Eat What You Like

The Japanese eat very little fat and suffer fewer heart attacks than the British or Americans. On the other hand, the French eat a lot of fat and also suffer fewer heart attacks than the British or Americans. The Japanese drink very little red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks than the British or Americans. The Italians drink excessive amounts of red wine and also suffer fewer heart attacks than the British or Americans. Conclusion: Eat & drink what you like. It's speaking English that kills you.

Underfunding Healthy Foods

In a Baltimore Sun feature by Scott Kahan it appears that "A long-running contradiction in U.S. farm policy is fattening the waistlines of Americans and the profits of agribusiness at the same time. For the 30 years that the U.S. Department of Agriculture has been issuing dietary guidelines, there has been a stark inconsistency between the federal government's advice and its food funding."

"True, the USDA has been doing more, over time, to promote health through dietary guidelines, food pyramids and other nutrition programs. And yet more than $20 billion yearly -- more than one-fifth its budget -- is sunk into a farm bill that supports many of the foods its recommendations warn against. At the same time, the department virtually ignores incentives to produce, promote and consume some of the healthiest foods: fruits and vegetables."

"This contradiction may play a role in today's obesity epidemic and is in part driven by a counterintuitive farm policy, highlighted by the farm bill, which is up for renewal this year in Congress. This legislation began during the Depression to protect farmers against environmental disasters and plummeting crop prices but has evolved into a massive program of handouts, largely benefiting agribusinesses. Worse, it promotes vast overproduction of crops that are the building blocks of calorie-dense, nutrient-poor, processed junk foods. It has become a 'food bill.'"

Jeff's take: overweight and obesity are the antithesis of Breathing Space. Learn to shop for yourself and eat what is healthy, or endure the consequences.

Breathing Space from Junk Foods?

Julia Watson, writing for ScienceDaily.com reports that in cities where transfat has been banned "interesterified fats" are being introduced. "Food manufacturers loved trans fats. They were essential to baked goods and fried food. They prolonged a processed food's shelf life. They stabilized its flavor. What was not to like?"

"Well, what happened when vegetable oil was solidified by means of adding hydrogen to it -- the process behind the making of trans fats -- was that they raised our so-called bad cholesterol while diminishing the cholesterol that was good for our hearts. But if trans fats are withdrawn, something has to take their place if we're going to go on eating processed and fried foods."

"Enter interesterified fats. These are fats modified by procedures that include hydrogenation followed by the rearrangement of fat molecules through a process called interesterification. Already they are being introduced into a number of processed foods as the most popular substitute for hydrogenated oils. Watch out, though, and wait. Interesterified fats may be better for our cholesterol, but they could be bad for our blood glucose."

"Trans fats weren't too good for it either. But in a study just published in Nutrition and Metabolism, Dr. K.C. Hayes of Brandeis University in Massachusetts and T. Karupaiah and Kalyana Sundram from the Malaysian Palm Oil Board discovered that while trans fat 'has a weak negative influence on blood glucose,' interesterified fat appears even worse in that regard, raising glucose 20 percent in a month."

Oh brother!

Eat Poorly, Live Poorly

Nanci Hellmich writing in USA Today cites a study conducted for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicating that Americans are not eating enough fruits and vegetables:

“Despite mom's good advice, most of us aren't eating our fruits and vegetables, at least not enough of them, according to a large government study released Thursday. Only about 27% of adults in the USA ate vegetables three or more times a day in 2005, and 33% ate fruit two or more times a day that year. A higher percentage of women than men ate this much, according to interviews with more than 305,000 people conducted for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).”