Pat Roberston Says Low-Carb Diet Violates Scripture, Author Lashes Back

Evangelist Pat Robertson has taken exception to a news segment on his own 700 Club program, refuting the claims from author Jimmy Moore that low-carbohydrate diets are the best way to get healthy.

Following the story on Moore—who lost 180 pounds in one year and has kept the weight off for nine years—Robertson took issue with low-carb weight-loss plans like the Atkins Diet, in which individuals cut out things like bread and load up on proteins and fats such as eggs, cheese, butter and bacon. 

Robertson said the physical repercussions of such a diet are severe. 

“When your body burns this stuff with no carbohydrates, what happens is you build up the clinkers,” he said. “The carbs are the fire that burns everything. If you don’t have that, you get swollen joints, you get gout, you get all kinds of problems where you ache like crazy. It violates the principles that God set down.”

Moore, who co-authored a book with Dr. Eric Westman titled, Cholesterol Clarity, was surprised at Robertson’s rebuttal. 

“Who knew the five-minute story about my low-carb weight loss success and new cholesterol book on the 700 Club would spawn this kind of viral reaction,” Moore said on his Facebook page. “Perhaps those ill-advised comments by Pat at the end of the segment about my low-carb, high-fat diet will turn out to be a blessing in disguise as more and more people watch it to see what all the controversy was about.”

In their book, Moore and Westman point to new scientific evidence showing that inflammation is the main cause of heart disease and other problems and that the inflammation comes from eating too many carbohydrates and not from high cholesterol. 

A commenter on a story from the Huffington Post also took exception to Robertson’s comments.

“I have been eating a low-carb way of eating for over 9 years,” Skeeter N said. “This way of eating is not unhealthy. It is not a fad! There are many studies out that shows the science behind this way of eating and why it works. Low fat doesn’t work, if it did we wouldn’t have the epidemic of over weight people in the US. I am also a Christian and take offense that the way I eat is somehow against God’s teachings.

“I do not eat all meat but a balance of meat and vegetables. Just nothing that is naturally high in carbs or will turn to sugar in my stomach. I will also say that all food has carbs except fresh meat so this is not a NO carb diet. To have a man as reputable as Jimmy Moore on then follow his interview with what Pat Robertson said as if his word is absolute truth without knowing the facts is very disappointing.”