New federal guidelines insist that we should “Eat real food.” I could not agree more.
A couple of months ago, I stopped at a beverage store to pick up some beer for a social event. I was in a hurry, and picked up non-alcoholic beer by mistake. Fortunately, there was a recovering alcoholic in the group, so it didn’t go to waste, but that stuff should come with an obvious warning label.
I am a recent convert to the coffee club. I keep it simple, but understand why the more sophisticated might grind their own beans or use a more exotic brewing method. I don’t understand the point of decaffeinated coffee. That’s like having chocolate without cocoa.
Oh yeah, that’s a thing too. I am not referring to Hershey’s chocolate, which seems to be made of wax and vomit, or white chocolate, which seems to be just wax. Both of those taste like the cocoa ran through with his boots on.
My grandmother said that once about chicken soup she was served when we were out for lunch. “It tastes like the chicken ran through with his boots on.” That’s such a clever line, it’s a shame it only really works in that one scenario.
It’s carob that is objectionable. I have no use for poor man’s chocolate.
With 8 billion people in the world, it seems like scientists should be able to figure out an ideal diet. With different genetics, gut bacteria, activity levels and ages, there probably is no ideal diet. Maybe the government and other authoritarians should shut up about it, and just provide good, basic information. Encourage everyone to find what works for them.
From what I’ve read, a low protein diet is detrimental to your health, a low carb or low fat diet is not.
Get enough protein and take a multi-vitamin. The ancient Greeks recommended moderation, and they seemed wise, so do that.
Ultra-processed food is engineered to undermine moderation.
I love Costco’s Motor City Pizza. I could happily eat the whole thing, but would have a bubbly gut keeping me up all night. I recently made pepper brisket with gravy that is more delicious than that pizza. A single scoop of the pepper brisket and gravy is enough to satisfy. There is no compulsion to keep going.
Protein in meat or fish is good. Taking a protein powder supplement is so concentrated, it’s possible to over do it, and hammer the shit out of your kidneys.
A 4 ounce glass of orange juice has the same amount of sugar as a single orange, but nobody is satisfied with a 4 ounce glass. My smallest cups are 8 ounces, and if you have a taste for orange juice, you’d be at 12 ounces.
Eating a rasher of greasy bacon is suicide, but a few strips of bacon with a biscuit made with bacon grease is just good eating.
I’m not lazy or fancy, so cooking suits me. A person gets plenty of variety with rice, pasta, pork, chicken, beef, peas, corn, beans, onions, peppers and carrots. It’s not difficult or expensive.
I call bullshit on the people who say there is no time to cook. Every day, on average, Americans spend 5 hours on their phones and 3 hours watching television. Some people are doing both at the same time, and the usage varies by individual, but for the vast majority, not cooking is a lifestyle choice.
Millennials bitch that they can’t afford to buy a house, but use Doordash to spend $60 for a meal they could have cooked for $10. Baby Boomers bitch about everything, but in retirement, are still buying frozen breakfast sandwiches. Cook an egg, make a pancake, Fox News can wait for ten minutes.
Eat real food.
Yank on a cow, and you get milk. It used to be understood that all milk was titty milk, but then soy milk showed up. Soy plants don’t have titties, so I don’t know what it is, but it ain’t milk.
When peanut butter is made, the peanut oil is stripped out, and replaced with some other vegetable oil. Other ingredients are added to make it palatable. I’m not eating that. Aldi organic peanut butter is made from peanuts and salt.
My mom used to buy Olivio margarine. The tub said it was endorsed by Lee Iaccoca. His name may not be familiar now, but he was the CEO of Chrysler. He yelled at me once for parking my Volvo about thirty feet from the Chrysler Sterling Heights auto plant. He didn’t yell at me directly, the message was passed down through the chain-of-command.
I was naturally suspicious of a butter substitute endorsed by an industrial manufacturing mogul. Just use butter, but not too much. If you want olive oil, then use olive oil.
We should get rid of the food pyramid, since it’s really just a triangle.
The federal government feeds so many people through SNAP and student lunches, they should only support real food.
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