Bad Food, Good Food

Todd picked the perfect time to start ranting about unhealthy food - right before Thanksgiving. It won't spoil my Feast of Thanks, but it got me thinking about my diet (what I eat and drink). After reading Todd's first rant I came across a post on BoingBoing about diet and fat which linked to an article, What if it's All Been a Big Fat Lie, that challenges a lot of notions most Americans have about what constitutes a healthy diet, especially the notion that fat is bad for you - definitely worth a read. My wife read the article too and we had a good discussion about it. Here's my favorite quote:

If you work out the numbers, you come to the surreal conclusion that you can eat lard straight from the can and conceivably reduce your risk of heart disease.

So now what?

In my late 30s I started getting a little pudgy. Not a big deal to most people, but I have always been thin and blessed with a metabolism that would allow me to eat most anything without gaining weight. But the unmistakable message from my body was: "I've been spoiling you all these years - now you're on your own". As I enter this phase of life the choice is mine to ignore or heed this message.

I've taken a few small steps toward a better diet - I've cut down on soda pop and other sugary drinks, switched mostly from white to whole or multi-grain bread, try to eat more fruits and vegetables and drink more water. Good stuff, but I could, should do more - Todd's rants and the other reading I've done have given me some prodding.

From the Big Fat Lie article I'm less concerned about fat and more concerned about carbohydrates - especially highly sweetened and processed foods. My wife and I read up on the Glycemic Index (GI) and Glycemic Load (GL)and browsed through a table of common foods and found some surprises. Most people would suspect sugary foods as having a high GI and GL, and this is generally true. But mashed potatoes can be higher - the simple starch elevates your blood sugar level higher and faster than table sugar. In general, raw fruits and vegetables are low but cooking usually increases their GI - explains why mashed potatoes are high, but raw or boiled potatoes are pretty low.

Well, obviously there is a lot to learn about diet, and since the body is so complex, not all of the data agrees. But in general I'm going to work on making small changes to eliminate bad foods and add good foods. For instance, I'm addicted to cold cereal for breakfast. I'll start by replacing the sugary cereal I now eat, with healthier kinds. Maybe some day I can go off cereal altogether and switch to unsweetened yogurt and fruit. But for now, baby steps. This is not the year for Tofurky.