What happens when the Government Recommended Diet clashes with another Government dietary recommendation? Statism you say? The Center for Disease Control recently released a report headlining with the statistic, “90% of Americans eat more sodium than is recommended for a healthy diet” [Source]. From the summary at the CDC website, the report highlights the growing problem of sodium in the American diet, and explains how some of the most common and unexpected foods can have large amounts of sodium. Excessive levels of sodium in the diet have been shown to correlate with increased blood pressure and increased levels of risk for heart disease. What’s interesting in the report is something that Mike Stobbe, an AP Medical writer, highlights HERE, that grains are the number one source of salt in the American diet. The officials were surprised at the short list of foods that contributed to the massive amounts of sodium that we consume and probably the presence grain and carbohydrate-dominated foods had on the list. It gets even more interesting when you realize that because of this report, the USDA and related organizations are heightening their advisory of lowering daily sodium levels, but not advising lowering amounts of grain consumed. The United States Department [...]
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Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack Gone Wild?
Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack recently made some controversial statements to the National Restaurant Association regarding what Americans currently eat and what they should be eating. This comes of no surprise when considering all the recent media attention to the current administration’s push for what they consider healthier foods and a healthier lifestyle. Now, you might be asking why a health blogger would be frustrated over a push for healthier foods… That will be explained below, but first, get an idea of what Vilsack was speaking about at the conference through Youtube: [Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack speaking on what Americans eat] Recent media attention to this conference includes few, but respectable sources concerned about rights: USDA Secretary on What Americans Should Eat Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack Speaks to National Restaurant Association Why people are frustrated with Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack: There are many reasons a health blogger and many others are frustrated about this situation. First of all, even though I appreciate the importance of health, and actually because of it, I understand that healthy choices and a healthy lifestyle will only be maintained when the respective individuals choose to do it themselves. Forced health does not work, and there’s plenty of evidence [...]
