Following the Food Pyramid
Wed., June 22, 09:07 AM
Do you read the “news” about food and health? I used quotation marks because most of the news isn’t really new. The researchers seem to be in the “publish or perish mode,” in which it doesn’t matter whether the results are original or even valid, just as long as you publish. Maybe it has something to with the need to be recognized in order to continue receiving a grant? In any case, I read that stuff and take it all with a grain of salt.
Oh, sure, I know that grain of salt could raise my blood pressure. On the other hand, a salt deficiency leaves one dizzy and weak… You have to work out your own balance.
For example, take the food pyramid. It’s been around for decades. Usually, it has something like grains at the bottom and meat at the top. Every few years, they come out with a change. They move fats around. What about dairy foods? Do you lump them with proteins – or maybe with fats?
One diet removes all carbohydrates, but another differentiates between simple and complex carbohydrates. Or, to stay on the carbs subject, some delete all sugar but allow honey. Honey is almost pure sugar, with trace elements that add flavor or texture. Did you know that people who take insulin often carry packets of honey to treat insulin shock?
This year, they’ve made the biggest change to the food pyramid. They turned it on its side. What is that supposed to mean? “It indicates that everyone should eat a balanced diet.”
Huh? Isn’t that what our mothers always taught us? At least mine did. I grew up believing that every meal should contain some protein, some “starch,” and some vegetables. My mother came from a tiny town in Lithuania – born before World War I – and yet she knew this scientific stuff. And she never even went to college.
So much for the study of “foods and nuts,” as they termed “Foods and Nutrition” at my college. It was one of the subjects I never chose, because the girls who were majoring in it didn’t seem all that knowledgeable. When you’re allowed a limited number of credits, you don’t waste them on something you can learn by yourself. Oh, wait, never mind, that’s another entry entirely.
But “Kevin and Kell” may just have come up with the ultimate use for the Food Pyramid. Just look at this.
Nothing you ever learn is wasted.
