Monday, December 20, 2010

The Momentum is Building

You can't ignore it.  It is becoming too prevalent.  The evidence is so overwhelming that the mainstream media is even catching on.  The LA Times has a big following.  Who knows where this article appeared in their print version but it is sure to catch the attention of it's readers.  Especially with 70% of America being overweight.  Statements like these in a national newspaper are pretty significant:
"Dietary fat used to be public enemy No. 1," says Dr. Edward Saltzman, associate professor of nutrition and medicine at Tufts University. "Now a growing and convincing body of science is pointing the finger at carbs, especially those containing refined flour and sugar."
 But a growing number of top nutritional scientists blame excessive carbohydrates — not fat — for America's ills. They say cutting carbohydrates is the key to reversing obesity,heart disease, Type 2 diabetes and hypertension.
 "Fat is not the problem," says Dr. Walter Willett, chairman of the department of nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health. "If Americans could eliminate sugary beverages, potatoes, white bread, pasta, white rice and sugary snacks, we would wipe out almost all the problems we have with weight and diabetes and other metabolic diseases."
 Consumption of carbohydrates has increased over the years with the help of a 30-year-old, government-mandated message to cut fat.
And the nation's levels of obesity, Type 2 diabetes and heart disease have risen. "The country's big low-fat message backfired," says Dr. Frank Hu, professor of nutrition and epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health. "The overemphasis on reducing fat caused the consumption of carbohydrates and sugar in our diets to soar. That shift may be linked to the biggest health problems in America today."
"At my obesity clinic, my default diet for treating obesity, Type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome is a low-carb diet," says Dr. Eric Westman, director of the Lifestyle Medicine Clinic at Duke University Medical Center, and co-author of the new Atkins book. "If you take carbohydrates away, all these things get better." 
As nutrition scientists try to find the ideal for the future, others look to history and evolution for answers.   Some, like Phinney, would argue that we haven't evolved to adapt to a diet of refined foods and mass agriculture — and that maybe we shouldn't try.
 WOW!  Scientists from Harvard, Tufts, and Duke universities coming out in the public media supporting the very things we have talked about on this site.  I told you at the beginning of this blog we weren't making this stuff up.  The question is how long will people get hit over the head with they proverbial hammer till the finally decide to give this stuff a real chance?  


The great thing is, the more I talk about it, the more people read about it, the more they hear about it, the more the message is actually getting through.  It is crazy when I hear friends or family tell me about how they are convincing other people to give this a try.  This viral messaging is having an effect.  If you follow this site, pass it on, you never know how it may effect someone down the line.


CP
   

3 comments:

Jan said...

WOW! is right!

It's funny, I didn't know what kind of an effect my - let's call it what it is - proselytizing was having here at the office. We have a new hire, actually he's a rehire from our massive layoff in 2008 when the economy went kerflooey, who eats chocolate chip cookies every day for breakfast. He was carrying on about the fat content in them the other morning and was accosted by two of my diabetic employees who promptly told him fat in them wasn't the problem, it's the sugar.

It made me so proud... *sniffle*

Chuck said...

"proselytizing" i had to look that one up but should have known it. he has chocolate chip cookies for breakfast and he is worried about the fat content? classic. that same person probably thinks his cookies are a better option than my eggs.

Donald said...

Make that eggs AND bacon for me please :-) DJ