NY Times article on "carb-free diet", dementia & food writer Paula Wolfert 3/21/17

(Patty W) #1

interesting article I found in The NY Times News feed on my iPad. (I’m hoping someone else more tech-savvy than me might be able to see it & add the link in this thread :slight_smile:

Famous food writer & Paula Wolfert was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s dementia in 2013. She is following a “carb-free” diet (but as they later describe the food choices, it would really be a low-carb, possibly ketogentic (?) diet. Said she hasn’t eaten bread in a year, has a BPC daily with brain octane MCT oil, dark chocolate, fish, berries & greens. Says she has lost 20#, looks younger, & feels she is “turning back the clock” on her disease (of which she has significant memory & vocabulary loss issues).

Of course, it’s interesting to note they focus on Ms. Wolfert’s celebrity & contributions to the field of gastronomy, rather than the benefits she is receiving from her dietary changes. Makes one wonder how much of her previous gourmet SAD may have contributed to her diagnosis in the first place.

All in all it’s nice to see our way of eating get some positive press in the NY Times.

My two cents…

#2
(Patty W) #3

Thanks Fiorella, you’re the best! :grin:

(Brian) #4

I get up set when they describe a diet as zero carb or no carb when it may not actually be keto or what I would consider even low carb. Many people who would benifit or might try low carb, may never try keto/low carb because they are put off by the extreme NO CARB statement. But it is good that we get at least a positive article even if the writer doesn’t really understand the topic.

(Crow T. Robot) #5

I don’t anyone would be put off by that anymore than they’d be put off by 20g. It’s all extreme when compared to the SAD.

(Brian) #6

But 20 to 40 net grams allows a lot of greens, salads, some berries, avocados etc Zero means just meat and fat and that would turn a lot of people off where as lots of salads veggies could encourage some people on SAD diet to do something healthier.

(Megan) #7

I don’t like how they make it seem like a crazy last-ditch effort by eating low-carb. By the way the author wrote, > “The first thing Paula Wolfert wants to make a guest is coffee blended with butter from grass-fed cows and something called brain octane oil. She waves a greasy plastic bottle of the oil around her jumble of a kitchen like a preacher who has taken up a serpent.” it seems like a rather obvious comparison to snake oil.

(Mother of Puppies ) #8

I wish my mom had the presence of mind to adhere to this type of diet.

MCT oil gets her part of the way to a better memory.

(Jack Bennett) #9

Example:
Some studies that led to “OMG TEH LOW CARB IS GONNA KILL YOU!!!111” headlines quoted the “low carb” cohort as 45% of dietary calories from carb. That’s high carb. But the popular press articles didn’t mention those details.

(Edit: just realized I’m responding to a 2 year old message :joy::laughing:)

(David Cooke) #10

I got insulted today on Facebook when I told a guy that he possibly was in ketosis at 40 g of carbs daily. He was most indignant, as he was arguing that Keto didn’t work, he had lost 30 lb thanks to running.

(Bob M) #11

I was on a treadmill and and a man next to me attributed all of his weight loss to walking on the treadmill. He then casually mentioned that he also cut out all sweets and breads. Hmm…was it the exercise, the reduction in carbs, or both? I personally think it was the reduction in carbs.