They Almost Got It, But Then Ignorance Quickly Consumed Them!

Click Here to read what I am going to rip apart today!

OK, so I log on and what catches my eyes but "20 Habits That Make You Fat." Of course I go and read the article and they actually started out by stating correctly that 'eating fat does not make us fat.' Wow, I say to myself, is this the Eureka moment I've been waiting for, where the Nation will suddenly understand the fact that eating fat DOES NOT make us fat??!!

Hold on to your seats ladies and gentlemen, wait for it....wait for it....

Ummm, no; no Eureka moment ensued :-(

The article started out right but then went astray by bringing the bane of my existence into the conversation....that's right, they started talking about calories. While saying that eating too many calories will cause us to gain weight misses the whole point. Yes, eating too many calories that are in the form of carbohydrates will increase weight gain; but when we eat our calories in the form of mostly fat with very little carbs, one will not gain weight. In fact, when we consume our calories with a preponderance of fat, one remains fuller longer and will not be looking to eat anything for a longer period of time. Get those calories mainly in the form of carbohydrates and say hello to some more excess adipose tissue.

No, please don't take my mentioning the calorie as any endorsement into the calorie's usefulness, for the counting of calories is a waste of one's time; and as I've said before is simply a red herring. What's more important is what you are eating 'calorie' wise. More calories from carbs look for weight gain, increased blood pressure, metabolic syndrome which will lower HDL (the good guy) and raise triglycerides and eventually lead to an increase in blood sugar facilitating overt type 2 diabetes. More calories from fat, cholesterol and protein containing foods and look forward to overall health and a reversal of the maladies as mentioned above.

Those are the facts!

Since I despise even hearing the calorie mentioned I initially ignored Good Calories, Bad Calories by Gary Taubes. That's because like many of my counterparts in medicine I can be thickheaded at times too. It was a patient of mine who brought an excerpt of Taube's book to my attention and forced me to read it. Like any physician who is 'forced' to do anything against their will, I acted like most physicians who are placed in this situation; I acted like a whiny little snot-nosed tempter tantrum filled pre-schooler...

But I finally read the excerpt and thank goodness I did!

When I read the short blurb about Mr. Taube's book I immediately understood that he understood the correct way to eat. While he is not a physician his book basically reveals how no study, in any language in any country ever supported the low fat low cholesterol opinion. (I was going to use the word hypothesis or theory in lieu of the word opinion but I thought those 2 words might have lent more credence to the low fat low cholesterol myth.)

Before I end today's rant, pay close attention to the author of 20 Habits That Make You Fat, it's Dave Zinczenko. Now what book was mentioned at the end of page 1 of this article? That's right, Eat This, Not That. Oh wait, who was one of the authors of that politically correct way to eat book? That's right, the same guy.

Need I say more?

dr jim :-)
www.drjamescarlson.com
drjim@drjamescarlson.com