A TV commercial targeting people with
Type 2 diabetes begins, “Now I’m ready for someone to listen to me.”
I didn’t get the pitch at first, but it had a few things I can relate to: 1) my
reason (and hope) in writing this blog is that people will “listen to me,”
2) I share the speaker’s frustrated tone, and 3) I like the inference that
people with Type 2 diabetes should “take charge” and be more involved in their
own management plan. The pitch all became clear to me, though, when the backer of
the website, Fit2Me, became apparent. It was AstraZenica, the drug maker.
Then the voiceover says, “Let’s start
with food.” I liked that too. The pitch made each one of us an important and
unique individual. That’s good marketing, and it reflected the recent clinical
guidance from the ADA: “It is the
position of the American Diabetes Association (ADA) that there is not a
“one-size-fits-all” eating pattern for individuals with diabetes.” The
ADA has declared, in effect, that low-carb diets are an appropriate “eating
pattern” for Type 2 diabetics. Zowee! Fit2Me (AstraZenica) had obviously read
the ADA Position Paper and were attempting to cash in.
So, to learn more, I decided to sign
up. It was a well-designed interactive website where you provide a little
information, and then you pick a “counselor” to choose your style of mentoring.
You then choose, with clicks, 1) the foods, 2) activities (exercise) and 3)
treatment plan just for you. I answered all their questions and was
automatically put into a bi-monthly Sweepstakes program! I “liked” certain foods and “disliked”
others. The result, I was told, was over 1,000 recipes (from over 10k) that fit
my “likes.” I “liked” zero (0) “activities,” but that didn’t deter my mentor.
Then I went back to the food and
recipes section. It also was very well designed with a keyword search function
and a list of 7 additional search dropdown boxes for things like meal, type of
cuisine, type of dish, time to make, serving, style and main ingredient. I
searched on “eggs” and got over 100 recipes. I clicked on #12, “Sweet Southern
Egg Salad,” (132 calories, 6 carbs) to get more details. Among my food choices
I had previously selected “gluten free,” and the picture showed two brown
slices that looked suspiciously like pumpernickel bread, so I wondered how that
could be? And while I was glad to see carbs listed with calories, how could
this recipe have only 6 grams of carbs?
Well, obviously, it couldn’t. And the
“bread” (if that what is was) was not included in the recipe. Neither was the
green leafy veggie under the top slice. But, I said generously, it’s a start-up
website, so maybe I should cut them some slack. Then, I read the preparation
instructions. It calls for 8 eggs (for 4 servings), but throws out (or sets
aside), 4 of the yolks. Yikes! Okay, I’m starting to get the drift here. The
secret agenda – well, not so secret if you draw inferences – is that they
follow ADA protocol, which follows AHA protocol, which follows the USDA
Guidelines on dietary cholesterol.
Further evidence was the “non-fat”
plain yogurt and “low-fat” mayonnaise in the recipe. The Nutrition Facts panel
provided had all the required items plus more like “exchanges” and “carb
servings” for the yo-yo dieters out there who have tried and failed to
permanently lose weight. Interestingly, the required “Total Fat” and “Saturated
Fat” are there, and it also included “Monounsaturated Fat” which is not required. That’s another
clever inclusion, no doubt to appeal to the Mediterranean Diet followers. But
how about polyunsaturated fats (PUFAs)? They’re NOT included!!!
I don’t blame AstraZeneca or their
diet consultants. It is the USDA that’s behind the curve here, and they are between a rock and a
hard place. How can you constantly demonize saturated fat to the point where
red meat is verboten and full-fat dairy is getting harder and harder to find in
the store, and not include polyunsaturated fats in your eating pattern?
Besides, the USDA’s Dietary Guidelines expressly
extols
PUFAs, while strongly condemning
saturated fats, linking them like conjoined twins with artificial trans fats. That only
leaves monounsaturated fats unscathed. And frankly, how
much olive oil can a person eat?! This recipe has 3g of PUFAs
per serving vs. 2g saturated and 2g mono.
So, while this is a very nice
interactive website, and it’s easy to get sucked in, it has its limitations and
the eating plan sucks. There are, however, many other websites with low carb
(even very low carb) recipes and healthy saturated fats.
Anyway, it will be interesting to see if they pitch a medication regimen
to me before my next doctor’s appointment. They did ask me for the date and
offered to remind me! That makes very clear to me what this
website is all about.
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