Trolls Inspire Gift of Sheep

Dear Trolls,

I can't thank you enough for trying to set me and my poor, misguided low-carb and paleo friends on the right path. It must be painful for you to read blogs and articles about eating things like bacon-wrapped shrimp, coconut chocolate tart, juicy barbecued ribs, and full-fat lemon ice cream. Nevertheless, you soldiered on to show us the way to vegan/low-fat/CICO/food reward/MMEL enlightenment. Your kindness and time and effort you've shown are appreciated.

But I do have two things to say. First, you're wrong. Not to put too fine a point on it, but there it is. Nearly all of us have already tried eating less and moving more, or reducing calories and fat, and the community is full of former vegetarians. In fact, hunger and fat accumulation are driven by hormones. This isn't the gospel according to Gary Taubes, it's in endocrinology textbooks (see this and this). High-carb diets aren't the answer to diabetes, a disease of carbohydrate intolerance. This is common sense and the common experience of thousands of diabetics who've used low-carb diets to mitigate their disease. (See this and this.) And saying that the problem is too many calories is as useful as saying that the problem with an overflowing toilet is that there's more water coming in than going out.

Ah, you say, but what about all the literature and research on low-fat and vegan diets? The research on low-fat diets is actually unimpressive (see this for a short rundown). Further, at least two main vegan authors are frauds. Neal Barnard claims in The Power of your Plate that anthropologist Richard Leakey has said that humans evolved mostly as vegetarians. Dr. Leakey said exactly the opposite in books he wrote shortly before and after The Power of your Plate came out. The one source Dr. Barnard cites actually says,"There was probably a major change in the diet of early humans, with a large increase in meat eating, at that period..." (page 249). See this and this. Likewise, T. Colin Campbell of The China Study fame wrote a book called The Low-Carb Fraud, which, unlike Dr. Campbell, I took the time to fact check. There are more errors, misleading statements and outright lies than there are pages. (See this.) How can we believe anything they report when they've told so many whoppers? And why lie if low-fat vegan diets have good results?

Photo from Heifer International.

Second, your misguided advice is nevertheless well-intentioned. In the spirit of helping strangers out of nothing but human concern, I've donated $1 for every troll comment I've seen since I started counting on May 20. Today, I went to the web site of Heifer International and donated $11 for all the comments (and threw in another $9 because of the way donations are packaged). Ten dollars of my donation went toward one share of a sheep. Sheep milk, according to Wikipedia, is higher in protein and fat, a little higher in carbohydrate, and much higher in calories than cow or goat milk. Sheep from Heifer International provide milk and wool for families living on rugged terrain. The charity says,

The wool sheep provide is a valuable resource, providing warm clothing for families and children living in harsh environments. Entire communities depend on sheep for their livelihood. Donating sheep gifts to a community:

• Provides warm clothing for families living in harsh environments 

• Boosts income through sales of extra wool 

• Enable families to Pass on the Gift to others quickly 

Sheep can graze the hilliest, rockiest pastures unsuitable for other livestock. They can also provide milk for hungry families. Your sheep donation makes a perfect gift; sheep are adaptable and are able to survive nearly anywhere in the world.

To Christopher, Carbsane, and some random trolls over at Dr. Briffa's blog, you're an inspiration.