Wake Up Low-Carbers And Follow Sweden's Lead

Posted by Jimmy Moore on April 23 in Health

While much of the diet and health debate around the world is still caught up and enamored by the imaginary allure of the high-carb, low-fat diet as a means for losing weight and improving health, there is something rather remarkable happening in Sweden. An open dialog about the merits of a high-fat, low-carb diet has ensued ever since Dr. Annika Dahlqvist was vindicated by the Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare on January 16, 2008 when that government-led institution concluded that a low-carb diet is "in accordance with science and well-tried experience for reducing obesity and Type 2 diabetes."

Yep, that's right! Livin' la vida low-carb is now promoted by the government of Sweden alongside the low-fat diet as an option for people desiring weight loss and improvements in their health. However, as Dr. Dahlqvist noted in my interview with her in January 2008, they're not very happy about it and neither are the so-called health "experts" who desperately tried to get a ruling AGAINST low-carb--but it backfired on them!

The "science and well-tried experience" behind low-carb is what has led Dr. Dahlqvist and many of the most famous advocates of carbohydrate restriction from around the world to call for a critical appraisal of this way of eating for the purposes of treating metabolic syndrome and Type 2 diabetes. We really have come to an impasse in the hyperbole against low-carb where an all-out discussion is now sorely needed about this nutritional approach. It happened in Phoenix this month among a couple hundred bariatric physicians, but the scale of the conversation needs to become larger--MUCH larger!

That's why I was pleased to see Johanna Söderlund take it on at her blog last week by interviewing some of Sweden's most intelligent and articulate proponents of the high-fat, low-carb hypothesis. This is the kind of open-minded conversation that needs to take place in the United States, Canada, the UK, Australia, and around the world. It MUST be done if we are wanting to get serious about dealing with obesity, diabetes, and diseases that plague modern society. The question is no longer a matter of if we will, but rather when. That's why we should take our cue from what is happening in Sweden and get the conversation started.

Special thanks to my Swedish low-carb blogging friend Arne Anderson for translating Johanna Söderlund's interview into English so we can enjoy the answers provided to some rather pertinent questions about livin' la vida low-carb. As you read through these answers from the leading low-carb experts in Sweden, imagine the same thing happening in Congressional hearings on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC from such notable researchers as Dr. Eric Westman, Dr. Mary C. Vernon, Dr. Richard Feinman, Dr. Jeff Volek, Dr. Stephen Phinney, and others. A clear unbiased presentation of the data would speak for itself.

Click here to read that interview with the Swedish low-carb experts and to see my call to action for low-carb supporters everywhere to follow suit.