[lbo-talk] Thought for the day...

cqmv at pdx.edu cqmv at pdx.edu
Tue Oct 26 19:51:43 PDT 2010


Quoting 123hop at comcast.net:


> Well, just for the record. I do not sneer at people who love junk food.
>
> EVERYBODY loves junk food, myself included. What's there not to love
> about salt, sugar, and fat?
> The point is, however, that it's killing us.
>
> Joanna

Not sure what the referent of "it" is in the last sentence, but let's consider each component separately. Salt is not bad for you; it's necessary for metabolic functioning. And no, high salt intake does not cause hypertension. There are no experimental studies that support that claim. Fat? Again, a necessary dietary component for metabolic functioning. Fat intake by itself does not cause any health problems, the propaganda of the American Heart Association notwithstanding. There are many societies in which people eat far more fat than people in the U. S. do and have much better health outcomes. That said, I will go along with the "sugar is killing us" claim: excessive sugar intake over time does alter insulin response and increases risk of type II diabetes.

Miles



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