Dueling ADAs

Not only do we have bad advice from the American Diabetes Association to contend with, but now the “other” ADA–the American Dietetic Association–is getting in on the act, too.

At the latest American Dietetic Association meeting, one of their topics was “A Fresh Look at Processed Foods.”  Were they joking?

Don’t get me wrong, every food you eat, unless you farm it yourself (and, believe it or not, some of my patients do) is processed in some way. But something tells me that’s not where they were going with this topic.

They claim they wanted to, “…offer valuable insights for the average consumer about the challenges they face when providing healthful meals for them and their families.”

I’m not sure when the misconception that it’s so difficult to feed yourself or your family in a healthy way even started. But I’d like to put it to rest for good. Yes, it does take a bit of preparation…making sure you’ve got healthy food in the house…preparing things ahead of time (or making extra so there are leftovers). These are the things that people balk at, and claim they’re “too busy” to do. But, let’s be completely honest here–it’s really not that hard to build 20-30 minutes into your day to cook dinner. That’s really all it takes!

And I always tell my patients to get a slow cooker. Throw some ingredients in in the morning, switch it on, and by the time dinner rolls around, everything is ready.

It doesn’t get much easier than that.

But when we have so-called “experts” in the dueling ADAs telling people that it’s ok to eat processed foods, it poses a serious threat to the health of every single person in this country.

Instead of encouraging people to take the path of least resistance by filling their pantry with “convenient” packaged, processed foods, it’s time for these organizations to live up to their intended purposes. Educating consumers how to shop for truly healthy foods, and fostering the notion that it isn’t any cheaper–or quicker–to order in or eat out than to cook at home.

I won’t hold my breath waiting for that to happen.

Your health–and the health of the people you love–depends on it.