Notes on "The Park Avenue Diet Show: Weight Loss in Red, White, and Blue": July 4, 2010

The articles reviewed this week frame the subject of obesity in unusual ways, at least geographically speaking. First this news item:

http://www.theborneopost.com/?p=42767

Borneo and the surrounding islands of the Indonesian archipelago are not usually associated with obesity. How times have changed ! Sad to say, other emerging nations, formerly plagued by endemic malnutrition, are struggling with the same problem, namely China, India, and Mexico.

Leave it to the USA to spearhead the movement, albeit in the wrong ways:

http://www.nydailynews.com/lifestyle/2010/06/24/2010-06-24_open_wide_friendlys_burger_and_cheese_triple_decker_is_even_worse_for_you_than_k.html

I reviewed other fast-food franchise websites as we discussed what to eat during the summer and came up with new, depressing facts. Ice cream is no longer the single scoop treat or Eskimo Bar that your parents might remember. There are now even sweeter, thicker, and more artificial concoctions that pack hundreds of extra calories into swimwear that teeters on the brink of explosion. One such company, advertising a product whose caloric content ranges from 700 to 950 (!!!) has this slogan: "You only live once." If rewritten to utilize data from an article cited previously from The Lancet: "You only live once, and we're taking three years of that away from you."

"Weight Loss in Red, White, and Blue" can be expressed in pleasant and positive ways--like red snapper, egg white omelets, and blueberries. But that same show title can also remind us of the consequences of obesity: excess blood clotting, anemia due to chronic renal failure, and cyanosis due to sleep apnea. Which do you prefer for yourself and your family?

The average male requires about 2000 calories a day, the average woman 1800. With that in mind, please look at certain foods differently this summer: pecan pie (575), 4 ounce cheeseburger (525), giant soft pretzel (500), "club sandwich" (800),.....one carrot (30), papaya (less than 50), corn on the cob (100). Do you really need 500 calories of starch and fat as "popcorn" in order to sit through Eclipse? Send your extra calories to Robert Pattinson !

And what about burning off calories over the summer? I doubt you'll be waterskiing (400 calories/hour). Maybe your type of "exercise" is miniature golf (200 calories). Most likely, your weightlifting will be confined to your cellphone and "cardio" will be gossiping (68 calories/hour).

Want more shockingly high-calorie food stats? A 20 ounce T-bone steak (1500), potato salad (360), "funnel cake" (500) and a gigantic turkey leg (1100) might try to tempt you, overstimulate your insulin, and fill up thousands of lipocytes.

Or would you prefer something nutritious and tasty? Watermelon, papaya, and avocados are alkaline, raising your body's pH very healthfully at a low caloric cost. What's better for you than those grotesque colas, spiked with phenylalanine? Coconut water has the same osmolarity as human serum, perfect for those hot, sweaty days. It's actually better for dehydration than water or that "vitamin" liquid.

In an era when your own health, image, and self-care become increasingly important every day, how much longer can you afford to ignore The Mathematics of Dieting? 3500 calories= one pound of body fat, on or off your body. Summer is as good a time as any to do the math, come to your senses, and reinvent yourself entirely a la The Park Avenue Diet. You are the main beneficiary, and that's the best investment for the future anyone can make !