Low Carbs, Low Fat, Who Cares?
By Tam Jenkins, for TheWorldJournal.com
As I was walking through the grocery store the other
day I came across an entire section devoted to Low Carb products. I had to
chuckle to myself as I thought about all the other diet fads I had seen
over the years. I had to admit this one really does top the list. Being a
person that thrives on pasta and potatoes I knew I would last about five
minutes on such a restricted program as this one mandates. I thought to
myself “I wonder what the next fad will be in five years?” What else can
we give up in our daily diet that will promise to make us slim and fit and
healthy in a matter of 6-8 weeks? Unless you are more obese, then it might
take you longer to achieve your usually over unrealistic diet goal. What
ever happened to a basic healthy balanced diet?
I am sure if our ancestors could see what is going on they would find this
all very amusing. Especially those that lived on fried potatoes and onions
cooked in pure lard and eggs fried in bacon fat every morning for
breakfast. Maybe the fact that a strong cup of coffee and a hard days work
evened out the chances of their bodies becoming inflicted with major
health problems like we have today. I realize people died of diseases and
heart conditions years ago as well, but many of them lived long wonderful
lives, never having to taste the bland cardboard textured rice cakes or
low fat graham crackers. If only we could all be so lucky in life.
Years of hard work, fresh vegetables, and smaller amounts of meat lead to
a much healthier life style. My mother mentioned that when she was growing
up they cooked one chicken for a family of six. If you were the unlucky
person to get the back piece then you ate more veggies and potatoes. Fresh
fruits were rarer in those days, but they did enjoy canned fruit
occasionally. So considering the longevity of our elderly now, the much
needed demand for more nursing homes and elderly care facilities proves
that they were doing something right. Maybe the magic formula is in a
balanced diet and small portions and not in depriving our bodies of much
needed vitamins and minerals. Starving ourselves to get a quick fix, only
results in a rapid weight gain shortly after the fix is completed.
As for Fat free products our bodies use fat to absorb certain vitamins.
These are known as fat soluble vitamins and can only be absorbed with the
consumption of fats. We are depriving our bodies of much needed vitamins
because we are using less and less fat in our diet. The low fat products
are actually taking out the good fats that we need, in order to lower the
calorie content so many of us are looking for.
I do get frustrated when I try and read labels. They are making the
writing so small that only a person with excellent vision can even attempt
to see what actually is in their products. Being as I am at an age where I
am in rapid need of bifocals I find this all just a little too convenient.
The wording on the kid’s cereal is so large a blind person could read it,
but if it is low carb or low fat don’t even waste your time trying to
decipher it. Seems to me someone out there doesn’t really want us to know
that if you get low fat it is high in sugar and if you get low sugar it is
high in fat. The flavor has to be replaced by something good. Even though
I have to admit a lot of diet foods need more of both I have mentioned to
even come close to being eatable.
I have visited many elderly folks over the years in hospitals and in
nursing homes and the one complaint that is most audible is about the
food. They live all their lives and never touched a low fat product and
now in their eighties and nineties they are forced to endure low fat, low
salt, bland, none creative meals that no one in their right minds would
enjoy on a good day. I have to say if I live to be that age and the
doctors says I might have another year of life if I eat this way. Bring on
the bacon and fried potatoes. I will take my chances thank you!
The diet industry is exploding out of control. In the seventies all the
commercials were about who had the biggest burger. All beef patty, special
sauce, lettuce, pickle, mustard, ketchup, onions, mayonnaise on a sesame
bun. I may have left out a couple of toppings but as they so readily
reminded us, we can “Have it our way”. Remember the old lady looking for
the Beef? “Where’s the Beef?” was shown in every home on every television
making us want bigger, juicier burgers with all the toppings. The entire
food industry at that time relied on the American people to endorse the
idea of juicy meaning better. That is because FAT is better. Where do you
think flavor comes from? They conveniently left out the fact that a Cheese
Whopper is 780 calories. The wonderful McDonalds Big Mac contains only a
mere 590 calories. Now in 2004 they are scrambling to provide healthy low
fat chicken salads to the over weight population caused by their over
zealous commercials that aired in the 70’s.
If the American families ate more at home and more home cooked meals I
feel our children wouldn’t be escalating into such an enormous obese
society, which the fast food chains have rapidly forced upon us. It is
easier to stop by Burger King or McDonalds than to go home and cook a
healthy meal. I was a working mother for years but found time to cook for
my family. Even today they still enjoy home cooked meals as opposed to
going out. We wouldn’t need low fat chicken salads if the parents would
cook normal balanced meals at home. They say that our children are
suffering with the disease of obesity but if they had another disease
would the parents continue to feed the problem or would they change their
lifestyles to make that child well?
I remember years ago when the Atkins diet came out and the high protein
drinks were the new fad. Great results were exploded on to the air waves.
Then a few deaths occurred due to the high protein drinks. Those diets
faded fast and were replaced by low fat diets, professing the opposite of
the high protein ones that preceded them, all claiming a quick fix to diet
control. I myself will pattern my eating habits by the examples of the
elderly population. If someone can live to be in their high eighties and
nineties, then that is the diet I want to follow. What better testimony to
healthy living than to be of that age and still be functioning at such a
wonderful capacity?
I want to say one thing in closing. I do feel there are people out there
that need special diets due to health conditions. Diabetics indeed need no
sugar diets as well as cardiac or renal patients, or other such conditions
are required to stick to regimented diet programs. I am not speaking of
those people. My report is concerning the normal healthy human being that
for some unbelievable reason thinks that wearing a size 0 is for everyone.
The world is made up of different size people and there is nothing wrong
with that. That is what makes us so unique. Also I want to make clear that
some of the diet products out there are not in bad taste. I think the no
sugar items offered now for the diabetic population is a miracle in
itself. For the first time in their lives diabetics can enjoy so many of
the wonderful foods they have had to deprive themselves of for years. Also
low sodium for the other diseases I mentioned before. In those cases I am
truly grateful for the food industry.
I believe that a healthy balanced diet in normal proportions is the key to
being successful in anyone’s diet. But being balanced in any field is the
key to success. If our lives are balanced in other areas then it is easier
to continue that in our eating habits as well. Stress is directly related
to food consumption and stress is one of the major obstacles we face in
our every day lives. Less Stress, less food, reduced health problems. I
can see it now the next big fad diet. Low stress diet program! Lose weight
and be happy with ourselves. I think that is one diet I just might embrace
with open arms.
© September 21, 2004
|
|
|
