The Big Fat Surprise - Why Dietary Guidelines are Making us Fat | The Empowering Neurologist EP 161
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Published 2023-04-03
Nina Teicholz is an investigative science journalist and leader in nutrition reporting who is challenging the conventional wisdom on dietary fat–particularly, whether saturated fat causes heart disease and whether fat really makes you fat. The New York Times bestselling author of The Big Fat Surprise. Teicholz also serves as Executive Director of The Nutrition Coalition, an independent non-profit group that promotes evidence-based nutrition policy. She is one of a new generation of researchers arguing that diets lower in carbohydrates are a scientifically sound approach for reversing nutrition-related diseases.
For more than half a century, we’ve been told to eat a diet high in grains, low in fat, saturated fat (and cholesterol), but the last two decades of research have led a growing number of scientists to conclude that this diet, despite being rigorously tested, could never be shown to prevent any kind of disease.
Teicholz’s work also explains why this diet has remained official policy for so long: the roles played by crusading scientists, the food industry, and more.
The story is as much about politics as it is about science, and Nina Teicholz’s research ultimately confirms that the traditional foods we were told to abandon (meat, cheese, eggs, butter) are safe, and even good for health.
Nina Teicholz has been called “The Rachel Carson of the nutrition movement.” Her book has been called a “must read” by some of the most prestigious medical journals in the world, including The Lancet, The BMJ, and the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
In speaking about Nina, the immediate past-president of the World Heart Federation, said at the Davos Cardiology Update Davos (2017) “She shook up the nutrition world, but she was right.”
Please enjoy this compelling interview with one of my personal heroes.
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TIMESTAMPS:
0:00 Intro
3:30 Contradictions in the Plant-based movement
10:02 Who funds the Food Pyramid
15:59 The Carbs & Fats Debate
22:36 Debunking Keto Myths
27:07 Debating Dr. David Katz
33:37 Answering Keto Questions
40:03 White House Conference on Nutrition
48:08 Conclusion
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Nina Teicholz is a science journalist and author of the New York Times bestseller, The Big Fat Surprise, which upended the conventional wisdom on dietary fat–especially saturated fat and seed oils. Teicholz is also the founder of the Nutrition Coalition, a nonprofit working to ensure that nutrition policy reflects the best and most current science. Teicholz has appeared on most major TV networks, and her work has been published in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, the Economist, as well as in academic journals including The BMJ and the journal of the National Academy of Sciences. She is a graduate of Stanford and Oxford Universities and is now author of the “Unsettled Science” column hosted on Substack.
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All Comments (21)
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My mother had a shocking diet so unhealthy full of bacon eggs and beef/mutton daily it finally killed her at age 97.
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It’s ironic. I grew up outside of United states and my parents and grandparent owned a farmland, all they fed me was eggs from our chickens, goose meat and beef stews, lots of pork belly fat, lard, homemade butter, cheese, heavy cream from our cows, rabbit meat. No rice, or starches, we never needed bread, or macaroni, only organic veggies and berries from our garden. And I was always strong, never sick or fat, happy, healthy kid, super fit. And when I came to USA I was so surprised how many people were afraid of overeating eggs and avoided butter, everything low fat, so much salad. People were scared of high cholesterol like it’s some kind of disease or scary cancer. But in reality that is what made humans strong. I am so happy to see doctors finally talking about how meat, eggs and animal fats are essential for healthy body and brain function.
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Food companies: Everything in moderation. Also food companies: Bet you can't eat just one.
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I've been low carb, almost carnivore for about 6 months now. I feel great, I've resolved arthritic pain and I'm the same weight as when I was in college 40 years ago. But I just can't convince many friends, relatives or co-workers of the benefit of giving up ultra-processed junk foods. The addiction is just so strong.
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It makes me sick ( with anger) that we keep paying the FDA to make us sick. HOW and WHEN do we change this for the health of the nation? Thank you Doctor P. and Nina Teicholz for this wonderful and desperately needed conversation!
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Nina Teicholz, Dr. Robert Lustig and Dr. Berg entered my life 2 years ago at age 59. I was on 7 medications, 4 prescription, had fatty liver disease and was sick. I was so uneducated on diet and nutrition and heavily addicted tro sugar. I'm now 52 pounds lighter, off all 7 medications, no longer insulin resistant and feel 20 years old again. I'm never going back to how I used to eat.
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I went Keto with Intermittent Fasting 3 months ago and I have lost 37 pounds and I feel amazing. Cleared up my acne and my dr says I am no longer type 2 diabetic. She asked how I did it and then told me "Oh my goodness. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. You should at least have a bowl of oatmeal or some toast for breakfast." I couldn't help but laugh. Meanwhile my A1C is down quite a lot and my skin is clear and I feel good. I started at 213lbs and now I am at 176. Thanks, doc. But, I think I'll stick with what I am doing. Dr. Purlmutter, I'm reading Drop Acid now and I thank you for the insights.
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went from 270lbs to 180lbs on keto with intermitting fasting/ eating window of 6 hrs and moderate exercise (walking)... took a year and have never felt better.
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I am 70. In January my doctor informed me that my sugar levels A1c were diabetic, at 6.7. I was shocked, as I considered that I had a low sugar diet, no soft drink or ice cream etc. So I researched and decided to dry a Keto diet. Taken a while to initiate change, but I have now initiated changes to my diet that are not only sustainable but also enjoyable. After a blood test last week my A1c is now 5.3, normal, not even prediabetic. My blood pressure is now 130/85, when it was always 140/85. I have lost 7 kg ( 80kg down from 87kg ). I feel so much better. I sleep so much better. I used to wake up around 2pm and was restless for an hour or so. My skin seems to be much clearer. Reduced little red spots. Even if I miss a lunch I do not feel hungry. I cannot believe I have achieved so much in 3 months. Looking forward to refining my diet by trying new foods. Bought some Kimchi for the first time last week. It is delicious. Looking forward to trying some recipes that use it.
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You can only ever effectively kick your body into burning its own fat if you avoid those damn carbs which switch on insulin and suppress leptin. Insulin is lipogenic, so it matters a great deal what you eat and not how many calories you eat. When you are burning your own fat you simply do not get biological hunger, only psychological "cravings". When I learned this, I was able to put behind me 40 years of eventually failing diets, yo-yoing back to being a fatty. 15 months ago I started low carb fasting. I lost 45lbs, dropped by A1c, increased HDL, lowered TGL, shrank by belly and fatty liver, stopped 3 medications and now am in the new normal of 1 or 2 meals a day. with all that weight still off. Thanks Nina Teicholz, Robert Lustig, Jason Fung, and Prandit Jamnadas.
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Nina is a modern day hero. She changed my families life and eating strategy completely. Thank you from Canada.
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Like NT, I was a "healthy" vegetarian/vegan. My cupboard was stocked with all kinds of whole grains: wheat, teff, buckwheat, wild rice, and several others. I baked my own bread. I ate organic. I was so sick, and getting fat. I will never forget the day I cleared out all that carbohydrate garbage and started LCHF. Within a few weeks my health improved greatly and continued to improve in the long run. That was 10 years ago. I will never go back.
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Nina is so intelligent and strong. We need more people like her informing the world. She is literally saving lives. Bless her and all who support her. 🙏
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Yeah, don’t do a diet. Instead, do a lifestyle change. I did and lost 40 pounds. I didn’t diet. Actually, I ate as much as I wanted. Here’s what I did: 1. Avoided processed carbs 2. Avoided bread and pasta 3. Ate more vegetables 4. Ate more avocados 5. Moved more (walked lots) 6. Didn’t eat at night (this was the hardest part) 7. Really avoided sugar 8. Avoided diet drinks And that’s it. It was shockingly simple actually. Didn’t feel better or worse, didn’t have more or less energy. Had no positive or negative effects at all except that I was 40 pounds lighter. Hope this is useful for you.
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When I was 20 yrs old and started hearing eggs and butter was bad and man-made margarine and egg substitutes were good, I knew something was really wrong. Fast forward about 45 yrs and thanks to real Dr's like you I've figured out whats real. I'm down 80 lbs and feel great by elimination carbs and especially SUGAR. It does concern me that almost ALL our foods are sooo dependant on chemicals to grow, animals included. However with my inflammation completely gone and the ability to buy produce directly from producers im able to reduce that also. Thanks for your invaluable info. I'm a deciple. I eat so much less and NO hunger pangs. I find it fascinating that critics use smarmy, personal attacks to belittle divergent views. Thanks!!!!!
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Nina is a champion ❤ Thank you so much Nina for your relentless public speaking the truth 👍
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Sick of these elites trying to make everyone of us eat the same. We are all different & some foods make people sick. We should be allowed to choose what we want to consume. Follow the 'MONEY' is key. Great interview.
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One of my favorite humans on the planet. The entire course of my life and health has been forever changed by this brave womans work.
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I was overweight, on my way to become diabetic and just miserable because of my diet. I started following Prof Tim Noakes on LCHF and he recommended Nina’s book and I read it like it was a Tom Clancy novel. It changed my life, I lost 30kgs and I have tons of energy and it’s so easy to keep the weight off by simply staying away from carbs and sugar.
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I've been on keto for a few years. Comparing my pre-keto bloodwork with my post-keto bloodwork, my lipids improved under keto. LDL - went from 145 to 108; HDL - went from 63 to 74; triglycerides from 67 to 57; A1C went from 5.7 to 5.2. Overall, my bloodwork IMPROVED while doing keto but not massively so. However, I am 30 lbs lighter which I think is HUGE. The big change has been my energy. I retired at 63, overweight and exhausted. On keto, I've failed at retirement and started a ship surveying business and very busy. I have also started playing squash at the YMCA. I have a massive amount of energy compared to pre-keto. The other day, I was inspecting a ship and going into cargo and ballast tanks. The much younger crew couldn't keep up with me.
