faulker053

Debra came to me frustrated about her climbing weight, now about 20 pounds out of her normal range. This is nothing unusual for me—plenty of women and many men reach this point, desperate for answers and guidance to help them take charge of their weight. Others present for help managing symptoms or medical outcomes—like high blood pressure or cholesterol or GERD that have more to do with the quality of their diet than with their weight. Debra was an active woman in her 50s, a non-emotional eater—yes, they do exist—who felt like she was doing most things right. She ate regular meals and snacks; she had to, as she started to feel really low energy, and fuzzy headed if she didn’t. And she’d start to get the sweats, too. She had a history of very high cholesterol, and a family history of Type 2 diabetes as well. And the weight she had previously maintained, her normal weight, was nothing crazy, nor did it require heroic measures to achieve it. Her goals were quite realistic. After reviewin...

It was like waking up in Sleeper, the Woody Allen movie, when the main character, asleep for umpteen years, wakes to find that cigarette smoking is good for your health. That’s how I felt some weeks ago after reading the half page article in the NY Times entitled “Study Questions Fat and Heart Disease Link”, based on the r ecent study by Dr. Chowdhury et al which reviewed more than 70 scientific studies and appears to turn our cholesterol lowering guidelines on its head. No one is concluding you should be eating more of this. You, my readers, may have little concern about your heart disease risk. Yet I urge you to keep reading—because unless this news splash is explained, you’ll be left feeling like health professionals just can’t get it right. I mean, one day they say saturated fats are bad, and next day they tell you they don’t impact your risk. Carbs are good, and then they’re bad. Hormone replacement therapy is recommended, and then it’s dangerous. Confronted with so much conflic...