ZC and LC Trailblazers

William Banting (England-1796-1878)

A pdf version of Banting's Letter on Corpulence should be required for reading for anyone who still believes that exercise is the correct remedy for the overweight individual. Banting was a short and very fat man who was an undertaker in London. His weight problems progressed to the point that he had to go down the stairs backwards. His story is not written in the language of some high-minded academic...but rather from a layman's perspective, and this is what makes his short letter a most enjoyable read. Find the letter here: Banting's Letter on Corpulence

Wolfgang Lutz (Austria 1913-2010)

In 2010, one of my earliest introductions to this WOE was discovered within the pages of Mr. Lutz's book, Life Without Bread. The premise that I found shocking was that provided carbs were kept to under approximately 70-80g, you could normalize your weight and maintain optimal health. For a helpful summary of his life's work, see his obituary from The Guardian in the UK. Wolfgang Lutz obituary-The Guardian UK

Gary Taubes

Early in my search for answers I came across an audio copy of Why We Get Fat...and What to do About It, by Gary Taubes . This book should be required reading for everyone who is even remotely interested in the science, and unfortunately the politics behind some of our most revered institutions. You will never again struggle with supporting the American Heart Association, once you understand the role they have played in manipulating the science to fit their own agenda. They will never get a dime from me.

This book is an easy and entertaining read, but will change the way you think about food. I strongly recommend you read/listen to Gary Taubes...and your body will thank you. He had dozens, probably hundreds of videos on YouTube, but if you are serious about your health and nutrition, get this book.

Nina Teicholz

Nina Teicholz is an investigative journalist and author of the International (and New York Times) bestseller, The Big Fat Surprise: Why Butter, Meat & Cheese Belong in a Healthy Diet (Simon & Schuster). Named a *Best Book* of 2014 by the Wall Street Journal, The Economist, Forbes, Mother Jones, and Library Journal, The Big Fat Surprise has upended the conventional wisdom on dietary fat and challenged the very core of our nutrition policy.  Before taking a deep dive into researching nutrition science for nearly a decade, Teicholz was a reporter for National Public Radio and also contributed to many publications, including the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Washington Post, The New Yorker, and The Economist. She attended Yale and Stanford where she studied biology and majored in American Studies. She has a master’s degree from Oxford University and served as associate director of the Center for Globalization and Sustainable Development at Columbia University. She lives in New York city.

Dr. Blake F. Donaldson (1898-1962?) Dr. Donaldson is the author of Strong Medicine which is currently out of print. Copies of this book (of which I have one) are quite expensive, but worth every cent. You may find a pdf version of this book online in various places. Here is one link that will give you access to this treasure: Strong Medicine by Dr. Blake Donaldson
Here are some quotes that will give you a flavor for what Dr. Donaldson discovered during his many years of working with obese people in NYC during the mid 1900s:

Bread addiction is little different from that of alcohol or cocaine or heroin addiction, and sometimes it seems even more dangerous.

Did you even see a fat man praying for the soul of some poor alcoholic or drug addict? Yet he couldn’t stop his own helping of whole wheat toast for breakfast to save his soul.

Most organs in the body are built seventeen times stronger than they need to be.

So that you can damage a heart a lot and then, if you have the good sense to live within your limits, you can still carry on.

Never envy the aged. Life is a real battle to keep comfortable after the age of sixty-seven.

Everyone has an obligation to keep as young as possible.

That implies useful work no matter how humble, and some serenity of mind, and normal weight, and daily outdoor exercise, and enough amino acids in fresh fat meat to do a good job of repair on breaking-down arteries.

And that is a big order. If it can be fulfilled a lot of other things can safely be left to nature. She was practicing medicine a long time before anyone heard of physicians.

During the millions of years that our ancestors lived by hunting, every weakling who could not maintain perfect health on fresh fat meat and water was bred out.

There are probably only two perfect foods—fresh fat meat and clean water.

Any food used in the treatment of obesity should be normal to begin with, and only fresh fat meat and water come within the strict limits.

To my thinking the greatest advance in recorded medical history is the thirty-minute walk before breakfast.

A sterol called cholesterol is supposed to be guilty of making us grow old before our time. But there is no proof of this.

Because some of it is found in the broken-down material in rotten arteries, and some families with a tendency to coronary artery disease show increased blood levels of it, cholesterol has been made a whipping boy, which is unjustified.

Talk about cholesterol is old hat, forget it.

The ability to live well on meat and water is the common inheritance of mankind. It is only in the last eight thousand years since man turned to agriculture for a stable food supply that we have had trouble with eating.

You will have a hard time finding information about Dr. Donaldson, and I have only found this book published in the early 1960s...nothing more. Regardless, I recommend his book very, very highly, and as long as you remember that his experiences are in the early-mid 1900s, you will understand and excuse him for saying that there is no proof that cigarettes cause harm...and that the "man who smokes is never lonely." I laughed out loud so many times during several readings of this book. It is full of wisdom, and extremely entertaining. His recommendation for the overweight, or ill? Three meals of fat, fresh meat, three times per day with a half-cup of black coffee. 6-glasses of water, no more than 8-hrs sleep, and a 30 minute walk before breakfast each day. Oh... and don't forget. The fat meat serving is a MINIMUM of 8ozs per meal. 3 parts lean to 1 part fat. Don't even think about eating the lean only...that will lead to all sorts of problems.