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Oprah and Weight Watchers: What’s Wrong with it All?

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I recently read and shared this amazing open letter to Oprah, written by Dr William Davis, Author of Wheatbelly. This was a well written letter that explains why her endorsements of weight watchers and eating bread is contributing to the demise of our health as a culture. I won’t get into details as you can read this amazing letter in the link provided.

When I shared this letter on my facebook page, the Oprah worshipping haters chimed in:

“I follow the WW plan and find it encourages great nutrition, take your holier than thou attitude somewhere else. You are able to criticize without knowledge. How amazing!!!”

There were several other’s, one telling me that in fact I was just a fad. Sigh. As a blogger I learned to deal with and let go of hateful and fear based reactions from people. It’s never easy to hear, but I understand where it comes from and have learned to let it go.

The truth is these people are believing a celebrity. A multi-billion dollar industry that does not care about you or your health. Holier than thou? Who is the person that our culture is worshipping and following verbatim? I hate to break it to you pretty lady, but it isn’t me. I wish I could say I am making a bigger difference. I wish I could say I was reaching as many people as she is. However, I am swimming up a strong waterfall all the while grasping at slippery rocks. I haven’t drowned. I’ve touched a few lives. I don’t make much money. I just make it by. I actually care about your health, and trying to reach people to make a difference. I’m not going anywhere. I’m still swimming. I care about sustainable farming practices. I care about the health of organisms, soil, where our food comes from. I care about nutrient density, and digestive healing-the root of health. I believe that by removing processed foods and eating real food, including delicious healthy fatty foods like pasture raised bacon, you will feel amazing. By addressing core issues in your body, you can heal and lose weight.

What scares me the most about Oprah promoting WW, is the fact that our culture is so brainwashed to believe everything we see on popular tv or read in a magazine. We still believe “whole grains” are healthy because what, Oprah says so? The government food guide based on shady research funded by big agriculture and big pharmaceutical? Oprah is a HUGE influencer, and she has essentially sold her soul to the devil, for the almighty dollar. The mentality in our culture is that “Oprah can do no harm.”  You are sadly mistaken. She can, and is doing a lot of harm.

What we fail to recognize is the actual harm to our health that she is promoting. Health is not only about weight loss. Anyone can diet and lose weight. Cut calories and lose weight. Count “points” and lose weight. Diet’s fail. Someone very near and dear to me successfully lost a ton of weight following weight watchers. Then subsequently has a triple v-fib arrest. Health is about nutrient density, vitamins, minerals and healthy fats. Promoting the consumption of bread for money, does not automatically make bread healthy. We focus on all the wrong things. We focus on the scale. We focus on measuring ourselves and aesthetics.

 

 

Young woman dissapointed on a medical weight scale.

 

 

It isn’t just obesity that the person is struggling with. There are so many factors at play here. Hormones, sleep, microbiome, thyroid, and adrenals, to name a few. It isn’t all diet and exercise. It just isn’t. Losing weight through cutting calories and running on a treadmill is the primary focus in our culture, but that does not improve the core health of the individual. In many cases, the person is obese, yet nutrient deprived. or even skinny, yet nutrient deprived. Their cells are starving for nutrients like healthy fatty acids, magnesium, selenium, Vitamin A, and iodine. These people are hungry, irritable, and obsessed over counting and measuring their food, measuring their wasteline. Stepping on a scale. Walking on a treadmill. Wishing and hoping. Emotions running high, ups and downs. In my professional opinion, this is not health, and not healthy.

 

 

Portrait of young woman measuring her waistline

We see pictures like these depicting measuring and skinniness, and inches ^^^ This is what we idealize. Skinny does not equal healthy.

Skinny does.not.equal.healthy.

 

The truth is, it doesn’t have to be this way. It really doesn’t.

Processed foods, sugar, corn syrup, grains, pastas, etc… these typical addictive American food items are making us sick. Yes, even “in moderation” (the most frustrating cop out of a term). Our mindset is that anything less than this is depriving. People (like myself) who actually go against this core belief system are being told WE have an eating disorder. The cultural belief is that grains have to be a staple in our diet and without them, we are depriving our body of nutrients. Little do we know that we CAN in fact get nutrients from real unprocessed foods. Vegetables contain minerals and fiber that we can actually absorb without grains. Little do we know that the phytates and lectins in grains bind to nutrients, and render them unavailable for our body. There is no money to be made in knowing this.

We fail to recognize the connection grain consumption has on our health…all aspects of our health!

“Another very important issue that you should be aware of with your reliance on wheat- and grain-based products: Be prepared to have a future of health problems. Populations who do not consume grains enjoy freedom from autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, and psoriasis; type 2 diabetes; hypertension; acid reflux, irritable bowel syndrome, and constipation; coronary heart disease; depression and suicide; and bear a far lesser burden of cancer and dementia. These are the “diseases of civilization” that plague modern humans eating modern diets, but not societies that do not consume such Western foods. With your dietary approach, you have in effect endorsed a style of eating that can, with difficulty, achieve weight loss, but propagates risk for all of these modern diseases.” -read more.

You can try to beat me down. You can keep following the big money influencers, because it’s within your comfort zone. You can keep attacking me with your fear based remarks and beliefs. You can lose weight on these diets-but it’s temporary, and you will continue to struggle with your health. I’m going to continue to teach and touch people who want to help themselves. I’m not going to let the haters beat me down. I have been in all of these places, and experienced loved ones go through it as well. If I hadn’t gone down the path I am on, I would be overweight right now, no gallbladder, on antidepressants, antacids, rushing to the bathroom after meals, and the list goes on and on. I was heading down that road. I will never look back, and I will continue to help people to move forward in the right direction.

 

About Kathryn:

 

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Kathryn Kos is a Nutritional Therapy Practitioner (NTP) through The Nutritional Therapy Association, and a Certified Lactation Educator/Counselor through The University of San Diego. Her undergraduate degree is in Movement Science, Health and Fitness from Westfield University. Her Master’s degree is in Rehabilitation Counseling and Disability Studies, from Springfield College. Kathryn specialize in healing digestion, balancing blood sugar, balancing hormones, and autoimmune conditions.

Kathryn offers worldwide skype consultations! 

My Services

Contact Me: primalblissnutrition@gmail.com

 

 


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