Why Carb Wars, you ask? The title came from my first book, Carb Wars; Sugar is the New Fat. The name stuck, although Nourished, the name of my second book, might be a better fit. I hope you will find this to be a friendly and nurturing place where we don’t slavishly adhere to any dogma but try to keep an open mind and follow the evidence wherever it leads. My own views have evolved over the years and I expect them to continue to do so. There is no disgrace in changing your mind when the evidence changes, but refusing to alter your position when you know it is wrong is indefensible.
It’s been more than 30 years since our government first endorsed a low-fat, low-cholesterol, low-salt, high-carbohydrate diet. The majority of us became fat trying to follow this advice, but now, for the first time, the obese outnumber the merely overweight and chronic diseases have reached epidemic proportions. We obviously have a big problem in America and the rest of the developed world has foolishly followed our lead with the same sad results. We need to discard everything we thought we knew about nutrition and start over.
In a world where the truth can so easily be manipulated, where confirmation bias taints every media report, and scientific studies can be spun to show whatever the sponsor wants them to show, how can we know what to believe or who to trust? We must take charge of our own health. We can no longer accept what we are told, especially when it comes from someone with an agenda, without examining and evaluating the evidence. Many of us are now doing just that and the times they are a-changing! There has been a paradigm shift in public opinion about what constitutes a healthful diet. Sales of butter and red meat are going up while bread, cereal, pasta, and sugary beverages are declining as people recognize the need to return to the traditional foods that have nourished the human race throughout history.
Our dietary choices play a major role in our modern plagues, in other words—IT’S ALL ABOUT THE FOOD—but don’t worry, you will not find even a hint of deprivation or austerity here! Once you discover the secret, you will find that the very best food for weight management, longevity, the treatment and prevention of disease, and over-all health and happiness is also the most sumptuous, satisfying, and indulgent way of eating the world has to offer. You are invited to the feast. Enjoy.
Below are our most recent blog posts. Click to view all blog posts.
Carb Wars; Sugar is the New Fat has been named as one of the finalists in the USA Best Book Awards of 2007 in the Health, Diet, and Weight Loss category. You can see the listing at: http://www.usabooknews.com/health/dietweightloss.html
I came across an article in Harper’s Bazaar Magazine about some of the latest anti-aging beauty treatments that included this description of a very expensive product developed by Dr. Fredric Brandt to prevent wrinkles: “A new category of antiaging treatments is aimed at preventing sugar from damaging skin. When we consume sweets, excess sugar attaches to elastin fibers, causing them to harden. This process, called glycation, makes skin lose elasticity and wrinkle more easily. ‘Products containing anti-inflammatory alistin prevent glycation,’ says Brandt, who recently introduced…
A big thank you to Connie Bennett for hosting a panel discussion titled How to Overcome Sweet Holiday Temptation: 4 Low-Carb Experts Weight In, yesterday on her blogtalk radio show. Thank you also to Jimmy Moore who organized the panel, which included Jimmy, Laura Dolson, Christin Sherburn, and me. Connie plans to post the tips gleaned from the discussion on her site. You can listen to the show by going to: www.blogtalkradio.com/feeds/stopsugarshock.
Gary Taubes gave a presentation at UC Berkeley called “The Quality of Calories; What Makes Us Fat and Why Nobody Seems to Care.” If you have read Gary’s book, Good Calories, Bad Calories, it gives a bit more detail about the subject. If you have not, you’ll see why you should. It is 1 hour and 45 minutes long, but well worth the time: http://webcast.berkeley.edu/event_details.php?webcastid=21216 One quote from the lecture shows very clearly how things went so terribly wrong and why it is so hard…
My interview on the “What’s Cooking” show on CRN, scheduled for today, was postponed again. I’ll post the new time when I know it, but this time I’ll wait until I see my name on the guest list on the CRN Website.
Diet and Fat: A Severe Case of Mistaken Consensus
