Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Gary Taubes gets Tested, and his LDL is as Fluffy as his Breakfast Eggs

Many dear readers remember watching Gary Taubes on Dr. Oz, and wondered why he declined to take a cholesterol test.
In a nutshell, Taubes refused to do the test that was available that day, since total cholesterol isn't much of a predictor of anything.  He did agree to do a test if he could measure the things that he feels are appropriate.  Some of those tests aren't routine, and the results wouldn't have been available on the day of the taping.
In my opinion, Taubes was set up and tricked by the people who run the Dr. Oz show.  Even though the issue had been discussed and settled before the taping began, Dr. Oz still threw the question out there anyway.  Taubes' surprised response is because he thought the issue had already been settled, but Oz brought it up and really tried to hammer it home.
Cheap shot Dr. Oz.  I have been wary of watching the show ever since this was aired.  I have never seen another guest ambushed on the show.  Gary Taubes didn't deserve this.  You said you didn't want to set Taubes up, but you set him up anyway.
Here's Taubes' excellent test results:
http://www.garytaubes.com/2011/04/before-sugar-were-talking-about-cholesterol/
Some who argue against a low-carb diet point to the well-known fact that "bad" LDL usually rises while on such a diet.  But they fail to point out that it is also well-known that there are different types of LDL, some are good, some are bad.  A low-carb, high-fat diet raises the amount of "good", "fluffy" LDL and a high-carb, low-fat diet raises the amounts of "bad" LDL.  (But my readers still aren't that impressed, because they know that a risk factor isn't a cause!)  Other researchers discount these tests altogether, believing that the lipid measures are a marker for type of diet, not any disease.
Here's Taubes' take on the Dr. Oz ordeal:
http://www.garytaubes.com/2011/03/dose-of-intervention-land-of-dr-oz/
And you can also check out Taubes' interview with Jimmy Moore on Livin' La Vida Low Carb:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQKH3sqjcDU

4 comments:

  1. Jimmy Moore's interview with Taubes was very good, explaining what really happened on the Dr. Oz show. Thanks for the link!

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  2. How do I get on the mailing list for your blogs and for Gary Taubes? I do receive Jimmy Moore's. Have any of you examined the American version of the Dukan Diet book and have comments?

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  3. Thanks for your interest. To follow, just click the follow button, and you can add me to the blogs you follow on your profile. You can sign up for Gary Taubes' blog using the RSS feed.
    I haven't read much in detail about the Dukan diet, but I do know it is becoming more popular.

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  4. I have liked the work Dr Oz has done to bring health issues to the public - his illustration of how much sugar a person in USA eats in a year made me cut out all sugar in coffee and tea immediately. And I continue to cut.
    However this act was not very impressive. I have seen his interview with Dr Sinatra and his co-author about how the world has the cholesterol picture all wrong and I thought his enthusiasm was for the hype rather than the facts - I far prefer the approach of Gary Taubes and Peter Attia who make careful statements. This does not guarantee showy TV but I find them and their writing more trust-worthy

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