Paleo Diet and Paleolithic Diet Questions & Answers

Question

1

Here's the latest nutrition myths article:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/five-myths-about-healthy-eating/2011/10/10/gIQAK9uZkL_story.html

Some of the myth descriptions are tough to stomach, so to speak, although the myths themselves are not the worst I've ever read. They are:

MYTHS 1. People in poor neighborhoods lack access to fresh fruits and vegetables 2. Advertising forces people to make unhealthy choices. 3. Eating healthy is too expensive. 4. People need more information about what they eat. 5. There are too many fast-food restaurants in low-income neighborhoods.

The worst myth is #4. The author's point is that calorie information will not deter us from eating bad stuff. But I would argue that calorie information is not the information we need to know. What's the food made of, ingredients, and such? THAT we DO need to know, myths author...

What are YOUR thoughts?

flag	asked Oct 15 2011 at 15:24 wjones3044 10k●19●56

Agreed on #4...too much misinformation. But then again, most of these 'experts' are misinformed. I'm still of the opinion that the best way to inform people is to lead by example, since very few can actually grasp what isn't myth from articles like these. – karimoo Oct 15 2011 at 16:17

Dorado Galore · Answer 1 · 2011-10-15 19:20:49Z UTC

All facts can be said to be myths (myth as "not true" is specious per se) but not all myths are necessarily facts.

Item 2: Advertising "forces" nothing.

Item 4: There's plenty of accurate, useful health information available. Availing oneself of the information is a choice. Human nature is a "some assembly required" deal. Pretending this is not true is an established human pastime.

Item 5: There are too many fast food restaurants, per se, everywhere. Including Beverly Hills.

Akman · Answer 2 · 2011-10-15 15:50:33Z UTC

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I would call all these FACTS, not MYTHS.

answered Oct 15 2011 at 15:50

Akman
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	Same here, but I disagree with no. 3. I believe too many people prioritize their spending on BS before good food. – Phazo Oct 15 2011 at 16:00
	Disagree that number 2 can be called a fact. – wjones3044 Oct 15 2011 at 17:30
	Number two may not force, but the fact is there is some "programming" that goes on with advertising. It takes an effort to counter it. This goes beyond food and is a good reason to MUTE the TV and not watch when commercials come on IMO. – JayJay Oct 15 2011 at 21:31

Matt · Answer 3 · 2011-10-15 16:23:15Z UTC

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Hit and miss.

Myth to #1, #3, and #5, but only because people don't make the effort to spend money on food. It's not a myth that people have screwed up time preferences.

Myth to #2, of course, there's no force in advertising.

Some truth to #4... People need to know how shitty the processed food they're eating is. Their ignorance hampers their health. Again, it's a matter of effort on their part to educate themselves. Less so than a failure to disclose all the facts.

answered Oct 15 2011 at 16:23

Matt
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I would argue that it's not just a failure on the part of people to educate themselves. A friend told me that she tried to investigate the foods in her kid's school lunch program. The kid has extreme, multiple allergies. It took days to get someone to give her a definitive answer to the question, "Which foods contain sesame?" Same thing with restaurant food. – wjones3044 Oct 15 2011 at 16:32

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stay away from school lunch, right? LOL – Lisa Oct 15 2011 at 17:47

#1 is definitely no myth demographically. I remember trying to find fresh vegetables in urban New Orleans...it quite literally could not be done. – curious Oct 15 2011 at 20:25

How far is too far to walk/drive for your food? It's simply a lack of effort on most folks part. – Matt Oct 16 2011 at 0:29

Lisa · Answer 4 · 2011-10-15 17:46:46Z UTC

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most newspaper articles about nutrition are fluff and too vague. This one is not bad, but the writer is all ga ga over low fat milk,

answered Oct 15 2011 at 17:46

Lisa
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Hack the latest greatest “5 Healthy Eating Myths”

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