The 10 is our new weekly series were we ask 10 in-depth questions that reveal the inspirations and dreams of the leaders, visionaries, and innovators affecting our world and our health. This week we go in-depth with Jimmy Moore, a leading figure in the low-carb, high-fat movement and author of the new book Cholesterol Clarity. download 1. Why did you start your company or begin down the path that you did? After losing 180 pounds on the low-carb, high-fat Atkins lifestyle in 2004, it lit a fire in me to become a student of anything and everything related to nutrition, fitness and health. Weighing 410 pounds, taking three prescription medications, wearing 5XL shirts and 62-inch waist pants and on a one-way ticket to an early grave, I was able to reverse that trend completely by doing the exact OPPOSITE of what all the health authorities told me was a healthy way to eat. For the past decade, my passion has never waned from my three-pronged goal to educate, encourage and inspire others in their own personal journey to better health. I plan on doing this with the same enthusiasm I have now for the rest of my life. 2. What have you discovered about yourself in the past year? After completing a one-year n=1 experiment of a concept known as nutritional ketosis, I learned that the body is a lot more complex than simply counting carbs. Consuming quality fats and being mindful of protein intake without obsessing about calories has been the key to getting back on track for me when I was having issues with my weight going back up again. Now I weigh less than I ever have in my adult life and I fully intend to keep going down this pathway to fuel my body in the way that is right for me. 3. What is your favorite part of your job? By far it's all the immeasurable lessons I have learned from the expert guests I have interviewed on my podcasts since 2006. These are the cream of the crop in the fields of diet, exercise and healthy living and I feel like I've earned about six PhD's listening to these great minds sharing their wisdom with me and my faithful listeners. Knowing that the lives of real people are being changed through these interviews is the most gratifying part of what I do. 4. What is your least favorite part of the job? Not having enough time to do everything I would like to do. As much as I do with five podcasts weekly, blogging, YouTube videos, a forum, writing books and more, I still want to do more and more. This is why I always encourage people to get into blogging, podcasting and doing what they do best because I don't have time for it all. We will make a difference in this culture with the healthy messages we are communicating if everyone put forth the effort to do as much as they can do to change the paradigms in their spheres of influence. 5. What is your favorite food (that isn't one of your products or recipes)? How can you not love local, pastured eggs? I have a local farmer friend who sells me a dozen of these big, beautiful brown eggs for a mere $2! Yes, I know I'm lucky and I gladly eat these cooked in coconut oil and/or grass-fed butter with raw cheese, sour cream, sauerkraut and an avocado. Ahhhhh, this is an AMAZING meal and it keeps my ketone levels ROCKIN'! 6. If you could do any other job what would you do? I'm truly doing my dream job right now, but if I had my wishes I would be thrilled to have a nationally-syndicated terrestrial radio show heard on radio stations across the country. Now more than ever, a voice of reason that combats the low-fat, high-carb nonsense that is promoted as “healthy” is sorely needed. I've done this long enough to have the ability–now I just need a chance. I have every confidence it WILL happen someday. 7. What is your least favorite word? Perfection. Being successful doesn't take doing everything exactly right 100% of the time. Rather, it's the pursuit of excellence and being willing to forgive yourself that is the true secret to long-term success. People who demand perfection have obviously never experienced adversity and challenges in their lives. I don't wish that on anyone, but we need understanding not judgment. 8. If you could meet anyone in the world alive today, who would you meet? I've met so many amazing people through my work and now consider many of them personal friends. But it would amazing to meet and interview someone who could help make change happen much more quickly regarding nutritional health policy in the United States and, by extension, the world. Perhaps First Lady Michelle Obama would be a person of influence who could help make that happen with her commitment to health–giving her the proper information to share publicly could very well change the lives of tens of millions overnight. 9. What would you do on a dream vacation? My wife Christine's dream is to go to Italy someday where her paternal grandmother was born. I've never been to Europe and would be thrilled to visit the Norwegian countries, especially Sweden where LCHF (low-carb, high-fat) is growing by leaps and bounds. It would be really cool to take a tour through France, the UK, Italy, Spain, Belgium, Greece, Finland, Norway, and more! You said a “dream vacation” and that would be it! If I ever have the means to do it, this dream will become a reality for sure! 10. What is your hope for the future of food and/or health? My hope for the future of food and health is that we start acting on the interests of public health rather than preserving the profits of big business. If we did this, then grains would no longer be pushed as healthy, the demonization of fat would become a distant memory, calorie obsession would be abolished, grass-fed meats would become much more prevalent and encouraged, prescription medications would become a last resort rather than the first line of treatment for chronic health issues and so much more. Yes, it sounds like a Paleo/low-carb utopia now, but I can see a day when we come out of these dark days of the low-fat lie and the way we look at food and health is radically changed for the better. Call me an optimist, but I see this happening in the next 25-30 years. And now that you know Jimmy Moore a bit more personally…we want you to read his incredible new book, CholesterolClarity Here is our review. Jimmy Moore’s new book, Cholesterol Clarity, is an excellent read that covers all bases on the controversy regarding the Lipid Hypothesis of Heart Disease, i.e. dietary saturated fat and high cholesterol cause cardiovascular disease. While he freely admits that he is a layperson, not an accredited expert in medicine or nutrition, he has been able to stand on the shoulders of giants by virtue of the connections he has made over the course of running his podcast. Throughout the course of the book, he deftly weaves comments from these experts in his Moment of Clarity segments. He advocates taking your health back into your own hands, since most have placed it in the hands of the medical and pharmaceutical establishment and clearly this system is not working. Education is Jimmy’s goal and he wants you to take it upon yourself; the purpose of this book is to raise a skeptical eye to everything you hear from the “experts,” including his own, but that through your own research that you will be able to find “clarity.” One of his biggest take-home messages is that your doctors are not maliciously trying to harm you, but rather that they are misinformed. Doctors and hospitals get huge incentives to get their patients on statins, the dangers of which we have previously discussed and are expertly illustrated here as well. Another major point he discusses, is the role of micronutrient deficiencies in the elevation of cholesterol. This is something we believe underlies not only heart disease, but al
so practically every modern disease of civilization. That is only a brief sampling of all the gems of knowledge to be found in this book. If you are looking to further your understanding of the relationship between cholesterol and heart disease, this book is a must have in your library! Learn more about Jimmy Moore here.