Jimmy Moore's Livin' La Vida Low Carb Blog » Annika Dahlqvist

Is The Swedish LCHF (Low-Carb, High-Fat) Magazine Coming To America?

Jimmy Moore — Tue, 24 May 2011 00:57:05 +0000

It’s been five years since the last low-carb magazine in America fell by the wayside as the costs of running a print publication to a niche audience became more and more difficult under the illusion that the low-carb “fad” as the media likes to refer to it had come and gone. But for those of us who have continued on with our high-fat, moderate protein, low-carb lifestyle change, we have been left to seek out information in alternative places such as blogs, forums, podcasts, and YouTube. That was my motivation for starting the “Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb” concept back in 2005 after my 180-pound weight loss on the Atkins diet. But in Sweden, where LCHF (Low-Carb, High-Fat) has taken off like gangbusters over the past few years, the time for starting a magazine devoted to that subject just seemed like a no-brainer to the brain trust behind LCHF Magazine.

This ambitious project was undertaken by a quartet of Swedish LCHF pioneers in 2009 as a means for spreading the message out to a wider audience. Who are these four very brave people willing to take a chance on a concept like a low-carb magazine? It’s a virtual who’s who of the leaders in the LCHF movement in Sweden: Sten Sture Skaldeman is a journalist and bestselling LCHF author, Bo Zackrisson is a medical journalist and editor, Margareta Lundström is the chief administrator and economist and the great Dr. Annika Dahlqvist who is a general practitioner and bestselling author in her own right who withstood the aggressive legal attempt to have her medical license pulled when two dietitians steeped in conventional wisdom brought a complaint against her for using LCHF—and they lost! This dynamic foursome are the driving force behind the March 2010 debut in Sweden of LCHF Magazine with the sole purpose of focusing on the subject of low-carb diets and their positive impact on health. Today the magazine boasts 6,300 subscribers in 23 countries–a great success for a small but growing magazine.

Skaldeman, Zackrisson, and Lundström were all on the Low-Carb Cruise I help organize in the United States each year and they came in 2011 to report on it for LCHF Magazine. In fact, we had a very strong showing of 20 Swedes with us in support of Dr. Andreas Eenfeldt (aka “The Diet Doctor”) who was one of the featured speakers this year. They were taking it all in, interviewing the mostly-American low-carb cruisers, taking notes on the lectures by the guest speakers, and enjoying the entire experience along the way. The next issue of LCHF Magazine will be dedicated to this event where they will be inviting other LCHF-loving Swedes to join them on the 2012 Low-Carb Cruise. They’re hoping to bring 100 people from Sweden next year and what a delight that would be!

While they were in America, the LCHF Magazine team actually toured various places in the United States starting off in Chicago and making their way south into my neck of the woods in the Upstate of South Carolina. We visited the local farm where I purchase my grass-fed beef, raw butter and other real, whole foods in my low-carb diet called Live Oak Farms. The farmers, Chuck and Allison Schaum, were gracious enough to show my Swedish friends around to see what farm life in 2011 America looks like. Watch this July 2010 mini-documentary about Live Oak Farms I posted to YouTube.

To give the English-speaking people on the 2011 Low-Carb Cruise a taste of what the burgeoning Swedish LCHF Magazine is all about, they created a very special edition of their publication–in ENGLISH! It includes three of their best articles about the LCHF movement in Sweden as they are seeking to bring about real changes in the eating habits of the Swedish population with influential articles from the key LCHF newsmakers. In this 12-page abbreviated version of the magazine, we had three columns to enjoy: a history of the Swedish LCHF movement, a spotlight on Dr. Sofie Hexeberg from Norway, and an interview with Dr. Andreas Eenfeldt.

So that you too can benefit from this extraordinary magazine, I have posted this special edition in its entirety for you below. Click on the corresponding page number and then hit your “back” button to click on the next number to read the entire thing. Special THANKS to the creators of LCHF Magazine for allowing us this peek inside the awesome work they are doing. Hopefully the magazine will continue to grow as the popularity of LCHF continues reaching beyond the borders of Sweden in the coming years–maybe even a full-length English version coming to the United States, Canada and the UK someday. I could see it happening!

Read this special 12-page edition of LCHF Magazine in English:
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12

And because I’m so fired up by the exemplary work my low-carb friends in Sweden are doing promoting the message of LCHF so boldly, I was inspired to create a brand new blog dedicated to promoting their work in English. It’s called “Eat Like A Swede” and features information about the Low-Carb, High-Fat movement happening in Sweden with a focus on the key players involved (the “LCHF Heroes” as I call them), what the diet is all about, and a general update on the current state of affairs regarding LCHF in Sweden. Interviews with people in Sweden who have transformed their lives forever thanks to LCHF will be featured on the blog periodically to give you a snapshot of the life-changing impact this way of eating is having.

Additionally, I have BIG PLANS to visit Sweden sometime in the next year (Lord willing) to shoot video footage for a documentary film on what is happening there with LCHF. I’ve got a lot of Swedish friends who have offered to show me around their great country and sit down for interviews if and when I can make it over there. A flight to Sweden is a little more than $1,000 each roundtrip and I’d like to take my wife Christine with me to help take video footage and photos (plus, she’d kill me if I went to Sweden and didn’t take her!). Add in money for food, transportation, and other expenses and it’s gonna cost probably close to $4,000 for the three-week trip. If you’d like to help with these expenses, I’d appreciate donations of any amount towards this cause.

Check out EatLikeASwede.com and let me know what you think. I’ll work on adding new information to that site early and often to keep you abreast of what’s happening with LCHF there. If you have any suggestions for content or general feedback about the site, please feel free to e-mail me anytime at livinlowcarbman@charter.net.

Poll: Nearly One-Fourth Of The Swedish Population Are Now Eating Low-Carb, Public Health Success

Jimmy Moore — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 00:42:21 +0000

Cheer up fans of high-fat, low-carb living around the world because I’ve got some really exciting news to share with you today that will have you jumping for joy at the incredible progress being made about this way of eating right now in the nation of Sweden. Whether you realize it or not, there’s an outright low-carb revolution happening amongst the Swedish people that has been several years in the making thanks to an unprecedented chain of events that have unfolded featuring educated physicians and patients whose lives have been forever changed for the better because of healthy high-fat, low-carb living. I think this is definitely a public health success story. This story I’m about to share with you today should inspire those of us in the United States, Canada, the UK, Australia, and everywhere else livin’ la vida low-carb is impacting the lives of real people.

I’ve been telling you about the rise of the low-carb lifestyle taking place in Sweden for over three years now, including conducting podcast interviews with several of the key players in the low-carb movement there like medical practitioner Dr. Annika Dahlqvist, activist Per Wikholm, and triathlete Jonas Colting. And I’ll be interviewing the great “Diet Doctor” physician Dr. Andreas Eenfeldt on my podcast later this year to talk about the overwhelming success he has seen with his brand new 2011 book detailing what they call LCHF (low-carb, high-fat) is all about. But excitement about LCHF hit a fevered pitch this week when a new public opinion poll about Swedish eating habits released on Monday showed nearly one in four Swedes identify themselves as eating a low-carb diet. INCREDIBLE! Needless to say, this has lit a fire of excitement amongst those who have been championing healthy high-fat, low-carb living there–and I think it will encourage low-carbers around the world to continue spreading the good news about what this way of eating has done for our weight and health.

For those of you who have not been following this story about low-carb diets in Sweden closely over the past few years, let me catch you up on all that’s been happening. In December 2005, Dr. Dahlqvist was reported to a government entity called the National Board of Health and Welfare (similar to the U.S. Food & Drug Administration) by a pair of dietitians who claimed she was putting her patients at “severe risk” by recommending a low-carb, high-fat diet for treating diabetes and obesity. An investigation took place to determine whether Dr. Dahlqvist should be stripped of her medical license or if she would be able to continue to use the LCHF approach with patients. While the investigation was ongoing, her employer informed her she could no longer use her low-carb nutritional plan with patients–so she quit and went into practice for herself while awaiting the result of the charges filed against her.

On January 16, 2008, the National Board of Health and Welfare made their decision after carefully examining all of the evidence presented to them and declared publicly that a low-carb diet is “in accordance with science and well-tried experience for reducing obesity and Type 2 diabetes.” WOW! Sweden is likely the first country in the world to have an official government board admit that low-carb is a suitable treatment for diabetes and obesity. Dr. Dahlqvist was willing to put her entire medical career on the line to defend the low-carb nutritional principles she knew was helping her patients. Although the odds were stacked against her, she was confident in the science and stood strong in the face off immense adversity. In the end, she came out of this intense trial victorious as the Swedish government now recognizes healthy low-carb living, albeit begrudgingly. But this was merely the catalyst for some truly great things to come for the LCHF movement that immediately took off in Sweden.

By mid-2008, a public conversation about LCHF started happening led by Dr. Dahlqvist, Dr. Eenfeldt, and others to begin reeducating Swedish consumers about what a healthy high-fat, low-carb diet looks like so they can make changes in their own personal dietary habits to deal with obesity and chronic disease. You could say a high-fat, low-carb diet explosion began taking place as LCHF bloggers began popping up everywhere featuring people whose lives had been changed as a result of this way of eating. At times it even got a little heated in televised debates like this one in 2009 because the adherents to the conventional dietary wisdom were none-too-pleased at this promotion of saturated fats to consumers for their health. Because of the amazing work she did leading the charge for LCHF, I named Dr. Dahlqvist to my Top 10 Movers & Shakers of 2009 list…but she began having some help from a fellow Swedish physician who was also a big believer in high-fat, low-carb nutrition.

Dr. Andreas Eenfeldt created his “Kostdoktorn” blog which has since expanded in 2011 to an English version called “Diet Doctor” as a means for promoting the principles of a healthy high-fat, low-carb, real food lifestyle change that can be used therapeutically for patients struggling with health issues traditionally treated by medical doctors pharmaceutically. He wanted to reach outside the borders of Sweden, though, and began attending some American obesity conferences like The American Society of Bariatric Physicians and Nutrition & Metabolism Society Symposium beginning in 2010 (and I named him to my Top 10 Low-Carb Movers & Shakers of 2010 for his tireless efforts to educate himself further to pass along to the readers of his top-rated low-carb blog in Sweden). We also signed him up to be a guest speaker on The Annual Low-Carb Cruise in 2010 to share about the remarkable success of LCHF in Sweden. His very first English presentation was very well-received by nearly 100 enthusiastic supporters of healthy low-carb living in the United States. With the much-anticipated January 2011 release of his Swedish language book on LCHF called Matrevolutionen, Dr. Eenfeldt has set the stage for even more widespread communication of the low-carb message to the people of Sweden–and quite possibly around the world if the book’s amazing success so far continues and is translated into other languages (I’m looking forward hearing Dr. Eenfeldt speak again and meet a group of LCHF advocates who will be joining us on The 4th Annual Low-Carb Cruise coming up May 1-7, 2011).

So, is the LCHF movement making a REAL difference in the lives of the people of Sweden? That’s what a new March 2011 poll of 1,000 Swedish citizens between the ages of 18-89 conducted by Demoskop wanted to find out. Commissioned by Pagina/Optimal, the leading publisher of LCHF and other low-carb books (including Swedish translations of bestselling low-carb books like Gary Taubes’ Why We Get Fat And What To Do About It, Leirre Keith’s The Vegetarian Myth and The New Atkins For A New You by Dr. Stephen Phinney, Dr. Jeff Volek and Dr. Eric Westman), they simply wanted to know the answer to the following question:

“Do you try to eat fat but minimize your intake of carbohydrates–the low-carb, high-fat or LCHF method?”

Here’s a graph outlining the results of the poll (it’s in Swedish, but I’ll explain below):

(Click on the image above to ENLARGE)

You can see the full report in Swedish by clicking here, but Dr. Eenfeldt provided some English translation assistance by creating this graph with the demographics of those who responded to the poll:

These numbers are pretty astonishing when you stop and think about it. Here are some of the key findings that are worth noting:

Nearly one in four (23%) respondents are carb-conscious

Five percent are hard-core adherents to high-fat, low-carb (LCHF) living

Interestingly, nearly twice as many women (7%) than men (4%) follow LCHF

The older respondents seem more carb-conscious than the younger ones

Nearly one-third 55-89 year olds are eating a low-carb diet

Low and medium income watch carbs at the same rate as high income

High income respondents are more likely to afford eating a LCHF diet

Retired respondents over 65 (7%) do LCHF more than working 45-64 year olds (5%)

30-44 year olds support LCHF (7%) at highest percentage of total carb watchers (20%)

Students and the unemployed can’t afford to purchase LCHF foods, still watch carbs

One of my Swedish readers told me the television news station that reported on this poll interviewed a dietitian rooted in conventional dietary wisdom about it and he said it was “all the normal nonsense” that you hear from these so-called health experts. She accused the Swedish people of being “carbphobic” and dismissed the findings as ignorance. Sounds like somebody has sour grapes to me and is extremely jealous of the attention being paid to a healthy and delicious nutritional plan that is greatly improving the weight and health of those who try it for themselves. The implications of this momentum happening in Sweden cannot be overstated. THIS IS HUGE!

Juxtapose this new poll with a Google Trender keyword search for “LCHF” in Sweden and the picture will become even more stark by comparison:

Prior to 2008, nobody in Sweden had even heard of LCHF. But after the National Board of Health and Welfare made their decision clearing Dr. Dahlqvist’s good name by noting a low-carb diet is “in accordance with science and well-tried experience for reducing obesity and Type 2 diabetes,” interest in the LCHF lifestyle began to skyrocket and the trend has not slowed down yet. In fact, Google searches for “LCHF” in Sweden have more than doubled in just the past year alone which likely led those people who were searching to visit any number of outstanding low-carb blogs there, get educated about what this way of eating is about, and then start doing it for themselves. That’s why the numbers in this survey were so incredible!

The fact is this has happened very quickly mostly through word-of-mouth since LCHF has not been endorsed by the government or health leaders. Can you imagine if low-carb, high-fat diets were to be deliberately PROMOTED to the Swedish people as “healthy” what would happen? Those poll numbers above would easily double overnight and the health of the citizens there would improve dramatically without the need for taking risky medications or ever going on a hunger-inducing, unpalatable low-fat diet ever again! Restaurants and grocery stores would need to cater to the LCHF consumer by offering higher-fat food offerings to consumers such as butter, full-fat cheeses, cream, steak, and low-carb staples like spinach, broccoli and cauliflower. It’s a revolution happening right before our eyes in a country that could easily be setting a trend for other nations to follow!

Most amazing to me is the fact that this has all happened on the grassroots level through the tireless efforts of a lot of people getting involved in promoting LCHF within their circle of influence. It’s as if people have given up being lied to about how to eat from those experts who are supposed to know better about what is most effective and now the people are turning to alternative sources of information coming from bloggers who are telling their success stories since they are real-life examples of what healthy high-fat, low-carb living can do. My speech on the Low-Carb Cruise in a few weeks is called “Following Your Passion To Change The World” where I will challenge the participants to find their talents and use them to bring about change in support of this amazing low-carb lifestyle. The time for making this happen is NOW!

Will we see a similar trend like what has happened in Sweden start to happen someday soon in the United States of America? It may seem improbable and maybe even impossible to fathom right now. But perhaps the Swedes are giving us a foretaste of the future of America, Canada, the UK, Australia, New Zealand, and other countries around the world who desperately need their own dietary revolution to take place. I have a feeling it’s coming sooner than later and I’ll be here ready, willing, and able to do my part to help educate, encourage, and inspire the masses when it does. Will you?

LLVLC SPOTLIGHT: Swedish Physician And Kostdoktorn (‘Diet Doctor’) Blogger Dr. Andreas Eenfeldt

Jimmy Moore — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 01:18:52 +0000

With all the constant criticism we’ve heard over the years about low-carb diets by the media and the so-called health “experts” in the United States of America describing it as a dangerously unhealthy “fad,” one would logically conclude that it is a nutritional approach that is not backed by sound science or any respected medical professionals. But when you go beyond the American borders into other countries where livin’ la vida low-carb is making great strides penetrating into the national diet debate, it totally changes your perspective about how this way of eating is bringing about positive changes in the weight and health of the patients who are being placed on these plans. One of the hottest countries where low-carb living is exploding is the nation of Sweden.

I have been sharing about the amazing strides happening with LCHF (low-carb, high-fat) in Sweden thanks to the bold leadership of general practitioner physicians like Dr. Annika Dahlqvist (read the English version of her blog) who I interviewed in January 2008 after she was sued for using low-carb diets on patients. The issue went all the way to the Swedish version of the FDA and they came back stating that they found low-carb was “in accordance with science and well-tried experience for reducing obesity and Type 2 diabetes.” Ever since this happened, the low-carb revolution has roared on as the people there are learning the truth about how LCHF would help them not just for weight loss, but also radically improve their health. Dr. Dahlqvist has openly debated the health establishment on television there and has held her ground well. For more background on all that’s happening in Sweden, don’t miss my podcast interviews with Per Wikholm in Episode 143 as well as Swedish triathlete Jonas Colting in Episode 262.

But one of the most influential members of the LCHF community in Sweden is a young family physician named Dr. Andreas Eenfeldt who is the author of the #1 low-carb blog in the world called Kostdoktorn (read the Google Translate version of this site here) which is translated as “Diet Doctor.” I’ve been in correspondence with Dr. Eenfeldt for a couple of years and he contacted me in January about joining us on The 3rd Annual Low-Carb Cruise to the Bahamas in March 2010. My impressions of this man is that he is a very kind, patient, inquisitive, and understanding person who is making his mark within his sphere of influence–and it’s growing by leaps and bounds. Boasting thousands of daily blog readers, Dr. Eenfeldt has positioned himself as the go-to resource for people desiring more information about LCHF. The following video shows him going up against another one of the conventional wisdom-spouting Swedish health “experts” on television (yes, I know you probably won’t understand what is being said, but observe Dr. Eenfeldt’s mannerisms and calm demeanor):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oM2Sp5fs3Q4

I was pleased to be able to sit down with Dr. Eenfeldt at the conclusion of the 2010 Low-Carb Cruise to interview him on video about the work he is doing. Watch that interview here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDSmp_rIue4

Of course, turnabout was fair play and he asked to interview me for his blog as well:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bAZzqkLVjA8

I’m excited to share Dr. Andreas Eenfeldt with my readers and look forward to interviewing him for a more extensive conversation on “The Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb Show” later this year. Also, he has already signed up to be a part of The 4th Annual Low-Carb Cruise to Jamaica in May 2011, so you can look forward to meeting this amazing guy for yourself in the flesh. He’s been participating in the Innovative Metabolic Solutions modules for the past couple of months led by Dr. Mary Vernon and Dr. Eric Westman. And this weekend I’ll be seeing him in Seattle, Washington for the Nutrition & Metabolism Symposium. Dr. Eenfeldt is a man committed to the cause and I’m so glad you’ve now heard about the spectacular work he is doing in Sweden. We haven’t even come close to hearing the last from this incredible man.

Top 10 Low-Carb Movers & Shakers Of 2009

Jimmy Moore — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 02:27:38 +0000

Find out who the biggest “movers” and “shakers” in low-carb were this year

It’s that time of the year yet again when I name my annual “Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb” Top 10 Low-Carb Movers & Shakers. These are the most influential, news-making, momentum changers from within the low-carb community who are spreading our message louder and further into the mainstream of the nutritional and health communities as we attempt to penetrate the culture with the truths we have discovered for ourselves about healthy high-fat, low-carb living. We’ve seen great strides happening on the research front, from medical doctors, and fresh voices of reason from around the world articulating why this way of eating is so preferred and I’m happy to announce to you the top 10 low-carb movers and shakers of 2009 (see who got named in 2008, 2007, 2006, and 2005):

1. GARY TAUBES

How can you NOT put Gary Taubes on a list of the year’s biggest “movers & shakers” on behalf of the low-carb lifestyle? Ever since his monumental New York Times Magazine op-ed piece “What if It’s All Been a Big Fat Lie?” was published in July 2002 igniting a whirlwind of interest in healthy low-carb living among an ever-growing number of overweight and diseased Americans, the man has been a true champion of this cause sharing so eloquently and brilliantly within the mainstream of the medical community the science behind why carbohydrate restriction works and is so incredibly effective in bringing about improvements in the weight and health of those who do it. When he released his blockbuster 600-page masterpiece Good Calories, Bad Calories in 2007 continuing the conversation he had started in his original column, I have probably heard from more people who say that single book changed their thinking on nutrition more than any other publication out there! From my many podcast interview guests to well-known health experts to even average, everyday people just living their lives, Gary Taubes (listen to my January 2009 interview with him) has been a source of invaluable information and education like no one else in the low-carb community (check out this video/slide presentation of his June 2009 Dartmouth-Hitchcock lecture called “Adiposity 101 and the Alternative Hypothesis of Obesity). He is a true ambassador for livin’ la vida low-carb that I am privileged to name here among this list of prestigious supporters of the high-fat, low-carb nutritional approach. The ripple effects that Taubes’ Good Calories, Bad Calories will have on the entire health establishment can’t help but be felt for many more decades to come.

2. DRS. MIKE & MARY DAN EADES

The most dynamic husband/wife duo promoting a high-fat, low-carb diet in 2009 was once again two of my favorite people within the low-carb community — Protein Power authors Drs. Mike and Mary Dan Eades! From Dr. Mike’s always engaging and entertaining “Health and Nutrition” blog to Dr. Mary Dan’s deliciously satisfying low-carb recipes blog, they are a perfect one-two punch for people interested in healthy low-carb living. And if you haven’t caught their fabulous PBS television show Low Carb Cookworx yet, then you don’t know what you’re missing! In 2009, their brand new low-carb book The 6-Week Cure For The Middle-Aged Middle: The Simple Plan to Flatten Your Belly Fast! was slated for a March release, but their publisher pushed it back until September because of the downturn in the economy. Better late than never, though, as the Crown Publishing release has sold steadily well so far heading into the Christmas holidays and into New Year’s resolution time in a couple of months. Listen to my September 2009 podcast interview with the Eades to hear just a taste of why they yet again made this list of the most influential low-carbers of the year! We can always expect consistency and a healthy defense of the low-carb way of life from Drs. Mike and Mary Dan Eades.

3. NORA GEDGAUDAS

A brand new voice added to this year’s list of the best low-carb representatives of 2009 is none other than Nora Gedgaudas, author of a February 2009 book on paleolithic low-carb nutrition entitled Primal Body-Primal Mind: Empower Your Total Health The Way Evolution Intended (…And Didn’t). Nora infuses a very distinctive professionalism and knowledge about the benefits of high-fat, low-carb eating into the public discourse through her outstanding Voice of America radio show called “Primal Body-Primal Mind” (listen to Nora’s interview with me in September 2009). And I got a firsthand taste of this myself when I interviewed her on my podcast show in October 2009. I’m always amazed by the fresh, new faces who seem to just pop up on the low-carb scene out of nowhere each year and Nora Gedgaudas was certainly one of the biggest (and most pleasant!) surprises of 2009!

4. DR. RICHARD BERNSTEIN

There are very few legends of the healthy low-carb lifestyle still with us today, but none is bigger and still making such a monumental impact on the lives of real people like the great Dr. Richard Bernstein. Well known for his work on behalf of both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes patients using a low-carb nutritional approach to bring about normal blood sugar control, Dr. Bernstein’s Diabetes Solution: The Complete Guide to Achieving Normal Blood Sugars is THE go-to guide for people dealing with an adverse reaction to carbohydrates on their health. You could hear during my June 2009 podcast interview with the 75-year-old stalwart Dr. Bernstein that he feels like the work he has done for nearly six decades has only had a minimal effect on changing the hearts and minds of those who suffer from the debilitating results of living with diabetes. But, as I shared during my interview with Dr. Bernstein, he’s playing a much more profound role than he even realizes, including people like Dr. Stan De Loach down in Mexico City who is using the Bernstein low-carb principles to manage diabetes among the clients he sees, especially the younger generation who are already dealing with obesity and insulin issues. Whether he will ever get to see it or not, Dr. Richard Bernstein has, is, and will forever be known and revered for his major contributions to the healthy low-carb lifestyle. We all owe this man a great deal of gratitude for his incredible work on behalf of low-carb and he belongs among names like William Banting and Dr. Robert C. Atkins as the most influential for livin’ la vida low-carb of all time!

5. DEON VAN DER MERWE

Nothing speaks louder volumes about the life-changing impact of healthy low-carb living than an unbelievable weight loss success story. While weight loss is certainly not the primary objective of livin’ la vida low-carb, it certainly is a very nice side effect that captures the attention of people to get them interested in trying this awesome way of eating for themselves. Just as my own 180-pound weight loss success on the Atkins diet in 2004 attracted a lot of people to begin frequenting my blog and getting interested in trying a low-carb diet for themselves in the United States, South African Deon van der Merwe has done the same thing after losing a total of 170 pounds following the basic principles of low-carb nutrition. Deon’s physical condition was in complete disarray in December 2007 when he weighed in at 375 pounds, experienced a host of health complications, and had the disappointing feeling that he’d have to live that way in the few short years he had left to live. But after trying every diet under the moon, Deon started on the Atkins diet with just a few tweaks of his own here and there and he went on to lose a total of 170 pounds in just seven months. After his weight loss success, he created a web site about his low-carb experience including an outline of sample low-carb menus. In fact, Deon even created an at-home low-carb meals delivery business in South Africa called Diet In A Box to help those with busy lives be able to stick to their low-carb lifestyle with ease. Life is going well for Deon van der Merwe in 2009 as you can hear in my May 2009 interview with him. I can envision many more people like Deon who experience such a dramatic turnaround in their weight and health in the coming years as a direct result of his influence on their lives. That is why he is one of my top “mover & shakers” of 2009.

6. DR. RICHARD FEINMAN

He may not be a household name (yet!), but SUNY Downstate biochemistry professor Dr. Richard Feinman is certainly leaving his indelible mark on behalf of low-carb through his work at The Metabolism Society, a nonprofit health organization providing research, information and education in the application of fundamental science to nutrition which believes that the therapeutic potential of low-carbohydrate diets for the treatment of obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease is under-investigated and under-utilized. Whenever I have a question about low-carb that stumps me, I turn to Dr. Feinman to help craft a response, including this question I received from a reader about gluconeogenesis. Plus, there’s nobody better at dissecting those ignorant, poorly-designed studies that come out from time to time than Dr. Feinman as he exemplified with the infamous Sacks calories study in March 2009. Dr. Feinman attracts the best researchers on carbohydrate-restriction in the world to his accompanying scientific journal Nutrition & Metabolism where you can find some of the most cutting-edge science on high-fat, low-carb diets anywhere! Anyone who has met Dr. Feinman will tell you the man is on a mission to share the clear evidence supporting low-carb diets out to as many people as possible, beginning with those skeptical, yet quite impressionable medical school students he teaches in Brooklyn, New York. Read my June 2006 blog interview and listen to both Part 1 and Part 2 of my May 2008 podcast interview with Dr. Richard Feinman to see for yourself why he is such a deserving member of this list of the best low-carb crusaders.

7. DR. DOUG MCGUFF

Another first-timer to the annual “movers & shakers” list of low-carbers making a difference is none other than Dr. Doug McGuff. He released a book called Body by Science: A Research Based Program to Get the Results You Want in 12 Minutes a Week in December 2008 that trumpeted the “super slow” approach to muscle growth in conjunction with a low-carbohdyrate nutritional approach that helps bring about the kind of results people are looking for. And he’s been touring around the country sharing with anyone who will listen why the message he communicates in his book about restricting carbohydrates and exercise is what is needed to bring about the desired changes in physique and weight. Listen to my March 2009 interview with Dr. Doug McGuff and bookmark his “Body By Science” blog to see what this rising low-carb star is up to!

8. DR. JEFF VOLEK

Behind-the-scenes, there’s a LOT going on in the research world supporting low-carb diets. Whether you hear about it in the mainstream press or not, there is solid science happening on behalf of a high-fat, carbohydrate-restricted diet by some of the most intelligent people conducting studies on the metabolic impact of this way of eating. And one of the best in the business is Dr. Jeff Volek from The University of Connecticut. This co-author of Men’s Health TNT Diet has worked with another one of our “movers & shakers” Dr. Richard Feinman to connect the dots between low-carb and metabolic syndrome and has presented evidence that more saturated fat in the diet doesn’t lead to higher amounts of saturated fat in the blood. Dr. Volek is going to be around for a very long time trumpeting the low-carb evidence for all the world to hear if they will look at it from an unbiased, open mind. Check out my September 2006 blog interview, this lecture for Atkins Nutritionals that Dr. Volek did with another fantastic low-carb researcher named Dr. Stephen Phinney in 2008 as well as my March 2009 podcast interview with him to see why he is worthy of being among the best of the best low-carbers of 2009.

9. TOM NAUGHTON

Another newbie on the list this year burst on the scene in 2009 as a first-time filmmaker with what what I have dubbed “THE Low-Carb Event of 2009″ with the release of his fantastic documentary film entitled FAT HEAD. His name is Tom Naughton and he’s quickly established himself as a force to be reckoned with in the blogging world with his FAT HEAD blog. When Tom’s film finally released in February 2009 well over a year after I first interviewed him at my blog, there was great anticipation that this hilarious little project refuting the claims made in Morgan Spurlock’s critically-acclaimed Supersize Me documentary would provide an excellent introduction to livin’ la vida low-carb for people who would not otherwise read a complex book like Taubes’ Good Calories, Bad Calories. The result has been a phenomenal run maintaining the #1 position among comedy documentaries for the entire year on Amazon.com. WOO HOO! And I could tell when I interviewed him on my podcast show in February 2009 and had the privilege of meeting him in person in October 2009 that this was a man who wanted to use his comedic genius to communicate a very serious message that is so sorely needed in our high-carb, low-fat culture. I’m thrilled to have Tom coming with us on The 3rd Annual Low-Carb Cruise to the Bahamas in March 2010 where he will be showing FAT HEAD along with providing some commentary about how and why he decided to create it. If you are one of the few in the low-carb community who still HASN’T seen this movie, do yourself a favor and get a copy ASAP for yourself and get several extra for friends and family who are skeptical about livin’ la vida low-carb as gifts!

10. DR. ANNIKA DAHLQVIST

Last, but most certainly not least, we don’t often stop and think about the impact that low-carb is making in countries around the world. But high-fat, low-carb diets are making great strides in places like Sweden while the United States and the UK stay stuck on stupid with conventional low-fat diets ruling the roost. We have people like Dr. Annika Dahlqvist to thank for bringing the LCHF (low-carb, high-fat) way of eating into the mainstream overseas. Although the so-called health “experts” tried to run her out of the medical profession, Dr. Dahlqvist is stronger than ever beautifully defending the LCHF lifestyle, instigating an explosion of interest in low-carb in her country, while directly challenging those who want to stick with the status quo regarding nutritional advice. She has inspired people in her country like world-class triathlete Jonas Colting to be bold in his support for livin’ la vida low-carb and is leading a low-carb revolution that I can only dream will happen all around the globe, including in the United States of America, someday. Although you may not be able to read and understand her fabulous Swedish low-carb blog, there is an English version of it that just came online so you can keep up with one of the biggest international low-carb heroes!

Honorable mentions: DR. JOHN BRIFFA, DR. JONNY BOWDEN, JACKIE EBERSTEIN, DR. DEBORAH SNYDER, JULIA ROSS, SEAN CROXTON, JONAS COLTING, DR. STEPHEN PHINNEY, SALLY FALLON, JOSEF BRANDENBURG, DR. JAMES E. CARLSON, J.P. FANTON, DR. ERIC WESTMAN, DR. STEVE PARKER, FRED HAHN, DR. WILLIAM DAVIS, LIERRE KEITH, DR. DWIGHT LUNDELL, NINA PLANCK, DR. JOE LEONARDI, DR. CHRISTOPHER GARDNER, DR. MARY C. VERNON, DR. KEITH AND VALERIE BERKOWITZ, DANA CARPENDER, DR. ROBERT SU, KENT ALTENA, RICHARD NIKOLEY, AND LAURA DOLSON

Well, now that you’ve seen who I think are the best low-carb “movers and shakers” from 2009, it’s YOUR turn to tell me who I missed giving proper credence to on this list. Was there someone OBVIOUS that I just tee-totally missed or do you agree with my picks? Tell me what you think about this mix of old school low-carb advocates along with a few new kids on the block. Feel free to share your opinions in the comments section below.

‘Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb Show’ Episode 262: Ultraman World Champion Swedish Athlete Jonas Colting Eats Low-Carb

Jimmy Moore — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 17:44:37 +0000

PODCAST UPDATE: If you can’t find the new episodes of “The Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb Show with Jimmy Moore” at iTunes when they release on Mondays and Thursdays, then you should subscribe to the new podcast feed. Don’t miss a single podcast interview with your favorite low-carb nutrition, health and fitness expert!

Sweden’s top athlete Jonas Colting has a passion for low-carb nutrition

If you’ve been paying any attention to the shifts in nutritional thinking around the world over the past year, then you probably already know about the huge low-carb diet explosion that is happening in Sweden right now. It’s exciting to see such a public debate about saturated fat happening in that country right now thanks to the work of people like Dr. Annika Dahlqvist, Dr. Andreas Eenfeldt, Per Wikholm, and others. Today I’m privileged to share my frank interview with a surprisingly strong voice on behalf of LCHF (low-carb, high-fat) diets.

In Episode 262 of “The Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb Show with Jimmy Moore,” we have world-class Swedish triathlete Jonas Colting with us to talk about how the high-fat, low-carb nutritional approach has not only improved his health but also maximized his athletic performance in competition–he won the Ultraman World Championships in 2004 and then again in 2007 as well as high finishes in the Long Distance World Cup in 2001, 2004, and 2005. Jonas credits livin’ la vida low-carb for his athletic breakthrough over the past few years.

Hear Jonas Colting talk in-depth about how the traditional diet promoted by the Swedish government for athletes was harming his health, the positive impact of Dr. Dahlqvist on the dietary changes happening in Sweden, the special interest groups that are opposed to LCHF, what a typical day’s worth of meals looks like for him, why American Olympic athlete Michael Phelps will need to cut back on his carbs and calories as he gets older, how LCHF has extended the length and abilities of his athletic career, which popular American low-carb blogger he’s a big fan of (no, it’s not me!), his inaugural Tour of Sweden this year, the interesting traditional Swedish foods, and the perils of consuming margarine! This is an encouraging podcast from one of the finest triathletes in the entire world–and he’s an amazing ambassador for healthy high-fat, low-carbohydrate eating. ENJOY!

There are three ways you can listen to Episode 262:

1. Listen and comment about the show at the official web site for the podcast:

2. Download the MP3 file of Episode 262 [42:32m]:

3. Calling (818) 688-2763 to listen via Podlinez

The official iTunes page for the podcast

CAN YOU HELP US PROMOTE THIS PODCAST? There’s something you can do that is 100% absolutely FREE that will help tremendously! Go to the iTunes page for my podcast and write a review about the show. It doesn’t have to be anything fancy schmancy, just a few short lines describing what you think about the show. We’re getting close to 100 reviews and I’d be honored to have yours to display to the thousands of weekly listeners at iTunes.

Now more than ever, WE NEED YOUR SUPPORT! Consider making a donation to the podcast show by visiting PayPal and submitting your financial support to livinlowcarbman@charter.net. Or you can click on the “Donate” button on the side panel of any of my web sites to help us to continue spreading the healthy low-carb message with others. THANK YOU for your support!

What did you think about Swedish Ultraman World Champion Jonas Colting? Let’s hear about it in the show notes section of Episode 262. Check out his web site at Colting.se, read the English translation of Dr. Eenfeldt’s coverage of Jonas from Runner’s magazine, find out more about The Tour of Sweden 2009, and keep an eye on all that is happening with our LCHF friends over in the nation of Sweden in the coming years. BIG THINGS are happening and it will be because of people like Jonas Colting!

We’ve got another GREAT podcast interview to share with you on Thursday with the amazing Dr. Malcolm Kendrick, author of The Great Cholesterol Con: The Truth About What Really Causes Heart Disease and How to Avoid It. He has blown the lid off of the whole cholesterol/saturated fat/heart hypothesis that has become so commonplace these days among nutritionists and doctors. Tune in to find out why you really need to stop worrying about your fat and cholesterol intake if you really want to prevent cardiovascular problems from happening. THANK YOU as always for listening and making this one of the top nutrition and health podcasts on the Internet today!

Swedish Showdown On Saturated Fat: Battle Of The Annikas

Jimmy Moore — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 01:06:45 +0000

Annika Dahlqvist and Annika Rosengren faced off in a televised debate

In the country that gave us their famous meatballs, the Volvo vehicle, and the classic hit-making 1970s singing group ABBA, there’s quite a firestorm of controversy and discussion going on within the realm of public debate regarding the validity of a high-fat, low-carbohydrate nutritional approach (LCHF) on health. I’ve already blogged about the explosion of exposure that livin’ la vida low-carb is getting this year in the nation of Sweden and it shows no sign of slowing down thanks in large part to the work that Dr. Annika Dahlqvist is doing to spread the TRUTH about the health benefits of consuming fats, even saturated fats, while cutting down on the carb intake.

The latest turn of events in this ongoing diet battle took place on March 15, 2009 when one of the leading public service morning television news programs on Sveriges Television (SVT) interviewed a physician about a study showing a lower occurrence of cardiovascular disease over the past couple of decades since low-fat diets have been promoted. Predictably, they marched out this university professor named Dr. Annika Rosengren who made the statement that the lack of saturated fat in the recommended diet has kept cholesterol levels low and that was the primary factor in the improved heart health results.

Needless to say, this didn’t sit too well with proponents of LCHF, including Dr. Dahlqvist, Dr. Andreas Eenfeldt, and other leaders of the low-carb movement in Sweden. As you can see from the following rough translation of Dr. Eenfeldt’s blog post, he was pretty livid about it lamenting that no voices of opposition were brought on to present another viewpoint.

“But the report (on this study makes people) think the (professor and other “experts” featured on the television program) know better–naturally (they’re gonna say) saturated fat kills. Amazingly enough, (these “experts” never reported) exactly how many (people) died (from eating saturated fat). And (there was) no other view (countering these arguments) heard.”

Dr. Eenfeldt organized a campaign for LCHF supporters to write to SVT as well as the Swedish Broadcasting Commission demanding equal time for the pro-saturated fat message to be heard. This blatant bias against the LCHF message is illegal in Sweden because the television stations are required by their licenses to maintain impartiality when it comes to controversial subjects like this one. Had they done their due diligence and allowed someone like Dr. Dahlqvist or Dr. Eenfeldt to appear on the program to articulate the other side, then there would not have been a problem.

Needless to say, they were flooded with so many e-mails and letters of complaint that SVT had no choice but to offer the other side. So, who did they turn to for more information about the healthy benefits of consuming saturated fat? Was it any of the many LCHF advocates in Sweden? Nope. The television reporter went to see a representative from the National Food Administration–the Swedish version of the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA). Not surprising, they spouted the same old garbage that was shared on the previous program by Dr. Rosengren confirming it to be accurate information.

“Saturated fat is bad for you, and LCHF is only approved for short-term treatment of diabetes and obesity,” the Livsmedelsverket spokesman stated.

Again, there was outrage in the Swedish low-carb community at this utter disregard and ignorance regarding the science behind LCHF for weight loss and disease prevention over the long-term. This time, SVT did the right thing and invited both Dr. Dahlqvist and Dr. Eenfeldt to appear with Dr. Rosengren for a live televised debate on saturated fat, but Dr. Eenfeldt was not able to attend. The appearance happened on March 19, 2009 and you can read a very rough Google translation of the transcript of this debate by clicking here.

I watched the debate when the video was posted online (it has since been removed) to see the demeanor of both Dr. Rosengren and Dr. Dahlqvist and it was quite evident that both were well-prepared with what they wanted to say. The professionalism of both was evident (although I couldn’t understand a word they were saying), but you could tell Dr. Rosengren was getting increasingly agitated by the assertions Dr. Dahlqvist was making about saturated fat.

The debate started out well with Dr. Dahlqvist explaining why a low-carb, high-fat diet is one of the best things you could do for improving your health. She said the insistence by those who promote a low-fat diet on people eating “the food industry yellow shoe polish” (her hilarious description of margarine) is more harmful than butter will ever be. Dr. Dahlqvist added that a saturated fat-based diet is a “natural” one for weight loss and health.

This, of course, set off Dr. Rosengren who disagreed that saturated fat is healthy at all. However, mimicking the style of American low-fat diet guru Dr. Dean Ornish when he told me in my podcast interview with him last year that “we all agree” on diet, she goes on to admit that people can lose weight very well on a low-carb diet and that she’s no fan of margarine either. However, Dr. Rosengren then switched gears to say there are different kinds of saturated fats and fatty acid compounds that can raise cholesterol levels and that this is a “very complicated issue” that contains “conflicting” research. Nevertheless, she said the preponderance of the evidence points to the fact that “saturated fat is harmful.”

The moderator then turned to Dr. Dahlqvist and said that the National Food Administration and cardiologists have echoed this sentiment that saturated fat is bad for people to consume. She then asked if all of these “experts” are wrong? You gotta love the answer she gave: “Yes, they all are wrong! It is only we who are right!” HA! Nice one, Dr. Dahlqvist! She explained that it was Ancel Keys in the 1950s who made the erroneous proclamation that saturated fat was dangerous and raised cholesterol levels (something Gary Taubes documents well in his book Good Calories, Bad Calories as well as in the new documentary film FATHEAD). She added that the science has since evolved and yet our thinking on saturated fat has not.

“People have become thin by eating saturated fat and become fat from eating carbohydrates and a low-fat diet,” Dr. Dahlqvist exclaimed.

The moderator said these conflicting messages over whether saturated fat is good or bad has “squeezed” her as a consumer looking for credible information about what the truth is when such diametrically opposite viewpoints are being shared. Dr. Rosengren responded to this by saying that Ancel Keys was right in the 1950s and his hypothesis has been proven correct by ongoing research today. She added that “there is no scientific support for” the consumption of natural fats. Dr. Dahlqvist retorted that this is the “original diet” of our early ancestors and that without the consumption of saturated fat during the evolutionary development of man, we wouldn’t be around today. She made an excellent point about the changes in our diet that took place when margarine was introduced to the food supply.

“Ever since margarine and omega-6-laden vegetable oils like corn oil and sunflower oil have been used, we have only gotten sicker and sicker. We’re really sick now!” Dr. Dahlqvist remarked.

She said there is plenty of research to back up these claims, but that ongoing research has been stifled because scientists are “paralyzed by the fear of saturated fat.” Additionally, she said there is an enormous amount of money from the Swedish Nutrition Foundation, food industry, and other lobby groups to prevent quality research on this subject from being fairly conducted. This kind of influence makes any research against natural saturated fats “just nonsense,” Dr. Dahlqvist contended.

To clarify what fats she is referring to, Dr. Dahlqvist said the healthy ones are animal fats and natural vegetable fats such as nuts, avocados, and coconut fat. She again stated that people shouldn’t eat the “shoe polish” sold by the food industry as margarine because it is “industrially processed in every possible way…extremely polluted and…highly toxic.” Dr. Rosenberg chimed in that she wasn’t opposed to high-fat cheese and butter, but not in large quantities. She then repeated that this reduction in saturated fat consumption is what has led to cardiovascular disease dropping and Dr. Dahlqvist retorted, “There is no evidence for it.” This is when the debate got REALLY good. Here’s a rough transcript of the final moments of the televised debate:

Dr. Rosenberg: “We know that saturated fat raises cholesterol…”
Dr. Dahlqvist: “That’s only in your imagination. No, it does not. Saturated fat does not increase cholesterol.”
Moderator: “This is like talking to people from different planets! For some, this may indeed be a life or death issue.”
Dr. Dahlqvist: “And it is!”
Moderator: “How do we learn what’s right?”
Dr. Dahlqvist: “If people eat what I say, then they’ll live; eat the way Dr. Rosenberg says, then they’ll die.”
Moderator: “Wow, that’s some allegation. Would you like to respond?”
Dr. Rosenberg: “Yes I would. I am always a little worried when people are so sure of themselves and have no research to support what they are saying. Because I looked at your web site and to the publications you referred me to and there were a few studies that looked at the relationship between saturated fat and heart disease, but there was not a single critical study. So you do not have all the studies listed together, just the ones that you want to show.”
Dr. Dahlqvist: “I’m more interested in running real research on real food instead of trying to keep up with all this nonsense that simply looks at different relationships between things that do not say anything about causation, but only co-variation. That is what you are doing.”
Moderator: “Now, I do not know if we have gotten any smarter, but thanks for coming.”

That got just a little heated there at the end of the program, didn’t it? Not surprisingly, there were split opinions from the pro-LCHF community about Dr. Dahlqvist’s performance whether it did more harm than good when she made such an incendiary comment like if people “eat the way Dr. Rosenberg says, then they’ll die.” My impression was that she did an outstanding job articulating the message that saturated fat is not as harmful as we have been led to believe. I sent an e-mail to Dr. Dahlqvist thanking her for being such a strong proponent of the LCHF lifestyle and she acknowledged the controversy about her appearance.

“Unfortunately I have a lot of critics, mostly low-carbers, who thought that I was too aggressive. It’s never easy to be ‘good enough,’” she responded in an e-mail.

I asked her why she believed there has been so much criticism from people on her side.

“I said that people would die if they ate the foods that the low-fat establishment recommends,” Dr. Dahlqvist shared. “Some of the low-carbers considered this an exaggeration. But I think it is a realistic threat.”

No doubt, she now feels torn about her performance in this debate because of all the criticism from the people who are supposed to be on her side. Dr. Dahlqvist is THE face of LCHF in Sweden, so the disappointment people have been expressing to her has to be discouraging. One of my Swedish blogging friends explained that Swedish culture mandates that people act modest and polite in public settings, especially when appearing on television. So when Dr. Dahlqvist noted that people would “die” eating a low-fat, high-carb diet, it was a bit “politically incorrect.”

As an American supporting a high-fat, low-carb nutritional approach to health, though, I didn’t see anything wrong with what she had to say because she merely pointed out the proven facts that are already out there and articulated them in such a way that anyone who was listening to her would understand. This idea that carbohydrate consumption can lead to death is not unprecedented in the United States–remember Dr. James E. Carlson‘s 2008 book release Genocide: How Your Doctor’s Dietary Ignorance Will Kill You? Pretty hard-hitting stuff! And there’s a new book coming out next month by an author named Dr. Robert Su entitled Carbohydrates Can Kill (I’ll be featuring him on my podcast show in a couple of months) that pretty much makes the same argument that Dr. Dahlqvist did in this television appearance. In other words, we need MORE people willing to talk like this if we are ever going to make a dent in the hearts and minds of those who need to hear this message the most.

To that end, I say KUDOS TO YOU, Dr. Annika Dahlqvist. You are a low-carb hero in my book and I urge you to keep shouting it from the mountaintops what an amazing way of eating this high-fat, low-carb diet really is. Wouldn’t it be fantastic if we could get some of the heavy hitters in the low-carb world in the United States of America to appear on the Today show or Good Morning America to debate the issue of saturated fat? I assure you, the gloves would come off and happily so because this open conversation is long overdue. Sweden is still leading the charge and I’m proud of leaders like Dr. Dahlqvist and Dr. Eenfeldt for standing up for what is right.

Share your reaction to how Dr. Dahlqvist handled herself in the televised debate last week by leaving a comment below. Do you think she was too aggressive as some LCHF supporters in Sweden have contended or was the way she described things accurate? Tell us what YOU think about what’s going on with our Swedish low-carb friends.