Junkfood Science


Once upon a time, women used makeup containing both lead and arsenic to achieve beauty. These days, we wonder at their foolishness, since both were known to be poisonous, but are we any better? Our ideals for beauty are for thinness that is closer to starvation than health. They are so uncompromising that people even have their bodies brutally assaulted in order to conform.

Step in Sandy Szwarc, a gutsy lady who is dishing out healthy servings of reality in her blog, Junkfood Science.

Because of my own transformation, I initially had trouble embracing her wholeheartedly. I mean, I eat my oatmeal and granola in the morning to keep my genetically high cholesterol down. I feel like she delivers to us only the information that supports her particular raison d’ etre, that of convincing us that we are not as overweight as we think, and food is not as dangerous as we are being told by people who stand to make a buck off our fear. This is all certainly true, but don’t we need to eat a healthy diet?

In a global discourse where there are a lot of people participating, we need the voices who point out our errors to be very, very loud to get our attention. And our society certainly does have a problem with unhealthy weight obsession and an unnatural fear of what we ingest.

Still, I want some good news. What can we do to be less fearful, to fight back against the very dollars we spent out of fear and a desire for social conformity?

Edit: Just read a great article Sandy wrote about the mythology of Junkfood vs. Healthfood. Now I know why I crave sweet things when furiously writing.Something people sometimes forget to mention: Fat is an essential nutrient! If you want to ensure your kid’s brain development, make sure they get enough of it.  

Next: Marketing and Your Self Esteem

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2 responses to “Junkfood Science”

  1. I adore your template.

    I too have recently started reading Junkfood Science. I really think that we do need to eat healthier but I really think that moderation in all things is the key to food. Eating all ice cream all day is obviously not good but having it now and then is not something to worry about.

  2. […] Nearly a year ago I posted something about Sandy Szwarc at Junkfood Science. As the months rolled by, my reservations grew. I started seeing her doing a lot of out of context quoting, leaving important information out of her analyses that would have contradicted her argument. But all the family docs and medbloggers I respected seemed to like her, because she does have an important point: This culture is really harsh towards people who are overweight. […]

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