Complex Numbers

A New Take on Why We're Fat

I get really, really tired of all the "news" articles that follow the format:

Our society has an obesity problem because *shakes Magic 8-Ball* there's too much sugar in our diets! (or too many fats, too much carbs, too much soda, too little self-restraint, or whatever)

But this one I'm about to link actually makes a good point. I've noticed for a long time that when I try to eat healthy, I end up broke and thinner, but when I don't give a damn my wallet and I both get fat. This article actually applies observational data and draws a somewhat scientific conclusion:

Calorie for calorie, junk foods not only cost less than fruits and vegetables, but junk food prices also are less likely to rise as a result of inflation.

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/12/05/a-high-price-for-healthy-food/?f=1

As I implied above, I'm getting sick of hearing about how fat we are as a society and the mad scramble to find excuses why. Me, I have very little self-control when it comes to food; but I've learned to live with that and am finding ways around the problem. It never helps that no one seems to be able to make up their minds about what's good for you and what isn't. It used to be meat that was the boogeyman; for a while, it was fats; then carbs; then it turns out that some carbs are okay, and, hey, some fats are okay - as long as they're not trans fats. Believe it or not, for a while there, eggs (I call them 'cackleberries') were seen as the root of all dietary evil.

I strongly suspect that a large fraction of the "studies" commissioned to find out what is and isn't good for you are bought and paid for by various special-interest groups. Like, vegetable growers might get a study done that says meat is bad for you. The wheat industry gets together and does a study that denounces fats. Crisco buys a study that says fats are just fine; but don't eat white bread. That sort of thing.

And I still don't understand why sodium compounds are supposed to be evil.

Anyway, if that article has any validity, we get to the root of the problem: simple economics.

Now excuse me while I go eat a bag of pretzels.