How to trim the deficit and America's waistline

Dear Reader, If I ever want a good laugh all I have to do is look at the medical news--especially the news dedicated to nutrition. According to a recent study, "U.S. Guidelines for the Consumption of Sugar May be Too High." Ya think?! Here's a great way to help trim the deficit: Stop funding stupid studies to prove stuff we already know. In a country where 70 percent of people are either overweight or obese, how could we not be consuming too much sugar? This "groundbreaking" study found that adults, who got 25 percent of their daily calories from sugar, in the form of fructose or high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), had higher cholesterol and triglycerides. This is hardly news. But there are two things this study found that may surprise you: The HFCS raised cholesterol and triglyceride levels after just two weeks! Not after a lifetime of eating this way, as one would think. The amount of HFCS the people ate--25 percent of their total calories--may sound like a lot...but it's actually within the government guidelines! There's so much wrong with this, I don't even know where to start. The government clearly knows nothing about nutrition, and what it does know is wrong and misguided. Take this quote, for example. It's a perfect example of how our government thinks: "While there is evidence that people who consume sugar are more likely to have heart disease or diabetes, it is controversial as to whether high sugar diets may actually promote those diseases." It doesn't even make sense! And neither does following the USDA food pyramid, by the way. First of all, the Department of Agriculture should not be in charge of recommending how or what we eat. Their mission is to promote American agriculture by growing and selling more food. Sounds like a conflict of interest if I've ever heard one. Let me tell you how the USDA sets its guidelines. First of all, there are no scientists or nutritionists on the panel--just lobbyists. They continue to argue until their special interest gets its share of the pyramid (or food plate, as they've re-classified it). The foods that are the most recommended are the ones that get the most money from our government. And to top it all off, the guidelines actually encourage people to eat more calories than we need. (Not that I believe in calorie counting, but you get the point.) We're now eating 1,775 pounds of food per person per year, compared to 1,497 per person per year in 1970. Where did the "experts" recommending all of that extra food think it was going to go? It's gone around our waists, clogged our arteries, ruined our joints, and has made us a nation of unhealthy people. So, we have government guidelines that encourage us to eat more food, which leads to happy big agribusiness. Then we get fat and all of the health problems that go along with that. So Big Pharma steps in to sell us drugs. It's a total win-win for everyone--except you and me. The best thing you can do for your health is to ignore the government nutrition guidelines. Use common sense to guide you towards what you know are healthy options.