Unqualified Advice Complicates Preventive Medicine

[Carbohydrates Can Kill]

I read two pieces of news articles last week that exposed why we have
had a difficult time in preventive medicine.

One of them reported Dr. Jason Newsome, Chief of the Bay County Health
Department, Florida, was forced to resign after he tried to educate
the county citizens against obesity. He displayed signs: “Sweet Tea =
Liquid Sugar”, “Hamburger = Spare Tire”, “French Fries = Thunder
Thigh”, and finally, “America Dies on Dunkin’.” He had also asked the
people to think twice before they ate fried chicken from KFC. A county
commissioner owns a donut shop and a pair of local lawyers owns a
Dunkin’ Donuts. They pressured Dr. Newsome’s superior to fire him.

The other one, “In Defense of Goldfish”, was the work by a dietitian,
Ms. Cristin Dillon-Jones. In her article, she encouraged her reader to
enjoy eating refined grains such as Goldfish crackers, in addition to
ice cream, pizza, and so on. She believed that everyone was entitled
to his own opinion as to what foods are healthful.

In my personal experimentations and extensive literature review, I
have to agree with Dr. Newsome’s stance, although I would encourage
him to use a subtle but positive approach in his campaign. I also wish
him to better understand the relationship between carbohydrates, not
fats, and obesity as well as diabetes mellitus. But, I must condemn
the failure of Dr. Newsome’s superior to stand by him in this
important public health issue.

On the other hand, I must disagree with Ms. Dillon-Jones for her
irresponsible advice on how her reader should eat for good health.
Since she is a registered dietitian, she must be careful in offering
her professional advice only after thoroughly researching the risk of
diabetes mellitus and refined grains as well as sugary foods.

When the public health agencies fail to educate the public of the
important matter about foods and diseases especially diabetes
mellitus, and when a registered dietitian gives erroneous advice about
what are the foods causing diseases, we have no doubt about why
preventive medicine is so complicated!+

Robert Su, Pharm.B., M.D.