How would you react if, instead of asking for a handout, the next bum you see — smelly and dressed in rags — approaches you and offers to be your "success coach" for a fee?
Have you pondered anything quite so absurd in a while?
Coronary heart disease prevention and reversal specialist, Dr. William Davis, wonders why it is, then, that people tolerate the advice of fat and even obese dietitians, who perhaps number in the thousands in hospitals and clinics around the country.
When I go to the hospital, I am continually amazed at some of the hospital staff: 5 ft 4 inch nurses weighing over 200 lbs, etc.
But what I find particularly bothersome are some (not all) hospital dietitians – presumably experts at the day-to-day of healthy eating — who waddle through the halls, easily 40, 50, or more pounds overweight. It is, to say the least, credibility-challenging for an obese dietitian to be providing nutritional advice to men or women recovering after bypass or stent while clearly not in command of nutritional health herself.
I note the same thing in general, both when visiting a hospital and daily around a large medical clinic less that a block from our residence. In fact, it is quite rare to see any lean person going in or out of that building, scrubs or "civvies."
Dr. Davis thinks they're by and large following the standard dietary advice. Perhaps they are, perhaps not, but here's the thing: "frankenfood" manufacturers have become ruthlessly clever, and that goes even beyond the political clout they and grain growers enjoy. Low fat is good? Food manufacturers deliver. They line the shelves with products that are low in fat, but high in sugar. Whole grains are healthy? They line the shelves with appealing — to many — products based on grains, and bonus: low in fat. Butter is bad? They give you margarine, for decades. Oops… Trans fats, now universally recognized as poisson. Alright, so now let's create a whole new line of synthetic "spreads" based on vegetable oils — formerly used as industrial machinery lubricants — extracted by heat and petroleum solvents that have to be deodorized to eat. Perhaps it won't take another four decades to determine that those are as bad or worse than the margarine they replaced. And what will they think of next?
Sadly, the "healthy, whole grain" message also contributes to heart disease via drop in HDL, increased triglycerides, a huge surge in small LDL, rise in blood sugar, increased resistance to insulin, tummy fat, and diabetes. Yes, the diet provided to survivors of heart attack increases risk.
The "healthy, whole grain" message also enjoys apparent "validation" through the enormous proliferation of commercial products cleverly disguised as healthy: Cheerios, Raisin Bran, whole grain bread, whole wheat pasta, etc. The "healthy, whole grain" message, while a health disaster, is undoubtedly a commercial success.
I'll bet that our fat dietitian friend enjoys a breakfast of healthy, whole grains in skim milk, followed by a lunch of low-fat chicken breast on two slices of whole grain bread, and ends her day with a healthy meal of whole wheat pasta. She then ascribes her continually climbing weight and size 16 figure to slow metabolism, lack of exercise, or the once-a-week piece of chocolate.
Wheat has no role in the Track Your Plaque program for coronary plaque control and reversal. In fact, my personal view is that wheat has no role in the human diet whatsoever.
Dr. Davis, a cardiologist who used to make a lot of money doing stents, angioplasties and other lucrative cardiac procedures gave that al up and now partially subsidizes a heroic and revolutionary program to detect, prevent, and even reverse heart disease. You don't have to take his ideas seriously, but you very well may live the consequences of them nonetheless.
He offers a list of relevant posts that I highly recommend reading.
- What's worse than sugar?
- The Wheat-Deficiency Syndrome
- Nutritional approaches: Large vs. Small LDL
- Are you wheat-free?
That last link has a bunch of testimonials, so if any of this sounds insane or unbelievable to you, you'll want to have a look at what people who've done it have experienced.