This week, we summarize the top five news articles and studies in the low-carb realm, plus the wall of shame.
- The Cato Institute makes the case that "the federal government may be institutionally incapable of providing wise dietary advice." The problems cited include divided and thus inconclusive science, risk avoidance, premature decision making, and distortions introduced by lobbyists.
- Not all carbs are created equal. Harvard's prolific Dr. David Ludwig illuminates the connection between carbohydrate quality and health, this time in BMJ. A key message: "Replacing processed carbohydrates with unprocessed carbohydrates or healthy fats would greatly benefit public health."
- The BBC runs a 5 minute feature on UK Deputy Labor Leader Tom Watson, who has lost 96 pounds in eleven months by cutting out sugar and starch and eating more fat. Given his personal transformation, Watson asks if government should be giving dietary advice when there is such scientific controversy surrounding nutrition.
- The Philly Voice reports on a new observational study out of University of Texas, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, that shows NO significant association with dairy fat intake and heart disease. A particular fatty acid common in dairy fat (heptadecanoic acid) is associated with LESS stroke mortality. Dairy intake was measured by blood fatty acid levels rather than often inaccurate food frequency questionnaires.
- Love this advice from an obesity medicine physician Janine Kyrillos, printed in The Philadelphia Inquirer: "Eat real food. Food that was around hundreds of years ago. Food that your great-grandparents ate. Stay away from the processed carbohydrates, and now processed fats [like Crisco & seed oils].
Wall of shame
- Gold-plated food takes the world by storm. Have Instagram moments trumped common sense?
- Netflix disappoints with new show, Sugar Rush, a timed baking competition glorifying the sweet treats most of us should cut out of our diets.
- AS IF we needed one more reason not to eat refined-carb-laden breakfast cereal... But with Kellogg's Honey Smacks, we've got it: salmonella.
- Coca-Cola experiments with highly produced long-form video that glorifies drinking lots of Coke while getting ready to head off to college in this cynical attempt to commercialize middle America and coming of age.
- The great maple syrup fiasco... or why the FDA has gone back to the drawing board with its rules for labeling added sugar.
- "That's It" brand fruit-only bars marketed as healthful, but contain 17g of sugar-half the weight of the bar.
Want more?
Is fiber necessary for a healthy diet? Get the 'scoop on poop' from Low Carb USA.
The New York Times runs a depressing but compelling weekend read about Coca-Cola's sweet water deal and rising diabetes rates in a town in the Chiapas region of Mexico. Potable water is scarce, but the Coke plant gets plenty; as a result, residents hydrate with soda. "You see the kids drinking Coke and not water. Right now, diabetes is hitting the adults, but it's going to be the kids next. It's going to overwhelm us."
Tune in next week!
About
This news gathering is from our collaborator Jennifer Calihan, who also blogs at Eat the Butter. Feel free to check out the keto meal-idea-generator on her site.
