One of the most polarizing figures in modern-day American politics has got to be the former governor of Alaska and the 2008 Republican vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin. Just the sound of her name evokes a wide variety of reaction from people like nobody else out there. People generally either really love her or they really hate her–there is hardly ever anyone in between these two extremes about her. Regardless of which side of the political spectrum you fall on and what you may personally think about Sarah Palin, there’s no denying she is a major figure in politics and probably looks like a contender for the GOP nomination for president in the 2012 elections. She’s got name recognition after being thrust onto the scene three years ago and many people look up to her as a leader. Even the staunchest Palin critics would agree she wields great influence over at least a certain segment of the population.
You might be wondering why the heck I’m even talking about Sarah Palin on a blog dedicated to the subject of nutrition, health and low-carbohydrate living. Well, there’s a perfectly good explanation for it that I’ll get to in a moment. But lest I’m somehow misunderstood or misconstrued, let me be extremely clear: I am by no means endorsing or asking people to support Sarah Palin in any way. As I’ve already stated, most people already have an opinion about the woman that will determine whether you would or could ever support her if she does end up running for President of the United States. And this issue I’m about to talk about is relevant if somehow we end up with a President Palin someday (okay, about half of your just fainted, but stick with me on this).
Honestly, this really has little to do with Sarah Palin as much as it does someone in her position of power. And that’s the crux of this news I have to share with you today that should be the take away message. You see, there have been some rather interesting revelations come out in the past few days from the release of nearly 25,000 e-mails while Palin was the Alaskan governor. Most of the information contained therein was about her gubernatorial duties, party politics, and whatnot. But hidden among all those folksy responses was an interesting exchange she had with her residence manager named Erika Fagerstron on July 29, 2008 about her dietary habits revealed in this ABC News story:
Fagerstron told the governor she was heading to the store to buy “a couple of things for the house.”
“Do you need anything?” Fagerstron asked, noting “I have formula and mocha stuff on my list.”
Palin’s response “Small bottles of champagne, low carb foods. Thanks!”
Erika replied, “Sorry, but Im not sure what kind of low carb stuff to buy.”
“It’s cool,” Palin wrote back. “I’ll get to the store at some point here for that. Mainly, just dont want the kids to have too much sugar/white carb stuff.”
WHOA! Did you see that? At the time that was written, Palin was a sitting governor and close to being selected as John McCain’s running mate on the GOP ticket. While it doesn’t appear she necessarily used her position of power to influence public policy regarding nutrition while in office, she obviously believes in the value of low-carb diets especially with her children. It makes you wonder how many other governors, U.S. Senators, U.S. Congressmen, and even presidents are closet low-carbers. And if they, like Palin, believe this way of eating is healthy for their families, then why wouldn’t they want to promote it to their constituents as well?
All it takes is one look at the recently-released “Food Plate” from the USDA to see why the promotion of a healthy low-carb lifestyle to the masses is so sorely needed:
In the recent survey of my readers in April 2011, one of the questions I asked was what it would take to make high-fat, low-carb nutrition more mainstream. One answer that received a lot of votes was “a famous person starts promoting it.” In fact, some people responded more specifically with “when the President of the United States starts promoting it.” And that’s why Palin, President Barack Obama, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty and all the other contenders for POTUS are a possible missing element in seeing major changes happen at the USDA before they come up with the 2015 Dietary Guidelines.
Whoever is President of the United States after the 2012 election will be choosing who will serve on the 2015 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee. The current leaders at the USDA say “the evidence is just not there” about low-carb diets despite overwhelming genuine science that IS there which Consumer Reports reported on in their June 2011 issue. The fact is the low-carb research was ignored in the 2010 Dietary Guidelines and it’s not surprising–not one single low-carb researcher was asked to serve on the Committee. But what if we had a President who believed strongly in the message of livin’ la vida low-carb like Sarah Palin expressed in these e-mails? Would it make a difference?
Again, please don’t make the mistake of thinking I’m promoting Sarah Palin for President of the United States. I am not. But she serves as a good example of the kind of thinking we’d like for our political leaders in positions of power to have to get past the stigma about low-carb diets being a dangerous fad that still exists despite the fact that respected Harvard School of Public Health leaders are now publicly bemoaning low-fat diets. The tide is indeed turning in favor of healthy saturated fats and a significant reduction in carbohydrate intake from the Standard American Diet. Will a pro low-carb president who isn’t afraid to take on the special interests in the food and pharmaceutical industries help to push low-carb living into the mainstream? In the style of Palin, all I can say is “you betcha!”
