David Katz posted a poorly-edited and even more poorly-thought out essay in the Huffington Post. Worried amount the mounting evidence that his line of thinking is incorrect and responding to the success of Nina Teicholz’s new book, he posted his thoughts on Huff Po. Here are my initial thoughts to his screed but the comments section of the post is quite good as well: “So we might ask the question: if Atkins had the truth for us in the 1970s, why did we need a diet revolution in the 1990s? And if that revolution in the 1990s, which reached tens of millions in the early 2000s was really the answer — then why are we reacting to the same dietary déjà vu all over again in the Wall Street Journal as if it were some kind of epiphany?” Answer: while Atkins came about then, vested interests had a lock on information and legitimacy. Only in the 90’s, with the advent of the internet, were alternate ideas introduced en masse.
David Katz and the War Against Steak
“We are flying in circles. If we had reduced our intake of meat, butter and cheese by eating more vegetables, nuts, fruits and legumes — we might be living in a Blue Zone by now. But we didn’t and we aren’t. We just started eating more starch and sugar.” Answer: Exactly. It is the consumption of sugars and grains that accelerated the obesity epidemic. It is very telling that meat consumption did not increase but that obesity did. He ignores his own logic.
“After all, if our meaty, cheesy, buttery diets had been making us lean, healthy and happy in the first place — why ever would we have changed them? Answer: It started with the Kellogg company, whose founder felt that sexual desire was a bad thing and saw a correlation between high energy sexual behavior and consumption of meat. To combat “immorality” (a major issue at that time and also the time of the suffrage movement and the start of Prohibition politics by the way) he introduced a line of grain-based products which, unsurprisingly reduced said activity. Kellogg is famous for claiming that he had no sexual desire on his wedding night (poor Mrs. Kellogg!). Fast forward to the post-war period, when agricultural companies had a surplus of grain products due to wartime over-production. They co-opted the government into making grain the bottom of the infamous food pyramid and that is when, from the 1950’s through the 1970’s, obesity and heart attacks began to skyrocket.
“And — I don’t have a diet to sell. In fact, I am on record as asserting that no single diet is best — and that an optimal diet can be low fat or high, include or exclude meat, be lower or higher in protein, and so on.” Answer: So then, why are you attacking a specific diet later on in the article? Do people even edit their thoughts before hitting the send button…?
Everyone hates being wrong but it is good for the soul when they ultimately recognize it. Hopefully the good doctor will be one of the lucky few.
Mondo 