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Fun-Filled Friday: Cholesterol, Low Fat Boy, Sugar, Vegan, Obama, Mosque, Wolf, WAPF, Cruise, Singin' In The Rain

Give me an “F” times three and what’s that spell? FFF (excuse me while I wipe the saliva off of my keyboard…nhfap w9klsanvkdfafeif…okay, much better)! Now what was I saying? Oh yes, it’s triple “F” time, aka “Fun-Filled Friday” here at the “Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb” blog. As usual I’m loaded up with a lot of cool and interesting stuff from across the spectrum, including a little diet and health stuff and a whole lotta fun and funny stuff. So here we go!

There are still so many misconceptions about the role of cholesterol in the body and that truth is epitomized in this advertisement for plant sterols using vintage footage from this classic sci-fi film called Fantastic Voyage:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPlpPU6coO0

Oh brother! If we didn’t have fat and cholesterol in us, then we would die. The idea that we need to reduce our cholesterol levels is actually “harming your health” even more, says Dr. Joseph Mercola in this recent Huffington Post column. I’ve never understood how people overlook this biological fact all in the name of propping up some dietary philosophy. Of course, if you ask most of the conventional medical “experts” of our day they’ll tell you that a high-carb, low-fat diet with some omega-3 fats will improve your cholesterol panel. Maybe it will in some people, but HDL cholesterol needs fat to increase and triglycerides are the forgotten stepchild in the lipid equation. Even Consumer Reports acknowledges that choosing a low-fat or low-carb diet depending on your individual need is what is best. Why can’t we get the low-fat supporters to acknowledge this when most low-carbers encourage people to find what works for them? It’s baffling to say the least.

During my recent series of videos I dubbed “Health Claims Gone Wild,” this would have been the PERFECT example of how a food manufacturer is trying to make their product seem healthier when in fact it’s not. Introducing the “Low Fat Boy”:

Oh no they didn’t. Yep, they sure did! And did it proudly too. This kind of backwards thinking about what is considered “healthy” is precisely why a USDA-funded research study found kids who eat school lunches are more likely to get fat. Ummmm, I wonder why that is oh brilliant ones on Capital Hill? Could it be that the National School Lunch Program is patterned after the very Dietary Guidelines pushing a low-fat, high-carb diet on these kids? How do these people get away with such actions without even a blink of an eye from the general public? Incredible. And now Medicare will pay for “intensive diet and exercise programs” Ornish and Pritikin for reducing heart disease risk and yet there is still a heavy stigma attached to the Atkins low-carb approach despite plenty of evidence showing it to be beneficial for heart health. Crazy world we live in, eh? I wonder what Julia Child would have to say about some of the idiocy about health in the 21st Century:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQU–oLB_OU

HA! What a cute way to show how “natural” sugar ain’t so natural after all. Illustrating absurdity by being absurd–LOVE IT! But not everything that’s absurd is illustrating a positive point. Check out this Yahoo! Health column on what the “experts” think is healthy. GUH! One step forward, two steps back. Even CBS News gets into the action with the “15 Food Myths That Can Kill You” from Dr. Neal Barnard who will be an upcoming guest on my podcast. What’s really sad about this is he believes everything he says and thinks it’s the right thing pushing carbs and eschewing fat. Sincerity doesn’t mean it’s right, though, and I hope people realize that when making choices about what’s right for the health of themselves and their families.

Somebody sent this intriguing video to me with comments from then-candidate Barack Obama in 2008 answering a question from a vegan promoting a plant-based diet for all people:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rt56ER4TSqc

Eating grain is better than eating meat? Really? I can’t imagine the long-term consequences of consuming grains is better than the consumption of quality grass-fed beef. Simply pushing more fruits and vegetables in school lunch programs doesn’t help curb childhood obesity and disease. Speaking of President Obama, he recently made headlines when he came out in support of the so-called “Ground Zero Mosque” in New York City where the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center Towers happened after keeping his distance from the issue just a few weeks ago since a CBS poll found that 71% of Americans oppose it. It has brought out impassioned reactions on both sides of the issue with some people supporting the free speech and freedom of religion rights of the mosque being built with others stating that the ground around where the WTC was attacked by Muslim extremists is “hallowed” ground where the victims should be honored. This contentious debate shows no signs of letting up, so I thought I’d share a rather thought-provoking commentary called “Of Mosques and Men: Reflections on the Ground Zero Mosque”:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxFzFIDbKpg

Food for thought as you think about this issue. It’s not all doom and gloom out there, though. Did you hear Tom Cruise is on a low-carb diet now? Yep, he’s getting ready for a reprisal of his role in the upcoming Mission Impossible 4 movie. There was also a HUGE positive story published in the Los Angeles Times this week called “In diet studies, big question goes unexplored” that praises livin’ la vida low-carb while Duke researcher and practitioner Dr. Eric Westman was in the New York Times recently for an interview about the New Atkins For A New You book. Atkins even got a boost in this FT Alphaville column talking about the shortages in grain production this year. Even the great Dr. Jay Wortman from the My Big Fat Diet documentary in Canada had an opportunity to share some cultural commentary that is worth paying attention to (he even gets in a plug for low-carb). And I was privileged to share some commentary about healthy low-carb living on Liberation Wellness Radio. Stay positive about what’s happening because good things are sure to come. We all want it to hurry up and get here, but patience is a virtue for a reason. And for all you health bloggers in Philadelphia, it might be worth paying the $300 to keep on blogging there, although I’ll be danged if I ever pay such a fee for the right to blog. Don’t tell somebody like Robb Wolf he can’t blog, podcast, and write books:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7HkqBxpPBeI

Oh, I can’t wait for his book The Paleo Solution: The Original Human Diet to release on September 14, 2010. Fun stuff for Paleo/low-carbers right now! And don’t forget about the upcoming Weston A. Price Foundation 2010 Conference coming November 12-15th in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania:

If you’re looking for something fantastic to do in 2011, then don’t forget to sign up for The 4th Annual Low-Carb Cruise to Jamaica coming May 1-6, 2011. Leaving out of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, we’ll be making stops in Key West, FL, Grand Cayman Islands, and Jamaica. And the line-up of guest speakers is sensational: Dr. Mary C. Vernon, Jackie Eberstein, Fred Hahn, Dr. Andreas Eenfeldt, Alan Watson, Dr. James E. Carlson, Dr. Keith and Valerie Berkowitz, Dana Carpender, Dr. Ron Rosedale, Tom Naughton, and many more! We’re expecting over 200 enthusiastic low-carb lovers to enjoy the Carnival Freedom for this amazing 6-day low-carb cruise!

Before I let you go, how about a modern-styled version of the song “Singin’ In The Rain”:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJIQauCwqVc

Shout out to all you Star Wars fans near and far! That’s it for this week’s “Fun-Filled Friday.” I hope you enjoyed what you read today and I look forward to sharing more with you next Friday. Have an awesome weekend and we’ll see you again soon!

August 27th, 2010 | Tags: , | Category: 1
  • beatrice

    I subscribe to your site on FB to find support for a low carb lifestyle. I do not come here for current issues other than those that relate to the low carb lifestyle. I am saddened, very disappointed, and, I will admit, slightly angered that you feel it appropriate to choose sides on such a politically volatile issue as the Muslim Community Center.

    • http://www.livinlavidalowcarb.com Jimmy Moore

      I didn’t take a position on the issue. Not sure why you’d be upset over my reporting of a hot topic that’s appropriate for my Friday posts.

  • Michael Kovacs

    @Jimmy – keep doing what you are doing. You can’t please everyone all the time. Love your Friday Posts. Love ya Man!

    @Beatrice – Lighten up, eh! I can’t imagine a world without my Jimmy Moore.

  • Lisa

    I enjoy your Fun Filled Friday posts as well!

    Appreciate all the good work for low carb.

  • bill

    Surprisingly enough, the main financial support for the Mosque is from Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, a Saudi Prince that is the second largest shareholder of Fox right behind Rupert Murdoch. So in a way Fox News’ profits will help build this New York City Mosque. Like they say, politics make strange bed fellows.

  • Dan (aka Renegadediabetic)

    No mention that plant sterols may cause aortic stenosis, just that it zapps your cholesterol. They are trying to push plant sterol consumption to levels well beyond what we would get from normal vegetable consumption and I’m not sure that’s a good thing. Plant sterols may turn out to be the next trans fat.

    The question to candidate Obama started off good, harping on industrialized agriculture, but turned totally off base in what’s good for the environment and health. Local grass fed meat and locally grown vegetables are the best for the environment and health. While Obama’s reply sounded good at first, I don’t see him ending agriculture subsidies and who knows what health care reform will shove down our throats.

  • Stephen Guy-Clarke

    Sugar the white stuff is really bad.
    Put simply, refined sugar overstimulates the hormone insulin, which in turn stimulates HMG-CoA reductase (an enzyme responsible for cholesterol synthesis inside each cell). As insulin speeds up the enzyme activity within the cholesterol manufacturing pipeline, it leads to a build up and surplus within each cell. Yuck!

  • Ansi

    I suggest you keep politics out of the conversation (unless its food policy), Friday or not. I come here to escape that nonsense.

    • http://www.livinlavidalowcarb.com Jimmy Moore

      I didn’t talk politics. I simply shared an interesting topic people are talking about and that I’m interested in. Fridays allow me to talk about other stuff and I’ll never stop doing that. THANKS for reading.

  • Michael J Rosenberg

    That anti-Muslim video was sickening. You, sir, are a bigot. What next? Anti-Jewish or anti-gay or anti-African American videos.

    • http://www.livinlavidalowcarb.com Jimmy Moore

      I never offered my opinion about that issue so I’m not sure why you conclude the way you do. All I did was post an interesting point of view to solicit what my readers think about it. Rather than hurling personal insults at me for not sharing my thoughts, how about telling us why you think the video is as you describe it “anti-Muslim” and “sickening?” I’d love to see what you have to say.

  • http://lowcarbcurmudgeon.com Dana

    Hey, Jimmy can say what he likes on his blog. This coming from someone who often disagrees with his politics. I’d be pretty pissed if he came to my blog and told me I couldn’t favor single-payer health coverage…

    But…

    1. It’s not a mosque, it’s a community center. Might as well say that any hospital with a prayer room in it is really a Christian church.

    2. It’s not at Ground Zero, it’s two blocks away.

    3. Last I checked this country is supposed to champion freedom of religion. I don’t care (a) if a Presidential candidate (or a President!) is Muslim, (b) if a majority in this country are ever Muslim or (c) if Muslims want to build any sort of building anywhere. I am already of minority religious status; for many years I was Neopagan, and now I’m agnostic. You’re ALL bigger than me, and my philosophy is that as long as you’re not telling ME who to worship, I’m cool with you. And Christians are just as guilty of being oppressive and pushy as Muslims are, you just happen to have a 500-year head start on Islam–so before you go yelling about the speck in their eye, attend to the beam in your own.

    And that’s what I think. I live in a town with a huge Muslim population–yep, still agnostic. And a single mom. And still eat bacon. And no one is blowing me up. For what it’s worth.

    (I wonder if all these people yelling about the “Ground Zero mosque”–most of whom, by the way, are NOT Manhattanites, who largely *support* the community center being built–ever bat an eyelash at the known historical fact that Mount Rushmore’s sculptures were carved into Paha Sapa, the most sacred mountains in Lakota spirituality? Might as well carve a swastika into a synagogue–or Muhammad’s name in Arabic script into the side of a church. Oh but that’s OK, that’s *American.* Well, so are Muslims.)

  • http://lowcarbcurmudgeon.com Dana

    *American* Muslims are American, I should say. Obviously not all Muslims are. But not all Christians are American, either. If there is any uniquely American religion it is *not* Christianity–it might be the various American Indian indigenous faiths. Which, by the way, have largely been destroyed by centuries of–you guessed it–Christian terrorism.

    Oh wait, those weren’t real Christians. Well, Muslims argue that the 9/11 terrorists were not real Muslims. I’d be inclined to agree with them; at least one of the terrorists was spotted at what I’ll euphemistically (if oxymoronically) refer to as a “gentleman’s club,” both consuming alcohol and ogling the women. As you have to actually be a Muslim when you martyr yourself in order to make it to heaven to begin with, and as it is possible to fall out of favor with God even after you’ve made your declaration of faith, I doubt very much that religion was on those men’s minds at all.

    I’ve been around the Muslim blogosphere. Quite enlightening. I’ve also, in the past, spent much time around the Protestant church, primarily Baptist, and the similarities are interesting. Yes, Muslims *do* speak out when some of their own act crazy. It’s not their fault if the media don’t report it.

  • http://www.numismlm.net Salvador Quan

    A trillion dollars and a healthier American. Changing the American diet with legislation may just be the thing to save people from these bad food habits. Though we do not like to be told what to do, when it comes to health maybe, just maybe…