For example, I happened to be a Nutritional Sciences major in the 80s. The recommendation was not to avoid fat as the author insinuates...the recommendation was to limit fat to 30% of your total calories, with less than 10% of your total calories coming from saturated fat. We were also taught that for most of the population, cholesterol in the diet was not an issue as the body makes cholesterol, but that people with elevated levels might need to avoid it in their diets. The guidelines also suggested that about 60% of calories should come from carbs (and at least half should be from complex sources) including fruits and vegetables, whole grains, beans, lentils, legumes. The remaining 20% should come from lean meats and include 2 servings a week of fish. 2 servings of dairy was recommended and it was suggested that we should limit salt to under 2300 mg...although we were taught that for those who didn't already have high blood pressure, salt in the diet probably wasn't a huge issue. I'll admit, I find this idea intriguing, partly because I've always had a hard time believing a little sun was detrimental. I kind of want to believe what he says is true, although I'd have to read more on the topic to have an informed opinion. So, yeah. He makes a point. Doctors need to be able to put the pieces together and not simply depend on lab tests and normal ranges to make a diagnosis. Unfortunately, in a managed care setting, doctors have become more dependent on labs. I was excited to read this book. As a healthcare provider I am all too aware of our medical system's shortcomings, and I believe in being critical, even if it means pointing the finger at myself. That's part of learning. Part of growing. And unlike the doctors that Berry describes as intellectually lazy, I am a lifelong student who loves to read and devours books the way some people devour brownies. Who's to blame? Not your doctors. They are overworked with unreal expectations for practicing and staying current on studies and research while also having any sort of work/life balance.

This is a very straightforward little book, focused on exploding common and dangerous medical myths. And there are a lot of them. I tend to agree with him. Unfortunately, I think the initial concerns regarding salt intake was more directed toward those who already had high blood pressure. At some point, the recommendation got taken out of context and ultimately bastardized.

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The Lie Regarding Fiber: Fiber is good for you, and you should try to get as much fiber in your diet as possible. Does salt give you high blood pressure? Does cholesterol increase your risk of cardiovascular disease? The Truth: Research studies uniformly show that exercise is a very poor method of weight loss. Exercise is wonderful for your mind, body and spirit in hundreds of ways. It will make you healthier and happier, but it will not help you lose weight. Interestingly, if you follow this sort of thing, you'll know that the vitamin D craze has lost steam, and there are many studies now questioning the role of vitamin D supplementation as well as its long term safety. Has your doctor lied to you? Eat low-fat and high-carb, including plenty of “healthy” whole grains—does that sound familiar? Perhaps this is what you were told at your last doctor’s appointment or visit with a nutritionist, or perhaps it is something you read online when searching for a healthy diet. And perhaps you’ve been misled. Ken Berry, MD, FAAFP is here to dispel the myths and misinformation that have been perpetuated by the medical and food industries for decades.

Berry’s Advice: Don’t go out of your way to eat extra fiber. Humans have mostly eaten fatty meat for thousands of years and seldom do we need to consume extra fiber to stay regular. Oh no .... the fault is with Big Pharma, Big Sugar, Big Dairy, Big Government, Lobbyists and the diet industry. I'm not quite sure I'm going to get 100% on that bandwagon. Not everything in nature is healthy for you. What about the sun's radiation? What about the correlation of skin cancer and Australians--surely the Australians don't eat the unhealthiest diet in the world but they DO have high incidents of skin cancer.

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The Truth: Cholesterol is essential for all animal life. Almost every single cell in your body produces it. Your body also uses cholesterol as the framework molecule to make vitamin D and all of your sex hormones. The second red light - advises to read books that should give us more information on the topics. The first of these book is by recognized charlatan and antivaxer. Does the doctor seriously recommend such a book to me?

That said, my experience is despite all their failings, the original guidelines really weren't all that bad. It has also been my experience that very few people followed them. Berry’s Advice: Don’t give cholesterol a second thought. Eat as your ancestors would have thousands of years ago and let your body take care of the rest.

The Truth: Fiber is undigestible plant matter that passes through you unchanged. When controlled studies are done on the topics of constipation, diverticulosis, and colon cancer, adding more fiber to a diet has no effect whatsoever on the outcome of the diet. While I don’t have a study to repudiate the claim that Grains are more fattening- I will use simple logic on Dr. Berry’s argument which is “If meat was more fattening than grains, farmers would use it to fatten up their cows instead of corn.” This one is just silly...

The findings - Among US adults, higher consumption of dietary cholesterol or eggs was significantly associated with higher risk of incident CVD and all-cause mortality in a dose-response manner- aka the more cholesterol you eat, the more likely you will have Cardiovascular disease and die. my link text

Clearly, this is a flawed argument. I mean, surely he realizes that we are the only animals that can harvest another animal's milk. And it's probable, even likely, that a lion who kills a lactating gazelle consumes (and enjoys) her milk as part of the meal. Talk about jumping on a band wagon. Not only does the author suggest that we all need vitamin D supplements, he also suggests without evidence that our blood range should be much higher than the established safe minimum range, but offers no basis for how he arrived at that number. Ah, I can't even respond here as I think he wants so badly validate his new found love affair with keto, that he'll go anywhere his new love takes him. I think there is a lot of science that would refute this whole section. Period.