Mainstream medicine’s “sticks and stones” are no match for science

Sticks and stones may break our bones, but we have science behind us.

Low-carb diets have come under some serious fire recently. And I just came across some commentary on the matter that raised a lot of the same questions I’m always asking.

In particular, are these attacks motivated by science or politics?

You can probably guess what my answer is. And while you may think I live my life inside a giant conspiracy theory, as Fox Mulder so eloquently put it, “The truth is out there.”

And today, I want to take a cold, hard look at exactly how it’s hidden from us…

Faulty definitions, flawed conclusions

Let’s start with drawing this line in the sand: Clinical research shows that low-carb diets can reverse diabetes, promote weight loss, and improve most risk factors for heart disease.

Reason would tell you that, naturally, a low-carb diet would also help you live longer. But you don’t expect the powers-that-be to let a silly thing like logic stand in the way of their manufactured conclusions, do you?

If you thought common sense would prevail, allow me to direct your attention to the recent report that made headlines around the world after being published in The Lancet Public Health. And in particular, to its conclusion — which is that a low-carb diet will shorten your life.

How could the authors possibly come to this conclusion, you ask? Well here’s the simple answer: Because they have a vested interest in making sure that stale, mainstream ideas about nutrition never change.

A little background, in case you missed all the fun: This paper looked at data from the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study, which had followed more than 15,000 middle-aged American men and women since 1987.

And, here’s the thing: This study didn’t actually focus on low-carb eating at all. In fact, these sweeping claims about “low-carb diets” were based on outcomes from subjects who got 37 percent of their daily calories from carbohydrates.

This isn’t “low carb” by any stretch of the imagination. And certainly not by my definition.

Most of the research supporting the benefits of a low-carb lifestyle have focused on diets in which carbs account for absolutely no more than 30 percent of calorie intake. And in the case of ketogenic diets, it’s closer to five percent.

But even if you gave these researchers a pass on their loose definition of “low-carb,” you’d still be looking at a rather weak association at best.

More bad science, busted

Has the “fake news” epidemic forced its way into science now? I mean, we’ve always dealt with it to some degree. But this particular deception is of a pretty mind-boggling magnitude.

For one thing, this Lancet paper completely ignores far more reliable data from actual randomized, controlled clinical trials, which are considered the gold standard of research. And we’re not talking about minor oversights here…

There’s evidence from more than 70 clinical trials, featuring more than 7,000 subjects, to support the benefits of low-carb diets. But instead of including this data in their research, they use a less accurate population study as the rationale to recommend a “moderate” carb diet — comprised of a whopping 50 to 60 percent carbohydrates.

And wouldn’t you know? It just so happens that this is the exact recommendation that our own government has been pushing on us for decades! In fact, a number of the authors have been directly involved in developing these dietary guidelines, which is a conflict of interest if I’ve ever heard one…

Of course, they’ll tell us that this particular diet has billions of dollars of large-scale research supporting it. But let me not put too fine a point on this: None of these results show that a low-fat, moderate-carb diet fights anything.

Not heart disease. Not diabetes. Not cancer. Not death. Nothing.

There are many flaws to this study I simply don’t have the time to explain them all. But perhaps most disturbing was the Lancet authors’ decision to throw out part of the evidence. They eliminated any data on carbohydrate consumption from participants who developed heart disease, diabetes, or stroke before the second diet assessment.

For a study examining the relationship between carbohydrate consumption and disease outcomes, isn’t this data precisely what’s most relevant? It would be pretty helpful to know, for example, what happened 15 years later to patients with heart disease who increased their carbs in response to the standard government advice.

So, the most critical evidence in this study was deleted, replaced instead by the authors’ own estimates on “expected” death rates.

When you break it down like this, it’s apparent this paper has no basis in reality.

What we do have, however, is some well-executed propaganda, clearly designed to confuse the American people into toeing the same old nutritional lines.

Patients recovering from diabetes and losing weight on low-carb diets are suddenly waking up to headlines about how the diet that has worked so well may actually kill them. Some may have already abandoned regimens that were clearly making them healthier. It’s quite sad the level of distrust we need to adopt these days simply in order to survive.

Given the proven safety and efficacy of low-carb diets, this skewed, politically motivated, headline-grabbing study is diametrically opposed to the most basic medical tenet: “First, do no harm.”

That’s why I’ve devoted my career to exposing the lies that are making us fat and sick — and helping people turn their health around with real, science-backed nutritional advice.

In fact, that’s one of the reasons why I wrote my latest book, The A-List Diet. Despite the mainstream’s desperate attempt to cling to the status quo, nutritional science is evolving. And The A-List Diet takes the latest breakthroughs in this field and puts them to work for you.

So if you’re interested in discovering what the latest science really has to say about losing weight and staying lean and healthy, I encourage you to click here to pick up a copy (if you haven’t already), and get started with it today.

P.S. Join the conversation about all things health! Follow me on Facebook, where I share news about the latest research, as well as my recommendations for safe, simple, fun, and effective alternatives for a longer, more enriching life. Taking control of your wellness is simply one click away!


CLOSE
CLOSE