As I write this in mid
December, I have just learned that two people that I thought I was helping are
paying no attention. This news is worse than discouraging. It’s depressing –
but not so much for me. I’m trying not to think of myself. I don’t write this
stuff for myself. Okay, I do, a little, but I do it primarily for my friends,
my faithful readers, and people who stumble on a column through Google. But it’s
especially disheartening to learn that people whose health should be of
paramount concern to them…are ignoring
their health and my advice.
Okay, I’m not a health professional, and I’m certainly not a
doctor. I don’t have the opportunity to order blood tests and deliver the bad
news to the patient. And then, when they are most vulnerable, tell them to take
a pill or even to follow a certain way of eating. But I can’t for the life of me (LOL) figure out why anyone would listen to a doctor in the
matter of what to eat. I mean, what in bloody hell do they know about “healthy eating.”
Oh, I forgot. Government Dictocrats have been telling us what
to eat to prevent heart disease since
at least 1977, and updating their advice every 5 years. In fact,
it began after President Eisenhower’s first
heart attack in 1955. By January 1961, Ancel Keyes had made it onto the cover
of Time magazine, and the basic
advice then and now is to avoid
saturated fat and cholesterol, to eat mostly a plant-based diet primarily with
fats from corn and soy bean oil. A diet, per the Nutrition
Facts Label on processed food, of 60% (300g) carbs, 10% (50g) protein and
30% (67g) of the aforementioned oxidized polyunsaturated vegetable and seed
oils (PUFAs) manufactured by the industrial food giant conglomerates supported
by the USDA.
Now it’s true that in recent years the USDA/HHS/FDA have
backed off a little. They no longer limit total fat to 30%, but they insist
that to the extent that percentage is increased, you do it with those PUFAs,
not the saturated fats from animals. And it’s true that the Dietary Guidelines
Advisory Committee told the full panel on December
14, 2014, that “Cholesterol is no longer a nutrient of concern for
overconsumption,” but after the full panel held Congressional hearings, the
final 2015 Guidelines totally water down that recommendation.
There are also lots of news articles appearing now about the
benefits of full fat dairy products like milk and yoghurt. But guess what? Have
you tried to find full-fat yoghurt in the grocery store recently? Good luck!
But what do you expect? Do you think the Government is going to tell you their
advice for the last 55 years has been all
wrong? Of course not. It’s unthinkable. So, you have to decide for yourself
what healthy eating is.
I could even cite several scientific reviews questioning –
neigh, disparaging the advice to reduce the intake of salt. I’ve cited them
over and over here,
here,
and here.
But, does anyone listen to me? No. Poor, poor me.
Recently I learned that one friend who needed to lose weight
that he had gained because of medications he must take – was successful in
following a low-carb regimen I had advocated. Then, with his wife, he switched
to Weight Watchers. Maybe he did it to support his wife’s efforts. Maybe it’s
easier. I hope he’s successful.
Then another friend, who also has medical issues, had on the
advice of her physician gone
vegetarian. And guess what? She’s tired all the time, and blood tests her
doctor ordered showed her to be protein deficient. Quelle surprise! She and her
husband, who is in worse shape than she, both have ignored my advice for years.
Okay, I am feeling sorry for myself. But I am also worried for
them, and for you too – for their
health and yours. Don’t they realize
that is all they have that is important (besides each other)? Don’t you realize it?
I just learned a few days ago that another friend died
suddenly about a month ago. Maybe this rant is because I’m grieving for him too
and for all my other friends and everyone else who is whistling past the graveyard. Thinking about myself, I originally
thought of naming this column, “Whistlin’ Dixie,” but that would have made this
column about me. This is really about you, my friends: It is you
who are
whistling past the graveyard.
January 1st
is the scheduled publication date for this column. It will also be the 1st day of the rest of your life.
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