Finally, Thank God, Someone is Getting a Proper Perspective on Things
Let’s face it: Fat, salt and sugar make food taste good. Take those things away, and you may–possibly, and by no means with any guarantees– live a few more years…but why? It is always discouraging to meet people who fear their food, whipping out little packets of stevia to sweeten their coffee for fear of sugar calories or ‘carcinogenic’ sweeteners, spouting off about their self-diagnosed gluten intolerance or dairy allergies (I do not deride those few who actually have been diagnosed by a medical doctor). So I was thrilled to see this. (From The UK Daily Express, via Restaurants & Institutions web site.)
Dru said,
April 4, 2008 at 4:05 pm
I agree that fats, sugar, and salt make food taste better. I disagree that you may not live as long if you use these ingredients in your food. Healthy fats like butter (not margarine) and olive oil are much better for you than a low fat diet. And natural sugar is so much better than the chemicalized packets of sweeteners. Research has shown that while too much salt can be harmful, so can too little salt, especially for a certain subset of people. Where I completely disagree with you is your snide comment about people with self diagnosed gluten intolerance. If we rely on doctors to diagnose us there are many of us who would still be ill, in most cases very ill, or dead. I’m one of those people who underwent extensive testing to no avail. My own research led me eventually to be tested for stool antibodies to gluten at EnteroLab in Dallas. Our online discussion group has many people who can tell horror stories about their declining health until finally trying a gluten free diet. OTOH, we also have people who were completely digestively asymptomatic and were diagnosed as celiac during routine testing for other conditions.
Kelly said,
April 11, 2008 at 7:19 pm
Love the blog… and I agree that I hate foods that taste blan! However, everything in moderation. We in America eat way to fast and do not take time to enjoy our food. If you are eating fast… I say you deserve blan food. If you take your time and savor you food go for the best tasting.
I use stevia… personally I feel better using stevia over sugar. I gave up soft drinks 6 years ago. I only had one a day, but it was causing IBS (doctor diagnosed). After I gave up soft drinks… well everything is now almost too sweet for me to eat. Soft drink, I believe, make it so Americans have to dump a ton of sugar in their food before they can taste it. (Even the average candy bar hurts to eat it and makes me sick afterwards… though 70% cacao does not have that affect on me.)
My cousin works with the CDC on the epidemic of diabeties. He has a good slide show that show the corilation between a person’s weight and how many have diabeties. There is a direct corrilation. They have also shown that sugar intake has a direct correlation to cancer. 70% of all cancer is diet related. Also cancer can be reversed completely without surgery by changing your diet and eliminating sugar, natural and refined.
I am all for taste though… just in moderation!! Lard though… bring it on.
From the article:
“some food lovers have come out in favour of cooking with lard as an occasional treat.”
Michael Monti said,
May 4, 2008 at 9:45 pm
Dru and Kelley,
First, thanks for reading and taking the time to comment thoughtfully on my post.
Just to clarify my POV on self-diagnosis: I am not lacking in compassion for the small number of people (such as yourselves) who have systematically researched and tested their symptoms and arrived at a reasonable hypothesis about their probable gluten intolerance (or IBS or lactose intolerance, etc.). I have an old high school friend who has run a celiacs web site for years. I never once doubted his condition because he presented it in a low key, rational manner.
Now, let me tell you about the last two self-proclaimed gluten-intolerant people I have met over the last two years. They were eerily similar in demeanor, despite being different people, separated in space and time. One was the date of an acquaintance of mine at a dinner party I attended. The other showed up at a hospitality suite at hotel I visited for an event over the Holidays. In both cases the individuals in question were loud drunks. They also both proclaimed to all within earshot that their special condition required them to drink “gluten-free margaritas” consisting entirely of tequila, triple sec and a squeeze of lime juice, undiluted by any sweet and sour syrup. Both of these people showed no concern that the volume of their drinks should be less than that of a normal drink given that their “gluten free” recipe was almost pure alcohol. No–much to the contrary–they wanted full glasses, and refills aplenty.
The last I saw of GF victim number one, she was leaning on a car in the parking lot as she wretched up on the pavement. The other one staggered off with a friend in search of dinner, after using the phone in the hospitality suite to call around in search of a restaurant that would cook her food in a separate, clean pan not soiled by gluten.
If I seemed snide in my post, it was only out of contempt for those who masquerade as victims of a disease as a means of justifying their anti-social behavior.