Book Review: Talking Back to Gurus by Mike Howard
Talking Back to Health Gurus:
An Un-revolutionary and Un-sexy Guide to Fat Loss by Mike Howard
An Un-revolutionary and Un-sexy Guide to Fat Loss by Mike Howard
Note: This might look/sound familiar, because Mike's book was in the Superhero bundle my book was a part of. I hope several others will become available individually as well for those that weren't interested in a bigger investment.
I'd appreciate anyone interested buying through my Amazon affiliate link above. Heck, use that link to access Amazon to buy anything, and I'll get a small percentage. This is something I've finally gotten on board with and it's great. The author gets their same percentage from Amazon, you pay nothing more, and folks like me who spread the word get a little something some. As a matter of full disclosure, yes, I received a free copy of this book for review. But I'd be promoting it anyway!
Can I just say that I'm a huge fan of this guy? I've "known" him for at least 3 years now since I noticed some traffic from an article he wrote for dietblog. Over the past year or so I've gotten to know him better through Facebook. This guy is legit, the real deal, and an all around nice guy. And if that's not enough, he works with kids! Getting kids into fitness, and this is just damned impressive. He's also a pretty funny guy, creator of "honest diet book covers" like the one below left, in the book, and my current favorite below right.
Mike's book is a great expose on what the diet and fitness industry is really all about in the current age. I know so many people who were so convinced by Gary Taubes' Good Calories, Bad Calories they've flat out admitted they just aren't ready to go back! If this was you, or you can relate, Mike's book is for you! This is a bit of a deprogramming manual if you will, for when "they're wrong, I'm right" devolves into "well, they're still wrong, buy my book anyway even if I'm not right to learn why XYZ will kill your pancreas or your brain, if it doesn't outright kill you first".
Mike goes through the marketing tactics and the logical fallacies used to influence you. Even if you're familiar with these, as I am, it's a great refresher to strengthen your insulin basher resistance. There's a primer on what to look for when that latest scientific study makes the rounds on Facebook and Twitter. Next Mike tackles the biggest gimmicks used to sell diet books and follows that up with how fear and sex are used to sell you even more. Ever notice how almost all the latest NYTimes best sellers begin and end with why you need to fear some class of foods? Mike brings things home with "10 Unsexy tips that REALLY work". The chapter title says it all. I see the tide turning (hopefully) towards more "unsexy matter of fact" type books down the pike, and I hope Mike as a prominent voice in that pack!
Mike goes through the marketing tactics and the logical fallacies used to influence you. Even if you're familiar with these, as I am, it's a great refresher to strengthen your insulin basher resistance. There's a primer on what to look for when that latest scientific study makes the rounds on Facebook and Twitter. Next Mike tackles the biggest gimmicks used to sell diet books and follows that up with how fear and sex are used to sell you even more. Ever notice how almost all the latest NYTimes best sellers begin and end with why you need to fear some class of foods? Mike brings things home with "10 Unsexy tips that REALLY work". The chapter title says it all. I see the tide turning (hopefully) towards more "unsexy matter of fact" type books down the pike, and I hope Mike as a prominent voice in that pack!
For a preview of the type of thing Mike writes in the book, he just wrote an article for Tom Venuto (where he is a contributing editor): Calorie Denialism: Why It’s Hurting Your Fat Loss Efforts.
Comments
One True Paleo Diet Doesn’t Exist, but So What?
It's a problem because you're clueless about the health consequences of severe carb restriction. Jimmy used to be morbidly obese and now his weight fluctuates somewhere in continuum where he feels he can be presentable. He's also experienced reactive hypercholesterolemia, hypothyroid and possibly other hormonal symptoms. He's admitted this during his podcast interviews. What other symptoms do you think he's not disclosing? Yet, he cannot get proper tests for diagnosis as he has no health insurance. No insurer will cover him given his 450ish cholesterol, which even his podcast guests are concerned about, as it is inordinately atherogenic even if it doesn't translate immediately to atherosclerosis.
Why are you so obsessed with weight when you're only slightly overweight? If you're concerned about health, shouldn't you be pouring over your blood labs over your daily scale reading? I'm concerned about health. That's why I ignore Jimmy's weight and instead focus on the biomarkers and symptoms he selectively discloses. What I'm seeing doesn't look good for JImmy down the road. I see hormonal dysregulation, immunodeficiency, and hypercholesterolemia that makes him sitting duck for a coronary event should he ever lapse or develop other risk factors.
Jimmy Moore is a "Weight Loss Success Story". That is all he is. A guy who lost 195 lbs. For the second time. He promotes an extreme lifestyle that is objectively damaging his own health. He lies about it all the time, and I do not use that term lightly.
This is not a diet blog. It is not my personal blog. It is not a weight loss advice column. When you have had internet war waged on you and have entire blog posts written about how no way a person weighing a certain amount can fit a certain size of pants, etc., perhaps you'll understand my decision to limit severely any and all personal information on this blog. Incidentally, I can't think of any other blogger who puts that kind of information out there either. There may be one or two -- likely those who have no other claim to fame but losing weight. Realize that Jimmy's "openness" is HIGHLY censored. In many ways, if you read this blog, you probably know the "real me" better than Jimmy.
It is very unfortunate for him that he has entangled his and his wife's entire livelihood in this low carb thing.
As I said before, I have many friends who are far more qualified to provide you assistance in your endeavor. It's not my realm. If you want to know if there is anything to the claims about LC diets, this is a blog about that. Learn a bit about how metabolism really works, get the real deal behind the headlines of the latest study? This is what I do. If you want to believe in insulin fairies and magical ketones that prevent CVD and let you live forever? I wish you well.
Many in the paleo community are some of the most unhealthy people out there. They put on a good front for the cameras, but drink coffee by the gallon to stay awake by day and can't sleep by night and then line up to listen to "experts" on the importance and value of a good night's sleep. That's just the tip of the iceberg.
Here's my diet advice. Eat mostly real whole foods. Put a priority on protein, get enough, no need to overdo. Don't base your diet on junk food. How important the rest of the details are is really up to you.
I would like to know how Westman signs off on a book in which Jimmy puts his lipids in healthy. This is not a healthy man and he is ONLY 42.
http://www.examiner.com/article/ketogenic-diet-expert-recounts-180-pound-weight-loss-on-low-carb-high-fat-diet
People will think me cruel, but I've felt for a long time that the best thing for Jimmy would be for his LLVLC thing to just implode and for him to find another line of work. When this paleo thing fades .... and it will .... his "friends" will not be around anymore.
I don't get on anyone for their weight STRUGGLES Mark. You are misinformed. I'm also not Jimmy. I bring something else to the table here on this blog. Again, if you don't like the menu to your liking, I won't be offended if you move on.
But I'm happy to have helped you get rid of some ass.
Jimmy's last posted blood test - TC 392, HDL 70 - TC/HLD ratio 5.92
Ideal ratio - <3.5
This is why very low triglycerides and high free fatty acids (which Jimmy would also have) are often associated with immune dysfunction. Kind of makes sense because leptin is now emerging as not just a hormone that induces satiety but an important player in the adaptive immune system. And you would go from excess leptin to leptin deficiency in the diet that Jimmy promotes.
Your TC, however, is low and I am not sure what prompted you and your doc to go on Lipitor. Your CRP is moderately high, yes. But your CAC is entirely age-dependent. 30 woudln't be too bad if you're ~60 but if you're only 35, that's a concern. Most 35 year olds have a score of zero; in fact 50% of 40 year olds have a score of zero. But atherosclerosis is really part of aging and the score starts going up after you turn 50-55.
Your LDL-P is low, your small LDL-P portion could be a bit lower, and LDL size perhaps a bit larger. But you need to compare those numbers with your baseline before starting Lipitor to gauge the effectiveness of statin therapy. Ideally, you could lower your A1c to 4.5-5.0 and CRP under 0.3. But based on traditional Framingham risk factors, you have low risk regardless of age. The problem is 3.0 CRP for someone with otherwise stellar lipids and 48 CAC depending on how long in the tooth you are.
At the height of my LCHF paleo diet my TC was 274, LDL was 199 (calculated), HDL was 69, Triglycerides were 31, LDL-P was 1430, Small LDL-P was 132, ApoB was 104 and LP(a) was <2
I agreed with my doctor to try the lowest dose stain because LDL and LDL-P were too high (IMHO)
Your high LDL was probably reactive to high fat. You know Davies believes in the ApoE4 thing. That's possible but also low T3 could have made you reactive. So you need numbers prior to that diet where you ate normal carbs. That should be your baseline in determining if you should be on statin therapy. You may not need to be on it, if your LDL/TC were under 200 on a normal diet. Now you're going from one extreme to another; your level of TC can be seen in people with IBD and fat malabsorption. The lowest dose is Pravastatin 10mg or Zocor 5mg, both much less potent than 10 mg Lipitor. That could make your LDL rebound to around 100 and your TC around 170 or so.
Liver enzymes are all normal
At 6'1" and 160lbs BMI isn't a problem
I've been tested - ApeE3/3
At LDL of 100 - IMO - plaque will NOT reverse - Davis believes that for plaque reversal to occur LDL MUST BE <60
As to my higher than I want it to be hsCRP you might look at this
http://www.nature.com/ejcn/journal/v63/n9/full/ejcn200920a.html
An inverse relationship between plasma n-3 fatty acids and C-reactive protein in healthy individuals
I will consume 3gms/day of fish oil and get inflammtory markers retested in 6 months and will see
I tried posting this below your lipid results, but Disqus wasn't cooperating that far down the thread with cut & paste on my iPhone:
Have you seen the Cleveland Clinic videos on this subject…?
Intravascular Ultrasound Insight into the Pathophysiology of Coronary Disease
http://youtu.be/YfeCB-GHMvc
Factors Driving Progression and Regression of Coronary Plaques
http://youtu.be/7CHuHPtIHBs
New Targets for Anti-Atherosclerotic Therapy
http://youtu.be/4K3lv5tOCA0
Caveat: The HDL-raising drug mentioned in the 3rd video was pulled by the manufacturer due to increased mortality.
The info about the ApoA1 Milano polymorphism was intriguing, demonstrating that HDL numbers alone are not necessarily protective, especially when artificially raising HDL with supplements and/or drugs.
HDL is evidently more sophisticated a lipoprotein than originally thought, and much more needs to be learned about it before we can depend on its respective ratios for cardio-protective reassurance.
You are correct that LDL <60 can induce plaque regression, and AFAIK such LDL lowering may also cause more stability in existing atheromas. But I must wonder about the side effects of such a high dose (80mg) of Lipitor/Atorvastatin.
The positive results of this aggressive statin therapy, however, lends credence to the dietary approaches of Pritikin/Ornish/Esselstyn and colleagues IMO. They accomplished both plaque regression and adverse cardiac event reduction in their patients.
Even if you have chosen not to go completely plant-based, have you at least tried Michael Pollan's sensible advice to "Eat mostly plants"? It's working well for my lipids. It may well do so for yours, as well.
But even at 48, you're not in bad shape for your age group, where most people are between 55-150. Obviously, you wanna do better but reducing the overall risk of CVD is more than just lowering CAC. If your CAC score is >0, then you need to look at BP, inflammation (CRP) and blood stickiness (fibrinogen, A1c). If your mode of exit is via heart disease, then it's usually via thrombogenic myocardial infarction caused by inflammation-led cap rupture or hypertension than stenosis.
And your CRP isn't really coming from the O3-O6 imbalance. Your BMI is around 20; check the table in the the study: these guys all have BMI's in the high 20s. Like I said, CRP overlaps with metabolic inflammation and you can't deduce that it's due to lack of O3; those studies are usually not done with lean people with moderately elevated CRP (like you) but those with significant metabolic inflammation, which is not the same as inflammation caused by autoimmunity or hormonal dysfunction. When's the last time you had your hormone panel done, even serum cortisol?
http://www.nature.com/ejcn/journal/v63/n9/fig_tab/ejcn200920t1.html#figure-title
They're overweight/obese but they have CRP <1 and if you checked their liver enzymes, cholesterol, A1c and other markers, they would be normal, even optimal. They're perfectly healthy people. Jimmy chose to accept that weight = health and has proceeded down the slippery slope of ketogenic catabolism, where he will become hormonally wrecked and immunodeficient.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17697159
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18979272
I'm wondering about CAC as well. Is the calcification of plaques a characteristic of older, stable plaques? I've been told that Dr. Atkins admitted in a TV interview that he suffered from calcification of his arteries, but that was way back before YouTube. If true, I don't know how old Atkins was at the time.
Meanwhile, the IVUS revelation in the first Cleveland Clinic video that plaques grow early towards the outside of the arteries before they grow inwards to occlude the artery, yet can still be deadly, should be a sobering thought. It explains all those heart attacks that happen days or weeks after stress tests and angiograms gave the all clear, as well as the vast majority of heart attacks which happen without any prior cardiac symptoms.
It would be better if you can show that the regression is actually due to lowered LDL. Since most or all treatments possess multiple effects it is impossible to know. A more relevant and important question: Is lowering LDL associated with reduced cause-specific and overall mortality outcomes? After analyzing most of the evidence, I'd say the answer is no.
It is with regret that I deleted many comments today, many with interesting and informative content, but woefully off topic. I generally allow off topic comments here, but this just got out of hand. This is a book review.
I have saved the conversation should I have time later to somehow put it elsewhere. The discussions about cholesterol, etc. were especially difficult to delete, but it was impossible to leave just some without the others.
To marksuave - I would point you to this page here: http://carbsanity.blogspot.com/p/who-is-carbsane_29.html
This is not my personal blog, nor is blogging my main profession. I provide information here which I hope others will use to make informed decisions for themselves. Decisions based on the facts as we know them through the current limitations and understanding of the underlying science, not hype or unverifiable n=1 anecdotes. That is what I do and will continue to do, especially when so many are out there struggling because they believe the lies many gurus are telling them. You will note that I haven't done a post on a certain guru in a very long time. Since he wrote a book I consider to be one of THE most irresponsible books on a medical topic ever published. You brought that up, not me.
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