Monday, September 26, 2011

Deadly Cost?

Doctors warned last night that continued calorie counting was a health time-bomb.
Cutting out nutrient-rich foods in a misguided attempt to lose weight could have “alarming” long-term consequences.
And with an estimated 12 million Britons currently on diets it could prove devastating for the nation’s health, placing massive burdens on the NHS. It has long been known that an unhealthy diet can lead to a host of deadly conditions such as heart disease, diabetes, Alzheimer’s and cancer.
But a low-fat diet that lacks vital vitamins and minerals can also lead to long-term ­problems. A report found that many Britons have a dangerous attitude to food, being concerned mainly with cutting their intake of fat and calories rather than thinking about what they need to eat to stay healthy.
Experts are now calling on people to “re-learn” what good nutrition tastes like in a bid to stave off health problems for future generations.
It would seem that we are still struggling to grasp the concept of ‘good nutrition’ and the reason why we eat food in the first place. Though it is important to acknowledge calorie intake it must not come at the expense of eating a balanced and varied diet, low in saturated fat but also rich in vitamins, minerals and essential fatty acids.
http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/258048/Deadly-cost-of-low-fat-dieting

If the low fat concept is as wretched for most humans as I think it is, there is and will continue to be a deadly cost.  The cost in lives and wellness is on display every day, in every store I visit, every time I'm in public.  It's painful to see and like many, I go through periods of anger at the bizarre abuse of science that led to the last thirty years of USDA directed "low fat is healthy" dieting.  It is axiomatic that "power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely."  Let us be thankful that the USDA does not at present have so much power as to compel us to eat by their model of health.
I agree with the conclusion above.  As Loren Cordain pointed out, there's no defining parameter, no overarching concept for the science of diet, and as a result, the science has been easily corrupted, imprecise, and only marginally helpful.  I hope for better days as the obvious flaws in the low fat fad come to light.

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