Uncle Sam wants YOU to eat carbs and lots of 'em.

[KarenJ]

This video will make you mad (http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/26184891/vp/29314678#29314678)

It certainly made me mad. My 77 year old mother watches this program every day. She's on Lipitor, has wet macular degeneration, and is on oxygen. And this is the crap advice that led her there.
Makes me sick!

[TheCaveman]

It certainly made me mad. My 77 year old mother watches this program every day. She's on Lipitor, has wet macular degeneration, and is on oxygen. And this is the crap advice that led her there.
Makes me sick!

Anyone who consumes commerical media gets what they deserve. It's interesting that someone listening to a rag magazine nutritionist might think that she knows what she's talking about. It's always best to consider the source when consuming information. How serious could someone possibly be about their health if they take Today Show time-wasters seriously?

(PSSST. This segment is an advertisement for a magazine.)

[Nancy LC]

So you're saying Karen's mom got what she deserved? That seems a tad harsh.

[TheCaveman]

So you're saying Karen's mom got what she deserved? That seems a tad harsh.

Hrm, yeah, bad phrasology. I should have said EVERYONE who consumes commerical media gets what they deserve. I'm also saying that Karen is likely overestimating how seriously her mother takes that kind of information. Could anyone really consider the pitchgal a serious source of diet advice?

What happens to people who believe everything they hear?

[Nancy LC]

IMHO skepticism is a very rare trait in humans, unfortunately. And it seems like we go to a lot of pains to try to beat it out of those who are skeptical.

[Hairballz]

I picked up my Women's Fitness magazine the other day and it had some quack dietician saying if you reduce carbs in your diet "your skin will dry up and it will break out." WTF?!?! Ditto on whomever above said do not pay any attention to mass media crap!

[KvonM]

the only thing that makes me mad is that she kept talking after explaining that you need to look at serving sizes and amounts per container. i know i can't expect people like her to stop vilifying saturated fat, but i nearly choked when she said "the government wants you to get 300g of carbohydrates per day". really? they do? wow... *eyeroll*

[cyberus]

the only thing that makes me mad is that she kept talking after explaining that you need to look at serving sizes and amounts per container. i know i can't expect people like her to stop vilifying saturated fat, but i nearly choked when she said "the government wants you to get 300g of carbohydrates per day". really? they do? wow... *eyeroll*

Sad but true ... the new USDA food pyramid has me down for 9oz of grain products a day AND 2 cups of fruit, then the veggies come in, 3.5 cups, followed by 3 cups of milk THEN the meats .. all of 6.5 oz a day.

Needless to say even if I used nothing but cheese for the milk, turnip greens for the vegs, no matter what I used for fruit and grain my blood sugars would be through the ROOF after the first meal and headed for a spot in orbit next to Hubble by dinner time.

[Azlocarb]

Did I here her right? I think she said that the .gov wants us to eat 300grams of carbs a day. Holy sugar batman. No wonder the people in this country are getting huge.

[NrgQuest]

I don't think people who listen to the "experts" get what they deserve. What we deserve is the truth. That is in short supply in our world.

[Calianna]

Look in the section below the nutrition label on just about any commercially prepared food.

That little section that tells what we're supposed to be eating every day says that a person eating 2,000 cals per day is supposed to get 300 g carbs.

That section of the nutrition label has been on most foods for years now.

[glendarc]

That section of the nutrition label has been on most foods for years now.
Thank God that little gem hasn't made it to Canadian labels .... yet! I guess a lot of people just don't think for themselves anymore. If they did, they'd notice that we've had almost a world-wide non-clinical trial of low-fat high carb eating for close to 50 years and it JUST HASN'T WORKED!! If clinicians and researchers can't see it, how can we expect ordinary people to notice?

I'm also in my 70's and I can still remember pre-Ancel Keyes when everyone knew it was starches and sugars that made you fat and there were very few people who were greatly overweight!

[Nelson]

I was taken aback by her wide-eye, head-nodding repetition of "the government wants us to . . ." advice. I realized "the government wants" is a chilling and sinister phrase to me but the invocation of a wise and benevolent force to her. So completely on different wavelengths.

[KarenJ]

I was taken aback by her wide-eye, head-nodding repetition of "the government wants us to . . ." advice. I realized "the government wants" is a chilling and sinister phrase to me but the invocation of a wise and benevolent force to her. So completely on different wavelengths.

That was what got me as well. "Chilling" is a terrific way to describe it. There are so many Moms around here who are beholden to that show. It's horrifying.

Karen is likely overestimating how seriously her mother takes that kind of information

Gee that's a tad presumptuous.
My mother was born in 1930, and was a nurse for 43 years. She has been in the Nurses Study since it started. She is a disciple of Keyes, Ornish, and the USDA. She was in her early 20's when Keyes got his prize. Eating healthy to her means limiting fat, eating lots of grains, and also limiting salt. Total lock-step with the Today show "experts". If it wasn't on the Today show, then it can't possibly be true.

I have this memory of when I was a kid. It was the first time I was ever cognizant of the "news". My mom would have the Today show on in the morning (Muzac was for the evening), and I was at that singular point in life when all of a sudden, one becomes aware of what they're actually saying on the news. The Anchorperson (Jane Pauley?) was reporting how some girl on the Atkins diet had died. There was this big outcry because someone had died on his diet, and how he must be a quack, and how he must be investigated, and his license must be revoked because of this horrible tragedy. That was big news, because we lived in NY and Atkins was a successful NY doctor.
My mom agreed. And at that point, I agreed. Atkins was a monster.

So, now she is on Lipitor (proven to help postmenopausal women???), has macular degeneration (vitamin B12 anyone???), and oxygen (saturated fat???).
Gotta love the Today show. :rolleyes:

[NrgQuest]

Karen,

I don't know how this girl died on Atkins. But, if I had to hazard a guess, I would say she was trying to limit her calories at the same time as trying to go low carb. I doubt that the reporters on that case did any serious investigating anyway.

[KarenJ]

Karen,

I don't know how this girl died on Atkins. But, if I had to hazard a guess, I would say she was trying to limit her calories at the same time as trying to go low carb. I doubt that the reporters on that case did any serious investigating anyway.

Yes, I agree with you. I think she may have died of an extreme potassium deficiency

?

[Rachel1]

I don't think it's ever been proven that anybody has died as a direct result of Atkins, or any other low carb diet. Please step in and correct me if I'm wrong ...

I'm quite certain people have, and will continue to, die while low-carbing. But that doesn't mean that low-carbing is the cause of death. After all, people who brush their teeth every morning die also, but that does not mean that brushing your teeth every morning will kill you.

Rachdl

[M Levac]

The worst is that the speaker appears to believe her own words. If she didn't, I would understand. But if she truly believes her own words, she, and her audience, are lost.

[64dodger]

I don't think people who listen to the "experts" get what they deserve. What we deserve is the truth. That is in short supply in our world.


Because many of these people have agendas and are far removed from the truth.

Science is not what it once was.

[artp3377]

My VA dietician wanted me to eat 300 carbs a day, in fact assured me my kidneys would fail if I kept to my foolish lo carb ways.
Art

[Zei]

She could have died of anything health-wise but they'd still jump on the Atkins diet just because they believed it was bad.

[kallyn]

Karen,

I don't know how this girl died on Atkins. But, if I had to hazard a guess, I would say she was trying to limit her calories at the same time as trying to go low carb. I doubt that the reporters on that case did any serious investigating anyway.

You don't have to guess. She died of a heart arrhythmia which her parents, the media, and the PCRM blamed on Atkins. Just google Rachel Huskey.

[Chymene]

You don't have to guess. She died of a heart arrhythmia which her parents, the media, and the PCRM blamed on Atkins. Just google Rachel Huskey.

She died of cardiorespiratory arrest caused by acute hypokalemia and hypocalcemia. Potassium and calcium are crucial in heart and ATP functions and ketones have a nagging tendency to steal potassium and calcium to enter the kidneys and exit the body.

Which is why you should supplement potassium, magnesium and calcium in your diet.

She can't blame it on Atkins because she didn't follow Atkins. She just cut out carbs, went into ketosis and didn't supply her body with the necessary cations lost in the process.

That being said, it's a sad story for a sad little girl.

[scthgharpy]

I got promoted while on atkins. Am I going to credit the diet with my professional success? I got pregnant too, twice. So am I going to blame/credit (its all how you look at it, I guess) Dr Atkins the quack for my condition?

[lil' annie]

She died of cardiorespiratory arrest caused by acute hypokalemia and hypocalcemia. Potassium and calcium are crucial in heart and ATP functions and ketones have a nagging tendency to steal potassium and calcium to enter the kidneys and exit the body.

Which is why you should supplement potassium, magnesium and calcium in your diet.

She can't blame it on Atkins because she didn't follow Atkins. She just cut out carbs, went into ketosis and didn't supply her body with the necessary cations lost in the process.

That being said, it's a sad story for a sad little girl.


Maybe she was following it in a way that made her dietary intake very similar to that old diet of the 80s - the Liquid Protein Diet - weren't there quite a few deaths from that?

[NrgQuest]

Well I looked up heart arrhythmia, it looks like there are several possible causes for it. A lack of potassium is just one possible cause. I say possible because apparently a rescuation attempt can throw off the ability to test that for cause.
http://www.medicinenet.com/arrhythmia_irregular_heartbeat/article.htm

[KarenJ]

Well, if you have a heart attack and are rushed to the hospital today, the first thing they do is inject magnesium.

But anyway, the fact that the girl died wasn't really my point. It was a very sad story. But my point was that Atkins was blamed for everything. He had to stand before Congress and defend himself. I remember at the time saying that he should be jailed. I was probably eating a donut at the time. :agree:

The media will not let this go. Atkins is still one to be laughed at, declared as dangerous, maligned, quackish, profiteering, and wrong.

[Turtle2003]

The problem with just accepting the junk news about diet, and thinking that those who believe it deserve what they get, is - there are way, way, way more of them than us, and they vote, and they will accept it some day if the government tells them that people just can't afford to keep on eating meat. After all, 'everyone' knows that vegetarianism is healthier, and greener, and kinder to all the poor little animals. So our benevolent government will just have to slap some huge taxes on meat, and cheese, and butter, and all that terrible saturated fat so that Americans can all live on rice and beans and cereal and be nice and healthy.

In recent months I've joined several online forums and 'social networking' groups. The ones I've joined are virtually 100% female, and it's amazing to me how many of these women claim to be vegetarian, or are trying to be. As far as they are concerned, there is no debate about it - we should all be vegetarians. I'm sure there are many who are not, but they never seem to speak up because vegetarianism seems to so many people to be virtuous.

Some people write about trying to go all veggie and then confess in shame when they fail and stop somewhere for a burger. They are just too weak to eat the 'right' way. I wonder if it's a coincidence that so many of these, mostly young, women complain constantly that they are always tired, are frequently ill, and often suffer from migraines.

[girlbug2]

In recent months I've joined several online forums and 'social networking' groups. The ones I've joined are virtually 100% female, and it's amazing to me how many of these women claim to be vegetarian, or are trying to be. As far as they are concerned, there is no debate about it - we should all be vegetarians. I'm sure there are many who are not, but they never seem to speak up because vegetarianism seems to so many people to be virtuous.

.

Prolly they all read the book "Skinny Bitch". Gads how I wish a low carber would write something like that advocating the Low Carb lifestyle.

[Eliza_Jazz]

I picked up my Women's Fitness magazine the other day and it had some quack dietician saying if you reduce carbs in your diet "your skin will dry up and it will break out." WTF?!?! Ditto on whomever above said do not pay any attention to mass media crap!

Yeah,

They should go check with my zero-fat vegetarian coworker whose face is peeling like crazy due to the lack of fat in her diet. There are literally sheets of it coming down, but she wouldn't touch anything with fat in it. Just veggies, fish, and black coffee with lots of sugar.

[Eliza_Jazz]

The problem with just accepting the junk news about diet, and thinking that those who believe it deserve what they get, is - there are way, way, way more of them than us, and they vote, and they will accept it some day if the government tells them that people just can't afford to keep on eating meat.

I am sorry to say that for many years I was one of those people, even though for me the "junk science" came in the shape of serious books on the subject of dieting written by people (mostly physicians) who claimed to know what they were talking about. I wasted many years on that nonsense and it got me depressed and fatter and fatter each year.

No more.