It would suit Group A if the needs of Group B were completely obliterated. If Group A, through whatever social or genetic luck causes them to not need some special substance or service, has no requirement outside a certain arbitrary standard, they seem to think NOBODY does. We see it in politics and society -- I don't need financial assistance to go to college (because my parents are rich), so why do you think you should get help (even though your widowed mother scrubs hotel bathrooms to feed you)? I didn't require special rules to make it to that corner office (well, i AM an alpha-male) -- why should you think you deserve anti-discrimination laws so you can get there too (i'm clearly better executive material)?
We see it in nutrition philosophy, too. Joe was a much-wanted first child of healthy upper-class parents, and had a stay-at-home mother who breastfed him for a full year; he never had an infection in his life. He's naturally lean and athletic, and can eat anything. Jack is the fourth child of the "help" in Joe's house -- his parents struggle to feed their family with the cheapest commodities they can get. Jack has one of the many possible autoimmune diseases out there -- he can't possibly compete with Joe academically or in physical activities, can he?
But according to the health-and-weight-loss world, it's his and his parents' fault that he's overweight and unable to exercise ... and "VLC IS DEAD." The ketosis that could clear his brain-fog and straighten out his hormones isn't suggested by the Free Clinic, because some doctor-friend of Joe's dad at the university said "just eat plain food, and not too much. oh, and don't forget the raw potatoes."
LC is THERAPEUTIC. It's curative of many ills, but an awful lot of people don't even know about that ... and why? Because Group A doesn't like it or need it. Because it suits their prejudices to ascribe the "failings" of Group B to their characters, rather than to KNOWN MICROBIOLOGY. Because Group A may not even be aware of how lucky they are, and how "but for the grace of god" they might have turned out a member of Group B.
It's pure selfishness that causes some writers to denigrate practices that are beneficial to others. One woman doesn't LIKE low-carbing even though she knows it's effective, so she lies about it and backs herself up with "troo scienz." A certain man abruptly changed his printed position on aspects of diet because it cemented his professional connections. If these people even conceded that some people benefit from rather tight carb-intake control, couldn't some sufferers have been helped? But no -- they'd rather insist on the failed techniques of starvation and asceticism. They'd rather brand the people who fail thereby as addicts, lazy and gluttonous. One HAS to conclude that their nastiness is mentally rewarding to them -- that the one is happy she's not the only fat person around, having failed at her own philosophy, and that the other is glorying in his self-righteousness as a naturally-lean young male.
If they admitted it, they might be forced to give up their beloved grains and sugars. Ain't gonna happen, because their unhealth is silently lurking below the surface. :\
ReplyDeletei don't think we could possibly doubt that's true in "the woman's" case -- but i'd be very curious about the "male subject's" actual diet and health status.... ;-) ...his current photo certainly doesn't look as hearty as his old one used to!
DeleteI went and checked Richard's blog because I have not been there for a while, and your post prompted me to check what was going on. Indeed , here is the blog post about some podcast from Australia that no one needs to follow a LC diet, and a declaration that he (Richard) hates LC community lately. OK, so what? Probably, it could be annoying to be in the situation when you hate a group of people you was a part of, you drop off, they moved on and they just don't care. I guess Richard overdone giving strong statements by now, and him hating whoever goes unnoticed now.
ReplyDeletei haven't read his blog since he and his commenters became so flagrantly misogynistic, but i did read hear of the title of a recent post there.... what a sad waste -- the guy COULD have done some good in the world, but he's just let himself become a pathetic HATER.
DeleteThe discussion about rape finally gave me cold feet. We often feel connected emotionally with the people we meet on-line, and I lost that connection with Richard, I bet he even didn't notice. He added himself to the number of bloggers who , like Don Matis, turned 180 degrees, lost old audience and gain new one consisted of the people who get kicks from devoting their time to criticizing abandoned ideas. What kind of resonance would be from Richard's post that no one needs LCarbing? More likely a shrug of a shoulder - "or, it is just Richard aiming for a heated discussion in order to feel important again".
Deletethat last seems very likely. stirring up controversy has increased his site-visits before!
DeleteThe one size fits all approach is what's hazardous. I still recommend VLC or ketogenic diets to my ailing patients...most won't try it because they must give up X (their favorite silently killing them food of choice), so my advice falls on deaf ears.
ReplyDeleteBut, I eat this way..more keto now than ever seeing all the disease I do.
I am not sick, not cold, not hypothyroid, not constipated, etc.
i'll bet seeing all the cases that COULD be helped by LC or ketosis drives you crazy! :-) i know a young man whose presence SCREAMS wheat-intolerance, and it's really hard not to say something....
DeleteWhat's really funny is when people say to I wish I could be thin like you but will not do the things it takes to be thin...and strong. I get that a lot from patients and friends. They see me eat or ask me about my diet. I tell them and they immediately say, "I could never do that!" So, I guess they really can't. Sad.
Deletei think it's Dr. Davis who gets his patients to give up wheat for only FOUR DAYS, and some of them are so convinced it's effective, they continue.... through the decades some of us have tried SO MANY dietary interventions, and so few of them actually WORK, it's easy to start disbelieving foods can be medicinal.
DeleteOh dear .....this world is certainly a 'mixed bag' and this embraces many subjects not only health.
ReplyDeleteFor me I am just so pleased I am living the LCHF lifestyle. I talk about it, discuss it some people try it others don't.
We all have an on/off switch but mine is turned on to better health.
All the best Jan
LCHF has been an "on/off switch turned on to better health" for me, too! :-) three cheers for the internet, without which i never would have learned about it!
DeleteI was reading comments on the Tom's blog post about ketosis, and noticed Richard commenting. It reminded me to check FTA how the discussion about the final nail on the ketosis coffin was doing. Eleven comments, half of it remarks about JM still being fat. It does look like Don Matis case.
ReplyDelete:-) every time i read about JM still being fat, i want to corner people on how they define "fat".... Jimmy was chubbier this year than last, but "fat" was far from my impression. for a person who once weighed 400#, he's REMARKABLY normal-looking, now.
DeleteIt looks for me that people are talking on blogs about Jimmy not being thin when there is nothing else to talk about. I do wish more would understand the complexity of the issue of dealing with obesity especially of the magnitude JM had. Unfortunately, masses prefer to see issues in simplified forms especially when they are in an accusation mood of feel an urge to moralize..
Delete