Book Report

"Eat, Drink and Be Healthy" by Walter Willett, MD, is a great read. I found that reading the first four chapters didn't help me much on the exam but being that I spent last week recovering more or less from viral bronchitis and missing the first week of school, it is expected. Since we are past the first exam, I will go through a little of what the book is about and how it is right on the mark.

Our society is based on trust. It used to be, that is. The consumer is getting more and more knowledgeable, at least I think they are, which is pushing big box businesses to bring on products that meet the demand. I find this to be a very interesting social movement. Movies like, "Food Inc." are coming out educating consumers about the food producer's motives and the poor quality goods they strive to make all at our expense. My hope is that through going to DC school and pushing forward these alternative views I too can be involved in the movement toward a prevention and wellness based health care system.

The book, "Eat, Drink and Be Healthy" contributes toward this movement. It analyzes the old USDA food guide pyramid that we all were educated with in the 90's and tears into the new pyramid plaguing people's eyes today. What I found most interesting is how much lobbying took place to form the pyramids. In my undergraduate program at Boise State University, I took a nutrition course that supported the food guide pyramid. My professor had us use their program to design a diet plan and completely ignored the New Healthy Eating Pyramid which was available at the time. The fact that a university is using a heavily lobbied for program is quite concerning. Now that I am in alternative medicine, the ideas seem to be a bit more flexible and focused on a new way of thinking.

Food politics are really annoying but interesting when you take a step back and look at the health of our society. Willett analyzed this topic deeply in chapter one of his book and provided eye-opening insight into what goes on behind the seen to make a dietary guidance pyramid. The fact that millions use these types of web-based resources is the main concern because it practically supports people in their unhealthy eating habits. It comes down to money and who has the most. Those who have the power get what they want. For instance, the pyramid was marketed by a company, Porter-Novelli, who markets for McDonald's and Krispy Kreme. What does that say about the pyramid, particularly when the focus on dietary guidance supports unhealthy eating patterns? The lesson I learned from this is we have to be conscientious in our consumer choices because every businesses motivation is to be profitable.

There is hope, thank God. The new healthy eating pyramid was designed based on the most up-to-date nutrition science available. It's focus is on plant oils rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids and whole grains. Vegetables, fruits, nuts and legumes are recommended low on the pyramid, which is a good thing because this emphasizes the "eat in abundance" idea from being so close to the base. Red meat, butter, white rice, white bread, white pasta, potatoes, soda and sweets are at the tip and advised to "use sparingly". The difference here is recognizing the difference in fats and carbohydrates, something the USDA's pyramid ignored. The USDA advised to eat half of your carbs from whole grain sources, implying the other half can be sugary sources. This is not good because suggestions like these allow people to feel safe in buying whatever sugary food they want. And the epidemic of obesity continues to rise.

We can't blame a food pyramid for obesity. We can blame big business for targeting people's weaknesses and emotional tendencies to eat food's that satisfy the palate immediately. Another interesting thing Willett wrote about was trans fat. Trans fat is added to products in place of unsaturated fats to increase shelf life of products. Many food producers use this product and many more preservatives to sell more products. The longer a product sits on the shelf, the higher the possibility it will be picked up by a shopper. Most of the processed baked goods have this fat in them as well as huge amounts of sugar and salt. These products are made to target our taste buds and create an emotional response. This way when we have a bad day we open the wrapper and chow down the food soaked in all the tasty goodness they focus so intently on providing.

I had a client that was a former food scientist who told me once that she worked for 2 full years on a product that would have a long shelf life, taste good to all ages and cost virtually pennies to produce. She had no problem with this because she's a chemist and this kind of work was satisfying for her intellectually and financially. However, she was a personal training client of mine and had been "using" these products for years based on her obesity and other health concerns.

To learn more about the "good" fats was inspiring for me. Until this recently, I had no clue what an anti-inflammatory diet was. Most of the pathologies we are learning in school can be stamped out with nutrition. As we have learned, many of the pathologies are from excessive inflammation or the tendency to head in that direction. The food choices that support these tendencies are the ones talked about above that are richly soaked in palatable goodness but high in molecules that support health problems.

Interestingly, trans fats cause LDL cholesterol (the bad) to go up and good cholesterol, HDL to go down. This is different than saturated fat, in that saturated fat increases both. Sugar increases triglycerides (VLDL's) and decreases HDL's. All this information clearly suggests it is our foods that make or break us. Unsaturated fats protect us by giving our body what it needs to function optimally. Every cell in our body is built with phospholipids which are a combo of fats but primarily unsaturated fats. When we don't eat these essential fats our body must remove them from cell walls. Learning what fats are inflammatory precursors and which are anti-inflammatory can be significantly useful in preventing many health problems beyond the major killers. I find it incredibly inspirational that we have the power to prevent disease.

We mustn't be gluttons and act as if our food choices do not affect our health. Once the cycle starts it is hard to break it and undo the damage done. It is never to late to start though.