Dr. Bernstein Challenges Dr. Davis On Butter And Insulin, Jon & Cathy Payne’s ‘Our Natural Life’ Podcasts
Filed under: Health — @ March 31, 2010
I’m always seeking to learn more about the intricate workings of how the foods we eat directly impact the way the body functions. It’s so fascinating to think about all those people who mindlessly stuff their mouth with whatever garbage they purchase for themselves at their local supermarket. And not that long ago, I was one of those people buying sugary soda, snack cakes, fast food, and all the rest of the typical fare for the Standard American Diet (SAD). But not anymore. These days I’m happily livin’ la vida low-carb and choosing outstanding foods that are high in fat especially saturated fat, adequate in protein, and as low in carbohydrate as possible. I believe this is the model for success that so many of us have found to work for making us as healthy as we can possibly be.
One real whole food that is highly regarded within the low-carb community is butter. It’s a delicious way to get quality fat into your low-carb lifestyle without being concerned about any negative impact on your blood sugar or insulin levels. Or is it? A highly-respected Milwaukee, WI-based cardiologist named Dr. William Davis (listen to my previous podcast interviews with him here, here, and here) who joined us on this year’s Low-Carb Cruise to the Bahamas wrote a controversial column at his “Heart Scan Blog” not that long ago called “Butter and insulin.”
In that eye-opening post, Dr. Davis made the claim that butter has an “unusual ability to provoke insulin responses” and surmises that this may be the reason why people stall or gain weight on a low-carb diet. He added that there is as much as a “tripling insulin response” from consuming butter and that this “fat gain follows.” His bottom line conclusion:
Fat, in general, does not make you fat. But butter makes you fat.
I gotta tell you, this didn’t sit well with me at all. Something just didn’t seem right and I had people e-mailing me left and right wondering if this is true or not. So I started sending requests out to my low-carb expert Rolodex to solicit a response to these claims being made by Dr. Davis about butter negatively impacting insulin levels. It just didn’t make sense that a fat-based food could produce such a response, but I wanted to hear what the top guns had to say. I’ll be sharing a column featuring those responses later in the week. But today I wanted you to hear low-carb diabetes legend Dr. Richard Bernstein respond to this in a brief 6-minute mini-interview I conducted with him over the weekend at the beginning of today’s episode of “The Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb Show” podcast to get his unique take on this issue that has riled up the low-carb blogosphere.
We live in a society that is hellbent on moving through life just as fast as they possibly can without any regard to what they are fueling their body with. Why people are willing to be guinea pigs for all that “carbage” that passes for food in 2010, I’ll never know. But that’s their personal choice and they must live the consequences. Today’s podcast interview guests know abundantly how important living a holistic, sustainable, and healthy life centered around real whole foods can really be if people would just be willing to transition away from their SAD diet.
In Episode 344 of “The Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb Show with Jimmy Moore,” we hear from Jon & Cathy Payne from “Our Natural Life” to talk about how healthy grain-free living changed the way they lived their lives. The experience has been so stark in their lives that they now own their own farm and started their own podcast show as well. WOO HOO! The more the merrier on the airwaves, I say. Listen to them talk about how the Weston A. Price Foundation revolutionized their lives and got them fascinated in finding fresh food from local farmers, Jon’s heart attack wake-up call, how their dog’s cancer death led them to the processed carbohydrate culprit, how eliminating corn, wheat, and most dairy improved their weight and health, the genesis of their foray into the world of podcasting, the unique format of their podcast episodes, the influence of Sean Croxton and Ann Marie Michaels on the current format, their move to a farm becoming “agri-preneurs,” the raw milk battle in their home state of Georgia and across the country, the politics standing in the way of buying local food, and what their favorite podcast interviews have been and what lasting lessons they learned from their guests.
Click here to listen to this delightful interview with two of the most precious people in the holistic health movement! ENJOY!
