200 Canadian doctors demand lower-carb dietary guidelines!

December 15 2016 by in The food revolution

The fat-phobic, high-carb dietary advice, that has been given for decades has been an enormous failure, and given the ever-increasing rates of obesity, diabetes and heart disease, there is urgent need for a change.

Almost 200 doctors in Canada have now signed a petition for the government to change the dietary advice, and to include a low-carb option for people who could benefit. Two of the 200 doctors are Dr. Jason Fung and Dr. Jay Wortman:

Dr. Jason Fung

How to maximize fat burning
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Dr. Fung's fasting course part 2: How do you maximize fat burning? What should you eat – or not eat?
The top 5 myths of fasting
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Dr. Fung's fasting course part 5: The 5 top myths about fasting – and exactly why they are not true.
How to fast - the different options
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Dr. Fung's fasting course part 3: Dr. Fung explains the different popular fasting options and makes it easy for you to choose the one that fits you best.

My Big Fat Diet
42:31
What would happen if an entire town of First Nation people went back to eating the way they used to? A high-fat low-carb diet based on real food?
LCHF for obesity and diabetes
1:03:45
Dr. Jay Wortman explains hhow to reverse obesity and diabetes using LCHF.
How to reverse type 2 diabetes
24:25
In this interview Dr. Jay Wortman tells us how he reversed his own type 2 diabetes and then did the same for many, many others.

Top comments

Reply to comment #3 by Jen Purdy
Tim
December 16 2016 8
Heh, the Eskimos ate almost exclusively fat. The parts we call good, they fed to the dogs.
Your propaganda is the joke around here...the human body has no need for carbohydrates other than a tiny amount for the brain which the body can manufacture.

Read more →
Dr Jay Wortman
December 16 2016 6
pcrm.org is a vegan propaganda group closely affiliated with PETA. A small proportion of their members are actually physicians. You can safely ignore pretty much anything they say.

Read more →

All comments

1
Apicius
December 15 2016 4
Every Canadian on the Diet Doctor site should read the letter. If you agree, email your support at the following email addresses:
Nutrition@hc-sc.gc.ca
Info@hc-sc.gc.ca
Consultations@ipsos.com

If LCHF worked for you or a loved one, TELL THEM YOUR STORY!! The folks at Health Canada - Office of Nutrition Policy and Promotion need to know. If we don't tell them, they will not learn.
2
ANDy
December 15 2016 4
Good Luck on changing the Dietary Guidelines for Canada. In the US, I suggest getting rid of the USDA dietary guidelines entirely because:

#1. Governments are really run by lobbyists and the lobbying firms that created this mess back in the 1970s with the US Senate Select Committee on Nutrition & Human Needs are a much bigger influence on government policy than we can ever hope to be.

#2. If government were not the authority on nutrition, then (and I know this is a scary thought because it requires that you accept that people will eventually come to the right source) DietDoctor.com will eventually become the authority on nutrition by our success.
3
Jen Purdy
December 16 2016
This is a joke, right? Looking at successful societies through the ages, there tends to be a reliance on something starchy (potato, rice, wheat, etc.), and vegetables, with tiny amounts of animal products (fat). It's also disappointing that you are taking a reductionist approach to nutrition.
More reliable and evidence-based resources on nutrition for health are nutritionfacts.org and pcrm.org. I do agree that people should avoid heavily processed foods i.e. "carbs" according to your reductionist approach. But otherwise, one can expect long-term to feel less well on a ketotic diet of high fat, low carb. This is the Atkins, South Beach, or paleo diet by another name... allows us to feel good about eating terrible food and our bad habits. They allow for weight loss in the short-term, but how many are on these diets for more than a few months?

Replies: #4, #5, #12
4
Reply to comment #3 by Jen Purdy
Tim
December 16 2016 8
Heh, the Eskimos ate almost exclusively fat. The parts we call good, they fed to the dogs.
Your propaganda is the joke around here...the human body has no need for carbohydrates other than a tiny amount for the brain which the body can manufacture.
5
Reply to comment #3 by Jen Purdy
Apicius
December 16 2016 3
You are the joke, Jen. Do you realize the awkward position you just put yourself in? Many people on this site have easily been eating LCHF for months and years. Lost weight and reversed diseases like type 2 diabetes. You are making yourself look like a joke, without anybody 's help.

And why are you so angry?...such venomous spew. Chill out...go eat a piece of bacon, it will calm down your hystrionic lashings.

Oh, yeah. Here's an example of a successful society...episode aired on Supersizers where a brother and sister team ( Giles and Sue) tested eating an Elizabethan diet (according to first cookbook published in UK). At the end of the week, Giles lost 3 kg and Sue lost 4 kg. The common diet in UK in the past was fatty pork, meat and foul...and lots of it!
https://www.youtube.com/all_comments?gl=UG&hl=en-GB&v=rGGH0...
6
Aaron
December 16 2016 5
Jen Purdy, did you read the letter or did you decide to comment without knowing the content? FYI, it discusses a whole food approach to eating by de-emphasizing grains, added sugar, and general nutrient-poor food. Our government has been pushing grains, starches and sugar for too long.
7
Dr Jay Wortman
December 16 2016 6
pcrm.org is a vegan propaganda group closely affiliated with PETA. A small proportion of their members are actually physicians. You can safely ignore pretty much anything they say.
8
Jen Purdy
December 16 2016
Hello all,
I did read the article. I would note and remind people that Canadian physicians normally get maybe three hours on diet in medical school, and it normally emphasizes the Canada Food Guide (I know, I experienced this myself firsthand).
Tim: There is evidence that we may have a specific taste bud for carbohydrates. Would this cause you to question your world view? Just curious.
Apicus: I admit, it did not occur to me how rabid people would be in their response to my note. That was foolish of me, given that one may find people who are incredibly defensive regardless of the way of eating (WOE) or diet they are following. I don't think that makes me a joke, though, and I wish you good health nonetheless.
Hi Aaron, we can agree that the ideal way of eating involves less processed foods and added sugars. I'd suggest though that by subsidizing meat and dairy, our governments have been pushing those for far too long, in the face of overwhelming evidence of harm.
Dr. Wortman, pcrm does have an arm that is against animal testing. However, it also has an arm that provides evidence-based information about reversing DM2, reducing cholesterol, resolving migraines, etc. The studies on this website seem to be funded on occasion by organizations like the Atkins foundation, and perhaps were designed with bias in mind (in one of them, the low-fat group had consumption of 26% dietary fat!! That is not low-fat... but it will sway a study in the right direction.)
Best of luck to everyone in their pursuit of improved health. I do suggest giving the cited research articles a much closer read, looking for validity and bias. I did think this article was a joke, although perhaps this just goes to show how much Canadian medical schools need to up their game when it comes to teaching nutrition. No wonder patients don't know who to trust.

Replies: #10, #11, #23
9
Tim
December 16 2016 4
Tim: There is evidence that we may have a specific taste bud for carbohydrates.

I doubt that, carbs aren't even a necessary nutrient. In any case, I don't miss them in the least...animal and dairy fat, avocado and olive oil provide all the taste I need.
10
Reply to comment #8 by Jen Purdy
Apicius
December 16 2016 5
Jen...my taste buds crave bacon, fatty pork, fatty beef, chicken with the crispy skin on, eggs with a runny yolk, green leafy vegetables swimming in extra virgin olive oil, macadamia nuts, whipped cream, liver pate, full fat aged cheese, and all sorts of fish and sea food (swimming in butter or lard and freshly squeezed lemon). If I eat nothing but these foods for the rest if my life...I die very, very happy.

Last time I took a full blood panel the doctor was shocked how good it was.

Thank goodness we have Dr Eenfeldt and his diet doctor team, and I am equally thankful for Dr Wortman and Dr Fung. They helped me to be where I am today. I am also thankful for the intelligence, courage and collaboration that the 200 Canadian doctors showed. They are not swayed by hidden agendas and lobbyists and activist groups like PETA and PCRM vegan activists...who care about nothing else but their own tunnel-vision political agenda.

These 200 Canadian doctors are working towards a common goal of advancing real food (over processed junk), which will have a huge positive impact on diabetes, obesity...and ultimately the escalating cost of healthcare...there are two big wins here...(1) the health of Canadians, and (2) the Canadian economy.
11
Reply to comment #8 by Jen Purdy
Apicius
December 16 2016
Jen,
I'm sure you are going to enjoy reading this next bit of juicy news...a news report just came out on Global news that the Canadian military personnel are experiencing extremely high rates of obesity, citing "based on self-reported height and weight, 49 per cent of personnel were classified as overweight and another 25 per cent were classified as obese,” the report reads.

You can read the news article here:
http://globalnews.ca/news/3017931/report-suggests-three-quarters-of-c...

Isn't that interesting, Jen? I wonder what sort of treatment and nutritional advice the Canadian armed forces are getting from the doctors serving in the military. Me thinks Health Canada, Office for Nutrition Policy and Promotion will have no choice but look into what's going on in there.
12
Reply to comment #3 by Jen Purdy
Vilma
December 16 2016
Jen Purdy, I find it really strange that you are not at all intrigued by the success stories on this site. The people following the diet do the exact opposite of what they are told by the conventional guidelines and they massively improve their health. In your world this shouldn't even be possible, right? I was told years ago before starting LCHF that in a matter of months my health would deteriorate and it was stupid to try it out. Obviously I didn't listen and it is the best decision I have ever made for my health. My bloodwork is great (granted I am young and it never was that awful but it got even better), I lost a ton of weight easily without hunger and am now getting help for my sugar addiction all because of this diet. The diet that, by conventional believes, basically should've killed me by now.
When it comes to the research, I don't know a lot about it. But I know that even with as low as 26% fat the higher fat, lower carb did better. If low fat (10%? 20?) is the best, then the lower fat should always be better than the high fat, at least to my logic.
There is a lot of evidence that shows that people ate fatty foods and meats in the past. Just like someone pointed out the Inuits who ate basically nothing but fat. They are lean, though with your world view they should be obese and miserable. Our bodies don't need dietary carbohydrates, I am sure you know this. So eating a diet that is based around them doesn't make much sense.
I urge you to open your mind and see what is in front of you, right here, on this site. People getting healthy with a diet that isn't supposed to have any benefit for their health. It shouldn't be possible. Then how come it's happening?
13
Pierre
December 16 2016 1
Good luck!

Here in Canada what is important is:

1) Fight climat change even Canada is a carbon sink with is huge forests.

2) Fight the virtual Russian agression

3) Overthrow Bashar al-Assad

4) Legalized marijuana

5) Stall or cancel resource projects

6) etc.
14
iAnna
December 16 2016
Now we are awaiting DietDoctor to do a similar petition with his colleagues in Sweden. <3

Reply: #15
15
Reply to comment #14 by iAnna
Apicius
December 17 2016
IAnna, I think Sweden is way ahead of any other country when it comes to endorsing LCHF, or low carb, as an acceptable dietary therapy for deranged metabolism. You should look up "Annika Dalqvist" (I hope I spelled her name correctly). She was a doctor who went low carb to treat her own medical problems, and then started to provide LCHF advice to her patients. Well, unfortunately, she was dragged through the mud and got her license suspended...however, after a period of investigation, where a board of doctors reviewed published evidence that low carb works, her license was re instated. This then led to Sweden accepting low carb as an approved dietary advice.

Unfortunate for the torture Dr Annika went through as an LCHF pioneer...but, Sweden did eventually make the breakthrough. Not to say that they are 100% there....but, at least a huge step forward. That is to say that any doctor or dietician in Sweden who offers LCHF advice I believe would not undergo prosecution like Dr Fettke or Prof Noakes.
16
Anthony
December 17 2016
Isn't the raised fist (with a red background) as presented in the header of this post the symbol of Communist solidarity?
Very disturbing Andreas....

Replies: #17, #19
17
Reply to comment #16 by Anthony
Apicius
December 17 2016
Anthony,

Where is the hammer and sickle? It's not there. That's the symbol for communism.

A raised fist is fighting for what you believe in as a group (ie 200 doctors)....nothing to do with communism.
18
Tim
December 17 2016
The raised fist dates back to ancient Assyria, and refers to the power of the hand. Have at it, there's always someone more powerful...

Teach people to independently care for themselves and we don't need a bunch of doctors going hat in hand to the nanny authority. This like asking the fox to fix the predator problem...didn't happen in Sweden, the dietary guidelines are same as always, with 'special permission' to treat metabolic issues with low carb...and won't happen in Canada.
19
Reply to comment #16 by Anthony
Peter Biörck Team Diet Doctor
December 17 2016
Hi Anthony!

I have been reading through the comments here and on Facebook and haven't seen any similar reaction on this picture.

But just to make it clear the picture is NOT meant to demonstrate a symbol of Communist solidarity!

Isn't the raised fist (with a red background) as presented in the header of this post the symbol of Communist solidarity?
Very disturbing Andreas....
20
Jessie
December 17 2016
Jen has a lot to learn. Old school, uneducated health system/ education has got her too lol
21
Anthony
December 17 2016
Thanks for the clarification Peter.
22
Vicki Vine
December 21 2016
Who is Jen Purdy ???
23
Reply to comment #8 by Jen Purdy
Rosalei Misco
December 21 2016 1
For Jen Purdy,
I have been a type 2 diabetic for 25 years. I gained 55 lbs and became diabetic because I bought into the idea that was preached starting 50 years ago, don't eat fat, eat carbs.

I lost all the weight and am able to easily keep it off with this diet. I simply cut out all forms of sugar, flour, potatoes and rice. I eat all the fruits and vegetables I want. Some protein in the form of meat, cheese, eggs. I eat full fat, sugar free yogurt to which I add flax seed, Hi maize 260 resistant starch fiber. Fiber keeps you full and sets you free and doesn't raise blood sugar.
I also use gelatin each day, as it also keeps hunger in remission. I don't count calories or carbs.
after 25 years I have none of the complications of type 2 diabetes. I am in perfect health at 78 years old.
24
KingHockeyMan/dpfontes
January 27 2017
I 100% agree. In the USA it is the FDA whom I loathe sitting here in Massachusetts. Yes, they do good work. But the BS'ing, lies, and back-door-riggings negate the good, .....period. Canada is the USA's best State(lol) #51. Actually, Canada is #14 when the USA had the 13 originals States. Canada has exactly what the USA has from everything TV, sports, cars, home appliances, & everything in between, ...period. For except the Gov ways/means/etc. & the currency. CAN/AM are twins. A Big Bro & Lil'Sis thing. So our 51st(14th) State is kool-beans. Trust me, If any outside 'entity' tries to war/hurt/etc.. Canada. I pity them! The USA will make the 'entity' a true & complete offer they will never refuse. Trump is no ODUMBA! The ODUMBA red-line is PINK! Trump's line is black and white, w/Canadian red ;-)... . The FDA is in Trump's firing-line w/the meds/prescriptions costs. Soon the FDA will meet the Trump Man. - I am KingHockeyMan- God Bless all ;-)... .
25
Rosslyn
January 17 2019
Jen, you said, and I quote, ”one can expect long-term to feel less well on a ketotic diet of high fat, low carb." Well, have you actually tried the high fat low carb diet on yourself? When my husband learned about the ketogenic diet in May 2015, that's three and a half years ago, his health was not very good. He had hyperthyroidism, he was obese, and he feels that he was pre-diabetic. He also had very little energy. I could hardly get him to walk around the block with me. He ate a very big carb loaded lunch, and I then would take a 2 hour nap, even though he slept all night for 8-9 hours. Then at dinner time he would have another carb loaded meal and then feel very tired afterward, again! Living like this, he was headed for disaster. He dropped all the carbohydrates, rice, pasta, bread, all packaged (processed food), and sugar. Within three months, he lost 60 lb and his hyperthyroidism resolved itself without medication. He also has tons more energy. He is pretty much on a carnivore diet now... Lots of fatty meat and animal products such as all full fat dairy, eggs. If this diet is so unhealthy, as you say it is, shouldn't he be very fat and sick by now? If he ate as much sugar and carbohydrates as he does fat, he would be very, very obese, sick, maybe even dead. He is 51 years old now, but he feels much better than when he was 47, when he started the diet. This diet has benefited him so much, that he hasn't been sick for three and a half years, not even a cold. Also FYI, 28% fat is not considered high fat according to the ketogenic diet... 70 to 75% is. I also went along with him and did the ketogenic diet. I wasn't overweight, but I did lose 10 lb, and I feel much better than I did before. I didn't do it for weight loss, but did it to maintain good health as I get older. We've shared this information with many of our friends, but only some have tried it, and they've benefited as well. So if you personally haven't tried the diet yourself, how can you say that it's unhealthy? That's just like saying you don't like the taste of a certain food, but you've never tried it.The benefits surely outweigh the sacrifices we've made in giving up the foods we used to love. It's a lifestyle change that we've made, and we're not going back!

Reply: #27
26
Rosslyn
January 17 2019
Jen, you said, and I quote, ”one can expect long-term to feel less well on a ketotic diet of high fat, low carb." Well, have you actually tried the high fat low carb diet on yourself? When my husband learned about the ketogenic diet in May 2015, that's three and a half years ago, his health was not very good. He had hyperthyroidism, he was obese, and he feels that he was pre-diabetic. He also had very little energy. I could hardly get him to walk around the block with me. He ate a very big carb loaded lunch, and then he would take a 2 hour nap, even though he slept all night for 8-9 hours. Then at dinner time he would have another carb loaded meal and then feel very tired afterward, again! Living like this, he was headed for disaster. He dropped all the carbohydrates, rice, pasta, bread, all packaged (processed food), and sugar. Within three months, he lost 60 lb and his hyperthyroidism resolved itself without medication. He also has tons more energy. He is pretty much on a carnivore diet now... Lots of fatty meat and animal products such as all full fat dairy, eggs. If this diet is so unhealthy, as you say it is, shouldn't he be very fat and sick by now? If he ate as much sugar and carbohydrates as he does fat, he would be very, very obese, sick, maybe even dead. He is 51 years old now, but he feels much better than when he was 47, when he started the diet. This diet has benefited him so much, that he hasn't been sick for three and a half years, not even a cold. Also FYI, 28% fat is not considered high fat according to the ketogenic diet... 70 to 75% is. I also went along with him and did the ketogenic diet. I wasn't overweight, but I did lose 10 lb, and I feel much better than I did before. I didn't do it for weight loss, but did it to maintain good health as I get older. We've shared this information with many of our friends, but only some have tried it, and they've benefited as well. So if you personally haven't tried the diet yourself, how can you say that it's unhealthy? That's just like saying you don't like the taste of a certain food, but you've never tried it.The benefits surely outweigh the sacrifices we've made in giving up the foods we used to love. It's a lifestyle change that we've made, and we're not going back!
27
Reply to comment #25 by Rosslyn
Rosslyn
January 17 2019
Correction on my own comment: my husband would take the 2-hour nap, not me.

200 Canadian doctors demand lower-carb dietary guidelines!

Dr. Jason Fung

Dr. Jay Wortman

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