Dilemma with Diet

Diets that come and go are like any other fad. However, the one aspect of each of those diets remains a constant, balanced mix of foods and regular exercise.

What constitutes the balanced mix of foods however, is still mysterious. The American diet has taken on a stigma to fats, the supposed heart disease causing agent. Recent articles have shed some interesting light onto this once, thought to be understood aspect of diet:

What if It's All Been a Big Fat Lie? -An article in the New York Times that details some of the controversy around the Atkin's diet and the still uncertain state of dietary science.

Another author, Gary Taubes's wrote: The Soft Science of Dietary Fat, which outlines a history of how the American diet came to criticize fats. He points to a few zealous congressmen who helped push the trend, despite the medical profession's admitted lack of certainty.

The U.S. Government Food Pyramid has undergone significant modifications in the last ten years (image: Wikipedia)

The diet issue, as noted in the two stories above, remains elusive at best. The last ten years has brought compelling stories about the typically, unthought-of food industry that is a daily part of our lives. From the documentary Super Size Me to Michael Pollan's In Defense of Food , and its catch phrase "Eat food, not too much, mostly plants," have brought at times shocking insight into our understandings of "how the sausage is made."