Recently, our workplace held its annual health fair. 

This event is planned with the best of intentions.  It’s a chance for employees to find out about health services, get some things checked, like glucose and bone density, and maybe sign up for Costco membership or supplemental insurance.  One year I even scored a plush Aflac duck.  It talks.

This year, I was interested in getting my blood glucose checked (I skipped the cholesterol test because they weren’t distinguishing between LDL and HDL).  It was a pretty normal 127 for post-meal glucose, although I had eaten more recently than is standard for this test.  As I got up to leave the table, the woman handed me a sheet called How Can I Lower High Cholesterol?  I was curious, so I took it with me.

I didn’t think I was at risk for heart disease, but I almost had a heart attack when I read this sheet.  From what I’ve been reading, almost everything on it was wrong from a standpoint of reducing heart disease risk, and it was from the American Heart Association.  I hoped that it was a really old copy, because some of the things I disagreed with (like the myth that egg yolks are bad) are even being refuted by mainstream sources these days.  However, when I looked at the AHA website, I found the same text as the flyer I was given.

If the only kind of health information people get is inaccurate, it’s no wonder they give up trying to eat a healthy diet.  Let’s say you were overweight and, following standard advice, you ate a diet only consisting of grains, sugar, foods labeled “low-fat” or “low-calorie,” meat with no fat, vegetables, and vegetable oil.  Let’s say you really didn’t enjoy it, either.  After a few months of this diet, if you felt terrible and hadn’t lost much weight, you might well say, “To hell with it; I’ve tried a diet and it doesn’t work.  I’m just going to eat what I want.”

As I said in the last post, I think most people genuinely want to know what foods are good for them and what foods aren’t, so they can make informed decisions.  And that’s our right, even if it means ultimately choosing to ignore the knowledge.  At least we know.  But if you’re told to give up butter (isn’t that some kind of human rights violation?) and eat more corn oil and grains, you’re not actually getting information that will help you.

So, what did the flyer say?  The first page includes this section:

Where to begin.  I’m assuming that they’re coming from a place of reducing risk of cardiovascular disease.  So, first of all, eating a lot of grains is not good for your heart, your body fat, your cholesterol, or just about anything else other than grain producers and distributors.  Same thing goes for refined vegetable oils like corn and soybean.  These oils are refined beyond recognition and bleached so you won’t taste how bad they are.  On the other hand, organ meats are full of good fats, vitamin D, vitamin A, and other nutrients that are hard to find, especially in such high density (check out the recent posts about liver on Whole Health Source).  Also, as we’ve discussed before, fat in dairy is not bad for you, especially if the dairy comes from organic and grass-fed livestock.  Same with the fat in meat and poultry skin.  I personally eschew duck because of family affection for the creatures (don’t ask) but the meat really is very good for you.  Egg yolks are an exceptionally nutritious food.  Just about the only things on here that I completely agree with are that shortening and margarine are bad, nuts are good, and fruits and vegetables are good. 

The worst part, although it’s hard to pick a worst part, is completely leaving sugar off the “What should I limit?” list.  In fact, the only indirect reference to sweets is the comment about bakery goods, and that’s only because of the egg yolks and saturated fats.  I still occasionally eat delicious baked goods (and even bake them) but I have no illusion about the sugar (or flour) being good for me.

Then, I turned the page and saw this:

This section should be renamed “What are some tips to make my cooking less healthful and completely tasteless?”  Again, it’s coming from a fat-phobic, egg-yolks-are-bad, refined-vegetable-oil-spray-is-your-friend place.  And never mind that low-fat dairy is often bulked up with fillers like corn starch and other sugars.  That suggestion for basting with fruit juice?  It’s basically telling you to replace fat with sugar, which seems backward, although I’m not someone who eschews fruit or fruit juice because of sugar.  Oh, and there’s again no mention of reducing sugar. 

Some of my coworkers don’t look so healthy, including ones I saw looking for information at the health fair.  I think I saw some of the same folks at the fair last year, looking just as unhealthy.  Why?  I have some guesses, mostly having to do with trying and giving up on diet advice.

People give up on eating allegedly healthful food for a number of reasons.  I see three big ones:

1. 1)The diets they try don’t work; they’ve been given wrong information, and they’ve given up or stopped caring.
   

2. 2)The food they’re eating on a “diet” tastes bad
   

3. 3)Familiarity matters; we want the food we grew up with.  And often, in this country, that food is of very poor quality.
   

So, maybe we need a new kind of health fair.  Here’s what I’d suggest:

1) Give out accurate information, for starters.  Or, if you’re afraid of controversy, give out information that explains both sides of a controversial theory, including evidence and arguments.  I’ve been told that public health is about simplifying information for the lowest common denominator, but that idea offends me.  If we start treating people like we’re capable, critical thinkers rather than digesters of ad-bites, and maybe we’ll start thinking critically more often.

2) Prepare good food and share it.  Simple, fresh, homemade and healthful food is far more delicious than anything over-sweetened, over-preserved, chemically-enhanced and mass-produced.

3) Expand, rinse, and repeat.  Continue sharing accurate information and good food.  Do you miss a favorite food from your childhood?  Enjoy it every once in a while, by all means, and, better still, rework it with wholesome ingredients.  Continue making delicious, nutritious food and sharing it, until it becomes comfort food for you and people you know.  Learn from various cultural culinary traditions, and embrace your own.

But if your workplace does offer a health fair, by all means, go.  You may get some useful tests, and a chance to offer ideas for next year.  If you’re really lucky, you might score a duck.  Just be careful; the AHA thinks it will raise your cholesterol.  What quacks.

Thanks to joelf for the flickr creative commons photo.