Friday, April 10, 2009

10 foods you should never eat

1. Margarine
2. Fat-free cheese
3. Skim or low-fat milk
4. Ultra-pasteurized dairy
5. Light yogurt
6. Cool Whip
7. Wonder bread
8. Egg whites without the yolk
9. Soy protein bars/shakes
10. Extra lean ground beef

Thursday, April 9, 2009

At least we are talking about fat, finally!

Mass dieting has been around since 1948 with the advent of TOPS (Take Off Pounds Sensibly) and since then, we have been searching for the miracle cure for obesity. We want something that doesn't require any effort or change on our part and something that lasts forever.

Well, the next "miracle" cure is brown fat. Fat in our bodies comes in brown and white/yellow. Most of us are loaded up with the white/yellow fat that doesn't burn as much energy as the brown fat. Babies have lots of brown fat, but most of it is gone or inactive by adulthood. People with more brown fat tend to be leaner than people with little brown fat. Brown fat burns more energy in the cold, too, so turning down the thermostat may be another miracle cure.

Naturally, scientists are trying to figure out a way to put brown fat in a pill or potion, or maybe an injection so people can eat all the crappy food they want and still look like a Victoria Secret's model. If all you want to do is look good in your coffin, this just may be the ticket for you, though, you'll probably be dead before they get it on the market. You may want to find a few more baskets to put your eggs in just in case.

The good news is that we are actually talking about fat being "good" and even though the purpose is to find an expensive cure for obesity, we are heading in a better direction because fat is good and good for you. We need fat to function, especially saturated fat. If you stroll down memory lane, you'll find that we developed obesity while decreasing saturated fat and increasing our intake of vegetable oils (polyunsaturated fat). Saturated fat keeps our skin firm so we don't need expensive anti-aging creams, it is incorporated into the lining of the lungs to help prevent asthma and allergies, it is the main fuel source for the heart and it is the building blocks for all the important hormones in the body like estrogen and testosterone.

We need fat; good, healthy saturated fat. If we eat saturated fat, we won't have to worry about how much or how little brown fat we have under our skin and we won't have to freeze to death to lose weight, either.

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Preschool Obesity

Obesity appears to be on the rise in our precious preschoolers. The blame is on poverty, uneducated parents and of course, the old standby; a high fat diet along with excess calories and lack of exercise. Poverty definitely contributes because all the inexpensive foods are carbohydrates and carbohydrates make us fat. I'm not so sure uneducated parents are to blame, but rather mis-educated parents. We are all taught to follow the food guide pyramid and avoid fat. Parents, trying to do the right thing for their kids, will buy low-fat cookies, crackers and ding dongs totally unaware that junk food, whether low or high in fat, is still junk food and most junk food is high in carbohydrates.

We didn't have problems with obesity 100 years ago. We have been dieting for over 30 years now on low-fat, high carbohydrate foods. We even have calorie free artificial sweeteners and what have we got to show for it all? Obesity is on the rise, even in preschoolers. I find it interesting that we blame obesity on saturated fat when our girths have exploded while decreasing saturated fat intake and increasing vegetable oil and carbohydrate intake.

But we continue to dole out the same advice: Avoid saturated fat, eat lots of whole grains, fruits and veggies. What do they call you when you do the same thing over and over while expecting different results? Oh yea, insane.

Basically, we have a bunch of insane people running around (no, they probably don't run...) in government teaching us all how to get fat in the guise of losing weight and then when we get fat, they blame us for eating too much of the fat we have been avoiding in order not to get fat. Now our children will be joining in on the fun.

If you're like me and want out of that game, ignore the food guide pyramid. Eat lots of saturated fat, no vegetable oils and no high fructose corn syrup. Feed yourself and your kids real food the way God made it and spend a little time each day running after the little tykes.