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I think of you most mornings.  You see I’m totally in the habit of checking abc online news when I wake and frequently expel several ‘Oh my goodnesses’, before even getting out of bed.  Here’s one that made me want to jump out of bed and instantly share them with you…better late than never 😉

In case you haven’t heard about it yet, Gary Fettke is an orthopaedic surgeon in Tasmania and an advocate of a low carbohydrate diet.  He got that way after dedicating a fair chunk of his surgery hours to amputating the limbs of diabetic patients and is now famous for virtually telling some of his patients ‘cut out carbs or die’!  That catch-cry has made the headlines of course but Gary Fettke’s less punchy take on diet goes something like this: “It’s just eating lots of vegetables, pasture-fed meat and the right amount of oil in the form of things like nuts, avocado, cheese, olive oil and fish.”  Sound familiar to anyone?

Can you guess what happened next?  Well an anonymous complaint was made against him (note not by a patient but by one of the dietitians at the hospital!) which prompted a 2 1/2 year investigation by the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA).  They recently concluded that he was “working outside his scope of practise and was not qualified to give specific nutritional advice, and he was ordered to stop speaking about the low carbohydrate, high fat diet.” They have issued him with a caution.

The Medical Board of Tasmania, under the umbrella of the Australian Health Practitioners Regulatory Authority, have advised him; ”In particular, that he does not provide specific advice or recommendations on the subject of nutrition and how it relates to the management of diabetes or the treatment and/or prevention of cancer.” https://www.nofructose.com/gary-fettke/

I’m not sure where to start with the many questions this raises for me.  I applaud Gary Fettke’s passion for better nutrition in his patients and for thinking beyond mainstream dietetic advice that is far too slow to reflect shifts in research and remains so conservative it’s dangerous. I also absolutely acknowledge his point that if, according to the AHPRA ruling, no doctor should give any nutritional advice, because they have not received adequate training then all patients who see cardiologists, gastroenterologists etc will be the worse off.  Not all of these patients will be able or willing to see a second health professional in order to be told about the merits of fibre or the dangers of lard and this could have been done in the one appointment.  I think it is farcical as well that doctors are apparently not allowed an opinion or a public voice on matters if it deviates from the mainstream or conservative consensus.  Aren’t the non-regulated health professionals the lucky ones, at least just in this regard?

Recently even Barnaby Joyce was handing out nutrition information suggesting that a sugar tax was “bonkers mad” and that people should just stop eating so much (yeah that’ll work Barnaby why hasn’t anybody else thought of that?!) and put some ‘sandshoes on and go for a walk’ instead of ‘”cherry-picking one source of calories over all others just doesn’t make sense.” And of course most people’s social media is infiltrated by multiple bloggers and vloggers talking nutrition who have absolutely no quals, credentials (and often no idea!).  No one is stopping them of course.

The other voice in my head…yes I have a few!…is the one that sayshasn’t AHPRA just made a case for better nutritional training as part of the medical degree and at the same time highlighted that nutrition is an important modality that requires specialist attention & knowledge?  Well this I actually agree with!  Bad nutritional advice is certainly out there and for every accurate message there’s got to be about 100 inaccurate ones I reckon.  Bad nutritional advice can come from any source but when it comes from a recognised health professional or health authority doesn’t it carry more weight? I had the good fortune to teach first and third year medical students at Monash Uni when I was still based in Melbourne.

 It was part of a very progressive program,  an introduction to the role nutrition, exercise, sleep and emotional wellbeing plays in health, set up by Craig Hassad. The intention of the program, was never to produce doctors that were able to prescribe nutritional supplements or set patients an exercise program, but rather to make healthier doctors and underscore the significant foundational contribution these things make to health and disease, make them aware of these modalities and appreciate what they couldn’t know, wouldn’t know by the time they graduated.  

I felt very honoured to be part of this program and to have this important interaction with some of tomorrow’s doctors, many of whom seemed to leave with a new awareness and respect for my knowledge and the knowledge and skill-set of health professionals who’s specialty is perhaps in their areas of weakness. Isn’t this the ultimate model of integrative medicine?

Would love to hear your thoughts on this…I’m still digesting it all and it’s a real mixed bag of …no not lollies….nuts! 🙂

Do you get overwhelmed by all the marketing spin out there when it comes to nutritional supplements? Rachel is a supplement sleuth, and loves nothing more than breaking through marketing babble get to the truth about supplements – their real strengths, niches, weaknesses, contraindications, therapeutic doses and best forms.  Sort through the hogwash and find out the real information here.