Leo Babuto of ZenHabits on Soy page

[Risto]

I hope this hasn't been posted yet, but if it has, delete it and lead me to the right thread, please.

Anyway, Leo Babuto of ZenHabits wrote a blog post, where he glorifies soy and criticizes the Weston Price Foundation. Check it out here: Finally, the Truth About Soy | zen habits

Some links about criticism of the Weston Price Foundation:
1. Weston A. Price Foundation, Stupid Traditions : Disease Proof
2. http://unreasonable.org/node/1642?page=2
3. The Truth About the Weston Price Foundation - Vegsource.com
4. Reflections on the Weston A. Price Foundation - Vegsource.com
5. questioning Weston Price Foundation
6. questioning Weston Price Foundation
7. The Misinformation of Barry Groves and Weston Price : Disease Proof

The first link I took starts with this:
"Imagine being told to feed your child meat broth and sea salt and limiting their intake of fruits and vegetables—crazy, right? Indeed, but those are just a few of the insane recommendations by The Weston A. Price Foundation."

Should I continue reading them at all, if they start with a blatant lie? I haven't heard that WAPF recommends people to limit fruits and vegetables, but to eat more of the good animal stuff like meat organs. I might be wrong though.

Let's start with a discussion here; I'll try to read through the criticisms.

[Sue]

Not worth reading.

[fitmom]

That was a disappointing and uncharacteristic post. I usually enjoy zen habits for its lack of bombast. Everyone has an off day, I guess.

[Risto]

I have to follow up already. The first article on Weston Price and their apparent bad advice is questionable. First of all, they use a very furious style, which already raises doubts about the credibilty of the author. Second, I can't seem to understand that they prove anything. Weston Price's information is bad, because it's based on old evidence? Nice conclusion. Third, just because Sally Fallon doesn't have formal education she's apparently not capable of making good advice? Why do "experts" disagree on everything then? They must all be capable of bringing out the best information, obviously.

[Risto]

That was a disappointing and uncharacteristic post. I usually enjoy zen habits for its lack of bombast. Everyone has an off day, I guess.

I know what you are saying. I got the feeling that I should unsubscribe from his blog. I've read 2 of his books and he strucks to me as an amazing human being, but now he comes out with such a critical and questionable post.

[Risto]

By the way, does Sally Fallon even recommend raw milk as highly as these people say she does? After reading her book Nourishing Traditions, I didn't come away with that understanding. From my understanding, it depends on the place you were born and the way you handle it, and isn't that what she says too?

Another article starts with this:
"I've been seeing flyers around lately for a upcoming lecture in D.C. by Weston A. Price Foundation president Sally Fallon. Today I got spam from them about it, which prompts me to post a bit about these shills and quacks."

Why do vegetarians/vegans come across to me as very bad-mannered and upset people? Shouldn't it be the other way? Doesn't meat make you angry?

[GrokNRoller]

OK. Breathe.

As you can imagine this has spread like wild-fire on twitter: Twitter Search Results

I unsubscribed from Zen Habits a long time ago. I started to find it repetitive and self-righteous (not that there is anything wrong with that sometimes). I've never agreed with his views on Veganism (he should read the Vegetarian Myth before citing 'Ethical Reasons' for being vegan).

Leo has named Mark's blog as his favourite fitness blog in the past: 20-plus Amazing Fitness Blogs to Inspire You | zen habits

Fortunately there are already rebuttals circulating: Zen Habits: stupid about soy | Hunt.Gather.Love. - spread the word.

I do find that the WAPF can be taken with a pinch of salt some times (pun intended) but everyone needs to draw their own conclusions - something Leo does say in his post. The problem is with over 200k readers and people hanging on his every word, people won't make up their own mind.

Just my thoughts. Everyone should read Bad Science by Ben Goldacre and then follow what they believe based on their own research. The WAPF leads me to dig deeper and in to other sources about nutrition, and will continue to do so.

[Risto]

OK. Breathe.

As you can imagine this has spread like wild-fire on twitter: Twitter Search Results

I unsubscribed from Zen Habits a long time ago. I started to find it repetitive and self-righteous (not that there is anything wrong with that sometimes). I've never agreed with his views on Veganism (he should read the Vegetarian Myth before citing 'Ethical Reasons' for being vegan).

Leo has named Mark's blog as his favourite fitness blog in the past: 20-plus Amazing Fitness Blogs to Inspire You | zen habits

Fortunately there are already rebuttals circulating: Zen Habits: stupid about soy | Hunt.Gather.Love. - spread the word.

I do find that the WAPF can be taken with a pinch of salt some times (pun intended) but everyone needs to draw their own conclusions - something Leo does say in his post. The problem is with over 200k readers and people hanging on his every word, people won't make up their own mind.

Just my thoughts. Everyone should read Bad Science by Ben Goldacre and then follow what they believe based on their own research. The WAPF leads me to dig deeper and in to other sources about nutrition, and will continue to do so.

Good advice! I actually went to the gym to get my emotions down.

I agree with you -- ZenHabits tends to be very repetitive.

I also agree that WAPF probably doesn't provide absolutely true information at all times. However, I think they are a very good resource nonetheless. Besides, no one gets everything right.

I'm a foreigner, so this phrase "pun intended" is a rather new one for me. Did you literally comment (criticize) WARP's opinion on salt?

Thanks for the book recommendation, by the way!

[GrokNRoller]

Hi Risto - Pun means "Make a joke exploiting the different possible meanings of a word"

- "with a pinch of salt" is a saying in the UK, which means when you take advise with a bit of skepticism.

Hope that makes sense.

Enjoy the book - his blog and forum are worth a look too: Bad Science

[ozbuckley]

I great piece of advice I was told once was, 'take whats useful for you, discard the rest.'

take whats useful in primal blueprint, WAPF, Loren Cordain, etc. and discard the rest (while still being open to it in the future). Everyone is different and can tweak what they indulge in by listening to their own feelings and intuitions.

anyway, for some WAPF videos from a seminar in the UK check out Wise Traditions UK on Vimeo ...some real good stuff there.

And yes, S.Fallon does beat the Raw Milk drum quite a bit... but its more she encourages raw dairy.

If its useful for you, take it. If not, LET IT GO!!! =)