We Eat; Therefore, They Are

Los Angeles Times ^ | 08-10-2004 | Rosie Mestel

[boris]

We Eat; Therefore, They Are

A panel of nutrition experts has heard about sugar and salt and fatty acids ad nauseam. Now they have to rewrite the federal dietary guide.

By Rosie Mestel, Times Staff Writer

BETHESDA, Md. — Inside a packed ballroom at the local Holiday Inn, 13 government-appointed scientists sat regally around a table, debating servings of fish.

"What do we want to recommend for children? Fish twice a week?" asked chairwoman Janet King.

"Small fish," another panel member said.

"Children are advised to eat smaller portions of fish than adults?"

"Can we defer a vote on that?" pleaded another.

The august panel of nutrition researchers had been talking this way for 45 minutes. The ballroom was filled with silent listeners scribbling away on notepads.

Some of the listeners were looking a little haggard. They had already witnessed exhaustive discussions on protein, sugar, fat, grains, breakfast, exercise and a record-breaking 2 1/2 -hour standoff on vitamin D.

"Mind-numbing isn't the half of it," said a woman in line for the restroom. "I want to strangle them."

[smiley]

Actually, there have been articles and news reports asking parents NOT to feed their younger children fish (even Tuna fish) and pregnant women to avoid fish altogether. The reason they gave was the high content of Mercury that could reach dangerous levels in children and pregnant women.

[boris]

"The reason they gave was the high content of Mercury that could reach dangerous levels in children and pregnant women."

There was a big flap over mercury in tuna fish some years ago. It ended--abruptly--when someone uncovered a preserved tuna in the Smithsonian from sometime around 1840--and found precisely the same level of mercury as 'modern' tuna...

--Boris

[headsonpikes]

Gubmint science placemarker.

[NaughtiusMaximus]

NAUGHTIUS' GUSTATORY MANIFESTO:

We are, by the Grace of God, the breadbasket of the planet. Yet, like spoiled children with too much candy, we have become neurotic about anything relating to food. Families sit at table, each one eating a solitary meal because each is following a different fad diet.

There is a kind of agreement (probably misinformed) about what kinds of food, in enormous amounts, are potentially bad for you. But, when the pancake is flipped and the discussion begins of what kind of food is good for us, a tidalwave of quackery and crankery washes intelligent discussion out the door. It becomes like the Wars of Religion and produces far more heat than light.

Eaten in moderation, all sanitary food is "health food." Avoid quackery. As Thomas Jefferson wrote,"Eat moderately of what is in season." Save your health and your purse by staying out of the hands of cranks. Thank God for the good food on your table and the blessings of your country.