Wednesday, March 16, 2005

Fast Food Fixes and Some Soul Searching

Although I support better living through chemistry to a certain extent, I find the quest for healthy junk food interesting. Does it surprise anyone that a guy who lives on Fast food restaurant food for one month gets fat or that a diet of fries, burgers and greasy fair is bad for you?

What do we do if the pixie dust that enables junk food consumption without its consequences is discovered? Check out this link that says we are finding out some secrets in this area
Scientific American: Additive Might Fight Fast-Food Fat

Note that the scientist is says that we should eat less (bad) fats.

MY QUESTION is about the nature of the real problem. I personally like junk food, but desire to maintain a healthier balance than I currently do. Consider some root issues of why I eat poorly. 1) Is it that we simply do not really believe that these things are bad for us? So, like the smoker who says well it may cause cancer, but I probably will not get cancer. 2) Is it a character issue such that I believe that it will kill me but I have not the internal fortitude to resist the temptation of the bad food? Or maybe I know that it will kill me, but I really don’t want to end my life quickly (plus death by ice cream sounds acceptable). 3) Is it a priority issue so that my life is so fast paced, I just don’t have time to eat properly now – but my long term goal is to eat right. 4) Is it ignorance and there are people who just did not know that junk food is junk? 5) Is it laziness? Who really wants to cook tonight? 6) Or is it a combination or something else that is at the root of this junk food nation – the siren songs of commercials, radiation that has corrupted out DNA, I eat what I like and I simply don’t care if it has food in it mentality.

I don’t have any answers here, but I do suspect two things: that good food is just good for you, and that bad food will never be fully redeemed by the science gods. The only sacrifice that can save one's dietary habits is one’s own.

No comments: