Did the Surgeon General get it Wrong About Weight?

Did the Surgeon General Get It Wrong About Weight? By Heidi Dulay, Ed.D., N.C.
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The good news is: We can lose weight without starving. How?

Eat enough – of the good stuff.

4 Guiding Principles

Real food is good. No fake, toxic, food-like substances.
Fat is good, including saturated fat from coconut and happy animals.
Refined carbs are evil: Sugar, sweets, alcohol and refined grains (white bread, pasta, rice, etc). Even "good" carbs (whole grains, beans, starchy vegetables and fruit) may prevent weight loss, depending on your biochemistry.
Starving destroys metabolism and creates fat.

An enormous amount of research supports these principles. 150 years of investigation by physicians, biochemists, anthropologists and explorers. It spans obesity, effects of dietary fat and carbs on chronic disease and weight, causes of metabolic diseases, and diets of ancient Paleolithic humans and "primitive" peoples around the world.³

Nobody knows it all. Even the Surgeon General can get it wrong. So, no matter what any authority says, it's safest to test the ideas yourself. Happy eating!

References

Banting, W. 1869. Letter on Corpulence, Addressed to the Public. 4th edition. London:
Harrison. Republished new York: Cosimo publishing, 2005.
Online at http://www.low-carb.ca/corpulence/index.html.
Benedict, F.G. 1915. A Study of Prolonged Fasting. Publication No. 203. Washington, D.C.: Carnegie Institution of Washington.
Cordain, L. (2002). The Paleo Diet. Lose Weight and Get Healthy by Eating the Food You Were Designed to Eat. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley.
Enig, M. 2000. Know Your Fats: The Complete Primer for Understanding the Nutrition of Fats, Oils, and Cholesterol. Silver Spring, MD: Bethesda Press.
Keys, A., J. Brozek, A. Henschel, O. Mickelsen, and H.L. Taylor. 1950. The Biology of Human Starvation, 2 vols. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
National Institutes of Health National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI). 1999. Women's Health Initiative. Online at http://clinicaltrials.gov/show/NCT00000611
National Research Council, Committee on Diet and Health, Food and Nutrition Board, Commission on Life Sciences. March 1989. Diet and Health: Implications for Reducing Chronic Disease Risk. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press.

Meticulous and thoughtful analysis of this vast literature by Gary Taubes 2007. For real food, see Pollan 2008; fats and oils in nutrition, Enig 2000; primitive (traditional) diets, Price 1939; and Paleolithic food, Cordain 2002.

Did the Surgeon General Get It Wrong About Weight? By Heidi Dulay, Ed.D., N.C.
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