The Crazy Amazing Diet Maker

This past Christmas Season, as most of us stuffed our faces full of turkey and pies, a well respected weight loss expert from WebMD made some crazy remarks about ending obesity.

Needless to say, the response to his rhetoric, despite the Christmas Season, was naughty not nice. Dr. George D. Lundberg, Editor-in-Chief for Medscape General Medicine, had this to say about his "crazy" diet idea:

"Ho! Ho! Ho! Here we are in the holiday season right between those 2 great American days of gluttony. What is Scrooge's holiday greeting this year? It is about overeating, of course.

How can we stop the obese from becoming more obese? Pretty simple. Stop feeding them. Think about the other common self-destructive human behaviors. On a commercial airplane, in a saloon, or at a professional sports event, if the customer is deemed to be drunk, the keepers of the booze key will lock the cabinet. If a person drives a car at a dangerous speed, the driver is subject to substantial penalties.

For young persons known to be at high risk for early chemical addictions, society tries to prevent exposure to the addicting drugs.

Overeating with underexercising is now killing more Americans than anything else except tobacco addiction. Yet, an obese person enters an eating joint, or a supermarket, and buys and eats any and everything he or she wants, and nobody seems to care. Does that make any sense to you?

Meanwhile, Big Science strives to understand why people get fat; Big Genetics searches for the obesity gene so that stem cells could correct the flaw; Big Surgery lines up the morbidly obese to shunt their stomachs; Big Pharma seeks the next weight-loss pill that will help more people than it kills; Big Nutrition hawks the newest sure-thing, weight-loss diet; Big Fast Food pushes "healthy food" lines right next to their billion dollar unhealthy food lines; Big Soda and Big School Boards share the profit from drowning kids with calories from vending machines; and Big Exercise pushes group rates for aerobics class. Money made by so many special interests.

All this while the simple answer is to stop eating; stop feeding the obese until they are no longer obese. Of course, that may be hard to do, and who makes any money that way? Fat chance for this crazy idea to go anywhere. That's my opinion. I'm Dr. George Lundberg, Editor of MedGenMed. Happy Holidays!"

Now, as you can imagine, health care providers, dieters, and web surfers were not happy with his remarks. They immediately and appropriately attacked, firing back with real science facts, healthy weight loss tips and the benefits of regular exercise.

It was nice to see the real experts come out for a day or two and make some noise. One of the experts is Jon Robison, PhD, from Michigan State. He said:

"It is truly hard to believe that MedGenMed would print an editorial[1] so scientifically inaccurate and ethically unconscionable ("How to Prevent the Obese From Becoming 'Obeser'). As a health professional (doctorate in health education and masters degrees in exercise physiology and nutrition), I am even more dismayed that this hateful diatribe was written by a fellow health professional -- and a medical doctor no less!

Never mind that the doctor is obviously not familiar with the latest information from the CDC [US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention], showing that the link between weight and mortality has likely been greatly exaggerated. Never mind that the analogies to alcohol and illegal drugs are inept at best -- hard to imagine abstinence from food as a viable alternative.

The most egregious aspects of this editorial are the outright prejudice and moral disgust it portrays.

There is certainly no great argument with the contention that many Americans could increase their exercise and eat more healthfully. However, prejudice raises its ugly head when the contention is made that it is possible to discern who is or is not eating or exercising properly by merely looking at the size and shape of one's body! Most Americans (fat or thin) are not getting enough exercise, and the research is clear that fatness and fitness are not mutually exclusive.

Condemning a fat person's eating, or assuming that a thin person is eating well (can you say anorexia nervosa?), is no different from concluding that a person is less intelligent by looking at the color of his/her skin. Judging people's intelligence, health, or behaviors based on how they look is not science; it is prejudice -- and prejudice has no place in our culture or in our healthcare system.

We can do and be so much better than this!"

Mary Emerson, MS, a Clinical Dietitian from Spring Harbor Hospital in Westbrook, Maine, had this to say (emphasis added):

"You compared your solution of not feeding an obese person[1] to an intoxicated person not being served in a bar, yet we know that that hasn't cured alcoholism.

Gastric bypass surgery is one of the most popular elective surgical procedures. The answer for the cure is far more complex than simply training more surgeons to do the procedure or not allowing overweight people to purchase baked goods.

Just as prohibition did not eliminate alcoholism, these measures will not eliminate obesity. Rather, we need to change how we approach our medical care, not to solve the problem once there is a problem, but to achieve a healthier lifestyle with emphasis on not only our physical health, but also our mental health and emotional well-being.

I believe that it is very important in mental health to evaluate the risks of obesity on our patients, not in decreasing longevity, but in decreasing the quality of their lives by lowered self-esteem and health complications, such as feeling tired, weak, and unable to take part in many activities that they previously enjoyed."

Wonderful! Finally the truth. No fad diets, no rapid weight loss, no "eat anything you want and still lose weight" lies...just pure science coming from the real experts who care.

Maybe Dr. Lundberg isn't so crazy after all...or maybe he is. Either way, it was a good day!

Healthy Living!

Michael A. Smith, MD
The Weight Loss Professional

Dr. Smith is the primary physician and consultant for the Weight Loss Professional Website. His interests include preventative medicine, the genetic etiology of obesity, and several others too numerous to list. Please visit his Website at http://www.weight-loss-professional.com and let him know what you think.

---

Overcoming Secretive Eating

Finally - you are alone. No one else is around.... Read More

When Gaining Love Means Gaining Weight!

Do you tend to find your weight increases when you... Read More

Weight Loss Woes

Weight loss is an issue that affects men and women... Read More

Tips to Help You Lose Excess Fat

Believe it or not, losing a little or a lot... Read More

Food Intolerance and Low Carb Diets

Food intolerance is a pharmacological reaction to the consumption of... Read More

Weight Loss With Bontril: Smooth Sailing On The Weight Loss Ocean

As many of us know, it's the first few days... Read More

5 Surefire Ways to Weight Management

You have finally decided to tackle weight management and lose... Read More

Diet Preparaton -- The Impact of Sleep and Stress

When you have started a diet in the past, how... Read More

Close Kept Secrets to Weight Loss Lesson #11

You are the GREATEST, aren't you? You are focusing on... Read More

Fast Weight Loss for Special Occasions

Losing weight quickly is not advisable as most of the... Read More

Alternatives When Considering Liposuction

One alternative method to traditional and tumescent liposuction is mesotherapy.... Read More

The Psychology of Weight Loss: Part 1 - The INSIDE OUT Mindset

WHAT DOES BEING FIT REALLY MEAN?The "INSIDE-OUT" approach to fitness... Read More

Overcoming the 7 Roadblocks to Maintaining Weight Loss

1. Become aware of what you are eating.Before I started... Read More

Weight Loss Doesnt Work

Your brain has this really interesting system that is kind... Read More

6 Simple Steps To LifeLong Weight Loss

If You are sick of losing the same weight over... Read More

Too Many Calories

How many calories do you need? Well, that depends on... Read More

Weight Control: Operationalizing Your Plans

We have such good weight loss intentions. We emotionally beat... Read More

Diet Sodas & Losing Weight: Is Diet Coke Good Or Dangerous For Healthy Weight Loss?

Zero Calorie Diet Sodas: Good Or Bad For Weight Loss?Calorie-free... Read More

Controlling Your Hunger And Losing Weight Using Meal Replacement Powders And Bars

The market is flooded with weight loss supplements that make... Read More

How To Cop An Attitude With An Overzealous Hostess

We all encounter those hosts and hostesses who feel it... Read More

Exercise Bike Program - How to Lose Weight

Your pants are a bit tight, you can't seem to... Read More

7 Part Plan To Beating Childhood Obesity

Everyone from politicians to parents is talking about fighting the... Read More

After WLS: How To Avoid Mourning The Loss of Food

A frequent question brand-new gastric bypass patients ask is "How... Read More

Fourteen Reasons Why Dieting Is Bad For Your Health

1. The lower the calories eaten per day, the harder... Read More

Hybrid Sweeteners in Todays Health

What is the advantage of these new half sugar and... Read More

The Truth About Low Carb Dieting

Every day you walk down the street it is becoming... Read More

Mastering the Motivation to Stay Fit

Have you ever just felt like you were doing everything... Read More

You Can Lose Weight on a High Carbohydrate Diet

A startling fact is that carbohydrates are not responsible for... Read More

5 Natural Weight Loss Tips For A More Beautiful You

Living a powerful, healthy, fit and trim life is a... Read More

Can Quick Weight Loss Really Work?

Quick weight loss is promised by diets all the time.... Read More

Weight Loss: Weight Loss is All in Your Mind!

"The kind of thoughts that you plant in your mind,... Read More

Study Finds Healthy Mouth - Healthy Body Relationship

According to a new study appearing in the American Journal... Read More

How to Break a Weight Loss Plateau

Healthy eating has become part of your life, but you're... Read More