Nutrition

My name‿ is Helen. Two years‿ ago a physician‿ advised me to reduce my sugar‿ intake,│ an(d) the mos(t) taxing‿ elemen(t) was not hunger but the sheer volume‿ of contradictory advice one‿ encounters‿ upon beginning to read.

Fat was the adversary,│ then sugar was;│ eggs were hazardous,│ then‿ exemplary. What the evidence consistently supports‿ is considerably less dramatic than the headlines:│ processed food with lengthy ingredien(t) lists correlates with‿ obesity,│ an(d) portion sizes have‿ expanded‿ universally. Labels‿ are designed to reassure rather than to inform,│ an(d) to conflate‿ a health claim with‿ an‿ ingredien(t) list‿ is to succumb to the marketing. I read‿ ingredients now,│ and‿ if there‿ are more than five,│ the product‿ is generally returned to the shelf.

I am no longer restrictive. I cook four times‿ a week,│ I eat vegetables with‿ every meal,│ and‿ I do not believe that‿ a single pizza can compensate for‿ a month‿ of sensible‿ eating^ea-ding,│ or‿ indeed‿ undo it. Crash diets fail│ because they are‿ unsustainable,│ an(d) my appetite‿ is not‿ a moral defect. The premise‿ of mos(t) dietary advice —│ that‿ a body is‿ a projec(t) requiring correction —│ seems to me both‿ unkind‿ and‿ ineffective. Whatever‿ I alter has to^hasta survive‿ a birthday party^par-dy and‿ an‿ appalling week‿ at work,│ or‿ it‿ is not‿ an‿ alteration‿ at all^adall but merely an‿ interlude.