Jonny Bowden - Living Low Carb: Revised & Updated Edition: The Essential Guide to Choosing the Right Low-Carb Plan for You

Introduction

Rarely does one book perfectly amalgamate paradigm-shifting gravitas with actionable, easy-to-understand information. This powerfully updated edition of Living Low Carb artfully does just that. For decades, the word fat has been regarded as little more than a poison. Weve been told to eat foods that keep it out of our bodies, take drugs that keep it out of our blood, and gauge our health by how much of it shows up on a lab testno matter how healthy we are by any other metric.

But those tidesonce held in place by outdated medical dogmaare finally turning. My esteemed colleague, functional nutritionist Jonny Bowden, stands out as a voice of both clarity and reason as the antiquated low-fat paradigm collapses and a new era of health arises.

In the time since this books first publication in 2004, much has changedand much has stayed the same. Mainstream medicine continues to hold fat and cholesterol as the main players in heart disease. Drug companies continue to fund studies to justify the use of statins for greater and greater portions of the population. The medical authorities continue to pontificate about the dangers of fat, particularly saturated fat. Why? Because its believed to raise bad cholesterol.

But what if cholesterol doesnt cause heart disease, after all? Then the dietary guidelines of the last 5 decades crumbles like a house of cards. Meanwhile, doctors, however well intentioned, continue to unwittingly push dietary guidance more likely to prevent wellness than to cultivate it.

But the situation is far from grim. Outside the walls of the medical system, there is an awakening that is almost palpable. Patients are becoming more empoweredand better informedthan ever before. And, importantly, more curious. The democratization of health information is upon us and Dr. Jonny Bowden is leading the charge. Most people dont pick up a book on low-carb eating just for the fun of it (unless youre a super nerd like me), and chances are you found these pages because they hold some personal relevance. Maybe you were told your cholesterol is too high and want to know what to do next. Maybe you have not been able to lose weight on low-fat or low-calorie diets, no matter what you do. (Youll find in this book that youre not alone, and that its not your fault!) Maybe youve watched a loved one try to navigate the weight-loss labyrinth from the inside and, after seeing what theyve gone through, want to avoid the same fate.

No matter how you have ended up here, your curiosity will be rewarded: what youre about to read can change your life, and maybe even save it.

As a functional medicine practitioner who consults people around the world, Ive too often seen the harm that comes from focusing on only one small aspect of health, like, for example fat. Fear of fat and cholesterol has driven otherwise healthy individuals to cut back on fat, remove nutritious foods from their diet, and to pop statins to help move numbers in the right direction. Viewing obesity as inevitableits just in my genesputs it outside our control, and fills us with anxiety and stressitself a burden on our health.

But Ive also seen deep and profound healing occur through changes that are simple, sustainable, and available to anyone. As much as this book exposes tragic misinformation about diet, it also offers hope. Instead of waging war against fat, we should be looking at the many ways our modern diets and environment are misaligned with our genetics and in turn the pursuit of health. Were surrounded by inflammatory foods rich in processed sugar and omega-6 fats, pushed into lifestyles that rob us of rest and sleep, born into a food landscape designed to addict us, and immersed in a culture focused on managing symptoms rather than digging for roots. Living Low Carb brilliantly walks us through all of these health traps and more, exposing their contribution to heart disease and teaching readers how to elevate their health from the inside out.

Of course, those seeking to understand why diets high in processed carbohydrates have to overcome more than just misinformation: they may also find themselves alienated from the conversation because of complex terminology and medical concepts.

Its here that this book truly shines. Living Low Carb makes the various low-carb eating plansand the reasons behind themaccessible to anyone hungry to learn. In a world where readers are too often told by experts to just take our word for it, Bowden never asks for your blind faith: he presents scientific evidence transparently and simply, so that any readereven those who struggle with scientific language, or feel intimidated by the learning curve needed to understand health and dietcan walk away knowing what to do and why.