The longer I have been blogging about the healthy low-carb lifestyle, the more I have come to realize the opponents of this incredible way of eating will stop at nothing to try to keep people from even trying to lose weight and improve their health forever in this way. It simply confounds me how anyone could actively DISCOURAGE others who have a weight and/or health issue from doing something about their problem rather than remaining in their current state.
As you well know, I am all in favor of people finding what will work for them to lose weight and get healthy, encourage them to follow that plan exactly as prescribed by the author, and then to keep doing that plan for the rest of their life. Whether it is low-fat, low-carb, veganism, or whatever works best for you, this permanent lifestyle change concept is my philosophy in a nutshell. Sadly, not everyone shares this same ideal about diet that I do and instead smugly go around trashing livin’ la vida low-carb like it’s some kind of disease or something.
One of the most outrageous anti-low-carb web sites out there right now has got to be Disease Proof featuring the low-fat nutritional principles espoused by a vegan named Dr. Joel Fuhrman. He is the author of a book I have reviewed entitled Eat To Live and is a very loud and vocal critic of the Atkins low-carb diet.
I have highlighted some of the vitriol hatred towards the Atkins low-carb diet that has been posted at Dr. Fuhrman’s web site previously by his online minion Gerald Pugliese. This anger-filled nitwit has been notorious for writing disgusting article that question how Dr. Atkins REALLY died (which then prompted this infamous e-mail I received from a Dr. Fuhrman fan–SCARY!), unfairly looping all low-carbers as meat-only savages, and then unnecessarily scaring people into believing that eating salt will kill them.
When you see such extreme positions being taken on a subject that the author clearly knows nothing about, the best course of action is to simply ignore it and move on. But so many of my readers have literally begged me to respond to not one, but two of these kind of columns against low-carb that have come out this week from Pugliese at the Disease Proof web site.
I’m hesitant to give them any free exposure since they are so “out there” when it comes to diet and health, but I suppose this will serve a good purpose in educating and illustrating the kind of nastiness and lunacy that exists despite all the positive research about low-carb that continues to pour in from the research community. Are these people so blinded by their own monopolistic vegetarian agenda that they conveniently dismiss and overlook the low-carb lifestyle as a healthy alternative? Apparently so.
The first column that was posted on Monday is called “The Low-Carb Mindset” which Pugliese erroneously describes as a “fad” (not so, Gerald, if you would listen to this podcast I recently did about the REAL diet fads, then you’d know the difference). He went on to make fun of low-carb supporters for believing in a dietary “us vs. them” mentality and even went so far as to call us “borderline fanatical.”
Yep! We’re fanatical alright! Make that ultra big-time fans of the most delicious and nutritious way to not only lose weight, which is a nice side benefit to livin’ la vida low-carb, but also radically improving our health. Just take a good hard look at all of these health ailments that are improved or avoided because of the low-carb lifestyle: fatty liver, infertility, high blood pressure, brain cancer, HDL and triglycerides, GERD, PCOS, diabetes, pancreatic cancer, heart disease, esophageal cancer, kidney cancer, insulin resistance, Alzheimer’s disease, elevated blood sugar levels, cholesterol, Parkinson’s disease, osteoporosis, epilepsy, headaches…
Shall I go on, Gerald? There’s plenty more where this came from. This idea that livin’ la vida low-carb is ONLY good for weight loss is as irrelevant and absurd as the people uttering such ridiculous jibberish. No wonder people can’t trust the same old failed low-fat dietary message from people like Dr. Furhman anymore because he’s got ritards like Pugliese working for him who can only feign knowledge and intelligence about health where none exists.
Even still, Pugliese says we low-carbers “rage” against anything and everything that goes against what we believe. His evidence of this was with a recent e-mail he received from a reader described as “one of Disease Proof’s blog trolls” who he subsequently has banned from the site (WHAT?! More on that in a moment!). Here’s the offensive e-mail:
I am no less polite than your blog and Dr. F. are towards low carb, Atkins, etc. We are not ‘crazies’ (well, some of us are…), and it’s not medical malpractice for a doctor to recommend this diet. It works and the science backs it up, again and again.
You should look forward to my blog, by the way. I plan to make a regular sport of spoofing you guys. Enjoy your rice cakes, my bacon and eggs are almost ready!
Pugliese took this one e-mail from a low-carb supporter and automatically painted us all with a broad brush assuming we think exactly like this person. While I agree Disease Proof is against low-carb livin
g and that the science backs up this way of eating, I don’t believe “spoofing” them is productive (although they do it to me and my blog all the time with frequent lampooning mentions). But I can certainly appreciate where the low-carber is coming from.
Now about this idea of banning somene from your web site just because you disagree with them. What’s up with that? People who read my blog are abundantly aware that I allow all kinds of views to be expressed as long as it’s a salient point that’s on topic with what I’m blogging about. This is how we learn from one another and expand our understanding.
The fact that Pugliese would prohibit someone who has views that run counter to his own from publishing a comment in response to something he has written at Disease Proof reminds me of the Nazis running the “Low-Carb Friends” forum. Whatever happened to the open expression of ideas in a free society? Those days seem long gone now.
But Pugliese and Dr. Furhman obviously believe low-carb is nothing more than “propaganda” that has no useful place in modern society. Why do I say this? Just check out the second column posted today at Disease Proof entitled Meat: Grill, Fry or Broil it? Uh-oh! You know this ain’t gonna be good when a radical vegan starts talking about meat.
While much of the article is about a new study warning about the toxins that allegedly come from consuming overcooked meats and cheeses, Pugliese does manage to get in his expected jabs at those of us who support low-carb living. Does this man just sit at his computer all day salivating at the opportunity to find something he thinks is gonna be the “gotcha” moment for his readership at Disease Proof? Sheez, man, you’ve got waayyyyyy too much time on your hands if you’re doing that!
Railing against saturated fat, especially cheese and butter, Pugliese quoted from this blog post I wrote where I blogged about the asinine endorsement of the low-fat lie by a grocery store chain. Contending I am spreading “rhetoric” with my “ringing endorsement of frying meat in butter,” here’s the paragraph he quoted from me:
“I agree with the advice to shun the fried foods specifically because of the breading. But if you want to fry up your meat in a pan full of butter, then knock yourself out. It’s a healthy way to enjoy that succulent protein-loaded food.
While it’s nice to bake, broil, and especially grill meats, don’t fall for the illusion that cooking these ways is any healthier than cooking meat in fat. Avoid the trans fats, of course, but you shouldn’t worry about saturated fats as long as you are livin’ la vida low-carb.”
Since when did butter become one of the worst foods for healthy and longevity, Gerald? Just because your cherished Dr. Furhman says it’s unhealthy doesn’t make it so. Have you read Dr. Jonny Bowden’s 150 Healthiest Foods On Earth yet? Apparently not because this leading nutrition expert names butter and even coconut oil (GASP!) among that exclusive list of the best foods you could possibly eat. It’s all there in black and white if you would just read the book!
Now who’s spreading the propaganda, Gerald? But I wasn’t the only low-carb blogger who was the target of his vile disgust and disdain for livin’ la vida low-carb. He even took aim at one of my regular readers Victoria and her fantastic “Carbohydrate Addict” blog where she talked about the newfound freedom she has found with the Atkins low-carb approach that was lacking on her low-fat diet.
“I think one of the reasons Atkins was so perfect for me was because I was on low fat/low cholesterol for sooooo many years. All of the forbidden foods suddenly became okay to eat without guilt and my cholesterol is finally FABULOUS. I’m still on a high when I eat them! Egg salad, bacon, chicken wings, mac and cheese, grilled cheese…. YUM!”
Bemoaning this “rant” by Victoria, Pugliese pulled out the standby response about what’s he deems as the only healthy way to eat–namely eating fruits and vegetables as the “best” options for health and disease-prevention. I’ve got a whole blog post in me coming soon about what I believe is the “fruits and veggies copout” answer, so stay tuned!
Interestingly, at the end of his column, Pugliese brags about the average 49-pound weight loss experienced over a two-year period for people following the Eat to Live vegan diet plan. He says it’s “the most sustained weight loss ever recorded in a medical study in history.” Well whoop-dee-freakin’ doo, Gerald! That’s less than one itty bitty little pound a week over 24 months. Do you REALLY want to call that a success?
How about the 180 pounds I lost in one year on the Atkins low-carb lifestyle? That was an average weight loss of 3.5 pounds every single week for a whole year! Those are the kind of meaningful results people who are looking to lose weight and keep it off forever would much rather have than a slow and discouraging LESS THAN A POUND A WEEK average eating nasty and disgusting low-fat foods. I’m not going back there ever again!
Best of all, I am as healthy as I have ever been in my entire life. No more prescription medications for blood pressure, cholesterol or breathing for me and my health has never been better. In fact, at the age of 35, I am more healthy than I was at 15 or even 25 years old. And it’s all because I’m livin’ la vida low-carb. Not even the relentless adersaries over at Disease Proof can EVER take that fact away from me for the rest of my long and happy life for many years to come!
So how about that interview with Dr. Furhman, Gerald? Is he really too scared to be asked a few hard questions about what he believes from a bona fide low-carb success story? Heck, if renowned low-fat diet guru Dr. Dean Ornish can agree to and interview with Jimmy Moore, then surely Dr. Furhman could do it, too! What are you all so afraid of, hmmm?
Perhaps that I’ll expose Disease Proof’s disgusting dietary delusions? Too late! I just did that today so the gig is up.
4-26-07 UPDATE: Bright and early this morning, I received an e-mail from the man who instigated this post to begin with. Gerald claims I amd “lying” about him banning commenters at his blog. Here’s what he wrote:
Jimmy-
I wanted to correct you on one thing. The reason that commenter was banned was not due to difference of opinion. DiseaseProof does not ban dissenting opinions–just read the comments in my post, Meat: Grill, Fry, or Broil it?
This particular commenter has a history of insulting remarks. As I think you would agree, that has no place on a professional blog. If you continue to say otherwise, well, then you are lying to your readers.
As a blogger, I’m sure you understand that accusing someone of comment-filtering based on difference of opinion is very insulting. I would appreciate it if you would shelf that particular aspect of your criticism of DiseaseProof, because it is simply not true.
As much as we clearly disagree Jimmy, I would never attack your merits as a blogger.
-Gerry
http://www.diseaseproof.com
diseaseproof@gmail.com
I wasn’t accusing you of anything more than what you yourself said in your column, Gerry! Here’s the paragraph where YOU stated that you BANNED a reader from comment
ing. Here, I’ll repeat it here so you can see again:
Gerry wrote:
“And low-carbers do rage. Against everyone and anyone who doesn’t goosestep—oh, I mean—fall in line with their beliefs; which usually come in the form of childish us-against-them tantrums, laced with misinterpretations. Want an example? Here’s a recent email I got from one of DiseaseProof’s blog trolls. Asking why I banned him from commenting.”
“Banned” was your word, my friend. If that was wrong, then please feel free to clarify. But I would never even think about preventing ANYONE who has a point to make that is on topic from posting their thoughts. If that’s not the way you do things, then I can understand why you would accuse me of “lying.”
If you are insulted, then the only person you have to blame is yourself. Perhaps you should be a little more careful about the words you use in your “professional blog.” Thanks for your comments, though. See, even I let them get posted here at my blog in a prominent position, a courtesy the Disease Proof blog has never afforded Jimmy Moore.
Now how about that interview with Dr. F?
This request has once again fallen on deaf ears. But Gerry didn’t mind writing yet again about the banned commenter:
Jimmy-
Said commentor was banned for previous insults, and not dissenting opinions. So yes, he was banned, but not for living low-carb…for the insults. Hope this clears it up.
-Gerry
If you are blogging on a regular basis (and you are), then you have to build up a tough skin, Gerry. People insult me all the time, but I’d never even think about banning them from posting at my blog. You do what you have to do, but I’m not buying your excuse for refusing opinions that differ from yours. That’s yet another difference between my blog and yours.
