This Drives Me Crazy

[RJLupin]

I still pick up shifts at (Big Name Coffee Company) from time to time (I'm disabled, but I am allowed to work a limited amount) and yesterday one of the things that drives me crazy happened. Some lady came in, obviously "on a diet," and looked at the Greek yogurt. It's REALLY healthy, loaded with protein, organic honey, organic nuts and fruits, and pumpkins seeds. The kind of thing all of us would do well to eat, AND the calories are reasonable.

"Oh, I can't eat THIS!" she says loudly. "It has FAT in it! I am trying to 'be good.'"

I tried to point out to her that "fat" isn't an enemy, and that the yogurt has all kinds of healthy things in it, but no. So what does she get? The "diet" coffee milkshake. More or less the same amount of calories, but they're all empty and the thing is totally artificial, with fake sweetener and fake flavour and absolutely zero vitamins, fiber, or protein.

It just goes to show you how the low-fat fad/diet food industry has so warped our perceptions of what's healthy, where someone could pick the equivalent of liquid plastic over something loaded with nutrients simply because the latter has "fat" in it. Were this an isolated instance I wouldn't be so exasperated, but I see this kind of behaviour all the time. Sadly, I also see a lot of parents putting their children on diets (the kids are not overweight) and forcing them to drink non-fat "milk" and use artificial sweetener in their beverages.

Sick sick sick

[clarinetgal]

Isn't that sad? People are going to eat what they want to eat, though, and it's hard to convince them otherwise.

[wosnes]

Sadly, I also see a lot of parents putting their children on diets (the kids are not overweight) and forcing them to drink non-fat "milk" and use artificial sweetener in their beverages.

I'm not so sure that they're putting them on diets as much as they're trying to keep them from gaining weight. They truly believe they're doing the responsible thing.

We've been so misinformed! And we continue to be misinformed by those "in the know." I'm not sure that they know differently.

The problem isn't fat. I don't think it's carbs, either. The problem is that we eat too much too often -- and it's mostly those engineered foods.

[clarinetgal]

Wosnes, You're right about the engineered foods! Were you the one who was talking about Nina Planck awhile back? I'm reading her book "Real Food" right now, and it's VERY interesting!

[wosnes]

Wosnes, You're right about the engineered foods! Were you the one who was talking about Nina Planck awhile back? I'm reading her book "Real Food" right now, and it's VERY interesting!

It could have been me. It probably was me.

Update: I was reading the reviews of Real Food at Amazon yesterday, especially the more negative reviews. It's amazing how we've been taught to believe that meat and dairy are bad for us and how we believe that our ancestors died before they could develop heart disease and so on. While it's true that life expectancy wasn't what it is now, it was shown during the Korean War that young people (18 year olds) had the beginnings of heart disease. What people don't seem to see is that avoiding animal products and eating more engineered foods doesn't seem to be helping. We're developing all the diseases of affluence earlier than ever before.

[Nichole]

There's something wrong with skim milk now?

[vmsurbat]

There's something wrong with skim milk now?

In the context of what RJLupin wrote:

Sadly, I also see a lot of parents putting their children on diets (the kids are not overweight) and forcing them to drink non-fat "milk" and use artificial sweetener in their beverages.

I understand that the problem is that children should be drinking whole milk. Their developing bodies and brains *need* the fat that is naturally in whole milk.

HTH,

[Nichole]

I get that. But the quotation marks imply that skim milk isn't really "milk," but rather some sort of diet food to be looked down upon.


Not trying to start a debate.

[Bookman Old Style]

I use skim, even though I try to avoid diet food in general. However, it seems obvious that skim milk IS a diet food. You take a naturally rich whole food, milk, which nature intended to nurture infants and toddlers with lots of protein and fat, and remove the fat, half of its reason for being. In the spirit of moderation, I'm trying to change my habit to using a smaller amount of whole milk. Not trying to be a pain (it just comes naturally By the way, congratulations, Nichole, on your upcoming baby!

[Nichole]

Thanks!

Well I guess you're right if you put it THAT way! lol. But unlike most other diet foods, it actually has nutritional value to it. It's not like diet soda, for instance (blech).

[RJLupin]

Skim milk is diet food. It has all of the rich, satisfying taste removed and is basically coloured water, in my opinion. It's processed and altered, and I think it taste terrible. Worse, there's some debate that the de-fatting process (where the butterfat is removed) might make it more difficult to absorb the nutrients left in it. At best, you're drinking something that won't satisfy you: without fat, it's difficult to feel "full." At worst, you're consuming yet more highly processed, "diet" substitutes for the real thing that might end up being worse for you than if you'd had the normal, fatty kind.

I think it would be better to have a small version of the real thing, then chug a huge size of the "diet" version with sugar-free flavour (god only knows what that's made of) and diet milk. Clearly the low-fat fad did nothing to improve our nation's health or waistline, so I think we'd do better eating real foods (instead of their fake, low fat counterparts) and learn how to do so in smaller, more reasonable quantities.

[clarinetgal]

Wosnes, You are so right! I read another book recently (The Anti Inflammation Zone by Dr. Barry Sears) that talked about how all of the processed foods we eat throw off our balance of Omega 3s and Omega 6s, which leads to inflammation and eventually, all sorts of diseases (heart disease, diabetes, cancer, etc..).

[dmarie710]

If I do drink milk, it's skim. That's what I was raised on. I actually buy whole milk for my family and if I do need it for the few occasions I eat cereal, I water it down to about 50/50. Otherwise almond milk for this girl. I know the discussion is going down a different road, just felt like chiming in.

[wosnes]

As I've read this post, I realize that I don't remember skim, or even 2% milk, when I was growing up. Only whole milk. I don't think I remember lower fat milk until the mid-1970s.

[dmarie710]

that is interesting Wosnes. I didn't know that. I was born in 1971 so that would put me there. Weird, huh?

[sheepish]

If I'm drinking the milk on its own, I like it whole, just tastes so much better! But I prefer semi-skimmed for tea. I'll use both for cooking, depends on exactly what I'm cooking.

I'm always surprised that milk is such a popular drink in the US - I don't know exactly what is done to it in the US but, whatever it is, makes it taste of nothing to me. It's just as well that it lasts for so much longer than milk in the UK as it takes me that long to get through it! When I get back from staying in the US, I'm always craving milk. And bread that doesn't taste sweet.

[TunaFishKid]

...I don't know exactly what is done to it in the US but, whatever it is, makes it taste of nothing to me...

Try organic whole milk. In "The Fat Fallacy" by Will Clower, he suggests a side-by-side taste comparison. I tried it and the difference is just astounding.

[paprad]

Among other rants in Fit for Life, Harvey Diamond says that man is the only animal that continues to drink milk after being weaned. Um, I guess, man is also the only animal that cooks food.

[wosnes]

Among other rants in Fit for Life, Harvey Diamond says that man is the only animal that continues to drink milk after being weaned. Um, I guess, man is also the only animal that cooks food.

I've read that in other sources, too. Then I remember that my cat drinks milk -- she drinks more than I do! She doesn't go to the store and buy it.

I've been reading about milk and all I can say is "Holy Cow!" (sorry, couldn't help it). Milk as we know it is a highly processed food. Fat is about the only thing taken away and vitamins are the only thing added -- but it's not very similar to what comes from the cow!

If fresh milk sets for a while, the cream will rise to the top. It can either be shaken to get the cream back into the milk, or the cream can be poured off and used for cream or to make butter -- and the leftover liquid from butter making is buttermilk. This skimmed milk is close to 2% milk. If the cream is skimmed from the milk, the remaining milk can be consumed or used for making cheese. The skimmed milk can be boiled and left to to sit and more cream will rise to the top. This can be repeated 2-3 times with the final result being something like nonfat milk.

Then there's the milk we buy in the store. It's pasteurized and homogenized. To homogenize it, it is spun in a centrifuge to get the fat to emulsify and keep the milk from separating. To make the lower fat milks, the fat is removed and then added back to whatever percentage fat is desired for the end product.

It bears little resemblance to what came from the cow. I've read that dairy farmers often keep milk for their own use because it is so much better than what they can purchase.

clarinetgat -- I think there's something about this in Real Food.

[clarinetgal]

wosnes, Yes, there was! After reading that book, I've decided that if I can tolerate whole, organic milk (I tend to have problems with dairy), then I'll make the switch to whole milk. I also think I want to start using butter, instead of the Smart Balance buttery spread I'm using now.

[paulawylma]

I'm 52 and my mom had relatives that lived in the country, such as my grandparent, that we visited every summer. One year, when I was about 8 or 9, I started asking questions about stuff I didn't understand--one of the questions was about milk. At first my grandmother thought I was just being silly and pretending not to understand but then my mother explained that we were "city kids" and really didn't know where things came from. My grandmother still thought that my questions were bizarre and really dumb, but she accepted this explanation--and to get to the point--arranged a series of lessons and demostrations to teach us "city kids" stuff because we "didn't know nothing about anything".

Hence the trip to the Johnsons to see where milk comes from. They usually milked early in the morning, but "saved" a cow so that we could watch a cow being milked. Mr Johnson milked it by hand, but didn't let us try because he was afraid we'd be kicked. After watching the cow being milked, he carried a bucket of the milk to the back porch where they had a separator that separated the cream from the milk. The separated had an opening in the top, a handle on the side and two spouts at the bottom. with a bucket under each spout. He poured the milk in the top and turned a handle on the side and then the cream came out one spout and the milk came out the other. The milk that came out was whole milk. The cream was used to make butter (or sold as heavy cream) and the milk was of course, a beverage.

That's what I know about milk and where it comes from. I know this not because of research or what I was told but because I saw it for myself, thanks to grandma and the Johnsons.

BTW, when I was real little we used to get milk delivered by a milkman several times a week, but then they stopped delivering milk and we started getting it in the store. I'm afraid I was too young to know why they stopped or if there was any difference in the milk. I do know that I never heard of low-fat or skim milk until the late 70s.

[wosnes]

wosnes, Yes, there was! After reading that book, I've decided that if I can tolerate whole, organic milk (I tend to have problems with dairy), then I'll make the switch to whole milk. I also think I want to start using butter, instead of the Smart Balance buttery spread I'm using now.

I used some kind of "healthy" margarine for years, switching to butter a year or so ago. One of my daughters said she couldn't believe how much better food tasted with butter instead of margarine.

paulawylma, when I was in elementary school we lived down the road from an elderly couple who raised cows for their own use. I milked cows several times when I was growing up -- I just didn't drink the milk! I've never liked milk as a beverage.

[clarinetgal]

Wosnes, I know the few times I've had butter, I've liked it. I've never liked any of the margerines or healthy spreads.
Paulawylma, Very interesting!

[bluebunny27]

Yes, I always have 2% milk. I read somewhere it's the most popular choice for most people here too. I know if you read diet tips they always say you should have the 0% or 1% milk but I don't like those kinds much. Milk is good for you anyway as long as you don't have huge quantities of course.

I eat more dairy products now then when I was a FAT BOY, that's for sure. I drink more milk and I make a few containers of homemade yogurt once a week too, that saves a few bucks and I know exactly what's in it too. Milk, yogurt, eggs, oatmeal, Fruits & Veggies, good ways to fill you up without adding too many calories. Those items are usually not that expensive either.

Side note, oil is even better than butter or margarine really. I hardly ever use butter or margarine now, I prefer olive/canola/vegetable oils. You have to measure precisely though because those oils have a lot of calories. 100-120 calories in 1 tbsp. so you gotta measure well not to have too much. Also oil helps to absorb the nutrients, minerals, vitamins from your food, especially the veggies of course. Many people just sprinkle a lil' bit of olive oil on toasts instead of spreading butter or margarine too.

Cheers !

Marc

38 Years Old, 5'10" Tall
Nov. 1st. 2008 : 280 Pounds
Nov. 1st. 2009 : 190 Pounds
(1 Year : - 90 Pounds)

Current Weight : 192 Pounds