Guts & Giggles

by Mary Dimino

Latest blog entry: 11/17/2009 3:23:00 AM

What You Don't Know is Making You Fat (Part 2)

The following are excerpts from Mary Dimino and Doctor Brad Johsnon's new book, "Scared Skinny":

Studies at the University of Minnesota compared a fructose diet (17% of total calories from fructose, typical "fast food diet") to a diet sweetened mainly with sucrose. The results were dramatic. The fructose diet produced significantly higher levels of triglycerides in the blood, in men about 32% higher, than the sucrose-sweetened diet. The fructose diets also made triglyceride levels peak faster, just after mealtime, when such fats can do most damage to artery walls.

HFCS is not the only culprit. Sugar is also found within processed foods. The average American now consumes 152 pounds of processed sugar per year. 152 pounds of sugar per year! That's my current body weight. Imagine consuming your weight in sugar? When construction workers whistle and call me sweetheart, they aren't kidding. I am eating 3 pounds per week, nearly 8 ounces of sugar each day. And this is sugar I'm not even aware of because it is added to my food in the processing. The next culprit is Palm oil. It is similar to that of HFCS because it is a stable fat that gives a longer shelf life to processed foods. Palm oil has been used for baking breads, cookies and French fries. Palm oil is the tastiest of vegetable oils. It sounds rather exotic and pleasant, doesn't it? Palm oil. Like something soothing you'd rub all over yourself at the beach. Can you rub the palm oil on my back, dear. And it sounds almost good for you, like aloe vera. It not only sounds pleasant, but it's tasty, too. Hey snap out of it. Don't let that exotic sounding palm oil fool you. The reason it is so delicious is because palm oil actually contains more saturated fat then hog lard. Yes, I said it, hog lard. Go rub some of that on your back, Porky Pig.

Another offender is partially hydrogenated vegetable oil. During the low fat craze of the 80's, butter and saturated fats became public enemy number one. So, partially hydrogenated vegetable oil was invented, to make butter substitutes. I can't believe it's not butter; well it's not. It's a tub of trans fat. Today we now know the harmful effects of trans fat. These were put in many processed foods and can still be found in some foods today. There has been a push to remove trans fats from many foods, but that doesn't mean the foods are now healthy. For instance Oreos no longer put trans fats in their cookies, but it's still a processed cookie, with all the other fats and sugars in there that make an Oreo so scrum delicious. The same thing with potato chips, the package prominently displays no trans fats, yet it is still a deep fried potato loaded with preservatives, still not a healthy food choice. Which brings me to one scary point; we assume many of these processed foods are actually healthy for us.

Soda is one of the biggest influences on weight gain. We now consume an average of 53 gallons of soft drinks per year. That's 20 ounces a day. Soda has now replaced milk as a dietary staple for most children and is the third most common breakfast food. This trend is also evident in school districts, where from 1985 to 1997, milk purchases have decreased by 30% while the purchases of soft drinks have increased by 1,100 %. When you drink soda, you're taking in large amounts of sugar, HFCS, and extra calories. Since Soft drinks do not quench thirst well, you eat and drink more. There is no caloric compensation associated with their consumption. Soda causes you to consume extra calories that increase bodyweight. This is termed as empty calories, meaning you are consuming calories with no nutritional value. However, don't think that diet sodas are a good alternative because they may be even more harmful as we will explain in later chapters.

Americans have changed how they eat over the last two decades. Presently we consume on average 41 pounds of potatoes, 40 pounds of white bread, 152 pounds of processed sugar and over two gallons of vegetable oil. It is even estimated that one-fourth of all vegetables consumed are French fries. It's statistically proven that usually baby's first vegetable is a potato… in the form of a French fry. Look, honey, Junior is eating his first processed food. Get the camera. We also need to consider the trends in candy and snack products. In the 1970's there were 250 new candy and snack products marketed each year. However, by 2007 there were 3,261 new confectionery products and 4,168 new snack, cookie and cracker products debuted. With the combination of inexpensively made foods processed in sugars that taste delicious, targeted advertising, and easy access, it is clear to see why they are in abundance. It is also clear to see why we are getting fatter as a society.

Mary Dimino

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