Vacuous celebs, ketosis, and media FAIL

OK, so this made me laugh out loud.

Mia Farrow went off her liquid fast (function of which was to "call attention to the crisis in Darfur") because it was "affecting her health". 

Now, I will NOT comment on the notion of some wealthy, white actress going on a fast having ANY impact whatsoever on the tragic lives of the people of Darfur.  I'd like to, but this is a diet blog.  Political nonsense will have to be adressed elsewhere. On to the diet nonsense.

So, anyway, after 12 days of fasting:

""Mia's health has taken a downturn over the last couple days and her doctor has asked her to stop immediately."

Oh, dear. So she became ill from this courageous undertaking?  Well, apparently not:


"On CNN's Larry King Live Tuesday night, Farrow said her doctor told her Monday she was healthy except for low protein."

Huh. So she's fit and fine?  Then what's the big deal?  Ohhhhhh, something with a scary name!

""Ketosis or something like that," Farrow said. "Yes, but it's reversible.""

Well, thank the Flying Spaghetti Monster for THAT!  That horrible state of ... what was it? kee TOE sis is totally reversable!  They must have barely saved her life!!  Here's more info on the tragic state:

"Ketosis is a state in which the body burns its own fat for fuel and can "cause health problems, such as kidney failure," according to the medical Web site WebMD."

GREAT SCOTT!  A person's body burning it's own fat for fuel?!  How bizarre!  Who wants to get rid of her own body fat?! And it can cause kidney failure?!  Let's run over to WebMD and check it out: (cuz all thinking people trust that source for medical advice ...)

"By restricting carbohydrates drastically to a mere fraction of that found in the typical American diet, the body goes into a different metabolic state called ketosis, whereby it burns its own fat for fuel. Normally the body burns carbohydrates for fuel -- this is the main source of fuel for your brain, heart and many other organs. A person in ketosis is getting energy from ketones, little carbon fragments that are the fuel created by the breakdown of fat stores. When the body is in ketosis, you tend to feel less hungry, and thus you're likely to eat less than you might otherwise. However, ketosis can also cause health problems, such as kidney failure" "

Uh huh, uh huh ... fascinating.  Hey ... when did we start talking about low carb diets?  Was Mia's fast low carb?  I thought her protein was low? Why are we referencing an article about high protein, low carb diets?  Oh, well, whatever. Tell us about the kidney failure!

"Kidney failure. Consuming too much protein puts a strain on the kidneys, which can make a person susceptible to kidney disease."

OK, so, wait. I'm confused again. Ketosis will not cause kidney disease, high protein will. So that was a big fat load of bullshit. Plus, wasn't Mia's diet -again, I ask - lacking in protein?  Gosh. So puzzling. Maybe I need to read more 'facts' from CrapMD:

"It is well known that high protein diets (consisting of red meat, whole dairy products, and other high fat foods) are linked to high cholesterol."

Yeah? Why is it that after 2 years low carb and 8 months Paleo (and eating 90% fatty meat and eggs every day) my personal cholesterol dropped to 136, ten points lower than it's ever been in my life?  Hmm. perhaps I'm a freak of nature. Let's move on.

"Unhealthy metabolic state (ketosis). Low carb diets can cause your body to go into a dangerous metabolic state called ketosis since your body burns fat instead of glucose for energy. During ketosis, the body forms substances known as ketones, which can cause organs to fail and result in gout, kidney stones, or kidney failure."

Ketosis is NOT unhealthy. It is NOT dangerous, you dolts.  It is the body's mechanism for supplying energy during periods of no food.

Dr Michael R. Eades sez:

"Early on, the metabolic system doesn’t know that the starvation is going to go on for a day or for a week or two weeks. At first it plunders the muscle to get its sugar. [snip] But we wouldn’t want it to continue. If we could reduce that amount and allow our muscle mass to last as long as possible it would be a help.



The metabolic system could solve its problem by a coming up with a way to reduce the glucose-dependent tissues’ need for glucose so that the protein could be spared as long as possible.


Ketones to the rescue.


The liver requires energy to convert the protein to glucose. The energy comes from fat. As the liver breaks down the fat to release its energy to power gluconeogenesis, the conversion of protein to sugar, it produces ketones as a byproduct. And what a byproduct they are. Ketones are basically water soluble (meaning they dissolve in blood) fats that are a source of energy for many tissues including the muscles, brain and heart."

The dangerous state is ketoacidosis such as happens with diabetics and I am sick of the brainless wastes of carbon in the media who apparently can't be arsed to actualy research anything and instead regurgitate the stinking vomitus of popular diet misconception so that all the idiot blockhead Tweeters and bloggers and friends and co-workers of us Low-Carbers can trot it out in a big, roiling dish every time they see us.

Dear media: get your shit straight, plz. kthxbai.