Some thoughts on media coverage
 

Hiya
Well, I saw another headline today... "Atkins can kill". I didn't read the article, it was in someone else's paper and to be frank I couldn't be bothered.
You know, so what if Atkins can kill? It's my choice. It's only affecting me. I'm not emitting clouds of noxious smoke. I don't lose all sense of judgement and have my reflexes impaired so badly that I wipe out an innocent family on the highway. I don't infect anyone else. I don't AFFECT anyone else - except perhaps in one way which I'll elaborate on. WHY CAN'T PEOPLE JUST LEAVE US TO OUR OWN CHOICES when they don't affect others!?

I think I know why this happens, but not why people are this way.
Another place you can see a similar effect I think, is David Blaine's stunt. People don't understand why he is doing it, and they cannot see themselves doing it. Their reaction to this is to attempt to cause him to fail - throwing eggs and food at his box, wishing ill on him, etc etc etc.
Why are people today SO SCARED of seeing other people succeed at something, even if it's just for themselves? Are all the "skinny" people who never have a weight problem scared that there won't be any "fat" people left for them to feel superior to? Why? Why can't people be happy for others? Why does another's achievement threaten so many people these days?
*sigh*

The world is not a happy place.
Humanity needs to find reverence. I hope it does, and soon - we will be much happier if we appreciate each other.

Steven

Well said, Steven. I've been absolutely disgusted by the UK media coverage of the past couple months. And yesterday's "government health warning" was the last straw.

I realize I don't have a native Brit's perspective on this issue, but IMO it is not the government's business to tell me what foods I should eat or how I should lose weight. As far as I can figure out, that is MY business. I'm horrified that Whitehall apparently has nothing better to do than preach about the Atkins diet. After all, the UK health establishment has been saying for years that they want people to lose weight and be healthier. So zillions of people go on Atkins, and the ones who follow the plan correctly and intelligently DO lose weight--sometimes massive amounts--and DO become healthier with the test numbers to prove it.

But no, this is not good enough for the official nutrition gurus. After all, the populace must be told what to think and how to do everything because we are obviously not smart enough to figure this out for ourselves and have been taken in by rich American diet doctors and celebrity fluff. Never mind that the Atkins plan works for so many who had utterly given up on their health and appearance--quite literally a new lease on life. The books fly off the shelves because the diet works, and it works best for those people who could never get anywhere with the standard low-fat plans.

I too wish they would just "live and let live." But I think that there are a lot of people with strong interests in promoting LF eating. First and foremost, there is the medical establishment, and all those nutritionists/dieticians who force fed everybody the low fat dogma for the last 25 years, on IMO very slim evidence (pardon the pun). If they admit they were wrong, they have to deal with the blowback and perhaps even liability issues resulting from all the misery they have created. But on the other hand, there is not the huge body of LC-supportive research either, that these people would need to feel safe changing their official line. Governments and establishments are always the last to get on board...so they are going to bang the drum hard for the status quo until there is overwhelming evidence that LC is safe.

Second, there are the carb pushers. As we know, carbs are cheap to produce and LF "healthy" foods are enormous profit centers. Imagine if people were being told to make up 60+ percent of their diet from your products. What a gold mine. If I were running a UK food company, I would be rolling out LC-friendly products left, right and center, as fast as I could get 'em into the stores. But the industry has decided that instead of responding to consumer demand, they will try to scare people off Atkins instead. :rolleyes: They tried that in the States, too. It didn't work very well. And in the meantime, forward-thinking businesses who were putting out LC foods saw their profits skyrocketing.

And finally, there is the tall poppy syndrome that you describe so well. Some segments of society find it very threatening when people set challenges for themselves and succeed at them. It's much more comfortable when they fail, because then we don't have to look at ourselves and what we are NOT making of our lives. It's easier to make fun of Blaine and try to pull him down (literally!) than to take a good honest look at what we're capable of in life and what we are actually doing with our potential, if anything.

It is a natural human tendency to become complacent and frightened of any change to our well-worn routines and our set beliefs. Unfortunately, at least here in the UK, the media encourages this tendency and makes fun of those who are bucking it and going for what they want in life, even if it is hanging from Tower Bridge for a month, or paying attention to what their own body says they should eat rather than heeding the "wisdom" dispensed by the official "experts."

</rant>

Emily

It's interesting that the coverage in the UK is so negative. I would say that coverage in the U.S. is beginning to become slightly positive. Sure, there are still plenty of low-fat preachers in the U.S media and health establishment, but the low-carb voice is not generally derided. Perhaps this indicates that folks in the U.S. are starting to realize how unhealthy we are and, as a result, are becoming more open-minded toward potential solutions. Just an opinion, of course.

The coverage in Canada seems to becoming more positive, as well, though the main stream media somtimes seems to treat the subject very much with tongue in cheek. Sort of like, "Well, some new studies and the latest research SEEMS to be indicating that Atkins MIGHT actually...wink,wink...be GOOD for you.

Like salmon swimming up stream, even if it means heading towards the edge of a massive waterfall, no one wants to be the first to turn around and go the other way.

But I LOVE what the first post said, that maybe all the skinny people are afraid that they won't have any fat people left around to feel all superior to. Heh, heh.
Kathy

What bothers me the most, is that I find most negative coverage is from well meaning journalists.

It will take a lot to undo all the brainwashing we've had for 2 or 3 decades, and baseless propaganda against fat and meat, and all the praise for sugar-laden foods, starch and fructose....

They say low-carb is bad, in the same exact way they say smoking is bad, and it makes perfect sense to them, just like my last doctor.

It's truely a revelation, just like discovering that the earth is round, it takes time to swallow. :sunny:

There once was an survey that showed a significant percentage of girls would rather be dead that fat. It shows the extent of the phobia and social sigma that is attached to being overweight.

So no matter how strident and hysterical they get about their health warning, it will not deter people. It works. That's all that matters. Even if Atkins WAS bad for your health, people would still be on it.

Luckily, they are wrong. Their studies aimed at showing us they are right only proved them wrong. Now there is enough of a critical mass of people on Atkins, doing well and loosing weight, and enough of a genuine interest in why that is to carry the movement forward

I think what the media is showing is different than what we all think. Mass media just wants people to read them they are also sponsored by big business. I'm sure the sugar and flour companies of the world are putting heavy money into media. They are losing money. As for as what people are thinking, let me tell you about work.

Every time a story comes out, my boss or my old co-worker, if the story is anti low-carb, print it out or email it to me. Both of them are on low fat diets and are struggling with it. Ok. I'm struggling too but I stay low carb for months... they have trouble saying with it for a week. I think they are afraid they are "wrong"

I keep telling them this: Its easy.. keep the fat and the carbs away from each other and you'll lose weight. How ever if you are borderline diabetic or hypoglycemic or just have sugar cravings. Its best to low carb.

Judging by their candy consumption.. they might be on the wrong diet... ;)

I don't know about the UK, but in America, the more you can keep a controversy going, the better the media like it.
That's why we have outlets, shows, and even individual articles doing "either/or" kinds of coverage. As long as it's not a settled thing, they can sell stories on it.
And look at the people on this board who have trouble adding more fat to the way they eat. They are ON it, they have the support of other people who are ON it, and they have lost weight ON it...and still find it hard to believe.
Changing less motivated minds will be an uphill battle.