Is Dr. Caroline Cederquist Hypocritical Or Just Confused? (Episode 63)
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Welcome to “The Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb Show with Jimmy Moore”, the Internet’s most popular low-carb podcast (THANKS for your support)!
You may be forgiven if you developed the idea that ALL bariatric physicians endorse the healthy low-carb lifestyle. After all, our host Jimmy has spent the last SEVEN WEEKS bringing you interviews with many who do.
In Episode 63 today, however, Jimmy shares with you all the very confused writings of a well-known bariatric physician named Dr. Caroline Cederquist who seems to come down not only on both sides of the fence, but right in the middle as well! Listen in and see what YOU think…
LINKS MENTIONED IN EPISODE 63
- Try J&M Foods Low Carb Cheese Biscuits
- Visit our sponsor, CarbSmart.com
- “All About You, Not Low-Carb or Low-Fat” column
- Dr. Caroline Cederquist’s biography
- Harvard study on the insulin resistant doing better on LOWER-CARB/MODERATE FAT diet than a HIGH-CARB/LOW-FAT diet
- Related blog post: “If The Atkins Diet Works As Well As Low-Fat, Then Why Not Recommend It?”
Did you miss anything Jimmy said in today’s look at the anti-low-carb writings of Dr. Caroline Cederquist? That’s alright! Just click the next link for a complete transcript of this episode!
Transcript for Episode 63:
This is Episode 63 of “The Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb Show with Jimmy Moore.” It’s so good to have you back for another engaging podcast where we focus on the deliciously healthy low-carb lifestyle. You know how I’ve been featuring so many interviews with low-carb friendly bariatric physicians on Thursdays over the past couple of months? Well, today I have a bariatric physician I want to tell you about who thinks this way of eating is “dangerously unhealthy” for some people. Stay tuned to hear my stern rebuttal.
First, I want to tell you about a brand new low-carb product available at Carbsmart.com called J&M Foods Low Carb Cheese Biscuits. If you like to have something crispy, crunchy, and salty in your low-carb diet, then these are the perfect snack for you. With as little as 1g net carb for each 1 oz. serving, you can enjoy such tantalizing flavors as Cheddar, Asiago, and Bleu Cheese. They even go great with your favorite salad, too! Rest assured these are made with only the finest natural ingredients for the best-tasting cheese biscuits you’ll ever find. Once again, they’re called J&M Foods Low Carb Cheese Biscuits and they are available online right now from our friends at CarbSmart.com.
There was an op-ed piece that ran on on the web site News Blaze that asks the following question regarding weight loss and healthy living–”What if it wasn’t about low-carb or low-fat, but it was about YOU?” Ah, it’s gonna be one of THOSE kind of articles. Let’s just see what this person has to say. Written by Dr. Caroline Cederquist, a Naples, Florida-based bariatric physician providing her patients with what she describes as lifetime weight management programs, this column of hers claims the debate about the efficacy of low-fat diets compared with the low-carb lifestyle will continue to exist because of “some very exciting new research” set to release. Here’s what she wrote: “It seems now that scientists have shown that the big variable in deciding which is better isn’t so much the fat or the carbs—it’s you! Of course, some of us have been saying that for a while.” Well, la dee freakin’ da for you, Dr. Cederquist! That sounds great and all, but how do you REALLY help someone deal with their obesity if you don’t at least discuss the basics as it relates to fat, carb, and even protein? But what she wrote next in this column of hers was probably the most perplexing thing I have ever heard uttered about livin’ la vida low-carb.
Describing the Atkins diet as a “fairly extreme, carnivorous” way of eating, Dr. Cederquist claims it is “effective for some,” but–GET THIS!– “dangerously unhealthy for others.” She adds that no one diet plan is a “one-size-fits-all solution.” Now tell me something–how can the exact same nutritional approach be both “effective” and healthy for some as she claims while also simultaneously being “dangerously unhealthy” for others? That just doesn’t make any lick of sense to me at all. While I agree that the low-carb lifestyle is not the ultimate answer for everyone trying to lose weight and get healthy (although more people than not would do very well eating this way), I think making such hyberbolistic statements about low-carb achieves the desired effect of completely discouraging people who are overweight or obese from even trying this phenomenal lifestyle change for themselves. Before I started livin’ la vida low-carb in January 2004, I had tried every other diet imaginable. Low-fat, low-calorie, Slim-Fast, starve yourself, you name it! None of those diets worked for me because they were not sustainable for me personally over the long term. It wasn’t until I found the low-carb lifestyle that I was able to eat many foods that I enjoy while still keeping my weight under control. This has literally been a miracle weight loss plan for me and I’m not going to have anyone convince me otherwise. I’m coming up on four years happily living this way and counting.
Dr. Cederquist admits she has people coming to her all the time “complaining of failure after failure with different diets” expressing how frustrated they have been because of their inability to lose weight despite the fact that others have seen successful on various weight loss programs. “Your individual weight problem has to be treated individually,” she explains, advocating a specific diet plan that meets your specific body’s needs. Arguing the simplistic copout answer that people need to just eat less calories than they burn, Dr. Cederquist said the debate should not be around fat, carbohydrates or protein, but rather insulin sensitivity. “People who are insulin resistant have to produce more insulin than normal to do those jobs, because their bodies are not responsive at normal levels of insulin production,” she contends. “As you might suppose, insulin resistance is a red-flag precursor to the dangerous disease of diabetes, in which patients are so resistant that their bodies can’t churn out enough extra insulin no matter how they try, and they have to take supplemental insulin.” This process, she says, is “not irreversible” if you can keep from getting to that point. Dr. Cederquist believes weight loss and other health improvements that come from healthy eating habits and exercise will increase insulin sensitivity. Citing a study of 21 obese, non-diabetic but insulin sensitive and insulin resistent women, Dr. Cederquist said half were put on a high-carb/low-fat diet and the other half were put on a low-carb/high-fat diet for a period of 16 weeks. Their weight, insulin sensitivity, blood lipids, and metabolic rates were tracked and measured as part of the study. Those who were insulin-sensitive and on the high-carb/low-fat diet lost 13 percent of their initial body weight compared with 7 percent for those on the low-carb/high-fat diet. But for those who were insulin-resistant, the numbers reversed–the low-carb/high fat dieters lost 13 percent of their initial body weight compared with just 8 percent of those on the high-carb/low-fat diet. All other physical factors changed in direct relation to the amount of weight that was lost. While this was “a small study,” Dr. Cederquist said she expects these results to lead to “additional, larger studies” into weight loss treatments for the years to come.
Well, those studies are already happening, Dr. Cederquist, and it’s not looking good for your high-carb, low-fat diet. A study from Harvard University researchers published last month in the highly-prestigious Journal of the American Medical Association found that study participants with “above-average insulin levels” actually LOST FIVE TIMES MORE WEIGHT on the LOWER-CARB/MODERATE-FAT DIET after 18 months compared with the HIGH-CARB/LOW-FAT DIET. Plus, as expected, the LOWER-CARB/MODERATE-FAT DIET group also improved their HDL “good” cholesterol numbers as well as lowering triglycerides better than the HIGH-CARB/LOW-FAT DIET group. The effectiveness of livin’ la vida low-carb, especially on those who are pumping out more insulin than their body needs do VERY well on programs like Atkins this study concluded. Dr. Cederquist maintains that individualized weight-loss treatment is what has been needed for a long time. “We won’t necessarily say we told you so, but not because we weren’t trying,” she concluded. Say what? You just went off on your high horse about how “dangerously unhealthy” the Atkins diet is for people despite the remarkable research coming out in favor of it from some of this nation’s brightest institutions of medical knowledge and now you’re talking out of both sides of your mouth claiming weight loss should be individualized. Did you stop and think that perhaps, maybe, just maybe the Atkins low-carb approach could be that individualized weight loss treatment that some people, especially the insulin resistant, might need to get their weight and health under control, Dr. Cederquist? The hypocrisy of diet doctors like her is so transparent it makes you wonder if they even realize the nonsensical nature of what they are saying. In a blurb at the very end of her article called “Through Thick & Thin,” Dr. Cederquist recommends that people should simply eat less calories, lower their fat intake, and avoid the “smorgasbord” of food options available to portion control what they eat. Okay, so weight loss is supposed to be up to my needs, huh? Then why am I expected to watch my calories, watch my fat, or watch my portions, Dr. Cederquist? When I weighed 410 pounds in 2004 and was eating anything and everything in sight with no regard for what I was actually putting in my mouth, it was inevitable what was happening to my health. But I made the conscientious decision to become purposeful in my eating habits when I started livin’ la vida low-carb without counting calories, fat grams or portion sizes and the results have been incredible. Nearly 200 pounds lost and kept off for 3 1/2 years, blood pressure dropped to the point I no longer take any medication, HDL good cholesterol went way up, triglycerides went way down, body fat percentage dipped down from half my body weight down to 11%, I went from a 62 inch waist to a 38, used to wear 5XL shirts and now XLs are loose, and so much more. My life is radically changed because of low-carb and I desperately want others who struggle with their weight to give this extremely healthy and adaptable lifestyle option a try if nothing else has worked for them.
I sense that the Cederquist weight loss programs incorporate the same old “watch your calories, watch your fat, watch your portions” message that has been rammed down our throats by our government and health experts for decades. Frankly, I’m tired of hearing that message because it’s just not necessarily true for everyone. So much for her philosophy of finding an individualized plan for you. Don’t tell me that I have to watch the amount of fat I put in my mouth while stuffing it with tons of carbs or to artificially reduce the number of calories I can eat in a day to create some caloric deficit because I haven’t kept up with that from day one since I began the low-carb lifestyle in January 2004. Instead, I just don’t allow sugar or other unnecessary refined or starchy carbohydrates to enter my body and I am a healthier man today because of that. While all diets are not the same and will not work for everyone, it is not my place or your place to discourage someone from trying to do SOMETHING about their weight in a way that works for them. If it’s low-fat, then so be it. If it’s low-carb, then that’s okay, too. But give people the options with all the facts and stop scaring them to death with purposeful mischaracterizations about this wonderful low-carb way of eating. Just the facts, ma’am, just the facts. People can then decide which plan is best for them and make their choice based on an informed decision and not on baseless opinions. Doctors who ignore the healthy benefits of low-carb living are doing a great disservice to their obese patients and it’s high time we demand more from these doctors purporting to help people lose weight and get healthy. Dr. Cederquist is right about one thing–this debate about low-fat vs. low-carb is not going away. As long as it exists, I’ll be here trumpeting the cause of low-carb because it changed my life forever whether she wants to believe it could happen or not. It could very be the lifestyle change that YOU’VE been looking for, too.
That’s it for Episode 63 of “The Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb Show with Jimmy Moore.” Be sure to come back on Thursday as we speak to a real bariatric physician who isn’t afraid to recommend the low-carb lifestyle to someone who needs to get their weight under control. His name is Dr. Scott Rigden out of Chandler, Arizona and I think you’ll be pleased with his idea of a “caveman diet.” Tune in to hear what that’s all about as we wrap up my series of interviews with bariatric physicians that I conducted in Nashville, TN last month. So until next time, keep on livin’ la vida low-carb!
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From over 400 pounds to 230, Jimmy Moore is 
It is sad that a doctor is still passing on false info. Educate her Jimmy!! Low carb is not for everyone but it is worth trying.
You are right about her straddling the fence. But something that gets me is still the whole calorie counting thing. In the human body on the basic cellular level as she described a calorie is NOT a calorie—you get into the laws of thermodynamics.
I personally eat about twice as many calories as my fellow WLS friends, but I am able to lose weight on it. Because of WHAT I eat not how much.
Low carb should be taught right along other diet options—everyone should be given the Correct info about it and allowed to come to their own conclusion.
There’s a lot more like Dr. Cederquist than not, Linda. We’re slowly turning this HUGE tide!
EXACTLY, BamaGal! That’s my sentiment about low-carb–give people all the options clearly stated and defined accurately and then step out of the way.
[…] Read Original Post Here ——————————————————————————— Don’t settle… and enjoy The Finer Things. […]
You’re about two licks from flat-out libel with some of the crap you’ve spouted here, pal. You are a zealot for a particular regimen that worked for you, period. Dr. C is an advocate for careful, compassionate, informed weight loss and management for ALL kinds of people, and you’re trying to turn her into a VILLAIN??
How can you claim to be in favor of giving people all the facts when you seem to want to ignore some very critical ones? Clearly, you had great success with this last approach you used, but you can’t say what worked for you would be the best approach for my aging father, who has outrageously high blood pressure and high cholesterol and a history of heart attacks and a bad case of IBS. Or my pal from work who just had a massive coronary at the age of 37. When you talk about “just the facts,” Jimmy, those facts ought to include more than just a menu of different diet options. They ought to include some of the medical facts about how people with different health conditions might be affected by eating particular dietary regimens. Which means someone would have to make the facts available to my father that YOUR diet would be “dangerously unhealthy” for him. Wait, where have I heard that before… ? Oh yeah, from the DOCTOR, who could medically evaluate him and determine that all that meat-eating that was so successful for you would rip the hell out of his bowel and leave him bleeding to death out the heinie, if it didn’t give him a fabulous cardiac arrest first.
And what is THIS: “Arguing the simplistic copout answer that people need to just eat less calories than they burn…” WHERE did you see her make that argument? SHE is the one who says that’s a simplistic copout that is used to demoralize and blame overweight people whose conditions are far more complex than that! She was refuting that nasty trash talk while you were still a 400-pound TARGET of it. And she did it without calling people liars or hypocrites. She did it with patience and compassion, and NO HIGH HORSE. Ever. That’s not her style. She’s not an extremist of ANY kind. She just keeps consistently and gently saying over and over again that it’s not as simple as “eat less, exercise more” … and then she explains all the reasons why not. And you take that and TURN it on her? What is up with that?
You couldn’t hope to find a more compassionate, better-educated, harder-working bariatrician than Dr. C. She stays on top of all the research, shares the latest with her patients and program clients, and constantly works to get the general public more informed about the difficulty of losing weight, from both a socio-cultural perspective as well as a medical one.
Why are you looking for a villain, anyway? Do you feel like you don’t have enough credibility based on your own success?
Good on ya, Jimmy for becoming a missionary for better living, but you have NO right to go around taking potshots at compassionate and responsible professionals who have devoted their lives to improving the well-being of overweight people. Dr. Cederquist is an advocate for various approaches, dependent on the particular health and medical profile of the individual patient. She’s not anti- low-carb or anti-low-fat. She’s not anti-surgery, where appropriate or anti-medication, where appropriate. She’s not about DIETS, Jimmy, she’s just about treating INDIVIDUALS … PEOPLE with more body fat than they want or is good for them.
It is flabbergasting, simply stunning, that you would choose her, of ALL people, to beat up on. Amazing.
WOW, it took you seven months to come up with that response? Well, better late than never. Perhaps Dr. Cederquist should be more careful about the language she uses treating those individuals, ae.
That’s all I’m saying.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!LOW CARB & HIGH FAT CHANGED MY LIFE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I couldn’t agree more Jimmy. I’m from the UK - but the amount of times i had to bl**dy cope with the so-called medical-professionals saying things like ‘’if only you ate less and exercised more!'’
I did religiously stick to all the diet plans they gave me but none worked.
In the end i was 32stone (448lbs). I’d done low-fat/calorie-controlled/GI - you name it i did it even the stupid ones like cabbage soup/ maple-syrup and even toothpaste - I was desperate.
So in the end i did Atkins - sceptical that even this one would work!
Weeks later I had friends/neighbours and even shop-keepers who only knew me by face were getting worried that i was starving myself !!
LOW CARB HIGH FAT - This has literally changed my life - I’ve now got a partner. I now don’t listen at all to the medical profession here in the UK.
The thing that annoys me is that it totally flies in the face of the ‘food-pyramid’ and ‘way you should eat’. Plus - you don’t feel hungry at all !
My fat in my blood has reduced significantly, cholesterol substantially decreased and when my Dr saw me he said ’so you’re finally taking control of your eating John’. I said ‘’No, my eating is roughly the same. But I’m just eating High Fat low Carb.'’
You should of seen his face. It was a picture!
If you want to lose weight - HIGH FAT & LOW CARB - under 20g a day.
I wish Dr Atkins was still alive. I think he could have contributed a hell of a lot more to weight loss for people. Because I’m sorry but ‘ eat less/exercise more’ just does not work. HIGH FAT LOW CARB has changed my life !