Take the bull by the horns - recommend fat My rough and somewhat very liberal translation of this Swedish Newspaper article by Kerstin Monk
"Wonderful to have found a method that makes us healthy '
Sold out. The lectures, which the doctor Annika Dahlqvist held in Sandviken and Gävle week drew a record audience. She is the doctor who dares go against the tide and is fighting against the low fat diet. She wants to save the world.
When she takes the train from Sundsvall with backpack on her back, sturdy shoes and a happy smile. (very smiley photo of Annika with her backpack on way to station) it is difficult to believe that this middle-aged woman may have been responsible for the biggest debate about our food history. But the fact is that it is so and also it is clear that her dietary advice is influencing a lot of people. There are two sides to the story but Annika, who is convinced that she is right, wants to save us, by ensuring we realize that a low fat diet is bad thing
It was pure chance she had this insight.
Her daughter, who read medicine, was included in a study in which different types of diets were tested. She had to try a low carbohydrate diet and discovered to her surprise that she lost three kilograms in the week. The weekend after she happened to be home and mentioned it to her mum. Annika had, over the years, tried various diets and her weight had yo-yoed. Annika also suffered from fibromyalgia, arthritis stomach problems and at times felt really bad.
So Annika began to eat her daughter's diet, with a more fat and less carbohydrate. That settled it: she not only lost weight, she was also healthy.
The rest is history.
She began to give this dietary advice to her diabetic patients, who became slimmer and had better values. But then she was given a formal warning by her employers because she was in violation of the Social Welfare Board dietary recommendations for diabetes patients. Two nutritionists in Värmland reported her, and after two years of reflection Swedish Medical Council decided that Annika's advice was supported by the science and was consistent with the best practice although many professors remained concerned.
That set the ball rolling. Annika had resigned from the Medical Center at Njurunda and quickly became a sought-after lecturer. In addition, she started a blog that became the one of the most visited .
“So how did it come to be like this,” I wonder when we meet in Gävle.
The whole world is suffering an obesity epidemic. Nobody had a good explanation of what has been responsible for this being so. But some have said that we are eating too much and we are moving too little. But it may simply because we eat too little fat? And the wrong fat? This is what Annika Dahlqvist is convinced of.
The explanation for the world's fear of fat is called Ancel Keys. He was an American researcher on the 50's with studies that showed that fatty diets lead to heart attacks. He managed to scare a whole world into eating low fat and he was supported by the whole scientific world. Professors bought into his message and the food industry likewise took the bait.
But now, looking more closely at Ancel Keys studies, we can see instances of fraud. He fiddled the results to suit his own theory.
Annika weighed 80 kilograms at her worst. Most of this weight was around her stomach so she felt ungainly. When the new diet worked so well for her, she realized that it wasn't just especially for her but all mankind. To discourage us from eating natural saturated fat is wrong: that is what we should eat.
Really it is so obvious and logical, "she says, “because that is what humanity has eaten throughout history.”
Why wasn't Ancel Keys denounced earlier?
I think the food industry is responsible for promoting the wrong dietary advice, this has stimulated the development, especially of margarine industry, vegetable cooking oils and the refined carbohydrate industry.
How much attention should be place on the influence of our genes?
- Of course genes play a large role. We are our genes. But we had the same genes for 100 years ago when we weren't overweight. When our the body is naturally set for a fatty, low-carbohydrate diet, the reaction to a low fat diet high carbohydrate diet is worse.
It becomes sensitive to carbohydrates.
That explains why indigenous peoples have become so obese when migrating to western style diets.
I say that to those who are young, healthy, slim and physically active who think they do not need to eat this diet but the risk is that you will become more sensitive to those carbohydrates.
Anyone who has been obese will stick to keep strictly to this diet, for our health's sake.
Who needs to eat this diet?
Those who are or have been obese and sick. Others can tolerate eating a little more carbohydrates. But nobody knows how much they can tolerate. We see athletes who are slim still dying of heart attacks. Nobody is guaranteed not to have these diseases.
Why did you meet such resistance?
- Because I am so provocative. At the same time, because I get a such a lot of attention this raised the issue and as a result more people discover that the issue is. Although It was absolutely fantastic when our medical council determined that my advice was science-based and consistent with best medical practice there is still the subtext - they haven't accepted what I am saying is that it is that natural saturated fat is OK. And that is where the root of the problem lies, they believe that saturated fat is dangerous as is cholesterol.
We imagine that when you eat a lot of fat, it blocks your the blood vessels.
- Yes, it was Ancel Keys idea. The idea had not existed before, and before Keys scientists knew that this wasn't so. It is an extremely simplistic crude idea. In fact it's just nonsense.
An apple a day keeps the doctor away, it is customary to say. Why do you discourage people eating fruit?
- People who are healthy and slim can get away with eating apples. But there is a lot of sugar in all fruit and those who are carbohydrate sensitive need to eat as little fruit as possible.
How has this changed your life?
- The nature of my live now has become very exciting. I try to dedicate some time to the family but the only time I have to relax is when I'm traveling to lectures. Then I read novels. I have not got a laptop yet, so it's nice to relax on the train.
What do you think about health care?
- I now see that a lot of disease panorama due to wrong diet. There is much that is wrong: much is focused on drugs and medical dogma.
How can you be so sure this is the right thing?
- Simply and most importantly of all, because it works. There are thousands who have reported this on my blog. This works when nothing else has worked. It is wonderful to have found a method of making us healthy and slim. Before when we only became fatter and sicker we just put the blame on patients as bad people with bad characters who lied about the food they had consumed or the exercise they hadn't done. People still accuse us of lying, saying that that we eat more than we do. But now with our craving gone we can choose for ourselves whether to eat or not and we can become slim without being hungry. We find we are free from the ailments that we did not even know we had, Things like rough skin that we took for granted, When you see that skin become much softer you know your whole body is working better.
Have you told this to Oprah Winfrey?
- No, celebrity doesn't interest me. I go out with my message to ordinary people. The message is free, simple and totally transparent.
Is this diet throughout the world?
- It is only in Sweden that we have taken the bull by the horns and said it is the fat that is good, that we must replace carbohydrate diet with natural fat. It is not the proteins that we are going to increase without the fat. It is we alone in the world and I think that is why we are so healthy. It was Lars-Erik Litsfeldt, Sten Sture Skaldeman and I, who came to this idea independently of each other but around the same time. Supporting us is Uffe Ravnskov, the researcher in Lund, who wrote the book "Fat and cholesterol is healthy." Ever since the 70s, he has argued that it is a lie that the fat is dangerous. Nobody has listened until we embraced it and denounced the lie.
Internationally are you closest to the Atkins diet?
- Yes, but it is not the same thing. Atkins has low carbohydrate initially and then carbohydrates are reintroduced again. We say, reduce carbohydrates now and keep them down for the rest of your life. No one should eat low fat. Atkins says the same but he did not distinguish between the different fats, butter and margarine, which we do very strictly - butter not margarine. . He thinks that a lot of junk food is OK. He had his Atkinsbar with a lot of artificial sweeteners. We reject all chemicals including sweeteners. I say, we do not naturally have the sweet taste so no sugar or sweeteners. Our ancestors were unable to find anything sweet, throughout the hunter-gatherer period they may never have tasted much sweet food.
Honey then?
- It is sugar but this is a quantity issue. A teaspoon of honey is not dangerous. It is no worse than a teaspoon of flour; it contains as much carbohydrate.
What if we are vegetarians?
If you eat dairy products, then it is quite OK. That way you are getting animal fat and proteins. Some eat eggs and that's great. It contains all the essentials we need. Some eat fish and then it's even less of a problem. Vegans I think will be malnourished.
You have become a missionary!
- Yes, I will save the world. Not alone of course, but with all the others who have realized the same thing. They accuse us of greed because we eat so much meat. But we say: replacing carbohydrates with fat doesn't make you fatter. Don't throw away the fatty edges of your ham or pork chops because the fat is so energy dense, it satiates you and then you actually eat less. Eat cheese with butter but avoid the bread,because that's only carbohydrate and it's the carbohydrate that stimulates your appetite and makes you hungry.
What about the environmental claims that more cows belching is contributing to global warming?
Throughout history, there have been grass-grazing animals. There are no more now than before so it can not be responsible for the greenhouse effect. They were here first and should have the right to exist. Think of all herds in savanna
How will you save the scientists?
-When I get people to understand how to eat to be healthy there will be pressure on them from below. When professors are isolated in their advocacy of low fat diets, they will be forced to resign. We'll start with Sweden and will see if it spreads throughout the world.
What is your motivation?
- To save humanity. Saving the life of just one person by a change of diet makes it all worth while and when it is thousands, it is a thousand times more worthwhile.
Where did you get your courage?
- It must have been from the very beginning. I'm not trying to generate courage that I didn't have. I simply have never been afraid of anything. I come from a religious family. I had crossed swords with my father who thought one should do as the book says. There were a lot of generational clashes. But these trained me to have my own opinions and to argue. I have never been religious or a believer. It's not not in my blood.
What is the meaning of life?
- To live well and reproduce ourselves while doing as much good as we can for our children.
You were in the "Cold Facts" on TV in the autumn. What did you think?
- It was good, It was brave of those journalists who dared to have an open mind and not just believe received opinion. So often journalist listen to me and then go to a professor. Because he has the higher status it's his views that are accepted.
How do you start?
- The simplest method is to increase the natural fat, going from margarine and edible oils to butter. Start by increasing your fat intake before reducing the carbohydrates. The point of this is to prevent hunger. It is so very important that our bodies have available a source of natural fat. For every cell in our body each individual cell membrane is composed largely of natural fat. This is vitally important for the whole of our body's function, including the brain. What we see when we eat in this way is that we become happier and more stable in mood and function much better mentally.
How do you and your family eat?
- The rest of my family are slim and healthy. It is OK for them to eat more carbohydrates than I am. I boil potatoes for my husband and abstain myself but otherwise, we eat the same. He eats more bread than I do.
Do you eat bread?
- Yes, I can eat a little thin crisp bread occasionally.
What are the most dangerous temptations?
- Bread is the most difficult for many, but it is a habit. Some find sugar triggers a need for bread and have a kind of addiction. When I am at home, I don't have a problem It is when I go off to a party But I can manage to eat a PIECE OF CAKE and nothing more, while others may trigger addictions by starting with such a large intake. Then it is easy for them to slip into the old bad habits again, and then they become sick.
How would you like your life look like in ten years?
- I hope that all our lives have become better, that we will all be eating better. I am convinced that if my high fat model is adopted our dependence on the the pharmaceutical industry will drop to a minimum. And the food industry also will have to adapt.
Five more of Annika's thoughts on
...
Stephan Rössner (Swedish nutrition scientist.)
He is very prestigious. Scientists stick to their own kind, but they do not know to what extent is he has financial ties to the food industry.
...
WEIGHT WATCHERS They are, as an organisation, frightened of fat. I do not think we should eat low fat, but we should eat low carbohydrate.
Food Administration
I think it is corrupted by the food industry which controls the food administration.
Sweden's Health service.
They are better than the Food Administration because they came to the conclusion that this diet is OK. They do have a certain scientific integrity
blogging
It is very good that you can write what you want online, that everything is free. It is the ideal communication. Anyone can start a blog. Mine is no longer the most popular. Diet Doctor has overtaken me. But we write about the same things He is a complete genius and has a very professional blog. However there has been a lot of hassle on my blog - saboteurs have been inside. Because he is not as militant as me, he hasn't attracted as much anger.
I was interested in the section about how to start where Annika makes the point that one should start by first increasing your fat intake BEFORE starting to reduce carbs so you get better control of hunger cravings. I missed that when I did it.
Linear Mode
