In our efforts to get more healthy - and stay healthy - we look to many avenues, to make this very worthwhile endeavor a bit easier. But while we're doing this, marketers are taking to the air waves, to get us to "buy into" their products. . . literally. Not sold on something, yet? Well, don't be.
As I write this, some sales-y MD is droning on, about a popular diet (I won't mention which one, because it's not WHICH diet but HOW it's being "sold") and which foods to include. As he natters on, I'm hearing the KA-CHING of the cash register (You know, they really used to make that sound) at the supermarket and health food stores, as people ring up their purchases of avocado oil, coconut oil, grass-fed bison and bone broth products. In the little time it's taken for me to write the two paragraphs so far, it's cost viewers potential hundreds of dollars, if they want to buy into this trendy diet.
Before we think of trendy diets, let's remember that, despite the lack of treatments and preventatives available years ago, members of the preceding generation (The Greatest Generation) lived pretty long and healthy lives. Yes, they might have lived longer, if surgical techniques such as heart valve transplants/replacements, certain vaccinations, and today's antibiotics were available. But given those conditions, they did really well. And how did they do that? NOT by seeking out exotic or expensive oils or supplements made from jellyfish protein, vitamin A from some rare melon (a cantaloupe) that only grows in Southern France or eating grass-fed bison. The answer is that they ate a VARIED DIET. They balanced their proteins with vegetables and starches. They ate certain foods frequently, others moderately, and some only rarely. There was no diet industry. There were no fad diets. And the word "trendy" hadn't even occurred to them.
And if the financial burden weren't enough, ask yourself how possible it would be to SUSTAIN this type of diet, in a social situation. It's always been an issue, when someone on some sort of exclusion ("X-type food is bad") diet goes to dinner with a group of friends. I've personally seen situations, in which five people at the table were able to give the server their orders in less than five minutes, but the one person on the fad diet ended up taking nearly ten minutes just for themselves. "I'll have the steak, medium rare. . . oh, is that grass fed? Do you know if the meat is seasoned with salt? Has the grill been used to toast carbs? And with that, I'll have a baked sweet potato. Oh - you don't have them? Do you have basmati rice grown in the shade of an extinct volcano? Hmmm. Well, let me have two servings of kale, just steamed, with a little extra virgin coconut oil or avocado oil, no salt, and with a touch of turmeric. Thanks!" Okay, maybe that was a bit of an exaggeration, but you get the idea. Whatever you choose as your dietary lifestyle, it should FIT INTO YOUR LIFE, not make a spectacle out of you or make dinners out or a vacation seem onerous.
And if that weren't bad enough, those on fad/trendy diets often turn into the Food Police, taking on the [unwanted, unneeded] job of reforming others, to their way of eating. I can't tell you how many times a group going to the movies had to endure the glowering stares of fad dieters, as they ordered a box of popcorn. They might - I repeat MIGHT - be prolonging their lives with their fad diets but they're making it miserable for others who will, most likely, exclude them from future outings.
Whatever diet you choose, for your lifestyle should fit into your life and should be moderate and varied. Uh-oh. . . the MD is now talking about pizza made on cauliflower-and-almond-flour crusts. Try asking for THAT, in your next gathering. . .
As I write this, some sales-y MD is droning on, about a popular diet (I won't mention which one, because it's not WHICH diet but HOW it's being "sold") and which foods to include. As he natters on, I'm hearing the KA-CHING of the cash register (You know, they really used to make that sound) at the supermarket and health food stores, as people ring up their purchases of avocado oil, coconut oil, grass-fed bison and bone broth products. In the little time it's taken for me to write the two paragraphs so far, it's cost viewers potential hundreds of dollars, if they want to buy into this trendy diet.
Before we think of trendy diets, let's remember that, despite the lack of treatments and preventatives available years ago, members of the preceding generation (The Greatest Generation) lived pretty long and healthy lives. Yes, they might have lived longer, if surgical techniques such as heart valve transplants/replacements, certain vaccinations, and today's antibiotics were available. But given those conditions, they did really well. And how did they do that? NOT by seeking out exotic or expensive oils or supplements made from jellyfish protein, vitamin A from some rare melon (a cantaloupe) that only grows in Southern France or eating grass-fed bison. The answer is that they ate a VARIED DIET. They balanced their proteins with vegetables and starches. They ate certain foods frequently, others moderately, and some only rarely. There was no diet industry. There were no fad diets. And the word "trendy" hadn't even occurred to them.
And if the financial burden weren't enough, ask yourself how possible it would be to SUSTAIN this type of diet, in a social situation. It's always been an issue, when someone on some sort of exclusion ("X-type food is bad") diet goes to dinner with a group of friends. I've personally seen situations, in which five people at the table were able to give the server their orders in less than five minutes, but the one person on the fad diet ended up taking nearly ten minutes just for themselves. "I'll have the steak, medium rare. . . oh, is that grass fed? Do you know if the meat is seasoned with salt? Has the grill been used to toast carbs? And with that, I'll have a baked sweet potato. Oh - you don't have them? Do you have basmati rice grown in the shade of an extinct volcano? Hmmm. Well, let me have two servings of kale, just steamed, with a little extra virgin coconut oil or avocado oil, no salt, and with a touch of turmeric. Thanks!" Okay, maybe that was a bit of an exaggeration, but you get the idea. Whatever you choose as your dietary lifestyle, it should FIT INTO YOUR LIFE, not make a spectacle out of you or make dinners out or a vacation seem onerous.
And if that weren't bad enough, those on fad/trendy diets often turn into the Food Police, taking on the [unwanted, unneeded] job of reforming others, to their way of eating. I can't tell you how many times a group going to the movies had to endure the glowering stares of fad dieters, as they ordered a box of popcorn. They might - I repeat MIGHT - be prolonging their lives with their fad diets but they're making it miserable for others who will, most likely, exclude them from future outings.
Whatever diet you choose, for your lifestyle should fit into your life and should be moderate and varied. Uh-oh. . . the MD is now talking about pizza made on cauliflower-and-almond-flour crusts. Try asking for THAT, in your next gathering. . .
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