Industrial Dieting: The Myth and the Madness

Saima
Great article.
The way coconut oil was disparaged in India especially in Kerala was an example of how to conduct a negative advertising program.

You may have already read this since you mentioned Dr.Mercola in your footnote.

Coconut oil

Luckily we have two natural foodstores close to our place and an football coach who abhors any fast food. Keeps the kids in line. )

Saima -

The woman`s name is Brenda Watson. Here`s her website:

http://www.brendawatson.com/

Her brand is quite popular in the Northeast Region.

Another interesting program:

Ultra Lite

http://www.ultralite.info

I finally got around to finish reading this piece. You seem to have done a lot of work on it. It is a bit long but quite interesting. The dietary tips are highly useful. Can you say a few words regarding sugar substitutes? Are they any good? Which ones?

Re: # 22

Hi BJKumar

Thanks. New studies link Aspartame with cancer. All chemical sugar substitutes are potentially toxic. It is better to use shakkar/gur/honey to sweeten tea than to put those 2 tablets. It is odd that people drink diet coke/pepsi and use artificial sweetners while at the same time eating white flour products. The time it takes to convert white flour to sugar in the body is not that long. Aparently there is a herbal sugar substitute for diabetics called Stevia that is safer for those diabetics who must control there sugar. I personally have not tried it. Sugar is addictive and sugar cravings are signs of lack of nutrition, high insulin production--poor diet. If we break the cycle there is no desire for sugar. In fact many people are surprised when they find that their mouth starts watering at the sight of green vegetables:). When that happens, I am guessing that you can be sure that the body chemistry is in balance and all the hormones are in equilibrium.

In the hospital where I work, I`m going to recommend this as compulsory reading for a lot of people.
More power to your pen.

Re: # 18

Dear Sheela

Thank you for your kind words. I hope that you can spread the word--the traditional diet of people from sub-continent is now considered health food. As a business student, I used to be awestruck at the politicians the people in India who would not give a license to Coke or Pepsi. Alas, Pepsi got the license and in its wake the entire coterie of brand names has arrived in every corner of the sub-continent slowly killing all our knowledge. To quote Ghalib: Mujhe kiya bura tha marna agar ek baar hota. But we have to watch the unravelling of a great civilization`s ideas bit by bit by painful bit.

dullahbhatti#1: Couple of years ago I bought a pedometer and with great enthusiam.....since then try to walk a bit more or jog or sit on the excercise bike.....last year I tried Atkins.....cutting down on bread, naan and roTi to a level where I don`t feel I am missing anything....``

aye jawani char dhyaraay
khushyaan naal handayaay
zindagi da koi maan naheen
mand paahl kae he har jaayeye
gayee jawaanee fir naheen aanee
lakh khorakaan khaayeyeh

bhattisaab, tuseen keewein valayati maimaan vargoon khorak ghatt kar littie aaye..........desi ghayoo dae paranthay khaoo, khalis makhan ich pakkya hoya sarsoon da saag enjaee karo..........udday baad chini tou bharaee mitthi lassi piyoo tay vadday vadday gannay choopu........

lagdaa aye sardar vee valayat aau kae lissay pae gayee nae.......khulaee khaoo tay moojaan manaoee tay zindagi enjaee karo.........

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17887420/site/newsweek/

Exercise Is a State of Mind
Researchers are learning more about how physical activity affects our moods. Is sweat the hot new antidepressant?
By Michael Craig Miller, M.D.
Newsweek
April 9, 2007 issue - A sound mind in a sound body is a short, but full description of a happy state in this world,`` wrote the British philosopher John Locke. Three hundred years later, research shows that we should begin thinking of body and mind health as conceptually identical. The two are linked at the deepest levels.

For several decades we`ve known about one effect of exercise on the brain, the ``endorphin high`` that makes us feel good during and right after exercise. Recently, scientists have uncovered some longer-lasting effects of exercise on the brain. Regular exercise improves your mood, decreases anxiety, improves sleep, improves resilience in the face of stress and raises self-esteem. All these benefits don`t come because you notice what you`ve lost around your waist. Rather, they come from exercise-induced alterations inside your head.

With exercise, several biological changes occur that make your nerve cells more robust. The blood and energy supply to the brain improves. The genes in nerve cells signal the production of proteins called neurotrophic factors or growth factors. These substances induce nerve cells to grow, branch and make connections with one another (neuroplasticity) and—in some brain areas—give rise to new nerve cells (neurogenesis). These important biological processes, which are essential to adaptation and learning, tend to slow down with age and also in response to stress, after brain injury and in depression. Exercise can speed the process back up again, making it a respectable, though partial, antidote to stress and aging.

Exercise is a pretty good antidepressant, too—equal to drugs or psychotherapy in some studies. Exercise and antidepressant medications also appear to be biologically equivalent. Consider the hippocampus, a seahorse-shaped region in the temporal lobe of the brain. It is involved in regulating mood and storing memories. When neuroplasticity and neurogenesis are sluggish, the hippocampus gets smaller. Neuroscientists see this in brain scans of people with depression. Antidepressants and electroconvulsive therapy appear to spur nerve growth in this region. Exercise probably relieves—and likely also prevents—depression through the same mechanism.

Using an animal model of depression well known among neuroscientists, researchers at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden demonstrated these changes in the brain in a series of experiments. They saw that ``depressed`` rats grow more nerve cells in the hippocampus in response to exercise. Then, by measuring the levels of mRNA, an indicator of gene activity, they found that exercise caused an increase in the production of neuropeptide Y (NPY) in the hippocampus. Also working with rats, a group at California State University found that exercise induced an increase in brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in the same region. These two proteins—NPY and BDNF—are important prerequisites for nerve growth and survival.

Just knowing what exercise can do for your brain won`t guarantee that you`ll jump off your couch and start jogging down the road. You still need motivation, but where does it come from? Even that is under genetic control.

Recent research finds that the brain governs how much activity your body is ready for, in part using signals from your muscles as a guide. The theory goes that the brain needs to be in charge, to regulate energy output and preserve the integrity of the whole body. In this model, the brain decides when you need to be active and when you don`t. How good a job your brain does at managing this is genetically determined. And, just as with weight control, the brain isn`t always right: just as the brains of overweight people often make them hungry, the brains of some inactive people often encourage even more inactivity.

Indeed, some researchers are beginning to wonder if genes that make a person vulnerable to depression also make exercise less pleasant—or less reinforcing. Exercise has been demonstrated so effective at reducing health risks with so few adverse effects that it should be an easy sell. Yet no one has yet found the most effective way to promote a healthy lifestyle. Information about the positive effects of exercise does not seem to be enough. To improve motivation for exercise, it would help us to better understand how our genes control our experience of exercise.

At the University of Colorado at Boulder, investigators have developed a model of exercise behavior to guide their research. They make the reasonable assumption that genes influence both our physiological responses to exercise (for example, our heart rate or body temperature) and our subjective experience of it (how our moods change or how tired we feel). They conducted a study in which participants were assigned to periods of both exercise and inactivity. The subjects` responses were recorded. The researchers, knowing that there are two forms of a gene involved in BDNF function, also determined the genotype of each subject. The results suggested that the degree of mood improvement and the perception of exertion was partly determined by the form of the participant`s BDNF gene.

These are very early returns, so in the meantime some practical advice may help. You don`t have to invest in fancy equipment or a health club to get the benefits of exercise. Vigorous, sweat-inducing effort is a good thing, but psychological well-being or an improvement in depressive symptoms does not seem to depend upon the intensity or duration of the workout. More important is your ability to sustain an exercise routine. The research indicates that if you can stick with any program for at least two months, you`re giving yourself the best chance to feel better. Fortunately, there does appear to be a priming effect—after a while it gets easier to continue, and some people end up describing their exercise as a habit they enjoy continuing.

The type of exercise also doesn`t seem to matter much—aerobic exercise and strength training or a combination are equally effective. Thirty minutes per day of moderate exercise—a brisk walk, for example—can help. Start even smaller if you want to. Build 10 minutes of walking into your daily commute by parking a little farther from the office. Take stairs instead of an elevator. There is some evidence that exercise is more pleasant if you stay hydrated. So if you are going to exercise for any extended period, drink water before you start and again every so often during the workout. And if your exercise program is boring, keep yourself stimulated during exercise: listen to music or an audiobook.

You may have concluded that you are one of those people with I-don`t-feel-much-like-exercising genes. But if you find the science convincing, begin to picture healthy nerve cells plumping and sprouting. Does that motivate you? If not, let`s hope that scientists will soon find that gentle nudge—new information, a form of psychotherapy or a medication—that will help you feel like it and keep you moving. Whoever finds the starter motor, the genetic wellspring of motivation, will have found a key to good health.

Miller is editor in chief of the Harvard Mental Health Letter. For more information on exercise and mood, go to health.harvard.edu/NEWSWEEK.

URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17887420/site/newsweek/

- [8. Eliminate transfats such as margarine, vegetable oil and processed snacks (anything deep fried). Instead use butter, desi-ghee, coconut oil, olive oil and flax oil for cooking, sautéing vegetables and on top of salads. ]

I can understand the use of oils for salad dressings, but desi ghee and butter for any kind of cooking and sauteing seems too much to me. Yes, if you want your arteries blocked and other digestive system issues then that`s a different route. Olive oil is great. It needs to be used sparingly. Sprays work the best.

[4. Some kind of detox regimen every few weeks. You can make warm water and lemon a part of your morning ritual to help digestion.]

I have concerns here on using the term very loosely... some kind of detox. That`s a killer. There are too many over the counter detox plans available. Some of them are pure herbal plans. Not every body is cut out to take 100% herbs for the cleansing of their system. The labels can be misleading depending on the type of detox formula. Warm water by itself is good and so is apple cider vinegar and/or aloe-vera juice.

[1. Eating 3-4 meals a day using the bodies natural hunger scale, i.e., neither too full nor very hungry. ]

What I have heard from my nutritionists is to take 6 small servings than 3 huge meals. It all depends on your life-style and your system`s intake ability.

Not everyone can take huge breakfasts. Who has time to make a huge breakfast before heading out? Lunch is a possibility. As far as dinner is concerned, I have heard from reliable sources (GI Specialist and Dietician) to give at least 4-5 hours gap.

Re: # 13

Thanks ZahraJ for all your comments. The point of view was from the Naturopathic community.

1. There are some controversies over vegetable oils because of the following reasons: 1. Hexane 2. GMO crops corn and canola 3. Doubt whether polyunsaturated fats like vegetable oils can remain stable at medium to high heat, leading to chemical reactions that actually increase LDL (bad cholestrol) without a matching increase in HDL (good cholestrol). 4. Transfats (from food cooked in margarine; vegetable oil ghee) are more closely linked to heart disease than saturated fats. It is an interesting argument because the current rates of heart disease are higher than the times when people cooked food in butter 5. Sugar also has a closer link with heart disease than eating saturated fats like asli ghee and butter. It seems that eating fatty acids that are from the monu-unsaturates along with saturated fatty acids --in the critical balance is better than eliminating the entire family of saturated fats. My great aunts and uncles who were variously raised on Asli ghee, butter, coconut oil, animal fats like Ojri have sound heart health at 70-80 yrs. Yet, young people in their 30-40s have clogged up arteries in North America. Therefore the relationship between heart disease and food is far more complex than the vegetable oil industry would like to tell us.
2. Detox regime. You are right I should have explained what the Naturopaths call detox but because my article was already so huge, I skipped it. The most gentle detox means the following:
1. Done at a time when you are in perfect health and all the elimination organs are working well.
2. Eat only vegetables steamed or vegetable juice with a little brown rice that you make at home
3. Drink warm water with lemon.
4. Go for sauna or hot yoga
5. Take extra fibre, flax meal or oatmeal with lots of water.
6. You can do this from 1 day to several depending on how you feal.
7. Relax. Go for a gentle 10-20 minute walk, sleep and rest.

Since many people fast, the detox is the same or someone can use a detox kit but that should only be under medical advice. It is a great way to start a weightloss program and to periodically do it 3-4 times a year to keep your immunity and digestion at peak.

Re: # 16

[It is an interesting argument because the current rates of heart disease are higher than the times when people cooked food in butter ]

I guess it depends on the kind of butter. No? There are some recipes that require butter, but I`d rather use olive oil. I have also read very bad results of vegetable oil cooking.

[My great aunts and uncles who were variously raised on Asli ghee, butter, coconut oil, animal fats like Ojri have sound heart health at 70-80 yrs. Yet, young people in their 30-40s have clogged up arteries in North America. Therefore the relationship between heart disease and food is far more complex than the vegetable oil industry would like to tell us.]

I agree with your observation. One of my cousins who is the slimmest guy in the family and should be in his mid to late 50s had clogged arteries. Very diligent about healthy food, timing of his food and stuff. I guess it was in his genes or the heavy desi-food his wife would cook that led him into a procedure.

[2. Detox regime. You are right I should have explained what the Naturopaths call detox but because my article was already so huge, I skipped it. The most gentle detox means the following:
1. Done at a time when you are in perfect health and all the elimination organs are working well.
2. Eat only vegetables steamed or vegetable juice with a little brown rice that you make at home
3. Drink warm water with lemon.
4. Go for sauna or hot yoga
5. Take extra fibre, flax meal or oatmeal with lots of water.
6. You can do this from 1 day to several depending on how you feal.
7. Relax. Go for a gentle 10-20 minute walk, sleep and rest.]

I brought it up since I tried an over the counter herbal detox and had a real bad reaction. I like action. I do not like stuff that says gentle, slow and calm :) I think I came out of a tan from traveling to Florida and started the herbal detox and it killed me. In fact, the brand I used is a real popular one. And the woman behind it has written some great books on detoxification, digestive system and stuff. I do not have her name handy, but will post it later. She is very informative. I was ticked off that my nutritionist did not give me any heads up on what to expect or the side effects to anticipate.


I would like to share another detox plan that I was suggested. It has quite a few common things that you have identified but adds a little flavor with veges, broths, herbs and supplements.

[This is a sample two-week detox diet plan that is thought to support detoxification by increasing elimination from the body, cleansing the colon, enhancing circulation to clear toxic substances, eliminating foods from the diet that require detoxification or are allergenic, and providing nutrients to support and protect the liver, the main organ involved in detoxification.
Upon rising

* 1/2 lemon squeezed into a glass of warm water
* 1 tablespoon of ground flaxseeds in a glass of water

Breakfast
* breakfast smoothie made with pear, rice milk and rice protein powder
* supplements: vitamin C

Snacks
* apple juice diluted with water
* water
* vegetable broth
* celery sticks and hummus

Lunch
* chunky vegetable soup made with vegetable stock and your choice of vegetables
* steamed broccoli with sesame seeds and beets sprinkled with lemon juice on brown rice
* apple sauce
* supplements: multivitamin

Snacks
* carrot sticks with hummus dip
* water
* supplements: milk thistle

Dinner
* curried lentils on quinoa
* salad with mixed greens, red peppers, artichokes and sprouts drizzled with salad dressing of garlic, lemon juice and olive oil
* vegetable broth

Before bed
* 1 tablespoon of ground flaxseeds in a glass of water

The liver requires certain nutrients in order to produce the enzymes and antioxidants needed for detoxification.
Choose a high-potency multivitamin with selenium, molybdenum, and zinc. The supplements choline and methionine help to regulate fat metabolism and increase bile flow. A water-soluble vitamin, vitamin C is an antioxidant that supports detox. Milk Thistle: this herb has many positive effects on the liver. It is an antioxidant, assists in liver cell regeneration, and is used after exposure to chemical and industrial pollutants or adverse effects from excess alcohol or fat consumption.

List of Allowed Foods
1) Fresh Fruit
All fresh fruit.

2) Fresh Vegetables
All fresh vegetables. Great detox foods include broccoli, cauliflower, broccoli sprouts, onions, garlic, artichokes, beets, red and green vegetables.

3) Rice
Brown or basmati rice, rice cakes, rice crackers and rice pasta.

4) Other Grains
Quinoa, amaranth, millet, and buckwheat can be used instead of rice. They can be purchased at a health food store.

5) Beans
Split yellow and green peas and lentils are easiest to digest and require the least soaking time. Other acceptable legumes include kidney beans, pinto beans, mung beans, garbanzo beans (chickpeas).

6)Seeds can be sprinkled over any meal. Includes flaxseed, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds

7) Oil
Extra-virgin olive oil

8) Condiments
Vegetable salt, sea salt, vinegar, naturally fermented soy sauce or tamari, any culinary herbs or spices, limited amounts of honey.

9) Herbal Tea
Herbal non-caffeinated teas, green tea.

10) Other Beverages
Water, lemon water, 100% natural fruit and vegetable juices, rice milk

11) Daily Detox Must Do`s
* Drink a minimum of 8 glasses of water per day, warm or room temperature. Water is essential to clear waste from the blood. Thirst is often mistaken for hunger.
* Do not drink liquids around mealtime.
* Dilute fruit juice with 50% water.
* Take the time to chew food well, especially grains.

List of Foods to Avoid
1) Sugar
Refined sugar and mixtures containing refined sugar, including sucrose, dextrose, corn syrup, brown sugar, turbinado. Avoid artificial sweeteners.

2) Dairy Products
Milk, butter and other dairy products.

3) Wheat
Wheat and products containing wheat.
4) Gluten

All gluten-containing grains, including barley, rye, spelt and kamut. Some people are sensitive to gluten, a protein fragment in these grains.

5) Caffeine
Coffee, both regular and decaffeinated, black tea, and other drinks containing caffeine should be reduced. Green tea is a great substitute to regular coffee.

6) Other Foods to Avoid
* Yeast
* Alcohol
* Food additives and preservatives
* Chocolate
* High-Fat Foods ]

Saima Shah,

[the label noting that a food has 200 calories is useless and even misleading since it lacks a/context b/relevance c/provides incomplete information.]

From the perspective of most users, the label is useless because they never read those labels.

Your attack on the FDA is rather unwarranted. Perhaps those folks do not police the drug manufacturers too well – but can one imagine where things would be without those agencies?! (Hint: in a certain small town in a certain country, once upon a time a certain babaji distributed a certain good-tasting “paachak” for certain stomach ailments at very reasonable price. The gesture was warmly appreciated by the general population – long after that babaji had departed – at least until it was discovered that the primary ingredient included dry, colored simian stool.)

I agree that diet is no solution to any problem and we should all listen to our bodies and act accordingly. The problem is that our bodies do not listen to us – the just listen to those advertisements for tasty treats! :(

More later! (Gotta run! (Not for exercise, though. )) :(

Re: # 9
Generally eating has original problem, original sin.
The problem is very simple and normally we can not solve simple problems.
All good foods are bad testing and bad foods are very good testing. Instead of wet reduction etc researchers shuld study how good foods will test good and bad food will test real bad. Suppose instead of fatty meats fodder will test better so we can eat fodder and all fiber and no wet problem. Or sugar smell terrible.
I have tried to improve health of cats when I give them good nurtious they just shunn and go away nonchalantly. Once I told my daughter let them starve little then they will start eating healthy diet short on fats. We tried for two day and they went on hunger strike and then I felt bad and felt they do not have to maintain figure like women and fed them bad foods devoid of neutrious stuff and full of fat. Mercifully men are not required to maintain figure.
Otherway is go for natural and organic foods. These are very costly and they are not produced too much in same land and need clean organic water. If food become costlier then people will be forced to eat less. Now many like my cats are addicted to food as a drug of choice, many feel bad they eat to feel better, when they are happy they enjoy food to good time and pour alcohol as putting throwing petrol on fire and lead to more eating. Over eating and becoming fat is disease and one should not feel guilty about that and people can treat as any uncurable disease.
One should not talk about these things as it is like discussing bad impossible disease. This disease once infects your body is fatal it can not be cured and can be enduded by eating more and watching exrecise videos.
I believe in diets but loosing weights on diets is like believe in miracles. Miracles are good but use to happen in old days atleast 400 years back and now a days they do not happen.
They say it depends on genes and but we can not pick up parents.
Hopefully this DNA type research will lead to effective drugs.

Re: # 10
I am against exercise as its very harsh on body such as running like horse on concrete footpath and busting knees etc. Or lifting weight and crushing yourself if it goes down. Many people say exercise never hurts your body and no body died due to exercise but prudent way of thinking is , it may not be dangerous or no body died due to exercise but why take chances with exercise.

Re: # 11

Ahmedmadani Saheb - Fragile men should avoid any kind of weight in all circumstances. Thank you for letting the readership know about the latest trends from the Men`s World :)

Regards.

Re: # 11 Madaniji

Hahaha, dhanya hain aap Gurudev! You are great.