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Zoe Harcombe and her Diet

G

ghost_whistler

Well-Known Member
Messages
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I'm sure discussed before but I'd like to be sure that she's a credible resource, a few people have pointed out (across the internet) that she's contradicted herself and have made claims her qualifications aren't as good as perhaps they should be,

Her diet seems strange, if considered in the context of low carb. I don't know how she describes it herself, but it seems you can eat any veg, except potato and mushroom. I don't understand those exceptions but not others given the sugar content of many non green leafy veg can be quite high. She also allows oats and brown rice, which I don't understand at all. Especially when she claims these help with things like hypoglycemia. Rice is pure carbs!

She says one should eat real food three times a day. But what about if and when one is hungry inbetween. one of the most frustrating aspecs of the low carb (particularly keto) diet is that many of its supporters are evangelical about not snacking and love to quote people like Jason Fung, about whom I'm equally uninformed - I'm sure there are many who are skeptcial about him as well.

Unfortunately her website has a paywall which means finding out directly is expensive.
 
I think she has a book - your local library might be able to get it in for you so you wouldn't have to shell out and then find it was no good.
 
I never really took her seriously since she published her cholesterol 'graph' matching a straight line to the cholesterol curve with a near zero probability of a match.
 
Not on my phone, and I'm away from my laptop until the end of the week, but I will post up the link to a post I made from a data grab of her original plot, and a line I matched to it with a much better fit. I'll tag you when I post it up.
 
I'd say snack on real (low carb) food, if you feel the need to snack.

As for Zoe, I had a quick look at her web site and there is some basic information there. It doesn't appear her approach is geared towards diabetics. Seems like you're supposed to start with low carb, then when you've lost the weight add carbs back in. Kind of sounds like Atkins.

I'd recommend taking a look at the diet doctor instead: https://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb
 
Yes , for once we agree, Zoe may not be the best resource
 
@ghost_whistler You can find out about Zoe Harcombe, free of charge, on her site, here, http://www.zoeharcombe.com/about-2/ She has a Phd in Public Health Nutrition and degrees in maths and economics, from Cambridge, which enable her to do the sort of analysis on scientific papers, which would make most people's heads spin. She was one of "Tim's Angels", ie his witnesses at the recent Tim Noakes trial (which, as I am sure you know, he won) in South Africa. She has just been one of the speakers at this last weekend's Public Health Collaboration conference in Manchester, sponsored and live streamed by this site.
Like many intelligent people, her ideas have progressed, until 2010 she was vegetarian, now she eats meat and fish, therefor you may find some of her opinions and recommendations have changed. She is not out and out Low Carb, her approach is Real Food, so there will be things which aren't ketogenic in her food suggestions.
Personally, I have found that eating three, real food, low carb meals a day is all I need, almost all the time. If I'm desperate, usually while preparing the evening meal, i eat a piece of cheese or a few nuts. When I had a carb based diet, I needed cakes and biscuits mid morning and afternoon - not being evangelical, just stating a fact.
Sally
 
I can't quite point to the right post for some reason, but it's either http://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/thr...-effects-all-in-the-mind.120522/#post-1461853 or the the post previous to it. The old Zoester managed to publish a line to match the curve with a 13 percent chance it was mathematically correct. I grabbed her data, and matched a completely different line to 40 percent without really trying. I'm putting my trust in mine, as it has a more than three times chance of being right.
@ghost_whistler
 
If Zoe Harcombe's diet is not aimed at diabetics why are people bothered about it. Low carb diets before diabetics started to eat that way were weight loss diets and still are so presumably that is what hers is
 
douglas99 said:
Not on my phone, and I'm away from my laptop until the end of the week, but I will post up the link to a post I made from a data grab of her original plot, and a line I matched to it with a much better fit. I'll tag you when I post it up.
Click to expand...
Ok thanks.

can anyone else verify this? i have no idea how to read these graphs. It appears as though the most deaths occur (the blue dots, presumably) at higher concentraions than lower, though within the mid range
 
I don't like the way he tempts people onto his site with information then hides it behind a paywall. That is a big no no for me.
 
Pinkorchid said:
If Zoe Harcombe's diet is not aimed at diabetics why are people bothered about it. Low carb diets before diabetics started to eat that way were weight loss diets and still are so presumably that is what hers is
Click to expand...
I'm not asking specifically from the perspective of diabetes, and she doesn't claim her diet is intended specifically for it.
 
ghost_whistler said:
I don't like the way he tempts people onto his site with information then hides it behind a paywall. That is a big no no for me.
Click to expand...
People have to make a living, why should she give out all her hard work for free. After all, this site tempts us all on with a splendid forum and information, but then charges for some things and, so I understand, sells on information.
Sally
 
ghost_whistler said:
I don't like the way he tempts people onto his site with information then hides it behind a paywall. That is a big no no for me.
Click to expand...
He gives all the information we need for free. There are many, many recipes and loads of info for free. He is not withholding vital info behind a paywall. You have been misinformed.
 
Pinkorchid said:
If Zoe Harcombe's diet is not aimed at diabetics why are people bothered about it. Low carb diets before diabetics started to eat that way were weight loss diets and still are so presumably that is what hers is
Click to expand...
I'm not even vaguely bothered about what she posts, it's not even vaguely relevant to diabetics
 
ghost_whistler said:
I don't like the way he tempts people onto his site with information then hides it behind a paywall. That is a big no no for me.
Click to expand...
Hides it behind a paywall..seriously.? you can get a month's free access to everything.. he takes no advertising and no sponsorship.. how should he pay to develop the site? Do you work for nothing?
 
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