What’s the deal with salt?

Processing is evil.

Salt as you know it isn’t really salt at all

Salt gets a bad rap for its links to health problems, and it is certainly dangerous if only because of its prevalence in our diet.  As my grandfather used to say, “salt is poison!”  But I’d like to argue that it’s not salt we ought to fear; its the processing. 

What’s the deal with vegetable oil?

Killing you.

Warning: be prepared to clean out your cabinet.

Out of all the conversations I have related to healthy eating, one of the most common subjects is vegetable oil.  Like processed carbs, vegetable oil is an incredibly destructive part of our diet that seems to be completely innocuous.  So here’s the deal.

Today’s rant is a little technical, but it’s potent stuff. There are two main parts.  One involves the unstable chemical structure of vegetable oils, and the other involves omega 3 and omega 6 fatty acids.

Lies about “the bad” fat

Saturated fat won't give you heart disease

Eating margarine instead of butter is stupid.

Saturated fat has been railed again and again, mainly for being linked to heart disease.  This fear of saturated fat–found in animal fats, butter and other dairy products, and coconut oil–has no solid research to back it up.  Let’s look at the history of saturated fat use, the garbage research that caused this myth, and the real fat facts.

What’s the deal with bread?

Killing you?

Stop eating processed garbage carbs.

I hate to be the one to tell you if you this, but bread is not a health food.

Back in the day, say 150 years ago, bread used to always be a great, healthy, nutrient-dense food. There wasn’t white and wheat bread; there was just bread.  It was unprocessed and made from whole grains.  More on our unprocessed past from Mark Bittman.

Why is processing stupid?

Where’s your money going?

This does NOT benefit consumers.

I’d like to point out some scary trends in how our food budgets are being spent.  I encourage you to think about the question, “Who is profiting off me?”  There is no more direct measure of support than payment, and you might just be paying the people that are killing you.

Making the case for Food Kills: examining the food industry

We are losing the battle for nutrition (Photo from the National Obesity Forum, UK)

Food corporations are screwing us.

We can’t achieve perfect health, and I’m really not recommending you become so scrupulous with your diet that your quality of life is diminished in any way.  People have immune and detoxification systems for a reason; we can handle a lot of the garbage that gets thrown our way.  People live long, fulfilling and often extremely health lives while eating tons of garbage they shouldn’t.

So why should you care?