Government is okay in its place...

I'm a kid back in the 60's.  Our class it handing out some nutritional advice, about the four basic food groups.  I notice the breakfast cereal commercials end with "part of this complete breakfast."  My mom's  magazines have more food on the covers with warnings and advice.

The days of nutritional politics has begun...

My class has us do a report about the four food groups.  We have paper plates we glue stuff on to show how well we understand the nutritional guidelines.  At some point I look the food groups up in my beloved World Book Encyclopedia, and the list shows

1. Milk and milk products
2. Meat, poultry, fish, eggs, beans, peas and nuts
3. Bread, flour and cereals
4. Leafy green and yellow vegetables
5. Potatoes and sweet potatoes
6. Citrus, tomato, cabbage, salad greens
7. Butter, fortified margarine

Which is a better breakdown then:

1. Milk
2. Meat
3. Fruits and vegetables
4. Grain products

This all but leaves my brain shortly after the assignment is finished.  Flash forward to the 90's.  I hear a gentleman on the radio talking about foods, humans, health and wellness and opt to get his book.  I read it and turn vegan.  Part of the book tells about the political influence various industries have had on the nutritional guides.

It turns out that the government has a curious notion of what expert means.  It turns out that influence and power has more to do with our elected officials then the best data out there.  There are a lot of nutritional quacks out there. Over the years wellness has been diverted by profit and greed.  The diet industry makes lots of money off of scare and envy tactics.

There are lots of expose' on these various corrupted examples as well.

A Fatally Flawed Food Guide
In the face of contradictory evidence: Report of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans Committee
USDA Food Pyramid History

Over the course of my life I have deduced, what I feel are, healthy choices for my family.  I do not really sweat the small stuff.  The human body has amazing nutrient gathering ability.  We should have a focus on fitness over diet. As I get older I have been keeping fitter and trim.  Because, I want to be able to do things.  I do miss those golden days of yore when I could eat all I wanted and be assured of burning it off. I also miss days of not being sore, stiff and creaky.  Yet, I can run further and better then I ever could.  Go figure...