Diet Chronicle, Article (9)

Some of the most colorful parts of our language are the expressions. For example, when we don’t understand something we say things like, "It’s Greek to me."

It should surprise few, if any, then if I were to tell you that more often than not, "diet" is Greek to me. When it is not Greek to me, it is Latin to me. And to you, too.

You see, "diet" derives from the Greek word "diaita," meaning "regimen," and the Latin word "diaeta," meaning "way of life."

That’s what this whole weight-loss diet has to be, "a way of life." After all, the thing that got us to where we are (needing to diet and lose weight) was our "way of life."

That’s how I became overweight in the first place, you know. My way of life was to get into certain habits brought on by lifestyles, choices and (it pains me to say), addictions.

Little addiction jokes

It turns out that nature has a way of playing little addiction jokes on us. The very foods that we crave the most may be the foods that we are the least tolerable of. We may actually be allergic to our favorite foods and NOT KNOW IT!

Dr. Atkins provides, as examples, notations that many more Orientals than you might realize are allergic to rice and likewise, numerous Mexicans are allergic to corn. These folks are often unaware of their allergies and consequently suffer various maladies as a result. The same scenarios hold true in typical U.S. diets and eating habits, leading to numerous food intolerances that manifest in all number of physical disorders.

The major problem with food intolerances is that we actually become addicted to the very foods that are causing us problems. Experts in environmental medicine refer to this as "allergy/addiction."

Feel worse later

Here’s how it works: The very foods that make us ill initially make us feel great for a short time after we eat them. This is the classic addiction pattern. Whether it’s sugar or drugs or alcohol, we feel great so long as "the fix is in." But later, we feel worse.

To deal with the discomfort, we crave and eventually consume the very things that are causing us problems.

Many of my (previously) favorite foods are high in either carbohydrates or sugar. I’ll wager that if you are trying to lose weight and you’re not on the Atkins Diet (or one similar that emphasizes low carbs), you are likely craving some of your favorite foods. If so, check the "nutrition facts" on the labels of these foods. Chances are they are high in sugars and carbohydrates.

Increasingly, emphasis on "low-fat" and "fat-free" products and diet programs are being challenged as ineffective, counterproductive and sometimes unhealthy.

Tell that to our grocers! While large sections of shelving are often dedicated to low-fat products, little or no space seems to be allocated to low-carbohydrate products.

Two reasons

Two reasons are obvious:

Consumer demand for such products has to be there for the grocers to carry such products.
Someone has to manufacture such products.

Your homework this week: Make demands ("requests" actually sounds better). We could start with just one product. For example, I’d like to be able to buy sugar-free catsup. Is that asking too much? So when you go to the grocery ask the manager, cashier, etc.: "Where’s your sugar-free catsup?"

If enough of us ask for sugar-free catsup, who knows, we could start a movement.

At the very least everyone that works in a grocery store in the area will be wondering, "What’s up with the sugar-free catsup?"

We could start a campaign. I could get Mike Becker to help me. He has connections with people who make election buttons. Maybe I could get him to make up some, that say, "What’s up with sugar-free catsup?"

Then if anyone asks you, "What’s up with sugar-free catsup?" just say, "I don’t know, it’s Greek to me." Or you could say, "It’s Latin to me." You decide.