Everyday Systems

I like Michael Ruhlman's blog and enjoyed this recent post: The Hidden Health Hazards of Lettuce. I also liked his Food Rant: America's Fat Problem from February, 2008.

I find it curious that my husband, who is British, claims to have never heard any of the ultra low-fat diet advice. When my father (American) was first diagnosed with heart disease in the early 90s, his cardiologist had the whole family eating low-fat everything. The doctor taught us that as long as the whole day's fat intake was below some percentage (that I've now forgotten) then that was fine; and furthermore, that as long as every individual food we ate was below this ratio then we could eat it without restrictions.

There was absolutely no mention of watching sugar or carbohydrate intake. In fact, the cardiologist recommended gummi bears as a snack because they were virtually fat free! So were pretzels, air-popped popcorn, bagel chips, and baked potatoes served with low-fat margarine and sour cream or "butter buds", a dried butter flavoring stuff.