As I knew it would, my review of the latest and greatest dieting craze, Trim Healthy Mama, has drawn the attention of many readers. I was just surprised how quickly it touched off an online firestorm, all because I dared point out flaws in the holy cow of "natural" sweeteners, stevia - while repeatedly making it clear that the principles behind the plan itself work exceptionally well, and can be followed without the use of stevia or the other plan-approved sweeteners.
Unlike the authors of the book, and the THM admins on Facebook, I have so far posted every comment, and have every intention to continue to do so. The vast majority of comments confirmed what my post was about: the program works, but stevia causes miscarriage and/or infertility. This is as sad as it is true.
My post ignited a firestorm on the main THM Facebook group the same day I posted it, when someone I do not know shared a link to it there.
When this was first posted, I happened to be stuck in the waiting room at my OB's office, surfing Facebook. I texted my husband and asked him to take a screen shot, because I knew it would soon be deleted. No gift of prophecy necessary - it's par for the course on any THM board.
Things quickly started to crash and burn after that, with post after post getting yanked from the board, other ladies expressing their anger over this, and many more yet going on there and pledging their undying support for the authors and the admins, who "work so hard." I guess working hard at something automatically makes it immune from failure.
I have since been banned from all THM groups, in spite of the fact that I have repeatedly said the program works well, that I follow the program myself (minus the suggested Frankenfoods), that I did not post anything on their board that violates their rules, or any other such thing. I was banned because I dared share my experiences with stevia on my own, personal blog, which is not connected to THM in any way, shape, or form. It's kind of like when teachers get fired because they post on Facebook in support of traditional marriage.
Here is my big beef with Pearl and Serene, the authors of the Trim Healthy Mama book: They have failed to do their due diligence in pointing out possible harmful effects of stevia.
In fact, not only have they failed to do so, but they are making a concerted, aggressive attempt to never allow this issue to surface.
The three defenses they have used to date are:
(1) They do not wish to "sow seeds of fear" in their members. This reasoning has been stated again and again. In other words, it might worry people - and unnecessarily so, in the minds of these self-proclaimed, infallible nutritional experts and scientists. By very definition, this would completely PRECLUDE them from being able to shed any light on the stevia controversy. Remember, they are trying to stay away from every "seed" of fear.
(2) They are trying to avoid all "drama" and "negativity" on their boards. Well, that is very sweet of them indeed, and a point I can certainly sympathize with. The only problem is, some issues, unpleasant though they may be, MUST be brought to light to prevent greater harm. I guess there is no entirely positive way in which to tell someone they are wrong, and attempt to correct them.
(3) They have already covered this subject extensively, so much so that all their members are more than well aware of the issue. In other words, people who keep questioning the safety of stevia are kicking a dead horse, tying up the board, boring other members, and somehow unduly burdening the FB group admins by doing so. Of course, point (3) completely flies in the face of points (1) and (2), but don't let that bother you. Also, the vast majority of THM followers are NOT aware of this, at all. If they are, they most likely did NOT hear it on any public THM outlet. Which is why, when the topic briefly surfaces before being shut down, people start following the thread, react with "what? is this true? I have never heard this before," and the like. I, for one, was completely unaware of any possible dangers of stevia, until someone outside the THM world brought it to my attention.
There are also many controversies surrounding the safety of vaccines, pharmaceuticals, water fluoridation, and other things the government deems not just perfectly safe, but actually health-promoting. Yet, in the interest of informed consent, all these come with more warnings than the THM authors are willing to give about stevia. They are so sure of its completely unverified safety as relating to human reproduction that in spite of their Biblical beliefs and pro-life position, they are willing to make the decision for all their followers to just shut up already and use stevia, because they said so. Disagree, even on your own website, and the boot you will get.
If the program works equally well with natural sweeteners that the Bible has nothing but good to say about (and it does), why be so adamant that everyone conform to a questionable new sweetener that many have misgivings about? Why aggressively go after and silence those who want to use the program, with their own tweaks to it? Must one also eat fat-free Redi-Whip, Dreamfields pasta and denatured whey protein for the program to work? (blech!) No, of course not, and the authors claim no such thing. They are only adamant about defending stevia. Why? Because they falsely believe it to be an integral part of their plan (it's not), so throwing it out would mean having to majorly overhaul their program. Not to mention that they are working on selling their own brand of stevia (ouch).
Truly, the love of money IS the root of all evil. There is no reason
whatsoever to ban any discourse on stevia, and to silence those who
attribute their miscarriages and/or infertility to it, while the authors
then go on to claim that they have never yet met anyone that put the
blame on stevia. They may not have met them personally - but they have
heard from scores and scores, and gone on silence them in an attempt to
cover up any connection. This is just nefarious, which is why I am going to make such information available on my blog, and actually open the topic up to discourse.
Yes, it is indeed a tedious and time-consuming job to keep deleting all those pesky negative threads that ask about a connection between stevia and miscarriage. They are so common, one could almost make a full-time job of it. You know, because it is absolutely not founded in reality. Or, one could simply allow civil discourse, and for people to walk away having come to their own conclusions.
To claim that the admins do not have time to deal with these sort of topics is simply not true - they don't need to deal with them. Surely, THM readers could just have a thread discussing this without needing someone to hold their hands and play moderator. That would actually be less work for these poor time-constrained martyrs for the cause of public health and trim waistlines. There are plenty of ladies on there who will defend stevia, provide links to all the studies that supposedly support them in this belief, etc. If THM followers en masse will be scared and horrified to hear about a possible connection between stevia and miscarriage, maybe there is truth in it? Or maybe it's such an important topic that we should not be silencing it, as it is raised almost daily? Maybe some of us who call ourselves Christians would choose to err on the side of caution when it comes to the lives of our children, except that this information is intentionally being hidden from us?
Furthermore, to say that the authors have already repeatedly made all this information available is a lie. The book barely touches on it, in passing. I had to search up and down in it to find their brief reference to the safety concerns surrounding stevia, and that in spite of the fact that I own an electronic copy and could search for "stevia" specifically.
We are told that the main THM group on FB has a list of documents, which specifically answer these questions that are being raised repeatedly.
We are told that the main THM group on FB has a list of documents, which specifically answer these questions that are being raised repeatedly.
Let's see how that holds up:
(1) The Facebook group is a "closed" group. As such, one must be accepted to join.
(2) As of yesterday, their documents page contained 91 (!) articles.
(3) After those looking into THM have joined a closed group and waded through 91 articles, they may stumble across the 1 (!!!) that addresses the concerns many have with stevia. I had a hard time finding this article yesterday, in spite of the fact that I knew what I was looking for, and where to find it. Of course, why would someone new to THM be looking for it in the first place, since the book never makes a point to warn them about potential controversies regarding stevia, but rather assures readers that all is fine and dandy.
Please also note that no threads relating to topics covered in the 90 other articles ever get deleted from public discussion, no matter how repetitive they are.
Please also note that no threads relating to topics covered in the 90 other articles ever get deleted from public discussion, no matter how repetitive they are.
There is one reason, and one alone, why this topic is strictly banned on any official THM page: they don't like it. They want it to go away.
Any reasonable person knows that investigating a matter, and opening it up for discussion, brings MORE light to an issue. If stevia is safe, then investigating its safety will only confirm that. The authors have heard from enough women like myself to know that there is one reason why this issue keeps persistently popping up: it may be true. Even if it isn't, people may feel more comfortable to forgo using stevia, because they are more comfortable erring on the side of caution. And wouldn't that be terrible! They may not buy the book, or their new line of stevia. Let's keep people in the dark, so they will continue to buy our stuff. If we worry them, they might not do so.
This makes me sick, because we are talking about more than just money here. We are talking about the lives of the unborn, and the health of their mothers. The authors should be honest and repent. Instead, they are flustered and defensive, because people bringing this topic up touches a nerve. All I am asking is that they put a big, huge, visible disclaimer on their program that says that some ladies have implicated stevia in their miscarriage and/or infertility, and that there are no available scientific studies establishing the safety of stevia as relating to human reproduction. They have failed to do so, and are refusing to correct this.
In the meantime, I will put myself out there as one that at least brings light to the controversy, allowing people to make their own decisions that they can morally feel most comfortable with.