Love and Hate for 180

Wow, what a weekend.
I received a thorough tongue-lashing by Richard Nikoley of http://www.freetheanimal.com/ for suggesting that he is hypothyroid (which he is, and was diagnosed with that disorder many years ago), was ridiculed by Dr. Kurt Harris at the Panu blog for making a “Straw Man” argument and being unoriginal (yes, EVERYBODY is recommending overfeeding on high-glycemic carbohdyrates these days to drop blood sugar levels), and got some bizarre criticisms at http://www.fathead-movie.com/ for things as strange as what blogs I follow (uh, I follow like 30+ blogs and agree with the general conclusions, sentiments, and mindset of 3 blog authors – Stephan Guyenet, Michael Miles, and Ryan Koch – yet I continue to learn a lot from many others even if I feel their general conclusions are off-base).

But seeing myself attacked by people for being someone who claims to have the answer to all things “for only $19.95,” hearing folks say that I’m just a money-making scammer that forces people to pay to read anything I’ve written, being ridiculed because of things that a diagnosed schizophrenic wrote about me 8 months ago, and so on, brings up a very important lesson.

How many times to do we simply write people off, and ideas off, when we have no knowledge of what those theories, or those people, are all about? Most of the cheap shots taken against me were by people who have very little clue about who I am, and couldn’t have been more off base. It all reminded me of T. Colin Campbell writing off the Weston A. Price Foundation for being in bed with factory farms, when the Weston A. Price Foundation is one of the world’s leading critics of the factory farm industry. It was like a Peace Corps volunteer being attacked for being “all about the money.”



Well, I’ve committed this foolish mistake many times myself, but I’ve gotten better over the years. No longer do I let researchers lose me with the phrase “artery-clogging saturated fat,” or “carbohydrates fatten pigs, so of course eating carbohydrates makes you fat.” I try to make a conscious effort to get past some of the mistakes of other researchers to get through to the stuff that really is valid, useful, and important. To think of what I might have missed on this health exploration if I hadn’t taken the work of both Joel Furhman and Gary Taubes to heart. To think of how much incredibly cutting-edge science I would have missed in Barry Sears’s books if I had written him off as a huckster for selling sucrose-sweetened soy protein bars.

I thank my lucky stars that I have broken past the natural desire to be exclusionary and defensive, and read everything I can get my hands on with respectful intrigue – working my best to unify health and nutrition ideas and beliefs with a more comprehensive understanding of how humans are impacted by what they do and eat.

Anyway, this whole experience has made me overwhelmingly grateful, and has really inspired me to be more open-minded than ever (risky I know, my brain was already starting to feel a draft seeping through the cracks). I don’t know if I’m ready to be polite about my views, or show any signs of being classy, or drop my love of 'in-yo-face irreverence,' or bite my tongue in the face of oversimplified theories such as low-carb = happily ever after…

But I am ready to move forward with more fire and reckless abandon for learning about health than ever before. The blog posts coming out in the weeks to come are going to be great fun. This past weekend is shaping up to be more of a recharge than anything I could have ever asked for.

Thanks again to everyone for your support and interest – for taking the time to see what this adventure is really all about. I hope it continues to be more mentally stimulating than The Biggest Loser, or even some of the best health blogs and books of recent times. May we continue to explore new territories with an open and expansive mind. One thing I know for sure, and that has become my new saying of late, is that “if you aren’t confused about health and nutrition, then you haven’t studied it long enough or deeply enough.” If you are more confused than ever, then you must really be onto something! Thanks to everyone for following along on this pretty wild adventure. I can’t wait to see where we are years down the road.

And thanks especially to Timmy Patch. Recently, many people have been telling me that they appreciate being freed from “X” dietary prison by some of my work at 180degreehealth. I was told that I am “changing people’s lives” with heartfelt sincerity. What a thrill to be given such a compliment.

Well Timmy, I don’t know how deep you had to dig to get to what you wrote about me on my Fat Head Guest Post, but I can tell you that my life will literally NEVER be the same again after having read it. No one has ever written something like this about me, and I don’t even know if I conceptualized of what I’m doing to the extent that you have. I don’t know if anyone has managed to capture, in words, the real impetus for my writing and research and the true nature of it like you have. Thanks so much. This will be with me always:

“To Mallory, Charise, and other skeptics of Matt Stone and his message,


I can relate to your apprehensions over accepting nutritional guidance handed down from a bloggerhead with no real credentials to his name. I’d wager most individuals browsing Tom’s blog ruined their health placing blind faith in mainstream nutritional wisdom, only to experience further deterioration as they turned in desperation to loony diet guru’s promoting veganism, zero-carbomania. Having been fooled so many times by seemingly well intentioned zealots with an axe to grind, a purse to fill, or party-line to tow, why should we take seriously the rants of a goofball with nothing but a blog and force of conviction to his name?


I’ll tell you why. Matt Stone is not your run-of-the-mill health blogger. Although he may sound rigid in his views, he is not only receptive to, but actually seeks out cognitive dissonance. His concern is not with maintaining and spreading blind faith in an idealized diet/lifestyle. Rather, he operates like a scientist, constantly updating and revising his theories in order that they conform more closely with reality. In line with his goal, his research has been expansive and open-ended. Although Matt does not have a medical degree — and therefore may not be able to wade through dense published medical articles with the same facility or level of comprehension as, say, Stephen at wholehealthsource — he probably has developed a more comprehensive understanding of the underlying nutritional/metabolic theories advanced by nutritionists and doctors alike in the past century than just about any credentialed “expert” you will ever meet. He does this because it’s his passion. He only charges money for some of his work because, huge dork that he is, this passion of his has kind of taken over his life. Guy’s gotta make a living somehow.


Over the past three years, as he has gobbled through tombs of nutrition literature, his views have radically evolved. At each stage, he spoke as if he had finally attained nutritional enlightenment, only to change his mind a few months later upon exposure to conflicting information or new perspectives on old information. Some would view his inability to stick rigidly to a specific set of internally consistent dietary stipulations as vice, but I see this as his strongest virtue; it has enabled him to avoid the confirmation bias pitfall most nutrition researches fall into. Over the past couple of years, his principal theories HAVE grown more stable, suggesting he has refined his ideas to the point where they are internally consistent with the preponderance of legitimate research.


Nonetheless, his site is not, and has never been about creating packaged diets or scheduled meal plans. If you want somebody to tell you that you should eat twelve sticks of celery and two sheep livers for breakfast, three liters of distilled water for lunch, and sack of hay for dinner, then Matt’s blog is not the place for you. Nor is it the place for you if you are afraid of being exposed to contradictory ideas. Matt Stone is a “follower” of the dietfucked site because its two publishers, “harper” and “chloe,” were formerly active commenters on the 180 degree blog who took perhaps too seriously the ideas of a certain endocrinologist with brilliant but just as often misguided insights into the human metabolism. Matt never agreed with Harper or Chloe that binging on sugar and orange juice was a smart idea, but he embraced their active participation on his blog because it made for some interesting conversation and debate. Although he disagreed with them, he chose to link their blog because they are, like him, interested in improving health and well being through nutrition.


I’m no evangelist for the 180 crusade. Matt Stone certainly doesn’t have all the answers, nor do I expect he ever will, but he is a passionate researcher, a powerful thinker, and, in my opinion, a man of high integrity. I’d sooner take his advice than my doctor’s any day.”

Fat Head Gets a 180 Infection

"Don't call it a comeback, I've been here for years, rockin' my peers, puttin' suckaz in fear.  Making the jam, rain down like a Mon-soon, listen to the bass go boom. Explosions! Ova-powerin', over the competition I'm towerin'!"

No I didn't have to look those lyrics up sadly.  Had a car a few years ago that only had a tape deck.  Found an L.L. Cool J tape at a thrift store, and well, I listened to it a lot until I traded that puppy in.  Didn't realize until now that L.L. stands for "Ladies Love."  Classic.

Anyway, wanted to let you homies know that my guest post at the Fat Head blog is official.  Tom posted it late last night.  Hope I make you guys proud.  I put a little special sauce into this one.

CLICK HERE TO CHECK IT OUT

I could be wading into some low-carb shark-infested waters in the comments section.  So far, so good, but if you see me getting disemboweled by a bunch of carbophobes over there, please step in and stick up for me.  Or else you guys'll be in big trouble.

If you haven't seen the Fat Head movie yet, you should.  Sure, it's got a low-carb bias, but all in all it is simply the best film ever made on the controversial topic of nutrition - for those with a good head on their shoulders and a sense of humor.  Grab a copy.  Makes a great gift for those that think that it's all about calories and exercise - but are unable to grasp the logic sequence of Gary Taubes in dry, 500-page behemoth book format.   

The Count the Obese Starch-Eater Game

Recently I got into a jovial, light-hearted back and forth on Twitter about obesity, carbohydrates, yada, yada.  Some heavy artillery was slung my way, a recent article that, several days later Tom Naughton of Fat Head dedicated an entire blog post to.  The premise of the article was that the whole obesity thing was a Big Fat Lie!  Well, I agree.  But the author concluded that replacing fat with starch was the reason the epidemic of obesity continued to surge in Great Britain over the last couple of decades.  Read the article here for a good dose of low-carbism.   

This conclusion is pretty hilarious.  Has this person ever been to Thailand, or Laos, or Nepal, or Vietnam, or Japan, or Cambodia?  Well, I have been to all of those countries, and no one in their right mind could ever conclude, in a million years, that obesity is caused by eating starch.  In fact, one would be far more likely to come to the opposite conclusion, and probably be onto something. 

In the defense of beloved starch, and to even point out that refined starch at that is not inherently fattening, I sent along the following video, with the instructions to "Count all the obese people on a refined-starch-based diet."  Hey, refined starch may not be the most nutritious food for maximal health, but it simply doesn't cause insulin resistance, obesity, etc. - even amongst sedentary Chinese office workers eating more calories than Americans exercising their brains out.  Only a lifetime force-feeder like a Sumo can get fat on such fare.  But note, Sumos do not have the health problems that typically accompany obesity.   

Well, I give you all the opportunity to play the game.  The object of the game is to simply count how many obese starch eaters you can find.  Whoever counts the most, wins!  Watch closely now.  Post your score in the comments section! 

Rethinking Hypothyroidism Podcast

There will be a follow-up post to the ideas presented in the podcast here, but this is an interesting concept to bring up, especially when there is a huge movement out there of treating a low body temperature with medication (Wilson's Temperature Syndrome) or desiccated thyroid hormones.  As we're seeing at 180degreehealth, many people are having no problem bringing up basal temperatures whatsoever, and that the thyroid health of someone with a low body temperature often has nothing to do with their hypometabolic state.  Nothing at all! 

Is a Low-Carb Diet Counterproductive?

I was asked to shed some light this morning on why I think low-carb diets are counterproductive for healing the metabolism.  This is very timely as I will be sending in a guest post to Tom Naughton's Fat Head blog later this week.  Thought I would share an elaborated version of my response with the 180 Groupies... 

Several things make me very leery of going low-carb, or at least make me feel that it is counterproductive:


1) Several authors, such as Diana Schwarzbein and Barry Sears talk about cortisol being raised on a low-carb diet as if it were common biochemistry knowledge. Knowing what I know about cortisol, a low-carb diet seems very undesirable. Diana Schwarzbein repeats the mantra that “going too low in carbohydrates raises cortisol and adrenaline” time and time again throughout her work. Keep in mind she observed this by tracking her patients’ hormone levels as a practicing endocrinologist. Barry Sears emphatically states:

"…the longer you stay in ketosis, the more your fat cells adapt so that they are transformed into ‘fat magnets,’ becoming 10 times more active in accumulating fat…A high-protein, low-carbohydrate diet drives insulin levels too low, thereby causing hypotension, fatigue, irritability, lack of mental clarity, loss of muscle mass, increased hunger, and rapid fat regain when carbohydrates are reintroduced into the diet. Not exactly a prescription for anti-aging. This coupled with the increase in cardiovascular mortality because insulin levels are too low, simply reinforces the need to maintain insulin within a zone: not too high, not too low.”

This is probably due to cortisol, particularly the “fat magnet” claim. Although not everyone experiences these things on a low-carb diet, I experienced almost all of them, and know many others who have as well. The longer I went low-carb, the worse those symptoms got.

2) My own personal health eventually deteriorated on a low-carb diet. My pet allergies and asthma increased, I had digestive problems - both heartburn and mild constipation, became very grouchy, and developed foul body and breath odor, and even eventually started to have tooth pain (although on zero carb I did not). Add sleep problems and the re-appearance of gas and slight acne to the list too. I had none of these experiences in the beginning stages. Quite the contrary actually. Everything seemed to improve and I had thought, like many do, that I had found the Holy Grail of health. Note: I was the perfect low-carber too. All my dairy products and meats were grassfed/pastured and local. My dairy was unpasteurized. All my produce was organic – most from farmer’s markets.

3) Even Dr. Atkins states in Dr. Atkins New Diet Revolution that the Atkins diet, long-term, has "the tendency to shut down thyroid function." He states that on page 303:

“…remember that prolonged dieting [including ‘this one’] tends to shut down thyroid function. This is usually not a problem with the thyroid gland but with the liver, which fails to convert T4 into the more active thyroid principle, T3. The diagnosis is made on clinical grounds with the presence of fatigue, sluggishness, dry skin, coarse or falling hair, an elevation in cholesterol, or a low body temperature.”

4) The mere presence of ketone bodies from going low in carbohdyrates is known to intensify insulin resistance. Insulin resistance is the whole reason people go on low-carb diets in the first place, and is the root problem - worsened by a low-carb diet.

5) The most major metabolic and digestive problems that people have come to me seeking help for were caused by going too low in carbohdyrates for a long period of time. One kid had ruined his digestion and metabolism so severely that he developed hypogonadism, was suicidal, and couldn’t manage to choke down more than 1,500 calories per day without severe bloating. This was a formerly-healthy young man in his 20’s that did this to himself by being totally dedicated to good health. His diet consisted of mostly raw dairy products, raw grassfed beef, and sauerkraut - a combination of following ideas derived from Woflgang Lutz, Aajonus Vonderplanitz, and the Weston A. Price Foundation. Only a fruitarian diet seems to be capable of matching this level of degeneration.

6) Broda Barnes stated:

“…it has been clearly established that a high protein diet lowers the metabolic rate, [therefore] symptoms of hypothyroidism will be aggravated… Hypoglycemia may be controlled on the high protein diet, but the other symptoms of thyroid deficiency which usually accompany hypoglycemia are aggravated.”

AND...

“…when the diet was changed so that it was low in fat but high in protein and with enough carbohydrate to prevent diarrhea, symptoms of hypothyroidism appeared. Cholesterol level in the blood became elevated and in order to keep it within normal range, four additional grains of thyroid daily were needed. Apparently, a diet high in protein requires additional thyroid for its metabolism.”

7) Given the recent topic of omega 6 overload on the cellular level, a high fat/low-carb diet is almost always higher in total omega 6 polyunsaturated fat as well – even if vegetable oils are excluded. This may be very significant, it may not be the end of the world. The issue needs further exploration. A low-carb diet will typically have twice the amount of omega 6 as a typical, low vegetable-oil diet with more calories coming from carbohydrate. My estimates, using ESHA software, of my low-carb diet included at least 15 grams of omega 6 per day. My diet over the past several days has had an average of just 3 grams of omega 6 per day. Significant? Who knows, but it’s thought-provoking.

This is just a short list of reasons. But you get the idea. It's not that a low-carb or even zero-carb diet can’t be a healthy diet. Eskimos proved that beyond a shadow of a doubt. The question is, given that the world seems to be in metabolic decline, with widespread insulin resistance, low body temperature, and more… is a low-carb diet the most effective strategy at fixing the core problem, or might it actually be counterproductive?

Click HERE to read some of the low-carb war stories of others.