The Carb-Sane Asylum

So ooooooooo ..... I wrote a post a couple days ago calling out Dr. Cate Shanahan for her blatant misrepresentation of Ancel Keys and his part in the advocacy of a low fat diet.  One could write volumes on the problems with Shanahan's " science "  and ideas, but hopefully this overnight guru phenomenon -- because some minor celebrity shill kingmaker deems them so -- is on the outs.  One can only hope.   The first image included in that post was this one below. Figure in Deep Nutrition

I preface this post with words of wisdom from a science journalist. Long before Nina Teicholz burst onto the scene as the latest Atkins-mouthpiece (Chapter 10 of The Big Fat Surprise , I rest my case), from almost the very beginning of my exposure to the low carb internet community, I've been hearing how Ancel Keys was single handedly responsible for the low fat plague that has made us all fat and sick.  While I'm sure I'd heard the name Ancel Keys somewhere along the way during my formal studies, it never really rang a bell ... and I'd venture to guess that most outside this Incestral Health Community had not either.  This is the enduring legacy that appears to trace back to Gary Taubes' demonization of the man in Good Calories, Bad Calories .  It also appears to have origins in the Weston Price Foundation movement with the writings of Sally Fallon and Mary Enig, for example, The Oiling of America  (2000).

As I mentioned in my "opening post" on the matter of Ancel Keys, one of the inspirations was listening, for the umpteenth time, to a low carber blaming our ills on the "low fat diet" we were all duped into switching to by Ancel Keys.  In this case, it was Dr. Cate Shanahan: Reversing Diabetes ^ Knowledge Summit this past May. This woman wrote a book called Deep Nutrition with her ghost-writer husband Luke who has absolutely ZERO relevant background in the subject matter.  That book is an abomination.  Seriously.  As she possesses an MD (how she's board certified and practicing eludes me at this point!), the misinformation it contains on basic matters is even more potentially dangerous than that put out by some of the other diet gurus out there.   

Yes ... I know "plagerize" isn't a word, but image link As you may or may not have heard, Time magazine, where all dutiful Americans turn for information on what the government and others think we should be eating, has done an about face.  Eat Butter they say ... in a cover article written by one Bryan Walsh. What?  Not Nina Teicholz you ask?  Nope, not Nina.  But it sure sounds like her.  Or does it? Teicholz was all over Twitter several days ago, egged on by many who tweeted along in support.  These ideas are just too new and original to have come from anywhere other than The Big Fat Surprise .  

Shyster [ shīs-tər ]:   A person, especially a lawyer, who uses unscrupulous, fraudulent, or deceptive methods in business. Shai'ster [ shī-stər ]:   A person, especially a science journalist, who is unscrupulous, fraudulent or deceptive in their representation of the Shai clinical trial. Part I:  The Diets of Shai et.al. and Extrapolating from Weight Loss Studies Part II: Applicability of RCTs to the General Population Part III:  Well Implemented Clinical Trials Related posts:   A Matter of Control ,  Control in Clinical Trials DISCLAIMER:  What follows is in no way intended to be a review or analysis of the findings of the LA Veterans Study or the role of saturated vs. polyunsaturated fat in heart disease.  The purpose of this post is solely to discuss how randomizing and controlling was conducted in two studies, as described by Teicholz in her book and interviews vs. how it really happened. To revi...

Shyster [ shīs-tər ]:  A person, especially a lawyer, who uses unscrupulous, fraudulent, or deceptive methods in business. Shai'ster [ shī-stər ]:   A person, especially a science journalist, who is unscrupulous, fraudulent or deceptive in their representation of the Shai clinical trial. Part I:  The Diets of Shai et.al. and Extrapolating from Weight Loss Studies Part II: Applicability of RCTs to the General Population Related posts:   A Matter of Control , Control in Clinical Trials DISCLAIMER:  What follows is in no way intended to be a review or analysis of the findings of the LA Veterans Study or the role of saturated vs. polyunsaturated fat in heart disease.  The purpose of this post is solely to discuss the quality and nature of the implementation of two research studies, as described by Teicholz in her book and interviews vs. how they really were. A running theme in The Big Fat Surprise, and in practically e...

I am going to use diet comparison studies for examples throughout this post.  In a previous post, A Matter of Control , I discussed the concept of control in experiments compared with the general English language meaning of the word. Therefore, when using the word control it has no meaning with respect to how well implemented a particular study is with respect to compliance, completeness of data, etc. I do want to stress, however, that the "proper" usage of the term in clinical trial design can be rendered all but meaningless if the compliance cannot be properly assessed and verified.  Without this, we have GIGO = Garbage In, Garbage Out.   If you are studying the effects of a daily pill, you can have a perfect experiment, but if the subjects don't take that pill according to schedule, the outcome will always be shadowed with doubt. Before I go on, I also want to make it clear that this is in no way intended to be a detailed discussion of statistical methods, et...

In advance of my next installment of Nina Tei¢holz, Shai'ster, wherein I will discuss her claims that the Shai/DIRECT study was "rigorously controlled", I thought I'd give this post a bump. Original publish date Dec. 10, 2011 Control. It seems to me that many people misinterpret -- at least in their minds -- the meaning of this word when it is used in the scientific context.   While most of those no doubt understand the concept, after hearing the term enough, it just seems it comes to mean something else to them after a while.  I submit as evidence, statements made by two popular bloggers.   First up, J. Stanton at gnolls.org with  How “Heart-Healthy Whole Grains” Make Us Fat .  Wait!!  Did you click that link already?  I forgot to caution you that the post you are about to read contains science, so you might want to proceed with caution.  < / sarcasm > .  Anyway, the study he discusses in that post is:   High G...

Part I : Discussed the reporting and makeup of the study diets in Shai et.al.  Bottom line, if intake reports are to be believed, the "high fat" group in this study DEcreased absolute fat intake by a few grams to 70% of baseline intake depending on the reporting used. The study:    Weight Loss with a Low-Carbohydrate, Mediterranean, or Low-Fat Diet Nina Teicholz on Nightline,  link to full story Will the Real Applicable Clinical Trial Please Stand Up! In this installment I am going to discuss how Nina Teicholz couches the Shai study and then dismisses another study for reasons that apply equally, if not moreso, to her favored example.  Keep in mind that both in The Big Fat Surprise , and in her media blitz promoting the book, Teicholz makes reference to Keys' bad science contrasted by the definitive, conclusive, rigorously controlled clinical studies from the past decade.

Preface:  First, yes, I am aware that spelling Teicholz's name with a ¢ and using my Shai'ster play on words will rile my critics.  But I'm going to do it anyway because it is just so fitting.   In many ways,  The Big Fat Surprise  is frighteningly similar to Gary Taubes'  Good Calories, Bad Calories ,  and were it written by someone other than a friend and mentee, I'm quite sure Taubes would have a strong case for plagiarism.  Thus ¢ is the mini-$.   Secondly, having listened to or read now several interviews, and after finally completing her book, it becomes evident that most of Teicholz's "case" for why butter meat and cheese should be part of a healthy diet rests on a single dietary RCT.  I am, of course, speaking of the Israeli study known by first author Shai.  I apologize to Dr. Shai for my play on words, it is not meant in any way to disrespect her.  However her study is being misused and abused in so many ways b...

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