Pete Evans’ “don’t eat dairy” controversy
If nothing else, celebrity chef “Paleo Pete” Evans knows how to draw attention to himself.
The My Kitchen Rules chef has made himself a talking point when he claimed that “calcium from dairy can remove the calcium from your bones.”
The controversy arose when Evans was doing a Facebook Q&A with his followers on the weekend.
It was during that exchange that he told a woman with osteoporosis to remove dairy from her diet.
Dairy, he said, did more harm than good.
“I would strongly suggest removing dairy and eating the Paleo way as calcium from dairy can remove the calcium from your bones,’’ Evans said.
Now Evans’ views contrast with standard advice from doctors who recommend patients with osteoporosis get the calcium they need through dairy.
So when the women on Facebook said: “I’m obviously going to need to read some more about this”, Evans responded by telling her that he knew more than the medical experts.
“Read my comments below on calcium – most doctors do not know this information,’’ Evans said. “I haven’t given my kids dairy for over five years and they are thriving.”
This went down like a brick parachute with doctors.
One of them, Dr Brad Robinson, who had been practising medicine for over a decade, took to Facebook to pull Evans into line.
“You are a chef, NOT a doctor,’’ Robinson said. “Further, you are not someone who magically knows things that the sum total of generations of medical research has determined. You do not have access to information that we uneducated doctors do not.
“Your astounding advice about osteoporosis would be amusing if it wasn’t so potentially damaging to anyone at risk who actually believed you. Even worse, your advice to the user of an anti-cholesterol medication to cease its use is – through an increased risk of stroke and heart attack if your advice was followed – potentially dangerous.
“Can we make a deal? You donn’t give medical advice and I won’t tell you how to best shuck oysters. Agreed? Regards, Dr Brad.
by Leon Gettler, August 29th 2016
