Dr Neal Barnard... Hanging on to "High-Carb / Low-Fat"

Today I was in the library and I thought I would skim through a copy of "Vegetarian Times"... just to see what those folks are thinking these days.   (It's good to read differing viewpoints from time to time, to avoid confirmation bias.) There was as "Q&A" section written by Dr. Neal Barnard.  Dr. Barnard is a staunch advocate of the  "low-fat / high-carb" diet.  As such, one would think him to be a firm supporter of the now-superseded USDA "food pyramid".    (As an aside, I wonder if he has heard of this book:)

He is also an advocate of the plant-based diet, presumably a vegan himself.

Anyway, the question from a reader goes something like this... "I am worried about eating all those carbohydrates you recommend.  Isn't that going to make me fat?" 

His answer (paraphrased) was basically, no, you don't need to worry about that.  After all, one gram of fat contains 9 calories and one gram of carbohydrates only 4 calories.   In fact, the only reason carbohydrates have a bad reputation is the fact that people often eat them with fat.  (Really?)  So, for example, it's not the baked potato that makes people fat, it's the butter that people put on it.

My first reaction was... "the 1980's called, they want their nutritional advice back".  

So let's think about this a minute.  The argument might make some sense if people ate foods by the gram.   But they don't.   A large restaurant-sized baked potato might weigh 400 grams.   This would contain about 70 grams of carbs, and about 300 calories.  Now, say we add a pat of butter.   That's 5 grams.  Heck, let's go wild and make it two pats.  That's 10 grams.  The 10 grams of butter contain about 8 grams of fat, and 72 calories.  In the Doc's opinion, the 300 calorie potato is the bad actor because it entices one to add 72 calories of butter?   I don't think so.   Just don't eat 400 grams of butter (about 3-1/2 sticks) with your 400-gram potato.


And, in case you missed it, this post explains why the potato calories are actually worse than the butter calories if you are tying to control weight.  Those 300 carb calories cause your body to release a big slug of insulin, which is like a little switch that tells your body "don't burn those calories, save them for later (i.e. store them as fat.)"  The butter, being "zero carb", triggers no such response.

One final note... the magazine contained an ad for fake cheese...this stuff.   Ewww!  I wonder if it melts?  Ingredients: Filtered Water, Organic Palm Fruit Oil, Modified Food Starch, Natural Flavors, Less than 2% of: Pea Fiber, Pea Starch, Bamboo Fiber, Rice Flour, Vegetable Glycerin, Sunflower Lecithin, Sea Salt, Sunflower Oil, Carrageenan (Vegetable Source), Calcium Sulfate, Citric Acid, Enzymes, Xanthan Gum, Disodium Phosphate, Sodium Citrate, Titanium Dioxide (a naturally occurring mineral).
BTW, "natural flavors" means pretty much anything.  So, this is modern science in a laboratory trying to re-invent the cow.  No thanks, I will gladly eat real cheese!  Dairy fat and all!

Ingredients: (vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, non-gmo, soy-free)
Filtered Water, Organic Palm Fruit Oil, Modified Food Starch, Natural Flavors (Plant Sources), Less than 2% of: Pea Fiber, Pea Starch, Bamboo Fiber, Rice Flour, Vegetable Glycerin, Sunflower Lecithin, Sea Salt, Sunflower Oil, Carrageenan (Vegetable Source), Calcium Sulfate, Citric Acid, Enzymes, Xanthan Gum, Disodium Phosphate, Sodium Citrate, Titanium Dioxide (a naturally occurring mineral). - See more at: http://followyourheart.com/products/mozzarella-shreds-27/#sthash.kEPXjh4e.dpuf

Ingredients: (vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, non-gmo, soy-free)
Filtered Water, Organic Palm Fruit Oil, Modified Food Starch, Natural Flavors (Plant Sources), Less than 2% of: Pea Fiber, Pea Starch, Bamboo Fiber, Rice Flour, Vegetable Glycerin, Sunflower Lecithin, Sea Salt, Sunflower Oil, Carrageenan (Vegetable Source), Calcium Sulfate, Citric Acid, Enzymes, Xanthan Gum, Disodium Phosphate, Sodium Citrate, Titanium Dioxide (a naturally occurring mineral). - See more at: http://followyourheart.com/products/mozzarella-shreds-27/#sthash.kEPXjh4e.dpuf

Ingredients: (vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, non-gmo, soy-free)
Filtered Water, Organic Palm Fruit Oil, Modified Food Starch, Natural Flavors (Plant Sources), Less than 2% of: Pea Fiber, Pea Starch, Bamboo Fiber, Rice Flour, Vegetable Glycerin, Sunflower Lecithin, Sea Salt, Sunflower Oil, Carrageenan (Vegetable Source), Calcium Sulfate, Citric Acid, Enzymes, Xanthan Gum, Disodium Phosphate, Sodium Citrate, Titanium Dioxide (a naturally occurring mineral). - See more at: http://followyourheart.com/products/mozzarella-shreds-27/#sthash.kEPXjh4e.dpuf