Ornish: Burden Of Proof On Low-Carb Advocates To Show Supporting Studies

(This is a continuation of my interview with Dr. Dean Ornish with Part 1 and Part 2 in a four-part series already published this week. Part 3 today highlights the surprising comments Dr. Ornish has about the low-fat and fat-free food industry, the volume of scientific evidence that is coming out in favor of the low-carb lifestyle, what he thinks of "moderation" and a "balanced" diet, and how he thinks people can transform their lives for the better.)

JIMMY MOORE: What about all these low-fat and fat-free food products that dominate the food market, but are loaded with tons of excess sugar and refined carbs that you loathe so much? Do you support these products?

DEAN ORNISH: People are going out and eating the Snackwell cookies and the fat-free desserts and cakes that may be very low in fat, but very high in sugar--I've never recommended that which is why I've been more explicit in clarifying that.

At the same time, a lot of the Atkins people have become convinced that eating butter and pork rinds with their bacon and sausage is a particularly healthy way to eat and it's not. I mean the fruits and vegetables and whole grains are now being recommended by many of the Atkins advocates as well.

There's so many things to fight about in this country, I think it's really more important that we can try to find the areas that we do agree on so that it doesn't look like people can't make up their minds about anything because that just leaves the American public totally confused. Let's take the good science to try sort out where we don't agree and see what the evidence shows.

JIMMY MOORE: Well, I agree with that, Dr. Ornish, and I think where my concern and a lot of people who support low-carb are concerned is that there is a volume of science coming out in favor of the low-carb nutritional approach. I just did an interview with Dr. Jeff Volek from the University of Connecticut and he states that saturated fat is really becoming a non-issue when you lower the carbohydrate consumption. He's going to release the details of that study in 2007. What do you say to that?

DEAN ORNISH: What is he measuring?

JIMMY MOORE: Like I said, this is a very preliminary study. He's looking at the saturated fat and its effect on heart disease and how when you lower carbohydrates in combination with the saturated fat that it lessens that risk for heart disease.

DEAN ORNISH: Well is he measuring heart disease or is he measuring risk for heart disease? See that's the key distinction that I want to keep coming back to. In our studies, we've actually measured heart disease and we've found a direct correlation between the amount of saturated fat people eat and the amount of change in their coronary arteries. We're not just looking at risk factors, we're looking at the actual disease.

Now if you've found a study where he looked at the actual disease and this is what we found, I'd love to see it.

JIMMY MOORE: I think you're gonna see a lot of that kind of science come out in the next few years...

DEAN ORNISH: You know, if that's what it says then I'll be the first to change my mind, but at this time there's a wide body of evidence from animal studies and randomized controlled trials in humans not only from our work but from others that show if you actually look at underlying disease, this is what happens.

The only study that I'm aware of that actually looked at what happens to heart disease when people go on the Atkins diet was done by Dr. Richard Fleming from Omaha, Nebraska who looked at blood flow of people who went on the Atkins diet and he claimed that the blood flow actually worsened. The study was not a randomized trial and wasn't particularly well done, but it's the only data that we have that shows what happens to actual disease when people go on a low-carb diet.

The burden of proof when you are saying something that is counterintuitive as we did when we started 30 years ago when I started discussing that heart disease was reversible. The burden of proof was on us to show that it really could be and over the past 30 years we've produced some really hard studies to show it is true and we did it.

To me, I'm a scientist and I'm open to any new information that comes from well-designed studies. But the burden of proof to me before making those claims by low-carb advocates is to say, "Yeah, we've done the studies and here's the studies that show that the actual heart disease gets better" and not just looking at HDL levels or triglycerides.

JIMMY MOORE: I sincerely hope that we do see that in the next few years and that certainly we can come to a consensus on that. Let's shift gears a little bit and talk about the idea of "healthy living" as it relates to "moderation" and "balance" and maintaining control of what you eat, how much you exercise. Tell me what you think a "balanced" diet is and share how you would implement "moderation" into your life. How does that give you back control of your health?

DEAN ORNISH: Again, it's about a spectrum of choices, so you have to decide where on the spectrum you need to be. You can categorize foods from the least healthful to the most healthful. If you are trying to reverse heart disease or cancer, then you need to spend most of your time on the healthy end of the spectrum. For some that may sound extreme or not moderate at all. But my approach is not to say what needs to be, but what's true.

The data shows that if you are trying to reverse disease, that's what it takes. If you're simply trying to stay healthy and prevent disease, then you have a much broader spectrum of choices. I love chocolate, for example. So if I eat chocolate I try to get the best quality, highest fat chocolate that I can find. But I'll just have a little bit of it.

Moderation is not only what we eat, but also how we eat. If you eat with awareness and eat while you're paying attention, then it can become a form of meditation. You can eat small amounts of really rich foods and enjoy them without having a negative impact on your health as opposed to what often happens in our society where people eat while watching TV or talking with someone or reading a newspaper and you look down at the plate that's empty and you eat a whole meal and didn't even taste it. You get all of the calories and none of the pleasure.

JIMMY MOORE: Are there any foods that people shouldn't eat at all?

DEAN ORNISH: We need to get away from the idea of good foods and bad foods and more into area that some foods are more healthful than others. The whole language of behavioral change is that we tend to have this moralistic quality that we're eating bad foods, I cheated on my diet, I'm eating bad foods, so I must be a bad person. This only creates eating disorders that become self-fulfilling in a negative way or the fascist quality of manipulating people into changing their diet and lifestyle.

My attitude is to say, "Look, food is just food." Clearly some foods are more healthful for you than others, but that doesn't mean you should never indulge yourself. It just means being aware and if you're trying to reverse disease then you don't want to indulge very often. But if you're not, then you can indulge yourself one day and try to eat healthier the next day. Then it gets away from the idea of being on a diet or off a diet. Instead, this is just a way of eating and living that I can sustain because it's moving me generally in a healthier direction.

JIMMY MOORE: So basically a lifestyle change.

DEAN ORNISH: My work is not so much about lifestyle change, it's about transformation because we're all going to die it's just a question of when. To me the more important question is not in how long we live, but also how well we live. And so what we try to do in our work is try to help people use the experience or illness or suffering as a catalyst or a doorway to transforming their lives that go beyond just unclogging their arteries or bringing their blood pressure and cholesterol down.

While those are desirable goals, the real ailment of our culture isn't just heart disease or obesity, it's depression. More prescriptions are written for antidepressants than any other drugs right now. In our work, we're not just focused on behaviors like what you eat, what you're doing and whether you're smoking, we also focus on the deeper issue that underlies those behaviors.

My study patients tell me these poor behaviors are very adaptive because they help us get through the day. For many people just getting through the day is more important than worrying about living a few months longer or even a few years longer. So our program is much more comprehensive.

It tends to get reduced to the low-fat diet, but frankly diet to me is not nearly as interesting to as these other issues because they really deal with the profoundly human questions of values, meaning and rediscovering inner sources of peace and joy and well-being. It's helping people understand that ancient spiritual values of altruism, compassion, love and respect have a real health basis as well as providing a sense of meaning to people as they go through their daily lives.

It's much more than just a low-fat diet.

Don't forget to go back and read Part 1 and Part 2 of this interview and come back tomorrow to read the fourth and final segment of my interview with Dr. Dean Ornish.

Study: Low-Fat Diets Make You Fatter

For people who are livin' la vida low-carb and need some reassurance that their eating lifestyle choice is the correct one, let me share with you a new study that just released regarding the important role of fat intake when it comes to weight loss.

A thorough research study conducted by the Washington University at St. Louis found that low-fat diets contribute directly to excessive fat storing in your stomach, thighs and bottom. Furthermore, people who attempt to lose weight by severely restricting their fat intake will actually cause their weight to gain because their liver needs more new fat to burn the stored fat in these areas of their body.

Is this not GREAT news?! For so many years we have been fed the lie that eating less fat is what will make us have that slender, healthy body we've always dreamed of. But this new research study proves that theory was not only wrong, but the complete opposite of what they have been telling us!

With this new evidence against the failed low-fat diets that have plagued our society for generations, isn't it time for people to wake up and see effective alternatives such as low-carb as a means for not only losing weight but keeping it off for good? I wouldn't hold your breath waiting for that to happen in the medical community or the media anytime soon, though. They're too set in their ways regardless of what new research comes along to debunk every myth they have ever spread to people about weight loss and health.

Researchers in the study add that consuming more dietary fat can be an effective means for burning fat and losing weight in those areas where low-fat has not worked.

Stop the presses! This research basically states that eating fat is a g-g-good thing. People, this is revolutionary! After years and years of being told we need to cut out nearly every gram of fat completely from our diets, now we're being told that wasn't the best way to lose weight. Shazam! There might be hope for solving the obesity problem in this country yet!

So take a wild guess at which weight loss program promotes the fact that you need to eat more fat as part of a healthy way to lose excessive pounds? Hmmm, I wonder what it could be? Oh yeah, IT'S LOW-CARB!!! It seems that Dr. Atkins and everyone who came after him have been right all these years about the role of fat in a successful healthy eating plan. For those of us doing the low-carb lifestyle, this is nothing new. But I do think the medical "experts" and media who have willingly spread this big fat lie about low-fat diets owe all of us low-carbers an apology. Again, don't hold your breath.

The scientists who conducted this study advocated a "balanced diet" (look at the May 3, 2005 blog entry from Jonny Bowden about this subject) and eating less food.

Nobody ever really knows what scientists and doctors mean when they advise people to eat a "balanced diet," but all I know is I get everything I need to maintain my weight just fine on the low-carb lifestyle. In fact, this study concludes that their research vindicates the low-carb lifestyle as an effective weight loss program.

However, when it comes to weight maintenance over the long-term, they conclude the "balanced diet" is the way to go because (and you're gonna love this twisted reasoning) "it's easier to maintain for long periods of time."

Uh, hello? No it's not! I lost 170 pounds doing a low-fat diet in 1999, but the reason I gained back all that weight is because I COULDN'T KEEP IT UP OVER THE LONG HAUL!!! Where do these scientists come up with such idiotic conclusions to their research?!

The researchers in the study call the Atkins approach "extreme" and believe people who are making this their lifestyle choice "could be suppressing other dietary signals important for staying healthy."

Such as? What in the world are they talking about? Dietary signals? Staying healthy?

I'll tell you what, I've never been as healthy in my entire life as I am right now. I exercise 90-120 minutes per day, I eat incredibly delicious foods, I'm breathing good, my cholesterol is way down from where it was, my blood pressure is superb and life is good.

I think if an expert of health is going to make a claim like this, they need to expand upon their comments and say what they really mean. Unfortunately, it is my contention they are merely using these kind of statements as scare tactics to prevent people from starting a healthy low-carb approach to eating. Sadly, that's the narrow-minded politics of weight loss and health that will take much more than a few studies to turn around.

The findings of this study appear in the May 10, 2005 issue of the medical journal Cell Metabolism.

Let Me Introduce You To Jonny Bowden

I came across a new web site that I think you will find extremely fascinating from a guy named Jonny Bowden. Jonny is a certified nutrition specialist, fitness guru, renowned speaker, and somebody who embodies what livin' la vida low-carb is all about!

As a contributing writer to Total Health, Remedy, Low Carb Living, and Low Carb Luxury, Jonny stays extremely busy. But he's still had time to write several books on health, nutrition and fitness that you may want to check out, including a title called "Living the Low-Carb Life" (I will be writing a review of this book sometime in the next few weeks), among others.



When you're done reading my blog, why don't you skip on over to Jonny's new blog as well? If you think my commentary about the low-carb lifestyle and its enemies is poignant and witty, then you have got to see how Jonny puts these low-fat peddlers in their proper place. He doesn't hold back either!

In fact, here's just a sneak peek at his latest blog entry from earlier today entitled "'Eat a Balanced Diet' and Other Useless Advice":

What is a balanced diet? What elements should be balanced? Everything in moderation? Does that include sugar for sugar addicts, or alcohol for alcoholics? What is junk food? Is it synonomous with fast food? All fast food, or just some of it? You mean "slow food" can’t be junk? And which fruits and vegetables should we eat "more of?" How much more? Are they all created equal? Are fruits and vegetables even equivalent on the nutritional pantheon?

No wonder people are getting sick of "expert" advice. Most of it is useless.

To read the entire blog commentary Jonny provides on the topic of a "balanced diet," click here. You can also click on Jonny Bowden's name in my list of Low-Carb Links on the right side of this blog anytime to find out the latest happenings with this proactive mover and shaker in the low-carb lifestyle debate.

I have had the brief pleasure of conversing with Jonny via e-mail over this past week and have found him to be a genuine man who is concerned for people's health and well-being. His vigor for life and helping others reach their potential when it comes to weight loss and fitness is an inspiration to me and I hope to you as well.

Jonny states his mission in life very clearly on his web site: "I have no interest in 'telling' you what to do. I have, however, a great interest in collaborating with you in the enterprise of helping you get what you want."

I'm sure we will be hearing a lot more in the coming years from Jonny as the evil empire (aka the media, in case you haven't noticed!) continues its daily barrage of attacks against the way we have chosen to eat and get healthy. You go get 'em, Jonny! And I'll be right there with you!

Tens Of Millions On Low-Carb Despite Reports Of Doom

Another day, another story about how the low-carb "fad" is over now and it's time to move on to a more "balanced" diet. If I had a dollar every time I heard that phrase, I would be a very rich man!

This story which appeared in the Ohio-based Dayton Business Journal and was reprinted on MSNBC claims that restaurants are beginning to remove their low-carb entrees from the menu now that demand has supposedly dropped.

That's not my experience. There are many low-carb options still available at such national restaurant chains as Ruby Tuesdays, Denny's, Hardee's, Subway, just to name a few. There are still millions upon millions of people who have lost weight and are keeping it off, in the midst of losing weight or looking for a great way to lose weight by choosing a low-carb lifestyle. While the media wants to declare the end to this way of eating, try telling that to the countless number of people who will still be doing low-carb years after it was supposed to be over.

"We just feel the low-carb craze is over, and people are realizing they need to eat a more balanced diet," said one of the restaurant owners who decided against expanding his low-carb menu.

"Balanced." Don't you just love that word? It's as if people think eating low-carb is not a healthy and balanced alternative to low-fat. I have tried eating "balanced" meals my whole life sucking down disgusting and unsatisfying low-fat foods to lose and maintain weight loss. If you can do that, then more power to you. But it didn't work for me as effectively as livin' la vida low-carb!

This story cites a recent study that shows that nearly 5 percent of Americans are on a low-carb lifestyle as of November 2004. WOWsers! That's a LOT of people doing low-carb!!! But I thought the "craze" and "fad" were finished? The way the media talks about the sudden death of low-carb, you'd think only a handful of people are still doing it. The fact is that literally tens of millions of people have made low-carb their permanent change for better overall health.

It's funny how one restaurant owner in the story blasts the low-carb way of eating and is threatening to remove those items from her menu, but then relented and said she'll keep them on the menu "just in case the low-carb craze hits again and because she said they taste good."

Meanwhile, other restaurants in the area are excited about the alternatives they can offer their low-carb customers.

"We have no intention of taking it off our menu," said a restaurant owner who is doing low-carb. "I continue to be surprised by how many restaurants don't have low-carb offerings."

And that is true. While some restaurants have been aggressively marketing the low-carbers, other well-known chains have completely ignored us. That's okay by me because I will only go to businesses that caters to my dining needs as a low-carb consumer. Don't capitulate and allow the media or restaurant executives dictate what you can eat and where you can dine!

While stories like this one are commonplace these days, it is not a reason for people who are livin' la vida low-carb to get discouraged. In fact, we need to laugh at the notion that this "fad" of doing low-carb is finished because we are living proof that it's not going anywhere anytime soon. You keep on eating this way and eventually they'll have to acknowledge us for sticking with a weight loss plan that worked!

Fitness Camp Misguided Regarding Low-Carb

Okay, this is the kind of story that just gets my blood boiling. The local NBC affiliate in the Dallas/Ft. Worth, TX area published this story about a fitness camp called "Commit To Be Fit" that seeks to "retrain low-carb 'addicts' about exercise and a balanced diet."

I feel like I'm starting to sound like a broken record, but maybe I am. Every time these lies are spread in what is supposed to be a news story, it has to be addressed. Even if it is something that has been corrected a hundred times before!

The story focuses on women who gained back their weight after quitting a low-carb diet.

Well, if you quit doing low-carb, then you did not make the lifestyle change necessary to keep the weight off. If there was no lifestyle change, then it stands to reason you are going to gain back the weight. And that goes for any diet. If you don't stick with it after you lose the weight, then you most certainly will gain it all back and then some! Don't blame low-carb for their failure, though.

While exercise makes a low-carb lifestyle even better, I don't like the insinuation that this camp is needed to rehab people who have failed at doing low-carb. While a "balanced diet" is encouraged to keep from doing "your body a disservice," it does not address the issue of making the necessary changes in eating habits to make the lifestyle sustainable. Low-carb does. And that's the difference!

Although I am not against this fitness camp helping women who want to learn about how to do a good, healthy workout, I take great offense to the premise that people who have tried "low-carb" and gotten off that way of eating need to be retrained.

My experience has been just the opposite. I find myself trying to retrain people that fat is not necessarily as bad for them as is reported in the media. It all goes back to education about what low-carb is. This is a common theme you will hear me repeat often for people livin' la vida low-carb!