It's all Taubes fault...

...that none of my clothes fit. They're all too damned big on me now!

Gary Taubes was on the Dr. Oz show today, and while I haven't watched the whole thing yet because our internet is god-awful and I can't get it to load completely (why is it unacceptable to be able to download videos? streaming never works on a slow connection!). Anyway, one of the first things that Dr. Oz says is that what Taubes is saying disagrees with his BELIEFS. And this is why I have a general distrust of doctors. Belief should have nothing to do with science. There is evidence. There is sometimes uncertainty and we fill that in with what we *think* may be right, but to act as if your belief should trump everything, as Dr. Oz has basically done is downright stupid and dangerous.

The other thing that gets me is when these doctors flaunt their credentials. Your credentials and .75 cents will buy you a cup of coffee. "You're not a doctor." Yeah, and you're not a fucking biochemist. Asshole.

"I feel very strongly..." --Dr. Oz

Yeah, and the Pope feels very strongly that Jesus Christ is the savior of mankind and was born of a Virgin, but ask any Hindu or Muslim what they feel about that. Diet should again, have NOTHING to do with BELIEF. This isn't a religion. Or it shouldn't be anyway. Oz even calls high carbohydrate foods sacred!

And then Oz goes into how you can't live on meat and eggs. Like hell. I could eat steak with a huge whopping pat of butter on it every damned meal. You can keep your rice cakes, thanks.

edit:

I've managed to watch the whole thing now that it's loaded, and I'd like to reiterate that Dr. Oz repeatedly refers to high carb foods as "sacred". Again, a religion. I suppose that appeals to some people's sense of good, and right, and not-being-able-to-think-for-yourself. I also found it amusing that Post cereal is one of the sponsors of Dr. Oz's show. So basically, like every other television personality, Dr. Oz is beholden to corporate interests or he won't have a show.

I'd really like to see Uffe Ravnskov on Dr. Oz. It would be like celebrity death match, and I could go for that. I'm banking on Uffe winning. There's a reason why body builders eat paleo.

The interesting thing I found reading some of the comments over at Taubes' blog, is that Dr. Oz was diagnosed with pre-colon cancer. Maybe he should have read Dr. Eades blog on why fiber may cause colon cancer.

If you want to watch the video, the first part is here.

Copy and Paste Health Advice

I'm apparently in the wrong industry. I should have been a nutritionist, I could write for a newspaper, and copy and paste articles from the American Heart Association, the American Medical Association, etc. I wouldn't even have to think for myself.

Just do a search on Google news on any given day of the week, and I guarantee you will find at least one article (usually more) that have the "typical" dietary advice, that saturated fat is bad for you (they never say why, never cite any studies), that sodium intake is bad for you and if you'll only cut back it will lower your blood pressure (while citing studies that show reducing sodium intake only reduces hypertension by 1-5 mmHg, underwhelming I know), and that cholesterol is bad for you (while recommending you take medicine).

I find it amusing that a lot of articles have started in on denouncing sugar, while at the same time urging you to eat "whole grains." Newsflash: grains turn to sugar upon digestion, whole or not. They just don't get it. Or if they do get it, they're not interested in changing what they're copying and pasting.

But alas, I'd never make a good nutritionist. I'd probably flunk out for citing articles that the schools disagree with, because obviously, nutrition programs are turning out copy and paste robots.