in the New York Time, although it probably had an impact for some. For me anyway, I didn’t know who Gary Taubes was and had no special regard for the NYT. It’s just that the article convinced me. Firmly and utterly. I read it and went WOW. Read it again, and again. And each time I was going WOW. I started low-carbing that very day. That’s how much of an impact it had on me.

I was briefly exposed to the ideas behind low-carbing before, on several occasions. But it never managed to convince me enough. I was even swayed by the argument the diet was faddish and dangerous.

The click came when I realized I had been lied to. When I realized the enormity of the lie I was floored. I was the child who no longer believed in Santa, and it was a bitter pill. Once I realized that the whole low-fat thing was bull, I could finally believe in low-carb.

By: Victoria

Victoria — Sun, 12 Feb 2006 22:56:18 +0000

My fat intake is around 45% on average, sometimes a bit lower. My saturated fat intake is about 15-20%. And my cholesterol is fine. The low-fatters need to eat my shorts. They can go eat their low fat rice cakes while I dine on steak and vegetables.

The only bad fat is trans-fat. Period.

By: deirdra

deirdra — Sat, 11 Feb 2006 19:29:32 +0000

It is interesting that the low-fatters enjoyed 300 calories less per day than the low-carbers for 8 years but still weighed the same. I have found this to be true for me too. I’m one of those who could tell you exactly what I ate every Dec. 12th all the way back to 1990, since I am a scientist who measures and writes everything down as I prepare it. Over that time I was on Pritikin, Ornish, & McDougall for 10 long years before a month on The Zone, finally settling on PP in 2000. So I’ve got the data to prove that I eat 300 calories more per day than I did on high-carb diets. Despite being over 50 now, I only exercise 2-3 hrs per week (as opposed to 9-12 hrs on meagre high-carb rations) and I actually enjoy what I’m eating now since I am always satisfied and never go hungry.

By: Michael R. Eades, MD

Michael R. Eades, MD — Sat, 11 Feb 2006 14:53:29 +0000

Big time typo. I’m glad I’ve got such sharp-eyed readers. Thanks.

By: Michael R. Eades, MD

Michael R. Eades, MD — Sat, 11 Feb 2006 14:51:59 +0000

A most unfortunate slip of the fingers. Thanks for the heads up. It’s all fixed now.

By: Alcinda Moore

Alcinda Moore — Sat, 11 Feb 2006 12:55:25 +0000

Iâ€™ve got a newsflash for them. The low-carb diet has never, ever been shown to be the optimal diet.

typo?

By: Norm Robillard

Norm Robillard — Sat, 11 Feb 2006 12:34:46 +0000

Dr. Eades,
I had just read the same article this morning. I found myself remembering some of your other articles on how important it was to read between the lines and your comments on how many authors of these low fat studies just won’t give up, even when the data clearly demonstrates that their theory is wrong.

I also found myself wondering about the “comparison” or high fat group and how many carbs were in their diet. If they had a “controlled carb” group, perhaps this would be a much bigger story.

Thanks for a great commentary,
Norm Robillard, Ph.D.

By: Mary Lasher

Mary Lasher — Sat, 11 Feb 2006 09:27:12 +0000

Dr. Mike–I had to re-read a couple times, but was able to conclude this is an unfortunate slip-of-the-fingers? It should read “low-fat” at the beginning of the 2nd sentence, yes?

â€™ve got a newsflash for them. The low-carb diet has never, ever been shown to be the optimal diet. It was all an hypothesis to begin with. It sounded like a good thing, so based on virtually no evidence the nutritional establishment began issuing edicts that to be healthy everyone should restrict the amount of fat they eat. Weâ€™ve all been part of a giant experiment, the hypothesis of which is that the low-fat diet is good for us, for the last 25 years.