[North Carolina] State Threatens to Shut Down Nutrition Blogger
The North Carolina Board of Dietetics/Nutrition is threatening to send a blogger to jail for recounting publicly his battle against diabetes and encouraging others to follow his lifestyle.
Chapter 90, Article 25 of the North Carolina General Statutes makes it a misdemeanor to âpractice dietetics or nutritionâ without a license. According to the law, âpracticingâ nutrition includes âassessing the nutritional needs of individuals and groupsâ and âproviding nutrition counseling.â
Steve Cooksey has learned that the definition, at least in the eyes of the state board, is expansive.
When he was hospitalized with diabetes in February 2009, he decided to avoid the fate of his grandmother, who eventually died of the disease. He embraced the low-carb, high-protein Paleo diet, also known as the âcavemanâ or âhunter-gathererâ diet. The diet, he said, made him drug- and insulin-free within 30 days. By May of that year, he had lost 45 pounds and decided to start a blog about his success.
But this past January the state diatetics and nutrition board decided Cookseyâs blog â Diabetes-Warrior.net â violated state law. The nutritional advice Cooksey provides on the site amounts to âpracticing nutrition,â the boardâs director says, and in North Carolina thatâs something you need a license to do.
Unless Cooksey completely rewrites his 3-year-old blog, he could be sued by the licensing board. If he loses the lawsuit and refuses to take down the blog, he could face up to 120 days in jail.
The boardâs director says Cooksey has a First Amendment right to blog about his diet, but he canât encourage others to adopt it unless the state has certified him as a dietitian or nutritionist.
