The TV Diet

[Josh Zimmer]

Harmony Health Acupuncture and Herbs - "Improving Your Health ... Naturally."
www.harmonyhealthsrq.com

Here's another reason to turn off the television.

Researchers took another close look at how food is marketed on TV, and concluded that you'd practically kill yourself by eating what appears on the boob tube. No one actually does that ... wait, some people do! The key is you don't have to be a skeptic to assume that too many people - especially children - are heavily influenced by the barrage of mouth-watering imagery peddled by fast food and processed food marketeers on a daily basis. We're talking big corporations here, and they're not shy about portraying their unhealthy food in the most positive light.

Unfortunately, we as a nation have regulations that don't hold their feet to the fire. Our rules for the most part don't demand dietary credibility. That's how we get so-called "natural" foods that aren't as natural as you'd believe, or cereal makers who pitch sugary concoctions that claim to contain "whole grains" when the label is gross distortion of what whole grains really are.

Now about the study, which you can find at http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/08/health/nutrition/08nutr.html?emc=...

Researchers taped 28 days of prime time television, including Saturday morning programming, on four major networks. Assuming people limited themselves to a 2,000-calorie/day diet, they would eat 25 times the recommended amount of sugar and 20 times the recommended amount of fat if they consumed what appeared in television ads. In addition, they would eat half the amount of dairy, fiber, fruits and vegetables.

The lead author of the study, being published month in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, said the "TV Diet" is full of foods that contribute to chronic disease.

We know where to go for good dietary advice. And it isn't coming from big corporations.