Ovadia Story
My Story
I have been overweight for as long as I can remember. As a child, I was always very active and participated in sports year-round. My parents always fed us a “healthy diet” straight out of the Food Pyramid. We always used margarine instead of butter, only drank diet soda and avoided sugary cereals, sticking to Wheaties, Cheerios and Corn flakes, always with low-fat milk. As I went through college and medical school, I continued to get heavier.
Working long hours, not sleeping well, and eating poorly during surgical residency only made it worse. As a Chief Resident, at 27 years old, I decided I had to lose weight. For months, I tracked everything I ate and restricted calories. I started exercising many hours a day. It was simple “calories in-calories out”, just like I had learned in school.
I was able to lose about 50 pounds, and then, proceeded to gain it all back and more over the following years. Considering that both my parents were obese, and ultimately underwent gastric bypass surgery, I accepted that I was “genetically destined” to be overweight, another concept I learned in school.
As a cardiac surgeon, I spent every day treating patients that were obese and diabetic. I would give them the same empty advice to eat less, move more, eat low fat foods, etc.
My enlightenment started in late 2015. My wife, in an effort to improve the severe heartburn that she had since giving birth to our 2 daughters, decided to try avoiding gluten. I wanted to be supportive and did so as well. I immediately noticed improved energy and started to lose a little weight Coincidentally, a few months later, Gary Taubes was the guest speaker at a medical conference I attended. I read his books on the way home and immediately implemented a low-carb way of eating.
For the first time in my life, I no longer spent my day constantly thinking about food and being hungry. Over the subsequent years, I lost approximately 100 pounds and have maintained it. I now eat an almost zero carb animal products based diet. I am in the best physical and mental shape of my life.
During the past few years. I have voraciously researched the effects of foods on health. I have come to realize the fallacies that underpin much of what I learned in school and during my early medical career. I have come to realize that poor diet is at the root of almost all chronic disease.
Unfortunately, the vast majority of the food available to us worsens our health. The food pyramid has failed miserably and since its introduction, the health of our nation has only worsened. It angers me that my family and the majority of the patients I take care of, have followed those guidelines, only to see their health worsen.