"Diet" rant

[kellinator]

Last night I was getting a trash dose from Dateline NBC (I don't care how many journalistic awards it gets, it's still trash) and this reporter who had lost fifty pounds on the Atkins diet was doing a report on diets.

There was a segment where Dr. Dean Ornish chastised the reporter and told him he was killing himself and he must switch to his diet pronto. When said reporter looked at the guide and said "I can't live on this!" Ornish replied "Of course you can!", which shows how out of touch he is with the average American. Sure you can live on greens and tofu, and a few of us even like it, but I fail to see the point if you make your life miserable in the process.

I can't decide who's worse, Dr. Atkins with his scary ketosis-inducing diet, or Dr. Ornish with his condescending, holier-and-healthier-than-thou attitude. Actually, worst of all is that bastard doctor I went to last month who combined the worst aspects of both, telling me I could never eat anything I liked without actually telling me what I could eat.

So...

[Poll #47208]

Comments

[tikimama.livejournal.com]

The problem with both approaches is that they are too drastic. People can no longer do without, they must have some of the things we're used to and enjoy. So.

I was on the Atkins diet for a while, a couple of months. I lost 15 pounds, sure, but I was dying for a piece of fruit. It was easy enough to stay on, but in the long run, I really don't think it's healthy. Low Carb people love to trot out the Eskimo example (that people in far north climes eat nearly nothing but protein, have no heart attacks, etc), but it is so flawed, since American low carbers eat high fat protein (steaks, etc) and tons of cheese and dairy.

In any case, any diet with a chance of success has to embrace moderation.