Have you heard? A diet high in fruits, vegetables, and grains with moderate amounts of meat and fat is actually good for you! It also helps you maintain or -- get this -- even lose weight!
Good News! A Healthy Diet Is Good For You!
Last week, the New York Times reported that "after decades of obsessing about fat, calories and carbs, many dieters have made the unorthodox decision to simply enjoy food again."
The article goes on to describe several life-long dieters who have turned away from diets of strictly controlled foods and portions in favor of simple home cooked meals with fresh ingredients. In other words: meals with foods that they actually enjoy.
These dieters mention being influenced by the Slow Food Movement and the efforts of chefs like Alice Waters. Even Rachael Ray gets a mention for encouraging people to eat for the "experience of food" and not for the nutrition package it provides.
Far from gaining weight, studies show that turning the focus away from calorie counting and toward enjoyment of fresh foods helps people maintain or move toward a normal weight.
Despite our joking at the beginning of this post, we're truly glad the New York Times decided to publish this article. It's about time we get some positive press about healthy, normal eating habits. Next time someone tells us it's too hard to cook healthy food at home or chides us for having a second roll with dinner, we think we'll just point them here.
• Read the full article: Instead of Dieting to Eat, They're Eating to Enjoy by Tara Parker-Pope, published in the New York Times.
Related: Blogging the NY Times: 11 Best Foods You Aren't Eating
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I agree with the article that the focus should be on what to eat instead of what not to eat. It seems to me like the article is preaching to the choir, though; people who are already eating healthful diets and reaping the benefits of it probably don't need the rallying cry. The article basically tells you that you have to change what you're eating if you're not already eating the healthiest options, and on top of that, you should cook it yourself. The objective isn't a bad one by any means. Instilling it on a scale (pardon the pun) that will do the most good and reaching the audience who really needs it is still a problem.
What really alarms me is the article says the number of dieting men and women is down, yet CDC statistics show that the number of obese adults is up. It makes me wonder about the demographics those 5,000 food diaries covered.
I was glad to see the mention of how farmers' markets are proliferating. I know that proponents our Downtown Phoenix Public Market and the farms it serves worked very hard to ensure food stamps could be accepted there and that seniors on state-funded support could again qualify for the Arizona Farmers Market Nutrition Program (hooray that our state government champions shopping at farmer's markets, even if they do allow only a meager $30 per year, per qualifier to do it). I still run into a lot of friends who make up a lot of good excuses why they don't go to the market, but luckily, more of them are willing to try it and are finding out they like it!
view OneWallKitchen's profile
Welcome off the short bus society, eating a regular stable diet is healthy.
Ta-da.
view protogarrett's profile
Who knew? What a revelation!
view madampince's profile