WHAT’S LEFT TO EAT?

There was a story all over the news recently about a study reported in the current issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association linking sugar to heart disease. http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE63J66220100421 As usual, the wording messed up the message when lead researcher, Dr. Miriam Vos, said, “Just like eating a high-fat diet can increase your levels of triglycerides and high cholesterol, eating sugar can also affect those same lipids.” The study had nothing to do with fat or cholesterol, but they just can’t seem to resist editorializing. Heaven forbid that anyone might think that a study showing that sugar is the cause of heart disease might mean that fat and cholesterol are not equally guilty. So now they are probably going to tell us we can’t eat fat, cholesterol, salt, sugar (starch is also sugar), and of course we can’t increase the amount of protein in our diet either. What does that leave?

There is a man in India who claims to have lived for over 70 years on nothing but air—no food, no water, just air. (Why does he need the air, I wonder?) Prahlad Jani, an 82 year old “breatharian,” who says he hasn’t eaten since 1940, claims to live on a “spiritual life force,” and that a goddess feeds him a magical elixir through a hole in his palate. His claims are being tested by the Indian military who placed him in a hospital ward so he could be watched around the clock to see if he was telling the truth. The doctors reported that he was indeed not eating or drinking and that he was still doing well after 6 days. I suppose this kind of self denial is the next logical step for a society that favors vegetarian and vegan lifestyles. The observation period was supposed to last for a total of 15 days. I haven’t heard the final outcome, but I’m not holding my breath.

(C) 2010, Judy Barnes Baker