Thread: Ten Reasons Low Carb Diets Are....

WRONG???????

http://www.easttexasreview.com/story.htm?StoryID=919

I'm preparing a written rebuttal to this article. This one is just too awful to let go.

Good Grief! Could she have listed any more falacies?!?! Except for "Keto breath" - She is off track on ALL of them, I mean come on... increased cancer risk?!?! or how about "low carbs cause osteoporosis"? You mean all that cheese, dairy, spinach (and all the other vegetables that have calcium in them) won't help? gee!

I would love to see her evidence that low carb diets RAISE your blood pressure - reading garbage like THIS is what raises MY blood pressure

How, in this day and age, can someone have such cognitive dissonance? Does she believe that Duke University and Harvard and the like are lying? That they are making up their statistics?

Whew... ok. thanks for sharing - and thanks for sending Jill Parker in East Texas (I just read that Houston has been rated for the last three years as the FATTEST city in the country - doesn't get much further East in Texas than Houston - and they're all reading this little ol' newsletter) a 'correction'.

grrrrrrrrrrrr.......

Hugs,
Rachel
165/138/128
Haec trutina errat. (Latin for,"There is something wrong with this scale".)

Come on Rachel, tell us how you really feel!

This is more evidence of the "sugar conspiracy"!

Cheers,

Information gladly given, but safety requires no unnecessary conversation.

http://www.fitday.com/WebFit/PublicJ...wner=RedLegg46

LC - 7/3/03
290/242/169

This level of ignorance is beyond comprehension.
I've greased the way for an article to be published refuting their ignoranct stand. Here's the short but I think, to the point email I just sent them.

Rob

Gentlemen;

Have you read none of the latest studies; have you not realized that saturated fats may raise total cholesterol but actually increase the hdl/ldl ratio? That People on Low carb diets see an improvement in cholesterol over time and lose more weight than on low fat diets. Blood pressure is very often reduced and many type 2 diabetics are taken off their medications by their Doctors because of the improvement in their condition.

I really think your article was written from a position of ignaorance and I feel your reputation hinges on allowing rebuttals to be printed in your publication.

Thank You
Rob Baldon

Red!! If there was still an "embarrassed" icon on the set here, I'd use it now...

That article did really boil me.

Sitting and thinking about it for a minute though - made me remember something I'd seen years ago on some Argus poster (remember those?) It was, "When you cannot understand a situation, look for the financial interest."

So I'm thinking this lil ol' gal from Texas who is an Ag extensionist (Rob, you might add that being an ag extensionist is not "quite" the same as being a doctor or even a nutritionist.) probably has a family member on the board of the Wheat Association of America or maybe her daddy or uncle or gasp, husband!, owns all the Krispy Kreme or McDonalds franchises in East Texas?

....always look for the financial interest....!

Hugs,
Rachel
165/138/128
Haec trutina errat. (Latin for,"There is something wrong with this scale".)

Ah c'mon Rachel, if you don't rant at us who else is there???

I understand your point about financial interest - however, EXTREME CLOSEMINDEDNESS is a likely alternative. What a crock!

Connie

"I've had a perfectly wonderful evening. But, this wasn't it." - Groucho
Marx

My reply - I am really ticked!

Dear Jill:

I am stunned at the ten reason article you wrote. I have been consciously engaging in a low carb eating way of life for the past 5 months, and I have seen a decreasse in my weight, lowered blood pressure, a drastic improvement in my "bad" cholesterol, and get this, improved athletic performance. In addition, my kidney function has not been impacted in any way. Further, I returned to this way of eating after trying the low fat, high carbohydrate diet for years, resulting in a 70 pond weight gain! My mother raised me with an emphasis on good proteins, lots of vegetables and fruits and limited flour products, potatoes, white rice and packaged processed products. In our family, we have NO heart disease or high blood pressure. My brother has gout, but that is because he was born with one kidney.

I cannot comprehend how anyone could publish such an article! There is significate recent research that low carb eating plans work and are better for one's health. Could it be that you have a financial interest in promoting consumption of low fat, high sugar (read carbohydrates) pre-packaged and processed products? I can think of no other reason, other than sheer ignorance, for such a misleading, fallacious article.

Jennifer Estey
Boston, MA

Jen
175/131/120

I am absolutely appalled at this article. I love the fact that not ONE medical study was quoted to support her opinion. She gives absolutely no background that would allow her to make these conclusions. There definitely is more here than meets the eye ($$$$$)

Glo

Start LC on 10/29/02

Live well, laugh often, love much!

Well, I see that the article has set off lots of opinions. I just posted my "Rant at the newspaper" in the Atkins Forum. The article was in my local paper when I read it, not just in the East Texas Review. Geez it's great to have such informed news reporters .

Judy

180/144/138
"Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts." Winston Churchill

Great letters all. Much more eloquent than mine. I sent this to the info address at the paper:

"Man, what a huge pile THAT was!

I’m sure you’ll get plenty of responses, and LOL again at an agricultural extension agent writing it. No bias in THAT writer!

You had better do your readers a proper service and put in a story from the other side with the REAL facts. It is no wonder that with the proliferation of low-fat, high carb diets (based on research primarily in rats, BTW) the last 40 years that America has seen such a huge explosion of obesity."

Mikeyrat

Started Atkins 5/30/2003
337/283.5/237 - 6'2" 43 YO
Wife: 224/194/165 - 5'11"

Here is my email response to Ms. Parker (cc'd to East Texas review)

Dear Ms. Parker:
After reading your article on how bad low carbohydrate diets are, I realized that you have never read any low - carbohydrate way of eating books or articles that are plentifully available in all bookstores, libraries and internet sites. Perhaps before you pen words to paper to criticize a way of eating, you should familiarize yourself with the subject you are criticizing. Unfortunately, many people who may have benefitted from a low carbohydrate way of eating will now continue on the path of destruction you recommend.


Speaking from personal experience, I am 53 years of age and a former severely asthmatic, arthritic, overweight stroke patient. A low carbohydrate diet has saved my life. How you ask? Read on:

No more gout
no more pain in joints
easier breathing
increased energy and decreased fatigue
increased strength in joints and muscles
normal blood pressure
decreased tryglycerides
higher good cholesterol
lower bad cholesterol
better diet (I eat more green vegetables, eggs, red peppers, zucchini, onions, tomatoes, garlic, fruit, cheese, seeds and nuts than before going on low carb foods)
no more migraines and headaches
to name the most beneficial aspects of my life change to a low carbohydrate way of eating.


Once again, I suggest that you avail yourself of reading material readily available on this subject, bearing in mind that at the turn of the century when people ate a diet high in real fat and protein and low in carbohydrate, there was virtually no heart disease, diabetes or obesity.

kateryna

Well, I *am* a writer (never to be confused with a "journalist" who must confine work to actual facts)

Ag extension agent writing it = financial reward. You betcha! I don't imagine the grain industry is feeling the love for low-carb.

This is no different than running articles by the local Home Building Association about how the only good house is a brand-new one.

CAD since 8/18
194/190/140
"You must do the thing you think you cannot do"

Ok, I know I was not as nice as you all were, but I dashed it off so quickly. I don't care.

"Ms. Parker:

I just finished reading your article, but it appears that you forgot to list your reasearch sources for your 'theory's'. I would venture to say that you know very little about low carb diets. I'm sure that your local library could supply you with some reading material on the subject. Perhaps the East Texas Review whose motto is 'truth-integrity-poitive' could advise you on how to research an article.

Editor @ East Texas Review:

It suprises me that you would print such a nonsense article with your motto beside it. I am 59 years old and have been following a low carb diet for over a year now. My blood work is better than it has EVER been in my life. I eat more veggies (loaded with fiber) than I have ever eaten in my life. I eat all meats, all cheeses, dairy, nuts, seeds, all berries, broccoli, cauliflower, green beans, snow peas, onions, pumpkin, tomatos, celery, spinach, kale, rhubarb, avocados, asparagus, cucumber, cabbage, mushrooms, peppers, turnips, radishes, squash, eggplant, endive, leeks, escarole, swiss chard, jicama, watercress, brussel sprouts, bok choi. Gee, I don't feel deprived. So this diet is going to kill me? Maybe I need to go back to bagels, whoppers, snackwells & french fries. Oh right, I've lost 62 pounds since giving those up. Check out your articles for 'truth and integrity'.

I apologize for my sarcasm, but darn, writing this helped my blood pressure nearly as much as my low carb diet has."

265/203/155
Started 7/15/02

Oh, yeah, that article got my Viking up. I wrote to them, too:


Sirs:
I read with great interest the article written by Jill Parker about low carbohydrate diets. I have several problems with what she has written, and I feel that printing such unfounded misinformation is irresponsible in the extreme.
I have no objection to anyone giving their opinion; however, it should be presented as an opinion and not as scientific findings. Where are the studies that back up her claims? Has she bothered to read the Duke University study that refutes her statements? Did she interview any doctors or health care professionals? Did she research this at all? She states, "One recent study showed that a high protein meal leads to a greater tendency towards binging of foods high in sugar and fat later in the day". What study? By whom?
In my opinion, a rebuttal, or at the very least, a clarification is in order, and preferably by someone with some real expertise in this area.

Sincerely,
Trina K. Nelson
Poughkeepsie, NY

Cooking is at once child's play and adult joy.
And cooking done with care is an act of love.
- Craig Claiborne

I said this on an earlier thread but it certainly bears repeating in this case~~~

If ignorance is bliss, this woman must be ecstatic!

Char

Don't squat with yer spurs on!