This morning, out of sheer reading-material-dearth, I clicked into Mark's Daily Apple's Sunday edition he calls "Weekend Link Love." Right here in front of me, "Research of the Week" lists five items and four of them include "linked to," "associated with," "probably," and "might" ... and the fifth one is about dogs.
The man who taught us what weasel-words in the press to watch out for, because correlation does not prove causation, uses them himself. But that's okay, right, because he's on our side and would never lead us down the garden path?
The Diet Doctor has a headline that reads "The 2 Big Lies of Type 2 Diabetes." Open his page and find that he's promoting the impressive message of Dr. Jason Fung; he says there are two places to see this video, one where you buy a package for $70 or you can sign up for his service for $9/month (first month free). He doesn't mention the same material presented elsewhere, free on youtube.com.
Some of my favorite writers, like J Stanton and Anna, don't blog anymore at all (and some have completely eliminated their sites). Some print nothing but testimonials, or recipes, or ... oh, look, Mark has a special day for each category. Some are all about their favorite exercises. Yet others are sales portals and not much more. Sad.
People in the LC-paleo world seem to be running out of things to say. Well, once we all figure out what works for us, and what we each need to avoid, what else IS there to say? The alternative on some sites (some of which I looked at years ago, but never read NOW) is a series of personal squabbles on the assumption that what THEY can tolerate surely can't be a problem for anyone else. I STILL have a problem with wishful-thinking promoted as truths, but i'm less inclined to get my panties in a bunch about it -- seekers after nutritional truth CAN find reliable information if they want to, and they're the only ones who can determine what's the best answer for themselves, IF THEY WILL. Meanwhile, I go out in public and see the bulging waistlines ... and the grocery carts full of corn, wheat, sugar and vegetable oils. Have those people given up entirely, or are they doing their best using Conventional Wisdom?
I'm grateful for the bloggers who keep on keeping on; I eagerly click on a few favorites regularly, and sometimes go digging into classic archives. I just miss the thrill of the new ideas I used to read almost every day. :-) My morning reading is less exciting than it used to be, but I can't really blame people for spending less time at their keyboards, and more time living their lives.
That's me--I've said everything I can think of to say. Plus, my house and yard need attention.
ReplyDeleteLately I've been listening to books by Thomas Sowell and just came across the idea that people who do things differently from much of the population (e.g., lending v. borrowing, providing labor v. paying for services) have to *remain* different, which means not mixing with their customers too much. I also happened to read this morning in the book Quiet that being in a group where someone is giving answers actually disengages part of your brain (a part in the frontal lobes). It's just a few thoughts on why people who need a companion to go to the bathroom may fill up their carts with corn, sugar and wheat.
I haven't read any Sowell -- perhaps I should! :-) "Quiet" definitely sounds like something I should read.
DeleteYou might like Ethnic America--it's all about the history of different major ethnic groups that settled in America: the history of where they came from, their resulting culture and habits, and how that influenced their success (or lack of it) in the US.
Deletethat does sound interesting -- you come up with some great reading material! :-) I bought the kindle version of "Quiet" last evening, and have really been enjoying it.
DeleteI get that people who put a lot of time and effort in their websites for our edification deserve to be paid for their efforts. Out of all of them I admire what Enefeldt is doing most, because he isn't trying to sell supplements and other products or push his book in your face every second. OTOH, over $100 per year is just too hard to justify for our tight family budget--I would love to support him but that price point is beyond our means. Some of the stuff that remains free on his site is the best on the internet--his LCHF for beginners is where I steer everyone remotely interested in Low Carb--it is so simple and clear and wholly SANE--not crazy "pretend you're a cave dweller" woo woo. The recent improvements to the free stuff have made it even more so.
ReplyDeleteAs for some of the others--they used to give out useful info, and I was happy to buy their books, but now you have to wade through endless endorsements for their books in the form of "success stories" and "testimonials". And often they are selling products (supplements and low carb products) which are also advertised in their posts. That really bugs me--Sisson, too, although I think the information he still presents is generally well-balanced and I always take anyone's quoted studies with a grain of salt unless I've read them critically for myself.
I have a hard time believing recommendations for supplements when the owner of the site is selling them, and I don't need to spend nearly $10 on a jar of "primal" mayo (good grief!!!) when I can make my own in 30 seconds with perhaps $2 worth of ingredients and an immersion blender.
BTW, what's with all these bloggers that claim to be environmentally conscious and push sustainability, and then encourage people to order foodstuffs readily available in our own communities from all over--holy carbon footprint, Batman!
I never got a lot out of Eenfeldt's site, myself, but I didn't go all the way back to the beginning of it and read it systematically, as I have some. Sure, if he can sell personal services to people who want them, it's no skin off my nose. :-) And if Sisson can sell his "clean" mayonnaise to people who don't want to make it themselves....
DeleteI sure agree with you about some of the questionable environmental impact of some of this stuff! How fortunate that more and more farmers' markets are offering locally-sourced pastured meats and eggs -- i'd ALWAYS rather patronize a local small business than a megalithic one.
$10 mayo Indeed. I'm glad I'm not the only one noticing the increase in vitamin sites and sales. A surgeon will want to cut, so will a vitamin sales person will tell you yours is best.
DeleteIs ordering something from an endorsed Amazon type of company good or buying it from a local national change good, or is making it myself from local vendors good? Lots of talk out of both sides of mouth with carbon foot print, Thrive, etc. All I know is grass feed beef is about $5-6 a pound from NZ or AU while local is $10-12 a pound. I'm a single parent, head of household. I don't have much free time, so what's best. Is the soil better in NZ, probably, but maybe not.
I'll be doing some posts- why WW and another commercial diet (that shall not be named) did work and largely how it didn't. Sure weight comes off, but did I get a cease in binge eating or much better health, no, yes. I'm sure it will get undies in a bunch, but it is the truth for me.
I was cruising my 23 and me report last night... more great insights there.
Different blogging scene since 2011-2012. Glad you are still here.
$10 to $12 a pound *is* expensive. I get odd cuts of grass-fed beef for less than $3 a pound from a ranch near the Nebraska border that makes runs to Denver every quarter. A friend of theirs has started raising Berkshire hogs, so I'm getting pork with my next order.
DeleteMake that less than $4 a pound.
DeleteI am on different diets since almost 12 yo, and I know from my own experience that a food limitation works in 99% of cases. However, after turning 45, I noticed more resistance to a weight lost and more health issues getting bigger and clustering together. LCarbing is the only diet which resolves the appetite problem (for many). I also never noticed before any major health issues being resolved during dieting. May be because I never tried before the total elimination of wheat. It is hard to single out a particular cause.
DeleteEverybody is discussing which diet is better for loosing weight , while the real issue is what to do when some weight is lost. The prevailing model is a crush diet following by returning to your previous eating pattern while doing more physical activities, exercising "some mindfulness" and eliminating major diet offenders like drinking coca-cola and eating ice-cream from a container sitting in front of TV. LCarbers annoy other dieters by offering a permanent diet change and ignoring the idea of a balance. Somehow even raw vegetarians are less annoying in a public perception .
I cut on a blog reading big time a while ago, leaving only small portion. I need less time at my keyboard, not more. I know by now what is working for me, and other issues surfaced like hormonal shifting, associated with getting farther from 50 years old. There are so much books on line to listen, so I mostly listen fiction books/historical talks most of the time now.
ReplyDeleteI don't need to read again some blog posts about "how to loose effortlessly 50 lb" or "eating spicy food is associated with a long life" - I have had enough of pseudo-healthy BS by now about pounds just melting off, healthy benefits of allergies-promoting compounds like chocolate, red vine, spices and other nonsense.
There are also amazing archives worth re-reading when I feel like it.
I see very little value for me now in a reading Dr.Enefeldt site, I think he did a mistake quitting his normal job.
I guess he'll find out, one way or another.... :-) Eenfeldt apparently has quite a staff of his own now, to support too.
DeleteYes, indeed -- if a person NEEDS to lose 50 pounds, their problems are entirely different from mine ... and I wish them the best of luck but how people have done that are not going to be helpful to most of us here. We all KNOW by now how strict we have to be with ourselves, including how much we can tolerate of all those "superfoods" which seem to work through low doses of toxins! :-D
I mostly disapprove of too much too rosy success stories there about loosing all fat one wants to loos without any effort.
Deleteyeah, really! some people might be able to do it all at once with ease, but I have a hard time believing that that's very common....
DeleteI've noticed the same and only read a few blogs anymore, yours is included because you offer other reading enjoyment. I think these others run out of stuff to say and recycle some of it. The also, change their tune to suit the winds. But that's just my observation. I Dr. Kendrick and Ray Peat for the articles. Sigh....
ReplyDeleteThank you, Lauren, and i'm delighted that you're one of our circle! Yes, it must be hard for the blogs which ALWAYS post something every day -- I honestly don't blame them, falling back on easy fillers like recipes! :-) I don't even mind if someone has a change of heart that comes from new info or experiences, especially when they 'fess up ... but attention-whores and professional hypocrites just bring out the beast in me!
DeleteRecipes get all the blog hits...
DeleteI also stop watching all news channels on TV. I don't judge the people who enjoy being entertained by following elections debate, but I have decided for myself it doesn't worth my time.
ReplyDeletethe "newz" just isn't The News anymore -- it's propaganda, sales, and show-biz! :-P I really don't look forward to the next 15 months on account of the electioneering....
DeleteI do think times change, blogs evolve, our life evolves ... moves on, we sometimes have a break - do other things. It's always our choice and we must respect that!!.
ReplyDeleteI always enjoy reading your blog Tess... do please keep blogging.
The low carb diabetic blog will keep posting a variety of articles and keep spreading the LCHF news. We always love to receive comments from you and your readers, I think over the years we have become a close knit community ... but it's always nice to meet new folks too.
Hope your week is going well, I'm just off to the kitchen to make a cuppa!.
All the best Jan
I always check your blog, Jan, you are doing a very important job for the people with diabetes. I also appreciate your fighting against statines which in my opinion is a very dangerous substance for majority of humans.
DeleteMany thanks Galina ...
DeleteAll the best Jan
yes, Jan, as Galina said, tLCD is a WONDERFUL service -- great information for all diabetics AND those of us just interested in LCHF eating! I enjoy reading about the trips you and Eddie take, too! :-D
DeleteI do intend to keep blogging, though my pace varies a lot depending on busy-ness and what I read to inspire me. :-) Thank you for visiting and contributing to the conversation here -- I consider you an important member of our circle!
Many thanks Tess ...
DeleteHave a lovely weekend
All the best Jan, Eddie and all at TLCD.