Breaking News - So Much for the “Healthy” Asian Diet

Check out yesterday’s article on Regina Wilshire’s blog:

http://weightoftheevidence.blogspot.com/2007/11/higher-carb-higher-gi-and-high-gl.html

I hope the findings, that Chinese women who ate the most rice had the highest incidence of diabetes, will put another nail in the coffin of the Healthy Asian Diet hypothesis.  I also hope that this starts to quiet the natterings of those folks who keep dragging out The China Study to prove that eating a non-stop diet of grains is good.

By the way, check out the rest of Wilshire’s blog, too.  She’s a gem.

Would You Take Diet Advice From This Person?

Remember the pudgy dietician on WebMd who was recommending a non-stop stream of flour to combat GERD?  Well, look what I dug up:

http://www.webmd.com/video/healthy-refrigerator-fridge-makeover

I cringed at nearly every bit of advice she gave, and it sure doesn’t seem to be helping her manage a healthy weight, so why would anyone in their right mind do what she says?  So let me tell you how I choose my food:

• Dairy products.  Full-fat products from cows not treated with rBST.  (For me, this isn’t so much a health concern as a memory from my childhood when farmers were being paid to dump milk.  So why do we need cows to produce more?)  Products should have nothing but milk or cream, salt, enzymes, or live cultures (depending of course on the product).  Low-fat or fat-free products are almost always loaded with stabilizers, thickeners, and other junk with no nutritional value.  I do occasionally purchase low-fat buttermilk, since I have never seen full-fat buttermilk for sale in the United States.  (I might try making my own some day.)  I leave the sweetened yogurts on the shelf, and if I suddenly developed some demonic desire to eat pudding masquerading as yogurt, I would certainly skip the overpackaged ones that have trans-fat laden granola in a separate little compartment on top.  As for unsweetened yogurt, if I can’t find full-fat yogurt, I go without.
• Soy milk.  I never touch the stuff.  Silk brand, in particular, is loaded with sugar.  If you must drink it, I encourage you to look for unsweetened varieties.  (Good luck finding them, however.)
• Non-dairy creamer.  Ugh.  Why would I buy this stuff when I can get 42% butterfat heavy cream from a local Massachusetts farm at my neighborhood Whole Foods?
• Orange juice.  I don’t use orange juice or any other fruit juice; they are too high in carbohydrates and have no fiber to slow their absorption.  Even if you’re not on low-carb, you might consider dumping juice, which is junk food masquerading as health food.  If you can’t give up juice, skip the calcium-enriched varieties.  Calcium in the absence of magnesium,  vitamin D, boron, and a host of other nutrients is not beneficial and may be harmful.  Better yet, eat an orange.
• Mayonnaise.  Homemade with olive oil when time permits.  If I have to buy commercial mayo, I get full fat varieties.  I have some in the fridge right now.  This is a compromise, however; the oils used to make commercial mayo are full of omega-6 fatty acids, or, in the case of canola oil, have a distinct fishy smell.  (Wasn’t our dietician friend’s comment on “one tablespoon” nauseating?)
• Butter.  Forget the advice to “use a lot less.”  I use it liberally.  I always buy unsalted, since it is more versatile, and salt can be used to mask off flavors in butter.
• Fruits and vegetables.  Yes!
• Cheese.  I am an adventurous cheese-eater.  In my fridge right now is some Vermont artisan jack cheese, a little wheel of Wensleydale, a little bit of goat feta, a scrap of Parmesan, and some soft goat cheese.  At work I also have some brie.  At least once every couple of weeks I try out some cheese I’ve never tried before.
• Eggs.  Cage-free eggs with DHA.  I’m skeptical that the “grain-fed” eggs the dietician shows in the video are actually high in omega-3, since grains are deficient in this nutrient.  So where would the chickens actually get omega-3 in their diet?