You "Ask", I Answer: Kevin Trudeau

I just received Trudeau's new book about weight loss. I haven't read but a few pages and decided to research this guy on the net and came across yours.

Trudeau makes a statement at the beginning that discounts embellishments in his story. Also, I already think the government, the ever-so-caring USDA and FDA- whom are supposed to be protected [sic] Americans from bad stuff- allows companies to put in additives.

Regarding artificial sweetners [sic], overprocessed and nutrient dificient [sic] foods---they are so readily available AND CHEAP. Folks buy and consume, get fat, stay fat, are unhealthy and thus go to doctors who prescribe the other manipulated and deceiving racket of manufactured synthetic drugs. What is being pumped into everybody= nothing healthy and pure that's for sure.

So there's a guy out there that sees this and decides to enterprise on it. Yeah! We all should be scratching our heads going 'why didn't I think of that'.....oh but then those Doritos wouldn't be wonderful a thing anymore. Long live prepackaged overprocessed nutrient dificient colon clogging wholesome goodness---with a side of carcenigens for ya!!!! GOVEG.COM PETA.COM - meet your meat........watch this and tell me something.

-- Anonymous (not surprisingly)

Boy, where should I start?

Well, firstly, I'm sorry to hear you spent money on Kevin Trudeau's new weight loss book.

I haven't had the opportunity to peruse it myself, so I'm not sure what statements he makes in the introduction that discount embellishments in his story.

Considering his track record, though, I would take most of what he says with many grains of salt.

There are many issues here worth thinking about. For one -- the subsidizing of certain crops certainly does not help improve this country's food supply.

Corn is extremely cheap, so it's no surprise that high fructose corn syrup is in so many foods. This is a topic well beyond the scope of this blog, and one which I myself am not too clear on, but those of you interested in food politics and the current state of farming should DEFINITELY, without a doubt, read an excellent guide to the farm bill called Food Fight.

Onto the United States Department of Agriculture and the Food & Drug Administration. Yes, they have their flaws (I think they often approve some artificial ingredients and components without hesitation), but this idea that they are conspiring to make us fat by adding secret ingredients to foods is far-fetched and completely misses another pressing issue -- our food environment.

The reason behind the obesity crisis in the United States is simple -- not only are we eating more (due to increasing portion sizes), we are also in an environment that provides constant access to food.

It's a clear fact that visual reminders of food trigger a hunger response.

It doesn't take a genius to realize that when you are driving down a road or walking down a street littered with food advertisements, fast food places, and the encouragement of eating on the run, you are much more likely to overeat.

Additionally, as discussed in Issue 5 of the Small Bites newsletter, the problem with large portion is that, as research has shown, the more food we have in front of us, the more we eat, even if physiologically our hunger has been satisfied.

Kevin Trudeau has not discovered anything. The only thing he enterprised on was the opportunity to make unfounded claims (i.e.: bouncing up and down on a trampoline helps beat depression) and make a quick buck.

As I have pointed out on this blog, the suggestions in many of his books are laughable (there is more to come -- over the next few days, I'll reveal more of his "weight loss secrets", one of which, I kid you not, is to take deep breaths).

It is obvious the man knows nothing about nutrition. He thinks he is a weight loss genius because he tells people to eat a mere 800 calories a day (yet contradicts himself by recommending that people eat as many apples all day as they want and chow down on burgers and fries as long as they are organic).

Disagreeing with Kevin Trudeau does not mean I think Doritos are healthy or a 'good food'. And, as far as your PETA links, I am not sure what the relevance is.

I have not eaten beef, pork, or poultry since 1998 out of personal choice due to my disagreement with the conditions that exist in the animal processing/farming industry, and while diets rich in meat products and lacking in fruits, vegetables, and whole grains increase the risk of certain diseases, I certainly do not think people who occasionally eat meat are endangering their health.

Thanks for writing and allowing me to bring these issues to light.