Boy, we've got the low-fatties beside themselves today!

After the release of this JAMA study on Tuesday that is making tons of positive headlines for livin' la vida low-carb, you would think those who support low-fat diets were just told the government was no longer going to actively recommend that way of eating as the publicly-endorsed nutritional approach for getting healthy.

Of course, you know that wouldn't be such a bad idea if it happened. GASP! LOL! More about that in a moment.

I was privileged to be invited to join a teleconference debate last night sponsored by RevolutionHealth.com, a new web site dedicated to helping people take action to manage their health care, conditions and healthy living goals by bringing together a blend of the best health information, tools, communities and services all in one place. It's a free site that is worthy of your attention if you are like me and care about the subject of health.

The debate itself was between Dr. Michael Dansinger, MD who authored this JAMA study comparing various popular diets in 2005 and Dr. James Hill, PhD. from the National Weight Control Registry (NWCR). Neither one of these men are what I would call enthusiastic supporters of livin' la vida low-carb, but Dr. Dansinger is at least respectful of the diet. Dr. Hill, on the other hand, has his doubts about the Atkins diet beyond short-term weight loss. I'll explain why I think he believes this way shortly.

Jason Rosenberg, who hosted the call, asked me to invite people to the call since my "Livin' La Vida Low-Carb" blog was one of the more prominent ones in the low-carb community. So, I e-mailed a handful of low-carb supporters across the various fields of academia, research, advocacy, and blogging and came up with people who I thought could join me and the other low-fat diet bloggers and advocates as we hash out the the details of this study.

But when I called just minutes before the teleconference began at 7:30pm, imagine my surprise when every single one of the people participating in the call was in some way connected to the low-carb community. What?! Where were the low-fat diet bloggers and supporters? Were they simply unwilling to engage in a little spirited debate surrounding these newfound facts about the Atkins diet? Surely you jest?!

Nope! It was true. Not one single person beside Dr. Hill was there to defend low-fat, despite the fact that Jason invited them just like he did me. In a way I felt bad for Dr. Hill because I didn't want him to think all of us low-carbers were ganging up on him like a bunch of blood-thirsty savage wolves seeking to devour some freshly-caught prey. I'm sure that may be how he felt once we all started asking our questions and making our comments.

So, who was on the call with me? Here's the list:

- Dr. Mary C. Vernon from the University of Kansas
- Dr. Eric Westman from Duke University Medical Center
- Laura Dolson from About Low-Carb Diets
- Kate Welch from The Steaks Are High
- Dr. Gil Wilshire from The Carbohydate Awareness Council
- Regina Wilshire from Weight Of The Evidence
- Dana Carpender from Lowcarbezine!
- Marilyn Turnbow from Atkins YAHOO! Group

It was quite a distinguished panel and I was honored to be a part of it. After some formal introductions of the speakers and an informal roll call of everyone who was participating, both Dr. Dansinger and Dr. Hill gave their assessment of what they thought about the Gardner study that released on Tuesday.

Interestingly, both men agreed that there is very clear evidence from the body of research that has come out in the past few years about low-carb diets that they should not be dismissed altogether. But what irritated me the most was when Dr. Hill kept insisting on giving the caveat "in the short-term" whenever he discussed low-carb diets. Oh, they're great for weight loss "in the short-term" and I wouldn't have any problem with someone wanting to try that diet "in the short term."

UGH!

As you can imagine, I was chomping at the bit to ask my question and Jason gave me the first shot. So I asked Dr. Hill point blank if low-carb is only good for the short-term, then how am I supposed to eat long-term? He responded by stating that if it's working for me then keep doing it, but it does not work well for everyone. Thankfully, he did admit the same thing about low-fat diets, but the same scrutiny does not exist for that diet.

One interesting statement made by Dr. Hill that quite frankly floored me was when he said low-carb diets are as equally ineffective after a year just as low-fat diets are. Did you catch that apparent slip of the tongue? He just said low-fat diets are INEFFECTIVE after a year. If that's true, Dr. Hill, then why do we keep having what you admit is a FAILED message hammered down our throats year in and year out? Isn't the low-fat, low-calorie diet what your National Weight Control Registry recommends as the long-term way to lose weight?

Taking his thesis that low-carb is equal to low-fat in bringing about weight loss and improved health (or not) a little further, I asked a follow-up question for Dr. Hill a few minutes later asking if the Atkins diet works just as well as the low-fat diets, then why aren't government and health entities recommending both alongside each other? Dr. Hill said that was an important question to ask, but never really said if he believed it could, should, or would ever happen. There's a reason he ducked at that question.

Dr. Hill's answer was not at all surprising considering his obvious conflict of interests I blogged about previously with his ties to the food industry. Dr. Hill is on the advisory board for the Grain Foods Foundation and has consulting ties to PepsiCo, McDonald's, HealtheTech, Johnson & Johnson, Procter & Gamble, and Coca-Cola. He has also received speaker fees from Abbott Laboratories, Roche Laboratories, and Kraft Foods as well as research funding from M&Ms/Mars. The Sugar Association has also funded his research on the role of carbohydrates in weight management.

And this is the same man, along with Dr. Rena Wing from Brown University/Miriam Hospital, who supposedly speaks for what works for people to bring about weight loss over the long-term according to the much-heralded NWCR. Ever since I joined the NWCR in 2005, I have been concerned about their apparent bias against low-carb while the low-fat, low-calorie diet is so heavily endorsed. Frankly I'm surprised nobody outside the low-carb community is as concerned about this as I am.

This conversation about developing long-term weight and health strategies is an important one to discuss as Dr. Vernon so eloquently mentioned regarding providing individuals with the support they need to be successful. Before that happens, though, we must all agree that if low-carb diets are as effective as low-fat diets (and that's what the evidence has shown in multiple studies now), then they deserve equal footing, equal treatment, and equal endorsement by our leaders.

The time for talking about this is over. We've seen the research and it shows that low-carb is as good or better than low-fat diets for at least one year. With this knowledge under our belt, when are we going to stop pandering to the special interests in the food industry and finally do the right thing--PROMOTE LOW-CARB AND LOW-FAT AS EQUALS! This is a public charge to health leaders like Dr. Hill and the like to stand up and do the right thing.

Kate from "The Steaks Are High" blog summarized it well in her post about the teleconference call echoing my message of equal treatment for low-carb diets.

"All low carbers are asking for is that the low-carb approach be recommended as an option alongside low fat, since the medical safety of Atkins has been proven by this and many other studies. Oh yeah, and that the American Heart Association and the American Diabetes Association read some of the latest research for a change."

That really is all we are asking for. Livin' la vida low-carb doesn't have to be advocated (although it could be argued that low-fat diets HAVE been for decades), but simply put on the table as a viable option for people to try if they need to lose weight and get healthy. What harm will come if people are given a choice, hmmm?

E-mail Dr. James Hill and urge him to use his powerful position in the realm of health and nutrition to push government and health leaders to promote low-carb alongside low-fat in national dietary recommendations at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

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