Diet attitudes in America

[veggiemom2]

I was at the grocery store yesterday and saw one of those little booklets at the cash register (like the betty crocker cookbooks) Anyway, this was a book comparing the various diets identifying positive and negative traits. They only highlighted ONE vegetarian diet the "eat to live" I believe, All the rest of the diets identified were high protein low carb diets.

Then this morning I am watching a morning show where they are talking diets and bodyfat numbers. The trainer stated that to keep your body fat in the acceptable range, you need to "reduce your carbohydrate and sugar intake, and increase your meat protein intake".

No one ever mentions increase your vegetable and decrease fat and animal products.

[askcassyfirst]

I have always found it interesting that the same experts who say that we have such high incidents of cancer and heart disease due to the SAD which is high in saturated fat from animal meat, and low in fiber (due to low consumption of fresh fruits and veggies,) ARE THE SAME experts who are recommending low carb diets like Atkins and South Beach! It is mind boggling.

I applaud those who are able to read and research enough to find a way of eating that brings them health and wellness. It is not easy, when all of the popular diets, as well as the "handy" foods found in most stores are so full of junk, that they do the very opposite of providing "sustinance"!

Just my thoughts....

Cassy :)

[khackett]

I did SB. People who have done it/like it will jump on you for coupling it with Atkins... it's really actually very different.

It wasn't too bad, actually. It promotes veggies. A lot.

Just...my 2c. I don't really know where I'm going here, other than SB really is more about vegs than anything else.

[Sweet lips]

Many times the people behind these companies are part of large subsidiaries that support the sugar, meat and milk industry. That is the consequences of this country. We have a government that pays farmers not to grow certain things and those are usually grains and the like. We have a state with the largest pig farms and the waste from the pigs pollutes the ground water in the environment and the owner of such a farm is a member of congress. It's the way of the western world, and it is our resposnibility to do the best we can with what we have - look at the movement and information, on breast cancer and heart disease, which was one time thought of as a man's disease, smoking -etc. Maybe not in our life time, but we can lay the foundation for the future.

I am sorry, but you touched a nerve and I had to get on my veggie crate to talk about it. :o

[MaxMarie]

Cows out number us 9 to 1. Who's eating all those cows? Most of it goes to waste. Methane produced by our cow fodder does more damage to our planet than all the cars on this earth combined. If America, alone, cut it's alcohol and beef consumption in half the remaining grain would end world hunger.

No small potatoes there...

As for who is advocating what diet - we have to understand that science is a limited process. We make leaps when people think outside the facts and figures. Like Einstein and Tesla...

Let me put it to you this way. A scientist goes to a convent. He counts the number of nuns in the convent and the number of rabbits in the forrest around the convent. As the number of nuns grow, so does the number of rabbits. What does the data mean? The number of nuns has direct impact on the number of rabbits.

Nope it doesn't. Any hunter would say the two "communities" are utterly independent of one another. However, that's how science works.

My grandma is almost 90. She still remembers the days when doctors said fiber has no purpose in the body and should be avoided...

[Sharon in Colorado]

Does that mean that there are some male nuns in the convent?