THE REAL SKINNY... ON HEALTH & NUTRITION IN AMERICA

Welcome to The Real Skinny... where I will dissect some of the myths surrounding the health, nutrition, food & fitness industries in the United States. I started this blog because I am exasperated by all of the misinformation and propaganda we are fed (pun intended) by the government and the mainstream media about our food supply and the fitness industry here in the U.S.

Like many of you, I have long considered myself to be a healthy person. I regularly followed the advice of so-called experts in the nutrition fitness industries about the latest diets and exercise regimens. I exercised almost every day - sometimes for several hours at a time – and I ate what most people consider to be a very healthy diet. I always ate whole grains, low fat dairy, veggies, fruit and lean meats. I counted “calories in” vs. “calories out” religiously. Despite all of my efforts, I was still plagued with a host of issues including excess body fat. My frustration with this predicament – some might call it my obsession – led me to dig a little deeper into the nutrition/health advice I was getting.

My research began with a few magazine articles and websites. Gradually, as I did more independent research, I started to believe strongly that much of what passes for mainstream thinking on nutrition and fitness is complete nonsense. I now spend a big chunk of my free time reading everything I can on this topic – and the more research I do, the more convinced I am.

I am not big on conspiracy theories. I don’t think the CIA introduced crack cocaine into the inner city, and I don’t think George Bush had a heads-up about 9-11. But I have come to believe that the federal government and the agribusiness community have so dominated the debate on this issue that the American people are not exposed to any other line of thinking. And where has this gotten us? Americans are unhealthier and more overweight than ever.

I would like to share some of these concerns with a wider audience outside of family and friends - the poor souls who have already been subjected to my rants these past few years. For their sake and yours, I decided to take my rants to the masses. I look forward to sharing some of what I learn along the way as I attempt to educate myself and anyone who will listen about what it truly means to be healthy in America.

Sunday, March 11, 2012

The Real (Bad) Thing

I would like to dedicate the following post to my father.  My dad is one of my favorite people. Of course I love the old guy, but I also really like him and enjoy his company.  I have many traits that I am proud to say “I get from my dad” including my love of music, my enthusiasm/obsession for exercise, my obnoxious laugh and the fact that I always have to be right!

There are a couple of my dad’s traits, however, that I am happy to report I did not retain for the long haul. They include mysteriously “disappearing” from family functions when there is work to be done, and a love of donuts and soda.  But I am not writing today to lecture you about loving donuts
(you can read most of my thoughts about that here).

Today, my target is soda.  My dad is totally addicted to diet soda. In fact, he is probably drinking a diet soda as he reads this blog post on his ipad right now.

I have been in a battle with my dad about cutting his soda intake for years. I am not embarrassed to admit that I consider one of my greatest accomplishments of my long life to be getting my dad to give up all soda for a full three weeks about two years ago. Unfortunately, going cold turkey didn’t help in the long term. While he maintains that he has cut back significantly, I am confident that he still consumes at least 32oz of soda a day and probably more. In case you were wondering, that’s a minimum of four servings a day!

Since my dad is really tired of my pestering and doesn’t want me to lecture him for the 10,000th time about the health risks associated with America’s favorite drink, soda pop, I thought I would turn my bull horn on you.  After all, if my hectoring is good enough for my closest family members it should be good enough for my readers.

The bottom-line is simple…There is absolutely nothing redeeming about soda. It has ZERO nutrients – zip, zilch, nada.  Nothing about it exists naturally and your body cannot process it.  It is doing more harm to your body than you think. From my perspective, it doesn’t matter if you drink regular or diet cola… Both wreck your system equally.

In the past few days, you might have heard that Coke and Pepsi have changed the way they make the caramel coloring used in their sodas because it was linked to carcinogens that cause cancer in rodents. Before you start giving credit to Coke and Pepsi for doing the “right thing,” please understand that they were essentially forced to do so. Because of a new California law, the cola companies would have been required to label every can and bottle they sell with a specific cancer warning if they had not done so. Luckily for those of us residing in the other 49 states, Coke and Pepsi have indicated that they will adopt their new manufacturing processes for products sold throughout the United States.

By itself, this change means nothing. You would have drink thousands of sodas a day to actually have a real risk of cancer from the caramel colorings.  The problem isn’t with the colorings – it’s with soda itself.  Both regular and diet soda consumption have been linked to obesity, diabetes, heart attacks, osteoporosis, kidney stones, gout (DAD!), headaches, stomach discomfort and a host of many other ailments. After a list like this, please explain to me why you would ever drink soda?! Maybe it tastes good, but not that good.

How about this? When you try to find the nutrition information for Coca-Cola products on their website, you are directed to a page where they offer advice about eating a balanced diet and exercising to maintain good health. On this page, they actually picture a woman drinking a glass of juice. See! Even Coke doesn’t think that soda is that good for you.

I’d be happy to go on and on about the evils of soda, but then you would be reading this blog for a long, long time. I am sure you have much more important things to do than read my rants. I will leave you with this final little tidbit though… On Good Morning America on Friday, Dr. Richard E. Besser, the former Director of the Centers for Disease Control, said, “If you could do just ONE thing for your health… cut out soda and sweetened beverages.” Please Dad, just do this one thing for me (and your health)! 
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