Research & Science

More Information on the Hope Warshaw/Diabetes Health Controversy created by Hope Warshaw. The Low-Carb community responds.

First of all, there are no monolithic Powers That Be. There are a whole lot of different Powers That Be, and they all make up their minds separately, in their own time, and they all have their own motives. There are, for instance, medical schools, a whole lot of medical schools, and a great deal of the funding for those medical schools comes from the pharmaceutical industry, as does a lot of the money for medical research. That's a clear danger, but the alternative, at least as far as I can tell, is to fund medical schools and medical research with tax money. For good or ill, a large faction of Americans is very much against that.

Anyone who has low carbed for any length of time has heard the litany of dire health predictions: "You'll get heart disease!" "It will weaken your bones!" "You won't have any energy!" Etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.

Wheat Belly by Dr. William Davis, explains why modern wheat is a perfect, chronic poison and why and how we need to eliminate eating it. The renowned author and cardiologist explains how eliminating wheat from our diets can prevent fat storage, shrink unsightly bulges, and reverse myriad health problems.

Whether you are a curious healthcare professional or just a connoisseur of diet information, two New York Times best-selling authors provide you with the definitive resource for low carbohydrate living.

In this groundbreaking book, the result of seven years of research in every science connected with the impact of nutrition on health, award-winning science writer Gary Taubes shows us that almost everything we believe about the nature of a healthy diet is wrong.

Many of us agree. Salt is easily the most popular seasoning. There's a good reason for this: Salt is an essential nutrient; without it we'll die. But just as Americans "know" that fat is bad for them, they "know" that salt is bad for them. The standard wisdom, parroted over and over again, is that limiting fat and salt intake will lower blood pressure, prevent heart disease, and improve health in general.

Niacin is a water-soluble B vitamin with good sources including lean meat, especially organ meats, white meat poultry, fish, eggs, peanuts, avocados, and wheat germ.

It wasn't vitamin C. Although it was known for centuries that a lack of fresh food would cause scurvy, and that certain foods, especially citrus fruits, cabbage, and sauerkraut, could prevent it, the factor responsible wasn't identified until a few years after our front-runner.

Let's talk a little about vitamin A. Vitamin A is important stuff, but it's a bit complex. Vitamin A is essential for your health, but because it's a fat soluble vitamin and can be stored in your body, it's possible to get too much. It also comes in a couple of forms, both with their virtues and their drawbacks.

Right now, half of you are saying, "Well, of course, duh." My guess is you know the rest of what I'm going to say, so you could go look at LOLCats instead. (Oh, hai!) The rest of you are saying "Ancel Keys? Who the heck is Ancel Keys?" You're the ones who need to read on, because Ancel Keys has profoundly influenced your life, and the lives of everyone you love - or hate, or are indifferent to - and not for the better. Ancel Keys was the teller of one of the most damaging lies in the history of human kind. Ancel Keys is the man who convinced the world that saturated fat is dangerous.

Some of the harshest criticism about low-carbohydrate diets such as Atkins has been the supposed negative heart health implications due to elevations that take place in the cholesterol levels of dieters who restrict their carbs in favor of more fat and protein. Additionally, it is presumed that any weight loss that occurs on a high-fat, low-carb diet is quickly gained back making it a uniquely ineffective means for managing weight. Finally, bone health is supposed to suffer for people following a carbohydrate-restricted diet because the higher protein content allegedly promotes bone loss. However, all of these theories about low-carb diets have been summarily shot down by a brand new study funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and published in the August 3, 2010 edition of the medical journal Annals of Internal Medicine.