Is a ketodiet bad because it helps people who can't exercise?

There are some uninformed people out there--- like Jillian Michaels--- who give as one criticism of the ketodiet that people who cannot or do not exercise can lose weight on it, as well as clear up various health problems.

OK, I know that in our ignorant-of-facts culture loads of people believe that exercise somehow cures people of being fat, or punishes them appropriately for being fat. We had examples like that horrible 'Biggest Loser' show where morbidly obese people were screamed at by skinny personal trainers to keep exercising on their gym machines when they were too exhausted or in too much pain to continue, so that they could temporarily lose some weight and then gain it back.

But the fact is that you can't out-run or out-exercise a bad diet. A fat guy who buys a gym membership and 'goes to the gym' daily is just going to end up a poorer fat guy.

And there is also the fact that many people who who need the various benefits of a ketodiet cannot exercise because of health issues. Some people are bedridden or in wheelchairs. Some people have serious heart defects. Some people have chronic fatigue to the point that when they get home from work they barely have the energy for survival chores like laundry and cooking dinner. Do we really want to tell these people they just have to go die because they can't do the kind of exercise Jillian Michael likes?

I have read more that one story of keto diet success in which the person went on keto, but did not start to exercise until the ketodiet had helped them lose weight and/or gain back some energy. Is that a bad thing that these people were helped?

I think the exercise gurus/professionals like Jillian Michaels need to get off their high horse and realize you don't need to do gym exercise to be healthier! And not everyone has a nearby gym--- I think the closest one to where I live is in the next state!

A good diet (ketogenic) and getting enough exercise are two different things. And formal exercise is not the only kind of exercise--- what about people who walk to their place of work or school, or who climb up and down stairs instead of using an elevator? That exercise counts, too.

There is scientific research that shows that a keto diet is a healthy and helpful diet. Is exercise helpful? Yes, but so is wearing your seatbelt and avoiding poker games with Mafia hit men. Any form of healthier living is an improvement, and you should not have to do one thing to be allowed to do others.

A recommended book by Gary Taubes, and a not-recommended book by Jillian Michaels. I'm reading the Taubes book right now, and am learning a lot. The language is kind of technical, though!

 

Who is Jillian Michaels to condemn keto?

Recently I became aware that some celebrity I'd barely heard of, Jillian Michaels, had seen fit to ignorantly condemn the keto way-of-life. She did it in a blog post misleadingly entitled "The Truth about Keto." Worse, since her blog allows no comments, there is no way that we can defend ourselves against this ignorance.

Now, if Jillian Michaels is out there condemning keto, we might assume that she is DR Jillian Michaels and that she's done a good deal of original of scientific research on keto and diets in general.

But she's not a doctor or scientist. According to Wikipedia, she's just a famously lesbian personal trainer and product pitchwoman. She was also associated with the TV show The Biggest Loser. If you have read The Complete Guide to Fasting by Jimmy Moore & Dr. Jason Fung, you know that the contestants on the low-calorie and exercise based Biggest Loser program have gained their weight back, in part because they have slowed down their metabolisms.

I'd like to contrast Jillian Michaels' approach to keto to that of Jimmy Moore, also a non-doctor. Jimmy Moore's book Keto Clarity is just chock-full of quotes from doctors in support of keto, and of mention of legitimate scientific studies (The Biggest Loser was not a legitimate scientific study.) Jillian Michaels just seems to presume the facts  support her side, without bother to check. After all, she's a celebrity. And a LESBIAN celebrity. You are not supposed to be allowed to question her. (My own same-sex orientation doesn't count toward making ME beyond being criticized, since I'm also chaste & Catholic. Sigh.)

In JM's blog post, she starts out saying she's going to infuriate the keto community. Like she's doing something brave or something. Yet she's not brave enough to allow ketonians to have their say by opening up the comments on her blog.

I would not waste my time reading this celebrity personal trainer's opinions. Though I did have to read through the swill to compose this blog post. I would rather re-read Jimmy Moore's book Keto Clarity, or, better yet, listen to one of Jimmy Moore's podcasts. (You can find links to the Jimmy Moore podcasts in this blog's sidebar.)

The keto diet is not a 'fad' diet. The first diet book published in the English language advocated low-carb. There were other low-carb supporting books on the market before Atkins. And Atkins/low-carb morphed into today's keto as a result of scientific facts becoming known to the community. If anything is a fad, it's the idea that calorie & fat restriction plus 'going to the gym' will result in a permanent change in weight or health.

Keto is here to stay. The science backs it. And unlike a celebrity-personal-trainer approved diet, the keto way will change for the better as more good scientific studies are done. Keto has already improved my diabetes so that I have lower blood sugars without any meds than I did without keto and on two meds. I'm sticking with it for the long haul!

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What do you think about the Jillian Michaels condemnation of keto? Do you think she knows enough about the keto diet and medical issues in general to have an informed opinion? Answer with a comment, please.

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Books mentioned in this blog post. This are links to the real-book editions, the Kindle ebook versions are $9.99 for each book.