"I'm lovin' it!" (Not)

Back when I was in high school in the late 80s and early 90s, I remember "diet" drinks and food catching on and becoming really popular. Next came the "anti-carb" movement a la Dr. Atkins. Today, the most popular catch-phrases are "organic" and "anti-oxidants".

I've been trying to figure what all this means for a while now. Are "diet" substitutes good for you--i.e., are you losing weight at the expense of harmful substitutes? Are low-carb foods healthy or does your body need more carbohydrates to stay healthy? Is food that is not organic have harmful artificial chemicals?

Abstract

My opinion is that it's all BS. Let me clarify: while there may be good reasons to eat/drink diet, low-carb, or organic foods/beverages, the catchphrases and packaging are mostly driven by the food industry to increase sales; however, the demand for these products is there because of high obesity rates. The plethora of products with such catchphrases lead to consumer confusion about which foods are "good for you". Adding to the confusion are media reports on pseudo-scientific studies on foods with purported health hazards or benefits.

Factors contributing to demand for "healthy foods"

First, let's discuss the #1 underlying cause of the supply of these types of foods and their associated marketing messages: America has an obesity problem.Why are so many people fat? Because they don't move around and they eat too much shitty food. The post-WWII economic boom combined with the growth of suburbia has led to an increase in car usage. I've visited many cities around the U.S., and there seems to be a pretty big visible correlation between the amount of car-usage and obesity. For example, in a city like Atlanta or Dallas, almost everyone is fat. Part of the reason must be too much meat consumption, but I think the bigger one is not enough exercise. For example, Argentinians consume twice as much red meat as Americans, but somehow are much slimmer. I've never been to Argentina, but having been to Paris, London, New York, and Prague, I can tell you that it's hard to find a fat person walking on the streets of these cosmopolitan cities. Here's my conclusion: sidewalks + a livable "downtown" = slim people; suburbia + cars = fat people. Of course, genetics also play a role. Some people always stay thin no matter what they eat and vice-versa, but I think the majority fall somewhere in between.

Healthy foods?

Cleary, there are foods that are bad for you, but the level of bad depends on a) how much of it you eat and b) how much of it stays in your body. For instance, it's known that high dosages of saturated and trans fats lead to high levels of LDL cholesterol, which can cause heart disease. So, don't eat french fries every day; once a week or two, combined with exercise (walking, running, sex, etc.) is just fine, in my opinion.

In fact, I think the whole subject, like much in life, has to do with moderation, whether it's sweets, other fatty foods, or alcohol. But, if you exercise moderately and burn off the stored energy faster, I think your intake of these "bad" foods can be much higher without causing harm (exception being alcohol?). Thus, I believe they're not "bad" if you don't make them to be.

What about organic food? I read the Wikipedia article on the subject, and I'm somewhat divided on the subject. Is there a difference between drinking Trader Joe's organic sparkling lemon soda and a Pepsi? If you chose to drink only one and not the other for the rest of your life, would it make a difference to your health? I don't know, but I seriously doubt it (on a side-note, see this interesting article on saccharin; I tend to agree with the industry on this one). Now, I have personally avoided buying too much processed food because when I read the ingredients on a lot of the packages (chips, cookies, bread, etc.), I don't know what 75% of the ingredients are. Whether those artificial ingredients shorten your lifespan, I really don't know, but I tend to doubt it because most of it is burned off or eliminated. I eat more vegetables and fruits more than I used to for a more balanced diet, but I don't buy organic vegetables because they're much more expensive and I don't believe they're healthier for you. Where I do see the benefit to organic farming is in its idea of sustainability, and there's a point to be made that conventional farming is more harmful to the environment (good pros and cons in the Wikipedia article referenced above).

A quick note on low-carb and "diet" foods. I'm pretty certain that the first one is bad for your body in the long-run because it naturally needs a mix of carbohydrates/protein/fats to function. The second is fine in my opinion, but I personally try not to eat too much food with artifical substitutes. It's better, I think, to eat real food and not having to worry about "diet" foods by moving your ass more.

False media reports of pseudo-scientific studies and "expert" findings

And so beware of news media reports of "experts" that tell you what's good and bad for you. I remember a few years ago, "experts" were saying that everyone should drink 8 glasses of water a day. It turns out that such a high-intake could lead to intoxication. Another one said to only drink ~3 servings of alcohol a week a the most. If that's what's supposed to be good for you, I wonder then, why the Portugese, Italians or French, for example, don't have a shorter lifespan (lifespan; wine consumption)? I think I'll let my body tell me what's good for me and what's not. I trust millions of years of evolution a bit more than what some "expert" says. If I'm thirsty, it probably means I should drink water. If I'm not, it probably means I don't need it. If my body looks fat, it probably means I am fat. If I can't take a shit, it probably means I don't have enough fiber in my diet. And so on...

Packaging

Since I don't really believe in low-carb, diet, or organic foods, I don't buy into any of those marketing messages (although if I buy packaged foods, I tend to go for the ones that are more "natural" and have less artificial ingredients, even though I don't know if it really makes a difference). I think for people who are overweight, eating "diet" food might be good for a while combined with more exercise. So are the messages on the packaging misleading? I think partly yes, but the other side of the equation is demand by consumers who have an unhealthy lifestyle.

Disclaimer: if you've read this post, you probably figured out I'm not a nutritionist nor a farmer. Any comments would be appreciated!

Disclaimier #2: I do almost all of my shopping at Trader Joe's. I didn't mean to pick on them, because I like their stores, especially because they have lots of packaged food with no artificial ingredients.