When I was thinking about what subjects I wanted to hit on while writing my latest book 21 Life Lessons From Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb, one no-brainer had to be all of the ridiculous headlines that have come out about healthy high-fat [...]]]>
Two new studies may be leaving you in disbelief about high-fat, low-carb

When I was thinking about what subjects I wanted to hit on while writing my latest book 21 Life Lessons From Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb, one no-brainer had to be all of the ridiculous headlines that have come out about healthy high-fat and low-carb diets under the guise of scientific research. You’ve seen what I’m talking about whenever a new study releases showing supposed damning evidence against this way of eating and that’s what our culture grabs hold of as “proof” that low-carb and high-fat diets are unhealthy. In fact, we just saw it happen just this week with two new studies that I’d like to highlight and obliterate for you.

Cardiovascular nurse and researcher Dr. Teri L. Hernandez

The first one we read about in this FOX News story was published in the March 2010 issue of The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition featuring lead researcher Dr. Teri L. Hernandez from University of Colorado at Denver. She along with a couple of notable names in the world of conventional health–American Heart Association President Dr. Robert Eckel (creator of the obnoxious Bad Fats Brothers campaign and Dr. James Hill from The National Weight Control Registry (which obviously skews towards low-calorie, low-fat diets)–wanted to do yet another comparison study of low-fat diets vs. low-carb diets. This one was designed to look at what happens to the metabolic profile while following the specified diet.

Let me say how much I appreciated the fact that the “low-carb” diet Dr. Hernandez used in this study was truly an Atkins Induction-styled high-fat, low-carb nutritional approach unlike most studies which claim to examine low-carb and then there’s dismal results. This one was indeed what is technically referred to according to what researchers define as a low-carb ketogenic diet (LCKD). WOO HOO! This diet was pitted against a calorie-restricted low-fat, high-carb (55 percent of caloric intake) diet to see what would happen not just with weight loss but key blood markers over a six-week period. So far, so good right?

Well, after comparing these two diets 32 obese study participants to see what impact they would have on cholesterol levels, the researchers zeroed in on one particular health marker as the most important of all: low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol. Although both groups experienced similar weight loss, the fasting LDL INCREASED significantly in the low-carb group while the low-fat, high-carb group showed a decrease in LDL. This was what made the headlines.

But whoop-dee-doo! What happened to HDL cholesterol on the high-fat, low-carb diet? I have no doubt based on previous research that it increased while HDL most likely remained the same or went down on the low-fat, high-carb diet. Additionally, triglycerides most certainly had to plummet on the LCKD and they had to have gone up with all those carbohydrates consumed in the low-fat group. Why wouldn’t this information be shared? We already know that HDL and triglycerides are better markers for cardiovascular health than LDL and total cholesterol.

Plus, the missing element Dr. Hernandez does NOT talk about in this study is the LDL particle size. I discuss this in Lesson #2 of my new book because it is too important an issue to miss…and research like this totally misses the boat time and time again. When HDL is up above 50 (when you eat plenty of fat in your diet) and triglycerides are below 100 (by reducing carb consumption), then the predominance of your LDL particles will be the large, fluffy kind that are protective against penetrating the arterial wall of your arteries, becoming inflamed, and causing heart trouble. But when you consume a high-carb, low-fat diet, the LDL particles become the much more dangerous small, dense kind that you absolutely want to avoid at all costs. That’s why I so highly recommend people get an NMR LipoProfile test to know exactly what your particle number and size is.

So all this belly-aching and pontification by our media over avoiding a high-fat, low-carb diet is much ado about nothing because it is bogus. That FOX News story I quoted even made the idiotic statement that “high LDL levels are a risk factor for heart disease because they are linked to clogged arteries. Why is it that a non-medically educated layman like Jimmy Moore can understand just how insane a study like this is and yet all these so-called expert medical professionals who attached their name to this study just turned a blind eye to the elephant in the room?

You can e-mail Dr. Teri Hernandez directly at teri.hernandez@ucdenver.edu to ask her why LDL particle size was not taken into consideration in her new study. I’m curious to know what she’ll have to say about it!

UNC-Chapel Hill nutrition specialist Dr. Ka He

But Dr. Hernandez was not alone in the dissemination of bad science this week about healthy nutrition. This New York Times story reports on a new study that claims high-fat diets will raise the risk of stroke in women. The lead researcher is Dr. Ka He, assistant professor of nutrition and epidemiology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Public Health and he wanted to see the impact of dietary fat on stroke risk as part of the huge 87,230-member Women’s Health Initiative. He made his presentation at the annual American Stroke Association conference on February 24, 2010.

Like the American Heart Association, this group is stuck on the conventional wisdom regarding diet–low-fat, high-carb, calorie-controlled. So it’s no surprise that research like this from Dr. He would be so embraced and heavily touted by the media who once again get it “dead wrong” about a high-fat diet as I shared about in Lesson #5 of my new book. The claim is made that consuming dietary fatty foods raises the risk of stroke in women over 50 by 44 percent.

So, what are these “high-fat” foods that are the culprits?

Lemme name them one-by-one as they appear in this story: cookies, pastries,
stick margarine, fried foods, crackers, Snicker bar, Crunchy Cheetos, and Haagen-Dazs ice cream bar. These are THEIR examples of the “fatty” foods that were the culprit in increasing the risk of stroke. Does anybody else besides me notice which macronutrient every single one of those foods is predominantly made up of? Of course–CARBOHYDRATES! Sugar, flour, and just plain garbage! It ain’t the fat causing the problems, Dr. He, it’s the carbs my man. Limiting fat without taking into consideration what those carbohydrates are doing to the health of those women is not going to make the necessary improvements they need to live a healthy life.

Share your positive health experiences consuming a high-fat diet with Dr. Ka He by e-mailing him at kahe@unc.edu. I think people like him need to know that their data is based on a preconceived assumption of fact that doesn’t exist and that this kind of research is probably going to be more damaging than beneficial in the end.

Always be on the lookout for this kind of phony-baloney science that is supposed to make high-fat, low-carb living look like the enemy. More times than not, all it takes is just a little digging and you’ll find that dog doesn’t hunt. Don’t be discouraged as you are livin’ la vida low-carb because of stories like this. Yes, many people will buy into them hook, line, and sinker, but it’s up to people like you and me to keep ‘em educated with the truth and then let them decide for themselves about what to do with that. Knowledge is power!

In Lesson #19 of my new book 21 Life Lessons From Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb, I state that “you can’t always trust or believe the negative studies on low-carb.” And today I have yet another prime example of this to share with [...]]]>
Calvin has been reading up on the latest studies about low-carb diets

In Lesson #19 of my new book 21 Life Lessons From Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb, I state that “you can’t always trust or believe the negative studies on low-carb.” And today I have yet another prime example of this to share with you out of the research world that got big headlines when it released. Here’s a two-minute segment about it on CBS-TV’s “The Early Show”:

Now that the weight loss and physical health benefits of livin’ la vida low-carb are undeniable, the attention is now being turned towards mental and emotional health. Ohhh, this is gonna be a fun one!

Dr. Grant D. Brinkworth says high-fat, low-carb diets make you moody

Lead researcher Dr. Grant D. Brinkworth, research scientist and project leader at Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) Food and Nutritional Sciences in Adelaide, South Australia, observed 106 overweight and obese adults with an average age of 50 and placed them on one of the following isocaloric diets for a period of one year (the ratio in parenthesis indicates the fat/protein/carbohydrate):

LOW-CALORIE, LOW-CARB, HIGH-FAT DIET (61/35/4) or
HIGH-CARB, LOW-FAT DIET (30/24/46)

Calories for both groups were restricted to between 1,433-1,672 daily and they both produced an average weight loss of 30.2 pounds at the end of the one-year study period. After eight weeks on their respective diets, each study participant showed improvements in their mood. However, according to Dr. Brinkworth and his fellow CSIRO researchers, the mood improvements in the high-fat, low-carb group regressed back to where they started prior to the study.

This study was published in the November 9, 2009 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine.

The conclusion of the researchers is that although the weight loss results were exactly the same, the improvements in mood with the high-carb, low-fat group were much more significant than the high-fat, low-carb group.

“Both an energy-reduced, very low-carbohydrate, high-fat diet and a conventional high-carbohydrate, low-fat diet are equally effective for achieving weight loss in overweight and obese individuals,” Dr. Brinkworth explained. “The conventional high-carbohydrate, low-fat weight-loss diet was shown to have more positive effects on mood compared to the very low-carbohydrate, high-fat diet.”

Oh REALLY?! What about previous research that shows eating fat improves mental health? Or how about this CSIRO study published in September 2007 that found mood improvements were identical with both the high-carb, low-fat diet and the high-fat, low-carb diet. How does this study by Dr. Brinkworth explain previous evidence that runs diametrically opposed to his from the exact same research institute?

And I don’t know if any of these researchers have ever been on a high-carb, low-fat diet before, but I have in 1999 and it’s just about the most miserable experience of my entire life! Despite losing 170 pounds in just nine months eating that way, I was the most cranky, irritable, angry person you would have ever wanted to meet despite all those supposed “serotonin-boosting” carbohydrates I was eating with virtually zero fat in my diet. Your brain thrives on a high-fat diet which is what makes it so preferred over a carb-based diet when it comes to both physical and mental health. I rebelled against my “healthy” eating and gained back all of my weight and then some eating like that. It did NOT work for me or my mood one iota. Just ask my wife Christine.

In case you missed it, be sure to check out this hilarious spoof post about Dr. Brinkworth’s study by Tom Naughton who has an imaginary conversation with me. This guy is a riot! And the never dull Dr. James E. Carlson gives his own unique twist of an opinion about the study, too. I can’t wait to see both of these guys on the upcoming 3rd Annual Low-Carb Cruise to the Bahamas in March 2010.

I was both pleasantly surprised and quite frankly honored to see in this U.S. News & World Report story that my trademark phrase was used along with Atkins and Gary Taubes’ Good Calories, Bad Calories. In a quote by Dr. Ewald Horvath, interim chairman of psychiatry at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, he noted three popular low-carb diets that may sound familiar to you.

Health organizations, such as the American Heart Association, tend to advocate higher-carb, low-fat diets. But many overweight and obese people are propelled toward the high-fat diets such as Atkins, “Livin’ La Vida” and “Good Calories, Bad Calories,” perhaps because of quick initial weight loss, Horvath said.

Now that’s just too funny! Although “Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb” is not a diet and I’d bet Gary Taubes would say the same about his book, I’m flattered that this Dr. Horvath would mention a part of the catch phrase I use for my blog, books, podcast, and YouTube videos in the same company as Atkins and Taubes. And it’s a VERY good thing that “many overweight and obese people are propelled towards the high-fat diets” because it will do amazing things for not just their weight, but their health, too. I can also guarantee you that their mood will be so uplifted by the changes that are happening to them that they’ll make this silly study completely irrelevant when all is said and done.

Not surprisingly, Atkins Nutritionals took exception to the conclusions of the CSIRO study stating that the low-carb diet used in this study contained an excessive amount of protein and an unnecessary limit on salt. Atkins spokeswoman Colette Heimowitz had some interesting observations to make about Dr. Brinkworth’s research.

The first lesson is that the prescribed protein intake referred to in this study as a protein intake of 35% of daily food consumed (on average 130 g of protein) is suitable only for the first or Induction phase of Atkins. This prescription, however, becomes inappropriate as people move out of the weight loss phase and into ongoing maintenance, when total food intake must increase to maintain a steady weight. In the six months of weight stability at the end of this study, participants were reportedly still consuming 35% of their daily food intake in the form of protein – for an 80 kg subject that translates to 200-250 grams of protein per day.

This would push the upper limit of human protein tolerance – too high for the weight maintenance phase and liable to lead to a change in mood. Aboriginal hunting cultures such as the Inuit had descriptive terms for the discomfort and unpleasant mood that results from over-consuming protein, and this time-tested observation appears to have been re-discovered in the current study.

Furthermore, Christy Boling Turer, MD, a health services research fellow at the VA Medical Center, in Durham, N.C., notes that twice as many people in the low carb group were being treated for depression at the beginning of the Brinkworth study. According to Turer, that fact, as well as the high dropout rate, suggests that “these data should be viewed cautiously.”

The second lesson is that carbohydrate restriction has long been known to cause a sustained increase in the excretion of salt by the kidneys (natriuresis). If this is counter-balanced by the prescription of a modest daily sodium supplement of 2 grams per day (definitely not a high salt intake), well-being and physical performance are maintained despite the carbohydrate restriction. Without it, fatigue, lethargy, and headache are common. As both patients and dietitians typically believe in the benefits of restricting salt intake, it is likely that many of the mood and well-being symptoms reported in this study could have been ameliorated by a daily pinch of salt.

In addition, a 2007 study by a different group of researchers showed that after 24 weeks, people on low fat or low carb diets both showed improvements in mood, but the improvements were greater in the low carb group. Eric C. Westman, MD, of the Lifestyle Medicine Clinic at Duke University Medical Center, in Durham, N.C., who helped conduct the 2007 research, says the two studies have one key difference. In his study, people on a low carbohydrate diet were allowed to eat as much as they wanted.

“The main difference between their methodology and our study methodology was that they restricted the amount that people could eat and we did not,” Dr. Westman says. “That’s an important thing to focus on because…if you’re told you can’t eat as much as you want, this may put some damper on the mood, so to speak.”

A low carbohydrate diet can be safe and sustainable if managed with a modicum of care through both the weight loss and maintenance phases, which differ in a number of aspects. However the over consumption of protein and inappropriate sodium restriction, as apparently practiced in this study, indicate that we ignore these lessons of history at our peril.

Dr. Westman makes a good point. Dieter’s remorse about what they could be having may play a psychological effect on their mood. That’s why most low-carbers don’t count calories or portion sizes. We simply count the carbs, eat to satiety delicious real whole foods, and let the body take care of the rest. A high-fat, moderate-protein, low-carb diet is indeed a great way to go when you want to lose weight, improve your health, and yes, even improve your mood. You cannot underestimate the impact that losing weight can have on lifting your spirits and putting your mood in the right place. It’s idiotic research like this that is intended only to discourage people from healthy low-carb living. And that’s enough to make me cranky! Hee hee!

Let Dr. Grant D. Brinkworth know what you think about his study by e-mailing him your thoughts directly at grant.brinkworth@csiro.au.

Summertime is in full swing now and the wealth of information about carbohydrate restriction and healthy living hasn’t slowed down a lick. I’ve been letting it pile up for several weeks and now I’m loaded for bear today with a boatload of low-carb news [...]]]>
All the latest and greatest early summer low-carb health headlines

Summertime is in full swing now and the wealth of information about carbohydrate restriction and healthy living hasn’t slowed down a lick. I’ve been letting it pile up for several weeks and now I’m loaded for bear today with a boatload of low-carb news and health headlines for June 2009. As always, feel free to send me any new and notable links to interesting low-carb diet and health stories anytime at livinlowcarbman@charter.net.

IS A “FATTY DIET” TO BLAME FOR PANCREATIC CANCER?

A new study published in the June 26, 2009 issue of Journal of the National Cancer Institute makes the case that those of us who consume an animal-based, high-fat diet are more likely to develop pancreatic cancer. The specific food groups identified by the researchers as the culprits were meat and dairy products according to self-reported surveys filled out by the half million study participants regarding their diet over the previous year.

Since they blamed the fat consumption on the resulting cancer of the pancreas, one would assume their intake would exceed a majority–over 50 percent–of the total caloric intake. It was not even close. Dietary fat only comprised 20-40 percent of total calories and protein was less than 20 percent. That left upwards of 60 percent of total calories coming from carbohydrates, which this previous research out of Sweden in November 2006 found is directly tied to the development of pancreatic cancer, not dietary fat. Plus, the actual number of cases of pancreatic cancer in this study of a half million adults (1337) is just one-fourth of one percent of the entire study participants. It’s not like this is some sudden epidemic brought on by eating animal fat as the news headlines and the researchers would have you to believe.

Like I said, they can’t accurately pinpoint that these pancreatic cancer diagnoses were caused by the study participants’ “fatty diet”–they’re just assuming that’s what it was. But the evidence more accurately points to the carbohydrate intake instead. Lower their carbs, INCREASE their fat, and keep protein at a moderate level of 20 percent of calories and the pancreatic cancer will remain at bay. I wish these researchers would stop taking such a leap of faith about what they “believe” regarding dietary fat and take into consideration all the evidence.

WHAT ARE AMERICANS AFRAID OF MORE–CANCER OR DIABETES?

If you are unfamiliar with the work of Jacqueline A. Eberstein, R.N., then you owe it to yourself to check out her Controlled Carbohydrate Nutrition web site. She worked directly with the late great Dr. Robert C. Atkins for 30 years and is arguably the foremost authority on the Atkins diet today. For people just starting out on a carbohydrate-restricted diet, she has a wonderful resource page page about the Atkins Lifestyle I highly recommend to get started livin’ la vida low-carb on the right foot. She also writes regular columns like her newest one entitled “What Are Americans Afraid Of?” Eberstein notes that only 5% of people are afraid of illness and nearly half of those fear cancer while just 3% were scared of diabetes which is much more prevalent in our society. What’s wrong with this picture? She echoes my call for more personal responsibility by the individual and all the interests involved to come up with viable solutions to skyrocketing healthcare costs rather than cowtowing to the financial interests of pharmaceutical and food companies. I’d love to know what you think!

WHAT IF LOW-CARB IS WRONG AND CALORIES REALLY MATTER?

One of my favorite things to do is to get people to think about what they believe and why they believe it as it relates to diet, health, and nutrition. If we simply rely on others to tell us what is true about low-carb living without ever doing the necessary follow-up on it to confirm the findings, then we are bound to fall into the trap that so many in our society do buying into conventional wisdom hook, line, and sinker. That’s why so many people are scared to death of eating fat, but don’t have a care in the world about gobbling up carbohydrates like they’re going out of style.

My fellow low-carb advocate Josef Brandenburg wrote an excellent column entitled “What If Low-Carb Is Wrong? Does ASP Prove That Insulin Doesn’t Matter And That It’s Calories That Really Count?” that warrants your attention. It seems some anti-low-carb forum readers believe that acylation stimulating protein (ASP) is a much more powerful fat-storing mechanism than excessive insulin levels as Gary Taubes and low-carbers assert. Josef does a brilliant job answering these claims and even brings in a quote from Taubes to round out the discussion. CHECK IT OUT!

DR. ROBERT SU VIDEO ABOUT “CARBOHYDRATES CAN KILL”

Back in May 2009, I introduced to you my podcast interview with Dr. Robert K. Su to discuss his brand new book Carbohydrates Can Kill. After years of self-experimentation using low-carb for himself, Dr. Su is now convinced this is a topic that the general public needs to know more about which is why he decided to write his book. Here’s a new video slide presentation featuring Dr. Su demonstrating how carbohydrates can endanger our health:

“FREE THE ANIMAL” EXPLAINS THE “LDL CHOLESTEROL NONSENSE”

I’m so excited about sharing my new book coming out in August 2009 called 21 Life Lessons From Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb because one of the chapters will deal with the issue of cholesterol tests and why the traditional way of measuring cholesterol is pretty much bogus. In the meantime, I was pleased to read this blog post from “Free The Animal” blogger Richard Nikoley for a clear explanation about why LDL cholesterol in people who are livin’ la vida low-carb with triglycerides below 100 needs to be calculated differently than those people with triglycerides above 100 who are probably not on a low-carb diet. If you fall into the former category and want to see what your true calculated LDL cholesterol number is, then run the equation and see how far off it is from what your doctor’s lipid report shows. For Richard, it was a full 29 points lower than the 104 his physician said it was and wanted to put him on a statin drug to lower. EEEEK! Dang these medical professionals are trigger happy with the drugs! DON’T DO IT! Be sure to check out this blog post from June 2008 about my own cholesterol results from a specialized particle size test I talked about in this YouTube video recently. And don’t miss what Dr. Mike Eades recently wrote about the low-carb diets increase LDL myth.

“F AS IN FAT 2009: HOW OBESITY POLICIES ARE FAILING IN AMERICA”

A non-profit, non-partisan organization called Trust for America’s Health has released their latest report on obesity rates in America and the results aren’t pretty. Mississippi is #1 in the nation for the fifth consecutive year at 32.5 percent obesity followed closely by Alabama (31.2), West Virginia (31.2) and Tennessee (30.2). My home state of South Carolina just barely squeaked below 30 percent coming in fifth place at 29.7 percent. Read this report carefully because it has some very interesting analysis about how there doesn’t seem to be an end coming to the rising obesity rates because of the recession and the related financial stress many are facing. See how your state is doing with the interactive state map–it’s not a pretty picture. Colorado had the lowest rates of obesity at 18.9 percent.

OBESITY RATES NEARLY QUADRUPLE IN INDONESIAN CAPITAL SINCE 1997

The stereotype of people living in Asian countries is that they tend to be slimmer while eating a so-called high-carb diet chock full of foods like rice. But the reality is the rates of obesity especially in the big cities is even faster than what’s happening in the United States. Young people seem to be driving the increases with their “unbalanced diet” and a “lack of exercise.” One college student quoted in the story says she loves her fast food and she likes to “eat too many sweet and fatty foods.” Well, if you ditch the sugar and carb-laden foods and eat MORE fat, then you’ll find a plan for success you can be proud of. So much for Americans trying to mimic the Asian diet, huh?

COOKING TLC LETS YOU “TEST YOUR CARB IQ”

My friend and fellow low-carber Karen Rysavy has created a nifty 8-question Carb IQ Test that will see how much you really know about livin’ la vida low-carb. I got all eight questions exactly right, although one of them was pretty hard and I had to guess. Even if you get an answer wrong, Karen does an excellent job explaining the reasoning behind the correct answers. So, go ahead and “Test Your Carb IQ!”

ODE MAGAZINE COVER STORY “FAT IS WHERE IT’S AT”

It can seem discouraging whenever you read a news account in a magazine or newspaper article about “healthy” living and they tell people to cut the fat and calories. But there’s a new trend beginning to happen in the media that is starting to pay attention to the overwhelming evidence that fat is not as bad as once thought. This Ode Magazine column highlights the work of a couple of names that might be familiar to you: Gary Taubes who wrote Good Calories, Bad Calories, Brian Wansink author of Mindless Eating (I’ll feature a podcast interview with him coming August 13, 2009), and Jennifer McLagan who penned a cookbook that won the 2009 James Beard award entitled Fat, An Appreciation of a Misunderstood Ingredient, With Recipes. Special THANKS to Janet Paskin for writing such a FANTASTIC column on the healthy benefits of consuming fat.

VITAMIN D, FISH OIL TO BE FEATURED IN LARGE GOVERNMENT STUDY

Two of the rising stars in the crowded supplement world right now are Vitamin D and fish oil because of the incredible health benefits both have shown to provide the people who take them in proper doses. I rose my Vitamin D levels from 42 ng/mL in September 2008 to 68 ng/mL in February 2009 simply by supplementing my diet with 10,000 IU Vitamin D3 gel caps from Sam’s Club for six months. I’ve since backed down to around 4,000-5,000 IU daily to maintain my levels where they are. We’re working on getting Christine’s D3 levels up from a dismal 9 ng/mL reading she saw in January 2009. As for fish oil, I have taken this just about every single day since I started livin’ la vida low-carb in January 2004 and I know it has helped improve my cardiovascular health immensely. The government is expected to spend $20 million to rigorously test these essential supplements for your healthy low-carb lifestyle on 20,000 people 60 and older with no history of major diseases and I can’t wait to see the changes in health the participants in the study will experience. They’ll be taking 2,000 IU of D3 or 1g of fish oil during the study along with a control group taking neither and another group taking both. Should be very interesting!

WANNA BE CAST FOR “THE BIGGEST LOSER” 9?

The hit NBC television weight loss reality show “The Biggest Loser” is currently conducting open calls for Season 9 of the hit series featuring obese contestants vying against one another to win $250,000. They are specifically looking for family members in teams of two who will be at least 18 by September 21, 2009 and both need to lose at least 100 pounds. Parent/child, siblings, married couples, cousins, in-laws, whatever–if you’re related, you’re eligible! It helps to have a great personality, too, as well as the WANT, DESIRE and COMPETITIVE EDGE to vie for this once in a lifetime opportunity to change your lives forever and possibly win a pile of cash.

My buddy Pete Thomas from WinningMan.com who was the at-home $100,000 winner from Season 2 of the show gives some incredible tips for getting on the show for anyone who is seriously interested in being on the show. Send in your 10-minute videotape ASAP and visit THEBIGGESTLOSERCASTING.COM for more information. Questions? You can e-mail them directly at jaxcasting@gmail.com. Open calls will be taking place in Atlanta, Georgia, Mobile, Alabama, New York City, and San Antonio on July 11th, Dallas, Texas, Kansas City, Missouri, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Phoenix, Arizona on July 18th, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma and Des Moines, Iowa on July 25th and wrapping up in Los Angeles on August 1st. The first 500 people in line will be evaluated and considered for the show. GOOD LUCK TO YOU!

STUDY: HIGH-CARB FOODS RAISE RISK FOR HEART HEALTH PROBLEMS

This will come as no surprise to most of my regular readers who have been paying attention to all the glut of scientific data that has come out in recent years, but a new Israeli study published in the March 25, 2009 issue of Journal of the American College of Cardiology explains why high-carb foods lead to cardiovascular disease. High glycemic index foods tend to “aggravate” the arteries for hours after they are consumed by creating “a temporary and sudden dysfunction in the endothelial walls of the arteries” and this sustained stress over a period of time can expand the arterial wall which reduces the elasticity that protects you from heart disease and even death. This is the first such study in the history of medicine that used cutting-edge technology to demonstrate what happens to the arteries before, during and after a high-carb meal. I’ll be looking for even more scientific uses of this new procedure for seeing what happens to the arterial walls in future studies and it’s certainly an exciting development for discovering what exactly is happening inside the arteries in response to the foods consumed.

NEW ZEALAND MAN SHEDS 165 POUNDS ON “HUNTER-GATHERER” DIET

I just LOVE finding evidence of the healthy low-carb way of eating working for people by producing incredible weight loss success. That’s exactly what happened to 40-year old New Zealand man Rob Stoutley who went on a diet consisting of lean protein and non-starchy vegetables to lose the weight he put on following a serious lung infection in 2004. The “hunter-gather” Maori diet consisted mainly of “birds and fish with herbs and root crops” along with walking a half-hour daily. Dr. Loren Cordain would be so proud. WAY TO GO, ROB!

GARY TAUBES’ “ADIPOSITY 101″ LECTURE WITH SLIDES

I’ve had the pleasure of hearing Gary Taubes speak in person a couple of times over the past year at obesity conferences in Reno, Nevada in 2008 and in Charleston, South Carolina in 2009. Expanding upon the concepts in his monumental 2007 book release Good Calories, Bad Calories, Taubes has an incredible presentation with some extraordinary slides that go along with his lecture. But prior to now you haven’t been able to see the slides online while he gives his talk. Yet, thanks to Dartmouth-Hitchcock we get to not just hear but also see the one-hour lecture entitled “Adiposity 101 and the Alternative Hypothesis of Obesity” with all the accompanying slides presented by Taubes on June 5, 2009. This is a real treat if you have never watched it from start to finish. ENJOY!

“FOOD, INC.” MOVIE TOUTS REAL WHOLE FOODS

Finally, with all the same old boring movies coming out of Hollywood these days, I’m pleased to tell you about a brand new feature film that’s both entertaining and has an incredible message for those of us who care about encouraging people to eat real foods. As Christine and I shared in this recent YouTube video, healthy whole foods like grass-fed beef, local free-range eggs, real raw milk, and locally-grown organic veggies are some of the best foods you can be eating on your low-carb lifestyle. Food, Inc. shows you why you want to be choosing these foods over the ones that are served in your local grocery store. I’ve attempted to get a podcast interview with the filmmaker, but he has not responded to my e-mails. But here’s a trailer of the film for you to watch and see if it is playing in your area:

That’s all for now, but we’ll have plenty more low-carb news and health headlines coming up for you again soon!

Coming up on Thursday, we will be celebrating one of the most revered holidays in American culture–Thanksgiving! Who doesn’t like having one day out of the year when you have a plentiful buffet of food followed by watching football, and giving thanks [...]]]>
Eating your turkey without the carbs is just as enjoyable on Thanksgiving

Coming up on Thursday, we will be celebrating one of the most revered holidays in American culture–Thanksgiving! Who doesn’t like having one day out of the year when you have a plentiful buffet of food followed by watching football, and giving thanks to God for another year of blessings in your life. It’s a unique time when families gather together and just enjoy being with those they love the most (remember that when your kid throws a temper tantrum while Grandma complains about not being able to find her false teeth!). Ahhhhhhhh, Thanksgiving!

When you decide to start livin’ la vida low-carb in earnest, there might be some temptation to justify going “off plan” on holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas. But let me caution you about falling into the trap of thinking this is okay. While I’m not one of those hard-nosed purists who thinks you should strictly stick to the plan and NEVER allow anything to go in your mouth that isn’t low-carb, I also realize that human nature will kick in when you give in–especially on a special occasion like Thanksgiving.

Here’s what happens: you decide to have a little stuffing which then makes you justify having just a little cranberry sauce followed by a scoop of macaroni and cheese…and since you’ve gone this far, why not go ahead and have one, no make that TWO slices of pecan and pumpkin pie for dessert. After a couple of hours of watching football, you realize you “messed up” and rationalize that you should eat whatever the heck you want for the rest of the day because of that. So you pig out on EVERYTHING the second time around only to realize the next day how guilty you feel for doing that. This is when a lot of people think they’ve done permanent damage to their low-carb lifestyle and just give up.

Sound familiar anyone? Hopefully it doesn’t happen that way for you this year as you make the wise decision to stick with your low-carb plan. Although it may seem like an impossible task to actually do that, it can and MUST be done to prevent the above scenario from playing out. My wife Christine and I recorded a YouTube video last year about how to survive the holidays by making better choices, so I encourage you to check it out!

One of my forum moderators is LindaSue and she has put together some truly fabulous low-carb Thanksgiving menu suggestions for those of you who are stuck about what to cook and eat on that day. And I’m also inviting my low-carb readers to share photos and descriptions of their low-carb Thanksgiving meal afterward so everyone can benefit from seeing what real low-carb dieters eat on this one day of the year that seems to be completely centered around eating lots of food. Whether we actually think about this fact or if it is merely in our subconscious, it is the truth that many use Thanksgiving as an excuse for being gluttonous.

It made me mad the other day when I heard my spin class instructor at the gym telling people to eat up on all the sweet potato pie casserole and desserts on Thanksgiving since they’ll be able to “work it all off” the next day during a special two-hour spin class session. UGH! What a terrible message to send to people to go ahead and give in to their gluttony so long as they “burn the calories off” the next day. If only it were that simple, I don’t think any of us would have ever gotten fat to begin with. This is why calories are not the be-all, end-all in managing weight. Managing blood sugar response which controls insulin levels is why chowing down on high-carbage on Thanksgiving is bad news for those of us who are especially carb-sensitive.

Imagine my surprise this week when I came across this Wilmington (NC) Star News story about how to keep your Thanksgiving meal low-carb. WHOA! How cool is that? Long after the supposed demise of low-carb anything (according to the brilliant health writers at most newspapers these days), here’s a story encouraging people to stick with their low-carb diet even on Thanksgiving. Kudos to Jane P. Marshall who penned this column for having the guts to recognize the benefits of low-carb living even during the holidays. She quotes from a long-time low-carb author named Fran McCullough (who I’d love to have on my podcast show sometime).

McCullough suggests in addition to the turkey having foods like cheese, olives, nuts and deviled eggs for people adhering to a low-carb lifestyle. And you can’t forget the cauliflower either!

”Cauliflower is so misunderstood,” she said. ”It’s so delicious.”

Especially if you make mashed cauliflower (a HUGE favorite in the Moore household!), it will make you forget about ever having mashed potatoes again! In the column, there are several good recipes for cranberry sauce, pumpkin casserole and more for people on a low-carb diet. It’s all a matter of making good choices for YOU and knowing your own personal limitations. Can you make it through Thanksgiving without “falling off the wagon” so to speak? SURE YOU CAN! And you MUST so that this endless cycle of obesity and declining health that has plagued you comes to an end once and for all.

Enjoy your Thanksgiving and keep it low-carb–you’ll be thankful that you did!