When “They” Can’t Make Up Their Mind
Grilled Salmon w/ Creamy Dijon Dill Sauce & Popeye’s Pasta
I’ve recently heard that a diet high in calcium aids dramatically in weight loss. And you will be glad to know, “they” have now officially endorsed the consumption of milk and milk products!
But, “they” said not too long ago, that a diet rich in those same dairy products was DANGEROUS. Their threats were so terrifying, that I thought we would be seeing a skull and crossbones on every carton or package of cheddar, cream and Camembert in the country. The word Brie was so bad it was to be only spoken in a whisper, and certainly not in polite company.
Remember alfalfa sprouts? There was a time every sandwich you ordered had a bushel of the “good for you” weed creeping out of the bread like an uncontrollable kudzu. “They” had extolled the virtues of alfalfa sprouts. Sprouts on a sandwich made us feel smugly salubrious. We were healthy – we ate sprouts.
Fast forward to 1995, as a result of numerous outbreaks of food- borne illness, the FDA issues an Interim Advisory on alfalfa sprouts to those at high risk for severe food born illness - children, the elderly and those with compromised immune systems. But, somehow, I don’t think “they” are eating crow.
Among other famous food flip-flops have been the notion that raw vegetables were always better for you than canned or frozen. Not true. Food processing plants, usually very close to the source can process and package foods quicker than you can say, “Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers”.
This makes the canned and frozen fruits and vegetables nutritionally often equal to, or in some cases even better than their fresh counterparts, even though the fresh ones always taste better. Tomatoes are a good example. More lycopene appears in canned tomatoes (even in catsup and pizza sauce) than in fresh tomatoes). Lycopene is a front line fighter against prostate cancer.
Coconuts and coconut oil have been on the nutritional blacklist for some time. However, coconut oil, a really, really, high saturated fat has been recently defended by some. “They” claim it is not virgin coconut oil, straight from the fresh fruit, that is the problem, but processed coconut oil, made from dried coconut. One professor from Michigan State University claims lauric
oils, in virgin coconut oil, are similar to fats in mother’s milk and have relative nutritional benefits. Who knows?
“They” are not always wrong, but every claim, or disclaimer, must be carefully considered. So, for the time being, cheese and milk are on the ok list. To cover myself, I’m using the low fat varieties.
I don’t do sprouts, never did, never will.
I love coconut, but until the controversy is settled, I’ll stick to having it once in a while, toasted, on top of fat-free frozen yogurt, with some chocolate sauce (hey, you only live once).
I plan to outsmart “them” by eating sensibly, and taking their claims with a grain of salt. Whoops, I forgot, salt is bad for you too – that is, until “they” say otherwise.