Overweight America, comments to Mayo Clinic Newsletter

Following is a letter I sent to the Managing Editor at the Mayo Clinic Newsletter:

Special Report – Achieving a healthy weight, June 2008

Your article in the June 2008 Special Report related to the serious ongoing problem of being overweight or obese is very interesting and I hope it will be the basis, perhaps but doubtful, for solving such an unsavory syndrome which is the result of so many factors; including but not limited to, the laxity of THE GOVERNMENT AGENCIES, OUR ARROGANT DECADENT WAYS OF LIFE, AND THE GENERALIZED IGNORANCE REGARDING FOOD BY OUR REGULAR CITIZENS.

THE SOLUTION TO THE PROBLEM BY FAR IS NOT TO JUMP UP AND DOWN USING VERY TIGHT GLAMOROUS GARMENTS IN AN EXPENSIVE EXERCISE ROOM. This newly created industry that is not giving us any visual results if one judges by the size of our waists and our gluteal muscles.

There is one very meaningful factor that has not been mentioned in relation to our overweight. I wish, you and your scientists will take it into serious consideration and explain and research and do something better than writing about it. And it is:

The abusive and poor work of our Government Agencies and their lack of understanding and dishonesty regarding the RATE OF ABSORPTION OF OUR FOOD AND THE ALLOWED AMOUNT OF EDIBLE POISONS THAT ARE PART OF OUR DIET. SUCH IMPORTANT FACTORS ARE NOT BEING TAKEN INTO CONSIDERATION.

I hope that you are aware that the particles in our food are so minuscule that they produce VERY FAST ABSORPTION. Thus, is our food over processed? At the present there is a new fad, well advertised, regarding WHOLE GRAINS instead of regular flours. Are these so-called “whole grains” any less easy to absorb?

If one of your scientists or dietitians read a label, they would be aware that the sugars, with sophisticated names and which the majority of people do not know the meaning of, such as HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP AND OTHER “JUNK” ELEMENTS ARE INCREASING NOT ONLY OUR WEIGHT BUT INCREASING OTHER ILLNESSES SUCH AS DIABETES. Do the regular people know the meaning of PROTEINS OR CARBOHYDRATES. I bet they do not know, but you can hear such words mentioned in almost every place.

Why is it then that in other countries people eat meats, and they eat breads and they do not have to be pushed to each “VEGETABLES and fruits?” And obesity is not a problem as it is in our America.

There was a time in which we called people denigrating names such as “GREASY GREEKS” AND WE USED TO JOKE ABOUT ITALIAN FOOD. What can we say now? Are we having the most healthy food, are the Italians greasy, or the Argentineans as obese as we are? But we waste so much time and energy, not to say dollars, on new useless diets, exercise equipment.

I wish you would make the public realize that it is the duty of our government, especially the Department of Agriculture, to regulate the amount of POISONS that we introduce into our food. And I will call poison something that is making us sick such our over processed foods, the great number of SUGARS and other junk that are allowed in our over-the-counter foods and even worse, is the food that schools give on a daily basis to our children, which results in obesity and diabetes at early ages.

Of course you can argue that no one points a gun at our heads and makes us eat over processed junk food. But just look at the results: HYPERTENSIVE MEN AND WOMEN AND LITTLE CHILDREN SUFFERING OF DIABETES, women that cannot fit into their pants, men with ugly, oversized stomachs, etc.

What can we say regarding the amount of greasy chesses that are an intrinsic part of our diets? The enormous size of our sandwiches, which generally speaking, have to have CHEESE? But unfortunately we have the divine right to get food from other countries, and adulterate these good foods into greasy foods and big portions. Why?

The government is not doing anything and the scientists recommend VEGETABLES and VEGETABLES as if we were ruminants rather than humans, instead of telling our glutton population:

STOP BEING SO ARROGANT, LEARN TO EAT PROPERLY. FOOD IS A SOCIAL AFFAIR THAT ONE SHOULD ENJOY RATHER THAN GULP IT IN AS FAST AS WE CAN.

Maybe it is time that we start to learn that we are not the kings of the world, that we are just as human as others and get down from the pedestal that we have built with abuses to ourselves and our waists.

Sincerely yours,

NOTE: Before I forget: Have you ever drunk lemonade that had FAT? I hope not, but when reading the label, I found out that the label lists 0 FAT. What a kind of idiocy and false advertisement is that? Maybe the manufacturers are simply following one of our insensible REGULATIONS?