This year’s nominee list is conspicuously absent of any low-carbers
Diabetes has become one of the most urgent health concerns in the United States today with an estimated 73 million Americans walking around with insulin resistance, pre-diabetes, or full-blown Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes (and with the advent of Type 3 diabetes of the brain, that number is probably approaching 100 million!). Finding effective ways to treat the manifestations of this terrible disease is the life’s work of so many people involved in medical and nutrition fields and honoring these people for their efforts is a worthy thing to do. That’s why I was pleased to hear a company called American Diabetes Wholesale instituted a “Diabetes Educator Of The Year” award last year.
You’ll recall there were two EXCELLENT low-carb finalists among the top five considered for this prestigious award last year–Dr. Mary C. Vernon from Lawrence, Kansas and Dr. Richard Bernstein from Mamaroneck, New York. It was quite an amazing accomplishment to have 40 percent of the finalists for the best diabetes educator being well-known and highly successful low-carb advocates within the medical community.
Dr. Vernon co-authored a book with Jackie Eberstein entitled Dr. Atkins’ Diabetes Revolution that calls for using the proven effectiveness of the Atkins diet principles in treating diabetics. She has been using low-carbohydrate nutrition in her practice for over a decade and last year started practicing her unique techniques to diabetic patients in the Kansas City, Missouri area. And she is one of the most popular guests on my podcast show, as evidenced by her appearance in my best-of-2008 “Encore Week” in January.
Dr. Bernstein needs no introduction at all. He has written the quintessential diabetes Bible for anyone wanting to learn more about the low-carb answer to this disease with his classic The Diabetes Solution: The Complete Guide to Achieving Normal Blood Sugars. This man is a living low-carb legend practicing what he preaches for the past six plus decades since being diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. Read my blog interview with him from 2007 to get an idea for the kind of passionate man for livin’ la vida low-carb he still is after all these years.
Despite their tremendous background and history rooted in using carbohydrate-restriction in the lives of thousands of diabetics annually with outstanding results, both Dr. Vernon and Dr. Bernstein were edged out by a registered nurse Barbara Odom last year for “Diabetes Educator Of The Year.” Vernon came in second and Bernstein third. It was a close vote, but what an honor it was to have two of our own given a national platform and recognition for the great work they are doing on behalf of diabetes patients.
So when it came time for American Diabetes Wholesale’s “Diabetes Educator Of The Year” award again for this year, I proudly encouraged my blog readers to nominate Dr. Vernon again since she came in second place last year. Believing it was better to rally behind one low-carb nominee this year rather than splitting the vote between her and Dr. Bernstein, I had no doubt in my mind that she and maybe even Dr. Bernstein would make the final list of five nominees for this year’s award.
But then something funny happened–NONE of the finalists for the “Diabetes Educator Of The Year” award were advocates or promoters of controlled-carbohydrate nutrition for diabetics. Say what? How can you have an award based on finding individuals who are educating the public about effective ways to manage diabetes and NOT include anyone supporting a low-carb strategy? Not to take anything away from the five finalists (Linda C. Aman, Janet W. Brown Crockrel, Joyce Malaskovitz, Suzanne Swann Laws, and Laurie Terrio), but this seems conspicuously odd to me that not one single nominee uses low-carb techniques with their patients.
I know when I blogged about making nominations that more than just a handful of my readers responded with their own choice of quality low-carb nominees, including Dr. Vernon, Dr. Bernstein, and possibly others. Is American Diabetes Wholesale attempting to quash the low-carb message from being promoted on their web site? I would certainly hope not since this way of eating has been shown in study after study to be quite effective in bringing about incredible improvements in blood sugar, insulin control, and A1C levels without the need for insulin or medications. I’m just confused and perplexed trying to figure out why they couldn’t even bring ONE name into the fray this year.
When I received notice of the five finalists from the public relations contact for American Diabetes Wholesale last month, she was so proud of their five finalists and asked me to blog about it for my readers to vote. To say I was stunned at the absence of any low-carb doctors, nutritionists, or diabetes educators at all is an understatement. I’ve attempted to find out why the low-carb candidates were blacklisted this year and wrote them the following response shortly after returning from our low-carb cruise to Mexico last month:
THANKS for writing! I’ve been away on a cruise with a group of my readers this past week and just got your message today. Can I be honest with you? I’m SHOCKED that not one single finalist for the “Diabetes Educator Of The Year” award advocates controlled-carbohydrate nutrition for diabetes. This is unthinkable since controlling insulin and blood sugar DEMANDS reducing carb intake. I’m sorry, but I can’t in good conscience promote any of those five finalists in your contest because American Diabetes Wholesale and their judges clearly don’t understand the REAL reason behind why diabetes runs rampant in America. Thank you again!
And so I’ve been sitting on this for a few weeks trying to figure out what to say about it. Am I overreacting expecting more from these people than they are capable of doing? Do you agree with me that there should be at least ONE finalist for a “Diabetes Educator Of The Year” award who is using a low-carb strategy with diabetics? Doesn’t that just make sense? What say YOU?
If you’d like to leave a comment with American Diabetes Wholesale regarding their glaring omission of any low-carb diabetes educators from their list of finalists, then feel free to send them your feedback on their contact page to share what you think about this.
