NC Dietetics/Nutrition Board Wants To Shut Down Low-Carber’s Blog
Unbelievable story at carolinajournal.com by Sara Burrows about a blogger the North Carolina Board of Dietetics/Nutrition is trying to shut down over his blog posts about his battle with diabetes which encourage others to follow what he’s been doing:
Chapter 90, Article 25 of the North Carolina General Statutes makes it a misdemeanor to “practice dietetics or nutrition” without a license. According to the law, “practicing” nutrition includes “assessing the nutritional needs of individuals and groups” and “providing nutrition counseling.”
Steve Cooksey has learned that the definition, at least in the eyes of the state board, is expansive.
When he was hospitalized with diabetes in February 2009, he decided to avoid the fate of grandmother, who eventually died of the disease. He embraced the low-carb, high-protein Paleo diet, also known as the “caveman” or “hunter-gatherer” diet. The diet, he said, made him drug- and insulin-free within 30 days. By May of that year, he had lost 45 pounds and decided to start a blog about his success.
But this past January the state diatetics and nutrition board decided Cooksey’s blog — Diabetes-Warrior.net — violated state law. The nutritional advice Cooksey provides on the site amounts to “practicing nutrition,” the board’s director says, and in North Carolina that’s something you need a license to do.
Unless Cooksey completely rewrites his 3-year-old blog, he could be sued by the licensing board. If he loses the lawsuit and refuses to take down the blog, he could face up to 120 days in jail.
The board’s director says Cooksey has a First Amendment right to blog about his diet, but he can’t encourage others to adopt it unless the state has certified him as a dietitian or nutritionist.
Hilariously, nutritionists give some of the WORST, non-evidence based advice on what to eat — which is why people like Cooksey get fat and diabetic.
Per Gary Taubes’ massive vetting of what is dietary science and what is “science” in “Why We Get Fat” and “Good Calories, Bad Calories,” it is carbohydrates — sugar, flour, starchy vegetables like potatoes, apple juice — that cause the insulin secretion that puts on fat.
Of course, the problem in North Carolina is not about who’s putting out good science; it’s really one of competition — those with licenses to dispense dietary information wanting to keep Cooksey down:
Jan. 12, Cooksey attended a nutrition seminar at a church in Charlotte. The speaker was the director of diabetes services for a local hospital.
“She was giving all the wrong information, just like everyone always does — carbs are OK to eat, we must eat carbs to live, promoting low-fat, etc.,” Cooksey said. “So I spoke up.”
After the meeting he handed out a couple of business cards pointing people to his website.
Three days later, he got a call from the director of the nutrition board.
“Basically, she told me I could not give out nutritional advice without a license,” Cooksey said.
He said she also told him that his website was being investigated and gave him some suggestions about how to bring it into compliance.
Feebie, who sent me this link, added below it:
Lost seven pounds so far on Taubes’ diet plan, with ten or so more to go – because of your relentless hauranging (smile). Came to find out I am insulin resistent and gluten intolerant. Wish I’d listened to you sooner… But no time like the present to correct actions and move forward.
I love reading your posts on the subject – THANK YOU.
