Rant: LC, trust, and capitalism
 

I'm reading Udo's book on fats...and I'm adding Udo (as he portrays himself in this book) to the list of people I can't stand who are writing on LC-type issues. This has re-triggered all the anger I have about the LC world in general.

Atkins sells overpriced vitamins and bars/shakes that will stall you, the Eades hawk this ridiculous Pentabosol as if it's something more than six common minerals and amino acids, and Udo will, for a hefty fee, tell you how to feed your dog if you simply contact him at the address given. (hmm, I just posted how to feed you dog for free on the paleo board. please pass the info along...for free. Or buy the book on BARF--less than $10.)

They are writing these books in a way that latches onto our insecurities about our bodies--driven by a culture that irrationally hates fat on the human body and shames people for their genetic inheritance of having an "unpopular" body type or a history of emotional eating due to childhood abuse or whatever caused the weight problem in the first place. They add to this goading us into panic about our health.

Then they draw us in...then they say, "oh, this would work so much better and faster if only you did X too...and X is for sale at my 1-800 number, please call 24 hours per day."

When they do that, I have to start to suspect that the information they are giving us is bogus. When their main thrust seems to be profiting off my insecurities, it dawns on me that if I strip away my insecurities, I am left with a way of eating that makes me feel better, but that in no way has been a miracle weight loss cure for me--or for many others who have posted on this board over the past year. Their profiteering makes me
wonder how healthy it really is.

And then they (and others) say, "it's your own fault you got cancer because you ate wrong," when the main causes of cancer are the pollutants that derive from the industrial world we are now so dependent on. Blame the victim--triggering guilt and shame is always a good strategy! And now buy this product and version six of my book (version 1 won't do) and it will all be better.

This profiteering makes me suspicious as heck. The self-promoting tones of Udo and Dr. A make me also suspicious. I feel a great need to shower more often when I read these books or see their services advertised--there is something icky about all of it.

Wow raz! You know, this is exactly why, unlike many others on this board, I read VERY little LC literature. I feel exactly the same way and find that reading those books will make me doubt how I feel...cause I feel great!!! I don't want to hear that some chemically created product is going to make me feel better somehow or that I'm not doing it "entirely" right. Sometimes I feel like I'm at a disadvantage because I can't quote directly from Atkins or Eades...so my advice is often just practical...trust your body, tweak the program as you need to to feel better and ask anyone more knowledgeable than me if you have a question!

Lisa

RE: Pentabosol
 

That is also my one peeve with the Eades...I cannot understand why they would push this when this WOL works without any of these types of quick fixes... :( :( ... never was one to believe in having to take pills to loose weight....

Bonnie

Completely right!
 

I feel the same way razzle! And also, I take the program as it pleases me, lisaf. No one knows my body and it's responses to certain things better than I do, right? So I think the most important thing is to listen to what your body tells you and act on it!

Vickolien

I have had some mini rants before on the commercialism of the diet doctors. I worry about the gullible. I realize it is a tough hard marketing world and it is an industry not a new church, charity or faith but I share some of your disappointment and wonder whether for every new sale they may discredit their scientific status.

Eades and Erasmus have a good deal that is right to say and I do not begrudge buying a book for £5.99 that I can scan before I buy. I would take the side of reading the works but passing on the products.

Fortunately Dr. A's overpriced scary products that seem the antithesis of what he preaches are not available over here. But again I do not have to buy them.

I had not been aware of Pentabosol before you mentioned it although I have read PP. I looked it up and find that I am already taking carnitine and chromium two of its ingredients. It looks as if it is a reasonable combination of fat metabolism aids. But you are right, I do not like to be pressure sold something that is meant to be good for me, and if I don't buy it I will be damned to ill health for ever and a day.

The dilemma is that I still feel that I can recommend Protein Power as a book and it was Atkins that started me on a low carb diet. So in some sense I must say thankyou and be moderately supportive.

I feel even more outraged at the pills and potions that are on offer from all the quacks.

Here is one that came as unsolicited mail today . Turbo-Slim from the Swiss Naturopathic Herbal Science. Lose 2lbs every 8 hours or we'll give your £44 back! Claims of people losing 40lbs a week. Lose a full dress size in 48 hours. These charlatans :devil: are not Dr's and it must be a case of buyer beware.

But it makes me MAAAAAAAAAD!!!!!! :bash:

I think I will have to have a lie down now.

Where is the information about Pentabosol? I own Protein Power, and I don't think I saw it mentioned. (Of course, I'll check my index when I get back home.) I just got PPLP this weekend, and am a good 2/3's of the way through the book and don't see that mentioned either.

As for Dr. Atkins, he tells you right in the book, (at least the 1992 version) to eat real, natural foods, and anything you spend on fake foods ends up in somebody's pocket. Of course, the company needs to make tons of money...I'm hoping he's going to use it to fund a research project on the benefits of low carbing.

I haven't read Udo, so I can't add any comments about him.

Elihnig

You are right. This stuff is especially bad for the gullible. I tend to be gullible, or at least overly-hopeful. It's a good thing I'm too cheap to buy much! However, related to the hype, I have to admit that I've been disappointed with my initial weight loss. Over two weeks and I've lost 7 pounds. Thing is, that is actually really good, but when you hear about so many people losing SO much weight on low-carb, well, I guess it gets me hoping, because I have so much to lose right now.

So, I thought about ditching the whole damned thing a few days in, but I realized how much $$ I had spent on splenda, pork rinds and other things we never buy, so I decided to stick with it until I ran out. (Once again, being cheap saves the day!) Fortunately, that was long enough for me to realize how much better I feel when I eat like this. My 'goal' has changed from 'lose this much weight a week, and be at my goal weight on this day', to wanting to feel better NOW, have more energy NOW, and eventually be at my healthy weight.

I have added some supplements (vitamins) to my routine, but I'm a bit of a skeptic there. I will likely 'test' them by running out and checking to see if I feel crappier/less crappy/whatever. And, at some point, when I have lost a significant amount of weight, (25-30 lb) I will go to my Dr. and request some blood work, just to see how things are going.

Thank you, Razzle, and the other people who replied - this was a nice little chunk of perspective for me.

-Catinhat :wave:

RE: pentabosol
 

This is the official home site for Protein Power...I am a member of the message board and believe you me there are many threads there in regards to Pentabosol...pros and cons...

http://www.eatprotein.com/

I personally support low-carb authors in their business adventures. I would draw the line where there is an actual scam, but to my knowledge there haven't been any (yet).

Some authors have a particular combination of supplements that do not exist in the market in the prescribed dosages. For example, Brad King, author of "Fat Wars" has a particular list of recommended supplements that he considers optimal for fat burning, without using ephedra. He simply had a company manufacture it under the name "Lean+" and I found it sold locally for half the price of other burners.

I personally find it more offensive when authors mislead readers by manipulating scientific facts (many LC authors slam other LC diets as fads, and claim some stupid things like protein causes muscle loss, Ketosis is dangerous, etc. with no scientific proof).

But when they sell supplements, they usually do it outside their books, either through their web sites, or in an appendix in their books. There is nothing wrong with that.

And I really hope they get rich doing it, so they can focus more on future LC research and discoveris.

Using their name to sell it at a higher price is similar to drug companies selling the brand name of the drug. You often find much cheaper generics with identical formula. We shouldn't be too protective fo consumers up to the point of assuming they have no common sense :)

The only sour point is the sugar alcohols and glycerine used in LC bars, but it seems they don't stall everyone, and many (especially men) can use them with no hindering of weight loss.

Take Udo's blend for example, how many commercial products in the market now offer a similar balanced blend with the same pressing technique. Not that many, and you won't save a lot of many by by pressing and blending your own.

I think the main reason we maybe too critical of LC authors is that we view them as saviours and heros who are going against the medical powers that be and fighting to educate the world about the modern diet's dangers. Once you view them as absolute heros, it may seem creepy that they need money to survive, just like us. But, if you need to visit a doctor, you need to pay, and chances are many of us will be offended if our physicians refused to take our money and started acting like we're a charity project. :)

Wa'il

I guess the main problem I have with this is that LC longterm will work without the fat burners....we all agree that this WOE is for a lifetime...also the price of some of these items are exorbitant...and yes par example (Pentabosol)...not within the budget of the average Joe...what happens to the individuals when they decide they cannot afford to buy the supplement any longer !?!?!?....I suspect many of these authors are making sufficient money from the sale of their books alone...then there's the talk circuit...we have all seen the infomercials for LC videos and packages on TV...when I see this marketed for a big price whereas an individual can buy a LC book for let's say ten to fifteen dollars and get the same results it makes me cringe...it's no wonder the credibility of these LC diet authors start to waver and thus the reason for the comment by the media, " Ahhh, Yeah, another quick fix fad diet"...just my thoughts....

I'm thankful every day that I picked up an Atkins book, which led me to read PP, which lead me to read The X Factor Diet - which was the book that convinced me to LC and changed my life. I hate the commercialism of it all and I don't buy any of the "house" products they push. I hate the way I've been "scared" into buying so many supplements it takes me all day to swallow them (I'm considering dropping most of them, but that's another story). But - lowcarbing has improved my health in so many ways that I can only be grateful for that. For those of us who are gullible enough to fall for the house products - the protein bars, the keto shakes, the fake biscuits & breads, the miracle supplements - there are worse ways to be taken for a ride (the whole worldwide food & pharmaceutical industries just for a start) and a lot of people (gullible? or just willing to try another way?) find these products support their lowcarbing efforts. The lowcarbing bandwagon is just beginning and will no doubt line the pockets of many people whose intentions are less than noble, whose credentials are a bit dodgy to say the least. Tees me off too. Our only defence is not to succumb to the commercial side. But - the thing about being gullible, is you just don't know you are.....

The first time I LC'd was under my personal doctor's supervision. Since I was paying $52.00 a visit, I took his advice. This is what he said:

Don't buy any books on this subject.
Buy one good carbohydrate counter.
Take Vitamin C and Vitamin E, daily.
Drink 8 glasses of water a day.
Do not eat more than 15 grams of Carbs a day.
These carbs are mostly vegetable sources, nothing grown on vines, underground or on trees. The darker the green, the better.
Eat unlimited protein (meat, fish, eggs, poultry).
If a label reads less than 1 gram of carbs per seving, count it as 1 gram.

Ok, you owe me $52.00, see you in 2 weeks.

For what it's worth, it worked and I lost 100 pounds in less than a year. It was that simple.

I say commercialism in regards to selling us products that contain ingredients that are going to stall us out is taboo and should be considered fraud.