YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT

I ADD TO MY LAUGHABLE THEME AS WE BEGIN 2006, A LIGHT - OR POSSIBLY HEAVY - LESSON ON WEIGHT CONTROL AND NUTRITION. OH, TO RESURRECT THE COMMON SENSE STATEMENT OF FRENCH GASTRONOME, ANTHELME BRILLAT-SAVARIN, "TELL ME WHAT YOU EAT, AND I WILL TELL YOU WHAT YOU ARE." YOU WOULD NEVER SUSPECT ITS WISDOM, IF YOU EXAMINE THE ACTIONS OF THE FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION OF AMERICA AND THE UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. WHAT POLITICALLY CORRECT, WASTEFUL BUREAUCRACIES, ESPECIALLY WITH TAXPAYER FUNDED DOLLARS INVOLVED. THE FDA CONCERNS ITSELF WITH TRANS FATS, WITH HEALTH CLAIMS, WITH SERVING SIZES, WITH ALLERGIES TO GLUTEN, OATS, WHEAT, BARLEY AND RYE, AND IS OBSESSED WITH WHOLE GRAINS. THE LATTER, BY THE WAY - WHOLE GRAINS - ARE THE VERY ALLERGENS THAT THE FDA TOUTS EACH SUCCESSIVE YEAR AS ESSENTIAL TO HEALTH. SUCH CONTRADICTORY NONSENSE IS TYPICAL OF A "BIG BROTHER CHEF" TELLING US TO GET THIN AND HEALTHY. THE USDA BUILDS LAYER UPON LAYER OF NUTRITIONAL THINKING INTO THEIR FOOD PYRAMIND, NOW CALLED, FOR 2006, "MY PYRAMIND." WELL IT WILL NOT BE EMBRACED BY ME PERSONALLY NOR SHOULD IT BE TAKEN TOO SERIOUSLY BY ANYONE WITH A FLAIR FOR COMMON SENSE OR A REPULSION FOR NONSENSE. THE FDA'S JOB IS TO REVIEW SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE TO APPROVE HEALTH CLAIMS. MY FRENCH GASTRONOME OBVIATED THE NEED FOR RESEARCH BECAUSE HE KNEW, OVER 200 YEARS AGO, THAT WE HUMAN BEINGS ARE OMNIVORES REQUIRING A VARIED, I.E. BALANCED DIET. THE FDA ALSO WORRIES ABOUT "CONFUSED CONSUMERS." IT NEVER CONSIDERS THE FACT THAT IT IS PART OF THE PROBLEM, NOT THE SOLUTION TO THE PUBLIC'S BEHAVIOURIAL CONTRADICTIONS.

WHICH LEADS ME BACK TO THE SIMPLE, SENSIBLE ADAGE ABOVE. IT HAS RELEVANCE TO THE WEIGHT CONTROL ISSSUE TOO. JUDGING BY THE THOUSANDS, IF NOT MILLIONS OF DIET AND NUTRITION BOOKS PRINTED OVER TIME, MANY PEOPLE ARE CONFUSED, RELUCTANT LEARNERS. YET ANY SURVIVOR OF A HUNGER STRIKE, OF A CONCENTRATION CAMP, OF ANOREXIA OR OF SUCCESSGFUL WEIGHT REDUCTION AND ANY USER OF TOBACCO OR DRUGS TO LIMIT FOOT INTAKE, KNOWS THAT CALORIC INTAKE IS THE ONE AND ONLY ANSWER TO A HEALTHY WEIGHT. WITH MORE CALORIES WE SWELL; WITH LESS WE DEFLATE. REGARDLESS OF WHETHER MR. BRILLAT-SAVARIN ABUSED CUISINE OR WAS IGNORANT OF GOOD FOODS, BAD FOODS ( OF WHICH THERE ARE NONE), HE WISELY WROTE FOR THE AGES THAT WE ARE WHAT WE CHOOSE TO EAT. LAWSUITS AND FAST FOOD ARE SIDE DISHES (ISSUES).