Here’s an idea. How about the butter trade groups get together and create a new ad campaign featuring this heart surgeon dingbat. They could style it after the fabulous "Most Interesting Man in The World" Dos Equis commercials. Hell, they wouldn’t even have to create any new dialog to get started right way. It could go something like this, using quotes from the cited article and also this post on the same dufus I did over a year ago.
Narrator:
"…He thinks butter should be banned to protect the nation’s health…"
"…He advises people to eat less red meat, drink low-fat milk and switch to olive and sunflower oil…"
"…He speculates that replacing saturated fats with vegetable oil spreads will lower the intake of saturated fats…"
"…He claims that, as a heart surgeon, people have established coronary heart disease when they come to him…"
"Shyam Kolvekar is, The Most Stupidest Man in The World."
Shyam:
"I don’t always use a spread, but when I do, I prefer a chemically modified plastic-like substance colored yellow. Stay hungry, my friends."
Well, it’s a start. Where’s that Tom Naughton when you need him?
1/20/2010: And now there’s this. Cool. (HT: Andrew B in comments)
1/21/2010: Got an email from Dr. John Briffa in the UK this morning. He alerted me to this blog post of his recounting his email correspondence with Dr. Kolvekar. Though unsurprising, it’s a very interesting read.
samuel 
Carla 
coma
Warning: Declaration of FV_TC_Walker_Comment_blank::walk($elements, $max_depth) should be compatible with Walker::walk($elements, $max_depth, ...$args) in /home/freethea/public_html/wp-content/plugins/thoughtful-comments/walkers.php on line 0
Warning: Declaration of FV_TC_Walker_Comment_blank::paged_walk($elements, $max_depth, $page_num, $per_page) should be compatible with Walker::paged_walk($elements, $max_depth, $page_num, $per_page, ...$args) in /home/freethea/public_html/wp-content/plugins/thoughtful-comments/walkers.php on line 0
Ha-ha.
I’d love to see what Tom Has to say too!
Indeed. But I think it should be emphasized that Unilever corporation, seller of margarine, appears to be bankrolling Dr. Kolvekar and this new “ban butter” campaign (according to the linked Daily Mail article). It’s a bad omen that they think they can even propose to ban such a fundamental food as butter.
I can say for myself that if the government ever bans butter, it’ll be time for a revolution.
I’ll have to ditto this, since you took the words right out of my mouth. Are we going to have to start an official “Pro-Butter” campaign that defends the right to eat butter? The idea of banning a real food like butter is incredibly disturbing to me.
I don’t know how this guy can practice heart surgery and be so clueless… Amazing!
Surgeons are but mechanics. They aren’t medics/doctors, researchers, dieticians or epidemiologists… often, they’re not even particularly intelligent.
“I prefer a chemically modified plastic-like substance colored yellow.”
Sounds yummy! NOT!
He’s right, saturated fats clog your arteries. And I still believe in Santa Claus!
Stay hungry, my friends.
I’ll be giggling over that for days.
He once had a cogent thought . . . just to see what it would feel like
Alright Ed, You get the clap clap. That’s better thank of any of mine, and perfectly in keeping with the inspirational theme. But I want you to get your ass kicked, but you can kick it yourself, too.
Here’s a great compilation. Can anyone, including Ed, kick Ed’s ass like he kicked mine?
youtube.com/watch?v=PVwG1t-NVAA&feature=related
Sad and scary at the same time. Although, it does seem to be a good business plan to secure future patients for his practice.
That is hilarious Richard. I think we are witnessing conventional medical science in a slow motion version of “jumping the shark.”
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jumping_the_shark
A sad, but necessary step on the road to sanity is arriving. I predict a lot more shrill nonsense to come.
Whats up with ad hominem attacks? Granted his message is completely wrong and probably motivated by his financial interests, but he is not the only one spreading it. For better or worse that is the common wisdom.
But with blogs titles like stupidest man in the world, it makes you look like a high school kid. Same with some of the previous blog posts on random dieticians etc. Ok, you do not agree with them, but are we in high school?
Oh, “anon,” eh.
Man up. You’re fucking dismissed.
Go fuck yourself, eh, and lose the RSS feed. “Anon,” or, pussy.
I cracked up as soon as the title of this post appeared on my Blog. People just don’t get it – if it takes calling these people idiots in a very public way in order to get the readers in, and to expose them to the truth, than that’s what we have to do.
“Your fucking dismissed.” My Navy bud’s are going to love that you said that.
Geeze “anon”, that’s what Richard does so well: calling a spade a spade and calling out the so called “experts” for what they really are. And “Stupidest” is a pretty good description of many of them. I work around Conventional Medical Wisdom every day, and it’s refreshing to see someone taking the experts to task and putting them in their place.
What I find most disturbing, besides this Doctor’s ignorance, is how many will follow this low-fat tofurkey’s advice. Why? Because he’s a DOCTOR (oooohs, ahhhhs, gasps) and therefore an automatic authority. Dr. Oz, Dr. Phil, Dr. Weil, ….., the list goes on and on. Just lump all of these celebrity and corporate payroll “doctors” into one caricature named Dr. Fauxpanacea.
Yeah. Very mature. Keep it up. I will loose the rss. I do not need to read recycled wisdom anyways. I would rather read Stephan and Dr. Eades and others.
Oh, Mr. Pussy, You think you know what’s up, eh?
I exchanged three emails with Mike yesterday, one today. Stephan, not even two hours ago.
They know who I am and what I’m up to. You want to come here anonymously and toss shit without giving a name? Well, I toss it back. Have the courage to reveal yourself, or you just get f-bombed, which is even more than such a leach-pussy deserves. What do I care? You could be anybody, but you’re nobody I respect currently.
I hate pussies. And you’re a miserable one. If you can’t cut it, then quit commenting. You’re pathetic.
Oh, and by the way. Here’s Dr. Eades Tweet of earlier yesterday:
“Idiot surgeon in the UK trolls for business. Does this guy deign to even glance at the scientific literature? bit.ly/5U3lKJ ”
twitter.com/DrEades/
…He is the only man still believing in the lipid hypothesis
…His stupidness proceeds him, like vegetable spreads proceed myocardial infarcts
…He once killed 100 patients, just by offering low-fat options
…He is so stupid even DHA won’t help his cognitive ability
Total Fail What a lunatic
in the Telegraph he says to avoid all foods that are solid at room temperature! Yeah, like pasta or vegetables. I assume cream is OK!
telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/7010677/Ban-butter-to-save-our-hearts-says-doctor.html
There’s a reason why they call that paper the Daily Fail. I have to admit that I was impressed by the number of commenters who said that the article was a load of shite, though. Slowly but surely the word is getting out.
Well w/out advice like this, we wouldn’t need heart surgeons.
The only belief he cannot have…is that it’s not butter
It’s never too early to beef up your obituary…make that tofu.
Here in the UK one of our daily rags ran that story which prompted a ‘rebuttal’ article by Clarissa Dickson Wright, a foodie, author and TV personality, who says:
“On my 18th birthday, my godfather made me make him a solemn vow. ‘Please, Clarissa,’ he said, ‘promise me that you will never, ever, ever eat margarine.’
I was a dutiful girl and fond of my godfather so was happy to oblige, but I did want to know why.
‘Clarissa, my dear,’ he replied solemnly, ‘you have no idea what goes into it.’
What’s important about this rather eccentric anecdote is that he did. For my godfather was Rudi Jurgens, scion of the Jurgens family, which back in the Twenties joined forces with the van den Berghs to form the Dutch company, Margarine Unie, which a few years later would merge with Lever Brothers and become Unilever. His family actually made the filthy stuff.”
Read more: dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-1244313/CLARISSA-DICKSON-WRIGHT-Stop-spreading-lies-trying-ban-butter…
Check out the advertising poster from the archives – ‘If you love your children – butter them up!’
It’s unfortunate that a published rebuttal article is from “Fat Lady.” And too bad she doesn’t mention the role of sugar. But I guess we’ll have to just take what we can get.
Yes, that is unfortunate – but, in a TV appearance, she did admit, IIRC, that her weight problem was the result of a period of alcoholism rather than her diet and that her doctor has assured her that, despite her weight (and natural saturated fat-rich diet), she is in perfect health (good blood lipid numbers. etc.). As they say: ‘Never judge a book by its cover’!
After 28 years of education and training . . . he can babble in 5 languages
If he follows his own advice, he will soon have to operate . . . on himself
Shyam Kolvekar on pig farming . . . “no”
he never lets you see him sweat . . . crisco oil
Butter vs Margarine
/discussion :-D
A reader emails in with some links:
I saw him on the BBC news yesterday morning. Almost choked on my eggs fried in butter.
Tweeted a few things yesterday, inc link to BBC video – is.gd/6whVZ
Plus from:
Blogs That Make me think – bit.ly/4xnZ42.
Unilever press release – bit.ly/7T03b4
Earlier BBC story from 2008, mentioning satfatnav.com & Unilever – bit.ly/5AdV8k
Shameless plug – twitter.com/Penguinista
Ok, not to kind of change the subject even though it does go along with the stupidest people concept but who is behind this meatless Monday campaign. I read something about it on Jimmy’s site and then just went down to our cafeteria at work and there is a poster saying we should be flexitarians and give up eating meat one day a week and to visit the flexitarian facebook page. This coming from one of the most unhealthiest cafeterias there is. There main entree today: Tater tot hot dish. What is happening here?
I love “Tofurkey”, it is so much worse than just “turkey” as an insult and as a food.
Well not hijack this thread but I wrote to Compass who put these posters out in our cafeteria (and college campuses too) and here is my reply:
“Some of the reasons for the “flexitarian” initiate are as follows:
Meat-free foods are an important antidote to factory farms. These massive
operations\ raise and kill more than nine billion farm animals in the U.S. each
year and pollute our environment.
Replacing meat with healthy vegetarian foods helps prevent against obesity,
heart disease, stroke, many cancers, diabetes and other serious diseases.
By reducing our meat consumption by only ten percent, we can fight animal
cruelty by sparing nearly one billion animals a lifetime of suffering each year.
Eating flexitarian can have a positive impact on your health. Vegetable sources
of protein, especially legumes and grains, are packed with vitamins, minerals,
phytonutrients and are good sources of more healthful unsaturated fats. They
also have no cholesterol, are generally low in saturated fat and often are lower
in calories than animal proteins.
However, we certainly understand that not all meat-free options are healthy,
just as not all meat options are. It’s all about finding the right balance for
you. ”
I’m sorry but the people that serve tater tot hot dish are concerned about our animals? Are you kidding me
Unless this nutritional nonsense is overturned, I predict that one day, the UK will ban butter. Remember, this is a country where in order to buy an airsoft toy gun, you must get a license from the police department and show good cause for buying it. Many britons seem to be even more slavish than Americans when it comes to matters of economy, state, and freedom.
facebook.com/group.php?gid=258317319731&ref=mf
I’ve set up a facebook group: Do not ban butter – it is a healthy fat! Come and join – see if we can get a movement going!
I live in the UK, and most people here know that the Daily Mail is read by morons. It’s mostly celeb gossip and bashing the rich. The scary thing is that a good proportion of those morons will read that and take the advice whether consciously or subconsciously.
I agree that Kolvekar is stupid but whoever wrote the following article may just be the stupidist person in the world. Could a human have even written that? Perhaps a computer program, monkey with internet access, Sarah Palin?
Nice work by Phil Ridley, Weston A. Price Chapter Leader -London England.
Butter is better campaign. Got retraction from hospital employing Mr Kolvekar .
hartkeisonline.com/2010/01/20/british-heart-surgeon-wants-butter-banned/
The guy is a hero. Direct Action is the way!
And have you seen the video? -> independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/ban-butter-to-save-lives-says-heart-sur…
I’m sure it’s not just for publicity, it’s not like he has an imdb profile or anything..
imdb.com/name/nm0464462/
I am embarassed this guy is an Indian… and a doctor at that, one can never discount ppl who are vegetarian (probably this guy as he is Maharastran) who poo poo on animal fats – shame on them
I am going to spite this ‘turd 4 brains’ by having the following for dinner, and be healthier for it:
2 organic raw egg yolks
3 organic eggs – cooked sunny side up in Prather Ranch lard
1 portuguese sausage
whole mess of uncured bacon
1 pint of organic heavy whipping cream mixed with vanilla extract
1/4 tsp each of organic cinnamon and organic turmeric
I think all of you should just grow up. It’s just an opinion so why are you getting worked up about it, its not like they are actually going to ban butter. Neither is the Mr Kolvekar stupid, not even going to mention stupidest in the world, nobody is an idiot just for expressing their opinion. It’s ridiculous how there is so much controversy about just this one thought and how the media have turned it into something that will make you think ‘this idiot is cutting up people’. He has worked hard to get himself where he is, so we should just cut him some slack.
Nah, he can just go fuck himself. Pathetic media whore that he is..
You can go fuck yourself too, BTW.
Just tryin’ to help, wherever I can.
No, your ust an asshole who tries to prove a point because you like to say fuck.
You don’t know what your talking about.
He is not a media whore if the whores did not catch on to the media.
Yeah, you.
1. Learn the different between “your” and “you’re”. You made the mistake twice in the first two sentences, so you must simply be ignorant, thus dismissible.
2. Your third sentence is incoherent gibberish, so you’re still dismissible.
3. You’re dismissed.
It doesn’t seem that words and thoughts have much power. at least when they try to be sensible and reasonable. If it is like that where does power come from? We should reflect upon that..Many politicians are despicable and they talk very badly, sometimes even like primitive fools? Then why do they have power?
We have lowered the threshold of our understanding, always indulging…
Were we busy digesting healthy spreads, maybe? And we have become distracted and remissive…!?
If we want to change the state of the things we must fight back every single step toward “idiocracy”…It is the ultimate struggle : the most evolved one.