Nutrition: A subject that will not be developed right way, despite my formal education in this field (MS, RD!) The reason is that, without formal training, a listener/reader will not be able to meaningfully distinguish what I say from what some hustling entrepreneur will say. And, often his shpiel will sound a lot better than my shpiel! So, most often I don't even get started. Plus, few people like what I have to say anyway. What I will venture to talk about are certain basic principles, such as the apparently basic notion of How to Take Vitamins! Most people get it wrong, and most of the advice is wrong on this simple subject. I will also tackle the issue of weight loss at some point.
In the meantime I hope that every entrepreneur that has abused this field in health burns in an especially hot part of hell. It is an outrage what the public has been subjected to, and my only solace is that in some measure the public has in fact asked for the gigantic hustle being foisted on them. Not much solace, though.
Might I address one new glib saying, surprisingly coming from the likes of Covert Bailey, who I generally admire, notwithstanding his shilling for various exercise machines. He and others are saying, Food does not make you fat.....FAT makes you fat! Jesus Christ, if there ever was an academically irresponsible statement, this is it. It is true that fatty calories do not help the weight loss cause, but this is a secondary issue. The fundamental, primary, and mathematical issue in weight control is energy balance, i.e., calories taken in (food) vs. calories expended (activity/metabolism).
No matter what the source of your calories is, be it protein, simple or complex carbohydrate, starches, fruits, or whatever; if you eat too much of them, you will get fat!!
It is true that it would be pretty hard to eat so much fruit in one day that you would gain weight. But this is a technical detail, if you will. It is also true that by eating a high-fat, low calorie diet you will lose weight. One of these days I will analyze the Atkins diet (high protein/high fat), which some people swear by, and which he has made a fortune from.
Fitness/Exercise: Incontrovertably good for you. The question is how and how much, which is the question really being abused today. For now, understand that Exercise is the penance we must do for high-tech lo-activity lifestyles. Farmers don't need no exercise.
Mind/Body connection: I am probably the wrong person to talk about this. But then so is Deepak Chopra and all of these other entertaining entrepreneurs who don't know quantum mechanics, biochemistry, or much of anything else from a hole in the ground. The mind\body connnection cannot ever be rationally addressed until the issue of justice and equality in the world is addressed. In the meantime, those who do not have to worry about scarcity of resources and making a living can dilletante around at holistic seminars and feel great, but with questionable utility. For the rest of us with real problems of survival, holistic seminars are simply not going to do it, because feeling good is not the issue. Coming to grips with an ever-increasing difficulty in maintaining a dignity in the face of so many who are profiting from our duress is the issue. Loving thy captor is one way to make captivity more bearable, I suppose. But it does little toward furthering the chances of actual escape. those who are in touch enough with reality to be depressed, and who then cannot handle the depression, and seek other methods of functioning better, will find themselves going up on the down escalator.
Perhaps a short hand way of summing this up is that life, for those who cannot afford it, is at best interesting, but never really good. Life can be really good for those who can afford it, but often it is not interesting. Ergo, drugs in the leisure class.
I told you I was the wrong person to address this issue.