Maritzia’s Thoughts

I saw a link at Casual Blasphemies to a Q&A with Alton Brown from 2004 on eGullet. One of the questions was what he was passionate about. In his reply, he stated:

“As for more serious matters, I’m passionate about this country getting off it’s fat butt and getting into shape. I see a lot of very heavy people at my demos and book signings and I don’t like that. They come up and they’re so nice and they say “gosh we love food and love your show” and I want to say “I think you might lay off both and go for a walk”. I’ve never actually said this because it would be mean but it really worries me.”

Needless to say, this little bit of crassness has left me less than amused. After fuming for about an hour, I sat down and wrote Mr. Brown a letter. Here’s a copy of the letter:

My Dear Mr. Brown:

My Formerly-Dear Mr. Brown:

My Not-So-Dear Mr. Brown:

I have been a fan of yours for quite some time. I have always enjoyed how you bring the science of food alive in Good Eats. Being a geek myself, I have thoroughly enjoyed your show. Which is why it disturbs me to be writing this letter to you today.

I saw a Q&A with you that was written in 2004 at the eGullet forums. In it you stated, when speaking about your passions:

“As for more serious matters, I’m passionate about this country getting off it’s fat butt and getting into shape. I see a lot of very heavy people at my demos and book signings and I don’t like that. They come up and they’re so nice and they say “gosh we love food and love your show” and I want to say “I think you might lay off both and go for a walk”. I’ve never actually said this because it would be mean but it really worries me.”

Obviously, you have not really looked into the science of obesity as you have that of food. That’s ok, most of my doctors haven’t either. Let me enlighten you to a couple of little known facts (little known because the media would rather demonize fat people that actually report on the condition). For instance, did you know that persons with insulin resistance burn approximately a third less energy in their cells than non-insulin resistant persons? It’s true! Check out The New England Journal of Medicine, February 12, 2002. Go ahead…it’s online…I’ll wait.

*looks at her watch and whistles tunelessly* Back so fast? Interesting article, wasn’t it. So…people with insulin resistance burn 1/3 less energy. So, from that we can assume that those of us with insulin resistance, if we ate the same and exercised the same as non-insulin resistant persons, would be 1/3 heavier, don’t you think? And, of course, the volunteers used in this study are “young, lean adults”, so we can assume that they are probably in the early stages of the illness. We know that insulin resistance gets worse over time, so those of us with more advanced insulin resistance probably burn a great deal less energy than others, wouldn’t you guess.

Here’s another “for instance” for you. Go to drlowe.com. *looks up” Back already? Yes, yes, I know he’s talking about fibromyalgia, but if you get into the guts of the site, you’ll see that he is actually talking about Peripheral Tissue Thyroid Resistance. It’s a concept that isn’t well accepted by the medical community at the moment, mainly because there isn’t a test for it. Doctors these days are so ingrained to treating by lab numbers, they don’t believe anything they can’t easily run a test for. However, it is out there. There’s a great deal of evidence that it is a very real disease. So, we can assume that at least a few, and I’d argue many, many, people have untreated hypothyroidism. And, of course, we know hypothyroidism causes weight gain, don’t we? Of course we do!

This is only two examples of medical science slowly figuring out that there might be more to obesity than intake and exercise. And we’re not even getting into eating disorders such as BED (binge eating disorder). It’s an extremely complex issue. So, for you to sit in judgment like this, without truly looking at the complexities of the science, is extremely disappointing. So disappointing in fact, that I am going to ask…no…no…I’m going to demand, that you publicly apologize for your quite bigoted comment on the e-Gullet Q&A.

If you don’t make an apology, I’m going to boycott your show, the Food Network, all Scripps Network Programs, all of your and their sponsors, and your publishers and the bookstores that sell your books. And in case you didn’t notice at the beginning of this letter, I am copying this letter to all of the aforementioned sources. You think maybe there are a more than a few fat people that watch the Food Network and read your books?

Shame on you, Alton Brown. *shakes her finger vigorously* For shame!