There's something bizarre going on with our food logic. If
we are so low fat aware, why is our society supposedly getting fatter?
The weight problem has been called an epidemic. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Jeffrey
P. Koplan last month released figures which showed the number of overweight children and teenagers had doubled
in the last 20 years. Clearly there is a problem.
There are so many quests to find a fat gene or studies blaming obesity on a virus. Sure these studies are important,
but you can't help wondering at the profit motive behind all this. Look at what happened when Cellasene was unleashed
on the public! There's big money to be made in fighting fat.
A recent article in the National Post pointed out that no scientific experiment has ever linked dietary fat to
heart disease. Author Brad Evenson said the death rate from heart attack has declined because patients now have
access to better treatment, and not because of new low-fat diets.
A report published in The Lancet earlier this year blamed soft drinks for the rise in obesity. The Children's Hospital
in Boston found children chose soft drinks over milk and were now getting an extra 15-20 teaspoons of sugar per
day.
Author, lawyer, and well-known 'quackbuster' Michael Fumento wrote the book Fat Of The Land. Our Health Crisis
and How Overweight Americans Can Help Themselves. He says most low fat foods are not low calorie and "non
fat makes us fatter".
There's also the issue of serving sizes. Americans tend to have gigantic food portions whereas Europeans eat smaller
servings but better quality food, which is more filling. Quality over quantity.
Australia's leading nutritionist Dr Rosemary Stanton also warns us to be aware of 'value added' foods. In our hurry
hurry lifestyle, food manufacturers have found a willing market for processed foods. Dr Stanton uses the example
of fish fingers - food companies can get a lot of mileage out of a fish fillet by chopping it up into fish fingers
and 'padding' them out with a high fat coating.
Rather than getting a piece of fish, you're getting fish, breadcrumbs, fat and goodness knows what else at probably
twice the calories of a plain, oven-baked fresh fillet with perhaps a nice sauce which you could have made yourself!
Notice I said calories before and not fat? This is where we may be going wrong. We look at the fat content instead
of the total calories involved. That low fat ice cream may contain 1 percent fat, but be loaded up with extra sugar
to compensate for the godawful lack of flavor. Because you think low fat, you tend to eat more of it. You'd be
better off buying the full fat version as you'd probably eat less.
This is where it starts to make a little sense. We are eating less fat, but in the process we are probably eating
more calories overall. And we are exercising less. This all equals a larger waistline.
So what do we do? Take some serious notes from the Europeans - choose quality rather than a mountain of food. Think
of a European restaurant and the wonderful foods that are presented. Now think of a American-style restaurant.
It's all burgers and fries! Maybe nice every now and again but hardly at the top of the culinary tree.
And throw away your diet book. It will make you fat! |
