The Carb-Sane Asylum

Hey all!  Long (LONG) time no blog.      This is mostly an update, because the King Kahuna of Keto is still sort of kicking around out there.    Jimmy Moore can't help himself!! Nah ... not one iota of evidence!  LOLOL On the gossip front, it appears the split with his wife is imminent and he lost the Low Carb Cruise and most of the friends in the split.  Christine has lost 400 lbs in the past year -- well, 50 of her own since no longer eating like Jimmy ... and Jimmy.   After taking six or four months off, King Krankypants of Ketonia tried to rebrand as "The Man of Real" discussing his childhood.   That went over like a lead balloon and apparently what remaining sponsors he had went the way of handshakes and hugs in 2020.   This has left Jimmy in three-to-four tee shirts, surviving on eggs from his chickens (and the occasional ribeye from a friend), ranting away on IG and solidifying his place in nutritional history ...

U nless you've been living under a "rock" in the world of nutrition, you're aware that Stephan Guyenet "debated" Gary Taubes on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast. It took me several days broken up to watch/listen to the whole thing. In a nutshell, it was Science & Substance (Stephan Guyenet) versus Stories & Slander (Gary Taubes). Rather than summarize, there were several points made that I'd like to address. In no particular order. I'll include this intro with links to prior topics as this series progresses.

       C ontinuing on with discussion of: Effects of a low carbohydrate diet on energy expenditure during weight loss maintenance: randomized trial No summary for this post.  Here are links to earlier parts in this series: Part I: Critique of the Study Design Part II: $12 Million for 12% Weight Loss? Part III: Some "Early" Lessons :   In this most recent post, I discussed the relationship between measures of insulin (both fasting and 30 minute OGTT response) and weight loss during the Run-In Phase.  

S UMMARY Continuing on with discussion of: Effects of a low carbohydrate diet on energy expenditure during weight loss maintenance: randomized trial In Part I , I discussed some issues with methodology, mostly focusing on the reduced Run-In Phase that likely compromised the outcomes irreparably. In Part II ,  I highlighted a serious issue with the Run-In Phase, the purpose of which was to produce a somewhat homogeneous "reduced weight state" to test various diets in maintenance of that state. Ultimately,  randomization to the various test diets occurred after weight loss (PWL) all subjects lost weight on the same 45% Carb / 30% Fat / 25% Protein diet targeting a weight loss of 12% ± 2% initial body weight. The researchers do not appear to have made many adjustments in the weight loss phase to produce a more uniform weight loss.   Rather than 12% ± 2%  (from 10% to 14%)  losses, the actual outcome was roughly 10.5% ± 5% (actual ...

U PDATE:   12/17/2018      Original Posting: 12/3/2018    During the writing of a new installment in this se ries, I revisited the following paper: A randomized study of dietary composition during weight-loss maintenance: Rationale, study design, intervention, and assessment Yes, folks, so full of themselves were these researchers, that they felt the need to write an entire paper (submitted approx. one year in advance of the "real study") outlining their amazing study. Regarding this post, focusing on the OUTRIGHT FAILURE TO IMPLEMENT THEIR STUDY DESIGN AS STATED , I stress the following from the previous paper. ONCE AGAIN, the stated goal of the weight loss run in is 12% ... not 10 or 5 or 15 or whatever ... 12%.  I'm just going to quote the relevant part here (cleaned of references, etc. and formatted for readability, all emphasis mine) Energy intake was restricted to 60% of estimated needs to achieve a target weight loss equ...

Rather than formally reviewing Real Food Keto -- an abomination of a book written by Jimmy Moore and his "Nutritional Therapy Practitioner" wife Christine Moore -- I've decided to compile a collection of my tweets here in a blog post.  I'll sort from most recent, with the newest before the "page break" after each update.  Feel free to comment here, but I'm also embedding tweets if you wish to go respond on Twitter.   Some may include additional commentary, others just the tweet. Enjoy! This book is littered with nonsense about how low stomach acid causes everything from ass itching  to zygomycosis.   No doubt there will be more of these tweets coming! Fun #RealFoodKeto "facts" from @livinlowcarbman and his NTP wife. FACT: Lemon juice (mostly citric acid) gives it a pH ~2.  Add some to neutral water (pH 7), the lemon water will be less acidic (e.g. higher pH, closer to 7) but will not become alkaline (pH >7) #LCHF -raud pi...

[no I'm not retiring the blog] TLDR:  Rather than dragging things on by dismissing more black swans, Gary Taubes could eat crow and go quietly into the night. After a long hiatus from any meaningful new content, and monumental blows to TWICHOO (Taubes Wrong Insulin Carbohydrate Hypothesis Of Obesity -- c'mon, it has a much better ring to it than the Ludwigian version), , Gary Taubes has gotten back to blogging a bit.* He has apparently been reading (in fits and starts, in other words, probably not really reading) obscure books about obscure cultures from long, long ago.  Mind you, that in five years plus of arduous and comprehensive research put forth in Good Calories, Bad Calories , there was no mention of the Yahgan people he's about to discuss.   One wonders why not.  Heck, this is right in his time period of excellence for nutritional research and reporting!  ( Uttermost Parts of the Earth , this is to a 2007 version of a book Taubes...

No ... this blog will not become all Jimmy Moore, all the time.  I do have some posts in the works that just need some polish ... including one on the study Ted Naiman bases his 3:1 ratios of grams protein to fat that Jimmy was following.  That said, I can't help but put together a few comments on the Drama Llama supreme's latest n=1. This Episode's n=1 bioHACK:    7 days of "Carnivore" , High Protein (mostly meat) 3:1 grams protein:grams fat.    1.5 grams of protein per pound of lean body mass equaled 270 g protein:90 g fat.   (if you use 40% body fat, that puts his current weight at 300 ... ) RESULT:   Fail.  If you listen at the 43 minute mark of this episode of The Keto Savage podcast , you'll see that it was Jimmy's every intention for this TO fail. The purpose of biohacking is SUPPOSED to be about seeking out ways to improve one's overall health ... to achieve meaningful goals.  This nonsense o...

I've decided to chronicle some of the biohacking madness going on out there here on the blog.   I'm not sure if this helps anyone, but at least it will preserve some of it for posterity.   So this will randomly include publicly shared results of various "hacks" -- dietary or otherwise. First up -- who else? LOL -- Jimmy Moore.  Fresh off his second 7-day fast in three weeks, Jimmy continues focusing on all the wrong things instead of actual improvements in things known to improve health.  Apparently low carb is/wasn't enough for Jimmy Moore, so he adopted an extreme version of a keto diet.  This worked swimmingly for a year until he stopped reporting his weight at the end of the year.  He rapidly regained the 80 re-lost pounds and embarked on his first extended fast in the fall of 2015.  That went so well he tried (unsuccessfully) to forego food for the entirety of January 2016, only to balloon up even further.  Forget the scale, ...

Just have to share, this ABSOLUTELY HILARIOUS clip from a recent episode of NCIS Los Angeles (Season 9, Episode 15, around 13 min in).  Shared on Twitter and Facebook if you want to share on social media!

W ith publication of the results of the second of the "Original 3" NuSI funded studies, I'm finally getting around to publishing up this post (and perhaps a second one shortly) regarding the Nutrition Science Initiative (NuSI), founded in 2012 by Peter Attia, MD and "science journalist" Gary Taubes. Bottom line ... for NuSI, it was "all over but the crying" a couple of years ago now. 

T his mix of snarkasm and practical advice is brought to you by Facebook Memories reminding me of a post I made around a year ago -- The #LCHF Weight Loss Industry & Evangelizing Low Carb  -- and the upcoming Keto Clarity Academy event featuring Melanie Miller and Jimmy Moore "influencing" people on how to stay healthy for the holidays. The holiday season will be soon upon us, and even those who celebrate no December holidays will likely still have to navigate related social engagements.  Let me preface this by saying that I recognize there are a number of people who absolutely cannot, or probably should not, stray from their dietary regimen.  There are others who, when they do, have a much harder time getting "back on the wagon" compared to whatever issues staying on plan will cause.  If you are any of these people, this blog post is not for you.  This blog post is aimed at all of those who are angst-ridden going into and through the upcoming holi...

I think this post has needed a bump for a while.     I also think the data on growing animals eating a keto diet should be cause for at least caution in encouraging such diets for kids, teens or even young adults. ORIGINAL POST DATE 3/20/2012 One of the more difficult things to sort out from the enormous amount of information out there is the actual effect, if any, of dietary composition on resulting body composition.  This is complicated from the get-go by many rodent studies that are done on reproductively mature animals that are still growing.  How to compare this to humans who cease growing vertically once they reach adulthood?  Next we have to sort through the studies that are done, and the implications of them, in the context of weight loss/underfeeding vs. those in the context of weight gain/overfeeding.  Clearly there are compensatory mechanisms at play in both situations that are drastically different.  Lastly, and here's where we probab...

Blogstress Note:  I'm trying to finish up a project outside the Asylum, have had lots of computer issues that have made this frustrating to say the least, coupled with family obligations and "real job" starting back up.  An unfinished, older, now past-its-shelf-date post went live the other day that I have since unpublished.  I may or may not re-publish it merged with another at some point. I've been meaning to weigh in on the whole Keto Clarity Academy launched by Jimmy Moore and Melanie Miller (of Evangelizing Low Carb fame), and a more in depth look will have to wait until higher priorities are fulfilled.   Here is the current front page of Keto Clarity Academy.  Finally, the stock photos have been replaced, though at this time we still don't have bios and official roles of the four ladies joining Jimmy and Melanie in this endeavor. For $75 (down from $100) you can take KETO 101 based on Jimmy's book.  The blurb on the bottom reads: ...

Jimmy Moore has been complaining a lot about criticism lately.  This is nothing new.   livinlowcarbman This comment I received today is a great teachable moment to share with you a bit more of my philosophy on how to share feedback with someone online. Thank you  @creativename79  for sharing this! * Here was my response to Kris: * I love and appreciate genuine constructive feedback and always have. It's why I've attained the level of success that I have and I'm grateful for the opportunity to be even better than I am now. * * But what you're not privy to is an intense ramping up lately of personal attacks and outright nastiness behind the scenes unlike anything I've seen in my 12+ years of doing this. I don't think it's by accident as my profile has risen in the past few years that the scrutiny of my work would be magnified even more. * * And here's the thing--allowing such stuff to linger unchallenged creates a mob ...

It appears that Tom Naughton is making the podcast rounds promoting his new nutrition book for kids.  PLEASE, leave the kids out of it!  That goes for the zealots of all extreme camps including vegans and paleo and WAPF and whatever other diet cult imaginable.   Do not indoctrinate children into your eating disordered behaviors. There are rare instances where ketogenic diets are therapeutic in children, and most of them -- epilepsy -- stay on the diet for the shortest time possible where therapeutic efficacy is achieved, and then wean from the diet. You absolutely cannot make a case for children traditionally being raised on any sort of low carbohydrate diet, not even Zone/Ludwig/Hymanesque 40% levels.  In virtually every culture, the children of both genders consume a diet similar to their mother's ... the gardeners and gatherers.  Children of Tom's generation were raised on mixed diets that included processed foods.  Obesity existed but was not com...

No ... rats have not infested Taubes' batcave replica of the AHS lecture hall.  Rather, Gary steps in it yet again with his discussion of the Cafeteria rat study in one of his lame attempts to debunk Stephan Guyenet's works on food reward.   The Cafeteria rat study he was referring to is, in my opinion, the most relevant animal study on the etiology of the modern obesity epidemic in Westernized countries.   Let's revisit the study with a post of mine:   Why We Get Fat ... Lessons from a Cafeteria Rat .  In short, you can get "normal" rats to become fat by replacing their usual chow with a high fat chow and/or a high sugar-containing chow.  But how do you get them to become really really fat?  Feed them modern American junk foods.  I'll repost some pertinent graphics from that post here.  The so-called "cafeteria rats" were provided ad libitum standard chow along with a rotating selection of three items from the list below: