Oprah, Oprah, Oprah!

Oprah has regained 40 pounds. This is news. After all, it's a given that a woman's worth is determined by her waistline.

She feels bad and embarrassed. She fell off the wagon and let it run over her.

Oprah lost 67 pounds on a liquid protein diet. You know... a diet where your calories are suppressed and you drink liquid protein drinks and the weight falls off and you get into skinny jeans and feel awesome. Then you start to eat real food again and BAM! The pounds, guilt, shame & pain come back. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. She now has a thyroid problem - I wonder how that happened?

Oprah, it's not YOU, it's the #$(&*@#&##@ DIEt!!!! Please dust yourself off and adjust your perspective. Use your position as one of the most influential women EVER! Send the message that starving yourself into size 10 CK jeans isn't a solution to being a healthy weight.

And for crying out loud, do not say "I felt like a fat cow. I wanted to disappear." You shouldn't talk to yourself that way, and you shouldn't model that talk for others. Don't be part of the problem, Oprah! Be part of the solution! Give that gift to women and young girls around the globe. You can and you should!

What's in it for you, Derek?

Derek, you said you only posted your success story because you're proud of your weight loss, which you achieved by eating basic low carb, ignoring the Kimkins plan details, and not participating at the website. You said you don't endorse or promote Kimkins.

Derek, this ad says otherwise. Did you consent to this? Are you getting a cut of the profits? Is it OK with you that the odds are statistically zero that they will achieve the results you did? That they'll be out $80? That their money went to support the site that is facing class action lawsuit for fraudulent marketing? That they will probably quit the plan because it's 'too strict' (nutritionally bankrupt) or they'll actually DO the diet and end up with symptoms like the people on the Kimkins Survivors? And you are OK with Heidi Diaz using you to get people to join. Did you know the Better Business Bureau gave Kimkins an F rating?

If you are really only in this to inspire others and show them what is possible, then why not tell your story at any number of free weight loss websites? Why be a cover model for Kimkins? Really, I do not get it. Is there something in it for you?






Update: AffiliateScams has more on this topic.

Big news day for lowcarb diets!

These are different interpretations of the same info. I think it's all good news! Will the world get it? I hope so!

OK, I think it'll take more than this, but still... I'll take good news where I can! Note that none of the articles says to starve yourself on a low-everything diet until you lose your menstrual cycle, muscle mass and hair.

Study: Low-carb diet best for weight, cholesterol
Low-carb and Mediterranean diets beat low-fat for weight-loss ...
Best Diet: Low-Fat, Low-Carb or Mediterranean?

Kimkins & Low Thyroid

Here's a case where Heidi Diaz / Kimmer may know what she's talking about. In a recent blog post, she reviewed the symptoms of low thyroid. (She lifted a thyroid image from here and her words from somewhere else but failed cite her sources. Figures.)

What stood out for me was the fact that the Kimkins diet causes all those same symptom, and the Kimkins Survivor blog is filled with accounts from people whose thyroids went bad while on Kimkins. Every one of the symptoms Heidi Diaz mentioned in her post were symptoms heard often from people who followed her diet.

Interesting Reading from Dr. Briffa

Dr. Briffa had an interesting post about thyroid health a few weeks ago:

Low thyroid function may be a factor in weight gain despite ‘normal’ tests

He starts with this - see if it sounds familiar to you!

When I was studying medicine I was even more cynical than I am now and so, I think, were quite a few of my friends. We had all established firmly in our minds the notion that eating few calories than the body ‘burned’ would result in weight loss, so generally had little compassion for individuals who claimed they did not overeat but still could not shift their excess weight. Also, around the time a study was published which claimed that the overweight tend to significantly underestimate the amount they eat. So, if someone claimed that they thought they had a ‘sluggish metabolism’ or had ‘a problem with their glands’ (low thyroid function) then our eyes would usually roll skywards, if not outwardly, then at least inwardly.

Then you had thyroid testing and it was normal, right? Read the whole article to find out more about why normal may not be so normal after all.

Since then, he's written a follow up post about the dangers of ignoring allegedly normal thyroid test results:

More evidence that ‘normal’ thyroid function tests do not necessarily mean that all is well with the thyroid and health

He said

...this study focused on TSH levels in the ‘normal’ range, which the researchers cite as 0.5-3.5 mlU/L. This is interesting in itself, as the lab I usually use for these tests quotes and upper limit of TSH of 4.20, and I saw a patient yesterday who came with some blood test results where the upper limit of TSH was quoted as 5.50! it seems there is a lack of consensus about what the normal range of TSH should be…

Frustrated yet?

Anyway, focusing back on the study, the research looked at the risk of cardiac death in a group of about 17,000 women and 8000 men over a period of something more than 8 years.

They found no significant relationship between TSH levels and cardiac death risk in men. However, in women, it was a different story. Compared to women with a TSH level of 0.5-1.4 (relatively low levels which should mean relatively high thyroid function):

Women with a TSH level of between 1.5-2.4 were found to be at a 41 per cent increased risk of cardiac death.

Women with a TSH level of between 2.5-3.5 were found to be at a 69 per cent increased risk of cardiac death.

Yikes! In the end, Dr. Briffa says:

Quite a few doctors I know express concern at the thought of someone with ‘normal’ test results taking thyroid hormone. They often cite the risk of treatment, including risks to the heart. Obviously, I think it’s a good thing that as doctors we should be aware of the risks associated with thyroid hormone treatment. I just wish more doctors would see the other side: that there can be considerable risks associated with not treating too.

One of the commenters (Jackie) on the blog post shared some support resources. If you would like to learn more, check here:
Stop The Thyroid Madness
Thyroid Patient Advocacy
Hypothyroidism / Underactive Thyroid / Hashimoto's Disease
ThyroidUK.org
Her blog at http://gooddietgoodhealth.blogspot.com
Dr Peatfield’s book ‘Your Thyroid and How To Keep It Healthy’
Dr Lowe’s paper on the treatment of hypothyroidism