Eades Blogs About Calories, Colpo Responds With A Rather Ostentatious Outburst

Dr. Mike Eades and Anthony Colpo still sparring over diet

Have you been paying attention to the very public and sometimes nasty feud that has been going on between Protein Power author and low-carb diet expert Dr. Mike Eades and independent Australian researcher Anthony Colpo over the past year or so? It's gotten pretty ugly at times as Colpo continues to openly castigate the low-carb community for being too partisan and monolithic in their thinking on diet (something I happen to agree with him somewhat about and a thought that was first expressed by Dr. Jonny Bowden in my August 2006 interview with him).

I've been a fan of the work Anthony Colpo has done over the years on behalf of livin' la vida low-carb. He blasted the idiocy of low-fat diets while extolling the virtues of low-carb living in his fabulous 2006 self-published debut book entitled The Great Cholesterol Con. That book showed such great promise for Colpo who had firmly established himself as a leader in the low-carb community with his knack for witty, in-your-face writing combined with nearly irrefutable independent scientific research backing up every word he wrote. That's the Anthony Colpo we knew and loved at the time and you could tell his passion for the low-carb lifestyle was deeply rooted in this blog interview I conducted with him in June 2006.

But shortly after the release of The Great Cholesterol Con, some strange behavior started happening with Anthony where you could already see some deeply harbored resentment towards the low-carb community seeping out into the pages of his writings. Who can forget the day when Colpo removed the content from TheOmnivore.com because of what he described as "freeloaders" who forced him to shut it down for good.

Colpo explained his reasons for that decision this way:

"Judging by the sales figures over at [his print-on-demand publisher] Lulu, only a small fraction of my newsletter subscribers have even bothered to buy the book. Yet I still get people emailing to tell me what a great guy I am, how great the (free) info on my web site is and still wanting (free) answers to their questions."

I suppose Colpo expected every member of the low-carb community to immediately go out and buy his book as soon as it released. It's certainly worth having on your mantle because it is chock full of the best research on cholesterol you will find anywhere. But the sales were going "VERY slowly" according to him and it ticked him off that this was the thanks he received for all of his contributions on behalf of low-carb. He even responded in typical fashion to those people who were upset about having to pay extra for the book to be shipped where they live.

"Here I am, having self-published a book that has literally costs me thousands of dollars out of my own pocket (and caused me more than a few headaches along the way) to bring to market, and in return I get disgruntled wankers writing to complain about how they have to pay an extra ten piddly bucks to have the book delivered to their country."

After this incident, I tried to help Anthony out by blogging about his book and encouraging others who support the low-carb message to buy it to support what he was doing and to show him that we aren't all a bunch of "freeloaders" as he claimed. We got the book to crack the Top 1000 at the time which was a pretty major feat that even my own first book has never seen happen.

By August 2006, Anthony Colpo still hadn't brought back his fabulous web site, but was back in usual form with the high-fat, low-carb message responding to a ridiculous study about how one saturated fat meal will clog up your arteries. He was back to doing what we loved about him in the first place--refuting weak research and bombastic claims with real, hard evidence delivered with a healthy dose of attitude. It was good to have him focusing his attention on the failed low-fat diet message again, but unfortunately it wasn't gonna last very long.

Although he created a low-carb bodybuilders forum, released an e-book with his old posts from TheOmnivore, and I named him to my top 10 low-carb movers & shakers of 2006, Colpo apparently still held a lot of anger and resentment towards the low-carb community in general for not rallying behind his book which he spent years researching and writing. And, in his mind, what did it get him? In a way, you can understand the disappointment he experienced, but the way he responded tended to turn off more people than it turned on. Plus, having a self-published book presents limitations that I suppose Colpo didn't anticipate (anyone who's ever done it can relate).

The first time Dr. Mike Eades from Protein Power enters the picture with Anthony Colpo is in October 2006 when I interviewed him and Dr. Mary Dan at my blog. I asked them if they had read Colpo's book on cholesterol promoting the consumption of saturated fat as part of a healthy low-carb lifestyle to help protect against cardiovascular health and here's what Dr. Mike wrote in response:

"I agree with Colpo (though I haven’t read his book, I have skimmed through it) and Dr. Uffe Ravnskov that saturated fat isn’t an issue. There is no conclusive evidence that saturated fat causes any kind of problems."

At this point, both Colpo and Dr. Eades seem to be on the same page regarding a healthy high-fat, low-carb diet. But what happened next that created such an inexplicable ongoing rift between these two is still a mystery to this day. More about that in a moment.

In December 2006, Colpo released an updated and expanded edition of The Great Cholesterol Con in the hopes that it would provide more incentive for people to purchase the book. As far as I can tell, these changes did not measurably improve the sales so I am sure Colpo's disenchantment with the low-carb world was ever-increasing. Even still, he was gracious enough to respond to an e-mail one of my blog readers had for him about low-carb diets and cholesterol in March 2007 from someone who HAD purchased his book and wanted some additional information. He was still on top of his game about what he was sharing and I sincerely appreciated his assistance with my reader who wanted to learn more about this subject.

Colpo's amazing writings and work on low-carb diets was finally noticed by a health newsletter founded by Dr. Al Sears called Total Health Breakthroughs and he was brought on as a contributing writer as I shared last August. In that same month, I asked Colpo to once again share his feedback with a reader who had a question about muscle fatigue on a low-carb diet. At the time, Colpo was promoting his new e-book called The Fat Loss Bible where I couldn't help but notice he started recommending higher carbohydrate counts than I had ever seen from him advise people to eat before.

Here's what he shared with my reader about what she needed to do post-workout when she leaves her spinning class:

"I would suggest you begin drinking 75-150 grams of carbohydrate in liquid form, along with either 30-40 grams whey protein and/or 6 grams of a powdered amino acid formula that is rich in branched chain amino acids, immediately after your spin classes...Suitable forms of carbohydrate include maltodextrin (a.k.a. glucose polymers) or rice syrup, diluted in around 500 ml water. You can add a little glucose or honey to sweeten the mixture."

Colpo was basically recommending she drink sugar water after her workout which seemed a bit odd to me at the time based on all that I had learned about the negative impact of sugar consumption on blood sugars and insulin levels and their effect on the body. It seemed to go against everything I knew about exercise while livin' la vida low-carb. But I didn't argue that point at the time, although a few of my readers reacted to this seemingly out-of-place recommendation in the comments section of that post.

Then in September 2007, it happened.

Dr. Eades wrote a blog post heard 'round the world called "Is A Calorie Always A Calorie?" that basically detailed how and why low-carb diets create a spontaneous drop in caloric intake compared with those following a low-fat diet. He was defending the "metabolic advantage" that so many of us believe exists as it relates to livin' la vida low-carb.

Less than a week later, Anthony Colpo responded to Dr. Eades' post about calories with his now infamous open letter entitled "The Hopelessly Biased 'Research' of Dr. Michael Eades" where he blasts Dr. Eades for believing in the "metabolic advantage" of low-carb diets. The overall tone of this first open letter from Colpo to Dr. Eades was very snide and snobbish like an arrogant teacher chiding a student for missing such an OBVIOUS question like 2+2=4. Quite frankly, if Dr. Eades had chosen to ignore Colpo's antics at this point, I wouldn't have blamed him. What he was accusing Dr. Eades of wasn't nearly worth all the hostility and contempt that Colpo was pouring on.

There was no immediate response from Dr. Eades to this letter from Colpo, but two months later in November 2007, the time was ripe for a refutation of the charges made against him. Anyone who reads Dr. Mike's blog knows he has a unique way of making his points in written format much in the same way Anthony Colpo does. And so he did when he wrote in the lengthy blog post "Learn why Anthony Colpo is MAD and get a free book" where Dr. Eades goes through the charges made by Colpo point by point citing references and links where appropriate. You'll notice in this mammoth response that Dr. Eades isn't very impressed by who he describes as "a pretty slippery fellow" who is "a legend in his own mind."

The war of words had begun and Colpo and Dr. Eades continued this back-and-forth exchange on their various blogs and forums. In late November 2007, Anthony wrote the following to me regarding this rift between him and the low-carb community:

The animosity between the MAD crowd and myself has become irreparably personal. So be it. Contrary to what the MAD crowd claim, they drew first blood. It was they who took such deep offense to my 2005 fat loss article and began attacking my persona on web forums. I get the feeling that some of those folks felt a sense of betrayal, that they felt angry that I dared turn my spotlight on myths *within* the low-carb camp.

I have no time for such nepotism. And I give as good as I get. If they want to keep this up, I'm more than happy to stay in the ring. So far their animosity has inspired the creation of a popular ebook and a mini-PDF that are receiving enthusiastic praise from those who have not hopelessly succumbed to MAD. So if they want to keep providing me with creative inspiration, good luck to them."

In March 2008, I contacted Anthony Colpo about coming on my podcast show to discuss this at the time six-month dispute with Dr. Eades and those in the low-carb community he disagreed with. I was offering an olive branch out to him as a means of giving him a voice to talk about what had him so upset. But he refused stating that the "MAD (metabolic advantage dogma) crowd" as he calls those of us in the low-carb community has become too partisan about their beliefs. Okay, but here I am giving you a chance to share your side of the story, so why wouldn't you take it?

Here is Colpo's decline of my invitation for an interview:

Hi Jimmy,

Thanks for the kind offer to appear on your low-carb show, but I really don't want to be identified with a particular dietary paradigm anymore. It's been my experience that followers of particular dietary paradigms tend to be very myopic and dogmatic, and I have to honestly say that low-carbers are among the worst - if not *the* worst - offenders. As a result, I will be changing the direction of my web presence in due course, in order to shake off the annoying "low-carb" and "Paleo" labels I've been tagged with (partly my own fault). I'm just not interested in catering to the kind of one-eyed crowd that these labels tend to attract.

All the best,

Anthony

As if it wasn't abundantly clear before, it was at this point that I realized the great defender of low-carb we once knew as a brilliant orator of this way of eating was now gone for good. Anthony Colpo had now taken on a martyr mentality and he would do anything and everything to prove he's right no matter what.

At the April 2008 ASBP/Nutrition & Metabolism conference in Phoenix, AZ, I was able to sit down with Drs. Mike and Mary Dan Eades for an interview with them. One of the questions I had for Dr. Mike was about none other than Anthony Colpo himself. Here's what I asked Dr. Mike Eades about Anthony Colpo in that podcast interview which ran in May 2008:

"I wanted to ask one more question about another gentleman who you have had a very open spout with. Of course, we're talking about Anthony Colpo. What has happened to him? I mean he used to be a champion, I guess, of the low-carb diet and something changed him. I don't even know how to ask the question, I mean, what's going on with him based on your analysis in the midst of this squabble with him. What's happening, is he seeing scientific data that's there that we don't? I don't get where he's coming from."

Dr. Eades very carefully started to answer this question to give his honest opinion about the Colpo situation as he saw it from his perspective. Here's what he said:

"Well, it's a hard question to answer because I'm not inside Anthony Colpo's head, so I don't know how he thinks. So all my analyses are just sorta pop psychology analyses. I mean, when this whole thing blew up because I'd never even heard of him until he wrote something in on my blog and I started checking him out. I read some of the stuff about him.

I got the same impression that he used to be a real proponent of the low-carb diet and actually I have read his old TheOmnivore and I'd read it a while before and I didn't put Anthony Colpo and TheOmnivore together. It was only after this whole thing happened that I thought, 'Oh, that's TheOmnivore guy.' And I actually liked his web site.

So I couldn't figure out what set him off on this thing. And apparently he's just somebody that doesn't deal with people disagreeing with him very well which I saw on his web site, too. I tracked it back and he used to be on these various low-carb bulletin boards and I found a sort of back and forth that I think pushed him over the edge. The sad part of it is I think he was right and the other people were wrong.

He was trying to make the point in this piece that he wrote that low-carb diets and people that followed low-carb diets will spontaneously reduce their intake which is true. The literature is full of studies showing they spontaneously reduce their caloric intake. And when they spontaneously reduce their caloric intake, it creates a deficit and it's that deficit that causes them to lose weight. I think that's absolutely true, I think he was absolutely right about that.

And I think that some people on this web site thought that somehow he was attacking Robert Atkins about that or that their impression of Robert Atkins is that he says you can eat as much low-carb food as you want and you lose weight. And so they got on to Anthony about that saying 'That's not true, how can you disagree with the great Dr. Atkins?' and Anthony was saying, 'Because I'm right. You have to have a caloric deficit.' And you really do!

I think he and I really believe the same thing about that. There's this whole issue of the metabolic advantage which is neither here nor there. But you actually do have to have a caloric deficit, get it spontaneously on a low-carb diet in most cases. But some people don't. Some people can eat enough on a low-carb diet that they don't get the deficit and they don't lose weight. So you've got to have this deficit and I think that just kinda put him over the edge. Because I tracked back and looked at that and I saw him getting more and more and more and more hostile toward low-carbers and then he was just off and running from there.

That's my analysis of the situation which could be totally wrong because as I say I'm not inside his head. Going back trying to reconstruct this whole thing because I couldn't figure out why he was coming on so strong about this. It just seemed so bizarre to me, especially over the metabolic advantage because we're only talking a couple hundred calories. It nothing like saying this is the be-all, end-all and whole huge deal. My God, he's written whole books about me because I believe in the metabolic advantage--it's crazy. And now I think he's just kinda gone the other way and he thinks people that believe in low-carb diets are idiots, that they're non-scientific."

As you can see from the parts of the transcript that I have highlighted in boldface, Dr. Eades says he agrees with Anthony Colpo regarding calories and their impact on weight. If you put aside the differences about the "metabolic advantage" which Dr. Eades says only amounts to "a couple hundred calories" difference, there are really no substantial differences of opinion between these two men. That's right, they actually AGREE! You wouldn't know it with all the hyperbolic language that has been flying around for the past year!

When I told him what Anthony said about low-carbers being too partisan towards our way of eating, Dr. Eades responded this way:

"He's right, you can lose weight on a low-fat diet. I mean people have done it, zillions of people have done it. I don't think it's the best way and I don't think it's the easiest way to do it. If you create the caloric deficit, you're gonna lose the weight. But the problem is this calories-in, calories-out thing. Those are not independent variables.

You can't just reduce calories-in and calories-out stays the same. Pretty soon it goes down, too. And if you go out and exercise more it makes you hungrier, you tend to eat more. People don't realize how little, how few calories that exercise burns up and how little you have to increase your diet to make up for that.

I just think [Colpo] is sorta rigidly locked into this your energy expenditure is whatever it is by the equations and that stays the same no matter what. If you eat less, then you're gonna create this deficit. I think he thinks those are independent variables and not dependent variables and there's a big difference."

Colpo must have missed my interview with Dr. Mike because I never heard a peep out of him regarding what was said during the podcast. But when Dr. Eades emerged from finishing the manuscript to his upcoming book, he decided to pen "Low-carb and calories" that continues the concepts he talked about beginning in that post last September. This controversial post dared to question that calories count on low-carb, although that is something he readily stated as fact during my podcast interview with him. Nevertheless, Anthony Colpo interpreted this post as Dr. Eades providing a mea culpa about calories.

Here's what Colpo sent out to his mailing list on Saturday:

In September of last year, I publicly exposed what I considered to be an extremely misleading blog post by Dr. Michael Eades, author of the best selling book Protein Power.

In retaliation, Eades has gone to great lengths in an attempt to portray me as a "clueless young prat" who has it all wrong when it comes to weight loss.

However, Eades has recently done an about-face. In a recent blog post, he acknowledges that I was right all along!

To get the full story on Eades' bizarre behavior, simply click this link.

Yours in health,

Anthony Colpo

I'm not gonna bother rehashing this latest "book" Anthony Colpo has written about Dr. Mike Eades, but it's just more of the same personal attacks we have seen over this past year. Come on already! It's one thing to have a personal difference of opinion and expressing that opinion with what you believe and why you believe it. But it's yet another to degrade and embarrass yourself with childish name calling and frivolous accusations.

These rather ostentatious outbursts from Colpo are unbecoming of someone attempting to communicate useful information about diet and health to people who are disinterested in all this drama. It's obvious to everyone by now, Anthony, that you are the one who is MAD because the low-carb community didn't all run out in great numbers to buy The Great Cholesterol Con two years ago. I still happen to think it's a fabulous book that everyone should own a copy of, but your crybaby antics we have witnessed ever since have done you no good whatsoever.

My advice to you is to call for a public truce with Dr. Eades. He's right, you're right, we're all right. Calories count, although the jury is still out on whether you actually need to count them while livin' la vida low-carb. But this is a subject you two AGREE with each other on, so enough is enough already!

While you continue on with your verbosity (which I assume my blog post today will warrant yet another book-long response--this time about Jimmy Moore!), the lives of real people seeking to lose weight and improve their health continue. And THEY are the reason why people like you, me and Dr. Eades should be doing what we're doing. Set aside your personal differences with those who you think are out to get you and get back to doing the kind of work that endeared you to so many of us just two years ago. You have a lot to offer with your knowledge, experience, and writing talents. Whether you choose to use these tools wisely for good or whimsically for folly is entirely up to you.

There. After months of sitting on this, I've finally said my peace. Comments anyone?

Eating Fat For Health Back In Vogue Thanks To 'Good Calories, Bad Calories'

Sometimes it takes a singular event to shake people back into reality when the lines between fact and fiction become blurry and unclear. That's precisely what has happened in the last six weeks since the hottest health book of the year Good Calories, Bad Calories by Gary Taubes was released to the public with all the unconventional, counterintuitive information contain therein that was gathered from more than five years worth of research. And the evidence is speaking for itself as people are finally being told the truth about carbohydrate restriction and how eating fat, even saturated fat, is indeed an essential part of a healthy lifestyle.

Best of all, real lives are being changed for the better because of this remarkable new book. Take a look at the following e-mail I received from a reader whose shared how her life was forever changed for the better as a result of reading Taubes' masterpiece. Here's what she wrote to me in her e-mail:

Dear Jimmy,

I have never written on a blog or to a blogger before in my life. But, as I recently found your blog site and have been reading through your posts, I wanted to share my story with you.

I have ALWAYS bought into the low-fat hype as gospel, ever since I was 19 and went through a depressed period in my life that caused me to develop anorexia. Now, granted, most people don't take the low-fat diet to that extreme (I am 5'4" and at my LOWEST was 85 pounds!), but the bottom line is that because I was combining such a low calorie/low fat diet with obsessive exercise, it was relatively easy for me to lose weight and keep it off. Of course I use the term 'easy' in the loosest definition imaginable. I was starving myself to death because of emotional issues - trying to stay healthy was the furthest thing from my mind.

It didn't help that my family is made up of emotional eaters - my mother and two of my sisters are very overweight and my other sister is like me - starving herself to stay in control of her life.

Even later, through my early to mid-twenties as my weight stabilized around 105 to 110 or so, I was able to stay at that weight while eating extremely low fat/high carb food. But, again, I was physically hungry all the time, not to mention pretty NUTS - planning out my meals by the minute, counting calories obsessively, refusing to let even a sliver of anything that might have fat in it past my lips. I thought if I didn't make it to the gym on a particular day, I would surely wind up gaining weight.

As I got older, I was able to work through a lot of my issues regarding food (although I was still a control freak about it) and even gained enough weight to be considered pretty normal looking. I got married and had my son (thank GOD my body recovered from the abuse I put it through in order to be able to carry my baby.) But, still even after having him, I was able to lose the weight pretty quickly with a low fat diet. Still obsessing over whatever I put into my mouth, though. Still angry with myself if I couldn't exercise every day and avoid gaining weight from the tiny sliver of pie I might have allowed myself the night before.

Now, I am 33 and divorced and for the first time in my life, I was suddenly having difficulties with my weight (like, I am up to 127 - the horror!). So alarming for someone like me - who has remained in strict control of my weight and my life for so long. I had recently starting dating (and cooking) for someone I cared about tremendously and I realized that my diet had changed dramatically to include many more carbs than I was used to eating on my own. You know the way to a man's heart is his stomach, right? :-)

My mother sent me an e-mail a few weeks ago about the Gary Taubes book. At first, I dismissed it - the whole idea about it was so crazy - eat a lot of fat to get skinny? Aerobic exercise is meaningless for weigh loss? I would be challenging the very foundations of my identity by even entertaining these notions. But, whether it was my recent inability to lose weight or just the timing - I bought the book to check it out.

I started reading everything I could about Taubes and his opinions and his research. And, it was like someone suddenly pointing out to me that the only reason I thought the sky was blue was because everyone on TV and in magazines and on the radio was telling you so. There was actually a good possibility that it was green. It was literally blowing my mind to think that I (and most of the health gurus) had been totally wrong. That all this low fat stuff was based on shoddy research and corporate agendas. And, as I read through the book IT MADE SENSE.

I started eating the low carb/high fat way (which was REALLY REALLY hard for me....) a few weeks ago. And, I feel better than I have in months. But, although I have not lost a tremendous amount of weight (I feel slimmer due to the water weight, definitely), probably because I really don't have a lot to lose to get to my ideal weight, I no longer feel like a slave to my emotional food demons. Or to the gym. Yeah, now I have to worry about carbs a bit - but the food I am eating is real, solid, satisfying food. I am no longer hungry - physically or emotionally. And, the more I read about Taubes and his research (and related research by others), the more confident I am that I am doing what is good for my health, too.

My point is that if someone who was as crazy and obsessed about the low fat/high carb diet dogma as I was can change their ways, then ANYBODY can do it. Please share my story on your site as you see fit and feel free to respond! As an avid writer and recent low carb convert, I think your forum is phenomenal.

This is the kind of transformational story you WON'T be hearing about in the mainstream press. But this woman is merely one example of how Good Calories, Bad Calories is changing the way people think about what a healthy diet really is. If the past three decades has taught us anything, then it should be that fat-phobia is indeed foolish. Fat is your best friend and it is the excessive amount of refined and even those highly-touted whole grain carbohydrates that you should be leery of. That's the clear-cut message that Gary Taubes delivers throughout his book.

I've been keeping you up-to-date on all the latest news regarding Gary Taubes' Good Calories, Bad Calories book and you can access those previous posts by clicking here. There's still so much happening with the book that it's time to give you yet another update about what's going on. ENJOY!

TAUBES RESPONDS TO 'CLASSIC JUNK SCIENCE' STUDY ON GLYCEMIC INDEX

Examples of the kind of bad research that Gary Taubes wrote about in his book abound and actually are easier to identify now. Take this Junkfood Science blog post about a so-called "study" on the glycemic index and diabetes. One of my readers was very concerned that the conclusions made about consuming carbohydrates ran directly counter to what Taubes wrote in Good Calories, Bad Calories. But leave it to Gary Taubes to explain why studies like this one published in scientific journals are bogus. Here's his analysis of the study:

It's an association study. They measure glycemic index of the foods people ate and follow them for however many years. Such studies tell you nothing about cause. (See my recent NYT Magazine article "Unhealthy Science.")

In this case, for instance, if people who were constitutionally predisposed to gain weight, who will also have an increased tendency to become diabetic, altered their eating habits to maintain their weights -- say, they ate less white bread, drank less beer, etc. -- then this would "confound" the results because the study would identify these people as eating the lower glycemic index foods and yet being more likely to become diabetic.

The problem with all such studies is that if there is any self-selection involved -- and diet is all about self-selection -- and if the self-selection is related to the endpoint being studied -- in this case diabetes -- then the results you get will be impossible to interpret. These people interpret them to fit their preconceptions, and that's classic junk science.

The only way to establish whether sugar or high glycemic index carbs cause diabetes is to do a randomized controlled trial. Take a few thousand people, randomize half of them to a low carb, low sugar diet, tell the other half to continue eating the massive amount of carbs (150-odd pounds of sugar a year, etc.) they're already eating, and follow them for say a half dozen years and see which group has more diabetes. They should fund such a trial to find out the results.

If health and weight management are the true objectives of those researching dietary concepts like carbohydrate consumption and the glycemic index, then why wouldn't they want to fund such randomized, controlled trials as Taubes has suggested? Unless those things don't take precedence and maybe protecting the financial interests of big corporations does...hmmmm?

AUDIO OR ABRIDGED VERSION OF 'GOOD CALORIES, BAD CALORIES' COMING

Many of you have asked about an audio version as well as a more reader-friendly version of Good Calories, Bad Calories to share with your friends and family members who are more likely to check it out in these formats. So far the publisher Knopf, a division of Random House Publishers, has not indicated that either of these is forthcoming anytime soon. But if the book performs well during the upcoming holiday season and shows sustained sales into the new year, then perhaps an audio book will be in order.

Keep in mind that would be one long audio book since Good Calories, Bad Calories is still about 400 pages even after you remove the references. So an abridged version of the audio would be warranted. The greater likelihood is that a paperback and even a mass paperback version of the book will be released about one year from now that will reduce the size of the book to expose its message to a broader audience. When you see this happen, then all of us should start gobbling up copies and distribute them to everyone we know who has weight and health problems.

DR. EADES APPLAUDS TAUBES' RESPONSE TO KOLATA CRITICISM

In my previous Taubes updates, I shared with you a critical review that Taubes' fellow New York Times journalist colleague Gina Kolata had to share about Good Calories, Bad Calories. Let's just say she wasn't impressed. Taubes then responded to this negative criticism which was again tersely answered by Kolata, who has her own self-interests to look after regarding the diet hypothesis she put forth in her book Rethinking Thin.

Respected nutrition expert and Protein Power author Dr. Mike Eades was pleased with Taubes' response to Kolata and added a few more observations of his own as only he can. Dr. Eades was not at all pleased that the New York Times allowed Kolata another opportunity to slam Taubes and didn't pull any punches about it either:

Gary should have been allowed his rebuttal without her refutation of his rebuttal. That would have been equal time for all, with her getting four times the space that Gary did. But that’s not the way the media works when one of their own is attacked. Nor is it the way the media works in general when one of its shibboleths - in this case, the idea that carbs may be unhealthful - is under attack.

Keep spreading the truth, Dr. Eades! We need strong voices like yours to break through loud and clear for these imbeciles to wake up and listen!

CAN I HAVE SOME WINE WITH MY HIGH-FAT, LOW-CARB DIET?

The best part about a book like Good Calories, Bad Calories being released to the general public is it fosters an open discussion of livin' la vida low-carb in the form of some very intriguing questions. Here's an example of that in an e-mail I received from a reader:

I just finished Gary Taubes book, Good Calorie-Bad Calories; I now know more than I ever wanted to know about the history of diets but still don't know if you can have a glass of wine or not or if he thinks one should use lard instead of butter as he said on Larry King. After all that reading I guess I'm back to the South Beach thing....wish I knew his email address! Or maybe you could answer my question.

While I don't pretend to speak for Gary Taubes, I did feel confident about what he would say regarding this inquiry. Here was my response:

THANKS for writing! If you'd like an occasional glass of wine and your blood sugar can remain stable from it so you are not producing high levels of insulin, then I'm sure Gary Taubes would tell you it is okay to drink it. It's all about finding how much your body can tolerate so you reduce insulin production which is at the heart of obesity and disease.

As for fat, butter and lard are both excellent ones for cooking as is coconut oil, macadamia nut oil, avocado oil, and others. Just stay away from margarine and other low-fat substitutes because they don't provide your body any nutritional benefit.

THANK YOU again for your e-mail! And pick up GOOD CALORIES, BAD CALORIES to find out more about what Gary Taubes has been talking about.

Remember that drinking alcohol stops the fat-burning process because it has to be burned up just like carbohydrates do. For more information on why fat is healthy, check out this blog post I compiled about the subject.

MORE SNIPPETS FROM TAUBES' 'LARRY KING LIVE' INTERVIEW NOW ONLINE

Ever since Gary Taubes appeared on CNN's "Larry King Live" show a few weeks back, people who missed it have been clamoring to see the video. I released this segment featuring Dr. Andrew Weil endorsing Good Calories, Bad Calories on YouTube, but CNN had been slow to post any video of the interview.

Now they have about 17 minutes of snippets from the show you can watch by clicking here. Again, this was not the totality of the show, but a pretty good representation of what transpired. Dr. Mehmet Oz shows his arrogance, Joy Behar exhibits her ignorance, and "Biggest Loser" trainer Jillian Michaels exudes her intolerance of ideas that run counter to her own.

Whether you've seen the "Larry King" interview or not, you'll DEFINITELY want to watch this again to see what we're up against challenging the conventional wisdom. The status quo hates it!

TAUBES CALMS CONCERNS OF DISTRAUGHT READER OVER CANCER STUDY

Another example of alarmist research regarding cancer was recently released that had one of my readers who started livin' la vida low-carb last year in a tizzy. It was about the subject of cancer, something I've blogged about how changes in the diet may help with as has Gary Taubes in his book. Here's what my reader wrote:

Hi Jimmy,

Love your blog! A low carber by need myself (I follow Dr. Berstein's program since being diagnosed as a diabetic last March), I have to defend myself often from ignorant (misinformed) people who just don't believe that low-carb is healthy. Using Gary Taubes' masterpiece to back me up I have recently started 'educating' my surroundings a bit more strongly.

Today however, I am faced with the publication of the latest report on Diet and Cancer by the World Cancer Research Fund going against red meat, salt, energy dense foods (fat isn't mentioned explicitly but implied) and pro-exercise.

It would be great if Gary Taubes could comment on this report, as it seems to contradict his findings partially and is IMHO another piece of bad science. As I am not able to reach Gary, and I'm pretty sure you can: Could you ask him if he plans to comment (and post it if he does)?

As a matter of fact, he did have a comment about this study to share:

The report is typically disheartening. First, it concludes that excess fat is the primary risk factor for cancer, but then goes back to the 1900s to say that the cause of excessive fat is nothing more than eating too much or sedentary behavior.

It actually does talk about the role of insulin and insulin-like growth factor in cancer formation, a major step forward, but then comes down only on red and processed meat based on the same kind of meaningless observation studies I discussed in my recent NY Times Magazine article.

In fact, clinical trials have been done to test the hypothesis that eating more fiber or fruits and vegetables and less meat has any ability to prevent colon cancer -- the cancer that these experts say red meat causes -- and the trials have shown no effect.

So these experts ignore the clinical trials and instead focus on the observational studies. By not raising the role of insulin in fat accumulation, the report manages to do an excellent job of avoiding an explanation that would cover all their evidence. Instead, it's just more of the usual.

Insulin is credited with a role in cancer formation, but the carbohydrates that elevate insulin are not considered cancer-causing (although, of course, foods with dietary fiber are considered potentially cancer-preventing). Excess fat is credited with a fundamental role in cancer, but the insulin that causes us to accumulate excess fat is not discussed and so it's all about calories.

It's probably worth noticing that the authors are the usual suspects in this business and the report matches up well with the preconceptions they've had since the 1980s.

You hate to say FOLLOW THE MONEY when it comes to dietary research, but that seems to be where we are at right now in the oftentimes dicey world of bad science.

OTTAWA CITIZEN PRESENTS AN INTERESTING TIMELINE ABOUT FAT

Have you ever wondered why we got to be so fearful of fat in the first place? Well, take a trip down memory lane with a history lesson on dietary fat by reading this brilliant timeline published in the Ottawa Citizen explaining the evolution that has taken place since the 1960's. From the introduction of margarine as a replacement for butter to the trumpeting of omega-3 fats in 2007, this is one column you won't want to miss. Taubes' book is listed as part of the change in mindset regarding fat consumption.

NPR'S 'SCIENCE FRIDAY' PROGRAM INTERVIEWS GARY TAUBES

Gary Taubes was given an opportunity recently to appear on NPR's "Science Friday" with host Ira Flatow to talk about his book Good Calories, Bad Calories. Appearing on the program with Taubes was Dr. Robert Krauss from the Children's Hospital Oakland Research Institute in California. You'll recall I highlighted this study by Dr. Krauss regarding how low-carb is beneficial to cholesterol. In my previous blog interview with Taubes a few months ago, he described Dr. Krauss as "one of the smarter scientists in the metabolism field."

My favorite part of this interview on "Science Friday," which you can hear by clicking on the play button at the program link, is when Taubes rather bluntly stated "you need to eat carbs to get fat." I never really thought about that before, but there's a lot of truth in that statement since carbohydrates are the root cause of obesity and disease for so many people. Listen to the entire interview and smile if you're livin' la vida low-carb!

BRYANT STAMFORD DOES A HATCHET JOB ON 'GOOD CALORIES, BAD CALORIES'

There are certain people who have access to a newspaper column and use that power they have been given to spread their absolute disgust and disdain for anything positive related to the healthy low-carb lifestyle. One such person is Bryant Stamford whose "Body Shop" column appears in the Louisville, KY-based Courier-Journal newspaper. I've previously blogged about his anti-Atkins drivel here and here.

Now he's at it again with this recent column where he attempts to discredit and rip apart Good Calories, Bad Calories bit by bit. In fact, Stamford hates low-carb so much that he doesn't even mention the name of the book in the first of a two-part column. He again repeated his ridiculous claim that this way of eating failed because people are now fatter than they've ever been. Um, then why isn't it the fault of the low-fat diet recommendations that have been hammered down our throats for three decades, Mr. Stamford? I can hardly wait for part two of this column--NOT!

Tell Bryant Stamford what you think about his idiocy regarding livin' la vida low-carb by sending him an e-mail at stamford@hanover.edu.

ANTHONY COLPO TAKES ON GARY TAUBES REGARDING HIS RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Of all the people in the world who would oppose the concepts of Good Calories, Bad Calories, one person you would not name is Australian independent researcher Anthony Colpo. Once an ardent supporter of livin' la vida low-carb and the creator of an outstanding low-carb bodybuilders forum, Colpo's views have noticeably shifted this year as he moves away from the "metabolic advantage" that happens with a controlled-carbohydrate nutritional approach.

In light of that, it's probably not surprising that Colpo would make some strong statements against the new Taubes book at his forum. One of the members there asked Colpo what he thought about Good Calories, Bad Calories and Colpo responded in typical fashion from him:

"If Taubes' message is that the current obesity epidemic is not due to insufficient activity and/or excessive calories, but simply due to high carbohydrate consumption, then his message is complete bullsh*t."

There are at least 10 pages of comments discussing the book, although most of the people, including Colpo, have NOT read the book. READ THE BOOK, people, before making comments based on your own preconceived notions of what you think the book says. You'll save yourself a lot of embarrassment over a lack of knowledge. I'll be blogging more about Colpo's change of position on low-carb in a future post. Stay tuned!

THE FAT IS GOOD MESSAGE IS FINALLY GETTING OUT

I wanted to share an example of how the message presented in Good Calories, Bad Calories is now helping to shape the discussion regarding dietary fat, especially saturated fat. Once thought of as the great evil nemesis that leads to heart disease, Gary Taubes has opened a lot of eyes with what he uncovered in his research about saturated fat and it is making an impact on some popular diet and health media outlets.

Check out this Men's Health column entitled "What if Bad Fat Is Actually Good for You?" by Nina Teicholz. Absolutely, positively INCREDIBLE!!! You wouldn't have seen this kind of column in the 1980's or 1990's with people like Dr. Dean Ornish or Susan Powter out there claiming fat is why you're fat. Those days are becoming ancient history! Taubes' book is merely the beginning of the end for the low-fat lie.

CHAPTER-BY-CHAPTER DISCUSSION OF 'GOOD CALORIES, BAD CALORIES' CONTINUES

Finally, you are invited to get in on the conversation about Good Calories, Bad Calories that we are having over at my "Livin' La Vida Low-Carb Discussion" forum right now. In this chapter-by-chapter discussion, led by my intelligent and enthusiastic moderator Charles Washington, the members there are able to talk about what they learned in each chapter. So far we have covered the Prologue and Chapter 1. This week we'll be moving to Chapter 2 as we continue looking at each chapter one week at a time until we're finished. Won't you join us?

We'll keep updating you on a lot more news about Gary Taubes and his book Good Calories, Bad Calories as it continues to make a difference in the lives of doctors, nutritionists, and patients who are looking for a way to manage weight and health.

Get Dependable Diet And Fitness Facts Weekly From 'Total Health Breakthroughs'

Total Health Breakthroughs promoting alternative health concepts

It can be intimidating trying to scour the Internet looking for solid, reliable information you can trust on just about any subject. But it's that much more difficult when you are talking about being healthy and staying that way.

That's why I'm glad I found a new weekly health and wellness newsletter that is delivered directly to your e-mail box ABSOLUTELY FREE from Total Health Breakthroughs. Unlike much of the diet health advice you receive from people who insist you must eat a high-carb, low-fat, low-calorie, portion-controlled, whole-grain-filled diet, you will immediately notice the more than 20 professional experts have an entirely different approach from the norm. And that's a GOOD thing!

They specialize in providing ALTERNATIVE SOLUTIONS to the same problems that have been afflicting us for generations since they have not been answered by conventional wisdom from the the traditional health and medical community. Total Health Breakthroughs is committed to giving you a straight-forward delivery of the latest health news and information so you can make an informed decision about what's best for you.

The newsletter addresses a variety of topics, including fitness issues, healthy nutrition, men's and women's health concerns, medicinal alternatives, and even some moving stories of motivation and inspiration to kick your health plan into high gear.

One of the things that attracted me to Total Health Breakthroughs is the fact that they aren't afraid to take on the difficult and controversial issues, including many of the diet and health myths that pervade our society. Everything is explained in clear language that is understandable to virtually anyone with the desire to better themselves.

With such an eclectic group of contributors, you are sure to find some unique and thought-provoking health columns from the leading alternative health authorities out there. This weekly newsletter will arm you with a fresh amount of practical information you can begin applying to your own health routine immediately.

In fact, you'll probably recognize a couple of these experts because I've blogged about them many times here at my blog: Dr. Jonny Bowden, author of The 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth and Living The Low Carb Life as well as Anthony Colpo, author of The Fat Loss Bible and The Great Cholesterol Con.

And there are many more just like them to provide unbiased and honest information about YOU and YOUR HEALTH. Go ahead and check 'em out for yourself today. You can sign up for the FREE Total Health Breakthroughs newsletter and begin gleaning wisdom and knowledge every week from trusted and reliable sources in the world of health.

Let me know what you think about this newsletter and spread the word! :)

Is Muscle Fatigue Inevitable When You Exercise While On A Low-Carb Diet?

Anthony Colpo flashes rock hard abs he got while on a low-carb diet

A man I have grown to respect and admire over the past year or so is Australian independent researcher and certified personal fitness trainer Anthony Colpo. He's one of those polarizing figures in the world of diet and health that you either absolutely love or completely eschew! And he wouldn't have it any other way!

When I interviewed him at my blog in June 2006, we got a giant gulp of Colpo mania in one swell foop! The man just has a way of putting things in very plain language to confound his critics while educating the common man with plain, unadulterated truth.

Colpo's much-awaited debut book last year The Great Cholesterol Con helped fill the void left by the sudden absence of his wildly popular TheOmnivore.com. He then began a new low-carb bodybuilding forum site called LowCarbMuscle.com in August 2006 to share some of the secrets he has learned about strength, fitness, and fat-burning.

These principles he has been teaching in one-on-one sessions with people have been in such increasing demand that Colpo decided to share them in his newly-released e-book called The Fat Loss Bible. It's a comprehensive plan to help cut through the typical dietary advice by educating you with scientific truths. I will be reviewing this book soon here at my blog and Anthony has agreed to another interview.

In the meantime, I occasionally receive a fitness-related question from a reader that is well beyond my own personal experience and/or knowledge. Such is the case with the following e-mail concerning muscle fatigue while livin' la vida low-carb.

Here's what he wrote in the e-mail:

Hey Jimmy. I've lost 20 pounds on Atkins and only have 10 more to go! I feel pretty darn good overall. Anyways, in regards to my exercise routine I go to a spin class at my local gym.

For some reason, though, I have muscle fatigue especially in my legs. I started taking a fiber supplement three days ago. When I went on the national spinning web site and looked up nutrition, they said if you spin on low-carb diets you're going to get fatigued.

Personally, I think that's just BS! Maybe you can discuss on your blog the benefits of low-carb eating on an exercise program. Maybe I just need to continue the fiber supplement and see if the fatigue improves.

Please continue your awesome blog. I visit it at least TWICE A DAY. It's so exciting! God bless you.

While I have experienced some muscle fatigue at times while undergoing mostly low-intensity exercising on my low-carb lifestyle, the severity has not been as crippling to me as it has this reader. It really depends on how long and vigorous the individual's physical workout routine is.

Because of that, who better to ask this low-carb fitness-related question to than Mr. Low-Carb Muscle himself, Anthony Colpo? He was more than happy to respond.

Here's what Anthony had to say about low-carb muscle fatigue:

Hi,

Your problem is a common one among low-carbers, and here's why: low-carb diets, as prescribed by most popular authors, are hopeless for meeting the metabolic demands of any meaningful volume of glycogen-depleting exercise.

You are probably asking, "What the heck is glycogen-depleting exercise?"

Low intensity activities, like walking, jogging, or light cycling rely heavily on fats for energy production. After adapting to a very low-carb diet, performance during these activities is not usually adversely affected.

Higher intensity activities (those performed at 75% VO2 max or greater) rely primarily on glucose to meet the energy needs of working muscles. Most of this glucose comes from the working muscles themselves, where it is stored as glycogen. These activities are known as 'glycolytic' and include such forms of exercise as body building, fast running or sprinting, mixed martial arts--and spin cycling.

Sometimes low-carbers can perform a low volume of glycolytic activity and not notice any untoward effects. That's because they're not depleting the glycogen stores of the working muscles to any great degree. If the only glycolytic exercise you do is a relatively brief weight training workout 2-3 times a week, you may feel just fine on a strict low-carb diet.

However, the picture changes dramatically after you introduce activities that make deeper inroads into your glycogen stores. These activities will deplete glycogen from your working muscles faster than your diet can replace it. The inevitable result is fatigue, premature exhaustion, and reduced performance. One of the telltale signs of glycogen depletion is a 'heavy' or fatigued feeling in the working limbs - which is exactly what you are experiencing.

I'll tell you what to do about this in a second, but first I need to warn you about something. Many low-carb devotees of the armchair variety insist that low-carb diets can indeed fuel glycolytic exercise, and that the symptoms you are experiencing are occurring only because you are not yet "fat adapted." According to these folks, you just need "to give it more time".

Let's set a few things straight:

First of all, fat-adaptation almost always takes place within the first 10 days of switching to a low-carb diet. This is the cause of the notorious but short-lived energy 'crash' that many folks experience shortly after switching to very low-carb diets. In a study with competitive cyclists, Phinney et al found that 4 weeks of a ketogenic diet did not affect cycling performance at low intensities. The cyclists complained of the characteristic energy crash during the first 7-10 days, but after that their performance at 60-65% VO2max returned to normal. However, their ability to perform more intense activity (sprinting) deteriorated[1].

This was not due to a lack of "fat adaptation." Respiratory quotient (RQ) testing confirmed that subjects had indeed become fat adapted. Measuring RQ is one of the ways in which researchers check how a person's fat adaptation is progressing. This is typically expressed on a scale ranging from 1.0 (pure carbohydrate oxidation) to ~0.7 (pure fat oxidation). At the completion of the study, Phinney's elite cyclists displayed a mean RQ during testing at 60-65% VO2max of 0.72 - very darned close to 0.7![2] In other words, the cyclists were as fat adapted as they were ever going to be!

Another study by Helge and co-workers found that 7 weeks on a low-carb diet produced much less improvement in cycling performance than a high-carb diet[3].

To anyone intimately familiar with the metabolic demands of glycolytic activity, the findings of the above studies will come as no surprise. No matter how fat-adapted you become, glucose will always remain the primary energy source during sustained, high level exercise. The reason glucose is utilized as the primary energy substrate during high-intensity activities like sprint cycling is because fatty acids simply cannot be broken down fast enough to replenish ATP (the ultimate cellular energy source).

Furthermore, the findings of Phinney and Helge suggest that fat adaptation may actually impair the delivery of glucose to working muscles during glycolytic activities!

Does this mean you have to give up your low-carb diet if you wish to restore your performance during spin classes?

No way!

Despite the highly-polarized and often hostile sentiment that exists between low-carb and high-carb advocates, nutrition isn't an 'either-or' affair. There is absolutely nothing to stop you from utilizing a strategy known as 'carb-cycling'. While carb-cycling gets little mention in popular low-carb diet books, many athletes and bodybuilders have been utilizing it in one form or another for decades.

There are numerous ways to approach carb-cycling; I'll outline what I have found to be the safest, most convenient, and most effective form. It involves taking a large serving of carbohydrates in liquid form immediately after you finish your training. The period that immediately follows a glycogen-depleting workout is a unique one, especially the first 30-60 minutes. During this time, any carbohydrates consumed are preferentially shuttled straight to the muscles where they are used to restore glycogen. Contrary to popular mythology, post-workout carbs do not lurk around in the bloodstream causing damage, they are not converted to fat, and they do not suppress growth hormone release.

The amount of carbohydrate you consume after training depends on the type and duration of the activity. I thoroughly explain the science of post-workout nutrition in my new book The Fat Loss Bible, and I give full details on how to calculate your post-workout carb intake.

However, to get you started, I would suggest you begin drinking 75-150 grams of carbohydrate in liquid form, along with either 30-40 grams whey protein and/or 6 grams of a powdered amino acid formula that is rich in branched chain amino acids, immediately after your spin classes. It is important that you utilize both carbs and protein/aminos after training. Suitable forms of carbohydrate include maltodextrin (a.k.a glucose polymers) or rice syrup, diluted in around 500 ml water. You can add a little glucose or honey to sweeten the mixture. I recommend liquid carbohydrates over solid carbs because the former will be assimilated much quicker; remember, post-workout the goal is to get glucose to the working muscles as quickly as possible.

After finishing your post-workout drink, hit the shower, head on home, and then eat a solid meal when hunger returns or within 2 hours of finishing your class (whichever occurs first).

Try this, and I'm sure you'll be amazed at the difference this will make to your spin class performance!

All the best,

Anthony Colpo

References

1. Phinney SD. Ketogenic diets and physical performance. Nutrition & Metabolism, 2004; 1:

2. Phinney SD, et al. The human metabolic response to chronic ketosis without caloric restriction: preservation of submaximal exercise capability with reduced carbohydrate oxidation. Metabolism, Aug, 1983; 32 (8): 769-776.

3. Helge JW. Adaptation to a fat-rich diet: effects on endurance performance in humans. Sports Medicine, Nov, 2000; 30 (5): 347-57.

Special THANKS again to Anthony Colpo for his typical thorough and well-documented response to my reader's question. If you would like to learn more from him about his recommendations while engaging in intense fitness training, then be sure to check out The Fat Loss Bible for yourself. ENJOY!

Cholesterol Comeback: Prove It's Unhealthy

I've been thinking a lot about this whole issue of where to find "low-carb friendly" advice about diet, health, and fitness concerns over the past few days. My e-mail box is literally bursting (yes, I know it's not a word, but I'm using it anyway to make my point) at the seams with question after question from people worried about this and that health indicator on their low-carb diet. Somehow, some way we need to have a place where people can go for answers and I'm open to suggestions.

Some people might say that's what I do at my blog, but not exactly. Although I am pretty well-versed in most of the basic knowledge and even some secondary data about how and why livin' la vida low-carb works, I am by no means the all-encompassing low-carb diet expert with an answer for every question that comes my way. With that said, though, if I don't know something, then I'm happy to tell you and I will then go to the REAL experts and find you an answer you can use.

Two different people e-mailed me this week regarding the neverending confusion and concern over the subject of cholesterol and the ongoing myth that elevated levels of it in your body will lead to the development of heart disease. I brought in a very special guest today to help answer one of the e-mails directly, but let me handle the first questions myself since they are pretty easy.

Here's what my reader wrote:

Jimmy, can you provide a quick retort for laymen fools that believe the cholesterol/heart disease connection myth? Also, how do you respond to doctors who want to put you on statins?

Interesting questions and I'm happy to assist. As for the quick retort, I like to turn the question back on them (and you can even use this on the so-called health "experts" too!) by asking--"Can you provide any scientific proof that there IS an undeniable connection between elevated cholesterol levels and an increased risk of developing heart disease?"

After they stare back at you dumbfounded for a few seconds, follow up your question with this--"The fact is there isn't any and actually studies have shown that it is more lethal and dangerous to have cholesterol levels that are too LOW which can also lead to bouts of severe depression!" You can even show them YOUR proof: here's the study published in the January 22, 2007 issue of Laboratory Investigation conducted by researchers out of Duke University.

The researcher in that study has been raked over the coals for daring to share the truth because the cholesterol/heart disease myth has never been about health--just billions upon billions of dollars in MONEY FOR THE PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANIES. The cholesterol drug industry in collaboration with aggressive pill pushers visiting doctor's offices across the country have so successfully scared the living daylights out of people regarding their cholesterol levels that they are willing to take a bone-jarring, nightmare-inducing statin drug (which most low-carbers will tell you to avoid at all costs) like Zocor, Lipitor, or Crestor to artificially "lower" their numbers.

Why do people do this to themselves when more and more class action lawsuits are being filed against these harmful medications all under the illusion that they are making your heart healthier?! That's what makes me sick when I see that idiotic Lipitor commercial featuring Dr. Robert Jarvik, the inventor of the Jarvik artificial heart, boasting about how much he just loves statin drugs and that everyone should be taking one. What a crock of you know what!

UGH! Not me buddy because I'm not interested in damaging my body anymore from taking those prescriptions that nearly killed me! I was on both Lipitor and Crestor before I started livin' la vida low-carb and quickly came off of them when I lost my weight and began educating myself about what they were doing to me. I don't know how people put up with the joint and muscle weakness and pain that comes from taking these ridiculous medications!

Regarding your doctor and the statin drugs, what I have said is I'll take my chances with my low-carb diet. They don't want to hear that, but my cholesterol numbers (especially the HDL and triglycerides) have improved so much that I'm not worried about the fact that my LDL is somehow "too high." Says who? I've seen studies indicating high LDL can be beneficial to you--check 'em out for yourself here and here. I hate to say it, but frankly it's getting harder and harder to trust doctors anymore when modern research is proving their treatment of patients has not updated to the 21st century yet.

Here's just a little of what I know to be true from what I have learned about cholesterol and livin' la vida low-carb: eating a low-carb diet will raise HDL "good" cholesterol and significantly lower triglyceride levels and in conjunction with an exercise program will lower total cholesterol levels. In fact, the very latest studies have shown that your HDL and triglycerides levels are a better indicator of heart disease risk than LDL or total cholesterol.

It's all about breaking years upon years of cholesterol indoctrination much in the same way that you have had to do with the low-fat diet. How hard was it to convince yourself that eating fat was HEALTHY for you when you first started livin' la vida low-carb? I'll admit it was the most difficult mental aspect of this new way of eating that I had to get my head wrapped around because we have been told our entire lives that fat clogs your arteries which seems to make sense intellectually. But when you finally discover the truth about that theory and then apply the lessons learned to your own life with great success, then you become a believer!

The same goes for what has been described as "the great cholesterol con." That's why independent Australian researcher Anthony Colpo released a book about it in 2006 called (strangely enough!) The Great Cholesterol Con which is now in its expanded and updated second edition! This sensational book is the magnum opus on the subject of cholesterol and should be in the library of anyone and everyone who purports to care about health (if you doctor hasn't read it yet, then order a copy and give it to him ASAP!).

Colpo is quite the witty chap as we quickly discovered in my interview with him and the man really knows his stuff. If you want to talk with someone who has dotted all his i's and crossed all his t's on the subject of cholesterol, then Colpo is your man! Although he was forced to shut down his phenomenal web site TheOmnivore.com, he still has an online presence at his Low-Carb Muscle forum. So check it out!

But I have him here today to answer the more intricate question from my second reader who reported in an e-mail some rather specific numbers in his lipid profile that had his doctor up in arms. Now my reader is greatly concerned and doesn't know what to do about his "high" cholesterol numbers. Colpo gives a fantastic response, but first let's read the e-mail from my reader:

Hi Jimmy,

Visited the doctor this morning. She wanted to get a look at my cholesterol numbers since I told her I wasn't going to take my Zocor anymore. After reading Anthony Colpo's book that you convinced me to buy, I quit taking my statin about 2 1/2 months ago. Got my new numbers (I'll have to look up the old ones) and they went up quite a bit.

I follow low-carb pretty well and rarely cheat, I could probably eat more veggies but I definitely eat more than pre-low-carb. I've lost 70 pounds in the last year doing so and the doctor was happy with that and she knows I'm low-carbing. She hasn't said anything bad about it and today told me to keep it up if its working.

Of course, though, she's not entirely happy about my new cholesterol numbers and I've mentioned how I have read that the tests are not accurate, cholesterol doesn't cause heart disease, etc. Her only reply is that all the cardiologists would disagree with me.

Anyways, here are my latest numbers:

Cholesterol: 234
Trigs: 89
HDL: 41
HDL risk factor: 5.7 (she didn't mention and I don't know what this is)
VLDL: 18 (she didn't mention and I don't know what this is)
Direct LDL: 163
LDL/HDL ratio: 4.0

Of course, she is concerned about how the numbers have gone up, specifically the LDL. I don't think that they're that bad. I still need to lose more weight and until I hit where I want to be (don't know where that's at yet, I'm 6'4" about 250 now but I have lots of muscle and wide shoulders) I will try not to worry about these numbers too much.

I'm kinda looking for your take on them and whether I should request a special test since my triglycerides are below 100 to figure out the exact makeup of the LDL and maybe show her its not so bad. Now I just need to work on getting off some of these blood pressure medications. Love the blog. Keep up the good work.

I loved this e-mail because it is EXACTLY what I used to fear myself and how so many other readers I am sure must feel about the same scenario. Before I get to Colpo's response (and it's a goodie!), let me address a few things first. Anyone who is following a low-carb nutritional approach will have different test results than those who eat a higher-carb program. Dr. Mary Vernon says the best way you can tell that someone is doing low-carb the right way is you'll notice their triglycerides are below 100. Since my reader's number is at 89, then he is right there.

You can get the VAP test done to see the actual breakdown of the particle size of your LDL makeup, but Dr. Vernon says LDL particle size in low-carbers who have triglycerides below 100 are the safer large, fluffy kind that are not a risk to your heart. But as Dr. Jeff Volek said in his interview with me, low-fat diets actually INCREASE the number of the dangerous small LDL cholesterol that he describes as "not so healthy" which leads to an even GREATER risk of a cardiovascular event. Yikes!

There's so much more to say about this, but let me share with you what Colpo had to say to my reader's concerns:

First of all, thanks for buying my book! I'm glad the information has helped empower you to the point where you are now critically analyzing the information your doctor disseminates--something a lot more folks should be doing.

As you would know from reading my book, cholesterol does not in any way "cause" heart disease. You have obviously challenged your doctor with this contention, and the fact that the only answer she can give in response to your cholesterol skepticism is "all the cardiologists would disagree" speaks volumes. If she is so sure that cholesterol itself causes heart disease, she should be able to articulate why in a coherent, scientific manner.

Whether she realizes it or not, she is implicitly admitting that she cannot defend the cholesterol paradigm, so instead she is using an "appeal to authority." This line of appeal is essentially a non-argument. It does not in any way explain why cholesterol is a causal factor in heart disease--it merely states that many employed in the field of cardiology think it is.

A majority of people once believed the Earth was flat. The fact that these folks shared a widely-held point of view did not in any way change the fact that it was utterly false. Nowadays, we laugh at those who still think the Earth is flat; I believe it won't be too long in the future before we do the same with people who think a perfectly healthy and absolutely essential natural substance like cholesterol causes heart disease.

Furthermore, she is wrong when she alleges that all cardiologists would disagree with you. I personally know of numerous cardiologists who agree that the cholesterol theory is complete hogwash. These include Texas cardiologist and preeminent CoQ10 researcher Peter Langsjoen. Another example is Paul De Groot, a retired cardiologist who, along with Uffe Ravnskov, caused an uproar when he recently appeared on the Dutch TV show "Radar" and tore the cholesterol theory to shreds.

I will reiterate: Cholesterol does NOT cause heart disease. As I am fond of saying, if you are eating, exercising and living right, then your cholesterol levels will be wherever they need to be.

There are numerous factors that contribute to "eating, exercising and living right." As you know, many of these are described in my book. Eating a nutrient-dense diet, getting regular exercise, avoiding high blood sugar levels, avoiding high bodily iron stores, avoiding excess adiposity, keeping good sleep habits, ensuring optimal essential fatty acid intake, and following a judicious supplementation regimen all help to stave off heart disease.

However, if one or more of these factors is not being achieved, then it can also affect cholesterol levels, by raising total cholesterol and/or raising LDL and lowering HDL. This is where the confusion arises--the modern medical establishment is still following the lead of early researchers who confused cause with effect.

Let's take magnesium for example.

Sub-optimal levels of this essential mineral have been implicated in a whole host of diseases, including heart disease. Having read my book, you'll know that magnesium is one of the "non-negotiable" items in the chapter on supplements. The average Westerner has a pathetic intake of this versatile mineral, and desperately needs to take measures to improve his/her magnesium status.

Magnesium is absolutely critical for cellular energy production, and sub-optimal levels will leave you increasingly prone to arterial spasm, blood clotting, and arrhythmia. Low cellular magnesium levels will exacerbate the damaging effects of psychoscial stress, and will also magnify the damage caused to heart tissue during a heart attack. In other words, low magnesium levels are a cardiovascular disaster waiting to happen.

Guess what? Magnesium is also involved in the regulation of cholesterol production. Low magnesium intakes can lead to rises in LDL cholesterol and HDL cholesterol levels.

The current medical approach is to identify this "unfavorable" change in blood lipids, and prescribe a cholesterol-lowering drug. This is a terribly short-sighted "Band-Aid" approach. The intelligent strategy would be to correct the life-threatening magnesium deficiency! Magnesium is a nutrient essential to optimal physiological function; toxic synthetic statin drugs are not!

By the way, while we are on the topic of magnesium, I strongly recommend Seelig and Rosanoff's terrific book, The Magnesium Factor. Ignore the authors' tendency to believe the reigning cholesterol nonsense, and you'll find a wealth of extremely helpful information on magnesium, including how to determine the correct dose.

Magnesium is just one example, but my book outlines many more. The bottom line is that you should make sure you are doing everything in your power to supply your body with the nutrient-rich, fitness-enhancing, low-stress environment it needs to thrive. If you do that, you'll achieve benefits no amount of cholesterol paranoia could ever hope to achieve!

All the best,

Anthony Colpo

Classic Colpo, as always! Man I love the way he just puts it out there and lets you decide what to believe based on the clear and irrefutable evidence. In this wild and crazy debate over the supposed dangers of having "high" levels of cholesterol, it's nice to douse the other side with a big ole heaping helping of a water tower full of cold, drenching truth to extinguish their flickering fire once and for all. I realize it's gonna take repeating this message over and over again for most people to start believing it (which is why this subject will come up again here at my blog), but the paradigm shift has already begun.

My cholesterol comeback? PROVE IT'S UNHEALTHY!

Cholesterol Confusion And Concerns Continue

One thing I have noticed about writing here at my blog is that previous topics I have already addressed have a peculiar way of coming back around again and again as more and more new people suddenly discover this site for the very first time. If that's YOU, then let me officially welcome you to "Livin' La Vida Low-Carb." Feel free to browse through the archives in the lower right-hand side of the page to access the more than 1,600 blog posts I have written.

I certainly don't mind covering an issue over and over again as long as people are still asking the questions that they are most concerned about. Today I received a question from a concerned e-mailer that I am sure is on the minds of many people who are either on a low-carb diet for the very first time or are thinking about it. It's about cholesterol.

With the widespread prevalance of cholesterol-lowering prescription drugs such as Lipitor, Crestor, and Zetia (with that commercial featuring the fat female television cooking show host who is utterly annoying!), people have come to fear their cholesterol numbers like never before. Oh my gosh, am I gonna die if my cholesterol goes up above 200?! As absurd as that may sound to those of us who have educated ourselves about the cholesterol lie that exists, you have to realize that a great majority of people totally freak out when they perceive they have "high" cholesterol.

Here's the frantic e-mail I received from a new low-carber about her cholesterol:

Hello! I am in my second month of a low-carb diet. I am following a modified version of South Beach. To date, I have lost 14 pounds already and was feeling great...until this week. I had a physical and got my blood work done and the results were scary. My cholesterol is sky high:

Total -- 301 (yes 301!)
HDL -- 83
LDL -- 148
Triglycerides -- 62

Now I am afraid to continue on with my low-carb diet. My doctor only states that she "Does not trust the lab results....this profile does not make sense." Boy that really scares me to hear her say she is not trusting the results. Anyways, now I fear I'm gonna have a heart attack or stroke. Do you have any insight about this? It would be greatly appreciated.

Because this e-mailer is expressing a lot of issues that I believe may be on the hearts and minds of many other brand new low-carbers or potential ones, I'd like to share with you my thorough e-mail response including pertinent links to articles I have written about this subject before. Hopefully this will shed some light on the cholesterol issue and clear up the confusion and concern that apparently continues in the minds of many.

This was my response:

THANK YOU so much for writing to me today. CONGRATULATIONS on making livin' la vida low-carb your permanent lifestyle choice and I'm happy to address your cholesterol concerns.

First, let me calm your fears and ask you to try to relax about your blood test results. We have been conditioned by the medical establishment to assume certain things as it relates to health indicators (namely cholesterol) that people get in a tizzy when the numbers fall outside of the so-called "normal" parameters.

This may surprise you, but your lipid profile isn't all that different from mine actually. And it was about this time last year that I had many of the same feelings you did regarding my supposedly "high" cholesterol numbers. Check out just a few of the posts I wrote about it at the time:

"Cholesterol Conundrum: Do I Statin Or Not?"
"Doctor Gives Me Four Months To Get LDL Down"
"Consensus On Cholesterol Is Avoid Statins"
"My Cholesterol Craziness Continues"
"Lowering Cholesterol Through Better Choices"

Since I wrote all of those posts, I have become much more educated about cholesterol numbers for people who are on a low-carb diet. They should be measured quite differently than the traditional tests administered to people eating a high-carb diet. Respected physician and low-carb expert Dr. Mary C. Vernon has said that when your triglycerides are below 100 (as yours are), then your LDL numbers are not going to be accurate.

Dr. Vernon also added that elevated HDL (which you have and that's a VERY GOOD sign you are doing the diet correctly) and total cholesterol can happen "because intermediate density lipoproteins are being measured as LDLs." In other words, some of what is being measured as LDL is actually a false positive that could be LDL or could be HDL. It distorts the entire picture.

All the latest research is pointing to low-carb benefitting cholesterol greatly, that high LDL can be good, low HDL can be bad for heart disease risk, that the triglyceride/HDL ratio is what is most important, and that HDL and triglycerides are better markers for cardiovascular risk than LDL and total cholesterol.

Those are the cold hard facts directly from the latest research!

In fact, coming up this Tuesday afternoon there will be a HUGE study that will shock the world of diet and health set to be published in a major medical journal about how low-carb diets have been found to be just as good or better on all the health indicators than high-carb, low-fat diets, including on cholesterol number. Be sure to look for my post about it then!

Also, if you haven't yet picked up a copy of Anthony Colpo's "The Great Cholesterol Con," then it is well worth the time to read all the research this Australian man has compiled about the truth regarding cholesterol. I also was able to interview him last year just before he released his book.

Are you starting to feel a little better now? I sure hope so. Like I said earlier, we have been so conditioned to worry about issues that really have no negative bearing on our health whatsoever and cholesterol is one of them. That's not to say you can't have cholesterol problems when you are on a low-carb diet, but it looks from your numbers like you are doing AWESOME with your blood test results. Your triglyceride/HDL ratio is an astonishing 0.75 (that's better than my 0.83)!

Be proud of what you are doing and confident that you are living a healthier life than you ever have before. THANKS again for writing and please feel free to contact me anytime! Take care!

Does anyone else have a thought, comment, or question to share about this issue?

3-5-07 UPDATE: One of my "lurking" readers who doesn't even have a Google or Blogger account sent me the following e-mail because she just HAD to share her appreciation for what I wrote in this post.

Hi Jimmy:

I wanted to thank you for posting this entry. I am one of those like you described who just believed everything about high cholesterol. I have to admit that while I have done the Atkins diet before, and it worked BRILLIANTLY for me, I have about 15 more pounds I wish I could lose but was a little concerned about doing it again because of the "high" cholesterol talk.

I know Atkins works and I know that those in the media who try to say it doesn't work or doctors who try to say it doesn't work and that it is bad for you for all kinds of reasons (not just cholesterol) have NO idea what they are talking about. It DOES work and I've actually never been healthier.

I get the feeling that many of these people have never read Dr. Atkins' books and just go around stating that if you eat a pound of bacon every day, you'll do your health bad. I don't quite recall ever reading that you can eat a pound of bacon in those books.

You may wonder how I could have read his books and know firsthand that those who speak poorly about the low-carb diet were wrong. Nevertheless, I fell into the trap of believing all the hype about cholesterol. Why did I do this to myself? That's a very good question.

So, let me say thank you. I appreciate that you put this issue out there and all the information you provide for us to read and educate ourselves. Not only have you done great for yourself, you DO make a difference for other people out there.

How about my feelings regarding the Atkins diet and my concerns over cholesterol now? I think I will start the Atkins diet again and lose that final 15 pounds that just will not come off any other way. I can exercise until I'm ready to pass out and I can try low-fat, low-this, low-that...but the only thing that works for me is low-carb.

Thank God for Dr. Atkins (and may he rest in peace), and thank you, Jimmy, for not being afraid to fight against the untruths while keeping us all informed.

Anyway, I'll go back to lurking now, but this entry just needed to be commented on. You've done a wonderful thing by writing it. Have a great week!

WOW, this is AWESOME! THANK YOU for writing this comment because it started off my week on the right foot. I'm always happy to share my experiences with my readers so that others can benefit from the truths I have learned. Keep up the fight and never give up! Take care! :)

Study: High-Carb Consumption Leads To Lower HDL, Higher Triglyceride Levels

Dr. Anwar T. Merchant studied how to raise HDL and lower triglycerides

This Reuters Health column about a new study from Canadian researchers on the ethnic differences in cholesterol levels among various people groups reveals an important fact about livin' la vida low-carb that most people eating this way are already abundantly aware of.

Lead researcher Dr. Anwar T. Merchant, assistant professor in the Department of Clinical Epidemiology & Biostatistics at the Hamilton, ON-based McMaster University and a member of the Population Health Research Institute, and his fellow researchers observed the diet and lipid profile of 619 Canadians of Native American, South Asian, Chinese and European descent to determine if the differences in cholesterol and other blood fat levels could possibly be tied to diet.

However, unlike previous studies that had exclusively look at the role of dietary fat, Dr. Merchant and his colleagues decided to see if carbohydrate consumption had something to do with the disparity among the different ethnic groups. South Asian participants eat more carbohydrates and had the lowest levels of HDL cholesterol in their blood. Conversely, the Chinese participants ate the least amount of carbohydrates and they exhibited the highest levels of HDL cholesterol (something this study showed could happen to HDL levels when a low-carb diet is implemented).

Dr. Merchant noticed that when fat was removed from the diet and replaced with an equal number of carbohydrate calories, both the LDL and HDL cholesterol levels drop while triglycerides go way up.

The following is a list from most to least amount of carb consumption:

1. South Asians
2. Europeans
3. Native Americans
4. Chinese

Even when adjustments are made for age, ethnicity, body mass index and alcohol intake, the carbohydrate connection to lower HDL levels was undeniable. The high-carb group saw an average level of 1.08 mmol/L while the low-carb group experienced an HDL level of 1.21 mmol/L.

The researchers found that for each additional 100 grams of carbohydrates consumed daily led to a 0.15 mmol/L drop in HDL cholesterol and a corresponding rise in triglycerides. The primary culprits named in the study for higher carb intake include sugary soft drinks, fruit juices and junk food snacks with extra sugar and carbohydrates.

"Reducing the frequency of intake of sugar-containing soft drinks, juices and snacks may be beneficial," the researchers conclude.

This study was published in the January 2007 issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Despite the fact that low-fat diet activist Dr. Dean Ornish described HDL cholesterol in his interview with me last year as "garbage trucks" to get rid of the junk (fat) that you put in your body, the fact is that higher HDL cholesterol and lower triglycerides is a VERY GOOD thing. It's also an excellent indicator if you are actually livin' la vida low-carb or not because your HDL will be over 50 and your triglycerides will be below 100.

We have seen from previous research that lower HDL levels put at a greater risk for heart disease; thus, we can infer that higher levels of HDL actually PROTECTS against heart disease. Plus, respected nutrition researcher Dr. Jeff Volek from the University of Connecticut has asserted that examining the triglyceride/HDL ratio is a much better marker than total cholesterol and LDL levels for protecting against heart disease.

I don't know about you, but I trust the findings of a researcher like Dr. Volek who has poured his entire life into this subject over a self-righteous and inaccurate 30-second television ad that blares across my screen 20,000 times a night (by the way, have you seen the new Zetia commercial with that fat lady who has a healthy cooking show calling statins "a good option?" I wanna throw up every time I hear her say that! But isn't it quite ironic that she has to take a medicine to lower her cholesterol when she is supposedly making "healthy" recipes? If they were low-carb she wouldn't need the drugs! But I digress!).

Anyone who is confused about why LDL, HDL, and triglyceride levels are important or simply wants to educate themselves further on the role of cholesterol in the body needs to get a copy of independent researcher Anthony Colpo's magnificent book "The Great Cholesterol Con." He recently expanded and updated it with brand new content, so you will be armed with the facts rather than relying on the pharmaceutical companies to give you the information you need. They're in it to make a buck, so you probably should take EVERYTHING you hear from a cholesterol-lowering medication ad with a grain of salt.

You can e-mail Dr. Anwar T. Merchant about his fantastic study at merchant@ccc.mcmaster.ca.