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Musings Report 2018-23 6-9-18 No Wonder We're Unhealthy: Revisiting the Conventional American Diet
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For those who are new to the Musings reports: they are basically a glimpse into my notebook, the unfiltered swamp where I organize future themes, sort through the dozens of stories and links submitted by readers, refine my own research and start connecting dots which appear later in the blog or in my books. As always, I hope the Musings spark new appraisals and insights. Thank you for supporting the site and for inviting me into your circle of correspondents.
No Wonder We're Unhealthy: Revisiting the Conventional American Diet
It is no surprise to long-time readers that I don't consume much fast food or packaged food (frozen, canned, etc.), as I have long touted having a garden and fruit trees if at all possible, and eating real food with real ingredients prepared at home.
After a recent one-day road trip of 350 miles, we decided to indulge in a fast-food meal at a chain recommended by some friends, a chain that specializes in chicken (no, not KFC). I don't want to single out this chain, as all fast food shares the same characteristics we encountered: heavily salted, heavily refined ingredients, loaded with low-quality fats and high in cost.
The cost of two very minimal meals was over $16 (including California's 9.5% sales tax). This is appalling to a frugal consumer, as I recently bought three bags of vegetables and a melon at a locally owned supermarket for $3.50 (the produce was discounted due to age, but it was all fresh and perfectly good), and a big bag of fruits and vegetables at a Chinatown market for $7.50. We also bought 2 pounds of "natural" chicken (no growth hormones, etc.) at Sprouts supermarket for $4.
So I filled my backpack twice with real food and bought 2 pounds of meat for a total of $15, and received very little actual nutrition or taste for $16 at a fast food outlet.
We're constantly told in the mainstream media that "real food is expensive" and "fast food is cheap." What planet are they reporting from?
My wife declared the chicken meal the worst ever in terms of taste: everything was way too salty, the side-order portions paltry, the chicken of low quality and the crust soaked with not-tasty oil/fat.
Yet the line of customers at dinner time stretched to the entry door.
No wonder so many Americans are in poor health and poor financially. Eating fast food on a regular basis (say 3 to 5 times a week) impoverishes one's body and one's bank account.
High salt intake causes high blood pressure, which is a known risk factor in heart disease and other chronic disorders. A diet of refined flour, sugar and fat devoid of real fruits and vegetables correlates to a spectrum of chronic diseases.
High concentrations of salt, sugar, refined ingredients stripped of nutritional value and low-quality fats/oils characterize all packaged foods. On the rare occasions I've sampled canned soups, beans, chili, etc., I've found the salt levels high enough to render the contents inedible to anyone who uses salt sparingly (me and many others).
The same can be said of sugar; a wide variety of packaged foods and beverages are overly sweetened.
Many packaged foods such as frozen pizzas and even supposedly "healthy" frozen meals suffer from these same drawbacks: high salt, high sugar, heavily refined ingredients, low quality fats/oils.
Garbage in, garbage out. It's impossible to be healthy eating a diet devoid of real food / raw food, a diet of heavily refined, low quality ingredients high in salt and sugar.
I'm all for guilty pleasures: croissants, doughnuts, fried chicken, steaks, pastries, cheesecake, pies, Eggs Benedict, French fries, pizza, burgers, potato chips, ice cream-- I love all this stuff as much as the next person (or maybe more). it's all good as rare indulgences.
But the conventional American diet doesn't view these as indulgences to be enjoyed once every month or two; these are daily fare. And this is tragic, as consuming a diet of refined, salty, sugary low-quality carbs and meat soaked in low-quality oils/fats is a pathway to poor health and chronic disease.
What are we teaching in our schools and universities? Sadly, the basics of gardening, nutrition and food preparation are given short shrift. It's little wonder poor health and fitness are now the norm-- and not coincidentally, profit centers to Big Pharma and other branches of our healthcare system. But there's no substitute for real unrefined food prepared at home and basic fitness.
Highlights of the Blog This Past Week
The Politics of Pretense: The Status Quo Is the Problem, But It Can't Be Touched (8/8/18)
The Three Crises That Will Synchronize a Global Meltdown by 2025 (6/6/18) (mark your calendar...)
The U.S. Economy In Two Words: Asymmetric Gains (6/1/18)
Best Thing That Happened To Me This Week
I received this email from Patron T.D. in response to last week's Musings Report: "So much value. Such informative, thought provoking observations and link curation. Well worth my Patreon subscription. Keep it up and thank you."
Market Musings: S&P 500: Rising Wedge and Bear Flag
The SPX (S&P 500) tagged the top of the Bear Flag described in last week's Musings Report (2,780) and has encountered resistance.
This week, I've added a rising wedge (in red), a pattern which has led to significant declines this year.
The lower band of the Bear Flag offers an initial target for a decline (around 2,750), but it seems to me that the low of the year around 2,500 becomes a target should the 2,740 level give way in the weeks ahead.
Re-tests of lows are a common occurrence, and a successful re-test of the February lows would provide a solid signal for a sustained move higher.
From Left Field
Avoiding meat and dairy is ‘single biggest way’ to reduce your impact on Earth -- most of the food we grow is eaten by our animals...
History as Quantitative Science III: The Value of Coin Hoards -- coin hoards correlate to crises....
Why Your Health Insurer Doesn’t Care About Your Big Bills -- perverse incentive galore....
Our Energy Problem Is a Quantity Problem -- alt energy is a tiny slice of current energy production...
Introducing Toshi, A Dapps Browser For The Ethereum Network -- very interesting, can't claim I understand the ramifications or future development possibilities...
12 ways your smartphone is making your life worse -- summarizing the obvious...
The Strange Failure of the Educated Elite (via Michaela L.)
There’s Now A Religion Based On the Blockchain. Yes, Really. (via Steve K.)
What’s the New York Times’s problem with Britain? (via Glencora S.) MSM bias: do it consistently and people start thinking it's actually true...
Has progress in science and technology come to a halt? (via Iris K.) -- it's complex....
The Philip Cross Affair (via John D.) A Wikipedia "editor" edits dozens of Wikipedia entries a day, non-stop, 7 days a week....
What does a ‘decent standard of living’ cost in California? 1 in 3 households can’t afford it (via LaserLefty) $89,665 in annual income is bare bones for a family of four...it's staggering that $90,000 a year is now the bare minimum....
"Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle." Plato
Thanks for reading--
charles |
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