http://www.tv4play.se/nyheter_och_debatt/tv4nyheterna?title=en_av_fyra_drar_ned_pa_kolhydraterna&videoid=1530217
Click on the picture above to see the Swedish TV report on LCHF
Last week I told you about some truly remarkable news out of Sweden with a new public opinion poll showing one in four people there are eating a low-carb diet. With the rise in popularity of what they refer to as LCHF (low-carb, high-fat) nutrition thanks to the tireless leadership efforts of incredible low-carb ambassadors like Dr. Annika Dahlqvist, Jonas Colting and Dr. Andreas Eenfeldt, among others, a real cultural shift is taking place that the media there can no longer ignore (Dr. Eenfeldt noted on his English blog this week that he’s been “doing 14 lectures in 15 days now in different cities in Sweden on the subject of low carb diets and health. The subject has never been hotter in my country. Journalists are calling every single day now.” That Swedish TV exposure really worked wonders for the LCHF movement which is why anytime we can get coverage of livin’ la vida low-carb on American television it can’t help but be a GOOD thing…even if the reporting attempts to skew and lambaste this perfectly healthy way of eating.
The television news station that broke the story on the new poll finding a rise in low-carb dieters in Sweden was your typical mainstream journalism as you’ll see when you read the transcript provided below. But I do think you have to appreciate the fact that they gave some pretty positive press to low-carb living even if they did try to balance it by presenting a dietitian’s perspective offering up the idiotic assertion that eating fat and red meat will harm your health. Someday soon this will be viewed as the nonsensical mode of thinking that it really is and the public will be cautiously skeptical about whatever they hear from the so-called health “experts” ever again.
If you click on the image above, it will take you to the actual video footage of the news story that aired on Swedish television last week about LCHF. Thanks to one of my readers in Sweden, he provided a rough translation into English of the news report for you (see below). He noted that Allsvenskan is a well-known professional Swedish ice hockey league, Demoskop is a large polling organization in Sweden, Optimal Förlag is the publisher that prints most of the LCHF books in Sweden and that 1kg is equivalent to 2.2 pounds. With that in mind, here’s the English translation:
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[00:00] (Label says: Beef For Breakfast)
One in every four Swedes are reducing their carbohydrate intake according to a new poll and dieticians are now warning us that carbophobia is growing in Sweden. Reporter Anna-Karin Strindholm (AKS) met up with LCHF supporter Henrik Nilsson (HN) who prefers to start his days eating beef…
[00:17] (HN) I like eating a piece of meat for breakfast. It’s what I find the most appetizing.
(AKS) No cereal, no toast?
(HN) I never eat cereal or toast actually. I can live without it.
[00:31] (AKS) As a hockey player in Allsvenskan he used to eat pasta every single day. But he suffered from stomach problems and therefore needed to alter his diet dramatically. For the past three years, Henrik Nilsson has eaten very few carbs. Instead, his diet consists of primarily meat, eggs, butter and cream.
[00:46] (HN) I feel much more alert and I find that I am never sick. If I get a cold, it’s very mild and it disappears during the afternoon. I think this way of eating works really well.
[00:56] (AKS) And even if Henrik Nilsson is extreme he is not alone in cutting down on pasta, rice and bread. According to a poll by Demoskop at the request of Optimal Förlag, it shows that nearly one in four Swedes are trying to reduce the amount of carbs in their diet.
[01:10] (Dietitian Anna Ottosson) I’m not surprised. There’s a rampant carbophobia in Sweden today. We’ve gone from fat-phobia to carbophobia.
(AKS) Has it gone too far, this fear of carbohydrates?
(AO) Yes, I find the debate to be extremely fanatical in Sweden at the moment. I think that the debate needs to be a little more reasonable. People need to eat a balanced diet of protein, fat and carbohydrates instead.
[01:38] (AKS) A diet low in carbohydrates and high in protein has been shown to cause an increase in the risk of death. This (LCHF) diet flies in the face of the dietary guidelines provided by researchers to prevent cancer and cardiovascular disease. At the same time, Swedes have a record-high meat consumption with over 80kg consumed by each person annually.
[01:53] (AO) Meat on its own is a fantastic source of protein and contains a lot of nutrients. Too much of it, however, can be detrimental to your health. We’ve seen, for example, an increased risk of colon cancer linked to red meat in studies. So naturally you need to moderate your red meat intake.
[02:09] (HN) Dietitians have their own opinions about what a healthy diet is. All I know is I feel great eating like this and it’s not up to me to comment on other people’s opinions. Other people can eat whatever makes them feel healthy.
[02:23] (AKS) But how will you cope with no candy this Easter?
(HN) I guess I will have to eat more eggs instead. I’m sure that will do just fine.
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Pretty amazing stuff, isn’t it? I love how virtually every news report about low-carb diets around the world always feels the need to bring on some chest-thumping, arrogant dietitian to say how we low-carbers are killing ourselves eating the way that we do. But LCHF enthusiast Henrik Nilsson was brilliant in his response: “Dietitians have their own opinions about what a healthy diet is. All I know is I feel great eating like this and it’s not up to me to comment on other people’s opinions. Other people can eat whatever makes them feel healthy.” YOU GOTTA LOVE IT! He’s basically stating that people should make up their mind about what diet works best for them–and the DO IT! We won’t judge your high-carb, low-fat diet if you don’t make crazy claims about our low-carb, high-fat nutritional plan. I think people are finally seeing through the ruse of conventional dietary wisdom spouted by these “experts.” Wouldn’t you love to see press like this for low-carb in America?
