CACA Winner – Jorge Cruise--Again!

REMEMBER: The CACA is all about what I/we don’t understand.  It does not suggest that the person, product or service is in any way dishonest, untruthful, scamming, etc.  It simply acknowledges that I/we do not understand how it is scientifically correct, honest, truthful, logical or legit.  By submitting someone or something for a CACA or awarding to someone or something a CACA, we are admitting our own shortcomings, not theirs. 

I cannot vouch for the current existence of any quotes or images I present in a CACA plea for help in understanding.  For example, websites change and people may remove things that are revealed to be wrong, mistaken, etc.  However, all images and quotes did exist at one time.

You might recall the following from Jorge's first CACA:

Jorge promotes his latest weight loss scheme as "The Yale University endorsed 3-Hour Diet™..."  (http://www.jorgecruise.com/home/index.php?page=HIW3).  I was unable to find any endorsement from Yale University.  There is a foreword written by an MD from Yale.  Whether this represents an endorsement from Yale or from a private individual who works at Yale University is uncertain.  I personally suspect it is the latter.  If you read the “Commercial Use” section of the “Licensing Program” information for Yale University at http://www.yale.edu/licensing/other.html, you would find that it states, in part, that “Yale University does not endorse products or services.  Therefore, permission will not be granted for use of the name or trademarks of the University in a manner that may be misunderstood as an endorsement.”  Mr.  Cruise’s website would either seem to indicate a different policy, as the name of the University is clearly used in a manner that can only be understood as an endorsement, or something else.  You decide.  Whatever, it all just serves to further confuse me and reinforce why Jorge was awarded a CACA.

Oh, yeah.  I almost forgot.  I thought that I would seek a clarification from Yale University just in case the Yale website was mistaken, out-of-date, etc.  So I wrote a letter of inquiry.  This was the response:

Well, guess what?  The Yale endorsement is no longer on his website.  Now how can that be?

Is it possible that Jorge got caught telling a fib? Or is it simply that he corrected the error of thinking that Yale University endorsed his diet scheme?  I mean anybody could make that mistake, right?  Certainly each of us has had the experience of waking up one day and realizing that a premier academic institution known world-over has endorsed our business without telling us about it.

Although you might not be in agreement, I am sure that the whole "Look at me!  Yale University endorses my program!" thing could not have been a deception, an intentional misrepresentation, a lie, a ruse or any other less than savory attempt by some crook to sell garbage.  If it were, don't you think that the infotainers would have picked-up on it, what with all the research facilities at their disposal?  Even if they did miss the apparent falsity of the Yale claim, you'd think that they would do some research before they go out and provide medical advice in association with their names.  Or that AOL, EXTRA, First for Woman magazine and USA WEEKEND (see below) would dissociate themselves from a true con person?

Well, now that the website is changed, I am beginning to worry about the Jor-man's well-being.  My fear is that Jorge may have Alzheimer's.  Here is what he has posted now on his "How Our Diet Works" page at: http://www.3hourdiet.com/home/index.php?page=HIW3:

Studies suggest that people who eat the right foods every three hours lose fat around their middle first! Why? Because WHEN you eat is critical for increasing your energy, suppressing appetite and lowering the levels of cortisol, the belly bulging hormone!

A major study at the Department of Medicine at the University of Toronto showed that by increasing the frequency of when you eat for just two weeks, subjects reduced the their levels of Cortisol by 17% 1.  This study showed that a diet made up of smaller and more frequent meals not only lowered the levels of Cortisol, but also reduced levels of insulin and cholesterol.

By following the 3-Hour Diet™ and reducing the level of Cortisol in your body, it becomes easier to lose stubborn Belly Fat First™.  By eating three meals, two between-meal snacks and an after-dinner treat under the 3-Hour Diet™ plan you will not only lose an average of 2 pounds per week, but you will improve your levels of insulin and cholesterol.

1 - Nibbling vs. Gorging: Metabolic Advantages if Increased Meal Frequency by D. Jenkins, et. al. (1999); Department of Medicine, University of Toronto

It appears to me that the Jor-man's deal is this cortisol stuff.  

As near as I can tell, he has basically only this one story to tell and I think he ought to know it by now.  But that's just me, and I acknowledge that I do not have the smarts to understand this guy and that is why he gets a CACA.  Still, look at the one and only reference he cites:

Nibbling vs. Gorging: Metabolic Advantages if Increased Meal Frequency by D. Jenkins, et. al. (1999); Department of Medicine, University of Toronto

Shouldn't that be "Advantages of Increased Meal Frequency"?  In Jorge's first CACA, we established that spelling was not his strong suit.  But his one and only reference?  Please.

And here is another thing I cannot quite understand.

The only article I could find that has this title and author is from the New England Journal of Medicine.  Here is the URL of its abstract: http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/abstract/321/14/929?ijkey=e1a5d2e59bb94a123cf15e28ea30ff575443e969&keytype2=tf_ipsecsha

Here is the official citation: N Engl J Med 1989;321:929–34.  This means New England Journal of Medicine, published 1989; Volume 321: pages 929-934.

Shouldn't the Jor-man know that he is off by a decade?  It is not 1999.

Here is the abstract:

Volume 321:929-934 October 5, 1989 Number 14

Nibbling versus gorging: metabolic advantages of increased meal frequency

DJ Jenkins, TM Wolever, V Vuksan, F Brighenti, SC Cunnane, AV Rao, AL Jenkins, G Buckley, R Patten, W Singer, and et al.

Abstract

We studied the effect of increasing the frequency of meals on serum lipid concentrations and carbohydrate tolerance in normal subjects. Seven men were assigned in random order to two metabolically identical diets. One diet consisted of 17 snacks per day (the nibbling diet), and the other of three meals per day (the three-meal diet); each diet was followed for two weeks. As compared with the three-meal diet, the nibbling diet reduced fasting serum concentrations of total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and apolipoprotein B by a mean (+/- SE) of 8.5 +/- 2.5 percent (P less than 0.02), 13.5 +/- 3.4 percent (P less than 0.01), and 15.1 +/- 5.7 percent (P less than 0.05), respectively. Although the mean blood glucose level and serum concentrations of free fatty acids, 3-hydroxybutyrate, and triglyceride were similar during both diets, during the nibbling diet the mean serum insulin level decreased by 27.9 +/- 6.3 percent (P less than 0.01) and the mean 24-hour urinary C-peptide output decreased by 20.2 +/- 5.6 percent (P less than 0.02). In addition, the mean 24-hour urinary cortisol excretion was lower by 17.3 +/- 5.9 percent (P less than 0.05) at the end of the nibbling diet than at the end of the three-meal diet. The blood glucose, serum insulin, and C-peptide responses to a standardized breakfast and the results of an intravenous glucose-tolerance test conducted at the end of each diet were similar. We conclude that in addition to the amount and type of food eaten, the frequency of meals may be an important determinant of fasting serum lipid levels, possibly in relation to changes in insulin secretion.


Source Information

Department of Nutritional Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, St. Michael's Hospital, University of Toronto, ON, Canada.

 

If this is the article, isn't it from the Department of Nutritional Sciences, not the "Department of Medicine" as the Jor says?

And as far as his website's quote presented above, "This study showed that a diet made up of smaller and more frequent meals..." check out the abstract.  In this study, the nibblers ate 17 snacks.  If this is a 3-hour diet, then I calculate Jorge's day as being more than twice as long as on planet Earth.  Which I actually get, since I cannot see any earthly science to support what Jorge says by and large, anyway.  

With only one reference to remember, shouldn't he at least get it right?  That is why I am worried about his well-being.  Alzheimer's is "a progressive form of presenile dementia that is similar to senile dementia except that it usually starts in the 40s or 50s; first symptoms are impaired memory which is followed by impaired thought and speech and finally complete helplessness."  From http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=alzheimer%27s, source: WordNet ® 2.0, © 2003 Princeton University.

Described thusly by himself, Jorge couldn't be a moron:  "Jorge serves as the official "Weight Loss Coach" for AOL's 23 million subscribers, is seen nationwide as the regular "Diet & Fitness Correspondent" for EXTRA and serves as the "Slimming Coach" for First for Woman magazine. More than 50 million USA WEEKEND readers enjoy timely advice from Jorge every Sunday as their "FitSmart Columnist"and in addition, Jorge appears regularly on television on shows that include: Oprah, Good Morning America, The Today Show, Dateline NBC, CNN and The View. Jorge is the New York Time best selling author of The 3-Hour Diet™(HarperCollins, 2005) and 8 Minutes in the Morning® (HarperCollins, 2003)"   (from www.jorgecruise.com).  Or could he?

I mean, no one this guru-like could be that stupid, could they?  That is why I am wondering about Alzheimer's.  That would account for what I perceive as impaired memory and thoughts.  I wonder if this whole 3-hour diet thing and that silly (in my opinion) 8-minute exercise thing causes Alzheimer's.

I don't know, maybe it is me.  Perhaps because of my own shortcomings and inabilities, an appreciation of this Jor's "science" and value, still eludes me.  My bad.  My Alzheimer's.

The Jor still claims to be "America"s (sic) Leading Weight Loss Expert!" from http://www.jorgecruise.com/.  Maybe I expect too much from an "Expert!"  Like knowledge.  (By the way, doesn't he know that an apostrophe has only one line, not two?)

I don't know about you, but if Jorge has only one cortisol song to sing and cannot get the tune and lyrics right, I am not so sure that I would trust him to know the more complicated stuff, like the far-reaching effects of cortisol in the human body on which thousands of articles and hundreds book chapters have been written, let alone take his advice on how best to regulate it.

Truth is, I don't trust him, or his advisory dunce circle, to know squat.  Probably because I don't know better.

Well, at least he dropped the Yale endorsement angle.  But, there still is that trash, in my opinion, on his website about all those calories that muscle supposedly burns at rest.  And he still has that misleading, in my opinion, MRI image.  And he is still in denial of the Law of Thermodynamics.  And other silly things.  Like this gee whiz Shockwave animation at http://www.3hourdiet.com/home/index.php?page=HIW3.  At this URL, you can see it in the context of Jorge's web page.

Or you can download it to play it in the comfort and convenience of your own home whenever you want.  Just open it in your browser with Shockwave plug-in.  You can get the plug-in for free at Macromedia's website.  Here is the link to Jorge's cartoon: http://www.3hourdiet.com/static/wire_frame.swf

This animation shows a belly getting bigger on Jorge's diet.  Or is it getting smaller?  I guess it depends on your perspective.  It starts off flat and then protrudes.  You decide.

In any event, the part of the belly that gets bigger after being smaller looks like the part directly beneath your skin.  The page caption is: "Eat every three hours and you will lose weight - starting with belly fat first."  Then Jorge goes into his cortisol rap:

Studies suggest that people who eat the right foods every three hours lose fat around their middle first! Why? Because WHEN you eat is critical for increasing your energy, suppressing appetite and lowering the levels of cortisol, the belly bulging hormone!

So what is “belly fat”?  I mean, if I told you that you would lose belly fat first, would you think that I was talking about the fat:

a.         directly under your skin around your belly,

b.         in your abdominal cavity under your abdominal muscles or

c.          surrounding your kidneys?

I’ll tell you.

"Research has shown that people with diseases that cause extreme exposure to the stress hormone cortisol -- such as Cushing's Syndrome -- have excessive amounts of central or visceral fat… Central fat tends to be highly sensitive to the effects of circulating stress hormones like cortisol.  This type of fat responds to cortisol's presence by increasing in size…" (From The UCSF Center for Health and Community at http://www.chc.ucsf.edu/archives/StressCauseAbdominalFatBuildup.htm)

What is “visceral fat”? Here are three definitions:

Visceral fat is the fat in the abdominal cavity (stomach) surrounding the vital organs. (From http://www.tanita.com/IconLegendIron.shtml)

One of the three compartments of abdominal fat. Retroperitoneal and subcutaneous are the other two components. (From http://www.surgassoc.com/bariatric_glossary.html#V)

(retroperitoneal fat is choice c and subcutaneous fat is choice a, above.)

Fat buried deep within your body's tissues; very difficult to get rid of.   (From a new National Institutes of Health funded study called the MOTIV8 Adherence Project, a collaboration among the KC Free Health Clinic, Truman Medical Center, and the University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC) Schools of Medicine and Dentistry, the Department of Psychology’s HIV/AIDS Research Group at http://cas.umkc.edu/psyc/motiv8/default.asp)

So if you think that losing “belly fat” was losing the fat directly beneath your skin, that dimply, hanging, flabby mass of flesh you can grab, as is shown in Jorge's animation, you’ve been punked.

The bottom line to me, since I cannot understand the Jor's science, is that he is not "America"s (sic) Leading Weight Loss Expert!"  He is, in my opinion, one of America's Leading/Most Prominent Weight Loss Embarrassments/Idiots who has found a way to take a lot of money from a lot of people for no good reason that I can see.

If someone out there can explain all this to me, I'd be grateful.  Until then, Jorge Cruise is the first ever two times CACA award winner.