9) CONTROLLING BLOOD SUGAR WITH DIET
j) Politics of Food
It is important to understand the politics of food. Research indicates that the three biggest food "killers" are saturated fats (beef, pork, fried fast foods and snack foods), refined carbohydrates (wheat flour, sugar, rice, potatoes, candy, high fructose corn syrup, soft drinks) and trans fat (hydrogenated soybean oil). And the biggest and most powerful food lobbies in Washington are, you guessed it, saturated fats (beef, pork, fast food, snack foods), refined carbohydrates (wheat, sugar, rice, potatoes, candy, corn, soft drinks) and trans fats (soybeans). It has been clear for twenty years that beef and pork are killers, with too high of a saturated fat content. But it was only a few years ago that the USDA "food pyramid" was modified (and then only slightly!) to reflect that fact. These industries also sponsor a huge amount of research which almost invariably somehow manages to "prove" their particular product is actually healthy. And these same industries advertise heavily in most magazines, the same magazines that have articles on "healthy eating". So it is not surprising that it is often difficult to separate truth from fiction.
The farm states that provide the nation with wheat, corn and beef have a disproportionately high number of senators looking out for their states (witness the use of corn ethanol in gasoline, one of the biggest wastes of tax dollars to ever come down the pike). There are also international ramifications. Most of our food aid is in the form of wheat, corn and rice products. If we suddenly declared these products to be unhealthy, we would antagonize much of the undeveloped world. Just such an incident occurred when the USDA banned fish meal products in the USA while promoting them as cheap sources of protein in developing countries. The uproar was tremendous.
Even some of the funds for the American Diabetes Association (ADA) have come from questionable sources. An article by Jamie Rose in the New York Times of November 25, 2006: "In Diabetes Fight, Raising Cash and Keeping Trust", praised the ADA for making some changes to their funding guidelines in 2006 to reduce the funding from questionable industry sources. The recommendations of the ADA are all excellent and obviously have not been influenced by the sources of funds for the ADA magazine or the sources of funds for the research the ADA sponsors. But even the appearance of a conflict of interest needs to be avoided. Unfortunately Washington politics are not as impartial as the ADA and "for profit" magazines and research groups are even less impartial than Washington.
Next Chapter: 10) GLYCEMIC INDEX
a) Introduction
b) Types of Common Carbohydrates
c) Glycemic Index and A1c
d) Glycemic Index and Losing Weight
e) Glycemic Index Controversy
f) Using Bad Statistics to Judge the Glycemic Index
g) The Occasional High Glycemic "Splurge"
h) Glycemic Load
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