As I’m still in recovery mode from the 36-hour series of flights coming home on Monday from my spectacular three-week “Low Carb Down Under” Speaking Tour of Australia (a special podcast about this magical adventure in Oz is coming before Christmas on “The Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb Show”), I was heartened to hear about the national television exposure for a key message in livin’ la vida low-carb–eliminating wheat and other “junk carbohydrates” from your diet. We often talk about what it’s going to take to bring Paleo and low-carb living to the mainstream and many have become increasingly pessimistic that it will ever happen as I discovered in my 2012 LLVLC Reader Survey earlier this year. Even still, having the opportunity to share your message with a captive audience of millions of television viewers certainly can’t hurt and that’s exactly what happened for Dr. William Davis on Monday, December 3, 2012.
When I first heard that my friend and New York Times bestselling author of Wheat Belly appeared on “The Dr. Oz Show” in a segment called “Are You Addicted To Wheat?” as I was flying home, I gotta admit my gut reaction was one of skepticism regarding how he would be portrayed by the producers of the #1 nationally syndicated TV health talk show in America. After all, these are the exact same people who mocked Gary Taubes and low-carb living in March 2011 leading many supporters of the low-carb message angry with the most recognized television doctor. The mere mention of the “O” word on The Low-Carb Cruise elicits boos and hisses from the crowd.
So imagine my surprise and great delight as I watched Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3 of Dr. Davis’ brilliant appearance with Dr. Mehmet Oz and noticed that the coverage was just about as positive as it could possibly be on a show funded by Big Agra companies promoting “healthy whole grains.” But there was Dr. Davis with his signature smile and witty analogies making great point after great point even as Dr. Oz sometimes tried to steer the conversation in another direction. When Dr. Oz tried to get Dr. Davis to concede that the non-wheat whole grains were completely fine for people to eat, I love how Dr. Davis said they might be better but that doesn’t make them good. I’ve been privileged to hear Dr. Davis articulating these messages over the past year or so in various parts of my work:
KUDOS TO YOU Dr. Davis for continuing to be a champion for the cause of wheat-free, low-carb living! I can’t wait for your Wheat Belly Cookbook releasing on December 24, 2012. We will continue to see more great exposure for Paleo, primal, low-carb, real food living in 2013. Hold on tight because it’s gonna be an amazing ride in the coming years.
