Comments on: Weekend Update: Slim-Fast

By: Trish

Trish — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 02:19:48 +0000

I missed this post the first go-round but every time I hear about Slim-Fast I remember a comedian from the nineties, a young and very obese man whose name escapes me, that had a great line about it: “Yeah, I like Slim-Fast. Goes great with nachos.”

I believe that may have been Jeff Garlin, currently on Curb Your Enthusiasm. He added, “Not that they’ll make me a spokesman or anything.”

By: April

April — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 20:56:22 +0000

Ugh, I think I know which site you got the stats from. Seems like you aren’t allowed to mention it by name (or just didn’t want to), but they are tied with a prominent go-to website for anything you want to know.

I HATE that they grade the foods- I use it often myself when trying to figure out carb counts. They even mention that Slim-Fast is bad in that it is “very high in sugar” Why doesn’t that factor into the grade?

Why must organizations and the government insist on blanket advice for everyone? As I recall from Fat Head, this was a concern of the McGovern report that doctors brought up as a reason for why they didn’t want the report to come out. What a concept- different things might work for different people!

Yup, I think we’re talking about the same site. I think they use the American Heart Association method — anything lowfat gets a good grade.

By: Todd

Todd — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 06:15:20 +0000

Tom,

Thank you for the vitamin D video on YouTube. I will forward that on to my friend. I think I’ll buy myself a copy of The Vegetarian Myth, and pass it on to him. We often exchange books we’ve read and liked. He’s caught in a strange limbo, with his own faith-based vegan beliefs on the one side, and the medical/legal system’s political stance on steroids as a legitimate treatment in wasting conditions. If anyone is interested in seeing how the political and agenda based “science” is applied to steroids in the same way that the science is applied to fat and carbs, check out the documentary “Bigger, Stronger, Faster” by director Chris Bell.

By: Dr.A

Dr.A — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 05:12:53 +0000

Good post, Tom. It makes me angry that people think that a low carb diet, even a real food, primal one, is an unhealthy fad diet, while a SlimFast diet is perfectly acceptable. I recently did a post on my blog about KetoCal, which is what they feed kids with epilepsy. It’s main ingredient is hydrogenated soybean oil. It also has refined soybean oil, soy lecithin, corn syrup solids and aspartame. Then they wonder why the kids get kidney stones.

Yeeuck. I think it’s great that kids with epilepsy can minimize symptoms with a ketogenic diet, but why not use real food?

Your post, so others can read it:
http://comfort-eaters-diet.blogspot.com/2009/12/industrial-ketogenic-diets.html

By: Cathryn

Cathryn — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 03:20:59 +0000

This has Sugar and Aspartame. Do you realize what a double-whammy you are getting here? Aspartame actually tricks your brain into wanting more. It’s as addictive to your brain as methamphetamines–the illegal stuff that gets you locked up in prison. Only our government calls it “food.”

Imagine what else is being touted for weight loss.

Frightening, isn’t it? I got off the diet sodas awhile back, and I feel better for it. I learned to love iced tea again.

By: Shaf

Shaf — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 02:17:12 +0000

http://blogs.healthfreedomalliance.org/blog/2009/12/04/government-takes-toddler-away-from-mother-for-refusing-to-feed-him-junk-food/
Have you seen this?? OMG

That’s horrible. The kid was probably traumatized by being taken away. Anyone ever tried that with my kids, they may as well tag on a charge for manslaughter.

By: Todd

Todd — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 00:09:43 +0000

A good friend is recovering from his second bout of cancer, yet is still only in his 40s. He’s also a vegan activist. As he won’t eat anything that could actually help him recover his strength (he dropped roughly 30 pounds, and was already on the slender side), his docs have him on Ensure. Despite a very short period where it seemed to help him (at least he got some extra calories besides the vegan soups he was favoring), he relapsed rather quickly and now cannot gain no matter how many cans he drinks a day (all the while shunning the protein his doctors have recommended (besides the occasional protein shake - he seems to also believe that protein is only necessary for those who work out like bodybuilders). It is really sad to see someone who has embraced the religion of veganism and fundamentalist animal rights. I have agreed with him time and again about the evils of factory farming, and have tried to help him source organic milk, eggs, and meat, all to no avail.

So much for vegan diets preventing cancer. Any chance you could get him to read The Vegetarian Myth? Lierre Keith does a brilliant job of shredding both the moral and health claims of vegans — and she knows them all, because she was a vegan for 20 years. At the very least, show him this video on vitamin D and cancer; maybe it will help.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GM0CnO6-ds

By: gallier2

gallier2 — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 20:37:14 +0000

Jenn, 2 laxatives? What about Cellulose Gel and Aspartame. I recognized always if something had aspartame at the effect on the “output stream”.

By: Dave, RN

Dave, RN — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 18:36:54 +0000

“Xanthan Gum (can be considered a laxative sugar), Guar Gum (laxative)”
Gee, maybe that’s why you can lose weight on that crude, it has two laxatives!
It’s be easier to take some whole, raw milk, and then blend in a chocolate ex-lax.

I smell a new product idea.

By: Jenn

Jenn — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 16:43:29 +0000

A few years ago I figured out that I could get the same nutrition of a Slim-Fast chocolate shake by drinking a glass of skim milk with chocolate powder and taking a multivitamin, so why waste the money on the shakes?

Exactly. Or just drink whole milk; you’d get less sugar and more actual nutrition.