Book Review: PCOS Unlocked by Stefani Ruper

UPDATE:  Stefani's response and my own, posted ~2:30 pm 1/12/13, search on "Stefani Ruper Responds"


Alternate Title:  The Creation(ism) of a Paleo Guresse

This post has been a long time in coming.  It is in the utter absence of glee or malice that I have finally put it together.  But it is a post that needs to be made, because not to do so means this phenomenon of overnight Paleo guru creation never gets a light shown on it.  

Part I of Book Review

Do not buy this book.  If you want to support Stefani Ruper's work, though I cannot see why, send her a donation instead.  If you are a women suffering from PCOS or who suspects you have PCOS, save whatever money you might spend on this book and use it towards a consultation with a medical professional and/or diagnostic tests that can help you and your doctor figure out what is going on hormonally.  I purchased that $39 paleo book package recently, and to be honest, one specific reason for doing so was to get my paws on PCOS-Unlocked without enriching Ruper's coffers.  For that price, I received 33 ebooks, among them  
PCOS Unlocked: The Manual you will be receiving is 52 pages worth; not the entire guide. Why? It has a specifically unique value and thus $47 selling price. A significant discount code to purchase the rest of the guide is inside.
The 52 pages I received were valued at an inflated $24 towards the bundle value of $479.

Aside:  I won't do recipe reviews, but if anyone is interested in a review of a specific book or general recommendation, feel free to ask in comments.  I'll do my best.   / Aside

I provide these numbers because the whole package is valued on her website by Stefani at a whopping $147.  Since the very beginning, the introductory offer was for half of that price.  She then started Cyber Monday sales of half off the half off.  Right now it's $47.  The whole package comes with some videos and such to go with the book, but according to the table of contents (no page numbers), the 52 pages I got included to the *******.

Introduction
Part I: What?
What is PCOS? 
What kinds of PCOS exist?
Who has PCOS, and what are they at risk for?
How do you know if you have PCOS?

Part II: Why?
Type I PCOS: PCOS caused by being insulin resistant and usually overweight
Type II PCOS: PCOS caused by metabolic and psychological stress
Type III PCOS: PCOS caused by hypothyroidism
Type IV PCOS: PCOS caused by brain abnormalities
Combining types of PCOS: Case studies
Discerning your type of PCOS
Factors that promote the development of PCOS

Part III: How to overcome PCOSHow to overcome PCOS: 75 percent diet, 25 percent strategy 
**************************************************  
Diet
Foods to avoid and why
Foods to eat and why
Changing our food habits: a brief Q & A about how to implement these dietary changes
Strategies for everyone
Specific strategies for type I PCOS
Specific strategies for type II PCOS
Specific strategies for type III PCOS: Hashimoto’s and non-Hashimoto’s hypothyroidismPart IV: alternative treatments

Helpful supplements for PCOS
Herbs
Foods with potent PCOS-fighting properties
Optimizing thyroid function with medication or other interventions
Medication
Ovarian DrillingPart V: Moving Forward

You will have to spend an additional $18 to get the rest.  Seeing as Ms. Ruper has only recently "cured" her PCOS after 3 years of paleo diet failure, by ... get this ... gaining some weight*, I'm going to go out on a limb and say that whatever she has to say in the rest of this manual is as vague and unfounded as possible.  Perhaps there are references somewhere, but given as she brags on this being a scientific quest, she offers no references to any of the first 53 pages.    *We do not know that she has regained regular menstruation.

Save your money.  Because (p. 43):
If you feel confused by any of this, remember the takeaway: every woman who has PCOS has it because of damage that has been caused by straying away from what her body naturally needs. And remember the guiding principle: move constantly towards natural nourishment.

Listen to your body and your blood tests, and feed yourself what you need. This means with food, and it also means with your psychology and with your actions. It is at its root very simple: eat real foods, do not stress out, love your body, and listen to your body. Be natural, and at one with yourself. ...
Just don't tell Eades!  LOL.


Part II of Book Review

Here is the "literature" from the PCOS Unlocked website:  
My name is Stefani Ruper, and I’m a scientist, philosopher, and nutritional consult [sic]. 
I was diagnosed with PCOS in the fall of 2009.  I didn’t know a thing about ovaries, about nutrition, or about hormones.  I tried finding out about hormones on the internet, and I listened to my doctor, but neither of those things helped me much at all.  How could I become fertile again?  Have a sex drive again?  Regain radiant skin?
At the time, working for NASA in an Ivy League microbiology lab, I knew that I had to apply my rigorously-honed scientific brain to the problem of PCOS.   I knew I could do it.  I could hack my PCOS.  And I did.
What followed were several years worth of research, reading hundreds, if not thousands, of medical journal articles, surfing the web, experimenting with my body, and being in dialog with hundreds of women as I moved forward and began consulting others on how to overcome their PCOS.
We'll get to some of Stefani's other claims in a moment, but for now, I want to focus on the expectations anyone reading this would (or should) have.  That is, if I ever write a book and promote it on the basis of extensive review of medical journal articles, you'd be damned sure to find a lot of said science in there as well as a list of references that would put GCBC to shame (they may not be quite as extensive, but they would be peer reviewed current cites).    So, I was wondering where this stuff was ... no hint of it in my 52 pages.  And then I got to the bottom of Page 20 to the section on Insulin Resistance.  This is key folks, because PCOS, however misunderstood or, more correctly, however much is not yet definitively known about its causes and cures,  is considered to be an IR-Syndrome.  Insulin's basic action in glucose transport, however,  is not in question.    I predict that most people reading this or who have read much about insulin in this community would find the following APPALLING.

The science of insulin resistance
Insulin is one of the primary “fat storage” hormones. When we eat food, our blood sugar levels rise. This makes sense, right? We put food in our stomachs, and it almost inevitably has some form of sugar in it, so the sugar enters our blood.  Having too high of blood sugar levels--just more than one or two teaspoons of sugar in the body at a time-- however, is toxic.  So humans have a built in mechanism in order to prevent sugar toxicity. It is called insulin.
In order to clear sugar out of the bloodstream, the pancreas secretes insulin.  Insulin finds its way to the sugar, takes hold of it, and escorts it to fat cells. We can think of sugar as a group of rowdy kids causing trouble, and of insulin as the local cop.   The insulin comes out to squash the riot and escort delinquents away for the night.
In this model, fat cells are the county jail.  When the insulin and sugar arrive at the fat cells, insulin asks the fat cells for permission to enter.  The sugar needs to be put away for a while.  In a healthy person, the fat cells “hear” this request, and immediately let the insulin in to store the sugar as fuel in the cell. In an unhealthy person, the fat cells do not have the ability to respond properly.  They do not “hear” the request, and both the sugar and insulin remain outside of the cell, in the bloodstream.
Insulin resistance is a condition that occurs of the surfaces of fat cells. In an insulin resistant body, insulin and sugar make it all the way to the surface of the fat cells—but because the metabolism has broken by poor nutrition, and this repeated cycle of hyper-driving into fat storage, the fat cells have lost the ability to hear the request to enter.  
But the sugar needs to get into the fat cells.
So when this is the case, the pancreas secretes even more insulin. Thankfully, having so much insulin in the bloodstream convinces the fat cells to finally let the sugar in for storage. This saves lives. It prevents sugar toxicity. But then there is a lot of insulin left over in the bloodstream.
The more insulin a person has in her system over time, the less and less sensitive her fat cells become to it. It becomes harder and harder for the surface of the fat cell to detect the need for it to open up for the sugar and insulin to enter. This decrease in sensitivity is called insulin resistance. The blood sugar metabolism has broken. The woman is becoming increasingly overweight as she continues to eat too many empty calories and as her metabolism tries harder and harder to keep up.  This insulin resistant woman is not always overweight, but usually the two conditions accompany each other. In either case, her insulin levels become chronically elevated.

It is too bad Stefani never actually read a basic textbook, internet tutorial, or even watched a YouTube video about how insulin works.  It is NOT how she states in the red bolded parts.   Here's a little video I "recorded" from an animation linked to in this post here:  Insulin Resistance III: Glucose Uptake and GLUT4's


The video is only 16 seconds.  The blue dots are glucose.  That pink/blue thing on the membrane surface is an insulin receptor.  Insulin (red oval) docks on the receptor which sets in motion events that "signal" the GLUT4 transporters (blue things on green circle) to migrate to the surface, then glucose passes through transporters.  Insulin doesn't grab unruly sugar molecule kids by the hand and escort them anywhere.  This is basic stuff folks.  Furthermore, in  regards to the blue bolded statement,  fat cells are not the primary sink of dietary glucose, and not even a major one.  Those would be muscle cells and the liver.  Indeed if you knock out the insulin receptors on fat cells in mice, FIRKO, they remain remarkably insulin sensitive and normoglycemic overall.  

So how can someone who gets such academic truths so blatantly incorrect even presume to know more than any doctor about PCOS?    Which brings us to ...


Stefani Ruper's Credentials

I first discovered Stefani from the occasional hits I got from paleopepper.com.  As I believe I've related before, I always found this odd because usually when I catch these sorts of things and I follow the referring URL, I find a link to a post or my blog on a blog roll.  Not so at PP.  The first post that really caught my eye was this one:   Hungry or Angry as Hell.  Following PaleoFX12 the rumblings about body image in the Paleo Village started bubbling to the surface, and at some point this post of Stefani's also caught my eye.

Stefani wrote in rather compelling fashion about eating disorders and body image and all that.  So much so, I considered blogging more on those forgotten/ignored issues more myself.  As I read a few posts she spoke of all the years she had been ED and then references to her work.  Her studies.  Her travels. Etc.  Even, her practice!  I started doing some math in my head and looked at the picture and wondered (later asked) just how old she was.  It turned out just 23 at the time.  Upon learning that, I thought to myself that at least some of her claims HAD to be exaggerations, if not flat out fabrications.  One soon learns she was no child prodigy who got a PhD at age 10 or something that might explain all the boasted expertise/experience.  No, she was your ordinary woman who went through college in the usual 4 years and all that jazz.  

I probably would have let it all drop had it not been for Stefani's rise to fame in the paleo community.  It is something that I've been aghast in watching and epitomizes all that is wrong in the LC/paleo community.   First came the Paleo for Women website, and then podcasts and guest posts and more podcasts, and then she created PCOS Unlocked.  With each appearance, milestone, and the like, I kept noticing her credentials became more bloated.  Some of these may seem trivial to non-scientists, but they are crucial to one's personal integrity in that realm.   There are also exceptions to rules where formal education is concerned.  But just as someone without formal credentials can amass knowledge and become a credible source, so too can those with some formal credentials demonstrate how they are not enough ...    Stefani's claims to hold specific degrees and/or use of specific labels and terms describing her work and practices are, at this point, beyond exaggeration.  They constitute fraud.

On Paleo Pepper, she writes:
I graduated from Dartmouth College, where I specialized in studying life on other planets. This is not a joke. This is the unparalleled brilliance of a liberal arts education. After that, I lived in Italy for a bit, in Detroit for a bit, and then in Taiwan. Today, I live in Boston. I study the philosophy of religion at Boston University, and I studying Unitarian Universalist ministry at Harvard Divinity School.
At the time, this seemed to be entirely truthful.  On her LinkedIn page, she describes herself as:  Writer, Nutrition Specialist, Counselor, and Advocate at Paleo for Women.  Blurb:
I write about, counsel on, and advocate a paleo diet specifically for women's health, fertility, and weight-loss. My work is focused in two avenues: highly critical biochemistry and health science, and fierce defense of women's natural bodies. My page's Facebook description reads: Paleo for Women is a movement. It calls women to own and to love themselves as natural, evolved beings. It demands health, it demands love, and it demands recognition of the power, beauty, and unapologetic radiance of natural womanhood.
Her experience lists ONLY: Paleo for Women January 2012 – Present (1 year 1 month) Write books, speak at conferences, contribute to magazines, blog, counsel women on nutrition and eating disorders.
Education:
Boston University, MA, Philosophy and psychology, 2011 – 2013 (expected)
Dartmouth College  High Honors BA, Biogeochemistry, 2006 – 2010
At other times she has used the term "nutritionist" which implies certification (mainstream academic or otherwise).  Counselor?  That implies some training right?  Well she once wrote:   "My work in women’s health began as an eating disorder counselor", which turned out to be some peer-to-peer gig in college.  For those not following the timeline, this would be when Stefani was in the throes of ED herself.  

But she's always promoted the Biogeochemistry angle, I think because when one is, indeed, an Earth Science major who apparently studied soil that may or may not have contained microbes, it's a hard sell to translate those qualifications to human biochemistry and physiology.  But that's what she is:   Listed here as Earth Science 2010 you should talk to her if:  "You’re struggling with which science to major in, or are feeling interdisciplinary, since my concentration is biogeochemistry. Also if you’re interested in soils or in any extra-terrestrial science."  Now, I can hear the groaners out there parlaying a concentration in biogeochemistry to a degree in same is mostly just semantics.  Trust me, to any company seeking to hire Ruper, it would be far more.  A degree in biogeochemistry would infer far greater specialization and academic study than one in earth science with a specialization.  

I have lost track of all of Stefani's claims, but her credentials have evolved over the past year, though they did not change.  It seems like some of her classes involved field work, and the professors at Dartmouth are happy to have undergraduate "grunts" (as a former graduate student "grunt" I use that term lovingly) do menial tasks on their research projects.  But in she has exaggerated that into "working for NASA".  No.  Stefani Ruper never worked for NASA.  She did some work on a project NASA funded.  Stefani has morphed into a "former research scientist".  Having never worked as such, that claim is more than appalling.   Indeed the summer before my senior year in college (and over winter break) I worked in a world-renowned research facility for a Fortune whatever-the-smallest-number-is company doing cutting edge research on silicon device fabrication.  I was out of my element as a biology major, having been hired for my chemistry background/experience to work with a bunch of mostly EE's, but I look back fondly on those times and have quite a few accomplishments I take great pride in achieving, even if I never really could tell anyone the details  -- it was that proprietary!  And yet, still, I would never have been so bold as to describe myself as a research scientist until I actually became one (in Big Pharma) after graduation.  It's like the seasonal help at HR Block claiming to be CPA's, or a customer service person at Legal Zoom claiming to be a legal aid let alone an attorney.  

I am frankly shocked nobody has said anything about Ruper's resume padding to date, but on the other hand, I'm not all that surprised by anything anymore in this community.  Stefani Ruper has a Bachelor of ARTS in Earth Science.  Period.  She has no background in cell-signaling, molecular biology, human anything, etc.  She has openly stated that she abandoned (at least temporarily) her academics at BU.  She has told us of her continued disordered eating, health challenges, and how paleo actually FAILED her.  

But here's the real kicker.  Stefani Ruper is slated to speak at PaleoFX13.  One can presume on her area of "expertise", PCOS.   Her short bio reads ... blah blah blah ... 
Stefani has degrees in biochemistry from Dartmouth College and in philosophy from Boston University. Stefani loves nothing more than her current job: empowering women not just with knowledge of nutrition and their bodies but also with love.
Say what?  I've been watching the evolution of her BA degree -- astrobiology one time, biogeochemistry most times, emphasis on microbiology once or twice.  But now, it is biochemistry.  That is NOT a typo.  And that is a LIE.  Stefani has no degree in biochemistry from anywhere.  I'm not even sure she has taken a course in biochemistry.  But even more blatant is the fraudulent claim to a degree from BU.  There aren't even any claims of working in the capacity of scientist post graduation.

Oh but Evelyn, perhaps it's the PaleoFX folks who wrote the bios and they got things a little off.  No.  I wrote to them to ask and Michelle Norris emailed me back and confirmed my suspicions:  Bios are submitted by the speakers.  Of course we cannot know who wrote them, but considering Stefani's short bio, etc., she most assuredly wrote hers or could have taken five seconds to peruse it for accuracy before sending it off.    Michelle asked me about what error I was inquiring about and that it would be corrected and the speaker informed.  Let us see what becomes of that.  I informed her of the information regarding credential fraud as outlined in this post.  I'll be emailing her a link to this post.  

So here's how a Stefani Ruper goes from college grad trying to find herself to PCOS authority in less than a year.  She writes a post critical of Mark Sisson, one I found lacking in any kapow factor.  Sorry, I have criticized the man, but for some sort of sexism and failure to cater to women's issues, no.  And he's not some sort of fasting zealot either.  Indeed if someone said fasting and asked me to name the top 5 names I'd associate with it, I'm not sure he'd make the list.   But Nikoley took note.  Nikoley also actively trolled for page hits by exploiting Jack Kruse for all it was worth.  This made Abel James, a man with abs and a great radio voice, and a Dartmouth education, a podcast rockstar overnight.  And then someone put bugs in Stefani's ear and Paleo for Women got a few makeovers, she did a guest post on FTA that in-yo-face threw her sistas under the bus -- oh never mind, I don't feel the love LOL.  And then she started a podcast and interviewed Jimmy and Abel interviewed her and it's all a rather disgusting Incestral Health Society thang going on.  On Jimmy's Low Carb Conversations she promoted PCOS Unlocked.  She, Jimmy, Abel and Dean "Dude I'm a Neurosurgeon" Dwyer guest hosted for Sean Croxton.  And the Balanced Bites ladies are promoting her book and she went on their podcast and I think they went on hers, and Jimmy went on hers and twice on Abels and on Balanced Bites (Diane Sanfilippo and Liz Wolfe, no relation to Robb Wolf) ... and round and round we go, where we stop the insanity, who the eff knows!!!  

In a few weeks, this group is scheduled to do guest appearances on JimKKKins Moore's podcast.   Will they?   In Ruper's case, why should SHE be invited to do so?  Does she have any experience?  Nope.  Education?  Nope.  Expertise gained in some other manner?  Nope.    And let's see what PaleoFX does with this as well.  She was not on the list last time I checked in the fall, she's among several later additions.  I know they are more "theory to practice" which if Ruper was what she claimed to be, would be a perfect fit for her.  But she is not, and they know it now several weeks in advance.   Let's see if they can even do the right thing with a small player.  If they cannot?  That said, this is not only on the organizers of PaleoFX ... it is a test for the community.  **They failed to properly vet Jack Kruse, NEUROSURGEON!, in 2011-12, and look where that got them.  Well, lots of bad publicity they blamed on a few women they didn't give a sh!t about and were easy targets, that's what.  Will they repeat history with Stefani Ruper, EarthScience Major?  2013 shall be an interesting ride.



** EXTREMELY IMPORTANT NOTE:  When I wrote this, I never in a million years felt that PaleoFX -- the Norrises -- were involved in what comes after the ** above aside from being part of the community as a whole.  They = Paleo Community.  That was the point of  the "this is not only on the organizers of PaleoFX"  but I can see how this is not clear and can make the rest seem as if I'm referring to them specifically.  THEY, PFX folks, DID NOT BLAME ANYONE.  Indeed my recollection of events of the time of the whole bioterrorism, FBI, etc. fiasco is that they were extremely helpful especially behind the scenes.  There was a FORMER business partner involved on some of the threats and such made in emails, but this had nothing to do with them.  I apologize for this error and have left my original wording intact with this explanation.  I stand by the statement that PaleoFX and basically the entire community did not properly vet Jack Kruse.  MANY had been speaking out about this guy's utter mangulation (made up word) of science and such.  Too many fell for the "dude I'm a neurosurgeon" line because ... well ... he is (was?) one and he baffled with bullshit.  However when he appeared at FX12, it was with a few crazy statements on a Jimmy Moore podcast, at PH, at the Paleo Summit and his Holy Trinity post -- that came just before PaleoFX inaugural event.  I'm sure they had no clue he was to pull the dynamite stunt, etc.  and were probably (speculation on my part here) biting nails hoping he wouldn't make a mockery of their event.  TEDx -- with the smearing MRSA claims and such -- came afterwards, and Krusegate much later still.  When I was referring to finger points of blame it was to the ultimate fallout of Krusegate, again where my recollection was nothing BUT support from Michelle and Keith.  I recall Michelle posting on PH about this but don't have the link.  If anyone can supply one, I'd greatly appreciate it.

So to repeat/summarize:  I do believe this community as a whole needs to do some soul searching about vetting its "experts".  Whether its speakers with questionable behavior within the community (Nikoley) or questionable affiliations and/or professional behavior/ethics (Moore), or, in this case questionable credentials and content (Ruper), there's got to be more careful vetting and consequences when people lie or misrepresent or make up wild theories in the name of science.

My apologies to Michelle (and Keith) for any distress my original wording may have caused.


Stefani Ruper Responds & My Reply

Stefani has responded to this post in the comments section.  If you want to read them, free of commentary first, scan down and do so now (it might be quickest to use a browser search on "Hi all").  But rather than have to diggle with formatting, character limits and all that on my own blog, I'm C&P'ing them to the blog post proper with commentary.  Stefani's words will be indented italics, and further only those parts to which I'm specifically responding will be in regular size font and bolded.  Mine will be usual unformatted
Hi all,
While a bit of a shock, I am happy that these possibly misleading misteps or mistakes in my past and bio are being pointed out so any bad air can hopefully be cleared. I am also honored to hear your ideas and your comments. That is not a lie-- Evelyn, I understand where you are coming from. I do. I hope that everyone approaches me and my work and the work of people on the internet with as much information and skepticism as possible.
There are two explicit things about the bio that I would like to explain, agree with, and apologize publicly for. The informaion is in fact a typo on the paleo fx site about my Dartmouth degree. It is a degree in biogeochemistry-- when asked about what that means I tell people openly and happily. It is about microorganisms interacting with organic and inorganic chemistry in the environment. I studied microbes and bacteria under microscopes primarily, writing my undergraduate thesis on the viability of Ecoli cells to survive extreme temperatures and pressures, which has unique implications for the possibility of life to exist in the interior of terrestrial planets.
First, let me say that my initial questioning of Ruper's scientific rigor came when I read this January 2012 post where she mentioned how she was introduced to paleo by Nora Gedgaudas.  I have nothing against Nora as a person.  I do not know her.  But her book, Primal Body, Primal Mind,   would be close to the top or at the top of paleo books that I would suggest not reading.  Her science of metabolism is atrocious, having claimed that all body fat comes from glucose, attributing that to a major medical textbook, yet cannot provide an exact reference.  She defended this to me in an email exchange once "I didn't make it up".  My challenge holds for anyone to find such a statement in any college textbook.  There are many other things wrong with her book from misrepresenting the peer review she does reference, relying primarily on mass media diet books for her science, particularly on leptin (Rosedale), and her accounting of history of the human species.  By bottom line on Nora's book is that no person with a basic education in human biochem/physiology could take anything in the book seriously after reading her mangling of it in PBPM.  In January 2011, she wrote about her worried Mom giving her PBPM:
I was a scientist, and it was a principle of mine to be as open minded as possible. Fine. I’d do it. But I was not happy. “Mom,” I choked out on the phone, trying to get some privacy in a packed student commons “even if it turns out that it’s healthier for me to eat animals, I won’t do it. It’s not right, and I’m not willing to make that sacrifice.”
Well, I did. I read Nora’s book and marked with sticky notes where I thought she was wrong. But by page 60 I stopped that hyper-sensitive, unfair nitpicking. I had studied evolutionary biology. I had read popular science books. And I had common sense. My life became a series of Duhs. I lived in a house full of vegetarians, and I began trying to get them to read Mark Sisson’s Primal Blueprint, which I had also read, and loved fiercely.
Sometime in 2012 for the PfW site, this morphed to:
So I read the book and I highlighted all the points I wanted to contest, and I put little sticky notes in the margins, but by page 60 I was sold. I needed to eat a paleo diet.
So I did.
And I became wholly invested in natural health. My undergraduate degree was in biogeochemistry, and I was in fact a tutor in organic chemistry, so both the biochemical principles as well as the general scientific rigor of what the paleo authors were espousing were enormously compelling. I began applying my background and a general critical eye to all the literature I could possibly find, and my brain, philosophy, and passion all began to grow. I loved and read so much that in fact I compiled several hundred posts about a year ago into a“paleo archive” that serves as a thorough snapshot of the evolutionary scene at that time.
So here is where you can imagine I was shaking my head, because the way I see it, someone who has an Ivy League, or even a community college education in anything relevant, would recognize the science of PMPB (as well as, unfortunately, much of what Mark Sisson -- BA Biology) as anything but rigorous.  I was not familiar with exactly what biogeochemistry entailed, so I did a quick Google search to see what this involved.  It turns out there is no such major at Dartmouth, but there is quite a bit of biogeochemistry research going on there in the Earth Sciences department.  You'll note that there's a students link in the search I took while writing this.  I'm not sure how it was that I landed eventually on a similar page featuring Stefani herself.  

I'm quite frankly appalled by the number of people with degrees in Biology (as I hold) or related fields in this community that parlay that "expertise" into promoting scientifically unsound theories.  Gimmickry is one thing, making shit up or relying on Good Calories Bad Calories for your understanding of biochemistry/physiology is unacceptable ... or it should be.  This is why I looked to see what exactly Stefani studied for her major with "bio" in it, because the education varies widely from institution to institution.  My degree, being from an engineering school where virtually all freshman take two semesters of calculus (our 2 semesters = 3 semesters at most schools), calculus based physics and general chemistry (on the order of chemistry for science majors), and as a bio major I took my first biology classes.    I compare this general science background to that other bio majors receive and it is just *different*.   In some cases that provides plausible deniability (they never learned otherwise), in others it demonstrates inflated credentials and statements made from a falsified position of knowledge/authority.

Now, Stefani has deleted her initial responses here and replaced them.  Not good form, I might point out.  I believe I have the originals saved, but can't find them at the moment, so I'll address mostly what was here earlier today.  However, it is telling that in her original reply, Stefani basically accused me of mocking her degree or considering it somehow inferior.  To paraphrase she said something like "you can continue to think that I skated by in some second class major" -- perhaps she'll clarify for us.  This is the reason for my expressed disgust below.   Firstly I never even addressed her academic performance.  Not once.  I have also never dissed either her major or institution.  I do think it is important, since she certainly highlights her Ivy League education -- something I'd be equally proud of having, as I am proud of the institutions I've attended -- that just exactly what that education was matters.  It matters a lot.

Look, I had arguments with my Dad, who if he had his way I would be an engineer today, about where I'd go to college.  I was a finalist for a full scholar-athlete scholarship program at a liberal arts school that only offered a BA, not a BS.  My parents were adamant that they would not pay for me to get a BA, so you can imagine I was a little crushed when I didn't get the scholarship.  In retrospect a good thing, because as difficult as it was for a bio major to find gainful employment in the 80's (almost every job I managed to get  interviewed for paid $10-15K/year while my engineering friends were getting offers in the mid 30's+ to put in perspective, and I had a good resume), I would not have stood a chance with that BA, and my graduate pursuits were a smoother transition having taken calc based physics and the like which most bio majors simply do not take.  But enough about me....  

I'm just abhored by the bastardization of science in this community.  It is unacceptable.  If the people that are so concerned over their movement, and getting the mainstream medical establishment to revise their past errors, are really serious, they can start with revising their's.  Junk science will never go mainstream.  Never.  Isn't the health of the population more important?  So back to Stefani.

She is listed as an Earth Science major here.  You will note that the other student's study field specifically includes a formal minor.  Dartmouth does not offer an undergrad degree in Biogeochemistry, and while, according to that page, students can receive specialized degrees for individualized majors, there's no indication this is the case for Stefani.  So, I believe at this point, the onus is on her to provide proof of her actual degree from Dartmouth.  What does it say on the diploma?  Back to the comments as they stand today:
My apologies for wherever that transmission occurred-- I would like to shoulder the blame for that misstep whether through autocorrect or editing or poor editing on my end, I do not know. I do understand some biochemstry and have studied it. But I am by no means an expert in it.
That is not really the impression one gets from the PCOS Unlocked promo materials and what you wrote on the About page there:
I have since then shared my breadth and depth of knowledge about PCOS and female health with thousands of women through the Paleo for Women website, fertility forums, and the several hundred email consultations I have performed.

All of that work on PCOS required a discerning eye, a sharp scientific mind, and research expertise. That came to me through years of rigorous education. I graduated with high honors from Dartmouth College with a degree in biogeochemistry; I performed research on the biochemical origin of life..
Ummm ... Sigh.  Back to the response:
My second importance piece and apology is about my degree at Boston University. The problem with my bios over the last year or so is that the course of my life has changed so frequently. At first I thought I would graduate in May 2013, then I thought "fuck it!" and quit and signed up for Functional Diagnostic Nutritional School, then I thought I would hold a degree before Paleofx.  Different course offerings and changes in my life have meant that that date has been pushed around.  At the time I wrote the bio that said I was quitting school, that was true. I believe it has changed since then. It was on my blog. At the time I wrote that bio for Paleofx, I had thought I'd have a degree in my hands at that time, and at the very worst and egregious 30 days following the conference (since the graduation date would have been the semester before or that semester.) Yes, I have returned to my studies since thinking that I would quit them and enroll in FDN school, but my graduation date is still flexible and moving backwards a bit of time.
I'm happy to learn that you have resumed your formal study.  For someone so unsure about your education, it was extreme hubris to write a bio about actually having a degree.  Period.  It wasn't an oversight, I don't accept that and neither should the community at large, but anything seems to go in Paleolocaland it seems.   
Michele has changed the bio to say "pursuing a degree in philosophy." She was absolutely certain to make sure that the bio was correct, and I could not agree with her more.
That makes it all better.  Not.  I provided Michelle with my cell phone number two days ago and she indicated she would call.  I have not to the time/date of this update received any further response, email or phone.  (I'll email a link alerting her to the update).  What is Stefani going to speak about at PaleoFX?  Eating disorders?  Huh?  The woman just wrote a blog post discussing how going Gedgaudas-style VLC paleo/primal triggered eating disorders and didn't work for her!!  There seems to be little evidence she's made much progress on that front.  Kvetching in emails with other eating disordered people isn't counseling, and she has no business counseling without formal training or a solid record of recovery herself.  Same with  PCOS.  Totally and utterly unqualified based on education, or expertise -- formal or personal.  I'm sure it will reflect well on PaleoFX that one of their speakers just recently wrote about how going paleo actually made matters worse for her.   Theory to practice and all that ...   Onward ...
I had not known that I was listed on the speakers list for paleo fx. I was in fact saddened when I didn't see my name on the list in December because I had hoped to be able to be included in a paleo [sic, panel?] or such about emotional eating, etc. So I did not know there was a bio out there that needed correcting. When Michele told me this morning that I was listed on her website I was surprised.
Geesh folks.  How do these various pow wows go about things anyway.  I mean did she submit a bio or pitch a talk or something with said submission?  It seems it's just the Norrises running the show there.  To date Michelle, at least, has shown little to no concern over Stefani's credentials.  They put her on the list of speakers on their website before informing her?  Huh?  While there's always the "tentative" out, surely being listed as a speaker on the website selling admission to/promoting their event.  This is ... just ... odd. 
Those are the two elements of my bio for which I think you have every right to be concerned and upset, and for that reason I apologize, and with deep sincerity. I ask your forgiveness in my falibility and my inattention to detail in both regards. I understand, however, that it may not be given, and I am at ease with that. Sometimes we make mistakes that are not forgiveable, or that do not still make up for the whole of our personas, and I am okay with that. Please love me if you love me, and do not if you do not. I believe that I shall always respect your opinions.
This is not personal Stefani, and I really do wish you would not diminish meaning of the word love in this way.   You don't love me because you don't know me to love me!  You throw that word around so as to make it meaningless.  If I were one of your true loved ones, I'd be wondering over your sincerity based on your pap and platitudes.  Just sayin ...
There are a few other relevant pieces I believe need addressing.I have called myself a "nutritionist" a couple of times when first starting out as a big mistake and a misunderstanding of the officialness of the term. Once I learned it, however, I never used it again.
I'm going to take some license here and juxtapose a later statement out of order and address both.
As for being a "former research scientist," this is the truth, since I was paid outside of my school curriculum on time I took off from my undergraduate work as a research assistant. Some of this work was funded by a NASA grant, another focused on meteorites. Another piece of it contributed to a part currently on a rover on Mars.
You are really stretching my patience here.  Somehow you are now so concerned with the "officialness" of the term nutritionist, yet fail to comprehend the meaning of scientist.  I'll repeat that on your PU main page it says as of today:  "My name is Stefani Ruper, and I’m a scientist, philosopher, and nutritional consult."    I'll let the philosophers worry about your boasts in that regard, but sorry Stefani, your lack of comprehension of the "officialness" of the term scientist is astounding.  Elsewhere you have described the NASA work as being in a Dartmouth lab, so it's absurd to continue on this track to justify your resume inflation.  You know this is wrong even in the past tense, but it's used in the present tense in your promotional information to imply *expertise* on your part.  While scientist means different things to different people, within the field, it is well understood.  The fact that you show reverence and deference for the term nutritionist -- officialish for sure, but you or I could get a certificate in a month that would entitle us to use that term, it's not like an RD for example -- but throw around the term scientist to infer expertise with such utter disregard is beyond words.  No?  You don't do that?  Well, let the following repeat quotation speak for itself:   "All of that work on PCOS required a discerning eye, a sharp scientific mind, and research expertise. That came to me through years of rigorous education. I graduated with high honors from Dartmouth College with a degree in biogeochemistry; I performed research on the biochemical origin of life."
I AM, however, a nutritional consultant, since I have have clients and spoken with them about diet. I also started a business in 2012 that did a bit of eating disorder counseling. But I found that I did not have as much time for it as I would have liked, so I have not grown it into a full practice. Still, however, I coach women through self love and eating disorder issues when they contact me. Often I direct them to other women I know with different specialities who can help them better. But sometimes it is my advice and support that they are craving, so I give it to them. I am open about the fact that my training in eating disorder counseling comes only from informal classes and volunteering and such for the last several years. I believe that my experience and my empathy are powerful for many women, however. I resonate with them. If they do not want my services, they do not need to ask me of them, obviously. And I do not think -- and I am certainly in no way trying to do so -- that I mislead them about who I am, what I've done, what I think, and what I stand for. I am a woman with a few credentials and experiences that I am open about, and I invite you to judge me however you wish.
What you are doing sounds an awful lot like practicing something without a license.  And since you have repeatedly and publicly discussed your own issues with both nutrition and eating patterns (and health), there's no doubt some misrepresentations going on there as well.   Lastly -- in the only part of the original response Stefani did not delete and edit:
It has been my experience and perspective that my credentials have become less and less "bloated" over time --that is, I immediately recognized the error in calling myself a nutritionist and even pursuing that as an official path-- as I realize the truth of my path, how things are done in the real world, and my level of accountability to my readers. I am constantly open to being corrected.
Consider yourself corrected then.  Because your credentials vis a vis your science background have become more and more bloated over this past year.  I've pretty much been biting my tongue about that since PU came out in October.  Your self-promoting claims were so over the top I thought surely someone, anyone, would call you on it so I wouldn't have to!  But no!!  Around and around the affiliate links went with absolutely no qualms or reservations.  
One example of this is in my struggles with PCOS Unlocked and sharing it with people. How do I sell something I believe in, even when I hate so much to sell myself and to ever do any kind of convincing? Which I do, and strongly? I first heeded the advice of many advocates and tried to use marketing techniques for better sales, but then I hated that so much that I backed down, but I still had some language about "curing" PCOS in the website left over and that was horrible, and so upon realizing that I eliminated that right away.
You have fall-off-my-chair GOT to be kidding me Stefani.  There is language all over your website that is synonymous with cure:  "overcoming",  "overcoming ... for good", and the, frankly, disgusting put downs of the medical establishment that just doesn't have the knowledge of that expert, Stefani Ruper.   This screenshot is from this morning.

Now I can see missing some stuff at the bottom of some secondary page, but this is at the top of your main page for the book.  Expert.  Overcome [grammar sic] will be solved, for good.    But speaking of "cure", no, you have not scrubbed that from your website while promoting yourself.  On the bottom of the About page, behold a screenshot I just took:


Beyond words Stefani.  You have not cured your own PCOS!!!!!  (Heck, I could be wrong, but I seem to recall you at least wondering if you ever had PCOS at all and weren't misdiagnosed all along.)
Much of this has been a journey for me. I apologize if I have misled you. That was in no way my intention. Honestly-- in no way. I have been overwhelmed at times and inattentive with this "rise to fame" (which I believe has plateued, thank goodness, and even specifically declined after the fasting issues and such this summer), all the while doing my best to provide what I think is helpful information for my readers. Not everyone agrees, and I am okay with that. But some women find what I do helpful, and that is the only reason I have stayed in this endeavor. 
PCOS-Unlocked with all its outrageous braggadocio was released in October if I'm not mistaken.  If, as you say, your "rise to fame" was in decline, why was not more attention to detail given?  But please don't insult me or my readers with this nonsense.  You had a golden opportunity to help women in this community following AHS12 when Richard Nikoley ratched his vulgarity laced attacks against women up, and all we got from you was a middle finger in the face because it was more fun to hang out with a misogynist who thinks you are hot.  Sickening Stefani.   You were called on it in the comments here on my blog, but you stayed cowardly silent.  In this regard the very name of your website is offensive as you seem to be some self-appointed voice and advocate for women.  Bull SHIT Stefani.  You got all up in arms over Ron Rosedale making some comment that required some truly creative interpretation to view as sexist, and yet when Nikoley went off on an AHS volunteer for daring to address some issues regarding sexism in the community?  Silence.  Oh ... except to come to this blog and accuse me of being angry.  You better damned well believe I was angry.  Anger is not an emotion women are forbidden to have young lady.  I sure as hell wasn't feeling love!  Pap and platitudes and throwing the word love around doesn't change that, it makes you seem silly.  As of today I am unsure what happened to that woman, I'm not even sure she is alive as my last email went unanswered.   Eh ... where was her love Stefani?   But this is just some venting that needed to be done and isn't really relevant to my assessment of your book, etc.
As a final quick note, my apologies, Evelyn-- all of the references -- all 25 pages of them -- come at the very end of the manual and I did not append them to the first half that I cut off for the Toadally Primal Bundle.
Well, how odd for a self-proclaimed scientist to reference a book but make no use of footnotes of any kind.    Since this is ultimately about your piss-poor discussion of insulin's action (I take you on your word that you fashioned your patently false police analogy yourself), perhaps you can give us a reference for that "biochemistry".  The point of references is so that if people want to read more, they can easily find the source.  Do people have to waste what could be hours pouring over 25 pages to find the sources of whatever information you provide in the remainder of the book?  Are they in chronological order of citation?  Or alphabetical order, an utterly useless organization when inline author citations are absent.  Or are they organized by chapter?  If so you could easily C&P the references for the first 52 pages so we're not all cheated out of the full $24 value of this part of your book.  
There are many more points to address, but I believe these are the important ones.
I again apologize for any harm that has ever come to anyone as a result of my efforts. I have zero intention to mislead anybody. I have great love for you, and I am sorry. I do my best to walk as gently, helpfully, and strongly, and honestly in this world. I am young, but if I can help people, I absolutely will.

All my best regards,
Stefani
Nobody wants you to stop helping people.  But without the proper training and real expertise you are just taking advantage of them and perhaps even hurting them.  This is why I said in my review that any potential buyers of your book should save their money and use it towards getting competent care from people trained in the field.  This is repetitive, but I'm not feeling the love, not to mention an offensive lack of respect, from you for doctors.  What did they ever do to you?  This is an extremely harmful theme that pervades this community.  That just because modern medicine doesn't have all the answers and may have gotten some things wrong, that they have it all wrong.  That they are all out to make a buck off of your suffering and medications and dietary recommendations they foist upon you to line the pockets of their Big Pharma and Big Food puppetmasters.   I realize some of this has probably been hurtful to read.  But the truth hurts Stefani, but people deserve to know it.  It's really too bad so many in paleoloca land are not only so fast and loose with the truth, but seemingly can't handle it when it's put right in front of their faces.

There are all manner of sayings regarding helping others but it being best to first help oneself.  I think they apply here.



COMING SOON:   What Will It Take?  A chronicling of events surrounding various paleo and LC peeps that should have woken people up,  forced some manner of accountability, and forged real change in the community.  If you have any ideas you think I might miss or don't want me to forget, please suggest in comments or you can email me:  carbsane at gmail dot com.  

Comments

Diana said…
Stefani Ruper: (Date?)" We can think of sugar as a group of rowdy kids causing trouble, and of insulin as the local cop."

James Krieger (October 2010)
"Insulin…More of a Traffic Cop than Storage Hormone"

LINK:
http://weightology.net/weightologyweekly/?page_id=711

Hmmm.......

I propose a theory. Stefani Ruper is a government agent, sicc'ed on the Paleo community to discredit and destroy it from within.

Maybe not. Maybe she's just a plagiarist and a fraud.
CarbSane said…
LOL, Once I was outed, my BigAg backers needed to find a new mole ;) But had she plagiarized JamesK, she would have gotten int right, so no chance there!
Unknown said…
Each of my posts has a value of $689 and you get to read them for free.
Diana said…
Look, as far as I'm concerned, she's right in her element. The whole Paleo crowd has revealed themselves to be charlatans. Why not one more?

The fact that a girl (that's what she is, not gonna bow to the PC pressure to call her a woman) of no particular accomplishments can hustle her way to the top of a group of nitwits says everything about them.

Meanwhile, there is a real woman who blogs at a place called "Go Kaleo" who would be perfect for them - formerly obese, now a muscle fiend - but she's too tough and strong and mature for them. She could knock them on their asses. That's why she'll never go anywhere in the Paleo cult.
Diana said…
I meant she may have plagiarized the analogy. Not the concept, which she totally cocked up.
Unknown said…
I used to very occasionally read paleo pepper blog. She didn't get many comments and all of a sudden she seems to be popular.
Unknown said…
I completely reversed 25 years of PCOS. I've been symptom free for almost 5 years now.

I'm not selling a PCOS cure though.
Ev Barney said…
Thanks for mentioning that - I took a look and she looks worth reading.
Grinch said…
Regarding Paleo crowd being charlatans....does that also apply to Anthony Colpo, who distances himself from the Paleo crowd, but also recommends the Paleo diet as the optimal diet for humans?

CarbSane said…
Colpo recommends paleo, let alone any specific diet, as optimal for all humans? That's not how I've read him over the past few years. I can only comment on that which I've read since somewhere in 2009 that in most cases would include older stuff for some bloggers that is still available. In Colpo's case, I haven't gone back in the archives. Perhaps you can assist me with links to his claims that Paleo = optimal.
CarbSane said…
I believe the popularity is an illusion. Her Paleo for Women blog does not get a lot of comments either. I have found the occasional (free) article on her blog more informative than I found the 52 pages of her book.
CarbSane said…
Maybe you should ;-) You know, I'd have a lot more respect for Ruper if she wrote a book entitled How I Cured My PCOS. But that's not what she's written, and she couldn't write that book.

CarbSane said…
Kaleo is inspiring.
Diana said…
If you cured your PCOS you should write a book about it. Why not? I think it's a great idea. You've walked the walk and you can write. You could help people.

The worst thing about ditzes like Ruper is that one has a temptation to dismiss everything they say, even when what they say may have validity.

I don't know shit about PCOS, don't have to, it's not my problem ("high cholesterol" is). So when I read Ruper ascribing PCOS to IR, my first gut reaction was to say, "bullshit." I then googled PCOS and I was sent to WebMD, where I learned that it is caused by "changes in hormone levels."

At that point I ground my teeth. That is not a cause - that is the definition. What CAUSES the changes in hormone levels? Read on:

"There may be one or more causes for the hormone level changes. PCOS seems to run in families, so your chance of having it is higher if other women in your family have PCOS, irregular periods, or diabetes. PCOS can be passed down from either your mother's or father's side."

Oh well, what doesn't run in families? Jeez, that's like saying, your genes run in your family. Thanks, WebMD! (To be fair, they do list "exercise and a healthy diet" as treatments -- along with meds.)

Nowhere on WebMD is it mentioned that PCOS might have to do with IR.

LINK:
http://women.webmd.com/tc/polycystic-ovary-syndrome-pcos-topic-overview?page=3

So if I were suffering from PCOS, I'd still be in the dark, having sensibly rejected "woo".

On the other hand, if I were to read YOUR blog first, I'd give the IR theory a try, rather than dismissing it out of hand.

That's the kind of damage people like Ruper do - their fakery besmirches some good ideas. That's true generally of the Paleo crowd. Their cholesterol criticism has some validity.
Diana said…
Colpo is no charlatan and he is not part of the Paleo crowd. Period.

http://anthonycolpo.com/the-whole-grain-scam/

Eating white rice isn't Paleo. I happen to disagree with Colpo on the above, and I'm not gonna go there, but no one who eats white rice can be regarded as Paleo.

Yes, I now regard the Paleo crowd as utter charlatans. They really have no idea how Paleo person truly ate. We just don't have all the evidence, probably never will, but more evidence is being uncovered that Paleo person ate carbohydrates (in the form of fruit and starches) whenever s/he could. The whole idea of the mostly-meat diet is simply bullshit, based both on an incomplete record and cherrypicked data.

Except in the case of the extinct Neandertals. We have good evidence that they were carnivorous. And they are gone.
CarbSane said…
Ya know Diana, the cholesterol part of GCBC is quite good. Folks point that out to me all of the time and I'd have to agree. However the obesity part is incredibly bad. Once I got my hands on Newsholme & Start (he used to use scanned figures from that book in his lectures so that one I know he's read or at least owns) and read how that seminal reference said the opposite of what he wrote in the book, I was besides myself. That is the kind of thing that if found in a peer review study would be grounds for retraction and perhaps even sanction. It should have been met with a formal retraction and explanation ... instead he and Jimmy avoided it while sneering at the anonymous female blogger (and I don't for a minute think mentioning my gender was unintentional or w/o specific purpose). But I digress ... Point being, with all of the problems exposed in the obesity section, it makes you wonder about the cholesterol part. Luckily you have people like the great Malcolm Kendrick out there saying much the same things so even a broken clock is right twice a day ;)
Chris said…
Gokaleo is an excellent blog
CarbSane said…
Further: I wish a lot of these book authors would write "How I ..." books rather than yet another health, diet, etc. book claiming to have the key for all. It IS enough to share your story rather than making up garbage theories or fashioning diet advice for others based, sometimes, not even on what worked for you.
Larry Eshelman said…
I've read both of Anthony Colpo's books as well as all his articles on his website, and it is clear that he is not part of the Paleo crowd.

However, when he wrote his first book, The Great Cholesterol Con, he leaned toward low carb. But based on personal experience and the evidence he soon rejected the low carb dogma. He explains why in:
http://anthonycolpo.com/why-low-carb-diets-are-terrible-for-athletes-part-1/
http://anthonycolpo.com/why-low-carb-diets-are-terrible-for-athletes-part-2/

Also relevant is:
http://anthonycolpo.com/carbohydrates-are-good-dogma-is-evil/
Unknown said…
Even if I knew exactly what Paleo person ate why should I eat the same? Paleo guy was an ignorant bastard who couldn't count past one, whereas I have the benefit of several thousand years of scientific progression.
Unknown said…
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Grinch said…
I have read both Fat Loss Bible and Great Cholesterol Con. Colpo dismisses low carb diets and fad dieters in general, but he clearly says in one of the books that he advocates the foods on the Paleo diet, I can find you the quote sometime this evening. In both books 90% of the foods he recommends are compatible with the Paleo diet.
CarbSane said…
Ridiculous argument Dave. The Paleo people can't even agree on a single diet, so I don't know how you can say he recommends 90% or any percent paleo-compatible foods. Secondly, I didn't realize paleo had the corner on selecting foods. If I recommended salads and salmon, that would not mean I was saying that Ronald Hoffman's (a doc who used to have a radio show around here) salmon and salad diet was optimal? C'mon. I'll tell you what, when the paleotards (that's what Colpo calls them so I'll borrow his term here) agree on their optimal diet, I'll revisit this.

Meanwhile Paleo Life magazine is going to be featuring JimKKKins Moore. His diet is anything but paleo.
Diana said…
"Ya know Diana, the cholesterol part of GCBC is quite good. Folks point that out to me all of the time and I'd have to agree. However the obesity part is incredibly bad."

Good Gary, Bad Gary?

:)
Unknown said…
Evelyn,

I have to be honest here, and I don't even hold this against Colpo because who knows, he might be correct. However, he is absolutely not interested in dwelling on the cholesterol question. It is aptly highlighted by the conclusions of his journal contribution, LDL -- Bad Cholesterol or Bad Science?

His recommendation in one of the editions of his book is that carbohydrate intake should correlate with activity levels. I just don't know how to approach this topic other than to say that he is of the opinion that fat is the optimal fuel and carbohydrate is the supplementing power-factor for those who are active athletes.

And Diane, do you really think 'the whole grain scam' doesn't share overlaps with Paleo thinking. Wasn't there a discussion on here about benefits of whole grains and how taking nutritionally devoid processed grains might not be such a great idea?
Larry Eshelman said…
[I posted this earlier, but it seems to have disappeared -- sorry if it appears twice.]

This is the opening paragraph of a post dated Oct 30, 2011 where Anthony Colpo refers to the paleo crowd as 'paleotards':
http://anthonycolpo.com/more-whole-grain-and-vegan-bollocks-debunked/

"In the last Reader Mail segment, I responded to Ralph Cinque's objections to my whole grain criticisms. Yours truly believes the whole grain/cereal fibere hype is a load of unscientific hogwash, and notes that in clinical trials increased wheat fibre intake has actually produced adverse results. Ralph, however, still disagrees, and downplays the trial results. He's also asked me to comment on a series he wrote attacking the Paleo commentators who appeared at the recent Ancestral Ignorance...uh, I mean, Ancestral Health symposium. Ralph seems like a nice enough bloke, and the Paleotards are indeed worthy of Brontosaurus-sized criticism, but his series contained so many errors and dubious assumptions about meat, protein, fibre and veganism that I couldn't help but post a dissenting critique."

Laura Semmens said…
I want to mention another point that pertains to the fact that many of these "Incestral Health Society " (god, you should trademark that, it's brilliant!) types are publishing in ebook formats. Thus, there are no objective Amazon reviews out there. Personally, I buy from Amazon frequently and find it to be overall a good measure of books.

I made the mistake of mentioning that I thought George Bryant's ebook was pricy at $39. Instantly he was defended and the suthor piped up to thank his supporters. Many of the reviewers probably get the books free in exchange for their positive reviews. There is absolutely no way for me to get an objective opinion on many books because of the way they are sold.
Grinch said…
Evelyn, which foods does Colpo recommend that are not considered healthy by Paleo dieters? And which foods is Colpo against eating that are considered healthy by Paleo dieters? You will see there is very little difference. Colpo recommends the same foods, but what differs is the rationale, and the science behind it, as well as where carbs fit in.

Colpo believes that carbs are optimal for physical health and performance, and Colpo believes EVERYONE should eat a high carb diet because EVERYONE should be physically active. He believes someone who is sedentary should not eat a high carb diet, but since he is against being sedentary, he will never recommend a low carb diet.

You clearly have not read his books, otherwise you wouldn't be arguing what I'm saying. You are showing a lack of objectiveness by trying to debate something you haven't even read!
Laura Semmens said…
ETA: I mentioned this on a big Facebook paleo group.
CarbSane said…
I'm not arguing what you are saying because it's a strawman. I've read FLB, and although I have it, never got around to reading GLC. Of what relevance is this to this blog post? None.

Colpo definitely seems to believe, as Kade noted, that carb consumption should be tied to activity level. I'm getting close to publishing up a post arguing otherwise so on that I may disagree with him. So?
Grinch said…
Its relevant because Colpo recommends the same diet that people consider to be a charlatan diet. How can one respect Colpo and at the same time reject the Paleo diet?
log said…
"Ya know Diana, the cholesterol part of GCBC is quite good."

I used to believe this too, but I'm not so sure anymore. Just a quick google search shows almost all of the criticisms of the lipid hypothesis coming from alternative medicine or paleo type sources. I don't see much criticism from mainstream science.

Honestly, those Plant Positive videos really turned me around on this. I know, the guy's an "evil vegan" (I'm not, and don't plan on ever being one), but once I actually watched some of those videos I was shocked at how compelling they were. Now, I'm not a trained scientist, just an enthusiastic laymen, so obviously take my opinion with a grain of salt.
Diana said…
@Kade: "And Diane, do you really think 'the whole grain scam' doesn't share overlaps with Paleo thinking."

Are you asking me, Diana? Only Galina is allowed to call me Diane, and she's Russian! :)

I don't understand the wording of the question, sorry. Please clarify.
Unknown said…
"but since he is against being sedentary"

In my next E-book I will explain the value of being completely sedentary, ideally you will wear an adult diaper so you don't even have to go to the bathroom. Ironically the more sedentary you are, the more ripped you get, I know that it is counter-intuitive but it works on a quantum level.
CarbSane said…
This is a very good point. I do not think that is the intent of most for using the platform (control of intellectual property vs. cost to publish would be my reasons, but these ebooks are not pw protected or anything) but some may wish to avoid unbiased reviews. The Balanced Bites team promoted PU on their podcast, but I wonder if either read it. Nobody has done a review of this book that I am aware -- other than me. In Stefani's case I think it's a red flag that there aren't any reviews out there. I don't think she even distributed copies.

I see that the "Wild Diet" from Abel counsels against fruit consumption. Heh ...
Diana said…
@log -

You're experience is exactly mine. Ever since someone here posted the link to PP, I've been looking at his videos and I have to say, they are incredibly informative...BUT

PP does bring up some valid criticisms of total cholesterol denialism. But he gives as biased an account as the denialists.

I am what you might call a denialist. High cholesterol runs on the maternal side of my family. Many of them had high cholesterol - and lived to well past 90. My cholesterol is quite high, but I have a strange lipid panel, high LDL, low triglycerides.

The lipid hypothesis doesn't say "high cholesterol will kill you." Maybe they used to but now mainstream science is more nuanced.

From Pubmed, which is as mainstream as possible, I found the following.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11176761

(Note, these are men with conventional risk factors. I feel doubly
protected as I am (a) not a man and (b) have no conventional risk
factors.)

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11196072

"The lipid profile in cancer patients is characterized by low
low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol, low high-density
lipoprotein-cholesterol and relatively high serum triglycerides. "

Possibility of incorrect calculation in people with low trigs, high LDL:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11231492

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18426324

"Statistical analysis showed that when triglyceride is <100 mg/dL,
calculated low- density lipoprotein cholesterol is significantly
overestimated"

Difference between women and men:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21951982

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15006277
And so on.

And that's only the beginning. Look for yourself.

The science on cholesterol is evolving.
CarbSane said…
Final response to Dave: There is no defined Paleo diet. I hear Cordain has trademarked that phrase so if we go by his version, most paleo diets are not the "real deal". No you're dragging Colpo into this is totally irrelevant. I don't consider various diets to be charlatans, charlatan is a term that refers to the purveyor of the goods. This encompasses using tactics like faked photos (merchandise or results), paid endorsements, and flat out fraudulent claims associated with goods, services, programs etc. If you want to make a case for Colpo = charlatan, then do so. But you are making an ass troll of yourself trying to drag him into this discussion.
CarbSane said…
Unknown you are cracking me up! I'd put the value of your comment at $777. Am I close?
Diana said…
PS to above:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3560398

"Under age 50 years these data suggest that having a very low cholesterol level improves longevity. After age 50 years the association of mortality with cholesterol values is confounded by people whose cholesterol levels are falling--perhaps due to diseases predisposing to death."

So what's going on?

@Evelyn: I wonder if good old IR isn't lurking around in here somewhere, undetected. The discussion of PCOS has made me look for it everywhere...
Sanjeev said…
> which foods does Colpo recommend that are not considered healthy by Paleo dieters

Your "argument" is completely invalid.

The same car can be sold fraudulently and completely sans fraud; it's not the item that makes for the fraud.

Is there any food anywhere that has not been recommended by a quack along with promises of magical weight loss?

> he advocates the foods on the Paleo diet

the thought/research process and the marketing make for fraud/bogosity.

Lots of people recommend the same foods ... they arrive at the food via magic, illogic, observational studies and isolated micro-mechanistic considerations and then blow magical promises in various orifices.

AFAICT Colpo neither does invalid marketing nor uses an invalid process.

I disagree with a lot of his advice but if he's a follower of any kind/anything, it's not paleo, it's modern skepticism and/or Hume - apportion the advice to the strength of the evidence.

> about benefits of whole grains

alleged benefits ... "proven" not via randomized controlled trials, but via consideration of isolated biochemical mechanisms and observational studies ... not just observational, but EIGHTY YEAR OLD (!!!) ... can you wrap your mind around that cr*p masquerading as "proof"?
Sanjeev said…
"80 YEAR OLD" ...

observational studies conducted 10 years ago, using modern data collection methods and modern understanding of statistics, in modern environments that make for easy data collection and quick turn-around for hypothesis testing and checking of statistical models (by collecting needed information as needed for the tests) have reached totally invalid conclusions (as proven by subsequent controlled trials).

My mind boggles how anyone could cite that stuff as any kind of valid proof with a straight face.
Diana said…
@unknown: Paleo man ate a lot of insects, reptiles, scuttling things, and carrion. What do you have against that?

I would love to see the Paleo gurus try to sell that menu to their believers.
If there weren't economic and health considerations, I'd love to recline on a couch with an ereader and supersized high-def tv and be fed fresh fruit and gorgeous cheeses and assorted cardiac-sinful delicacies by stunningly slim J-rock dudes in Harajuku duds. It's a fantasy. I'd kinda need the Powerball and the magic-bullet drug to keep me from having a stroke within two years....Sedentary calls to me...
Stefani said…
Hi Diana. I appreciate your idea. It's fascinating to me, however-- I have never read the weightology blog. I have never in fact ever been to that website. I came up with that analogy deliberately because there were so many other ones I had read before, and I had actually thought I came up with something that no one would claim as their own. Turns out that's not the case, but I was not even close to aware of that before. I am sorry for any confusion the analogies cause, and for any harm I might cause anyone.. I am. All I can say is that I am doing my best, open to criticism and happy to correct, and trying to help people positively.
Unknown said…
@Diana

Serves me right for hogging the bong today. So sorry about that, Diana. And sorry for taking the schtick away from Galina. My apologies.


No. I meant that Colpo reference to support the idea that he isn't paleo. His condemnation of whole grains is the primary rub and something that I think gives him considerable overlap with paleos. I've read his posts, including what Larry referenced. No. I don't think it is that simple and we already know that some useful micronutrients are lost with processed rice and Colpo's not all that keen on lentils or beans either, which are also considered important and helpful elements in larger plant-based eating regimens. So. . . yeah.

I'd still say that he's got overlaps with a certain genre of paleo that is more tolerant of starch. I think legumes and beans are healthy for some people and can be part of a healthy diet and far from a wholegrain scam. I am not too sure about whether glucose--as primary fuel in the absence of robust activity level--is ideal in comparison to fat, but that's where Evelyn acknowledges disagreement with Colpo and I look forward to reading her post.
log said…
@Diana

Thanks for those links, that's interesting. Plant Positive's advocacy of a whole foods vegan diet is definitely cause for skepticism, although it shouldn't result in dismissing his claims all together.

As for the lipid hypothesis, I guess it's more nuanced than is widely reported in the popular press, but probably not totally baseless as is generally believed in the paleo community.
That gal has honesty issues. Or, she read a book on copywriting and is using their exaggeration and plug-yourself tips. Some of that self-aggrandizing stuff made me utterly cringe.

Look, the Paleo peops pride themselves on being so scientific and all, they need to check science credentials. They really do. This gal sounds flaky, frankly.

She's gonna give advice to someone at her Universalist church's parking lot and, bang, on the resume you'll see this next: "Minister" Rev. Stefani has a ring to it...

Out the frauds, Paleo crowd. Don't enable them!
Grinch said…
The whole premise behind Colpo's recommendation of a diet that is very similar to Paleo is that it is common sense based on evidence that humans didn't consume grains, dairy, and legumes until the last 10,000 years or so. Colpo starts with a diet that he assumes is optimal, and then looks for science to prove his case, which it apparently does.

So what is the difference between Colpo's message that humans evolved on so and so foods verses some Paleo blogger saying the exact same thing?
Sanjeev said…
reading comprehension issues
trolling
probable emotional abreaction

Is this another Razwell identity?
Sanjeev said…
please reply a LOT MORE ... I want to read tons and tons from you ... I'll check back often and read your comments in great detail from now on

: )
Grinch said…
Explain to me what I failed to comprehend? Does Colpo not market his diet recommendations as being based on human evolution exactly like a Paleo guru does? Both claim to back it up with scientific research, although one could argue Colpo's scrutiny of the science is more rigourous.

But again I fail to see the difference and the reason people are lashing out at me is because it hurts your credibility when you bash the Paleo diet when rigorous researchers like Colpo actually recommend virtually the same diet.

So someone tell me, are Colpo's diet recommendations legitimate or not?
Stefani said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
Stefani said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
Stefani said…


It has been my experience and perspective that my credentials have become less and less "bloated" over time --that is, I immediately recognized the error in calling myself a nutritionist and even pursuing that as an official path-- as I realize the truth of my path, how things are done in the real world, and my level of accountability to my readers. I am constantly open to being corrected. One example of this is in my struggles with PCOS Unlocked and sharing it with people. How do I sell something I believe in, even when I hate so much to sell myself and to ever do any kind of convincing? Which I do, and strongly? I first heeded the advice of many advocates and tried to use marketing techniques for better sales, but then I hated that so much that I backed down, but I still had some language about "curing" PCOS in the website left over and that was horrible, and so upon realizing that I eliminated that right away.

Much of this has been a journey for me. I apologize if I have misled you. That was in no way my intention. Honestly-- in no way. I have been overwhelmed at times and inattentive with this "rise to fame" (which I believe has plateued, thank goodness, and even specifically declined after the fasting issues and such this summer), all the while doing my best to provide what I think is helpful information for my readers. Not everyone agrees, and I am okay with that. But some women find what I do helpful, and that is the only reason I have stayed in this endeavor.

As a final quick note, my apologies, Evelyn-- all of the references -- all 25 pages of them -- come at the very end of the manual and I did not append them to the first half that I cut off for the Toadally Primal Bundle.

There are many more points to address, but I believe these are the important ones.

I again apologize for any harm that has ever come to anyone as a result of my efforts. I have zero intention to mislead anybody. I have great love for you, and I am sorry. I do my best to walk as gently, helpfully, and strongly, and honestly in this world. I am young, but if I can help people, I absolutely will.

All my best regards,
Stefani
Tsimblist said…
"Neolithic staples may not produce untoward effects in most individuals, they should never be consumed at the expense of the aforementioned Paleolithic foods. As a result, the FLB Diet is based on Paleolithic-style food choices: Meats, eggs, and non-cereal/non-leguminous plant foods.

Forget the Dogma

The Paleolithic diet paradigm is a great starting point for constructing a healthy diet, but please don’t become fanatical about it. Unfortunately, just like the followers of many other diet paradigms, Paleo devotees frequently adopt a dogmatic approach to nutrition, following their chosen diet as if it were a religion."

Anthony Colpo. The Fat Loss Bible (Kindle Locations 3282-3287). Anthony Colpo.

Stefani said…
I had not known that I was listed on the speakers list for paleo fx. I was in fact saddened when I didn't see my name on the list in December because I had hoped to be able to be included in a paleo or such about emotional eating, etc. So I did not know there was a bio out there that needed correcting. When Michele told me this morning that I was listed on her website I was surprised.

Those are the two elements of my bio for which I think you have every right to be concerned and upset, and for that reason I apologize, and with deep sincerity. I ask your forgiveness in my falibility and my inattention to detail in both regards. I understand, however, that it may not be given, and I am at ease with that. Sometimes we make mistakes that are not forgiveable, or that do not still make up for the whole of our personas, and I am okay with that. Please love me if you love me, and do not if you do not. I believe that I shall always respect your opinions.


There are a few other relevant pieces I believe need addressing.I have called myself a "nutritionist" a couple of times when first starting out as a big mistake and a misunderstanding of the officialness of the term. Once I learned it, however, I never used it again. I AM, however, a nutritional consultant, since I have have clients and spoken with them about diet. I also started a business in 2012 that did a bit of eating disorder counseling. But I found that I did not have as much time for it as I would have liked, so I have not grown it into a full practice. Still, however, I coach women through self love and eating disorder issues when they contact me. Often I direct them to other women I know with different specialities who can help them better. But sometimes it is my advice and support that they are craving, so I give it to them. I am open about the fact that my training in eating disorder counseling comes only from informal classes and volunteering and such for the last several years. I believe that my experience and my empathy are powerful for many women, however. I resonate with them. If they do not want my services, they do not need to ask me of them, obviously. And I do not think -- and I am certainly in no way trying to do so -- that I mislead them about who I am, what I've done, what I think, and what I stand for. I am a woman with a few credentials and experiences that I am open about, and I invite you to judge me however you wish.

As for being a "former research scientist," this is the truth, since I was paid outside of my school curriculum on time I took off from my undergraduate work as a research assistant. Some of this work was funded by a NASA grant, another focused on meteorites. Another piece of it contributed to a part currently on a rover on Mars.
Stefani said…
And as a final note, which I would just like to emphasize again, I appreciate being called out on those two issues that needed correcting, and I appreciate being investigated in all respects regardless. I mean that, and quite sincerely. I thank you for doing so. I want to present myself honestly, and if errors are found or if they arise on the way then I WANT them to be pointed out to me. I cannot thank you enough for helping me be truthful and good, and for playing this role for me as I move forward finding my path, my methods, and my experience and maturity as I work in this world.

I shall endeavor to be even more assiduous in my editing, profileration of materials, and making sure that my backlogged bios et al are in line with my current plans moving into the future.

My thanks and regard,
Stefani
Diana said…
@Kade,

No worries about the name thing.

Regarding Colpo, as the blogmistress points out, this is a side issue. I don't want to get side-tracked. I simply gave that link to point out that Colpo advocates an eating style that the usual Paleo crowd thinks isn't Paleo. His condemnation of whole grains is not from a Paleo perspective.

But again, I don't care. I put it up as a response to troll-bait, which was probably a mistake. What Colpo thinks about whole grains v. processed isn't relevant to this thread. As I read the link - and again - this is a side issue, and I'm not going to engage on it further, in this post (I will only if Evelyn decides to blog about it), I find much to disagree with.

This is all kind of silly, as "the Paleo cult" isn't a group with credentials, like the American College of Cardiology.
Stefani said…
Hi all,

While a bit of a shock, I am happy that these possibly misleading misteps or mistakes in my past and bio are being pointed out so any bad air can hopefully be cleared. I am also honored to hear your ideas and your comments. That is not a lie-- Evelyn, I understand where you are coming from. I do. I hope that everyone approaches me and my work and the work of people on the internet with as much information and skepticism as possible.

There are two explicit things about the bio that I would like to explain, agree with, and apologize publicly for. The informaion is in fact a typo on the paleo fx site about my Dartmouth degree. It is a degree in biogeochemistry-- when asked about what that means I tell people openly and happily. It is about microorganisms interacting with organic and inorganic chemistry in the environment. I studied microbes and bacteria under microscopes primarily, writing my undergraduate thesis on the viability of Ecoli cells to survive extreme temperatures and pressures, which has unique implications for the possibility of life to exist in the interior of terrestrial planets.

My apologies for wherever that transmission occurred-- I would like to shoulder the blame for that misstep whether through autocorrect or editing or poor editing on my end, I do not know. I do understand some biochemstry and have studied it. But I am by no means an expert in it.

My second importance piece and apology is about my degree at Boston University. The problem with my bios over the last year or so is that the course of my life has changed so frequently. At first I thought I would graduate in May 2013, then I thought "fuck it!" and quit and signed up for Functional Diagnostic Nutritional School, then I thought I would hold a degree before Paleofx. Different course offerings and changes in my life have meant that that date has been pushed around. At the time I wrote the bio that said I was quitting school, that was true. I believe it has changed since then. It was on my blog. At the time I wrote that bio for Paleofx, I had thought I'd have a degree in my hands at that time, and at the very worst and egregious 30 days following the conference (since the graduation date would have been the semester before or that semester.) Yes, I have returned to my studies since thinking that I would quit them and enroll in FDN school, but my graduation date is still flexible and moving backwards a bit of time.

Michele has changed the bio to say "pursuing a degree in philosophy." She was absolutely certain to make sure that the bio was correct, and I could not agree with her more.
Diana said…
Stefani,

What does it say on your Dartmouth diploma, earth sciences or biogeochemistry?

Is it a Master of Arts, or a Master of Sciences?

This should be an easy thing to check.

Unknown said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
Diana said…
It should also be an easy thing to scan, and put on your website.
river rance said…
Huh? What? Stefani did you ever consider running for public office?
Unknown said…
Okay. Alleged benefits. Happy? Is the world working now? Good.

So certain allegedly well-doing folk are allegedly doing well on the alleged benefits of whole-grain, which is allegedly part of their alleged diet and alleged existence.

Nah, I'm kiddin'. Pick at it all you want. Couldn't give a toss since I have no dog in that race. Although something has to be used to explain why some people on plant-based diets--that also rely on whole grains--seem to do well by way of health markers, glucose and even insulin levels, something beyond the usual tripe about how they stopped stressing for one extra minute of their lives a day and how that in itself became the ultimate x factor, or how just eliminating junk food remedied everything else, or how they're just chronically hypocaloric.
CarbSane said…
Stefani ... You have accomplished something nobody else has. Rendered me (temporarily) speechless with the overwhelming C.A.N.T. E.V.E.N. F.I.N.D. W.O.R.D.S. A.T. T.H.E. M.O.M.E.N.T. nature of your response. I'll try and swallow my utter disgust and disappointment and respond civilly tomorrow.
Unknown said…
Should be an MS as it is under the Department of Earth Science

http://www.dartmouth.edu/~earthsci/grad.html
CarbSane said…
Double Word. My undergrad degree says Bachelor of Science in Biology. That can mean extremely variable things in terms of actual curriculum from uni to uni, but it is what it is. Actually since Mir's hubs went to my alma mater, RPI, he could probably attest to my assertions that my Bio degree is far more rigorous than most (in addition to calculus that all frosh took, my physics was calc based and even some chemistry involved higher math than most bio majors earning a BS get, let alone a BA).
Unknown said…
Very well. I often think that these things are interrelated very closely from the issue with whole grains to scepticism towards LDL particle, which is something I often hear from a very specific group of people, or people who gravitate around a familiar constellation. Fair enough though; I hope we get the opportunity to discuss these points someday.
CarbSane said…
@Unknown, her Earth Science degree is undergrad. So there's a small error on Diana's part. Still. What does the degree say? Bachelor of Arts or Science? In What? Biogeochemistry?
Grinch said…
"As I read the link - and again - this is a side issue, and I'm not going to engage on it further, in this post (I will only if Evelyn decides to blog about it), I find much to disagree with.
"

Oh geez if only we could all be so kind as to not interrupt Evelyn's (or shall I say Evil-lyn's) latest character assassination thread.
Grinch said…
The Fat Loss Bible Chapter 11 (What do I Eat?) p.132

"The FLB Diet emphazies Paleolithic food choices. For almost our entire 2.4 million-year history, humans have lived as hunter-gatherers, subsisting on freshly hunted and gathered foods that could be eaten either raw or with minimal preparation and rudimentary fire cooking, such as wild game, wild vegetables, fruits, berries, and nuts. It was not until around 10,000 years ago........"

"societies that abandoned the meat-based hunter-gatherer diet and adopted cereal grains as their new staple experienced a characteristic reduction in stature, a decrease in life span, an increase in infant mortality, an increased incidence of infectious diseases, an increased prevalence of iron deficiency anemia, an increased incidence of bone disorders, and a jump in the number of dental caries and tooth enamel defects......."

And he goes on and on about how the agricultural revoluation led to "overall decline in the quanitity and quality of life".
Grinch said…
Not to beat a dead horse here, but Colpo on p.144 lists his FLB recommended foods.

Table 11a is "Recommended - The FLB Foundation Foods" which contains all Paleo foods by most standards.

Then below it is another table that says "Not True Paleo Foods But Allowable"

So you tell me, is Colpo Paleo or is he not Paleo? If not, why the heck is the foundation of his diet based on "paleolithic food choices"?
Unknown said…
Do we start the death watch on JM??

Why in GOD'S name does ANYONE listen to what the has to say??

http://livinlavidalowcarb.com/blog/jimmy-moores-n1-experiments-nutritional-ketosis-day-211-240/17390



Look at his blood lipids

blood and urine tests on December 14, 2012

http://i574.photobucket.com/albums/ss187/livinlowcarbman/More%20great%20photos/ScreenShot2013-01-11at31857PM_zps3a3f00ff.png

TC - 419
Calculated LDL - 332
Trig - 60
HDL - 75

Here are some of the areas of concern and what I’m doing to address them:

Low magnesium levels – taking 300mg of magnesium glycinate twice daily
Low protein and globulin (“leaky gut”) – increasing probiotic intake from food and supplements
Elevated MCV, MCH and homocysteine levels – taking high-potency B-complex twice daily
Elevated cholesterol and LDL – a known issue I’ve discussed previously
Low T4, T3 and FT3 – no action needed since there are no negative effects from it
Protein in the urine – existing problem prior to beginning my NK experiment
It wasn’t all bad news, though. Here are the highlights from these tests:

Fasting blood glucose was 90 – definitely out of pre-diabetic range
Hemoglobin A1c was 5.1 – outstanding marker of blood glucose health
Triglycerides were 60 – anything under 100 is excellent
HDL cholesterol was 75 – above 50 is a superb heart health marker
VLDL cholesterol is 12 – well below the “normal” level of 40
C-Reactive protein was just .55 – key inflammation marker virtually non-existent
Vitamin D is 51.6 – not too high, not too low (the “Goldilocks” level)
Unknown said…
http://livinlavidalowcarb.com/blog/jimmy-moores-n1-experiments-nutritional-ketosis-day-211-240/17390

"Stabilizing my blood sugar since returning from Australia has been a huge challenge for me. For some reason or another, it just has not fallen back into that upper 70s/lower 80s level on a consistent basis again. The week of Christmas was especially bad (again, I wasn’t eating any carb-rich foods that would make my fasting levels soar) with readings back in the triple digits again. GRRRR! As a result, I went to see my friend Dr. Spencer Nadolsky from Leaner Living while I was in Virginia and started taking some more of that Glycosolve supplement (with the active ingredient berberine) again on my 41st birthday on December 27, 2012 to help me control my blood sugar. I was hopeful I could keep my blood sugar levels where I wanted them with nutritional ketosis alone (and I didn’t do too poorly this month averaging around 90), but it looks like for me I still need it. We’ll see how I do in the next 30 days getting this supplement back into my body after being off of it for a couple of months."

Diana said…
@Kade - It would be interesting to discuss these issue if the blogmistress hosts it; and whether it has anything to do with Paleo.

But discussing what a third party thinks is Paleo doesn't interest me. What a third party argues scientifically is a different issue. That's what this blog is for: to discuss the scientific validity of various writers and blogger's output, not arguing over how to label them. Of course I realize there is a fine line & subject matter is ultimately up to the blogmistress.

In any case, I regret that I fed the troll. My mistake.
Diana said…
@Unknown/Evelyn,

My question was premised on the following sentence in the post:

"Stefani Ruper has a Bachelor of ARTS in Earth Science. Period. She has no background in cell-signalin."

I made a blooper with the word "Master." I meant to type "Bachelor".

As they say, it helps to have another pair of eyes.

Double oops and a whack on the back of my hand with Sister Mary Perpetua's broken ruler.

So I amend my questions to:

Stefani, what does your diploma from Dartmouth say?

Do you have a Bachelor of Arts, or a Bachelor of Science degree?

And what was the major? What does it say on the diploma?
Diana said…
Why is JM so concerned about blood glucose level (90 is not so bad) and not that horrifying LDL?
Unknown said…
Who cares if it's a BS or a BA? It's in environmental science, makes no difference whatsoever whether it is BS or BA.
Unknown said…
Because in Paleo world LDL is irrelevant as long as it's large and buoyant!!
I've had folks email me for information and support, and I've led weight loss challenges, and I've had phone calls to keep folks from freaking and to describe how I helped my binge eating. Does this make me a bona fide nutritional counselor? Can I get some business cards?

Geesh.

And how long was that paid NASA gig? Cause I'm not impressed if someone helped out for a couple months in the summer. When I see someone using as justification for why I should put weight on their pronouncements and counsel the statement, "I'm a research scientist," I expect to see someone working at that consistently, not as a toe-dip. Just me. :D

But it was mighty nice of Stefani to drop by. If she makes corrections to her bio, all the better. But she's already kinda outed herself as someone who cannot be trusted and stuff needs to be checked and double-checked when she claims them. Just saying...
Unknown said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said…
What were his brother's cholesterol etc numbers?
Diana said…
As I said, I based the question on what Evelyn wrote. My understanding (from my college years of long ago) is that some science disciplines offered a less rigorous B.A. version of the traditional B.S., but that might be outdated now.

Here are the req's from Dartmouth's web page:

http://dartmouth.smartcatalogiq.com/2012/orc/Departments-Programs-Undergraduate/Earth-Sciences/Earth-Sciences-Requirements

Pretty rigorous. I'd be proud of such a degree.

So, I'd still like to know what the diploma says: Earth Sciences, or Biogeochemistry.

"The informaion is in fact a typo on the paleo fx site about my Dartmouth degree. It is a degree in biogeochemistry-- when asked about what that means I tell people openly and happily. It is about microorganisms interacting with organic and inorganic chemistry in the environment."

So, if Stefani is open and happy about her biogeochemistry degree, she should be open and happy about proving it on the Internet with a scanned copy of her diploma.
Unknown said…
I'm going back and forth in my beliefs on the saturated fat/cholesterol story. I think the truth lies somewhere in between. The story told via Fathead about Ancel keyes and saturated fat is such bogus. So many of the "cholesterol skeptics" are quacks who latch on to small inconsistencies and make too much out of them. You could do that with the whole Tobacco/cancer story, you can also find many 'paradox's'.
Some things that have me leaning in the direction that the lipid hypothesis does have weight behind it
- The fact that new born humans, animals and most healthy societies/hunter gatherers have low cholesterol
- if you increase their cholesterol levels they begin to develop atherosclerosis.
- People with hypercholesterolemia are much more likely to develop atherosclerosis. People who have genetically extremely low ldl are much less likely to develop it.
- Essystyn and others have showed actual reversal heart disease with a low fat diet that gets cholesterol below 150. I'm not as sure people do the same with bacon and eggs and a total cholesterol of 300.
Unknown said…
Edit on that 2nd point " if you increase their cholesterol levels they begin to develop atherosclerosis". I meant if you increase the cholesterol of animals in studies they develop atherosclerosis. Although carnivores don't develop high cholesterol from fatty meaty diets yet herbivores do. As humans we're neither carnivores or herbivores, which probably leaves us in between. Some people can eat HFLC and still have low/average cholesterol while some people have their ldl-c and ldl-p shoot right up.
Diana said…
Stefani,

If you are still reading this blog, I'd like to ask you another question. I don't keep up with all the developments in the Paleo world so forgive and correct me if I'm wrong, but I understand that you and Richard Nikoley have a collegial relationship, that he's promoted you a lot, and that you've guest-blogged on his blog.

This is a man who routinely refers to women as "c u n t s" and who has taken to beating up Melissa McEwan regularly on his blog. He has an ugly and predatory attitude towards her. He routinely engages in verbal violence against her, using the most foul images. The search engine on his blog yields 83 results for her full name. "Melissa" alone yields "about 205" results (some of them may not refer to her, but I think most do). This is clearly indicative of a fixation. A very ugly one.

Nikoley has a right to his likes and dislikes, and in the blog-world, taking no quarter is all part of the game. If he disagrees with her, let it rip. But Nikoley doesn't fight a fair fight. He's out to wound and to destroy, and he uses Melissa's being female against her.

Given Nikoley's reprehensible attitudes towards women, and your own professed philosophy of empowered kick-ass Paleo womanhood, shouldn't you put a little distance between yourself and Richard Nikoley?

There's a word for your kick-ass Paleo womanhood philosophy, Stefani: in my neck of the woods, we call it a "racket."
Diana said…
PS to the above -- Stefani, On a whim, I decided to check how many times your blog-buddy Nikoley uses the word c u n t. I hope this is the first and last time I do this, but I typed in that word (minus the spaces) in his search engine.

Seventy-nine times, he uses this word, and always as an epithet. A violent, nasty, hate word.

Did you have parents, Stefani? Didn't they tell you that you will be judged by the company you keep?

And no this is not guilt by association. Guilt by association means that someone is smeared by a chance encounter. This is a relationship of choice on your part. It reveals your character.
Unknown said…
There's a prevailing thinking that the focus should be oxidised LDL, and that LDL particles remain stable in the presence of glucose levels that remain around and no higher than the 110 level.

Here's another interesting observation I've found. Most people--who are not diabetic--on proper low-fat plant-based, diets manage to achieve a low blood glucose level and a1c as well. In fact, some of them have lower levels and much faster glucose clearance than the average folk.
Unknown said…
Hmm. Yes. Just to be clear, I would like to discuss the science. Which is why I am interested in Evelyn's up and coming post about ideal fuel for the body. Fat or glucose. I have heard that they both have their issues, but that fat leaves mitochondrial junk that is prone to oxidation etcetera. I am also interested in exploring the value of grains and their micronutrient status. Well, that's a chat for another time. Take it easy.
Diana said…
Yes that would be an interesting discussion. I am also interested in grains & micronutrient status, esp. the "controversy" over phytates. But yes, this is Evelyn's call.
Diana said…
PS, Dartmouth's website says:

http://www.dartmouth.edu/home/academics/undergraduate_majors.html

The following programs of study lead to the Bachelor of Arts (AB) degree; the registrar’s office outlines graduation requirements here. Additionally, Thayer School of Engineering offers a professional accredited Bachelor of Engineering (BE) degree.

Stefani has a B.A.

Additonally, the list includes "Earth Sciences" but nothing for biogeochemistry.

Stefani has a B.A. in Earth Sciences from Dartmouth. Dartmouth is an excellent school. Earth Sciences is not a cream puff major. Why would anyone want to inflate that?

Whatevs...I'm not holding my breath that Stefani will come clean and say that she's been funnin' us.
Ev Barney said…
I've seen so much conflicting info RE: what are 'good'numbers for glucose, fasting, one hour after a meal, two hours after a meal, and random! Any leads on a trustworthy source?
Unknown said…
Just want to mention that I am available via Email for information, support and counseling (or consoling, as the case may be) on a myriad variety of topics including weight loss and pre-1952 club wear trends.
Las said…
So research assistant = research scientist now?

She's doing what a lot of the alternative medicine gurus do...taking advantage of the fact that the average person has zero clue what's involved in science and medicine. There's no way an undergraduate research assistant was doing much more than collecting soil samples. She had nothing to do with designing the experiment and any significant analysis of the data.
Diana said…
Not a problem, Stefani. I accept your clarification of this minor side issue.

There are many more important issues to address, such as what it says on your diploma (I think we know that now: Earth Sciences B.A., Dartmouth, which is pretty impressive) and why you are blog-buddies with an vicious misogynist prick.
Diana said…
(Scratches head) Ya know, I read Stefani's description on the link Evelyn provided above.

Unembroidered, it's a promising undergrad record. She did a lot of things that any undergrad would be proud to put on a description, plain vanilla, no "bloating."

So why the fiddling and "bloating"? My dime store Freud is that Stefani is a common example of a very modern type: the super-good little girl, the obsessive pleaser of other people, who is never good enough. So whatever they do, even if it's great, doesn't matter. It has to be better. And she is passing herself off as someone who was "healed" and "empowered" by Paleo, and that she's counseling other women? And being enabled in this by Paleo powers that be?

This is sad and ironic.
Unknown said…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMGQ12fSevA <- Cuntmaster?! Real class act. Lol!
Andy said…
She apparently is also is an endocrine specialist (taken from the paleoforwomen metadata tags):
"Paleo for Women is run by women's endocrine-specialist nutritionist Stefani Ruper, who investigates and specializes in problems associated with female hormones including female weight loss, infertility, PCOS, amenorrhea, PMS, loss of libido, hypothyroidism, insomnia, anxiety, depression, acne and eating disorders from an evolutionary perspective."

This is most of what paleo diet gurus are, whole foods diet proponents coated with a hefty dose of dubious credentials.
P2ZR said…
'My dime store Freud is that Stefani is a common example of a very modern type: the super-good little girl, the obsessive pleaser of other people'

I made this very remark privately back when Ruper was too pathetically timid to repudiate RN's support during the whole 'c*nt' episode.

I think this is a very modern American type (no offense)--Ruper's American generation seems to have simply inherited the previous generation's mantle of feminism, and loudly claim to be feminists without knowing one iota what it even means to STAND for something.

The flip side of obsession to please is, of course, the obsessive fear of displeasing--bordering on phobia. She's afraid to stand up to a 'man' so insecure about his own virility that he routinely tries to pick fights with a woman young enough to be his daughter. Even here, she posted so many fluffy attempted justifications of her behavior because she doesn't want to be excoriated on this blog.

Also, I was under the impression that she finished college in 2008 (is she having trouble explaining what she's been doing since?)--so an even bigger discrepancy between age (admittedly young) and behavior (reeking of affirmation-seeking adolescent).

All in all, I really just can't be angry at Ruper. Instead (and I say this with no irony), I really pity her. Being consumed by the fear of displeasing people is not only not brazen-paleo-woman-ly...it's just no way to live at all.
I Eat Real Food said…
I wonder if she is aware of how far afoul of the statutes in Massachusetts she is.

Practicing medicine without a license is a huge issue.
Diagnosing or treating disease is a huge issue.
Calling oneself a nutritionist or counseling on nutrition without a license is a huge issue.

Has anyone reported her to the medical board or the dietetics board?
Unknown said…
Diana, insulin is a hormone, an important metabolic hormone at that, and PCOS is, at the end of the day, a metabolic disorder. I posted a long study on my facebook wall last night that explored the relationship between IR and PCOS if you're interested, although I hear you that it's not your focus. I'll be exploring this topic on my blog a lot in the coming months. :)
CarbSane said…
@Evelyn, I attempted to address some of the paranoid myths in Blood Sugar 140. There's a search bar on the right side to find them. Jimmy is not diabetic, but he has been working hard at "improving" his hepatic insulin resistance for going on a decade now.
CarbSane said…
@Andy: That is ... just mind blowing.

@IERF: I would rather this really not come to that. That there is someone amongst her friends that can bring up these very issues to her. I don't believe all of those claims are "dismissed" by her medical disclaimer in PCOS-Unlocked. So she is putting herself in some serious legal danger.

I realize she has put a lot of "blood sweat and tears" into her website and the book and in a way I blame the community for some of that. Have her on as an "expert" on a podcast, guest posts, etc., took this whole thing to a whole different level from her personal site.

Stefani: If you read this, I hope you will consider what IERF is saying and discuss this with adults you trust. If not your parents, an older friend, preferably outside of the community. I realize revisiting your website/book would be a huge short-term fail, but you have stated you want to pursue your studies. It might be better to put the other stuff aside while you concentrate on those (and may I suggest one or the other for one semester?). I do wish you well here and hopefully there are women in your circle whom you trust can guide you better than I can.
Unknown said…
Really weird how little chemistry is required for such a degree.
CarbSane said…
I am a little curious why organic chem would be on the docket but not inorganic chem. I am not surprised about chem in general for an Earth Sciences degree ... as Stefani herself called it, the "rocks department". The thesis title .....
CarbSane said…
The lead in statement is a bit inflammatory there Charles, but his latest update was more than a bit disturbing. I'll be doing something on it in a week or so.
Unknown said…
http://gokaleo.com/?p=830#comments

What Can the Election Teach Us About Dietary Dogma? Go Kaleo

" Most dietary dogma is based on cherry-picked scientific outliers. These gurus will take a handful of studies that support their agenda, dismiss all the other, conflicting, science as biased and flawed, and build an elaborate dietary mythology based on a few outliers. Sort of like Dick Morris and company did with their cherry-picked polls.

It’s true that my nutrition and health views tend to align more strongly with ‘conventional’ theory (conventional theory: primary drivers of obesity and metabolic dysfunction are inactivity and energy imbalance), and there’s three main reasons for that:

1. Conventional theory has WAY more science supporting it

2. When I applied conventional theory to my own health, I lost weight and reversed disease, just like conventional theory held I would

3. Before I applied conventional theory, I tried all the non-conventional theories and continued to struggle

This doesn’t mean that I dismiss alternative theories and outlying science. There’s definitely some value there. The emphasis on food quality and proper rest doesn’t get enough emphasis in conventional theory (although conventional theory doesn’t dismiss either). But I consider those outliers in the context of all the other science. I don’t dismiss all the other science and focus solely on the outliers."
Unknown said…
http://weightoftheevidence.blogspot.com/2012/12/does-nutritional-ketosis-require-85-fat.html

http://weightoftheevidence.blogspot.com/2012/12/so-much-for-cake-let-them-eat-steak.html

http://weightoftheevidence.blogspot.com/2012/12/the-calorie-talk-taboo.html
Karen said…
It's bloodsugar101.com. She is who I follow to keep my bg in check.
Anonymous said…
I really, really appreciate all the effort you put into this post. It's not just about Stefani. As you said, the whole community needs to be a bit more self-reflective and care less about padding resumes and more about getting things factually correct. If I were to follow the paleo community's "rules" of bio writing, I would be a Dr. who boasts a history as former policy advisor and speech writer for the Senate, expert witness, a partner in a boutique environmental science consultancy with a highly specialised area of expertise, multi-national speaker, etc. All of those things are true in a way - definitely more true than much of what you've uncovered here - but I would never write that because it's a deliberately inflated way to represent my skills. You've really struck a chord with me on this, I think, because just the other day I encountered a website on which the author claimed to have three law degrees who studied at Harvard. Two minutes on Google, and I figured out that she actually had a bachelors in law and did a masters degree in international law with two specialisations in something like 'diplomatic studies'. Her education at Harvard appears to just be when she was allowed to occupy a desk for a few months. She never practiced law, and has spent her life posing for pictures but referred to herself as a 'genius' on her resume. Even if she has a genius IQ, I am just really tired to these Internet gurus claiming far more expertise than they have.
Anonymous said…
Also, I should add that nutritionist is an unregulated term. Anyone can call themselves a nutritionist. Ben Goldacre and others have written extensively about this. Dietician is regulated, of course, but even I can call myself a nutritionist, if I fancy.
Diana said…
@P2ZR: "I think this is a very modern American type (no offense)--"

No offense taken but I don't think it's particularly American. I do think it's very modern. I am positive that you can find these little girls everywhere. I'm sure you'll be finding scads of them in China, along with 36D boobs and rampant metabolic disorders.

Other than that I agree with everything you say - and isn't it strange that this modern personality type is the biggest sucker for misogynist pigshit?

I think of my grandmother, who was truly a peasant, a pre-modern type who couldn't even read. She'd have seen Nikoley for what he was: his obscene talk, his hatred of women which is a thin veil for self-hatred, his constant strutting and boasting, his obsession with food and health, and she'd have been out the door in two seconds flat. Not because she was a feminist - she would have thought feminism was insane - but because she knew a sick f*cker when she saw one.
Diana said…
PS to above, P2ZR, your wonderful phrase, "pathetically timid" is what evoked memories of my grandmother and (great aunts). Oh, how the kickass girls of today would bemoan their "slavery" in their women's studies classes!!

But it's a funny thing. I remember them as fierce, powerful, uncompromising fortresses of integrity. They saw bullshit when it walked and did not hesitate to call bullshit when it talked. Maybe Grandma couldn't read a lipid panel, but she'd know that eating a stick of butter is crazy.

Compare and contrast that with our modern good little girls with degrees up the wazoo....it's enough to make you cry.
If you're in the US, nutritionist IS a regulated term in many states. See cdrnet.org/certifications/licensure for a list.
Anonymous said…
Ah, thanks for that. I am American, but I live in Australia, so I wasn't aware of how the laws varied by U.S. states. Looks like my home state of MI doesn't regulate it. I think that may be where Stefani lives?
Anonymous said…
At my school, chemistry could either be a BA or a BS. Similar, just the BS needed 1/3 more physics, o-chem, p-chem, and calculus, and I think it was the mathier version of it, not the one for gen-eds interested in science.
Anonymous said…
Have to admit that I've been thinking the same, but didn't want to say anything, didn't want to be accused of being macabre, but if I was close to him, it would be time for a life insurance policy.
CarbSane said…
The new little piece of info is that protein in his urine has been an ongoing issue. Again, not saying diet is at fault, but it's amazing how many health issues we're just learning about now :(
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Ancestral Chemist said…
Now Stefani is advertising a consulting service too:


Hi friend :)


I am writing today super quick to let you know... well. That I am open for business. Hooray!

Those of you who have been around for a while know that I've been promising to open my consultation doors again for years now.

And finally - finally! - I have cleared enough off of my to-do list (work, work, work, play, work, work, and did I say work?) to take on a limited number of clients. My heart is singing with gratitude and joy. It's amazing to finally have the opportunity to share my gifts with you in this way.

The list of things I specialize in and can help you overcome is extensive. I didn't even notice myself until I wrote the list.  Apparently I've been around the block once or six hundred times.

 Moreover, the female-specific angle of my body of expertise is - honestly - not one you're going to find many other places in the paleo web.

If at all.

My list of specialties include the physical, such as:

-acne
headaches 
-weight loss 
-menstrual irregularities 
-infertility 
-PCOS 
-PMS 
-birth control woes 
-menopause 
-low libido 
- and hypothyroidism

And also the mental, such as:

-body image issues 
-low self-esteem 
-disordered eating behavior 
-binge eating 
-restrictive eating 
-addiction to exercise 
-food addiction 
-control issues 
-poor self-love
-and perfectionism.

Because I've been there, and I've lived many of these things. I've swum in the seas of research, I've worked with hundreds of women, and I've written books. Therefore I have come out on the other side equipped with all the knowledge and tools to help you on your journey I have always dreamed of, and then some.


Leap into wellness!
To help you as best I can, I've come up with a whole slew of different services to offer - spanning from the super affordable 30 minute quickie session to the more detailed and consultation and email access package... I even offer months long packages if you are on a journey and looking to heal on an on-going basis.

So check out more details on what I have to offer at the consultations page at http://www.paleoforwomen.com/consultations. You can book me and sign up for the service at the bottom of the page - and we can be set up and chatting within the week.

Because it's been so long in coming, I am already close to needing to develop a waitlist - so if you have an urgent need it may be wise to book as soon as you can. And regardless know simply that I am here for you however you need, and am excited about the possibility of being on your healing journey together.

 

With fire and love, as always,

Stefani
carbsane said…
Oh my lord help us all. This post must be updated. Because Stefani is now billing herself as an Ivy League Chemist, International Go Go Dancer and Nationally Renowned Eating Disorder Counselor.


Meanwhile on her blog she continues to regale us with how unhealthy she is other than the fact that she has now resumed menstruating by gaining weight to an appropriate level. SHEESH.
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