Long-time Fan Disappointed

Dear ChefSteps,

I want to start out by saying I love what you do. I have been a follower for several years, after seeing Chris Young give a presentation at my alma mater, Johnson & Wales University. I want to express my extreme disappointment in your latest email blast "Recipes for Tiger Blood". It's not the normal ChefSteps email I look forward to reading on a regular basis; it is an advertisement for a completely unresearched, extremely restrictive, fad "diet", Whole30. As someone with a degree in culinary nutrition and a future registered dietitian, it is astounding to see that the seemingly science-based minds at ChefSteps could promote such an unscientific, gimmicky diet.

You guys are all about educating people on how to cook great food. If you are going to start promoting nutrition and healthy eating, please, please (!!!), do some research. Consult with a registered dietitian for advice on what kinds of healthy eating plans are out there that actually have scientific research backing them up. Better yet, just google what you're promoting to see that health experts don't have much good to say about Whole30:

https://health.usnews.com/best-diet/whole30-diet/reviews

https://health.usnews.com/best-diet

I'm not sure about you, but #37 out of 40 diets as ranked by health and nutrition experts doesn't seem like it would be my first choice to promote, if I had as large of an audience and influence as ChefSteps does.

I will conclude this message by restating that I love what you do at ChefSteps. But please, leave nutrition and health to the experts.

Sincerely,

Rob F., BS-NDTR, FSP

Rhode Island

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Comments

robert.c.brown15

...sorry but what are you talking about? Haven’t received anything and google shows nothing. I agree. Whole30 is terrible. Can’t find ChefSteps pushing it though. Link?

rfancher9588

https://us3.campaign-archive.com/?u=9f69331c823fb9ca452fe5184&id=c366f6d08a&e=69b5d3b333

robert.c.brown15

Ugh. This is real? This is terrible.

tshewman

I don't view their recent blast as an opinion on dieting, but rather acknowledging that there are diets (be it fad or not) where SV can be used to make things more delicious. As for health experts, wrt registered dieticians.....ugh, many are still following the food pyramid and gov't recommendations when the science has evolved so much beyond and personalized nutrition is now envogue due to the advances in testing, yet registered dieticians rarely (if ever) do this (test the patient). With family member recently under care of the "experts" at a local hospital, they are anything but. Not much to do w/ CS obviously, and perhaps the recent Tiger's bl post was misunderstood. JMHO

Josh_Kramer_344268

Unsubscribed because of this email from CS. Stop pushing unhealthy pseudoscience. Was that email a paid campaign?

brian_martin2001

I'd be curious to see who their experts are understand the biological science behind their reasoning. I was pre-diabetic, and my doctor was was looking at a variety of potential options for me. Against her recommendation, I went on the highly restrictive keto diet. I lost a bunch of weight, no longer pre diabetic, and just watch what I eat. I'm not saying this diet is comparable, but I also find a lot of what is part of our recommended diet has more to do with profit than health.

Edit: after reviewing the whole 30 diet, it is very similar to the keto diet. The main difference I can see is this diet doesn't allow dairy, while keto does. The overall goal of the keto diet is to force your body into a ketogenic state. This is not to be confused with ketoacidosis, which is incredibly dangerous. Most people forget that ketones are an energy source the can cross the blood-brain barrier. Ketones are released when your body starts breaking down its fat stores. Granted, I'm not saying this diet should be adopted by everyone, but there are many people out there who have benefited from this type of diet, especially those who have run into trouble with the western diet.

Chris_Young_80640

Rob, and other ChefSteps followers, we made a mistake. ChefSteps is a company that cares a lot about great food and cooking, we are experts in the science of cooking, and we know a few things about engineering tools for the kitchen, but we are not experts in nutritional science.

We'll continue to advocate healthy eating is a good thing, but we won't be advocating for various diets going forward.

rfancher9588

The problem with the keto diet and others, like whole30, is that they are short-term solutions to a very long-term problem. "quick-fix" diets like these (although they claim not to be, they are), have a high rate of people reverting back to their old lifestyle. Some doctors push these diets because people complain to them that they want results now, which they provide, but really are not good for long-term healthy eating patterns. In order for a "diet" to be successful, it needs to promote gradual, long-term change that people can stick to for a lifetime. In addition, restrictive diets tend to be quite unsuccessful in the long run for obvious reasons- people don't like cutting things out of their diet suddenly that they have been eating for years; thus enters "cheat days", which brings a negative association with eating healthy because they are depriving themselves of eating what they like. You don't learn how to eat for a lifetime by doing a fad diet plan for 30 days, or even several months. Gradual introduction of healthier foods is the way to go, and can take years for people to really adjust to being a lifestyle. Please research the Mediterranean and DASH diets, which have a vast library of scientific research to show that they are effective, healthy lifestyles.

tshewman

Rob, while I agree,...... short term solutions are a good thing in context (e.g. to arrest a situation). Like meds, not great for long term, but good to get things back to where they should be. So there's a "place". Any diet that lacks nutritional components is obviously deficient. I suspect you'll find most agree with your views and reserve the right to use more extreme measures under more extreme circumstances. People like yourself have the advantage to combine the diet knowledge with great cooking (let's face it food is no fun if not good). But not all have the background and physiologic knowledge as to how nutrition and the body are linked.

lockgavin

What is funny to me is I read this email and thought nothing of the whole30. I was more bummed out by lack of new content and recipes, just the same old stuff I've looked at and/or tried already.

For me, do whatever you like, just get us some new content!

Alex_36374

I've been following ChefSteps since day one; have always been a fan. My only gripe is that there's not enough content or maybe I'm too greedy; I miss the earlier days (can we even say early days haha) when a video was simply featured with music and stellar videography. Nevertheless, still a fan.

As for Whole30 - I can't say that I'm a hater of it. It's basically Paleo, with subtle differences. Keto has been thrown into a similar mix of diets that people seem to be following; more about macrobiotics/fat intake. All three are constantly pitted against each other in blogs. And all three do have one thing in common: a different approach to Sugar. I think there's room for conscience eating, and having a better understanding of how individually you're affected by foods so that you can enjoy them more and improve your all around lifestyle. I think the FODMAP diet is really important for people to consider. I've been doing my own version of Paleo/Whole 30, and my body has responded well. I treat Sugar like the drug it is and I definitely party with Doughnuts here and there. And if CS puts out a recipe with Sugar as a key ingredient, I'm most likely going to make it, because I just can't not.

As for CS marketing against it, don't think it's that big of a deal. It speaks to a specific group of folks and they're saying that they support you whatever your culinary world looks like.

Let's be honest, if you were hit with a badass series of new recipes to start the New Year, you'd probably overlook the Whole30 marketing email; I know I would.

What recipe do you want them to take on: personally, I'd love to see some more ethnic cuisines, be it Persian, Indian, etc.

Liz_542285

As a 5'9" 125 lb diabetic, I do NOT need to lose weight. However, I choose to avoid medications, so I watch carbohydrate intake very, very carefully. By doing so, I maintain normal blood sugars. I have done a lot of research to see what works for me. Many people will not/cannot go to the extremes that I have in experimenting with their intake and need to be told what to eat and when--whether it be whole 30, keto, paleo, low carb, gluten free, or any other 'diet'. More power to them for trying to improve their situation.

I am not offended when I get an email full of sugar-laden desserts or heavily breaded meats even though they are detrimental to my health. I just keep scrolling. Let people make their own choices; it's not for me to judge. I love ChefSteps and applaud them for being inclusive in their offerings.

PayneEdward_1298337

I don't think chefs in general focus on the science behind the food... You should appreciate their recipes and don't really care about anything else. But your concern it's pretty valid, I admit. However, this doesn't the work they've done for years. I've met some of the best chefs in the world that had no idea about the scientific reasons behind the recipes and their food would still taste amazing. But once again, if you work in this field or you're a wellness coach I understand your concern and your opinion is valid even though it might be a little bit harsh

I agree that they should learn a little bit about nutrition too. Have a good day!

KennyOmega_1349860

I love Chefsteps but sometimes their promotions make me angry. I understand your feelings.

KennyOmega_1349860

However, some of their promotions are relatively good. So I just skip the nonsense and read the necessary e-mails. But I don't agree that chefs don't focus on the science behind the food. It's not true. To create and to promote a good diet you need to know how this or that ingredient affects the human body, learn its features, etc. You can't do that without the scientific background. When I had problems with my stomach, my doctor suggested me a severe diet. Btw, it took very fast to had a meeting with him because their clinic implemented the care management software that optimizes the work in general. That really helps med. staff in making good decisions.

RoseWright_1357468

Oh, I would agree that nowadays this problem still exists. The internet sometimes might be the trigger to some health issues, and sometimes can give you unfair and untrue information. I seldom rely on internet information, especially about food. When I started my healthy diet, the only information I took online was https://attractionlaw.org/8-ways-to-motivate-yourself-to-eat-healthier/, because it indeed helped me a lot to understand how to get and stay motivated and not ruin your healthy diet. It was a big help for me.

ssLi_1360996

Hi Rob, I like the way you think about promoting and advertising good nutrition (I wish more such propagandists). Good nutrition is key to everything. Before you start talking about something, you need to learn all about it, my cousin a couple of years ago suffered from stomach problems and solved them online at iinsight.biz with a local expert. According to my brother, he liked the special diet, the duration of this diet, and the result that came out of it all. Guys be very careful with their health)