Mantra mania

This wasn’t the dietician I’d previously seen, she was on maternity leave.

Why do some dieticians assume every patient’s body works in exactly the same way?  If our genetic code has seen fit to give us a different colour hair and eyes and a different adult height, even a different requirement for and response to pain relief, isn’t it reasonable to expect that there will also be variations in the optimum dietary requirements for individuals?

If someone has an unexpected response to a drug like Orlistat, there could be several reasons for it.  It could be an unexpected response to the active ingredient of the drug, or the excipients used in manufacture.  It could be an unexpected response to the drug’s intended or actual actions on the body – in this case the inhibition of absorption of most of the fat consumed in the diet.

So why assume that an adverse response is due to the drug and not the consequences of its actions?  If you accept the premise that your genetic inheritance affects the characteristics your body’s processes, then isn’t it reasonable to accept that the very idea of a ‘one size fits all’ kind of dietary regime will not work for everyone – some people will benefit from Atkins-style diets, others will benefit more from a regimen higher in carbohydrates than proteins.

In which case, why continually repeat the mantra ‘eat less fat‘?  Repeating a mantra does not make it true any more than continually quoting the same piece of religious text to an atheist will convert the atheist to a particular form of religious belief.

I switched off after the fourth time it was repeated.  And declined a follow-up appointment.

~ by me on 15 January 2007.