Unhealthy dietary fads

Have I gotten caught up in this? Probably. For the amount of time I spend thinking about food, I should be freakishly healthy, but, alas, that is not the case.

I do believe everyone can benefit from cutting out gluten... just because most gluten people eat is in the form of white bread which does turn to sugar in our bodies. So, if cutting out gluten means people are removing white bread from their diets, I think that is a good thing. If they are merely substituting one thing for another, well, that's another matter.

People are trying all sorts of dietary changes to improve their health, but many of these fads may do more harm than good. Researchers from several U.S. institutions reviewed 25 studies, covering tens of thousands of people over 40 years. They concluded that the most effective diet for reducing the risk of heart disease is one high in fruit, vegetables, whole grains, and seeds—and very low in sodium, added sugars, refined grains, and fats. But they warned that people should be wary of certain nutrition fads. Coconut oil, an increasingly popular alternative to olive oil, is loaded with artery-clogging saturated fat. Juicing fruit and vegetables can remove valuable fiber and other nutrients. And there is no evidence that avoiding gluten helps with weight loss—in fact, gluten-free foods are often higher in processed carbohydrates than whole grains. “If you are gluten-sensitive, allergic, or have celiac disease, you should avoid gluten,” Andrew Freeman, lead author of the review, tells ABCNews.com. “Otherwise, gluten is not necessarily the enemy.”

Taken from right next to yesterday's post... March 17, 2017 edition of the Week.

I should really get back to the family history research... much more fun than regurgitating information from The Week Magazine.