Americans are Completely Oblivious to Being Fat, Except in Presence of Pepsi Can
I wonder if it occurred to the editors of the Wall Street Journal that this juxtaposition of articles was odd:
Exhibit A: People May Not Know They’re Obese Unless a Doctor Tells Them. Apparently, it never even occurred to 37% of fat people surveyed that they were, in fact, fat, until their doctor actually sat them down and said, "Look, buddy, you're fat."
Exhibit B: However, the mere sight of the word "skinny" on a Diet Pepsi can is enough to send Americans to the hospital with an eating disorder.
“It is exactly that kind of thinking that has truly caused the increase in people feeling bad about themselves,” says Grefe.
I have really mixed feelings about American food neuroses. Take Whole Foods, for example. I'm simultaneously so attracted and so repelled. The place is the biggest shrine to pagan crop-worshipping hippie-dipple Gaia-is-our-mother intolerable woo-woo sucker-born-every-minute food neurosis nonsense I have ever seen, but the food is totally great. I also really love those "good for you" fonts they use on the earth-tone, corrugated cardboard label of the organic pomegranate ginger ale bottles. But I don't want ginger ale that opens my heart chakra, which is sealed like Fort Knox, by the way. It ain't opening for no ginger ale and it certainly ain't opening for some crackpot cruelty-free gluten-free raw-fed acai-berry bars, even if they are darned tasty. Which they are.
See what I mean about confused?
Oh, and by the way, this "Gluten free" business? It is nonsense. It is nonsense. I have this on very good authority from my stepfather, Martin L. Greene, MD, Distinguished Clinician of the American Gastroenterological Association. This is his speciality. No one knows more about this than he does. I asked him about this---anything to it?--and this is what he wrote back:
Celiac children were well known to physicians in the first half of the 20th century. It was not until World War II in Europe that the disease was really given a scientific basis. A Dutch pediatrician realized that the celiac children improved during the last two years of WW II in Holland, and then relapsed after the war. He figured out that the disease could have been improved from the absence of wheat during the war, when the children lived on potatoes and whatever else could be obtained. When the Allies reintroduced wheat to Europe after 1945, the children got sick again.
Since then science has unraveled some of the complex chemistry of proteins in grains, and the offending proteins in gluten, from wheat, rye and barley have been identified. Oats were also implicated, but now have been cleared for celiac patients.
When celiac patients are exposed to these proteins, the mucosa of their intestinal tracts has an intense inflammatory reaction, with loss of the lining and surface area of the upper gut, and with it a loss of ability to absorb nutrients. Celiac patients can be very ill, or just mildly so, and some have minimal reactions that only express themselves in later life in obscure ways, such as osteoporosis from long term Vit D malabsorption, or anemia from long term iron malabsorption.
Celiac patients also can have other autoimmune disorders, including an increased incidence of diabetes, irritable bowel symptoms, colitis, etc etc. And many of these disorders have protean and very common symptoms.
Thus it has become "fashionable" for many health-related practitioners to tell their patients or associates that perhaps their symptoms of gas, diarrhea, dyspepsia, thin bones, anemia, etc etc could perhaps be due to gluten sensitivity and that they should try a gluten free diet. The usual story is anecdotal, i.e., they say that the heard of someone who had similar symptoms and got better when they went on a gluten free diet. Most often, the persons involved have not had tests for celiac, which are readily available, and even if they have had them and results are negative, they are encouraged to try the diet.
And of course, industry has responded with "gluten free" products to sell to those persons who trust the internet or their next door neighbor more than their trained physician.
Now a gastroenterologist, scientifically trained, would NEVER tell a person to try a gluten free diet without some very scientific reason to do so. The diet is not simple, and gluten is everywhere in our diets, and it is a very big and complex thing to go on such a diet. But it has indeed become very fashionable for dilettantes, naturopaths, next door neighbors, etc etc to recommend a gluten free diet for whatever may ail you at any point in time. It drives the professionals like myself a bit crazy.
So there are now all those people out there who consider themselves as "gluten sensitive" when the really have no evidence of celiac disease and have no way of scientifically distinguishing themselves from anyone else, except that they say the feel better when they don't eat gluten. And most of them are not on anything resembling a true gluten free diet. We all know the placebo effect, where about 35-40% of persons put on sugar pills get better for whatever problem is being studied, compared with 80% of persons who get better when put on an effective drug in a double-blind controlled trial.
You see what I mean? You're being scammed. You don't need gluten-free food. You probably would do better with a priest or a psychotherapist, really. But it sure is nice to shop at Whole Foods, because everything looks so healthy and appealing and it tastes so good.
And I love the free samples.
| > |
More By Claire Berlinski:
Never Mind All That Nagging About Breastfeeding
If Dogs Go to Heaven, How Can We Put Pigs Through Hell?
San Francisco Should Ban the Sale of Pets. And So Should Everyone Else.
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Comments :
Jul '10
Re: Americans are Completely Oblivious to Being Fat, Except in Presence of Pepsi Can
Whole Foods is expensive. Very.
A can of tomatoes better be less than $3.
May '10
Re: Americans are Completely Oblivious to Being Fat, Except in Presence of Pepsi Can
I go to Whole Foods to buy vital gluten flour to add to my home-made whole wheat bread-- not take it out. Makes the bread much softer.
Aug '10
Re: Americans are Completely Oblivious to Being Fat, Except in Presence of Pepsi Can
I'm not at all surprised that 37% of overweight (not obese, but overweight) people didn't know they were overweight. Overweight is defined as a BMI of 25-30 and includes, for example, a 5'4" woman weighing between 146 and 173 pounds is "overweight." Because weight is distributed as a Poisson, most overweight people are closer to the lower bound than the upper bound and I think it's entirely understandable that someone who is just a bit on the chubby side (say, a 5'4" woman weighing 153 pounds) wouldn't realize what side of the line they fell on.
Also, from a health perspective, the only thing wrong with being overweight is it's a slippery slope to being obese. If you actually stay in the 25-30 BMI range you're just as healthy as someone in the "normal" BMI range of 18-25. The ideal BMI from a health perspective is about 25.
Edited on Mar 1, 2011 at 12:05pmRe: Americans are Completely Oblivious to Being Fat, Except in Presence of Pepsi Can
I can get a lot of esoteric things Whole Foods offers at Trader Joe's for half the price. I also have been disappointed in their meat and fish and prepared food. But I like the breakfast bar.
I just can't get over the medicinal smell of the vitamin aisles at "health food stores." And the gluten-free vegans who look so up-tight and are so intestinally self-absorbed you know they count bowel movements.
Sep '10
Re: Americans are Completely Oblivious to Being Fat, Except in Presence of Pepsi Can
What a delicious luxury our food neuroses are! ONLY in the true land of milk and honey could so many assign a moral value to the consumption or avoidance of milk and honey.
I find all the diet science (not to mention the diet psuedo-science) so confusing, and so personally inconvenient to my agenda of eating all the delicious food I feel like eating, that I just flat don't believe a word anyone says on the subject. It's too much to process, and surely there are better uses of my resources.
Jun '10
Re: Americans are Completely Oblivious to Being Fat, Except in Presence of Pepsi Can
Brilliant! I loved to mock people in Portland, OR about this all the time.
"Excuse me, Whole Foods worker, where was this cow born?.... OH, more than 10 miles from here? Disgusting. Get me something local."
Feb '11
Re: Americans are Completely Oblivious to Being Fat, Except in Presence of Pepsi Can
I suspect the people who "didn't know" they were obese lived in places other than Los Angeles or Manhattan. Believe me, in LA you get so much unsolicited feedback on your appearance that you always know where you stand, fat-wise.
Whole Food is a rip-off, money-wise, but shopping there is such a aesthetically pleasing experience that its almost worth the extra dough.
Jan '11
Re: Americans are Completely Oblivious to Being Fat, Except in Presence of Pepsi Can
This does cut both ways. My wife is gluten intolerant - medically validated - and I can tell you that the advent of a mass market for gluten free foods has meant innovative companies have invested a lot of money to create a wider variety of foods that taste good to replace the things she had to cut out of her diet. Her quality of life is better as a result. Five years ago gluten free pasta was utterly inedible. Now it's a reasonable substitute, taste-wise, for dried pasta. Ditto for breads, which are only getting better because there's an increasingly large and discerning customer base.
We can't ignore the "positive externality" of a mass market that helps cater to people with specific nutritional needs - even if most of that market are consuming a lifestyle. I would think of gluten free food for 99% of its buyers as a "vanity" purchase like designer clothes - they may not ACTUALLY make you more attractive, but if they make you FEEL better, who's harmed?
May '10
Re: Americans are Completely Oblivious to Being Fat, Except in Presence of Pepsi Can
Diet science is as accurate as weather forecasting.
Oct '10
Re: Americans are Completely Oblivious to Being Fat, Except in Presence of Pepsi Can
The description provided on The Whole Foods, shop here mantra is amusing. Whole Foods expanded long ago from from the hippy commune model.
Ever laid eyes on the Whole foods home office tower in downtown Austin ....Huge..
Not to be unfair to folks with health issues that can lead to added weight.... Most know that when ones girth exceeds what is in the garment inventory in the closet. Time to make a choice, most of that is up to the individual.
Feb '11
Re: Americans are Completely Oblivious to Being Fat, Except in Presence of Pepsi Can
Yes, and if more of those overweight people ate more poisson, fewer of them would be overweight.
Sorry, couldn't resist.
Re: Americans are Completely Oblivious to Being Fat, Except in Presence of Pepsi Can
Hah: the robot brain that serves up the ads on this page currently has one for "Living Free," described as "the magazine for people who live gluten-free."
The magazine.
Jun '10
Re: Americans are Completely Oblivious to Being Fat, Except in Presence of Pepsi Can
Before you mock Whole Foods, read this amazing piece by CEO John Mackey:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204251404574342170072865070.html
He offers a free market alternative to Obamacare.
And I don't consider Gluten free foods a scam at all. It's a free choice & nobody is twisting your arm making you eat it. Those who truly need the diet are seeing real variety. I do have to laugh that when you eat pasta in NYC, you are often asked of you want the gluten-free variety. Don't you think anyone who needs it would make sure it's available before choosing his meal?
May '10
Re: Americans are Completely Oblivious to Being Fat, Except in Presence of Pepsi Can
StickerShock:
And I don't consider Gluten free foods a scam at all. It's a free choice & nobody is twisting your arm making you eat it. Those who truly need the diet are seeing real variety.
Agreed. Some folks do have trouble breaking down glutens (I'm among them), but there's a difference between adjusting one's own diet and evangelizing for that diet or demanding that everyone cater to the exceptions.
One of our culture's worst trends regarding health is expecting everyone to adjust to exceptional cases. People with disabilities and health issues are not exempt from the moral responsibility to sacrifice for others (when they can).
Jun '10
Re: Americans are Completely Oblivious to Being Fat, Except in Presence of Pepsi Can
I haven't figured out what to make of the gluten issue. There are always these types of phenomena that seem to resonate most with left-leaners. Because of that, I automatically get suspicious. I am friends with a liberal couple. One always has health problems and she decided that she must go gluten-free. As a sheer coincidence, suddenly the husband deduced that he was celiac, too. Hmm, makes me wonder what else is going on there. In the end, if it makes them feel better, I suppose it doesn't matter, but the whole thing just smells funny. I'm going to stick to worrying about other things in the meantime.
As for obesity, I don't mind that people are looking at more organic foods to remedy the problem, but in the end, why don't people just eat less? Sorry, I can be a very simple man.
Sep '10
Re: Americans are Completely Oblivious to Being Fat, Except in Presence of Pepsi Can
I have a simple, conservative solution to the problem. When you go grocery shopping, stick to the outside aisles, and refuse to buy anything that comes in box, especially breakfast cereal. Eschew processed grains of any kind. If you must ingest a grain product, stick with Spelt (cooked from scratch) or Quinoa. Learn to cook. Then, report back on how much weight you lost, how much better you felt and give some thought to what society would look like and how much better off farmers would be without the need for grotesque agricultural subsidies to support them.
There, problem solved.
Next, peace in our time.
May '10
Re: Americans are Completely Oblivious to Being Fat, Except in Presence of Pepsi Can
Hang on a sec, Claire. There's nothing in your stepfather's note, as I read it, that suggests the gluten-free craze is nonsense--only that it's a good idea to be tested for celiac before you undertake the diet.
But suppose you just want to try it, because so many friends are feeling better with it? What's wrong with that? Suppose you do try it, and your headaches disappear and you feel much, much better. Suppose you feel so much better that you're not willing to start eating wheat again for the six weeks (or whatever) needed for you to get a proper reading on an official test?
Anyone who's gone to doctors to try to find answers to persistent problems knows how frustrating and expensive the process can be, and how seldom anything gets resolved.
So you try stuff. Personally, I'll try any number of diet changes before I'll try anti-depressants.
May '10
Re: Americans are Completely Oblivious to Being Fat, Except in Presence of Pepsi Can
As for Whole Foods and like places, I have the same conflicted reaction. I hate the pandering to fetishes; I love the aesthetics.
Jun '10
Re: Americans are Completely Oblivious to Being Fat, Except in Presence of Pepsi Can
You would say that, kitty, you're a carnivore! Grain is a perfectly nutritious staple food for us omnivore species. Especially my favorite type of processed grain: whiskey.
Sep '10
Re: Americans are Completely Oblivious to Being Fat, Except in Presence of Pepsi Can
I used to enjoy the subject of nutrition until I heard about this:
http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/11/08/twinkie.diet.professor/index.html
Losing weight's all about calorie count. It's that simple.
All the diets, all the money wasted...