A Tale of Two Mayo Clinic Dietician Morons
You've really got to love the Internet.
Another thing I love is watching establishment, authoritarian "experts" — who fake a livelihood and self-esteem regurgitating the party line — get it right in the teeth.
That's what happened to these two dumbshits, Jennifer Nelson, M.S., R.D. and Katherine Zeratsky, R.D. in this post ("For those with diabetes — there's more to it than carbs"). I'm not even going to quote any of it because it's just so dumb. 1+1=3 dumb; that's how dumb.
But luckily, as of right now, 31 out of 33 commenters — most of whom are T2 diabetics or successfully treat T2 diabetics — have given the two morons a rash of real nice kicks in the teeth. Here was one of my favorite comments, by Debbie (of the two comments that were not kicks in the teeth, one was a question and another was a comment by the author of the post):
This is the sort of article which helps reinforce the truth of the comment my son frequently makes: "If you want to understand human nutrition *never* ask a dietician or a nutritionist, ask a biochemist". I'm a T2 diabetic and thank God I'm pretty internet-savvy. Thus I know full well that a diet that is 45% carbs is a true "killer" diet for diabetics. Any diabetic who researches the issue knows that a real low carb diet is the best hope for longevity. I try to keep carbs at about 5% of my total caloric intake, sometimes up to 10% but *never* higher than that! Higher would send my blood sugars spiraling out of control. But my numbers are all good. I eat plenty of saturated fats too, since I feel quite sure it is not a demon. Not that I eat fat indiscriminately. I avoid trans fats, and polyunsaturated vegetable fats. But I eat my share of dairy fat, animal fat, coconut oil, and monos like olive oil. My typical diet is 70% fat, 5% carb, 25% protein. It's easy to maintain, makes me feel incredible. So far I've lost 70 pounds, and all my numbers are much better. But I pity the poor diabetic who does not have access to the internet. They are the ones likely to lose their limbs, their eyesight, etc. I used to respect the Mayo Clinic as a dispenser of medical information, but after reading this I realize I can't trust a word written here either!
It gets better. A few days later (Feb 3), they published a follow-up moronic post that essentially said the same stupid things. So far, about 12 of 14 comments are good teeth kicks, while a couple of diabetics are recommending going on a pea brain-diet (vegetarian). I particularly liked this comment by Mary Kolk, who literally saved her husband's life from the dietitians and medical doctors doing their level best to kill him — and those dietitians and medical doctors very nearly succeeded in killing him, by Mary's account.
You have got to be kidding me! You need to read Dr. Richard Bernstein's book, "Diabetes Solutions Third Edition" It is amazing how the medical community refuses to acknowledge tremendus benefits of eating a low carbohydrate diet. My husband is a type 2 diabetic for over 25 years. He had severe neuropathy in both feet and could not walk over 75 to 100 feet at any one time. He was eventually put on insulin after the doctor felt there was nothing more he could do for him. Beginning at 5 units a night, a year later he was on 43 units a night. His weight ballooned to 280 pounds. He was depressed and I told my kids that in 6 months I would be pushing dad around in a wheelchair. About 7 years ago I read Dr. Bernstein's book. I read that book and realized it was all about my husband. Six years ago, my husband accepted responsibility for the diabetes, went on a program of low carb and exercise this was the result: he lost 80 pounds in 9 months, his HA1c fell to 6.5 from 11, he goes to the gym 3 times a week and walks 2 miles each time. He came off of insulin about 3 months after beginning this program and his doctor takes him OFF of meds each time he sees him. He has not had insulin in 6 years! He feels wonderful, he looks wonderful and he is wonderful. He was literally dying in front of my eyes – seeing his doctor faithfully and following what his doctors told him to do. And he was dying slowly. He is now fully alive and well. His HDL is great.
(HT: Doc Eades)
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Very interesting, I was surprised to see how many people defended the low carb! Vast majority! Totally different from a few years ago when even mentioning about LC was like beliving in space aliens 8-:)
Richard Feinman's comment (31 Jan) was also very good and gives some valuable references. He is an editor of Nutrition and Metabolism.
Regards,
Stan (Heretic)
Carbohydrates are not esstential…….they are just icing on the cake really, it is stupid that the low quality "grain" gets priority in the SAD.
A bit off topic but something very relevant to Free the Animal. From: http://the10000yearexplosion.com/henry-and-the-cape-buffalo/
Finally we had some meat [Cape Buffalo] in camp. Unfortunately it turned out to be completely inedible. There was hardly a trace of fat anywhere in the animal, and like everyone in the Kalahari we craved and dreamed about fat. We boiled the tongue all the next afternoon, hours and hours, and at the end we could hardly cut it with a knife.
I stopped reading as soon as I got to the part about 45% being considered low-carb.
Ha! Yes! The well-deserved kick in the teeth. Witness also the mighty phenomena of public rage at the utter STUPIDITY in this article:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1140244/Take-children-fat-milk-age-say-experts.html
The article and its ignorance leave me well and truly gobsmacked, but at least the public managed to let the 'experts' know in the comments exactly how they feel.
I sense a sea-change a'comin'. 🙂
Woot! I was paraphrased in a blog comment quoted on another blog!
-Son of Debbie
Love your comment up there Richard. Good stuff.
I bet those two think twice next time, and that's how things change, over time.
Dear Richard, as you already noticed, some of the comments on these Mayo Clinic articles were deleted. I don't know which criteria they followed but I can confirm that most of the relevant "anti-high-carb" comments were kept, except for the one below from the second article, which I don't see the reason to have been deleted. In my country we would call this censorship…
———————
February 10, 2009 1:01 p.m. First Joslin and now Mayo are trying to kill us! Over the years in many diabetes forums and newsgroups including the ADA Forums we see huge improvements in Type 2, A1c drops of 5 – 8% are commonplace along with vastly improved lipids and blood pressure and weight loss where necessary. Always the culprit is a "dangerous" low carb diet. The number of people who do well on the Heart Healthy diet is a fraction of a percent. For Type 1s it can be more complex as the modern bolus insulins are designed to work with fast carbs but many also report improved control and reduced insulin doses. Elsewhere low carb diets (WAY below 45% carbs) greatly improve the odds of losing weight and avoiding cardiovascular disease. Testing is the key an RCT of that protocol is WAY overdue. Isn’t it strange that despite the thousands of anecdotes and increasing quantities of data from papers such as those quoted and even Gannon and Nuttall on the ADA’s own site (do a journal search yourself, the URL is too long!) the Authorities are still pushing a diet which requires heroic levels of medication and usually results in progression and damage. Yet if the same Authorities were to state "You are gluten intolerant. You must eat more gluten to stabilise your allergen levels" they would not retain their jobs very long. – Trinkwasser
Congrats on your progress. I'm a paleo newbie and hope to achieve what you have. Well it looks like Mary Kolk's husband decided to take personal responsibility. I highly doubt the doctors were "killing him". I see this everyday(as I am a doctor). Patients blame their doctor for their A1C of 11% all the while they are at home eating what they want. All we can do is up the insulin to accommodate their ever increasing diet. It would be malpractice not to.
Yea, I get what you're saying. OTOH, this is a blog, of course, so I hope people do realize that there are a lot of great docs out there.
Type 2 diabetes runs strongly on my mom's side of the family. Mom has had problems with mood disorders of unknown type and quantity for most of her adult life, was diagnosed with T2 at forty, and in recent years has been put on all manner of drugs, some of which did not agree with the others. (Louisiana healthcare, how I love ya. Not.) I saw her glucose meter diary lying on the table one day and sort of flipped through it and pretty much every one of the readings was triple-digit, and most did not start with 1.
I'm not there yet but I'm guessing I'm getting close. I keep going on and off of low-carb and it's so frustrating. I'm not used to doing a lot of cooking, and I've never been in the habit of eating a lot of vegetables, and eating a lot of meat is cost-prohibitive even when I get the regular supermarket stuff. Grr. Plus my little girl's dad, who also does well on low carb but can't tolerate artificial sweeteners (and he has a sweet tooth he's unwilling to ignore), keeps bringing things over I'm not supposed to have. In the end it is all my fault I don't stay on it, but that part of me that likes to sabotage everything I do grabs at excuses wherever I can find them. Bleh.
I DO know I feel better on low-carb, though. I DO know I lose weight. I GAINED weight on grain-based eating AND on a vegan diet. (You cannot base a vegan diet on vegetables, not if you want to have any energy at all whatsoever. You can't eat animal fat and you can't drink vegetable oil so that means grains and beans.) I don't think I have ever tried eating low-fat on purpose, but I'm pretty sure I've done it accidentally from time to time–those would have been the times I had severe mood swings and felt snacky more often than not, usually for carby crap. This is healthy? Yeah, right.
My dad is the latest casualty in this war. T2 does not particularly run in his family, but both he and a younger brother have gotten it just the same. I don't know Uncle Abbie's habits, but Dad's an alcoholic. He was diagnosed at the end of 2005. Already he's having pretty serious problems. Almost a year ago he was hospitalized over a weekend for a blood transfusion of about seven pints of blood. (The average adult has 14 to 18.) I Googled for anemia and diabetes and he may be looking at kidney failure not too far into the future if this is not a meds reaction. He's on plenty of those, too. At least one statin, an anti-reflux drug, blood pressure medication…
I need to just grab both my parents and bring them to live with me and impose a low-carb or paleo diet on all of us. Sad part is, my parents are Cajun. All the stuff they ate growing up with the exception of sugar, white rice, and white bread was pretty much good for them. Dad in particular would be stunned to learn that lard is actually good for you. His second marriage was to a woman who kept up on all the latest nutritional news. She wasn't a fanatic about eating low-fat, thank God, or I might not have gotten through the first 22 years of my life at a normal weight, but she still had us on low-fat milk and margarine. Dad went back to full-fat milk, but he still eats Country Crock. Poor guy.
This turned into a post instead of a comment. LOL. Sorry about that. I just wonder if these yo-yos you mention ever talk to real people who have to face these problems instead of to pointy-headed geeks who play with lab rats. I mean, besides when they're in front of a TV camera.
Oh, and, as if I have not babbled enough, I just thought of something else. In my parents' hometown they have a food program for the disabled and the elderly (my mom is considered disabled with all the mood problems she has). They can only distribute what has been donated. Guess what's been donated. One box Mom received while I was visiting was mostly beans, rice, crackers, and Hamburger Helper. For a diabetic.
ARGH it pisses me off just thinking about it. I need to get back down there.
Sad story all around, Dana. One thing I might mention –just for clarity — is that though sensitivity does run on genetic lines (just look at the Pima Indians, for example), nobody has to get diabetes. If one sees a lot of it in their family, it's a sure sign that the members of that family ought to be eating natural fats, meat, vegetables, very little fruit, and nuts — avoiding all the fankenfood, of course.
Good luck with your parents. Not going to be an easy job.
Being fortunate enough to live some distance away from the USA I can have an unamerican attitude, (sorry about that to any CIA spooks worried about dietary terrorists).
I cannot believe that Mayo Clinic “experts” can publish such drivel.
Does it not occur to these two experts that all digestible carbohydrate is converted to glucose?
Does it not occur to these two experts that glucose in the bloodstream is going to provoke an insulin reaction?
They clearly do not understand how insulin and (equally importantly) glucagon interact.
This is on the same level as WOMD that a certain gwbushjnr operated on.
Thanx but no thanx.
Mayo clinic is now on wary watch.
give me a fucking break:
“hat eating up to 6 eggs a week was not associated with heart attack, stroke or mortality. However, having 7 or more eggs a week increased the risk of mortality by about 23 percent. The more surprising finding was that the risk of mortality for doctors who had diabetes and ate 7 or more eggs a week was 100 percent greater.”
an extra egg increase ur mortality that much higher.? shutup and go back to sleep morons/. lol
uughh most of the articles on that site are bs….. gets me so angry