The Farmer's Daughter USA

Hi, I'm Amanda! My family farms corn and soybeans in Southwest Michigan. I'm also a practicing attorney.

  • Home
  • Blog
  • Work with Me
    • Speaking
    • Giveaways
    • Social Media Consulting
    • Sponsored and Guest Posts
  • About Me
    • Media
    • Terms of Use

Jillian Michaels Might Be Right About the Keto Diet. But She Doesn’t Know Much About Food Production.

January 15, 2019

By Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America – Jillian Michaels, CC BY-SA 2.0, Link

Fitness celebrity Jillian Michaels made headlines when she ridiculed the popular keto diet. She urged people to choose a balanced approach instead of cutting entire food groups from their diets.

But then she made a huge blunder:

“…go organic whenever possible so you’re not getting pesticides and all the processed crap.”

-Jillian Michaels, People Magazine, January 2019

Michaels’ organic obsession isn’t new. She often told competitors on The Biggest Loser, a weight-loss competition show, to eat organic. And she obviously didn’t learn anything since then.

But Michaels insistence on organic produce is wrong and dangerous.

Eating conventionally-grown foods isn’t the same as eating pesticides. Any pesticide residue found on produce is negligble. And, even if it wasn’t, organic farmers can–and do–use pesticides too. So her comment doesn’t even make sense.

But Michaels’ casual comments turn people away from eating produce entirely. Research shows that consumers hearing these messages will walk away from eating any produce if they can’t afford the higher-priced organic options. That hits low-income families the hardest. And Michaels’ careless comments only make it worse.

I’ll let my Registered-Dietician and other-qualified friends discuss the Keto diet. But based on the comments I’ve seen, Michaels was probably correct. Yet it brings up an important point: Michaels isn’t really qualified to give this type of advice. She has no nutrition or medical training. She’s simply a fitness instructor. And while she was physically blessed, it doesn’t mean she has all the answers.

Michaels needs to stay in her own lane. And her lane isn’t agricultural production, food safety, or chemistry.

signature
Share this:
«
»

Filed Under: Conventional, Culture of Fear, Facts Not Fear, Organic, Production Methods Tagged With: celebrity, food safety, media, organic, pesticides, science

Comments

  1. Slavomir Durej says

    January 15, 2019 at 4:52 pm

    She’s very wrong about Keto:
    https://youtu.be/E5qxVVKvQ9k

    • Amanda says

      January 15, 2019 at 4:59 pm

      Like I said, I’ll leave that to my RD friends–their the experts.

      And I’m not sure who that guy is, but his stuff looks like it might be questionable (based on a cursory and, albeit, shallow look).

  2. BeeCee says

    January 15, 2019 at 5:29 pm

    While I’m not going to argue the substance of this article, I am going to say that disqualifying JM’s opinion because she is a fitness coach, and not a food producer, is the same as telling someone who beat cancer with natural methods that they are wrong because they aren’t a doctor.
    Title DOES NOT make an opinion more qualified… or disqualified. That thinking WILL bite you in the hind end.

    • Amanda says

      January 15, 2019 at 5:44 pm

      You don’t beat cancer with natural remedies. So there’s that.

      But I think you’re taking it too literally. If she had relied on food producers to form her opinion or had experience with it, that’s one thing. But I spoke with a lot of RDs who are concerned that she doesn’t consult anyone and doesn’t have any training or credentials to give her credibility. That’s the problem.

    • A Cancer Survivor says

      January 19, 2019 at 1:03 pm

      You don’t “beat cancer with natural methods.” Using “natural methods” is the same thing as not treating it at all. Those who claim otherwise fall into three groups: they never actually had cancer or they mistakenly believe that, because their cancer hasn’t killed them yet, their “natural therapy” is working. And, please, spare me the YouTube videos and self-promoting Mommy bloggers who claim otherwise.

Hi, I'm Amanda. My family farms corn and soybeans in Southwest Michigan. I'm an attorney and I'm passionate about agriculture!

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Subscribe via Email

Archives

Latest on Facebook

The Farmer's Daughter

1 day ago

The Farmer's Daughter

Fear-based marketing isn't ok, regardless of whether it comes from radical environmental groups or farmers.

... See MoreSee Less

Good products sell themselves; fear doesn't need to be an ingredient | AGDAILY

www.agdaily.com

Social media posts from direct-to-consumer beef producers show photos of their product purportedly next to store-bought beef and make nutrition claims.

View on Facebook

·
Share



Share on Facebook



Share on Twitter



Share on Linked In



Share by Email

The Farmer's Daughter

2 days ago

The Farmer's Daughter

Had to break for the snow earlier this week. But back at it and making progress.

... See MoreSee Less


Photo

View on Facebook

·
Share



Share on Facebook



Share on Twitter



Share on Linked In



Share by Email

The Farmer's Daughter

4 days ago

The Farmer's Daughter

As many of you know, I'm passionate about the mission of Cultivate Food Rescue. Last year, because of the collaboration of volunteers and donors, Cultivate was able to fill 55,527 backpacks with weekend meals for school kids, and provide 1,623,018 meals to others in our communities. In doing so, it rescued thousands and thousands of pounds of perishable food. On this Giving Tuesday, please consider donating to Cultivate's mission.No neighbor hungry. No food wasted.

... See MoreSee Less

Donate

cultivatefoodrescue.com

Donate No Neighbor Hungry, No Food Wasted Donate Now Transform Lives Through the Gift of Giving Your contribution, whether big or small, has the power to uplift communities, catalyze progress, and cre...

View on Facebook

·
Share



Share on Facebook



Share on Twitter



Share on Linked In



Share by Email

The Farmer's Daughter

5 days ago

The Farmer's Daughter

These commercials from Perdue were ALL OVER the TV this past holiday weekend. Did you see them?

... See MoreSee Less

Perdue Sells Alarmism Over Antibiotic Use - The Farmer's Daughter USA

thefarmersdaughterusa.com

Perdue is selling alarmism of its biggest competitor's use of antibiotics. So what's going on here?

View on Facebook

·
Share



Share on Facebook



Share on Twitter



Share on Linked In



Share by Email

The Farmer's Daughter

1 week ago

The Farmer's Daughter

Happy Thanksgiving!I realized this morning that it's been 20 years since I performed in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. What a trip!I hope you and yours have a lovely day! 🦃

... See MoreSee Less


Photo

View on Facebook

·
Share



Share on Facebook



Share on Twitter



Share on Linked In



Share by Email

Latest on Instagram

thefarmersdaughterusa

Amanda | The Farmer's Daughter USA
I'm a proud farmer's daughter & advocate for modern agriculture. U.S. farmers are leaders in sustainability.

Amanda Zaluckyj
Just a reminder. #agriculture #usagriculture #far Just a reminder.

#agriculture #usagriculture #farmers #usfarmers #farming #farmfamilies #sustainableag #sustainableagriculture #sustainable #sustainability #farmerscare #homegrown #localagriculture #knowyourfarmer #shoplocal #madeintheusa #madeintheus #americanagriculture
Happy Thanksgiving! I realized this morning that Happy Thanksgiving!

I realized this morning that it's been 20 years since I performed in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. What a trip!

I hope you and yours have a lovely day! 🦃
Honestly, what is she even doing?? #Mischa #dogsl Honestly, what is she even doing??

#Mischa
#dogslife
She's got me. #dogslife #onlyfurbaby #naptime She's got me. 

#dogslife #onlyfurbaby #naptime
Some of you see this picture and appreciate the vi Some of you see this picture and appreciate the view. Our grain cart driver (mom) just sees that scary hill to drive up. 🫣

 #farming #sustainableag #agriculture #sustainableagriculture #farmers #sustainableagriculturepractices #sustainable #agriculturelife #agricultureeducation #farm #farmer #harvest23🌾
Happy Halloween! I dressed up as an attorney today Happy Halloween! I dressed up as an attorney today. 🤣

Oh, lawyer jokes. Listen, if you can't make fun or yourself and have a little fun, what are you even doing?
It's true. My puppy. 💜💜 It's true. My puppy. 💜💜
The first 25 acres of soybeans are done! But the b The first 25 acres of soybeans are done! But the beans still have very high moisture content. It's so high the granary won't accept them. So we'll have to dry them.

The big concern with soybeans is that the pods won't pop open. If that happens, they'll be discarded  out the back of the combine with the other plant material. Obviously not what we want to happen. After testing a bit, enough were opening that we felt like we should just get started.

Slow going, but at least it's going!

 #farming #sustainableag #agriculture #sustainableagriculture #farmers #sustainableagriculturepractices #sustainable #agriculturelife #agricultureeducation #farm #farmer #fearfree #cleanfood #foodsafety #dietfads #FactsNotFear #cleaneatingdiet #foodlabels #truth #cleaneating #Harvest2023
We're still not harvesting yet. Why not? Moisture We're still not harvesting yet. Why not? Moisture content.

We're currently about 4 weeks behind. But we can't start because our crops are still too wet. The moisture content is the amount of water in each kernel or soybean. If there's too much, they can spoil in storage. If it's really too high, then combine has a hard time handling it.

For corn, the sweet spot is about 15%. We have a dryer system on the farm that can help finish the kernels to the correct moisture level. But the dryer takes a lot of energy to run, so its cost prohibitive if the moisture content is too high. And if we try to sell the crop when it's too wet, we'll take a price hit at the grain elevator. So either the granary dries it, we dry it, or Mother Nature dries it. Right now, it's still too wet for after-harvest drying.

The other complication is that IT. JUST. KEEPS. RAINING. That doesn't help because the corn doesn't have a chance to dry out, and it maintains that moisture. We need some warm, dry days to speed up the process.

So, for now, we're still waiting...

#harvest23
Load More... Follow on Instagram

Copyright © 2023 · Website Design By Jumping Jax Designs