Hi Jimmy,

I am a big fan of yours. I love to read science and research, and listen to ALL sides of the low-carb/low-fat debate. I think I have listened to almost all of your podcasts. I truly consider myself open minded in all sense of the word.

With that said, I have a blog read by over 10,000 people per day with healthy recipes for kids, including low carb, low sugar, and recipes that have grains! Because number one, I LOVE GRAINS! Simple as that. They taste good, and make me happy!

The reason I am writing to you, is I that I was hoping one day you would address the idea of tolerance. I get traffic from the low carb world that sees a post I do about oatmeal, or toast, or cereal and they explode with mean things to say in my email box. I can tell you that I get hate mail almost on a daily basis from the low carb world. I’ve ignored it for a long time, but now it’s really starting to affect me, and I don’t know what to do! People tell me that I’m killing the children of the world by sharing a recipe about oatmeal! Whether you agree with me or not, the hate needs to stop!

Thanks for listening to my rant! Tolerance for all!

Let me just say up front that while I appreciate people having passion and enthusiasm for low-carb living, I have never advocated for anyone to talk down to someone or scold them for the choices they make about food. That is a deeply personal issue that quite frankly is none of my business to tell anyone what they can and cannot consume (nor would I). And while we have learned so much about the damaging effects of eating sugar, white flour, starchy carbohydrates, and the supposedly “healthy whole grains,” not everyone is on board with that message yet. There are creative ways to share the real health concerns associated with consuming these foods, but sending “hate” messages to a blogger because she includes grain-based recipes in her posts is pretty ridiculous. No, I’m not advocating for eating these things, but she is right that this is indeed the wrong way to go about doing it and “needs to stop.” I’m not sure how she identifies that the traffic is from the “low carb world,” but I’ll give her the benefit of the doubt on that one. Here was my response back to her:

Your email today saddens me. I’ve long held the position that people should find the plan that works for them and follow it exactly for the rest of their lives. The only caveat that I would add to that is to make appropriate adjustments to that plan as you continue to learn and apply lessons that you have learned. I’ve never been one to let my passionate embracement of the principles of low-carb or Paleo to get in the way of common human decency. That’s why what you are saying is disappointing–but I can’t say it’s surprising.

THANK YOU again for writing and I appreciate you sharing this with me today.

After showing her some of the truly ugly personal feedback I have received from people in comments, e-mails, on my YouTube videos and elsewhere, she realized this “hate mail” is probably something that is part and parcel with what she does as a blogger. People who don’t blog may be oblivious to this kind of stuff happening–and yet it does day in and day out. You deal with it by remembering that the greater mission of helping other people learn the truth about nutrition is what is most important. Does the negativity from people hurt to see and hear? Sure it does. But I’ll be danged if these nincompoops are going to discourage me from doing my part of help change this world for the better one reader, one podcast listener and one enlightened mind at a time. The message is the right one and I will not be deterred from sharing it with everyone I can for many years to come. Here was the blogger’s response back to me about the messages she was receiving:

It sounds like what I consider “hate mail” is way less nasty than yours, so I guess I should stop complaining and maybe you shouldn’t even address it. I really hate to make a scene and bring attention to it. I’m a super non-confrontational type.

But I just got a snide remark last night and it literally tipped me over the edge and kept me up all night–which is why I finally wrote. I actually think most of the emails targeted at me are really people who are trying to “educate” me. So, these are my not-so-nasty but annoying emails.

- Your blog is a joke! You have no idea what you are talking about. Adding rice to this meal is not “super healthy.”

- “I’m absolutely flabbergasted that someone might publicly make such ludicrous claims without providing any evidence whatsoever to back them up. I challenge you to provide irrefutable evidence to any one of the three statements above, especially the last one.

- I don’t expect that everyone will be as well-read on the subject of overweight, obese and diabetes as I believe I am, but is it too much to expect that individuals educate themselves on the basics before advising the population to sicken themselves further by eating this rubbish (fruit-layered oatmeal) and in doing so pushing them further into the body weight abyss?

- You claim to promote healthy eating for kids and you are doing nothing but post high carb, low fat recipes. Whatever!

- If you believe whole grains are a good idea for kids, you should not call yourself a nutritionist.

- You turned a totally healthy food into JUNK FOOD by adding fruit to a perfectly HEALTHY salad! You should be ashamed of yourself!

So, as you see, they aren’t personal or nasty–just annoying.

Anyway, keep up the good work, the amazing podcasts, and the great content. I’ll try to do my part by posting less breads, and more veggies.

If nothing else, this serves as a reminder to all of us that we are ambassadors for low-carb, Paleo, primal, ancestral or whatever you call how you eat and live. Kindness goes a long way in attracting people to the message we are trying to convey. That’s why I admire Paul Jaminet so much despite my disagreement with him over his concept of “safe starches.” He could have lashed out at me for my opposition to his position–but he didn’t. In fact, he was quite gracious in his response and even agreed to be on a panel about this topic at the 2012 Ancestral Health Symposium coming this August in Boston, Massachusetts. Although I am no fan of the concept of eating white rice, white potatoes, etc. as a “safe starch,” that doesn’t mean I have to be ugly about it with Paul and vice versa. It’s a lesson in civility we could all stand to benefit from if we apply it to the way we interact with others about this way of eating that we love so much! And especially to those like this blogger who might be open to being convinced of our arguments if we used honey instead of vinegar to attract her to our side of things.

I can tell you one of the quests that I have been on especially over the past six months is increasing my strength and muscle definition. I hired a personal trainer to assist me in this effort because honestly I’ve never been able to get into weight lifting like I have doing cardio-styled exercise. Give me a spin class, Pilates, pickup games of basketball and volleyball, running on the treadmill or elliptical machine, or anything that gets my heart rate up and I can knock that out and enjoy it. But pumping iron, maintaining proper form, and attempting to put muscle on this 40-year old body just always seemed like a foreign concept to me. Now the switch has been flipped and I LOVE lifting weights and doing what it takes to fulfill my quest to get stronger while cardio just doesn’t seem very interesting at all anymore. Go figure!

I’ve hit the gym pretty hard since September 2011 going there as often as my muscles would recover from the full-body workouts (which has been about every three days since I started taking a low-dose testosterone cream about six weeks ago to deal with low testosterone issues that could be negatively impacting various hormones in my body). And the results of my regular workout schedule have been so incredible for me with some clear definition coming in my calves, quads, biceps and shoulders especially. Although I’m still attempting to shed the excess fat off my body (especially in the abdomen) while in the process of building muscle mass, I know this will only help in that effort. I can already tell a HUGE difference in my strength and it’s sincerely surprised me at just how much stronger I am now that I was just a few months ago.

So what’s your quest in 2012? That’s the question that Quest Nutrition, makers of low-carb Quest Bars, is asking in a brand new video contest they call New Year’s Quest Giveaway. They’re literally giving away a year’s supply of their amazing Quest Bars to the winning entry. Here’s a video from Quest Nutrition representative Courtney explaining what you need to do to enter their contest:

http://youtu.be/D_331TeD-DY

Sounds pretty easy, right? Just make a video that is no longer than 30 seconds, share your name and what your current quest (goal) in 2012 is, upload it to YouTube with the title “My New Year’s Quest,” and then post it to the Quest Bar Facebook page. That’s all you gotta do to enter to win that year’s supply of Quest Bars. So pull out your iPhone, digital camera, web cam, tablet device or whatever you have that shoots video footage and share what YOUR quest in 2012 is. Get your entry in today because the winners will be announced on Monday, February 20, 2012. GOOD LUCK!

Oh, by the way, here’s a video I made last night on my iPad about my muscle-building quest this year:

http://youtu.be/Zy9R7H_Qbp8

Now it’s YOUR turn to share your personal quest for 2012!

One thing that especially struck me was the beautiful illustrations that basically tell the story without the use of any words. Interestingly, the illustrator remains anonymous and did not want any credit for his work to be attributed to him on the front cover. He did such an excellent job with vibrant character depictions, appropriate expressions and the look and feel of a Saturday morning cartoon (wouldn’t it be cool to see a “Paleo Pals” cartoon coming in the not-too-distant future–it could happen!). This book for the illustrations alone would be worth getting–but Sarah did a truly amazing job with the script weaving together a tale that I wish more kids would be exposed to.

Superheroes are glorified in most of today’s animated films and Paleo Pals falls right within the vein of that concept. In fact, the three masked and caped heroes–Phoenix, Piper and Parker–kinda look like characters from The Incredibles. This story centers around a little boy named Jimmy (LOVE that name, Sarah–HA!) who isn’t at all interested in the healthy Paleo meals that his parents want him to eat. So the triple-P Paleo Pals hop into their carrot ship to give little Jimmy a lesson in what Paleo is really all about. They explain that every kid kinda rebels against eating this way at first, learn why quality food is so important for them to eat, discover that most of the “food” he has been eating comes from factories that do not care about your health because they put all kind of dastardly ingredients in the products, gain an appreciation of where his foods come from by visiting farmer’s markets and local farms, and kindle a love for real food that is so sorely missing from the dinner plates of most children these days. I couldn’t help but grin from ear to ear as I flipped through these oversized pages with the awe and wonder of a little one learning about this stuff for the first time.

Sarah also does an outstanding job at dispelling the myth that kids need to fuel up on carbohydrates to have energy to play. Nope! She has the Paleo Pals share with Jimmy how eating the wrong foods can make you feel sick and tired, angry and prone to fighting, and worse. But if you feed your body properly (with a Paleo diet), then it is possible to be bursting with energy galore and to excel in athletics. While many look at diets as a means for losing weight, Sarah gently reminds parents and children that Paleo is about living optimally healthy and fit. And that also means being intellectually fit as the story continues of how one child overcame her nutritional deficiencies to begin excelling at playing an instrument because she could think clearer without the brain fog that came from consuming excessive sugar and other unhealthy “food” ingredients. There are biological changes that take place when you switch to a healthy eating and lifestyle plan like Paleo and this book makes it all seem normal for the children and parents who will be reading this.

When the Paleo Pals have completed their mission with Jimmy, he excitedly rushes in to tell his parents that he’s ready to eat Paleo willingly so he can experience all of the benefits this way of eating has to offer him. In the end, Jimmy got his own superpowers to share what he has learned with other kids who were once like him. I can’t tell you how sorely needed a resource like this is for parents struggling for a way to connect with their kids about eating healthy. While I don’t personally have any children of my own, I can think of at least 10 parents who desperately need to get a copy of Paleo Pals to help their defiant kid understand why they can’t and, more importantly, shouldn’t have Fruit Loops for breakfast or McDonald’s for supper. Giving kids an appreciation and a love for healthy eating is perhaps the greatest gift you can give them as they enter adulthood. I can see this book becoming a classic resource for families for many years to come. Can you imagine a kid who is exposed to Paleo Pals now having kids of their own and reading this book to their kids someday? It could (and probably will) happen.

Not content with just telling a fun story, Sarah adds in some tips and tricks towards the back of the book for making Paleo a normal part of your child’s life. The food list is priceless for newbies who may not know what you can and cannot eat on a Paleo diet. And what would a Sarah Fragoso book be without some yummy, kid-friendly recipes like Zippy Zucchini Pizza Bites, Paleo Pals Pancakes, Rockin’ Rocket Stuffed Sweet Potatoes, and Energizing Egg Mini Muffins? So it’s dinner and show all wrapped up in one remarkable book that your child will surely love and enjoy over and over again. And it’s never too early to start exposing your son or daughter to these concepts and they’re never too old to be reminded of the incredible benefits that await them from eating this way. THANK YOU Sarah Fragoso for the foresight of looking for ways to engage the next generation of adults who will quite possibly be leading the way to making Paleo mainstream in the years to come!