Dear Mother: December 2008-January 2009

Letters from our readers on Good Calories, Bad Calories; education vs. legislation; population; and more.

December 2008/January 2009
Letters from our readers 
good food v. bad food
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Gary Taubes argues that it is carbohydrates such as desserts that make us fat, and meat, fish and leafy greens that are the healthier choices.
KERI ROSEBRAUGH
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Back to Basics

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As a Type 2 diabetic who has worked hard to bring the disease under control (it’s not gone away) and having read widely in that pursuit, I must applaud Gary Taubes’ common sense, back-to-basics article, Good Calories, Bad Calories: What Really Makes Us Fat.

I see that there’s a whole lot of dogma which pervades the majority of the comments with the article online. That’s fine by me, as we all have our own self-interests to push.

I’m for Taubes and thank Mother Earth News for publishing the article. If more adult diabetics had understood this before they were diabetic, they would have been better off. Even now, this kind of realistic advice can help them. It makes a lot of sense to me and how I manage my diabetic food plan.

Walter Adamson
Melbourne, Australia

Learned the Hard Way

I loved Taubes’ article! Such huge sums of money ride on the low fat/no fat diet that it’s really swimming upstream to suggest something different, although I think the “facts” regarding low/no fat are merely theory.

I discovered the hard way that carbs in excess are really, really bad when I got hit with heart failure. A friend who is also a doctor told me to read the book Protein Power by Michael Eades, M.D. and Mary Dan Eades, M.D. I followed their recommendations, and now tests show the pumping ability of my heart is almost normal again!

Robert Atkins originally put together his famous diet for his heart patients, not for a weight loss program. Of course, eating this way will cause weight loss — a lovely “side effect!” The Eades’ book gives the science behind limiting carbs, which is over 100 years old. I wonder how long it will take mainstream medicine to admit that low/no fat is simply wrong.

Dorothy Brockett
Gettysburg, Pennsylvania

A Matter of Survival

I couldn’t believe my eyes when I found Gary Taubes’ article. Way to go, Mother! Yes, it is controversial, but Mother Earth News has always been countercultural, and for that I am grateful.

After following the “conventional wisdom” way of eating for 30 years (low fat, high carb, lots of sugar), I ended up 50 pounds overweight and diabetic. Lots of research later, I started on a low-carb diet, first cutting out all grains, sugar and trans fats, and then increasing amounts of low-glycemic veggies and dairy. Since losing most of the excess weight and reducing my blood sugar, I am gradually adding a few grains, mainly steel cut oats and barley.

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