March of the strawmen: I just came... - Low-Carb High-Fat...

Low-Carb High-Fat (LCHF)

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March of the strawmen

TheAwfulToad profile image
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I just came across another "Dr Berg" video (sorry, I just like this guy because he's so calm about everything) in which he:

(a) addresses a very, very common method of attacking LCHF: describe something that's a caricature of LCHF, and then knock it down.

(b) debunks the "it's just common sense: eat less and move more" thing. Again.

youtube.com/watch?v=fYOa4z6...

Y'all have no doubt heard a lot of this stuff before, but if you haven't, Berg is pretty good at explanations.

I'd never heard of Jillian Michaels before, and I'm not picking on her for any reason other than she happens to have painted crosshairs on her back by making some high-profile videos poking fun at LCHF (or rather, what she believes LCHF to be). What upsets me most is that she seems to typify the cargo-cult science approach to nutrition, ie., pick some sciency-sounding buzzwords and then just make some stuff up. She's just lucky she's being critiqued by someone as soft-spoken as Berg. I think I'd be less kind.

Some might raise the question: if Michaels is wrong, how is it that she looks like ... that? The short answer is: she's a personal trainer. She spends her entire life exercising. It's her career. She most likely has some genetic advantages that put her in that position in the first place. While it's often said that you can't outrun a bad diet, this isn't entirely accurate. If you have an incredibly active lifestyle - if you're an athlete, a construction worker, or a soldier - then a carb-based diet is a valid choice (although I'd still suggest a suboptimal one). For the rest of us mortals, it's not such a great idea.

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PandQs profile image
PandQs

Thanks for that - I’m doing LCHF but hadn’t seen anything by Dr Berg, I’ll certainly watch some more of his videos

MikePollard profile image
MikePollard

Jillian Michaels was one of the trainers on the first series of The Biggest Loser.

She is utterly ignorant of the science.

'Eat less move more' has been the simple solution to weight loss for the past 50 years. And for the past 50 years has utterly failed.

People just don't get the message or are non-compliant?

Just stand behind the trolley of an obese someone at the checkout and see the low-fat spread, green (or pink!) top milk etc and the amount of healthy whole grain crap there. They certainly have got the message, and like most of their contemporaries, are utterly bewildered as to why they have a weight problem. If Michaels' approach is so successful, how come just about all the contestants, including the winners, are back to square one and regained all the lost weight plus some?

Something our grandparents (slim and fit) would have been scratching their heads over if you asked them '...what makes you fat?' The would inevitably answer 'Bread and potatoes.' The average French woman today would tell you the same today.

All calories are equal are they?

Just cut down then and your dreams will be fulfilled?

OK, try a day eating 300 grams of white bread and compare how you feel next to eating 300 grams of cheese. Insulin will sort out any confusion there!

in reply to MikePollard

"People just don't get the message or are non-compliant?" I'm betting most haven't heard the message in the first place, mostly because doctors "don't get the message" and that may be the only place they ever hear dietary advice, assuming doctors ever give any at all. Then there's the processed food industry that has taken over our food choices. Aisle after aisle after aisle of nothing but grain-based carb products, and a large percentage that are marketed as "healthy". Has any of this LCHF trend gone mainstream at all? And even if people do hear about low carb to lose weight, they probably view it as yet another fad diet and continue to buy what they've always bought, eat the way they've always eaten all their lives, and continue down the self-destructive path of obesity, diabetes, heart disease, etc, etc. and believe there's nothing they can do about it. It's probably going to take revised "official dietary advice" via government agencies to begin to get the message out there where your average Joe will actually hear it. Because then the media will pick up on it, kinda like that Time Magazine cover with the frowny eggs and bacon plate when the anti-fat anti-cholesterol campaign began decades ago. My mother bought into that one right then and never changed. One bright note- Aldi is now selling Greek yogurt made with whole milk! The demand is growing.

Daisychain12 profile image
Daisychain12

Hi Toad. I too really like him. His teaching style is easy to understand and he makes a lot of sense. I like it less when his wife gets in on it. ONe of her recipes contained arrowroot flour which they both said was LC. IT ISNT ‘!!!

Alisongold profile image
Alisongold

Many thanks for this link, when I eat a high carb meal I get hungry before the next meal and gain weight whilst fat such as Greek yogurt makes me feel less hungry. Undestanding insulin has transformed my eating pattern, it is still a struggle, I am sometimes weak willed when offered cake or chocolates, but at least I know why I then gain weight.

We need to put more effort into helping people maintain weight loss and understand why they are regaining their hard won losses. The diabetes type 2 epidemic motivates me to try to give brief explanations about insulin resistance in my daily work. It is frustrating that the BMI NHS Choices website supports the Eatwell plate with a high carb component, but at least it also leads some to sites such as this.

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