On this sugary life

A WaPo piece on health tuneup paragraph begins with: “If you’re like most people …”

I could have called it quits right there. I am darn confident that I am not like most people. Hahaha! It will be breaking news to me if I am like most people ;)

Anyway, what was that article referring to about most people?

To improve your eating habits this year, you don’t need to count calories or carbs. Instead, focus on how much your food has been processed before it gets to your dinner table.

If you’re like most people, you eat a lot of ultra-processed foods and don’t even realize it. Many of these foods — protein and granola bars, low-fat yogurts and breakfast cereals — sound like healthful choices.

Yep, I am not like most people. I don’t recall the last time that I had breakfast cereals, or low-fat yogurt, or protein bars. Oh wait, there was the time that the hotel that we stayed in at Astoria when free continental breakfast included flavored yogurt that was low-fat. That was the only option. I licked one spoonful, and promptly dumped the damn thing. BTW, what are protein bars, and why do people eat them?

Ultra-processed foods make up a majority of the calories most people consume, and scientists say they are a driving force behind the multiple diet-related illnesses that are shortening our life spans.

Could it be for real that “ultra-processed foods make up a majority of the calories most people consume” or did fact-checkers let that slip past them? I had to find this out before I read anything else in that WaPo report. If that were incorret, then there is no point reading the rest, is there?

A quick Google search leads to quite a few reports that seem to be based on this study that was published in 2015, which is based on “National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2009–2010.”

Could the dietary habits of my fellow Americans have changed for the better over the past decade? Nah. Changed, yes. But, not for the better.

This 2015 study reports:

Ultra-processed foods comprised 57.9% of energy intake, and contributed 89.7% of the energy intake from added sugars. The content of added sugars in ultra-processed foods (21.1% of calories) was eightfold higher than in processed foods (2.4%) and fivefold higher than in unprocessed or minimally processed foods and processed culinary ingredients grouped together (3.7%). … A total of 82.1% of Americans in the highest quintile exceeded the recommended limit of 10% energy from added sugars, compared with 26.4% in the lowest.

If you are like me, and unlike most of the people, then you too will exclaim, '“holy shit!” And you definitely want to be in the lowest quintile. Even better if you qualify in the lowest decile. Sanitas per escam.

Now, back to that WaPo story:

So how can you free yourself from the grip of ultra-processed foods? Start by reading the labels on the foods in your fridge, pantry and the grocery aisle.

If you need to read the labels before you decide to eat, chances are pretty darn good that you don’t need to eat that product. I mean, have you ever read the label on a banana? ;)

Kidding aside, here’s an example, something that does not look alien like a protein bar. (What the heck is a protein bar?!!!)

Source

Ready to eat mandarin oranges in cups. No sugar added. In naturally sweetened water. Yet, it has three sweeteners. Can you identify the three sweeteners?

(If you want to know what the sweeteners are, you have to read the source, or leave a comment for me to reveal the answer in my response. This retired professor wants you to do some work!)

On Christmas evening, we had dinner at home with three friends. Foods cooked and baked at home, and nothing ultra-processed. No labels needed.

One of the friends (also a subscriber here) shared this photo of her dinner plate

The meal was:

Potatoes with onion and green bell pepper, with a hint of turmeric and harissa

Green beans with toasted cumin seeds and coconut

Daal with the usual onions, tomatoes, cilantro, etc.

A creamy paneer/chickpea dish

Boiled peanuts with a little bit of coconut

And microwaved appalam

Oh, we had dessert too, of course.

Photo from that same friend. Thank you!

It was home-made cheesecake, served with home-made sour-cherry sauce. No artificial sweeteners were used

Process that!

(Oh, the place-mats and cutlery are gifts from another friend, also a subscriber here. Life is always sweeter, better, with a few good friends,right?)