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Militant Low Carbing & Body Shaming - What's Your View?

tim2000s

tim2000s

Expert
Retired Moderator
On Twitter yesterday there was a highly inflammatory and very emotional discussion long thread where "militant" Low Carbers were posting photos of dietitians, body shaming them, saying "No wonder the NHS is giving bad advice, look at how fat all these dietitians are" [transposed - not actual words used]. The people in question making the posting will be well known to long term members of the forum.

As part of this, some very well known low carb advocates were named in the initial tweets (Zoe Harcombe, Aseem Malhotra, Tim Noakes), and none of them bothered to comment dissociating themselves from the body shaming approach that the perpetrator was undertaking (and other participants continued with).

As a result, Partha Kar wrote this blog post: http://nhssugardoc.blogspot.com/2018/06/diets-and-shaming.html, which Zoe Harcombe took offence at.

My question to the forum - as a centre of Low Carb excellence, do you agree with Partha, or do you think that the named doctors were right to make no comment whatsoever on being associated with body shaming and diet?
 
I think it does indeed come down to common decency, there is no place for body shaming, full stop. There is a place for constructive criticism and this may be why the Drs in question did not seek to belay the shallow insults aimed at a whole profession. Having said that, the boffins do bear a measure of responsibility but they are not internet mods. The tribal aspects that some people seem vulnerable to are not constructive or attractive and can imo only do harm to what can be an invaluable aid to good health.
 
Did anyone direct message the ones being included in the discussion so they knew of the discussion and were given the opportunity to defend themselves and comment on the body shaming?

Twitter doesnt always notify me of when I have been mentioned, neither am I aware of most of what goes on there, so I hadnt even heard of this discussion until just now.
 
Not sure I really want to get into a fight with these guys, but here goes.

The dietary advice given by many (not all) dieticians to T2s is plainly wrong. I see no problem in shaming them for the poor advice that they give. The advice is harmful to T2s. T2s are carb intolerant and as such should limit the amount of carbs they have, whether this is on a low cal, low carb, Mediterranean diet or any other diet is up to the individual to choose, but the 'eat wholemeal carbs with every meal' mantra is wrong for T2s who are trying to control their diabetes with diet.

I do however have a massive problem with body shaming. I am a low carber and have been since before diagnosis. I am still seriously obese. There are many reasons why people are fat and they are not all down to diet. I am working through my own reasons one by one, but the process takes a very long time.

Anyone looking at me would think that low carb doesn't work because I still have a lot of weight to lose. (I have lost around 3 stones and have kept that off). A pharmacist once sneered at me re low carbing because I am still fat. Why should I be body shamed when I am doing everything I can to help myself? Similarly, the dieticians' advice is bad for T2s but why should they be judged on how they themselves look? There may be other reason why they themselves are a bit overweight. Maybe they actually like the way they look! The best swimming teacher my sons had couldn't swim himself, it didn't stop him helping others to learn. Similarly I feel I have helped others to get on the right track for weight loss even though I haven't managed it for myself.

Body shaming is so wrong but I feel it exists because there is so much emphasis put on those who have 'the perfect body'. We need to stop thinking about how folks look altogether and see them for who they really are. Commenting on how people look, whether beautiful or ugly, fat or slim is just not on and is a very shallow way of looking at them which says more about the person doing the shaming than the shamed.

Maybe Zoe Harcombe, Aseem Malhotra and Tim Noakes all have better things to do than to get into arguments re body shaming?
 
I don't see how anyone can be responsible for whatever anyone else decides to post on Twitter. Do you have a link to Zoe Harcombe "taking offence". I can't see anything in her twitter feed about it.
 
bulkbiker said:
But we all do it? Don't we? In our minds if not out loud...

If you were sent to a dietician for eating advice and they were obese would you not question the quality of that advice?

Or maybe I'm just a body shaming old fascist..
Click to expand...
I find that more often I question people's fashion sense....

My medical team are all slim, and I admit to having wondered if the receptionist is anorexic as she has a 'lollipop' look. Would I post a pic of any of them on social media with such comments? Nope...
 
bulkbiker said:
But we all do it? Don't we? In our minds if not out loud...

If you were sent to a dietician for eating advice and they were obese would you not question the quality of that advice?

Or maybe I'm just a body shaming old fascist..
Click to expand...
I think maybe you are.... sorry. Like I said in my post my sons' best swimming teacher couldn't himself swim. I am glad you have found the answer to your weight problems and grateful that you are helping me with mine, but please don't judge me (and others) because I have other factors besides T2 going on in my body.
 
bulkbiker said:
But we all do it? Don't we? In our minds if not out loud...

If you were sent to a dietician for eating advice and they were obese would you not question the quality of that advice?

Or maybe I'm just a body shaming old fascist..
Click to expand...
No, I dont do it. As someone who has complex reasons for being obese, and finding it almost impossible to lose weight, I respect that others may have issues, possibly hidden issues, and its not my place to judge them.
 
bulkbiker said:
But we all do it? Don't we? In our minds if not out loud...

If you were sent to a dietician for eating advice and they were obese would you not question the quality of that advice?

Or maybe I'm just a body shaming old fascist..
Click to expand...

It depends where people are on the healthy eating learning curve. Their advice is useful for people who know almost nothing about nutrition, less so for people who know more.

Nutrition is a difficult subject. In the UK, I'd say in about the 60s, mass production of processed foods meant people became detached from a traditional diet as white sliced bread appeared, and was universally accepted. The availability of processed foods has grown even more since then. So the level of knowledge of nutrition covers such a wide range.

Sucessfully following the LCHF diet requires quite a lot of knowledge about food, so it's not really a good first step for some people.

It's probably appropriate that dietitians are aiming their advice at those with no prior knowledge, because they need it more. Though it is frustrating for people who know a bit.

It's a less than perfect system, but....................
 
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