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Article Round-Up
Information and graphic courtesy of the NY Times
In no particular order, here are three interesting articles for you to read.
Is Junk Food Really Cheaper?
In this NY Times piece, Mark Bittman lays out a case for calling foul on the common claim that eating junk food is cheaper than buying food and eating in. He also describes several reasons why kicking the junk-food habit is so hard (from marketing to engineering to political to cultural).
Butter is Better
This is a nice little summary of a study from the 60s until the late 80s that tracked heart attack incidence in those who ate butter vs. those who ate margarine in varying degrees. The good news for the butter fans: it appears, at least according to this study (and again keeping correlation in mind, as opposed to causation), that butter eaters suffer fewer heart attacks.
Exercise Does the Brain Good
Here's another article on the benefits of exercise on the brain. Yes, the study was done on mice, and yes, the study looked at the impact of aerobic exercise on said mice, so take it for what it's worth.
That is an interesting NyTimes piece. Like any pop sociology piece there are many ways to look at the issue and it is hard to cover them all. I think he missed that many people make the choice for fast food because they are just too tired. By many metrics Americans are the most overworked (or hardworking depending on your proclivity) culture on the planet. Unlock the juggernaut of just not enough time, or as a commenter on the online edition puts it "unfair income distribution," and I think diet the American platter improve vastly. I know that in my journey to a better diet great shock media, such as Morgan Spurlock's "Supersize Me" and watching friends and clients experiment with diets is how I learned to eat better. By my own experience I am not sure that parental modeling works that well. As a kid I live with long periods where I had no sugar and years without meat or fastfood and lots of dogma about diet. For me growing up the Golden Arches were not taken for granted, instead they were a Mecca which I could not wait to visit once I got some coin in my pocket. I woke up sometime near the turn of my 4th decade and realized that what started out as a rebellion had turned into an addiction. I do love the last line in the piece though, simply living it without be preachy is powerful in moving the diet of those around you.
Related to Zeke's argument, this Mother Jones article points out that Bittman didn't account for labor costs in his calculations. Of course, I'm not arguing that you should be eating junk food. Getting people to eat healthier requires a lot more than numbers. I like the author's suggestion at the end that what we need to reintroduce cooking classes into the educational curriculum.
Unrelated post: today marks my one year anniversary at Crossfit Oakland, and I couldn't be happier with the place, with the people, with the coaching, and with my progress. On 10/11/10, I started the on-ramp class at 7am with Carrie and Michelle and several others who have not stuck around. Now an assessment one year later: double unders, check, kipping pullups, check, 20# wall balls, check, one leg deadlifts, check. stronger, healthier, fitter, happier, check. What's great about Crossfit is that there's always room for improvement, and I continue to improve.
My partner, Ed, is finishing the on-ramp class this week, and planning on joining after that. If I could get my daughter into Crossfit Kids, we'd be a Crossfit family.
In the meantime, cheers y'all.
That's awesome, Gary! I've really enjoyed watching your progress and look forward to what year two will bring. Happy 1 year!
Yay, Gary! I really like working out with you. Can't wait to meet your family!
Let us not forget the seductive power of targeted advertising. Fast food puts its hard earned cash into advertising because advertising moves product. I mean, have you seen the Carl's Jr's Turkey burger advert? Let's just say, while it pobably offends Turks and Turkish-American women, it probably titillates more, the average American male aged 13-70. Years ago, upon returning back to the US after a trip overseas I was struck by how many tv ads were about food--fast food, frozen/tv dinners, dieting, even mayonnaise. I actually remember a Sat. morning "beans n' rice is nice" jingle but am hard pressed to identify/recall any other ads, recent or vintage, pushing the home-cooked meal.
Congrats! and Happy 1st Crossfit anniversary, Gary!! Congrats to Carrie, too!! Thanks for the honorable mention! Best, Michele
Gary, it has been an awesome journey and a total blast being regular classmates as well :)