Diet Food and Drink

Posted on 2003/07/23 10:47:46 (July 2003) by john.

It can't be good for you.

I got a yoghurt from the fridge just now, part of Sainsbury's "be good to yourself" range. Clearly my girlfriend did the shopping that day. Presumably then this is a supposedly healthier alternative to "normal" yoghurt. Healthier generally seems to imply just lower in calories, as it seems our society (and particularly women) takes cosmetic health more seriously than actual health. What it turned out to be was yoghurt (and perhaps a slightly more watery variety than normal) with a whole host of artifical sweeteners and other additives in place of the normal, more natural flavourings, it might have had originally. Yoghurt, sugar (or honey say) and fruit are all lovely, natural ingredients. Why can't they just stick to those?

For a long time now, I've been very anti diet versions of food and drinks. It sometimes turns into a war in the supermarket if me and Chie go shopping together. She'll put a diet version of product x in the trolley, and when she's not looking I'll take it out and replace it with a normal one. I don't think I'm alone in this curious behaviour, either.

I'm not saying things like sugar and fat aren't bad for you. Yes, in excess they both are. But everything in moderation, that's what dieticians keep telling us. Don't forget small quantities of fat (and I assume sugar too) are actually required for a healthy diet. If you're concerned you're eating too much sugar, then for god's sake is it such a leap of science to just eat less of it, rather than replace it with all manner of nasty sounding chemicals that have who knows what side effects. If you're worried about eating too much fat, then again, eat less of it, or do more exercise, or change something about your lifestyle. I cringe to think of people resorting to that Olestra stuff ("fat free fat"), and just continuing with their same over-consumption without putting in any real effort to make a difference.

This is a lot of what frustrates me here. There seems to be an implication that it isn't the concept of over-consumption itself that is wrong, it's apparently just down to what you over consume that will make the difference between you being healthy or unhealthy. In other words, there's an idea that having a "healthier" lifestyle seems apparently just a matter of selecting the neighbouring item on the supermarket shelf with less calories, rather than actually, say, getting more exercise, or trying to plan more regular balanced meals to avoid having to resort to snack food, or ensuring to eat lots of fresh fruit and vegetables. Ok, I realise I'm straying near to dangerous territory here, and being overweight covers such a massive spectrum of physical and psychological issues that can't possibly be dismissed so easily. I'm not trying to criticise people for being overwight, but simply trying to point out that, in my opinion, diet versions of food, and particularly drinks, are often false idols.

From the marketing point of view, it's a bit like the supermarkets are saying you can be whatever you want, choose whichever lifestyle suits you, simply by selecting a different range of products in our store.

Incidentally, in the last few months Chie has often bought stuff from the kosher section, just for the novelty of it. Recently, I have actually started using imaginary words beginning with "Sch" - Schminkel, Schmumpy, Schmugget etc. I wonder if there is a connection.

Anyway, back to the rant.

The other frustrating thing about diet foods is simply down to concerns over what these alternative chemicals, or combinations of them, might be doing to us. Sugar is naturally occurring, and has been eaten in one form or another for thousands of years. We know very well by now the pros and cons of it. We know how it reacts with other ingredients. Give me a choice between something grown naturally or something produced in a laboratory, and I know which I'd rather eat. I can't help but think society's obsession with dieting is being used as an excuse to make food more and more artificial.

Ok, you may say, if I don't like the diet alternatives, just don't buy them. To an extent yes, I can do this. But in some areas the sugar free alternatives particularly are actually taking over. Have you noticed how hard it is to get chewing gum with sugar in nowadays? The one I always used to like, PK, those crunchy tablets (and not some crappy sugar free version) seems to have disappeared from the shelves altogether. Maybe it is horrendously bad for your teeth to have all that sugar sitting in your mouth for so long, but I'd like that to be my decision. I'd rather that than a cocktail of artificial sweeteners that is giving me cancer, stopping me having children, making me incontinent, destroying my braincells, causing depression, weakening my immune system, giving me stomach ulcers, acting as a laxative, drying out my skin, exacerbating my hayfever, and, to top it all simply doesn't taste very nice either.

All I'm asking is to be able to buy food made of natural ingredients that, having been millions of years in the making, are therefore, in moderation and with the right balance, probably not actually that bad for us after all, and certainly a lot better tasting.

Diet food makes sod-all difference. Here's my diet suggestion: drink lots of cold water. You know how much people whinge about calories in their food? Well, remember what a calorie is? 'Tis the energy required to heat 1ml of water by 1 degree Centigrade. Let's assume you're at a normal (human) temperature of 36 degrees. Now you drink a bottle of water which has been in the fridge. Let's say it's a litre, and the fridge has cooled it to 6 degrees (not an unreasonable estimate). So now your body has to expend 1000 x 30 calories to warm it up to your core body temperature. Voila! Instant dieting with no effort, or nasty chemicals. Another hint: if your low-fat youghurts seem a bit runny, then thicken them up by stirring in a spoonful of lard.

Posted by Jimmy at 2003/07/23 14:09:56.

I've long been an advocate that people should drink more water. Nice (no, actually unnerving) to see we're actually in agreement on one of my articles for a change!

Posted by John at 2003/07/23 14:15:18.

Well, I thought it might be rude to argue ... it is Wednesday, after all!

Posted by Jimmy at 2003/07/23 16:37:07.

Well, one thing to be thankful of is that (as far as I know) you can't get diet wine and beer! Imagine Be Good to Yourself Ale

Posted by Simon W at 2003/07/24 07:30:44.

You can get diet Hooch though, and diet Bacardi Breezers. Bird booze.

Posted by Scabz at 2003/07/24 08:58:13.

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