Food for Thunk

Here I go again. Food . . . love it, savor it, spice it up, buy it in bulk, eat it in bulk, puree it, bake it, fry it, dip it in sauce or pickle it. Any way you prepare it, the end result is the same: We take in more calories than we use. The problem seems simple enough, however, in an environment where consumables are center stage and all else is a secondary offering, cranking back on all the savory, succulent food choices is more than difficult, it's darn near impossible. 

So what is a healthy amount of food?  What matters more, the quantity of a food or the quality of the macronutrients (that is, the amount of saturated fat per serving).  Or is the status of the consumer of said food the ultimate determinant of a healthy versus an unhealthy food.  If I run a marathon daily will I be a healthier person overall even if I eat the above giga-burger with fries?  Compare that notion to another individual living a sedentary life, sitting at home watching television eating carrots and lettuce (and not eating the burger).  Which of the two options is healthier overall?  Think carefully omnivores.

Healthy Foods

The concept of a "healthy" food is a topic worth addressing. We assume with blind reverence that eating a food like an orange or a cruciferous vegetable like broccoli is a healthy practice and one we should engage in more often. A food like a candy bar or tortilla chips is without question considered to be "unhealthy" by most standards and should be avoided or eaten infrequently. But what about eating them together? Do the healthy foods cancel out the unhealthy ones giving us a net balance of healthy or unhealthy foods? Is the candied apple the perfect example of a good food covered in a bad food thus resulting in a net neutral food?

Or do the qualities and nutrients in the good food overpower the bad food?

Japan and Strokes

I was reading a blog recently proposing the reason the stroke rate is so high in Japan directly relates to the consumption of soy sauce. Soy sauce is roughly 25% salt and imposes a huge sodium chloride load to the body. However, the Japanese have long record of longevity with the average male living into his late 70's and the average female living well into her 80's. It seems to me the older you get the more risk you have for a cerebrovasuclar accident.

In addition to longevity and soy sauce consumption, the rate of cigarettee smoking is high in Japan. The reltationship between smoking and stroke is known, the relationship between soy sauce and stroke is not. The incidence rate of stroke in the United States is 269 new cases in 100,000 adults annually. In Japan that number is 105 per 100,000.

Three Things to Ponder

First, what is the value in yearly New Year's resolutions if ten days after the fact they become obsolete? It seems to me the value in resolutions is revisiting all the things we should be resolving all year long over a short few days. That is, worry about all the things we should be doing then drop it and get on with life. But hey, it's America and that's the way it is.

Second, why do the diet and weight loss purveyors hock their wares in January? Could it be we've gorged ourselves for two solid months and now we're ready to look back and realize we've been gorging ourselves . . . for two months? Or is it because of the above resolutions?

Finally, if we all miraculously become thin and healthy, what's left to fret about? What would Barnes and Noble sell in the diet and weight loss section, Fender Repair Made Easy? Bonsai Gardening tips? Shoe Lace weaving??

Where is the JUSTICE

They decimated my blog and eliminated all the posts just because . . . well, because no one read it. Now is that any reason to eliminate what amounted to hundreds of hours of writing and research? Where is the justice in that?

Anyway, I'm back and I'm mad. And I'm not just mad about food. I'm mad about exchange traded funds, political unrest, economic hardship, world tensions, short selling, global warming, energy depedence and cat feces. Actually the cat feces is the most annoying. My cat, who I love dearly, has never been able to master the art of covering up his mess in the litter box. I walk into the room shortly after he does his business and BLAM! The smell is overwhelming. I've tried repeatedly to show him how I do it. But . . . no such luck.

Again

Any new years resolutions? Lose weight? Become more sensitive to others? Spend more time with the kids? Stay tuned.