One day, in a fit of flexibility, I changed the tag-line of my blog from whatever it used to be to "a real person eating (mostly) real food." I feel I ought to explain -- to define my terms, or at least try to. First, what do I mean by a "real person"? I mean me, of course, good ol' Jim Anderson -- as ordinary a guy as you will ever meet, with an ordinary name, the son of a factory-working man and a home-making woman. A guy born in a city whose name denotes a hard, sharp, slivered rock -- the … [Read more...]
Low-carb diets and dental health
Examining the relationship between low-carb diets and dental health Last updated: April 2017 When you eat a healthier diet and lose weight, you can reasonably expect good news from a medical exam. I've gotten such good news in the past few months: lower blood pressure and improved blood lipid numbers. But I wasn't expecting diet-related good news from my semi-annual dental cleaning and exam. I got some anyway. My teeth were fine. I have a bunch of fillings from years ago, and sometimes one … [Read more...]
Study findings undercut soda taxes as a way of curbing obesity
At the risk of being mistaken for a tool of soft-drink industry, or worse yet, a Libertarian, I am jumping once again into the debate over government action to curb our consumption of sugary beverages. (Well, someone's consumption; I don't touch the stuff anymore. I don't believe anyone should.) I stated my position a month ago, in response to calls by New York City officials for a ban on the use of food stamps to purchase soda-pop. Another East Coast official, Mayor Michael Nutter … [Read more...]
Obesogenic: a new word for an old idea
A commentary by Jane E. Brody in yesterday's New York Times has a promising title: Attacking the Obesity Epidemic by First Figuring Out Its Cause. You have to admit, there's logic in that approach. There's logic, too, in Brody's central claim that we live in an environment that encourages, or at least enables, frequent eating and discourages, or at least enables the avoidance of, exercise. But is that environment "obesogenic" as Brody and some of her sources claim? Does the modern world … [Read more...]
Let them eat beans! Why soda pop bans are a bad idea
Should the USDA allow states or cities to bar the use of food stamps to purchase soda pop and other sugary drinks? Or perhaps go a step further and enact such a ban itself? What the heck, why not just enshrine the ban in federal law? The New York Daily News in a recent editorial slams the feds for blocking an attempt by New York City to try the soda pop ban for two years to see what if any impact it would have on obesity rates in poor communities. The newspaper cites a four-part series on … [Read more...]
Yes, tax bad food — after we all agree on what it is
Because thou art vegan-leaning, shall there be no bacon cheeseburgers? Taxing other people's vices always seems like a win-win. It allows the majority to feel holier-than-thou and adds money to the public coffers. For instance, I've favored the enormous taxes placed on tobacco. As you can probably guess, I'm not a smoker. I have no vested interests that keep me from seeing the logic of the standard public health argument. Smoking is implicated in widespread health problems that cost … [Read more...]
Two upward trends: drinking calories and getting diabetes
I was born in a simpler time. Back then, soda pop was an occasional treat, not an everyday (or twice a day) habit. In 1952, Americans on average drank 11.5 gallons of carbonated, caloric soft drinks per year. I doubt that I personally accounted for any of 1,786,100,000 gallons of cola, root beer, red pop, etc., produced and consumed in the U.S. that year, but a decade later, when per capita availability had increased to 14.5 gallons per year, I was doing my part. I continued drinking my … [Read more...]