People are constantly referring to olive oil as a “healthy fat”. Many people think it’s “good for you”, and some even go as far as to claim people “need” to eat oils. Olive oil certainly tastes good, but is it really all it’s cracked up to be? And how do oils compare to nuts as a source for fats? We think it’s important to look at the whole picture.
Dr. Michael Greger of Nutritionfacts.org puts it pretty succinctly in this short video:
It’s hard to escape the ubiquitous junk food advertisements everywhere we go. It’s no wonder childhood obesity in the United States is becoming more and more rampant.
You would think that kids would at least be shielded from such marketing at school. But sadly, that’s not the case. If anything, it turns out that schools have become the perfect liaisons for selling to future sugar and fat addicts. And we’re not just talking about snack vending machines, we’re talking about school lunches!
Why is this? Because there’s lots of cash to be made. The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine just released a report revealing who is making the dough off of overweight children, and how they are doing it.
To paraphrase Bill Maher: “They don’t want you dead, but they don’t want you healthy. They want you sick, because that’s where the money is.” As adults, at least we can take responsibility for our own choices. But it’s just plain wrong that that they are targeting kids at their place of learning.
In a story that’s eerily reminiscent of the tobacco industry, recent documents have shed light on the sugar industry’s history of manipulating public information to maximize profit at the expense of public health.
Finally, the word has been getting out. If you haven’t already seen them, we highly recommend the documentaries King Corn and Fed Up. Each film in its own way elaborates on how refined sugar is everywhere, and is one of the leading causes of obesity and other related illnesses. And if that’s not bad enough, the politics behind it will really make you sick!
