FAT AND UNHAPPY

Now I know why most Americans are overfed and undernourished: They eat sugar on top of sugar, not to mention fat and salt.

I made the mistake the last few days of trying to eat like "normal" people. I was at Grandparents Day at my grandsons' school, and for treats they had fresh fruit, which of course is very good for you. But they also had pastries made with white flour.

I ate some fresh fruit, which is yummy, but then like a fool I gobbled up some berry compote, which tasted so very good. Fruit, white flour, nuts, and sugar. Not good but not terrible for you. But I also ate a mini-donut, and three or four small pieces of cake.

Yargh. Empty calories with no nutritional value.

Then, on Saturday, I went to a pancake breakfast for opening day of the kids' baseball season. Of course, the pancakes were made with white flour. Why in the world don't they use whole wheat? I will never understand.

And they serve it with syrup, which is of course mostly sugar. The white flour converts rapidly into blood sugar, so your body is assaulted with sugar on top of sugar.

Here is a link to a site that explains glycemic index and what happens in your body when you eat white flour, white rice, or white sugar, and other foods that convert quickly into blood sugar. It is a disaster:

http://whfoods.org/genpage.php?tname=faq&dbid=32#practical

If you are hypoglycemic, like I am, you feel sick the rest of the day. I got light headed and a headache and felt sick to my stomach until I ate two cheeseburgers to stop the downward spiral of low blood sugar. But that is using grease and starch--unhealthy food--to stop the effects of unhealthy food. The hamburger has a lot of protein, which I needed.

Here is another link, to a site explaining what junk food does to your brain and the brains of your children:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/12/fat-food-brain-chemical-changes-depression-withdrawal_n_2287880.html

Here is another link, more information on the effects of junk food. If these links don't get you away from junk food, I don't know what will:

http://newsroom.ucla.edu/portal/ucla/scientists-learn-how-food-affects-52668.aspx

Why do most Americans eat food that is bad for them, and why do they feed unhealthy foods to their children?

I have no idea. I thought when we discovered health food, way back in the 60s and 70s--"you are what you eat"--that no one would eat junk food any more. I thought MacDonald's would go out of business and IHOP would serve nothing but whole-wheat pancakes with unsweetened apple sauce and low-fat cottage cheese for toppings.

Boy, was I wrong.

Americans consume bad food by the ton. I want to say like pigs at a trough, but I don't want to be unkind.

For me, the effects are immediate, within minutes. I still have a headache from yesterday. I had to eat some raw nuts and raisins and some high-fiber, high-protein cereal with low-fat milk to get back to normal.

But most people don't have those warning signs. The effects of bad food come slowly, over time. Heart disease. Diabetes. Effects on the brain.

Here is another site, explaining the long-term effects of junk food:

http://kimberlysnyder.net/blog/2012/08/21/the-long-term-effects-of-that-fast-food-meal/

I wish everyone could see the consequences of their diet. Warning buzzers. Red flags. I wish they had a nutrition coach who would yell, "Stop! You are killing yourselves!"

In a way, I'm glad I can't eat junk food. Because if I could, I probably would, like everyone else.

Thank God I can't.

If I could have one wish, I'd fix it so that junk food made everyone as sick as it does me.

-- Roger

Copyright © 2013, Roger R. Angle