Insulted Dietitian Claims 'Carbs Are The Body's Preferred Source Of Fuel'
A common topic of feedback that I receive from from time to time centers around my qualifications to blog about the subject of diet, health, and nutrition. I've answered this charge directly by basically asserting very clearly that I am simply a layman using my First Amendment right to free speech to share the personal lessons I have learned from losing half my weight and restoring my health.
Apparently, that explanation wasn't good enough for Registered Dietitian Adam Goff.
Flexing his educational muscles at me and my blog, this gentleman went on to berate and ridicule the work I am doing claiming my assertions about the dangers of excessive carbs is wrong and deceptive.
Oh brother! Why would I ever expect a duh-duh-dietitian to understand livin' la vida low-carb? It goes against EVERYTHING they've been taught, so they'd have to admit they were wrong if low-carb living was embraced as a viable method for weight loss and improving health.
The evidence is growing stronger and stronger about low-carb diets in the research community, but dietitians like this Goff fella don't want to have any part of it. He's not the first one who has challenged me (see a list of them in this blog post) and he won't be the last.
But I'll just keep doing my part to spread the positive message of the low-carb lifestyle.
Incidentally, here's what Goff wrote to me in his e-mail:
I wish I had never clicked through to your blog and here's why. While I am glad to hear that you made a conscious decision to change your eating habits in an effort to lose weight, I am insulted by the tone you take on your blog.
I am one of those "well meaning health 'experts'," and I did not spend four years and $60,000 dollars on a degree in dietetics just to be put down and contradicted by some previously overweight gentleman who read a book.
Contrary to your OPINIONS, complex carbohydrates are essential to a healthy diet. Completely removing anything from one's diet is a bad move no matter which way you cut it. I am all for eliminating simple carbs from one's diet, but despite what you preach, complex carbs are the body's preferred source of fuel. Period.
Do you honestly think that we in the field of nutrition just make this stuff up? You may have lost the weight you so desired but I would love to see how your body will hold up 30 years from now continuing on the road you're on. The fundamental key to weight loss is not the elimination of any food group but is the overall restriction of calories and an adherence to a proper exercise program.
I can only hope that people seek alternative sources for information than relying solely on your blog.
Adam Goff, R.D.
THANK YOU for sharing your feedback, Mr. Goff. But I do have a few corrections and responses to make to your charges against me.
While I am happy you found my blog, you need not be "insulted" by anything I have written. My job is to provide information presented in an engaging and entertaining way to help others make decisions about their own health. Sadly, we don't have enough of that happening with the same old tired high-carb, low-fat diet message that has been proven to be a BIG FAT LIE!
What we need is more "experts" like yourself to begin acknowledging the changes in the science rather than resting on what you have always thought to be true about diet and health. A little self-research would go a long way for anyone educated in nutrition and medicine.
While I may not have the educational background in nutrition that you do, Mr. Goff, I am a tenacious researcher absorbing information like a sponge and then making it palatable to the common man. That's what I've been doing for over two years and I'll keep on doing for as long as I have this platform.
Incidentally, I've met some truly remarkable people in the world of diet and weight loss too numerous to name them all. But Dr. Jonny Bowden is one who certainly comes to mind right away as one who understands there is more to nutrition and health than a monopolistic approach as is advocated by too many so-called health "experts."
Although you spent tens of thousands of dollars on your dietetics degree, that does not give you more of a right to speak on the subject of diet than me. Similarly, I wouldn't disqualify what you have to say about government policy just because you didn't earn a Master's degree in Public Policy like I did (costing men $50,000 to earn, too, by the way).
You may not have enjoyed being "put down" as you claim I did to you, but you did the same thing with the snide "some previously overweight gentleman who read a book." That's the same thing Dr. David Katz attempted to do to discredit and silence me, too. Didn't work!
Believe what you want about carbs, Mr. Goff, but the body recognizes them as sugar. This is a nutritional truth that I wish more dietitians would communicate clearly to the general public. The idea that the body "needs" carbs is just plain wrong. You don't NEED carbohydrate in your diet at all to survive thanks to gluconeogenesis. That's how our ancestors lived and it's how we can live today.
What am I "completely removing" from my diet, Mr. Goff? This is a popular tactic implored by people like yourself and your willing accomplices in the press to communicate the erroneous message that livin' la vida low-carb gets rid of ALL carbs. While some low-carbers eat that way, most low-carb diets include between 20-100g carbs daily. That's significantly lower than the average American, but still doesn't eliminate them entirely as you claim.
Fat becomes your "fuel" on a low-carb diet--both fat you consume as well as that stored fat I want to burn, baby, burn! For carbohydrate addicts, this way of eating is the answer to their obesity and getting their health in order. Again, I wish people like you would even consider for a moment the good a low-carb diet can do.
I don't think you "just make this stuff up," but you have been taught an agenda-driven bill of goods that frankly does not pass the muster of modern science. Where else are people going to learn the truth about low-carb living if they don't read it on blogs like mine, Regina Wilshire's "Weight Of The Evidence", Dr. Mike Eades and elsewhere? The answer is NOWHERE!
Low-carb has stood the test of time for MILLIONS of years and will continue to do so. I know one thing for sure--I'll be MUCH better off 30 years from now when I'm STILL livin' la vida low-carb than I would have been had I remained at 410 pounds! Wouldn't you agree, Mr. Goff?
I've never claimed my blog to be the ONLY place for people to get their information about diet and health. In fact, oftentimes I will provide links to other places on the Internet for people to do their own research for themselves. Knowledge is power and I am merely the spark that gets the fire started for some.
Mr. Goff, you might want to read my responses to this nutritionist as well as this other health "expert" to learn more about why I believe what I do about livin' la vida low-carb. I wouldn't think of EVER eating any other way! This is the best diet I have ever found because it changed my life forever for the better!
Apparently, that explanation wasn't good enough for Registered Dietitian Adam Goff.
Flexing his educational muscles at me and my blog, this gentleman went on to berate and ridicule the work I am doing claiming my assertions about the dangers of excessive carbs is wrong and deceptive.
Oh brother! Why would I ever expect a duh-duh-dietitian to understand livin' la vida low-carb? It goes against EVERYTHING they've been taught, so they'd have to admit they were wrong if low-carb living was embraced as a viable method for weight loss and improving health.
The evidence is growing stronger and stronger about low-carb diets in the research community, but dietitians like this Goff fella don't want to have any part of it. He's not the first one who has challenged me (see a list of them in this blog post) and he won't be the last.
But I'll just keep doing my part to spread the positive message of the low-carb lifestyle.
Incidentally, here's what Goff wrote to me in his e-mail:
I wish I had never clicked through to your blog and here's why. While I am glad to hear that you made a conscious decision to change your eating habits in an effort to lose weight, I am insulted by the tone you take on your blog.
I am one of those "well meaning health 'experts'," and I did not spend four years and $60,000 dollars on a degree in dietetics just to be put down and contradicted by some previously overweight gentleman who read a book.
Contrary to your OPINIONS, complex carbohydrates are essential to a healthy diet. Completely removing anything from one's diet is a bad move no matter which way you cut it. I am all for eliminating simple carbs from one's diet, but despite what you preach, complex carbs are the body's preferred source of fuel. Period.
Do you honestly think that we in the field of nutrition just make this stuff up? You may have lost the weight you so desired but I would love to see how your body will hold up 30 years from now continuing on the road you're on. The fundamental key to weight loss is not the elimination of any food group but is the overall restriction of calories and an adherence to a proper exercise program.
I can only hope that people seek alternative sources for information than relying solely on your blog.
Adam Goff, R.D.
THANK YOU for sharing your feedback, Mr. Goff. But I do have a few corrections and responses to make to your charges against me.
While I am happy you found my blog, you need not be "insulted" by anything I have written. My job is to provide information presented in an engaging and entertaining way to help others make decisions about their own health. Sadly, we don't have enough of that happening with the same old tired high-carb, low-fat diet message that has been proven to be a BIG FAT LIE!
What we need is more "experts" like yourself to begin acknowledging the changes in the science rather than resting on what you have always thought to be true about diet and health. A little self-research would go a long way for anyone educated in nutrition and medicine.
While I may not have the educational background in nutrition that you do, Mr. Goff, I am a tenacious researcher absorbing information like a sponge and then making it palatable to the common man. That's what I've been doing for over two years and I'll keep on doing for as long as I have this platform.
Incidentally, I've met some truly remarkable people in the world of diet and weight loss too numerous to name them all. But Dr. Jonny Bowden is one who certainly comes to mind right away as one who understands there is more to nutrition and health than a monopolistic approach as is advocated by too many so-called health "experts."
Although you spent tens of thousands of dollars on your dietetics degree, that does not give you more of a right to speak on the subject of diet than me. Similarly, I wouldn't disqualify what you have to say about government policy just because you didn't earn a Master's degree in Public Policy like I did (costing men $50,000 to earn, too, by the way).
You may not have enjoyed being "put down" as you claim I did to you, but you did the same thing with the snide "some previously overweight gentleman who read a book." That's the same thing Dr. David Katz attempted to do to discredit and silence me, too. Didn't work!
Believe what you want about carbs, Mr. Goff, but the body recognizes them as sugar. This is a nutritional truth that I wish more dietitians would communicate clearly to the general public. The idea that the body "needs" carbs is just plain wrong. You don't NEED carbohydrate in your diet at all to survive thanks to gluconeogenesis. That's how our ancestors lived and it's how we can live today.
What am I "completely removing" from my diet, Mr. Goff? This is a popular tactic implored by people like yourself and your willing accomplices in the press to communicate the erroneous message that livin' la vida low-carb gets rid of ALL carbs. While some low-carbers eat that way, most low-carb diets include between 20-100g carbs daily. That's significantly lower than the average American, but still doesn't eliminate them entirely as you claim.
Fat becomes your "fuel" on a low-carb diet--both fat you consume as well as that stored fat I want to burn, baby, burn! For carbohydrate addicts, this way of eating is the answer to their obesity and getting their health in order. Again, I wish people like you would even consider for a moment the good a low-carb diet can do.
I don't think you "just make this stuff up," but you have been taught an agenda-driven bill of goods that frankly does not pass the muster of modern science. Where else are people going to learn the truth about low-carb living if they don't read it on blogs like mine, Regina Wilshire's "Weight Of The Evidence", Dr. Mike Eades and elsewhere? The answer is NOWHERE!
Low-carb has stood the test of time for MILLIONS of years and will continue to do so. I know one thing for sure--I'll be MUCH better off 30 years from now when I'm STILL livin' la vida low-carb than I would have been had I remained at 410 pounds! Wouldn't you agree, Mr. Goff?
I've never claimed my blog to be the ONLY place for people to get their information about diet and health. In fact, oftentimes I will provide links to other places on the Internet for people to do their own research for themselves. Knowledge is power and I am merely the spark that gets the fire started for some.
Mr. Goff, you might want to read my responses to this nutritionist as well as this other health "expert" to learn more about why I believe what I do about livin' la vida low-carb. I wouldn't think of EVER eating any other way! This is the best diet I have ever found because it changed my life forever for the better!
Labels: Adam Goff, carbohydrates, carbs, criticism, diet, dietitian, health, low-carb, nutrition
posted by Jimmy Moore at
7/19/2007 08:07:00 PM
13 Comments:
Great response Jimmy! It could also be emphasized to the critics that our lifestyle of healthy eating is called "Low-Carb"...and NOT "No Carb" as so many mistakenly call it. And a healthy lifestyle it is indeed!
I now eat broccoli, asparagus, brussel sprouts, greens, spinach, lettuce, green beans, squash and cabbage just to mention a few healthy complex carbs. I'll soon return to eating blueberries, blackberries, strawberries and other fruits. I eat lean cuts of meats such as chicken breasts, pork tenderloin, tuna, salmon and sirloin steak. Now tell me that ain't light years healthier than a day full of donuts, pastries, breads, mashed potatoes with gravy, fried chicken, french fries, potato wedges, sweet tea and every dessert I could get my hands on.
I'm not exactly a rocket scientist myself, or even a nutritionist, but I'm smart enough to figure out that what I'm doing now is way healthier than my past lifestyle of living on sugar and flour! And, oh yeah...after only a couple of weeks on LC my cravings for sweets and junk foods is nearly non-existent. I can actually tell I'm full and have no problem knowing when to stop eating...unlike gorging and stuffing myself on simple carbs.
Sorry, Mr. Goff, but you just didn't get here in time to rescue me from my new healthy nutritional lifestyle! And no I'm not a nutritionist...but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night!
Jimmy, thanks again for all you do to promote this healthy way of eating, this way of restoring the years that the simple carbs have had a toll on. I really enjoy your blog...keep up the good work!
"What am I "completely removing" from my diet, Mr. Goff? This is a popular tactic implored by people like yourself and your willing accomplices in the press to communicate the erroneous message that livin' la vida low-carb gets rid of ALL carbs. While some low-carbers eat that way, most low-carb diets include between 20-100g carbs daily. That's significantly lower than the average American, but still doesn't eliminate them entirely as you claim."
"The idea that the body "needs" carbs is just plain wrong. You don't NEED carbohydrate in your diet at all to survive thanks to gluconeogenesis. That's how our ancestors lived and it's how we can live today."
Why the need to appease Adam Goff by putting down those who eat less than 20g carbs, yet at the same time speaking the truth that carbs are non-essential?
A little more respect for the Very-Low Carbers, please my friend.
Ah, another one of these "essential carbs" loonies. No doubt he's also paranoid about cholesterol and saturated fats. In Europe they had another variety of these remarkable creatures that would crow about "slow sugars" and "fast sugars" from simple and complex carbs, and whom also would maintain that sugar is "good for the muscles".
I have a couple of degrees too, mr. Goff, and indeed that's costly, but neither is a guarantee for intellectual superiority or absolute (or even current) knowledge. In fact I know quite a lot of complete imbecils with degrees - and I have to be careful not to become completely retarded too by listening too much to your dietary delusions!
Your ad hominem attack on Jimmy is totally uncalled for, cheap, stupid, shortsighted and merely confirms your complete intellectual bankruptcy.
Do some basic research and READ the scientific literature for a change, instead of crowing down from your bloody ivory tower, and then prove us all wrong based on facts. Take your time.
We'd love to hear back from you :)
THANKS Jeff! But I was not "putting down" your chosen way to do low-carb. We've had this discussion before, but I'll explain it again for you.
While you are a zero carb dieter, most people who are livin' la vida low-carb are not. In fact, there is no major low-carb plan that calls for no carbs to ever be eaten.
That said, I at least acknowledged that people like yourself do eat no carb, but it is not the mainstream of low-carbers.
THANKS again for your comments.
Dr. Goff says "complex carbs are the body's preferred source of fuel. Period." I'm sure this is true. Just because it is preferred does not mean it is the only source. Before I started low carb my preferred source of food was rice, pasta, potatoes, and such. Since doing low carb, I've realized there are much better choices.
Jimmy, when someone sites their degree as evidence of their being right, all you've got to do is reference the degrees of all of those other dieticians and doctors who support the low-carb lifestyle... for example the Doctors Eades or Doctor Atkins himself.
The cost of his education is obviously part of why he feels insulted. If he paid this much and was taught wrong, this would explain why he might be unwilling to admit that he was and continues to be wrong. Regardless, it seems a bit odd to even bring up the cost of his education. That would imply that whoever pays the most for a degree has the best education...
This guy is like the ostrich, which buries its head in the sand and will not listen. People become fanatical in their beliefs and will not change even when facing overwhelming evidence.
Mr. Guff, don't they teach you in school that scientists need to explore and study new ideas?
Wow - $60,000, and he doesn't even know what he's talking about!
Now, to be fair, I suppose I need to ask Mr. Goff exactly what he means by "preferred".
In truth, the body will metabolize first alcohol, then carbohydrate, then fat. In the presence of carbohydrate, due to the metabolic dominance of insulin, the body will metabolize almost no fat (in fact, it will convert to and store as fat, other macronutrients). So, if this is Mr. Goff's intent for "preferred", then he is correct.
However, glucose is NOT the fuel the body uses most efficiently; that honor is reserved for ketone bodies derived from metabolized fat. Study after study prove the truth of this statement. I'll show you mine, Mr. Goff, if you show me yours.
Also, Mr. Goff, as a degreed dietician, you very well know the physiological definition of "essential"; thus, you know that only certain amino acids (derived from protein) and fatty acids (derived from fat) meet the definition of "essential".
As Jimmy indicated in his reference to gluconeogenesis, the body is perfectly capable of producing all the glucose it needs. There is no such thing as an "essential" carbohydrate - by definition.
Plenty of ethnic groups (including every single one of our ancestors) have survived on little - or no - carbohydrate intake. Again, plenty of anthropologic and epidemiological studies have proven this statement to be true. And again, show me your studies, Mr. Goff, and I'll show you mine.
Further, as Jimmy already indicated - and as you darn well ought to know with your $60,000 degree - the body metabolizes simple and complex carbohydrates exactly the same way; the body treats them no differently.
As for your concern for the long-term health of those who follow low-carb eating plans: I am almost a decade into my low-carb diet. I will put my blood chemistry up against yours any day, Mr. Goff.
And I do hope you are reading these comments; though, given the arrogant and condescending tone of your email, I doubt anything we mere laymen have to say would have any impact on you whatsoever.
Give 'em hell, Jimmy, very well said.
Mr. Goff admits the truth of why so many in the medical community are against low-carb - because it contradicts what they were taught in their expensive medical education, and no other reason. But the fact is Mr. Goff, you were taught a pack of non-scientific lies.
Tragically, without any formal medical education, Jimmy Moore is already a better dietician than those with educations, and so am I. We can read medical textbooks too, and there is no license on the Truth. If I or a relative was dying of metabolic syndrome, I would send them to Jimmy Moore before anyone with a license, if I wanted them to live.
Did anyone ever think that this guy actually WASN'T a nutritionist?
No real nutritionist, in the right sense of mind, would dare call any carbs "essential".
Just another low-carb hater (probably some fat guy who couldn't handle living without his trans-fat filled, HFCS packed oreos), who claimed to be a nutritionist sending some hate mail to Jimmy. No nutritionist would have that kind of tone either. I doubt he'd have any clients if he called them "fatties" too. What an idiot.
Jimmy, I LOVED your response.
The only time a hefty amount of carbs can actually do you good is post-weight training. At any other time, non-vegetable carbs will just make you feel tired and lazy, if you're a carb addict.
The more I hear studies about how low-carbs are better than doing a diet of high-carbs or low-calorie, the more I am beginning to distrust those who are against the low-carb diet (especially doctors).
After all, the doctors are trained by the AMA, and believe it or not, the AMA and the FDA only care about profits more than people's health. They know the low-carb findings are real, but if they allow the people to get healthy, then the doctors don't get paid. They prefer you to be on their payroll selling you unnecessary drugs and doctors visits/surgeries.
For example, rather than getting a person with diabetes to go on a low-carb diet, they rather sell you drugs to combat it (this is what the FDA wants) that don't really help them at all. What cures one symptom will create two-to-three more with the drugs.
Hey there,
Don't put all dietitians into the same basket. Some health "experts" as you so respectfully call them actually do know a lot about nutrition and about the reverse pathway of glycolysis that low-carbers get their energy from. It's the narrow-minded tunnel vision professionals that you should be attacking not the hundreds of thousands of health professionals around the world who help save millions of lives each year. It's like calling all fuh-fuh-fat people lazy, it simply isn't true.
THANKS Julia! I definitely agree with you that not all dietitians are of the mindset that low-fat is the only way. But most of the "experts" quoted in these news stories spout off such nonsense that they leave me no other choice but to call them out on it.
That said, I'm happy you are one of the few who actually DO understands and I wish the media would quote people like yourself when they are doing stories like this one. I mean no insult to you or your profession, but they have done themselves a disservice with the representation that has taken place in the media.
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