A paper appeared recently in the prestigious Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) that seems to have a whole lot of people on edge. If you read the press accounts of this study, you might think anyone stupid enough to follow a low-carb diet would be doomed to certain death from heart attack. But is that the case? Or is it simply another instance of the media either failing to understand how science works or, worse, misreporting to get a better story?
I suspect the latter, but before we get into it, I need to go over a few blog housekeeping issues.
As I’m sure everyone has noticed, the look of this blog has changed – as has the look of the entire website. Our designer and tech guys have been struggling to get everything working right, but, finally, my incessant whining got to them, and they went ahead and put the thing up in its not-completed state. Please bear with us – it will ultimately work as it’s supposed to. If you are having a problem, send me a description in the comments section. Make sure you tell me what kind of computer you’re using (Mac (Intel or pre-Intel) or PC) and which browser (Firefox, Internet Explorer, Safari, etc.) so that the gurus will know what to do to fix it.
I know the comments are screwed up right now, but don’t worry, they’ll be fixed. Go ahead and comment away. They’ll ultimately be up in a form you can recognize.
Once we get the blogs and website how they’re supposed to be, I’ll write a post describing all the features.
Also, our world-changing project has been slightly delayed through no fault of our own. The new date for revelation has been pushed back from Sept 1 to Sept 15. Sorry. It’s been a real PITA for us, too.
Now, back to the PNAS paper.
As we all know, media reports can be totally misleading or even downright false. Reporters have their own biases that creep into their work, and even when reporters think they are presenting the facts, they often report just one side of a story and ignore the other. And, as we’ve seen from the previous post on the vitamin D-bate, reporters may just report a story in a way that makes for better reading without any regard for the substance of the issues.
The PNAS paper reported a study on genetically modified rodents, engineered to be more susceptible to heart disease. As I’ve written many times in these pages, mice and rats aren’t just furry little humans – they are a different species altogether. And although they are often used for medical experiments, the conclusions from the experiments cannot be applied to humans. Like observational studies, rodent data can be used to establish hypotheses about human health and disease, hypotheses that can then be tested for validity.
In this case, the data on these genetically-engineered mice can’t even be extrapolated to normal mice much less humans. Knowing just this much about the study tells us that whatever it shows has little relevance to us. But that’s not what the media took away from the story.
The BBC came out with the following headlines that were picked up by a number of other media sources:
Low-carb diets ‘damage arteries’
And followed up with:
Low-carb slimming diets may clog arteries and increase the risk of heart attacks and strokes, a study suggests.
Diets based on eating lots of meat, fish and cheese, while restricting carbohydrates have grown in popularity in recent years.
But the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in the US found such habits caused artery damage in tests on mice.
The researchers and independent experts both agreed a balanced diet was the best option.
Hmmm. Sounds pretty brutal doesn’t it. No hesitance there. No equivocation. Just a head on reporting of the facts. I don’t think so.
Why not? A number of reasons. First, these researchers basically had a bias going in that low-carb diets cause heart disease even though they lower cholesterol and bring about other positive changes in lipid values, most notably reducing triglycerides, increasing HDL levels, and changing LDL particles from the small type B to the larger type A variety. All of which changes, by the way, supposedly reduce the risk for heart disease.
The lead author of the study, Shi Yin Foo, MD, PhD, a clinical cardiologist,
first embarked on this investigation after seeing heart-attack patients who were on these diets – and after observing Rosenzweig [the researcher in whose lab she worked] himself following a low-carbohydrate regimen.
“Over lunch, I’d ask Tony [the aforementioned Rosenzweig] how he could eat that food and would tell him about the last low-carb patient I’d admitted to the hospital,” says Foo. “Tony would counter by noting that there were no controls for my observations.”
“Finally,” adds Rosenzweig, “I asked Shi Yin to do the mouse experiment – so that we could know what happens in the blood vessels and so that I could eat in peace.”
Do you think Dr. Foo has a little skin in this game? Think she might have a motive for stacking the deck a little in setting this experiment up in a way that encourages a certain outcome? This was not what you would call an unbiased quest for the truth.
I want to comment on something here as an aside. I don’t know how old Dr. Foo is, but since she’s working in someone else’s lab, I would think she’s probably fairly new to the medical game. She may have admitted a patient or two to the hospital with heart attacks, who, under questioning, may have admitted to following a low-carb diet at some point. But I’m willing to put my experience with low-carb diets up against hers any day. MD and I have followed over 10,000 patients on low-carb diets and have never had a single one have a heart attack. So, I really doubt that Dr. Foo has admitted many – if any – patients who are actively following a low-carb diet. But it does make for a good story.
Second, we’ve already mentioned that the mice were genetically engineered to be more susceptible to heart disease, so data generated from these rodents can’t be extrapolated even to other mice let alone to humans.
Third, the diet used wasn’t even a typical low-carb diet. The researchers
had a diet specially made that would mimic a typical low-carb diet,” explains Foo. “In order to keep the calorie count the same in all three diets, we had to substitute a nutrient to replace the carbohydrates. We decided to substitute protein because that is what people typically do when they are on these diets.”
Oh, really? This one statement shows Dr. Foo’s ignorance of low-carbohydrate dieting. People don’t typically “substitute protein” when they go on a low-carb diet. As anyone knows who has been on one, people substitute fat, the macronutrient that provides most of the calories on any low-carb diet. The mice in this study were getting 45 percent of their calories from protein, which can be done, but isn’t what one finds in most typical low-carb diets.
MD and I have been traveling extensively lately, so I hadn’t really had the time yet to delve deeply into this study, but, fortunately, as it turns out, I didn’t have to. Others have done it for me.
The Nutrition & Metabolism Society issued a press release on the paper to all its members. You can read it in full below:
Researchers use mutant mice genetically engineered to be susceptible to heart disease to ‘prove’ carbohydrate restricted diets may harm arteries.
Defects in ApoE -/- result in defects in processing blood cholesterol.
As human studies continue to show the benefits of low carbohydrate diets and the general failure of low-fat diets, it is necessary for the nutritional establishment to find more and more obscure methods of attacking dietary carbohydrate restriction.
One method is to prepare mutant animal models, to use odd diets that humans would never consume, call them low carbohydrate diets and then show some deficit. Because mice are not generally susceptible to atherosclerosis, it was necessary for Foo and coworkers to use an ApoE-/- mutant and a ridiculously high protein diet to vilify low carbohydrate diets which have been a useful alternative for many people suffering from obesity, diabetes and metabolic syndrome.
In keeping with the traditions in scientific research, the authors do not cite the numerous studies showing benefit of low carbohydrate diets compared to the low fat diet that has been in place during the obesity and diabetes epidemic. That the NIH and other government agencies continue to fund this kind of biased research is probably a minor political problem in health care but should still be of concern to people who are confused about what their diet should be.
According to Dr. Richard D. Feinman, Biochemistry Professor at Downstate Medical Center in NY, “It is a mistake to consider one experiment in a mouse mutant over riding the scientific literature where similar research trials on actual human beings clearly show benefit of carbohydrate restriction for all markers of metabolic syndrome. For some reason these studies are not the ones picked up by the media. I suppose actual advances in science aren’t hot topics for headline news stories when it concerns the proven benefits of carbohydrate restriction.
Volek JS, Ballard KD, Silvestre R, Judelson DA, Quann EE, Forsythe CE, Fernandez ML, Kraemer WJ: Effects of dietary carbohydrate restriction vs low-fat diet on flow-mediated dilation. Metabolism 2009.
Volek JS, Phinney SD, Forsythe CE, Quann EE, Wood RJ, Puglisi MJ, Kraemer WJ, Bibus DM, Fernandez ML, Feinman RD: Carbohydrate restriction has a more favorable impact on the metabolic syndrome than a low fat diet. Lipids 2009, 44(4):297-309.
Of course, as you might expect, the press release wasn’t picked up by any of the major media outlets.
Jimmy Moore weighed in on the issue in an article in the Examiner.com in which he quotes numerous experts who have their say on this study.
And, Peter at Hyperlipid wrote two great posts taking the researchers to task and exploring the kind of protein used and various other aspects of this study. (Here and here.)
So, I was left with nothing more to add other than to say what I’ve said countless times before: Don’t rely on media reports to tell you anything.
(With apologies to Philip K. Dick for the title of this post.)
I pity the Foo!
10000 patients and not 1 heart attack, that is something extraordinary.
It is indeed. I’m not saying that no patient of ours has ever had a heart attack, but no one had one following a low-carb diet while directly under our care. Maybe a few years later, although I don’t know of one. But while we were actively caring for them, not a one. And we’ve taken care of some pretty sick people.
My One Comment to Rule them All:
Hey Dr. Eades, Your grand kids look great! I should have taken pics of my own kids, who are really a lovely brown right now. Hoping it lasts to December, but supplementing with D3 and nobody is sick; despite their return to the Germ Factory (aka school).
That was the first thing I noticed about the mouse study- mice are not human, and they are selectively bred to develop cancer at the drop of a hat, not to mention all the other little “illnesses” that help feed a bias.
Love the interesting twitter links between B12 deficiency and gestational diabetes, diabetes, heart disease… gotta wonder how the veggies process that info regarding an essential nutrient.
However, I have a VERY off topic and most important question for you, if you don’t mind. We have a bottle of Jameson’s in the liquor cabinet that has been moving around with us since the 70’s. It has never been opened. Is is safe to drink? I have no idea why I’m asking YOU this particular question (;)), it just seems to me like you might know about it. :0 The folks at their website never returned our inquiry. We would go by smell or taste… but don’t know how it’s supposed to smell or how it’s supposed to taste. It’s been stored at room temp (65*-70* F)… for a very long time.
Maybe it’s time to crack it open?
Thanks
I think you should send the bottle of Jameson to me immediately for testing before you even think of trying it. It could be poisonous by now, and since I care about my readers above all things, I will take one for the team. Send it my way.
If you insist on drinking it yourself, I think it will be fine. Distilled booze doesn’t really go bad. It may get a little smoother, especially with that amount of time, but it doesn’t improve overall as it would were it still in the barrel where it had contact with the wood, which is where much of the flavor comes from.
But if you’re in doubt, send it to me fast.
Comment on your new web page format:
I am running Firefox version 3.0.13 on Windows Vista. The blogs look fine but the comments are all squeezed together with no space between the lines. This is new.
Good luck with the formatting!
Thanks. It’ll get fixed; I just don’t know when.
It would be interesting to know what mice & rats are useful for and what they are not in the context of medical studies. Taubes cites rodent studies pretty frequently to support arguments, but other times (as now) we’re reminded that mice are not. Seems to me that the biggest point made was that the Zucker rats will die from starvation, with little loss of body fat — the point being that the fat cells are under metabolic control and are not simply inert energy stores. This, evidently is generalizable to all mammals, which seems reasonable. But then, this study is crap because well, mice aren’t people. I see some difference, but am wondering — where is the philosophical line? I’m not pooh-poohing your post. I’m a pretty dedicated low-carber, and wouldn’t be dissuaded by one paper anyway.
It’s a complex subject, but there are situations in which animal models are useful. For instance, you can feed rats fructose until their livers fill with fat to see what happens. You can’t ethically do that with humans (although many do it to themselves), so the rodent model is the one you use. You don’t want to extrapolate what you find in rodents or other animals to humans – for that you need human testing.
Love the look of your blog. Your picture is nice also..!!!! The comments are all squeezed together with no space between the lines as another commenter pointed out. I have Windows Vista and run Firefox version 3.0.13.
I’m glad to see you credited Philip K Dick!
I have a friend I’m trying to convert to low-carb. He is on the classic treatment for metabolic syndrome and type two diabetes. Statins, low fat diet, and a couple of other drugs. I’m hoping this will open his eyes. Not to convert him, but to sow the seeds of doubt so he will go looking for better information than his doctor is giving him!!
I always wonder how seemingly intelligent people engineer such crappy studies and then try to stand by the results. If I was on her team, I’d be embarrassed. Thankfully, I’m smart enough to be on the team with common sense. Comment issue aside, the new look of the blog is great.. love all the pix!
So, if they fed humans a mouse’s diet, would the humans have heart attacks? Hmmmm……….
I’m reading your blog using Google Chrome, on a PC, looks great except for the squished up comments.
I’m using a 2008 Dell computer running Windows Vista. Browser is Internet Explorer. Comments are squished together vertically.
You don’t have a search function on your blog as you used to. It is an absolute necessity if I am going to blow the high carbers out of the water in arguments.
It’s being worked on – it will be back.
Dr Eades, nice pic!
Thanks. I wish it looked like me> 🙂
Internet Explorer on PC. Comments are tiny type, squished lines and the right side of the blue box morphs into a smaller rectangle.
My comments are squished too. Windows Vista, Internet Explorer 7.
On my computer the whole blog is squished together: Lines of text have no interline white space.
I am using Linux (Ubuntu 8.04 for PC), browser Firefox 3.0
I should have added that the comments are fine, not squished as the main portion of the blog is.
Your new format causes the print size in the comments to be like the Grinch’s Heart, several sizes to small.
“new format causes the print size in the comments to be like the Grinch’s Heart, several sizes to small.”
Odd. I have FireFox 3.5.5 on Mac OS 10.4.11, eMac screen at 1280×960. Blog article was unreadable until I bumped font size up four times. But the comments text was way big, then–and wa approximately right when I dropped back down again.
Never mind Philip K Dick’s title re “Electric Sheep”
What about Phil Oakey’s hit song (We’ll always be) “Together in Electric Dreams”, UK Autumn 1984 ?
I’m sure Michael & Mary would love to move to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rZ0Dp06OO4
Enjoy!
Desmondo
BTW: The comments output is gittin’ fixed; at least as far as Firefox is concerned.
I’m viewing your blog in IE version 6 (I know, old version but not my personal pc) and the comments truncate after 4 lines. That is, all I can see in IE is the first 4 lines of any comment. However, if I copy and paste them into Word, I get the whole thing. I like the new look, very clean and simple. Looks great!
hi dr eades,
love the new look and your cute photo! i use a a pc and internet explorer. yesterday the comments were all smashed together with no spacing…today they aren’t but now i only get part of each comment, the rest is cut off. thanks and good luck!
best,
ida
One more question (before the panic sets in) where is the Search function?
I’ve decided the best way to get readers to spend more time on the site is by having them scroll through all the old posts to find what they’re looking for.
Just kidding. The search function is being worked on.
I’m on Safari and it just looks like you are using a narrow font and tight leading. No readability problems here.
Looks great!
Of course as I am typing this comment, the type is way tiny. Just to let you know.
Does it matter that much where the rest of the calories are coming from, if the 3 diets are isocaloric and the “low carb” is indeed “low carb”? This seems to be the case here – 65% CHO/15% FAT/20% PRO vs 43% CHO/42% FAT/15% PRO vs 12% CHO/43% FAT/45% PRO. 12% CHO seems pretty low carb to me? I’m curious what your thoughts are regarding the significance of the rest of the calories with regards to PRO/FAT breakdown? Does it matter, and how?
If you extrapolate 12% carb to a standard 2400 calorie diet you end up with 72 grams of carb per day, which is low as compared to a high-carb diet, but not low as compared to a real low-carb diet. Most good low-carb diets are keep carbs in the 20-50 gm/day range. There are many differences between protein and fat in the process of dieting. Way too many, in fact, to be dealt with in the comments section.
Here are my observations regarding the web format on Firefox 3.5.2 and Windows XP SP3:
1. the size of the font used for the comments is on the small side so the words are hard to read
2. comments and the blue background consistently spill over the right side “border” with the curved corners
3. the blue background sometimes spills over the lower “border” with the curved corners
It would be nice if the list of categories was sorted alphabetically. The list is currently unsorted so it is not so easy to check if a particular category exists.
Other than these, the new setup seems okay.
Hmm. It looks like the problems with the comments were fixed while I was composing my comment. It looks okay now.
Great post on the mouse study. It’s really terrifying that the general populace accepts these types of “news” reports as fact and then make life-altering decisions about what to eat and what not to eat. How sad that more people don’t take the time or have enough interest in their food to do some basic research themselves.
Your new online look is great. I’m running Vista with Firefox 3.5.2 and it all looks good. The only suggestion is that the left side of the post is tight against the monitor… needs a bit of “breathing space”. I suggest those running older Firefox versions upgrade as there are no other problems on mine.
Also wondering if you will be doing a reprint or reissue of Protein Power Lifeplan anytime soon? I gave my copy away and want to get another one!
The Protein Power LifePlan is still in print and available through all kinds of online booksellers. You can even find it in a lot of book stores.
Dr. Eades,
I don’t see a search feature like you had on your previous website. I found it very helpful and used it quite a bit. Perhaps it is in the works, but if not I would appreciate you considering including one again. Thanks.
Karin
We’re working on it.
I’m using the chrome browser on a WinXP system, and so far the blog is looking good to me. No squished-together comments so maybe that got fixed. The only issue I’m having is that the font in this comment window is so teeny-weeny I can barely see it, so don’t blame me if this post has many typos. My middle-aged eyes can barely make out what I am typing.
But interesting to read your take on the mouse study. I was also struck, when I read the BBC article, about Foo’s comment on replacing carbs with protein which to me indicated she was really pretty clueless about low carb diets. My own protein intake rarely exceeds 20% of my total calories. But when I expressed this on a low carb message board I was quite surprised at how many folks disagreed with me and felt my protein was far too low, and seemeds to feel that if I was really doing “Atkins” or “Protein Power” my protein would be far higher! And quite a few did say that 45% or more, and even above 50% of their calories came from protein. So I guess there are plenty of low carbers whose diet follows the “mouse ratio”. 🙂
They may think their protein is that high, but I really doubt it.
Another great post! Is the earth-shattering news going to come out tomorrow? Some of us have been waiting with bated breath for many months!
Sadly, as I mentioned in the post, the day of revelation has been put off until Sept 15. Not my fault, so don’t blame the messenger.
Dr. Mike said:
“(With apologies to Philip K. Dick for the title of this post.)”
Apologize for giving a shout out to our greatest Sci-Fi writer? Surely you jest!
For any of you who like Sci-Fi and haven’t read Dick, you’re in for a treat. Go get his writings and prepare for a wonderful ride.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_K._Dick
Or watch any of the nine deeply flawed screen adaptations of his wonderful stories.
Dick’s 1968 novel “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?” was the basis for Ridley Scott’s “Blade Runner” (1982).
Be well,
Ben Fury
I apologized for my sorry efforts in co-opting one of the greatest titles ever. I hate Sci-Fi, but I bought Dick’s book “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep” on the title alone. And wasn’t disappointed.
Dr. Eades,
I’m a 61 year old guy doing Atkins religiously since 1999, when I lost 30 pounds. I’ve kept it off by keeping daily carbs to less than about 40 to 50 grams, and various supplements including fish oil and flax oil.
I had a small but definite heart attack last November.
I had none of the classic symptoms, but the enzyme test at the ER told the story, and I wound up with two stents in one artery. I was in the hospital 3 days and was back at work on the 4th day. In the follow up nuclear stress test, my cardiologist could detect no permanent damage (other than the stents).
In the hospital I refused their cheerios and banana breakfast, and was surprised that they complied when I asked for eggs instead.
My cardiologist, although a statinator, advised me to stay on Atkins, since it was obviously working for me. I am taking 20 mg of Zocor on the grounds that I fit the demographic most likely to reap its modest benefits.
So it looks like I’m a small black swan refuting your experience with 10,000 patients. Am I a 1 in ten thousand phenom? I would think not, since at any one time you were probably actively tracking a small fraction of the 10,000.
I also considered the other side of this equation: I personally know several people my age or younger on conventional diets, who are quite dead from a heart attack, whereas I am here, making comments and feeling pretty good!
Thank you for your amazing blog.
Glad to hear your MI left you with no damage. And thanks for commenting. It gives me the opportunity to say that I make no guarantees that a low-carb diet will totally prevent heart attacks, but just that in my and MD’s experience we have never had a patient following a low-car diet directly under our care have a heart attack. My point is not that they don’t happen, because, as you’ve proven, they do, but that they are fairly uncommon. Meaning that I doubt that Dr. Foo has hospitalized many patients with heart attacks (as she has implied) who are actively following a low-carb diet.
Ignore my comment above. I hadn’t read the last comments on the previous post! Sorry…..
One can search your blog INCLUDING comments by using the ‘Advanced search’ feature of Google and putting ‘http://www.mreades.wpengine.com/drmike/ in the ’search within a site or domain field’. Another poster on your blog passed this along many moons ago. Have found it very useful for searching comments on your blog.
I have a comment search function in the guts of the WordPress system so I can search comments. I’m trying to figure out how to get it in the actual blog. Until then, the method you suggest works like a charm.
10,000 patients and no heart attacks!
So, by the media’s scientific method, I should become one of your patients so I won’t have a heart attack, either!
Precisely. Now you’re thinking. 🙂
Thanks for all the helpful comments of the functionality of the blog. As we keep getting working on the blog, I’m sure many other glitches will surface. The people doing the work are watching the comment section for suggestions, so keep them coming.
To Art D (from comment this morning):
Could you elaborate on your comment that “the enzyme test told the story” with respect to your surprise heart attack. What enzyme test? Also, if you’ve been taking Zocor, does that indicate you had high LDL or other lipid factors?
Dr E — excuse the hi-jack of your always great blog.
The media in this country has devolved to such a point where I ignore them to a large degree. I, being a nutritionist that owns a vitamin/herb store have seen way to many “headlines” screaming the dangers of this or that vitamin/herb.
One of the most egregious was the “headline” that screamed “CHROMIUM CAUSES CANCER” , of course if one read the study they would find that the researchers used hamster cells in a petri dish and subjected the cells to around 3000 times the suggested amount that a human would ingest.
I find it jaw-dropping that people get funding to do such BS studies.
But, the beat goes on.
Dear Dr. Eades,
I really like your new look (oh, and the blog too!!). 🙂
Uh, that’s my old look. The photo was taken a couple of years ago when my hair was shorter and a little less gray.
You know, as I think do most of us who follow and comment on this blog, that when a friend or acquaintance say they are following a low-carb diet, it ain’t necessarily so. I think it naïve if not disingenuous of Dr Foo to believe that the patients she admitted were on a true low carb diet–that they knew what they were doing. If any of those patients followed a high fat protein meal with a very rich, sugary dessert, thinking that because they gave up the starchy side dishes they could then indulge in a high fat, high carb dessert, they were courting disaster. I’ve gone out with people who’ve done that! If done several times, I can see why they’d end up in the emergency room with something heart related.
I remember that in the original Protein Power there was a chart that showed what activated insulin or glucagon. The combination of sugar/fat was the worst in terms of activating insulin.
The future foretold or something out of a bad science fiction movie? Tell me this is a bad joke… or bad movie.
I’m with you with this science fiction thing… never got into it. I am curious about one thing though — would the human equivalent of a genetically engineered mutant mouse be a cyborg or an android? You see, a cyborg really isn’t human at all and an android could be given a bionic heart if the statinator screws things up with diet and all. I guess we’re good either way. 🙂
I’m glad you explained the difference between a cyborg and an android. I didn’t know.
You are quite a good looking guy and grey hair only makes a man that much more attractive, a kind that they depict in old westerns. How long have you abided by low carb lifestyle and do you mind to tell your female audience your real age, lol?
I have followed the low-carb lifestyle for about 25 years now. I turned 62 a couple of months ago, so I’m probably way too old for most of my female audience. 🙂
Dr. Eades,
I’m sure you could answer Bonnie’s question about the heart attack enzyme better than me, but here is my response:
Bonnie, I don’t recall the name of the enzyme, but I remember the explanation: when the heart muscle is stressed by a heart attack, it generates an enzyme, that then circulates in the blood. So if you have some symptoms and an elevation of this enzyme, you’ve had a heart attack almost for sure. The more the enzyme the bigger the attack. I think I read that marathon runners can sometimes confound hospitals, because they also can have an elevation of this enzyme without a true heart attack.
Before the heart attack, I had not had a cholesterol reading in a few years. At the hospital after the catheterization and stents, my cardiologist told me the numbers which I did not write down and don’t remember. I do remember him saying these numbers were not bad.
My decision to take Zocor, as I said in my earlier post, was because I know that statins do help the arteries in middle aged men who have had a heart attack. I started Zocor at 40 mg, and my cholesterol plummeted, making my cardiologist very happy, but giving me muscle aches, stomach cramps, and I think lower quality sleep. When I cut the dose to 20 mg, the cholesterol numbers got somewhat worse, but the side effects got much better, and my cardiologist is happy enough.
My own opinion of the usual cholesterol readings is that they might as well be horoscope readings.
Hope this helps you.
You are on the money. When heart muscle is damaged, it breaks down and releases particular enzymes specific to those muscles. When these enzymes appear in the blood it is an indication of heart muscle damage.
Oops. I am such an idiot. A cyborg is human, an android is not. Honestly though, I think they are used interchangeably.
What a very handsome and hunky photo of you! Blog looks great in plain ole vanilla IE.
Where do you stand these days on IF – or is the jury out?
Thanks!
The jury is still partially out I guess, but I am back to edging over into the camp of the pro-IF crowd.
For Art D: I wonder if you might have had a more severe, or even fatal, heart attack had you not been following a low carb regimen. I hope you have recovered well.
Doc, how could you not like science fiction? I don’t mean the cr@p they show on the idiotically renamed SyFy channel, but real science fiction. Short stories & novels, and some of the classic old movies. Almost as good as a classic mystery. Almost, but not quite.
Love the new look of the blog.
You said it right. Almost as good as a classic mystery, but not quite. Al long as I have the classic mysteries to devour, why spend time on Sci Fi? Just finished the first two books of a three book series (three so far) by Rennie Airth. Fabulous mysteries. Start with River of Darkness, then move on to The Blood-Dimmed Tide, which I just finished last night. They need to be read in sequence. I’m waiting for the last one, The Dead of Winter, which should arrive tomorrow. Obviously, I can’t comment on the last one yet as I haven’t read it, but the two others are excellent mysteries.
As to Sci Fi, I’ll have to admit that one of my favorite short stories is a Sci Fi short story. It’s a classic by C. M. Kornbluth titled “The Marching Morons,” written back in the early 1950s. A terrific story, and with all the reality shows popping up on the tube today, I wonder if it is coming to pass. It has inspired an addition to the Eades’ family lexicon. “Would you buy it for a quarter?” We always say that to one another sotto voce when we see or hear something stupid. You’ll have to read the story to get the context.
Hi Dr. Eades,
I have finished both Dr. Sears’ “Zone” works and your “Protein Power.” I am trying to reconcile the two with regards to carbohydrate intake. I know you have written about ketosis often in the past (and in the book), as has Dr. Sears. He seems to believe that ketosis longer term will lead to increased cortisol production as the brain sends stress signals in response to the relative lack of glucose available in the system (replaced by ketone bodies). Ultimately, he indicates this will reverse the weight-loss properties of a ketogenic diet and lead to insulin resistance in cells.
What is your take on this? Do you generally agree that to optimize weight-loss and leanness, there is a minimum glucose intake necessary to avert this supposed elevation in cortisol production? I appreciate everything you have done to advance the common man’s knowledge of general yet hugely important biochemistry and food science. At age 26, I am trying to plot the best way to eat for a lifetime in order to reduce silent inflammation, keep great biomarkers of health, remain less, and feel great. Please advise.
Sorry, I had no other forum to reach you regarding this topic. I understand this is not related to the above blog post. Thank you!
Sincerely,
Kyle Schneider
Barry Sears, who is a good friend of mine, and I disagree on this issue. I, of course, am going to claim that I am correct. I guess you’ll just have to base your decision on who you tend to believe based on the total body of work. It would take far too long than permitted in the comments section to argue my side of this debate.
> aren’t s hot topics
> the traditions in scientific of research
Were these typos in the original or are they a result of poor copying or transcription?
They were in the original. I’ve changed them now, but they were in the original.
“You are on the money. When heart muscle is damaged, it breaks down and releases particular enzymes specific to those muscles. When these enzymes appear in the blood it is an indication of heart muscle damage.”
Are these the same enzymes that are released when muscle tissue in general is damaged, as in muscular dystrophy? I was misdiagnosed with both MD and polymyositis and was prescribed prednisone for the latter (gained about 80 lbs., raised my blood sugar/blood pressure, etc.); a smart rheumatologist, who was called upon to dole out some methotrexate, told the neurologist he was wrong. I’ve lost some of weight on PP, but I’m looking forward to the new book as my middle is now where the remainder seems to have settled.
(BTW, the text that appears in the comment box is much smaller font than the rest of the blog’s. I’m using IE 7).
No, these are isoenzymes specific to cardiac muscle, which is why they are valuable in diagnosing heart muscle damage.
I’m working on the small print in the comment box.
Hi Dr. Mike,
Firefox user on a PC (WinXP). Would you please ask your guys to add a little padding on the left edge? The text runs exactly against the left-hand window edge, which makes it quite awkward to read.
Also, please please PLEASE ask them to change the “Next page” and “Previous page” links at the page bottom to “Earlier Posts” and “Later Posts,” or “Past” and “Present,” or something that provides adequate direction-in-time to the reader. This is a blog, it’s sequential: when one is — as I am — working her way diligently through every single word you have ever written, it’s *enormously* frustrating to get to the bottom of the page and be faced with “directions” that mean absolutely nothing (or worse, point in the opposite direction of what one expects).
Thanks so much for all your work. I am waiting eagerly for your new book (pre-ordered) and your interview with Jimmie Moore on the 7th! I’m also re-reading PPLP in bed at night. I’m getting nowhere in my dieting {sigh}, and after having treated adrenals and thyroid (adrenals seemed back to about 70-80% health; thyroid still a problem (or rather, a problem-again since Forest screwed up the pills! Trying to get some pills from Canada now.). So, next, I am taking an idea from your discussion (since you don’t give advice 😉 ) and have contacted a GYN who uses bio-identicals. (She loves Schwartzbein, is dubious of “actual” low-carb… so, she’s part of the way there. I referred her to Fat Head, and she was quite interested.) Tracking my blood sugar (morning b.s. hovers around 109, 104,102, etc., but post-meal blood sugar seems to work well enough (for now)) and if the bio-identicals don’t kick-start some weight loss, (oh, I cut out cheese and nuts too… you have very good ‘discussions.’), I’m gonna try Metformin… I’m also going to try intermittent fasting.
I’m 53, female, 288 pounds, do water aerobics twice a week (was 4x/week for 2+ years); this year, added weightlifting two days a week (trying to emulate you with Fred Hahn, but not quite so high weights…yet). But my weight JUST won’t budge! (I had lost 60 pounds over the past 3-4 years; then I took physiologic doses of hydrocortisone for my adrenals, which immediately packed 30 back on.)
Elenor
p.s., Please tell Dr. Mary Dan I tried her mayonnaise recipe, but the lemon was was too strong for my husband; gonna try again and see if I can’t wean him off the commercial stuff!
I agree with you about the ‘Next Page’ – ‘Previous Page’ situation. I hate that on blogs I read and often go the wrong way. Problem is, I don’t know how difficult it is to change it. Often these things are done with preprogrammed pieces of code and are expensive to create something new. But, I’ll raise the issue.
I’ll pass on to MD your comments on her recipe.
Nice tp see another Rennie Airth fan. I’ve enjoyed those books also. Have you read Charles Todd? I like the Todd series as well. I’m a huge mystery fan dating back to early childhood. When I was younger I was a fanatic Science Fiction fan too, though I don’t read it that much anymore. But I love mysteries, and especially love some of the wonderful writers of the Golden Age, though I have modern favorites too.
I’m another fan of your photo, and 62 is a perfect age. 😀 But we all know there is no way we can compete with MD. She is a hottie, LOL. In fact MD reminds me a lot of an aunt of mine, though a much younger version. But my aunt just turned 88 a couple weeks ago and still runs around in jeans and T-shirts, and goes on a 2-mile walk every morning with my 89-year-old uncle, who then comes home to work out and lift weights – and they just had their 66th wedding anniversary this summer. So something to aspire to. 🙂 [caveat – they are not low carbers though!]
Elenor, I feel for you. I’m in the same boat – female of about your same age and size who lost 80 pounds in my first three years of low-carbing, but have been stalled almost the entire calendar year 2009, so I feel your frustration.
Kyle, you are smart to be concerned about a lifetime of eating now while you are still young. It’s great to see young folks who really have an eye towards lifelong health. My son is doing the same thing so I hope he will have better success than I had. Though I did *try* to eat healthily when I was in my 20s – which meant trying to keep my fats low and tons of whole grains. Eeek.
In my opinion, the paper made it into PNAS (not an easy task!) because of the transgenic mouse they had, not necessarily because they were proving anything. I don’t think PNAS really focuses on the real issue of the paper or the reviewers would have caught the flaw in the reasoning. If one develops an animal model in which the animal is already prone to a disease, and then proves that the animal gets sick, is pretty much like demostrating that when you kill an animal, it actually dies. Nonsense! So, perhaps the innovation is in the manipulation of the mouse genome to come up with a transgenic mouse that could be use in different types of study that could explore defects in ApoE, for example.
Another flaw is that the carbohydrate intake corresponding to what is considered a ‘low carb diet’ has already been established by the Metabolism society so studies can be compared in a better way. 50-100 gr/day is what’s considered ‘low carb’, less than 50, more towards 20 gr/day or less, is considered ‘very low carb diet’ (and usually called ketogenic diet), with specific therapeutic applications for epilepsy. Anyway, as you mentioned, studies like these show how smart some people are to come up with transgenic animals but how ignorant on everything else they can be. This study is a precious example that I can bring to my class when we discuss that old approach to explain phenomena called scientific method 🙂
Art D,
May I suggest you obtain a copy of your medical records and keep a file for yourself? I requested a copy of my 10 years of lab results and consult reports from my local healthcare network and then found some records of 4 other people in *my* file. At that point I learned that is is very important to stay engaged with what is happening during medical consults and treatment. The Medical Records supervisor I spoke to said *everyone* should maintain a copy of their own file, for numerous reasons. Perhaps not every little note that is jotted down needs to be copied to your personal file, but at the very least, a copy of every lab result, a copy of every consult report, and a copy of every hospitalization summary.
I’ve never had a doctor give me a hard time when I ask for a copy of the lab results; they know the records are mine and I’m entitled to them, too. Once or twice a year I fill out a medical release form (downloaded from the health network’s website) requesting a copy of my consult summaries and mail it in to medical records. They bill a nominal fee for the copying (perhaps 25 cents a page). It is well worth the small expense. I would hate to think that some treatment might be applied to me based on erroneous information in my file, and I’ve learned the hard way that I need to review my lab results, too, and not settle for a verbal “everything’s fine”.
If at all possible, I’d take this file (or a prepared emergency minifile) with me to any ER visit, and I also carry one with me when I travel (for the entire family). There are numerous iPod, iPhone, and other electronic versions that are convenient to carry, too. Your own thick file at your doctor’s office might not be readily available in an urgent situation, and there are issues with electronic records too.
Just a suggestion.
And a very good one.
Is there no search function now? I hope it’s just a glitch! I search your forum at least a couple of times a week!!
It’s getting fixed. I’m hoping to be set up to search both the posts and the comments soon.
dr. eades,
just switched browser to google chrome and now i can read the comments in full!
Speaking of mice, would you care to comment on another mouse study which implicates “fatty” diets in mice with poor cognitive and physical performance? Supposedly humans, too. This goes against what I’ve read from brain surgeon McCleary who says brains PREFER to run on ketones. I’ve also heard that atheletes are switching to higher fat diets to improve performance…
I am just dying to see someone take apart this silly article in the NYT by Tara Parker-Pope. I did notice that they put the mice on a 55% fat diet (what kind?) when their usual intake is 7.5%. That’s an increase of 800%. Humans generally eat 35% fat if they listen to conventional dietary advice, so going up to 55% or more is nothing near the same. But this article is ruining my credibility as I tout my low carb/high fat/moderate protein diet<
If people are going to make up their minds or change their minds based on what they read in the popular press, especially from a lipophobe such as Tara Parker-Pope, they deserve what they get. The first thing anyone with a smidgen of critical thinking ability does is ignores anything in the mainstream press. These are – at best – secondary sources. They are like observational studies, which don’t provide any meaningful data, but do provide the basis for an hypothesis. Media reports are the same. You say, ‘Hmmm. Interesting. Wonder if there is any truth to it?’ Then, if you’re interested enough to find out, you go to the primary sources.
I was working on a post a few weeks ago (that I abandoned because something more interesting came along) about a rat study showing just the opposite. A specific fat, found in high levels in most meats, caused rats to learn better. I was posting not really on the results, but on the media’s reaction to these results. In the Parker-Pope article, the findings of the study confirmed the bias of the researchers and Parker-Pope, so they were reported as they were. The study I was posting on had the opposite outcome, so the researchers and mainstream writers had to square the findings with their own beliefs that fat is bad. Maybe I’ll pick it back up and finish the post.
The BBC website always has links to similar stories in a sidebar. It’s interesting that the most recent one they could dig up that supports this story (“Low carb diet health risk fears”) is from 2006; the other two are from 2005 and 2004.
Reporter bias often comes in the form of omission. The Toronto Globe & Mail’s dietitian, a rabid carb promoter (Jay Wortmann is a regular contributor in the comments section, refuting some of her more ridiculous statements), ran a column today on fibre and breast cancer. She threw in a few other “associations,” including a recommendation to keep fat consumption at 20%. However, she neglected to point out that recent studies say there is no correlation between meat consumption and breast cancer. She’s obviously read the reports (otherwise I’m sure she would have recommended eating less meat), but she can’t bring herself to come out and say that meat is okay.
I read a fair amount of journal articles. I heard about a study of just ‘abstracts’ from “TRICK AND TREAT” by Barry Groves. They looked to see if the info in the Abstract actually followed from what was in the article. They found quite a lot of incorrect or inconsistent conclusions. Of course the article about the Abstracts had an abstract.
I had a friend who used to write the Abstracts. I was surprised to find that the researchers who write the journal articles don’t always write the Abstracts themselves and the number of Abstracts per day the guy had to write was A LOT. Too many maybe for accuracy and good conclusions? And there seems to be a lot more monkey business when it comes to nutrition, physiology and pharmacology articles, grant funding, and abstracts if you ask me. I would assume basic physics research and abstracts with less ‘newsie’ stuff at stake, might suffer from less subterfuge. Pity really, but at least I know about now, finally.
One last thing about abstracts and conclusions. My sister-in-law’s father-in-law is being treated for the THIRD TIME for hairy cell leukemia. An article I found suggested that low cholesterol is bad in this case. She found that although he was otherwise in good shape (no heart disease), his doctor had him on a statin bringing his cholesterol down to 160 mg/dL!!! Anyway, the article’s abstract states that the findings were that in this type of cancer, hypo-cholesterolemia was deleterious. But it concludes with something like ‘because we all know high blood cholesterol is bad, that cholesterol should be lowered further’! Stunning really. Why is this man, who is known to have leukemia, being treated with a “preventative” for heart disease that he MIGHT develop later? Shouldn’t they just be concerned with the present cancer??? This gives me way too much agita.
Welcome to the Way-Too-Much-Agita society. It is stunning. And everything you wrote about abstracts versus the body of the paper is correct.
Hi Mike,
The site looks great. My only suggestion is (if it is possible) that when the blog search function is reinstated it extends to search comments (especially your answers).
Off topic but one of the ads that one of your Twitter feeds attracted was this one for a home A1C test;
http://www.a1ctest.com/ngsp.html
Have you any experience with these? The accuracy seems pretty good (and I imagine there is a degree of error even with standard lab based tests). If they are ok I would certainly recommend them as a way of keeping those with less that stellar home bg testing records ‘honest’. I have another friend recently diagnosed and as always the battle is to get him to accept a goal of normal blood sugar/A1C rather than the goal of the ‘experts’ – currently they seem to say anything under 7 (A1C) is just great! I was thinking of telling him that the difference between an A1C of 5 as against 7 is like comparing non smokers to those with (at least) a pack a day habit. Do you think that is a fair analogy?
Cheers,
Malcolm
I have not had experience with these, but I don’t see why they shouldn’t work.
The plan is afoot to add a comment search function. There is one built in to WordPress, so we’re trying to figure out how to put it in the public part of the blog.
When I increase the text size for more comfortable reading, it increases the entire field so that I have to scroll back and forth sideways. Ideally it should re-wrap instead so it still fits on my screen.
“I’ve decided the best way to get readers to spend more time on the site is by having them scroll through all the old posts to find what they’re looking for.”
LOL, we might do that, but if we hate you, we won’t buy your books! I hope your world changing project is to get real fats back into the diet of our kids – Jamie Oliver is apparantly trying to remove butter from kids school lunches now (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1210841/Now-Jamie-Oliver-bans-butter-School-cooks-told-stop-spreading-pupils-sandwiches-tackle-obesity.html). The world desparately needs some sane voices on feeding children, or the next generation is still doomed.
And this guy is a chef. Jesus wept.
I’m convinced. I’m exactly your target audience. I’ll be turning 50 (OH MY GOD!) in about six weeks and am a perfect poster girl for this product. About five years ago, I lost 50 pounds using a Protein Power-style diet; I have since regained about 10–all in my middle, which really throws off the silhouette. You are one of the few online sources in which I have complete faith, and so I am willing to trust and comply with your suggestions (no pressure here!). I’ve just pre-ordered your book through this site, along with a copy of The Vegetarian Myth by Lierre Keith. To paraphrase Samuel Johnson, for a woman, nothing focuses the mind like turning 50.
Also, I would like to order Metabosol through your site. I seem to remember an offer about free PPLPs last year, then, for a while on your site I believe that you were offering complimentary copies of same with a minimum order. Now, I’m not seeing either offer. I sure would like another copy as those that I have purchased keep disappearing into my friends’ libraries. Is there any chance a loyal reader and buyer could arrange for a complimentary copy with purchase from your site?
Thank you both for all you do. My life is richer and thinner simultaneously because of all you do. You and MD deserve all the success that comes your way!
We’ll be happy to arrange a complimentary copy with an order. We are redoing the website along with the blog, and the products page is still in the old format. When it gets up like it’s supposed to be, the offer will be back.
Thanks for the kind words.
‘Hypocholesterolemia in Hairy Cell Leukemia: A Marker for Proliferative Activity’, Pandolfino et al, Am J of Hematology 55: 129-133 (1997)
and Cholesterol May Play Cancer-Prevention Role at Cellular Level
‘OSBP Is a Cholesterol-Regulated Scaffolding Protein in Control of ERK1/2 Activation’, Ping-yuan et al, Science 307: 472 ( March 2005)
I like the new look, but would ask for one thing: because I mainly view this blog on my iPhone, it would really nice to have the option to default the order comments are displayed in to newest first, or have a button to scroll to the last comment. It takes a lot of scrolling to get to the latest comment on many of your posts.
Can’t wait to get my copy of your latest…it’s been on advance order from Amazon for a year now.
Thanks. I’ll pass the suggestion along to my web guys.
Dr Eades,
Your patronising attack on Dr. Foo because she is a youngish female, and ( horror !) younger than you, scarcely does you credit and makes it difficult to take what else you have to say seriously.
I am also not sure why you had to put in her full name and degrees in – were you trying to draw attention to her ethnicity and sneer at her qualifications ?
Please remove the offending passage about Dr. Foo from your blog and an apology to her would be nice as well.
This is a joke, right? Or are you out of your mind? Her name is her name. I clipped it right out of the interview that was done with her. The vast majority of people in this world are younger than I am. And half of them are female. So does that mean that anytime I mention someone from this large group of people I’m being some kind of an ‘ist?’ As in misogynist, racist, ageist, etc.
My commentary had nothing to do with her gender, age or ethnicity. It was about her obvious bias. Sorry if offends you, but I’m not altering the post. I suggest you read elsewhere.
Please remove the attack on the young female scientist from your blog. It is inappropriate and lessens your credibility.
Sorry, but I don’t view it as an attack. Let’s call it an academic disagreement: I’ve seen much worse in prestigious academic journals. And let’s see what other readers say. Are any of the rest of you offended by my critique of Dr. Foo’s article?
Here’s the passage in question, this isn’t a “critique” of an article, it’s patronising middle aged white male stuff
“I want to comment on something here as an aside. I don’t know how old Dr. Foo is, but since she’s working in someone else’s lab, I would think she’s probably fairly new to the medical game. She may have admitted a patient or two to the hospital with heart attacks, who, under questioning, may have admitted to following a low-carb diet at some point. But I’m willing to put my experience with low-carb diets up against hers any day. MD and I have followed over 10,000 patients on low-carb diets and have never had a single one have a heart attack. So, I really doubt that Dr. Foo has admitted many – if any – patients who are actively following a low-carb diet. But it does make for a good story.”
I’m a middle-aged, white male, so I suppose you could be accused of patronizing me. That said, I stand by what I wrote. What’s got me curious, however, is why you have leapt to Dr. Foo’s defense on this issue. What’s the connection?
As far as whether or not I was out of line, I’ll let my readers comment. Other than posting their comments, I’m out of the loop on this one. I wasted enough time on it.
Dr. Mike, yes – I was offended by your Foo commentary. I was offended that you let this pseudo-scientist off so lightly.
Don’t let it happen again. 😉
She’s not really a pseudo scientist. She has both MD and Ph.D degrees, so she should be well-educated. But, by her own admission, she is biased in this situation, and that makes for sloppy science.
A quick scan through the “bogus studies” posts reveals the majority of studies Dr. Eades has debunked were done by male researchers. Does that mean he hates men?
I’m female and I wasn’t offended by your Foo comment; in fact, I’ll risk saying something probably more offensive.
Dr. Foo is probably an “over-achiever” who played it safe by getting both degrees because she couldn’t decide whether she wanted to be a real scientist or a clinical practitioner. I know a lot of MD-PhDs, male and female, and that’s my impression of the majority of them. Training for scientists and physicians is quite different; one predominantly seeks new knowledge and questions everything; the other predominantly puts into practice what is thought to be known. Neither require both types of training.
Be careful. You probably shouldn’t use her name. You risk being labeled a racist. Yeesh.
Peter’s comments were pretty bizarre, they have to be a joke. Suggesting posting her name is racist is just too funny. And you specifically said you don’t know how old she is, you were questioning her experience not her age which seems fair. For all we know she went back to school later in life and is 62.
I guess Peter would have you say “Dr X (name withheld) said his/her (sex withheld) study found the following. LOL. Can you imagine if the press did this? “President X (name withheld) said his/her (sex withheld) policy must pass congress soon.
Steve G wrote…
“Peter’s comments were pretty bizarre, they have to be a joke. Suggesting posting her name is racist is just too funny”.
Hi Steve.
if you read my original comment you will see that I did not suggest anybody was racist, I did not even use the word “racist”, I asked a question.
It was Dr. Eades himself who introduced the word “racist” to the discussion. Hmmm … at least he appreciates how his actions might be seen and interpreted by others.
Agreed. I introduced the term ‘racist’ into the discussion. What you accused me of was using her name (and degrees) to try “to draw attention to her ethnicity and sneer at her qualifications.” Questioning whether I was trying to “draw attention to her ethnicity” is tantamount to questioning whether or not I’m racist. And that was clearly the implication whether you used the word or not. I would have used her name had it been Jones or Smith.
Dr.Eades
“Agreed. I introduced the term ‘racist’ into the discussion. What you accused me of was using her name (and degrees) to try “to draw attention to her ethnicity and sneer at her qualifications.” Questioning whether I was trying to “draw attention to her ethnicity” is tantamount to questioning whether or not I’m racist. ”
No, I didn’t “accuse” you of anything, read my OP , I asked a question!!!
You said your use of her full name ( why not just Dr.Foo or even just Foo if you are being trully academic) and degrees was purely innocent cut and paste and I accept that.
I don’t understand why you and your acolytes are misrepresenting my post. Is there a bit of guilty conscience there about personal abuse of the researcher rather than discussiojn of the research ? ( that’s another reflective question incidentally not an “accusation”)
BTW it is nice to see you now stepping in and defending Dr.Foo against the wilder personal abuse of your followers but YOU lowered the tone and started the personal abuse of Dr. Foo, they merely picked up the baton that you passed to them.
In general Dr.Eades “don’t shoot the messenger”.
After my almost four years of pretty continuous blogging, I think I’ve encountered my first internet troll. I had read about them and wondered where they all were on my blog. Now it seems I’ve caught one. And, based on what I’ve read, the best way to get rid of them is ignore them. Or don’t post their comments. Haven’t decided if I’ll take the second option, but I’m definitely taking the first.
Here we go again with another study that appears to have been intentionally designed to produce a negative outcome for high fat (low carb) diets.
Do High-fat Diets Make Us Stupid And Lazy? Physical And Memory Abilities Of Rats Affected After 9 Days
ScienceDaily (Sep. 5, 2009) — Rats fed a high-fat diet show a stark reduction in their physical endurance and a decline in their cognitive ability after just nine days, a study by Oxford University researchers has shown.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090811143548.htm
I recently came across another study that concluded that high fat, not high insulin levels, causes insulin resistance suggesting that type II diabetes is caused by eating a low carb, high fat diet. According to the mainstream experts we need a high carbohydrate, high fiber, low fat diet to maintain BG levels, regular bowel movements and body weight. We are also told that saturated fat is bad for us while vegetable oils are healthy.
Does anyone see a pattern here? Fiber and vegetable oils are all embodied in carbohydrate foods. So any way you slice it a high fiber or a low fat diet is by default a high carbohydrate diet. Thus when an organization such as the ADA finally appears to relent and says that lower carb diets may be beneficial for some diabetics and then in the same sentence states it should have low fat they are playing us.
Very, very true.
What a great response, Dr. Eades!
By the way, I got an early copy of the book, too,
and I’ve read it! Oh, my goodness! It is an
amazing book, and I hope you sell a gazillion
copies! The world will be a better place!
Thanks for the kind review of the book. I’m glad you enjoyed it.
Dr. Mike
What you wrote on “Dr. X” was spot on and pretty darn polite. I am a pretty active liberal but this kind of over sensitivity and political correctness just chaps my hide.
Thanks for the support, LC. Had it occurred to me at the time instead of later, I would have titled my blog post about that paper A Ship of Foos. Wonder what kind of heat I would’ve taken for that?
“Thanks for the support, LC. Had it occurred to me at the time instead of later, I would have titled my blog post about that paper A Ship of Foos. Wonder what kind of heat I would’ve taken for that?”
None more than such an hominum ( or should that be ad feminum ) attack would deserve.
I was disppointed to learn that this is not the first time you have attempted to dismiss research findings because the researchers were young female scientists – there was your attack of two such scientists as “chicks”, not to be taken seriously, a couple of years ago.
I suppose that having found a “cure” for something in your new book you are going to get nominated for the Nobel Prize for Medicine ?
“This is a joke, right? Or are you out of your mind? ”
The latter. He has been banned from an internet forum twice so is now trolling elsewhere. As a Type 2 who has rapidly progressed onto insulin through his following a low fat diet the result of his opinions speak for themselves rather.
“After my almost four years of pretty continuous blogging, I think I’ve encountered my first internet troll. I had read about them and wondered where they all were on my blog. Now it seems I’ve caught one. And, based on what I’ve read, the best way to get rid of them is ignore them. Or don’t post their comments. Haven’t decided if I’ll take the second option, but I’m definitely taking the first.”
http://redwing.hutman.net/~mreed/index.htm
http://people.csail.mit.edu/rahimi/helmet/
HTH 😉
Thanks for a heads up. I figured as much. He struck again moments ago, but I posted and ignored. Next step will be to delete.
A Nobel, what a great idea! What’s the first step? I’d nominate both Dr. Mary Dan and Dr. Mike since they are collaborators.
Please don’t nominate us. I don’t want to have to prepare the speech that has to be given upon acceptance of the award. 🙂
Oh dear
http://groups.google.co.uk/group/alt.support.diabetes/browse_thread/thread/f79b6aaa273e46eb/87a3de8d58c79633?hl=en&q=#87a3de8d58c79633
now I can see what was occurring, someone posted a list of essential blogs and he is going through said list insulting the bloggers, Peter at Hyperlipid was first, or was it Jenny at Diabetes Update? Probably Jenny, he likes making misogenistic attacks even more than insulting men.
I can’t remember now, did you also get hit by the High Eveything Diet guy? He self-destructed quite violently on Hyperlipid. Also there seems to be a high level of carbophilic trolling on some diabetes forums, you’d almost think someone was organising it. Either that or it’s a previously undiagnosed symptom of carbohydrate toxicity.
This guy is a real nimrod as evidenced by his saying that on my Twitter page I’m listed as a Bio Physician, then asking what a bio physician is. Does he not realize that that means Bio as in Biography. And that the first thing I put was ‘physician.’ So, my bio says I’m a physician, not a Bio Physician. This is really telling.
I did get hit by the High Everything Diet guy, who later wrote me via the comments that he had discovered his error when the High Everything Diet didn’t really work for him. He wrote to apologize. I didn’t post the comment because I felt like it was more a personal note to me than a public statement.
These people (the first guy, Peter C) must not have lives if they can spend this inordinate amount of time fooling with stuff like this. As I wrote to someone else, had I had my wits about me, I would have titled the blog post ‘Ship of Foos.’ That would have really set him off.
“had I had my wits about me, I would have titled the blog post ‘Ship of Foos.’ ”
Then you would be a Net-Wit. 🙂
(No need to post this–just teasing you)
P.S. “It’s been a real PITA for us, too.”
Shouldn’t you be using the correct medical term–proctalgia ?