Dietary Scapegoats
>> 18 September 2007
Whether we like to admit it or not, we are subject to the influence of what 'experts' tell us. In some ways we have to be; none of us has the time (or interest...or patience...) to be an expert in everything (even though I know we've all met those people who talk so much they've convinced themselves that they do, in fact, know everything).
I've found that this is the case with food and nutrition. Do we really understand what all of these vitamins and minerals that we are supposed to be getting in our daily diet really do for us? Phosphorus? Iron? How many Vitamin B's can there be? Should we place a cap of 12 on Vitamin B's and form a Vitamin F category to simplify things?... So many questions...and because most of us are too lazy to figure it out, we're keeping GNC in business just to fill our daily quota.
Another thing I've noticed, though I haven't been around too long: The FDA seems to find a new nutritional villain every couple of years -- I'm not one to conjure up conspiracy theories, but I think it's just because someone at the FDA is getting bored and feels like shaking things up. The following is a roughly chronological list of nutritional stuff I've noticed over the last couple of decades that have more or less been deemed evil by the nutritional community:
- Fat / Sugar: These were always pretty obvious to us. Fat...well, made you fat. Sugar was the obvious culprit of rotting teeth and increased weight.
- Cholesterol / Sodium: As far as I can tell, these became the scapegoats in the early 90's as a result of increased awareness of heart disease.
- Nutrasweet: Oh, the irony of creating a substitute for sugar that ends up being a suspected carcinogen. I heard somewhere that this is also responsible for male infertility.
- Carbs: I've never seen something condemned as quickly as carbs were after the Atkins' revolution came about. Carbs have slowly worked their way back into our hearts, but the initial blow to the relationship indicates that it will never be the same.
- Trans Fat: This is the current hot topic. If you even mention the word in a restaurant the place is immediately evacuated.
Well, I think the lesson to be learned here is just try to eat healthy and don't worry about percentages.
3 ideas preached:
I think you left off MSG and what about saturated fats. But what about attacking the egg. Remember how there was an all out war on the egg and eating one would instantly clog an artery and then they come up with the commercials that they are heart healthy. I don't get it. Are they a bunch of flip floppers.
Like I told JD, the more upper level science classes I take the more I see that what we believe is really only what we 'believe', there is so much we don't actually know. We take preliminary data that looks ok and run with it. Perfect example, all this hullabaloo about the HPV vaccine. Most of the data seems good now, but we still don't know what will happen in 30 or 40 years.
I'm going to be riding the Guar Gum coat tails on this controversy. It's an ingredient in Ice Cream that is used to keep it creamy instead of turning icy in the freezer. Oh yea.... the saturated fat in the Ice Cream will probaby kill you, but the Guar Gum will take the fall. Bet on it. Great Blog. Said it before, will say it again.
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