A Tribute to Mariana de Abreu Bastian: Low Carb Brasil Organizer Tragically Killed in Crash Along with Son

We are stunned and deeply saddened to let you know of another tragic death of one of our dear SMHP members. 41-year-old Mariana de Abreu Bastian and her 5-year-old son were hit by an alleged drunk driver in the early morning hours this past Sunday.  The accident happened on her way home in the south region of Brazil.

Mariana has attended many of the past Grand Rounds with us, always quietly learning, and keeping up with the latest, and planning to become an accredited MHP, so that she could continue to be instrumental in bringing therapeutic carbohydrate restriction (TCR) education to the people of Brazil.

She was the founder of an organization in her area that does big things, and had been planning another Brasil Low Carb conference for April of 2023, which Doug Reynolds and Pam Devine had just started their plans to attend. They had only just been invited to “represent Low Carb USA and the SMHP” by her.

Mariana was also an important member of The SMHP Outreach Committee, and was a passionate force on a mission to help to spread awareness of how TCR can be used to improve metabolic health and reverse a long list of medical conditions.

“I’m just so very, very sad,” said Pam, “It’s so overwhelmingly heartbreaking. Mariana was the most beautiful person inside and out. She was doing so many important things, including an innovative underserved community protein donation program, that we were hoping to learn how to duplicate, and inspire others to do the same in other geographic areas.

We are simply devastated about Mariana and her son. We had so much that we wanted to do together. We were really looking forward to our trip down to Brasil to participate in the April conference, to finally meet her in person, and all of Brasil Low Carb community, and help keep education and awareness campaigns going.

Our deep condolences and support go out to her husband – Dr Carlos Bastian, all of her family, and many, many friends, and the entire community. Her loss will surely be felt for years to come. This has been a really tough year, as this adds to our loss of yet another great woman pioneer along with Adele Hite, and Sarah Hallberg. 🙁