Comments on: Irish Times: “Holford has been a vegetarian for 30 years”. Has he?

By: Holford to give seminar at Dublin’s Royal College of Surgeons, in association with the Irish Times « Holford Watch: Patrick Holford, nutritionism and bad science

Tue, 03 Feb 2009 02:25:43 +0000

[...] to be associated with such a prominent nutritional expert – it must be a great follow-up to their high-quality coverage of Holford’s thought. I wonder if their coverage of ’serious’ news is as accurate as their coverage of [...]

By: brainduck

brainduck — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 09:36:21 +0000

I have been vegan for 6 years (ethics, not health). This is probably why I can’t always understand Holford. If I ate fish, would he start making sense?

Wonderful quote from Holford in that Independent article, btw:
‘There aren’t any disadvantages to this way of eating, as long as you choose fit birds.’

By: Dietgirl

Dietgirl — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 15:08:15 +0000

The Irish Times assert that “when GI (Glycaemic Index) diets became popular a few years ago, Holford came up with the term “glycaemic load”, which he believes is a more accurate way of ensuring you eat the carbohydrate foods that release energy slowly”.

Really! We appear to have a serial case of plagarism that I expect that Patrick will expose. There are dozens of scientists who have used the term glycaemic load without acknowledging his insight. Have we finally established the academic contribution that lead to the awarding of chair by the University of Teeside? Alternatively as the term was used on dozens of occasions before Patrick “moved the topic on” have we found one more instance when an unsupportable claims had been made that simply added to the reasons that caused him to resign?

By: Michelle

Michelle — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 05:32:32 +0000

If anyone asks me, as a vegetarian, if I eat fish, I say ‘no, I’m a vegetarian, not a hypocrite’, and their response is usually ‘well my daughter is a vegetarian, and she eats fish’.

D’oh.

By: Sparhawk

Sparhawk — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 22:27:55 +0000

I’m a full time carnivore, a part time omnivore, a lapsed vegetarian and wannabe vegan.

By: Claire

Claire — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 21:03:10 +0000

According to Mr. Holford , as reported by the IT, the ‘conventional’ understanding about nutrition is that we don’t need fats. I’m not sure whom he has in mind as dictating ‘the conventional understanding’ to us lesser mortals but certainly the ‘conventional’ FSA doesn’t seem to think that we don’t need fat:

“…
It’s important to have some fat in our diet because fat helps the body absorb some vitamins, it’s a good source of energy and a source of the essential fatty acids that the body can’t make itself.

But having a lot of fat makes it easy to have more energy than we need, which means we might be more likely to put on weight. So if you want to eat healthily and keep a healthy weight, look out for lower fat alternatives wherever possible and try to eat fatty foods only occasionally.

Different sorts of fats

Although it’s important to try to eat less fat, we also need to think about the types of fat we are eating.

We should be cutting down on food that is high in saturated fat or trans fats or replacing these foods with ones that are high in unsaturated fat instead. We should also be having more omega 3 fatty acids, which are found in oily fish. …”

By: Dr* T

Dr* T — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 20:28:11 +0000

I am a strict vegan who eats all meat and animal-based products.

Black is white, up is down, square is round.

By: Wulfstan

Wulfstan — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 20:22:10 +0000

It was only last year that Patrick Holford was in the Independent describing himself as "a vegan who eats eggs and fish". Fish oil supplements are doing a lot for his memory, eh? Tailoring yourself to your audience is one thing but trading off being a model of probity for walking your talk is something else.

By: jonhw

jonhw — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 19:41:18 +0000

Sure – I’ve known self-described ‘vegetarians’ who eat fish, chicken, and the odd bit of bacon… Or ‘non-vegetarians’, as I call them :)

By: draust

draust — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 19:35:51 +0000

I am sure Dear Patrick would find no contradiction in being a " 30 yr vegetarian" for a strictly vegetarian journalist or audience, and a regular fish-eater for a journalist or audience with a keen interest in fish oils. The charitable interpretation is that he is probably a "vegetarian who eats fish" (!).. honest, I have met people who describe themselves this way. A more cynical view would be that being all things to all men (and women) is a useful part of the schtick.