Comments on: West Virginia obesity solution

By: Jamie

Jamie — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 21:35:54 +0000

Simon –

Believe it or not, this Florida girl (soon to be Georgia girl again) has eaten at the Magpie. It was indeed magnificent.

This is my first post Dr. Eades and in the past week I have spent many, many hours reading your blog and the comments. When I catch up to present, I will start reading your lovely wife’s blog. Thank you – it’s been a joy to read.

I’m glad you’re enjoying the blog. Welcome aboard.

I, too, hope to eat at the Magpie someday.

Cheers–

MRE

By: Tess

Tess — Sat, 03 Feb 2007 00:43:45 +0000

Dr Mike/Connie Thanks. It is a lot more complicated than I remember it and not as low carb either.

By: Connie

Connie — Thu, 01 Feb 2007 17:52:56 +0000

Tell Tess the early WW is on the internet. Sort of. Hi Connie-- I'm passing it along. Cheers-- MRE�

By: Mark Levin

Mark Levin — Thu, 01 Feb 2007 03:50:46 +0000

Somewhere I remember seeing an interview with the president of Nutrisystem who conceded
that while the prepackage meals were effective for short term weight loss there was a high recidivism rate
and that it was good for their balance sheet.The same is obviously true for Weight Watchers.

Hi Mark–

I’m sure that the recidivism rate is high with both Nutrisystem and WW.� I can’t believe the president would admit that publicly…unless he was trying to raise money from investors.

Cheers–

MRE�

By: Tess

Tess — Thu, 01 Feb 2007 01:13:28 +0000

I have been a lifetime member of WW for years, that is how I gained 140 lbs. Thanks to Protein Power I have now lost it. The diet of the early 70′s was low carb and also encouraged 5 fish meals and 1 liver( YUK!) per week. I have tried to find a copy of the early diet, but alas, no where to be found.

Hi Tess–

Thanks for the history.� It’s not much of an infomercial for WW.

Cheers–

MRE�

By: David Futoma

David Futoma — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 18:00:22 +0000

Wow! Thanks Doctor for the incredibly fast response. I found it interesting, and encouraging, to hear your views on coffee. I tried to give it up initially on Atkins, but decided that I just could not. I went back to coffee, and have found that it did not inhibit weight loss. Also, your advice to the effect that some vitamin and mineral uptake requires the fats for absorption has never been clearly brought up in most cooking shows.

How does a low carb dieter square what they eat with purportedly “high carb”, relatively speaking, foods like bananas, which many doctors tell you are very healthy? Are fruits like mangoes, pineapples, etc, simply off limits?

I will definitely get back to you about my experience with the hazelnut flour – plan to make a variation of the ricotta pancakes with macadamias (do you consider macs healthy?)

David and Susan Futoma

Hi David and Susan–

Don’t get used to the speedy response.� Your comments came in (both times) as I was going through all the comments on my list and dealing with them.� Depending on how many comments stack up on me, it could take a day or two.�

All the fruits you mentioned do contain valuable nutrients, but they come at the cost of a fair amount of carbohydrate.� A better way to look at it is the amount of nutrient density per carb.� If you do that, you’ll find that of all the fruits berries have the highest nutritional density per carb.� Bananas, on the other hand, have a low nutritional density per carb.

I do consider macadamia nuts as healthful.�

Cheers–

MRE�

By: David Futoma

David Futoma — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 17:12:59 +0000

Thank you Doctor Eades: Your awesome Low Carb Cookworx show has revitalized me (a low-carb follower) and my wife (a type 1 diabetic and low carber). I started days after seeing Dr. Atkins on Larry King Live (Jan 2003) and only months before his tragic accident. I fell from 225 lbs (6’2″) to 185 by the late summer, and am now at 170 lbs (my marriage weight in 1985) and maintain it to plus/minus 5 pounds religiously. Your show addressed so many of the issues that concerned me about the bigger picture (vitamins, minerals, fats, organic dairy and meat) that I simply love your recipes for the feel-good mental picture I have with them – AND they taste good!. The lemon-ricotta pancakes are to kill for. In fact all of your recipes are easy and delicious. We got caught up in a lot of the Atkins products, as well as the soy flour craze, and to me the use of almond meal (and the other flour imposters) opened many doors for us in baking. Bob’s Red Mill (via Amazon) offers many of the necessary cooking ingredients (almond meal in particular). We just obtained some hazelnut meal and coconut flour – do you see that these could be used perhaps as substitutes for flour? For years, I thought coconuts were bad! Once again, thank you for speaking out on this issue. I find that you and your spouse are going to convince many people to change their ways. In fact, after three years of low cholesterol readings, ultra low triglycerides, and elevated HDL combined with much lower LDL, my cardiologist is beginning to believe. Hopefully more will with time. Again, THANK YOU!!

David and Susan Futoma

Hi David & Susan–

Thanks for the kind words.� MD and I are glad you enjoy the show.

As to the coconut and hazelnut flours…I checked with my bride who said that both those flours should work like the almond flour.� Since they are nut flours they contain more fat than wheat flour, and so you need to cut the amount of butter (or whatever fat you’re using) in the recipe to compensate.

She’s never used either one, so when you have some experience, drop us a note to let us know how they worked.

Cheers–

MRE�

By: Patricia

Patricia — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 16:50:22 +0000

I went to Weight Watchers back in the day, and my overriding memory of it was the total cattiness of the other women (I went for two months and never saw one man). If a weigh-in went well, the whispers instantly started–”she didn’t eat anything, I know.” “I’d lose four pounds too if all I ate was lettuce and water,” etc. Of course, they all had huge fake smiles on their faces as they applauded. And then would come the excuses–”I couldn’t say no, it was her birthday!” “Oh, what’s one piece of cake/fried chicken/(whatever cheat food)?” Whenever I see WW’s preservative-loaded frozen food or snack food, I can only shake my head … and continue on to the frozen veggies.

Hi Patricia–

Thanks for the info.� Doesn’t sound like a fun place.

Cheers–

MRE�

By: Dave

Dave — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 15:49:16 +0000

You know, I wonder how much of the Weight Watchers nutritional plan is driven by profit motive. The high-carb/low-fat diet is best for business, since it pretty much guarantees you’ll either return to drop rebound weight, or continue to get the counseling and support you need to fight against the body’s natural desire for optimal nutrition. Several of our neighbors have often uttered the phrase “I need to go back on Weight Watchers”. $Ching-ching$.

Anna – I love the Meter Eaters idea. I’ve been thinking of getting a glucose meter for exactly the same reason as you did (fasting glucose always tests a little over 100). Now I’m definitely getting one. Any recommendations on model/type? Thanks.

Dave

Hi Dave–

I’ve wondered about the profit motive not only with WW but with many other outfits that support the low-fat diet.� The pharmaceutical companies that sell cholesterol-lowering drugs for one.

Cheers–

MRE�

By: Victoria

Victoria — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 04:13:18 +0000

In all fairness to Weight Watchers (it’s not for me, but does work), my Mom lost 70 pounds on WW and has kept it off. She makes her husband be on the program, too, though he likes to cheat. They keep the weight off by continuing to go to meetings and count their points. It’s not too different than my low-carbing while counting calories and carbs.

Hi Victoria–

If it works for someone, far be it from me to be critical.�

Cheers–

MRE�