[ExI] Beware of thy diet...

[Tomasz Rola]

...as it seems to prolong lives of those who promote it. But not 
necesarilly yours. Which doesn't mean your diet is unhealthy, just that it 
may be neutral or close to it.

Howdy,

I've been heroically trying to follow "diet debate", but I have some 
other, heavier things to memorize and understand. So I am a bit behind 
(well, maybe two weeks or so). Hopefully nobody will kick my head off in 
case this message is redundant :-). Please don't, I still have some use 
for it.

"How the five-a-day mantra was born"

[ 
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/health/article7095530.ece
 ]

Funny quotation, as usually:

"So, from where did the US Government get the idea for the number five, if 
not the scientific studies? I was closing in. Marion Nestle, nutrition 
professor at New York University, thinks she remembers exactly where. 

â'It was Susan Foerster, the head nutritionist in California. She had the 
bright idea of promoting fruit and vegetable consumption in a state which 
was a big fruit and vegetable producer.â' 

The American National Cancer Institute admits that â'no studies have 
tested the impact of specific numbers of servings on cancer riskâ'. But 
it says five was chosen in California in 1988, as it doubled the average 
consumption, and â'the number five was memorable and provided a platform 
for creative message and programme delivery'. 

In America now, the five-a-day message is â'invisible; [it has] 
completely dropped off the radarâ', says Nestle. [**]

Britain, though, has taken California's 1980s marketing policy and run 
with it.â'We have to abandon this idea that there's something 
miraculous in diet,â' says Paulo Boffetta, the doctor behind last 
week's study. â'It's not true for fruit and vegetables as a whole, 
and even less true for fruit and vegetables individually.'] 

And by the way, as everyone I spoke to emphasised, an unexpected surprise 
of all this research is the discovery that although it may not do much for 
cancer, eating fruit and vegetables is good for your heart. How many a 
day? Don't ask."

This one is quite interesting, too:

"An expert's reaction to the 5-a-day myth bust"

[ 
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/health/article7095541.ece
 ]

BTW, I am not following any particular diet at the moment. Just eating 
what (I think that) I need. And somewhat going from white bread to the 
whole-grained one. I was a bit upset that I had not been consuming wholly 
five products, but not much. Now even less than that :-). Meat - always 
a fan of it. Mineral water and black coffee for a breakfast (and something 
to eat, of course). "Real" butter (at least it smells and tastes more real 
than my previous butter-o-like bread smear, so I consider it a move in a 
right direction). Yes, I know, cholesterol - I will worry when I have too 
much of it.

If I have any kind of preference, it is avoiding "strange" chemicals. I 
dropped sweeteners, I dropped (mostly) candies with preservatives. If I 
ever need sugar, I would rather go to the kitchen and swallow a teaspoon 
of plain, white sugar (the same that goes with candies, minus chemistry). 
I think I disliked "my candies" when I learned one of preservatives used 
in them was related to liquid crystals. Now it is edible - now (or few 
years later, actually) it is not. No way. This means, no diet drinks, of 
course. Well, what good are they for, anyway, compared to, say, tea or 
mineral water? Besides, they taste nowhere close to what I loved in my 
childhood, and I'm still undecided on corn syrup. And no fast-fooding.
But then again, I don't make it into religion, so from time to time I may 
have an inclination for this, too (and some coke) - like, once a month, 
once a year or once a decade.

Now, ok, I admit that maybe my current eating habits will kill me someday. 
But, maybe not? Hopefully I will die happy, sipping brandy after a good 
dinner ;-). Or hurtling champagne down my throat, in a manner similar to 
this crazy pilot from "1941" Spielberg movie :-).

Oh great, and I only wanted to give you two links and a quotation.

[**] I wonder, how much truth is in this statement? Usians, do you really 
not get lectioned about how healthy it is to eat five-a-day? I hear it at 
least once a year and I think I would hear more of it, had I watched more 
"healthy style for dummies" TV.

Regards,
Tomasz Rola

--
** A C programmer asked whether computer had Buddha's nature.      **
** As the answer, master did "rm -rif" on the programmer's home    **
** directory. And then the C programmer became enlightened...      **
**                                                                 **
** Tomasz Rola          mailto:tomasz_rola at bigfoot.com             **