Well, it’s official. The Big Five Food Bullies have spoken and the Unitary Dietary Guidelines are in place.
The American Heart Association, American Cancer Society, American Dietetic Association, American Academy of Pediatrics and the National Institutes of Health don’t have any surprises up their sleeves. They also don’t have a clue about how people eat. Or even why they eat.
For the record, here’s the lowdown:
- No more than 10 percent of calories from saturated fat
- No more than 30 percent of total calories from all types of fat
- 55 percent or more of daily calories from complex carbs (grains, fruits, veggies)
- Daily cholesterol limited to 300 milligrams (less than two eggs)
- Daily salt limited to six grams (one teaspoon)
Can we say "blah?"
None of this would be of more than mildly amusing interest if it weren’t for the horrendous precedent set by the same Big Five vis a vis tobacco. It’s critical to understand that the corrupted statistical standards applied to certain scientific and economic aspects of smoking are going to be applied to diet. For example, the American Cancer Society baldly states that "many cancers that are related to dietary factors could also be prevented. Scientific evidence suggests that up to one-third of the 564,800 cancer deaths expected to occur in the US this year are related to nutrition."(1) Expect to see this figure more and more often as the heavily foundation and Federally-funded "non-profits" ramp up their "Eating Control" initiatives.
Why do we eat, anyway?
Yeah, yeah. We eat because we’re hungry. We eat because we need to consume caloric energy in order to expend caloric energy. But mostly we eat because we like to eat. Taste and flavor, that’s the ticket. But the flavor is all too often in the fat and the taste is enhanced with salt. Bad. Bad. When was the last time you sliced your way into a juicy steak or ladled sour cream on your baked potato without feeling a pang of guilt about your ‘indulgence?’
Well, to hell with the Food Bullies and the Pleasure Police. Screw ‘em one and all. I say it’s time to kick back and enjoy food. Time to relax with family and friends and dig into what?
Well, how about whatever you want to eat?
But ‘bad’ food will kill me!
Hey, we’re going to die anyway. An extra egg or two isn’t going to make much difference. It seems to me that the problem isn’t so much what we eat as how we eat. With the Hounds of Busyness nipping at our heels, we’ve learned to race from place to project, activity to meeting, errand to school, work to home. We’ve learned the time-saving convenience of fast food outlets and the work-saving benefits of prepared foods.
But we’ve forgotten to enjoy eating. And (with the notable exception of the time-and-money-to-burn tiramisu crowd), we’ve forgotten the pleasures of preparing and sitting down to a sociable meal. We've forgotten (if anyone under 40 can ever knew) how to eat with deep enjoyment, rather than niggling guilt.
Food Nags aren’t anything new. In the 1964 edition of Joy of Cooking, Irma and Marion told us that "To live in health we must eat intelligently. By whose intelligence? How directed? The intuitions and impulses of the present (1964) generation seem, alas, not to be the kind that led our forebears to search for greens each spring. The sensational press releases, which follow the discovery of fascinating fresh bits and pieces about human nutrition, confuse the layman. And the oversimplified and frequently ill-founded dicta of food faddists can lure us into downright harm."(2) Right on, ladies. And it’s only gotten worse.
I don’t think the layman (or woman) is confused. I think they’re rightfully p.o.’d at being self-righteously lectured by "experts" every time they turn on the television or open a newspaper. And I think that even the most innumerate, understand that all the endless babbling about tiny relative risks spouted by pundits of one kind or another doesn’t mean very much in the great genetically loaded game of life.
Get a life! Even if it’s loaded against you
Instead of creeping around worrying about what we’re eating or drinking or smoking or whatever-ing, let’s resolve to enjoy it all. With friends and family at every opportunity. Outside in the melanoma inducing, ozone laden sunshine. Inside with a sweet-smelling, air-polluting woodburning fire on a chilly night. On the front porch with a can of beer. On the back porch with a pint of ice cream.
Let the Food Bullies and the Pleasure Police plod through their endlessly perfect lives. Even they won’t live forever -- it’ll just seem that way because they’re bored, glum and eternally disapproving.
References:
1. American Cancer Society, http://www.acs.org/
2. Joy of Cooking, Irma S. Rombauer & Marion Rombauer Becker, Bobbs-Merrill, Indianapolis, IN, 1964.
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