The idea to write this post spurred from a recent post I did on High Fructose Corn Syrup.
When a food item is found to be linked to adverse health effects, there’s always some people who want to assume it’s fine, or they want to believe that it’s no big deal. There are a number of foods out there that have been found to pose some risk, but are mostly ignored because the effects may not be fully understood, or are slow in causing real damage.
I wanted to pose an analogy for those that think that all foods are fine, as long as they’re enjoyed in moderation. I used a car analogy once before, in my post “Junk Food – You are what you stuff your face with”.
***BREAKING NEWS***
“Hundreds of vehicles are breaking down all over the country due to engine problems. Mechanic lab results are suggesting that the problem may be linked to a commonality between all of these vehicles: They all recently filled their tanks at an Exxon gas station!”
If a story like this came out on the news, people would freak out.
There would be a boycott of Exxon until either this problem with their gas was solved, or the results of the study were proved to be something else, and the commonality in gasoline type was merely a correlation, and not a cause.
If there were a mere possibility that due to Exxon Mobil’s oil refining process, their gasoline for some reason caused long-term damage to your engine, and shortened the life of your car, you would think twice about filling your tank at an Exxon. If the Shell station one block away had the same prices, perhaps only a few cents more, you would probably go there just to be on the safe side… To feel better about it.
Why do people take these few extra steps to safeguard their cars?
Because for a LOT of people, their cars are their livelihoods. It gets them to work, to school, to the store, and it hauls around other people and things. It get them from point A, to point B and C and D and back again. A lot of people wouldn’t know what to do without their cars. They depend on them.
Even if Exxon started placing ads in the media claiming that their gas is safe, and that there isn’t enough evidence that it causes problems, people would still hesitate to fill up at their stations when there are obvious alternatives. People’s gasoline habits can easily be changed. After-all, what does it matter where you get your gas? Gas is gas, right?
Unfortunately, it’s not always so easy for foods. We don’t like to change our food habits. We’re comfortable eating what our parents taught us to eat. For some reason, making the effort to actually think about what is in our food is more than a lot of people want to put forth.
Most people wouldn’t put their car in danger like that, but their bodies are free game.
Some people LOVE their cars. So much so that they spend tons of time working on them, doing their own repairs, taking things apart just to put them back together…
They could probably tell you the exact type of oil they use, the model number on the oil pan gasket, in what city their brake pads were made…
…but I’d bet they couldn’t tell you what’s in that hot dog they had for lunch, or that the ground beef used to make their hamburger patty contained meat from over 100 different cows. And if you told them, they probably wouldn’t care. Weird eh?
**NOTE** I’m not trying to say anything about car enthusiasts here. I’m just using them as an example that it’s interesting that you can find a lot of people that know a lot of different things about anything you can think of, but most people don’t know squat about the food they stuff their faces with.
I’m not saying everyone needs to become a nutritionist. I’m saying that if everyone put even just 1/20th of the energy they put into any of their other hobbies into learning more about the food they eat, I think a lot more people would be a lot healthier.
Avoiding certain foods that are associated with health problems, and instead choosing better options, seems an easy alternative to actually having health problems.
When worrying about whether or not a food item has something harmful in it or not, remember this:
There has never been any reason to avoid fruits and vegetables.
There has never been any reason to have to consume any of them in moderation.
Hi! I have been a long time reader of your blog but this one really stood out today. You hit the nose on the head and it’s true people need to wake up, smell the coffee and really start to put forth the same effort for their bodies/lives that cannot be replaced once damaged as they do their ‘replaceable’ things they cherish, ie; cars/houses, etc.
The only one thing I do have to disagree with, and I may have read it wrong so please forgive me if this is the case, is the ending statement about fruits & veggies. While it’s true we’ve never had any reason to consume veggies in moderation, we actually do have to monitor our fruits intake closely. Too much natural sugar is almost as damaging as processed sugar, especially when it comes to weight maintenance and control.
Keep up the great work! Have a Great Day!
I’ve always found this ironic.
I have a few friends who spend thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours over the course of a year working on their cars or trucks, but won’t spend a few hundred on a barbell set or a gym membership or a few hours a week working out.
A nice vehicle does not make up for being fat (or scrawny), weak and tired. Most of these guys could easily beat me in a road race, but couldn’t keep up with me on foot for half a block even if I wasn’t trying.
Hi Angel and Drew,
It’s funny what we spend most of our money on, but when it comes to our bodies, most of us are cheap bastards.
Angel, you’re right in that too much of anything is not good. However, let’s compare a piece of fruit to a soda.
One apple has about 15 grams of sugar.
One 12 ounce Coke has 39 grams of sugar.
It would be pretty difficult to eat too many apples, but it is extremely easy to drink a gallon (128 ounces) of soda in a day, which would tally 415 grams of processed sugar.
And don’t forget, the apple has fiber, vitamins, and protein.
I know you weren’t trying to justify anything, I am just showing that I stand by my statement.
Thanks for your comment!
It’s ironic. Maybe people think that their bodies can heal for themselves, but not with their cars.
Peoples bodies can heal for themselves and are more enduring than cars, but i would agree strongly with the article’s point that people spend too little attention to what they eat and place a bigger importance on their cars. This may be very relevant to the united states where obesity is classified as an epidemic (dont quote me on that) but the problem is definitely growing stronger here in England (or Great Britain as I learnt in Texas).
I sometimes playing a game where I count points of fat people passing by and deducting points for every skinny or healthy person. I always come out with a high score. Try it yourself.
really cool
This is… quite possibly amongst one of the stupidest blogs I have ever run across.
I gues it’s good to be remembered for something.
[...] 25, 2008 · No Comments First, this was great: “My Car is More Important Than My Body” for a LOT of people, their cars are their livelihoods. It gets them to work, to school, to the [...]
Princess,
I welcome all criticism, but yours was not constructive in the slightest.
I write about issues related to health, lifestyle, and weight problems. How is that stupid?
I could very easily say the same about your blog, but why would I? It doesn’t matter whether I agree or disagree with what you choose to write about, because that is your choice.
Having a comment about a specific post would be different.
Interesting point. However, I spend little money on my car, so I guess this isn’t the best analogy for me. ;-P
This is your most profound statement:
“if everyone put even just 1/20th of the energy they put into any of their other hobbies into learning more about the food they eat, I think a lot more people would be a lot healthier. “
I’m always amazed at the guys at work who would spend hours memorizing baseball stats from the 1960s, or who would wake up a 4 am to drive to a football game in another state, but who won’t put 5 minutes a day into understanding what they eat, nor put in just 15 minutes doing something physical.
I was in a parade last week. Instead of taking a shuttle, we walked to the parade staging area – less than one mile. The parade itself was just about 1-3/4 miles, and a very slow walk with several stops. Needless to say, most of the guys were sweating, breathing hard, and barely able to walk afterward.
And when we got back, most of them downed a small bottle of Mountain Dew or Coke.