Put Your Chips on the Table

And no one will get fat.

According to a recent study published in the New England Journal of Medicine (motto: You can’t read that from here!) Potato Chips make you fat.

I know!  Who would have thought?!  Thank heavens for science!

Weight problems are epidemic. Two-thirds of American adults are overweight or obese.  Childhood obesity has tripled in the past three decades. Pounds often are packed on gradually over decades, and many people struggle to limit weight gain without realizing what’s causing it.

The new study finds food choices are key. The message: Eat more fruits, vegetables, whole grains and nuts. Cut back on potatoes, red meat, sweets and soda.

Potato chips were the biggest dietary offender. Each daily serving containing 1 ounce (about 15 chips and 160 calories) led to a 1.69-pound uptick over four years. That’s compared to sweets and desserts, which added 0.41 pound.

The study looked at data on a 120,877 people.  I could have told you chips weren’t good for you, and it would have taken a lot less time.  Chips in general are not healthy:  chocolate chips, cow chips, poker chips.

GPS: Gastronomic Preference System

Seriously!  The problem with American Obesity isn’t that we don’t know that we should be eating fruits and vegetables and whole grains and nuts.  We don’t need a stupid multi-colored plate to tell us that.  We know that.  What we lack is the capacity and will-power to do something about it.

What we need is a study that shows us how to avoid pulling into Kentucky Fried Chicken or Wendy’s.  I eat at McDonald’s.  I don’t for a minute delude myself that this healthy.  I still eat it.  It’s not the fast food industry’s fault.  If they made healthy food, we wouldn’t buy it.  It doesn’t taste good.

What we need is a study to make vegetables taste like chocolate (without actually dipping them in chocolate or adding the calories of chocolate.)

What we need is a health food GPS system.  A Gastronomic Preference System.

When you enter Burger King’s parking lot, it tells you to make a U-turn when possible.

When you head down the ice cream aisle, it starts recalculating.

When you reach for the white bread, it tells you your destination of wheat bread is ahead on the right.

But even that would probably fail.  (Like you never got lost with a GPS system!)  What we really need is shock therapy.

Maybe the electric company would underwrite that research.