Political Implications of My First Diet... [View All]

[mumon]

I'm 46 years old, and had never been on a diet until roughly 6 weeks ago.

During that time, I've pretty much followed Atkins.


Here's my observations:

1. Atkins after a while, will discourage an interest in food. Which isn't bad, except for the fact that the body goes hungry. Listening one's body will ensure though that one is well fed. (Atkins works, btw.)

2. How do we decide what to eat? What is a "balanced" diet? I've actually felt and looked better than I have in years. I have more energy, clarity of thought, less minor illnesses, better muscular recovery from exercise, than at any time in the past 15-20 years.

3. The major media IS too much dominated by "advertising" (capitalist/consumerist/materialist propaganda) to be able to be used for good judgements about nutrition/health: my doctor had a while back prescribed Protonix for heartburn (a cousin of Nexium- "the little purple pill" advertised on Dr. Dean Edell's website). I found that even before this diet apples eaten raw immediately fix heartburn. I have found that my body really doesn't like certain foods despite how they taste to me. One has to know one's self- intimately- to be able to make good choices here.

I remember that Jefferson Airplane once noted that their "drug" songs were really a reflection of the escapist tendencies of our society. I think these tendencies are real and greatly enforced by advertising: anybody who doubts me should watch how candy is marketed to children: the child eats the candy and is transported to a surrealistic world in which the Starburst Fruit candy "juice" floods the entire world.



Yesterday, somebody posted a news item in LBN about obesity and the poor; the politics of food goes way beyond that.

Even where nutritious food is plentiful, the overt message given by advertisers is to buy the junk- that's most profitable.