Bacon is My Cocaine

 

We all know that bacon is tasty, but apparently it is also addictive now.  A new study by the Scripps Research Institute shows that fatty foods have an addictive quality and say it's along the same lines as heroine and cocaine.  These fatty foods stimulate the pleasure center of the brain so someone who overindulges on a regular basis will become accustomed to the stimulation and require a greater quantity of fatty foods to get the same feeling.  In the study, rats that were allowed to indulge in fatty foods not only became obese but they also continued to gorge themselves even when shocked (Kirstie Alley has also exhibited the same behavior).  The rats on a normal diet avoided the fatty foods when they realized they would be shocked if they went near it.  No word yet on whether or not the fat rats would literally kill a guy for a piece of pie.

Essentially this study proves that there is more to overeating than just lack of willpower and a desire to become the world's largest woman.  The problem I have with this is that one only becomes addicted after overindulging.  So, at some point you make the decision whether consciously or unconsciously to eat more than you should and to continue to do so long enough to become addicted.  Someone doesn't become addicted to heroine if they haven't had heroine before or even if they only tried it once or twice.  The only exception I know of being Ozzy Osbourne who, rumor has it, was born with a spoon in his hand and immediately asked for a lighter and a live bat.  If you start shooting up regularly, you shouldn't be surprised when you become addicted.  Of course I realize that there are a multitude of reasons that people end up falling into the over-eating trap; stress, anxiety, boredom, ignorance, growing up a child star, and a slew of other factors can cause you to overindulge.  So what happens once you are addicted?  Is there no hope?

The article doesn't discuss a solution to the problem other than a brief mention of possibly using prescription drugs to counteract it, because that's what addicts need, drugs.  Don't rush off to the methadone clinic yet though.  They also mention that these studies on rats may not translate exactly the same to humans. However since humans and rats act pretty much the same it's safe to assume the results are legit.  This study would explain why so many people have trouble losing weight and keeping it off.  They can usually stay away for a while, but eventually are lured back in by the siren song of bacon (bacon = harpy).  Let's just hope this and future studies aren't used as an excuse by those who wish to overeat, but rather as a deterrent for the next generation of potential over-eaters.
And now for a little fun at the expense of childhood obesity.....









Without a doubt Sean Astin can now do the truffle shuffle as well.  Too much hobbit food.


Why am I writing so many posts about food lately?  Probably because, with more free time on my hands, I have to be more aware of how much I eat and that I don't eat out of boredom.  If writing about food keeps me from eating it then that's what I'll do.

Fat, Fatter, and Fattest: America's Fat Children

We are a generation of fat people raising another generation of fat people.  America has a 34% obesity rate, but luckily that has leveled off over the past few years.  Notice I said "leveled off" and not decreased.  Apparently we've run out of fatty foods or we've just gotten as sedentary as we can possibly get and still be alive enough to count towards the statistic.  Hell, we've even got people trying to get as fat as possible.  No wonder British chef Jamie Oliver couldn't take it any longer and traveled to America to try and teach us how to eat healthy.  His new reality show, Jame Oliver's Food Revolution shows that many Americans would just rather be fat and die early. 

Someone should have warned Jamie that West Virginia is not the best place to go for a show, unless you're doing a Depression Era series and don't have the money for wardrobe or make-up or real actors.  No surprise that Jamie met with a lot of opposition trying to change the types of food elementary school age children were eating at home and especially at school.  Parents and school administrators and cooks would rather stuff the children with fat laden pre-processed crap than entertain the idea of feeding them healthier food.  They had excuses for everything: the food had to meet certain guidelines to be served to school children, they don't have the time or the man power to serve healthier food, and they don't think elementary school children should be given forks and knives to eat with.  That last one stunned Jamie and quite frankly me too.  I remember elementary school and I'm pretty sure we had forks and knives and we weren't stabbing each other with it or anything like that.  The school cooks are surprised that elementary school kids are expected to know how to eat like a normal human being with manners and instead expect them to shovel nachos and sloppy joes into their mouths with their hands and maybe a spoon if they want to get all uppity about it.

Maybe I'm missing something here.  I would personally rather pay a little extra money and take a little extra time to prepare healthy foods rather than feed my children crap that I know will make them unhealthy shorten their lives.  The children in the elementary school Jamie visited couldn't even identify vegetables and didn't know that french fries came from a potato! Granted, this is West Virginia and probably not the best example of American children's eating habits. 

It is a shame that the quickest, simplest thing to make is unhealthy but that is changing.  Now you can buy foods that require little to no preparation that are healthy, but these are often more expensive than their unhealthy counterparts. I'll give you an example of a food that's inexpensive and requires no preparation: an apple.  You don't have to spend your evenings eating tofu burgers and brussel sprouts but at least make a conscious effort to avoid eating your daily allowance of fat in one meal.  If money and convenience is an issue, at least consider frozen and canned vegetables over a continuous parade of chicken nuggets, french fries, and pizza. 

I suppose a lot of this has to do with culture and economic status, but there has to be a point where you decide that you want your children to lead a better, healthier life than you.  Just because your parents were ignorant of nutritional content and what constitutes a healthy diet, doesn't mean you have to be ignorant too.  And if you want to eat pizza and burgers at least run or something you lazy bastard. 

The Bigger the Better

While other women are busting their butts trying to get thin, there is a woman in New Jersey trying to do just the opposite in reaching new levels of obesity.  It's been reported that Donna Simpson is trying to eat her way to a Guinness world record for being the heaviest woman alive, but a recent New York Post article quotes her as saying she doesn't have realistic expectations of reaching that goal.  Nevertheless, she's consuming enormous amounts of food in order to gain weight.

I think my favorite part of this whole article is the statement  that "Guinness denies it’s encouraging Simpson and other freaks, only chronicling what they’d be doing naturally".  I don't know if the "freaks" part is Guinness's word or the NY Post's word.  It is fun to joke about all this but really it's more sad than anything.  Donna has a daughter that's three and likely mom won't live to see her daughter graduate high school.  That doesn't seem to bother Donna at all.  She gladly consumes about 12,000 calories a day! I don't think there's a way I could eat that much in one day if I tried, much less every day. 

Donna's boyfriend seems to be encouraging this endeavor of hers.  He wouldn't be the first guy to have a fat fetish, but there has to be a limit somewhere.  On the website I referenced above there is a link to a photo of Donna with only her underwear and bra on.  She doesn't seem to mind the fact people are gawking at her enormous belly that cascades down to her thigh region and is dangerously close to reaching her knees. 

It's one thing to decide that you aren't going to buy into the whole super model thin-trend, but another thing when you purposely try to gain an unhealthy amount of weight.  She obviously has some sort of addiction or deeper issue that needs to be addressed.  I'm no psychologist so I can't speak from expertise on this, but just reading about this makes me think this woman needs help.  Those around her are only enabling her either by directly supporting her or indirectly by giving her publicity and fame from all this.  I only hope that she doesn't actually make the world record or end up encouraging others to try to meet this ridiculous goal.