Low-Carb Page On Wikipedia In Dire Need Of Accurate And Updated Information

Today's society has so many more opportunities for information than at any other period of time in the history of the world. It totally boggles the mind to think how far the information technology has come since I was in high school less than two decades ago. But thanks to the Internet and all the advancements that have taken place online with the advent of MySpace, YouTube, Google, and the blogosphere, just about anything and everything you could ever want to know about something is right here on the World Wide Web.

Unfortunately, not everything you read on the Internet is completely accurate. GASP! I know, this comes as a shock to some of you, but it's true--there are lies and distortions everywhere online and you have to be discerning about what you believe by looking at the sources for what you read. I encourage people to do that with my blog and anything else you read. It's just smart to do that.

But not everyone checks behind the claims made on certain web sites, including the ever-popular online encyclopedia that has come under fire for inaccurate information known as Wikipedia. The first time I saw this web site, I was enthralled. TOO COOL! I wish they had this when I was doing research projects in high school and college!

However, I quickly discovered that not everything on Wikipedia is 100% accurate. Since ANYBODY can change the information on the site, controversial subjects can be addressed from one particular point of view to the exclusion of the other. In fact, I noticed my blog was listed as a source for the Atkins Nutritional Approach page at Wikipedia last year, but it has since been completely eliminated. This is one reason why I was happy to see the creation of an Atkinspedia for people to learn what this way of eating is REALLY all about.

Unfortunately, the "Low-Carbohydrate Diet" page on Wikipedia isn't much better. If you take a look at it, then you will realize it needs a LOT of work. Somebody or some group of people have just slapped together a whole lot of the propaganda against livin' la vida low-carb all in one place with very little evidence sources to back it up. In other words, it's in dire need of accurate and updated information.

With tens of millions of visitors to Wikipedia on a daily basis, it is imperative this information is kept up-to-date and accurate with all the latest findings. There's so much research that has come out just this year and yet this glaring omission from the "Medical Research Related To Low-Carbohydrate Diets" page is hard to miss. Wouldn't it be a shame if someone was doing some research on low-carb at Wikipedia and this is all they were exposed to?

That's where YOU can come in to help fix that error! Wikipedia lets ANYONE and EVERYONE edit the content. All you have to do is register which takes about 10 seconds to do (I did it today and provided my username, password, and verified the password). Join in on the effort to improve the "Low-Carb" page at Wikipedia and let's share with others who are looking for the RIGHT information to get started on their healthy low-carb lifestyle. And keep an eye on these pages so the new information is not removed by those who oppose livin' la vida low-carb.

With thousands of readers here at the "Livin' La Vida Low-Carb" blog, it wouldn't take long for Wikipedia to reflect more accurately what low-carb living is all about. Whaddyasay, are you up to helping with this? Lemme know!

Low-Carb Blog Linked On Wikipedia...Again!

Well, well, well. It looks I've been honored with another Wikipedia mention of a post I have written here at my "Livin' La Vida Low-Carb" blog! Awesome!

Remember last year when I blogged about first being featured on the Atkins Nutritional Approach Wikipedia page with a column I wrote? Well, it's happened again.

This time, it's a more controversial blog post I wrote about the Academy of the Sierras "fat farm" best known for feeding obese kids an extremely low-fat diet. It's criminal what these people are doing and I said as much.

Here's a portion of what I wrote in July 2006:

"But isn't it borderline child abuse what the leaders of this program are doing to these poor kids? With new research PROVING the theories they are using to induce weight loss in these children--namely an extreme low-fat diet--is false, then why would they still insist on using these tactics when there are much better ways to bring about the same results in a healthier manner? They wouldn't need to change their program radically to make it just as effective for weight loss AND be more nutrient-dense."

Apparently someone liked what I had to share and provided a link to my blog post at the Aspen Education Group page on Wikipedia. Incidentally, Aspen is the parent group for the Academy of the Sierras.

On the Wikipedia page next to the Academy of the Sierras listing, here's what is written:

The facilities runs a weight loss program. In order to admitted, the participant must be overweight by at least 15 kilograms. The diet is criticized by some lay observers,[4][5] but such a very-low-fat diet is supported by the World Health Organization [6] and the American Diabetes Association [7].

If you click on the [4] on that page, it takes you to Extreme Low-Fat Farm Abusing Obese Kids (Jimmi Moore). Other than misspelling my first name (who spells "Jimmy" that way?! LOL!), I thought it was cool to be listed on Wikipedia...again!

With over 1600 articles floating around out in the wonderful World Wide Web, I guess the odds were a few of them would eventually end up on Wikipedia. Sweeeeeet!

Atkinspedia: Wikipedia For The Atkins Diet

Combining the format of Wikipedia with Atkins diet information

Are you a fan of the online information web site Wikipedia? Have you tinkered with it any at all to see what you could find on just about any subject you can think of? I know I have and it's really a lot of fun, too! Sure, the information is not always 100% accurate since it is provided by anyone and everyone who thinks they know something about just about any subject. But it does serve as an excellent guide for people desiring to educate themselves better about a particular topic of interest.

Wouldn't the Wikipedia format be great if there was one place where you could go to get all the Atkins/low-carb information you are looking for? Well, actually, that place already exists and it's called Atkinspedia.

Atkinswhat?

Just as the name suggests, Atkinspedia is an invaluable low-carb resource which I have listed under the "Low-Carb Information" section at my "Livin' La Vida Low-Carb Links" blog because it gives you the format of Wikipedia with all you ever wanted to know about the Atkins/low-carb way of life. Since its inception on July 15, 2006, Atkinspedia has always been "an encyclopedia/knowledge base that anyone can edit" as part of "an ongoing project to educate the masses on the Atkins Nutritional Approach and health as a whole."


The popular Atkins All The Way forum sponsors Atkinspedia

I only heard about Atkinspedia last week while listening to Brian Z's fantastic weekly podcast show which serves as an audio support for the members of the Atkins All The Way forum. Atkins All The Way is the sponsor of Atkinspedia and invites anyone and everyone to visit their site to not only use in their own research of livin' la vida low-carb, but to also contribute to the growing database of information.

"Feel free to create an account and begin editing and adding articles at will," the web site states. "You can't break Atkinspedia so don't worry about destroying the site."

However, as enthusiastic as so many of us are about the low-carb lifestyle, they do ask that anything you add to Atkinspedia be written using neutral language so that others who are curious about Atkins/low-carb can simply read, learn, and decide for themselves about whether this healthy lifestyle change is for them or not.

"This will help people make up their own minds when reading Atkinspedia and it won't be read as propaganda for the Atkins Nutritional Approach."

More than anything else, the good people over at Atkins All The Way want you to "have fun" and "be bold" about making changes at Atkinspedia.

"You can't break it, you can only make it stronger. It's the indestructable encyclopedia."

Keep checking back from time to time for new information as it appears on the site.

"Atkinspedia won't be built in a day."

No, it won't, but you are well on your way with it. What an amazing resource for those of us who hunger for knowledge about Atkins/low-carb and seek to pass on our wisdom and experience to others attempting to learn as well. I highly encourage you to be interactive with the Atkinspedia because it will only make it better.

THANK YOU to BrianZ and everyone behind-the-scenes at Atkins All The Way for coming up with this awesome tool for low-carbers and potential low-carbers to become more educated about Atkins/low-carb. I can see this quickly becoming THE ultimate reference tool for anyone and everyone looking for information about low-carb. Visit Atkinspedia TODAY!