Photo courtesy of Lisa Hechesky
Celebrity chef Alton Brown’s amazing weight loss grabbing fan attention

People who watch The Food Network aren’t usually conscientious of the relationship between diet and health because quite frankly most of the recipes shared by the “stars” on there each and every day are loaded with way too much excessive sugar and carbohydrates that will simply pack on the pounds. The producers have tried in the past to highlight the benefits of eating well on a healthy low-carb nutritional approach when the great George Stella (whose recipes are now being featured on the home shopping channel QVC) was a regular with his “Low-Carb & Lovin’ It” show back in the heyday of livin’ la vida low-carb in the middle of the last decade. But with the low-carb “fad” allegedly passing in 2004 and now that nobody seems to be interested in healthy cooking on The Food Network anymore (although I think they’re missing a golden opportunity to hit an under-served market of viewers!), the producers completely ditched the idea of promoting a health-related cooking show.

But what will they do now that one of their network’s biggest stars has lost a total of 50 pounds by consuming what could easily be described as a low-carb diet? That’s exactly the dilemma they find themselves in with all the Internet buzz surrounding “Iron Chef America” host Alton Brown.

Click here to check out some video footage of Alton Brown’s new slimmed-down body, what he says he did to shed the weight, and a look at what kind of foods he consumed to produce this remarkable 50-pound weight loss.

ATTENTION LLVLC PODCAST FANS! In 2009, I’ve been able to interview some of the biggest names in diet, health, and nutrition and I need your help deciding which ones you thought were the best of the best. Just as we did with the best of 2008 during our special “Encore Week” presentation in January, we’re gonna do it again in the first week of 2010 with the best of 2009. E-mail me your TOP THREE favorite interview guests from 2009 along with any follow-up questions you would like for me to ask them and why you are voting for them to livinlowcarbman@charter.net. I will be taking nominations through November 30, 2009 so I can follow-up with your five most-requested podcast guests. Think back through who you REALLY liked and want to hear more from and then send me their names and any follow-up questions you’d like for me to ask them. This was so much fun last year and I can’t wait to see who you want to hear more from!

Local farmer Joel Salatin shares about the bureaucracy of the food industry

I don’t know when it started, but there is a growing dissatisfaction beginning to stir up among people about the quality of their food. That’s why people are no longer happy with just settling for the selections available to them at their grocery stores and instead are turning to local farmers for delicious and nutritious pastured eggs, raw milk, grass-fed beef, and fresh organic produce. While the supermarkets are trying to take advantage of this growing trend by using selective adjectives in their stores, the truth is you can only get the good stuff by buying locally. My interview guest today is extremely passionate about this subject since it is his livelihood.

In Episode 298 of “The Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb Show with Jimmy Moore,” we hear from Virginia-based farmer Joel Salatin from Polyface Farms who was featured in Michael Pollan’s incredible The Omnivore’s Dilemma book as well as the stunning 2008 expository documentary Food, Inc. Joel grew up on a local farm and knows all the ins and outs of these dwindling national treasures to the fabric of American society. He has authored such compelling, thought-provoking books as Everything I Want To Do Is Illegal: War Stories From the Local Food Front and Holy Cows And Hog Heaven: The Food Buyer’s Guide To Farm Friendly Food and is enthusiastic about defending local food and all the benefits it provides compared with industrialized farms.

Listen to Joel share about the bureaucratic obstacles he faces each day to bring food to the market, why local food tends to be more expensive than food you purchase in the supermarket, why it is impossible for local grass-fed beef to be tainted with E. Coli, the battles he faces trying to bring real food to consumers who want it, his willingness to stand up to the “food police” who try to push him around, how the local food from local farmers trend is similar to the home-schooling movement, the government roadblocks to getting good quality food, why the healthcare “crisis” we are being told about right now is really a “diet” crisis, the work he is doing to “heal the land” of other local farms, and so much more. You can’t help but sense the enthusiasm Joel has for this subject matter and I hope you are encouraged that local food is alive and well in the United States today!

Click here to listen to my interview with local foodie activist Joel Salatin.

Woman’s World finds itself wrapped up in controversy again over Eco-Atkins

You know what they say, imitation is the highest form of flattery. But that familiar saying only applies if in attempting to imitate you don’t completely pervert the intent of the original idea. But that’s exactly what has been done to the original Atkins low-carb approach by a very aggressive group pushing a vegan-styled diet they call “Eco-Atkins” as a means to discredit the original Atkins diet created by the late great Dr. Robert C. Atkins.

The latest excursion into beating up on the Atkins diet comes from the editors atWoman’s World magazine. As one of the most widely-read publications for women in America today, they frequently highlight new diets for women to try. You might recall they had to print a mea culpa to their readers in February 2008 just eight months after featuring a big cover story on the now-infamous Kimkins diet which was later found to be a fraud run by a morbidly-obese woman who had claimed in a podcast interview I conducted with her in 2007 that she had lost 200 pounds. Oops! Well, the latest issue of Woman’s World isn’t much better as they put the focus squarely on this “Eco-Atkins” diet nonsense.

Click here to see the brief history behind this “Eco-Atkins” movement and why it is nothing more than an attempt by the radical vegan and vegetarian groups out there to pervert the amazing benefits of a healthy meat-based, high-fat, low-carbohydrate nutritional approach.

It’s time to restore some “balance” into low-carb news and health headlines

The news and information about the wonderful world of carbohydrate restriction along with the accompanying health headlines that dominate the media never slow down for anyone or anything. Stuff just keeps percolating out there and I try to keep an eye on it for you to sort the good from the bad. Here are just a few of the most interesting low-carb news and health headlines for September 2009, including shocking statistics about what Type 2 diabetics are REALLY eating, stunning new information about the toxic nature of high-fructose corn syrup, a natural cure for the swine flu virus, and the continuing impact of Swedish low-carbers on the international nutritional debate.

Got a little love, a little humor, a little promo, and a little oddball to share!

I’ve had some really interesting stuff happening lately with my blog, health success, upcoming new book, and those ever-present naysayers. It’s all a part of putting yourself out there on the Internet and I’m grateful for it all no matter what it is. Just to have the chance to get a positive message out there is why I remain so driven to do everything that I do. I consider it a privilege and an honor to do what I do.

Click here to see a nice review of my low-carb weight loss story, a cool featuroo about my excellent heart scan and cholesterol numbers, a couple of upcoming interviews on health radio shows to discuss my new book, and a big boo from someone who obviously didn’t like something I had to say.

Ben Fury’s CA-based Bettercise Health & Wellness Center burned to the ground

Have you been following all the tragic damage caused by the wildfires happening in Southern California? There have been thousands of brave firefighters tackling these dangerous out-of-control fires that have caused nearly 7,000 homes to be evacuated and endangering another 6,000+ in and around the Los Angeles area. California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger issued a state of emergency earlier this month and it is negatively impacting the lives of so many — including a friend and fellow low-carb health advocate who is a member at my forum named Ben Fury.

Ben is the owner of a health and fitness business called The Bettercise Health and Wellness Center and I’m sad to report that he and his family have suffered a total loss of their cabin in the woods as a result of the wildfires in California. Those photos at the top of this column are what is left of his home and business going up in flames. Worst of all, his insurance company is refusing to repay him for these losses.

“Due to a series of unfortunate events, fire insurance was not in effect at the time so the loss will not be reimbursed,” Ben told Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb.

Bettercise owner Ben Fury helps his older clients get into shape

Lost in the fire that destroyed their home was a collection of thousands of health and medical-related books that comprised Ben’s massive library as well as the equipment he used with clients in his practice. In other words, Ben says “we are starting over completely from scratch.”

I know times have been tough for so many people over this past year, but if you are able to give even a small amount of financial assistance to help this fellow low-carber who has been devastated by the California wildfires, then I know he’d appreciate it so much. Ben and his wife Jean are in the process of picking up the pieces and starting anew on their mission to help people get their weight and health back in order again. I’ll be sharing an interview with Ben Fury on my podcast show next week so you can hear the passion in his voice about the work he is doing.

If you’d like to donate money to Ben in his efforts to rebuild, send your gift to:

Ben Fury
11027 Oro Vista Ave
Sunland, CA 91040

No amount is too small to help a good family in their time of need. Remember Ben and Jean Fury in your prayers and feel free to send them encouraging cards, letters, and e-mails along with your donations. THANK YOU for rallying around this low-carb family and giving them hope that brighter days are coming soon. God bless you!

Gee, what a surprise — the Atkins diet is maligned again!

One of the primary purposes of what I do at this blog is to make people think about what they believe and why they believe it. On the subject of nutrition and health, the difference between what is fact from fiction could very well have your life depending on it. That is one of the reasons why I speak out so passionately about what I believe both from my own experiences as well as all the research I have done on healthy low-carb living.

My goal is to arm you with fact-based information, get you excited about livin’ la vida low-carb, help boost your confidence as you speak with people about this amazing way of eating, and hopefully encourage you to carry on the low-carb torch to others by standing in defense of what it has done for you and millions more. I’m thrilled to see so many new faces joining us long-term low-carbers in articulating what this remarkable nutritional approach has done for both our weight and health. It’s like we have our own little army of troops out there who are constantly on guard to protect the message from being distorted by would-be evildoers.

That’s precisely what happened yesterday in a newspaper column entitled “The Hidden Perils Of The Atkins Phenomena.” Find out more about the lies about low-carb that were shared in this column and the response one of my readers shared with the editors at that paper by clicking here.

The debate over U.S. health care reform is hot right now, but is it necessary?

The battle over the best way to reform the health care system is arguably the most talked-about issue in America today. We can all agree that there are certainly a fair share of problems associated with the way things are being done in how health is insured, managed, and implemented in the United States right now, but what is the best solution? While lawmakers in Washington, DC debate the merits of a government-run health care system versus granting tax incentives to employers to help make it happen for those millions who are uninsured, I think there is a vital and arguably more important tertiary element to this conversation that is not being articulated all by any of the major health leaders of our day. What I’m talking about is preventative medicine through natural nutritional remedies that have been shown in scientific studies to improve most of the most costly and deadly diseases of our day!

Click here to find out why most of the health problems Americans are facing could be eradicated or significantly improved with the implementation of a low-carb lifestyle change.

Dr. Anthony Rosenzweig says his mice prove low-carb bad for the heart

In September 2009, my brand new book 21 Life Lessons From Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb: How The Healthy Low-Carb Lifestyle Changed Everything I Thought I Knew is slated to be released at long last (YEAH!) and I am excited to be able to share so much of the knowledge I have gleaned from personal research and interviewing experts about diet, health, and life in general over these past five years of living the low-carb life. Looking at Lesson #19 of my book, it says “You can’t always trust or believe the negative studies on low-carb.” How timely because there’s a perfect example of this appearing all across the media today with so-called damning research about how a low-carb diet negatively impacts vascular health. Hoo boy!

Click here to learn more about this so-called study damning low-carb diets for cardiovascular health and why I smell a rat in the results of this study…LITERALLY!

New Zealand nurse Rachel Tomkinson says fat saved her baby Jenna

Imagine this…you’ve been educated in nursing, nutrition, and personal fitness with all the conventional wisdom that is being taught about the best dietary choices and you believe it because everyone else in your profession is reinforcing the same ideas as truth. But then you have a beautiful baby girl and feed her a “healthy” low-fat, vegetarian-styled, high-carb diet and something really odd begins to happen–you little baby girl develops a severe case of eczema, a series of food allergies, and other perplexing debilitating health conditions that seemingly came out of nowhere. It wasn’t until you start feeding her foods like butter, cream, and other saturated fat-laden foods that her health improves and you realize everything you had been taught about nutrition was wrong. That’s the story you’re gonna hear from my podcast interview guest today.

In Episode 276 of “The Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb Show with Jimmy Moore,” I’m pleased to share with you the infectious energy of Rachel Tomkinson, a New Zealand nurse, personal trainer, and massage therapist who was involved in the health industry through her Better Bods, Better Health business for many years believing saturated fat was bad. But when her baby Jenna developed an ugly case of eczema and other health complications, she started to do research and found that her baby NEEDED to eat fat–especially saturated fat. See the difference in the photos of Jenna for yourself:

Eating fat gave Jenna an incredible turnaround in her health

I first found out about Rachel and Jenna’s story in April 2009 in a New Zealand television story about what she did to cure her baby. Rachel wrote a book about what she learned through this experience entitled Jenna’s Journey and today she has a newfound appreciation for doing her own research on what good nutrition should actually look like. You’ll hear her disdain for conventional wisdom on diet and health and realize she is on a mission to share with the people of New Zealand and around the world the TRUTH about nutrition that comes from saturated fats and proteins. What an AMAZING interview that I am so excited for you to hear!

Click here to listen for yourself about the remarkable change that happened to baby Jenna because of her mother Rachel Tomkinson’s decision to feed her saturated fat.