Highlights from Laura's Blog 2010

Here are some of the highlights of my blog in the year 2010. These blog posts provide general commentary and opinion. For my posts covering scientific research related to low-carb diets in 2010, see the 2010 Science News Archive.

January 13, 2010 - Can Nutrition Labels Be Trusted? - Just because it says "sugar-free" doesn't mean it is, unfortunately.

January 29, 2010 - Julia Child and Jacques Pepin on Fat in the Diet - I got a kick out of this excerpt from a 1999 interview with these famous chefs.

January 31, 2010 - Michael Pollen and "Food, Inc." on Oprah - A few tidbits from Michale Pollen's appearance on Oprah (and a link to my review of the documentary movie "Food, Inc."

Februay 10, 2010 - Alton Brown's Four List Eating Plan - Alton Brown lost 50 lbs by making four lists of foods - one to eat daily, one 3 times per week, one weekly, one never. I look at the lists in terms of carbs.

February 13, 2010 - Stepping Back in Time to Improve Health - The Opening Ceremony of the Olympics in Vancouver reminds me of a study done with a village of native people near there. When brought back to their ancestral low-carb diet, their health was restored.

February 18, 2010 - Bagged Greens May Not Be All That Clean - Consumer's Union tested bagged greens and found that some of them had signficant amounts of bacteria.

March 1, 2010 - Whole Foods Promoting High-Carb Diet - This one brought angry comments from vegetarians as I voiced concern over Whole Foods' promotion of a vegan diet.

March 14, 2010 - Saturated Fat Study Largely Ignored - The large study about the safety of eating saturated fat was all but ignored in the mainstream media. I report on this phenomenon.

April 30, 2010 - Low-Carb Diets at the Crossroads - Opinions about low-carb eating are shifting in the U.S. - but there are still obstacles to overcome.

May 2, 2010 - Low-Carb Diets in the Media - Truth vs Fiction - I critique an article on Health.com trashing low-carb diets.

May 26, 2010 - Time for a New Food Pyramid - A speech I gave at the public speaking group Toastmasters.

June 7, 2010 - Join the Nutrition and Metabolism Society - You can do something concrete to promote the acceptance of reduced-carb diets!

June 10, 2010 - Oprah: Compulsive Overeating, or Too Much Carbohydrate? - Geneen Roth was on Oprah talking her latest book, Women, Food, and God, about compulsive overeating. I share my history with this issue and Geneen Roth, and talk about how compulsive overeating is very easily confused with cravings from too much carbohydrate.

June 20, 2010 - 2010 Dietary Guidelines, Part One - Make Your Voice Heard - The USDA updates the Dietary Guidelines for Americans every five years. They have released the proposal for the latest version - and now starts the public comment period.

June 28, 2010 - Mixed Messages about Carbohydrates - What the proposed new USDA Guidelines say about carbs - and what I think about it.

July 4, 2010 - Andrew Weil: Carbs Bad, Saturated Fats OK - Knock me over with a feather - Andrew Weil says it's not the burgers that are the problem, it's the bun! Woohoo!

July 10, 2010 - Little Things are Adding Up - People in my "real life" are discovering low-carb diets.

July 15, 2010 - My Message to the USDA - What I finally sent to the USDA in the public comment period about the proposed 2010 Dietary Guidelines.

July 31, 2010 - Drew Carey Loses 80 Pounds on Low-Carb Diet - He says, "I'm not diabetic anymore. No medication needed."

July 23, 2010 - Low-Carb Diets and Weight Training: Good or Bad? - Paul Rogers, About.com's Guide to Weight Training, discuss various sides of the science and issues around carbs and exercise, particularly weight training.

September 12, 2010 - Dean Ornish Swings and Misses - Dr. Dean Ornish writes an article claiming that he's been advocating animal protein and fat all along? More likely, he didn't read the study he was commenting on. (However, Dr. Mehmet Oz did read it.)

September 16, 2010 - The Whole Truth About Whole Grains? - Why are whole grains so often touted as Wonder Foods? Because we're comparing them to refined grains, instead of to NO grains.

September 20, 2010 - Surviving the Supermarket - We expect people to make healthy food choices - but it's often difficult to even FIND the healthy choices!

October 1, 2010 - Proposed Dietary Guidelines Sharply Debated - A paper is published in the journal Nutrition, calling into question the underlying assumptions of the proposed Dietary Guidelines for Americans.

October 30, 2010 - Verdict in on Kimkins Lawsuit - Beware of diet scams!

November 26, 2010 - High-Fat Diet as a Treatment for Epilepsy - It's now well-established that a low-carb, high-fat diet can be used to treat epilepsy, and possibly other neurological problems.