The Fat Summit

Published 1.26.2016; Updated 2.1.2016
Periodically, I get invites or come across ads for online webinars on health. Over the years I have listened to "paleo" diet shills define their markets, Weston A Price followers spew their mostly nonsensical positions as well as various low carbers and doctors talk about diabetes and autoimmune issues. Most of which was a huge waste of time, but there is always the occasional diamond amide the dross. That's how I first heard Roy Taylor MD speak, as well as Dr Alessio Fasano MD. At first, I'd give each presenter at listen a bit of a listen, but now I am much more judicious about how I spend my time. This week, Mark Hyman is acting as host of The Fat Summit. Hyman has a new diet, The "Pegan" Diet that he is pushing, which is the primary reason for the summit.

The "Pegan" diet is basically a mash up of a vegan and "paleo" diet. Seventy-five percent of the plate is filled with fruits or vegetables and 25% is animal products, but no dairy. Legumes seem to be okay, except for peanuts, but that's just an indication that it's another fad diet. Grains are okay, but wheat is to be avoided— probably all gluten grains. Refined carbs and sugar of course are to be avoided.

Hyman claims it's a "high fat" diet, BUT it's DAIRY that represents 40% of the saturated fat eaten by the typical American eater. This being the case, even getting to 50% fat on a Pegan diet means that the amount of saturated fat is going to lower than in the standard American diet. Milk and especially cheese are where the saturated fat in many Americans diet comes from. Cheese is a big source of calories too because it is very calorie dense. If you looks at the proposed daily meal plan for the "Pegan" diet, it's pretty low CALORIE fare. Forget the macronutrients, if the diet is designed to lower weight, then it's a lower CALORIE diet.

Added 2.1.2016: "Pegan" is actually a term coined by another author, so in fact Hyman's book does not use that term. This is the book he's selling: Eat Fat, Get Thin: Why the Fat We Eat Is the Key to Sustained Weight Loss and Vibrant Health

Rules for The Fat Summit:

• I am not listening to all the presentations, my time is worth more than that. So obvious shills and shams such as Vani Hari, aka the Food Babe, will not be listened to.
• My intent isn't to recap the talks. Indeed, each presentation begins with a screen saying that recapping the material is not allowed except with written permission.
• The talks are free for 24 hours, so I will not be linking to the talks themselves. Outside the initial 24 hours, if you want the presentations you can of course pay for them by going to the Fat Summit link above.

Marc Davis

• I don't know who this guy is, but I was curious what the "The Slow Diet" was. What follows are my commentary while listening, not a listing of what Davis said or what he believes.
• No surprise, his diet doesn't include processed foods.
• He blathered on about how you can’t make a healthy high fat diet from processed food. It's hard to create a healthy diet, period from processed foods. Fat has nothing to do with it.
• Naturally, populations who eat a low fat diet (traditional Japanese for one) and who are healthy are never mentioned.
• It's difficult to eat a very low fat diet if you eat animal products (especially dairy and cheese). Americans never truly adopted a low fat diet, what they did is eat more carbs along with the fat.
• It isn't necessary to be Pegan or Pritikin or Paleo or ANY OTHER NAMED DIET. What you need to do is figure out how much you need to eat, and then eat that amount in a way that you will do so for life.
• Hyman is pushing the Pegan Diet and finds ways to insert it into the conversation.

Aseem Malhotra MD

• The cardiologist who tells people not to exercise to lose weight. I've ranted about this previously, I think telling people not to exercise is a way to ensure complete employment for cardiologists. These are comments I had while listening, not a listing of what Malhotra said.
• He claims statins aren't worth it and that doctors don't adequately explain the risks to patients.
• Dairy is not necessary for health— full fat or not. Dairy is not necessary for anything. Over two thirds of the planet can't process dairy. In NO WAY can dairy be essential for human health.
• Focus on the health and the weight loss will be a side effect he says… that’s not that far off what I say. Don’t follow a particular diet. Eat nutritionally for the size you want to be.
• Heart disease takes years to develop, but the healing is swifter than that BECAUSE THE BODY WANTS TO HEAL.
• I don’t think that you need to avoid fat, but I don’t think they’ve proved that sugar is the real culprit (except in calorie excess).
• So he clarifies his anti exercise stance. He thinks exercise is very important, but you can’t outrun your fork. All well and good, but I think telling people they don’t need to exercise is stupid.

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